Humanoid Cylon speculation

The Cylon's transformation into humanoid form introduces serious problems for the remnant of humanity known as the Fleet to identify Cylon operative from human.

This article details plausible speculation on central and supporting characters in Battlestar Galactica who, based on their behavior, motive, and background, could be a Cylon agent.

Needed Qualifiers for Speculation

For a character to be logically considered a possible agent, there are a few established parameters to meet:

• The suspect must not have any adult children or siblings. For purposes of this article, a pregnancy can be generally established as a disqualifier. With one exception, Cylon agents have extreme difficulty with human sexual reproduction to the point of effectively infertility. If a character has adult, biological children, it automatically excludes them as being a Cylon agent as the procreation of the child and the age of the child both violate the 2nd qualifier. Although humanoid Cylons have, eventually, proven to be capable of reproduction with humans, the birth of the hybrid child Hera was considered such a seminal event by the Cylons that it seems safe to conclude that no Cylon ever had a child before that point.
• The suspect must not have a verifiable family history (other than marriage). A parent would known their child from birth (unless otherwise specified), and Cylons are not copies of prexisting humans. This is an expansion of the "confirmed character history" point below.
• The suspect cannot be confirmed to have witnessed or participated in the Cylon War. This is another expansion of the "confirmed character history" point; the Cylons definitely didn't have humanoid models during the First Cylon War^{[citation needed]}, so if someone is confirmed to have participated in the war 40 years ago, that person is not a Cylon, e.g. William Adama and Saul Tigh. Note that apparent age is not a disqualifer; the Cylon agent model known as Cavil appears as old as William Adama and Saul Tigh.
• The suspect does not have a reliable history involving direct association (i.e. working or personal relationship) with a confirmed human character for more than 2 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies.

Based on information from the Miniseries, the Cylon agents began their infiltration and integration into Colonial society approximately 2 years before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. If a character has a direct association with a character that cannot be a Cylon agent, that association excludes them since they are older than the stated time that the agents began to integrate themselves into Colonial society. Note that the 2-year period is based on information given by Number Six to Gaius Baltar: Their relationship lasted for 2 years prior to the Cylon attack. There is also supporting information that Boomer's tour of duty in the Colonial Fleet was also approximately 2 years.

According to Ron D. Moore, the twelve humanoid models are based on human behavior and personality archetypes distilled into twelve varieties. Cylon agents are NOT copies or clones of any pre-existing humans, living or dead.

Please note that retroactive continuity changes are possible in the series This article is based on plausible speculation, which is also highly fluid in content and can violate {{NPOV}} policies if taken too far in the extreme.

Suspected Cylon infiltrators

High probability of being a Cylon

James "Jammer" Lyman?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: No
• Chances of being a Cylon: High

• Jammer consistently makes remarks that seem to be trying to divide the humans against each other. When it was revealed to the Fleet that Cylons now can look like humans in "Litmus", he kept arguing that everyone should stop trusting each other and that it was "every man for himself now", while Socinus said that if they didn't trust each other they wouldn't survive.

Cally points out that Jammer's kind of thinking is exactly what the Cylons want: for everyone to become suspicious and paranoid. In the second season, as Tyrol is accused of being a Cylon in "Resistance" he tells Cally that Tyrol must be a Cylon. Whenever Jammer appears he seems to be trying to sow mistrust among the crew. Also, he told the emotionally unstable Cally that she should be angry at "Boomer" (the first Sharon Valerii copy) not himself, for Tyrol's plight, which infers Jammer manipulates Cally into killing Boomer.

In the episode, "Valley of Darkness," Jammer is found alone, unharmed, in a small arms locker, but every other human (including some with Jammer in the locker) are dead. He claims to have just hid, then snuck inside the locker.

Before the fight to protect Aft Damage Control, Captain Adama says a phrase of his father's: "Sometimes you have to roll the hard six." Jammer asks what this means, and Adama explains. To date, no aired episode explains where Caprica-Valerii, a known agent, learns of this phrase, which she uses in a pressing situation in her efforts to defend Galactica in "Flight of the Phoenix." Unwittingly, it is plausible that Valerii's knowledge of this phrase (and its origin) came from Jammer via the vague but tangible collective knowledge database of the Cylon agents. However, it is also plausible that "Boomer" Valerii heard this phrase sometime prior to her memories being copied into Caprica-Valerii.

Jammer's pessimistic, counterproductive, and morale-draining behavior appears during construction of the Blackbird, telling the other deckhands that it couldn't be done and it wasn't worth trying.

In selected webisodes, Jammer talks with Duck about the proposed New Caprica Police. To Duck's disgust, Jammer replies "Some people say it's a good thing... Get the Centurions off the streets, let us patrol them ourselves," tentatively advocating the Cylons' agenda. The statement is ambiguous, however, as Jammer may have been testing Duck for inclusion in the resistance cell. Jammer later advises Galen Tyrol not to be angry about Duck's refusal to join and to give up on recruiting him.

Jammer balks at hiding weapons in the temple on New Caprica and is overruled by Colonel Tigh. Jammer complains against Tigh for his callous attitudes toward the innocents killed at the temple after the Cylons stormed it to seize the weapons.

He is brought in for questioning by Aaron Doral at a Cylon detention center, much to Tigh's concern. However, while in the detention center he exhibits genuine fear and anxiety. If Jammer is an Cylon agent, he is a "sleeper," unaware of his true nature, as "Boomer" Valerii once was.

In "Occupation" Jammer stands behind Duck as Duck detonates a bomb at the NCP graduation. Jammer is later seen unharmed. It seems quite unlikely that any human could have survived the blast at such close proximity.

Moderate probability of being a Cylon

Anastasia "Dee" Dualla?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
• Chances of being a Cylon: Moderate

Dualla seems to have a fairly well developed backstory regarding her past; she is a Sagittaron (Bastille Day), her father disapproved of her joining the military (Final Cut), but upon closer inspection none of this can be confirmed by a third party: the only source of information about Dualla's past in the series has been Dualla herself. Dualla's position in charge of Galactica's communications puts her in an ideal position for subversion. In "Valley of Darkness", Dualla is found in the enlisted head, having suffered a blow to the head from Cylon Centurions that passed through, the only survivor in the compartment. Cylon agents have often demonstrated the ability to physically damage herself for a cause, including self-destruction. Dualla could've faked an injury to throw suspicion. Dualla's relationships with members of both government and military command (Billy Keikeya and Lee Adama) increase her involvement with secrets in the Fleet.

Felix Gaeta?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
• Chances of being a Cylon: Moderate

As tactical officer, Felix Gaeta. Gaeta, being technically minded, is initially fond of Dr. Baltar's work. He admitted to ignoring the Cylon device found below the DRADIS console in the Miniseries, believing it to be part of the new museum. Gaeta neglects an update to emergency jump coordinates to the Fleet (Scattered), and proposes creating a computer network to fix the matter, leaving the ship vulnerable (and compromised twice).

Gaeta's recent behavioral changes from the stress of working at evading the Cylons shows by "Final Cut" as Gaeta is shown in his interview drunk, smoking, and wearing a new tattoo. By the following episode, "Flight of the Phoenix", Gaeta angrily snaps at Colonel Tigh for giving a difficult order, causing surprise throughout CIC as Gaeta is normally a calm, reserved officer even under the worst of conditions. Contrast this behavior with "Boomer" Valerii, who still appeared quite alert after 5 continuous days of combat status. Note the following dialogue from the first regular series episode, "33":

Apollo: Hey, how about you, Boomer? Doc tells me you're holding up better than anybody in the squadron.

Boomer: I'm tired, like everybody else.

Apollo: You never seem it.

Starbuck: 'Cause she's a Cylon.

Boomer: You're just gonna make me come over there and kick your ass, aren't you?

While even Cylon agents develop severe behavioral and physiological issues after extended work and abuse (Pegasus), Cylon agents appear to be more resilient than humans, which may limit the likelihood of Gaeta's possible Cylon connection. On the other hand, if he were a Cylon, Gaeta's human personality may have finally been overtaxed by that time, suggesting that an actual human might have snapped earlier in their exodus in contrast.

Gaeta's likelihood as a Cylon operative may be in doubt over one key element: The Cylons appear to have integrated human agents into the Colonies no earlier than 2 years before the events of the Miniseries. Gaeta has served on Galactica with Commander Adama for three years (Miniseries). Since humanoid Cylons are not clones of actual humans, the likelihood of Gaeta as a Cylon agent would depend on the start of Cylon agent introduction.

Ellen Tigh?

• Known siblings or adult children: None
• Known family members: None
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: Yes (character over age 40)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Seven-year marriage to Saul Tigh
• Chances of being a Cylon: Low to Moderate

Ellen Tigh's statistically-defying survival of the Cylon holocaust in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down" raised viewer suspicions (and those of the characters themselves) from her introduction. During Commander William Adama's incapacitation (Scattered through Resistance), Ellen Tigh's manipulation of her husband against the needs of the Fleet are frequent. If she is a Cylon looking to destroy the Fleet from within, then the best weapon in her arsenal is the man she's married to.

In an October 2005 webcast, Ronald D. Moore indicated that the likelihood of Ellen Tigh being a Cylon was low. Essentially, this was due to the feeling that having her be a Cylon agent would not only be convenient, but unrealistic from a story point-of-view as well, given the character's many other complexities, which would stretch the character's believability. Moore's comments don't eliminate Ellen Tigh from consideration, but reduces the likelihood of this speculation.

Ellen Tigh celebrated her seventh wedding anniversary with Saul Tigh in a deleted scene from the episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I". If the canonicity of this scene stands, then Tigh's likelihood of being an agent drops dramatically.

In the preview clip for "Occupation", Tigh is shown having sex with a Cavil, in exchange for her husband's release from captivity. While her motivations are implicit, there is no information that suggests that Cylons aren't sexual amongst themselves.

Low probability of being a Cylon

Gaius Baltar?

• Known siblings or adult children: None
• Known family members: None
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifying character: No
• Chances of being a Cylon: Low

Gaius Baltar's odds of being a Cylon are low, but not impossible. The miniseries establishes him as a prominent public figure for years. Cylons talking amongst themselves in "Downloaded" continually referred to Baltar as a human.

Spoiler follows, highlight to read.
Recent information from cast members that portray Cylons suggest a season 3 storyline that indicates that the revealed agents may not know the identity of the five remaining Cylon agents.

For more this character's probability, see the article, Baltar as Cylon speculation.

Bell?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: No
• Chances of being a Cylon: Low

D'anna Biers' cameraman/assistant is another possible candidate for a Cylon infiltrator, as he has been shown willingly taking part in the same devious and manipulative activities as D'anna Biers (Final Cut). Whether he is a Cylon working in tandem with Biers, or just a nosy human journalist following his superior’s equally devious wishes has yet to be determined.

Bell's speculation as a Cylon agent is questionable based on some of his actions in "Final Cut." When he is free of D'anna Biers, he doesn't film sensitive, if seemingly trivial, data. He overlooks the carbon dioxide scrubbers (a potential Cylon infiltrator target). In addition, instead of filming the hangar deck after the destruction of the two Raiders, Bell focuses on Apollo's post-flight check. Since Bell has not been seen in the series since this episode, the lack of further appearances all but eliminates the likelihood for this character to be a Cylon agent.

Cally Tyrol

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
• Chances of being a Cylon: Low to None

Cally Henderson shoots "Boomer" Valerii in a "Jack Ruby-style" assassination, preventing the Fleet from interrogating her further. While this might benefit the Cylon agenda, Henderson had a perfectly understandable reason for doing it, which she has openly stated: she hates Boomer for her association with Chief Tyrol and for her betrayal in shooting Adama.

Henderson is married to Galen Tyrol and has a son, Nicholas as of season 3. Given the magnitude of problems in creating Cylon or Cylon/human offspring, Cally Tyrol's pregnancy is a substantially powerful disqualifier as an agent.

Billy Keikeya?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: No
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

The character of Billy Keikeya dies in the episode, "Sacrifice." As only Cylon agents can "return from the dead," the argument for Keikeya as a Cylon agent is effectively invalid unless the character appears in a present-time (non-flashback) episode of the series, which would confirm Keikeya's true nature.

Galen Tyrol?

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
• Chances of being a Cylon: Low to None

Chief Galen Tyrol was in an illicit relationship with "Boomer" Valerii, and later has recurring nightmares based on his fear of being a Cylon sleeper agent. Having served under Commander Adama for 5 years, Adama noted that, if Tyrol was a Cylon, he has had plenty of resources and opportunity to destroy the battlestar.

Galen and Cally Tyrol's child, Nicholas Tyrol, all but removes suspicion for this character, given the difficulties in Cylon- or Cylon/human conception.

Characters eliminated from suspicion

The following characters are disproven from any possibility of being Cylon agents.

Lee "Apollo" Adama

• Known siblings or adult children: Yes, with qualifier (See "Black Market")
• Known family members: Yes (William Adama, Zak Adama)
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None
  

In "Flesh and Bone", a copy of Leoben Conoy, a Cylon agent, grabs Laura Roslin and tells her, "Adama is a Cylon," prior to his execution. If his statement is true, it leaves doubt on which Adama he is talking about, although Roslin's actions in the next episode, "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down" indicate that she believes Conoy spoke of Commander Adama.

Cylon agents are not copies (clones) of existing people. At the start of the Miniseries, Commander Adama is given a photo of his two young sons from the Fleet archives. The complexity of creating a false family unit is not uncommon with Cylon agents, but Commander Adama's own role in the Cylon War reinforces the high odds against a Cylon ruse using Lee Adama. No information has been given that Cylon agents age as humans do, increasing the probability against a ruse. William Adama has, naturally, known his son since birth.

The episode "Black Market" suggests that Adama was to be a father in events weeks before the Cylon attack. Such a pregnancy goes against the extreme difficulties of Cylon-human conception.

William Adama

• Known siblings or adult children: Yes (Lee Adama and Zak Adama)
• Known family members: Yes (Caroline Adama and Anne Adama)
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: Yes (widely-known Veteran)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (Saul Tigh)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Of all the suspected infiltrators, the case against William Adama appears to be the weakest.

In the Miniseries, Adama knows that the Cylon's "silica pathways" would be affected by the EM discharges around Ragnar Anchorage. While copies of Leoben Conoy and Number Five show signs of being affected after several hours in the cloud, Adama did not show symptoms after hours of exposure.

William Adama is the father of two children, Lee and Zak. Before the conception of Sharon Agathon's hybrid child, the Cylons are unable to produce children through sexual reproduction. Further, Adama is, by all accounts, a veteran of the well-documented Cylon War, back at a time where Cylons were purely mechanical and not biosynthetic.

The strongest convincing evidence against Adama as a Cylon is that we have seen flashbacks of Adama and Saul Tigh set 20 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies, after the first Cylon War. Since Cylon agents aren't copies of humans, it is not possible for Adama (or Tigh) to be Cylon operatives (at least of the type used thus far).

Karl "Helo" Agathon

• Known siblings or adult or hybrid children: Yes (Hera)
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Helo fathers a Cylon-human hybrid, Hera, with a known Cylon agent, Sharon Valerii. The aired events of season 1 on occupied Caprica that show the Cylon's manipulation of Helo and Caprica-Valerii to foster conception confirms that Helo is human.

Samuel Anders

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown (Was Pyramid Ball player but not known for how long)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Anders was a well known public figure as a sports star, although the length of his time in pyramid sport is not known. In "Downloaded", a copy of Number Three and Caprica-Six refer to Anders as human.

Helena Cain

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Admiral Helena Cain may have been ruthless and a danger to the Fleet, but she was a publicly known figure for years. Cain spent years rapidly rising through the ranks all the way up to Admiral. Commander Adama has personally witnessed this rise, which must have taken longer than the 2 year cutoff for likely Cylon agent infiltration as defined in this article.

Laura Roslin

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: Yes (character over age 40)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (President Richard Adar)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Roslin was a public figure for 20 years (Litmus), working with later-President Adar and eventually serving as Secretary of Education. Cylon agents appear to be resistant to cancer, and Roslin was dying of cancer until she was cured by a blood transfusion from the Cylon-Human hybrid fetus (Epiphanies).

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: Yes (alluded to in "The Farm" by Simon)
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes, with qualifier (the Adama family)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Starbuck has been disproven from being a Cylon: Simon wanted to use Starbuck's egg cells in Cylon/Human hybrid experiments. It would be illogical to take genetic material from another Cylon agent.

Thrace's association with Zak Adama occurred over two years prior to the Cylon attack (Miniseries).

Saul Tigh

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: None
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: Yes (widely-known Veteran)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Saul Tigh is well known as a veteran of the first Cylon War, and has served as a non-obscure officer in the Fleet for decades. In many respects the case against Saul Tigh being a Cylon is similar to that of William Adama's (above).

The strongest convincing evidence against Tigh as a Cylon is that we have seen flashbacks of Tigh and William Adama set 20 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies, after the first Cylon War. Since Cylon agents aren't copies of humans, it is not possible for Tigh or Adama to be Cylon operatives (at least of the type used thus far).

Tom Zarek

• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Confirmed to have lived during the Cylon War: Yes (character over age 40)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (President Adar, publicly known to be held in prison for 20 years)
• Chances of being a Cylon: None

Tom Zarek may seem subversive to the status quo of the Fleet and opposed to President Roslin's administration, but he can't be a Cylon. Zarek has been a well-known terrorist/political dissident for decades. He is widely known for blowing up a government building on Sagittaron, leading to his arrest 20 years ago, and he was presumably a prominent Sagittaron leader for years beforehand. President Adar publicly offered him amnesty if he would renounce his campaign of violence to free Sagittaron and Zarek refused. Due to being such a publicly known figure for so many decades before the Cylon Attack, Zarek could not be a Cylon.

Re-imagined Series definition: taking large risks; literally, rolling 2 threes with a pair of dice

Galactica 1980 definition: Dillon is called both a terrorist and a chauvinist by Jamie Hamilton during their phone call from the police station; he asks Troy "what's a terrorist chauvinist?" ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}

These are terms directly relating to Galactica 1980, some of which are based from the Original Series. For terms from that series, please refer to List of terms (TOS).