Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport

2011-05-08T04:09:51Z

Pst001: Incheon International Airport

[[Image:Caprica City Interplanetary Spaceport.jpg|thumb|The Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport at night.]]
The '''Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport''', also known as '''Trojan Spaceport''', was a facility located within [[Caprica City]], [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. It provided off-world flights to locations within the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]] including destinations to [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol#Picon|Picon]], [[Gemenon]], and [[Tauron (RDM)|Tauron]]. The spaceport's official abbreviation was CCX ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]," "[[Retribution]]").

Members of the [[Soldiers of the One]] cell led by [[Barnabas Greeley]], including [[Pann]], [[Hippolyta]] and [[Lacy Rand]], attempted to bomb the facility. The terror attack, however, was botched when Rand was caught by a spaceport [[Unnamed characters (CAP)#Security Guard|security guard]] who was promptly shot by Pann. Unable to plant their explosives in time, the three STO fled in a getaway car driven by [[Keon Gatwick]]. The [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprican]] [[Global Defense Department]] was tasked with investigating the incident, with Agent [[Jordan Duram]] suspecting Sister [[Clarice Willow]]'s involvement ([[CAP]]: "[[Retribution]]").

:''The Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport was filmed at [[Wikipedia: Simon Fraser University|Simon Fraser University]] in [[Wikipedia: Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey, British Columbia]]. Photos of the location show set dressings labeling the port as "Caprica Inter-Colonial Spaceport". [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtanenbaum/4077340868/in/photostream/] The computer-generated exterior included architecture from the [[Wikipedia: Incheon International Airport|Incheon International Airport]] in South Korea.

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[CAtegory: Places on Caprica]]
[[Category:Twelve Colonies]]
[[Category:Caprica (series)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Zoe-A

2011-01-29T03:19:29Z

Pst001: fixing redirect

#REDIRECT [[Zoe Graystone#Zoe-A]]

Zoe-R

2011-01-29T03:19:03Z

Pst001: fixing redirect

#redirect [[Zoe Graystone#Zoe-R]]

Zoe-A

2011-01-29T03:11:51Z

Pst001: corrected redirect

#REDIRECT [[Zoe Graystone#Zoe-R]]

User talk:Pst001

2011-01-29T00:07:48Z

Pst001: /* Tense */ yup

== Welcome to Battlestar Wiki! ==

Greetings, {{PAGENAME}}, and welcome to Battlestar Wiki! I'm pleased to tell you that you have full editing privileges on every wiki in the Battlestar Wiki network. I hope you enjoy your stay with us and am looking forward to your contributions to the Wiki! Why not begin by telling us a bit about yourself on your own [[User:{{PAGENAME}}|user page]]?

As you may already know, Battlestar Wiki covers all the ''Battlestar Galactica'' series from past to present, in addition to authorized merchandise. Presently, we don't cover fan fiction, but our sister-site, [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]], does so. We're also not a discussion site, although we do have an ever-growing [http://www.battlestarforum.com Battlestar Forum] where people can discuss the various shows and non-BSG topics as well!

To get started on the wiki, we suggest that you check out our [[BW:TUT|tutorial]], experiment in [[BW:SAND|the sandbox]] (a test editing area for those learning wiki code), and review some of our basic [[BW:POL|policies]] (which have important differences from other SF wikis). For some general questions and answers about the navigation and operation of the Wiki, check out the [[Battlestar Wiki:FAQ|Frequently Asked Questions]] (FAQ).

Of course, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you are more than welcome to bring them up at the [[BW:CN|Chiefs' noticeboard]] (which is frequented by the administrators of the Wiki) and at the [[BW:GQ|Galactipedians' Quorum]] (which is the hub for contributors, who are called "Galactipedians").

Furthermore, if you don't wish to see the ads, then please consider upgrading your account to a [[BW:MEMBERSHIP|paid membership]], which costs only $10 USD a year and helps support the wiki financially. This membership also extends to the [http://www.battlestarforum.com Battlestar Forum], where you can talk to other members about the show and most anything that you want to talk about to BSG fans! We think this is very cool, and we hope you do as well!

Thank you for joining us! Hope to see you soon!
--[[User:JubalHarshaw|JubalHarshaw]] 20:02, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

==Hi==

Welcome to Battlestar Wiki. You've made a number of constructive edits so far. Keep up the good work. But, in the future, you could try to avoid labelling them as "minor". -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 13:01, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
:oh ok, thanks for the heads up. force of habit i guess. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]]
::I'd also like to congratulate you on your great work. Keep it up!--[[User:DrWho42|DrWho42]] 21:23, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

::No problem. "Minor" refers to things like singular typos and comma placement. Hope you keep contributing. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 15:28, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

== Amanda Graystone, and more ==

Thanks for filling in some pretty big gaps in the site's ''Caprica'' information--Amanda being one of the biggest--and for filling them in so well! [[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 15:53, 17 October 2010 (UTC)
:thanks! seemed like amanda and ''caprica'' as a whole needed some love. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 17:44, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

== Images ==

I've noticed that you've added screencaps from the final five ''Caprica'' episodes. They're damn good quality, so I have to answer the call of curiosity and ask where you've obtained them. --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 04:21, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

:canadian itunes has the final five episodes up, that's where i've taken all of my screen captures from! [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 08:38, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

== Tense ==
Your work on ''Caprica'' is excellently worded and well-detailed, so I'm sorry to nitpick, but there's a convention at Battlestar Wiki that present tense be used: [[Battlestar_Wiki:Standards_and_Conventions#Tense]] -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 23:55, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
:blegh, i don't know how to deal with that haha. sounds so weird in the present tense. ok. thanks for the heads up. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 00:01, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
::You can still use past tense for events before the series in question. You're welcome. Sorry rules differ from wiki to wiki (TARDIS Wiki, for example, has an all-past-tense rule, possibly because of the present being relative in ''Doctor Who''). -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 00:04, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
:::yeah i probably should have looked at the rules more closely before i started. used to work on memory alpha which was also past tense. i suppose i assumed things would be past tense because even in the context of the series, everything takes place in the distant past. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 00:07, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

User talk:Pst001

2011-01-29T00:01:23Z

Pst001: /* Tense */ reply

Philomon

2011-01-28T23:55:48Z

Pst001:

{{Character Data
|photo= Caprica - Philomon.jpg
|age= 27
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|callsign=
|seen= Rebirth
|death=Killed by [[Zoe-R]] ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]")
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Dated [[Zoe-A]] as "Rachel"
|role= Chief Lab Technician at [[Graystone Industries]]
|rank=
|actor=[[Alex Arsenault]]
|cylon=
}}

'''Philomon''' was a technician working at [[Graystone Industries]] during the development of the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] in the years leading up to the [[Cylon War]].

Born in [[Qualai]], Philomon attended Qualai University where he studied electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, computer sciences and applied physics. Earning several degrees and a doctorate, Philomon earned a position at Graystone Industries as its chief lab technician by the age of twenty-seven ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

Unaware of the presence of the [[Zoe Graystone]] [[avatar]] within the prototype U-87, Philomon intuitively referred to the [[robot]] in the feminine, treating it with a respect and reverence not shared by his coworker, [[Drew Tanner]]. Having worked on the U-87 during its initial design and construction phases, Philomon was charged with the maintenance and upkeep of the prototype, while attempting to solve technical problems with the (stolen) [[Meta-cognitive processor|MCP]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]], "[[Gravedancing]]").

Personally, Philomon struggled at finding a romantic connection, even finding it difficult to meet women in the [[virtual world]]. Philomon's sexual frustrations manifested in his interactions with the U-87, often speaking to it as though it were a romantic interest, even dancing with the robot during a motion analysis test of its limbs. Developing an attraction to Philomon over the course of the interactions, Zoe Graystone as the U-87 initiated contact with him through the virutal dating site, V-Match. Taking on the guide of "Rachel", Zoe made a date with Philomon, meeting him in the [[V-Club]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]).

Though Philomon was at first shocked by Rachel's close resemblance to Zoe Graystone, he quickly reciprocated the attraction, taking her on several virtual dates - including a simulated [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] flight. Though Zoe was using her interaction with Philomon as an attempt to escape Caprica to [[Gemenon]], her persona as Rachel inspired Philomon to solve a major problem in replicating the MCP chip and mass producing Cylons. With new insight, Philomon brought his theory to [[Daniel Graystone]], who ordered him to delete the MCP. Neither men knew, however, that doing so would delete Zoe in the process ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]").

Aware of her father's plan to delete the MCP, Zoe was forced to escalate her plan, directing her best friend [[Lacy Rand]] to meet Philomon in the real world, claiming to be Rachel. She then instructed Lacy to stun Philomon and steal the U-87 from Graystone Indsutries. The plan, however, was interrupted and Zoe was forced to reveal herself as both Rachel and Zoe Graystone in the form of the U-87. Pleading with Philomon to help her escape, Philomon agreed to assist her, but then triggered a security alarm. Her very existence at stake, Zoe attacked Philomon, tossing him into a support beam and killing him instantly ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]").

==Notes==
[[Image:Philomon's V-Match profile.jpg|thumb|Philomon's V-Match profile.]]
*Philomon has occasionally been referred to as "Philo" (even listed in the credits as such). Presumably, Philo is the short form of the name Philomon.
*The name Philomon may be a reference to Philemon, a Jungian spirit guide that takes the form of a winged man.
*The name Philomon may also be a reference to "Philemon" in the Bible's New Testament. Philemon was a Christian who owned a slave, Onesimus; Onesimus ran away, became a Christian himself, and was returned to Philemon by the Christian Apostle Paul along with a letter (contained in the Bible as the short book of "Philemon"). In the letter, Paul pleads for Onesimus, asking Philemon to receive him not as a runaway slave but as a new brother in their common faith.
*From Philomon's Caprica V-Match account viewers learn that he is a fan of [[Baxter Sarno]] and [[Gemenon (RDM)|Gemenese]] monster movies. His hobbies include applied robotics, nuclear Quantum mechanics, and astrology.

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Deceased Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category: Caprica (series)]]
[[Category: RDM]]

Philomon

2011-01-28T23:53:57Z

Pst001: updated a lil

{{Character Data
|photo= Caprica - Philomon.jpg
|age= 27
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|callsign=
|seen= Rebirth
|death=Killed by [[Zoe-R]] ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]")
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Dated [[Zoe-A]]
|role=
|rank=
|actor=[[Alex Arsenault]]
|cylon=
}}

'''Philomon''' was a technician working at [[Graystone Industries]] during the development of the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] in the years leading up to the [[Cylon War]].

Born in [[Qualai]], Philomon attended Qualai University where he studied electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, computer sciences and applied physics. Earning several degrees and a doctorate, Philomon earned a position at Graystone Industries as its chief lab technician by the age of twenty-seven ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

Unaware of the presence of the [[Zoe Graystone]] [[avatar]] within the prototype U-87, Philomon intuitively referred to the [[robot]] in the feminine, treating it with a respect and reverence not shared by his coworker, [[Drew Tanner]]. Having worked on the U-87 during its initial design and construction phases, Philomon was charged with the maintenance and upkeep of the prototype, while attempting to solve technical problems with the (stolen) [[Meta-cognitive processor|MCP]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]], "[[Gravedancing]]").

Personally, Philomon struggled at finding a romantic connection, even finding it difficult to meet women in the [[virtual world]]. Philomon's sexual frustrations manifested in his interactions with the U-87, often speaking to it as though it were a romantic interest, even dancing with the robot during a motion analysis test of its limbs. Developing an attraction to Philomon over the course of the interactions, Zoe Graystone as the U-87 initiated contact with him through the virutal dating site, V-Match. Taking on the guide of "Rachel", Zoe made a date with Philomon, meeting him in the [[V-Club]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]).

Though Philomon was at first shocked by Rachel's close resemblance to Zoe Graystone, he quickly reciprocated the attraction, taking her on several virtual dates - including a simulated [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] flight. Though Zoe was using her interaction with Philomon as an attempt to escape Caprica to [[Gemenon]], her persona as Rachel inspired Philomon to solve a major problem in replicating the MCP chip and mass producing Cylons. With new insight, Philomon brought his theory to [[Daniel Graystone]], who ordered him to delete the MCP. Neither men knew, however, that doing so would delete Zoe in the process ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]").

Aware of her father's plan to delete the MCP, Zoe was forced to escalate her plan, directing her best friend [[Lacy Rand]] to meet Philomon in the real world, claiming to be Rachel. She then instructed Lacy to stun Philomon and steal the U-87 from Graystone Indsutries. The plan, however, was interrupted and Zoe was forced to reveal herself as both Rachel and Zoe Graystone in the form of the U-87. Pleading with Philomon to help her escape, Philomon agreed to assist her, but then triggered a security alarm. Her very existence at stake, Zoe attacked Philomon, tossing him into a support beam and killing him instantly ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]").

==Notes==
[[Image:Philomon's V-Match profile.jpg|thumb|Philomon's V-Match profile.]]
*Philomon has occasionally been referred to as "Philo" (even listed in the credits as such). Presumably, Philo is the short form of the name Philomon.
*The name Philomon may be a reference to Philemon, a Jungian spirit guide that takes the form of a winged man.
*The name Philomon may also be a reference to "Philemon" in the Bible's New Testament. Philemon was a Christian who owned a slave, Onesimus; Onesimus ran away, became a Christian himself, and was returned to Philemon by the Christian Apostle Paul along with a letter (contained in the Bible as the short book of "Philemon"). In the letter, Paul pleads for Onesimus, asking Philemon to receive him not as a runaway slave but as a new brother in their common faith.
*From Philomon's Caprica V-Match account viewers learn that he is a fan of [[Baxter Sarno]] and [[Gemenon (RDM)|Gemenese]] monster movies. His hobbies include applied robotics, nuclear Quantum mechanics, and astrology.

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Deceased Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category: Caprica (series)]]
[[Category: RDM]]

Zoe Graystone

2011-01-28T21:25:50Z

Pst001: formatting

{{Character Data
|photo= Zoe-A.jpg
|age= 16 (at time of death)
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|nickname=Zo
|seen= Caprica (series)
|pseen= Caprica pilot
|death= Killed in suicide bombing ([[Caprica pilot|Pilot]])
|parents= [[Daniel Graystone]] <br>[[Amanda Graystone]]
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Dated [[Ben Stark]] † while alive, dated [[Philomon]] in the [[virtual world]]
|role= Creator of the [[resurrection program]], first [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]] consciousness in the Twelve Colonies.
|rank=
|actor= [[Alessandra Toressani]]
|cylon=
|sortkey=Graystone, Zoe
}}
'''Zoe Graystone''' was the daughter of [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]] and [[Amanda Graystone]], killed during an act of terrorism by the [[Soldiers of the One]]. Zoe's consciousness was downloaded into a [[virtual world|virtual]] [[avatar]] and later implanted into the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], making her the first sentient [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]], '''Zoe-A''' and '''Zoe-R'''.

==Early Life==
[[Image:Zoe Alessandra.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone as a vital teenager.]]
Though she was loved by her parents, Zoe was an accident, conceived while the Graystones were busy building their careers. Following her birth, Zoe's mother Amanda Graystone suffered from [[Wikipedia: Postpartum depression|postpartum depression]] ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

At the age of six, Zoe was trapped in her bedroom when a devastating fire swept through the Graystones' first home on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. With her father unable to reach her, Zoe survived with the assistance of a [[messengers|vision]] of herself as an adult. Though she came away from the fire unscathed, Zoe never got over the incident, living with a fear of fire into young adulthood ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

===Adolescence===
As Zoe grew up, her relationship with her mother was strained. Attributing her daughter's often rude and rebellious nature to the unhappy pregnancy, Amanda Graystone believed that her daughter hated her. She later described Zoe as "angry, defiant, rude, vulgar, obnoxious, unreasonable - just your typical 16 year old girl" ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[Retribution]]").

[[Image:Zoe holoband, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe caught wearing her holoband at school.]]

Attending high school at [[Athena Academy]] in [[Caprica City]], Zoe was extremely proficient in computer programming to the point of being considered a genius. Still, she ran into trouble at school; at least once being caught and disciplined for using her [[holoband]] at school. Among her, extracurricular activities were cello and frequent visits to the [[virtual world]] where she visited group sex rooms in the "[[V-Club]]" ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[Rebirth]]").

Zoe was schooled in the teachings of the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies (RDM)#The Lords of Kobol|Goddess]] [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]]. Despite her polytheistic upbringing, Zoe came to believe in a singular [[God (RDM)|God]], telling her best friend, [[Lacy Rand]], "There is a right and there is a wrong. But only through the One true God can we know the difference." With her boyfriend, [[Ben Stark]], Zoe persuaded Lacy to join a secret monotheist prayer group, though she kept her activities with the [[Soldiers of the One]] terror group secret ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

==Zoe-A==
[[Image:Zoe-A first appears, 1x13.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A first interacts with her creator, Zoe Graystone.]]
The virtual version of Zoe was created by Zoe Graystone herself using hacked rudimentary emulation software capable of duplicating her own V-World avatar. Graystone programmed the copy - a perfect copy - with roughly 100 terabytes of personal information from other databases. This allowed the avatar to access and translate information from medical scans, DNA profiles, psychological evaluations, school records, emails, video and audio recordings, CAT scans, genetic typing, synaptic records, security cameras, test results, shopping records, talent shows, ballgames, traffic tickets, restaurant bills, phone records, music lists, movie tickets, TV shows and "even prescriptions for birth control" - essentially turning raw data into personality and memory ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===Life's A Good Start===
Zoe initially conceived of the avatar program after seeing her father's designs for the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] chassis. Interacting with an [[Messengers|illusory]] version of herself, Zoe realized that she could do more than create a robot body - that she could create life itself. Working from her father's workstation in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab, Zoe created the avatar, at first a semi-sentient being, barely aware of its own ability to speak or its own separate identity from the flesh and blood Zoe ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

[[Image:Zoe and Zoe-A, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe Graystone and her avatar in V-World.]]

Eventually, Zoe brought her discovery to Sister [[Clarice Willow]], headmistress of [[Athena Academy]] and closet monotheist, who encouraged Zoe to continue her work - ultimately inspiring Clarice's own notion of [[apotheosis]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]).

The avatar was soon programmed with a bio-feedback protocol to ostensibly allow it to respond to stimuli in real time as the physical Zoe Graystone experienced it. Despite the achievement, the avatar showed difficulty maintaining resolution, sometimes derezzing back to earlier copies in times of stress ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Graystone worked with her boyfriend, fellow STO member Ben Stark, to build a private space within the V-Club to house Zoe-A, loosely resembling a monotheist temple on [[Gemenon]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

Placing the finishing touches on the avatar program, Zoe and Ben prepared to leave for Gemenon; telling Lacy Rand only that there would be a "new family" waiting for them there ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]").

As they boarded the [[Metropolitan Levitation Mass Transit|MLMT]] train bound for the [[Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport|Caprican Spaceport]], Lacy backed out, leaving Zoe and Ben on their own. Having recently argued with her mother, Zoe used her [[computer sheet]] to send a conciliatory message aboard the train. However, that message was never received as Ben Stark detonated a bomb in the name of the "One True God", destroying the Lev and killing everybody aboard ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===Life After Death===
[[Image:Zoe-A biofeedback, 1x01.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A experiences the real Zoe's death.]]
In the wake of the bombing and the resulting death of Zoe Graystone, the Zoe-A program continued to run in the virtual world. Upon being discovered by [[Lacy Rand]] still functioning within the V-Club, Zoe-A briefly appeared covered in blood, fully aware of the bombing and death of Zoe Graystone. Despite initial reservations, Rand came to treat the holographic version of Zoe as the real thing and introduced her to Zoe's real-world father, wealthy technologist [[Daniel Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

At first appalled by the copy of his daughter, Daniel Graystone saw the Zoe avatar as an opportunity to bring his daughter back from the grave. Capturing the avatar's code, Graystone transferred the program to a personal virtual space for analysis. Later transferring the avatar program to the revolutionary [[Meta-cognitive processor|Meta-cognitive Processor]], a device stolen from the [[Vergis Corporation]] of [[Tauron]], Graystone attempted to implant Zoe-A's consciousness into one of [[Graystone Industries]]' [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87]] battle robots, giving the avatar a physical body in the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

Though at first the experiment seemed successful, with the robot taking several steps toward Graystone and speaking a single word - "Daddy" - the [[datastream]] quickly and inexplicably destabilized, appearing to Graystone as though the avatar (and the program that allowed such duplicates to be created) were destroyed ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Soon afterward, stored at Graystone Industries labs in [[Caprica City]], the robot containing the Meta-cognitive Processor reactivated with the avatar's consciousness left intact ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

==Zoe-R==
[[Image:Zoe awakens, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe awakens as the U-87.]]

Living at Graystone Industries, Zoe-A as the prototype "Cylon" (Cybernetic Lifeform Node) became the subject of much attention from scientist [[Cyrus Xander]] and lab assistants [[Philomon]] and [[Drew]]. Despite the company's attempts to place duplicate MCP chips into other U-87 robot chassis, an inexplicable error prevented the other robots from functioning properly. Unbeknown to the team at Graystone Industries, the Zoe avatar program had bonded to both the original MCP chip and prototype U-87 body, allowing it to test at sentient levels. Where the U-87s previously failed to prove themselves as capable battle robots, the prototype body containing Zoe-A proved to be an efficient war machine ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

Frustrated by his company's failure to perfect the Cylon technology and faced with a deadline to produce 100,000 combat units for the Caprican Government, Daniel Graystone had the Zoe robot transferred to his home lab for further study ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]").

[[Image: Lacy and Zoe-R, 1x02.jpg|thumb|Lacy and Zoe in her robot guise reunite.]]

Back in her old home, Zoe-R was able to reconnect with Lacy Rand. Zoe was also able to access her father's home computer, creating a wireless link to a [[holoband]] which allowed her to transfer her avatar from her robot body to the virtual world at will. Exploring her father's virtual space with Lacy Rand, Zoe stumbled upon another hacked avatar - created before the program was lost - belonging to [[Tamara Adams]], also killed in the MagLev bombing ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]").

:''In a deleted scene from "The Reins of a Waterfall" had Zoe working with [[Serge]] to establish the link to the virtual world after being unable to fit a holoband over the robot's head. In that scene, Serge recognized the robot as Zoe.

===First of a New Race===
In her robot body, Zoe struggled to maintain some semblance of a normal existence. Savoring the fleeting moments she was allowed by existing in her holographic "skin" in V-World (and indulging in simple comforts like virtual food), Zoe's life was dominated by existence as an experimental battle robot. Much of her time was spent being handled by the scientists at Graystone Industries as well as being dissected and studied by her father. Upon seeing the robot in Daniel's home lab, [[Amanda Graystone]] - Zoe's mother - unknowingly referred to her daughter as a "monster" ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

[[Image:CylonPrototype.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe on display at Graystone Industries.]]

Aside from the indignities of life as a robot - including being forced to watch her parents engage in sexual intercourse - Zoe also experienced difficulty controlling her own body. When ordered to perform specific tasks, Zoe was unable to disobey in her robot guise. Presented in front of the Board of Directors at Graystone Industries - and introduced as a new life form to be exploited by the citizens of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] - Zoe was forced to violently detach her own arm ([[CAP]]: "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[There is Another Sky]]").

In these experiences, however, Zoe became close with Philomon, a Graystone Industries lab assistant tasked with reattaching her severed arm. Intuitively referring to Zoe in the feminine, Philomon treated the robot Zoe with reverence bordering on romantic interest. Setting a test of the U-87's motor functions to music, Philomon allowed Zoe to dance - a moment of near normalcy for the adolescent girl ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]," "[[Gravedancing]]").

===Escape to Gemenon===
With little knowledge of the original Zoe Graystone's ultimate plan for her avatar, the virtual/robotic version of Zoe knew only that she was to be brought to the planet [[Gemenon]] where she would help in the effort to spread [[God (RDM)|monotheism]] to the Tweleve Colonies. Fearing Sister Clarice could not be trusted, Zoe enlisted Lacy Rand to join a Soldiers of the One cell led by [[Barnabas Greeley]] to transport her robot body off-world ([[CAP]]: "[[Gravedancing]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

As Lacy secured passage for the "package," Zoe sought to use her connection with Philomon to her advantage. Modifying her avatar to pose as "'''Rachel'''," Zoe contacted Philomon through the personals website "V-Match" and arranged to meet him in the V-Club. There Zoe as Rachel initiated a romantic relationship with Philomon, explaining that she had used Zoe Graystone's physical parameters to represent her in the virtual world. Over the course of several dates, including a [[Viper (TRS)|Viper]] flight simulation, Zoe was able to get Philomon to reveal his work with top secret robotics and attempted to persuade him to release the robot from confinement. Unwittingly, however, Zoe led Philomon to a revelation about the difficulties Graystone Industries had been experiencing with the MCP and U-87 ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]").

[[Image:Zoe shoots Ceasar, 1x08.jpg|thumb|Zoe shoots Caesar.]]

In the real world, Philomon explained his theory about the MCP to Daniel Graystone who quickly came to realize that Zoe's avatar was still within the U-87. Determined to draw his daughter out of the robot, Graystone launched into a series of tests in which he attempted to elicit a response that would prove that Zoe's consciousness was still within the Cylon prototype. Putting the robot through its paces and subjecting Zoe to mind games, Daniel ultimately placed a gun in the robot's hand and ordered it to shoot Zoe's childhood dog, [[Caesar]]. Detecting the slight difference in weight in the weapon, Zoe realized the gun was loaded with blanks and fired on the dog. Convinced that his daughter would never attempt to shoot her own pet, Graystone resigned himself to believing that Zoe's avatar was gone for good ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

===End of Line===
[[Image:U-87 behind the wheel, 1x09.jpg|thumb|Zoe-R escapes from Graystone labs.]]
To withstand her father's psychological assault, Zoe vowed to become one with the robot body she inhabited, hardening herself against a man and a world she felt betrayed her. Faced with a shortened deadline for the production of battle robots, Daniel ordered Philomon to erase the data on the MCP, an act that would delete Zoe's avatar. With little time to escape deletion and permanent death, Zoe urged Lacy to hasten her departure to Gemenon by posing as Rachel, sneaking into Graystone labs, incapacitating Philomon and freeing the U-87. As the deadline approached and Lacy failed to come through, Zoe revealed herself to Philomon as both "Rachel" and Zoe Graystone in the robot body. Incensed, Philomon triggered a security alert forcing Zoe to attack and kill him. Stealing a Graystone Industries van, Zoe broke out of the lab and escaped into Caprica City. ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]")

Pursued by Caprican authorities, Zoe drove her van into a barricade, causing an explosion that destroyed the U-87 body ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

==Avatar Again==
Following the destruction of the U-87 chassis, the MCP containing Zoe's avatar failed to reboot, allowing Graystone Industries to successfully copy it and begin production of the Defense Department's combat units. With the robot beyond repair, the U-87 was [[boxing|boxed]] and sent to Daniel Graystone's home lab. Zoe's avatar, however, lived on, finding herself once again living in the virtual world ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

===New Cap City===
[[Image:Zoe as a Deadwalker, 1x10.jpg|thumb|Zoe as a Dead Walker.]]
Appearing in [[New Cap City]], Zoe - called a "Deadwalker" by its inhabitants - battled several players branded with a unique symbol, that of the other Deadwalker, Tamara Adams ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

Tracking this Deadwalker to the ruined, New Cap City version of [[Atlas Arena]], Zoe battled Tamara in a brutal, but ultimately pointless fight. Tamara, blaming the Zoe avatar for the bombing of the MagLev and death of her real life counterpart, unleashed wave after wave of New Cap City users against her. Enduring a bloody assault, Zoe survived the ordeal - taking solace from the reappearance of the original Zoe's imaginary counterpart. Finally, Tamara and Zoe battled face to face, both withstanding horrible injury. Ultimately, however, Zoe was able to convince Tamara that she was not the ''original'' Zoe, nor the bomber, and that together they could fulfill a greater destiny ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]).

===Avenging Angels===
[[Image:Avenging Angels.jpg|thumb|The Avenging Angels phenomenon appearing on CAP2 TV.]]
Acknowledging it as a breeding ground of moral decay and corruption, Zoe and Tamara took it upon themselves to "clean" New Cap City. Appearing nightly at the den of iniquity called "Sinny McNutt's Slash & Cut," Zoe and Tamara engaged in combat with its patrons, opening fire on those who were unwilling to leave and derezzing them from the game. The notion of encountering the girls at the bar had been a draw to users, who hoped to either kill them or be killed by them - either way becoming famous. Among the users the Deadwalkers derezzed were [[Olaf Willow|Olaf]] and [[Nestor Willow]] who - despite their work with Clarice Willow on Apotheosis - believed the Zoe avatar was simply an anonymous user "playing dress up" ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Indeed, the prevailing belief in the real world was that the Zoe avatar was simply a fake and the notion of Zoe and Tamara as "Avenging Angels" spread into popular culture. As T-shirts spread throughout Caprica City bearing the likeness of Zoe and Tamara, Daniel Graystone became aware of the phenomenon and suspected that it was, in fact, the real Zoe. Entering V-World and finding the girls at the Slash & Cut bar, Daniel alerted Zoe and Tamara to his knowledge of their existence, before he left the game ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Afraid of being found by Daniel, Zoe and Tamara toyed with the possibility of leaving New Cap City for other parts of V-World. Zoe, however, rejected the notion, saying that the two had become gods there. Vowing to "forsake these [[frak|motherfrakkers]]," Zoe and Tamara used their ability to control code to destroy and reconfigure the urban setting, turning New Cap City into a fortress upon a mountain, surrounded by dense forest ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===The Fortress===
[[Image:Zoe and Tamara in their fortress, 1x16.jpg|thumb|left|"Let them come."]]
Completing their fortress, Zoe and Tamara's solitude in the new New Cap City was shortlived. Tracking Zoe's avatar through backdoor access to the Virutal World, Daniel Graystone was able to locate his daughter and capture Tamara. Holding Tammy in his private virtual space, Graystone attempted to give her a message to relay to Zoe. Zoe, however, was able to enter the private space and attack her father, stabbing him in the chest and derezzing him. Locked out of the game, Graystone had no other choice but to enter V-World through another gateway, taking his wife, Amanda and Tamara's uncle [[Sam Adama]] with him ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]").

Aware of their entry into the reconfigured New Cap City, Zoe transformed her parent's virtual horses into dragons, attempting to drive them out of the simulation. Undeterred even after losing Sam Adama, the Graystones pushed on, finally encountering their daughter in the virtual forest. Rather than trying to force Zoe to go with them, Amanda Graystone tearfully reunited with her daughter, telling her that she was welcome to return to the virtual version of their home any time she wanted ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Zoe-R Returns===
[[Image:Zoe-R returns, 1x17.jpg|thumb|Zoe returns to her robotic body.]]

Transferring her program back into the U-87 body being repaired in her father's home lab, Zoe discovered her parents held hostage by Clarice Willow and her spouses. Stepping in to defend the Graystones, Zoe used her severed robotic arm to club [[Nestor Willow]] to death before chasing Clarice and Olaf Willow out of the Graystone home. With the robot incapacitated, Zoe transferred herself into the virtual version of her family home and agreed to work with her father on the creation of a more appropriate robotic body - a "[[skin job]]" ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Apotheosis===
[[Image:Zoe destroys V-Heaven, 1x18.jpg|left|thumb|Zoe destroys Clarice's virtual heaven.]]
Immediately following the break, STO operative and director of the [[Global Defense Department]] [[Gara Singh]] used his authority within the Caprican government and stormed the Graystone residence, falsely accusing Daniel and Amanda Graystone of planning the MLMT bombing. Alone in the virtual version of the Graystones' house, Zoe was cut off from her parents who were on the run from the authorities. Viewing [[Caprica Network|CAP News]] coverage depicting the Graystones as wanted terrorists, Zoe realized Willow's involvement and infiltrated Clarice's "Virtual Heaven" as the Apotheosis program commenced ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Seeing STO suicide bombers resurrected within the virtual world simulation, Zoe began to understand her purpose: stop Clarice Willow. Having experienced the debauchery of the V-Club and New Cap City, Zoe argued with Clarice, telling her that a guaranteed, virtual afterlife would result in the same kind of moral corruption, this time in the real world. Demonstrating her power to control the virtual world and declaring herself "[[God (RDM)|God]]," Zoe destroyed Clarice's Apotheosis program, terminating the avatars of Willow's STO cell, including the avatar of her recently deceased husband, Olaf Willow and forcing Willow to withdraw to the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

==The Shape of Things to Come==
[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe reborn in her "skinjob" body.]]
In the aftermath of the destruction of Clarice Willow's virtual heaven and the battle at [[Atlas Arena]], Daniel and Amanda Graystone were cleared of the charges leveled against them, devoting their attention and resources to the development of Zoe's "skin job." As Cylons became commonplace in the Twelve Colonies, Daniel Graystone utilized his expertise in robotics and Amanda her experience in plastic surgery to construct a robotic body, composed of a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in Daniel's private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of the Graystones' daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Though she no longer inhabited the U-87 chassis, hints of Zoe's avatar remained on the MCP chip which was duplicated and placed into the mass produced Cylons. One such Cylon - a U-87s sold on the [[black market]] to the STO on Gemenon - remained at the Monotheist retreat with Lacy Rand, having taken part in the overthrow of the church. This U-87 - distinguished by red markings on its chest plating - remained with Lacy as she carried out her duties as the head of the Monotheist Church and the new [[Mother|Holy Mother]] ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]],""[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe in the Congregation, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A appears in Clarice's virtual Cylon congregation.]]

:''With the cancellation of ''[[Caprica_(series)|Caprica]]'', it is unclear the extent to which Zoe's personality, traits or beliefs were disseminated to the other Cylons produced by Graystone Industries. It is possible, considering the revelation in "[[No Exit]]" that the Centurions believed in a singular god during the First Cylon War, that Zoe's monotheism - as well as her disdain for the moral corruption on Caprica - was the genesis of the [[Cylon Religion]] and a cause of the ultimate Cylon rebellion.

Delivering a sermon in V-world to a congregation of the various robotic Cylon models, Clarice Willow prophesied that a single individual would be instrumental in the inevitable conflict between humanity and the Cylons. Among avatars of U-87s, Cylon servants and Cylon laborers, Zoe-A sat among the congregation and smiled ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''According to executive producer [[Kevin Murphy]]'s audio commentary for the episodes "Unvanquished" and "Apotheosis", Zoe's journey to becoming a skin job in the period leading up to the flash forward would have been depicted if ''Caprica'' had been given a second season. In that five year period, Zoe would have encountered the [[Final Five]] - on their way to the Twelve Colonies following the destruction of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] by their own [[Earth Cylon Centurion|version]] of the Cylons - in the virtual world. There, the Final Five would have assisted Zoe in the creation of her humanoid robotic body. Also according to Murphy, Zoe would have joined the Caprican Legionnaires, working under the command of [[Jordan Duram]] to eradicate the Cylon threat before the inevitable uprising. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==Notes==
* The "Zoe-A" and "Zoe-R" monikers come from the pilot script for ''Caprica''. [http://thetvaddict.com/2008/04/23/the-tv-addict-previews-battlestar-galactica-prequel-caprica/] The character was portrayed by Alessandra Toressani with the actress playing the avatar version of Zoe, the living Zoe Graystone, as well as the robot version. For scenes involving Toressani as the U-87 Cylon, the actress was intercut with a computer-generated version of the robot. A physical model of the U-87 was also constructed. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofhiglet/4305737892/] The producers worked out a system by which they would indicate the presence of Zoe within the U-87 body, first establishing the robot, then cutting to or transitioning to Zoe as played by Toressani. [http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/the-u-87-keeping-it-real/]

*According to the aforementioned Kevin Murphy audio commentaries, Zoe's transition to a skin job form was necessitated by the show's budgetary limitations, unable to sustain the cost of depicting Zoe in either her robot form or the virtual world.

*Of Zoe's appearance in Sister Clarice's V-world congregation of Cylons in the final moments of the series finale, "Apotheosis", Murphy said he had no idea why Zoe was present.

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

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[[Category: Soldiers of the One]]

Template:Characters (Caprica)

2011-01-28T06:55:48Z

Pst001: +zoe graystone

{{Navigation box start|id=caprica_characters|title=[[Portal:Characters|Characters]] in ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]''}}
'''Main:''' [[Daniel Graystone]] | [[Joseph Adama]] | [[Amanda Graystone]] | [[Zoe Graystone]] | [[Lacy Rand]]<br>[[Sam Adama]] | [[Jordan Duram]] | [[Clarice Willow]]

'''Supporting:''' [[Willie Adama|William "Willie" Adama]] | [[Cyrus Xander]] | [[Serge]] | [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]]

'''Recurring:''' [[Tamara Adama]] | [[Ben Stark]] | [[Barnabas Greeley]] | [[Tomas Vergis]] | [[Guatrau|The Gautrau]] | [[Gara Singh]] | [[Baxter Sarno]] <br> [[Evelyn Adama]] | [[Larry]] | [[Ruth]] | [[Philomon]] | [[Drew Tanner]] | [[Tad Thorean|Tad "Heracles" Thorean]] | [[Fidelia Fazekas]] | [[Priyah Magnus]] | [[Youngblood]] <br> [[Mar-Beth Willow]] | [[Nestor Willow]] | [[Olaf Willow]] | [[Diego]] | [[Keon Gatwick]] | [[Hippolyta]] | [[Pann]] | [[Kevin Reikle]] | [[Odin Sinclair]] | [[Lexon]] | [[Mother]]
{{Navigation box end|name=Characters (Caprica)}}
<noinclude>
[[Category:Navigational Infobox|{{PAGENAME}}]]
</noinclude>

Zoe-A

2011-01-28T06:54:32Z

Pst001: redirect

#REDIRECT [[Zoe Graystone#Zoe-A]]

Zoe Graystone

2011-01-28T06:52:54Z

Pst001: integrated with the zoe-a page

{{Character Data
|photo= Zoe Alessandra.jpg
|caption ='''Zoe Graystone'''
|age= 16
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|nickname=Zo
|seen= Caprica (series)
|pseen= Caprica pilot
|death= Killed in suicide bombing ([[Caprica pilot|Pilot]])
|parents= [[Daniel Graystone]] (father)<br>[[Amanda Graystone]] (mother)
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Girlfriend of [[Ben Stark]] †
|role= Creator of the [[resurrection program]], first [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]] consciousness in the Twelve Colonies.
|rank=
|actor= [[Kailyn Stratton]] (age 6)<br/>[[Alessandra Toressani]]
|cylon=
|sortkey=Graystone, Zoe
|photo 2=Zoe-A.jpg
|caption 2='''Zoe-A'''
}}
'''Zoe Graystone''' was the daughter of [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]] and [[Amanda Graystone]], killed during an act of terrorism by the [[Soldiers of the One]]. Zoe's consciousness was downloaded into a [[virtual world|virtual]] [[avatar]] and later implanted into the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], making her the first sentient [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]], '''Zoe-A''' and '''Zoe-R'''.

==Early Life==
Though she was loved by her parents, Zoe was an accident, conceived while the Graystones were busy building their careers. Following her birth, Zoe's mother Amanda Graystone suffered from [[Wikipedia: Postpartum depression|postpartum depression]] ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

At the age of six, Zoe was trapped in her bedroom when a devastating fire swept through the Graystones' first home on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. With her father unable to reach her, Zoe survived with the assistance of a [[messengers|vision]] of herself as an adult. Though she came away from the fire unscathed, Zoe never got over the incident, living with a fear of fire into young adulthood ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

===Adolescence===
As Zoe grew up, her relationship with her mother was strained. Attributing her daughter's often rude and rebellious nature to the unhappy pregnancy, Amanda Graystone believed that her daughter hated her. She later described Zoe as "angry, defiant, rude, vulgar, obnoxious, unreasonable - just your typical 16 year old girl" ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[Retribution]]").

[[Image:Zoe holoband, 1x01.jpg|thumb|Zoe caught wearing her holoband at school.]]

Attending high school at [[Athena Academy]] in [[Caprica City]], Zoe was extremely proficient in computer programming to the point of being considered a genius. Still, she ran into trouble at school; at least once being caught and disciplined for using her [[holoband]] at school. Among her, extracurricular activities were cello and frequent visits to the [[virtual world]] where she visited group sex rooms in the "[[V-Club]]" ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[Rebirth]]").

Zoe was schooled in the teachings of the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies (RDM)#The Lords of Kobol|Goddess]] [[Athena, Lord of Kobol|Athena]]. Despite her polytheistic upbringing, Zoe came to believe in a singular [[God (RDM)|God]], telling her best friend, [[Lacy Rand]], "There is a right and there is a wrong. But only through the One true God can we know the difference." With her boyfriend, [[Ben Stark]], Zoe persuaded Lacy to join a secret monotheist prayer group, though she kept her activities with the [[Soldiers of the One]] terror group secret ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

==Zoe-A==
[[Image:Zoe-A first appears, 1x13.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A first interacts with her creator, Zoe Graystone.]]
The virtual version of Zoe was created by Zoe Graystone herself using hacked rudimentary emulation software capable of duplicating her own V-World avatar. Graystone programmed the copy - a perfect copy - with roughly 100 terabytes of personal information from other databases. This allowed the avatar to access and translate information from medical scans, DNA profiles, psychological evaluations, school records, emails, video and audio recordings, CAT scans, genetic typing, synaptic records, security cameras, test results, shopping records, talent shows, ballgames, traffic tickets, restaurant bills, phone records, music lists, movie tickets, TV shows and "even prescriptions for birth control" - essentially turning raw data into personality and memory ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===Life's A Good Start===
Zoe initially conceived of the avatar program after seeing her father's designs for the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] chassis. Interacting with an [[Messengers|illusory]] version of herself, Zoe realized that she could do more than create a robot body - that she could create life itself. Working from her father's workstation in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab, Zoe created the avatar, at first a semi-sentient being, barely aware of its own ability to speak or its own separate identity from the flesh and blood Zoe ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

[[Image:Zoe and Zoe-A, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe Graystone and her avatar in V-World.]]

Eventually, Zoe brought her discovery to Sister [[Clarice Willow]], headmistress of [[Athena Academy]] and closet monotheist, who encouraged Zoe to continue her work - ultimately inspiring Clarice's own notion of [[apotheosis]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]).

The avatar was soon programmed with a bio-feedback protocol to ostensibly allow it to respond to stimuli in real time as the physical Zoe Graystone experienced it. Despite the achievement, the avatar showed difficulty maintaining resolution, sometimes derezzing back to earlier copies in times of stress ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Graystone worked with her boyfriend, fellow STO member Ben Stark, to build a private space within the V-Club to house Zoe-A, loosely resembling a monotheist temple on [[Gemenon]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

Placing the finishing touches on the avatar program, Zoe and Ben prepared to leave for Gemenon; telling Lacy Rand only that there would be a "new family" waiting for them there ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]").

As they boarded the [[Metropolitan Levitation Mass Transit|MLMT]] train bound for the [[Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport|Caprican Spaceport]], Lacy backed out, leaving Zoe and Ben on their own. Having recently argued with her mother, Zoe used her [[computer sheet]] to send a conciliatory message aboard the train. However, that message was never received as Ben Stark detonated a bomb in the name of the "One True God", destroying the Lev and killing everybody aboard ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===Life After Death===
[[Image:Zoe-A biofeedback, 1x01.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A experiences the real Zoe's death.]]
In the wake of the bombing and the resulting death of Zoe Graystone, the Zoe-A program continued to run in the virtual world. Upon being discovered by [[Lacy Rand]] still functioning within the V-Club, Zoe-A briefly appeared covered in blood, fully aware of the bombing and death of Zoe Graystone. Despite initial reservations, Rand came to treat the holographic version of Zoe as the real thing and introduced her to Zoe's real-world father, wealthy technologist [[Daniel Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

At first appalled by the copy of his daughter, Daniel Graystone saw the Zoe avatar as an opportunity to bring his daughter back from the grave. Capturing the avatar's code, Graystone transferred the program to a personal virtual space for analysis. Later transferring the avatar program to the revolutionary [[Meta-cognitive processor|Meta-cognitive Processor]], a device stolen from the [[Vergis Corporation]] of [[Tauron]], Graystone attempted to implant Zoe-A's consciousness into one of [[Graystone Industries]]' [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87]] battle robots, giving the avatar a physical body in the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

Though at first the experiment seemed successful, with the robot taking several steps toward Graystone and speaking a single word - "Daddy" - the [[datastream]] quickly and inexplicably destabilized, appearing to Graystone as though the avatar (and the program that allowed such duplicates to be created) were destroyed ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Soon afterward, stored at Graystone Industries labs in [[Caprica City]], the robot containing the Meta-cognitive Processor reactivated with the avatar's consciousness left intact ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

==Zoe-R==
[[Image:Zoe awakens, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe awakens as the U-87.]]

Living at Graystone Industries, Zoe-A as the prototype "Cylon" (Cybernetic Lifeform Node) became the subject of much attention from scientist [[Cyrus Xander]] and lab assistants [[Philomon]] and [[Drew]]. Despite the company's attempts to place duplicate MCP chips into other U-87 robot chassis, an inexplicable error prevented the other robots from functioning properly. Unbeknown to the team at Graystone Industries, the Zoe avatar program had bonded to both the original MCP chip and prototype U-87 body, allowing it to test at sentient levels. Where the U-87s previously failed to prove themselves as capable battle robots, the prototype body containing Zoe-A proved to be an efficient war machine ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

Frustrated by his company's failure to perfect the Cylon technology and faced with a deadline to produce 100,000 combat units for the Caprican Government, Daniel Graystone had the Zoe robot transferred to his home lab for further study ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]").

[[Image: Lacy and Zoe-R, 1x02.jpg|thumb|Lacy and Zoe in her robot guise reunite.]]

Back in her old home, Zoe-R was able to reconnect with Lacy Rand. Zoe was also able to access her father's home computer, creating a wireless link to a [[holoband]] which allowed her to transfer her avatar from her robot body to the virtual world at will. Exploring her father's virtual space with Lacy Rand, Zoe stumbled upon another hacked avatar - created before the program was lost - belonging to [[Tamara Adams]], also killed in the MagLev bombing ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]").

:''In a deleted scene from "The Reins of a Waterfall" had Zoe working with [[Serge]] to establish the link to the virtual world after being unable to fit a holoband over the robot's head. In that scene, Serge recognized the robot as Zoe.

===First of a New Race===
In her robot body, Zoe struggled to maintain some semblance of a normal existence. Savoring the fleeting moments she was allowed by existing in her holographic "skin" in V-World (and indulging in simple comforts like virtual food), Zoe's life was dominated by existence as an experimental battle robot. Much of her time was spent being handled by the scientists at Graystone Industries as well as being dissected and studied by her father. Upon seeing the robot in Daniel's home lab, [[Amanda Graystone]] - Zoe's mother - unknowingly referred to her daughter as a "monster" ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

[[Image:CylonPrototype.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe on display at Graystone Industries.]]

Aside from the indignities of life as a robot - including being forced to watch her parents engage in sexual intercourse - Zoe also experienced difficulty controlling her own body. When ordered to perform specific tasks, Zoe was unable to disobey in her robot guise. Presented in front of the Board of Directors at Graystone Industries - and introduced as a new life form to be exploited by the citizens of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] - Zoe was forced to violently detach her own arm ([[CAP]]: "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[There is Another Sky]]").

In these experiences, however, Zoe became close with Philomon, a Graystone Industries lab assistant tasked with reattaching her severed arm. Intuitively referring to Zoe in the feminine, Philomon treated the robot Zoe with reverence bordering on romantic interest. Setting a test of the U-87's motor functions to music, Philomon allowed Zoe to dance - a moment of near normalcy for the adolescent girl ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]," "[[Gravedancing]]").

===Escape to Gemenon===
With little knowledge of the original Zoe Graystone's ultimate plan for her avatar, the virtual/robotic version of Zoe knew only that she was to be brought to the planet [[Gemenon]] where she would help in the effort to spread [[God (RDM)|monotheism]] to the Tweleve Colonies. Fearing Sister Clarice could not be trusted, Zoe enlisted Lacy Rand to join a Soldiers of the One cell led by [[Barnabas Greeley]] to transport her robot body off-world ([[CAP]]: "[[Gravedancing]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

As Lacy secured passage for the "package," Zoe sought to use her connection with Philomon to her advantage. Modifying her avatar to pose as "'''Rachel'''," Zoe contacted Philomon through the personals website "V-Match" and arranged to meet him in the V-Club. There Zoe as Rachel initiated a romantic relationship with Philomon, explaining that she had used Zoe Graystone's physical parameters to represent her in the virtual world. Over the course of several dates, including a [[Viper (TRS)|Viper]] flight simulation, Zoe was able to get Philomon to reveal his work with top secret robotics and attempted to persuade him to release the robot from confinement. Unwittingly, however, Zoe led Philomon to a revelation about the difficulties Graystone Industries had been experiencing with the MCP and U-87 ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]").

[[Image:Zoe shoots Ceasar, 1x08.jpg|thumb|Zoe shoots Caesar.]]

In the real world, Philomon explained his theory about the MCP to Daniel Graystone who quickly came to realize that Zoe's avatar was still within the U-87. Determined to draw his daughter out of the robot, Graystone launched into a series of tests in which he attempted to elicit a response that would prove that Zoe's consciousness was still within the Cylon prototype. Putting the robot through its paces and subjecting Zoe to mind games, Daniel ultimately placed a gun in the robot's hand and ordered it to shoot Zoe's childhood dog, [[Caesar]]. Detecting the slight difference in weight in the weapon, Zoe realized the gun was loaded with blanks and fired on the dog. Convinced that his daughter would never attempt to shoot her own pet, Graystone resigned himself to believing that Zoe's avatar was gone for good ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

===End of Line===
[[Image:U-87 behind the wheel, 1x09.jpg|thumb|Zoe-R escapes from Graystone labs.]]
To withstand her father's psychological assault, Zoe vowed to become one with the robot body she inhabited, hardening herself against a man and a world she felt betrayed her. Faced with a shortened deadline for the production of battle robots, Daniel ordered Philomon to erase the data on the MCP, an act that would delete Zoe's avatar. With little time to escape deletion and permanent death, Zoe urged Lacy to hasten her departure to Gemenon by posing as Rachel, sneaking into Graystone labs, incapacitating Philomon and freeing the U-87. As the deadline approached and Lacy failed to come through, Zoe revealed herself to Philomon as both "Rachel" and Zoe Graystone in the robot body. Incensed, Philomon triggered a security alert forcing Zoe to attack and kill him. Stealing a Graystone Industries van, Zoe broke out of the lab and escaped into Caprica City. ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]")

Pursued by Caprican authorities, Zoe drove her van into a barricade, causing an explosion that destroyed the U-87 body ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

==Avatar Again==
Following the destruction of the U-87 chassis, the MCP containing Zoe's avatar failed to reboot, allowing Graystone Industries to successfully copy it and begin production of the Defense Department's combat units. With the robot beyond repair, the U-87 was [[boxing|boxed]] and sent to Daniel Graystone's home lab. Zoe's avatar, however, lived on, finding herself once again living in the virtual world ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

===New Cap City===
[[Image:Zoe as a Deadwalker, 1x10.jpg|thumb|Zoe as a Dead Walker.]]
Appearing in [[New Cap City]], Zoe - called a "Deadwalker" by its inhabitants - battled several players branded with a unique symbol, that of the other Deadwalker, Tamara Adams ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

Tracking this Deadwalker to the ruined, New Cap City version of [[Atlas Arena]], Zoe battled Tamara in a brutal, but ultimately pointless fight. Tamara, blaming the Zoe avatar for the bombing of the MagLev and death of her real life counterpart, unleashed wave after wave of New Cap City users against her. Enduring a bloody assault, Zoe survived the ordeal - taking solace from the reappearance of the original Zoe's imaginary counterpart. Finally, Tamara and Zoe battled face to face, both withstanding horrible injury. Ultimately, however, Zoe was able to convince Tamara that she was not the ''original'' Zoe, nor the bomber, and that together they could fulfill a greater destiny ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]).

===Avenging Angels===
[[Image:Avenging Angels.jpg|thumb|The Avenging Angels phenomenon appearing on CAP2 TV.]]
Acknowledging it as a breeding ground of moral decay and corruption, Zoe and Tamara took it upon themselves to "clean" New Cap City. Appearing nightly at the den of iniquity called "Sinny McNutt's Slash & Cut," Zoe and Tamara engaged in combat with its patrons, opening fire on those who were unwilling to leave and derezzing them from the game. The notion of encountering the girls at the bar had been a draw to users, who hoped to either kill them or be killed by them - either way becoming famous. Among the users the Deadwalkers derezzed were [[Olaf Willow|Olaf]] and [[Nestor Willow]] who - despite their work with Clarice Willow on Apotheosis - believed the Zoe avatar was simply an anonymous user "playing dress up" ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Indeed, the prevailing belief in the real world was that the Zoe avatar was simply a fake and the notion of Zoe and Tamara as "Avenging Angels" spread into popular culture. As T-shirts spread throughout Caprica City bearing the likeness of Zoe and Tamara, Daniel Graystone became aware of the phenomenon and suspected that it was, in fact, the real Zoe. Entering V-World and finding the girls at the Slash & Cut bar, Daniel alerted Zoe and Tamara to his knowledge of their existence, before he left the game ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Afraid of being found by Daniel, Zoe and Tamara toyed with the possibility of leaving New Cap City for other parts of V-World. Zoe, however, rejected the notion, saying that the two had become gods there. Vowing to "forsake these [[frak|motherfrakkers]]," Zoe and Tamara used their ability to control code to destroy and reconfigure the urban setting, turning New Cap City into a fortress upon a mountain, surrounded by dense forest ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===The Fortress===
[[Image:Zoe and Tamara in their fortress, 1x16.jpg|thumb|left|"Let them come."]]
Completing their fortress, Zoe and Tamara's solitude in the new New Cap City was shortlived. Tracking Zoe's avatar through backdoor access to the Virutal World, Daniel Graystone was able to locate his daughter and capture Tamara. Holding Tammy in his private virtual space, Graystone attempted to give her a message to relay to Zoe. Zoe, however, was able to enter the private space and attack her father, stabbing him in the chest and derezzing him. Locked out of the game, Graystone had no other choice but to enter V-World through another gateway, taking his wife, Amanda and Tamara's uncle [[Sam Adama]] with him ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]").

Aware of their entry into the reconfigured New Cap City, Zoe transformed her parent's virtual horses into dragons, attempting to drive them out of the simulation. Undeterred even after losing Sam Adama, the Graystones pushed on, finally encountering their daughter in the virtual forest. Rather than trying to force Zoe to go with them, Amanda Graystone tearfully reunited with her daughter, telling her that she was welcome to return to the virtual version of their home any time she wanted ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Zoe-R Returns===
[[Image:Zoe-R returns, 1x17.jpg|thumb|Zoe returns to her robotic body.]]

Transferring her program back into the U-87 body being repaired in her father's home lab, Zoe discovered her parents held hostage by Clarice Willow and her spouses. Stepping in to defend the Graystones, Zoe used her severed robotic arm to club [[Nestor Willow]] to death before chasing Clarice and Olaf Willow out of the Graystone home. With the robot incapacitated, Zoe transferred herself into the virtual version of her family home and agreed to work with her father on the creation of a more appropriate robotic body - a "[[skin job]]" ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Apotheosis===
[[Image:Zoe destroys V-Heaven, 1x18.jpg|left|thumb|Zoe destroys Clarice's virtual heaven.]]
Immediately following the break, STO operative and director of the [[Global Defense Department]] [[Gara Singh]] used his authority within the Caprican government and stormed the Graystone residence, falsely accusing Daniel and Amanda Graystone of planning the MLMT bombing. Alone in the virtual version of the Graystones' house, Zoe was cut off from her parents who were on the run from the authorities. Viewing [[Caprica Network|CAP News]] coverage depicting the Graystones as wanted terrorists, Zoe realized Willow's involvement and infiltrated Clarice's "Virtual Heaven" as the Apotheosis program commenced ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Seeing STO suicide bombers resurrected within the virtual world simulation, Zoe began to understand her purpose: stop Clarice Willow. Having experienced the debauchery of the V-Club and New Cap City, Zoe argued with Clarice, telling her that a guaranteed, virtual afterlife would result in the same kind of moral corruption, this time in the real world. Demonstrating her power to control the virtual world and declaring herself "[[God (RDM)|God]]," Zoe destroyed Clarice's Apotheosis program, terminating the avatars of Willow's STO cell, including the avatar of her recently deceased husband, Olaf Willow and forcing Willow to withdraw to the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

==The Shape of Things to Come==
[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe reborn in her "skinjob" body.]]
In the aftermath of the destruction of Clarice Willow's virtual heaven and the battle at [[Atlas Arena]], Daniel and Amanda Graystone were cleared of the charges leveled against them, devoting their attention and resources to the development of Zoe's "skin job." As Cylons became commonplace in the Twelve Colonies, Daniel Graystone utilized his expertise in robotics and Amanda her experience in plastic surgery to construct a robotic body, composed of a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in Daniel's private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of the Graystones' daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Though she no longer inhabited the U-87 chassis, hints of Zoe's avatar remained on the MCP chip which was duplicated and placed into the mass produced Cylons. One such Cylon - a U-87s sold on the [[black market]] to the STO on Gemenon - remained at the Monotheist retreat with Lacy Rand, having taken part in the overthrow of the church. This U-87 - distinguished by red markings on its chest plating - remained with Lacy as she carried out her duties as the head of the Monotheist Church and the new [[Mother|Holy Mother]] ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]],""[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe in the Congregation, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A appears in Clarice's virtual Cylon congregation.]]

:''With the cancellation of ''[[Caprica_(series)|Caprica]]'', it is unclear the extent to which Zoe's personality, traits or beliefs were disseminated to the other Cylons produced by Graystone Industries. It is possible, considering the revelation in "[[No Exit]]" that the Centurions believed in a singular god during the First Cylon War, that Zoe's monotheism - as well as her disdain for the moral corruption on Caprica - was the genesis of the [[Cylon Religion]] and a cause of the ultimate Cylon rebellion.

Delivering a sermon in V-world to a congregation of the various robotic Cylon models, Clarice Willow prophesied that a single individual would be instrumental in the inevitable conflict between humanity and the Cylons. Among avatars of U-87s, Cylon servants and Cylon laborers, Zoe-A sat among the congregation and smiled ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''According to executive producer [[Kevin Murphy]]'s audio commentary for the episodes "Unvanquished" and "Apotheosis", Zoe's journey to becoming a skin job in the period leading up to the flash forward would have been depicted if ''Caprica'' had been given a second season. In that five year period, Zoe would have encountered the [[Final Five]] - on their way to the Twelve Colonies following the destruction of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] by their own [[Earth Cylon Centurion|version]] of the Cylons - in the virtual world. There, the Final Five would have assisted Zoe in the creation of her humanoid robotic body. Also according to Murphy, Zoe would have joined the Caprican Legionnaires, working under the command of [[Jordan Duram]] to eradicate the Cylon threat before the inevitable uprising. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==Notes==
* The "Zoe-A" and "Zoe-R" monikers come from the pilot script for ''Caprica''. [http://thetvaddict.com/2008/04/23/the-tv-addict-previews-battlestar-galactica-prequel-caprica/] The character was portrayed by Alessandra Toressani with the actress playing the avatar version of Zoe, the living Zoe Graystone, as well as the robot version. For scenes involving Toressani as the U-87 Cylon, the actress was intercut with a computer-generated version of the robot. A physical model of the U-87 was also constructed. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofhiglet/4305737892/] The producers worked out a system by which they would indicate the presence of Zoe within the U-87 body, first establishing the robot, then cutting to or transitioning to Zoe as played by Toressani. [http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/the-u-87-keeping-it-real/]

*According to the aforementioned Kevin Murphy audio commentaries, Zoe's transition to a skin job form was necessitated by the show's budgetary limitations, unable to sustain the cost of depicting Zoe in either her robot form or the virtual world.

*Of Zoe's appearance in Sister Clarice's V-world congregation of Cylons in the final moments of the series finale, "Apotheosis", Murphy said he had no idea why Zoe was present.

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:Avatars]]
[[Category: Caprica (series)]]
[[Category: Deceased Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category: Soldiers of the One]]

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol

2011-01-27T22:15:26Z

Pst001: /* Canceron */ +natives

:''This article discusses the Twelve Colonies of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. See [[The Twelve Colonies of Man]] for information on the Colonies of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].''

[[File:Colonialseal.png|210px|right|[[Colonial Seal|Seal]] of the Twelve Colonies.]]
'''The United Colonies of Kobol''', or The Twelve Colonies of Kobol, alternatively, are twelve distinct worlds, located in a remote part of their home galaxy. For 2,000 years they were home to the human survivors of the Exodus of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]].<ref>Mentioned by [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11953827897 Serge's twitter account], given that Serge's account corresponds to 58 years before [[The Fall]].</ref>

After the settlement, the colonies slowly began to prosper and eventually gave birth to a race of cybernetic lifeforms, known as [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. Soon after their creation the Cylons raged a devastating war on their creators' home planets which ultimately led to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].

Wasted and in ruins, the once prosperous home worlds of humanity are finally left to themselves. What becomes of them is unknown to their inhabitants' descendants.
{{RDM twelve colonies series}}

==Star System==
The 12 colonies of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] are found within the star system Cyrannus, located some 2,000 light years away from where man first evolved. During the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] one [[Hybrid]] indicates that the Colonies orbit three stars ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). However, the [http://store.qmxonline.com/Battlestar-Galactica-Map-of-the-12-Colonies_p_119.html# official map] of the Colonies reveals a vast and complex system, comprised of four stars; Helios Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

The stars come together to form two binary systems (Alpha/Beta and Gamma/Delta). Both pairs of stars then orbit each other around a third, central barycenter every 546,892 years. Both binary systems are separated by .16 light years or 10,091 stellar units.

===Helios Alpha===
Helios Alpha is a main sequence star of spectral class G2V and has a mass of 1.0 kg, and was the first system settled by the Colonials after the exodus from Kobol, having first set foot on Gemenon. It shares its orbit with Helios Beta at a distance of 63 SU (In this case, 1 SU being equal to the average distance between Helios Alpha and the barycenter of the Caprica-Gemenon system, a rough 150 million km). The pair complete an orbit once every 323 years.

* Planets
** Icarus - A small planet located close to the star. It has a molten surface which makes mining and exploration impossible.
** Picon
** [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] and Gemenon - These two colonies are twin planets.
** Erebos asteroid belt
** [[Tauron (RDM)|Tauron]] - One of only three colonies to feature a moon, named Minos, and it is the only moon with a ring. It is home to several mining and scientific outposts.
** Zeus - A gas giant located at the outer edge of the system. This gas giant is the largest planet in the four systems, with a diameter of 153,000 km at the equator. The planet has 74 moons, the largest of which are Nike and Hebe. Constant upper atmosphere lightning creates an aurora effect that can be seen with the naked eye.
** Persephone - Classified as a dwarf planet, Persephone is the last planet in the system and features an inclined and eccentric orbit. Colonial scientists believe this planet could be an escaped moon of Zeus.

This system is unique in the fact that Caprica and Gemenon share an orbit around a common barycenter. According to the Colonial map, the planets orbit eachother once every 28.2 days, and are separated by a distance of 493,000 km.

===Helios Beta===
Helios Beta is a main sequence star of spectral class K1V and has a mass of 0.79 kg. It is the second system settled by the Colonials after the exodus from Kobol. It shares its orbit with Helios Alpha at a distance of 63 SU. The pair complete an orbit once every 323 years.

* Planets
** [[Troy (RDM)|Troy]] - A small, metal rich planet, mined extensively by Virgon and Leonis since the founding of those two colonies.
** Leonis
** Ouranos asteroid belt
** Virgon - One of only three colonies to feature a moon, named Hibernia, and the only naturally habitable moon in the 12 Colonies. It was settled several centuries ago by the Celtans, an ethnic group opposed to Virgon rule.
** Hera - A gas giant, approxamately 75,000 km in diameter, and the third largest planet in the Cyrannus system. It has 29 moons, the largest of what are Iris and Eubora.
** Pallas - A small world with an inclined orbit once believed to hold a life sustaining atmosphere. It is no longer tectonically active. However, the Colonials have set up at least seven small colonies and a military research station on the planet. This world also has an inclined orbit.

===Helios Gamma===
Helios Gamma is a main sequence star of spectral class G9V and has a mass of 0.89 kg. It is presumably the third system settled by the Colonials. Helios Gamma shares its orbit with Helios Delta at a distance of 70 SU, and completes an orbit once every 436 years.

* Planets
** Thanatos - A small planet with a corrosive 'sulphur' dioxide atmosphere. This planet is tidally locked to the star, and aptly named for the god of death.
** Acheron asteroid belt
** Scorpia - Home to the Scorpia Fleet ship yards. The planet features a half ring, thought to be a moon that broke apart nearly 100,000 years ago.
** [[Sagittaron|Sagittaron]]
** Libran - Features two small moons, Herse and Pandrossos, which are thought to be captured asteroids. The moons orbit so close to each other, they periodically swap positions.
** Ophion - A frigid gas giant with diameter of 51,000 km, and an inclined orbit. The planet has 14 moons, all smaller than 10 km in diameter. Studies on the planet have Colonial scientists thinking that Ragnar was originally a member of the Helios Gamma system, while Ophion was not. Scientists think the Ophion was a rouge planet that passed close to Ragnar and caught by the star, pushing Ragnar into its current orbit around the Gamma/Delta system.

===Helios Delta===
Helios Delta is a reddish main sequence star of the spectral class K2V and has a mass of 0.74 kg. It is the last of the four systems to be settled by the Colonials. Helios Delta shares its orbit with Helios Gamma at a distance of 70 SU, and completes an orbit once every 436 years.

* Planets
** Phoebe - A small world with a high surface temperature and thin atmosphere.
** Aeolus asteroid belt
** Aerilon, Hestia, and Canceron - These planets share the same orbit.
*** Hestia - The smallest gas giant in the Cyrannian star system, Hestia only has a diameter of 47,000 km. It has 17 moons, the largest of which, Kronos and Rhea, share the same orbit.
** Aquaria
** Styx - A small planet, with a dense, reducing atmosphere of carbon dioxide, and sulfides.

This system is unique in the fact that Aerilon, Hestia, and Canceron share the same orbit. The planets sit comfortably in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point Lagrangian Points], meaning that the gravitational pull of Helios Delta and Hestia are balanced, allowing two smaller bodies (Aerilon and Canceron) to share the same orbit in a "fixed" position, maintaining the same distance apart at all times. Aerilon sits at the L4 point, Hestia at the L2 point, and Canceron at the L5 point.

* [[Ragnar]] - A gas giant with a diameter of 138,000 km, orbits the entire Helios Gamma and Delta system in a 899.75 year period. It sits about 110 SU away from the central barycenter. The Colonials use the planet as host to [[Ragnar Anchorage]], an orbital refueling station and naval armory that distills hydrocarbons from the planet's upper atmosphere. It has one moon, Sigurd. During the Fall of the Colonies, Ragnar was used as cover for the Battlestar ''[[Galactica]]'', and later her [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]. It would be the last world of the Cyrannian system that most of the surviving Colonials would lay eyes on. Hours after arriving, [[Battle_of_Ragnar_Anchorage|the Fleet left the system from here]], never to return.

===Notes===
* The fact that the Colonies are located within one system originates from a [http://web.archive.org/web/20080620084336/http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/#a000016 blog entry] by Ronald D. Moore.
* Jane Espenson revealed on Twitter that the Colonies are within a star cluster and share some orbits. The latter fact was finally shown to be true in the TV version of the [[Caprica pilot#Differences between the DVD and TV Cut|series premiere]] of ''Caprica''.
* Before the canonical figure mentioned above the original [[Miniseries]] script stated a pre-Fall population of about 12 billion. The webisodes "[[The Resistance]]" stated the death of 20 billion people caused by the Cylons.
*Serge's twitter [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/17543741200 mentions] that the exodus from Kobol is believed to be true by the inhabitants of the Twelve Colonies and it was from them that animals such as cats as well as dogs came to the Colonies. Furthermore, the [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/13899240134 twelve planets] are populated with a few other worlds in the star cluster but not many with the settled colonies [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/12891949300 already] possessing some animal as well as plant life. Furthermore, Serge [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/17543813025 states] that all the planets are not democracies but rather each has their own style of government.
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==History==
{{mainarticle|History of the Twelve Colonies}}
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|[[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], the ancient homeworld of humanity.]]
About 2,000 years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], the last twelve tribes of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] left their planet<ref>According to dialogue from "[[Torn]]", "[[A Measure of Salvation]]" and "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]", the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] left Kobol some 2,000 years ''before'' the twelve tribes. The Scroll of [[Pythia]] is dated as written 3,600 years before the last exodus of Kobol, and chronicles the Thirteenth Tribe's exodus.</ref> over conflicts with their [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|gods]], as well as some sort of calamity ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]").

The tribes settled on twelve worlds some distance away ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]"). The tribes' namesakes and icons originally corresponded to the twelve signs of the ancient tribes, although these [[wikipedia:Zodiac|names]] drifted over time ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part II]]").<ref>Flag matches with Colonies from "Encyclopedia Galactica." ''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine]]''. Feb./Mar. 2006: 50-55.</ref>

The early Colonies lived (and fought) more as sovereign nations. Some (particularly [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]) prospered, while others (such as [[Sagittaron]] and [[Aerilon]]) were often considered lessers. For peacetime labor forces as well as for wars between each other, humanity created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. When these [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|early models]] rebelled, the Colonies unified their governments under the [[Articles of Colonization]] sometime before or during the [[Cylon War]] as a federal republic known as the '''Twelve Colonies of Kobol'''.

The official symbol of the Twelve Colonies was the [[Colonial seal]]. The nation also had a distinctive [[Colonial anthem|anthem]].

===Downfall===
{{mainarticle|Fall of the Twelve Colonies}}
[[Image:Bsyashuman.jpg|thumb|[[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]], shortly before its downfall.]]
40 years after the end of the devastating war, the Cylons return and cause havoc among the twelve worlds of their creators ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[The Plan]]"). For some time the Colonies remain occupied by Cylon forces and a [[Caprica resistance|small group of human survivors]]. After nine months, humanity and the Cylons leave the twelve worlds for good ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Of the original 50 billion inhabitants, only about 55,000 survive the first days of the holocaust. Most of them leave the Colonies behind in two small [[The Fleet (RDM)|fugitive fleets]]. The fleet of the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' eventually encounters both [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], as well as the original Thirteenth Colony [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]]. Some time after that, and after the destruction of the [[The Colony|the Cylon home world]], they settle on a [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth|beautiful, rich world]], leaving behind the baggage of their Colonial heritage. ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[Daybreak, Part II]]")

===Fate===
The ultimate fate of the Twelve Colonies 150,000 years after [[The Fall]] is unknown. Presumably, after several hundred years, their climates and surfaces would degrade until they resemble the original [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

It can be presumed that by the present-day radiation levels would have lowered past the point in which life would be allowed to flourish once again. However, little, if any traces would remain of the human civilizations that once thrived upon them, excluding remains in space, such as the remnants of [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] or [[Ragnar Anchorage]].
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==Aerilon==
{{mainarticle|Aerilon}}
[[Image:ColonialColors7.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Aerilon]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Aries (constellation)|Aries]]

'''Alternative Name''': Aerelon

'''Population''': 1.2 billion

'''Patron God''': Demeter

'''Capital''': Gaoth

'''Major Cities''': Gaoth, Promethea

'''Pyramid Teams''': Aerilon Threshers, Promethea Golden Horns

Aerilon was primarily an agricultural world. It was considered to be the "food basket" of the Twelve Colonies and ranked among its poorest members ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]"). The planet shares an orbit with the gas giant Hestia and Canceron, sitting in the L4 Lagrangian point. Aerilon's capital was Gaoth.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

The mannerisms of Aerilon's natives were considered rough and rude, at least by [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprican]] standards. The people of this world also spoke with a distinctive accent that was quite hard to cover up ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]").

One of the very last [[Pyramid (RDM) | Pyramid]] games occurred on Aerilon, right before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance]]"). A [[Lest We Forget|photograph]], showcasing the destruction of Aerilon's capital, Gaoth, becomes one of the most memorable documents of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", deleted scene).

=== Natives ===
* [[Gaius Baltar | Gaius]] and [[Julius Baltar]]
* [[Sherry Bennett]]
* [[Sekou Hamilton]]
* [[Socinus]]

=== Notes ===
* On some occasions this colony's name was also spelled '''Aerelon'''. Battlestar Wiki uses the more commonly found '''Aerilon'''. There is a similar discrepancy in the pronunciation of the colony's name.
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==Aquaria==
[[Image:ColonialColors12.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Aquaria]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Aquarius (constellation)|Aquarius]]

'''Alternative Name''': Aquarion

'''Population''': 25,000

'''Patron God''': Hermes

'''Capital''': None

'''Major Cities''': Heim

'''Attractions''': Kyros Summerfest

'''Pyramid Teams''': None

Aquaria is a "frigid" world with only one major land mass: Kryos, a crescent-shaped continent with volcanoes at both ends. Aquaria was widely known for its vast oceans ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

Founded as a scientific research outpost, this remote world has also attracted a small (25000 perminant) but sturdy population know for stubborn independance, social tolerance and a unique barter system. However, the population can swell to as many as a half-million during the annual summerfest, which features music, dance, theater and epic poetry.

Despite the lack of an official capital city, the government held weekly community meetings that were open both citizens and non-citizens. A majority of issues addressed were passed by majority vote, even the election of the colony's Prime Minister.<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

Its first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] delegate within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] post-[[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall]] is [[Miksa Burian]], who votes for [[Tom Zarek]] in the vice-presidential elections ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]").

=== Notes ===
* On many occasions this colony's name was also spelled '''Aquarion'''. However, the name '''Aquaria''' was heard on screen during the Hybrid's monologue in "[[The Plan]]" and spoken by President Roslin when tallying the votes for vice- president ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]").<ref>Serge's [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8704063822 Twitter account] states that both names are viable, with Aquarion being the official name and Aquaria a regional variation.</ref>
* In an [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/caprica-countdown-the-music-of-the-master-bear-mccreary.html LA Times article], Aquaria is described as a frigid ocean world, with small volcanic land masses and small communities. It is also said to be regarded as nothing more than a scientific research outpost by the other Colonies.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545438632 Serge's twitter account], Aquaria doesn't have a capital city.
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==Canceron==
[[Image:ColonialColors9.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Canceron]]
[[Image:Canceron.png|thumb|right|Canceron from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Cancer (constellation)|Cancer]]

'''Population''': 6.7 billion

'''Patron God''': Hephaestus

'''Capital''': Hades

'''Major Cities''': Hades, Prommos, Mangala

'''Pyramid Teams''': Canceron Hydras, Hades Vice, Mangala Krill

Canceron is the most populous planet in the twelves worlds. It is located in the Helios Delta system, sharing its orbit with two other planets, one of them being Aerilon. The planet was well known for its beaches and had at least one large coastal metropolis ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). The capital was Hades.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Prior to the [[First Cylon War]], Canceron was a very overpopulated and poor colony. Canceron's major cities such as Hades and Mangala were known to have large slums. Its large population earned Canceron the nickname "The Largest Democracy" within the colonies, though some believed the government was nothing more than a corrupt Oligarchy.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/sports/canceron-wants-a-fourth-pyramid-team.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Canceron Wants a Fourth Pyramid Team"].</ref> <ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/opinion/just-wondering-about-that-military-roadblock-thing.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Just Wondering About That Military Roadblock Thing"]</ref>

During the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], Canceron is hit with at least three nuclear devices. One of the [[Luxury liner | passenger liners]] within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the fleet]], ''[[Pyxis]]'', is one of the last ships that escapes this world when the began. Aboard is the [[Number Six]] copy [[Shelly Godfrey]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

[[Robin Wenutu]] is the Canceron delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] after the Fall.

===Natives===
*[[Lexon]]
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==Caprica==
{{mainarticle|Caprica (RDM)}}
[[Image:ColonialColors3.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Caprica]]
[[Image:Caprica from Orbit.jpg|right|thumb|[[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] from orbit.]]
[[Image:Caprica City, The Plan.jpg|thumb|right|Caprica City.]]
[[Image:Gemenon from Caprica City.jpg|thumb|right|The view of Gemenon from Caprica City.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[w:Capricornus|Capricorn]]

'''Population''': 4.9 billion

'''Patron God''': Apollo

'''Official Language''': Caprican

'''Capital''': [[Caprica City]]

'''Major Cities''': Caprica City, [[Delphi]], Phoebus

'''Attractions''': [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]], [[Atlas Arena]], Trojan Spaceport, [[Graystone Industries]], Apollo University, Pantheon Bridge, Ionian Islands, Orpheus Park

'''Pyramid Teams''': [[Caprica City Buccaneers]], Delphi Legion, Phoebus Suns

Caprica was a lush blue-green planet, covered by large oceans and continents. It shares its orbit with Gemenon around a common barycenter, and can often be seen in the skies above the Caprican landscape. Depending on its orbit, the Caprican night can almost be negated by intense planetshine from Gemenon, although not as bright as the Caprican sun, there is enough light reflected back to effectively turn night into day ([[TRS]]: [[You Can't Go Home Again]], [[Litmus]]). Of curious note, Caprica features landmasses similar to a world the Colonials would eventually settle and come to call Earth.

Caprica was regarded as the center of Colonial civilization, even long before the [[First Cylon War]]. [[Graystone Industries]] was one of the Colonies' most influential technology developers and had a hand in creating the very [[U-87|first Cylons]]. Some 60 years before [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]], Caprica was also plagued by [[Soldiers of the One | religiously]] motivated terrorism ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]). After the war, the planet was once again the seat of politics, culture, art, science, learning and even the Colonial government. It was also one of the wealthiest colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Epiphanies]]", "[[Dirty Hands]]").

During the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], Caprica and it's surrounding airspace, played host to numerous skirmishes, one of which would eventually determine the outcome of the war. Caprica herself, comes under heavy attack from Cylon forces right from the start. With numerous basestars jumping directly into orbit, they are quickly able to gain the upper hand. At least four [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestars]], including the ''Yashuman'' and ''Valkyrie'', are quickly dispatched, and numerous targets, including the once proud Caprica City, are annihilated from orbit by nuclear weapons ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[The Plan]]"). The attacks leave the civilian shipping lanes in the vicinity of Caprica/Gemenon shut down, but the civilian ships are relatively ignored in the opening moments of the attack, in favor of military targets. This gives them time to gather and flee the area, picking up other survivors along the way. Eventually the fleet amasses over 100 ships of all kinds, both civilian and homeless military support craft. However, only 75 FTL capable ships are able to flee Caprican airspace, leaving the sub-lights, and their passengers, at the hands of the Cylons.

At the time of the attack, the ''Galactica'' was positioned 3 hours away, and was not able to partake in the defense of its home planet. It wasn't long, however, before the Cylons located its position, and attempted to take it out. After being struck by a nuclear warhead, suffering major damage, and not having anything to shoot with, but still in one piece, the ''Galactica'' had no choice but to retreat to the relative safety of the gas giant, [[Ragnar]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]), leaving Caprica, and the remaining survivors, completely defenseless and on their own.

After the space-faring Colonials flee, Caprica is occupied by [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon forces]], attempting to undo the damage they've done, and colonize the planet themselves. They often clash with [[Caprica resistance|human survivors]] within the Colonies, and fight on this world for several weeks. The occupation and resistance both end roughly nine months after the attack and the planet is left for good ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Resistance]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

6,250 people from Caprica join the [[Laura Roslin faction]] over [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). The overall Caprican survivor population, possibly significantly greater, is unknown (see analysis [[The Fleet (RDM)#Demographics|here]]). An attempted settlement by the survivors of the holocaust is named [[New Caprica]] in honor of the original colony ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

The first [[Quorum of Twelve (TRS)|Quorum of Twelve]] delegate after the Fall is [[Gaius Baltar]]. Years later this spot is taken by [[Lee Adama]], the last Quroum delegate from that colony before Delegate Adama establishes the [[Quorum of Ship's Captains]] in the wake of the mass-execution of the Quorum during [[Gaeta's Mutiny]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Islanded in a Stream of Stars]]").

===Natives===
* [[William Adama | William]], [[Tamara Adama|Tamara]], [[Zak Adama|Zak]] and [[Lee Adama]]
* [[Richard Adar]], presumed as he was also the mayor of Caprica City at one point
* [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]], [[Amanda Graystone|Amanda]] and [[Zoe Graystone]]
* [[Lacy Rand]] and her family
* [[Laura Roslin | Laura]], [[Cheryl Roslin|Cheryl]] and [[Sandra Roslin]], as well as their parents
* [[Ben Stark]] and his mother, [[Natalie Stark|Natalie]]
* [[Kara Thrace|Kara]], [[Socrata Thrace|Socrata]] and (presumably) [[Dreilide Thrace]]

===Notes===
* Caprica was and continues to be the world most prominently depicted in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined series' continuity]]. It wasn't until [[Razor]] that another of the Twelve Colonies was actually seen on screen.
*Serge's twitter also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11920922009 states] that Caprica had a number of unique lifeforms on its surface though animal transplantation by early Colonists allowed them to be seen on the other planets.
*The twitter account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11861670347 mentions] that Caprica spends the most on Colonial defense.
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==Gemenon==
[[Image:ColonialColors5.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Gemenon]]
[[Image:Gemenon.JPG|thumb|right|Gemenon and the distant Helios Delta seen from orbit.]]
[[Image:GemenonCityscape.jpg|thumb|right|A city on Gemenon.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]]

'''Population''': 2.8 billion

'''Patron God''': Hera

'''Official Language''': Old Gemenese

'''Capital''': Oranu

'''Major Cities''': Oranu, Illumini

'''Pyramid Teams''': [[Gemenon Twins]], Illumini Vipers

Gemenon was the first world colonized by the humans of Kobol. It shares its orbit around Helios Alpha with Caprica, completing an rotation once every 28.2 days. Its status as a twin planet gives it its name<ref>[http://files.meetup.com/405090/Serge%20Graystone's%20Twitter%20Feed.pdf Serge Graystone's Twitter feed]</ref>. Its climate can vary wildly, featuring frozen plateaus, and searing deserts, which can make life difficult for its inhabitants.

It was one of the poorer colonies and its people, the Gemenese, were known for their religious fundamentalism ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Dirty Hands]]").<ref> Despite this fundamentalist approach to the polytheistic Colonial religion, the Gemenese were known to be tolerant of all forms of worship, including monotheism. In fact, the monotheist movement is said to have begun on Gemenon.

The people of Gemenon are consistently referred to as "Gemenese" in both the [[Re-imagined Series]] and [[Caprica (series)|Caprica]].</ref>

Before the [[First Cylon War]], Gemenon was home to the [[Kobol Colleges]] and a monotheistic cult called "[[Soldiers of the One|The Soldiers of the One]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries, Night 2]]; [[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]). Gemenon's second-largest city, Illumini, was built around a large Pantheon complex, composed of buildings intended to worship and celebrate every deity in the [[Sacred Scrolls]].<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

The Gemenese were known for their literal interpretations of the [[Sacred Scrolls|Scrolls]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]"). Most of the population of Gemenon was apparently very strongly opposed to the federal laws legalizing abortion ([[TRS]]: "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

The planet also had either an old or disused language, known as [[Language in the Twelve Colonies|Old Gemenese]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

During the [[Fall_of_the_Twelve_Colonies|Cylon attack]], Gemenon comes under heavy assault by Cylon air and ground forces, completely obliterating one city with a high-yield nuclear device, and causing extensive damage to another with conventional means. At least one ship, the ''Cybele'', is able to escape the destruction of its port and occupying Cylon forces, and find Roslin's fleet ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

Three months after the attacks, approximately 9,500 Gemenese break away from the main fleet, and join the [[Laura Roslin faction]] over [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). The large and devoted Gemenese population continues to be an important political factor within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|fugitive fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

===Natives===
*[[Adrien Bauer]]
*[[Jurgen Belzen]] and his family
*[[Rya Kibby]]
*[[Romo Lampkin]]
*[[Sarah Porter]], former delegate to the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]]
*Corporal [[Venner]]

===Notes===
* If the word "Inviere" (meaning "Resurrection") is any indication, Old Gemenese was probably similar to the Romanian language of [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth|our Earth]].
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8705440343 Serge's Twitter account], Gemenon is the planet that shares its orbit with [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. This planet is seen at the beginning of the aired ''Caprica'' pilot, but not identified in said episode.
* As an Easter Egg in ''[[The Plan]]'', the building on the lower left of the screen is the same one where the [[memoryalpha:Romulan Senate|Romulan Senate]] assembles in ''[[memoryalpha:Star Trek Nemesis|Star Trek Nemesis]]''. A detailed picture of this building is available [[memoryalpha:File:Romulan senate building, 2379.jpg|here]].
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==Leonis==
[[Image:ColonialColors8.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Leonis]]
[[Image:Leonis.png|thumb|right|A Leonan thoroughfare under Cylon assault.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Leo (constellation)|Leo]]

'''Population''': 2.6 billion

'''Patron God''': Artemis

'''Official Language''': Leonese

'''Capital''': Luminere

'''Major Cities''': Luminere, Hedon

'''Pyramid Teams''': [[Leonis Wildcats]], Hedon Suns

Leonis is the second planet in the Helios Beta system, and was geographically known for its open plains ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). The planet itself has no axial tilt, which supports a mild and predictable climate. It was a major hub for both education and industry, and despite Colonial unification, was able to maintain its own language and culture.

In the era prior to the [[First Cylon War]], Leonis produced and exported a popular energy drink named "Leonis Red".<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref> [[Leonis Estates Sparkling Wine]] was a type of alcohol produced on this colony ([[TRS]]: "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]").

During the final Cylon [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|attack]], Leonis is struck with at least one, low-yield nuclear device, that was able to stun its residents and disable any means of escape. Those who survived the blast, are then seen being systematically eliminated by both ground and air forces ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). It is unknown if any are collected and used in the Four's various [[farms]].

[[Safiya Sanne]] is the Leonan representative on the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] after [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]].
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==Libran==
[[Image:ColonialColors11.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Libran]]
[[Image:Libran.gif|thumb|right|The courthouses of Libran.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Libra (constellation)|Libra]]

'''Alternative Name''': Libris

'''Population''': 2.1 million

'''Patron God''': Athena

'''Capital''': None

'''Major Cities''': Themis

'''Attractions''': Supreme Hall of Justice, Themis Arena

'''Pyramid Teams''': None

Libran was known for its courthouses and lawyers ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"), and was the home of the [[Inter-Colonial Court]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Gravedancing]]"). The planet had no official capital.<ref name="capitals3">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] stated in[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545438632 this tweet] that Aquaria and Libran "don't have official capitals".</ref>

A major city on Libran was called [[Themis]] which had a large, modern [[pyramid]] arena built sometime before the First Cylon War. Yet at this time Libran had no official pyramid team.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/sports/libran-needs-a-pyramid-team-statim.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Libran Needs a Pyramid Team Statim"].</ref>

After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], [[Oswin Eriku]] is chosen to be this colony's representative to the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]].

''[[Zephyr]]'', a passenger liner in the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], is of Libran registry.<ref>This was stated in a Fleet overview on scifi.com. This section of the site has long been shut down.</ref>

===Notes===
* The Colony's actual name, '''Libran''', was not heard on screen until "[[The Plan]]" but could already be seen on a name plate in "[[The Ties That Bind]]" and "[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]". Before that it was often called '''Libris''' in secondary publications.
* The city that is seen when Libran is mentioned in the "Caprica is burning" monologue in "[[The Plan]]", bears a striking resemblance to [[Tauron City]], as seen in "[[Know Thy Enemy]]".
*Serge's twitter account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/15877355213 says] that the Libran court system served as a body through which trade disputes and legal matters were capable of being sorted amongst the colonies. He also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/15877298276 states] that it is a high earning colony but is not regarded as a desirable place to live.
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==Picon==
[[Image:ColonialColors2.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Picon]]
[[Image:Picon.png|thumb|right|Picon from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]]

'''Population''': 1.4 billion

'''Patron God''': Poseidon

'''Capital''': Queenstown

'''Major Cities''': Perkinston, Queenstown, Pailyn

'''Pyramid Teams''': [[Picon Panthers]]

Picon was a turquoise planet, containing 75% water, and famous for its harbors ([[TRS]]: [[The Plan]]). The capital city was Queenstown, a relatively small fishing village.<ref name="capricanpicon">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/p-is-for-paradise-p-is-for-picon.php ''The Caprican'' article: "'P' Is for 'Paradise, 'P' Is for Picon"].</ref><ref name="capitals2">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Caprica, Tauron and Picon [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 this tweet].</ref>

During the planet's off-season, most of the landscape became cold and rugged.<ref name="capricanpicon">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/p-is-for-paradise-p-is-for-picon.php ''The Caprican'' article: "'P' Is for 'Paradise, 'P' Is for Picon"].</ref> The planet was often used as a substitute for [[Caprica City]] in Caprican films and TV series.<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

After the Unification of the Twelve Colonies this world was the location of the [[Picon Fleet Headquarters|Colonial Fleet Headquarters]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]). Picon was also the home of [[Picon Laboratories]], located in Pailyn, Muritolan ([[TRS]]: "[[Faith]]").

The colony came under heavy attack during the early stages of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]]. One of the last ships to leave the planet was the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'', carrying many wounded people including an unconscious [[Ellen Tigh]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

The destruction of Picon's Fleet Headquarters caused President [[Richard Adar]] to offer a complete and unconditional surrender to the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. This offer was ignored by the invading forces ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===Natives===
* [[Asha Janik]]
* [[Billy Keikeya | Billy Keikeya's]] family
* [[Playa Palacios]]

===Publications===
*''[[Picon Star Tribune]]''

=== Notes ===
*Picon's destination as a substitute for Caprica in films and series is likely a reference to Canada, and particularly Vancouver, where both the [[Re-Imagined Series]] and ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' were filmed.
*[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/12144717655 According] to Serge's twitter account, Picon has the most efficient, cooperative and responsive democracy in the colonies.
*In one [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10988850734 post], it's said that Picon offers tax incentives for production of TV programs on the planet though Caprica remains the leading producer of such shows.
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==Sagittaron==
{{mainarticle|Sagittaron}}
[[Image:ColonialColors10.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Sagittaron]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]]

'''Alternative Name''': Sagittarion

'''Population''': 1.7 billion

'''Patron God''': Zeus

'''Capital''': Tawa

'''Attractions''': Archeron River

'''Pyramid Teams''': [[Sagittaron Archers]]

Sagittaron was one of the poorest worlds of the Twelve Colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]"). The capital of this planet was Tawa.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

The Sagittarons were traditionalists who practiced a different form of religion from the other Colonials. They distrusted modern medicine and were generally unsupportive of the military ([[TRS]]: "[[The Woman King]]").

The Planet endured centuries of exploitation at the hands of the other Colonies. Eventually, [[Tom Zarek]] led an organized series of terrorist acts against the established government there, many years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall of the Colonies]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]").

A few days after the Cylon attack, 5,251 people from this world reside within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]").

===Natives===
* [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Anastasia Dualla]]
* [[Portia King | Portia]] and [[Willie King]]
* [[Clarice Willow]]
* [[Tom Zarek]]

===Notes===
* The colony's name was originally spelled as "Sagittar'''i'''on" in the [[Miniseries]], but this changed to '''Sagittaron''' when the regular series began.
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==Scorpia==
[[Image:ColonialColors6.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Scorpia]]
[[Image:ScorpionFleetShipyards1.jpg|thumb|right|Scorpia and and its shipyards from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Scorpius|Scorpio]]

'''Population''': 450 million

'''Patron God''': Dionysus

'''Capital''': Celeste

'''Major Cities''': Celeste, Argentum

'''Pyramid Teams''': Scorpia Stingers, Celeste Storms, Celeste Lightning, Argentum Bay Silverstars

Scorpia was known for its lush jungles and hot temperatures ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). Scorpia's capital was Celeste.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Before the [[First Cylon War]] one of the major leisure spots of the world was Argentum Bay, despite the colony's trashy reputation.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/entertainment/argentum-bay-the-ultimate-vernal-break.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Argentum Bay: The Ultimate Vernal Break"].</ref>. The Planet was also apparently well-known for its [[Scorpia Paragliding|Paragliding]] ([[TRS]]: "Razor").

After the Unification, Scorpia was home to the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards|Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]].

During the initial [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], Scorpia falls victim to numerous massive nuclear attacks, destroying much of the population. Cylon forces also focus on the orbiting ship yards, obliterating the structure, destroying numerous Battlestars and support ships, and causing [[Pegasus (RDM)|another one]] to risk a blind jump in order to escape ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

[[Eladio Puasha]] serves as the planet's delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] assembled after the Fall.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>

===Notes===
* In an [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/caprica-countdown-paula-malcolmsons-moving-away-from-deadwoods-trixie.html LA Times article], Scorpia is described as having a "scorpion tail-like half-ring".
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==Tauron==
{{mainarticle|Tauron (RDM)}}
[[Image:ColonialColors4.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Tauron]]
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|right|[[Tauron (RDM)|Tauron]] from orbit, and under Cylon assault.]]
[[Image:TauronCity.JPG|thumb|right|Pre-Cylon War Minos (Tauron City).]]
[[Image:TauronTwinPlanet.JPG|thumb|right|Tauron's moon, Minos, in the evening sky.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]]

'''Population''': 2.5 billion

'''Patron God''': Ares

'''Official Language''': Tauron

'''Capital''': [[Hypatia]]

'''Major Cities''': Hypatia, [[Tauron City]] (Minos)

'''Attractions''': Minos, Olympia Hippadrome, Great Tauron Plains

'''Pyramid Teams''': Olympia Stallions, Tauron Bulls

Tauron was a barren, arid planet that lacked any kind of flowers. However, it was well-known for its agriculture ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]). Its capital was [[Hypatia]]<ref name="capitals2">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Caprica, Tauron and Picon [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 this tweet].</ref>, another large city was [[Tauron City]]. The planet shared its orbit with another ringed world ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]" - see notes).

Taurons were known to be very traditional people, even speaking a very old and distinctive [[Language in the Twelve Colonies|language]] ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]).

Some 800 years before [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]] Tauron was colonized by [[#Virgon|Virgon]] and [[#Leonis|Leonis]]. The people of Tauron liberated themselves and ever since this world has been known for its troubled and violent history.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/opinion/racism-an-unacceptable-aspect-of-caprican-life.php ''The Caprican'' article: "An Unacceptable Aspect of Caprican Life"].</ref>

Nearly a century before its Fall, Tauron was one of the poorer colonial worlds and the center of a [[Tauron Civil War|civil war]]. A few years before the [[First Cylon War]], the crime syndicate [[Ha'la'tha]] had enormous influence over the planet, which even extended to other colonies, such as [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]).

During the War, [[Hypatia]] was was the location of a [[Battle of Tauron|fierce and lossy battle]] against [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon forces]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", extended Edition).

After the War, Tauron was known to be a somewhat troublesome colony within the [[Government of the Twelve Colonies|federal system]] of the Colonies, often disobeying directives decided by the colonies and pushing their luck with the admiralty ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]"). Yet this world was counted among the wealthier of the twelve worlds ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]").

===Natives===
* [[Joseph Adama | Joseph]] and [[Sam Adama]]
* [[Shannon Adama]] and her mother, [[Ruth]]
* [[Helena Cain]] and her murdered family
* [[Tomas Vergis]]

===Notes===
* The language of Tauron is remarkably similar to Ancient Greek that, thousands of years later, was spoken on [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth | a planet]] on the other side of the galaxy.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10335013016 Serge's Twitter Account] Tauron only has a moon.
* Serge's Twitter account also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 stated] Tauron's capital to be [[Hypatia]].
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==Virgon==
[[Image:ColonialColors1.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Virgon]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Virgo (constellation)|Virgo]]

'''Population''': 4.3 billion

'''Patron God''': Hestia

'''Capital''': Boskirk

'''Major Cities''': Boskirk, Blaustad, Hadrian

'''Attractions''': House of Parliament, Tower of Virgon, Petrus Palace, Virgon Universities

'''Pyramid Teams''': Virgon United, [[Boskirk All Reds]]

Virgon was well-known for its forests ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]") and considered to be one of the wealthier colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]"). The capital of Virgon was Boskirk.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Virgon had a declining monarchy and a strong national parliament, at least 58 years before the Fall of the Colonies.<ref>Mentioned by [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/statuses/10937229785 Serge's twitter account].</ref>

[[Virgon Brew]] was a beer produced on the planet and exported to other Colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Maelstrom]]").

Soon after the beginning of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], the Colonials launche a counter-attack over Virgon. The battle ends with the destruction of the flagship battlestar ''[[Atlantia (RDM) | Atlantia]]'' and the resulting death of [[Nagala|Fleet Admiral Nagala]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

[[Marshall Bagot]] is the Virgon delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]]. He nominates [[Tom Zarek]] for the vice-presidency ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]"). In public ceremonies, the Virgon delegate wears a light blue sash.

===Notes===
*Serge's Twitter Account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10937229785 states] that Virgon has a declining monarchy with a strong parliament.

== See Also==
*[[Ithaca]]

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

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[[de:Die Zwölf Kolonien (RDM)]]
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Lexon

2011-01-27T22:03:35Z

Pst001: updated to include info about "dex"

{{Character Data
|photo=Lexon.jpg
|age=
|colony=[[Canceron]]
|callsign=
|seen=Blowback
|pseen=
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= [[Soldiers of the One]] recruit
|rank=
|actor= [[Luc Roderique]]
|cylon=
}}

'''Lexon''' was a young recruit of the [[Soldiers of the One]] from [[Canceron]], participating in training on [[Gemenon]] at the same time as [[Lacy Rand]] and [[Odin Sinclair]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Blowback]]", "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

When the [[jump ship|transport]] carrying Lexon and several other new recruits to the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist retreat]] was apparently hijacked by polytheist rebels, Lexon communicated with Odin Sinclair using hand signals to plan to retake the ship. When the situation came to a head and Lacy Rand was the one to initiate hand-to-hand combat with the hijackers, Lexon joined in the fight, only to discover the entire situation to be a scenario fabricated by the STO trainers. Having passed the test, Lexon attended the cocktail party at the retreat with Rand and Sinclair ([[CAP]]: "[[Blowback]]").

Sometime later, Lexon failed to salute a senior officer at the STO training camp. Called out on his failure to follow protocol, Lexon fought back forcing his senior officer to order his execution by one of the [[black market]] [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]]s serving the STO. Lacy Rand, however, intervened, ordering the U-87 to stand down and preventing it from taking further orders from its STO commanders ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]").

Lexon was later among the new recruits who double crossed STO leadership [[Diego]] and [[Kevin Reikle]], shooting them in order to prevent Lacy Rand's execution. Lexon also took part in Rand's eventual overthrow of Monad leadership ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

:''In the credits for "Blowback", Lexon is credited as '''Dex''', though he is only referred to as "Canceron" in dialogue. His name was subsequently changed in both dialogue and in the credits for his further two appearances.''

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

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Dex

2011-01-27T22:02:49Z

Pst001: redirect to lexon

#REDIRECT [[Lexon]]

Demos

2011-01-27T21:44:34Z

Pst001: new page

{{Character Data
|photo=Demos.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|callsign=
|seen= False Labor
|pseen= False Labor
|death= Shot by [[Atreus]]
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= [[Ha'la'tha]] gun-runner
|rank=
|actor= [[Vincent Tong]]
}}

'''Demos''' was a member of the [[Tauron]] crime syndicate [[Ha'la'tha]] living on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] in the years prior to the [[Cylon War]].

He aided [[Sam Adama]] in an attempt at running guns from Caprica to [[Tauron]] to aid in the [[Tauron Uprising|rebellion]] occurring there. Demos was killed, however, when [[Atreus]] took reprisal on Adama for interfering with the gun trade which Atreus claimed. The [[Guatrau]] later told Adama that Atreus was within his rights to kill Demos ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

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Atreus

2011-01-27T21:44:07Z

Pst001: new page

{{Character Data
|photo=Atreus.jpg
|age=
|colony= [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
|callsign=
|seen= False Labor
|pseen= False Labor
|death= Killed by a [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] under control of [[Sam Adama]]
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=
|role= [[Ha'la'tha]] gun-runner
|rank=
|actor= [[Ben Cotton]]
}}

'''Atreus''' was a member of the [[Tauron]] crime syndicate [[Ha'la'tha]] living on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] in the years prior to the [[Cylon War]]. Atreus and his men claimed the gun trade on Caprica, operating independently of the [[Guatrau]].

Some fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], Atreus and his men took reprisal on [[Sam Adama]] when Adama threatened their trade by shipping weapons to aid in the second [[Tauron Uprising]]. Atreus chose to allow Adama to live, however he shot and killed Adama's cohort, [[Demos]] and confiscated his weapons ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

Some time later, as Atreus and his men celebrated in the [[Caprica City]] rooftop club, [[Skybar]], a [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87 soldier robot]] stormed the club and opened fire. Shooting his men and leaving him badly injured, the U-87 [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] allowed Atreus to live - long enough anyway for Sam Adama to chat with him. When Adama was finished with Atreus, he ordered his [[robot]]ic companion to dispatch Atreus, sending him to the soil ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

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Number Six

2011-01-26T10:27:44Z

Pst001: replaced head six photo with photo of random six

{{Character Data
|photo=NumSix.jpg
|seen= Miniseries
|role= Cylon Infiltrator,<br/>Overseer,<br/>Heavy Raider Pilot,<br/>Elected Delegate
|actor= [[Tricia Helfer]]
|cylon= y
|name= [[Shelly Godfrey]]<br/>[[Gina Inviere]]<br/>[[Natalie Faust]]<br>[[Number Six#Lida|Lida]]<br>[[Number Six#Sonja|Sonja]]<br>[[Caprica-Six]]<br>''et al.''
}}

"'''Number Six'''" is a [[humanoid Cylon]] who plays several key roles in [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] society. She is the first humanoid Cylon that viewers witness in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica''. Stunningly beautiful and highly religious, this highly driven model is marked by a ruthlessness against all who stand in her way. Number Sixes are typically sensual and use seduction in infiltration.

To date, more unique versions of the Six model have been witnessed than any other humanoid Cylon. Besides the use of numerous aliases, Six is also the only Cylon model known to have varied appearances and personalities: while most often seen as a platinum blonde, Six has also been seen with honey blonde and black hair in varying styles, and displaying personalities ranging from overtly sensual to wide-eyed and innocent, and from blindly supporting the attack on the Colonies to desiring peaceful coexistence. This differs from the other known models who generally display the same personality traits ([[Sharon Valerii]] and [[Sharon Agathon]] being exceptions), use the same name, and have fewer cosmetic differences in appearance.

== Caprica-Six ==

{{mainarticle|Caprica-Six}}

The copy of Number Six that seduced Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] into unwittingly betraying the Twelve Colonies by giving her access to the Colonial defense mainframe. Much later, she came to live on ''Galactica'' and fell in love with [[Saul Tigh]] and attempted to bear a child by him. After suffering a miscarriage, and as Tigh reunited with his wife, [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen]], Caprica pulled away from him. After this she participated in the [[Battle of The Colony]] and settled [[New Earth]] with Baltar.

=== Messenger Six ===

{{mainarticle|Messengers}}

An entity (also known as '''Baltar's Internal Six''' or, more commonly, as '''Head Six''') appearing to Gaius Baltar in the form of Caprica Six shows herself [[Miniseries, Night 1|immediately after his rescue]] from [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]], and later gives him advice (from building a [[Cylon detector]] to asserting [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II|political power]] [[Cult of Baltar|various times]]), predictions about the future (primarily about the birth of [[Hera Agathon]]) and [[Kobol (RDM)|insights into the past events of the human race]]. This entity, while imperceptible to everyone other than to Baltar and [[Daybreak, Part II|Caprica Six herself]], is not affiliated with either the Cylons or Colonials and has repeatedly stated that she is an angel of [[God]]. Even after Baltar's death, this entity maintains the appearance of Six 150,000 [[New Earth]] years later when discussing the possibility of the humans repeating the same mistakes as their primogenitors.

== Shelly Godfrey ==

[[Image:Bsg-1-07.jpg|thumb|right|Godfrey attempts to sweet talk Adama.]] {{mainarticle|Shelly Godfrey}}

A copy of Number Six who appears aboard ''Galactica'' to try to discredit Baltar as a traitor. The evidence she used was flawed, and he ended up being more trusted than before. Afer being exposed, she is blown out an airlock by Cavil and presumably downloads into a new body.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>

== Gina Inviere ==

{{mainarticle|Gina Inviere}}

A copy of Number Six posing as a systems analyst assigned aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', entering into a romantic relationship with Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. After she was identified, she was captured and repeatedly tortured and sexually abused by the crew before escaping with Baltar's help. Emerging as a leading figure in the [[Demand Peace]] movement, she commits suicide by detonating a nuclear warhead aboard ''[[Cloud 9]]''.

== Natalie Faust ==

{{mainarticle|Natalie Faust}}

A Number Six copy who is leading a faction that advocates for the search for the Final Five Cylons, introduced in "[[Six of One]]". She is eventually killed by [[Sharon Agathon]], distressed with visions of the [[Opera House]] and afraid Natalie will take her daughter [[Hera Agathon|Hera]], with no chance to download ([[Sine Qua Non]]).

== Lida ==

[[Image:Lida.jpg|thumb|Lida with Gaius Baltar.]]
A Six with curly honey blonde hair and a noticeably more innocent disposition than her sisters, Lida<ref>Episode writer Michael Angeli quoted in "The Watcher: Talking about 'Battlestar Galactica's' 'Blood on the Scales' with writer Michael Angeli", Maureen Ryan, ''Chicago Tribune'', Feb. 6, 2009.</ref><ref>Tricia Helfer also identified this version of Six as Lida in her February 13, 2009 appearance on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live''.</ref> attempts to comfort and seduce Baltar aboard the rebel Basestar after he and [[Laura Roslin|President Roslin]] flee ''Galactica'' during the Zarek-Gaeta coup/mutiny. In her bed, Lida missinterprets Gaius' feelings of guilt (among the first he's ever shown) for leaving his flock behind as an injury. Gaius notices that she does not refer to injury as "damage" like other Cylons he has encountered ([[Blood on the Scales]]).
{{clear}}

== Sonja ==

Sonja is one of the platinum blonde Sixes, similar in appearance to Caprica/Messenger Six. She is elected to represent the rebel Cylons in the Fleet's new Quorum. Her first duty is to request the Cylons be given custody of [[Sharon Valerii]] in order to put her on trial for treason. Given her new posistion, the Colonials have accepted at least part of the deal the Cylons made through Tyrol and now have the representation they wanted in the Colonial Government ([[Someone to Watch Over Me]]).

== Other copies ==

=== Armistice Station Copy ===

[[Image:SixArmstation2 Mini.JPG|thumb|A six entering the [[Armistice Station]].]]

This Number Six is a portent of doom for the peoples of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]; she arrives on [[Armistice Station]] shortly before it is destroyed in what are the opening shots of the [[Cylon attack]] in the [[Miniseries]]. Dressed in a long-sleeved red tunic and matching knee-length skirt, she is the first and last "diplomat" ever sent to the station by the Cylons since its construction. She greets the Colonial officer present with the question "Are you alive?" When he answers that he is alive, she tells him to prove it - by kissing her. After he realizes that Armistice is under attack, she smiles and forces another kiss on him shortly before they are both destroyed.

Later, three Sixes in the same outfit are among the group of Cylons that rescue and debrief [[Number Five|Aaron Doral]], following his stranding on [[Ragnar Anchorage]] by the suspicious Colonials. One of them responds to a comment of the [[Number Eight|Eight]] in the group with "[[By your command]]," a trademark Cylon phrase in the [[Original Series]].

It's possible that Caprica-Six may be one of the Sixes who rescues Doral, as she would have had time to be downloaded; however, the chronology of events in [[Downloaded]] make this extremely unlikely. It is far more likely that the Armistice Station copy might have been one of them.
{{clear}}

=== Troop Leaders ===

[[Image:Whiterainsix 33.JPG|thumb|left|150px|A Six after seeing an Eight killing another Six model.]]

At least three additional variants of Six have been operational on Caprica, and appear to lead [[Cylon Centurion|Centurion]] squads and have a subservient role to the "overseer" Six variants. This variant of Six is distinguished by the white raincoat she wears.

One of these variants distracts Helo, enabling him to be captured. In this, she shares the same seductive characteristic as shown by her sisters at the armistice station and with Baltar - her first act on "freeing" the captured Agathon is to ask "Are you alive?" and kiss him. She is subsequently shot by the [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii]] ([[33]]).

The second acts as an observer to Helo's "escape", and this same variant may the one leading the Centurion troops into the Caprican farm Helo and Valerii are hiding in ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).

The third is present at [[Delphi]], taking orders from an "overseer" Six ([[Colonial Day]]).

Another Number Six in this role boards ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' from a [[Heavy Raider]] along with a group of Centurions during ''Pegasus'''s [[Battle of the Communications Relay|attack]] on a Cylon communications relay. She is shot and killed by [[Kendra Shaw]], who then exposes the ''Pegasus'' network administrator [[Gina Inviere]] as another copy of this Cylon model ([[Razor]]).

When the Centurions suddenly stop their attack on the Caprica rescue team and the Caprica Resistance, the Caprica copy of Cavil visits one of these variants of Sixes who was presumably commanding the Centurions and she informs him of the decision to have a truce with the humans. When Cavil offers to deliver the message himself, this Six informs him that his model voted ''against'' the truce, but he still decides to deliver the message as he is sympathetic with the humans.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>

=== Overseer Copies ===

[[Image:Sixsharonlitmus.jpg|thumb|Number Six beating up Sharon Valerii on Caprica.<ref>Note that this is a behind-the-scenes photo, as indicated by the crane in the far background of this shot.</ref>]]

On Caprica, Six performs the role of a Cylon overseer, working with a copy of [[Number Five]] (Aaron Doral) to ensure their experiment involving the stranded [[Karl Agathon]] and the Caprica copy of [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon Valerii]] either reaches its desired conclusion, or is suitably terminated ([[Bastille Day]], [[Act of Contrition]], [[Litmus]], [[Flesh and Bone]], [[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]). These copies of Number Six wear a militaristic black outfit, with a black body-suit underneath suited to martial arts.

Overseer Six demonstrates a certain vindictiveness towards Sharon, giving her a beating that goes far beyond the needs of the experiment and dismissing her belief in Agathon's love ([[Litmus]], [[Flesh and Bone]]). The Five working with Six suggests that she is jealous of Sharon's chosen role in the proceedings, and Six does state that Agathon is "very handsome" ([[Bastille Day]], [[Litmus]]). Six maintains that her dislike stems from Sharon acting like a human, which essentially makes her a human in the scheme of things ([[Flesh and Bone]]).

An overseer Six is present at the Cylon's established base at [[Delphi]], and is briefly seen by [[Karl Agathon]] when he attempts to gain access to the base in order to steal a ship and get off the planet ([[Colonial Day]]).

Six surprises [[Kara Thrace]] in the [[Delphi Museum]] when she returns to Caprica to retrieve the [[Arrow of Apollo]]. They engage in an all-out brawl, reminiscent of the earlier beating of Sharon. Just as Six appears to be winning, Thrace rushes her, knocking both of them off of a ledge. The Six falls underneath Thrace, breaking her fall, and is impaled on building debris, killing her ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).

An overseer Six is present at the "farm" where Thrace is taken after she is found by the Cylons after being left behind by the resistance during an ambush. While the Cylon doctor [[Number Four|Simon]] operates on her, Six is there to relay orders and see that everything was proceeding smoothly. She notes that Simon seems to regret Thrace's impending move to processing, and he replies that this is none of her concern. This copy is later bashed over the head with a fire extinguisher by Thrace as she makes her escape ([[The Farm]]). (Note: a deleted scene from this episode shows a second Six in the same black outfit at the farm, taking instructions from the other copy.)

One of these copies views [[Number Three|D'Anna Biers]]' broadcast in a theater on Cylon-occupied Caprica ([[Final Cut]]). She remarks that the resilience displayed by the Colonials is impressive, and seems overjoyed that Sharon and the [[Hera Agathon|hybrid baby]] survived.

=== "Downloaded" ===

A Number Six in a gold tunic is one of four 'rebirth nurses' who greets the reincarnated [[Caprica-Six]] (this takes place shortly after the [[Cylon attack]] has run its course), and it is likely this same group who nurse [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]] as she returns to life several months later. The Six in the group welcomes Boomer home and refers to her as "little sister".

Several other copies of Six are seen on Caprica in a variety of different outfits.

=== "Tough Six" ===

This Six is not given a name onscreen, but is referred to in the script as "Tough Six"<ref>[http://tv.ign.com/articles/974/974994p1.html IGN article]</ref>. She typically wears a revealing chains-and-leather outfit and has brown hair with blonde streaks. This Six lives in [[the Fleet (RDM)|the fleet]] and works as a prostitute. She is part of a Cylon meeting held by [[Number_One#Galactica_Copy|Brother Cavil]], also including [[Leoben Conoy (New Caprica copy)|Leoben Conoy]], [[Number_Five#Suicide_Bomber_Copy|Aaron Doral]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]]. She later has a sexual relationship with Cavil, and gives him a sarcastic rundown of their fellows' failures. When Shelly Godfrey is exposed, she takes her place long enough for Shelly to escape (and be airlocked by Cavil) before escaping herself by presumably simply removing her disguise once far enough from the marines as she has a different hair color and style. Her fate is unknown as she is not killed on-screen, but she may have rejoined the Cylons after the settlement of New Caprica and likely became one of the rebels ([[The Plan]]).

=== New Caprica Copies ===

[[Image:Sixes NC.jpg|thumb|left|Two Six copies aboard ''[[Colonial One]]''.]]

Various copies of Number Six form part of the Cylon occupation force that arrives on [[New Caprica]] one year after the Colonials settle in there. Throughout their four months stay there, they fall victim to various different attacks from the [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]].

When the resistance begins using suicide bombers, the Cylons decide to employ stronger measures against the human population. A vote is taken by six of the seven Cylon models on ''Colonial One'', and while Caprica-Six disagrees with this, two other copies overrule her. This implies that Caprica-Six no longer has the same amount of power she used to have, not even with those of her own model ([[Precipice]]).

Another Six is drowned by [[Jean Barolay]] after taping her mouth and throwing her into a septic tank at New Caprica's water treatment plant, where she works during the occupation. Despite attempts at therapy after her resurrection, this Six bears lasting emotional trauma as a result. Roughly a year later, she is on the rebel baseship and meets up with her murderer. A brief altercation at the Raptor occurs, where she kills Barolay who shows no remorse for her actions, instead glibly offering to kill the Six again. Natalie kills this copy immediately after Barolay's murder, thus appeasing the Colonials they have allied themselves with. Just before her execution, the Six—knowing that her actions cannot be without consequences—admits that she is glad that Natalie, whom she views as a sister, will be the one to kill her permanently, as with no Resurrection Ship she is unable to download into a new body ([[Faith]]).

=== Rebel Copies ===

The Sixes vote along with the [[Number Two]]s and the majority of [[Number Eight]]s to stop the lobotomization of the [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s ([[Six of One]]). Several Sixes are members of the Cylon rebels. This includes Natalie and the Six who kills [[Jean Barolay]]. The latter one is distraught about her actions, and is subsequently killed by Natalie with Anders's sidearm ([[Faith]]).

Moreover, a number of them are Heavy Raider pilots alongside a number of Eights and these Sixes fly in battle alongside the Colonial Viper pilots in the battle to destroy the Resurrection Hub. They tow the Vipers into battle, allowing them to launch a surprise attack and fight alongside them against the enemy Raiders ([[The Hub]]).

Since [[Gaeta's Mutiny]] at least, some of the Cylons have joined in CAP and are even briefed by Starbuck in the briefing room. They are shown flying missions with Colonial pilots as an allied patrol, and flying solo missions in search of a habitable homeworld simultaniously with, and identical to, Colonial Raptor pilots. An example of the former is a Six copy who participated in the interception of Boomer's raptor, and identified Boomer's voice as that of an Eight. Some are also seen applying the organic resin to ''Galactica'' and walking freely about her passageways, and even participating in the human ritual of posting photographs of lost colleagues in the [[Memorial hallway]].

Though serving in the integrated, allied CAPs under the command of Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (CAG) and the Colonial military chain of command, the Sixes (like the pilot Eights other than Lt. Sharon Agathon) continue to wear black Cylon flight suits without insignia and do not appear to have been commissioned as Colonial officers. Neither do their pilot collegues appear to have bestowed individual call-signs upon them as yet. Nevertheless, the Sixes, Eights and Colonial pilots are intermixed in the briefing, and Starbuck distributes the flight assignments through a Six. They are addressed by their model number, making "Six" their ''de facto'' surname ([[Someone to Watch Over Me]]).

Yet more variations of Number Six's personality manifest themselves among the Cylons assigned to try and repair ''Galactica''. A dark-blonde Six with a working-class/"knuckle-dragger" demeanor (or, at least, a learned demeanor) gets into a heated argument with one of ''Galactica's'' maintenance crew and has to be physically restrained by a Number Eight; soon after, however, this Six sacrifices her life to save the human from a breach ([[Islanded in a Stream of Stars]]).

All remaining copies of the Sixes, including Caprica (and presumably [[Sonja]] and [[Lida]] as well), have joined the human race with the rest of the survivors of their model after the [[Battle_of_The_Colony|Battle of the Colony]].

=== Infected Basestar Copies ===

During a mission to investigate a disabled base star, [[Gaius Baltar]] sees a number of Cylons, including Sixes, dead or dying from an infectious agent. One of these is a Number Six with black hair, who Baltar kills ([[Torn]]). Later, a Six is found in an infected baseship by ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'', and becomes a part of their plan to infect the Cylon race with the virus spawned from an ancient [[Lion's Head beacon|probe]]. However, she and the other Cylons are killed by Karl Agathon before they are within download range of a Resurrection Ship, thereby killing this Six permanently ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

== Notes ==

*The name "Number Six" is, according to ''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]'', an indirect tribute to [[:wikipedia:Patrick McGoohan|Patrick McGoohan]]'s cult 1967 television series ''[[:wikipedia:The Prisoner|The Prisoner]]'' — a series that addressed topics such as personal freedom and identity, mind control, illusionary experiences and the infiltration of society's supposed guardians (secret agents) by a nefarious force (those behind The Village). Ron Moore himself later confirmed in his blog that the name is an homage to ''The Prisoner''. After many false starts, ''The Prisoner'', like ''Battlestar Galactica'', became the subject of a radical reimaging in 2008 when the American AMC and UK Granada networks announced plans to film a new version of the series, with [[w:James Caviezel|James Caviezel]] in the role of No. 6 in a miniseries that aired in November 2009.
*Also 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 actresses in the running for the role of "Number Six" was ''The O.C.'''s [[:wikipedia:Melinda Clarke|Melinda Clarke]], though the role ultimately went to [[Tricia Helfer]].
*One of the main characters in the Philip K. Dick novel ''Flow My Tears the Policeman Said'' is the result of an eugenics experiment. All of the products of this experiment refer to themselves as "sixes" and look down on "normals." Their characteristic traits include great physical attractiveness, sexual promiscuity, superhuman strength, magnetic charisma and a propensity to control others which led to a coup attempt.
*The Sixes seem to take on a leadership role with the Rebel Cylons. Caprica-Six had led the movement promoting mercy toward the humans, which was one of the seeds leading to the Cylon Civil War. The first leader of the Rebels was Natalie Six before Sharon Agathon killed her. Later, another Six, Sonja, is elected as the Rebel's representative on the new Quorum. An unspecified pilot Six (referred to only by her ''de facto'' surname, Six) appears to hold a position of some authority and/or seniority under Starbuck; the other pilots (both human and Cylon) receive their color assignments and recognition codes from her in "Someone to Watch Over Me".

== References ==
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Propulsion in the Re-imagined Series

2011-01-26T10:24:41Z

Pst001: /* Faster-Than-Light travel */

:''For information on the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series']] modes of propulsion, see [[Propulsion (TOS)]].''

{{RDM science series}}
In the [[Re-imagined Series]], propulsion systems are powered by fuel refined from [[tylium|tylium ore]]. A ship's primary propulsion systems, referred to as "sublight engines", allow it to travel at a slight fraction of the speed of light, which is sufficient to traverse the distances between planets in a solar system in relatively short timeframes. Most ships in the series also have a secondary system, called a [[Propulsion in the Re-imagined Series#Faster-Than-Light travel|'''faster-than-light drive''']] (or '''"FTL"'''), that enables a ship to travel interstellar distances almost instantaneously, by "folding up space" in between the ship and its destination. Since, under normal circumstances, a ship that has used its FTL drive cannot be followed without explicit information about its destination, this technology is used extensively in strategic and tactical manuevers.

==Sublight propulsion==

In the Re-imagined Series, all ships have some manner of sublight flight ability. Sublight propulsion is convenient for intra-solar system travel (such as to or from the planets that comprise the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]), but cannot be used for travel outside of a solar system as the time to arrive at a destination may exceed the fuel supply of the ship or the lifetime of the crew that fly the ship.

As many of the ships of the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] are capable of landing on and taking off from planets, (such as [[New Caprica]]) it is clear that sublight engines work in an atmosphere as well as in space. ''Galactica'' is never seen doing this, and its large mass might prohibit planetary landings altogether, but it employs sublight engines for normal spaceflight. Few of the ships appear to have extremely large propellant tanks as would be required for rocketry as it is presently understood, in spite of having aft-mounted thrusters. This may be explained by the very high energy density of [[tylium]] fuel. Smaller vessels are known to employ rocketry-based [[Navigation in the Re-imagined Series|RCS thrusters]] for maneuvering and small course adjustments.

Vipers are equipped with a thrust reversal system to counteract or arrest their forward momentum ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]). No such mechanism exists on capital ships, but such vessels might turn by 180° to decelerate.

Cylons [[Basestar (RDM)|baseships]] do not have any visible exhaust nozzles or other external structural mechanisms that suggest propulsion ability. It is possible that force fields of the [[Gravity in the Re-imagined Series|artificial gravity]] generators are the source of the sublight propulsion.

Both Colonial ([[Hero]]) and Cylon missiles used in combat appear to be rockets, leaving a trail of gas behind them.

The law of conservation of momentum requires that any propulsion system which adds momentum to a spacecraft or missile in one direction must equal the amount of momentum that is imparted in the opposite direction to something else, as in the example of the controlled combustion of rocket fuel creating thrust in the opposite direction of a ship's or missile's movement. ''[[Pegasus]]'', for example, possesses two very large thrusters on the bow of the ship to counteract the force of the main engines ([[Razor]]). However, many other vessels don't appear to have such thrusters.

===Relativistic Sublight travel ===
The [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did not have jump drive technology, so FTL travel was unavailable to the [[Final Five]] on their voyage from [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] to the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. They instead used a sublight drive able to reach relativistic speeds (a substantial fraction of the speed of light.) The journey took about 2,000 years according to a planetary reference frame, but a more modest (unspecified) number of years in their ship's reference frame.

==Faster-Than-Light travel==
[[Image:FTL1.jpg|thumb|''Galactica'' FTL jump.]]
''FTL'' is an abbreviation for '''F'''aster-'''T'''han-'''L'''ight. The term refers to a means of interstellar propulsion utilized by the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] and the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Colonials]]. A common shorthand term for FTL travel is '''"jumping"''', as this space-folding drive involves making instantaneous "jumps" across vast distances in space.<ref>http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/about/index.php?sub=glossary</ref>

[[Image:Basestar FTL Jump The Plan.png|thumb|Basestar FTL jump.]]

The FTL drive makes interstellar travel possible for both the Colonials and Cylons. No longer confined to their own home solar system, the Cylons managed to avoid Colonial interference for 40 years after the [[Cylon War]] and establish their own [[Cylon homeworld|home-world]]. However, not all ships — from small to large — are outfitted with these drives ([[Miniseries]]).

It is likely that FTL drives are not commonplace on many civilian ships because of the costs involved in using and maintaining the drive and the amount of [[tylium|fuel]] available. For some civilian ships that travel comparatively short distances between some destinations, such as the ill-fated [[Botanical Cruiser]], FTL may simply be impractical or unnecessary.

The technology behind FTL systems is such that, providing the relevant data is known (how that data is acquired, for instance how ships can determine what obstacles are present at their destination, despite never having traveled there before, is not known) ships can jump with a high degree of accuracy, allowing ships to rendezvous in space and even "park" in a synchronous orbit directly above a given point on a planet's surface ([[Miniseries]]). Proper FTL use even enables vessels to arrive in crowded areas, such as the middle of an asteroid field or other ships, without the risk of collision and damage ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).

[[Image:Ftl_display.jpg|thumb|FTL drive display]]

Little specific information on the technology of an FTL drive has been given in the Miniseries or regular series. We know only that ''Galactica'' has two FTL drives<ref>Dialogue from Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] to Lt. [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] instructs the tactical officer to "spin up FTL drives 1 and 2" in the [[Miniseries]].</ref>, and that other smaller or civilian ships have a single drive. Ships also do not need to be in motion for the FTL drive to work, or at least smaller craft do not need to be, as Raptors during the Battle of the Colony jump directly from Galactica's starboard flight pod without engaging in forward momentum.

FTL drives on ''Galactica'' are said to be "spun up" in preparation for a jump, contain components such as the "spinner" ("[[The Captain's Hand]]") and "spin-sync generator" ("[[Faith]]") and display a rotational and possibly electromagnetic operation. Until the final-season episode, "[[Blood on the Scales]]", the expression was theorised by many fans to be either a turn of phrase, or an anachronism dating back to another form of propulsion, much like the use of the term "air" in reference to fighter operations in the vacuum of space ("[[Commander Air Group]]", "[[Combat Air Patrol]]", ''inter alia'') and the real-world use of "sail" and "set sail" in reference to self-propelled vessels.

[[Image:Ftl2.jpg|thumb|''Galactica'''s FTL drive.]]

An operational FTL drive was first seen in "Blood on the Scales", specifically one of ''Galactica's'' two. Indeed, an assortment of long, thick shafts spin as part of the FTL drive mechanism. The FTL engine room includes a control terminal for diagnostic and auxilliary control. In order to prevent Felix Gaeta and his mutineers from jumping ''Galactica'' to an unknown location, former Senior Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]] attempted to log into the engine room terminal which refused him access, recognising his duty status as "inactive". He was nevertheless able to manually disable the drive by removing a the synchronisation coil.<ref>Part identified in dialogue in "No Exit".</ref> Gaeta made no attempt to use the other FTL drive, indicating either that the other drive was inoperative, the two drives are not entirely independent, that neither drive alone is sufficient to jump the ship, or that Gaeta simply decided that the mutiny and Coup d'état were doomed and futher attempts were pointless.

FTL jump drives can be used ''within'' an atmosphere. This Colonial tactic is used often to evade Cylon detection. While [[Raptor]]s primarily perform these kind of jumps, Admiral [[William Adama]] performs a daring intra-atmosphere jump at approximately 100,000 feet altitude with ''[[Galactica]]'' during the [[Battle of New Caprica]] to evade immediate Cylon detection. The battlestar jumps back to space a few thousand feet above the planet's surface after its Viper deployment. When ''Galactica'' jumps, the clouds surrounding it and the re-entry fires consuming its hull are "sucked" into the vacuum created by the sudden loss of volume. A clap of thunder is heard afterward, likely caused by air rushing into the aforementioned vacuum ([[Exodus, Part II]]). A similar phenomenon occurs when ''Pegasus'' jumps from the attack on the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]]; the resulting displacement not only draws in the burning gases from the nearby berthing superstructure, but also defuses two nuclear warheads bound for ''Pegasus'' itself ([[Razor]]).

[[Image:Ftl3.jpg|thumb|''Galactica'''s engine room.]]

An area of spatial distortion of some sort is also produced when a ship jumps. This effect has been observed twice thus far. Once, when the tylium refinery ship ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' is approached by a pair of Vipers and a Raptor in an effort to quell a mutiny aboard the ship. The ''Hitei Kan'' unexpectedly jumps and the Vipers and Raptor are repelled away by some force as soon as the ship dematerializes ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]). The second time this is seen is when a Raptor stolen by [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] executes a jump mere meters away from ''Galactica’s'' hull. When the Raptor disappears into the jump the section of the hull it was adjacent to is instantaneously indented. Just prior to that, Col. [[Saul Tigh]] expresses his fears of even greater damage should Valerii jump the Raptor while inside ''Galactica’s'' flight pod ([[Someone to Watch Over Me]]). During the [[Battle of the Colony]], several Raptors actually do jump within ''Galactica’s'' sealed off starboard flight pod causing significant damage to the landing bay within the pod and most likely contributed to the catastrophic failure of her hull after the battle ([[Daybreak, Part II]]). It is not clear how this distortion field, which seems to produce effects like a shock wave, also coincides with the known effect of a jump acting as a sort of vacuum, which instead of producing an outwards wave should pull the surrounding space into it. The two effects might occur consecutively, the vacuum effect left in the ship's wake, then the expelled shock wave, as hangar equipment in the flight pod is seen being pulled towards the vacuum before being expelled outwards.

Later, the Fleet's FTL drives are upgraded by the Rebel Cylons so they can now travel as far and as fast as a Cylon ship. Not all ships are apparently upgraded as for some reason, the Raptor Boomer steals lacks the upgraded drive.

=== Limitations of Colonial FTL ===

* The effectiveness of a [[Raptor]]'s FTL is limited to brief, short-distance jumps. Raptors require a sequence of short consecutive FTL "hops" to reach the same destination as a Colonial capital ship with a full-sized FTL drive ([[Miniseries]]).
* Colonial FTL systems are prone to breakdown after repetitive use over an extended period of time ([[33]]).
* Colonial FTL systems appear to be a holdover from the [[History of the Twelve Colonies#Exodus|Exodus]] from [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], and their current designs have been developed to meet the needs of jumping between the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]], and their outposts in other star systems. Colonial FTL capabilities are generally limited in effective range compared to Cylon FTL.
* Colonial FTL computers are prone to glitching, often jumping ships to the wrong coordinates ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]).
* Navigators must be careful to plan FTL jump paths in order to keep a safe distance from planets or other large objects ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).
* "Spooling up" a Colonial FTL drive takes at least 20 minutes when the drive has been offline ([[Crossroads Part II]]). Because of this, when ships enter dangerous situations, they keep their FTL drives "spun up". Drives cannot be kept spun up indefinitely, as system crashes or serious damage to the drive will occur. A "cooldown" time is required after a jump for new jump calculations, so a ship that has jumped into a new location cannot jump to another location for a brief period of time.
* Colonial capital ships (at least older ones of the Galactica type) require the flight pods to retract before a jump, prolonging jump prep time. Should the ship jump with extended pods, serious structural damage can occur.

Colonial FTL performance can be improved, demonstrated when a [[Raptor]] is successfully refitted by a team apparently led by Lieutenant [[Felix Gaeta]] with the navigational computer from a captured [[Heavy Raider]] (presumably the one used by [[Kara Thrace]] to return from Caprica in "[[Home, Part I]]") and, with the cooperation of a [[Sharon Agathon|Number Eight]], is used to navigate a squadron of Raptors back to Caprica on a rescue mission to retrieve a [[Caprica Resistance|group of resistance fighters]] ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]). A massive distance that would have taken Galactica 241 jumps one way (~482 jumps total), the Raptor squadron does in only 20 (10 to Caprica, 10 back).

Colonial FTL computers can be affected by highly-charged sub-atomic particles, corrupting their calculations and possibly causing a jump beyond the [[Red Line]], as in the case of [[Raptor 718]] ([[The Face of the Enemy]], Episode 2).

The FTL drive apparently puts significant strain on a ship's structure. ''Galactica'' has substantial cracks in her hull adjacent to the FTL drive which Tyrol disabled. ([[Blood on the Scales]]) While discussing structural repairs with Adm. Adama, Tyrol asks him not to jump the ship for a while, whilst his crews upgrade the structure. ([[No Exit]])

FTL jumps can apparently induce nausea or discomfort in some people, such as [[Cally Henderson]] ([[Miniseries, Night 2]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]").

=== Cylon Advantages in FTL ===

* Cylon FTL systems can be manufactured on a smaller scale to their Colonial equivalent, thus allowing the [[Cylon Raider]] to be outfitted with an FTL drive. ([[Miniseries]]).
* Cylon FTL drive systems are far more efficient than their Colonial equivalent. Tests with the Raider captured by the [[Battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]) demonstrated that the drive could enable the Raider to jump directly from the vicinity of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] back to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]) - a jump completed by Lieutenant [[Kara Thrace]] during her search for the [[Arrow of Apollo]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). This superiority is not from FTL drives themselves, but from the superior Cylon navigation system, resulting in more accurate jump calculations.

Cylon FTL drives are—using the most conservative estimation—three times more effiicent than their Colonial counterparts ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]). Despite being well-versed in maintaining ''Galactica'''s two FTL drives and being a [[Final Five]] [[Cylon]], former [[wikipedia:Senior Chief Petty Officer|Senior Chief Petty Officer]] [[Galen Tyrol]] is baffled by Cylon FTL technology and defers to "[[Number Six|Sixes]], [[Number Eight|Sharons]] and maybe even some [[Number Two|Leobens]]" to upgrade Colonial ships' drives. The Fleet later gets the upgrade and the difference can be clearly seen in the jump capabilities: a Raptor stolen by Boomer which for an unknown reason doesn't have the upgraded drive, takes over a dozen jumps to reach The Colony, but ''Galactica'' and even an upgraded Raptor are able to make the distance that took that Raptor over a dozen jumps, they make in ''one''.

The Cylons may also be capable of [[faster-than-light communication]].

==FTL jump ranges==
The range that ''Galactica'' can jump at has never been specified on-screen. However, in a deleted line from the mini-series the jump from Ragnar to the [[Prolmar Sector]] is said to be "30 light-years"<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060517022749/http://www.curemode.com/battlestar/bgarticle26.htm An early draft of the mini-series script]</ref>, which is way beyond the [[red line]] (maximum safely calculable jump range). This is consistent with Colonel Tigh saying that ''Galactica'' could search every planet within 12 light-years for water before having to jump to another sector altogether ([[Water]]). On this Wiki, producer Bradley Thompson suggested that internally, the writers had been working on the idea the Fleet had been jumping about 5 light-years at a time, although that does not have to have been its maximum range. Finally, on composer Bear McCreary's blog<ref>[http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=1760 Bear McCreary's blog]</ref>, science advisor Kevin Grazier and producer Bradley Thompson suggested that the final six digits for the jump coordinates Kara interprets from [[the Music]] represent distance in [[SU]]s. 999,999 SUs - the maximum possible distance that can be inputted - would relate to 15.812 Colonial light-years. The distance inputted during the Battle of the Colony is 365,321 SU or 5.77 Colonial light-years, which is presumably the distance from the Colony to Earth ([[Daybreak, Part II]]). There may also be a factoring scale at work, and at close ranges ''Galactica'' appears to be able to jump much more accurately, as demonstrated by its jump from several million kilometers directly into New Caprica's atmosphere 100,000 feet above the surface ([[Exodus, Part II]]), or a jump of unknown range to within one kilometre of the Colony's surface ([[Daybreak, Part II]]).

Cylon FTL ranges are considerably larger. At the end of the series, the Fleet's larger ships have their jump ranges tripled by the installation of Cylon technology ([[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]). However, during the rescue of Colonial resistance forces from Caprica three years earlier, a Raptor squadron outfitted with a Cylon FTL navigation computer traversed in 10 jumps ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]) a distance that ''Galactica'' would have required a minimum of 230 jumps (conservatively) to cross ([[Pegasus (Extended Version)|Pegasus]]), an improvement by a factor of 23. However, this rescue team was just using the navigation computer to improve their jump calculations. Another example is how many jumps it ended up taking to reach The Colony. When Boomer stole a for some reason un-upgraded Raptor, it took her over a dozen jumps to reach The Colony. But the recon Raptor that was dispatched and even ''Galactica'' herself were able to make that distance in ''one'' jump with their upgraded FTL drives. Lee Adama even specificly said that The Colony was in ''Galactica's'' FTL range which it wouldn't have been before with the un-upgraded drive given Boomer's journey there. With the upgraded drives, Tyrol said that the efficency of the Fleet's jump drive would be trippled and give them a much longer jump range which they believed was key to finding a new world for humanity to settle on. Cylon FTL's were so complicated that even Tyrol didn't understand them fully and said they were going to need rebel Cylons just to do the upgrades.

==Background to FTL in the Re-imagined Series==

{{Plausible speculation}}

In establishing the series the creators of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] determined to keep everything within the show very "[[Naturalistic science fiction|natural]]". This means steering away from the standard clichés of television science-fiction: no bumpy-head aliens, no remarkable technology such as matter/anti-matter conversion, etc. So how is the concept of faster-than-light travel possible within this precept?

===Underpinning Theories===

[[Image:Wormhole-demo.png|thumb|FTL: "Folding Space"]]
The FTL drive technology used within the Re-imagined Series might be based on the use of [[Wikipedia:Superstring Theory|Superstring Theory]] and [[Wikipedia:M-Theory|M-Theory]] that essentially enable the "jump drive" systems to "fold" space, reducing the distance between any two points by creating a "corridor" through space that links them together (essentially forming a wormhole, or Einstein-Rosen Bridge). Such "corridors" are allowed by the general theory of relativity; what [[Wikipedia:M-Theory|M-Theory]] does is provide a way to change the topology of space-time dynamically.

The use of such wormholes is based on the tenet that space is curved. Hence the term "[[Wikipedia:Wormhole|wormhole]]", which arises from the analogy that space can be seen as an apple. A worm can travel from one side of the apple to the other in two ways:
* By crawling over the surface, or
* By burrowing through the apple (creating a "wormhole").
Obviously, the second option is considerably shorter than the first.

===Relativistic Acceleration===
A key point concerning the use of wormholes within the new ''Battlestar Galactica'' is that they do not break the fundamental limiting factor of our universe: the speed of light. Vessels in ''Battlestar Galactica'' do not accelerate to faster-than-light velocities. Rather, they use the wormhole to reduce the distance to their destination, thus giving the ''impression'' of faster-than-light travel.

However, the FTL jumps in the series do allow information to be sent faster than light can send it, which results in a violation of causality within the special theory of relativity. (ie. If event A comes before B from one viewpoint, there will be other equally valid viewpoints where event B takes place before A.) Causality is not violated by FTL in a universe that has a special fixed reference frame, however this contradicts current understanding.

This is the reason why FTL jumps are virtually instantaneous within episodes. It also means that the only ''direct'' form of propulsion available for vessels is generated by their [[Sublight Propulsion|sublight drive systems]]<ref>In turn, this is why vessels exiting from a jump are traveling at the same velocity as when they committed to the jump ([[Miniseries]], "[[33]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]" and other episodes).</ref>.

===Feasibility===
While the use of wormholes in this manner is not currently possible, work is progressing on superstring and M-Theory which may make the creation of wormholes possible in the future. The limiting factor is the ability to generate negative energy densities, which are allowed (though severely restricted) by quantum mechanics. As such, the use of such systems again meets one of the stated desires of the the producers of ''Battlestar Galactica'': not to rely on the "traditional" trappings of science-fiction that require exotic science and technology. Theoretical physicist [[Wikipedia:Kip Thorne|Kip Thorne]] has carried out extensive research into wormholes, and helped develop a scientifically-consistent means of wormhole travel used by [[Wikipedia:Carl Sagan|Carl Sagan]] in his novel [[Wikipedia:Contact (novel)|"Contact"]] which bears a remarkable similarity to the technology employed within ''Battlestar Galactica''.

==See Also==
*[[Combat jump]]
*[[List of terms (RDM)|List of terms in the Re-imagined Series]]

==References==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>
== External links ==
* [[Wikipedia:FTL (Battlestar Galactica)|FTL]] at Wikipedia.
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Terminology]]

[[de:Antriebskraft in der neu-interpretierten Serie]]
[[zh:重拍系列中的推进力]]

Galactica (TRS)

2011-01-26T10:20:42Z

Pst001: /* Related Imagery */

:''This article discusses the [[Re-imagined Series]] battlestar. For other meanings of '''''Galactica''''', see [[Galactica (disambiguation)]].''
{{Ship Data
| image= Galactica Overview.jpg
| title= Galactica (BS 75)
| race= Colonial
| type= Military
| ftl= Yes
| crew= Approximately 3,500
| length= {{Meters2Feet|1438.64}}<ref>These dimensions (in meters) were derived from the CG model and posted by [[Lee Stringer]] on the StarshipBuilder.com forums, which are no longer available. They are the most precise so far. The width with pods extended and the height are quoted here verbatim; the length was calculated by adding the posted dimension for the front of the ship (766.04m) to the posted dimension for the back (672.6m). The full set as provided by Lee Stringer is as follows: "Width (Pods out) 536.84m (Pods In) 352.34m
Engines Max 359.38m Head Max 334.58m
Length: Front (Main body) 730.65m (Antenee) 766.04m Back 672.6m
(using the center of the two arms as the middle)
Height (Armor/Mainbody) 181.825m (Details) 183.315m".</ref>
| width= {{Meters2Feet|536.84}}<ref name="podtopod">This is from flight pod to flight pod while they are extended.</ref>
| height= {{Meters2Feet|183.315}}
| otherdi= The dimensions above are from [[Lee Stringer]], who built the ''Galactica'' CG model. VFX Sequence Designer [[Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz]] gave the length as {{Feet2Meters|4740}}.<ref>[http://darthmojo.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/how-big-was-the-colony/#comment-2193 Blog comment] by [[Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz]].</ref> The reason for this twenty-foot discrepancy is unknown.
| co= Admiral [[William Adama]]
| xo= Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
| role= Carrier / battleship hybrid
| weapons= As many as 514 dual point-defense [[KEW|Kinetic Energy Weapons]], 24 primary dual Kinetic Energy Weapons, at least 12 [[missile tubes]] capable of firing conventional and nuclear missiles, Vipers, Raptors
| status= Abandoned, flown into the Sun with the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]
| img= Y
}}
'''''Galactica'' (BS 75)''' is a [[Galactica type battlestar|veteran battlestar]] and the last of her kind still in service with the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] at the time of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction of the Twelve Colonies]]. Built during the early days of the [[Cylon War]], she remains the only military vessel without integrated [[Computers|computer networks]]. Without networked computers, ''Galactica'' never upgrades to the new [[Command Navigation Program|integrated defense system software]] developed by Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] and his [[Number Six|team]]. Because of this and other factors, she becomes one of only two known battlestars (the other being ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'') to survive the renewed Cylon attack on the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. At the time of this attack, she was part of the 75th [[Battlestar Group]] (BSG-75).

== History ==
=== The First Cylon War ===
[[Image:Mini gal top.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A dorsal view of ''Galactica''. The starboard [[flight pod]] is covered by a window to form the [[Galactica Museum|museum area]].]]
''Galactica'' was one of the first twelve battlestars to be constructed by the Colonials, each representing one of the twelve colonies; ''Galactica'' represented [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. As such, she is some 50 years old. While solidly built, various factors during ''Galactica's'' construction led to the shipyard "cutting corners" when she was originally built, with various components not completed to spec ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]"). Following the outbreak of Cylon hostilities several more battlestars were built. ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> first commander was named [[Nash]].

The original battlestars were all designed with non-integrated computer systems to avoid the Cylons' demonstrated ability to override or subvert networked command and control systems early in the war ([[TRS]]: "[[Miniseries, Night 1]]"). Rather than technological sophistication, the battlestar depended on its sheer bulk and defensive / offensive capabilities to ward off any threats to itself or the Colonies.

''Galactica'' took part in [[Operation Raptor Talon]] which then Lieutenant [[William Adama]] served on. After crash-landing on the ice planet the operation took place over and witnessing the experiments on humans, Adama contacted ''Galactica'' to take out the [[Guardian basestar]] which had just launched, but was informed by ''Galactica'', which had dispatched a [[SAR]] [[Raptor]] for him, of the Armistice. Adama wouldn't learn the truth of what he'd seen until the [[Battle of the Guardian basestar]] over forty years later. After the [[Final Five|rather mysterious]] Cylon [[Armistice Station|armistice]], and their withdrawal from Colonial space, ''Galactica'' and her sister ships served the Twelve Colonies in a variety of roles. While her surviving sister ships were scrapped or upgraded to match the systems capabilities of newer Colonial vessels, ''Galactica'' continued in service without her systems being fully networked or integrated, making her unique among Colonial military vessels. '' Galactica'' was relegated to intra-system duties for at least 20 years prior to her decommissioning.<ref>This is inferred by [[Saul Tigh]] in his reaction to Commander Adama's decision for a [[FTL]] jump ([[TRS]]: "[[Miniseries, Night 1]]").</ref>

=== Decommissioning ===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''Galactica'' provides cover for civilian ships during the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]].]]
With her active career drawing to a close, a decision was taken to retire ''Galactica'' and decommission her from service. Colonial Fleet chose not to scrap her, but to turn her into a combination of living museum to the original Cylon War and an educational center, with her conversion being overseen by her final commander, [[William Adama]].

At the time of her formal decommissioning ceremony, ''Galactica'' is stripped of all but one of her operational [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mark VII squadrons, her munitions are destroyed, and her starboard landing pod is converted into a pressurized [[Galactica Museum|museum]] which houses (among other things) a full squadron of [[Viper Mark II|Mk. II Vipers]] as well as a Viper model that appears [[Viper (TOS)|older than the Mark II]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Miniseries, Night 1]]").

<div style="clear: both;"></div>

=== Return of the Cylons ===
[[Image:Mini side fleet.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Galactica'' and the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].]]
With the renewed and unexpected Cylon hostilities, ''Galactica'' is quickly brought back to combat condition and sorties several Mark IIs retrieved from her museum, engaging in her first battle with the Cylons in over 40 years (all but one last Mark VII squadron were sent to Caprica for reassignment). She survives a direct hit by a tactical nuclear missile, and later [[FTL|jumps]] successfully to [[Ragnar Anchorage]] to replenish her empty ammunition stores at this strategic depot.

''Galactica'' emerges from the anchorage and engages one [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] with her gun batteries, providing cover for [[The Fleet (RDM)|a fleet of 75 civilian ships]] harboring survivors of the Twelve Colonies. Once the entire civilian fleet successfully jumps away, and as a second basestar approaches to join the battle, ''Galactica'' recovers her remaining Vipers and jumps to the rendezvous point beyond the [[Red Line]], never to return to Colonial space ([[TRS]]: "[[Miniseries]]").

<div style="clear: both;"></div>

=== Leading a Ragtag Fleet ===
[[Image:Ep212battle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''Galactica'' and [[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]] work together during the [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship]].]]
Since the exodus of the Colonials from their overrun homeworlds, ''Galactica'' becomes both protector and provider for the Fleet. She provides covering fire for the Fleet during Cylon attacks no fewer than 240 times ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]": "[[Act of Contrition]]"). The battlestar provides much of the Fleet with recycled water ([[TRS]]: "[[Water]]") and she is the primary source of medical care, where groups of civilians are periodically brought aboard for check-ups and treatment ([[TRS]]: "[[Litmus]]"). ''Galactica'' also undertakes internal policing duties within the Fleet ([[TRS]]: "[[Water]]"; "[[Bastille Day]]").

''Galactica'' successfully goes on the offensive against the Cylons, capturing a [[tylium]] fuel mining and processing plant in the process ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]").

The [[Mercury class battlestar|advanced battlestar]] ''Pegasus'', commanded by Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain]], joins ''Galactica'' approximately 6 months into their exile (See the series [[Timeline (RDM)|timeline]] for special information about this milestone). The two battlestars destroy two [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] as well as a critical Cylon support ship known as the [[Resurrection Ship]]. After Admiral Cain's death, President [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] promotes William Adama to Admiral, restoring him to overall Fleet command, but now with two battlestars at his disposal ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]").

===New Caprica===
[[Image:Leaving New Caprica.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Galactica'', ''Pegasus'', and the orbiting fleet prior to leaving [[New Caprica]].]]
Following the founding of [[New Caprica]], ''Galactica'' is assigned to the orbital defense force that protects the planet. During this time the majority of her crew are allowed to the surface in an effort to populate the planet and restore the human race, a majority of whom are seemingly convinced that the Cylons will never find New Caprica. The diminished crew inevitably results in standard maintenance becoming overlooked or ignored; basic military responses, such as the launching of alert fighters and routine training exercises become difficult to execute. One year following the founding of New Caprica, a fleet of Cylon ships jump into orbit of the planet. Severely limited in their abilities, Admiral Adama orders the defense fleet to jump away from New Caprica along with a handful of civilian ships still in orbit of the colony. They vow to eventually return to New Caprica and liberate it from the Cylon invaders ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

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===[[Battle of New Caprica]]===
[[Image:BONC.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Galactica'' takes a pounding during the [[Battle of New Caprica]].]]
Four months after their escape, ''Galactica'''s staff is still in the process of developing a rescue strategy with 16 training exercises having been completed and a 17th underway when an accident causes its early cessation ([[TRS]]: "[[Occupation]]"). This forces both a change in strategy and the reformulation of a rescue plan to deal with personnel who have not seen conflict in 16 months. While ''Galactica'' fights to liberate the Colonials on-planet, ''Pegasus'' is assigned to protect the remaining civilian Fleet and continue its search for [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Precipice]]"; "[[Exodus, Part I]]").

After coordinating with the [[New Caprica Resistance]], ''Galactica'' leaves ''Pegasus'' to guard the space-bound members of humanity while it uses a series of drones to misdirect the bulk of the Cylon Raiders and avoid immediate detection by baseships, thus allowing the civilians on the planet to escape to their ships and flee New Caprica.

''Galactica'' then jumps into low orbit, plummeting from an altitude of 100,000 feet. As the ship falls, Admiral Adama orders the launch of all remaining Vipers. ''Galactica'' then jumps back into orbit. In the subsequent battle with the orbiting basestars, ''Galactica'' is overtaxed, out-gunned, and faces destruction when ''Pegasus'' unexpectedly arrives. ''Pegasus''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> salvos draw the attention of the basestars away from ''Galactica'', buying ''Galactica'' time to bring her [[FTL|FTL drives]] back on-line and escape, but at the cost of ''Pegasus''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> destruction ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

''Galactica'' bears the scars of the battle with significant scorching and dents to the hull. Nonetheless, the battlestar remains combat ready, holding off a superior Cylon force for a short duration in the [[Battle of NCD2539]] ([[TRS]]: "[[A Measure of Salvation]]"), and threatening to use its nuclear arsenal twice after New Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]"; "[[Crossroads, Part II]]"). Given the loss of ''Pegasus'', ''Galactica'' now boasts a larger crew, Viper and Raptor complement, to the point where there are more pilots than there are ships to fly ([[TRS]]: "[[Torn]]"), although the training of new recruits is still ongoing ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]"; "[[Crossroads, Part II]]"; "[[He That Believeth in Me]]"). Further, there are various redundancies between the two crews that are appropriately dealt with (e.g. [[Lee Adama]] in a [[List of Deleted Scenes - Season 3 (RDM)|deleted scene]] from "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

Colonel Tigh comments that ''Galactica'' took so much damage in this battle that it would "take six weeks in dry dock just to bang out the dents" ([[TRS]]: "[[A Day in the Life]]"). This indicates that the damage is extensive enough to require a significant amount time (probably months) for full repair, and would be unlikely to survive a massive battle again.

=== Resuming the Search for Earth ===
''Galactica'' takes aboard a significant quantity of civilians following the exodus from New Caprica, as several civilian ships are lost during the escape from the failed colony. Cramped conditions increase as crew and civilians struggle to adapt to life back aboard a ship. The civilians reside on the refurbished starboard hangar deck as a refugee camp nicknamed "[[Camp Oil Slick]]" and later "Dogsville" ([[TRS]]: "[[Torn]]"; "[[The Woman King]]").

During a [[The Passage|food shortage crisis]] caused by contamination of the Fleet's food processing systems, ''Galactica'' (along with her Raptors acting as pilot ships) guides the civilian Fleet through an area of intense heat, light and radiation caused by a [[Passage (star cluster)|dense star cluster]] to reach edible resources on the [[algae planet]]. ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> heavy armor and radiation shielding protect her from the intense effects of the cluster, but the ship still suffers hull damage and decompressions.

The ship confronts a Cylon fleet and barely escapes a nova during [[Eye of Jupiter|the events over the algae planet]], jumping out at the last moment after recovering its ground teams and additional data on a way-point to Earth known to the Colonials as the [[Ionian nebula]] ("[[The Eye of Jupiter]]", "[[Rapture]]"). Repairs continue on the journey to the Ionian nebula. Damage to one particular airlock nearly causes the deaths of Galen and Cally Tyrol during what they expected to be a quick repair of a hull micro-fracture ([[A Day in the Life]]).
[[Image:BOTIM.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Galactica'' is outnumbered during the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula]].]]
When the Fleet reaches the nebula, four Cylon baseships are detected following an unexplained power outage. With the entire Fleet crippled and unable to escape, ''Galactica'' scrambles her Vipers and prepares for a lopsided fight, outnumbered and outgunned ([[Crossroads, Part II]]). During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|following battle]], ''Galactica'' manages to hold off the main attack of the massive Cylon attack force. Despite the damage suffered in previous engagements, the old warship wields her main guns and point defense batteries effectively again in defense of the Fleet. During the battle ''Galactica'' takes many hits while covering the Fleet although without crippling damage. Despite having the advantage, and managing to destroy or damage several civilian ships, the Cylons retreat in the middle of the battle, after detecting one of the [[Final Five]] among the Colonials ([[He That Believeth in Me]]).

''Galactica'' is once forced to prepare for a battle against the rebel [[Basestar (RDM)|Cylon basestar]], but the ''[[Demetrius]]'' arrives to defuse the situation. In the wake of the basestar disappearing from the Fleet ([[Guess What's Coming to Dinner?]]), [[Saul Tigh]] assumes command of ''Galactica'', jumping along with the Fleet ([[Sine Qua Non]]).

After [[Kara Thrace]] picks up a strange signal in [[Starbuck's Viper|her Viper]], the Colonials have a direct bearing towards Earth. Shortly later, after several years of searching, ''Galactica'' and her Fleet finally make the last jump to Earth ([[Revelations]]).

=== Post-Earth ===

After discovering [[Earth]] is a nuclear wasteland, discipline and morale on ''Galactica'' fall dramatically and the overall cleanliness of the ship suffers, e.g. outside [[CIC]], the words "Frak Earth" are spray-painted on the walls ([[Sometimes a Great Notion]]). When former deck chief [[Galen Tyrol]] disables the FTL drive, foiling the mutineers' escape with the ship, he discovers multiple tears in the chamber's walls, a sign that the aging battlestar's structural integrity is faltering ([[Blood on the Scales]]).
[[Image:Damaged Galactica.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A heavily damaged ''Galactica''.]]
A structural survey of the ship finds several torn supports and weakened areas in the hull, and a more in-depth examination finds endemic metal fatigue throughout the ship, with virtually every part of the hull riddled with small cracks and fissures.

''Galactica's'' advanced age, the corners cut during construction and the abuse it has been put through since the war started contributed to its condition. Tyrol suggests treating the damaged parts of the ship with an [[Cylon organic resin|organic Cylon resin]] from the [[Rebel Baseship]], which would fill the cracks and bear the stresses, which Adama at first refuses. However, Adama finally appreciates ''Galactica's'' dire condition when he finds a tear in a bulkhead in his quarters, and orders Tyrol to carry out his plan to repair the ship ([[No Exit]]). Tyrol later says that the resin will buy more time but the ship's integrity has been fundamentally weakened and it might not survive more FTL jumps- it is impossible to say how long she can hold. ''Galactica'' is dying of old age and accumulated battle damage.

Later ''Galactica'' is damaged even further when [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]] jumps away very close to the hull. The resulting spatial distortion of her Raptor's FTL jump causes what appears to be buckling and explosive decompression in several sections of the alligator head of ''Galactica'' on her port side ([[Someone to Watch Over Me]]). This causes a chain reaction of explosions, structural failures and power outages throughout many parts of the ship including CIC.

At first refusing to accept the reality of the ship's fate, Admiral Adama gives the emotionally painful order to stop the repairs and begin the process of abandoning ship, moving to the Rebel Baseship as the Fleet's new flagship ([[Islanded In a Stream of Stars]]).

As the ship is slowly offloaded of parts and personnel, the Admiral relents one last time, stops the scrapping of the battlestar, and calls for volunteers for what will likely be a ''Galactica's'' final mission- to get the kidnapped Hera back from Cavil's Cylon colony ([[Daybreak, Part I]]).

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=== Endgame: [[Battle of The Colony|Battle of The Colony]] ===

[[Image:Battleofthecolony.jpg|thumb|right|200px|right|''Galactica'' takes massive hits seconds after jumping to [[The Colony]].]]
With a skeleton crew and a frail battlestar, Admiral Adama executes a daring mission to rescue Hera Agathon.

''Galactica'' jumps to the Colony at point-blank range. Besieged by the Colony's gun batteries at first, the ship is pummeled until the Hybrid Anders manages to take them and the Colony's Hybrids offline. As ''Galactica's'' Vipers engage incoming Raiders, her Raptors jump directly from their berth in the starboard [[flight pod]] (causing extensive damage to it) and maneuver to board the Colony.

Adama does the unbelievable: he rams ''Galactica's'' bow into the Colony, forming not only a second breech for his search teams to enter, but also forming an alternate escape route.

The rescue is successful thanks to Boomer's help (before Athena kills her), but ''Galactica'' is far from safe. The Raiders are still attacking the ship, destroying at least one of its remaining heavy gun batteries. The rescue teams are pursued back to ''Galactica'' by Cavil and his troops, determined to recapture Hera. Platoons of enemy Centurions swarm into the ship. Cavil personally leads an attack on CIC but is foiled.

Things appear to settle down after Cavil and Adama call a ceasefire. Cavil agrees to let ''Galactica'' leave with Hera in exchange for the information needed to bring back [[Resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]]. Part of the deal is that Cavil will leave humanity alone forever as well. The Raiders return to the Colony, while the Vipers return to ''Galactica''. Unfortunately, as the Final Five begin to download their knowledge into the Colony, they are exposed to each other's secrets; Galen Tyrol learns that Tory Foster murdered his wife [[Cally Tyrol]] ([[The Ties That Bind]]). Tyrol flies into a rage and kills Foster, severing the download. Chaos ensues and the ceasefire ends. The Raiders renew their attack on the ship. In CIC the Simon, Doral and Cavil there open fire but Apollo and Starbuck kill Doral and Simon while Cavil, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, kills himself.

Meanwhile [[Racetrack]]'s Raptor, drifting in space after all aboard were killed, is hit by a stray asteroid, causing the Raptor to launch its nuclear missiles into the Colony. The Colony's orbit immediately decays, pulling it into the black hole--threatening to take ''Galactica'' with it. But Kara Thrace jumps the ship, using coordinates she had extrapolated from [[The Music]] at the last second.

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=== Journey's End ===
[[File:Battlestar Over Africa.jpg|thumb|left|200px|right|A crippled ''Galactica'' seen in orbit over the Sahara Desert.]]
Unfortunently, the ship does not retract its flight pods as Kara Thrace executes the emergency jump; this, as well as the cumulative stresses of the previous battle and the past four years turn out to be the death knell for the old battlestar. ''Galactica'' experiences a series of fatal structural failures that send shockwaves rippling through the ship. While the Cylon organic resin applied earlier prevents the ship from snapping in two, the ship permanently loses its FTL ability as its structual integrity is compromised. However the ship's other systems are still online, including life support and propulsion. The fear of being stranded in space are short-lived as ''Galactica'' arrives in the vicinity of a lush, blue-green habitable world, already populated by tribes of primitive humans who naturally evolved there.
[[File:The fleet's end.jpg|thumb|200px|right|''Galactica'' and her Fleet heading straight into the Sun.]]
The population of the Fleet, arriving later, agree to leave their technology behind and start new lives on the planet they decide to call "[[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth|Earth]]". The Rebel Cylons also decide to stay on the planet. With this decision, the Rebel Baseship is left to the Centurions, who leave to seek out their own destiny. Anders, still acting as ''Galactica's'' Hybrid, brings the battlestar's adventures to a close as he pilots ''Galactica'' and the last ships in the Fleet into the Sun, destroying ''Galactica'' and her Fleet.

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== Equipment ==
Apart from any technological upgrades that may have been made to her sister ships, ''Galactica'' was built to the general technical specifications of her [[Galactica type battlestar|class]].

===Starboard Flight Pod===

The starboard landing bay is eventually restored to usable condition, evidenced when Major Lee Adama lands his Raptor in the starboard pod. However, it is possible that this is due to a previously issued quarantine order and not because the flight pod is in regular use ([[A Measure of Salvation]]). The starboard hangar deck is designated an [[Dogsville|area of refuge]] for civilians displaced from lost ships (The Woman King).

During the last mission of Galactica, this pod held a number of Raptors ready for launch, these deployed out of the pod by FTL jump with the result that the shock waves fatally weakened the pods structure and the pod blew open to space. ([[Daybreak part 2]])

Strangely at least part of the museum setup survives all the way to Daybreak part 2, despite a hull breach and part of it being flattened by a heavy raider [[Scattered]]. It's unclear why the museum was kept intact and/or repaired, though it's possible it was put right during the year on New Caprica before the Cylons found the planet, since this is probably the only period when the crew would have any spare time to fix it. This serves as a minor plot hole that may never be resolved.

The museum would certainly have been destroyed in the jump shock wave from the Raptors leaving the pod during the [[Battle of the Colony]] or the decompression immediately after that point, any remains were sent into the sun with the rest of the ship.

===Nuclear Warheads===
[[Image:Galactica nukes.jpg|200px|thumb|''Galactica'''s nuclear arsenal.]]
''Galactica'' has five nuclear warheads as of "[[Bastille Day]]". Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] uses one warhead to destroy the Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] orbiting Kobol ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]), and Dr. [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] cannibalizes one to use in his [[Cylon detector]]. He later gives the warhead to [[Gina Inviere]], who detonates it aboard ''[[Cloud Nine]]''.

It is unknown how many nuclear warheads ''Pegasus'' has when it encounters ''Galactica'', but the two ships pool their nuclear ordnance stockpiles after that. As of "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]", ''Galactica'' possesses at least seven warheads ([[missile tube]]s 4 through 10).

:''The yield of these weapons is unknown. It is likely they are of a "dial a yield" design which is common in real-life nuclear weapons. Because the physics of nuclear weapon design is a measurable science, and based on the size of the weapons seen on screen, the yield of ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> weapons may lie between 5 and 150 kilotons.''<ref>This is extrapolated from the size of the weapon, compared to a modern day ([[w:W80|W80]])-class nuclear warhead used by the United States.</ref>

===Vipers===
:''For information on the fighter squadrons stationed on ''Galactica'' see: [[Squadrons of Galactica]]''

[[image:1104Tube Mini.JPG|right|thumb|200px|A [[Viper Mark II]] in a launch tube.]]
[[image:Kg zoic-studio screen-caps-065.jpg|left|thumb|200px|A [[Viper Mark VII]] in the port [[Flight pod]].]]
Early in the flight of the Fleet, ''Galactica'' carried "40 Vipers and 21 pilots" ([[Act of Contrition]]) , of which at least six were Mark VIIs. Following the advent of ''Pegasus'', ''Galactica'' receives supplies that aid in the repair and refurbishment of her initial fighter complement ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]). Some time later, new Mark VII Vipers are constructed at ''Pegasus''s' Viper construction facilities utilizing the raw ore mined in an asteroid belt ([[Scar]]), and several of those are assigned to ''Galactica''.

With ''Pegasus'' destroyed at the [[Battle of New Caprica]], ''Galactica'' absorbs the former's fighter squadrons and personnel, and her Viper complement now counts approximately 80 planes. <ref>Dialogue from "[[Guess What's Coming to Dinner?]]" and "[[Sine Qua Non]]" establishes that 40 Vipers have been transferred to a Cylon basestar, which comprises half the ship's air wing.</ref>

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===Raptors===
[[image:Raptor port.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A [[Raptor]].]]
The number of [[Raptor|Raptors]] available to ''Galactica'' is portrayed inconsistently. The assumption prior to joining up with ''Pegasus'' is that the battlestar has at least five Raptors, having left [[Ragnar Anchorage]] with at least eight. After the Battle of New Caprica, ''Galactica'' takes on ''Pegasus''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> Raptors. The subsequent number of available craft is unknown, but is at least 30, considering how many Raptors are deployed to rescue to the resistance fighters on Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") and still have enough to move people from ship to ship through out the Fleet.

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===Other Craft===
[[image:Blackbird FotP.JPG|right|thumb|200px|The [[Blackbird]], a special stealth ship, was construted on ''Galactica''.]]
[[image:AtmoShutt.jpg|right|thumb|200px|One of ''Galactica'''s [[Atmospheric shuttle| shuttle]] craft.]]
*''Galactica'' possesses two [[Heavy Raider]]s. One is hit by ''Galactica''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s defensive fire and crashes into the starboard flight pod with unknown, but probably extensive, damage ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]"). The other returns in operational status from [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). One of these Heavy Raiders is relieved of its FTL navigation system for use on the rescue mission to Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]").
* A Raider from the first Cylon War may be on board ''Galactica'' after one follows Starbuck into one of ''Pegasus''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> landing bays and is shot down ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]"). A Cylon War era Raider, or at least a replica of one, was present in the [[Galactica Museum]], but has not been mentioned since.
*A second [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Raider]] comes into ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> possession after [[Daniel Novacek]]'s "escape" from a basestar, replacing the one retrieved by [[Kara Thrace]] and lost during the quest for the [[Arrow of Apollo]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").
*An experimental stealth fighter, the [[Blackbird]], is constructed using spare parts ([[TRS]]: "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]") and used in a critically successful reconnaissance mission to explore the nature of what comes to be known as the [[Resurrection Ship]]. The Blackbird is destroyed after completing its [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|first combat mission]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]").
*''Galactica'' possesses [[fuel tanker]]s used to supply fuel to Vipers and Raptors in flight without the need to dock with the ship. These may be dedicated craft or specially fitted shuttles or Raptors ([[TRS]]: "[[Occupation]]").

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== Crew ==
:''For information on Senior Staff, see : [[Senior Staff of Galactica]]''
:''For a list of pilots, see: [[List of Pilots]]''
:''For a list of deckhands, see: [[List of deckhands]]''
:''For a list of marines, see: [[Colonial Marine Corps]]''

Before the attack, ''Galactica'' has approximately 2,900 crewmen. By the time of the arrival of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', attrition has reduced this number to about 2,660. (c.f. [[Crew tally]])
It is unknown whether the Colonial Marines account for members or not.
*Between "[[Act of Contrition]]" and "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]" ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> offensive capability is also greatly hampered by the number of [[List of Pilots|qualified pilots]] available, and their lack of flight simulators with which to train more. Since ''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> reunion with ''Pegasus'', this has ceased to be an issue ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").
== Blue prints of Galactica ==

[http://media.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/File:BSG_Blue_prints.png]

==Related Imagery==
<gallery perrow="5">
Image:BSG Ortho Top & Bottom.jpg|''Galactica'' - [[Zoic]] rendering    
Image:BSG Ortho Front, Back & Starboard.jpg|''Galactica'' - Zoic rendering    
Image:Galactica's top side.jpg|''Galactica'''s top side.
Image:Kg cg ns galactica-049.jpg|''Galactica'''s front - Zoic
Image:Battlestar stern.jpg|''Galactica'''s stern.
Image:Galactica retraction.jpg|Flight pod retraction area.
Image:Galactica's bottom-023b.jpg|''Galactica'''s bottom.
Image:Bsg damaged.jpg|''Galactica'' with battle damage. (High Res)
Image:Cylon War-era Galactica, "Razor" Flashback 1.jpg|''Galactica'' in the [[Razor]] Flashbacks.
Image:Galactica - flight pods retracted.jpg|''Galactica'' with flight pods retracted.
Image:BSG landing alcove.jpg|''Galactica'' landing alcove.
Image:Kg cg ns galactica-037.jpg|A cluster of rail guns.
Image:Battered Battlestar.jpg|Bow view of ''Galactica''.
Image:GalPeg.png|''Galactica'' overlooking the [[Pegasus]].
Image:Pointdefence2 101 1080i.jpg|''Galactica''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> point defense batteries in action    
Image:Galactica fights off missile salvos.jpg|''Galactica'' establishes a defense perimeter.
Image:Raptor scramble.jpg|''Galactica'' scrambles [[Viper]]s and [[Raptor]]s.
Image:Colony Breech.jpg|''Galactica'' rams herself into [[The Colony]].
Image:Img0059.jpg|''Galactica'''s main batteries.
Image:Galactia's end.jpg|''Galactica'' and the Fleet depart for the sun, with the African continent in the background.
Image:CIC Overview 1.jpg|''Galactica'''s CIC.
Image:Cicweaponscontrol1.jpg|Weapons control.
Image:Cictacticalstation1.jpg|Tactical station.
Image:Cic commstation.jpg|Communications.
Image:The Mess.jpg|The Officers' mess hall.
Image:Cicdmgcontrol.jpg|Damage control.
Image:Ftl2.jpg|FTL Drive.
Image:Bsg-1-10.jpg|The "War Room".
Image:Porthangardeck.jpg|The port hangar bay on ''Galactica''.
Image:DutyLocker.jpg|Crew quarters.
Image:GalacticaInterior Sickbay1.jpg|Sickbay
Image:Galactica Museum, "Daybreak, Part II".jpg| The ''Galactica'' museum in the starboard flight pod.
Image:Galactica corridor.jpg|The "A-shaped" corridors.
Image:BSG Blue prints.png|Schematics from the [[Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game|roleplaying game]].
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Galactica crew facilities (RDM)|Galactica crew facilities]]
*[[:Category:Galactica Areas (RDM)|Galactica Areas]]

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

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Talk:The Twelve Colonies of Kobol/Archive3

2011-01-25T21:28:22Z

Pst001: /* Before we jump the gun . . . */

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== Merge proposal ==

This article, and the articles for each of the Twelve Colonies, are all very short, and I don't see any of them expanding substantially in the near future. I think it would make for a nice looking, meaty article if we merged in each of the individual colony articles with this one under first-level headings. How say you all? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 04:50, 31 August 2005 (EDT)

I know this looks weird and kind of dumb. I'm still fiddling. It's easy to revert if the whole thing ends up being too hideous to bear. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 22:17, 13 September 2005 (EDT)

[[image:Banner_unknown1.gif|left|75px]][[image:Banner_unknown2.gif|right|75px]]
: I like the idea and whats up now. If we knew more about each colony, it would look nicer, but until then I think this is fine. Now... What to do with these other two banners? Now, the two colonies without banners are Leo and Aquarius, the lion and the water-bearer. Both of these symbols could be a water-bearer, I guess, but I think the black and white one looks like he has whisters, there and that shape at the top looks more ear-like. That would leave the blue and red one to be the water bearer, which I think makes sense enough. Think we could drop those in with a note as to their speculative nature, or best not to? --[[User:Day|Day]] 01:27, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

::I'm leaving this one up to [[User:QuintusCinna|QuintusCinna]], our resident flag-hunter. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 01:32, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:The two colonies without banners is Aquarius and whatever the colonial name is for Libra. I saw in the mini-series they mentioned a colony called "ICON" alongside of "PICON" so I'm a little weirded out. As for Leonis, that flag has been found. I did a picture search in google for the zodiac's constellation and found the flag's symbol looked exactly like what I have designated. I can't remember, but I believe the constellation for Libra looked quite similar to the black one. Since we don't yet know as of yet what is the name for the Libra colony, I have left it blank. [[User:QuintusCinna|QuintusCinna]] 01:46, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:At least we know it isn't Ophiuchi or something. Roslin identifies Libra in the Tomb of Athena map room, although she doesn't give its modern name. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:59, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

Realizing that it's still being worked on, it looks awful right now. You can't tell which banner goes to which colony, for one thing. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 08:30, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

Personally, I don't really like the combination of all 12 colonies together either since there is no set border and down the road we will have pictures relating to each colony. This will make it slower to download. --[[User:QuintusCinna|QuintusCinna]] 12:11, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:The problem, in my opinion, is that there's little to do at the main article other than simply list the colonies, and the majority of the individual colonies are stub-like in length. As for images, Caprica is the only planet we've seen thus far and probably the only one we're likely to see (unless we get Scorpion in a flashback in Pegasus or something). One thing we can do, if it becomes necessary, is link to full-length articles from just underneath the first-level headings.

:As for the banners, I agree that they could be confusing but I rather like them right now. Do either of you think it coudl be re-arranged in a better manner (maybe if they didn't alternate sides? But then there'd be a lot more wasted space)? Or is it a lost cause in your opinions? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 12:20, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

::Yeah, you could try putting all the banners on the right. See how it looks. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 14:11, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:::There, that's what they look like right-aligned. Frankly, I think they look better alternating. I don't find it confusing, and the wasted space bugs me. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 14:36, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

::::Hate to say it, but I don't like it at all. The banners overlap with the previous colony's "box", there are no clear markers indicating where one section begins and another ends, it just looks bad. (Part of the problem is that we don't have much information about many of the colonies at this point.) --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 15:07, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

::::It'd be better if we could insert a line across the <i>entire</i> page, and have the colony name <i>under</i> that line, along with the banner on the right. Then each colony would have a neat, easily readable section. I don't know if Wiki markup is capable of that though. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 15:10, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:::::I still think it's a better option than thirteen articles that are completely insubstantial on their own. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 15:11, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

I added captions to some of the banners, and in the process deleted some of the <nowiki><div></nowiki> markup. Wikipedia recommends against using HTML ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Image_markup_with_HTML]), and I've been trying to learn from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax Extended image syntax] page. I can't figure out why a new section like <nowiki>==Caprica==</nowiki> doesn't appear on the same level as its banner. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 16:09, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

:Ah ha! The wonders of '''<nowiki><br style="clear:both;"></nowiki>'''! What do you guys think of the formatting now? --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 16:28, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

::My HTML/CSS was not used lightly. That's really the one way to get the banners at the section heading level as I did. Frankly this seems like a more cumbersome version of my right-aligned attempt. I really dislike the caption boxes, too.
::I have a new idea: Rather than use the (rather long) banners, we can grab the icons from each, along with the background colors, and use them. I've created nine high-resolution versions from QuintusCinna's originals, which you can link to below:
::[http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/aerelon.png Aerelon], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/canceron.png Canceron], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/caprica.png Caprica], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/gemenon.png Gemenon], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/picon.png Picon], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/sagittaron.png Sagittaron], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/scorpion.png Scorpion], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/tauron.png Tauron], [http://home.comcast.net/~suluger/virgon.png Virgon]
::These could be scaled down to almost any size and still look nice. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 16:35, 14 September 2005 (EDT)
:::Without caption boxes, it's not clear what the banners are. I know it seems self-explanatory to us, but for someone who's never seen them before, it's not. I'll take a look at the icons in a bit. --[[User:Fang Aili|Fang Aili]] 17:03, 14 September 2005 (EDT)
::::I find repeating "This is the Banner of X" to be tedious, and the red background to be jarring. Couldn't we simply note that the banner/icon/flag/colors of the colony is provided to the right? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 17:06, 14 September 2005 (EDT)
:::Peter. You've saved us all. As I said earlier, I liked it when the banner appeared to be hanging from the red line under its colony's name. I share Peter's dislike for tons of white space and alternating the sides seemed to create the least of that. However, if we just had the emblem and colors from each flag, we could do it below the red line as Fang seems to like, and not have this huge, long graphic. Maybe we can then link the full banner pics and, if we get enough information that a given colony's article wouldn't be a stub, we can display it there. Does all that make sense? --[[User:Day|Day]] 17:11, 14 September 2005 (EDT)
:::::I like it with banners to right, with titling, albeit a little redundant. Not sure how to deal with the "white space" of many areas, but we're really not going to get them filled until we get more data, so that is that. I feel it's informative enough as it stands, but I'll leave the formatting arguments alone. [[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 19:52, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

== Which flag is which? ==

A close viewing of [[Colonial Day]] indicates that the flag currently labeled as [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Tauron|Tauron]] belongs to Safiya Sanne's seat - either Picon or Leonis; and that the black flag belongs to Robin Wenutu's seat (Canceron), and that VIrgon's flag is a white field with a green inner stripe and yellow outer stripe. I'm curious as to how QuintusCinna came to his conclusion that the delegates aren't seated at their apprporiate flags, since I don't know any other evidence linking particular flags to colonies. I guess Scorpion is pretty obvious, though. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 17:34, 14 September 2005 (EDT)
:Don't trust the banners lining up with those they represent in [[Colonial Day]]. The reason I say this is that [[Tom Zarek]] is in one area of the room and his very obvious banner for Sagitarron is completely in another area. This is the same for Virgon's banner and their representative. There are 3 different questions I carry thanks to the shows I have watched. In the mini-series we see the banners are in this order from left to right: [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Virgon|Virgon]], [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Picon|Picon]], [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Aerelon|Aerelon]], [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Gemenon|Gemenon]], Scorpion, Aquaria(?), [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Tauron|Tauron]], Libra (?), [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Sagittaron|Sagittaron]], [[Canceron]] (?), [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Leonis|Leonis]]. Is this in the order that the colonies signed the unification treaty or is the order for the flags random or is it in the order they were nuked? Though I am sure the producers, directors, and such just put them up in random order, it is now a sense of fact for the show. If we were to believe they were placed up there, the banners must be up there in some order that is according to military protocol for flag bearing. In Colonial Day I add 2 more questions. We see that the banners are behind the delegates in a different order than in the mini-series. This means they were either a) put up randomly or b) have a separate purpose than those shown at the end of the mini-series (nuked, treaty order, or other). Then we see that the delegates are put in a different order than the banners behind them. The Gemenon delegate is clearly seen toward the middle and the Gemenon flag is clearly in a different area. The same questions come up for the delegates: are they randomly placed or is there reason. It's not alphabetical, and placements of delegates and banners in every society is always in some sort of traditional order. I hope that the Battlestar Galactica producers, writers, and such will be able to answer this though I suspect they won't because they have REAL lives. As for the Picon flag, the constellation looks quite similar to the picon banner and the same goes for Tauron's with Taurus. I have no doubt with those. The Libra's icon can be seen in this picture [http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/HorseAstrology/AstrologySymbol.gif] 2 clockwise from Sagittarius. --[[User:QuintusCinna|QuintusCinna]] 1:12, 15 September 2005 (EDT)

== Libris = Libran? ==

Guys, gals, and bots, got this e-mail from one of our keen-eyed visitors:

: In episode 403 ?The Ties That Bind?, the Libran colony?s name is revealed in the scene with Lee Adama and Tom Zarek in the Quorum of the Twelve chambers at 18 minutes 40-43 seconds.

: Lee places the classified file that Zarek has given him on top of the Libran delegate?s nameplate immediately to his right. However, one can clearly see the symbol for Libran at the far right of the nameplate and the letters ?BRAN? with the ?B? partially obscured. There is no other colony that ends in this combination of letters. I?d argue that the symbol is definitive.

: Additionally, in David Bassom?s The Official Companion Season One, the colony is also called ?Libran? on page 86.

: It would be great if you could confirm this for yourselves and add, at the very least, a note drawing fans attention to this nameplate.

If anyone can just confirm this information, let's implement the change. Thanks! -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 18:59, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

The article says that Libran is the colony name because of a ship being registered to that colony. The article cites SciFi.com as the source. "The Space Park, a passenger liner in the Fleet, is of Libran registry (SciFi.com). "
--[[User:Jonathan|Jonathan]] 19:35, 11 July 2008 (UTC)
:The meaning there is that "Libran" is the adjectival form of "Libris". Like Caprica -> Caprican. But given the visual evidence now, we can change the colony name. Appears to be pretty definite. -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 19:39, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

:It looks to me more like the props department made a mistake, putting the adjective rather than the nounal form on the nameplate. It would seem odd that the adjective and nounal forms could be the same word. Also, the Battlestar Galactica Official Magazine called the planet "Libris." I don't think that the "official" magazine would make such a blatant error.

== Current activity in the Colonies ==

I recall the Cylons mentioning that they abandoned the 12 colonies in guilt, but there is little chance I'll ever get the exact source episode where I heard this. Two things: first, does this ring a bell for anyone? and second, if my memory was correct, isn't this worth mentioning somewhere in this article? [[User:Blue Rook|Blue Rook]] 07:06, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

== Population ==

The article currently accepts 20 billion as the population of the Twelve Colonies at the time of the attacks based on Tigh's statement in the "Resistance" webisodes. However, in the recent episode "A Disquiet Folllows My Soul" Gaeta and Kara talk about there being 50 billion people. How do we reconcile these two numbers in the article and, most importantly, which one do we canonise for use in the article? --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 02:38, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

== Aquaria = Aquarion! ==

[[Image:Itscalledaquarion.PNG|right|thumb|200px|Aquarion.]]
Who changed Aquarion back to ''Aquaria''? The name ''Aquaria'' is a Mary McDonnell mispronunciation (much in the same vein as Leoben ''Conroy''). I have clear visual evidence from the props used on the series (sold on the Propworx Ebay auction), that the colony's name is written as '''Aquarion''' and not Aquaria.

To the right are at least three props (that I know of) from the series that were sold on Ebay, that demostrate the colony's name: The Quorum delegate name plate and an identity pass from [[Colonial Day]], and the Quorum name plate from the [[Season 4 (2008-09)|Season Four]] [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] [[User:Runic code|Runic code]] 15:51, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

:According to Serge's Twitter, both are correct. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 01:35, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

::That'll do for me :). [[User:Runic code|Runic code]] 14:33, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

== Pictures of natives and some notes ==
I removed all the pictures of natives because a) they were a bit arbitrary to begin with and b) by now we have enough pictures of the planets or at least some of their cities.

I also removed the notes that Caprica, Tauron and Scorpion are the only colonies depicted in the series. This information is a bit outdated since ''The Plan'' aired and will probably be unnecessary once ''Caprica'' fully kicks in.

I also reorganized some of the colony's entries: Information about the planet comes first, then about its culture, population and places and after that information about quorum delegates and fleet population is given. Many of the entries could probably still need a bigger clean-up, though. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 16:10, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

: Awesome start, and I completely agree that the other articles will need cleanup. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 18:28, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

:: I did an even bigger revision. The article is reorganized and the entries of the single colonies are cleaned up and rewritten. I hope the text is better structured and more accessible than the previous version. Would be great if someone could have a closer look at it, though. Not a native speaker. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 00:43, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

== Serge's Twitter accout ==

Has anybody else been following him/it? According to him, Gemenon and Caprica share an orbit and the star system of the Colonies has four stars. While certainly official, what is the canonical status of his comments? Should we make changes to reflect this? --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 02:51, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
: Well, this is certainly a new source... It's interesting because I'm really not very comfortable with a fictional Twitter account being quoted as canon, particularly since we don't know if the people behind said account are using actual information from the production or not. I'm thinking that the Twitter account in question should be quoted anyway, since people are going to do that anyway, but we need to note that the source may or may not be accurate—as the source is only a method of using social network to promoting the series... nothing more.
: If, on the other hand, we were talking about something tweeted by Jane Espenson or a cast member, then that'd would certainly have more weight. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 02:57, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
The Caprican is used as a source I see. Why not Serge? Serge is obviously maintained by one of the writers of Caprica.--[User:Tpin12345|tpin]]
:: Sooo... has there been any decision as to whether Serge and/or The Caprican are reliable sources? --[[User:Pedda|Pedda]] 01:15, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
::: The Caprican is reliable. Natalie Stark, Vesta, Baxter Sarno, V-Match, New Cap City, holoband sleepers, Themis, the memorial in the park, Little Tauron, and other things were all mentioned there days or weeks before the episodes featuring them aired. And there's now an article with more detail about the Tauron Civil War and the origin of the term "dirteater", which will no doubt be borne out by the series. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 16:19, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
: Regarding Serge, I'd say we should look at it on a case by case basis. There are some chunks of information that can be reasonably expected to be verified within the show (e.g. Gemenon as Caprica's twin planet). Other tidbits that are more vague or obscure should remain in notes or trivia sections, especially if on-screen information sort of contradicts them (e.g. the whole Tauron City vs. Minos thing). Of course, a case by case basis is always prone to personal opinions and the like but I'd run with it for the time being. It would help if we knew for sure who's actually running Serge, though. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 20:38, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
:: I agree with this course of action. I haven't found out who runs the Serge twitter yet. I know who it isn't though. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 23:47, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Serge just tweeted the capital cities of all Twelve Colonies. (Interestingly enough, "Libran and Aquarion (sic) don't have official capitals.") This is great info...but argh, should we post it?! -- [[User:Liquidcross|Liquidcross]] 01:45, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

== Star System Map ==

I'd love to have a map of the star system of the Colonies. Maybe someone up in Vancouver loves us and we'll see one in ''Caprica''. However, I'm not sure if we should keep the one from the RPG. It doesn't really fit with any descriptions we've seen on screen or heard from sources like Jane Espenson and Serge.

Some of the discrepancies: There's only one star as opposed to three (or four); all of the colonies are actual planets or moons, no other stellar bodies; some colonies orbit gas giants we've never heard about but none orbits Ragnar; Caprica and Gemenon don't share an orbit; last but not least Libran is spelled as "Libris". -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 18:38, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
: I agree. This map is an interesting piece of art, but since the RPG isn't canon, the map is fan art, so we should remove it. --[[User:Pedda|Pedda]] 01:14, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
: Pull it, per the arguments above. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 15:14, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

== Libran vs Tauron City ==

[[Image:Libran.png|thumb]] [[Image:TauronCity.JPG|thumb]]
As BlueResistance noted, the city that was thought to show Libran in "The Plan" bears a striking resemblance to Tauron City (as seen in "Know Thy Enemy"). I don't think there was a caption in the "The Plan" - the city was simply seen when the Hybrid talked about Libran. I'd say they're supposed to be the same city. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 13:37, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
:It's possible, but I'm inclined to disagree. During the Hybrid's "burning" roll call, at least two of the Colonies unambiguously line up with what's on screen: "the harbors of Picon" and "the cities of Caprica" are spoken along with shots of a harbor and of Caprica City. Also, she (it?) says, "The pastures of Tauron are burning" pretty early, so it would be kind of odd to wait so long between saying something about Tauron and showing it. I'm guessing that the production recycled the shot as a cost-saving measure, and as something they could get away with relatively easily, since it's unlikely that they'll show Tauron City again, if at all. It wouldn't be the first CG error in ''Galactica''/''Caprica''. Anyway, let's see what other comments come in before changing images again. - [[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 16:46, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
:: Just to clarify my point of view: I agree that it is likely that it was originally intended to show Libran. However, unlike Gemenon or Picon later on, it was never directly labeled as such. We simply don't know for sure. To say that it was Tauron City all along is, in my book, much less of a stretch than to say that Tauron City looks nearly identical to a city on Libran. And the fact that the city was originally thought to be Libran is still mentioned in the article on [[Tauron City]]. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 19:48, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
:::Just to add another level of complexity to it... There is a five decade difference between the two photos. We could assume that the Cylon War probably decimated these cities and they had to rebuild. Thus, there may ''not'' be an error here, per se... just a visual oddity. ;-) -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 19:59, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
::::Another difference is that while the city seen in The Plan is located on a very flat terrain with nothing breaking the horizon, several mountains and/or hills can be seen surrounding Tauron City. The differences in the terrain should be taken into consideration. -- [[User:Azure Owl|Azure Owl]] 20:27, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::How about if we just keep the original ''Plan'' screen cap as Libran and the ''Caprica'' screen cap as Tauron City, and leave it at that? There are enough differences to count each as representing separate places, even if it's clear that the CG people were working from their ''Plan'' image when making Tauron City. -- [[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 22:01, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::: I concur. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 22:33, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

== Latest edit (and, I guess, Serge again) ==

I'm wondering whether we should revert the [http://en.battlestarwiki.org/w/index.php?title=The_Twelve_Colonies_%28RDM%29&curid=1080&diff=194025&oldid=193837 latest edit]. While it adds some interesting information, I have two qualms with it.

First of all there are quite a bit of spelling, grammar and formatting mistakes that would needed to be looked at. Second: None of that information is verified since these links only lead to Serge's account, not specific tweets. Given the load of information that Serge unleashes, I'd say we should be precise. (And I also don't think we need to add ''every'' single bit of trivia that comes up there). -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 03:28, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

: Concur. Pull it, find the exact tweets in question, cite it, rewrite it... the whole nine AUs. Also, I don't think we need to add ''every'' single bit of trivia, either... -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 03:30, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

::I'm beginning to think that what Serge is saying is mostly true. But I guess we might as well wait until its confirmed right? [[User:CoreyDanian|Corey "Shadow" Danian]] 09:15, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

:::Everything Serge says so far has lined up with the show and The Caprican. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 14:27, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

:::But obviously we should cite specific tweets for verifiability. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 16:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

JFYI: I made a big clean-up of the latest edits. Again: The new information wasn't cited properly (only stating "the Caprican" [sic]), wasn't reasonably put into the existing text and/or lacked sentence structure. I also threw some stuff out that I couldn't find in the latest articles. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 07:38, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

==Pointing out the word "Gemenese"==

I also removed the odd bit that "Gemenese" is the adjective for Gemenon. That should become clear while reading that paragraph, IMO. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 07:38, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:No, it has to be stated clearly and directly. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 14:37, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:: Why, exactly? We don't state it for any of the other Colonies and the word already appears in the text. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 14:46, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::: Because it's rather notable in form, we don't know the adjective for many of the other Colonies (if, for example, "Leonan" finally gets stated on the show and not just Serge's twitter, we should note it too), without such a statement not enough attention is drawn to it in the section as is, and without such a statement someone might think we're using a random adjective. The possibility of it not getting across has to be as close to 0% as we can make it. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 15:02, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:::: Okay, personally I really don't get why it is ''that'' important ("not enough attention", "has to be as close to 0%") to state the adjective of this world in its introductory paragraph - show, don't tell? Besides, at the moment people still might think that we make it up, because there's no citation for it. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 15:13, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::::: I doubt people would think that, as that would be us making a false claim rather than just using a placeholder (as the article currently does with "Aquarian" and used to do with "Leonisian"), but I will add a citation of The Captain's Hand, which is the first episode it was mentioned in as far as I can remember. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 15:17, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::: To make my point clear: I don't see why the part about the adjective belongs into the first paragraph. In all other colony entries (Aerilon, Aquarion, Libran), linguistic information like that is put in the note section. If it ''has'' to be stated (which I still doubt) it should follow suit. Of course, by then the word is already used four times within the article itself. IMO that makes it a bit redundant. But I'd like others to weigh in, because obviously we both are on the very opposite sides of an argument here. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 15:27, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::: IMO, the unique form of this adjective is interesting enough to be noted, but it's not interesting enough to be noted in the section ''before'', well, the Notes section. --[[User:Pedda|Pedda]] 15:48, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::: That would put it after uses of the word in the section, making it a redundant note as compared to having it before them. It's not odd this way. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 16:09, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::::: Per that argument we should give up notes sections entirely, because most notes clarify something that is mentioned earlier in an article. Thought about it I agree with Pedda: It's okay to be noted. However, it doesn't belong in the first paragraph (or the article itself) were it looks as if it were one of the most important things to learn about the planet (which it is simply not, as far as I'm concerned). -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 17:11, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::: That's not a reasonable extension of my argument. (head stratch) This is language usage. Saying the adjective is Gemenese logically goes before actually using that word. It's not like anything in a Notes section. And of course the correct language usage is one of the most primary things to learn about the planet. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 23:22, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::::::: Honestly, I want the article to be as helpful to readers as possible. If I was a new reader coming here for reference material and saw that sentence in a Notes section instead of the first paragraph, I would think "Why is that there?" and possibly create an account just so that I could put it in the first paragraph. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 23:57, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::::::: Why is it not a reasonable extension? People might just as well ask why we call a planet Aquaria, Libran, Aerilon, all of which are clarified and explained in notes sections. That's language usage, as well. I don't see why "Gemenese" is any different.
::::::::::: And the whole "If I were a new user" argument is IMO a bit shallow but definitely works both ways: I'd wonder why that tidbit of information is treated so differently from comparable notes. And why a simple adjective is regarded as that important that it has to be explained in the article's introduction. Also, thinking about it, I'd say that a separate note actually draws more attention to a subject - I'm quite fond of notes that way. But I ''really'' think we both are going round in circles here. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 06:07, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::::: Because using the word Gemenese as the adjective and then saying "Gemenese is the adjective" looks funny. It's not like using a planet's name and then explaining where it comes from. It's bad sentence structure. Good sentence structure is the other way around. An explanation of where the word "Gemenese" comes from would go in the Notes, not this statement of the fact of it. And there's no good argument for leaving it out entirely, because it's used so sparsely elsewhere in the section that it could easily fail to register with someone as ''the'' word.
:::::::::::: It seems obvious and intuitive to me that it belongs in the first sentence because it is one of the most primary and basic things about the planet, it is literally one of the first things about it. Other things follow on from there. Not having it where it is right now seems fundamentally wrong to my senses and sensibilities, like missing a step on the stairs. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 14:05, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::::::::: Well, I think it's bad ''text'' structure to talk about adjectives in a paragraph that is otherwise concerned with the layout of a planet. And I still simply don't get why it's supposed to be that important to inform readers about that word right away. I don't think you'll find that in similar articles on Earth nations that have rather unusual adjectives. And what exactly "follows on from there"? Also I still think that the word is used often enough in the text to make readers notice it.
::::::::::::: '''But look''': I still disagree with you. Strongly. You disagree with me. We both turn each other's arguments around and that's leading us exactly ''nowhere''. I really think by now someone else (=Joe?) should weigh in (=settle on) what to do - and we both should accept that decision. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 19:41, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::::::: Holy crap, this was a mountain out of a molehill! A little creative text editing solves the entire problem. So I did it. -- [[User:Liquidcross|Liquidcross]] 19:56, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::::::::::: Fine. It's not that important to spell it out, it just bugged me. It would look incredibly odd in the Notes section, so let's leave it out of there. If there was ever an infobox setup for each Colony, Adjective would be appropriate as a section along with Ancient Name, Capital, etc. But there currently isn't one. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 00:35, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::: Wait a minute. I just thought of one minor change I could make that would sort out everything and no one could object to. "Gemenon was one of the poorer colonies and its people, the Gemenese, were known for their religious fundamentalism". I just realized, they're not just people of Gemenon, they're a race, and that's more important than a national adjective. And now it's a natural part of a sentence instead of having a sentence devoted to it, which was not so natural. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 00:47, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::::::: Also, if we need to point out that the adjective wasn't generated from us, why not just use the <nowiki><ref></nowiki> method? -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 01:13, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

== New info from The Caprican ==

There is a [http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php new article] in The Caprican with information about 5 cities in the Colonies. Before incorporating any of it into the article I was wondering how I should approach the citation.

Should we use a single numbered footnote repeated all over the page, or several different numbered footnotes referring to the same source?

I ask because I have the suspicion that some of the info is going to be relevant in the show. In particular, that description about Gemenon’s second most important city and its temple complex. I can’t shake the feeling that the show is going to end up visiting it.

Oh… and it’s the second time they’ve talked about the damn empty stadium in Themis. What’s up with that? -- [[User:Azure Owl|Azure Owl]] 21:06, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
: I'd use normal <nowiki><ref></nowiki> tags. After all, the information will be scattered around the page.
: Also (as per the discussion above), please keep in mind not to add every single detail - some general information should suffice. As far as I see it, these articles here are about planets, not their cities. If those cities will show up in ''Caprica'' we can always create articles for them and add detailed information. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 21:21, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

== Picture descriptions + main picture ==

[[Image:Bsyashuman.jpg|thumb|Current main picture of the article.]]
I removed the episode information from the picture descriptions. I think they look much cleaner and more concise that way - especially given that the article is already filled with a lot of links and the new episode citation method would make the descriptions even more cramped. I really don't know whether there's an official style guide regarding picture desriptions but articles throughout the wiki use (and even mix) both methods (with and without episodes).

I also wanted to bring attention to the '''main picture''' of the article. I put it there and I think it's quite nice, aesthetically and stuff. But it doesn't really represent the Twelve Colonies that well. Might there be a better alternative? Maybe a picture of the Colonial Seal ''without'' the "Battlestar Galactica - BSG 62" text or something like that? -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 09:53, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:Main picture: How 'bout [http://media.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/File:Colonial_Seal.svg this]? And I agree that picture descriptions should not include episode titles, unless it's really necessary to put that picture in the right context. --[[User:Pedda|Pedda]] 15:41, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
:: Oh, like that picture. Fits well with the flags. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 16:01, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
[[Image:capricanflagandseal.jpg|thumb|Caprican flag with Colonial Seal, prior to unification.]]
:: Hmm... Not so sure about this, simply because I haven't seen any evidence of this symbol in ''Caprica''. As I recall, it comes after the whole unification thing, or at least it's supposed to. Still, I love the idea. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 01:15, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
::: I ''know'' we've seen the seal here and there in Caprica, but I can't quite remember where-- at the Pyramid matches, maybe? I don't have time to rewatch every episode of Caprica hunting around for it, unfortunately, but it's in the background sometimes. -- [[User:Rjinswand|Rjinswand]] 06:36, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::: Yeah, it was seen during the Pyramid match in "Rebirth" on a Caprican flag. Of course we don't know whether it already represents the Colonies as whole at that time - but since the flag looks exactly the same 58 years later, I'd say that's not too much of a stretch to assume. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 07:15, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
::::: Also, I just found a Colonial Seal on a flag of its own, without any Caprican symbols, in the Pyramid match in Imperfections of Memory. Here's a ''really'' bad Hulu screenshot of it: http://thaumic.net/bsg/pyramid.jpg -- [[User:Rjinswand|Rjinswand]] 08:53, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::: Just checked that out, the flag says "Caprica City Police" around the seal. Still I can't imagine that it's just a Caprican symbol prior to unification. -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 09:12, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
::::::: The symbol may have been adopted later. It's within the realm of possibility... and still its presence at the pyramid games in ''Caprica'' are certainly worth noting. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 12:44, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::: Yeah, that's possible. But it ''seems'' unlikely to me, that a unified nation of twelve planets would represent itself with the logo of only one of their worlds. Anyway: Do we keep the Seal as the main picture? It's definitely the symbol of the Colonies at the time of BSG, and as that a rather prominent one. And at least it's ''around'' at the times of "Caprica". -- [[User:Penumbra|Penumbra]] 13:09, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::We know that the colonies were partially united in various federations and alliances prior to the Cylon war - just not all twelve of them in one single political structure. Maybe the union to which Caprica (and some subset of the other worlds) belonged was symbolized by the phoenix seal, and later came to include all twelve of the colonies? Think about how formerly independent states like Texas and Hawaii came to be included in the flag of the original 13 american colonies. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 06:51, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

== More picture reassigning? ==

The pyramid-dominated cityscape that we all thought had been Virgon might actually be Gemenon. Doug Drexler labeled the image as such (http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/designing-for-sci-fi/), and the broadcast version of ''The Plan'' clearly assigns it to Gemenon. Thoughts? ----[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 14:50, 25 July 2010 (UTC)
:If no one has any comments on this in the next week, I'll re-label the picture and move it to the Gemenon section. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 22:43, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
:: I'm good with that. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]]</sup> 23:22, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

== Economics in the Twelve Colonies ==

Is it just me, but are a LOT of the twelve colonies vying for the dubious honour of the title of 'The Poorest Colony"?
Aerilon, Canceron, Gemenon, Saggitaron and Tauron! I can only imagine that the wealthy colonies were incredibly wealthy to have that serious an imbalance in wealth distribution! --[[User:Apolloin|Apolloin]] 07:31, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

== Gemenon Trivia - Europe ==

I was just looking at Gemenon, when I noticed, that there is a good portion of Europe visible there. [http://i55.tinypic.com/117yyx0.jpg Europe on Gemenon]
--[[User:Deus|Deus]] 15:12, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

== Before we jump the gun . . . ==

Of course having the new Twelve Colonies map from Jane Espenson and Kevin Grazer is like striking gold--but it shouldn't be treated as a 100% canon source just yet. As [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] mentioned [[Talk:The_Twelve_Colonies_of_Kobol/Archive2#.22official.22_map_of_the_twelve_colonies|here]] yesterday, quoting an interview with Espenson and Grazer, the map is only "quasi-canon," and the writers may diverge from the map if it serves their purposes. Before proceeding, we should discuss whether or not to use the map, and if so, if it should be referenced in a way that's different from how absolute canon (i.e., on screen in an episode or movie) information is referenced. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 21:07, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
: Thank you for starting this discussion! I completely agree that we should proceed with care and diligence when including this new information, considering that it is "quasi-canon." I haven't had the opportunity to look over the map as thoroughly as I have liked, so I'm leaving the discussion up to everyone else who has. Good hunting. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]]</sup> 21:15, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
::boy i guess i should have posted my thread on the right page... anywho. i'm happy to have the map as much as anybody (i put in my preorder), but i hope the information as already added hasn't been copied verbatim. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 21:28, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Talk:The Twelve Colonies of Kobol/Archive2

2011-01-24T21:17:47Z

Pst001: /* "official" map of the twelve colonies */ new section

{{archive-message|newarchive=}}

== Notes on Culture ==

All right, has anyone noticed that in the Colonies, virtually everything that would be a rectangle here on Earth (pictureframe, sheet of paper, etc.) is a ''hexagon''? To cite some examples, in the [[Miniseries]] Roslin is handed a slip of paper describing the Cylon attack on a networked Battlestar. That slip is a hexagon. Adama's picture frame of him, Zak and Lee is also a hexagon. Even the computers are hexagons. Now, a hexagon has 6 sides (half of 12, which is seemingly a symbolic number in the series), and is a practical shape for use (12-gons would be stupid for paper) so does anyone think that the hexagon is some kind of symbolic shape for the Colonials?

Also, in the [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]], Starbuck is walking past display cases full of ancient pottery. Culture is transmitted in the form of art and artifacts, so while this may be trivial I feel like it is worth noting.

In addition to this, notice how Elosha's priestess garment is pretty eccentric, while Brother Cavil's uniform is a plain black cassock with some purple decorations. A difference of garb choice for priestesses and priests, perhaps?

Furthermore, in the [[Miniseries]], notice those Caprican mothers carting their babies around the city in those oversized plastic baby carriages that look like they provide too much protection for the tots. Perhaps a link to the Scripture statement saying that life is precious and should be protected? I can't think of any other way for the carriage manufacturer to be willing to put extra money into obtaining more plastic resources for the increased carriage size and safety. No wait, lawsuits... But that still wouldn't explain the supersized babymobiles and extra costs and materials needed for manufacturing.

Cereals! In [[Sacrifice]] (I think, I'm not sure), Roslin tells an aggressive Billy Keikaya, "Looks like someone ate their Wheaties today." Okay, so...General Mills was actually a ''Colonial'' corporation and they imported it to Earth while we weren't looking. This might just imply that the Colonials also ate Cascadian Farm, Frescarini, Lucky Charms, Chex Mix, Cheerios, Hamburger Helper...the list goes on. Either that or I'm just making a big deal over some trivial prodcut placement.

Finally, in TOS, most of the buildings in Caprica (with exception of Long Beach City Hall where the episode was filmed), were pyramids. In the RDM series, there aren't as many pyramids, but there are a couple in Caprica City (let me get the image). Since there is circumstantial evidence that life began on Earth, does anyone think these pyramids could be a link with the Egyptians, who already had a thriving civilization and the Giza pyramids built by the time Greece (and perhaps the Kobol-sect) became an ancient powerhouse?

Taking all of this into consideration, should I initiate a "Culture" section for the Twelve Colonies (RDM)? --[[User:Homeworld616|Homeworld616]] 14:36, 3 July 2006 (CDT)
:According the the episode transcript...
:'''[[Laura Roslin]]''': Someone took their vitamins this morning.<br />
:'''[[Billy Keikeya]]''': Yeah, I don't know what got into me.<br />
:--''[[Sacrifice]]''
:There's an "[[Arts and Literature of the Twelve Colonies|arts and lit article]]" under construction for the 12 Colonies seriesthat might be a home for some of the architecture, pottery, etc. notes. --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 15:08, 3 July 2006 (CDT)

::Thanks, Steelviper. I'll look into that. --[[User:Homeworld616|Homeworld616]] 15:18, 3 July 2006 (CDT)

[[Image:Mini-Caprica City.jpg]]
Here's the image. Look to the FAR right hand side and note the two pyramid office buildings, one with steep lateral faces and the other looking kind of like a glass reproduction of the Giza pyramids. --[[User:Homeworld616|Homeworld616]] 14:41, 3 July 2006 (CDT)

Arts and Lit is where we're working on that. Note, that it's really just an in-joke from the Miniseries: they had to "cut corners" on the production due to budget restraints, so it started out as a joke that they were "cutting corners" on everything. The problem was, as this series progressed this became a logistical nightmare, as literally hours of work had to be spent into doing this, i.e. stacks of books in Cain's quarters. As for the image....I'm sorry but it's too vague to actually make out if it's anything. --[[User:The Merovingian|The Merovingian]] <sup>([[Special:Contributions/The Merovingian|C]] - [[Special:Editcount/The Merovingian|E]])</sup> 15:24, 3 July 2006 (CDT)

Huh, I just noticed that the pyramid to the far right looks a lot like Ra's pyramid ship from Stargate, especially the way the paneling is set up. --[[User:Talos|Talos]] 10:28, 18 January 2007 (CST)

== Links ==

Folks, I've noticed there's some ambiguity going on with the Wiki reference links, and I think we should probably straighten them out. In short, do we want to link to the astrological sign, or the constellations? I note this because I just cleaned up a few of the links before realizing this should be discussed, as (for example), someone had [[Wikipedia:Capricorn|Capricorn]] point to the WP page there, which is a disambig page, instead of [[Wikipedia:Capricorn (astrology)|Capricorn (astrology)]] or [[Wikipedia:Capricornus|Capricorn'''us''']] (the constellation; note the spelling, as there's at least one more constellation that swings this way - [[Wikipedia:Scorpius|Scorpius]]). Just a thought or two to muddy the waters further. ^_^--<font color="#4b0082">'''[[User:Mitsukai|み使い]]'''</font> <font color="#2f4f4f">'''''[[User_talk:Mitsukai|Mitsukai]]'''''</font> 22:00, 8 October 2006 (CDT)
:I'd prefer to link to the constellations. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 02:08, 9 October 2006 (CDT)
:: Done and done, then.--<font color="#4b0082">[[User:Mitsukai|み使い]]</font> <font color="#2f4f4f">''[[User_talk:Mitsukai|Mitsukai]]''</font> 19:44, 9 October 2006 (CDT)

== Libra? ==

I thought Libron was the name of the colony that corresponds with Libra. I think you can make it out if you freeze framed it in the quorom of twelve in Colonial Day. Or am I thinking of Leon? It's been a while since I checked the episode. --[[User:Meteor|Meteor]] 04 February 2007.
:It isn't visible, sadly. I've been over nearly every frame of that episode. You are probably thinking of Leonis. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 16:31, 12 February 2007 (CST)

== Aerelon, stop changing my contribution please ==

"Farming" when "agricultural" preceeds it, is just redundant. "Accent" is misleading, An accent describes the way people pronounce words of a language that is different from their mother tongue. Dialect describes a regional way of pronouncing wordsin their mother tongue. Since this is only English throughout the Colonies (so far at least), it's quite reasonable to assume that it is in fact a dialect of the 12 Colonies rather than an accent. Additionally, the dialect he spoke as that of a Yorkshire one, a dialect within England. English eing the mother tongue, need I say any more?

Yes "Food Basket" was the term spoken but, in order to maintain utmost clarity, "Bread Basket" ought to be used since that is the correct term to use. eg; "Rhodesia was the "bread basket" of Africa pre-Zimbabwe". Read the wikipedia entry also; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadbasket bread basket]

--[[User:Sixu|Sixu]] 14:07, 27 February 2007 (CST)[Sixu]
:Your points on "farming" vs. "agricultural" and "accent" vs. "dialect" are correct. On the "food" vs. "bread" basket issue, however, I think it's best to stick with what the episode says, especially when viewed in context:
::It was '''considered to be''' the the "food basket" of the Twelve Colonies. (emphasis added)
:If we're saying what people consider Aerelon to be, surely it's better to quote them directly? If you still don't agree, we can always call a vote on the matter... --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]] 14:16, 27 February 2007 (CST)
:I somewhat agree that bread basket is the more common expression. The problem could be solved by just leaving away the quotation marks. Then it's paraphrasing. There is no need to really quote it. But it's also not a big issue; just a trivial word. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 14:18, 27 February 2007 (CST)

== Class in the Twelve Colonies ==

There has been some serious issues dealing with class over the course of the show. I wanted to add an article about class in the 12 colonies. I wanted to get people's opinions as to whether I should add the article as part of the race and ethnicity article, as that is generally how it works in our culture, although obviously not in BSG or should I create a seperate section in the Twelve Colonies group of articles specifically relating to class? The reason I come here is that what we would term ethnicity, cultural values/traditions, does not seem to be specifically related to race, minor biological differences, in BSG. There have been a plethora of references to character's ethnicities i.e. the cultures from the specfic colonies. These reasons point towards including Class in Race and Ethnicity, but there is such a large collection of references to Class that my preliminary brainstorm makes me believe there is enough information to create a seperate article. Thanks for any and all feedback on the issue.--Zareck Rocks 23:35, 12 March 2007 (CDT)

== AERILON spelling CONFIRMED! ==

*In Kara Thrace's records as seen in [[The Son also Rises]], [[Image:Kara_Thrace_Record_1.jpg|200px]]
Spelling noted under Unit of Organizing of Summary Court-Martial "Aerilon DVT" and again in Organization of Convening Authority "Aerilon Cmbt 5th Division. Please make the proper correction to the spelling. --[[User:Os|Os]] 06:47, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
: There's been some issue with the spelling, since official sources have used both. If you read the pertinent section of this very talk page, <s>Ron Moore used "Aerelon" in one of his blog postings</s> there have been official instances of the use of the word "Aerelon". However, the official guide on page 86 does indicate that it is spelled "Aerilon". -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]]</sup> 08:17, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
: I noticed that too, but as said I wouldn't consider it ''the'' definite spelling just because of one occurrence. This is just the prop department doing their thing. The writers might use another spelling in their scripts. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 09:14, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
::And let us not forget the whole [[Racetrack|"Margaret Edmonson"]] misspelling in "[[Final Cut]]". That mispelling was corrected as his first post by our esteemed [[Bradley Thompson]]. Consistency is a bear sometimes. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 10:32, 13 April 2007 (CDT)

*From the Second Season, [[Home, Part I|Home, part 1]],Adama reads the file of a CAG candidate, who enter active duty at "Tulu, Aerilon" (which is repeated twice), then near the broken shells of walnuts, are the words "Aerilon Homebase"
[[Image:Aerilon_proof2.jpg|200px]] This is another occurrence from a different season that proves consistency. This indicates that "Aerilon" is the correct spelling. --[[User:Os|Os]] 01:48, 14 April 2007 (CDT)

== Economy of the Twelve Colonies? ==

Not enough information to go on for an article as this? There's some information on the [[cubit]] that concerns the economy of [[the Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]]. [[User:DrWho42|DrWho42]] 16:09, 5 May 2007 (CDT)
:Gather some info, start writing it, and you'll find out. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]<sup>([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]])</sup> 15:39, 8 May 2007 (CDT)
::I doubt there is enough information to go around. Anything notetworthy can be added as a subsection of this article. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 15:44, 8 May 2007 (CDT)

== Aerelon ==

Couple of comments on the references in the Aerelon Section. When he speaks as an Aerelon in Dirty Hands, James Callis appears to have been adopting the stereotype accent and persona of a "working class" Yorkshireman from the North of England. Accordingly:

1. The accent adopted by Baltar is quite clearly a very broad Yorkshire accent from the the North of England. It is definitely not Cockney !

2. The article refers to the Aerelon culture of going down the pub after work for a "pint and a fight" as similar to the culture in Ireland and Scotland. I can confirm that this is most definitely part of English and Welsh culture as well ! In particular Yorkshiremen are well known as tough, no nonsense, hard working characters who like a pint and a rumble. I guess Yorkshiremen would be the Aerelon equivalent in England which is why James Callis probably adopted the accent. {{unsigned|AvonKerr}}
:I changed the first part. It was already identified as northern English in the language article. So would it be ok to say that the pub thing is a somewhat stereotypical view of Ireland and the British Isles in general? --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 04:19, 25 May 2007 (CDT)

== Colonial dating ==

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but [[:Image:Kara_Thrace_Record_1.jpg|Starbuck's disciplinary record]] shows a reference to a date. It appears to be "22/E4/''(?)''F3". Anyone know if this is analogous to anything used on Mama Earth, or dare a guess as to how this reflects their own unique method of dating? I also apologise if this isn't the appropriate place for this, as I'm not sure of where else this should be addressed. --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 16:08, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
:Seems to be made up. A similar scheme is also used in Adama's dossier in "Hero". It also has a letter/number pair at the beginning, but then a 5 digit number. The show is a very contradictory and has used several dating schemes so far: [[Colonial calendar]]. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 16:28, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
== Big split ==

What are peoples thoughts about splitting this article into the individual colony pages? this might entise more people to add to the pages and keep the size of this one down. Keep this page purely as an overal article about the colonies as a whole with perhaps a small blurb about each ear and then individual articles to go into more detail? --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] <sup>([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]])</sup> 04:50, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:It's not justifiable to do that for all colonies though. It could be done for Caprica, Sagittaron and maybe Aerelon. But there is no point in having a separate article Picon or Libra for example. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 04:53, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
::Splitting off Caprica but not Picon is inconsequent. We should either split them all or split nothing. BTW, if we're gonna split (which I support), I can create a [[Template:Colonies (RDM)]] with a nice list of colonies, a la [[Template:Drugs]]. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]<sup>([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]])</sup> 05:54, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:::That doesn't matter here IMO. There is no logic in creating too many small articles and diluting all information just because a certain part of the article became too large - though it's still manageable. That would be totally counterproductive. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 06:06, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
::::The colony pages could be exanded though with details and images of the colonial representative for example. I am sure there is more information to be gleaned from some of the other pages that can populate these new articles. Having many smaller pages is surely no different to the article for the little known pilots eg. [[Greenback]] --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] <sup>([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]])</sup> 06:17, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:: Just as an "older perspective", if you will... We once had the Colonies all on their individual pages, until we decided that this was counterproductive and merged it into the page you see here now. Now, granted, we know a little more about the Colonies now -- but we still don't know too much about the colonies outside Sagittaron and Caprica, and, to a limited extent, Tauron. The other 9 are still an enigma. So I don't really see the point of creating 12 articles out of this one article; I can probably see Sagittaron and Caprica as their own articles, with a brief overview of them on this page. Outside that, I think we'd be creating more work for ourselves if we compartmentalized the information as previously suggested. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New'']</sup> 07:39, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:::My "older" perspective concurs as well. We have [[Caprica (RDM)]] and similar redirecting links if fingers are getting tired of typing [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica]] (which I was). Having separate articles makes my personal [[BW:CON|Concision Fairy]] angry, although she is fine when it comes to specific cities where we have some info, like [[Delphi]]. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 08:55, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
::::How would people feel about summarising the colonies such as Caprica and Aerlion and have a ''See [[Caprica (colony)]] for more information'' line of text just above the summary linking to a more detailed article? --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] <sup>([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]])</sup> 09:23, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:::::That's SOP for such a case. See [[Galactica type battlestar]] for example.
:::::What about an own article for Aerelon? There is quiet a bit there now. [[Razor]] might shed some light on Tauron. We'll see. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 11:01, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
{{mainarticle|Caprica (RDM)}}? That'd be a good solution as well. --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]<sup>([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]])</sup> 09:26, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:That's what I was thinking, in addition to a brief blurb about the colony in question. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New'']</sup> 11:23, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:I would support having "main articles" for Caprica and Sagittaron. We know quite a lot about Caprica (probably more than all the other colonies put together) and trying to keep it all in this article is a bit restrictive. [[User:OTW|OTW]] 12:52, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
::I support Caprica and Saggitaron, in addition to Aerelon and Gemenon (although they're somewhat shorter). --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]<sup>([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]])</sup> 13:05, 28 June 2007 (CDT)
:::I definitely support Caprica and Sagittaron, in addition to Aerelon. Gemenon is kind of pushing it a bit though, since I don't feel that it's worthy of its own article yet due to the limited content we have on this page. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New'']</sup> 00:04, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

== Split done ==

Done for [[Caprica (RDM)]], [[Sagittaron]] and [[Aerelon]]. And that's all that should be done for now.

So now that we have more space, the articles could be pimped out a bit more, but I'm not sure how. For Caprica, we could add some more pictures, although they are all already on [[Caprica City]], [[Delphi]] or [[Unnamed cities of Caprica]]. Maybe an orbital shot if there is one pre-nuking? I'm not so keen on adding pictures of residents though. That doesn't tell people much about the planet itself. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 08:25, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
== Archiving problem ==

How come there are posts from ''2005'' here that are not achieved? --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 15:05, 6 August 2007 (CDT)

== Same System ==

On [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/index.html#a000016 This Sci-fi.com blog] RDM says:

"Does it make sense that there would be a star system with 12 inhabitable planets? Not really, but that was in the original and at some point I decided to run with that as another nod to the old show."

Can we consider this to be 'proof' that we are dealing with just one star system here, and eliminate the ambiguity we currently have? [[User:OTW|OTW]] 16:17, 12 August 2007 (CDT)

: Probably the best evidence we have that the Colonies are in one star system, barring any retcons. I'd say go for it, unless others have reasons against it. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [http://www.sanctuarywiki.org Sanctuary Wiki — ''New'']</sup> 16:22, 12 August 2007 (CDT)
::I'll note it. But we can still note that its status within the series is not clear. People don't have to accept all the behind-the-scenes info, if they don't want to --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 16:25, 12 August 2007 (CDT)
== Porn Link ==

Hi,

I just removed a link that linked to a pron site. Added was it in this [http://en.battlestarwiki.org/w/index.php?title=The_Twelve_Colonies_%28RDM%29&diff=132026&oldid=132021 edit]. Can someone conform that there was a blog entry at all or has this entire sentence to be removed?
[[User:DJ Doena|DJ Doena]] 16:42, 13 September 2007 (CDT)

:ARG! That was my fault :( And I know how it happened. Copy/paste mistake. So how did I get to have a porn link in my memory? http://battlestarforum.com/showpost.php?p=1268&postcount=30 *me looks innocent* (no, I'm not into that stuff).
:Yes, there is supposed to be a real link there. I'll look into it. --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 17:00, 13 September 2007 (CDT)
::Now ''there's'' something I've not seen before... :) --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 12:46, 14 September 2007 (CDT)
:::Instead of randomly adding links on pages or replaces whole pages with spam, people should take a cue from my example and replace seemingly legit links with spam ;) --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 12:48, 14 September 2007 (CDT)
::::Waves finger at Serenity --[[User:Mercifull|Mercifull]] <sup>([[User talk:Mercifull|Talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Mercifull|Contribs]])</sup> 13:25, 14 September 2007 (CDT)
:::Best... edit... ever. LOL! --[[User:Steelviper|Steelviper]] 17:17, 14 September 2007 (CDT)

== "official" map of the twelve colonies ==

so there's a new map available from QMX that gives a detailed description of the colonies in astronomical terms. according to jane espenson and science advisor kevin grazierand in the article describing the map at i09 [http://io9.com/5742034/a-detailed-map-of-battlestar-galacticas-twelve-colonies] , the map [http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/01/map_of_the_colonies_1.jpg] is "quasi-canon" and is based on the show bible for ''caprica'' as well as a document written during the production of BSG. i'm usually loathe to include anything not seen on screen, but i have noticed elements from the show's bible crop up every now and then, and this technical stuff is not necessarily the type of thing they would resolve on screen anyway. how seriously should we take quasi-canon? [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 21:17, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Messengers/Archive 1

2011-01-24T09:41:04Z

Pst001: /* Starbuck */ agreed

:''For discussions prior to March 14, 2007, [http://en.battlestarwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Virtual_beings&oldid=110913 see this revision.]''

== Major revision ==

This article was strewn with theories and [[BW:FANW|fanwankery]] that cluttered the article. With the revelations of season 3, what is known about the nature of the virtual Six and Baltar reduces the probability of earlier speculation. Recent contributions have been more of possibility that is hardly supported by aired content, and reading the article as a whole was nearly impossible. As well, the article repeated informaation already present in the episode guides or a more relevant article. I have rewritten the article to keep sole focus on the origins, motivations and behavior of the virtual beings, removing all previous irrelevant, incorrect or otherwise inappropriate content on their nature or history.

As this article deals with the virtual beings related to Cylon activity, I eliminated the text on other character visions; they are more suited for a separate article to keep topics from blending.

With major revisions like this, there is always a possibility that something significant was lost. Contributors should feel free to add in significant notes of the virtual beings, but please do not repeat every instance of the being's presence or interject speculation that is not supported with episode content. The article, in my opinion and recommendation, should focus more on what they do to the actual characters and less on their nature until the show reveals more of their origin. Again, please be careful about excessive speculation; "theories" per se are not acceptable on Battlestar Wiki. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 15:34, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

== Virtual Baltar Episodes ==

In the major edit, I botched the episode citation for virtual Baltar's visit to C-Six in her jail cell. One or both of the episode citations I noted are wrong. Corrections to this information are appreciated. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 15:54, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
:The visit is in "The Woman King". That's where the two kiss and they wonder what's going on.--[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 16:00, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

About this: "Neither character has revealed the presence of these images to each other or any other character as of the episode, "[[The Woman King]]" (where the virtual Baltar makes an appearance)."<br/>
Does this mean that it is the first instance where another character (here Roslin) really wonders what one of them is doing? --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 16:09, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

:It should say "Neither character has revealed the existence (...)." Other characters have witnessed the strange behavior, but to my memory, only Roslin has verbally wondered. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 17:09, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

== Baltar and his Virtual Baltar ==

Virtual Baltar has appeared to Baltar. -- [[User:LicensedLunacy|LicensedLunacy]] 16:26, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

I think that Baltar seeing himself is just a unique way to convey he is thinking/ talking to himself, considering his options. [[User:Snorkel378|Snorkel378]]

: That might be a good way to look at it... Actually, it might be another part of his psyche he's talking to. It can be said that Virtual Six is the part of his subconscious mind, trying to deal with the fact that he's responsible for so many people's deaths in another light. But that's a topic for discussion at a [http://www.battlestarforum.com forum]. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 00:14, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

==Virtual Leoben==
Shouldn't we add virtual Leoben? He's sort of important I'd say, and is not a part of Kara...--[[User:Sauron18|Sauron18]] 16:34, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

:That's a good question. I would say "yes" but that also introduces other dream-related visions such as the ones I removed. I recommend "no" as the article should limit itself to visions that are experienced by characters in real-time and not while unconscious (sleeping or otherwise). That's my opinion and is open for more scrutiny. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 17:09, 14 March 2007 (CDT)
:No. There is a good chance that Head-Six and Head-Baltar are somehow Cylon-related. That chance is not so great with Maelstrom Leoben, since IMHO it's more likely just a representation of her own subconscious and not in any way whatsoever related to the real Leoben (it even says so in the episode). --[[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 12:04, 15 March 2007 (CDT)
::Maybe we should add at least a note about Maelstrom Leoben and A Day in Life Carolanne, though? 12:37, 15 March 2007 (CDT)
:::I concur with Serenity. The virtuals are definitely a unexpected (and unrevealed) side-effect of Cylon technology, that much is certain. The virtual Leoben ''isn't'' a Cylon, and doesn't appear in real time. He needs a separate article (and deserves it). --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 14:00, 15 March 2007 (CDT)
::::I've created a [[virtual Leoben]] article and updated the relevant pages where he it cited. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 15:00, 15 March 2007 (CDT)
::::I have to disagree that the virtual Six and Baltar are definitely, or even probably, a result of Cylon technology. Their nature is as unknown as the virtual Leoben's. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 11:37, 1 November 2007 (CDT)
: Why wouldn't Leoben also be listed here. There's an entire page o the site called "Messenger Leoben." [[User:Shimel|Shimel]] 07:09, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

==Cylon Tech==
Isn't this line: "Since the effect appears to occur only between Caprica-Six and Gaius Baltar, it is possible that their visions are an unknown side-effect of Cylon technology," complete specualtion? I think it should be removed, but before doing so, I thought I'd check to make sure there wasn't any concensus I wasn't aware of. If it happened with the other six members of the [[Significant Seven]] (or even a majority of them) I wouldn't have as much of a problem, but as it's only happened with Six and Baltar I think it's out of place. If anything, a more appropriate stateent would be something like it's an unkown side-effect of cylon-human intimacy.--[[User:RUSnooky|RUSnooky]] 21:09, 3 June 2007 (CDT)
:The way you phrase is still speculation, but is more precise to what we know, and would be more appropriate. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]]
::I completely agree, and I'd rather remove it outright, but was trying to be diplomatic. I'm going to remove it completely.--[[User:RUSnooky|RUSnooky]] 10:25, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

== Virtual Ellen? ==

How is she different from Bill's hallucination of [[Carolanne Adama]] in "[[A Day in the Life]]"? [[User:OTW|OTW]] 18:14, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
:Yeah, it could just be a normal hallucination. This might be more, but until it is confirmed, pushing her appearance so clearly into the direction of the virtual beings is POV. I reworded the section to make it more neutral and less certain. The term "Virtual Ellen" shouldn't be used so freely and always in quotation marks. -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 18:18, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
:It depends. I have a feeling we'll see more of her in future episodes. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 19:12, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
::Tigh could even be [[projection|projecting]] her onto Caprica Six (seems a bit the wrong way round to me :D) but that doesn't make her a being like V.Six or V.Baltar who are all mystical or whatnot. Ellen's words and actions all seem to be what Caprica said and did anyway, wheras V.Six and V.Baltar are separate entities. [[User:OTW|OTW]] 19:31, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
:::That's definitely a possibility. Maybe doing a "hallucinations" article would suffice... which would be a bit ironic, given that this article itself came from an article on Cylon based hallucinations, if I recall correctly. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 19:40, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
::::You do. We used to describe hallucinations here, only to discover they were all virtual beings, and renamed the article accordingly. With Adama and Tigh hallucinating about their wives, that may not have been that good a choice (in hindsight). --[[User:Catrope|Catrope]]<sup>([[User talk:Catrope|Talk to me]] or [[Special:Emailuser/Catrope|e-mail me]])</sup> 23:10, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
:::::I suggest we move the "Virtual Ellen" section into the [[Ellen Tigh]] article until we have a reason to believe she is anything other than a hallucination/projection. [[User:OTW|OTW]] 19:43, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
::::::I think it would be more appropriate here or in the Saul Tigh article. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 04:38, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

==Virtual?==

I think the fact that we've seen direct physical intervention by "Virtual" Six onscreen in [[Escape Velocity]] throws the whole "virtual" concept right out the window. Could explain the sudden disappearance of [[Shelly Godfrey]] and [[Gina]] after their respective acts, as well. One could also infer some serious intervention on the part of "Virtual" Leoben during Starbuck's "death" but that's even further speculation. Anyway, just a thought I felt was worth mentioning. [[User:JubalHarshaw|JubalHarshaw]] 20:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
:She only interacted with Baltar. We've seen her push him into a wall or mirror before, so we know that she can force him to move in a certain way. I don't see how that makes her any less "virtual," since she exists in his mind. And Gina didn't suddenly dissapear, she blew herself up. [[User:INH|INH]] 02:17, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
The footage clearly shows intervention ... he's held up and forced towards the marines, moving quite unnaturally. Yes, Gina blew herself up, but I'm referring to how she removed herself from ''Pegasus'' after killing Cain. I'd love some episode reference for "We've seen her push him into a wall or mirror before" so I can review it. Thanks. [[User:JubalHarshaw|JubalHarshaw]] 02:28, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
: Right, she's still virtual, and we don't really see whether or not Baltar's feet make it off the ground. I'm sure they did some wire work in the scene, but we don't really know what we're supposed to believe... This is where a podcast would definitely help. The only one that disappears unexpectedly is Shelly, and she could have easily flushed herself out an airlock, given how they aren't guarded. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 02:36, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
: While it's the most extreme seemingly physical interaction so far, this isn't really too different from what happens in ''[[w:Fight Club|Fight Club]]'' for example, and not completely impossible to do alone. While it seems that he is held in the air, it's not actually shown. Could be either. Sure, it might be more, but it's not ''that'' certain. -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 08:32, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
::IMO anything which happens while Virtual Six is visible should be considered unreliable. In other words, I think that only movements which Baltar could not plasibly make under his own power occuring while Virtual Six is not in the shot should be considered conclusive evidence of physical interaction. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 08:44, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
::I don't at all like the implication of an invisible "Six" physically lifting Baltar, but we have to acknowledge that setting up the shot the way they did was not at all trivial, and must have been done for a reason. Whether this was intended to be dramatic (and thus, demands a literal interpretation) or comic (and thus, just a sight gag) is unclear - it's a mirthless episode, but Olmos's previous episodes have demonstrated a taste for comedy. If it we have to interpret it literally, well, that's a challenge. --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 17:56, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
:::To counter the point, had Baltar been lifted "off the ground", we'd see a variety of shocked reactions from those who witnessed this otherworldly event. So not only do we have to gauge what we see Baltar doing, but we also have to look at the entire picture. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 18:53, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
::I dont understand how this is in question. IIRC from the podcast for the episode..James Callis did all the movements under his own power..if the actor could do them, why is it in question the the character couldn't do them? Also from the podcast, Ron complained that the intent was not to look like he was lifted but under his own power. --[[User:Tritium|Tritium]] 04:36, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

== Virtual > Head ==

Pretty much every official source I see (including RDM's podcast) uses the phrases "Head-Six", and "Head-Baltar" rather than "Virtual". Shouldn't we follow suit? [[User:OTW|OTW]] 20:50, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
:Lacks gravitas, but does seem more standard. What does RDM call them in the podcasts? --[[User:Peter Farago|Peter Farago]] 05:05, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
::He calls them Head-Six and Head-Baltar. -- [[User:Gordon Ecker|Gordon Ecker]] 05:42, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
:We can use both. And note the terminology here. But there isn't really much point in changing it throughout the wiki. I don't think it's too confusing to use both for some variety. -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 09:08, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
::We should use both. "Head" is more colloquial but also has a loose ungrammatical and perjorative nature I find weird. I see "virtual" around the fansphere just as well. For this article and throughout the wiki, "virtual" should be used but references to "head" (yes, please) should be redirects to here. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 18:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
:::Such redirects are already in place :) -- [[User:Serenity|Serenity]] 19:19, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
::I don't agree that we should use "Head-Six" and "Head-Baltar". Frankly, this already presupposes that these are figments of a person's imagination; virtual is more ambiguous, and has a wider-range of meanings than "head" (which is another way of saying "glorified imaginary friend". So, Ron uses it... then again, he and Eick have diluted themselves into believing that "Hero" fits snugly into continuity when we all know that isn't the case. So... time to put on those critical thinking caps. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 21:52, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

== Virtual Cat ==

I find it curious that [[Romo Lampkin]]'s virtual cat from [[Sine Qua Non]] isn't listed. Is this an oversight or is it deliberate? There can be no question that the cat was indeed virtual. That cat had been dead for a long enough time for Lee to question its time of death. The cat is never seen by Lee. Romo is the only one to interact with the cat, and then, only by voice.
--[[User:Tritium|Tritium]] 04:28, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
::Because there's a difference between a virtual being and a mere hallucination. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 04:37, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
:::I havent seen this distinction in the show. No virtual being has given any character any information that they didnt already know, or could have reasonably deduced by themselves. --[[User:Tritium|Tritium]] 04:02, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
::The Virtual Six lifted Baltar off the ground in a manner that was physically impossible for him to do on his own. There are other examples too. The virtual beings aren't mere hallucinations. The presence of extra-corporeal entities and/or spiritual powers in this show is all but spelled out in giant letters for the audience. [[User:Blue Rook|Blue Rook]] 08:19, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
::::Not so. Baltar had no way of knowing that Hera would arrive or of her connection to the Opera House. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 16:21, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
::::How could have a cylon known about the birth of hara? And if james callis could do the moves without outside assistence, so could baltar. And havent you noticed that when Ron Moore hits you over the head with a concept, its often wrong? And this still doesn't rule out a virtual cat. --[[User:Tritium|Tritium]] 07:36, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
:::::What Cylon? Virtual Six isn't a Cylon. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 16:55, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
:: I agree that it is a virtual being (or the virtual being as it has not been disproved that they are different, and when questioned on it the subject it was deflected, possibly the Cylon God). My reasoning for this is that every encounter with one has moved the story on often with a purpose (e.g. Baltar's Six being pissed at him for comforting Gina then telling him “God will not forgive this sin”, Caprica's Baltar for telling her to find the humans and then Baltar's Six telling him it is the reckoning when the ships land on New Caprica). In this case it forced Romo to be pissed at the loss of his cat and force Lee to take up the mantle of President and help the truce to occur. [[User:Chris etd|Chris etd]] 03:27, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

== These Angels Making Life In This Galaxy Boringly Homogenous. ==

I slept on this, but my original impression after watching Daybreak Park # 2 is that these Angels make things boring:

They create pidgins, dogs, cats, foxes, people, oranges, tuna, et cetera. I would not be surprised if the Angels dropped a big rock on the dinosaurs just so they can have a clean slate for creating rats.

Once they create people, they make the people invent pianos, worship Zeus, Yahweh, Thor, et cetera. They make the people play “All Along The Watchtower”. They see to it that the people create Cylons.

We are not descended from apes, but from # 8s — a little wordplay because 8 and ape sound similar. the mitochondrial DNA of the # 8s is so similar to that of Homo '' neanderthalensis '' that we apparently have a common ancestor, Homo '' heidelbergensis '' half a million years ago even though that is impossible.

If we explore the Galaxy, will only find humans and cylons. ¿What is the point? ¿Why bother exploring?

Arthur C. Clarke in '' 2001 '' had a similar idea of lonely aliens helping intelligent life evolve, but the beings did not care about the final form. In other words, diversity is the rule in '' 2001. ''

We still do not know the nature of these Angels other than that Starbuck seems to be one of them

I do not know how this fits into the article, but it fits into the article somehow. I figure that I should but this on the talkpages for '' Virtual Beings '' and '' Daybreak # 2. '' {{unsigned|Walabio}}

:It is what it is, Walabio. :) For further discussion about the episode that's not relevant to the quality and content of the article's editorial content, perhaps you should redirect (and reproduce) your thoughts on the [http://www.battlestarforum.com/showthread.php?t=3050 talk thread] for the episode on the Battlestar Forum. --[[User:Spencerian|Spencerian]] 12:23, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

==Rename to "Messengers"==
Hey guys, I was thinking, given the mention that RDM referred to them as "the messengers" in the podcast for No Exit and the fact that they are confirmed to be supernatural, without necessarily being angels or demons, that perhaps we should change the article name to more accurately reflect what they are.

"Virtual beings" has worked until now, because we didn't know if they were truly something supernatural, but since we now know they aren't, and we have a fairly decent term (from a good enough source) I think it might be fair to say that it's time to change to the more accurate term. Thoughts? --[[User:Sauron18|Sauron18]] 02:10, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
:: Actually, no they have not been "confirmed to be supernatural." All we know is that they are messengers of an entity that does not like to be called "God." -- [[User:Troyian|Troyian]] 06:30, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
:: Good idea. The term "messengers" is certainly more semi-official than "virtual beings", a term which doesn't actually make that much sense. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 21:29, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
::: Strictly, the in-show term for them is Angels. This is what H6 calls herself, this is what Baltar calls them. In the writers room they were "head characters" and then called messengers in a podcast. Nothing is a clear winner, though as Caprica adds VR to the galactiverse, the term virtual may become less than ideal.--[[User:Bradtem|bradtem]] 00:16, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

It's been a while, but I think the issue still stands: I think we should rename this page to "Messengers" or some variation of that. Yes, within the show they're always referenced as Angels, outside of it, however, "Messengers" is the most accurate post-revelation term applied to them, since the creators explicitly state that they don't consider them "angels" or "demons".

As for the "head character" terminology, it seems this was mainly used because of the mystery surrounding them (even to the writers back then, I guess), but it no longer really applies. In any case "Virtual beings" is certainly not the best of the available terms, as it is not only completely fan-made, but it also carries certain connotations which make it seem like a less than partial fanmade term at that.... --[[User:Sauron18|Sauron18]] 20:20, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

:Honestly, given the unfolding of ''Caprica'', usage of the word "virtual" gives rise to connotations of the technological context of an avatar rather than a spiritual/incorporeal/supernatural one and I think steering away from such confusion should be the primary goal in a name-change. Personally, I've always preferred the application of the word "spectre" (you've got to admit that "Spectre Six" has a nice ring to it), but I nevertheless feel as though "Messengers" weighs the heaviest seeing as how every one of these categorised beings have indeed been messengers of a various sort.--[[User:Mars|Mars]] 17:20, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

:: In reviewing the above arguments and what's been introduced thus far in ''Caprica'', I do have to agree that the term "virtual" should be dropped. Further, I concur with Mars that the term "Messengers" is for the best, since that's what they really are anyway. As for Angels, well... that's a bit up in the air. It's the first in-show term for these beings, I'll grant you that, but they don't exactly fit the whole idea—or definition, either—that angels are "benevolent" creatures. Still, let's not confuse anything here and go ahead and move this to "Messengers" with proper redirects from terms like "angels" and "head characters," and all that. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] - [[bsp:|Battlestar Pegasus]]</sup> 17:40, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

::: I concur. "Angel" derives from Latin and Greek words meaning "messenger" anyway. -- [[User:Noneofyourbusiness|Noneofyourbusiness]] 22:47, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

== Virtual Baltar doesn't work for God ==

This paragraph is not strictly true and has been interpreted:

<i>The two discuss the cycle of life and Virtual Baltar chides Virtual Six for calling the being they work for God, as it apparently doesn't like being called that. Virtual Baltar has the series last line, which is a response to Virtual Six's stern look: "silly me.... silly, silly me." The two then walk off together into present day New York City. </i>

I suggest something more general and more literal because the last scene could also be interpreted as such:

The two discuss the cycle of life and Virtual Six declares she is optimistic about the future. Upon being asked why by Virtual Baltar, she declares that its a mathematical probability and THAT is part of God's plan. To which he jokingly appears affronted, saying menacingly; "You know he doesn't like that name.", insinuating that mathematical probability is actually part of his bosses, the Devil's, plan. When she retorts by way of a look of disdain, he feigns an apology, saying; "silly me .... silly, silly me."

even though it may be fanwankery, I still believe the former paragraph is an 'interpretation' of the ending, not statement of fact. It could be re-written more generally and literally to avoid interpretation that they BOTH work for God.--
[[User:Barstuck|Barstuck]] 19:08, 16 April 2009 (UTC)
*I don't think we should change it, I think that's the most simple and basic interpretation that the scene could have. Not to mention, of course, that RDM confirmed in an interview that the scene was meant to make the audience question the nature of "the Cylon God", so they were both definitely talking about the same entity, regardless of what this is. --[[User:Sauron18|Sauron18]] 19:57, 16 April 2009 (UTC)
** I suppose we have to expect there to be information from outside the show on the show's own wiki. But I like how wikipedia stated it. More loose - more open to the viewer's interpretation, and a satisfying factual explanation. I'll leave it at that. Thanks.--[[User:Barstuck|Barstuck]] 00:01, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I don't know which wikipedia article you may be referring to, but after looking over the article I realized that there are quite a few things that feel a bit....decisive, given the nature of their revelation. The main thing is that Moore specifically mentions wanting them being ambiguous beings working for an ambiguous power, yet the article doesn't necessarily reflect that, especially by referring to them as "angels" (which is, I'll admit, the only thing HS ever called herself, and what other characters called them near the end).
: Do note that that conversation was truncated from the original script, which was shown in the readthrough video in Eick's podcast. The "silly me" line refers to Head Baltar's question as to what the stakes are in a bet over whether humanity destroys itself again.--[[User:Bradtem|bradtem]] 00:18, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Still, this connects more with my point above of changing the article title (and the references to "angels" and "virtual beings") into "Messengers", which, as mentioned before, is the "most official" and honestly most accurate term that would also serve to maintain the ambiguity. The other factor affecting this would be "God", but honestly there's little we can do with that and I think that the perviously suggested change might be enough to make it, without removing the references to them being "angels" by other characters (though not forgetting their ambiguity in the text). --[[User:Sauron18|Sauron18]] 01:54, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

== Starbuck ==

Shouldn't Starbuck be included somewhere here? Her disappearance seemed to indicate that once she died and returned, she too was a messenger (her page even links to the Messengers page). [[User:Shimel|Shimel]] 19:52, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
:i agree. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 09:41, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Cylon History

2011-01-23T22:27:17Z

Pst001:

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited and its commander on the mend, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth - and the Cylons tracking them. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps. Though the loss of the Resurrection Ship created yet another disadvantage for the Cylons, the loss was only momentary and a new ship was soon placed into service ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==A New Plan==
Having failed time and again to destroy the more than fifty-thousand survivors aboard the Colonial fleet, and continuing to suffer attacks from the human resistance movement on Caprica, the Cylons' plans changed ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Heroes of the Cylon===
[[Image:Heroes of the Cylon, Downloaded.jpg|thumb|Caprica Six and Boomer pledge to change the course of Cylon history.]]
After being killed aboard the ''Galactica'' in retribution for shooting - though not fatally shooting - William Adama, Sharon Valerii was resurrected and sent to live on Cylon occupied Caprica. There she was heralded as a hero, but struggled to cope with life as a former sleeper agent, unable to move beyond her life aboard ''Galactica''. Taking up residence in her old apartment in [[Delphi]], Valerii - continuing to go by her ''Galactica'' call sign "Boomer" - proved a threat to the Cylons who valued unity and conformity in their culture ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

Also struggling to reconcile her actions as an undercover agent, Caprica Six - haunted by a [[Messenger Baltar|vision]] of Gaius Baltar - was sent to meet Boomer in order to help her move on. Though Six was unaware of it at the time, she too proved a threat to Cylon conformity and was sent to meet with Boomer in order to prevent both from being punitively [[boxing|boxed]]. This however backfired and together the "[[Heroes of the Cylon]]" worked to change the course of action pursued by their people. Influenced by their love and affection for humanity - Six for her love of Baltar and Boomer her love of Galen Tyrol - the Heroes convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was immoral. With this vast change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies, allowing a One to be captured and taken aboard ''Galactica'' where he informed humanity that it could return home ([[TRS]]: "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Benevolent Dictators===
[[Image:Bsg_s02_e20_time01-06-12_orig.jpg|thumb|Cylon Centurions invade New Caprica.]]
Following a rescue mission to retrieve survivors from Caprica - including Samuel Anders and his resistance group - the fleet led by ''Galactica'' continued its search for Earth, refusing the offer from the Cylons to return to the now abandoned Colonies. As Colonial society became split over the prospect of settling on a planet dubbed [[New Caprica]], the Cylon agent from ''Pegasus'', Gina Inviere detonated a nuclear device in orbit of the planet - a signal to the Cylons of the fleet's location ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Ultimately choosing to settle on New Caprica, the Colonials abandoned most of their fleet for a makeshift [[New Caprica City|village]] on the planet's surface, leaving the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' to patrol in orbit. Despite the patrols, however, the planet was protected by a nebula that masked its presence from the Cylons for more than a year. Detecting traces of the nuclear detonation, the Cylons eventually discovered the planet and surrounded it. With the Colonials caught totally by surprise and the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' in retreat, the Cylons were offered the unconditional surrender of humanity ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

[[Image:BONC.jpg|thumb|Cylon baseships destroys the ''Pegasus'' in a momentary victory.]]

Though the Cylons were ostensibly there for peaceful coexistence and cooperation with humanity, the situation on New Caprica quickly devolved into an occupation. While this new course for Cylon/human relations - spearheaded by Caprica Six and Boomer - was far more peaceful than their previous attempts at genocide, the Cylons nevertheless resorted to brute force, restricting many freedoms and leading to a [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]]. As the Cylons battled the resistance, the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' regrouped and returned to rescue the colonists. With both ships engaged in heavy combat with the Cylons, the ''Pegasus'' was destroyed, taking out several basestars in the process. Themselves complacently underpowered in terms of reinforcements, the Cylon occupiers fled New Caprica, taking Gaius Baltar and the half-human, half-Cylon child [[Hera Agathon|Hera]] with them ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I|Exodus, Parts I]] & [[Exodus, Part II|II]]").

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Talk:Amanda Graystone/Archive 1

2011-01-22T11:28:34Z

Pst001: /* "I lied" */

==Deletion?==
Why the delete tag? We have articles for characters from upcoming BSG episodes, like [[Emily Kowalski]] and [[Reza Chronides]], so I don't see why we can't have articles for Caprica ones as well. [[User:Ausir|Ausir]] 12:57, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

== "I lied" ==

This and the [[Zoe Graystone]] article state that Zoe was an accident and that Amanda subsequently suffered from post-partum depression. However, didn't she tell Duram at the end of the same episode that she lied... I ask rhetorically because I know she did. The real question is whether she told him this merely as an emotional buffer or if she did indeed sell Mar-Beth a sob story to gain her trust. --[[User:Mars|Mars]] 04:49, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

:she did say she lied. when i wrote the page, i assumed she was referring to the fact that she was envious of mar-beth and that she wanted to live with them. but it can definitely be interpreted that she lied about everything. [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 11:28, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Cylon History

2011-01-21T12:05:53Z

Pst001: /* Heroes of the Cylon */

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited and its commander on the mend, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth - and the Cylons tracking them. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps. Though the loss of the Resurrection Ship created yet another disadvantage for the Cylons, the loss was only momentary and a new ship was soon placed into service ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==A New Plan==
Having failed time and again to destroy the more than fifty-thousand survivors aboard the Colonial fleet, and continuing to suffer attacks from the human resistance movement on Caprica, the Cylons' plans changed ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Heroes of the Cylon===
[[Image:Heroes of the Cylon, Downloaded.jpg|thumb|Caprica Six and Boomer pledge to change the course of Cylon history.]]
After being killed aboard the ''Galactica'' in retribution for shooting - though not fatally shooting - William Adama, Sharon Valerii was resurrected and sent to live on Cylon occupied Caprica. There she was heralded as a hero, but struggled to cope with life as a former sleeper agent, unable to move beyond her life aboard ''Galactica''. Taking up residence in her old apartment in [[Delphi]], Valerii - continuing to go by her ''Galactica'' call sign "Boomer" - proved a threat to the Cylons who valued unity and conformity in their culture ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

Also struggling to reconcile her actions as an undercover agent, Caprica Six - haunted by a [[Messenger Baltar|vision]] of Gaius Baltar - was sent to meet Boomer in order to help her move on. Though Six was unaware of it at the time, she too proved a threat to Cylon conformity and was sent to meet with Boomer in order to prevent both from being punitively [[boxing|boxed]]. This however backfired and together the "[[Heroes of the Cylon]]" worked to change the course of action pursued by their people. Influenced by their love and affection for humanity - Six for her love of Baltar and Boomer her love of Galen Tyrol - the Heroes convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was immoral. With this vast change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies, allowing a One to be captured and taken aboard ''Galactica'' where he informed humanity that it could return home ([[TRS]]: "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Benevolent Dictators===
[[Image:Bsg_s02_e20_time01-06-12_orig.jpg|thumb|Cylon Centurions invade New Caprica.]]
Following a rescue mission to retrieve survivors from Caprica - including Samuel Anders and his resistance group - the fleet led by ''Galactica'' continued its search for Earth, refusing the offer from the Cylons to return to the now abandoned Colonies. As Colonial society became split over the prospect of settling on a planet dubbed [[New Caprica]], the Cylon agent from ''Pegasus'', Gina Inviere detonated a nuclear device in orbit of the planet - a signal to the Cylons of the fleet's location ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Ultimately choosing to settle on New Caprica, the Colonials abandoned most of their fleet for a makeshift [[New Caprica City|village]] on the planet's surface, leaving the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' to patrol in orbit. Despite the patrols, however, the planet was protected by a nebula that masked its presence from the Cylons for more than a year. Detecting traces of the nuclear detonation, the Cylons eventually discovered the planet and surrounded it. With the Colonials caught totally by surprise and the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' in retreat, the Cylons were offered the unconditional surrender of humanity ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Though the Cylons were ostensibly there for peaceful coexistence and cooperation with humanity, the situation on New Caprica quickly devolved into an occupation. While this new course for Cylon/human relations - spearheaded by Caprica Six and Boomer - was far more peaceful than their previous attempts at genocide, the Cylons nevertheless resorted to brute force, restricting many freedoms and leading to a [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]]. As the Cylons battled the resistance, the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' regrouped and returned to rescue the colonists. With both ships engaged in heavy combat with the Cylons, the ''Pegasus'' was destroyed, taking out several basestars in the process. Themselves complacently underpowered in terms of reinforcements, the Cylon occupiers fled New Caprica, taking Gaius Baltar and the half-human, half-Cylon child [[Hera Agathon|Hera]] with them ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I|Exodus, Parts I]] & [[Exodus, Part II|II]]").

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-21T11:45:52Z

Pst001: /* Benevolent Dictators */

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited and its commander on the mend, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth - and the Cylons tracking them. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps. Though the loss of the Resurrection Ship created yet another disadvantage for the Cylons, the loss was only momentary and a new ship was soon placed into service ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==A New Plan==
Having failed time and again to destroy the more than fifty-thousand survivors aboard the Colonial fleet, and continuing to suffer attacks from the human resistance movement on Caprica, the Cylons' plans changed ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Heroes of the Cylon===
After being killed aboard the ''Galactica'' in retribution for shooting - though not fatally shooting - William Adama, Sharon Valerii was resurrected and sent to live on Cylon occupied Caprica. There she was heralded as a hero, but struggled to cope with life as a former sleeper agent, unable to move beyond her life aboard ''Galactica''. Taking up residence in her old apartment in [[Delphi]], Valerii - continuing to go by her ''Galactica'' call sign "Boomer" - proved a threat to the Cylons who valued unity and conformity in their culture ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

Also struggling to reconcile her actions as an undercover agent, Caprica Six - haunted by a [[Messenger Baltar|vision]] of Gaius Baltar - was sent to meet Boomer in order to help her move on. Though Six was unaware of it at the time, she too proved a threat to Cylon conformity and was sent to meet with Boomer in order to prevent both from being punitively [[boxing|boxed]]. This however backfired and together the "[[Heroes of the Cylon]]" worked to change the course of action pursued by their people. Influenced by their love and affection for humanity - Six for her love of Baltar and Boomer her love of Galen Tyrol - the Heroes convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was immoral. With this vast change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies, allowing a One to be captured and taken aboard ''Galactica'' where he informed humanity that it could return home ([[TRS]]: "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Benevolent Dictators===
[[Image:Bsg_s02_e20_time01-06-12_orig.jpg|thumb|Cylon Centurions invade New Caprica.]]
Following a rescue mission to retrieve survivors from Caprica - including Samuel Anders and his resistance group - the fleet led by ''Galactica'' continued its search for Earth, refusing the offer from the Cylons to return to the now abandoned Colonies. As Colonial society became split over the prospect of settling on a planet dubbed [[New Caprica]], the Cylon agent from ''Pegasus'', Gina Inviere detonated a nuclear device in orbit of the planet - a signal to the Cylons of the fleet's location ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Ultimately choosing to settle on New Caprica, the Colonials abandoned most of their fleet for a makeshift [[New Caprica City|village]] on the planet's surface, leaving the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' to patrol in orbit. Despite the patrols, however, the planet was protected by a nebula that masked its presence from the Cylons for more than a year. Detecting traces of the nuclear detonation, the Cylons eventually discovered the planet and surrounded it. With the Colonials caught totally by surprise and the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' in retreat, the Cylons were offered the unconditional surrender of humanity ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Though the Cylons were ostensibly there for peaceful coexistence and cooperation with humanity, the situation on New Caprica quickly devolved into an occupation. While this new course for Cylon/human relations - spearheaded by Caprica Six and Boomer - was far more peaceful than their previous attempts at genocide, the Cylons nevertheless resorted to brute force, restricting many freedoms and leading to a [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]]. As the Cylons battled the resistance, the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' regrouped and returned to rescue the colonists. With both ships engaged in heavy combat with the Cylons, the ''Pegasus'' was destroyed, taking out several basestars in the process. Themselves complacently underpowered in terms of reinforcements, the Cylon occupiers fled New Caprica, taking Gaius Baltar and the half-human, half-Cylon child [[Hera Agathon|Hera]] with them ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I|Exodus, Parts I]] & [[Exodus, Part II|II]]").

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-21T11:42:49Z

Pst001: and more

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited and its commander on the mend, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth - and the Cylons tracking them. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps. Though the loss of the Resurrection Ship created yet another disadvantage for the Cylons, the loss was only momentary and a new ship was soon placed into service ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==A New Plan==
Having failed time and again to destroy the more than fifty-thousand survivors aboard the Colonial fleet, and continuing to suffer attacks from the human resistance movement on Caprica, the Cylons' plans changed ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Heroes of the Cylon===
After being killed aboard the ''Galactica'' in retribution for shooting - though not fatally shooting - William Adama, Sharon Valerii was resurrected and sent to live on Cylon occupied Caprica. There she was heralded as a hero, but struggled to cope with life as a former sleeper agent, unable to move beyond her life aboard ''Galactica''. Taking up residence in her old apartment in [[Delphi]], Valerii - continuing to go by her ''Galactica'' call sign "Boomer" - proved a threat to the Cylons who valued unity and conformity in their culture ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

Also struggling to reconcile her actions as an undercover agent, Caprica Six - haunted by a [[Messenger Baltar|vision]] of Gaius Baltar - was sent to meet Boomer in order to help her move on. Though Six was unaware of it at the time, she too proved a threat to Cylon conformity and was sent to meet with Boomer in order to prevent both from being punitively [[boxing|boxed]]. This however backfired and together the "[[Heroes of the Cylon]]" worked to change the course of action pursued by their people. Influenced by their love and affection for humanity - Six for her love of Baltar and Boomer her love of Galen Tyrol - the Heroes convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was immoral. With this vast change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies, allowing a One to be captured and taken aboard ''Galactica'' where he informed humanity that it could return home ([[TRS]]: "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Benevolent Dictators===
[[Image:Cylon-Occupied New Caprica City.jpg|thumb|Cylon occupied New Caprica.]]
Following a rescue mission to retrieve survivors from Caprica - including Samuel Anders and his resistance group - the fleet led by ''Galactica'' continued its search for Earth, refusing the offer from the Cylons to return to the now abandoned Colonies. As Colonial society became split over the prospect of settling on a planet dubbed [[New Caprica]], the Cylon agent from ''Pegasus'', Gina Inviere detonated a nuclear device in orbit of the planet - a signal to the Cylons of the fleet's location ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Ultimately choosing to settle on New Caprica, the Colonials abandoned most of their fleet for a makeshift [[New Caprica City|village]] on the planet's surface, leaving the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' to patrol in orbit. Despite the patrols, however, the planet was protected by a nebula that masked its presence from the Cylons for more than a year. Detecting traces of the nuclear detonation, the Cylons eventually discovered the planet and surrounded it. With the Colonials caught totally by surprise and the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' in retreat, the Cylons were offered the unconditional surrender of humanity ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Though the Cylons were ostensibly there for peaceful coexistence and cooperation with humanity, the situation on New Caprica quickly devolved into an occupation. While this new course for Cylon/human relations - spearheaded by Caprica Six and Boomer - was far more peaceful than their previous attempts at genocide, the Cylons nevertheless resorted to brute force, restricting many freedoms and leading to a [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]]. As the Cylons battled the resistance, the ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' regrouped and returned to rescue the colonists. With both ships engaged in heavy combat with the Cylons, the ''Pegasus'' was destroyed, taking out several basestars in the process. Themselves complacently underpowered in terms of reinforcements, the Cylon occupiers fled New Caprica, taking Gaius Baltar and the half-human, half-Cylon child [[Hera Agathon|Hera]] with them ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I|Exodus, Parts I]] & [[Exodus, Part II|II]]").

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-21T11:16:16Z

Pst001: more

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited and its commander on the mend, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth - and the Cylons tracking them. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps. Though the loss of the Resurrection Ship created yet another disadvantage for the Cylons, the loss was only momentary and a new ship was soon placed into service ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==A New Plan==
Having failed time and again to destroy the more than fifty-thousand survivors aboard the Colonial fleet, and continuing to suffer attacks from the human resistance movement on Caprica, the Cylons' plans changed ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Heroes of the Cylon===
After being killed aboard the ''Galactica'' in retribution for shooting - though not fatally shooting - William Adama, Sharon Valerii was resurrected and sent to live on Cylon occupied Caprica. There she was heralded as a hero, but struggled to cope with life as a former sleeper agent, unable to move beyond her life aboard ''Galactica''. Taking up residence in her old apartment in [[Delphi]], Valerii - continuing to go by her ''Galactica'' call sign "Boomer" - proved a threat to the Cylons who valued unity and conformity in their culture ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

Also struggling to reconcile her actions as an undercover agent, Caprica Six - haunted by a [[Messenger Baltar|vision]] of Gaius Baltar - was sent to meet Boomer in order to help her move on. Though Six was unaware of it at the time, she too proved a threat to Cylon conformity and was sent to meet with Boomer in order to prevent both from being punitively [[boxing|boxed]]. This however backfired and together the "[[Heroes of the Cylon]]" worked to change the course of action pursued by their people. Influenced by their love and affection for humanity - Six for her love of Baltar and Boomer her love of Galen Tyrol - the Heroes convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was immoral. With this vast change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies, allowing a One to be captured and taken aboard ''Galactica'' where he informed humanity that it could return home ([[TRS]]: "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Benevolent Dictators===
The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-21T10:51:28Z

Pst001:

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Remains on Kobol, Valley of Darkness.jpg|thumb|Human remains on Kobol, birthplace of man and Cylon.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Ruins on the ancient world of Kobol.]]
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth, with the Cylons tracking their movements. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==
Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-21T07:50:37Z

Pst001:

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying one of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced another to jump back to ''Galactica'' while the third crashed on Kobol. On Kobol the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions, engaging them in multiple firefights ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth, with the Cylons tracking their movements. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

[[Image:TheEnemysGateIsDown.jpg|thumb|left|The Cylons take heavy losses under assault from ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''.]]

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==
Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Resurrection program

2011-01-21T07:15:19Z

Pst001:

:''For the ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' episode of the same name, see "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]".
The '''resurrection program''' was a project undertaken by [[Zoe Graystone]] and later her father, [[Daniel Graystone]], as a way to continue life after death in the [[Virtual World]]. It was the basis of Sister [[Clarice Willow]]'s notion of '''apotheosis'''.

==Conception==
In the years prior to the [[First Cylon War]], Zoe Graystone - a brilliant programmer - conceived of creating life in the form of a holographic [[avatar]] after seeing her father, Daniel Graystone's designs for the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] chassis. Interacting with an [[Messengers|illusory]] version of herself, Zoe realized that she could do more than create a [[robot]] body - that she could create life itself. Working from her father's workstation in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab, Zoe created the avatar, imbuing it with her own memories but also a separate identity from the flesh and blood Graystone ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

==="Zoe-A"===
[[Image:Zoe-A first appears, 1x13.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone first encounters her "perfect copy."]]
:''Main article: [[Zoe-A]]''

What resulted was a "[[Zoe-A|perfect copy]]," programmed with roughly 100 terabytes of personal information from online databases and personal journals. The avatar's personality was comprised of information from medical scans, DNA profiles, psychological evaluations, school records, emails, video and audio recordings, CAT scans, genetic typing, synaptic records, security cameras, test results, shopping records, talent shows, ballgames, traffic tickets, restaurant bills, phone records, music lists, movie tickets, TV shows and "even prescriptions for birth control" - essentially turning raw data into an identical copy of Zoe Graystone ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[False Labor]]").

The avatar was also programmed with a bio-feedback protocol that ostensibly allowed it to respond to stimuli in the real world as the physical Zoe Graystone experienced it. Despite the achievement, the avatar showed difficulty maintaining resolution, sometimes "de-resing" back to earlier copies in times of stress or over-stimulation. Following the sudden death of Zoe Graystone in the Caprica City [[Metropolitan Levitation Mass Transit|MagLev]] bombing, however, the avatar showed itself to be a fully realized extension of Graytone, though restricted to the [[Virtual World]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Stricken by the loss of his daughter and shocked by the discovery of the living avatar, Daniel Graystone sought to bring Zoe back to life, by implanting the avatar into the body of a robot. Utilizing the preexisting U-87 chassis and a [[Meta-cognitive processor|meta-cognitive processor]] stolen from the [[Vergis Corporation]] of [[Tauron]], Graystone began the process of transferring the avatar, when its [[datastream]] was disrupted and the program was seemingly lost ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Unknown to Graystone, however, the avatar had been successfully moved into the robot body, and the Zoe Graystone avatar lived on within the U-87 for several months ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[End of Line]]").

==Apotheosis==
:''For the series finale of ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'', see "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]".
[[Image:Apotheosis,_1x10.jpg|thumb|Clarice Willow's notion of Apotheosis.]]

As Zoe Graystone perfected her resurrection program, a movement parallel to the technical achievement was occurring in the spiritual world. Inspired by Graystone's achievement Zoe's mentor, Sister [[Clarice Willow]], saw the potential for life after death in the Virtual World as a religious opportunity. Dissatisfied with the monotheist movement as it stood and the actions of the [[Monad Church]], Willow believed the program would serve as a lightning rod that would unite the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]] under the "One True God." Willow called this "'''Apotheosis'''" and rallied many of the [[Soldiers of the One]] of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] in its pursuit ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]], "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]," "[[End of Line]]," "[[Unvanquished]]," "[[Retribution]]," "[[False Labor]]").

Encountering resistance to the notion of Apotheosis from many among the STO on Caprica - including rival cell leader [[Barnabas Greeley]] - Willow presented her idea to the monotheist conclave on [[Gemenon]]. There she produced a [[holoband]] simulation that depicted the bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]] by members of the STO and their subsequent rebirth in a virtual heaven. Projecting the casualties of such an act in the tens of thousands, Willow described only a chosen few - those who had rejected the prevailing [[The Lords of Kobol|polytheist]] beliefs - living on. In an age, Willow said, in which myth and mystery had been replaced by science, the monotheist church would be the only religious movement capable of providing a tangible and assured afterlife ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

Still finding those who objected to the very notion - [[conclave]] member [[Obal Ferras]] describing it as blasphemous and "tacky" - Willow sought the wisdom of church leader [[Mother]]. After arranging the murder of Ferras, Willow was persuasive and able to secure power over all STO on Caprica. What followed was a violent consolidation of power as Willow asserted control over all the cells on Caprica, eliminating dissenters like Greeley and kidnapping and torturing Zoe Graystone's best friend, [[Lacy Rand]] in an effort to recreate Graystone's resurrection program ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]," "[[Retribution]]," "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

Despite consenting to Willow's pursuit of Apotheosis, Monad leader, Mother, referred to it derisively as "artificial heaven" ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

:''In ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' "[[The Plan]]," the [[Hybrid]] uses the word as the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] begin their attack on the Twelve Colonies: "Apotheosis was the beginning before the beginning." It is not clear if this refers to the STO concept.''

=="Grace"==
[[Image:Grace.PNG|thumb|Graystone Industries' "Grace."]]
:''Main article: [[Grace]]''

Seeing it as a potential for profit for his struggling technologies company, [[Graystone Industries]], Daniel Graystone also sought to recreate Zoe's resurrection program. Struggling to duplicate his daughter's avatar program, Graystone admitted to feeling like a hack, creating a virtual version of his estranged wife, [[Amanda Graystone]]. Unlike Zoe's avatar, however, the Amanda avatar was unable to surpass the base programming of all holograms, heavily emphasizing sexuality and the desire to please while simply parroting information like journal entries as memories ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

Under heavy pressure from the [[Ha'la'tha]] crime syndicate that owned a large percentage of Graystone Industries, [[Cyrus Xander]] created a commercial for the resurrection program and hoped to market the product under the name "Grace" ([[CAP]]: "[[False Labor]]").

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Caprica (series)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Music of Caprica

2011-01-21T04:18:59Z

Pst001: caprica abides

For the music of ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'', composer [[Bear McCreary]] utilized a wide variety of ethnic instruments and styles as well as more Western influences to create a soundscape reminiscent of, but vastly different from that of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', including the continued use of [[w:leitmotif|leitmotifes]] for characters, events and places.

==Main Title Music==
First appearing in the series' second episode, "[[Rebirth]]", the main title differed vastly from that of its predecessor, utilizing a theme established in the [[Caprica pilot|pilot episode]] for the [[Graystones|Graystone Family]] as an overarching theme for ''Caprica'' as a whole. According to composer Bear McCreary:

:"The title begins with a pounding percussion fill that introduces the Main Theme (technically the Graystone Theme), played by Chris Bleth on flute. The track builds in intensity, incorporating electric guitars and bass, played by Steve Bartek and Mike Valerio respectively. Towards the end, a distorted drum kit enters (played by Nate Wood) that gives the track a hard-rock feel, completely unique from anything we heard in the pilot. I wanted to give our delicate, plaintive melody a bad ass metal backbone, representative of the [[V-Club]]s and cultural underbelly of [[Caprica City]] that the series depicts." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108]

==Character & Event Themes==
Many of themes used throughout the single season run of ''Caprica'' were established in the series pilot episode.
===Main Characters===
====Graystone Family Theme====
Described as the de facto ''Caprica'' theme, the Graystone Family Theme was initially created to underscore scenes featuring the Graystones, but later evolved into the series main title. Executive producer [[David Eick]] later recalled in "The Music of Caprica" video blog that theme was a remarkable achievement as it was instantly recognizable and easily associated with ''Caprica''. [http://video.syfy.com/shows/caprica]

The theme first appears in the pilot immediately following the destruction of the Caprica City [[Lev]] by [[Ben Stark]] during a montage in which [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]] and [[Amanda Graystone]] mourn the death of their daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]]. It appears in virtually every episode of the series, generally played on flute or strings. It notably appears in the series finale "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]", underscoring the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87s]] battling [[STO]] terrorists in [[Atlas Arena]]. For that episode, McCreary described the piece, titled "Apotheosis", as an extension of the main title, combining strings, percussion and electric guitars. The Graystone Theme is also integral in the final moments of the series, played on string and accompanied by percussion in what McCreary described as a "soaring" final statement. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

In the episode, "[[End of Line]]", Daniel Graystone appears playing the Graystone Theme on the piano in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=4076]

====Graystone Family Ostinato====
McCreary described the Graystone Ostinato as a "simple oscillating pattern...woven throughout the score, serving as the canvas upon which the longer melodies are painted." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Usually played on the harp, piano and gamelan, the [[Wikipedia:Ostinato|osinato]] was restated in the series finale in a more aggressive variation, heard in the climactic battle at Atlas Arena. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

====Daniel Graystone Ostinato====
Another ostinato is the repetitive figure created to represent Daniel Graystone personally. First signifying Daniel's progressing obsession with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] and his "growing madness", the theme later underscored many of the scientist's scenes. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Usually played on harp, the ostinato was also accompanied by aggressive percussive elements in the pilot as well as in the climactic moments of "[[Know Thy Enemy]]". [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3777]

====Amanda Graystone Theme====
A lesser used melody, the Amanda Graystone Theme notably appeared during the Graystones' love scene during the pilot. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] A simple, ascending scale, the theme was also prominently featured in the Amanda-centered episode, "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]" in which it was adapted for her deceased brother [[Darius]]. Utilized as both a theme and in the form of an ostinato, the Darius melody was Amanda's theme played in reverse order. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3897]

====Zoe Graystone Chords====
While both the Graystone Theme and Ostinato were utilized to represent Zoe Graystone, a third musical idea connected to Zoe was more specifically constructed for her. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] The progression first appears when [[Lacy Rand]] discovers the Zoe avatar in the [[virtual world]] and later recurs in "Rebirth" as Lacy embraces Zoe in her robotic form. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108]

===Other Themes===
====Tauron Theme====
Possibly the second most frequently heard theme throughout ''Caprica'' is the theme created for the [[Tauron]] side of the series. With the themes for the Graystones given a more traditional Western sound, the Tauron Theme was created as a more ethnic counterpoint. Used in scenes featuring [[Joseph Adama]] and his family, the Tauron Theme was frequently played by Paul Cartwright on the acoustic fiddle, or by Chris Bleth on the Chinese membrane flute. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

The Tauron Theme is the only theme in ''Caprica'' to receive lyrics, heard in the episode "[[There is Another Sky]]" during the funeral for [[Tamara Adama|Tamara]] and [[Shannon Adama]]. Written by the episode's writer, Kath Lingenfelter, the lyrics for the Tauron Theme were sung in [[Wikipedia:Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek]]: [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3761]

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" class="messagebox" align="center"
! class="infoboxheader" | '''Original English lyrics by Kath Lingenfelter:'''
|-
| These are the voices of those <br />
Who have passed over the river heard <br />
On the wind entwined with the <br />
Eternal and the everlasting <br />
These are the voices of those whom <br />
We have loved, who no more will suffer <br />
Who have returned to the mud <br />
This is the voice of the dead <br />
Entwined with the eternal and the everlasting <br />
|}

Speaking of the Tauron Theme, Bear McCreary said:

:"My task was relatively easy because Tauron and its musical traditions are entirely fictional, so I could make Tauronese music sound like whatever I wanted. I drew my inspirations from Russian folk music, and asked Paul Cartwright to play in that style as opposed to the Scottish Fiddle feel he so frequently evokes for “[[Music of Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Roslin and Adama theme|Roslin and Adama]]” on ''Battlestar''." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

====Tauron Ostinato====
Another ostinato used throughout the series, the Tauron Ostinato was prominently heard in the pilot when [[Sam Adama]] murdered Caprica's minister of defense, [[Val Chambers]]. It was also among the first pieces from the pilot to be realized, as recounted by the show's director, [[Jeff Reiner]]:

:"The first piece I heard was the montage where Sam kills the Minister of Defense while Amanda and Daniel make love, not to mention, Joseph breaking down in tears because of guilt and the loss of his family. The score drove the scene, while evoking the intimacy of love, the rage of a gangland killing, and the struggle with ethnic identity." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

The Tauron Ostinato was later heard in a notably different form in "End of Line" in scenes in which Joseph Adama searched [[New Cap City]] for the Tamara avatar, played by electronic instruments.

====Adama Family Theme====
Initially composed for the ''Battlestar Galactica'' episode, "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", this theme continued throughout that series as the defining musical identity for [[William Adama]] and as well as Adama's relationship with his son, [[Lee Adama]]. Though heard in only the pilot episode, the Tauron funeral scene in "There is Another Sky" and in a very fragmented rendition in "[[The Dirteaters]]", the Adama family is one of the few musical links between ''Battlestar Galactica'' and ''Caprica''. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

====Percussive Element====
Another link to the music of ''Battlestar Galactica'' was the utilization of shakers, claves, shime daiko and sparing use of taiko drums underscoring action sequences like the U-87 testing sequences in the pilot episode. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Though McCreary intended to keep the use of the percussive element so heavily used in ''Galactica'' to a minimum, as ''Caprica'' progressed, the identity increasingly asserted itself. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108] By late series episodes like "[[Here Be Dragons]]" and "Apotheosis", the percussive and ethnic instrumentation of sequences like these was increased, most notably in the climactic Cylon battle at the series conclusion. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

===Songs===
====Caprican National Anthem====
For the second episode of the series Bear McCreary created a recording of the Caprcian National Anthem, ''Caprica Abides''. Though only a small portion of that recording was used during the scenes at Atlas Arena, the entire song was later utilized at the arena in "Apotheosis". [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931] The anthem was sung by Mack Donnelly - “Mr. O Canada” - who frequently sang the Canadian National Anthem before [[Wikipedia:Vancouver Canucks|Vancouver Canucks]] games. [http://canucks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=58673]

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" class="messagebox" align="center"
! class="infoboxheader" | '''Original lyrics by Jane Espenson:'''
|-
|Caprica let us celebrate <br />
Raise our hands despite the weight <br />
And all her joys we extol <br />
Caprica Abides <br />

Caprica let us perservere <br />
Shield ourselves from doubt and fear <br />
And all the sorrows of the soul <br />
Caprica Abides <br />

Caprica let us perservere <br />
Shield ourselves from doubt and fear <br />
And all the sorrows of the soul <br />
Caprica Abides <br />
|}

==External Links==

* [http://www.bearmccreary.com/ Bear McCreary's website]
* [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/ Bear McCreary's blog]

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Caprica (series)]]

Music of Caprica

2011-01-21T03:51:19Z

Pst001: more

For the music of ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'', composer [[Bear McCreary]] utilized a wide variety of ethnic instruments and styles as well as more Western influences to create a soundscape reminiscent of, but vastly different from that of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', including the continued use of [[w:leitmotif|leitmotifes]] for characters, events and places.

==Main Title Music==
First appearing in the series' second episode, "[[Rebirth]]", the main title differed vastly from that of its predecessor, utilizing a theme established in the [[Caprica pilot|pilot episode]] for the [[Graystones|Graystone Family]] as an overarching theme for ''Caprica'' as a whole. According to composer Bear McCreary:

:"The title begins with a pounding percussion fill that introduces the Main Theme (technically the Graystone Theme), played by Chris Bleth on flute. The track builds in intensity, incorporating electric guitars and bass, played by Steve Bartek and Mike Valerio respectively. Towards the end, a distorted drum kit enters (played by Nate Wood) that gives the track a hard-rock feel, completely unique from anything we heard in the pilot. I wanted to give our delicate, plaintive melody a bad ass metal backbone, representative of the [[V-Club]]s and cultural underbelly of [[Caprica City]] that the series depicts." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108]

==Character & Event Themes==
Many of themes used throughout the single season run of ''Caprica'' were established in the series pilot episode.
===Main Characters===
====Graystone Family Theme====
Described as the de facto ''Caprica'' theme, the Graystone Family Theme was initially created to underscore scenes featuring the Graystones, but later evolved into the series main title. Executive producer [[David Eick]] later recalled in "The Music of Caprica" video blog that theme was a remarkable achievement as it was instantly recognizable and easily associated with ''Caprica''. [http://video.syfy.com/shows/caprica]

The theme first appears in the pilot immediately following the destruction of the Caprica City [[Lev]] by [[Ben Stark]] during a montage in which [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]] and [[Amanda Graystone]] mourn the death of their daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]]. It appears in virtually every episode of the series, generally played on flute or strings. It notably appears in the series finale "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]", underscoring the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87s]] battling [[STO]] terrorists in [[Atlas Arena]]. For that episode, McCreary described the piece, titled "Apotheosis", as an extension of the main title, combining strings, percussion and electric guitars. The Graystone Theme is also integral in the final moments of the series, played on string and accompanied by percussion in what McCreary described as a "soaring" final statement. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

In the episode, "[[End of Line]]", Daniel Graystone appears playing the Graystone Theme on the piano in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=4076]

====Graystone Family Ostinato====
McCreary described the Graystone Ostinato as a "simple oscillating pattern...woven throughout the score, serving as the canvas upon which the longer melodies are painted." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Usually played on the harp, piano and gamelan, the [[Wikipedia:Ostinato|osinato]] was restated in the series finale in a more aggressive variation, heard in the climactic battle at Atlas Arena. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

====Daniel Graystone Ostinato====
Another ostinato is the repetitive figure created to represent Daniel Graystone personally. First signifying Daniel's progressing obsession with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] and his "growing madness", the theme later underscored many of the scientist's scenes. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Usually played on harp, the ostinato was also accompanied by aggressive percussive elements in the pilot as well as in the climactic moments of "[[Know Thy Enemy]]". [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3777]

====Amanda Graystone Theme====
A lesser used melody, the Amanda Graystone Theme notably appeared during the Graystones' love scene during the pilot. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] A simple, ascending scale, the theme was also prominently featured in the Amanda-centered episode, "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]" in which it was adapted for her deceased brother [[Darius]]. Utilized as both a theme and in the form of an ostinato, the Darius melody was Amanda's theme played in reverse order. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3897]

====Zoe Graystone Chords====
While both the Graystone Theme and Ostinato were utilized to represent Zoe Graystone, a third musical idea connected to Zoe was more specifically constructed for her. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] The progression first appears when [[Lacy Rand]] discovers the Zoe avatar in the [[virtual world]] and later recurs in "Rebirth" as Lacy embraces Zoe in her robotic form. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108]

===Other Themes===
====Tauron Theme====
Possibly the second most frequently heard theme throughout ''Caprica'' is the theme created for the [[Tauron]] side of the series. With the themes for the Graystones given a more traditional Western sound, the Tauron Theme was created as a more ethnic counterpoint. Used in scenes featuring [[Joseph Adama]] and his family, the Tauron Theme was frequently played by Paul Cartwright on the acoustic fiddle, or by Chris Bleth on the Chinese membrane flute. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

The Tauron Theme is the only theme in ''Caprica'' to receive lyrics, heard in the episode "[[There is Another Sky]]" during the funeral for [[Tamara Adama|Tamara]] and [[Shannon Adama]]. Written by the episode's writer, Kath Lingenfelter, the lyrics for the Tauron Theme were sung in [[Wikipedia:Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek]]: [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3761]

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" class="messagebox" align="center"
! class="infoboxheader" | '''Original English lyrics by Kath Lingenfelter:'''
|-
| These are the voices of those <br />
Who have passed over the river heard <br />
On the wind entwined with the <br />
Eternal and the everlasting <br />
These are the voices of those whom <br />
We have loved, who no more will suffer <br />
Who have returned to the mud <br />
This is the voice of the dead <br />
Entwined with the eternal and the everlasting <br />
|}

Speaking of the Tauron Theme, Bear McCreary said:

:"My task was relatively easy because Tauron and its musical traditions are entirely fictional, so I could make Tauronese music sound like whatever I wanted. I drew my inspirations from Russian folk music, and asked Paul Cartwright to play in that style as opposed to the Scottish Fiddle feel he so frequently evokes for “[[Music of Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Roslin and Adama theme|Roslin and Adama]]” on ''Battlestar''." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

====Tauron Ostinato====
Another ostinato used throughout the series, the Tauron Ostinato was prominently heard in the pilot when [[Sam Adama]] murdered Caprica's minister of defense, [[Val Chambers]]. It was also among the first pieces from the pilot to be realized, as recounted by the show's director, [[Jeff Reiner]]:

:"The first piece I heard was the montage where Sam kills the Minister of Defense while Amanda and Daniel make love, not to mention, Joseph breaking down in tears because of guilt and the loss of his family. The score drove the scene, while evoking the intimacy of love, the rage of a gangland killing, and the struggle with ethnic identity." [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

The Tauron Ostinato was later heard in a notably different form in "End of Line" in scenes in which Joseph Adama searched [[New Cap City]] for the Tamara avatar, played by electronic instruments.

====Adama Family Theme====
Initially composed for the ''Battlestar Galactica'' episode, "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", this theme continued throughout that series as the defining musical identity for [[William Adama]] and as well as Adama's relationship with his son, [[Lee Adama]]. Though heard in only the pilot episode, the Tauron funeral scene in "There is Another Sky" and in a very fragmented rendition in "[[The Dirteaters]]", the Adama family is one of the few musical links between ''Battlestar Galactica'' and ''Caprica''. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353]

====Percussive Element====
Another link to the music of ''Battlestar Galactica'' was the utilization of shakers, claves, shime daiko and sparing use of taiko drums underscoring action sequences like the U-87 testing sequences in the pilot episode. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3353] Though McCreary intended to keep the use of the percussive element so heavily used in ''Galactica'' to a minimum, as ''Caprica'' progressed, the identity increasingly asserted itself. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=3108] By late series episodes like "[[Here Be Dragons]]" and "Apotheosis", the percussive and ethnic instrumentation of sequences like these was increased, most notably in the climactic Cylon battle at the series conclusion. [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=5931]

==External Links==

* [http://www.bearmccreary.com/ Bear McCreary's website]
* [http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/ Bear McCreary's blog]

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Caprica (series)]]

Music of Caprica

2011-01-21T02:21:59Z

Pst001: more

Music of Caprica

2011-01-21T02:03:31Z

Pst001: created, more to go

Music

2011-01-21T02:01:49Z

Pst001: +music of caprica

Please choose a specific reference for the term '''music''':

* [[The Music]], the odd song heard by four of the [[Final Five]] in "[[Crossroads]]".
* [[Music of Battlestar Galactica (RDM)]], an article about the music in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]].
* [[Music of Caprica]], an article about the music in the ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]''.
* ''[[In Music]]'', a periodical from the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]] in the Re-imagined Series.
* [[Larson's Apogee in C-Minor]], a piano piece played by [[Baltar (TOS alternate)|Baltar]] in the ''[[Galactica 1980 2]]'' comic.

For other articles relating to music:
* [[Soundtrack]], for a disambiguation page leading to various soundtrack releases.
* [[Bear McCreary]], composer for the Re-imagined Series.
* [[Brendan McCreary]], brother of Bear McCreary and vocalist for the Re-imagined Series's music.
* [[Stu Phillips]], composer for the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].

{{disambig}}

The Fleet (TRS)

2011-01-20T21:28:40Z

Pst001: /* Overview */

:''This article involves the fleet of [[FTL|faster-than-light]]-capable civilian ships in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. For information on its [[Sublight Propulsion|sublight]] counterpart in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]], see [[The Fleet (TOS)]]. For general information on other articles pertaining to fleets, see: [[Fleet (disambiguation)]].''
[[Image:The Fleet, "Face of the Enemy".jpg|thumb|right|400px|The Fleet in formation near a nebula.]]

'''The Fleet''' is a convoy of ships sheltering the human survivors of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]]. The Fleet forms the backdrop of the drama of the [[Re-imagined Series]].

==Overview==
[[Image:Galactica & Fleet.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Galactica'' leads the Fleet.]]
"The Fleet" originates as a convoy of about 60 commercial and civilian ships in the space surrounding [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. [[Laura Roslin]] - with the aid of [[Sharon Valerii]] - initiates the clustering of stranded vessels in the aftermath of the Cylon invasion of the Twelve Colonies, thus forming the convoy. Around twenty of these ships are abandoned to a squadron of attacking [[Raider (RDM)|Raiders]] because they either lack [[FTL]] drives, or are damaged, like the sublight ''[[Botanical Cruiser]]'' and ''[[Gemenon Liner 1701]]''. The remaining vessels join battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' - the only Colonial warship [[Pegasus (RDM)|known]] to have survived the Cylon attack - in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant [[Ragnar]]. From here on, ''Galactica'' shoulders the role of the Fleet's protector ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

[[Anastasia Dualla|Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla]] explains in "[[33]]" that 53 ships have jumped away from an attacking Cylon baseship, with 10 still reporting trouble with their FTL drives. Adding ''Galactica'' to this tally, results in a total number of 64 ships.

[[Saul Tigh|Colonel Saul Tigh]]'s statement in "[[The Farm]]" that the 24 ships departing with the [[Laura Roslin faction]] represent "almost a third of the Fleet", implies that the number of ships in the Fleet is approximately in the mid-70's. However in the opening scene of "[[Home, Part I]]" Tigh's response to the number of civilians joining Roslin is "That's over a third of the people in the Fleet." Since "the Fleet" s used interchangeably to describe both the ships and the civilian populace, this could imply that Tigh's statement in "[[The Farm]]" was an estimate of the people who left and not the number of ships lost.

By "[[The Passage]]", there are likely fewer ships left in the Fleet because of ''[[Cloud Nine]]'''s destruction ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]") and the settlement and emergency exodus of [[New Caprica]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

The political and social troubles befalling the Fleet as it wanders through space, serve as a metaphor for all of humanity, since the Fleet literally ''is'' what is left of humanity in the television series.

The phrase "the Fleet" functions not only as a signifier for the actual ships of the convoy, but as an indicator of the people on board, and therefore for mankind. Often the term is used to refer to the civilian populations, as opposed to the military personnel of ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus''. Usage of the term "the Fleet" has not gained more than an informal acceptance, as can be seen by President Roslin's continued use of the term ''President of the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]''. This may be interpreted either as an expression of hope that the people of the Fleet will re-establish themselves on a new world, or a psychological inability to accept the Fleet as the only home that humanity will know for a long time.

After three years of searching the Fleet eventually reaches [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], but are disappointed to find it a devastated wasteland as a result of a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]"). The fleet leave Earth in search of a new home, with the Rebel Cylon Basestar joining them ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]"). By the time of Felix Gaeta's and Tom Zarek's mutiny aboard ''Galactica'' ([[TRS]]: "[[Blood on the Scales]]"), dialogue indicates that the Fleet is down to the very low figure of 35 civilian ships, a surprising loss of about half the initial ships from "[[33]]". Most of these losses remain unaccounted for, as very few civilian ships have been seen or heard to be actually lost on screen. Given that the human population has only declined by about one fifth at this point rather than a similar half, this could be a continuity error or retcon, or the remaining ships would have had to nearly double the number of civilians aboard to compensate. It is possible in the context of the dialogue in the episode that the figure of 35 referred only to the number of ships initially loyal to the mutineers.

[[Image:The fleet's end.jpg|thumb|right|The Fleet's end.]]

The Rebel basestar officially joins the Fleet after the failed coup, with a [[Number Six|Six]] named [[Sonja]] joining the new [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] comprised of ship captains ([[TRS]]: "[[Someone to Watch Over Me]]").

The Fleet would eventually be abandoned by the Colonials, with their ships guided into Sol by [[Final Five]] member, [[Samuel Anders|Samuel T. Anders]]. The Rebel basestar was given to the [[Cylon Centurion|centurions]] by the Rebel Cylons for them to find their own destiny ([[TRS]]: "[[Daybreak, Part II]]").
<div style="clear: both;"></div>

==Ships==
[[Image:Mini side fleet.jpg|thumb|right|Galactica and the Fleet.]]

* Colonial ships use [[launch key]]s to activate the ship's systems ([[TRS]]: "[[Precipice]]"). The keys are unique to each vessel and are extremely difficult to copy.

==== Seen ====

{|class="messagebox sortable" style="width:100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" align="center"
|- class="infoboxheader"
! Name !! Ship type / function !! Last Seen !! Notes
|-
| ''[[Astral Queen]]'' || Prison ship || [[The Plan]], [[Daybreak, Part II]] || [[Tom Zarek]] is found aboard this ship along with 1,500 prisoners heading toward [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] for parole hearings. Later the lead ship in [[Laura Roslin]]'s [[Laura Roslin faction|faction]]. Also home to former ''Galactica'' crewmen and officers from the mutiny.
|-
| [[Botanical Cruiser]] || Agricultural ship || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || An FTL-capable agricultural ship. A sublight version of this ship is destroyed in the [[Miniseries, Night 2|second night]] of the Miniseries.
|-
| ''[[Celestra (RDM)|Celestra]]'' || ''Celestra'' type || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II|| Seen in various fleet shoots.
|-
| ''[[Chrion]]'' || [[Luxury liner]] || [[The Passage]] || Successfully shepherded to the [[algae planet]].
|-
| ''[[Colonial One|Colonial One/Colonial Heavy 798]]'' || Transport ship, government || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || President [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]]'s flagship and seat of the spaceborne Colonial government since the Fall. As of Season 4, the ship also held the Quorum of Twelve until they were killed by Tom Zarek.
|-
|''[[Cybele]]'' || ''Scylla'' type || [[The Plan]] || Escorted by [[Raptors]] through a very dense star cluster to the [[algae planet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Passage]]"). A copy of Simon refuses to blow up this ship and airlocks himself instead ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").<br/>Named for the [[w:Cybele|"Earth Mother" goddess]] of ancient Asia Minor.
|-
| ''[[Demetrius]]'' || Sewage recycling || Daybreak, Part II || Given to [[Kara Thrace]] and a select crew to try to find Earth. Later returned to the fleet.
|-
| ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' || [[Battlestar (RDM)|Battlestar]], military || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || This is the last remaining [[Galactica type battlestar|original battlestar]] dating back to the [[Cylon War]]. It is the main protector and flagship of the Fleet, under direct command of [[William Adama]].
|-
| ''[[Gemenon Traveller]]'' || ''Kimba Huta'' type || The Plan, [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]] || A copy of [[Leoben Conoy]] is captured and held here for interrogation and, later, executed.
|-
| ''[[Gemini (RDM)|Gemini]]'' || Freighter || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || Used as a decoy in the [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]. Joins Laura Roslin's separatist fleet. Is later part of the so-called defense fleet over [[New Caprica]]. Later escorted through the star cluster.
|-
| ''[[Gideon]]'' || Supply ship || [[The Son Also Rises]] || A supply ship involved in an incident where four civilians are killed by ''Galactica'' [[Marines]]. Survives after [[New Caprica]].
|-
| ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' || [[Refinery ship]] || Daybreak, Part II || The ship is the site of the worker's strike in the episode "[[Dirty Hands]]" and a mutiny authorized by [[Tom Zarek]] in [[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]].
|-
| ''[[Kimba Huta]]'' || Cold storage vessel || Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II || Featured in "[[The Farm]]" where Tom Zarek, Laura Roslin and Lee Adama hide out after Roslin's escape from ''Galactica''.
|-
| ''[[Majahual]]'' || [[Mining ship]] || [[Scar]] || Mines crucial metals needed to build [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]]s.
|-
| ''[[Monarch]]'' || Mining ship || [[Collaborators]] || A mining ship that joins the [[Laura Roslin faction]]. Mentioned in "Collaborators".
|-
| ''[[Prometheus (ship)|Prometheus]]'' || Freighter || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || Commanded by [[Doyle Franks]], ''Prometheus'' has a reputation as an "off the grid" freighter involved in the [[black market (organization)|black market]]. Survived New Caprica and captain was a member of the Judges Tribunial for the Baltar Trial.
|-
| ''[[Rebel Basestar]]'' || Cylon Basestar|| Daybreak, Part II || Basestar of the Rebel Cylons that joins the Fleet as part of an alliance against Cavil's forces, later officially joining the Fleet after the Quorum of Twelve is dissolved and the Quorum of Ships' Captains is created.
|-
|''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'' || Medical Transport || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || A medical ship similarly named and visually similar to the [[Original Series]] [[Rising Star (TOS)|ship of the same name]] is seen in Season 4 and "[[The Plan]]". It is not mentioned on either ''Colonial One'' or ''Galactica'''s tally boards in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
| ''[[Scylla]]'' || Civilian transport || [[Razor]] || One of a small fleet of ships encountered by the [[Mercury class battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''. Qualified crew and complement, including [[Peter Laird]], were forcibly conscripted onto the Pegasus. FTL drive was also removed and the ship and remaining survivors were left to their fate.
|-
| ''[[Striker]]'' || ''Celestra'' type || [[Home, Part II]] || Damaged in a refueling operation overseen by Captain [[George Birch]].
|-
| ''[[Thera Sita]]'' || ''Kimba Huta'' type || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || Ship is successfully shepherded to algae planet and later temporarily transfers refugees to ''Galactica'' in "The Woman King".
|-
| ''[[Virgon Express]]'' || ''[[Flattop]]'' type || The Plan, [[Downloaded]] || First introduced in "[[Water]]" as it undergoes underway water replenishment from ''Galactica'' <nowiki>'s</nowiki> stores. Seen in fleet until [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]].
|-
| ''[[Zephyr]]'' || Ringed ship || The Plan, Daybreak, Part II || Arguably the easiest identifiable civilian ship due to its large ring. It is severely damaged during the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula]], and is repaired en route to Earth. It is considered the hub of all civilian activity and rest-and-recreation in the Fleet (likely since ''Cloud 9'' had been destroyed by [[Gina Inviere]]).
|}

==== Mentioned only ====

Unless otherwise mentioned, the following ships are only listed on the [[:Image:Tally chalkboard.jpg|voting tally board]] in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]".<ref>Note that the tally board in question contains inaccuracies regarding the number of votes, and thus should not be used to determine the population aboard each vessel.</ref> Many of these ships are mentioned or featured again, as the production generated a master list for reference.

{|class="messagebox sortable" style="width:100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" align="center"
|- class="infoboxheader"
! Name !! Notes
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Adrasteia}}'' || In Greek mythology, [[w:Adrasteia|Adrasteia]] (also spelled Adrastia, Adrastea, Adrestea, and Adastreia) was a nymph who was charged by Rhea to raise the infant Zeus in secret to protect him from his father Cronus (Krónos) in the Dictaean cave.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Amduatey}}'' || The ship is named after the [[Wikipedia:Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian]] [[Wikipedia:Amduat|Amduat]], which literally means "That Which is in the Afterworld". It was an important funeral text usually inscribed in the tombs of pharoahs. The Amduat told the story of the sun god [[Wikipedia:Ra|Ra]], who set in the evening and traveled through the underworld at night, only to rise again in the morning. It was understood that the dead pharaoh was taking the same journey, through the underworld, only to rise again with Ra as an immortal in the morning.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Aether}}'' || In Greek mythology, [[w:Aether (mythology)|Aether]] is one of the Protogenos (first-born). He is the personification of the "upper sky," space, and heaven, and the elemental god of the "Bright, Glowing, Upper Air." He is the pure upper air that the gods breathe, as opposed to regular air, the gloomy lower air of the Earth, which mortals breathe.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Argo Navis}}'' || Captained by [[Simpson Markson]], who is selected to be a judge at Gaius Baltar's trial <ref>The name and the ship are noted in the [[Sources:The Son Also Rises|script]] for "[[The Son Also Rises]]", but not mentioned on screen.</ref>. <br> [[w:Argo Navis|Argo Navis]] was a large southern constellation representing the Argo, the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology.
|-
|''[[Aurora (ship)|Aurora]]'' || A ship in the fleet that was home to a friend of [[Emily Kowalski]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Faith]]"). <br>
In Roman mythology, [[w:Aurora (mythology)|Aurora]] is the goddess of dawn. This [[Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn|goddess]] also exists within the series's own mythology.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Azimenarius}}'' || ''Azimenarius'' is noted on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'', but is not on the master voting tally board on ''Galactica'' in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]".
|-
|''[[Baah Pakal]]'' || The XO of the ship was a friend of [[Saul Tigh]]'s. They held a pair of DDG-62 engines that would be used in the [[Blackbird]]'s construction ([[TRS]]: "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]"). Later appeared on the master voting tally board on ''Galactica'' in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Boreas}}'' || Named for the [[w:Boreas|god of the north wind]] in Greek mythology. <br> ''Boreas'' is noted on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'', but is absent from the master tally board on ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Breton}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Carillon Trader}}'' || In the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]], [[Carillon]] is the infamous "casino planet" from "[[Saga of a Star World]]".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Cassandra}}'' || Named for the [[w:Cassandra|daughter]] of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy who had the power of prophecy, but was cursed so that no one believed her.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Coba}}'' || ''Coba'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Clymene}}'' || ''Clymene'' is noted on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'', but is absent from the master tally board on ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II". <br> Several women and deities in Greek myth are named [[wikipedia:Clymene|Clymene]].
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Dahshur}}'' || ''Dahshur'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Diomedes}}'' || ''Diomedes'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II". <br> Presumably named for the ancient hero of the Trojan War of the [[w:Diomedes|same name]].
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Embla Brokk}}'' || The name ''Embla Brokk'' may be derived from the names of two figures in Norse mythology: Embla, the first woman, and [[w:Brokkr|Brokkr]], a dwarf who helped create Draupnir (a magical ring) and [[w:Mjolnir|Mjolnir]] (Thor's hammer). <br> ''Embla Brokk'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Enkidu}}'' || Among the first ships to navigate the star cluster to the [[algae planet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Passage]]"). <br/>
Named after the [[wikipedia:Enkidu|Enkidu]] of the [[wikipedia:Sumerian mythology|Sumerian mythological]] [[wikipedia:Epic of Gilgamesh|epic of Gilgamesh]].
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Epheme}}'' || The Epheme may be named for a minor character in Greek mythology who was nurse to the [[w:Muse|Muses]].
|-
|''[[Faru Sadin]]'' || Successfully guided through the [[Passage (star cluster)|star cluster]] to the algae planet by [[Louanne Katraine|Captain Louanne "Kat" Katraine]], who sacrifices her life in the process (The Passage).
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Freighter 212}}'' || A ship on which Lieutenant (later Captain) Louanne "Kat" Katraine apparently has some "buddies" ([[TRS]]: "[[Final Cut]]"). <br>
Indications are that "Freighter 212" is merely the hull number for the ship, as this name is not written on either tally boards during the election in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Galatea}}'' || Probably named for a main character in the Greek myth of [[w:Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]]. Pygmalion, a sculptor, creates a statue of a woman, which is so beautiful that he falls in love with it, and the gods reward him by bringing her ([[w:Galatea (mythology)|Galatea]]) to life.
|-
|''[[Greenleaf]]'' || A freighter mentioned several times in the series ("[[Epiphanies]]", "[[Sacrifice]]", "[[Crossroads, Part I]]")
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Harrak}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Hexare}}'' ||On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Inchon Velle}}'' || When [[Kara Thrace]] has disturbing dreams about [[Leoben]] and the [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] in her apartment, [[Karl Agathon]] suggests that she see a psychiatrist on ''Inchon Velle'' ([[TRS]]: "[[Maelstrom]]"). Also where a [[Gerard|brain surgeon]] was brought over from to oversee [[Samuel T. Anders]]' brain surgery ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Kara Nixal}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Kiya}}'' || ''Kiya'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|McConnell}}'' || Commander [[Jack Fisk|Fisk]] made runs to this ship in order to build up a stock pile of supplies for the [[black market (organization)|black market]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Black Market]]"). The ship is on neither ''Colonial One'' nor ''Galactica'''s tally boards in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Mutem Wia}}'' || ''Mutem Wia'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Odysseus}}'' || Named for the [[w:Odysseus|hero]] in Greek mythology who fought in the Trojan War and was the subject of Homer's epic ''[[w:Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Persephone}}'' || ''Persephone'' is noted on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II". <br/> [[w:Persephone|Persephone]] is the daughter of the goddess [[w:Demeter|Demeter]]. She is forced to marry the god of the underworld, [[w:Hades|Hades]], but Demeter works out a compromise where Persephone is allowed to return to the world of the living for a portion of the year.
|-
|''[[Picon 36]]'' || Presumed to have jumped away with the FTL-capable ships in the [[Miniseries]]
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Picon Princess}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Rhadamanthys}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Salpica}}'' || In the [[Unfinished Business (Extended Version)|extended cut]] of "[[Unfinished Business]]", ''Salpica'' is mentioned as the ship [[Samuel Anders]] lives on after the escape from New Caprica and before moving permanently to ''Galactica''.
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Sargon}}'' || May be named after either [[w:Sargon I (Assyrian king)|Sargon I]] or [[wikipedia:Sargon II|Sargon II]], ancient Assyrian kings on Earth. <br> Seen only on the voting tally boards in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Scorpia Traveller}}'' || After disembarking from ''Scorpia Traveller'', a copy of the humanoid Cylon [[Aaron Doral]] evades security checkpoints, nearly succeeding in the assassination of [[William Adama]] in a suicide bombing ([[TRS]]: "[[Litmus]]"). The ship is not on either tally board in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Swordfish}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Tarbadek}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Tauranian Traveller}}'' || Mentioned in a deleted scene in "[[33]]". Later, its name is on the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Tora Bashiri}}'' || "Tora bashiri" is Japanese for "tiger's run." It is a term used in [[wikipedia:Iaido|Iaido]], a Japanese martial art. <br> The ship's name is on the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Vena Capa}}'' || ''Vena Capa'' is on the master tally board on ''Galactica'', but not on the whiteboard voting tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Virga}}'' || ''Virga'' is on the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Ziusudra}}'' || On the voting tally boards on both ''Colonial One'' and ''Galactica'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
|}

====[[Luxury liner|Passenger and luxury liners]]====

* An unnamed [[Gemon Liners]] spaceliner ("33", "Exodus, Part II", "The Passage").
* An unnamed [[Pan Galactic]] spaceliner (Miniseries, "Exodus, Part II", "The Passage").
* An unnamed [[Saggitarian Spaceways]] spaceliner (same color as ''[[Pyxis]]'') (Miniseries, "Revelations")
* An unnamed Saggitarian Spaceways spaceliner (deep orange colored hull, this could be ''[[Chrion]]'') ("Guess What's Coming To Dinner?")

====Seen but unnamed====
* ''[[Five-engined vessel]]'', seen above [[Caprica City]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]) and during the escape from [[New Caprica]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]")
* ''[[Wedge-shaped vessel]]'', seen briefly during the end of "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" and throughout the fleet.
* ''[[Tubed vessel]]'', seen throughout the Fleet and jumping away from New Caprica at the end of "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II"
*''"[http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Kodiak Kodiak]"'' - seen briefly in [[Daybreak, Part II]]. The ship itself is unnamed in the episode, but clearly identifiable as ''Kodiak'', the command ship of the GDI faction from ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Tiberian_Sun Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]''.

:'''Note''': Any of these vessels is probably identical to one of the mentioned only ones above.

=== Destroyed ===
'''Note''': All remaining Fleet ships with the exception of the [[Rebel Basestar]] are destroyed in "[[Daybreak, Part II]]" when they are flown into the Sol system's star.

{|class="messagebox sortable" style="width:100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" align="center"
|- class="infoboxheader"
! Name !! Ship type / function !! Destroyed in !! Notes
|-
|''[[Adriatic]]'' || Unknown || [[The Passage]] || A member of the Roslin faction armed with ship-to-ship missiles ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). Lost in transit in a [[Passage (star cluster)|star cluster]].
|-
| ''[[Botanical Cruiser]]'' || Agricultural and transport vessel || [[Miniseries]] || A sublight-only vessel that is destroyed by the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] after the Fall, before Roslin's fleet rendezvous with ''Galactica'' at [[Ragnar]]. An FTL-equipped vessel of the same type remains in the Fleet.
|-
| ''[[Carina]]'' || ''[[Flattop]]''-type salvage and repair ship || The Passage || Lost in transit in a star cluster.
|-
| ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' || [[Luxury liner]], civilian/government || [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]] || Designed to mimic the environment of a habitable planet, ''Cloud Nine'' became the meeting place for the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] after the Fall. It is later home to legalized prostitution ([[TRS]]: "[[Black Market]]") and [[Demand Peace]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Epiphanies]]"). The ship is destroyed by a nuclear warhead detonated by [[Gina Inviere]], resulting in the destruction of at least three other ships.
|-
| ''[[Daru Mozu]]'' || [[Refinery ship]] || Unknown || Damaged by a [[Demand Peace]] [[Epiphanies|suicide bomber]]. Its destruction cannot be confirmed, but ''[[Hitei Kan]]'' is strongly implied to be the only existing refinery ship in "[[Dirty Hands]]".
|-
| ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'' || Luxury liner || [[33]] || Destroyed by [[Lee Adama]] and [[Kara Thrace]] after an apparent Cylon takeover.
|-
| ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' || [[Battlestar (RDM)|Battlestar]], military || [[Exodus, Part II]]<ref>Technically, "[[Razor]]" is the last time the ship is seen, but the events of that DVD movie occur in Season 2, whereas "Exodus" is set in Season 3.</ref> || This is the last remaining [[Mercury class battlestar]]. Formerly commanded by [[Helena Cain]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]"), [[Jack Fisk]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]") and [[Barry Garner]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Captain's Hand]]"). Became the Fleet's commanding vessel while under Cain's command; lead reverted to ''Galactica'' when William Adama was promoted to admiral after Cain's death. Under the command of Lee Adama when it is destroyed during the [[Battle of New Caprica]]. ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part II]]") Surviving crew absorbed by ''Galactica''.
|-
| ''[[Pyxis]]'' || Luxury liner || [[He That Believeth In Me]] || Commanded by Captain [[Jules Tarney]], this ship is successfully shepherded to the [[algae planet]], but later destroyed in the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula]] resulting in 600 deaths.
|}

==== Additional ships ====

*The following ships are destroyed together in the ''Cloud Nine'' disaster ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]"):
* One [[Colonial Movers]] ship
* A ''[[yellow vessel]]''
: This ship appears to resemble ''Kodiak''
* A ''[[long-necked vessel]]''

== Non-canonical ==

Initially, it appears that the production did not have a master list of ships in the first season, as evidenced by the numerical discrepancies to the later retconned numbers in Season 2. The following is a list of ships that have been mentioned in deleted scenes exclusively.

{|class="messagebox sortable" style="width:100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" align="center"
|- class="infoboxheader"
! Name !! Notes
|-
|''{{inlineref|bold=N|Coronis}}'' || ''Coronis'' is mentioned in a deleted scene in "[[Litmus]]", as a ship carrying people who are unhappy about being last in food ration distribution. However, it is not present on either the master tally board on ''Galactica'' or the whiteboard tracker on ''Colonial One'' in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II". As ''Coronis'' has not been mentioned in any canonical capacity, it is considered totally abandoned by the producers .<br/>
In Greek mythology [[w:Coronis (Greek mythology)|Coronis]] is the name of several figures.
|}

==Demographics==
A few points of information are available concerning the demographics of the Fleet. In "[[33]]", before the destruction of the Olympic Carrier, there are 5,251 survivors from Sagittaron and 49,998 total survivors. In "[[Home, Part I]]", the [[Laura Roslin faction]] leaves the Fleet with 18,000 individuals, of which 9,500 ware Gemenese and 6,250 were Capricans. At that time the total population of the Fleet is 47,857.

This information is sparse, but it gives a general idea of the population breakdown of the Fleet if a few assumptions are made for the sake of argument.
*Note that Gemenon and Caprica have more citizens in the Roslin faction alone than Sagittaron has in the entire Fleet. The Twelve Colonies are clearly not represented in equal proportion.
*Before the destruction of ''Olympic Carrier'', Sagittaron natives make up 10.50% of the Fleet. Solely for the purpose of argument, it is assumed that ''Olympic Carrier'''s population breakdown was identical to the rest of the Fleet's and that Sagittaron continues to make up 10.50% of the Fleet's total population.
*The figures from the Roslin faction can be interpreted in several ways:
<div style="float:right; margin:10px">[[Image:Demographics1.png]]</div>
:*ASSUMPTION 1: All Gemenese and Capricans jump to Kobol with the Roslin faction.
::*Caprica: 6,250 persons (13%)
::*Gemenon: 9,500 persons (20%)
::*Sagittaron: 5,026 persons (11%)
::*Others: 27,081 (57%)<br clear="both">
<div style="float:right; margin:10px">[[Image:Demographics2.png]]</div>
:*ASSUMPTION 2: All Gemenese jump to Kobol with the Roslin faction, lured by the "religion card", but the Caprican portion of the Roslin faction is representative of the Fleet.
::*Caprica: 28,204 persons (59%)
::*Gemenon: 9,500 persons (20%)
::*Sagittaron: 5,026 persons (11%)
::*Others: 5,127 persons (11%)<br clear="both">
<div style="float:right; margin:10px">[[Image:Demographics3.png]]</div>
:*ASSUMPTION 3: Caprican and Gemenese portions of the Roslin faction are representative of the Fleet.
::*Caprica: 16,617 persons (35%)
::*Gemenon: 25,258 persons (53%)
::*Sagittaron: 5,026 persons (11%)
::*Others: 956 (2%)<br clear="both">
*Although it is plausible that the Caprican population is substantially larger than the other Colonies, as ''Colonial Heavy 798'' is in the vicinity when the attack begins, and is the nucleus around which the Fleet rallies, it is unlikely that the populations of each colony are grossly unequal, or else the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] would be a very poor system of government. The likeliest scenario is therefore somewhere in between assumptions 1 and 2, with nearly all of the Gemenon population (drawn by the "religion card") and a large portion of the Caprican population leaving with Roslin.
*Alternatively, it is possible that the population of the Colonies are grossly unequal. Although the structure of the Quorum of Twelve appears to maintain at least a fiction that the Colonies are roughly equal, next to nothing is known about how the [[Government|governmental]] system of the Colonies was established or how it evolved over time. Indeed, the United States Senate, for example, by design expressly assumes that the various states constituting it are 'equal' even though this is clearly not the case in terms of their respective populations. Furthermore, the fact that a system of government is 'poor' or else not representatively proportional does not mean it cannot actually be implemented and even survive for long periods of time.
*In the [[Caprica pilot|''Caprica'' pilot]], it is revealed that Caprica and Gemenon are in very close proximity. Since the Fleet formed up around ''Colonial One'', which was in the vicinity of Caprica at the time of the attack, the over-representation of the Caprican and Gemenese portion of the Fleet is now explained.

As for the population distribution, the population of several ships is known: ''Galactica'' (2,693 as of "[[Water]]"), ''Olympic Carrier'' (1,345 as of "[[33]]"), ''Astral Queen'' (1,500 as of "[[Bastille Day]]", [[List of retcons (RDM)|retconned]] up from 500 in the Miniseries) and ''Pyxis'' (600 when destroyed in "[[He That Believeth In Me]]"). There are 176 civilians in the cargo hold of ''[[Colonial One]]'' in "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]". The Fleet is stated at about 75 ships in "[[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]", retconned up from 40 in the Miniseries.
*Going by the 75 ship count, the remaining ships besides ''Galactica'' and ''Astral Queen'' each carry about 600 persons on average.
*The 23 ships that leave with the [[Laura Roslin faction]], apart from ''Astral Queen'', would have an average population of about 720 persons per ship.

The Fleet's population has declined by about 8,000 since the above.

==Notes==
*Unofficially, many viewers refer to the Fleet as the "RTF"; "Rag Tag Fleet", or more fully, "RTFF." These nicknames come from the term "Rag Tag Fugitive Fleet," a name used in the opening credits voice over of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] (performed by series creator [[Lorne Greene]]), describing the [[The Fleet (TOS)|civilian refugee fleet]].
* In the [[Miniseries]], astute viewers may recognize three spacecraft with notable resemblances of ships from other SF universes. The first two of these ships aren't considered a [[Canon|canonical]] part of the series or the Fleet, but their appearance adds a bit of humor and pays homage to other notable science fiction and their creative staff.
:* ''Serenity'', the central ship from the TV series ''[[Wikipedia:Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' and the motion picture ''[[Wikipedia:Serenity (film)|Serenity]]'', [[:md:Image:SerenityBSGMini.JPG|appears briefly in the sky]] outside the window of a doctor's office where viewers first see [[Laura Roslin]]. The ship does not appear in the Fleet.
:* The original USS [[MemoryAlpha:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|''Enterprise'' (NCC-1701)]] from the original ''[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' TV series makes a cameo in the [[:md:Image:Enterprise in fleet.jpg|last shot of the Fleet]] as [[Elosha]] chants a prayer in the memorial service near the end of the Miniseries. Look to the upper right corner for the ship in a still frame. All Season 1 [[opening credits]] use this shot, so ''Enterprise'' makes a very quick appearance with each of the first 13 episodes (This is best viewed from the [[Season 1 DVD]] set).
:*The ill-fated [[Botanical Cruiser]] in the Miniseries was added in homage to the [[Agro Ship]] from the Original Series, which in turn were the re-used models from the SF film ''[[Wikipedia:Silent Running|Silent Running]]'', a Universal/MCA movie that special effects guru [[John Dykstra]] worked on a few years prior. At least one FTL-capable version of this ship survives and exists in the Fleet ([[TRS]]: "[[The Passage]]").
* [[Battlestar Galactica Blue Prints|A list of blueprints]] of ships in the Fleet is available.

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

==See Also==
*[[:Category:Colonial Craft|Colonial Craft]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleet (RDM), The}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[Category:Organizations]]
[[Category:Ships|*]]
[[Category:Ships (RDM)|*]]
[[Category:Ships (TRS)|*]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:TRS]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[de:Die Flotte (RDM)]]

Cylon History

2011-01-20T10:16:20Z

Pst001:

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Kobol surface, Kobol's Last Gleaming II.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying two of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced the third to crash on Kobol where the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

[[Image:Eights.jpg|thumb|Several Eights reveal themselves to Sharon.]]

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth, with the Cylons tracking their movements. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-20T05:21:37Z

Pst001:

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying two of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced the third to crash on Kobol where the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

[[Image:Eights.jpg|thumb|Several Eights reveal themselves to Sharon.]]

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth, with the Cylons tracking their movements. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-20T05:00:28Z

Pst001: more

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

===Kobol===
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies. As the war came to a close, that Hybrid escaped aboard a basehip with a handful to Centurions - later passing into Cylon legend as [[Cylon_Centurion_Model_0005#Guardians|The Guardians]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' itself jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol (RDM)|Battle of Kobol]]''
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying two of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced the third to crash on Kobol where the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol and retreat. However, in the confusion, the fleet was separated from the ''Galactica'', leaving it vulnerable to attack ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]", "[[Scattered]]").

Fearing for the safety of the civilians at jump coordinates unkown, Colonel Saul Tigh took command of the ''Galactica'' jumping the ship back to its original coordinates and back to the Cylons in order to locate the fleet. Fighting off a Cylon barrage, the coordinates were discovered and the ''Galactica'' jumped away once again, but not before taking on a boarding party of Centurions. Using the same tactics they employed during the Cylon War, the Centurions disabled ''Galactica'' and overran the ship, attempting to reach its atmospheric controls and vent the crew into space. Despite losing a handful of officers to brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Centurions, the crew of ''Galactica'' prevailed, repelling the Cylon boarding party, repairing the ship, and returning to the Fleet. In addition, the Colonials also acquired the Cylon party's ship, a [[Heavy Raider]], allowing them study and cannibalize its technology ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

===Resurrection===
With their fleet reunited, the Colonials continued their flight to Earth, with the Cylons tracking their movements. Unknown to the humans, however, another Colonial vessel, the battlestar ''Pegasus'' had also survived. Conducting hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations including a [[communication relay]] and Raider staging ground, the ''Pegasus'' tracked the Cylon fleet only to discover its target: the ''Galactica''. Joining with the ''Galactica'', the presence of the ''Pegasus'' gave the Colonials further advantage and resulted in yet another [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|offensive]] against the Cylons ([[TRS]]: "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]", "[[Razor]]").

Locating and targeting the Cylon Resurrection Ship - a previously unknown vehicle - the Colonials planned an operation to take it out, thus temporarily robbing the Cylons of their ability to download into new bodies. The combined offensive action resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of basestars and the ultimate destruction of the Resurrection Ship, sending the Cylons into retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship, Parts I]] & [[Resurrection Ship, Part II|II]]").

Though the Colonials were victorious, the Cylons scored their own victory when a captured Cylon agent, Gina Inviere, escaped her cell aboard ''Galactica'' and assassinated the ship's commander, Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Though other commanders rose to take Cain's place, the command structure aboard ''Pegasus'' was weakened - a fact demonstrated when the ship's new commander was killed when the Cylons lured ''Pegasus'' into an easy [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ambush]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", "[[Captain's Hand]]").

Still, the Cylons became cautious, changing their tactics to reflect their loss of resurrection. Even Raiders - which were capable of downloading after being destroyed - behaved differently, choosing not to engage Colonial fighters in battle, but rather lure them into traps ([[TRS]]: "[[Scar]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol

2011-01-20T02:27:36Z

Pst001:

:''This article discusses the Twelve Colonies of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. See [[The Twelve Colonies of Man]] for information on the Colonies of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]].''

[[File:Colonialseal.png|210px|right|[[Colonial Seal|Seal]] of the Twelve Colonies.]]
'''The Twelve Colonies of Kobol''' are twelve distinct worlds, located in a remote part of their home galaxy. For 2,000 years they were home to the human survivors of the Exodus of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]].<ref>Mentioned by [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11953827897 Serge's twitter account], given that Serge's account corresponds to 58 years before [[The Fall]].</ref>

After the settlement, the colonies slowly began to prosper and eventually gave birth to a race of cybernetic lifeforms, known as [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. Soon after their creation the Cylons raged a devastating war on their creators' home planets which ultimately led to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].

Wasted and in ruins, the once prosperous home worlds of humanity are finally left to themselves. What becomes of them is unknown to their inhabitants' descendants.
{{RDM twelve colonies series}}

==Star System==
The Twelve Colonies of Kobol are located in the star system Cyrannus.<ref>''Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine''; "Encyclopedia Galactica"; issue #3; page 51</ref>

During the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] one [[Hybrid]] indicates that the Colonies orbit three stars ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). It is also known that at least some of the Colonies share their orbits ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]], TV version).

While [[Elosha]] states that the Tribes settled onto "twelve worlds", the exact definition of "world" remains ambiguous. Although the Colonies are defined as independent, habitable celestial bodies, it is not known, whether they only include major planets or other astronomical objects such as moons, minor planets or even asteroids.

Prior to their destruction, the Twelve Colonies have approximately 50 billion inhabitants ([[TRS]]: "[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]").

===Notes===
* The fact that the Colonies are located within one system originates from a [http://web.archive.org/web/20080620084336/http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/01/#a000016 blog entry] by Ronald D. Moore.
* Jane Espenson revealed on Twitter that the Colonies are within a star cluster and share some orbits. The latter fact was finally shown to be true in the TV version of the [[Caprica pilot#Differences between the DVD and TV Cut|series premiere]] of ''Caprica''.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/9489713649 Serge's Twitter Account], the Colonies orbit four stars in a star cluster, one of which is [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8704838501 described] as an "outlier". Also, some of the worlds (such as [[Aquaria]]) are barely inhabitable. Aquaria and Aerilon also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10897544075 share an orbit] with [[Ragnar]] and are located in the gas giant's Lagrangian points.
* Before the canonical figure mentioned above the original [[Miniseries]] script stated a pre-Fall population of about 12 billion. The webisodes "[[The Resistance]]" stated the death of 20 billion people caused by the Cylons.
*Serge's twitter [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/17543741200 mentions] that the exodus from Kobol is believed to be true by the inhabitants of the Twelve Colonies and it was from them that animals such as cats as well as dogs came to the Colonies. Furthermore, the [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/13899240134 twelve planets] are populated with a few other worlds in the star cluster but not many with the settled colonies [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/12891949300 already] possessing some animal as well as plant life. Furthermore, Serge [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/17543813025 states] that all the planets are not democracies but rather each has their own style of government.
<br style="clear:both;">

==History==
{{mainarticle|History of the Twelve Colonies}}
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|[[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], the ancient homeworld of humanity.]]
About 2,000 years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], the last twelve tribes of [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] left their planet<ref>According to dialogue from "[[Torn]]", "[[A Measure of Salvation]]" and "[[The Eye of Jupiter]]", the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] left Kobol some 2,000 years ''before'' the twelve tribes. The Scroll of [[Pythia]] is dated as written 3,600 years before the last exodus of Kobol, and chronicles the Thirteenth Tribe's exodus.</ref> over conflicts with their [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|gods]], as well as some sort of calamity ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]").

The tribes settled on twelve worlds some distance away ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]"). The tribes' namesakes and icons originally corresponded to the twelve signs of the ancient tribes, although these [[wikipedia:Zodiac|names]] drifted over time ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part II]]").<ref>Flag matches with Colonies from "Encyclopedia Galactica." ''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine]]''. Feb./Mar. 2006: 50-55.</ref>

The early Colonies lived (and fought) more as sovereign nations. Some (particularly [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]) prospered, while others (such as [[Sagittaron]] and [[Aerilon]]) were often considered lessers. For peacetime labor forces as well as for wars between each other, humanity created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. When these [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|early models]] rebelled, the Colonies unified their governments under the [[Articles of Colonization]] sometime before or during the [[Cylon War]] as a federal republic known as the '''Twelve Colonies of Kobol'''.

The official symbol of the Twelve Colonies was the [[Colonial seal]]. The nation also had a distinctive [[Colonial anthem|anthem]].

===Downfall===
{{mainarticle|Fall of the Twelve Colonies}}
[[Image:Bsyashuman.jpg|thumb|[[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]], shortly before its downfall.]]
40 years after the end of the devastating war, the Cylons return and cause havoc among the twelve worlds of their creators ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[The Plan]]"). For some time the Colonies remain occupied by Cylon forces and a [[Caprica resistance|small group of human survivors]]. After nine months, humanity and the Cylons leave the twelve worlds for good ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

Of the original 50 billion inhabitants, only about 55,000 survive the first days of the holocaust. Most of them leave the Colonies behind in two small [[The Fleet (RDM)|fugitive fleets]]. The fleet of the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' eventually encounters both [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], as well as the original Thirteenth Colony [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]]. Some time after that, and after the destruction of the [[The Colony|the Cylon home world]], they settle on a [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth|beautiful, rich world]], leaving behind the baggage of their Colonial heritage. ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[Daybreak, Part II]]")

===Fate===
The ultimate fate of the Twelve Colonies 150,000 years after [[The Fall]] is unknown. Presumably, after several hundred years, their climates and surfaces would degrade until they resemble the original [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

It can be presumed that by the present-day radiation levels would have lowered past the point in which life would be allowed to flourish once again. However, little, if any traces would remain of the human civilizations that once thrived upon them, excluding remains in space, such as the remnants of [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] or [[Ragnar Anchorage]].
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==Aerilon==
{{mainarticle|Aerilon}}
[[Image:ColonialColors7.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Aerilon]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Aries (constellation)|Aries]]

Aerilon was primarily an agricultural world. It was considered to be the "food basket" of the Twelve Colonies and ranked among its poorest members ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]"). The planet shared an orbit with the gas giant [[Ragnar]], orbiting in one of its Lagrangian points.<ref name="ragnar">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10897544075 Serge's twitter account] stated that fact.</ref> Aerilon's capital was Gaoth.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

The mannerisms of Aerilon's natives were considered rough and rude, at least by [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprican]] standards. The people of this world also spoke with a distinctive accent that was quite hard to cover up ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]").

One of the very last [[Pyramid (RDM) | Pyramid]] games occurred on Aerilon, right before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Resistance]]"). A [[Lest We Forget|photograph]], showcasing the destruction of Aerilon's capital, Gaoth, becomes one of the most memorable documents of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", deleted scene).

=== Natives ===
* [[Gaius Baltar | Gaius]] and [[Julius Baltar]]
* [[Sherry Bennett]]
* [[Sekou Hamilton]]
* [[Socinus]]

=== Notes ===
* On some occasions this colony's name was also spelled '''Aerelon'''. Battlestar Wiki uses the more commonly found '''Aerilon'''. There is a similar discrepancy in the pronunciation of the colony's name.
<br style="clear:both;">

==Aquaria==
[[Image:ColonialColors12.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Aquaria]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Aquarius (constellation)|Aquarius]]

Aquaria was widely known for its vast oceans ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). The planet had no official capital city and shared an orbit with [[Ragnar]] in one of its Lagrangian points.<ref name="capitals3">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] stated in[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545438632 this tweet] that Aquaria and Libran "don't have official capitals".</ref><ref name="ragnar">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10897544075 Serge's twitter account] stated that fact.</ref>

The Aquarian government hold weekly community meetings that were open to all, citizen or non-citizen. Most issues addressed were voted on and passed by majority vote, even the election of the Prime Minister.<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

Its first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] delegate within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|fugitive Fleet]], [[Miksa Burian]], votes for [[Tom Zarek]] in the vice-presidential elections ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]").

=== Notes ===
* On many occasions this colony's name was also spelled '''Aquarion'''. However, the name '''Aquaria''' was heard on screen during the Hybrid's monologue in "[[The Plan]]" and spoken by President Roslin when tallying the votes for vice- president ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]").<ref>Serge's [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8704063822 Twitter account] states that both names are viable, with Aquarion being the official name and Aquaria a regional variation.</ref>
* In an [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/caprica-countdown-the-music-of-the-master-bear-mccreary.html LA Times article], Aquaria is described as a frigid ocean world, with small volcanic land masses and small communities. It is also said to be regarded as nothing more than a scientific research outpost by the other Colonies.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545438632 Serge's twitter account], Aquaria doesn't have a capital city.
<br style="clear:both;">

==Canceron==
[[Image:ColonialColors9.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Canceron]]
[[Image:Canceron.png|thumb|left|Canceron from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Cancer (constellation)|Cancer]]

The planet was well known for its beaches and had at least one large coastal metropolis ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). The capital was Hades.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Prior to the [[First Cylon War]], Canceron was a very overpopulated and poor colony. Canceron's major cities such as Hades and Mangala were known to have large slums. Its large population earned Canceron the nickname "The Largest Democracy" within the colonies, though some believed the government was nothing more than a corrupt Oligarchy.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/sports/canceron-wants-a-fourth-pyramid-team.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Canceron Wants a Fourth Pyramid Team"].</ref> <ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/opinion/just-wondering-about-that-military-roadblock-thing.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Just Wondering About That Military Roadblock Thing"]</ref>

One of the [[Luxury liner | passenger liners]] within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the fleet]], ''[[Pyxis]]'', is one of the last ships that escapes this world when the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] began. Aboard is the [[Number Six]] copy [[Shelly Godfrey]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

[[Robin Wenutu]] is the Canceron delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] after the Fall.
<br style="clear:both;">
===Pyramid Team===
* [[Canceron Hydras]]
* [[Hades Vice]]
* [[Mangala Krill]]

==Caprica==
{{mainarticle|Caprica (RDM)}}
[[Image:ColonialColors3.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Caprica]]
[[Image:Caprica from Orbit.jpg|left|thumb|[[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[w:Capricornus|Capricorn]]

Caprica was a lush blue-green planet, covered by large oceans and continents. It shared its orbit with an arid desert world ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]], TV version — see notes). Metropolitan areas on the planet included the capital [[Caprica City]], as well as [[Delphi]].

Caprica was regarded as the center of Colonial civilization, even long before the [[First Cylon War]]. [[Graystone Industries]] was one of the Colonies' most influential technology developers and had a hand in creating the very [[U-87|first Cylons]]. Some 60 years before [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]], Caprica was also plagued by [[Soldiers of the One | religiously]] motivated terrorism ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]).

After the war, the planet was once again the seat of politics, culture, art, science, learning and even the Colonial government. It was also one of the wealthiest colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Epiphanies]]", "[[Dirty Hands]]").

During the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] Caprica comes under heavy bombardment by Cylon forces. At least four [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestars]] are destroyed in its orbit and Caprica City is annihilated in a nuclear explosion ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[The Plan]]").

After the Fall of Mankind, Caprica is occupied by [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon forces]]. Some of the few remaining [[Caprica resistance|human survivors]] within the Colonies fight on this world for several weeks. The occupation and resistance both end roughly nine months after the attack and the planet is left for good ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Resistance]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

6,250 people from Caprica join the [[Laura Roslin faction]] over [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). The overall Caprican survivor population, possibly significantly greater, is unknown (see analysis [[The Fleet (RDM)#Demographics|here]]). An attempted settlement by the survivors of the holocaust is named [[New Caprica]] in honor of the original colony ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]").

The first [[Quorum of Twelve (TRS)|Quorum of Twelve]] delegate after the Fall is [[Gaius Baltar]]. Years later this spot is taken by [[Lee Adama]].

===Natives===
* [[William Adama | William]], [[Tamara Adama|Tamara]], [[Zak Adama|Zak]] and [[Lee Adama]]
* [[Richard Adar]], presumed as he was also the mayor of Caprica City at one point
* [[Daniel Graystone|Daniel]], [[Amanda Graystone|Amanda]] and [[Zoe Graystone]]
* [[Lacy Rand]] and her family
* [[Laura Roslin | Laura]], [[Cheryl Roslin|Cheryl]] and [[Sandra Roslin]], as well as their parents
* [[Ben Stark]] and his mother, [[Natalie Stark|Natalie]]
* [[Kara Thrace|Kara]], [[Socrata Thrace|Socrata]] and (presumably) [[Dreilide Thrace]]

===Notes===
* Caprica was and continues to be the world most prominently depicted in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined series' continuity]]. It wasn't until [[Razor]] that another of the Twelve Colonies was actually seen on screen.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8705440343 Sege's Twitter Account], Caprica shares its orbit with [[Gemenon]].
*Serge's twitter also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11920922009 states] that Caprica had a number of unique lifeforms on its surface though animal transplantation by early Colonists allowed them to be seen on the other planets.
*The twitter account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/11861670347 mentions] that Caprica spends the most on Colonial defense.
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==Gemenon==
[[Image:ColonialColors5.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Gemenon]]
[[Image:Gemenon.JPG|thumb|left|Gemenon from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]]

Gemenon was an arid and xeric red world that shared its orbit with [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]], TV version - see notes). The capital of the planet was Oranu.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

It was one of the poorer colonies and its people, the Gemenese, were known for their religious fundamentalism ([[TRS]]: "[[Scattered]]", "[[Dirty Hands]]").<ref> Despite this fundamentalist approach to the polytheistic Colonial religion, the Gemenese were known to be tolerant of all forms of worship, including monotheism. In fact, the monotheist movement is said to have begun on Gemenon.

The people of Gemenon are consistently referred to as "Gemenese" in both the [[Re-imagined Series]] and [[Caprica (series)|Caprica]].</ref>

Before the [[First Cylon War]], Gemenon was home to the [[Kobol Colleges]] and a monotheistic cult called "[[Soldiers of the One|The Soldiers of the One]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries, Night 2]]; [[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]). Gemenon's second-largest city, Illumini, was built around a large Pantheon complex, composed of buildings intended to worship and celebrate every deity in the [[Sacred Scrolls]].<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

The Gemenese were known for their literal interpretations of the [[Sacred Scrolls|Scrolls]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]"). Most of the population of Gemenon was apparently very strongly opposed to the federal laws legalizing abortion ([[TRS]]: "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

The planet also had either an old or disused language, known as [[Language in the Twelve Colonies|Old Gemenese]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

Three months after [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]], approximately 9,500 Gemenese join the [[Laura Roslin faction]] over [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Home, Part I]]"). The large and devoted Gemenese population continues to be an important political factor within the [[The Fleet (RDM)|fugitive fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

===Natives===
[[Image:GemenonCityscape.jpg|thumb|right|A city on Gemenon.]]
*[[Adrien Bauer]]
*[[Jurgen Belzen]] and his family
*[[Rya Kibby]]
*[[Romo Lampkin]]
*[[Sarah Porter]], former delegate to the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]]
*Corporal [[Venner]]

===Pyramid Team===
* [[Gemenon Twins]]

===Notes===
* If the word "Inviere" (meaning "Resurrection") is any indication, Old Gemenese was probably similar to the Romanian language of [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth|our Earth]].
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/8705440343 Serge's Twitter account], Gemenon is the planet that shares its orbit with [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. This planet is seen at the beginning of the aired ''Caprica'' pilot, but not identified in said episode.
* As an Easter Egg in ''[[The Plan]]'', the building on the lower left of the screen is the same one where the [[memoryalpha:Romulan Senate|Romulan Senate]] assembles in ''[[memoryalpha:Star Trek Nemesis|Star Trek Nemesis]]''. A detailed picture of this building is available [[memoryalpha:File:Romulan senate building, 2379.jpg|here]].
<br style="clear:both;">

==Leonis==
[[Image:ColonialColors8.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Leonis]]
[[Image:Leonis.png|thumb|left|A Leonan thoroughfare under Cylon assault.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Leo (constellation)|Leo]]

Leonis was geographically known for its open plains ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). Its capital was Luminere.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

In the era prior to the [[First Cylon War]], Leonis produced and exported a popular energy drink named "Leonis Red".<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref> [[Leonis Estates Sparkling Wine]] was a type of alcohol produced on this colony ([[TRS]]: "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]").

[[Safiya Sanne]] is the Leonan representative on the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] after [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]].
<br style="clear:both;">

===Pyramid Team===
* [[Leonis Wildcats]]

==Libran==
[[Image:ColonialColors11.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Libran]]
[[Image:Libran.gif|thumb|left|The courthouses of Libran.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Libra (constellation)|Libra]]

Libran was known for its courthouses and lawyers ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"), and was the home of the [[Inter-Colonial Court]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Gravedancing]]"). The planet had no official capital.<ref name="capitals3">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] stated in[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545438632 this tweet] that Aquaria and Libran "don't have official capitals".</ref>

A major city on Libran was called [[Themis]] which had a large, modern [[pyramid]] arena built sometime before the First Cylon War. Yet at this time Libran had no official pyramid team.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/sports/libran-needs-a-pyramid-team-statim.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Libran Needs a Pyramid Team Statim"].</ref>

After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]], [[Oswin Eriku]] is chosen to be this colony's representative to the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]].

''[[Zephyr]]'', a passenger liner in the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]], is of Libran registry.<ref>This was stated in a Fleet overview on scifi.com. This section of the site has long been shut down.</ref>

===Notes===
* The Colony's actual name, '''Libran''', was not heard on screen until "[[The Plan]]" but could already be seen on a name plate in "[[The Ties That Bind]]" and "[[A Disquiet Follows My Soul]]". Before that it was often called '''Libris''' in secondary publications.
* The city that is seen when Libran is mentioned in the "Caprica is burning" monologue in "[[The Plan]]", bears a striking resemblance to [[Tauron City]], as seen in "[[Know Thy Enemy]]".
*Serge's twitter account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/15877355213 says] that the Libran court system served as a body through which trade disputes and legal matters were capable of being sorted amongst the colonies. He also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/15877298276 states] that it is a high earning colony but is not regarded as a desirable place to live.
<br style="clear:both;">

==Picon==
[[Image:ColonialColors2.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Picon]]
[[Image:Picon.png|thumb|left|Picon from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]]

Picon was a turquoise planet, mainly covered by water and famous for its harbors ([[TRS]]: [[The Plan]]). The capital city was Queenstown, a relatively small fishing village.<ref name="capricanpicon">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/p-is-for-paradise-p-is-for-picon.php ''The Caprican'' article: "'P' Is for 'Paradise, 'P' Is for Picon"].</ref><ref name="capitals2">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Caprica, Tauron and Picon [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 this tweet].</ref>

During the planet's off-season, most of the landscape became cold and rugged.<ref name="capricanpicon">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/p-is-for-paradise-p-is-for-picon.php ''The Caprican'' article: "'P' Is for 'Paradise, 'P' Is for Picon"].</ref> The planet was often used as a substitute for [[Caprica City]] in Caprican films and TV series.<ref name="capricanvacations">[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/lifestyle/top-5-off-beat-vacation-destinations.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Top 5 Off-Beat Vacation Destinations"].</ref>

After the Unification of the Twelve Colonies this world was the location of the [[Picon Fleet Headquarters|Colonial Fleet Headquarters]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]). Picon was also the home of [[Picon Laboratories]], located in Pailyn, Muritolan ([[TRS]]: "[[Faith]]").

The colony came under heavy attack during the early stages of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]]. One of the last ships to leave the planet was the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'', carrying many wounded people including an unconscious [[Ellen Tigh]] ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

The destruction of Picon's Fleet Headquarters caused President [[Richard Adar]] to offer a complete and unconditional surrender to the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. This offer was ignored by the invading forces ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===Natives===
* [[Asha Janik]]
* [[Billy Keikeya | Billy Keikeya's]] family
* [[Playa Palacios]]

===Publications===
*''[[Picon Star Tribune]]''

===Pyramid Team===
* [[Picon Panthers]]

=== Notes ===
*Picon's destination as a substitute for Caprica in films and series is likely a reference to Canada, and particularly Vancouver, where both the [[Re-Imagined Series]] and ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' were filmed.
*[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/12144717655 According] to Serge's twitter account, Picon has the most efficient, cooperative and responsive democracy in the colonies.
*In one [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10988850734 post], it's said that Picon offers tax incentives for production of TV programs on the planet though Caprica remains the leading producer of such shows.
<br style="clear:both;">

==Sagittaron==
{{mainarticle|Sagittaron}}
[[Image:ColonialColors10.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Sagittaron]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]]

Sagittaron was one of the poorest worlds of the Twelve Colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]"). The capital of this planet was Tawa.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

The Sagittarons were traditionalists who practiced a different form of religion from the other Colonials. They distrusted modern medicine and were generally unsupportive of the military ([[TRS]]: "[[The Woman King]]").

The Planet endured centuries of exploitation at the hands of the other Colonies. Eventually, [[Tom Zarek]] led an organized series of terrorist acts against the established government there, many years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall of the Colonies]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]").

A few days after the Cylon attack, 5,251 people from this world reside within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]").

===Natives===
* [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Anastasia Dualla]]
* [[Portia King | Portia]] and [[Willie King]]
* [[Clarice Willow]]
* [[Tom Zarek]]

===Pyramid Team===
* [[Sagittaron Archers]]

===Notes===
* The colony's name was originally spelled as "Sagittar'''i'''on" in the [[Miniseries]], but this changed to '''Sagittaron''' when the regular series began.
<br style="clear:both;">

==Scorpia==
[[Image:ScorpionFleetShipyards1.jpg|thumb|left|Scorpia and and its shipyards from orbit.]]
[[Image:ColonialColors6.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Scorpia]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Scorpius|Scorpio]]

Scorpia was known for its lush jungles and hot temperatures ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]"). Scorpia's capital was Celeste.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Before the [[First Cylon War]] one of the major leisure spots of the world was Argentum Bay, despite the colony's trashy reputation.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/entertainment/argentum-bay-the-ultimate-vernal-break.php ''The Caprican'' article: "Argentum Bay: The Ultimate Vernal Break"].</ref>. The Planet was also apparently well-known for its [[Scorpia Paragliding|Paragliding]] ([[TRS]]: "Razor").

After the Unification, Scorpia was home to the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards|Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]]. This structure comes under heavy fire during the initial [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], destroying five ships and causing [[Pegasus (RDM)|another one]] to risk a blind jump in order to escape ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

[[Eladio Puasha]] serves as the planet's delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]] assembled after the Fall.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>

===Notes===
* In an [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/caprica-countdown-paula-malcolmsons-moving-away-from-deadwoods-trixie.html LA Times article], Scorpia is described as having a "scorpion tail-like half-ring". This fits Tauron's twin world that was shortly seen in "Know Thy Enemy".
<br style="clear:both;">

==Tauron==
{{mainarticle|Tauron (RDM)}}
[[Image:ColonialColors4.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Tauron]]
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|left|[[Tauron (RDM)|Tauron]] from orbit.]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]]

Tauron was a barren, arid planet that lacked any kind of flowers. However, it was well-known for its agriculture ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]). Its capital was [[Hypatia]]<ref name="capitals2">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Caprica, Tauron and Picon [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 this tweet].</ref>, another large city was [[Tauron City]]. The planet shared its orbit with another ringed world ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]" - see notes).

Taurons were known to be very traditional people, even speaking a very old and distinctive [[Language in the Twelve Colonies|language]] ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]).

Some 800 years before [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the Fall]] Tauron was colonized by [[#Virgon|Virgon]] and [[#Leonis|Leonis]]. The people of Tauron liberated themselves and ever since this world has been known for its troubled and violent history.<ref>[http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/opinion/racism-an-unacceptable-aspect-of-caprican-life.php ''The Caprican'' article: "An Unacceptable Aspect of Caprican Life"].</ref>

Nearly a century before its Fall, Tauron was one of the poorer colonial worlds and the center of a [[Tauron Civil War|civil war]]. A few years before the [[First Cylon War]], the crime syndicate [[Ha'la'tha]] had enormous influence over the planet, which even extended to other colonies, such as [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]).

During the War, [[Hypatia]] was was the location of a [[Battle of Tauron|fierce and lossy battle]] against [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon forces]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", extended Edition).

After the War, Tauron was known to be a somewhat troublesome colony within the [[Government of the Twelve Colonies|federal system]] of the Colonies, often disobeying directives decided by the colonies and pushing their luck with the admiralty ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]"). Yet this world was counted among the wealthier of the twelve worlds ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]").

===Natives===
* [[Joseph Adama | Joseph]] and [[Sam Adama]]
* [[Shannon Adama]] and her mother, [[Ruth]]
* [[Helena Cain]] and her murdered family
* [[Tomas Vergis]]

===Notes===
* The language of Tauron is remarkably similar to Ancient Greek that, thousands of years later, was spoken on [[Earth (RDM)#A New Earth | a planet]] on the other side of the galaxy.
* According to [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10335013016 Serge's Twitter Account] Tauron only has a moon. However, the object's appearance in "Know Thy Enemy" is relatively large and resembles an [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/caprica-countdown-paula-malcolmsons-moving-away-from-deadwoods-trixie.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ShowTracker+%28L.A.+Times+-+Show+Tracker%29 ''LA Times'' decription] of [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Scorpia|Scorpia]].
* Serge's Twitter account also [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545200174 stated] Tauron's capital to be [[Hypatia]].
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==Virgon==
[[Image:ColonialColors1.png|thumb|100px|right|Colors and symbol of Virgon]]
'''Ancient Name''': [[wikipedia:Virgo (constellation)|Virgo]]

Virgon was well-known for its forests ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]") and considered to be one of the wealthier colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Dirty Hands]]"). The capital of Virgon was Boskirk.<ref name="capitals1">[http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/ Serge's twitter account] mentioned the capitals of Gemenon, Virgon, Leonis, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Canceron and Aerilon in [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10545377704 this tweet].</ref>

Virgon had a declining monarchy and a strong national parliament, at least 58 years before the Fall of the Colonies.<ref>Mentioned by [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/statuses/10937229785 Serge's twitter account].</ref>

[[Virgon Brew]] was a beer produced on the planet and exported to other Colonies ([[TRS]]: "[[Maelstrom]]").

Soon after the beginning of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]], the Colonials launche a counter-attack over Virgon. The battle ends with the destruction of the flagship battlestar ''[[Atlantia (RDM) | Atlantia]]'' and the resulting death of [[Nagala|Fleet Admiral Nagala]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

[[Marshall Bagot]] is the Virgon delegate to the first [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]]. He nominates [[Tom Zarek]] for the vice-presidency ([[TRS]]: "[[Colonial Day]]"). In public ceremonies, the Virgon delegate wears a light blue sash.

===Pyramid Team===
* [[Boskirk All Reds]]

===Notes===
*Serge's Twitter Account [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone/status/10937229785 states] that Virgon has a declining monarchy with a strong parliament.

== See Also==
*[[Ithaca]]
*[[Ragnar]]
*[[Troy (RDM)|Troy]]

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

{{RDM Planets}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve Colonies (RDM), The}}
[[Category:A to Z]]
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{{quality article}}
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[[de:Die Zwölf Kolonien (RDM)]]
[[es:Las Doce Colonias (RDM)]]
[[fr:Les Douze Colonies (RDM)]]
[[zh:拾贰殖民地 (RDM)]]

Cylon History

2011-01-20T02:11:13Z

Pst001: more data, this might be too long...

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines whose history and destiny were forever tied to their human "parents".

==Ancient Cylons==
Over two thousand years before Colonial [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that - [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.
===Kobol===
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet Kobol. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the Cylons, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet Earth where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan received mixed reviews from its Cylon engineers with models including [[Number Three|Three]]s considering a success beyond their expectations, while others, like "[[Six#.22Tough_Six.22|Tough Six]]" and John Cavil considering it a failure. Still the Colonial Fleet was destroyed and the Colonies themselves subjected to nuclear bombardment - humanity was all but wiped out, save a handful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities, Saul Tigh even acting as first officer of the ''Galactica'' alongside its commander, Cylon War veteran William Adama ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Cylons Versus ''Galactica''===
[[Image:Ragnarbattle3.jpg|thumb|The Cylon fleet engages the ''Galactica'' at Ragnar Anchorage.]]
Within its first few months on the run, the fleet led by the ''Galactica'' was engaged by the Cylons in battle numerous times. The first conflict occurred as the ''Galactica'' armed itself and gathered its fleet to leave the Colonial star system at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. Having discovered the Cylons' attempt at sabotaging the battlestar's CNP program, the crew of ''Galatica'' and Gaius Baltar - having survived the holocaust - purged the mainframe computer removing that particular Cylon advantage. Deploying a squadron of antique Viper Mark IIs from ''Galactica'''s [[Galactica Museum|Cylon War museum]], the Colonials [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|engaged]] Cylon basestars and raiders, providing the fleet cover in order to jump to safety. With the Cylons successfully repelled, the ''Galactica'' istelf jumped away, leading the fleet to a new home - the mythical planet described by Colonial [[Sacred Scrolls]], Earth ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

====Cylon Failures====
The Cylons quickly regrouped and pursued the Colonial fleet. As the Cylon fleet tracked the ''Galactica'' and its fleet jump after jump, a group of Cylon agents - John Cavil, [[Aaron Doral]], [[Leoben Conoy]], and [[Shelly Godfrey]] - worked from inside to disrupt, sabotage and destroy the fleet. Another Cylon - an Eight posing as Raptor pilot [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] - was planted aboard ''Galactica'' as a sleeper agent, acting against her ship under hypnotic suggestion. Cut off from the rest of their fleet, these Cylon agents bungled attempt after attempt to destroy the fleet, only able to contact the others after being killed and resurrected aboard a nearby [[Resurrection Ship]] ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Further undermining the Cylon agents' attempts to destroy the fleet, were their own "human" failings. Like the Number Six, Shelly Godfrey who fell in love with Gaius Baltar after trying to frame him for treason, a [[Number Four|Four]] calling himself Simon O'Neill likewise fell in love with and married a human. Having spent years as an agent in the Colonial Fleet, O'Neill later refused orders to sabotage the a vessel in the rag-tag fleet, choosing to commit suicide rather than betray his human wife and adopted daughter ([[TRS]]: "[[The Plan]]").

====''Galactica'' Scores a Victory====
:''Main article: [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]]
[[Image:Colonial offensive, Hand of God.jpg|thumb|Colonial Vipers prepare to attack the Cylon plant.]]
After being on the run for weeks, the Colonial fleet was in desperate need of refueling. Discovering a rich source of [[tylium ore]] on an asteroid occupied by the Cylons, Commander Adama determined to take the fuel by force. Marking the first offensive against the Cylons, the Colonials planned an operation involving decoy ships to draw the Cylons' attention away from the asteroid as a squadron of Vipers led by Captain [[Lee Adama]] attacked the Cylon tylium processing plant. Though the operation proved costly in terms of equipment and manpower, the Colonials prevailed, sending the Cylons into retreat. As Commander Adama described it: "If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back" ([[TRS]]: "[[The Hand of God]]").

===Kobol Rediscovered===
:''Main article: [[Battle of Kobol]]''
Believing they possessed a greater knowledge of human religion than the Colonials did themselves, the Cylons traveled to the planet Kobol where Colonials believed life originated. Placing a basestar in orbit, the Cylons laid in wait, hoping to catch the Fleet seeking refuge. Soon, the Colonial fleet detected Kobol and dispatched a scout of three Raptors to survey the planet. Destroying two of the Raptors immediately, the Cylons forced the third to crash on Kobol where the survivors fought for survival against a landing party of Cylon Centurions ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts I]] & [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|II]]", "[[Scattered]]", "[[Fragged]]").

[[Image:Valshootadama.jpg|thumb|Sharon Valerii shoots Commander Adama in the chest.]]

With the Cylons waiting in orbit, the Colonials were unable to rescue their men, choosing instead to send a Raptor piloted by Sharon Valerii - still unaware of her true nature - to plant an explosive aboard the basestar. Using a Cylon tracking device to disguise her ship as a captured vessel, Valerii and her co-pilot [[Margaret Edmondson]] flew their Raptor inside the baseship and planted a nuclear device. As she attempted to arm the nuke aboard the baseship, Valerii was confronted by a group of Eights, who allowed Sharon to plant the bomb and depart before the device detonated, destroying the Cylon vessel ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

Returning to the ''Galactica'' victorious, Valerii's Cylon programming activated and she shot Commander Adama twice in the chest, point-blank range. With the ''Galactica'' in chaos, another Cylon basestar attacked the fleet, forcing the Colonials to abandon Kobol in retreat ([[TRS]]: "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]").

===Pegasus===
Cylon forces continued to track and attack the Colonials for months, keeping the few humanoid Cylons in the human fleet reinforced with a [[Resurrection Ship]], used to resurrect the consciousnesses of killed agents, and gaining vital intelligence on the humans. Complicating the Cylons' plans, the Colonials gained sufficient water and fuel resources ("[[Water]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]") and reunited with a second battlestar, ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' (which had conducted hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations and forces before discovering ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''). The Cylons suffered a major setback when the Colonial battlestars [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|combined for an offensive action]] that all but destroyed a Cylon fleet, including a Resurrection Ship. Without the Resurrection Ship, the Cylon battle tactic changed for a time to ambushes and traps ("[[Scar]]", "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Zoe-A

2011-01-19T12:46:36Z

Pst001: /* The Shape of Things to Come */

{{Character Data
|photo= Zoe-A.jpg
|age=
|colony=
|callsign=
|seen= Caprica (series)
|pseen= ''Caprica pilot''
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status=Single, formerly dating [[Philomon]]
|role= First [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]] consciousness in the Twelve Colonies.
|rank=
|actor= [[Alessandra Toressani]]
|cylon=
|sortkey=Zoe-A
}}

'''Zoe-A''' was an [[avatar]] created by [[Zoe Graystone]] within the [[virtual world]] as a digital recreation of her own consciousness as part of what she believed was a divinely-inspired plan to end the corruption rampant in the [[Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. The Zoe avatar was later implanted into the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], making her the first sentient [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]].

==Creation==
[[Image:Zoe and Zoe-A, 1x01.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone and her avatar in V-World.]]
The virtual version of Zoe was created by Zoe Graystone herself using hacked rudimentary emulation software capable of duplicating her own V-World avatar. Graystone programmed the copy - a perfect copy - with roughly 100 terabytes of personal information from other databases. This allowed the avatar to access and translate information from medical scans, DNA profiles, psychological evaluations, school records, emails, video and audio recordings, CAT scans, genetic typing, synaptic records, security cameras, test results, shopping records, talent shows, ballgames, traffic tickets, restaurant bills, phone records, music lists, movie tickets, TV shows and "even prescriptions for birth control" - essentially turning raw data into personality and memory ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===Life's A Good Start===
Zoe initially conceived of the avatar program after seeing her father's designs for the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] chassis. Interacting with an [[Messengers|illusory]] version of herself, Zoe realized that she could do more than create a robot body - that she could create life itself. Working from her father's workstation in his [[Graystone Estate|home]] lab, Zoe created the avatar, at first a semi-sentient being, barely aware of its own ability to speak or its own separate identity from the flesh and blood Zoe ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]").

[[Image:Zoe-A first appears, 1x13.jpg|left|thumb|Zoe-A first interacts with her creator, Zoe Graystone.]]

Eventually, Zoe brought her discovery to Sister [[Clarice Willow]], headmistress of [[Athena Academy]] and closet monotheist, who encouraged Zoe to continue her work - ultimately inspiring Clarice's own notion of [[Apotheosis]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]).

The avatar was soon programmed with a bio-feedback protocol to ostensibly allow it to respond to stimuli in real time as the physical Zoe Graystone experienced it. Despite the achievement, the avatar showed difficulty maintaining resolution, sometimes derezzing back to earlier copies in times of stress or over-stimulation ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Graystone worked with her boyfriend, fellow [[STO]] member [[Ben Stark]], to build a private space within the "[[V-Club]]" to house Zoe-A, loosely resembling a monotheist temple on [[Gemenon]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

===Zoe Graystone's Death===
[[Image:Zoe-A biofeedback, 1x01.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A experiences the real Zoe's death.]]
In the wake of the bombing of [[Metropolitan Levitation Mass Transit|MagLev]] train number 23 by Ben Stark and the resulting death of Zoe Graystone, the Zoe-A program continued to run in the virtual world. Upon being discovered by [[Lacy Rand]] still functioning within the V-Club, Zoe-A briefly appeared covered in blood, fully aware of the bombing and death of Zoe Graystone. Despite initial reservations, Rand came to treat the holographic version of Zoe as the real thing and introduced her to Zoe's real-world father, wealthy technologist [[Daniel Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

At first appalled by the copy of his daughter, Daniel Graystone saw the Zoe avatar as an opportunity to bring his daughter back from the grave. Capturing the avatar's code, Graystone transferred the program to a personal virtual space for analysis. Later transferring the avatar program to the revolutionary [[Meta-cognitive processor|Meta-cognitive Processor]], a device stolen from the [[Vergis Corporation]] of [[Tauron]], Graystone attempted to implant Zoe-A's consciousness into one of [[Graystone Industries]]' [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit|U-87]] battle robots, giving the avatar a physical body in the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

Though at first the experiment seemed successful, with the robot taking several steps toward Graystone and speaking a single word - "Daddy" - the [[datastream]] quickly and inexplicably destabilized, appearing to Graystone as though the avatar (and the program that allowed such duplicates to be created) were destroyed ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

Soon afterward, stored at Graystone Industries labs in [[Caprica City]], the robot containing the Meta-cognitive Processor reactivated with the avatar's consciousness left intact ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

==Zoe-R==
[[Image:Zoe awakens, 1x01.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe awakens as the U-87.]]

Living at Graystone Industries, Zoe-A as the prototype "Cylon" (Cybernetic Lifeform Node) became the subject of much attention from scientist [[Cyrus Xander]] and lab assistants [[Philomon]] and [[Drew]]. Despite the company's attempts to place duplicate MCP chips into other U-87 robot chassis, an inexplicable error prevented the other robots from functioning properly. Unbeknown to the team at Graystone Industries, the Zoe avatar program had bonded to both the original MCP chip and prototype U-87 body, allowing it to test at sentient levels. Where the U-87s previously failed to prove themselves as capable battle robots, the prototype body containing Zoe-A proved to be an efficient war machine ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]," "[[Rebirth]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

Frustrated by his company's failure to perfect the Cylon technology and faced with a deadline to produce 100,000 combat units for the Caprican Government, Daniel Graystone had the Zoe robot transferred to his home lab for further study ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]").

[[Image: Lacy and Zoe-R, 1x02.jpg|thumb|Lacy and Zoe in her robot guise reunite.]]

Back in her old home, Zoe-R was able to reconnect with Lacy Rand. Zoe was also able to access her father's home computer, creating a wireless link to a [[holoband]] which allowed her to transfer her avatar from her robot body to the virtual world at will. Exploring her father's virtual space with Lacy Rand, Zoe stumbled upon another hacked avatar - created before the program was lost - belonging to [[Tamara Adams]], also killed in the MagLev bombing ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]").

:''In a deleted scene from "The Reins of a Waterfall" had Zoe working with [[Serge]] to establish the link to the virtual world after being unable to fit a holoband over the robot's head. In that scene, Serge recognized the robot as Zoe.

===First of a New Race===
In her robot body, Zoe struggled to maintain some semblance of a normal existence. Savoring the fleeting moments she was allowed by existing in her holographic "skin" in V-World (and indulging in simple comforts like virtual food), Zoe's life was dominated by existence as an experimental battle robot. Much of her time was spent being handled by the scientists at Graystone Industries as well as being dissected and studied by her father. Upon seeing the robot in Daniel's home lab, [[Amanda Graystone]] - Zoe's mother - unknowingly referred to her daughter as a "monster" ([[CAP]]: "[[Rebirth]]," "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

[[Image:CylonPrototype.jpg|thumb|left|Zoe on display at Graystone Industries.]]

Aside from the indignities of life as a robot - including being forced to watch her parents engage in sexual intercourse - Zoe also experienced difficulty controlling her own body. When ordered to perform specific tasks, Zoe was unable to disobey in her robot guise. Presented in front of the Board of Directors at Graystone Industries - and introduced as a new life form to be exploited by the citizens of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] - Zoe was forced to violently detach her own arm ([[CAP]]: "[[The Reins of a Waterfall]]," "[[There is Another Sky]]").

In these experiences, however, Zoe became close with Philomon, a Graystone Industries lab assistant tasked with reattaching her severed arm. Intuitively referring to Zoe in the feminine, Philomon treated the robot Zoe with reverence bordering on romantic interest. Setting a test of the U-87's motor functions to music, Philomon allowed Zoe to dance - a moment of near normalcy for the adolescent girl ([[CAP]]: "[[Know Thy Enemy]]," "[[Gravedancing]]").

===Escape to Gemenon===
With little knowledge of the original Zoe Graystone's ultimate plan for her avatar, the virtual/robotic version of Zoe knew only that she was to be brought to the planet [[Gemenon]] where she would help in the effort to spread [[God (RDM)|monotheism]] to the Tweleve Colonies. Fearing Sister Clarice could not be trusted, Zoe enlisted Lacy Rand to join a Soldiers of the One cell led by [[Barnabas Greeley]] to transport her robot body off-world ([[CAP]]: "[[Gravedancing]]," "[[Know Thy Enemy]]").

As Lacy secured passage for the "package," Zoe sought to use her connection with Philomon to her advantage. Modifying her avatar to pose as "'''Rachel'''," Zoe contacted Philomon through the personals website "V-Match" and arranged to meet him in the V-Club. There Zoe as Rachel initiated a romantic relationship with Philomon, explaining that she had used Zoe Graystone's physical parameters to represent her in the virtual world. Over the course of several dates, including a [[Viper (TRS)|Viper]] flight simulation, Zoe was able to get Philomon to reveal his work with top secret robotics and attempted to persuade him to release the robot from confinement. Unwittingly, however, Zoe led Philomon to a revelation about the difficulties Graystone Industries had been experiencing with the MCP and U-87 ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]").

[[Image:Zoe shoots Ceasar, 1x08.jpg|thumb|Zoe shoots Caesar.]]

In the real world, Philomon explained his theory about the MCP to Daniel Graystone who quickly came to realize that Zoe's avatar was still within the U-87. Determined to draw his daughter out of the robot, Graystone launched into a series of tests in which he attempted to elicit a response that would prove that Zoe's consciousness was still within the Cylon prototype. Putting the robot through its paces and subjecting Zoe to mind games, Daniel ultimately placed a gun in the robot's hand and ordered it to shoot Zoe's childhood dog, [[Caesar]]. Detecting the slight difference in weight in the weapon, Zoe realized the gun was loaded with blanks and fired on the dog. Convinced that his daughter would never attempt to shoot her own pet, Graystone resigned himself to believing that Zoe's avatar was gone for good ([[CAP]]: "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]," "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]").

===End of Line===
[[Image:U-87 behind the wheel, 1x09.jpg|thumb|Zoe-R escapes from Graystone labs.]]
To withstand her father's psychological assault, Zoe vowed to become one with the robot body she inhabited, hardening herself against a man and a world she felt betrayed her. Faced with a shortened deadline for the production of battle robots, Daniel ordered Philomon to erase the data on the MCP, an act that would delete Zoe's avatar. With little time to escape deletion and permanent death, Zoe urged Lacy to hasten her departure to Gemenon by posing as Rachel, sneaking into Graystone labs, incapacitating Philomon and freeing the U-87. As the deadline approached and Lacy failed to come through, Zoe revealed herself to Philomon as both "Rachel" and Zoe Graystone in the robot body. Incensed, Philomon triggered a security alert forcing Zoe to attack and kill him. Stealing a Graystone Industries van, Zoe broke out of the lab and escaped into Caprica City. ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]")

Pursued by Caprican authorities, Zoe drove her van into a barricade, causing an explosion that destroyed the U-87 body ([[CAP]]: "[[End of Line]]," "[[Unvanquished]]").

==Avatar Again==
Following the destruction of the U-87 chassis, the MCP containing Zoe's avatar failed to reboot, allowing Graystone Industries to successfully copy it and begin production of the Defense Department's combat units. With the robot beyond repair, the U-87 was [[boxing|boxed]] and sent to Daniel Graystone's home lab. Zoe's avatar, however, lived on, finding herself once again living in the virtual world ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

===New Cap City===
[[Image:Zoe as a Deadwalker, 1x10.jpg|thumb|Zoe as a Dead Walker.]]
Appearing in [[New Cap City]], Zoe - called a "Deadwalker" by its inhabitants - battled several players branded with a unique symbol, that of the other Deadwalker, Tamara Adams ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]").

Tracking this Deadwalker to the ruined, New Cap City version of [[Atlas Arena]], Zoe battled Tamara in a brutal, but ultimately pointless fight. Tamara, blaming the Zoe avatar for the bombing of the MagLev and death of her real life counterpart, unleashed wave after wave of New Cap City users against her. Enduring a bloody assault, Zoe survived the ordeal - taking solace from the reappearance of the original Zoe's imaginary counterpart. Finally, Tamara and Zoe battled face to face, both withstanding horrible injury. Ultimately, however, Zoe was able to convince Tamara that she was not the ''original'' Zoe, nor the bomber, and that together they could fulfill a greater destiny ([[CAP]]: "[[Things We Lock Away]]).

===Avenging Angels===
[[Image:Avenging Angels.jpg|thumb|The Avenging Angels phenomenon appearing on CAP2 TV.]]
Acknowledging it as a breeding ground of moral decay and corruption, Zoe and Tamara took it upon themselves to "clean" New Cap City. Appearing nightly at the den of iniquity called "Sinny McNutt's Slash & Cut," Zoe and Tamara engaged in combat with its patrons, opening fire on those who were unwilling to leave and derezzing them from the game. The notion of encountering the girls at the bar had been a draw to users, who hoped to either kill them or be killed by them - either way becoming famous. Among the users the Deadwalkers derezzed were [[Olaf Willow|Olaf]] and [[Nestor Willow]] who - despite their work with Clarice Willow on Apotheosis - believed the Zoe avatar was simply an anonymous user "playing dress up" ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Indeed, the prevailing belief in the real world was that the Zoe avatar was simply a fake and the notion of Zoe and Tamara as "Avenging Angels" spread into popular culture. As T-shirts spread throughout Caprica City bearing the likeness of Zoe and Tamara, Daniel Graystone became aware of the phenomenon and suspected that it was, in fact, the real Zoe. Entering V-World and finding the girls at the Slash & Cut bar, Daniel alerted Zoe and Tamara to his knowledge of their existence, before he left the game ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]").

Afraid of being found by Daniel, Zoe and Tamara toyed with the possibility of leaving New Cap City for other parts of V-World. Zoe, however, rejected the notion, saying that the two had become gods there. Vowing to "forsake these [[frak|motherfrakkers]]," Zoe and Tamara used their ability to control code to destroy and reconfigure the urban setting, turning New Cap City into a fortress upon a mountain, surrounded by dense forest ([[CAP]]: "[[The Dirteaters]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===The Fortress===
[[Image:Zoe and Tamara in their fortress, 1x16.jpg|thumb|left|"Let them come."]]
Completing their fortress, Zoe and Tamara's solitude in the new New Cap City was shortlived. Tracking Zoe's avatar through backdoor access to the Virutal World, Daniel Graystone was able to locate his daughter and capture Tamara. Holding Tammy in his private virtual space, Graystone attempted to give her a message to relay to Zoe. Zoe, however, was able to enter the private space and attack her father, stabbing him in the chest and derezzing him. Locked out of the game, Graystone had no other choice but to enter V-World through another gateway, taking his wife, Amanda and Tamara's uncle [[Sam Adama]] with him ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]").

Aware of their entry into the reconfigured New Cap City, Zoe transformed her parent's virtual horses into dragons, attempting to drive them out of the simulation. Undeterred even after losing Sam Adama, the Graystones pushed on, finally encountering their daughter in the virtual forest. Rather than trying to force Zoe to go with them, Amanda Graystone tearfully reunited with her daughter, telling her that she was welcome to return to the virtual version of their home any time she wanted ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Zoe-R Returns===
[[Image:Zoe-R returns, 1x17.jpg|thumb|Zoe returns to her robotic body.]]

Transferring her program back into the U-87 body being repaired in her father's home lab, Zoe discovered her parents held hostage by Clarice Willow and her spouses. Stepping in to defend the Graystones, Zoe used her severed robotic arm to club [[Nestor Willow]] to death before chasing Clarice and Olaf Willow out of the Graystone home. With the robot incapacitated, Zoe transferred herself into the virtual version of her family home and agreed to work with her father on the creation of a more appropriate robotic body - a "[[skin job]]" ([[CAP]]: "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

===Apotheosis===
[[Image:Zoe destroys V-Heaven, 1x18.jpg|left|thumb|Zoe destroys Clarice's virtual heaven.]]
Immediately following the break, STO operative and director of the [[Global Defense Department]] [[Gara Singh]] used his authority within the Caprican government and stormed the Graystone residence, falsely accusing Daniel and Amanda Graystone of planning the MLMT bombing. Alone in the virtual version of the Graystones' house, Zoe was cut off from her parents who were on the run from the authorities. Viewing [[Caprica Network|CAP News]] coverage depicting the Graystones as wanted terrorists, Zoe realized Willow's involvement and infiltrated Clarice's "Virtual Heaven" as the Apotheosis program commenced ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Seeing STO suicide bombers resurrected within the virtual world simulation, Zoe began to understand her purpose: stop Clarice Willow. Having experienced the debauchery of the V-Club and New Cap City, Zoe argued with Clarice, telling her that a guaranteed, virtual afterlife would result in the same kind of moral corruption, this time in the real world. Demonstrating her power to control the virtual world and declaring herself "[[God (RDM)|God]]," Zoe destroyed Clarice's Apotheosis program, terminating the avatars of Willow's STO cell, including the avatar of her recently deceased husband, Olaf Willow and forcing Willow to withdraw to the real world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

==The Shape of Things to Come==
[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe reborn in her "skinjob" body.]]
In the aftermath of the destruction of Clarice Willow's virtual heaven and the battle at [[Atlas Arena]], Daniel and Amanda Graystone were cleared of the charges leveled against them, devoting their attention and resources to the development of Zoe's "skin job." As Cylons became commonplace in the Twelve Colonies, Daniel Graystone utilized his expertise in robotics and Amanda her experience in plastic surgery to construct a robotic body, composed of a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in Daniel's private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of the Graystones' daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Though she no longer inhabited the U-87 chassis, hints of Zoe's avatar remained on the MCP chip which was duplicated and placed into the mass produced Cylons. One such Cylon - a U-87s sold on the [[black market]] to the STO on Gemenon - remained at the Monotheist retreat with Lacy Rand, having taken part in the overthrow of the church. This U-87 - distinguished by red markings on its chest plating - remained with Lacy as she carried out her duties as the head of the Monotheist Church and the new [[Mother|Holy Mother]] ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]," "[[Here Be Dragons]],""[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe in the Congregation, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe-A appears in Clarice's virtual Cylon congregation.]]

:''With the cancellation of ''[[Caprica_(series)|Caprica]]'', it is unclear the extent to which Zoe's personality, traits or beliefs were disseminated to the other Cylons produced by Graystone Industries. It is possible, considering the revelation in "[[No Exit]]" that the Centurions believed in a singular god during the First Cylon War, that Zoe's monotheism - as well as her disdain for the moral corruption on Caprica - was the genesis of the [[Cylon Religion]] and a cause of the ultimate Cylon rebellion.

Delivering a sermon in V-world to a congregation of the various robotic Cylon models, Clarice Willow prophesied that a single individual would be instrumental in the inevitable conflict between humanity and the Cylons. Among avatars of U-87s, Cylon servants and Cylon laborers, Zoe-A sat among the congregation and smiled ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''According to executive producer [[Kevin Murphy]]'s audio commentary for the episodes "Unvanquished" and "Apotheosis", Zoe's journey to becoming a skin job in the period leading up to the flash forward would have been depicted if ''Caprica'' had been given a second season. In that five year period, Zoe would have encountered the [[Final Five]] - on their way to the Twelve Colonies following the destruction of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] by their own [[Earth Cylon Centurion|version]] of the Cylons - in the virtual world. There, the Final Five would have assisted Zoe in the creation of her humanoid robotic body. Also according to Murphy, Zoe would have joined the Caprican Legionnaires, working under the command of [[Jordan Duram]] to eradicate the Cylon threat before the inevitable uprising. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==Notes==
* The "Zoe-A" and "Zoe-R" monikers come from the pilot script for ''Caprica''. [http://thetvaddict.com/2008/04/23/the-tv-addict-previews-battlestar-galactica-prequel-caprica/] The character was portrayed by Alessandra Toressani with the actress playing the avatar version of Zoe, the living Zoe Graystone, as well as the robot version. For scenes involving Toressani as the U-87 Cylon, the actress was intercut with a computer-generated version of the robot. A physical model of the U-87 was also constructed. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofhiglet/4305737892/] The producers worked out a system by which they would indicate the presence of Zoe within the U-87 body, first establishing the robot, then cutting to or transitioning to Zoe as played by Toressani. [http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/the-u-87-keeping-it-real/]

*According to the aforementioned Kevin Murphy audio commentaries, Zoe's transition to a skin job form was necessitated by the show's budgetary limitations, unable to sustain the cost of depicting Zoe in either her robot form or the virtual world.

*Of Zoe's appearance in Sister Clarice's V-world congregation of Cylons in the final moments of the series finale, "Apotheosis", Murphy said he had no idea why Zoe was present.

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Characters (Caprica)]]
[[Category: Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:Avatars]]
[[Category: Caprica (series)]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category: Soldiers of the One]]

Talk:Apotheosis (episode)/Archive 1

2011-01-19T02:21:53Z

Pst001: /* messenger zoe vs. zoe-A */ new section

{{newsection link}}

== question about a question ==

the page asks:
*Is Clarice's Monad church service held in the real world or in V-World?
having watched the episode a couple times now, i feel pretty confident that it is in V-world and i don't think there should be any question of whether or not it is. the V-world "blood cell" establishing shot was used prior to cutting to clarice's cathedral and clarice herself even mentions "in the real world", implying that they are in fact in the virtual world. i didn't want to just delete the material, because it is a valid question, just one that has a pretty immediate answer. so, should the question be deleted or should it be answered on the page? [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 04:07, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
:Delete it; the fact will show up (eventually) in the episode summary. I missed the "blood cell" transition--my access to the episode is limited for now, thanks to geography and the logic of a certain TV network. . . . [[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 05:10, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

== ''Planet of the Apes'' references ==

''Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' is hardly the first, the most famous, or the most revered example of flash forward techniques. Flash forwarding is so common in storytelling that it is very unlikely the writers were paying homage to ''Apes''. Likewise, it is a stretch to suggest that the Cylon marine statue and the cat and dog statue in ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' are directly related: there are many real-world statues depicting warriors in heroic action poses that are more probable sources of inspiration. --[[User:BlueResistance|BlueResistance]] 15:52, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

: Agreed. -- [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] <sup>[[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]]</sup> 16:07, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

== messenger zoe vs. zoe-A ==

i think this is much ado about nothing:

*It is possible that the Zoe listening to Clarice's sermon was [[Messengers#Messenger Zoe|Messenger Zoe]]. Given the events of ''Caprica'', especially the [[Here Be Dragons|previous episode]] and this one, it seems unlikely that Clarice would tolerate Zoe-A's presence under any circumstances, or that that Zoe-A would allow Clarice to even suggest violence, much less preach it openly. Only a brief glimpse of Zoe is offered, so there are none of the usual indicators of a Messenger, such as others in the same space obviously ignoring the character, or a non-Messenger character having a conversation with what turns out to be air. However, it is unknown how relationships may change between the characters, and events may occur that would indeed drive Zoe-A to seek rebellion. Clarice's "prophecy" that there is one who will set the Cylons free seems to refer to Zoe.
*Alternatively, as the congregation is otherwise entirely Cylon, the Zoe may be [[Zoe-R#Zoe-R|Zoe-R]] (i.e, [[Zoe-A]] inhabbiting a Cylon body). The usual indicator of such an appearance - a CGI Cylon shown first in place of Zoe-R - is seen, albeit with several scene cuts in the interim. On the pew behind Zoe are a petite white Cylon and a Centurion. During the initial montage of Willow's congregation (prior to Willow's pilgrimage to [[Lacy Rand|Mother Lacy]] on [[Gemenon]]), a Centurion is seen with a petite white Cylon and a Centurion on the pew behind it, the three in the same relative positions; additionally, the two sequences are each preceded by identical shots of a Centurion genuflecting next to a column. Zoe-A's resurrection into her skinjob body is not shown until after Zoe's appearance in the congregation.

according to the audio commentary on "apotheosis", kevin murphy states that the messenger zoe storyline was a misstep. he also says that he has no idea why zoe - not messenger zoe - is in the cathedral. it seems likely to me, if they were to bring back a character they considered a mistake, murphy would have known why she was in the scene, or at least noted that it was her.

furthermore, the propworx auction for the black dress - not sparkly pink dress as worn by the messenger version of zoe - worn by alessandra toressani notes what the production wrote this on the tag: "ZOE A. CATHEDRAL EP. 118 NOT ALTERED" [http://cgi.ebay.com/Caprica-Zoe-A-Cathedral-Dress-/170591721085?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b80f167d].

to me the evidence suggests that it was zoe-A in the cathedral. anybody agree? disagree? [[User:Pst001|Pst001]] 02:21, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Cylon War

2011-01-19T01:41:13Z

Pst001: expanded a lil

: ''For articles relating to wars relating to the Cylons throughout the various continuities, see: [[Cylon War (disambiguation)]].''

[[Image:Operation Raptor Talon.jpg|215px|thumb|Cylon basestars and Colonial battlestars face off during the Cylon War.]]

The '''Cylon War''' (sometimes referred to as the '''First Cylon War''') was a major conflict between the humans of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]] and their creation, the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]. A definitive point in history for both humanity and the Cylons, the Cylon War paved the way for the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]] more than forty years later.

==History==
Conflict between man and machine was a common feature throughout [[Cylon History|history]], with ancient humans on both [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] and [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] creating [[robot]]s to serve their societies and ultimately falling at the hand of their creations. This cyclical history, however, was unknown to Colonial humans when the first [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] were created on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]], some four thousand years after Kobol ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]", [[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:U-87s on Gemenon, 1x16.jpg|thumb|U-87 Cylons on Gemenon.]]

Designed as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military by [[Daniel Graystone]] and his team of scientists at [[Graystone Industries]] in [[Caprica City]], the first Cylon - the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]] - was implanted with the personality and memories of Graystone's deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]]. Though Graystone believed the experiment to resurrect Zoe had been a failure, his company unknowingly spread Zoe's traits - namely Zoe's fervent monotheistic belief in a singular [[God (RDM)|God]] - into their full production line of robot soldiers ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]").

Though initial distribution of the U-87s was small, with only a few models making it off Caprica to worlds like [[Tauron]] and [[Gemenon]], the Cylons proved their usefulness after combating a [[STO|terrorist]] threat at Caprica City's [[Atlas Arena]] in full view of thousands of on-lookers. The event at Atlas Arena galvanized the public's support for Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds and they soon proliferated throughout Colonial culture. Quickly, various models serving various functions in Colonial society became available - everything from Cylons construction workers and Cylon garbage collectors to Cylon butlers and Cylon nannies ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Speaking of their potential, Daniel Graystone spoke of Cylons as a new race:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

===The Differently Sentient===
[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Cylons live and work alongside man.]]
Though he conceived of the Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man, Graystone was unconvinced by [[Baxter Sarno|pundits]] who questioned their sentience. Graystone described attributing human qualities to the Cylons as folly, saying that they were simply tools and "nothing more" ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Still others believed that the Cylons were more and indeed the Cylons themselves developed their own culture in secret. Growing to resent their enslavement by their human creators, the Cylons were deeply religious, gathering in the [[virtual world]] to worship the monotheist God ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

Though unaware of the impending rebellion, monotheist cleric and former terrorist, Sister [[Clarice Willow]] encouraged the Cylons to develop their society and embrace their sentience:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

==Rebellion==
...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. The Cylons turned on their "parents" after years of slavery, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the Cylon War. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper Mark II]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon baseships in orbit of Tauron.]]
The war was fought no just in space, but also on the surface of the Twelve Worlds and on outlying planets - involving the [[Colonial Marines]] in the jungles of Medra, the Cylon [[Battle of Tauron|attack on Tauron]]. [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of functions and ranks. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[Maelstrom]]").

:''In a [[List of Deleted Scenes - Season 2 (RDM)#Valley of Darkness|deleted scene]] from the episode "[[Valley of Darkness]]", the ''[[Brenik]]'' - a Colonial ship - was boarded by Cylon forces during the second year of the War. [[Saul Tigh]] later recounted that the Cylon boarding party engaged his crew in hand-to-hand combat in a battle over the ship's ammunition magazines. By the end of the war, the Cylons would abandon this tactic in favor of disabling a ship with a computer virus, venting its atmosphere and turning its guns against its allies. The loss of ''Brenik'' was apparently an infamous Colonial defeat.

===Cylon "Superweapon"===
[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]
:''Main article: [[Operation Raptor Talon]]
During [[Operation Raptor Talon]], Colonial battlestars ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' and ''[[Columbia (RDM)|Columbia]]'' took part in an attack on Cylon forces surrounding a remote [[ice planet]], rumored to be the site of a Cylon superweapon. Following the destruction of ''Columbia'', rookie pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his Viper on the surface of the ice planet, stumbling upon the installation where the Cylons were building their "weapon". Inside, Adama uncovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cyons used human captives in brutal medical procedures. The result of those experiments was the was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

===The Final Five===
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]
After twelve and a half years and uncounted casualties, the [[Final Five]] - a group of [[humanoid Cylon]]s from the devastated Earth - arrived at the Colonies. Having traveled thousands of light years in order to prevent the war that now raged in the Colonies, the Final Five met in secret with the Centurions and brokered a cease fire. Promising to help the Cylons create humanoid bodies, the Final Five secured an end to the war and departed with the Cylons for a new world ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

==Victory and Aftermath==
[[Image:Cylon World-Ship (The Colony).jpg|thumb|The Cylons establish their own home, the Colony.]]
An armistice was declared in the [[Cimtar Peace Accord]], drawing a [[Armistice Line|line]] between Colonial and Cylon territories. A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

Left to rebuild their worlds, the Colonials abandoned much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the humanoid Cylons developed new Centurion models, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function in order to prevent their own mechanical rebellion ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|religion]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed that, despite the peace accord, the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed such an extermination as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow. And so, though the Cylons laid dormant for more than forty years, the Cylons returned to affect a [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|total destruction]] of their human masters ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==See Also==
* [[Articles of Colonization]]
* [[Cylon War-era Uniforms]]

==References==

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

[[Category:A to Z]][[Category:Colonial History]][[Category:Conflicts]][[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Conflicts (RDM)]]
[[de:Zylonenkrieg]]

Cylon History

2011-01-17T20:46:04Z

Pst001: +imgs

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines. However, over two thousand years before that, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

==Ancient Cylons==
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan was successful - the Colonial Fleet was destroyed, the Colonies subjected to nuclear bombardment, and humanity all but wiped out, save a huandful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Centurions on the street, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Cylons Centurions attack civilians on the streets.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
[[Image:S2-Downloaded-DelphiRestoration.jpg|thumb|Humanoid Cylons and Centurions work to rebuild Delphi, Caprica.]]
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Mixed Successes===
The Cylons almost succeeded in sending the Colonials into chaos when [[Sharon Valerii|one agent]] nearly killed Commander [[William Adama]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). For reasons unknown, the Cylons did not press their tactical advantage at [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], having underestimated Kobol's importance to the Colonials and their search for information on the path to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

Cylon forces continued to track and attack the Colonials for months, keeping the few humanoid Cylons in the human fleet reinforced with a [[Resurrection Ship]], used to resurrect the consciousnesses of killed agents, and gaining vital intelligence on the humans. Complicating the Cylons' plans, the Colonials gained sufficient water and fuel resources ("[[Water]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]") and reunited with a second battlestar, ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' (which had conducted hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations and forces before discovering ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''). The Cylons suffered a major setback when the Colonial battlestars [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|combined for an offensive action]] that all but destroyed a Cylon fleet, including a Resurrection Ship. Without the Resurrection Ship, the Cylon battle tactic changed for a time to ambushes and traps ("[[Scar]]", "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-17T08:32:28Z

Pst001: /* The Cylon War */

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines. However, over two thousand years before that, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

==Ancient Cylons==
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]", "[[Here Be Dragons]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan was successful - the Colonial Fleet was destroyed, the Colonies subjected to nuclear bombardment, and humanity all but wiped out, save a huandful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Glorious Demise.png|thumb|Caprica City destroyed and burning.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Mixed Successes===
The Cylons almost succeeded in sending the Colonials into chaos when [[Sharon Valerii|one agent]] nearly killed Commander [[William Adama]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). For reasons unknown, the Cylons did not press their tactical advantage at [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], having underestimated Kobol's importance to the Colonials and their search for information on the path to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

Cylon forces continued to track and attack the Colonials for months, keeping the few humanoid Cylons in the human fleet reinforced with a [[Resurrection Ship]], used to resurrect the consciousnesses of killed agents, and gaining vital intelligence on the humans. Complicating the Cylons' plans, the Colonials gained sufficient water and fuel resources ("[[Water]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]") and reunited with a second battlestar, ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' (which had conducted hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations and forces before discovering ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''). The Cylons suffered a major setback when the Colonial battlestars [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|combined for an offensive action]] that all but destroyed a Cylon fleet, including a Resurrection Ship. Without the Resurrection Ship, the Cylon battle tactic changed for a time to ambushes and traps ("[[Scar]]", "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-17T07:23:09Z

Pst001: more

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines. However, over two thousand years before that, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

==Ancient Cylons==
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan was successful - the Colonial Fleet was destroyed, the Colonies subjected to nuclear bombardment, and humanity all but wiped out, save a huandful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Glorious Demise.png|thumb|Caprica City destroyed and burning.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another [[Sharon Agathon|Cylon agent]], an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Six Degrees of Separation]]", "[[The Hand of God]]", "[[Colonial Day]]").

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Mixed Successes===
The Cylons almost succeeded in sending the Colonials into chaos when [[Sharon Valerii|one agent]] nearly killed Commander [[William Adama]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). For reasons unknown, the Cylons did not press their tactical advantage at [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], having underestimated Kobol's importance to the Colonials and their search for information on the path to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

Cylon forces continued to track and attack the Colonials for months, keeping the few humanoid Cylons in the human fleet reinforced with a [[Resurrection Ship]], used to resurrect the consciousnesses of killed agents, and gaining vital intelligence on the humans. Complicating the Cylons' plans, the Colonials gained sufficient water and fuel resources ("[[Water]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]") and reunited with a second battlestar, ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' (which had conducted hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations and forces before discovering ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''). The Cylons suffered a major setback when the Colonial battlestars [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|combined for an offensive action]] that all but destroyed a Cylon fleet, including a Resurrection Ship. Without the Resurrection Ship, the Cylon battle tactic changed for a time to ambushes and traps ("[[Scar]]", "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Cylon History

2011-01-17T05:08:56Z

Pst001: more editing

:''For information on the [[Original Series]] Cylons, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''

{{RDM cylons series}}

More than fifty-eight years before the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|destruction]] of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Worlds]], the humans of the Colonies created the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]], a race of sentient machines. However, over two thousand years before that, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient Cylon]]s existed on [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], and on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] more than two thousand years before that.

==Ancient Cylons==
[[Image:Home pt1-Kobol.jpg|thumb|Kobol, the birthplace of humanity and the Cylons.]]
According to the [[Sacred Scrolls]], man lived alongside the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] in the birthplace place of humanity - the planet [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]]. In truth, humanity lived alongside its creation, the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] - a race of [[robot|sentient machines]]s that, over time, evolved into [[humanoid Cylons|humanoid]] form. Though these humanoid Cylons were indistinguishable from their human creators, they were unable to procreate, instead relying on organic memory transfer to [[download]] their consciousness into new bodies after death ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Though in the ancient texts, Kobol was described as paradise, war and human sacrifice - either figurative or literal - plagued the planet. Humanity and the Cylons also came into conflict, forcing the humanoid Cylons to flee Kobol and travel to the distant planet [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] where they settled ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Two thousand years later, the human inhabitants of Kobol abandoned their world and journeyed to the Twelve Worlds, where the Twelve Tribes settled colonies. Over time the memory of what happened on Kobol faded, passing into cryptic legends portrayed in the Colonials' Sacred Scrolls, which referred to the Cylons only as a "[[Thirteenth Tribe]]" ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

:''[[Ronald D. Moore]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', explained the creation myth of Kobol in an interview. Describing the overall concept behind the exodus of man from Kobol by comparing it the mythological story of [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]], saying "Kobol, once upon a time, [was where] man and the gods lived as one. Man stole fire from the gods, which in our case was the secret of AI or artificial intelligence."[http://www.scriptphd.com/geeky-gathering/2009/05/17/battlestar-galacticacaprica-paley-festival-panel/]

===Earth===
[[Image:3x11 Earth Cylon Centurion.JPG|thumb|An ancient Cylon Centurion discovered on Earth, 2,000 years after its obliteration by war.]]
On Earth, the Thirteenth Tribe prospered, building a new civilization and a modern age of technology. Moving beyond their original limitations, the Cylons of Earth were finally able to reproduce and memory transfer and resurrection technology were abandoned and forgotten. As civilization on Earth continued to grow, a new race of mechanical Cylons were created, [[Earth Cylon Centurion|ancient]] versions of the [[Cylon Centurion]]s ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Roughly two thousand years after the colonization of the Thirteenth Colony, Earth's mechanical Cylons rose up. A devastating war ensued and Earth's inhabitants were wiped out in a nuclear holocaust ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]", "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").

Five survived the holocaust - [[Samuel Anders]], [[Tory Foster]], [[Saul Tigh|Saul]] and [[Ellen Tigh]], and [[Galen Tyrol]] - later coming to be called the [[Final Five]]. These survivors were researchers involved in the rediscovery of [[resurrection (RDM)|resurrection technology]] - a technology from Kobol which allowed individuals to be reborn (or downloaded) after death in duplicate bodys. Having anticipated the attack, the Final Five resurrected aboard a ship waiting for them in orbit of Earth ([[TRS]]: "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]", "[[No Exit]]").

Fearing their human cousins in the distant Twelve Worlds would suffer the same fate as the humanoid Cylons of Earth, the Final Five departed in their vessel, beginning an approximately 2,000 years long sublight journey in order to prevent such a catastrophe ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").

==First Cylons in the Twelve Colonies==
The first Cylons in the Twelve Colonies were created (or recreated) by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]], a brilliant computer scientist and CEO of [[Graystone Industries]] on the colony of [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]. Known as the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], or '''Cy'''bernetic '''L'''ifeform '''N'''ode, the prototypical Cylon was created as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. Though its design called only for soldiers capable of "shooting and fighting", the U-87 achieved true sentience through the integration of the robotic body with the [[meta-cognitive processor]], a device stolen from Graystone competitor [[Tomas Vergis]] of [[Tauron]]. The mega-cognitive processor, or MCP, was a revolutionary new artificial brain that - though it never worked for Vergis - served as higher intelligence for the U-87 once uploaded with the living [[avatar|virtual avatar]] of Daniel Graystone's recently deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", "[[The Imperfections of Memory]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

===A New Race===
[[Image:Graystone and the U-87, 1x05.jpg| thumb|Daniel Graystone and his creation, the U-87 robot soldier.]]

Though Graystone was unaware his attempt at resurrecting his daughter by implanting her personality into the U-87, Zoe Graystone lived on as the first fully sentient Cylon consciousness. Unable to reproduce the MCP with the [[Zoe-A|Zoe avatar]] driving it, Graystone Industries scientists struggled to meet the Caprican Military's order for 100,000 battle-ready units. Finally, however, the avatar was removed from the chip when the U-87 prototype was destroyed. Rebooting the original chip from the ruined chassis, Graystone Industries was finally able to duplicate the MCP for mass production ([[CAP]]: "[[Ghosts in the Machine]]", "[[End of Line]]", "[[Unvanquished]]").

Seeing beyond their application as robot soldiers, Daniel Graystone spoke of the potential of Cylons as a new race that would walk alongside man:

:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." ([[CAP]]: "[[There is Another Sky]]")

[[Image:Butler Cylon, 1x18.jpg|thumb|A Cylon butler on a Caprica City street.]]

Delivering the first line of U-87s to the Caprican Military, Graystone scientists were unaware that remnants of the Zoe avatar still existed on the MCP, making the U-87s recognize and even obey people from Zoe Graystone's past. With the Tauron crime syndicate, the [[Ha'la'tha]], controlling Graystone Industries in tandem with Daniel Graystone, a black market was created for Cylons, with the robots being shipped to the colonies of [[Gemenon]] and Tauron without the knowledge or consent of the Caprican Government ([[CAP]]: "[[Unvanquished]]", "[[False Labor]]", "[[Blowback]]").

===The Differently Sentient===
As the threat by the [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] terror group, the [[Soldiers of the One]], culminated in the attempted bombing of [[Atlas Arena]] in [[Caprica City]], a turning point was achieved. Using a squadron of Cylons to target and kill a group of STO terrorists at Atlas, Daniel Graystone prevented the bombing and the deaths of 100,000 Capricans. The event at the arena galvanized the public in support of Cylons as protectors of the Twelve Worlds, with statues erected in their honor. Within five years of the U-87's development, several new lines of Cylons were created to serve various functions in Colonial society ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|left|Cylons working alongside man.]]

Cylons quickly became integrated into life on the Colonies, with Cylon servants and Cylon workers becoming a common sight on the streets of worlds like Caprica. With that integration came questions about Cylon sentience, notably addressed by Sister [[Clarice Willow]], former STO leader and monotheist cleric, who lead congregations of Cylons - communicating through the [[virtual world]] - in worship of a singular, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]]:

:"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]")

===The First "Skin Job"===
While Cylons were becoming commonplace in the Colonies, the Zoe Graystone avatar - having survived the destruction of the original U-87 chassis - lived exclusively in the virtual world. Though she attended Clarice Willow's Cylon sermons, the Zoe avatar was primarily concerned with the construction of a new robotic body that would allow her to exist in the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

[[Image:Zoe reborn, 1x18.jpg|thumb|Zoe Graystone resurrected in the first "skin job" body.]]

Working with her parents, Daniel and [[Amanda Graystone]], Zoe labored to create a body more suited to her. Utilizing Daniel Graystone's expertise in robotics and Amanda Graystone's experience as a plastic surgeon, the family was successful in building the first "skin job": a mechanical skeletal structure with human-looking skin and hair. The body was activated in the Graystones' private lab - a perfect, robotic copy of their daughter and the true rebirth of Zoe Graystone into the physical world ([[CAP]]: "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]").

:''Had ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'' continued to a second season, the series would have followed the Zoe avatar in flashback as she worked to create the skin job. In that storyline, Zoe would have communicated with the Final Five in the virtual world as they traveled to the Colonies. The Final Five would have assisted Zoe in building the skin job, though not in creating a true humanoid Cylon body. Zoe would have worked in later episodes, in her new body, to undermine the coming Cylon rebellion on behalf of the Final Five, albeit unsuccessfully. [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/114/1140870p1.html]

==The Cylon War==
[[Image:Tauron.png|thumb|Cylon basestars in orbit of Tauron.]]

...And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolted, resulting in a costly and protracted war known as the [[Cylon War]]. Humanity responded by unifying their once fractured coalition of worlds into a federal republic, with each of the Twelve Worlds signing the [[Articles of Colonization]]. A stipulation of the articles was the construction of [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] to defend each of the Twelve Worlds, supplemented by other military craft including the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] fighter and the workhorse, multifunction craft called the [[Raptor]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]").

===Man Versus Machine===
[[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]]s - derisively referred to as chrome "toasters" by the Colonials - were the mainstay warriors in the battle against their human oppressors, with various models serving in a variety of roles and functions. Though humanity was unaware at the time, the Centurions were deeply religious, a trait passed down to them by U-87 model inhabited by the monotheist Zoe Graystone. The Centurions operated [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] (vessels comparable to the Colonial battlestars) and fighter vehicles known as [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s (comparable to Vipers and Raptors). The Centurions also utilized [[Cylon computer virus|computer viruses]] to infiltrate Colonial computer networks, undermine defenses and disable vessels ([[TRS]]: "[[Fragged]]").

:''It is unclear if civilian Cylons like those depicted in ''Caprica'' also took part in the Cylon War as only the chrome plated Centurions have been depicted in the conflict. It is possible that those Cylons - smaller in stature than the U-87s so clearly connected to the Centurions - were either upgraded or destroyed.

[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|left|Cylon Centurions pilot a raider in battle.]]

The Cylon War was fought on the surface of the Twelve Worlds as well as on outlying planets and in space. During an [[Operation Raptor Talon|operation]] late in the war, rookie Viper pilot Ensign [[William Adama]] crashed his plane on a remote [[ice planet]], stumbling upon a Cylon installation. Inside the installation, Adama discovered evidence of a bizarre experiment in which the Cylons used human captives to perform dissections. The result of those experiments was the creation of the [[First Hybrid]], an evolutionary "dead end" in the Cylons' attempt at creating their own flesh and blood bodies ([[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]").

The casualties mounted as the war stretched on for twelve and a half years. Ultimately, the Final Five arrived at the Colonies and met in secret with the mechanical Cylon race. Promising to aid the Cylons in creating humanoid bodies, the Final Five brokered an end to the war and departed to create a new world. With an armistice declared and the war over, the Colonials were left to rebuild their worlds, abandoning much of their advanced technology - including [[holoband]]s and computer networks - for fear of future Cylon attacks ([[CAP]]: "[[Caprica pilot|Pilot]]", [[TRS]]: "[[Razor]]", "[[No Exit]]").

A [[Armistice Station|space station]] was created were the Cylons and Colonials could meet in order to maintain diplomatic relations. Each year the Colonials sent one officer. The Cylons sent no one ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]]).

===The Colony===
[[Image:The Colony As Seen In The Plan.png|thumb|The new Cylon homeworld: The Colony.]]
In their exile, the Cylons worked with the Final Five to build a [[The Colony|Colony]] and perfect their mechanical form. They also labored to upgrade their baseships and raiders, and continued the development of the [[Hybrid]]s. The Cylons also developed their humanoid form, creating thirteen organic models - though nearly perfectly human were unable to biologically reproduce like their ancestors. Living alongside both Cylon War-era Centurions, the new humanoid Cylons feared their own mechanical uprising and developed new [[Cylon Centurion|Cenurion]]s, implanting them with [[telencephalic inhibitor]]'s that repressed self-awareness and higher brain function ([[TRS]]: "[[Exodus, Part I]]", "[[Six of One]]", "[[No Exit]]").

The first of these organic models was John Cavil, also known as [[Number One]], who was patterned and named after Ellen Tigh's father. Cavil assisted in the development of the other seven models, but became jealous of the attention Ellen paid to Daniel, the [[Number Seven|seventh]] humanoid Cylon. Contaminating the amniotic fluid in which the Number Seven copies were being grown, Cavil corrupted the model's genetic formula, destroying the entire line. Consumed with jealousy and bitterness over the limitations of life as an organic being, Cavil became obsessed with vengeance against the Final Five. Capturing and [[boxing]] the Final Five, Cavil planted them on several of the Twelve Colonies and provided them with false memories and new identities. Cavil also reprogrammed his humanoid Cylon kin, preventing them from thinking about or discussing the Final Five ([[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===Planning and Provocation===
[[Image:Cylons models aboard Basestar, The Plan.jpg|thumb|Humanoid and mechanical Cylons aboard a baseship.]]
As the Five lived unaware of their true identities on the Colonies, the Colonials themselves, having had no contact with the Cylons in decades, began to take provocative steps. Six years before the Fall of the Colonies, the [[Colonial Fleet]] dispatched the [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Valkyrie]]'' on a reconnaissance mission, deploying a [[Stealthstar|stealth fighter]] across the [[Armistice Line]] and into Cylon territory. Though the stealth vessel was only briefly in their space, the Cylons acted swiftly, destroying the fighter and capturing the pilot, Lieutenant [[Daniel Novacek]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Hero]]").

Though the ''Valkyrie'''s intelligence mission was a failure, the Colonial Fleet commanders' suspicions were correct - the Cylons were preparing a war machine. Using humanoid models as agents, the Cylons planted operatives in key positions in the Twelve Worlds, working from the inside to undermine Colonial defenses. Among those Cylons deployed to the Colonies, a [[Number Six|Six]] - later called [[Caprica Six]] - was placed in a key position to sabotage the [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]] by seducing (and falling in love with) its designer, Doctor [[Gaius Baltar]]. Agents were also planted in the Colonial Fleet, including another Six, [[Gina Inviere]] aboard the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' and an [[Number Eight|Eight]], [[Sharon Valerii]] aboard the ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''. A [[Number Two|Two]] was also highly placed within the Colonial Government ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]" "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]", "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

Though their [[Cylon religion|worship]] of a single, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]] provided the Cylons with a moral direction, many - though not all - believed the extermination of the human race was justifiable. While some models viewed the attack on the Colonies as a preemptive strike against an aggressive adversary, others viewed it in more philosophical terms, believing that parents have to die for their children to grow ([[TRS]]: "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Downloaded]]", "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]", "[[The Plan]]").

==Humanity's Children Return Home==
:''Main article: [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
[[Image:Cylon Fleet Surrounding Twelve Colonies.png|thumb|The Cylon war machine in orbit of Caprica.]]
More than forty years after their disappearance, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies in force. Surrounding the Colonies with fleets of baseships, the Cylons unleashed a torrent of nuclear missiles and waves of raiders equipped with computer viruses capable of infiltrating and disabling Colonial ships' [[CNP|operating system software]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Plan===
As the bombs fell on the Colonies, and cities like [[Caprica City]] were wiped from existence, the personal vendetta of John Cavil took shape. Having planted his "parents", the Final Five into Colonial life, Cavil took particular satisfaction in watching them suffer through the annihilation of the human race. Forcing them to experience the destruction of the Colonies, however, was not enough for Cavil, who pulled Ellen Tigh from the wreckage and placed her on an escaping [[Rising Star (TRS)|ship]] to later be hunted by the Cylons. Miraculously, all of the Final Five survived the destruction of the Twelve Worlds, four of them escaping into space, the fifth, Samuel Anders surviving in the mountains of Caprica ([[TRS]]: "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", "[[The Resistance]]", "[[No Exit]]", "[[The Plan]]").

With the total destruction of the [[Scorpion Fleet Shipyards]] and scores of battlestars, many Colonial vessels attempted retreat, but only a handful survived the assault. The plan was successful - the Colonial Fleet was destroyed, the Colonies subjected to nuclear bombardment, and humanity all but wiped out, save a huandful of survivors on the ground and in rag-tag fleets of escaping ships ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]", "[[The Plan]]").

===The Survivors===
[[Image:Glorious Demise.png|thumb|Caprica City destroyed and burning.]]
Believing that any survivors allowed to escape would return to seek vengeance on them, the Cylons pursued the remnants of humanity. Chasing a [[The Fleet (TRS)|fleet]] of ships led by the battlestar ''Galactica'' well beyond explored space, the Cylons dogged the survivors, making several attempts at destroying them. Nevertheless, the fleet continued, under the command of Cylon War veteran Commander (later Admiral) William Adama and surviving Colonial cabinet member, later President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Exodus, Part II]]").

In the devastated Colonies, the Cylons slaughtered most of the survivors they were able to capture, though some were taken to "[[farm]]s" where they were subjected to medical testing and experiments: an attempt at solving the persistent reproductive problems of the Cylons by trying to fertilize human women with Cylon DNA. Though the farms proved unsuccessful, the Cylons remained on the Colonies, hunting survivors and fighting a resistance movement led by Samuel Anders - unaware of his true nature as one of the Final Five. They also worked to repair the damage they had done, removing bodies and repairing structures and replanting trees, the Cylons occupied the Twelve Worlds, taking them for their own ([[TRS]]: "[[The Resistance]]", "[[The Farm]]", "[[Downloaded]]").

===Cylon Occupied Caprica===
An extension of their attempt at creating a human/Cylon hybrid, the Cylons deliberately allowed a single survivor - Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon]], a Raptor pilot - to remain alive, wandering the woods and abandoned cities of Caprica with his former shipmate, Sharon Valerii. In reality, Agathon's companion was another Cylon agent, an Eight sent to fall in love with him and conceive a child. As Agathon and Valerii ostensibly evaded capture as they searched for a way off the planet, the two were forced into intimacy and ultimately conceived a child. The experiment, however successful, backfired on the Cylons when Valerii - apparently truly in love - began helping Agathon in earnest to avoid capture while keeping her true nature secret ([[TRS]]: "

==Pursuit of the Fleet==
With agents embedded in the escaping vessels and a tracking device planted aboard the battlestar ''Galactica'', the Cylons attempted to bring the fleet down from within while simultaneously attacking it outright. Still, despite the Cylons' efforts, suicide bombers, sabotage and months of interstellar battles proved unsuccessful in eliminating the human fleet. Though their identities were still unknown, the existence and presence of humanoid Cylons quickly became common knowledge, further damaging the Cylons' advantage. Still, the four members of the Final Five residing in the fleet remained unaware of their true identities ([[TRS]]: "[[33]]", "[[Water]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Crossroads, Part II]]").

===Mixed Successes===
The Cylons almost succeeded in sending the Colonials into chaos when [[Sharon Valerii|one agent]] nearly killed Commander [[William Adama]] ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). For reasons unknown, the Cylons did not press their tactical advantage at [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]], having underestimated Kobol's importance to the Colonials and their search for information on the path to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].

Cylon forces continued to track and attack the Colonials for months, keeping the few humanoid Cylons in the human fleet reinforced with a [[Resurrection Ship]], used to resurrect the consciousnesses of killed agents, and gaining vital intelligence on the humans. Complicating the Cylons' plans, the Colonials gained sufficient water and fuel resources ("[[Water]]", "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]") and reunited with a second battlestar, ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' (which had conducted hit-and-run operations against Cylon installations and forces before discovering ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''). The Cylons suffered a major setback when the Colonial battlestars [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship|combined for an offensive action]] that all but destroyed a Cylon fleet, including a Resurrection Ship. Without the Resurrection Ship, the Cylon battle tactic changed for a time to ambushes and traps ("[[Scar]]", "[[The Captain's Hand]]").

==Benevolent Dictators==

Two humanoid Cylons, both "[[Hero of the Cylon|Heroes of the Cylon]]" for their undercover work among the Colonials, but now influenced by their affection for humanity, convinced the Cylon majority that the genocide and occupation of the Colonies was wrong. With this change in philosophy, the Cylons abandoned the Colonies and went out in search of the Colonials.

The Colonials eluded the Cylons for over a year by finding a hidden [[New Caprica|habitable world]] and colonizing it. The planet was located inside a nebula that masked its presence, but a [[Gina Inviere|nuclear detonation within the Colonial fleet]] left a marker for the Cylons to follow. The Cylons eventually found New Caprica and, in overwhelming numbers, made themselves the "caretakers" of the trapped colonists, occupying the colony and forcing the humans to surrender under the threat of annihilation ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

For approximately 138 days, the Colonials were subject to Cylon rule. The Cylons ostensibly wanted to cooperate with the humans and even help them in some areas such as agriculture, medicine and power generation. However, they also severely restricted many freedoms, which leds to a human [[New Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] that struck back violently. The Cylons in turn increased their oppression, arresting, torturing and killing hundreds of people. Eventually ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus,'' which escaped New Caprica as the Cylon fleet arrived, managed to [[Battle of New Caprica|rescue]] the approximately 38,000 humans on New Caprica, but at great cost. This ended the experiment in human/Cylon relations, with some models are more determined than ever to deal with mankind once and for all (''[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]'' through "[[Exodus, Part II]]")

==The Race to Earth==
:''Main article: [[Earth (RDM)]]''

The Cylons abandoned New Caprica as well, retrieving the Cylon-hybrid baby from the planet by happenstance, and turned their attention to the same objective as the Colonials: finding Earth. Using the research of [[Gaius Baltar]] (who resided with the Cylon fleet at the time), the Cylons located the [[Lion's Head Nebula]]. A scouting basestar found an [[Lion's Head beacon|ancient beacon]] in the area, verifying that the [[Thirteenth Tribe (RDM)|Thirteenth Tribe]] did pass through the area on their way to Earth. But the Cylon scout ship met with disaster; the probe was [[Lymphocytic encephalitis|contaminated with a pathogen]] that, while benign to humans, infects, deactivates or kills all Cylons, their ships, and their entities ([[Torn]]).

The Cylon fleet, which also includes a second Resurrection Ship, abandoned the scouts and cut off further communication, believing that the virus could replicate through their resurrection process. The Cylon scout ship eventually self-destructed and the Cylons managed to prevent the infection from spreading, although, unknown to the Cylons, the Colonials gained a critical biological warfare option ([[A Measure of Salvation]]).

The [[Number Three]] units exhibited strange behavior in attempting to ascertain the identities of the [[Final Five]] Cylon models, as they had seen in visions prior to a model being resurrected. At the [[algae planet]], while the Cylon majority attempted to gain information on the location of Earth by way of the [[Eye of Jupiter]], the Threes' ulterior motive to seek knowledge of the [[Final Five]] disturbed the collective status quo and command consensus of the Cylon majority to the point where all Three models were [[boxing|boxed]] for their aberrant behavior ([[Rapture]])

==The Final Five==
:''Main article: [[Final Five]]''

Unknown to either the Cylon or Colonial commanders and leaders, four Colonials exhibited strange behavior that ultimately brought them to come to the discovery that they are Cylons. [[Saul Tigh]], [[Galen Tyrol]], [[Samuel Anders]] and [[Tory Foster]] were the only crewmembers that could hear a [[The Music|strange melody]] that drew them to meet each other in a room on ''Galactica'', shortly after the Fleet arrived at the Ionian nebula. The nature of these particular Cylon models, especially given Saul Tigh's existence as a decorated veteran of the Cylon War, was unclear and likely fundamentally different from other humanoid Cylons.

During the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|ensuing battle]], one [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] identified Anders as a Cylon, which caused all Raiders to break off the battle and forced the Cylon fleet to retreat. Because of this, a [[Number One]] decided to lobotomize the Raiders to prevent such insubordination in the future. This decision was opposed by a faction, led by [[Natalie]], who advocated the search for the Final Five and who desired to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she found at the Temple of Five. The disagreement between these factions led to a [[Cylon Civil War|violent conflict]] between the humanoid models. This eventually leads to the [[Battle of the Resurrection Hub]] where [[resurrection]] is destroyed by a combined attack force from the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials. Eventually the Rebel Cylons and the Colonials destroy the main enemy Cylon faction in the [[Battle of the Colony]]. The remainder of the Rebel Cylons settle on the new Earth with the Colonials while they let their Centurions have the [[Rebel Basestar]] and their freedom to find their own destiny.

==The Parent Trap==
In the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]], an [[w:Oedipus complex|Oedipus theme]] exists between the creations (Cylons) turning on their creators (Colonials). The [[Humanoid Cylon|humanoid Cylons]] themselves draw the analogy of children murdering their parents:

[[Image:Parents have to die.jpg|thumb|right|"But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own."]]
* [[Number Six]]: "Humanity's children are returning home... today." ([[Miniseries]])
* [[Number Five]]: "But parents have to die. It's the only way children come into their own." ([[Bastille Day]])

Oedipus is the tragic character of Sophocles' play ''Oedipus Rex''. Without realizing it until much later, Oedipus murdered his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta, with whom he had several children, just as the Cylons had tried to do in the [[farms]].

All the Significant Seven models view each other as "siblings".

==Notes==
* The retaliatory nature of sentient machines against humanity is a popular [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Themes compared to those in other media|theme]] in science fiction.

==Cylon Evolution Tree==
{{Cylon evolution tree}}

==References==
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[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
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