Cylon (reimagining)
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The Cylons are a fictional race of bio-mechanical beings appearing in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
[edit] Background
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 40 years the Cylons returned and, as in the original series, destroyed the 12 colonies and relentlessly chase the survivors through 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 prior to the episode "Sine Qua Non" Cylons were presumed to be incapable of successfully reproducing with each other, there have been two cases of Cylons reproducing with humans. During the episode, "Sine Qua Non", Commander Adama reveals to Col. Saul Tigh that Caprica-Six is pregnant with Saul's child, suggesting that Cylons are capable of intra-Cylon reproduction. 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 and the ability to physically interface with computer systems.
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 on the difficulties of two Cylon characters adjusting to their lives after downloading into new bodies.
[edit] History
The first Cylons were built as workers for the Twelve Colonies, but their advanced programming caused them to become sentient and they rebelled against their creators. The colonies counter-attacked with military force and the first Cylon War commenced, lasting roughly twelve and a half years. During the war, the Cylons began conducting biotechnological experiments on humans. At the end of the war an armistice was signed establishing diplomatic relations between the two warring parties. The Cylons disappeared and were not seen again by the colonies for another forty years.
During isolation the Cylons developed twelve models of humanoid Cylons based on their study of humanity with each model exhibiting a different archetype of humanity. The models were so precise that they mimicked human form down to a cellular level. Each model was designated by a number from one to twelve. For each model, millions of identical copies were created and an entire system of downloading the consciousness of not only the humanoid Cylons, but the Raiders as well came into existence. The humanoid Cylons began infiltrating the colonies and the Cylon race as a whole adopted a monotheist belief system.
Having not heard from the Cylons in forty years, the colonial admiralty became suspicious and sent the battlestar Valkyrie on a covert mission close to the armistice line to gather intelligence on Cylon activity. A stealth ship from the Valkyrie crossed the armistice line and the pilot was captured by the Cylons. Months later the Cylons initiated a surprise simultaneous nuclear attack on the twelve colonial homeworlds after a Number Six model successfully infiltrated the colonial defence network on Caprica and created backdoor programs to shut the network and its defenses down. The attacks decimated the entire colonial population. Two battlestars, the Galactica and the Pegasus, managed to escape the massacre due to their systems either being un-networked or undergoing retrofit. The others were destroyed when their systems went offline during the attacks. A fleet of civilian ships were also left scattered throughout the neighboring vicinity of space.
Following the victory, the Cylons began pursuit of a fleet of civilian ships led by the battlestar Galactica as well as initiating the next phase of their evolution, procreation. Female survivors on the planet Caprica were detained and used in experiments to create Cylon-human hybrids. The experiments were unsuccessful and the Cylons believed that the missing component in their attempts at procreation was love. They tested this by using a Number Eight posing as Lt. Sharon “Boomer” Valerii from the battlestar Galactica to seduce a marooned Galactica officer, Lt. Karl “Helo” Agathon, on Caprica. Helo fell in love with this copy and the couple produced the first viable human/Cylon pregnancy. However, this copy of Number Eight also fell in love with Helo and turned her back on the Cylons, helping Helo to escape the planet.
Ten months after the initial attacks, the Number Eight from Galactica, Boomer, was killed and downloaded into a new body. She settled on the now Cylon-occupied Caprica and, along with the Number Six who had infiltrated colonial defence networks just prior to the attacks, began leading a Cylon revolution. The word of these two Cylons considered "war heroes" by the others, carried weight. The newly educated Cylons determined their actions to be a mistake, going against God's will and withdrew from the colonial homeworlds then discontinued their pursuit of the fleet, vowing to go their separate ways from humanity. The half-human, half-Cylon hybrid, Hera Agathon was born on Galactica but fearing the outcome of the Cylons potentially capturing the child, President Laura Roslin faked Hera's death and secretly had her adopted out to a human woman within the fleet.
The human/Cylon separation lasted a year before the Cylons traced the radiation signature from a nuclear explosion back to the fleet who had now settled on a planet dubbed New Caprica. The Cylons decided to occupy the new human settlement, at first peacefully but later forcefully. A year later the colonials were able to escape from the Cylons with the help of an insurgence movement and the efforts of both the battlestars Galactica and Pegasus, though not without a very large loss of life. A Number Three, having spoken with a human oracle was told that Hera was alive and somewhere on the planet. She managed to rescue Hera after her adopted mother was killed during the escape.
Having failed at their occupation, the Cylons then adopted the colonials’ mission to find the home of the fabled thirteenth tribe, a planet called Earth, with the intent of making it their new home. They resumed pursuit of the fleet but upon reaching the Lion's Head Nebula, dispatched a basestar to investigate. The basestar took onboard a canister left by the thirteenth tribe. The canister was found to contain an airborne virus that proved highly contagious and deadly to the Cylons, yet had no effect on humans. The virus was also found to be capable of accompanying a Cylon during the download process so the basestar that had been dispatched for the investigation was abandoned by the rest of the Cylon fleet for fear that any rescue would contaminate the entire Cylon fleet. The colonial fleet soon thereafter discovered the disabled basestar and sent its own investigative team on a Raptor and captured a small number of ailing Cylons. The colonial fleet attempted to use the virus to wipe out the Cylons but the plan backfired when Helo had the captive Cylons killed before they were within range of a resurrection ship.
As the pursuit continued, internal relations between the Cylons began to break down. A Number Three violated her programming by actively seeking information about the final five models, resulting in her entire line being boxed. A Number Six later helped Sharon "Athena" Agathon retrieve her baby and escape from a basestar. Within the fleet, four of the final five humanoid models became simultaneously aware of their origins after hearing the same hallucinatory music, drawing them to each other. Their awakening was sensed by the Cylon Raiders during battle who broke off the attack, refusing to fight. This set off a debate in the Cylon governance regarding the failure of the Raiders to fight. The Number Ones, Fours, and Fives voted to "lobotomize" the Raiders to make them more quiescent and compliant with instructions. The Twos, Sixes and Eights, convinced that the Raiders had sensed the presence of the final five, voted against this measure but lost their vote against having the Raiders reconfigured when the 3-3 tie was broken after a single Eight (Boomer) voted against her model, something which had never been done before. They retaliated by removing inhibitors from the Centurions, granting them independent thought. The Centurions then sought retribution against the models who were “lobotomizing” the Raiders.
With the awakening of four of the final five humanoid Cylons, the identity of the fifth and final has never been revealed to either the other Cylons or the colonial fleet.
[edit] Centurions
The Cylon Centurion is the basic infantry ground unit, deliberately made less intelligent than human models, and are believed to be entirely mechanical. Centurions retain the silver appearance, robotic body, helmet-like head, and oscillating red bar eye of their counterparts from the original series, but are larger, taller, stronger, more agile, and have a more streamlined appearance. They also have retractable guns built into their lower arms, bladed fingertips, and are often heavily armored.
[edit] Earlier Model
The Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries) has an older model Centurion on display in Galactica's museum hangar. The model on display bears a striking resemblance to the Centurion of the 1978 series.
In Battlestar Galactica: Razor, Centurions in the original Cylon war are shown. These Centurions are almost identical to those from the original series, except they are CGI.
[edit] Current Model
Unlike the original series, these Centurions have not been shown using speech. It is unknown if this is because they are not intelligent enough to speak, use some other non-vocal method of communication, or simply because they have nothing to say. Ronald D. Moore has commented on his blog that these new Cylon Centurions do not download into new bodies when they are destroyed, though there is some suggestion that the Raiders do in the Season 2 episode, Scar. 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. In the episode Faith, a Centurion immediately fires upon an Eight model when she unplugs a Hybrid -- it is unclear whether it did this in wilful defence of the Hybrid, in accordance with some higher programming, to trigger the transformation of the Eight that resulted from the shooting, or a result of the removal of their higher function inhibitor modules (occurred in "Six of One"). As of now, the extent of the connection between the Centurions and the Hybrids has not been fully explored.
In "Six of One", after the Raiders showed signs of free will, the Twos, the Sixes, and the Eights with the exception of Boomer voted against a decision to reconfigure the Raiders, considering it an act of lobotomy. They were outvoted so they removed inhibitor modules from the Centurions that restrict higher functions, granting the Centurions independent thought. The newly freed Centurions sought retribution on the Cylons who decided to lobotomize the Raiders.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Humanoid Cylons
Although they made only a single appearance in one episode of the spin-off from the original series, (Andromus), 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 — indefinitely deactivated with their memories permanently downloaded into cold storage — 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 be a major plot point of the fourth and final 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 always make decisions in this fashion, as Cylons of the same model are implied to have higher or lower ranks than Cylons of other models at various times. However, it was also shown during the occupation of New Caprica, that a select group of humanoid Cylons, mostly ones whom had been within the Colonies, such as Boomer and Caprica Six, seemed to have seniority within their own model. One of each model was seen deliberating and discussing their course of action, with each of the 'senior' models representing the opinion of their entire model group.
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:
[edit] Number One (aka Brother Cavil)
Cavil first appears on Galactica, posing as a priest. His true identity is revealed when a second copy boards Galactica and reveals he is a Cylon. Cavil's role in society is one of contradictions and occasionally serves as a devil's advocate, pointing out the absurdity of his fellow Cylons and their religious zealotry. Despite his talk of religion and his alter-ego as a priest, Cavil has a sadistic, cruel and Machiavellian streak in his personality which none of the other Cylon models share. Cavil is also an atheist (the only one of the seven models who is one) and will often mockingly make quotation signs with his hands when saying the word "God." His opinions of humans are also driven by contradictions; despite being one of the most violently anti-human Cylon model (going so far as to torture Saul Tigh by gouging out one of his eyes and showing it to him) as well as advocating a policy of culling humanity down to a "controllable number," Cavil claimed to have been against the destruction of the Twelve Colonies and advocates a unique Cylon Society, not one that emulates its creators. He also took exquisite pleasure blackmailing Saul Tigh's wife (Ellen Tigh) into providing sexual favours in exchange for releasing her husband, Colonel Tigh, from Cylon captivity on New Caprica. After finally arranging Colonel Tigh's release, Cavil manipulated the situation even further by again blackmailing Ellen Tigh to betray the human resistance on New Caprica and threatening to kill her husband if she did not comply.
Cavil is portrayed as being aloof compared to the other models, though it has been implied by Cylon Model 8 "Boomer" that Cavil has begun mentoring her with his philosophy regarding Cylons not emulating humanity. Cavil has also shown signs of being aware of aspects of Cylon lore that the others models are not aware of; his knowledge of the "final five" led to him "boxing" Cylon Model Three D'Anna (as well as all other Number Threes) in order to ensure that whatever information about the Final Five she gained are "boxed" with her.
Number Ones are played by Dean Stockwell.
[edit] Number Two (aka Leoben Conoy)
Leoben first appears as a smuggler at the munitions depot at Ragnar Anchorage, where he was exposed as a Cylon in the mini-series. The Leoben model Cylons are known for their religious zealotry, which is intertwined with a pathological, and sometimes sexual, obsession with Starbuck.
Like his fellow Cylons, the Leoben models are skilled at deception and deceit. This was most notably seen when he manipulated Starbuck into thinking that a young girl he had kidnapped on New Caprica was her biological daughter. The Leoben models are known for their cunning minds and ability to find and exploit the weaknesses of others. As such, they are known to mix their lies with truths in order to better manipulate their victims. Unlike his fellows he appears to have the ability of prescience and has on several occasions prophesied future events.
In the season three episode "Maelstrom," Starbuck is confronted while flying her viper by a version of Leoben that attacked her telepathically and forced her to relive her final visit to her abusive mother, in order to "prepare her" for her impending act of apparent suicide (which Starbuck survived). Before he left her, the entity denied being Leoben, leading to much debate as to who or what this incarnation was.
A Leoben was found adrift in a damaged Raider by Starbuck while she was on recon from the Demetrius. He informed the crew of the civil war between the Cylons and tried to help Starbuck. He told her that he was not the same person she knew on New Caprica.
Number Twos are played by Callum Keith Rennie.
[edit] Number Three (aka D'Anna Biers)
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 propaganda-type documentary to ease tension between the fleet and the military forces aboard Galactica. In truth, the Biers model used the documentary as a means to relay information regarding the Cylon Sharon being alive to her fellow Cylons back on Caprica.
The Number Three Cylons are among the more aggressive Cylons of the seven models, as well as sharing a fate-based understanding toward the Cylon religion, believing that everything that happens is the will of God. However, their religious devotion masks a deep questioning by Number Threes (in particular, the D'Anna Biers model) about why bad things are allowed to happen by God.
The Number Threes possess an "alpha-female" type aggressiveness, almost always forcing themselves upon other Cylons as the de facto leader in any situation that the Cylons engage in. They are often rivals of the Number One and Number Six Models. Some of the rivalry with the Six's stems from when the "Caprica" Six Cylon beats one of the Number Three models to death to save the then unknown Cylon Samuel Anders from being tortured and killed by Three. This affair ultimately resulted in D'Anna getting revenge on Caprica for her act of fratricide by stealing Baltar from Caprica.
The Number Threes are also amongst the more anti-human Cylons, though for practical reasons: in "Exodus" Part II, D'Anna tells Baltar that she believes that humanity must die if only to prevent future generations of humans from seeking revenge against the Cylons for their acts of genocide and oppression against humanity.
Ultimately, D'Anna and the entire Number Three Cylon line, came to her end when Baltar seduced her by exploring her crisis of faith, which led to her secretly committing suicide (a major taboo in Cylon society) in order to indulge in near-death experiences that D'Anna felt would answer the burning questions regarding her faith, most notably the identity of the final five Cylons. This culminated in the episode "Rapture", as D'Anna died in the Eye of Jupiter temple and discovered the identity of the Final Five (to one of whom she apologized). Unfortunately, while doing so, the other Cylons had voted to "box" not only D'Anna but also the entire Number Three model line. Cavil, the Cylon who carried out the "boxing", revealed to D'Anna that she was being punished to silence her about what she saw regarding the final five and that her memories would be be kept in "cold storage" as a result. D'Anna, but none of the other threes, was unboxed in the 4th season episode Hub.
Number Threes are played by Lucy Lawless.
[edit] Number Four (aka Simon)
Simon 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.
Of the original eleven disclosed models, Simon is the only model that has not been used as infiltration agent within the fleet. Simon speaks calmly and clearly, and seems to use logic to solve problems and make decisions.
Number Fours are played by Rick Worthy.
[edit] Number Five (aka Aaron Doral)
In the miniseries, Doral appears as a public relations worker for the abortive Battlestar Galactica museum. In the episode "Litmus", another copy of 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. As a series, the Fives seem to specialise in public relations and control, using large scale events and media manipulation to their advantage.
Number Fives are played by Matthew Bennett.
[edit] Number Six (aka Caprica-Six/Head Six/Shelley Godfrey/Gina Inviere/Natalie)
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, Head Six, Caprica Six, and Natalie.
The Number Six is the most complex of all the known Humanoid Cylon models. One of the models, on her way to meet with Dr. Gaius Baltar, murdered an infant by breaking its neck. This could either be considered sociopathic, or a mercy killing due to the coming Cylon attack. 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 their hands and progressing to reinitiating a sexual relationship with him.
Another model, Gina, was acting as a contractor for the Battlestar Pegasus and was in a relationship with Admiral Cain. When Cain discovered that Gina was a Cylon agent, she ordered her crew to "push her programming" in an attempt to see if Gina was vulnerable to emotional trauma. Gina later escaped with Baltar's aid, assassinated Cain, and founded a resistance group in the fleet preaching peace with the Cylons. While it seemed that Gina may have developed feelings for Baltar and was going to pursue a relationship with him, she detonated a nuke (provided by Baltar) which destroyed Cloud Nine, some other fleet ships, and acted as a beacon for the Cylon fleet to locate the human fleet on New Caprica.
The Six has proven herself difficult to predict, and impossible to trust. An incarnation of Six (named Caprica Six by the others) committed the first incident of Cylon-on-Cylon violence in their history, killing a Number Three in order to save the life of Samuel T. Anders.
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. While in the brig, she has a relationship with Saul Tigh that results in the first Cylon-Cylon pregnancy.
It should also be noted that Caprica has a "Virtual Baltar" which only she sees similar to how Baltar has a "Virtual Six" that only he can see; "Virtual 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 "Virtual Six" plays for Baltar. How this is possible has not yet been explored, but there has been rampant speculation that Baltar is a Cylon. This "Virtual Baltar" however has also appeared at least once to Baltar himself. It is unknown if this was a projection change from "Virtual Six", Baltar's imagination, or some other possibility which will be revealed.
Tricia Helfer stated in an interview at Comic-Con 2007 that a new version of Number Six named Natalie would appear in season four of Battlestar Galactica.[1]
Number Sixes are played by Tricia Helfer.
[edit] Number Eight (aka Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii/Lt. Sharon "Athena" Agathon)
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 cremated. 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 Boomer 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 basestar, 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, Boomer (who was in charge of the baby) appeared to nearly murder Hera. Other Cylons of this model, upon encountering Sharon from the Galactica have immediately condemned her with the word "traitor," but have also provided warnings to help her. The Number Eight, while capable of more mercy than many of the other Cylon models, is still capable of homicide. In an apparent assassination attempt as a sleeper agent, she shot Admiral Bill Adama in the abdomen at the end of Season 1.
Number Eights are played by Grace Park.
[edit] The "Final Five" (Numbers Seven, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve) Humanoid Cylons
In the 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 when she had told him previously that there were twelve models. Six replies 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 episode "Hero," Number Three has a dream immediately after she dies, where she sees five glowing figures. Later, in the episode "The Passage," she 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 episode "Rapture," D'Anna and Baltar reach the Eye of Jupiter and D'Anna 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 awakening after downloading, she mentions her experience to Cavil. He confirms that the other seven Cylons do not know who the final five are and that the pursuit of that information is strictly forbidden by their programming. As punishment for this and for other acts, Cavil then terminates her and her entire line is "boxed", taking the secret of the final five with her.
In "Crossroads," four of the final five Cylons are revealed. Samuel T. Anders, Galen Tyrol, Tory Foster, and Saul Tigh begin hearing the same hallucinatory music that no one else can perceive (A version of "All Along the Watchtower" written by Bob Dylan). When the music draws them towards each other, a "switch goes off" in their minds and they realize that they are all Cylons. They resolve, nevertheless, to continue doing their duty as part of the fleet. Their "awakening" seems to affect other Cylons as in the episode "He That Believeth In Me," a Cylon Raider scans Anders then disengages the attack; in the same episode, aboard Galactica, Caprica Six tells Roslin that she can feel the final five and that they are near. It is later revealed in "Six of One" that the Twos, Sixes and Eights believe that the Raiders called off the attack because they sensed the final five, something the other models disagree with. Cavil further confirms that their original programmers programmed the seven Cylon models not to seek that information out.
Ronald D. Moore confirmed in an interview that the four are indeed full Cylons — however, "fundamentally different."[2]
[edit] Hybrids
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, to the half-human half-Cylon children. 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 itself.
In addition, the Hybrids continually speak 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 Six states that the Leoben Conoy models believe that every word a hybrid says is channeled from the Cylon god. A Hybrid is not allowed a vote in the Cylon democratic process by the humanoids, though it sometimes objects to the course of action they take, for example, leaving another basestar full of disease-infected Cylons to their fates.[3]
In Battlestar Galactica: Razor another Hybrid is seen. This Hybrid, considered the First Hybrid in Cylon lore, was the result of experiments on humans during the first Cylon war and appears to be more coherent and prophetic than the other Hybrids. It is of such importance that it is constantly protected by Cylon Raiders, however the Colonial Fleet manage to destroy it and its basestar.
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 Basestar Hybrids are played by Tiffany Lyndall-Knight. The First Hybrid is played by Campbell Lane.
[edit] Religion
Humanoid Cylons follow a monotheistic religion. Religious fanaticism partially motivates their genocide of humanity, and despite their origins, the Cylons believe themselves to be spiritual beings. This monotheism seems to share many of the characteristics as the Abrahamic religions: belief that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, that he will one day deliver divine retribution, and that he intervenes in the mundane world.
Ron Moore, the creator of the show, has said that this comes when a race becomes sentient and self-aware — questioning faith and religion and about what happens after death.[4]
Their beliefs are, however, separate from the Christian beliefs in that there is no heaven and hell, and they deal with issues such as consciousness, enlightenment and reincarnation.
The different models of Cylon have slightly different ways of talking about and dealing with their god, reflecting the different aspects of humanity that each Cylon model reflects.[4] As shown in at least one case, the Number Ones in season four, the cylons do not all believe in god and can be agnostic or atheist.
[edit] Vulnerabilities
In general, Cylons seem to be physically stronger than humans. While this is obvious with respect to Centurions, the extent to which this is also true of humanoid Cylons is unclear. In the miniseries, William Adama fought in hand-to-hand combat against a number two who, despite suffering from the effects of radiation, proved to be physically stronger than his opponent. At one point, the number two managed to break off a metal pipe to use as a club and lift Adama off the floor with one arm. In the episode "Flesh and Bone", another number two was able to break apart a pair of metal handcuffs while under interrogation. In the first season finale, "Kobol's Last Gleaming II", a number six engaged Kara Thrace in hand-to-hand combat and proved to be exceptionally fast, agile, and strong. Despite these demonstrations of physical strength and dexterity, humanoid Cylons are vulnerable to most of the same limitations as humans. The number two who fought Adama was beaten to death with a metal pipe while the number six who fought Thrace was impaled by a piece of rebar. While humanoid Cylons may be at the peak of human physical strength, even perhaps exceeding it, they do not appear to be superhuman, and trauma which would cause severe injury or death in a human can be expected to do the same to a Cylon. In particular, and as evidenced throughout the series, Cylon skin appears just as vulnerable to breaking as human skin, with the resulting injury "bleeding" just as a comparable would would in a human.
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 assumed but not stated 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 radiation had deleterious effects on the Leoben Conoy model they found at Ragnar Anchorage. This also suggests that "humans" are not vulnerable to the effects of this radiation. In addition, plutonium is used for Baltar's "Cylon Detector" because its radiation affects humans and Cylons differently.
[edit] References
- ^ The Women of Battlestar Q&A
- ^ Rob Owen (2007-03-26). Executive producer Ron Moore discusses thrilling 'Galactica' cliffhanger. Post-Gazette.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
- ^ "A Measure of Salvation". Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).
- ^ a b The Souls of Cylons - a Beliefnet Interview with Ron Moore
[edit] See also
[edit] Cylon vessels
- Basestar — controlled by Hybrids
- Raider — individuals in their own right
- Heavy Raider
- Resurrection ship
[edit] External links
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