|
Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Cylons
Old Cylon Centurion
Unlike the Cylons of the original series, they
were originally created by the Twelve Colonies of Kobol as robotic workers
and soldiers. At some point they rebelled and warred against their creators,
vanishing after an armistice was signed at the end of the conflict. Since
their disappearance, the cylons have evolved into a complex society which include a variety of 12 models
that are biomechanical in nature and nearly indistinguishable from human
beings. After approximately 50 years the Cylons returned, and as in the
original series destroy almost the entire human race, chasing the survivors
into deep space. Along with the humanoid models, cylon
society consists of a labor/warrior class of Centurions, often called
toasters because of their shiny metal construction, and a transport/air
warrior class of Basestars and Raiders. By season three, it is established
that Centurions, Basestars and Raiders are partly biological and as such
vulnerable to viral infection.
The humanoid Cylons are the leaders of the Cylon
empire and the revelation that these infiltrators can perfectly mimic human
form, even down to the internal organs and lymphatic system,
creates a wave of fear and paranoia among the humans. Some humanoid Cylons
are "sleeper" agents, programmed with false memories so they think
they are human. Cylons can interact with humans very convincingly, even being
capable of intimate emotional and sexual relationships. Although they cannot
successfully reproduce with each other, several episodes have shown one
successful case of Cylons creating living offspring with humans. The Cylons
are also capable of the same psychological and emotional responses as human
beings. Nonetheless, they have certain superhuman abilities, such as
increased stamina and strength, the ability to physically interface with
computer systems and an instinctive understanding of computer software.
Many of the new Cylons also follow a monotheistic
religion. Religious fanaticism partially motivates their genocide of
humanity, and despite their origins, the Cylons believe themselves to be
spiritual beings.
Cylons have the ability to download their
consciousness into another body when the body they are currently using is
killed or destroyed. The second season of Battlestar Galactica
explored this notion in greater depth—the limited range of these downloads
required the Cylons to build a "Resurrection Ship" to capture
downloads from the human fleet, while the episode "Scar"
established that the downloading procedure is shared by the Raider
spacecraft. An entire episode, "Downloaded", also centered around the difficulties of two Cylon characters adjusting
to their lives after downloading into new bodies.
History
The first Cylons were built as workers for the
Colonies, but after developing sentience, they rebelled against their
creators. The Colonial military responded by building Battlestars and Vipers
to counter the Cylons. After twelve years of fighting, the Cylons seemed
poised to win, when they abruptly disappeared beyond known space. An
armistice was signed and a station was constructed for diplomatic means. Each
year, the Colonies sent a representative but the Cylons never came, and
nobody saw them again for another forty years. Eventually, the Colonial
government sent the Battlestar Valkyrie to
monitor Cylon activities. This move resulted in an incident in which the Valkyrie's commanding officer, Colonel William Adama
attempted to shoot down his own Stealthstar recon
ship that had crossed the armistice line. That ship's pilot, Lt. Daniel
"Bulldog" Novacek was captured by the cylons and held as a prisoner of war.
During their long isolation, the Cylons began to
experiment with biotechnology. As a result, the Cylons were able to
masquerade as humans in order to infiltrate Colonial defenses. Their
religious beliefs also diverged from those of the Twelve Colonies, switching
from polytheism to monotheism. Three years after the Valkyrie
incident, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies. With help of the
humanoid Cylons, the Colonial defense network was shut down, allowing the
destruction of the fleet and nuclear bombardment of the Twelve Colony
planets. Battlestar Galactica, due to its un-networked systems, was
able to elude Cylon hacking and escape with a fleet of ships and about 50,000
survivors. Another Battlestar, Pegasus, made a blind FTL jump and
escaped the initial Cylon attack, while some of the remaining survivors on
Caprica organized a resistance effort.
Accelerating their plans, the Cylons made their
attempt to "get closer to God". To this end, they captured several
human female survivors and infused their ovaries with Cylon "DNA"
to create a Cylon-human hybrid, but had no success. They concluded that
"love" is essential to achieve such a creation. Knowing that
a pilot from Galactica, Lt. Karl "Helo"
Agathon was stranded on Caprica after giving up his
seat for Gaius Baltar, the Cylons attempted to
manipulate his love for Sharon Valerii, a Cylon
agent. However, the copy of Sharon, who indeed had fallen in love with Helo, betrayed her own kind to save him, and they both
returned to Galactica.
After a year of chasing the Colonial survivors led
by Galactica, the Cylons received significant losses to their forces,
including a Resurrection Ship. Two war heroes of the Cylons, a Six known as
Caprica Six and Sharon Valerii, the Eight once
known as Boomer, saw that the destruction of the colonies was wrong. As a
result, the Cylons left the Twelve Colonies and told humanity they will go
separate ways. This was not to last, for the Cylons detected a nuclear
explosion a light year away. Traveling to the origin of the explosion, the
Cylons found that the Colonials had settled on a habitable planet dubbed New
Caprica. The Cylons decided to occupy the new human settlement, and a
resistance movement formed, led by former Galactica XO Colonel Tigh. After
Galactica rescued the settlers, the Cylons also abandoned New Caprica,
carrying along an unexpected guest, Gauis Baltar,
former president of the Twelve Colonies and the Cylon-human hybrid child,
Hera Agathon.
The Cylons began following the Colonial fleet
towards Earth, who also wanted it as their new home. After a trail of markers
and the release of a deadly virus that can infect Cylons, they met the
Colonials in orbit of an algae planet in search for the Eye of Jupiter.
However, one of the humanoid Cylons, a Three, went down to the temple where
the Eye was located to see the identities of the "Final Five", the
last models of Cylons. As the blue sun of the system began to go supernova,
the Cylons jumped away and deactivated the Three line
for seeking forbidden knowledge.
Centurions
Centurion model
The Cylon Centurion is the basic infantry ground
unit, less intelligent than human models, and mostly mechanical. Centurions
are not sentient or self-aware in the same way as the humanoid Cylons, who
chose simpler programming in order to prevent Centurions from rebelling
against them. As such they cannot distinguish between different Cylons of the
same humanoid model. Centurion retains the silver appearance, robotic body,
helmet-like head and oscillating red bar eye of their counterparts from the
original series, but are larger, stronger, more
agile and have a more streamlined appearance. They also have retractable
weapons in their lower arms, bladed fingertips and are often heavily armored.
The miniseries hints that this Centurion is
descended from something not unlike the Centurion of the 1978 series. Unlike
the original series, these Centurions have not been shown using speech.
Ronald D. Moore has commented on his blog that
these new Cylon Centurions do not download into new bodies when they are
destroyed. Based on a comment by an Eight (probably Galactica Boomer)
in the episode "Torn" the Hybrids have something to do with the
programming of the Centurions. She states that when the virus infected the
Hybrid on the infected Basestar that it caused the Centurions to shut down.
However, we know from several instances that the Centurions can function
independently even when no Basestars or humanoid models are there to command
them. As of now, the extent of the connection between the Centurions and the
Hybrids has not been fully explored.
Cylon Raiders
Cylon Raiders are biomechanical Cylons in the form
of small spacecraft, and are also resurrected when they die. Raiders are
subservient, and have been compared to dogs by the humanoid Cylons. A Cylon
Raider nicknamed "Scar" was shown to have developed a personality,
in the episode of the same name.
Humanoid Cylons
Although they made only a brief appearance in one
episode of the spin-off from the original series, humanoid Cylons play a
major part in the reimagining. The term 'humanoid
Cylon' is a description, rather than an official designation.
Ronald D. Moore has confirmed in interviews that
there are twelve different models of humanoid Cylon, with many copies of each
model in existence. The Cylons have nonverbal ways of sharing information but
do not have a hive mind and are most often shown talking to one another. Even
identical Cylons are separate individuals. Moore has also stated that the
humanoid Cylons are not based on pre-existing humans: "The idea is not
that there was likely an original human model that they were copied from. The
idea was that these models of Cylon were sort of developed out of their own
study of us. The Cylons on some level looked at humanity and said 'You know
what? There's really only twelve of you.' If these
are the twelve, and sort of if you look at them they
each represent different archetypes of what humanity is."
Cylon society is made up of the seven known, mass-produced
humanoid models. For a yet unrevealed reason, the final five Cylons are
completely unknown to both the humans and the Cylons, and Cylons are
forbidden from trying to discover their identities. When D'Anna
(Three) attempts to do this, her entire model is boxed as punishment by the
other six models. In the final episode of the third season, four of the final
five are revealed to be "human" characters with long histories on
the Galactica. Their purpose, and how and why they were hidden from the rest
of their kind, will likely be a major plot point of the fourth season.
The humanoid Cylons appear to be responsible for
command decisions. While the command structure has not been fully explored,
some hints at organization have been revealed. At the end of the miniseries,
a group of cylons are debating what to do, and one
speaks authoritatively, to which another responds, "by your
command", a reference to the original series.
In the episode "Precipice", a Cylon
council (made up of multiple copies of several models) appears to cast votes
collectively by model, indicating that model plays an important role in the
hierarchy of Cylon society and that they make decisions by this is always the
case, as Cylons of the same model are implied to have higher or lower ranks
than Cylons of other models at various times.
Although little is known about Cylon psychology,
it is clear that they share many of the same emotional vulnerabilities that
humans possess. This is evidenced by Gina's catatonic state as a result of the
severe trauma of her abuse at the hands of the Pegasus crew. This abuse,
undoubtedly, was presented in the form of multiple sexual assaults, battery,
starvation and outright torture. Number Six / Caprica Six also revealed that
Cylons exist by 'projecting' an environment of their choice on the
real/physical world.
The eleven humanoid models revealed so far
include:
Cavil (Cylon Model Number
Unknown)
Brother Cavil
Cavil first appears on Galactica, posing as a
priest. His nature as a Cylon is revealed when a second copy is thrown in the
brig, alongside another copy of Cavil. Within Cylon society he seems to
support extreme action in the conversion of humans to the Cylon Religion
(suggesting large scale purges of suspected resistance members on New
Caprica). Cavil's posing as a priest and support of conversion is ironic,
considering he is the only Cylon model to date who is atheist. To date he is
the most anti-human Cylon model. Unlike the other models, Cavil sees little good in humanity and advocates a unique Cylon Society, not
one that emulates its creators. His sadistic tendencies are only held in
check by his fellow Cylons, as his opinions and decisions must be ratified by
the others' votes. He seems to be absolutely amoral, and had no problem
accepting sexual favours from Ellen Tigh in order
to save the life of her husband, Saul. He also had no qualms about having one
of Saul's eyes gouged out and shown to him during the brutal torture. Later
on, Cavil informs Ellen that unless she provides information on the Human
insurgency, he will have her husband arrested again, and tortured to death.
He is often seen as somewhat cynical and aloof compared to the others, and
also has little regard for them. When D'Anna was
"boxed", Cavil was the Cylon to actually perform the action, and,
more than likely, the very Cylon that suggested that course of action be
taken against her.
Cavil is played by Dean Stockwell.
Number Three (aka
D'Anna Biers)
Number Three
The Number Three model first appeared as D'Anna Biers, a reporter for the Fleet News Service who
is asked by President Roslin and Commander Adama to
create a documentary to help the fleet relate to the hard-working staff on
the Galactica.
In the episode titled Rapture in the third season,
this model is "boxed" by a Cavil for defying the consensus reached
by the other six models. It is implied that she has seen the five remaining
models, but before she reveals this information she is "boxed".
Cavil states in the final scene that her memories will be kept in "cold
storage" which leaves the door open for her eventual return.
Number Threes are played by Lucy Lawless.
Number Five (aka
Aaron Doral)
Number Five
In the miniseries, Doral appears as a public
relations worker for the abortive Battlestar Galactica museum. In the
episode Litmus, Doral sneaks on board the Galactica and detonates an
explosive. This event prompts the fleet-wide announcement that Cylons can
have a human appearance. During the Occupation of New Caprica, the Fives seem
to be one of the most anti-human and aggressive models.
Number Fives are played by Matthew Bennett.
Number Six
Number Six
The first model explicitly revealed to be a Cylon
in the miniseries, the Sixes often use seduction to
their advantage. Important copies include Shelley Godfrey, Gina, and Caprica
Six (seen in the mini-series).
The Number Six has shown itself to be a murderous,
violent model with a volatile, unpredictable personality. One of the models,
on her way to meet with Dr. Gaius Baltar, murdered
an infant by breaking its neck. She went on to save Baltar's life when his
house was struck by a blast wave from the Cylon attack on Caprica.
This model has a love-hate relationship with Gaius Baltar; alternately defending him to other Cylon
models or leaving him to suffer at thier hands and
progressing to re-initiating a sexual relationship with him.
The Six has proven herself difficult to predict,
and impossible to trust. An incarnation of Six, while stranded in a bombed
building on Caprica, committed the first incident of Cylon-on-Cylon violence
seen in the series. This was apparently to save the life of a Human insurgent
who was facing certain death.
With Caprica Six imprisoned on Galactica after
helping a Sharon (Number Eight) escape from the Cylons with Hera, she offered to testify against Dr. Baltar.
It should also be noted that Caprica has
"Head Baltar" which only she sees similar to how Baltar has a
"Head Six" that only he can see; "Head Baltar" serves as
a sort of conscience for Caprica Six, but also an advisor in times of trouble
or danger, much the same role that "Head Six" plays for Baltar.
Number Sixes are played by Tricia Helfer.
Number Eight (aka
Sharon Valerii)
Number Eight
Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
first appears as a raptor pilot aboard the Galactica. Her true nature as a
Cylon was only revealed at the end of the miniseries, and the series quickly
establishes that Sharon acted as a sleeper agent,
unaware of her true nature and programmed to carry out attacks on the fleet
without her human side realizing what she was doing. She was revealed to be
the 8th model in the episode "Downloaded".
The other significant copy of this model, Sharon
"Athena" Agathon, married Karl "Helo" Agathon, rebelled
against the Cylons and joined forces with the Colonials. Her child with Helo, a daughter named Hera, is the first natural
conception of a Cylon/human hybrid. Such a child is the subject of a Cylon
prophecy and therefore very important as it was a 'child born of love'. The
child was hidden from the Cylons and her parents; They were told the child
had died after birth and was incinerated. During the exodus from New Caprica
the child's adoptive mother was killed and the baby was recovered by a Number
Three. After being told by another Number Eight that the child was alive
within the Cylon fleet, Sharon had Helo
kill her, allowing her to download into a new body within the Cylon fleet. Sharon has since returned with the
baby to Galactica.
Ostensibly, the Valerii
model is viewed by Six models as being "...weak...", and, indeed,
some evidence exists that they are less violent than the other known models.
However, it should be noted that these models are quite probably present on
every Cylon base star, and therefore were willing participants in the
invasion of the Colonies, and the near-extermination of the Human Race that
resided there. Additionally, in a confrontation with the Human-Cylon hybrid
child Hera's actual mother, in her frustration with
the child, the Number 8 that was in charge of the baby appeared to be about
to murder Hera. Other Cylons of this model, upon encountering Sharon from the Galactica have
immediately condemned her with the word "traitor". The Number 8,
while capable of more mercy than many of the other Cylon models, is still
capable of homicide.
Number Eights are played by Grace Park.
Leoben Conoy
(Cylon Model Number Unknown)
Leoben Conoy
Leoben first appears as a smuggler at the
munitions depot at Ragnar Anchorage. His role
appears to be one of manipulation and deceit, skillfully mixing truth with
lies. Leoben seems to have an obsession with religious mysticism, and is
obsessed with Starbuck - he believes that their fates are inextricably
united. Near the end of Season three, Starbuck has a vision of Leoben shortly
before her Viper explodes. In the vision, Leoben was not his usual creepy self,
rather a calming angel of death who helped Starbuck make her peace with her
mother, whom Starbuck had a rocky relationship with.
Leoben Conoy is played
by Callum Keith Rennie.
Simon (Cylon Model Number
Unknown)
Simon at the bedside of Kara Thrace (Starbuck) in
the episode "The Farm"
Simon is a tall, slender black male with closely
cropped or balding hair. He first appears posing as a human physician
treating Starbuck for a gunshot wound in what was supposedly a hospital on
Caprica. In reality, he was also performing invasive tests on her
reproductive organs. After Starbuck begins to suspect Simon's true nature and
kills him, she escapes from the facility, her fears
confirmed when a second copy of the model greets her on her way.
At least one other copy is seen on Cylon-occupied
Caprica (Downloaded).
A Simon is present in President Baltar's office
during the Battle of New Caprica (Exodus, Part 2).
One Simon, assigned as part of one basestar's command crew that witnesses a sister basestar's plight, determines that a decision to rescue
the infected basestar cannot be reached scientifically (Torn).
A Simon captured on the infected basestar near the
Lion's Head Nebula is interrogated on Galactica. He reveals information about
the ship and the Cylons' motives for abandoning it, in exchange for a cure
promised by the humans. However, there is no cure, only a treatment. This
Simon is killed (permanently) when Karl Agathon
sabotages the environmental control system, killing the Cylon prisoners to
stop them from being used as biological weapons (A Measure of Salvation).
Of the original seven disclosed models, Simon is
the only model that has not been used as infiltration within the fleet. Simon
also speaks calmly and clearly, and seems to use logic to solve his problems
and decisions.
Simon is played by Rick Worthy.
The "Final Five" humanoid
Cylons
The "Final Five" Cylons drawn in a crude
sketch by Number Three
In the Season 3 episode "Torn", Gaius Baltar questions Number Six as to why only seven
humanoid models appeared on New Caprica and why he has seen only these same
seven aboard the Basestar, yet she had told him previously that there were
twelve models. Six says that the Cylons do not talk about the other five models.
Baltar, who has become worried that he may in fact be a Cylon himself,
presses her on whether they would recognize one of the "final
five". Their conversation ends abruptly, leaving the truth of the other
models unknown.
In the Season 3 episode "Hero", Number
Three has a dream immediately after she dies, where she sees five glowing
figures. This leaves open many theories about the last five models being in
some way holy or divine. As seen in the episode "The Passage",
Number Three tries to hold on to the memory of their faces and draws pictures
of them soon after downloading, but the memories fade and the drawings are
too surrealistic to be of practical use. It's clear that she does not
consciously know what the final five look like. In the twelfth episode of
season three, "Rapture", D'Anna and
Baltar reach the Eye of Jupiter and she receives a vision of the final five.
She seems to recognize one of them, but the vision is cut short before we see
any detail of the figures. The shock kills her and upon reawakening on the
Resurrection Ship she is "boxed", taking the secret of the final
five with her.
D'Anna's final conversation with Cavil
confirms that the other already revealed Cylons do not know who the
"final five" are. Even more, seeking such knowlege
is strictly forbidden, part of the reason why D'Anna
is "boxed". Beforehand, hints to their identity include D'Anna's begging forgiveness of one of the "final
five", and her telling Baltar that he was right, but in reference to
something other than his question of whether he is one of them.
In "Crossroads," four of the final five
Cylons are revealed. Samuel T. Anders, Galen Tyrol, Tory Foster, and Saul
Tigh discover that they have been hearing the same hallucinatory
"music" that no one else can perceive, and become convinced that
they are Cylons. They resolve, nevertheless, to continue doing their duty as
part of the fleet. Ronald D. Moore, the creator and executive producer of the
series confirmed in an interview that the four are indeed full Cylons - however,
"fundamentally different" Cylons.
The Hybrid
The Hybrids resemble human beings inside an
immersion tank similar to a Cylon rebirthing tank. The Hybrids do not have a
completely human body, but rather appear to be more like cyborgs,
consisting of conduits and other connectors mated to, or in place of elements
of their bodies. The Hybrid is not one of the "twelve models" of
humanoid Cylon, but is a separate model that effectively further bridges the
gap from primarily mechanical Centurion, to partially bio-mechanical Raider,
to Hybrid, to humanoid Cylon. They are similar to the autonomous
bio-mechanical pilots within Raiders, specially constructed as living
computers that manage the autonomic functions of the basestar, including
navigation and FTL jumps and climate control. The Hybrids are so integrated
into the basestar's functionality that they are,
for all practical purposes, the basestar.
In addition, she continually speaks what most of
the humanoid Cylons consider to be gibberish, although there is some
difference of opinion on this point. Many Cylons believe a hybrid's conscious
mind is completely mad and the functions one performs are part of a deeper
state of mind in connection with the ship. Caprica Number Six states that the
Leoben Conoy models believe that every word she
says is channeled from the Cylon god. The Hybrid is not allowed a vote in the
Cylon democratic process by the humanoids, though
she sometimes objects to the course of action they take, for example, leaving
another Basestar full of disease-infected Cylons to their fates.
In his Battlestar Galactica Podcast,
Ronald Moore explained that the Hybrids should be considered a "Model
0" of humanoid Cylons, an intermediate step between humanoid and
mechanical model Cylons.
The Hybrids are played by Tiffany Lyndall-Knight.
Universal vulnerabilities
Cylons are highly susceptible to an ancient virus
which can be transmitted by rodents, but which humans have developed an immunity to, "lymphocytic
encephalitis". This virus disrupts all organic Cylon technology
including Raiders, Hybrids (which in turn disrupts Centurions), and Humanoid
Model Cylons. The Cylons believe that a critical symptom of this virus, a
harmful "bioelectric feedback", can be transmitted during a
download and have so far prevented any Cylons infected from being downloaded
into a resurrection ship. The only Cylon found to be immune is a Number 8
model, Sharon "Athena" Agathon, who had
given birth to a half-human child.
Dr. Cottle developed a
vaccine to the virus, which had infected a number of humanoid Cylons on a
basestar near the Lion's Head Nebula. However, this vaccine's RNA was broken
down in the blood stream of a Cylon humanoid model by their own immune
response, forcing regular injections to keep an infected Cylon healthy. The
Cylons themselves have not managed to develop an antidote or vaccine to the
virus at this time.
In addition to this, the silica pathways of
humanoid Cylons are affected by certain forms of radiation, such as that
surrounding Ragnar Anchorage. It is not stated but
is assumed that this radiation affects all types of Cylon, as the station was
chosen as a refuge by Commander Adama before he learned of the existence of
biomechanical models, and the deleterious effects the radiation had on the
Leoben Conoy model they found at Ragnar Anchorage.
Cylon
vessels
- Basestar - controlled
by Hybrids
- Raider - individuals
in their own right
- Heavy Raider
- Resurrection ship
|
