Race and Ethnicity in the Twelve Colonies

This article discusses an aspect of the Re-imagined Series version of the Twelve Colonies. For information on the Original Series version, see The Twelve Colonies (TOS).

At Battlestar Wiki, we recognize that race is a problematic concept without any concrete biological definition. Nevertheless, the topic of racial identity in the Twelve Colonies has proven of interest to many fans of the show. Therefore, this page serves to review the information available as best as possible.

In this article, we have chosen to indicate race by apparent region of origin, within the following broadly defined categories: European, (Sub-Saharan) African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, and Native American / Amerindian. Where bi- or multi-racial individuals are noted, component ethnicities are listed in alphabetical order. Individuals of apparently Hispanic appearance are noted as biracial Amerindian/Europeans. Issues relating to the Adama family are briefly discussed in their own section at the end of the article.

Colonials of various races appear in the in the Re-imagined Series. As yet, no reference has been made to race, nor any allusions to racial identities or racial discrimination. Tensions between different colonies are portrayed, but there appears to be as much variation in race within colonies as there is between them. Thus, the writers use differences between the colonies, as exemplified by Gemenon and Sagittaron, to mirror real-world race issues.

The two finalists for the part of Starbuck were Grace Park and Katee Sackhoff, implying that, for some parts at least, the producers employed color-blind casting. Nevertheless, analysis of the ethnic buildup of the Twelve Colonies has intrigued fans of the series.

Part of the series on The Twelve Colonies of Kobol (Re-imagined Series)

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Race and Nationality

In general, no clear associations have been made between particular ethnic groups and individual colonies. Furthermore, there is some evidence within the series that race and colony of origin are not strongly correlated - when Baltar attempts to guess at Boomer's place of origin in "Flesh and Bone", he comments on her accent, not her physical appearance. For more on this, see the article Language in the Twelve Colonies.

It is generally accepted that the Colonials originally emigrated from a single planet (i.e. Kobol and/or Earth). This being the case, it is entirely possible that the various apparent races are reasonably homogeneously distributed across all of the Twelve Colonies (i.e. there are both European and African Sagittarons, Gemenese, etc. rather than all of the Europeans coming from one tribe/colony, all the Asians from another, etc).

What follows is a list of individuals whose colony of origin has been unambiguously identified, along with their apparent ethnicity.

Aerelon

• Sharon Valerii - east Asian (purported, actually a humanoid Cylon infiltrator)
• Sekou Hamilton - mixed race, African/European
• Gaius Baltar - European
• Socinus - mixed race, Amerindian/European
• Saul Tigh - European (purported, actually a humanoid Cylon)

Canceron

• Robin Wenutu - European

Caprica

• William Adama - mixed race, Amerindian/European

The actor, Edward James Olmos, would probably be identified as "Latino", "mestizo", or "Hispanic". Olmos is a social activist working to help the Hispanic-American community, Olmos has made favorable remarks about having the opportunity to play one of the first significant Latino characters in space.

• Caroline Adama - European
  • Lee and Zak Adama - their children, see note below.
• Laura Roslin - European
• Kara Thrace - European (Born on Picon according to Sky One; nomadic childhood; this info is not confirmed.)
• Aaron Doral - European (purported, actually a humanoid Cylon)
• James McManus - European
• Tory Foster - south Asian (purported, actually a humanoid Cylon)
• Michael Robert - European

Gemenon

• Sarah Porter - African
• Venner - Mixed race/ African-European
• Galen Tyrol - European (purported, actually a humanoid Cylon)
• Rya Kibby - European

Picon

• Safiya Sanne - east Asian (but see his article for some debate on origins)
• Playa Palacios - European
• Asha Janik - European

Sagittaron

• Anastasia Dualla - Mixed race, African-European
• Leon Grimes - mixed race, Amerindian/European
• Tom Zarek - European
• Mrs. King - European
  • Willie King - Her son, also European

Tauron

• Helena Cain - European

Virgon

• Marshall Bagot - European

Race and Sexuality

Interracial couplings seem common to the point of ubiquity, and have never been commented upon. It is interesting that such clearly defined racial groups continue to exist in light of this. Notable interracial couples:

• William and Caroline Adama
• Sharon Valerii and Galen Tyrol
• Sharon Valerii and Karl Agathon (Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Agathon, is Amerindian/European[1])
• Dualla and Billy Keikeya (Keikeya is European)
• Dualla and Lee Adama

That being said, at least one individual, Kara Thrace, has only been shown in sexual relationships with individuals of her own race: Gaius Baltar, Samuel Anders, and the Adama brothers (although see note below regarding their ethnicity).

The Adama Brothers

The miniseries received some criticism for casting Edward James Olmos, a dark-skinned Latino, as the father of Jamie Bamber, a pale-skinned Englishman. These points were addressed somewhat in the first season, during which we were briefly introduced to both Caroline and Zak Adama. During a dinner party in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", Ellen Tigh offers her opinion that Lee takes after his mother in appearance, while Zak took after his father. Since human skin pigmentation is determined by several genes which can be inherited independently, this scenario is quite plausible.

As such, it is difficult to pigeonhole the Adama brothers as being of either European descent (as Lee appears, and his actor is) or mixed Amerindian/European (as Zak appears, and his actors have been). Where relevant, it's probably best to consider them both of approximately 1/4 Amerindian and 3/4 European descent, regardless of the genetic background of the actors who play them.

In an effort to increase the resemblance between the two characters, Olmos wears blue contact eye lenses to show some genetic commonality with Bamber. Jamie Bamber also dies his hair to more closely resemble his on-screen "father" [2].

"Ethnic" Names

Some characters have distinctly Indo-European personal names or surnames which span multiple "Earth" languages and their generally associated ethnic origins: these include first names such as James, William, Laura, and Helena, and surnames like Jones, Novacek, Smith, Costanza and McManus.

Other characters have surnames that are of non-western origins, such as Zarek. Keikeya, Jahee and Wenutu.

There are also ancient Greek, Roman and Hebrew names. Personal and surnames, names of locations in use, as well as names like Adama which are carry-overs from the Original Series: Prosna, Socinus, Cally, Playa Palacios, Valerii, Agathon, Thrace, etc.

Often these are combined: Sekou Hamilton, Cally Henderson, Billy Keikeya, Gaius Baltar and William Adama.

To make matters even more complicated, these names do not correspond to either ethnic or "racial" populations among the surviving Colonial citizens, nor do they align with Colonial nationalism. Not all Sagittarons have an European personal name like "Tom" and a Hebrew surname like "Zarek" and not all dark-skinned characters have non-western first names like "Sekou". Daniel Novacek (played by Carl Lumbly, an actor of Jamaican origin), for instance, has an Eastern European surname.