Cylon (planet) (TOS-RH)

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

Cylon is a planet and the homeworld of the reptilian race that Count Iblis manipulated to create the Cylon race. Described as the most hostile and uninhabitable planet in the galaxy, Cylon served as the site of exile for Iblis and his followers from the House of Iblis after their banishment from Kobol.

Planetary Characteristics

Cylon is characterized as an arid, desert planet—a "stinking desert planet" and "hell world" even by the standards of those exiled there. The planet's environment was so hostile that Iblis's enemies never believed he or his followers could survive it. The world was home to the most vicious, predatory species ever discovered—the reptilian Cylons, who were warlike, savage, yet sentient creatures.

Despite its hostile nature, the planet possessed biological resources that Iblis exploited for his genetic experiments. The world's environment created unique challenges, including long-dead spores that became activated during terraforming efforts, causing respiratory problems for the human inhabitants.

Native Species

The indigenous population of Cylon consisted of reptilian creatures that were sentient but undeveloped when Iblis arrived. These beings were warlike and savage, operating above the animal stage in their mental powers but below human level. The reptiles were highly volatile and violent—too unpredictable to be properly controlled even by someone with Iblis's persuasive powers.

Through rudimentary communication, Iblis ascertained that with proper training and selective breeding, these creatures possessed the potential to be the finest warriors in the universe. This discovery drove his decision to combine human and reptilian DNA, creating the hybrid species that would eventually exterminate their reptilian progenitors and adopt their planet's name as their own.

History

Exile of Iblis

Generations after the founding of the House of Iblis, the Kobollian forefathers cast Iblis and his followers out of the House of Kobol. They were exiled to Cylon—described as the most hostile and uninhabitable planet in the galaxy—where they were expected to die. The exile was intended as capital punishment in all but name, sending Iblis to a world where survival seemed impossible given the vicious, predatory nature of the native species.

Iblis's Experiments

Rather than perishing as intended, Iblis survived and began conducting genetic experiments on the native reptilian population. An expert in genetic engineering, Iblis had mastered every ethical argument for using advanced biological techniques to improve health and intelligence. However, his experiments on Cylon went far beyond any ethical boundaries his original colleagues on Kobol would have tolerated.

Iblis's somewhat callous manner toward the backward but highly volatile alien species drew objections from weak-willed members of his staff who protested the pain he inflicted on the reptilian beings. He asserted his authority repeatedly, reminding critics they were stuck on a dismal planet and the only resource at their command was biological material. One colleague who attempted to stop his human-reptilian DNA experiments was killed, and Iblis reflected that her death provided more human genetic material for his work. Other members of his party met similar fates.

Iblis combined human genetic splicing with cybernetic technology to create a new race with two goals as a species: the conquest of the universe and the extermination of humanity. He introduced his own human DNA into the Cylon genetic structure, evolving the reptilians into bipedal creatures. The physical combination became a literal metaphor for the philosophical—if humans couldn't appreciate what he offered them, he would make his point with a new species that would conquer all.

By this time, Iblis had developed a new religion ensuring fanatical followers who believed his every utterance to be revealed Truth and had no desire to end up on his laboratory table. He rather enjoyed being a god. Even those of his original crew who survived came to believe in whispers that the old man must be crazy to enjoy the hell world.

Terraforming and Environmental Challenges

Iblis's efforts to make Cylon more habitable through terraforming created new problems by activating long-dead spores. Everyone developed respiratory problems from the revived fungus that invaded the lungs. Everyone except Count Iblis himself—in a spare moment, he developed a cure but didn't bother sharing it with his fellow humans. His interest was almost entirely focused on the hybrid race he was creating.

Rise of the Cylons

The reptilian Cylons were introduced to technology by the outsider filled with as much hatred as they themselves possessed. Iblis promised to make them the most ruthless, fearsome warriors the universe had ever seen, and kept that promise through genetic manipulation. Cloning followed the initial genetic alterations, making females of the species redundant and unnecessary. Genetic manipulation bred all emotion out of the reptilian creatures except hatred—they had plenty of that, as did their creator.

Predictably, the Cylons eventually turned upon Iblis himself, destroying his human body and leaving his brain under their control. However, Iblis proved more resilient than anticipated—though his brain remained enslaved to the Cylons, his consciousness continued to evolve until he could project his esoteric body through space and time.

Manufacturing Center

By the time of the Great Betrayal, Cylon served as the manufacturing center for the Cylon race. Both Centurions and Cogitators were manufactured on the planet, and an Imperious Leader was always kept in preparation should the reigning leader be destroyed. Baltar never had occasion to visit the home planet during his time with the Cylons, noting he doubted he would have enjoyed it very much.

The planet housed the bio-labs where the upper echelons of two-brained Cylons were created to maintain the Cylon leadership hierarchy.

Cylon Civil War

The planet Cylon later became central to an internal conflict within the Cylon race. When bio-labs worked overtime to meet production quotas, a damaged genetic program introduced a virus that destroyed the Iblis programming in some two-brained Cylons. These Cylons concluded that the human element was the virus weakening the race and preventing universal conquest. A clandestine movement began advocating for purely reptilian Cylons over those with human DNA, creating a new religion to defy the orthodoxy of the Iblis Faith.

Experimental Archives

The planet maintained extensive archives of Iblis's original genetic experiments. In section four, category ten of the human DNA experiments, Iblis had not only created diseases but also developed cures—closing the circle of his research by exhausting all possibilities before abandoning a project. These archives proved valuable millennia later when the Colonial Fleet desperately needed a cure for a plague ravaging the population.