Gaius Baltar

Gaius Baltar
[[Image:File:Bsg-baltar-1.jpg|200px|Gaius Baltar]]
Name	{{{name}}}
Age	mid-30s (approximated)
Colony	Caprica
Birth place	{{{birthplace}}}
Birth Name	Gaius Baltar
Birth Date	{{{birthdate}}}
Callsign
Nickname	{{{nickname}}}
Introduced	[[{{{seen}}}]]
Death
Parents	Unknown
Siblings	None
Children
Marital Status	Single
Family Tree	View
Role	Interim Vice President, The Twelve Colonies of Kobol)
Rank
Serial Number	{{{serial}}}
Portrayed by	James Callis
Gaius Baltar is a Cylon
Gaius Baltar is a Final Five Cylon
Gaius Baltar is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Gaius Baltar is an Original Series Cylon
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Additional Information
[[Image:|200px|Gaius Baltar]]

Biography

Background

Gaius Baltar is a genius. Elegantly dressed and aesthetically handsome, with the affected humility of the truly arrogant, Baltar is a computer technology designer who has won three Magnate Prizes, and who was responsible for the design of the Colonial Command Navigation Program (CNP).

He is also deeply flawed: Baltar is a pathological narsissist. Beneath his outstanding abilities lurks a pathological weakness of character. Self-absorbed, sly, guileful, and utterly dedicated to his own self-preservation, Baltar has carried on a two-year affair with a woman he believes to be a corporate spy -- even to the extent of using code she herself wrote to overcome shortfalls in his CNP -- and thus allowed her unrestricted access to some of the most sensitive systems known to humankind.

Cylon Attack

Gaius Baltar and Number Six kissing in the Mini-Series. (C. SciFi Channel)

When the Cylons launch their attack, Baltar is horrified to learn that his "corporate spy" lover is in fact a new type of Cylon -- a Humano-CylonTemplate:Ref, able to mimic human beings down to the smallest detail -- and that she has in fact used his CNP as a gateway to make all integrated Colonial computers and defence systems vulnerable to a Cylon virus that subverts their command and control systems.

Appalled by the fact that his sexual folly has led to the virtual wiping-out of humanity, Baltar is nevetheless determined not only to survive, but also avoid having what amounts to his treachery exposed.

Helped off of Caprica following the forced-landing of a Colonial Raptor -- at the cost of one of the crew staying behind (Mini-Series) -- he is pleased to find himself treated with the same esteem he enjoyed back on Caprica. His only problem is that Number Six, his former "lover" -- herself destroyed in the shockwave of a nuclear blast -- now appears to him in visions, and he cannot be sure whether this is a result of his own guilt at his actions or whether -- as she initially claims -- she is part of a chip that has been implanted in his brainTemplate:Ref.

Shortly after his arrival on the Galactica, the fact that Cylons can look like humans becomes known to Commander William Adama, and Batlar is put to work trying to devise a means of detecting humanoid Cylons. At the prompting of Number Six, he exposes Aaron Doral -- a PR exceutive who has been co-ordinating the media coverage of the Galactica's decommissioning -- as a Cylon agent (Mini-Series), using little more than invented technobabble to convince Colonel Tigh. As a result of this, and despite his protestations of innocence, Doral is put off the ship and left at the Ragnar Anchorage.

Due to his unique abilities, Baltar is charged with turning his initial "Cylon detector" into a working machine capable of screening everyone in the fleet. While he at first balks at this, events such as the sabotaging of the Galactica's water reserves (Water) force him into a position where he can no longer procrastinate over the detector -- despite his fear that such a device might somehow expose him as the original traitor among humans. Gaining aid from a most unusual source -- his inner Six (Bastille Day) -- Baltar does eventually develop a genuine detector, which, together with his survival of an attempt to brand him as a traitor (Six Degrees of Separation), firmly establish his credentials within the fleet's hierarchy.

With this new-found trust, and despite his willingness to deliberately conceal vital information, such as Lieutenant Valerii's true status as a Humano-Cylon (Flesh and Bone), Baltar is willing to be moved into the realm of political leadership, firstly as the Representative for Caprica on the Quorum of Twelve, and then as the newly-elected Vice President within the fleet (Colonial Day).

Cylon Manipulations

The Cylons commenced their direct manipulations of Baltar some two years prior to the attack on the Twelve Colonies, by bringing him into contact with their agent Number Six, who instigated a torrid affair with him while at the same time using him to access vital Colonial command and control systems within the Ministry of Defence (Mini-Series).

This manipulation continued even after the Doctor left Caprica and Six behind, with Six appearing to him in sensory perceptions, possibly through an implant in his brain (Mini-Series) or perhaps even through a series of psychotic hallucinations as the Doctor struggles to reconcile his guilt and his desire of self-preservation.

Regardless of the cause of her appearances, Six has continued to both help and hinder Baltar, gradually drawing him to a point of near-open acceptance and participation in Cylon plans and activities (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II). The majority of this manipulation has been through religious intrigue, linked to physical threats to Baltar's well-being. These have included:

• Using the threat of Baltar's former colleague, Dr. Amorak, attempting to contact President Roslin with information on a "traitor" within Colonial circles -- and only "removing" this threat once Baltar has "repented of his sins" (33)
• Using the threat of direct accusation (in the form of "Shelly Godfry") coupled with "photographic evidence" -- and only "removing" this threat once Baltar has "accepted" the Cylon God into his life (Six Degrees of Separation)

Gaius Baltar and Number Six seeing "the shape of things to come" in Scattered. (C. SciFi Channel)

Baltar's near-acquiescence to the Cylon religion comes when he goes through a process similar to the evangelical Christian belief in "rebirth" through adult baptism. In this, the new believer in the Christian faith is baptized (generally through full immersion in water), symbolizing the "death" of the "old" self and "birth" of the "new" Christian self. In "The Hand of God", Baltar apparently undergoes "death" at the hands of his inner Six when she "breaks" his neck -- and is "reborn" in his real life as the "instrument of God", able to point-out precisely where Colonial forces must strike in order to eliminate the Cylon base preventing them from accessing supplies of tylium.

This act leaves Baltar ripe for the final revelation of his role within Cylon expectations, when "the future" is revealed to him by Six on Kobol, in the form of the first of "God's new generation of children" (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II). Baltar is not particularly pleased by this, especially when he learns that he is to be the father and that the mother will be Six. (Scattered). Despite this, when he believes Commander Adama is trying to kill the child, he tries to stop this (Valley of Darkness).

Survival on Kobol

While stranded on Kobol, Baltar awoke in a clearing filled with human bones. Number Six told him they were from human sacrifices, that all of the myths about the Gods and the paradise on Kobol were a lie to hide the true brutality of man. This increased Baltar's cynical opinion of humanity. Number Six also warned that one of the survivors would turn against the others.

The Raptor crash survivors, consisting of Baltar, Chief Tyrol, Cally, Seelix, and ranking crewmember Lt. Crashdown, were faced with Cylon Centurions building a missile battery that would destroy any rescue ships trying to save them. Crashdown, obsessed after the deaths of Tarn and Socinus, ordered the team to make a suicidal attack on the Cylon position. Baltar had never fired a weapon in his life and felt it could not be done, and due to the fact that he was the only non-military member of the survivors, he insisted that they put it to a vote before Tyrol shouted him down to follow the chain of command.

When they were about to make the attack, Cally froze in terror, unable to create the needed diversion. Crashdown pointed his gun at her head and threatened to kill her if she did not obey the order, and as a result Tyrol leveled his gun at Crashdown. A tense standoff ensued. Just as Crashdown was about to fire, Baltar shot him in the back, killing him instantlyTemplate:Ref. The group successfully carried out the alternate plan of attacking the Cylon's DRADIS dish, and were saved by the rescue Raptors. Baltar told the SAR team that Crashdown had died a hero in the fight, and Tyrol reluctantly corroborated his story (Fragged).

Return to Galactica

Back on Galactica, Baltar insisted that if Roslin's presidency was terminated, as Vice President he should then succeed her in command, but Col. Tigh dismissed the notion because he had just instituted martial law. Later, Cally blackmailed Baltar into making it a priority to prove that Chief Tyrol was not a Cylon, as Col. Tigh suspected, or Cally would reveal to all that it was really Baltar that killed Crashdown. Incensed, Baltar went to the brig to take a blood sample from Tyrol, who was in the same cell as Boomer, but actually injected him with a toxin that would kill him in seconds if he didn't administer the antidote. Baltar coerced the panicked Boomer in telling him how many other humanoid Cylons were hiding in the Fleet, nothing that even if she was programmed to think she was human on a subconscious level she truly did know the answer as a Cylon. With time running out, she shouted out "Eight!" and Baltar revived Tyrol. Baltar was going to perform a series of experiments on Boomer, but she was then killed by Cally (Resistance).

Some time later, Baltar yelled at his internal Number Six for her increasingly ridiculous random changes in appearance, and also questioned her actual existence. She responded by simplifying her appearance and attitude and told him that he truly had gone crazy: that there was no computer chip in his head containing Six, but that she was indeed a hallucination brought on by his guilt-ridden subconscious. Baltar had a brain scan performed in sickbay by Dr. Cottle (despite interference from Six), and confirmed there were no "foreign objects" in his brain. Baltar was ready to believe that he was truly insane, when while observing Helo and Caprica-Sharon in the brig, he heard her say that she was pregnant with a Hybrid child. Six had told Baltar earlier that "their child" would be born in that cell, and this led Baltar to realize that Six must be real because his subconscious coudln't have known that. Number Six then said that she was indeed real and not a hallucination, while at the same time there was no computer ship, but said she's "an angel of God sent here to protect you". Six then told Baltar that by "their" child she is refering to Caprica-Sharon's biological child: Six considers herself the mother, and Baltar the father (Home, Part II).

When D'anna Biers was making a documentary about life aboard Galactica, Six urged Baltar to give an interview to try to win people over to thinking that he should be running the Fleet. Baltar stumbled in response but thankfully for him, he was interupted by a Cylon attack (Final Cut). Baltar would then aid in trying to overcome the Cylon logic bomb which had devastated Galactica's computer systems (Flight of the Phoenix).

Arrival of Pegasus

When battlestar Pegasus reunited with the Fleet led by Galactica, it was requested that Baltar examine Pegasus' own Cylon prisoner to see what information he could glean from it. Upon arrival in the Pegasus brig, Baltar was horrified to discover the Cylon was a terribly abused and tortured copy of the Number Six model, known on the ship as "Gina". Baltar vowed to help her in any way he could, and began by having her restraints removed and allowing her to be fed again. The inhumane treatment of Gina by the Pegasus crew likely made Gaius more critical of humanity's worth ("Pegasus").

Speculation: The Real Baltar?

For Baltar to survive the destruction of Caprica was no small matter, especially considering he was in the wake a nuclear blast and that, apparently, the body of Six that he knew was destroyed in trying to protect his in the events of the mini-series. But that blast was substantial (not unlike that from a pyroclastic flow) and would tear through Six's body just as well as Baltar's. Six has had two years to gather plenty of Baltar's genetic material. Could the Baltar on Galactica be now, in fact, a Humano-Cylon?

Why a Copy?

Information from RDM indicate that, at the start of season 2, there are eight Cylon operatives that appear in the fleet. A Baltar copy would also had made matters very, very easy for the Cylons in their work to infiltrate the Colonial defenses and would be easily dropped in place to escape or happen to appear on a ship of the nascent fleet. Such clones may also explain the 'fake' recording from Shelly Godfrey of Baltar compromising Colonial computer systems in a latter Season 1 episode. Perhaps it was the Cylons who doctored what was, in reality, a legitimate recording of a Baltar copy.

One notable question would be why Six have spent so much time talking to Baltar, and then have thrown herself in front of the blast if she'd intended for him to die? If Baltar was already a humano-Cylon, his consciousness from that moment would be thrown into a waking duplicate, pre-disheveled and scraped, where Baltar would merely think he was blown clear to safety where he could run to escape attacks with other survivors. Also, since Baltar appeared to be key in many Cylon plans, they would want to ensure that Baltar would reach any remaining humans to spy for them, and having only one copy might risk the success of such plans. Further, it is the psyche of Baltar that the Cylons may treasure most; few others in the Colonies may have the level of intelligence, arrogance, and neurosis that Baltar has that could prove as easily exploited. The guise of the great Baltar gives the Cylons a huge natural tactical advantage in that he is well known and allowed access to almost any critical battlestar location. Baltar's slick-as-oil personality and charisma aids him with better finesse and charisma than any Humano-Cylon personality yet seen.

The Baltar-as-Father Argument

Six has stated her desire to have a child with Baltar. Humano-Cylon couplings have failed to result in offspring prior to that point ("The Farm"). If Baltar and Six were both Humano-Cylon, it is likely that offspring would either be impossible or at least exceptionally unlikely. This point gives the strongest evidence against the Baltar-as-Cylon theory, but cannot (yet) dismiss the notion.

In "Home, Part II", Six indicates that Baltar's and Six's child will be born in the isolation cage built for the Galactica copy of Sharon Valerii. The reality turned out different: The Caprica version of Valerii, pregnant by Helo, now occupies the cage by the end of that episode, and Six indicates that it is in fact Valerii's child that will become Baltar's. This gives some weight back to the Baltar-as-Cylon theory since Baltar becoming a father by surrogate circumvents the need for him to do so naturally. While Caprica-Valerii shows that a female Humano-Cylon could conceive, no information is yet available on whether male Humano-Cylons could sire a child with human females. However, earlier in the first season, in "33", Six asked Baltar if he wanted to procreate with her, and at this point she may have meant an actual child of Baltar's. "Home, Part II" occured much later in the timeline, and it is possible that the Cylons and Number Six had to alter their plans during this time. Number Six did mention in "Home, Part II" that she didn't consider Sharon "worthy" of bearing one of "God's new children" (the Humano-Cylons). Perhaps Sharon was not originally planned to be the first mother of a hybrid baby at all, and Number Six was going to have a child with the (necessarily human) Baltar, but had to shift plans when Boomer became pregnant first.

Inside Baltar's Head

Baltar's brain scan "Home, Part II" confirms that the virtual Six that only Baltar can see is not an actual artificial device in his brain. This leaves a number of possibilities, of which the strongest are:

1. Baltar has a device elsewhere in his body. We're not given information on whether all of Baltar was scanned, or just his head.
2. A portion of Baltar's body is the "chip" but fashioned in a way by the Cylons that is medically indistinguishable from a regular body part and may also function normally (say, a pituitary gland)
3. Baltar's body is artificial, with his personality (complete with neuroses) placed in a Humano-Cylon construct. While Baltar's psyche itself may not be that of a Cylon, the addition of the virtual Six component compliments the arrangement for the Cylon's purposes.

Possibility #3 is interesting in that, based on Baltar's own research on the Six copy known as Gina, Baltar's personality and guilt would continue to plague him either in Humano-Cylon or human form. But, if Baltar were reconstructed as a Cylon, the virtual Six aids Baltar by being, in effect, the conscience and "guardian angel" she claims to be, keeping his neuroses and guilt over the genocide from driving him completely insane--for now.

Notes

1. Template:Note"Humano-Cylon" is the popular Battlestar Wiki term for the humanoid Cylons. It is not a canonical term found in any episode.
2. Template:NoteThe idea that Six is an actual chip in Baltar's head was dismissed by Dr. Cottle's image scan of Baltar's head. See the section on alternate reasons for Six's existence for more.
3. Template:NoteThe act of killing Crashdown appears to have led to a dramatic change in Baltar's attitude toward hurting anyone directly. Later, Baltar does not hesitate in his injection of Tyrol with fatal drugs to blackmail Boomer into giving Cylon secrets. Baltar's humanitarian acts to the Six copy known as Gina also suggests Baltar's attitude in the care of Cylons is further changing. More and more, Baltar appears to prefer direct intervention and is less cowardly in his attitude.

According to SkyOne, Baltar was born on Sagittaron and attracted to Caprica by the Colonial Defense Ministry.