Ronon Dex

Ronon Dex
Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex
First appearance	"Runner" (Atlantis)
Portrayed by	Jason Momoa
Information
Species	Human from Sateda
Occupation	Soldier

Ronon Dex is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis. Played by Jason Momoa, he is a Satedan, a civilization from the Pegasus Galaxy who had a technological level comparable to Earth in the mid-20th century but met the fate of all advanced civilizations in Pegasus when their homeworld Sateda (P3R-534) was devastated several years ago by the Wraith. When Ronon Dex and the Atlantis expedition first met in the season 2 episode "Runner", Ronon Dex had been a Runner for the past seven years. He joined the Atlantis Expedition shortly afterwards, effectively replacing Aiden Ford on Sheppard's team after Ford had become addicted to a Wraith enzyme and had fled Atlantis.

Jason Momoa, along with some of his fellow cast members, have said that they think of Ronon as the Atlantis version of Chewbacca. This joke is carried through into the show, and Col. Sheppard occasionally refers to Ronon as "Chewy."

Ronon is a native of Sateda, a planet with an advanced level of technology. His grandfather suffered from Second Childhood, a condition with symptoms similar to Alzheimer's Disease. Ronon became a member of the Satedan military where he held the rank of Specialist. He was very close to a woman named Melena, whom Ronon considered "close enough" to a wife in "Sunday". Approximately seven years before Ronon's first contact with the Atlantis Expedition, the Wraith attacked Sateda. Ronon remained behind with Melena to fight the Wraith, but the Wraith defeated Satedan forces and Melena was killed before Ronon's eyes in an explosion. Ronon was later captured by the Wraith. When the Wraith discovered that he is different then the normal human on Sateda (or any other human civilisation) - i.e. much stronger and more resilient - they turned him into a Runner, implanting a tracking device in his upper back and setting him loose to be constantly hunted. (for sports, training etc. as Ronon said later to Teyla).