Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Thomas Zarek

2006-10-28T02:36:11Z

Lordsigma12345:

{{Character Data|
|photo= zarek.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]]
|birthname= Thomas Zarek
|callsign=
|seen=Bastille Day
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Single
|role= Former Vice President of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]] <br/> Former Representive of Sagittaron on the [[Quorum of Twelve]]
|rank=
|actor= [[Richard Hatch]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

'''Tom Zarek''' was a political activist for more than 30 years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. He is a charismatic, eloquent and ideological political agitator who was incarcerated for destroying a government building on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]]. His 20-year incarceration culminated in a sojurn in the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', a [[FTL]]-capable prison ship, whilst in transit to parole hearings. Assigned the prison number of [[893893]], Zarek was under consideration for parole at the time of the [[Cylon attack]].

== Biography ==

Zarek came from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]], a colony known to be mistreated by the other eleven [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Colonies]]. Through his experiences on that colony, he became an advocate of freedom from slavery. Zarek became a voice for the disenfranchised and, along with publishing a book that was virtually banned throughout the Colonies, actively sought to fight against injustices. His group was called the [[S.F.M.]]

To some he is considered a terrorist and nuisance for his tactics, which included the destruction of a government building that resulted in an unspecified loss of life. He believes in the efficacy of violence as a means of change, going as so far as to go to prison over a "matter of conscience" and his refusal of President [[Richard Adar|Richard Adar's]] politically motivated conditional pardon (the conditions of the pardon being that he would publicly apologize and pledge to give up violence as a means of change).

Even some of his fellow Sagittarons have an intense dislike of him, including Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]]. Despite this, he became a public figure whose name had weight and almost became legendary, thanks to public opinion ([[Bastille Day]]).

== After the Exodus ==

After avoiding the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' commander's desire to euthanize the prisoners (thanks to President [[Laura Roslin]]'s humanitarian decision) ([[Miniseries]]) Zarek plots to escape captivity. With the water shortage and the discovery of a planet that could replenish the lost water ([[Water]]), Commander [[William Adama|Adama]], [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] and President Roslin reluctantly decide to ask the prisoners to volunteer as badly needed manpower, under the condition that they would not be treated as slaves and they would agree of their own volition.

After [[Lee Adama]]'s unsuccessful attempt to persuade the prisoners to help in the recovery efforts, Zarek's springs the prisoners' escape plan. The prisoners, under Zarek's command, usurp control of the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', and takes her crew and ''Galactica's'' visitors as prisoners. Zarek states his terms for release of the prisoners: the resignation of [[Laura Roslin]] and her administration, and the start of free and open elections for a new president. Zarek deems Roslin's presidency as illegitimate and illegal (clearly, the details of [[Case Orange]] were not made public, though even if they were, Zarek wouldn't have backed down).

Unfortunately, Zarek's aims are not in keeping with his demands; he wants a bloodbath to ensue, believing that all that people understand is violence, and that a bloodbath would destroy any credibility that Adama and Roslin have.

When the situation deteriorates near the point of catastrophe for all involved, Zarek, ready to sacrifice his life for his beliefs, is swayed by [[Lee Adama]]'s promise that he would uphold the [[Articles of Colonization]] and hold open elections for a new president, once Roslin had served the remainder of President Adar's term (as dictated by the Articles and Case Orange), as well as give the ship over to the prisoners as a show of good faith.

== Attempts for Political Power ==
[[Image:Home_pt1_debate.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tom Zarek]] in debate with [[Quorum of Twelve|Quorum members]]. (C. Sci-Fi Channel)
]]
With a degree of freedom obtained by the prisoners - including control of the ''Astral Queen'', Zarek engages in a steady effort to gain the goodwill of others of influence within the fleet. This effort includes physical acts of support for other ships (such as fixing the air filtration system on the ship occupied by [[Marshall Bagott]], a politician from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Virgon|Virgon]]).

Zarek's efforts result in a nomination as the Representative of [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]] on the [[Quorum of Twelve]]. From there, Zarek makes a bid for the position of Vice President using the support of those he assisted, and possibly badgered ([[Colonial Day]]).

While Zarek's attempt at the Vice Presidency fails after Roslin replaces the somewhat unlikeable [[Wallace Gray]] with the charismatic Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]] as an alternative candidate, Zarek makes it clear to Roslin that he will be standing against her in the elections.

Zarek remains possibly the most powerful and popular representative in the [[Quorum of Twelve]].<br/><br/>

== Breakaway from [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ==

The schism created by Commander Adama's unlawful arrest of President Roslin and [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]]'s declaration of [[Wikipedia:martial law|martial law]] presents Zarek with an opportunity to convince others that Adama is after total control of the Fleet. Zarek likely sought to use Tigh's inexperience with dealing with the government and [[Colonial Press|press]] against the military powers. Zarek and the Quorum soon learn of Roslin's terminal cancer, after Tigh permits the Quorum of Twelve to see her in ''Galactica'''s brig ([[Fragged]]).

After the ''[[Gideon]]'' incident, where four civilians die, some crewmembers of ''Galactica'' orchestrate Roslin's escape. Lee Adama, knowing they would be hunted throughout the Fleet, enlists Zarek's assistance in secreting Roslin away from Tigh and Commander Adama ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]], [[The Farm]]). Roslin is initially dismayed to be greeted by Zarek, but realizes that Zarek, no friend to Adama or Tigh, is "the enemy of my enemy."

Zarek and Roslin attempt to use appeals by recorded [[wireless]] messages to sway favor in the Fleet to return to Kobol. Zarek convinces Lee Adama at first to create a dissenting message against ''Galactica's'' rule, but Lee changes his mind (probably because he swore to his comatose father that it wasn't about them). After Roslin plays the "religious card" to sway support for her cause in the Fleet, Roslin and Zarek lead a [[Laura Roslin faction|separatist fleet]] back to [[Kobol]] to await [[Kara Thrace]]'s return with the [[Arrow of Apollo]], for use in unlocking the [[Tomb of Athena]].

Zarek, with his associate [[Meier]], plan to eliminate the young Captain Adama on Kobol, using the rationalization about [[Zeus]]' warning that any return to Kobol would "exact a price in blood". Zarek feels that removing the young Adama would create a political power vacuum, allowing Zarek to take the position as captain of factioned Fleet, while Roslin would remain president ([[Home, Part I]]).

Zarek abandons the assassination plan when Commander Adama arrives on Kobol to mend fences with Roslin. However, Meier privately revises the plan outside of Zarek's knowledge, now with the goal of eliminating both Adamas by soliciting the help of the [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii]] that returned with [[Karl Agathon]] and Thrace. Unfortunately for Zarek, Sharon Valerii double-crosses Meier, killing him at the entrance to the Tomb of Athena. While none in the group immediately consider Zarek as a suspect in Meier's assassination attempt, Commander Adama remains guarded and leaves Zarek and several others outside of the Tomb under the watchful eye of [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] while they unlock its secrets ([[Home, Part II]]).

==After Fleet Reunification==
Zarek later gives [[Lee Adama|Apollo]] information regarding the [[Black market (organization)|black market]], initially claiming not to be a part of it because he needs to keep his hands clean, but ultimately points out that the black market does get supplies where they are needed. Nonetheless, Zarek mentions the central hub of the black market, ''[[Prometheus]]'', a ship so lawless it's practically "off the grid", as well as the name of its "businessman", [[Phelan]]. However, soon after Phelan's death at the hands of Apollo, Tom Zarek is seen walking through a crowd on the Prometheus with one of Phelan's old henchmen in tow. It is unknown how much involvment Tom Zarek has with the organization ([[Black Market]]).

Despite being the presumed opponent of Roslin in the upcoming presidential election, Zarek decides not to run against her because he realizes he probably won't win the election. However, he encourages vice president [[Gaius Baltar]] to run in his place ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

==Baltar's Election Campaign==
When Baltar announces his run for the Presidency, Zarek assumes a position as his campaign manager. For all Zarek's personal political talent he has a hard time managing Baltar's campaign and faces the tough issue of whether Baltar is an electable candidate. After being trounced in the first debate by Roslin, Baltar's political future is in deep jeopardy and Zarek is left looking for a stronger wedge-issue other than Roslin's ties to the religious Gemenese. As if delivered by the hand of [[God]], an issue presents itself that they can get on the supposed right side of; the colonization of a [[New Caprica|newly discovered planet]] and a safe-haven from the Cylons. Zarek presses Baltar to pick up this issue and run with it and as soon as he does his political fortunes turn around dramatically. Like he predicted the people rally around the idea of colonization and Baltar sails out of the final debate with a wide lead on Roslin ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

With his job of campaign manager all but over on election day, there isn't much for Zarek to do but sit back and wait for the results to come in. When the initial tallies come in suggesting Roslin scored a remarkable come-back victory he says to Baltar that he's seen enough elections to recognize a fixed one. Baltar admonishes Zarek, maintaining that, whatever Laura Roslin is, she is above fixing an election.

Zarek is not seen again when the story picks up one year later on New Caprica, but according to Ronald Moore's [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2006/03/#000410 blog], Zarek was "...Vice President, but his relationship with Baltar went south relatively quickly, and he simply refused to cooperate once the Cylon occupation began."

== After Occupation ==

After Baltar's surrender of the Colonial government, Zarek disagrees with the planned collaboration with the Cylons and stepped down. In retaliation, Zarek is sent to a detention camp for four months.

Along with former president [[Laura Roslin]], he and about 200 other dissidents are driven to a canyon where they were to be executed by executive order of President Baltar. After exiting the truck, Zarek asks Roslin directly whether she had [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II|attempted to steal]] the past election. After Roslin admits that she had, both agree that they wished she'd gone through with it. The group of detainees are soon faced with [[Cylon Centurion]]s preparing to fire, and Zarek pulls Roslin back from the front of the crowd ([[Precipice]]). However, members of the resistance successfully prevent the execution.

Zarek attends the final meeting of the resistance to review the [[Battle of New Caprica|plan to escape New Caprica]]. Zarek and Roslin evacuate together towards their ships, though Roslin chooses to escape in [[Colonial One]]. Before departing for his own ship, Zarek gives a gun to [[Jammer]] and tells him to protect Roslin ([[Exodus]]).

== Notes ==
*Tom Zarek is portrayed by actor [[Richard Hatch]], who portrayed the original [[Apollo (TOS)|Apollo]] in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|1978 ''Battlestar Galactica'' series]].
*Hatch has written novels based on the original series, and also leads an attempt to bring the Original Series back theatrically in a project called "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming]]."

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=''(unknown)''|title=Sagittaron delegate to the [[Quorum of Twelve]]|after=''(unknown)''|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Gaius Baltar]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=[[Laura Roslin]]|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Gaius Baltar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=[[Laura Roslin]]|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Laura Roslin]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=''incumbant''|}}
{{end box}}

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:Characters|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:People from Sagittaron|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:RDM|Zarek, Tom]]

Thomas Zarek

2006-10-28T02:32:14Z

Lordsigma12345:

{{Character Data|
|photo= zarek.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]]
|birthname= Thomas Zarek
|callsign=
|seen=Bastille Day
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Single
|role= Former Vice President of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]] <br/> Former Representive of Sagittaron on the [[Quorum of Twelve]]
|rank=
|actor= [[Richard Hatch]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

'''Tom Zarek''' was a political activist for more than 30 years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. He is a charismatic, eloquent and ideological political agitator who was incarcerated for destroying a government building on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]]. His 20-year incarceration culminated in a sojurn in the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', a [[FTL]]-capable prison ship, whilst in transit to parole hearings. Assigned the prison number of [[893893]], Zarek was under consideration for parole at the time of the [[Cylon attack]].

== Biography ==

Zarek came from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]], a colony known to be mistreated by the other eleven [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Colonies]]. Through his experiences on that colony, he became an advocate of freedom from slavery. Zarek became a voice for the disenfranchised and, along with publishing a book that was virtually banned throughout the Colonies, actively sought to fight against injustices. His group was called the [[S.F.M.]]

To some he is considered a terrorist and nuisance for his tactics, which included the destruction of a government building that resulted in an unspecified loss of life. He believes in the efficacy of violence as a means of change, going as so far as to go to prison over a "matter of conscience" and his refusal of President [[Richard Adar|Richard Adar's]] politically motivated conditional pardon (the conditions of the pardon being that he would publicly apologize and pledge to give up violence as a means of change).

Even some of his fellow Sagittarons have an intense dislike of him, including Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]]. Despite this, he became a public figure whose name had weight and almost became legendary, thanks to public opinion ([[Bastille Day]]).

== After the Exodus ==

After avoiding the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' commander's desire to euthanize the prisoners (thanks to President [[Laura Roslin]]'s humanitarian decision) ([[Miniseries]]) Zarek plots to escape captivity. With the water shortage and the discovery of a planet that could replenish the lost water ([[Water]]), Commander [[William Adama|Adama]], [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] and President Roslin reluctantly decide to ask the prisoners to volunteer as badly needed manpower, under the condition that they would not be treated as slaves and they would agree of their own volition.

After [[Lee Adama]]'s unsuccessful attempt to persuade the prisoners to help in the recovery efforts, Zarek's springs the prisoners' escape plan. The prisoners, under Zarek's command, usurp control of the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', and takes her crew and ''Galactica's'' visitors as prisoners. Zarek states his terms for release of the prisoners: the resignation of [[Laura Roslin]] and her administration, and the start of free and open elections for a new president. Zarek deems Roslin's presidency as illegitimate and illegal (clearly, the details of [[Case Orange]] were not made public, though even if they were, Zarek wouldn't have backed down).

Unfortunately, Zarek's aims are not in keeping with his demands; he wants a bloodbath to ensue, believing that all that people understand is violence, and that a bloodbath would destroy any credibility that Adama and Roslin have.

When the situation deteriorates near the point of catastrophe for all involved, Zarek, ready to sacrifice his life for his beliefs, is swayed by [[Lee Adama]]'s promise that he would uphold the [[Articles of Colonization]] and hold open elections for a new president, once Roslin had served the remainder of President Adar's term (as dictated by the Articles and Case Orange), as well as give the ship over to the prisoners as a show of good faith.

== Attempts for Political Power ==
[[Image:Home_pt1_debate.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tom Zarek]] in debate with [[Quorum of Twelve|Quorum members]]. (C. Sci-Fi Channel)
]]
With a degree of freedom obtained by the prisoners - including control of the ''Astral Queen'', Zarek engages in a steady effort to gain the goodwill of others of influence within the fleet. This effort includes physical acts of support for other ships (such as fixing the air filtration system on the ship occupied by [[Marshall Bagott]], a politician from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Virgon|Virgon]]).

Zarek's efforts result in a nomination as the Representative of [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]] on the [[Quorum of Twelve]]. From there, Zarek makes a bid for the position of Vice President using the support of those he assisted, and possibly badgered ([[Colonial Day]]).

While Zarek's attempt at the Vice Presidency fails after Roslin replaces the somewhat unlikeable [[Wallace Gray]] with the charismatic Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]] as an alternative candidate, Zarek makes it clear to Roslin that he will be standing against her in the elections.

Zarek remains possibly the most powerful and popular representative in the [[Quorum of Twelve]].<br/><br/>

== Breakaway from [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ==

The schism created by Commander Adama's unlawful arrest of President Roslin and [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]]'s declaration of [[Wikipedia:martial law|martial law]] presents Zarek with an opportunity to convince others that Adama is after total control of the Fleet. Zarek likely sought to use Tigh's inexperience with dealing with the government and [[Colonial Press|press]] against the military powers. Zarek and the Quorum soon learn of Roslin's terminal cancer, after Tigh permits the Quorum of Twelve to see her in ''Galactica'''s brig ([[Fragged]]).

After the ''[[Gideon]]'' incident, where four civilians die, some crewmembers of ''Galactica'' orchestrate Roslin's escape. Lee Adama, knowing they would be hunted throughout the Fleet, enlists Zarek's assistance in secreting Roslin away from Tigh and Commander Adama ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]], [[The Farm]]). Roslin is initially dismayed to be greeted by Zarek, but realizes that Zarek, no friend to Adama or Tigh, is "the enemy of my enemy."

Zarek and Roslin attempt to use appeals by recorded [[wireless]] messages to sway favor in the Fleet to return to Kobol. Zarek convinces Lee Adama at first to create a dissenting message against ''Galactica's'' rule, but Lee changes his mind (probably because he swore to his comatose father that it wasn't about them). After Roslin plays the "religious card" to sway support for her cause in the Fleet, Roslin and Zarek lead a [[Laura Roslin faction|separatist fleet]] back to [[Kobol]] to await [[Kara Thrace]]'s return with the [[Arrow of Apollo]], for use in unlocking the [[Tomb of Athena]].

Zarek, with his associate [[Meier]], plan to eliminate the young Captain Adama on Kobol, using the rationalization about [[Zeus]]' warning that any return to Kobol would "exact a price in blood". Zarek feels that removing the young Adama would create a political power vacuum, allowing Zarek to take the position as captain of factioned Fleet, while Roslin would remain president ([[Home, Part I]]).

Zarek abandons the assassination plan when Commander Adama arrives on Kobol to mend fences with Roslin. However, Meier privately revises the plan outside of Zarek's knowledge, now with the goal of eliminating both Adamas by soliciting the help of the [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii]] that returned with [[Karl Agathon]] and Thrace. Unfortunately for Zarek, Sharon Valerii double-crosses Meier, killing him at the entrance to the Tomb of Athena. While none in the group immediately consider Zarek as a suspect in Meier's assassination attempt, Commander Adama remains guarded and leaves Zarek and several others outside of the Tomb under the watchful eye of [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] while they unlock its secrets ([[Home, Part II]]).

==After Fleet Reunification==
Zarek later gives [[Lee Adama|Apollo]] information regarding the [[Black market (organization)|black market]], initially claiming not to be a part of it because he needs to keep his hands clean, but ultimately points out that the black market does get supplies where they are needed. Nonetheless, Zarek mentions the central hub of the black market, ''[[Prometheus]]'', a ship so lawless it's practically "off the grid", as well as the name of its "businessman", [[Phelan]]. However, soon after Phelan's death at the hands of Apollo, Tom Zarek is seen walking through a crowd on the Prometheus with one of Phelan's old henchmen in tow. It is unknown how much involvment Tom Zarek has with the organization ([[Black Market]]).

Despite being the presumed opponent of Roslin in the upcoming presidential election, Zarek decides not to run against her because he realizes he probably won't win the election. However, he encourages vice president [[Gaius Baltar]] to run in his place ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

==Baltar's Election Campaign==
When Baltar announces his run for the Presidency, Zarek assumes a position as his campaign manager. For all Zarek's personal political talent he has a hard time managing Baltar's campaign and faces the tough issue of whether Baltar is an electable candidate. After being trounced in the first debate by Roslin, Baltar's political future is in deep jeopardy and Zarek is left looking for a stronger wedge-issue other than Roslin's ties to the religious Gemenese. As if delivered by the hand of [[God]], an issue presents itself that they can get on the supposed right side of; the colonization of a [[New Caprica|newly discovered planet]] and a safe-haven from the Cylons. Zarek presses Baltar to pick up this issue and run with it and as soon as he does his political fortunes turn around dramatically. Like he predicted the people rally around the idea of colonization and Baltar sails out of the final debate with a wide lead on Roslin ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

With his job of campaign manager all but over on election day, there isn't much for Zarek to do but sit back and wait for the results to come in. When the initial tallies come in suggesting Roslin scored a remarkable come-back victory he says to Baltar that he's seen enough elections to recognize a fixed one. Baltar admonishes Zarek, maintaining that, whatever Laura Roslin is, she is above fixing an election.

Zarek is not seen again when the story picks up one year later on New Caprica, but according to Ronald Moore's [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2006/03/#000410 blog], Zarek was "...Vice President, but his relationship with Baltar went south relatively quickly, and he simply refused to cooperate once the Cylon occupation began."

== After Occupation ==

After Baltar's surrender of the Colonial government, Zarek disagrees with the planned collaboration with the Cylons and stepped down. In retaliation, Zarek is sent to a detention camp for four months.

Along with former president [[Laura Roslin]], he and about 200 other dissidents are driven to a canyon where they were to be executed by executive order of President Baltar. After exiting the truck, Zarek asks Roslin directly whether she had [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II|attempted to steal]] the past election. After Roslin admits that she had, both agree that they wished she'd gone through with it. The group of detainees are soon faced with [[Cylon Centurion]]s preparing to fire, and Zarek pulls Roslin back from the front of the crowd ([[Precipice]]). However, members of the resistance successfully prevent the execution.

Zarek attends the final meeting of the resistance to review the [[Battle of New Caprica|plan to escape New Caprica]]. Zarek and Roslin evacuate together towards their ships, though Roslin chooses to escape in [[Colonial One]]. Before departing for his own ship, Zarek gives a gun to [[Jammer]] and tells him to protect Roslin ([[Exodus]]).

== Notes ==
*Tom Zarek is portrayed by actor [[Richard Hatch]], who portrayed the original [[Apollo (TOS)|Apollo]] in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|1978 ''Battlestar Galactica'' series]].
*Hatch has written novels based on the original series, and also leads an attempt to bring the Original Series back theatrically in a project called "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming]]."

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=''(unknown)''|title=Sagittaron delegate to the [[Quorum of Twelve]]|after=''(unknown)''|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Gaius Baltar]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=[[Laura Roslin]]|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Gaius Baltar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=[[Laura Roslin]]|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Laura Roslin]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies]]|after=[[incumbant]]|}}
{{end box}}

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:Characters|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:People from Sagittaron|Zarek, Tom]]
[[Category:RDM|Zarek, Tom]]

Gaius Baltar

2006-10-28T02:27:34Z

Lordsigma12345:

:''This page discusses the unwitting betrayer of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. For information on the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] character that intentionally betrays the [[The Twelve Colonies (TOS)|Twelve Colonies of Man]], see [[Baltar (TOS)]].''

{{Character Data
|photo= Season 3 Baltar.jpg
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]
|birthname= Gaius Baltar
|seen= Miniseries
|marital status= Single, in a relationship with a [[Cylon-Related_Hallucinations#Baltar.27s_Internal_Six|hallucination of Number Six]]. Previously involved with [[Caprica-Six|the "real" Number Six]] and [[Gina]].
|role= Former President of [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|the Twelve Colonies]]
|actor= [[James Callis]]
}}

Dr. '''Gaius Baltar''' is a brilliant scientist. Elegantly dressed and aesthetically handsome, with the affected humility of the truly arrogant, Baltar is a deeply flawed person and almost pathologically narcissistic. Beneath his outstanding abilities lurks a dramatic weakness of character that leads humanity to disaster.

Baltar is no longer president of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. He had succeeded President [[Laura Roslin]] in an election 380 days prior to the Cylons' discovery of [[New Caprica]] ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]). Now viewed as a traitor by the Colonials, he is left behind on [[New Caprica]] in the aftermath of the [[Battle of New Caprica]] ([[Exodus, Part II]]).

__TOC__

== Background ==

* Dr. Baltar was formerly a lead defense systems developer working for the [[Colonial Ministry of Defense]] and came to prominence as a computer technology designer, having won three [[Magnate Prize]]s.
* He networks with others well, and became personal friends with President [[Richard Adar]]. Though Baltar is extremely arrogant at times.
* Baltar becomes responsible for the design of the critical [[Command Navigation Program]] (CNP) used throughout the [[Colonial Fleet]].
* Baltar's scientific prowess seems strongest in the medical and biological fields ([[Epiphanies]]). As a result of his lesser (although still advanced) computer programming skills, he seeks the help (and as a byproduct, the affections of) a [[Caprica Six|young woman]] to aid him with the CNP.
* Baltar's two-year affair with the mysterious woman-- even to the extent of using code she herself wrote to overcome shortfalls in his CNP -- allowed her unrestricted access to some of the most sensitive systems of the Colonial defenses.
*Baltar's involvement with his blonde assistant does not stop him from dalliances with other women during this time, right up to when his assistant confronts Baltar and a lover in bed.

==Character History==
* Baltar learns that his "corporate spy" lover is in fact a new type of Cylon -- a [[Cylon agent|Cylon in human form]], able to mimic human beings down to the smallest detail, who altered his CNP with [[backdoor]]s to subvert any CNP-equipped ship.
[[image:Mini-Baltar_Six.jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Gaius Baltar]] and [[Caprica-Six|Number Six]] kissing in the [[Miniseries]]. (C. SciFi Channel)]]
*Appalled by the fact that his sexual folly has led to the virtual holocaust of humanity, Baltar is nevertheless determined not only to survive but also avoid having his unintended treachery revealed.
* Baltar is rescued from Caprica following the forced-landing of a Colonial [[Raptor]] -- at the cost of [[Karl Agathon|one of the crew staying behind]] ([[Miniseries]])
* Baltar is plagued by visions of Number Six that only he can see and hear. He cannot be sure whether this is a result of his own guilt at his actions or whether -- as she initially claims -- she is part of a chip that has been implanted in his brain<ref name="chip">The idea that Six is an actual chip in Baltar's head was dismissed by Dr. [[Cottle]]'s image scan of Baltar's head. See [[Gaius Baltar#Speculation: The Real Baltar?|the section on alternate reasons for Six's existence]] for more.</ref>.
*Baltar is put to work trying to devise a means of detecting these humanoid Cylons. He luckily exposes [[Aaron Doral]] as a Cylon agent ([[Miniseries]]), using little more than invented [[technobabble]] to convince [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]].
*Baltar eventually develops a genuine detector. This, together with his survival of a foiled attempt to expose him as a traitor ([[Six Degrees of Separation]]), firmly establishes his credentials within the Fleet's hierarchy.
*With this new-found trust, and despite his willingness to deliberately conceal vital information, such as [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|"Boomer" Valerii's]] true status as a [[Cylon agent]] ([[Flesh and Bone]]), Baltar enters the realm of political leadership, first as the Representative for [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] on the [[Quorum of Twelve]], and then as the newly-elected Vice President of the Colonies ([[Colonial Day]]).
* The virtual Six continues to help and hinder Baltar, gradually drawing him to a point of near-open acceptance and participation in Cylon plans and activities ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). Whether by coincidence or design, Six manipulates Baltar through repeated threats of exposing his involvement with the destruction of the Colonies ("[[33]],", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]"), while also appearing to aid him by giving information that [[The Hand of God (RDM)|appears insightful or inspired]] to help the Colonials.
[[image:Scattered-Baltar_Six.jpg|thumb|[[Gaius Baltar]] and [[Number Six]] seeing "the shape of things to come" in "[[Scattered]]". (C. Universal Studios)]]
*Baltar is subjected to a final revelation of his role with the Cylons (as virtual Six sees it) when "the future" is revealed to him on [[Kobol]], in the form of the first of "God's new generation of children" ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).

[[Image:Baltarixvalleydarkness.jpg|Number Six showing Baltar the clearing filled with human bones, telling him they were from human sacrifices.|thumb]]
* While stranded on Kobol after a crash landing, Baltar's virtual Six warns him that the Colonial religion is a falsehood to cover up atrocities of their nature.
*On Kobol, Baltar shoots [[Crashdown]] in the back, killing him instantly, to save [[Cally]] from a practically suicidal and unnecessary attack on a Cylon missile battery.<ref>The act of killing Crashdown appears to have led to a dramatic change in Baltar's attitude toward hurting anyone directly. When Cally tries to blackmail him after they return from Kobol, Baltar is somewhat rough with her. When he visits Tyrol and Boomer in the brig, he does not hesitate to inject Tyrol with fatal drugs to blackmail Boomer into giving Cylon secrets. Baltar's humanitarian acts to the Six copy known as Gina also suggests Baltar's attitude in the care of Cylons is further changing. More and more, Baltar appears to prefer direct intervention and is less cowardly in his attitude.</ref>. The group are eventually rescued by the Raptors. Baltar tells the [[SAR]] team that Crashdown died a hero in the fight, and Chief Tyrol reluctantly corroborates his story ([[Fragged]]).
*Back on ''Galactica'', Cally blackmails Baltar into making it a priority to prove that Chief Tyrol is not a Cylon, as Col. Tigh suspects, or Cally would reveal the truth of Crashdown's death.
* Incensed at this ingratitude, Baltar gambles that the [[brig|jailed]] Boomer knows of the number of Cylons in the Fleet, and blackmails her into doing so, using Tyrol's life.
[[image:brainscan.jpg|Baltar recieves his brain scan from Dr. Cottle, as Six watches on in amusement.|thumb]]
*Questioning his own sanity after his virtual Six claims that he was generally crazy, Baltar has a brain scan performed in [[sickbay]] by Dr. [[Cottle]] which confirms no "foreign objects" are present in his head.
*Baltar is ready to believe that he is truly insane until he hears [[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Caprica-Sharon]] discuss Valerii's pregnancy with a Cylon/Human hybrid child from his observation room. Six tells Baltar earlier that "their child" would be born in that cell, and this leads Baltar to realize that Six ''must'' be real because his subconscious couldn't have known that ([[Home, Part II]]).
*When [[D'anna Biers]] films a documentary about life aboard ''Galactica'', Six urges Baltar to give an interview to try to win people over to thinking that he should be running the Fleet. Baltar performs badly as he begins his interview but, fortunately, his interview is interrupted by a Cylon attack that Biers chooses to film instead ([[Final Cut]]).
*Baltar aids in trying to overcome the Cylon [[logic bomb]] which devastates ''Galactica's'' [[computers]]. Tigh's dislike of Baltar's involvement in this problem makes the scientist edgy enough to retort, "I'm sorry. Do you want to survive this one or not, Colonel?" ([[Flight of the Phoenix]])
[[image:baltargina.jpg|Baltar with Gina, the Cylon prisoner from ''Pegasus''.|thumb]]

*[[Helena Cain|Admiral Helena Cain]] requests that Baltar examine ''Pegasus' '' own Cylon prisoner to see what information he could glean from it. Baltar is horrified to discover the Cylon was a terribly abused and tortured copy of Number Six named "[[Gina]]". Baltar vows to help her and begins by having her restraints removed and bringing food to her ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).
*Over the course of his examination of Gina, he uncovers both her wish to die and the secret of the Cylon [[Resurrection Ship]]. He passes this information to Adama and Admiral Cain, who develop an [[Attack on the Resurrection Ship|operation to destroy it]] ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).
*Baltar continues to spend time with Gina, eventually helping her escape from the brig. He tells Gina that he can hide her, and also that he loves her. Gina goes on to kill Cain and escapes from ''Pegasus'' through unexplained means([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

*To many, Dr. Baltar appears to exhibit more odd behavior than what may be considered the expected eccentricity of a genius. Crewmembers on ''Galactica'' find him mumbling with himself or discovering him in places they do not expect, such as aboard battlestar ''Pegasus'' to see its new commander, [[Jack Fisk]].
*Torn between the "flesh and blood" copy of the [[Number Six]] copy, Gina, the demands of his internal Number Six, and his continuing attempt to cover his own multiple duplicities, Baltar becomes more aggressive and confrontational. With President Roslin's advice to abort the Cylon-hybrid fetus of the incarcerated [[Sharon Valerii]], Baltar reacts to defend it as if it were his own child. Admiral [[William Adama|Adama]] admonishes Baltar, telling him that, on Roslin's death, he will become President and that he needs to behave like one.
*Desperate to save Valerii's fetus, Baltar reviews Dr. [[Cottle]]'s medical tests and performs experiments of his own, learning a striking revelation: the blood of the fetus can destroy cancer and repair its damage to human tissue.<ref name="stemcells">According to the writer's original planning, this was due to the presence of Cylon [[Wikipedia:stem cells|stem cells]] in the fetus's blood. This explanation was absent in the final shooting script.</ref> With Admiral Adama's permission, he injects the dying President Roslin with some of the fetal blood, which works miraculously, saving both Roslin and Valerii's child by circumstance.
*After saving Roslin's life, Baltar reads the letter given to him in the event of her death, in which she says he lacks compassion and asks him to open his heart if he becomes president. Furious, and goaded on by Six who tells him that Roslin doesn't trust him, Baltar delivers the nuclear warhead used for the Cylon detector to Gina and her militant [[Demand Peace]] movement. ([[Epiphanies]]).
*Baltar keeps his [[fumarello]] supply fresh by trading in the [[black market (organization)|black market]] through new ''Pegasus'' Commander [[Jack Fisk]]. Not realizing that Fisk had been murdered, the scientist visits Fisk's quarters, only to meet Captain [[Lee Adama]], who has starten an investigation on the black market and Fisk's murder. Baltar truthfully tells Adama that he knows nothing of Fisk's murder, but Adama correctly deduces Baltar's association with Fisk and the black market since the "Caprica Imperials" fumarellos are a known favorite of Baltar's.
*Baltar is also unaware that his involvement in the destruction of the Colonies is partially revealed. In ''Galactica's'' sickbay, Laura Roslin recalled those final days on Caprica, and remembered Baltar in the company of a woman on Caprica who she knows now is a [[Number Six|Cylon agent]].
*Baltar is summoned to ''[[Colonial One]]'', where Roslin offers him, without explanation, the chance to resign from the Vice Presidency to return to his studies. Baltar becomes immediately suspicious (and frightened) in Roslin's succinct and direct vote of no-confidence in her vice president. Realizing that the Vice Presidency now has greater importance (if nothing other than to save his own hide), Baltar turns down what Roslin calls a "one-time offer" to save himself as he saved Roslin on her deathbed ([[Black Market]]).

[[Image:Baltarlaydownburdensii.jpg|Gaius Baltar as President, from ''Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II''.|thumb]]
*Dr. Baltar decides (with no small influence from Six and [[Tom Zarek]]) to run for President in the coming Colonial Elections ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

*Roslin is declared the winner of the elections, but is caught by Adama for manipulating the tally. Baltar is declared president. While Baltar demands an investigation initially, he backs down under Adama's glare.
*President Baltar orders the Fleet to return to the marginally habitable planet [[New Caprica]] seconds after his inauguration. Baltar shows incompetency as president a few days later, when he orders the colonization of the planet rather than further investigation into the destruction of ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' and two other ships (he correctly guesses that the conflagration was started by [[Gina]]).
*During his first year in office, Baltar indulges in women, wallows in the incompentence of his administration, and is callously unsympathetic to the supply and resource problems plaguing the new colony, whose inhabitants continue to live in tents. The public, including the labor union lead by [[Galen Tyrol]], is notably displeased with his administration.
*380 days after Baltar's ascention to the presidency, a Cylon armada finds the planet after discovering the radiation cloud left by the destruction of ''[[Cloud 9]]''. This event heralds the return of the dormant virtual Number Six noting to him that "judgement day" has come at last. Copies of a [[Number Five|Five]], [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Boomer]] meet with Baltar and his cabinet, recommending surrender; it is here that he is reunited with the Six he fell in love with on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*After four months of Cylon occupation, the citizens of New Caprica despise their president. Baltar fears for his life and turns down public appearances, such as the [[New Caprica Police]] Academy graduation, to avoid assassination attempts ([[Occupation]]). It is even commented by the Cylon occupiers while discussing the notion of public executions to discourage uprising that publicly executing Baltar would be counterproductive, since the populace would cheer his death.
*Baltar is finally deposed after Admiral Adama [[Battle of New Caprica|organizes and executes a daring rescue mission]] of New Caprica's occupied inhabitants. During the exodus of those willing to leave New Caprica, Baltar happens across the dead body of [[Maya]] and the Cylon hybrid [[Hera]], and apparently stays behind with the Cylons ([[Exodus, Part II]]).

==Notes==
*There is speculation that Gaius Baltar could be a Cylon agent himself. See the [[Baltar as Cylon speculation]] article for the pros and cons of this theory.
*[[Ron Moore]] has stated in several episode commentaries that when the role of "Gaius Baltar" was originally written in the script, the writing team never intended Baltar to have a "funny" aspect, but James Callis himself decided to play up that aspect of the frantic predicaments Baltar finds himself in during the [[Miniseries]] (which although the writers never anticipated, they enjoyed, and started writing him with that in mind).
*According to "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]", [[Edward James Olmos]] and [[Mary McDonnell]] were hand-picked for their roles, while the rest of the characters were cast by audition: among the actors in the running for the role of "Gaius Baltar" was ''Two and a Half Men''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Wikipedia:Jon Cryer|Jon Cryer]], though the role ultimately went to [[James Callis]]. Callis was suggested by Angela Mancuso, who ran the studio at the time, who knew him from the ''Helen of Troy'' miniseries, in which he played Menelaus.

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=''(unknown)''|title=Caprican delegate to the [[Quorum of Twelve]]|after=''(unknown)''}}
{{succession box|before=''(unknown)''|title=[[Government|Vice-President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Tom Zarek]]|}}
{{succession box|before=[[Laura Roslin]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Tom Zarek]]|}}
{{end box}}

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Baltar, Gaius]]
[[Category:Characters|Baltar, Gaius]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Baltar, Gaius]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Baltar, Gaius]]
[[Category:RDM|Baltar, Gaius]]

{{featured article}}

Laura Roslin

2006-10-28T02:22:45Z

Lordsigma12345: /* Character History at a Glance */

{{Character Data
|photo= Roslin3.PNG
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] (presumed)
|birthname= Laura Roslin
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Unmarried, had an extramarital affair with President Adar (deceased)
|role=President, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]], Former Secretary of Education (Under President [[Richard Adar]] Cabinet)
|rank=
|actor= [[Mary McDonnell]]
}}

'''Laura Roslin''' is an unmarried<ref name="marital">According to the February issue of ''Sci Fi Magazine'', actress Mary McDonnell indicates that, according to the [[series bible]], Roslin has dated, but has never married. (Scans available on [http://www.livejournal.com/users/reedfem/158883.html Ramblings of a dorkish nature])</ref> woman with some 20 years of political experience. She serves as Secretary of Education for the Colonial [[Government]] at the time of the Cylon attack, later becoming president of the Twelve Colonies after the Cylon attack.
<br/><br/>

== Background ==
*Roslin, a former teacher, worked with [[Richard Adar]] when he was a mayor. Over the years, she herself has risen in political rank to the office of Secretary of Education.
*Adar, a married man, and Roslin are in a sexual affair<ref name="marital2>According to a December 2005 [http://www.galacticastation.com/Galactica%20Station/Archives/dec05.html interview] with Mary McDonnell in TV Guide, President Adar, a married man, was having an affair with Roslin in the twilight of his term.</ref> during the events of a teachers strike that she is trying to mediate, to Adar's objection.
*Roslin learns that she, as did her mother, has breast cancer. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is grim, as the cancer has already spread.
*Roslin sat in the Government Plaza after her doctor's appointment, where she saw [[Gaius Baltar]], the famous scientist, walking and kissing an attractive blonde, but pays it little attention.
*Roslin successfully resolves the teachers strike crisis, but Adar vehemently disagrees with her method, and asks for her resignation. She asks him to defer the matter until she returns from the decommissioning ceremonies on battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.
*Despite being thrust into the role of President in highly unusual and stressful circumstances, Laura Roslin initially proves herself both tough and capable within the role. Initially in awe of Commander Adama, and worrying that he didn't hold her in high regard ([[Water]]), she quickly overcomes her doubts and fears to be able to make the required decisions at the right time, and also stand up to Adama himself ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). She is always prepared to put the safety and destiny of the Fleet first, no matter what the cost of her actions ("[[Flesh and Bone]]," "[[Home, Part I]]," "[[Home, Part II]]," "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") while remembering her limitations and fears.

==Character History at a Glance==

*Roslin is aboard the Colonial government cruiser ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', having just attended the decommissioning ceremonies for the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', when the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|information on the Cylon attack]] leaks through [[wireless]].
*Roslin attempts to serve as the government's representative to aid the ship's pilot in gaining more information. She manages to speak with [[Jack|one fellow official]] over wireless and hears the devastating news.
*The [[Case Orange]] automated beacon response assigns Roslin the role of President after Adar and other high-level government officials are dead or incapacitated.
*In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Roslin undertakes a rescue mission, using the now-renamed ''[[Colonial One]]'' to round-up all vessels that escape destruction and gathers as many survivors as possible together, hoping to save the remnants of humanity from total annihilation.
*Roslin successfully persuades ''Galactica'' commander [[William Adama]] away from his original intention of mounting a counter-attack against the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], and towards helping the new civilan fleet make its escape from occupied Colonial space.
*Since the exodus, Roslin establishes a fledgling civilian [[government]] within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], agrees to abide by civil law regarding her interim term of office, and reestabishes a new [[Quorum of Twelve]].
*Roslin has an uneasy understanding with Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]. Where she is responsible for all civil leadership issues among the surviving Colonials, Adama is responsible for all military decisions ([[Miniseries]]). However, the dividing line is not always clear between the two leaders.
*Roslin chooses [[Chamalla]] extract as an alternative to [[diloxin]], remembering her mother's malaise with that treatment.
* Her illness remains a secret until she relates her Chamalla-induced visions of [[Kobol]] to priestess [[Elosha]], who recognizes them as those prophesized by [[Pythia]], where a dying leader will find the path to [[Earth]]. After research, she determines that she may be able to substantiate Commander Adama's fictitious knowledge of the location of Earth with a true bearing to the world using ancient Colonial history.
*Roslin convinces [[Kara Thrace|Lt. Thrace]] to use the captured Cylon Raider to return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] in search of the [[Arrow of Apollo]].
*Infuriated with Roslin's countermanding and with her refusal to resign as President, Commander Adama terminates her Presidency and stages a military coup. Despite the intervention of [[Lee Adama]], Roslin is arrested and incarcerated aboard ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). With Vice President Baltar missing on the surface of Kobol, this effectively leaves the Fleet without any form of civil leadership, a situation worsened by an assassination attempt on William Adama himself immediately following Roslin's arrest ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).
*From her cell, Roslin eventually tells the Quorum of Twelve, many of who are [[Gemenon]], of her role in the [[Sacred Scrolls]], and begins to gain significant underground civilian support for her cause.
*Roslin escapes ''Galactica'' and, with the help of rival [[Tom Zarek]], convinces over a third of the fleet to [[Laura Roslin faction|join her in the search for the Tomb]]. Roslin's ability to lead and command becomes stronger throughout this time, able to keep Zarek's ambitions at bay and deliver decisions faster than before.
*With the recovered Arrow, Roslin heads an hazardous expedition on Kobol to find the Tomb, with the aid of a second copy of [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] and priestess Elosha.
*The recovered Commander Adama gains refreshed insight on the need for the Fleet to stay united, and leaves to find Roslin's expedition on the surface of Kobol ([[Home, Part II]]).
*During the Kobol expedition, [[Elosha]] is killed. Roslin takes Elosha's blood-spattered copy of the Sacred Scrolls to guide her and to remember her friend.
*Commander Adama greets Roslin warmly on his arrival at her camp on Kobol. The two leaders have a heart-to-heart talk about her rebellion, which Adama forgives. Roslin thanks Adama, calling him "Bill" casually, though she notes that she didn't require permission for what she had to do. Roslin worries that, with talk of the [[Caprica Resistance]], that her insistence to Adama to leave the Colonial worlds behind was a mistake. Adama, also calling Roslin by her first name, firmly chastizes her, reminding Roslin that her decision was correct. If he had chosen to stay, Adama, his son, and all of humanity would be dead.
*Adama and Roslin's party later find the Tomb. With some teamwork, they discover and activate the Tomb's virtual hologram mechanism. Roslin's gamble on faith pays off big for humanity, and the group gains a map and guide to the true location of Earth.
*Back on ''Galactica'', Commander Adama introduces Roslin as President during a speech on the ship, and leads the audience in a rousing ovation on her return, publicly burying the hatchet between them.
*Adama and Roslin's respect for each other grew stronger and their leadership in managing fleet business became more cooperative, asking each other for advice and correcting each other as needed. They work together in getting reporter [[D'anna Biers]] corralled from her potentially disruptive tabloid expose' of the ''[[Gideon]]'' shootings by giving her almost-unlimited access to interview ''Galactica's'' crew. She creates a rousing documentary that meets her and Adama's approval ([[Final Cut]]).
*The military crew honors Roslin by christening a [[Blackbird|new experimental stealth fighter]] by the name, ''Laura'', a gesture that brings tears to the President.
*Despite the pleasure of the arrival of battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Roslin becomes concerned about Cain's abrupt command style and refusal to supply the civilian fleet.
*After a near-disasterous military confrontation between the two battlestar commanders, Roslin chastises them both and tells them to concentrate on [[Resurrection Ship|more important matters]]. Privately, Roslin tells Adama that Cain, whose power can radically affect the remnant of humanity both Roslin and Adama have strived so hard to protect, must be killed if Adama and the Fleet are to survive.
[[Image:Roslinadama.jpg|Roslin and Adama.|thumb]]
*After the battle, and Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain's death]], Roslin, now more frail with her illness, promotes William Adama to Admiral. The new admiral gives the president a kiss.
*Roslin is miraculously saved by the injection of stem cells<ref>In the commentary track for "Epiphanies," Ron Moore states that a longer explanation of Roslin's cure was filmed that explained that the blood's stem cells cure Roslin. However, the scene was cut because he was afraid it would be too complicated and thought of as [[technobabble]]. The character's updated biography on the official Scifi.com site does confirm that stem cells from the hybrid were the actual cure. As such, Battlestar Wiki treats this data canonically as with information found in most deleted scenes.</ref> from the Cylon [[Hera|hybrid fetus]], which apparently eradicate her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]). In the hours prior to the cure, however, Roslin remembers her last days on Caprica, including the attractive blonde with Dr. Baltar, her vice-president. She now recognizes the woman as a copy of a [[Number Six|Cylon agent]].
*Roslin confronts Baltar on his association and later confesses the memory to William Adama ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*Roslin dives into work with a dispassionate manner not unlike her predecessor, Richard Adar, including an attempt to stop the [[Black market (organization)|black market]] , handling the terrible loss of [[Billy Keikeya]], and the upcoming presidential election.
*Roslin's new aide, [[Tory Foster]], is an energetic young woman with a great deal of political drive.
*Complicating what may have been an easy re-election include Roslin's decision to enforce a no-abortion law to aid in repopulation while allowing a Gemenese girl [[Rya Kibby]] to have an abortion, angering Gemenon representative [[Sarah Porter]] and losing most support from Roslin's religious base.
*Expecting [[Tom Zarek]] to run for president, Roslin is shocked when her own vice president, Dr. Baltar, challenges Roslin for the presidency.
*Convinced that that the only way to keep the newborn Cylon-hybrid, [[Hera]], alive but out of the eye of Cylon agents, Roslin has the infant's death faked and hands the child over to a foster mother named [[Maya]] ([[Downloaded]]).
*Roslin easily leads Baltar in the election polls, but with the discovery of a habitable planet dubbed "[[New Caprica]]", Baltar finds the perfect wedge issue to use against Roslin. Despite the extreme difficulties of colonization, the people of the Fleet vote their extreme hopes over their rational fears and Roslin's voice of reason.
*Roslin gives Foster tacit approval to rig the election in order to save the Fleet from electing someone that she knows (in her heart) is a Cylon conspirator. But the fraud is discovered. Admiral Adama confers with Roslin and convinces her that rigging a democratic election was a line that they simply cannot cross. He indicates that the people have made the wrong decision to elect Baltar president, probably even a disastrous choice, but it was their choice.
*Roslin agrees to back down, and Adama announces a mistake in the vote count. A perturbed Baltar doesn't press further, content with having won the election, and orders colonization of New Caprica immediately after his swearing-in.
[[Image:2BATgyC05.jpg|Roslin as a teacher on New Caprica.|thumb]]
*A year passes on New Caprica, and Baltar's administration becomes the unmitigated, incompetent disaster that Roslin had feared. Meanwhile, Roslin returns to her old love of teaching, running the new settlement's school. Assisted by [[Maya]], who brings her infant adopted daughter [[Hera|Isis]] (the secreted Cylon hybrid), Roslin is more comfortable watching over the pair personally.
*380 days after settling on the planet, the Cylons discover the colony, as Roslin had warned, and occupy the settlement ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*She is detained for a short period during which [[Baltar]] attempts to convince her to publically denounce the Resistance suicide bombings, but failing that, has her released. She is later collected in the round up of 200 suspected resistance members, including [[Tom Zarek]] and [[Cally]], for execution ([[Precipice]]).
*After being saved by the resistance, she assigns [[Samuel Anders]] to protect Maya and Isis ([[Exodus, Part I]]).
*Later, during the [[Battle of New Caprica]], she evacuates the planet onboard ''Colonial One'' which reunites with the Fleet along with the other previously grounded ships ([[Exodus, Part II]]).
*After the fleet reunites after the escape from [[New Caprica]], [[Gaius Baltar]] is officially deposed and as the Vice President, [[Tom Zarek]] becomes President. He only briefly holds the office. Under pressure from [[Admiral Adama]], Zarek agrees to step aside from the Presidency. He named Roslin as his Vice President, and then steps down allowing Roslin to become President. However, as part of the deal, Roslin tells Zarek that he can have the Vice Presidency. She is later sworn in after all of the official gestures have been made, and she issues a general pardon to everyone in the colonial fleet in response to the quiet executions of some of the people who collaborated with the [[Cylons]], and to prevent the fleet from being torn apart by long trials ([[Collaborators]]).

==Notes==

*The character of Laura Roslin is unique to the Re-imagined Series. It shares no counterpart to the [[Original Series]], where its version of President [[Adar (TOS)|Adar]] is killed, but a presidential replacement is never made. (Of course, it could be argued that she is equivalent to the political/spiritual leader side of the original Commander Adama, whereas [[William Adama]] is representative of his military commander aspect.)

*Roslin's apparent cure in "[[Epiphanies]]" contradicts the "dying leader" clause of the [[Pythia|Pythian Prophecy]], despite the fulfillment of her role in the [[Tomb of Athena]] story arc. Indications from the creators of the show suggest that Roslin's health trials may not yet be over.

*Actress Mary McDonnell is perhaps best known for her role in the epic film, ''Dances with Wolves'', with Kevin Costner. She also played a First Lady in ''Independence Day'', another film which, in a far more campy way, depicts cocky human fighter pilots battling an enemy from outer space that attempts to exterminate mankind.

*In [[SDS|the Singer/DeSanto continuation]] of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|the Original Series]], a female president named [[Mara]] would visit ''Galactica'' in much the same way that Roslin did as part of that ''Galactica'''s decomissioning ceremony.

*The glasses her character wears are also her real glasses.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=features&vid=37452|title=Mary McDonnell Q & A, Part 1|date=2006-10-13|accessdate=2006-10-14|last=|first=|format=VID|language=English}}</ref>

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Richard Adar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Gaius Baltar]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Tom Zarek]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=''Incumbent''}}
{{end box}}
{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:RDM|Roslin, Laura]]

[[de:Laura Roslin]]

Laura Roslin

2006-10-28T02:20:58Z

Lordsigma12345: /* Character History at a Glance */

{{Character Data
|photo= Roslin3.PNG
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] (presumed)
|birthname= Laura Roslin
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Unmarried, had an extramarital affair with President Adar (deceased)
|role=President, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]], Former Secretary of Education (Under President [[Richard Adar]] Cabinet)
|rank=
|actor= [[Mary McDonnell]]
}}

'''Laura Roslin''' is an unmarried<ref name="marital">According to the February issue of ''Sci Fi Magazine'', actress Mary McDonnell indicates that, according to the [[series bible]], Roslin has dated, but has never married. (Scans available on [http://www.livejournal.com/users/reedfem/158883.html Ramblings of a dorkish nature])</ref> woman with some 20 years of political experience. She serves as Secretary of Education for the Colonial [[Government]] at the time of the Cylon attack, later becoming president of the Twelve Colonies after the Cylon attack.
<br/><br/>

== Background ==
*Roslin, a former teacher, worked with [[Richard Adar]] when he was a mayor. Over the years, she herself has risen in political rank to the office of Secretary of Education.
*Adar, a married man, and Roslin are in a sexual affair<ref name="marital2>According to a December 2005 [http://www.galacticastation.com/Galactica%20Station/Archives/dec05.html interview] with Mary McDonnell in TV Guide, President Adar, a married man, was having an affair with Roslin in the twilight of his term.</ref> during the events of a teachers strike that she is trying to mediate, to Adar's objection.
*Roslin learns that she, as did her mother, has breast cancer. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is grim, as the cancer has already spread.
*Roslin sat in the Government Plaza after her doctor's appointment, where she saw [[Gaius Baltar]], the famous scientist, walking and kissing an attractive blonde, but pays it little attention.
*Roslin successfully resolves the teachers strike crisis, but Adar vehemently disagrees with her method, and asks for her resignation. She asks him to defer the matter until she returns from the decommissioning ceremonies on battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.
*Despite being thrust into the role of President in highly unusual and stressful circumstances, Laura Roslin initially proves herself both tough and capable within the role. Initially in awe of Commander Adama, and worrying that he didn't hold her in high regard ([[Water]]), she quickly overcomes her doubts and fears to be able to make the required decisions at the right time, and also stand up to Adama himself ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). She is always prepared to put the safety and destiny of the Fleet first, no matter what the cost of her actions ("[[Flesh and Bone]]," "[[Home, Part I]]," "[[Home, Part II]]," "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") while remembering her limitations and fears.

==Character History at a Glance==

*Roslin is aboard the Colonial government cruiser ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', having just attended the decommissioning ceremonies for the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', when the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|information on the Cylon attack]] leaks through [[wireless]].
*Roslin attempts to serve as the government's representative to aid the ship's pilot in gaining more information. She manages to speak with [[Jack|one fellow official]] over wireless and hears the devastating news.
*The [[Case Orange]] automated beacon response assigns Roslin the role of President after Adar and other high-level government officials are dead or incapacitated.
*In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Roslin undertakes a rescue mission, using the now-renamed ''[[Colonial One]]'' to round-up all vessels that escape destruction and gathers as many survivors as possible together, hoping to save the remnants of humanity from total annihilation.
*Roslin successfully persuades ''Galactica'' commander [[William Adama]] away from his original intention of mounting a counter-attack against the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], and towards helping the new civilan fleet make its escape from occupied Colonial space.
*Since the exodus, Roslin establishes a fledgling civilian [[government]] within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], agrees to abide by civil law regarding her interim term of office, and reestabishes a new [[Quorum of Twelve]].
*Roslin has an uneasy understanding with Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]. Where she is responsible for all civil leadership issues among the surviving Colonials, Adama is responsible for all military decisions ([[Miniseries]]). However, the dividing line is not always clear between the two leaders.
*Roslin chooses [[Chamalla]] extract as an alternative to [[diloxin]], remembering her mother's malaise with that treatment.
* Her illness remains a secret until she relates her Chamalla-induced visions of [[Kobol]] to priestess [[Elosha]], who recognizes them as those prophesized by [[Pythia]], where a dying leader will find the path to [[Earth]]. After research, she determines that she may be able to substantiate Commander Adama's fictitious knowledge of the location of Earth with a true bearing to the world using ancient Colonial history.
*Roslin convinces [[Kara Thrace|Lt. Thrace]] to use the captured Cylon Raider to return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] in search of the [[Arrow of Apollo]].
*Infuriated with Roslin's countermanding and with her refusal to resign as President, Commander Adama terminates her Presidency and stages a military coup. Despite the intervention of [[Lee Adama]], Roslin is arrested and incarcerated aboard ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). With Vice President Baltar missing on the surface of Kobol, this effectively leaves the Fleet without any form of civil leadership, a situation worsened by an assassination attempt on William Adama himself immediately following Roslin's arrest ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).
*From her cell, Roslin eventually tells the Quorum of Twelve, many of who are [[Gemenon]], of her role in the [[Sacred Scrolls]], and begins to gain significant underground civilian support for her cause.
*Roslin escapes ''Galactica'' and, with the help of rival [[Tom Zarek]], convinces over a third of the fleet to [[Laura Roslin faction|join her in the search for the Tomb]]. Roslin's ability to lead and command becomes stronger throughout this time, able to keep Zarek's ambitions at bay and deliver decisions faster than before.
*With the recovered Arrow, Roslin heads an hazardous expedition on Kobol to find the Tomb, with the aid of a second copy of [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] and priestess Elosha.
*The recovered Commander Adama gains refreshed insight on the need for the Fleet to stay united, and leaves to find Roslin's expedition on the surface of Kobol ([[Home, Part II]]).
*During the Kobol expedition, [[Elosha]] is killed. Roslin takes Elosha's blood-spattered copy of the Sacred Scrolls to guide her and to remember her friend.
*Commander Adama greets Roslin warmly on his arrival at her camp on Kobol. The two leaders have a heart-to-heart talk about her rebellion, which Adama forgives. Roslin thanks Adama, calling him "Bill" casually, though she notes that she didn't require permission for what she had to do. Roslin worries that, with talk of the [[Caprica Resistance]], that her insistence to Adama to leave the Colonial worlds behind was a mistake. Adama, also calling Roslin by her first name, firmly chastizes her, reminding Roslin that her decision was correct. If he had chosen to stay, Adama, his son, and all of humanity would be dead.
*Adama and Roslin's party later find the Tomb. With some teamwork, they discover and activate the Tomb's virtual hologram mechanism. Roslin's gamble on faith pays off big for humanity, and the group gains a map and guide to the true location of Earth.
*Back on ''Galactica'', Commander Adama introduces Roslin as President during a speech on the ship, and leads the audience in a rousing ovation on her return, publicly burying the hatchet between them.
*Adama and Roslin's respect for each other grew stronger and their leadership in managing fleet business became more cooperative, asking each other for advice and correcting each other as needed. They work together in getting reporter [[D'anna Biers]] corralled from her potentially disruptive tabloid expose' of the ''[[Gideon]]'' shootings by giving her almost-unlimited access to interview ''Galactica's'' crew. She creates a rousing documentary that meets her and Adama's approval ([[Final Cut]]).
*The military crew honors Roslin by christening a [[Blackbird|new experimental stealth fighter]] by the name, ''Laura'', a gesture that brings tears to the President.
*Despite the pleasure of the arrival of battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Roslin becomes concerned about Cain's abrupt command style and refusal to supply the civilian fleet.
*After a near-disasterous military confrontation between the two battlestar commanders, Roslin chastises them both and tells them to concentrate on [[Resurrection Ship|more important matters]]. Privately, Roslin tells Adama that Cain, whose power can radically affect the remnant of humanity both Roslin and Adama have strived so hard to protect, must be killed if Adama and the Fleet are to survive.
[[Image:Roslinadama.jpg|Roslin and Adama.|thumb]]
*After the battle, and Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain's death]], Roslin, now more frail with her illness, promotes William Adama to Admiral. The new admiral gives the president a kiss.
*Roslin is miraculously saved by the injection of stem cells<ref>In the commentary track for "Epiphanies," Ron Moore states that a longer explanation of Roslin's cure was filmed that explained that the blood's stem cells cure Roslin. However, the scene was cut because he was afraid it would be too complicated and thought of as [[technobabble]]. The character's updated biography on the official Scifi.com site does confirm that stem cells from the hybrid were the actual cure. As such, Battlestar Wiki treats this data canonically as with information found in most deleted scenes.</ref> from the Cylon [[Hera|hybrid fetus]], which apparently eradicate her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]). In the hours prior to the cure, however, Roslin remembers her last days on Caprica, including the attractive blonde with Dr. Baltar, her vice-president. She now recognizes the woman as a copy of a [[Number Six|Cylon agent]].
*Roslin confronts Baltar on his association and later confesses the memory to William Adama ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*Roslin dives into work with a dispassionate manner not unlike her predecessor, Richard Adar, including an attempt to stop the [[Black market (organization)|black market]] , handling the terrible loss of [[Billy Keikeya]], and the upcoming presidential election.
*Roslin's new aide, [[Tory Foster]], is an energetic young woman with a great deal of political drive.
*Complicating what may have been an easy re-election include Roslin's decision to enforce a no-abortion law to aid in repopulation while allowing a Gemenese girl [[Rya Kibby]] to have an abortion, angering Gemenon representative [[Sarah Porter]] and losing most support from Roslin's religious base.
*Expecting [[Tom Zarek]] to run for president, Roslin is shocked when her own vice president, Dr. Baltar, challenges Roslin for the presidency.
*Convinced that that the only way to keep the newborn Cylon-hybrid, [[Hera]], alive but out of the eye of Cylon agents, Roslin has the infant's death faked and hands the child over to a foster mother named [[Maya]] ([[Downloaded]]).
*Roslin easily leads Baltar in the election polls, but with the discovery of a habitable planet dubbed "[[New Caprica]]", Baltar finds the perfect wedge issue to use against Roslin. Despite the extreme difficulties of colonization, the people of the Fleet vote their extreme hopes over their rational fears and Roslin's voice of reason.
*Roslin gives Foster tacit approval to rig the election in order to save the Fleet from electing someone that she knows (in her heart) is a Cylon conspirator. But the fraud is discovered. Admiral Adama confers with Roslin and convinces her that rigging a democratic election was a line that they simply cannot cross. He indicates that the people have made the wrong decision to elect Baltar president, probably even a disastrous choice, but it was their choice.
*Roslin agrees to back down, and Adama announces a mistake in the vote count. A perturbed Baltar doesn't press further, content with having won the election, and orders colonization of New Caprica immediately after his swearing-in.
[[Image:2BATgyC05.jpg|Roslin as a teacher on New Caprica.|thumb]]
*A year passes on New Caprica, and Baltar's administration becomes the unmitigated, incompetent disaster that Roslin had feared. Meanwhile, Roslin returns to her old love of teaching, running the new settlement's school. Assisted by [[Maya]], who brings her infant adopted daughter [[Hera|Isis]] (the secreted Cylon hybrid), Roslin is more comfortable watching over the pair personally.
*380 days after settling on the planet, the Cylons discover the colony, as Roslin had warned, and occupy the settlement ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*She is detained for a short period during which [[Baltar]] attempts to convince her to publically denounce the Resistance suicide bombings, but failing that, has her released. She is later collected in the round up of 200 suspected resistance members, including [[Tom Zarek]] and [[Cally]], for execution ([[Precipice]]).
*After being saved by the resistance, she assigns [[Samuel Anders]] to protect Maya and Isis ([[Exodus, Part I]]).
*Later, during the [[Battle of New Caprica]], she evacuates the planet onboard ''Colonial One'' which reunites with the Fleet along with the other previously grounded ships ([[Exodus, Part II]]).
*After the fleet reunites after the escape from [[New Caprica]], [[Gaius Baltar]] is officially deposed and as the Vice President, [[Tom Zarek]] becomes President. He only briefly holds the office. Under pressure from [[Admiral Adama]], Zarek agrees to step aside from the Presidency. He named Roslin as his Vice President, and then steps down allowing Roslin to become President. However, as part of the deal, Roslin tells Zarek that he can have the Vice Presidency. She is later sworn in after all of the official gestures have been made, and she issues a general pardon to everyone in the colonial fleet in response to the quiet executions of some of the people who collaborated with the [[Cylons]], and to prevent the fleet from being torn apart by long trials.

==Notes==

*The character of Laura Roslin is unique to the Re-imagined Series. It shares no counterpart to the [[Original Series]], where its version of President [[Adar (TOS)|Adar]] is killed, but a presidential replacement is never made. (Of course, it could be argued that she is equivalent to the political/spiritual leader side of the original Commander Adama, whereas [[William Adama]] is representative of his military commander aspect.)

*Roslin's apparent cure in "[[Epiphanies]]" contradicts the "dying leader" clause of the [[Pythia|Pythian Prophecy]], despite the fulfillment of her role in the [[Tomb of Athena]] story arc. Indications from the creators of the show suggest that Roslin's health trials may not yet be over.

*Actress Mary McDonnell is perhaps best known for her role in the epic film, ''Dances with Wolves'', with Kevin Costner. She also played a First Lady in ''Independence Day'', another film which, in a far more campy way, depicts cocky human fighter pilots battling an enemy from outer space that attempts to exterminate mankind.

*In [[SDS|the Singer/DeSanto continuation]] of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|the Original Series]], a female president named [[Mara]] would visit ''Galactica'' in much the same way that Roslin did as part of that ''Galactica'''s decomissioning ceremony.

*The glasses her character wears are also her real glasses.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=features&vid=37452|title=Mary McDonnell Q & A, Part 1|date=2006-10-13|accessdate=2006-10-14|last=|first=|format=VID|language=English}}</ref>

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Richard Adar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Gaius Baltar]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Tom Zarek]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=''Incumbent''}}
{{end box}}
{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:RDM|Roslin, Laura]]

[[de:Laura Roslin]]

Laura Roslin

2006-10-28T02:17:05Z

Lordsigma12345: /* Character History at a Glance */

{{Character Data
|photo= Roslin3.PNG
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] (presumed)
|birthname= Laura Roslin
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Unmarried, had an extramarital affair with President Adar (deceased)
|role=President, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]], Former Secretary of Education (Under President [[Richard Adar]] Cabinet)
|rank=
|actor= [[Mary McDonnell]]
}}

'''Laura Roslin''' is an unmarried<ref name="marital">According to the February issue of ''Sci Fi Magazine'', actress Mary McDonnell indicates that, according to the [[series bible]], Roslin has dated, but has never married. (Scans available on [http://www.livejournal.com/users/reedfem/158883.html Ramblings of a dorkish nature])</ref> woman with some 20 years of political experience. She serves as Secretary of Education for the Colonial [[Government]] at the time of the Cylon attack, later becoming president of the Twelve Colonies after the Cylon attack.
<br/><br/>

== Background ==
*Roslin, a former teacher, worked with [[Richard Adar]] when he was a mayor. Over the years, she herself has risen in political rank to the office of Secretary of Education.
*Adar, a married man, and Roslin are in a sexual affair<ref name="marital2>According to a December 2005 [http://www.galacticastation.com/Galactica%20Station/Archives/dec05.html interview] with Mary McDonnell in TV Guide, President Adar, a married man, was having an affair with Roslin in the twilight of his term.</ref> during the events of a teachers strike that she is trying to mediate, to Adar's objection.
*Roslin learns that she, as did her mother, has breast cancer. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is grim, as the cancer has already spread.
*Roslin sat in the Government Plaza after her doctor's appointment, where she saw [[Gaius Baltar]], the famous scientist, walking and kissing an attractive blonde, but pays it little attention.
*Roslin successfully resolves the teachers strike crisis, but Adar vehemently disagrees with her method, and asks for her resignation. She asks him to defer the matter until she returns from the decommissioning ceremonies on battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.
*Despite being thrust into the role of President in highly unusual and stressful circumstances, Laura Roslin initially proves herself both tough and capable within the role. Initially in awe of Commander Adama, and worrying that he didn't hold her in high regard ([[Water]]), she quickly overcomes her doubts and fears to be able to make the required decisions at the right time, and also stand up to Adama himself ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). She is always prepared to put the safety and destiny of the Fleet first, no matter what the cost of her actions ("[[Flesh and Bone]]," "[[Home, Part I]]," "[[Home, Part II]]," "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") while remembering her limitations and fears.

==Character History at a Glance==

*Roslin is aboard the Colonial government cruiser ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', having just attended the decommissioning ceremonies for the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', when the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|information on the Cylon attack]] leaks through [[wireless]].
*Roslin attempts to serve as the government's representative to aid the ship's pilot in gaining more information. She manages to speak with [[Jack|one fellow official]] over wireless and hears the devastating news.
*The [[Case Orange]] automated beacon response assigns Roslin the role of President after Adar and other high-level government officials are dead or incapacitated.
*In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Roslin undertakes a rescue mission, using the now-renamed ''[[Colonial One]]'' to round-up all vessels that escape destruction and gathers as many survivors as possible together, hoping to save the remnants of humanity from total annihilation.
*Roslin successfully persuades ''Galactica'' commander [[William Adama]] away from his original intention of mounting a counter-attack against the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], and towards helping the new civilan fleet make its escape from occupied Colonial space.
*Since the exodus, Roslin establishes a fledgling civilian [[government]] within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], agrees to abide by civil law regarding her interim term of office, and reestabishes a new [[Quorum of Twelve]].
*Roslin has an uneasy understanding with Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]. Where she is responsible for all civil leadership issues among the surviving Colonials, Adama is responsible for all military decisions ([[Miniseries]]). However, the dividing line is not always clear between the two leaders.
*Roslin chooses [[Chamalla]] extract as an alternative to [[diloxin]], remembering her mother's malaise with that treatment.
* Her illness remains a secret until she relates her Chamalla-induced visions of [[Kobol]] to priestess [[Elosha]], who recognizes them as those prophesized by [[Pythia]], where a dying leader will find the path to [[Earth]]. After research, she determines that she may be able to substantiate Commander Adama's fictitious knowledge of the location of Earth with a true bearing to the world using ancient Colonial history.
*Roslin convinces [[Kara Thrace|Lt. Thrace]] to use the captured Cylon Raider to return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] in search of the [[Arrow of Apollo]].
*Infuriated with Roslin's countermanding and with her refusal to resign as President, Commander Adama terminates her Presidency and stages a military coup. Despite the intervention of [[Lee Adama]], Roslin is arrested and incarcerated aboard ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). With Vice President Baltar missing on the surface of Kobol, this effectively leaves the Fleet without any form of civil leadership, a situation worsened by an assassination attempt on William Adama himself immediately following Roslin's arrest ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).
*From her cell, Roslin eventually tells the Quorum of Twelve, many of who are [[Gemenon]], of her role in the [[Sacred Scrolls]], and begins to gain significant underground civilian support for her cause.
*Roslin escapes ''Galactica'' and, with the help of rival [[Tom Zarek]], convinces over a third of the fleet to [[Laura Roslin faction|join her in the search for the Tomb]]. Roslin's ability to lead and command becomes stronger throughout this time, able to keep Zarek's ambitions at bay and deliver decisions faster than before.
*With the recovered Arrow, Roslin heads an hazardous expedition on Kobol to find the Tomb, with the aid of a second copy of [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] and priestess Elosha.
*The recovered Commander Adama gains refreshed insight on the need for the Fleet to stay united, and leaves to find Roslin's expedition on the surface of Kobol ([[Home, Part II]]).
*During the Kobol expedition, [[Elosha]] is killed. Roslin takes Elosha's blood-spattered copy of the Sacred Scrolls to guide her and to remember her friend.
*Commander Adama greets Roslin warmly on his arrival at her camp on Kobol. The two leaders have a heart-to-heart talk about her rebellion, which Adama forgives. Roslin thanks Adama, calling him "Bill" casually, though she notes that she didn't require permission for what she had to do. Roslin worries that, with talk of the [[Caprica Resistance]], that her insistence to Adama to leave the Colonial worlds behind was a mistake. Adama, also calling Roslin by her first name, firmly chastizes her, reminding Roslin that her decision was correct. If he had chosen to stay, Adama, his son, and all of humanity would be dead.
*Adama and Roslin's party later find the Tomb. With some teamwork, they discover and activate the Tomb's virtual hologram mechanism. Roslin's gamble on faith pays off big for humanity, and the group gains a map and guide to the true location of Earth.
*Back on ''Galactica'', Commander Adama introduces Roslin as President during a speech on the ship, and leads the audience in a rousing ovation on her return, publicly burying the hatchet between them.
*Adama and Roslin's respect for each other grew stronger and their leadership in managing fleet business became more cooperative, asking each other for advice and correcting each other as needed. They work together in getting reporter [[D'anna Biers]] corralled from her potentially disruptive tabloid expose' of the ''[[Gideon]]'' shootings by giving her almost-unlimited access to interview ''Galactica's'' crew. She creates a rousing documentary that meets her and Adama's approval ([[Final Cut]]).
*The military crew honors Roslin by christening a [[Blackbird|new experimental stealth fighter]] by the name, ''Laura'', a gesture that brings tears to the President.
*Despite the pleasure of the arrival of battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Roslin becomes concerned about Cain's abrupt command style and refusal to supply the civilian fleet.
*After a near-disasterous military confrontation between the two battlestar commanders, Roslin chastises them both and tells them to concentrate on [[Resurrection Ship|more important matters]]. Privately, Roslin tells Adama that Cain, whose power can radically affect the remnant of humanity both Roslin and Adama have strived so hard to protect, must be killed if Adama and the Fleet are to survive.
[[Image:Roslinadama.jpg|Roslin and Adama.|thumb]]
*After the battle, and Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain's death]], Roslin, now more frail with her illness, promotes William Adama to Admiral. The new admiral gives the president a kiss.
*Roslin is miraculously saved by the injection of stem cells<ref>In the commentary track for "Epiphanies," Ron Moore states that a longer explanation of Roslin's cure was filmed that explained that the blood's stem cells cure Roslin. However, the scene was cut because he was afraid it would be too complicated and thought of as [[technobabble]]. The character's updated biography on the official Scifi.com site does confirm that stem cells from the hybrid were the actual cure. As such, Battlestar Wiki treats this data canonically as with information found in most deleted scenes.</ref> from the Cylon [[Hera|hybrid fetus]], which apparently eradicate her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]). In the hours prior to the cure, however, Roslin remembers her last days on Caprica, including the attractive blonde with Dr. Baltar, her vice-president. She now recognizes the woman as a copy of a [[Number Six|Cylon agent]].
*Roslin confronts Baltar on his association and later confesses the memory to William Adama ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*Roslin dives into work with a dispassionate manner not unlike her predecessor, Richard Adar, including an attempt to stop the [[Black market (organization)|black market]] , handling the terrible loss of [[Billy Keikeya]], and the upcoming presidential election.
*Roslin's new aide, [[Tory Foster]], is an energetic young woman with a great deal of political drive.
*Complicating what may have been an easy re-election include Roslin's decision to enforce a no-abortion law to aid in repopulation while allowing a Gemenese girl [[Rya Kibby]] to have an abortion, angering Gemenon representative [[Sarah Porter]] and losing most support from Roslin's religious base.
*Expecting [[Tom Zarek]] to run for president, Roslin is shocked when her own vice president, Dr. Baltar, challenges Roslin for the presidency.
*Convinced that that the only way to keep the newborn Cylon-hybrid, [[Hera]], alive but out of the eye of Cylon agents, Roslin has the infant's death faked and hands the child over to a foster mother named [[Maya]] ([[Downloaded]]).
*Roslin easily leads Baltar in the election polls, but with the discovery of a habitable planet dubbed "[[New Caprica]]", Baltar finds the perfect wedge issue to use against Roslin. Despite the extreme difficulties of colonization, the people of the Fleet vote their extreme hopes over their rational fears and Roslin's voice of reason.
*Roslin gives Foster tacit approval to rig the election in order to save the Fleet from electing someone that she knows (in her heart) is a Cylon conspirator. But the fraud is discovered. Admiral Adama confers with Roslin and convinces her that rigging a democratic election was a line that they simply cannot cross. He indicates that the people have made the wrong decision to elect Baltar president, probably even a disastrous choice, but it was their choice.
*Roslin agrees to back down, and Adama announces a mistake in the vote count. A perturbed Baltar doesn't press further, content with having won the election, and orders colonization of New Caprica immediately after his swearing-in.
[[Image:2BATgyC05.jpg|Roslin as a teacher on New Caprica.|thumb]]
*A year passes on New Caprica, and Baltar's administration becomes the unmitigated, incompetent disaster that Roslin had feared. Meanwhile, Roslin returns to her old love of teaching, running the new settlement's school. Assisted by [[Maya]], who brings her infant adopted daughter [[Hera|Isis]] (the secreted Cylon hybrid), Roslin is more comfortable watching over the pair personally.
*380 days after settling on the planet, the Cylons discover the colony, as Roslin had warned, and occupy the settlement ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*She is detained for a short period during which [[Baltar]] attempts to convince her to publically denounce the Resistance suicide bombings, but failing that, has her released. She is later collected in the round up of 200 suspected resistance members, including [[Tom Zarek]] and [[Cally]], for execution ([[Precipice]]).
*After being saved by the resistance, she assigns [[Samuel Anders]] to protect Maya and Isis ([[Exodus, Part I]]).
*Later, during the [[Battle of New Caprica]], she evacuates the planet onboard ''Colonial One'' which reunites with the Fleet along with the other previously grounded ships ([[Exodus, Part II]]).
*After the fleet reunites after the escape from [[New Caprica]], [[Gaius Baltar]] is officially deposed and as the Vice President, [[Tom Zarek]] becomes President. He only briefly holds the office. Under pressure from [[Admiral Adama]], Zarek agrees to step aside from the Presidency. He named Roslin as his Vice President, and then steps down allowing Roslin to become President. She is sworn in shortly after, and issues a general pardon to every citizen in the fleet ([[Collaborators]]).

==Notes==

*The character of Laura Roslin is unique to the Re-imagined Series. It shares no counterpart to the [[Original Series]], where its version of President [[Adar (TOS)|Adar]] is killed, but a presidential replacement is never made. (Of course, it could be argued that she is equivalent to the political/spiritual leader side of the original Commander Adama, whereas [[William Adama]] is representative of his military commander aspect.)

*Roslin's apparent cure in "[[Epiphanies]]" contradicts the "dying leader" clause of the [[Pythia|Pythian Prophecy]], despite the fulfillment of her role in the [[Tomb of Athena]] story arc. Indications from the creators of the show suggest that Roslin's health trials may not yet be over.

*Actress Mary McDonnell is perhaps best known for her role in the epic film, ''Dances with Wolves'', with Kevin Costner. She also played a First Lady in ''Independence Day'', another film which, in a far more campy way, depicts cocky human fighter pilots battling an enemy from outer space that attempts to exterminate mankind.

*In [[SDS|the Singer/DeSanto continuation]] of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|the Original Series]], a female president named [[Mara]] would visit ''Galactica'' in much the same way that Roslin did as part of that ''Galactica'''s decomissioning ceremony.

*The glasses her character wears are also her real glasses.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=features&vid=37452|title=Mary McDonnell Q & A, Part 1|date=2006-10-13|accessdate=2006-10-14|last=|first=|format=VID|language=English}}</ref>

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Richard Adar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Gaius Baltar]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|Vice President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Tom Zarek]]}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tom Zarek]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=''Incumbent''}}
{{end box}}
{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:RDM|Roslin, Laura]]

[[de:Laura Roslin]]

Laura Roslin

2006-10-28T02:03:12Z

Lordsigma12345:

{{Character Data
|photo= Roslin3.PNG
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] (presumed)
|birthname= Laura Roslin
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Unmarried, had an extramarital affair with President Adar (deceased)
|role=President, [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|The Twelve Colonies of Kobol]], Former Secretary of Education (Under President [[Richard Adar]] Cabinet)
|rank=
|actor= [[Mary McDonnell]]
}}

'''Laura Roslin''' is an unmarried<ref name="marital">According to the February issue of ''Sci Fi Magazine'', actress Mary McDonnell indicates that, according to the [[series bible]], Roslin has dated, but has never married. (Scans available on [http://www.livejournal.com/users/reedfem/158883.html Ramblings of a dorkish nature])</ref> woman with some 20 years of political experience. She serves as Secretary of Education for the Colonial [[Government]] at the time of the Cylon attack, later becoming president of the Twelve Colonies after the Cylon attack.
<br/><br/>

== Background ==
*Roslin, a former teacher, worked with [[Richard Adar]] when he was a mayor. Over the years, she herself has risen in political rank to the office of Secretary of Education.
*Adar, a married man, and Roslin are in a sexual affair<ref name="marital2>According to a December 2005 [http://www.galacticastation.com/Galactica%20Station/Archives/dec05.html interview] with Mary McDonnell in TV Guide, President Adar, a married man, was having an affair with Roslin in the twilight of his term.</ref> during the events of a teachers strike that she is trying to mediate, to Adar's objection.
*Roslin learns that she, as did her mother, has breast cancer. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is grim, as the cancer has already spread.
*Roslin sat in the Government Plaza after her doctor's appointment, where she saw [[Gaius Baltar]], the famous scientist, walking and kissing an attractive blonde, but pays it little attention.
*Roslin successfully resolves the teachers strike crisis, but Adar vehemently disagrees with her method, and asks for her resignation. She asks him to defer the matter until she returns from the decommissioning ceremonies on battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.
*Despite being thrust into the role of President in highly unusual and stressful circumstances, Laura Roslin initially proves herself both tough and capable within the role. Initially in awe of Commander Adama, and worrying that he didn't hold her in high regard ([[Water]]), she quickly overcomes her doubts and fears to be able to make the required decisions at the right time, and also stand up to Adama himself ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). She is always prepared to put the safety and destiny of the Fleet first, no matter what the cost of her actions ("[[Flesh and Bone]]," "[[Home, Part I]]," "[[Home, Part II]]," "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") while remembering her limitations and fears.

==Character History at a Glance==

*Roslin is aboard the Colonial government cruiser ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', having just attended the decommissioning ceremonies for the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', when the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|information on the Cylon attack]] leaks through [[wireless]].
*Roslin attempts to serve as the government's representative to aid the ship's pilot in gaining more information. She manages to speak with [[Jack|one fellow official]] over wireless and hears the devastating news.
*The [[Case Orange]] automated beacon response assigns Roslin the role of President after Adar and other high-level government officials are dead or incapacitated.
*In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Roslin undertakes a rescue mission, using the now-renamed ''[[Colonial One]]'' to round-up all vessels that escape destruction and gathers as many survivors as possible together, hoping to save the remnants of humanity from total annihilation.
*Roslin successfully persuades ''Galactica'' commander [[William Adama]] away from his original intention of mounting a counter-attack against the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], and towards helping the new civilan fleet make its escape from occupied Colonial space.
*Since the exodus, Roslin establishes a fledgling civilian [[government]] within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], agrees to abide by civil law regarding her interim term of office, and reestabishes a new [[Quorum of Twelve]].
*Roslin has an uneasy understanding with Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]. Where she is responsible for all civil leadership issues among the surviving Colonials, Adama is responsible for all military decisions ([[Miniseries]]). However, the dividing line is not always clear between the two leaders.
*Roslin chooses [[Chamalla]] extract as an alternative to [[diloxin]], remembering her mother's malaise with that treatment.
* Her illness remains a secret until she relates her Chamalla-induced visions of [[Kobol]] to priestess [[Elosha]], who recognizes them as those prophesized by [[Pythia]], where a dying leader will find the path to [[Earth]]. After research, she determines that she may be able to substantiate Commander Adama's fictitious knowledge of the location of Earth with a true bearing to the world using ancient Colonial history.
*Roslin convinces [[Kara Thrace|Lt. Thrace]] to use the captured Cylon Raider to return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] in search of the [[Arrow of Apollo]].
*Infuriated with Roslin's countermanding and with her refusal to resign as President, Commander Adama terminates her Presidency and stages a military coup. Despite the intervention of [[Lee Adama]], Roslin is arrested and incarcerated aboard ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). With Vice President Baltar missing on the surface of Kobol, this effectively leaves the Fleet without any form of civil leadership, a situation worsened by an assassination attempt on William Adama himself immediately following Roslin's arrest ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).
*From her cell, Roslin eventually tells the Quorum of Twelve, many of who are [[Gemenon]], of her role in the [[Sacred Scrolls]], and begins to gain significant underground civilian support for her cause.
*Roslin escapes ''Galactica'' and, with the help of rival [[Tom Zarek]], convinces over a third of the fleet to [[Laura Roslin faction|join her in the search for the Tomb]]. Roslin's ability to lead and command becomes stronger throughout this time, able to keep Zarek's ambitions at bay and deliver decisions faster than before.
*With the recovered Arrow, Roslin heads an hazardous expedition on Kobol to find the Tomb, with the aid of a second copy of [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] and priestess Elosha.
*The recovered Commander Adama gains refreshed insight on the need for the Fleet to stay united, and leaves to find Roslin's expedition on the surface of Kobol ([[Home, Part II]]).
*During the Kobol expedition, [[Elosha]] is killed. Roslin takes Elosha's blood-spattered copy of the Sacred Scrolls to guide her and to remember her friend.
*Commander Adama greets Roslin warmly on his arrival at her camp on Kobol. The two leaders have a heart-to-heart talk about her rebellion, which Adama forgives. Roslin thanks Adama, calling him "Bill" casually, though she notes that she didn't require permission for what she had to do. Roslin worries that, with talk of the [[Caprica Resistance]], that her insistence to Adama to leave the Colonial worlds behind was a mistake. Adama, also calling Roslin by her first name, firmly chastizes her, reminding Roslin that her decision was correct. If he had chosen to stay, Adama, his son, and all of humanity would be dead.
*Adama and Roslin's party later find the Tomb. With some teamwork, they discover and activate the Tomb's virtual hologram mechanism. Roslin's gamble on faith pays off big for humanity, and the group gains a map and guide to the true location of Earth.
*Back on ''Galactica'', Commander Adama introduces Roslin as President during a speech on the ship, and leads the audience in a rousing ovation on her return, publicly burying the hatchet between them.
*Adama and Roslin's respect for each other grew stronger and their leadership in managing fleet business became more cooperative, asking each other for advice and correcting each other as needed. They work together in getting reporter [[D'anna Biers]] corralled from her potentially disruptive tabloid expose' of the ''[[Gideon]]'' shootings by giving her almost-unlimited access to interview ''Galactica's'' crew. She creates a rousing documentary that meets her and Adama's approval ([[Final Cut]]).
*The military crew honors Roslin by christening a [[Blackbird|new experimental stealth fighter]] by the name, ''Laura'', a gesture that brings tears to the President.
*Despite the pleasure of the arrival of battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Roslin becomes concerned about Cain's abrupt command style and refusal to supply the civilian fleet.
*After a near-disasterous military confrontation between the two battlestar commanders, Roslin chastises them both and tells them to concentrate on [[Resurrection Ship|more important matters]]. Privately, Roslin tells Adama that Cain, whose power can radically affect the remnant of humanity both Roslin and Adama have strived so hard to protect, must be killed if Adama and the Fleet are to survive.
[[Image:Roslinadama.jpg|Roslin and Adama.|thumb]]
*After the battle, and Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain's death]], Roslin, now more frail with her illness, promotes William Adama to Admiral. The new admiral gives the president a kiss.
*Roslin is miraculously saved by the injection of stem cells<ref>In the commentary track for "Epiphanies," Ron Moore states that a longer explanation of Roslin's cure was filmed that explained that the blood's stem cells cure Roslin. However, the scene was cut because he was afraid it would be too complicated and thought of as [[technobabble]]. The character's updated biography on the official Scifi.com site does confirm that stem cells from the hybrid were the actual cure. As such, Battlestar Wiki treats this data canonically as with information found in most deleted scenes.</ref> from the Cylon [[Hera|hybrid fetus]], which apparently eradicate her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]). In the hours prior to the cure, however, Roslin remembers her last days on Caprica, including the attractive blonde with Dr. Baltar, her vice-president. She now recognizes the woman as a copy of a [[Number Six|Cylon agent]].
*Roslin confronts Baltar on his association and later confesses the memory to William Adama ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*Roslin dives into work with a dispassionate manner not unlike her predecessor, Richard Adar, including an attempt to stop the [[Black market (organization)|black market]] , handling the terrible loss of [[Billy Keikeya]], and the upcoming presidential election.
*Roslin's new aide, [[Tory Foster]], is an energetic young woman with a great deal of political drive.
*Complicating what may have been an easy re-election include Roslin's decision to enforce a no-abortion law to aid in repopulation while allowing a Gemenese girl [[Rya Kibby]] to have an abortion, angering Gemenon representative [[Sarah Porter]] and losing most support from Roslin's religious base.
*Expecting [[Tom Zarek]] to run for president, Roslin is shocked when her own vice president, Dr. Baltar, challenges Roslin for the presidency.
*Convinced that that the only way to keep the newborn Cylon-hybrid, [[Hera]], alive but out of the eye of Cylon agents, Roslin has the infant's death faked and hands the child over to a foster mother named [[Maya]] ([[Downloaded]]).
*Roslin easily leads Baltar in the election polls, but with the discovery of a habitable planet dubbed "[[New Caprica]]", Baltar finds the perfect wedge issue to use against Roslin. Despite the extreme difficulties of colonization, the people of the Fleet vote their extreme hopes over their rational fears and Roslin's voice of reason.
*Roslin gives Foster tacit approval to rig the election in order to save the Fleet from electing someone that she knows (in her heart) is a Cylon conspirator. But the fraud is discovered. Admiral Adama confers with Roslin and convinces her that rigging a democratic election was a line that they simply cannot cross. He indicates that the people have made the wrong decision to elect Baltar president, probably even a disastrous choice, but it was their choice.
*Roslin agrees to back down, and Adama announces a mistake in the vote count. A perturbed Baltar doesn't press further, content with having won the election, and orders colonization of New Caprica immediately after his swearing-in.
[[Image:2BATgyC05.jpg|Roslin as a teacher on New Caprica.|thumb]]
*A year passes on New Caprica, and Baltar's administration becomes the unmitigated, incompetent disaster that Roslin had feared. Meanwhile, Roslin returns to her old love of teaching, running the new settlement's school. Assisted by [[Maya]], who brings her infant adopted daughter [[Hera|Isis]] (the secreted Cylon hybrid), Roslin is more comfortable watching over the pair personally.
*380 days after settling on the planet, the Cylons discover the colony, as Roslin had warned, and occupy the settlement ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
*She is detained for a short period during which [[Baltar]] attempts to convince her to publically denounce the Resistance suicide bombings, but failing that, has her released. She is later collected in the round up of 200 suspected resistance members, including [[Tom Zarek]] and [[Cally]], for execution ([[Precipice]]).
*After being saved by the resistance, she assigns [[Samuel Anders]] to protect Maya and Isis ([[Exodus, Part I]]).
*Later, during the [[Battle of New Caprica]], she evacuates the planet onboard ''Colonial One'' which reunites with the Fleet along with the other previously grounded ships ([[Exodus, Part II]]).

==Notes==

*The character of Laura Roslin is unique to the Re-imagined Series. It shares no counterpart to the [[Original Series]], where its version of President [[Adar (TOS)|Adar]] is killed, but a presidential replacement is never made. (Of course, it could be argued that she is equivalent to the political/spiritual leader side of the original Commander Adama, whereas [[William Adama]] is representative of his military commander aspect.)

*Roslin's apparent cure in "[[Epiphanies]]" contradicts the "dying leader" clause of the [[Pythia|Pythian Prophecy]], despite the fulfillment of her role in the [[Tomb of Athena]] story arc. Indications from the creators of the show suggest that Roslin's health trials may not yet be over.

*Actress Mary McDonnell is perhaps best known for her role in the epic film, ''Dances with Wolves'', with Kevin Costner. She also played a First Lady in ''Independence Day'', another film which, in a far more campy way, depicts cocky human fighter pilots battling an enemy from outer space that attempts to exterminate mankind.

*In [[SDS|the Singer/DeSanto continuation]] of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|the Original Series]], a female president named [[Mara]] would visit ''Galactica'' in much the same way that Roslin did as part of that ''Galactica'''s decomissioning ceremony.

*The glasses her character wears are also her real glasses.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=features&vid=37452|title=Mary McDonnell Q & A, Part 1|date=2006-10-13|accessdate=2006-10-14|last=|first=|format=VID|language=English}}</ref>

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=[[Richard Adar]]|title=[[Government|President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]|after=[[Gaius Baltar]]}}
{{end box}}

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Roslin, Laura]]
[[Category:RDM|Roslin, Laura]]

[[de:Laura Roslin]]