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 in reality 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 have a regular association with other Cylon agents (whether they realize the character is an infiltrator or not). A "regular" association means that the character speaks often (weekly, if not daily) to, or has/had direct duties with another agent. Suspects that speak regularly to other suspects in this list are, for the purposes of this article, not applicable to this qualifier. Many Viper pilots and Galactica command staff who've worked with the Sharon Valerii copy known as "Boomer" would meet this qualifier.
• The suspect must not have any adult children or siblings. For purposes of this article, a pregnancy can be generally established as a disqualifer. However, while identical Colonial twins have not been shown in any episode, it is conceivable that Cylon agents could disguise themselves by posing as twins.
• The suspect must not have a verifiable family history (marriages do not disqualify unless a child was conceived).
• The suspect cannot be old enough to have witnessed or participated in the Cylon War.
• The suspect does not have reliable histories that places them in direct association (working or personal relationship) with a disqualified (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 was also approximately 2 years in the Colonial Fleet.

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 humans, living or dead.

With one exception, Cylon agents have extreme difficulty with human sexual reproduction to the point where they are effectively infertile. If a character has adult, biological children, it automatically excludes them as being a Cylon agent as the precreation of the child and the age of the child both violate the 2nd qualifier.

Based on these qualifers, each assessment below is marked accordingly with their probability of being a Cylon infiltrator.

Gaius Baltar?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (Three Number Six incarnations)
• Known siblings or adult children: None
• Known family members: None
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: No

For Gaius Baltar to survive the destruction of Caprica was no small matter, especially considering he was in the wake a nuclear shock wave and that the body of Six that he knew was apparently destroyed in trying to protect his in the events of the Mini-Series.

A nuclear blast's shock wave is substantial (not unlike that from a pyroclastic cloud). The shock wave would contain rocks, glass, metal, and other large debris that would bludgeon, pierce and lacerate human tissue with ease and at terrific speeds (at maximum, 1200 KPH, or 745 MPH). Such a debris-filled shock wave would obliterate Baltar's home and easily annihilate Six's body, which at those speeds would provide essentially no protection to Baltar's. (For comparison, note that, despite his superior strength, the head of the first Leoben Conoy copy encountered was bludgeoned by Commander Adama with a flashlight, and many other Cylon agent copies have been shot or killed as easily as a human.)

Even if Baltar survived momentarily from Six's protection, either the remains of his home would have collapsed over him, likely trapping him if not killing him, or he and Six's body would also be carried away by the shock wave for some distance.

Six has had two years to gather plenty of Baltar's genetic material. Could the Baltar on Galactica be now, in fact, a Cylon agent?

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 have 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 has spent so much time talking to Baltar and then thrown herself in front of the blast if she'd intended for him to die? If Baltar was already a Cylon agent, his consciousness from that moment would be thrown into a waking duplicate, already 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 exploitable. 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 aids him with better finesse and stronger charisma than any Cylon agent personality yet seen.

The Baltar-as-Father Argument

Six has stated her desire to have a child with Baltar. Cylon agent couplings have failed to result in offspring prior to that point ("The Farm"). If Baltar and Six were both Cylon agent, it is likely that offspring would either be impossible or at least exceptionally unlikely. This point gives evidence against the Baltar-as-Cylon theory, but Six has repeatedly made it clear that she considers the hybrid human-cylon baby that Sharon is carrying to be "our" (as she puts it) baby. "Our" may in fact be inclusive of all cylons, which may just include Baltar.

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 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 Cylon agent could conceive, no information is yet available on whether male Cylon agents 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" occurred 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 Cylon agents). 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 in "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's body 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 Cylon agent 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 Cylon agent 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.

But Cylons aren't human clones

As Cylons aren't copies of humans, this would suggest either of two possibilities for Baltar: first, that he survived the blast and escaped, or second, that Baltar was a Cylon all along, even on Caprica.

The idea of Baltar being originally a Cylon has problems, however. If Baltar were a Cylon, it would be redundant and unnecessary for Number Six to "choose him" for her mission (unless the Cylons preferred Baltar to remain a "sleeper" throughout his mission to give "plausible deniability" in his mind as well as allow him to do what his personality is likely to do). Furthermore, from a story perspective, the idea of Baltar being a Cylon very much goes against the idea of Baltar as a traitor betraying humanity to the Cylons—as well as the idea of Baltar's relationship with Six being a true human/Cylon pairing. It should be noted, however, that Ron D. Moore's "Gaius Baltar" differs significantly from the "Baltar" of the Original Series. The Baltar of the Original Series was a true turncoat with megalomaniacal tendencies; Gaius, on the other hand, is not power-hungry but is driven by a strong sense of self, albeit to the exclusion and ignorance of the needs of everyone else.

Gaius is often treated by Six as a human--ultimately the only human who will be allowed to survive by the Cylons. But the human models of Cylon also behave with classically human qualities (not all of them perfect or utopian) and seem to see each other in varying emotions (admiration and contempt are prevalent when Six speaks of the pregnant Caprica Valerii). So, at the least, Gaius is treated with no less respect than any other Cylon agent by his virtual Six. If we assume Gaius is indeed human, Six's interaction with Baltar (given the hostilities of the Cylons) borders on admiration. Although we can't necessarily use Six's emotions as a de facto gauge of Baltar's genuine humanity, it does lend to the mystery.

The storyline possibilities do change somewhat if Baltar has always been a Cylon. Note that Baltar has never spoken of his family or other friends (other than President Adar), strongly suggesting Baltar has been a "loner." If Baltar's parentage (or offspring--he is rather promiscuous) cannot be confirmed (as has been done with Commander Adama, also on this list, then the laws of physics (nuclear shock wave damage to human tissue) as well as the laws of procreation (Cylons can't quite procreate as humans do) continue to leave open the possibility that Baltar is model of Cylon, however reduced the odds are now, based on Moore's new information.

"Downloaded" makes it not likely

The episode "Downloaded" contains revelations that make it extremely unlikely the Baltar is a Cylon. In dialogues with each other, numerous Cylon characters distinctly refer to Baltar as human. Although it is possible that they might keep the information from Baltar, it makes no sense to keep it a secret to each other. In addition, this episode introduced the unique idea of a Number Six copy having Baltar in her head. Through Six, Baltar pushes for the Cylons to be more human; for example, letting Samuel Anders go. If Baltar were a Cylon, this story thread would make no sense.

Ellen Tigh?

• Regular association with other agents: No
• Known siblings or adult children: None
• Known family members: None
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: Maybe (Character over 40 years of age)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Seven-year marriage to Saul Tigh

In light of her statistic-defying survival of the Cylon holocaust and her manipulations of her husband during Commander William Adama's incapacitation ("Scattered" through "Resistance"), Ellen Tigh's actions have demonstrated the possibility that she may be a Cylon agent. For someone who seems so intelligent and far-sighted, she should be well aware that pushing her husband to strong-arm the rest of the Fleet to conform with his (and her) views would only end in chaos. 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. Moore's comments don't eliminate Ellen Tigh from consideration, but reduces the likelihood of this speculation. Some viewers surmise that Moore may have meant that revealing Tigh as a Cylon in her debut episode in addition to the character's many other complexities, would stretch the overall believability or integrity of the character at that point, but that he was not refering to her actual status as a Cylon or not at the time.

Ellen Tigh's 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 Ellen's likelihood of being an agent drops dramatically.

William Adama?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (Sharon Valerii)
• Known siblings or adult children: Yes (Lee Adama and Zak Adama)
• Known family members: Yes (Caroline Adama and Anne Adama)
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: Yes (widely-known Veteran)
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (Saul Tigh)

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

In the Miniseries, Adama seems to know that the Cylon agents have "silica relays" in their brains, and that they would be affected by the storm around Ragnar Anchorage. In "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", Commander Adama disappears mysteriously and returns with Ellen Tigh. Around the same time, a Cylon Raider shows up. However, this was all explained later in the same episode, when Adama reveals that he was reluctant to openly announce Ellen's sudden appearance because he was afraid she could be a Cylon.

Adama also has exhibited strange behavior, from expressing vague Cylon sympathies (both in his speech in the Mini-Series and in his discussion with Tyrol in "Home, Part I" where he seems to concede that Boomer was more than a machine). While not openly friendly to the Cylons, Adama seems to at least respect them as persons in that he does not treat the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii inhumanely (despite an attempt at strangling her when they first met), despite what was done to him by the Valerii copy known as "Boomer".

William Adama is the father of two children, Lee and Zak. Before the conception of Valerii's hybrid child the Cylons have been 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.

When the recent revelation by Ron Moore that Cylon agents are unique beings and not copies of existing humans is added to this, the likelihood of William Adama as a suspected infiltrator could be all but ruled out. This also throws the validity of Leoben Conoy's final words to Roslin accusing Adama as a Cylon in "Flesh and Bone" into question (which were almost certainly meant to just spread paranoia).

The strongest convincing evidence against Adama as a Cylon is that we have seen flashbacks of Adama and Saul Tigh in the 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).

Lee Adama?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (Sharon Valerii)
• Known siblings or adult children: Yes, with qualifier (See "Black Market")
• Known family members: Yes (William Adama, Zak Adama)
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)

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. Evidence from Sharon Valerii's and Number Six's conversations indicate that humanoid Cylon infiltration began no earlier than 2 years prior to the events of the Miniseries, although their respective backstories may suggest they have been "alive" for many years. As Lee Adama was alive long before this introduction, and his father knew him since he was born and can thus confirm this, the probability that Lee Adama is a Cylon is as low as that of his father. However, recent information implies that the numbering of Cylon models is based on their apparent age, which might mean that they actually grow older.

Information from the episode, "Black Market" suggests that Adama was to be a father to a child he conceived on Caprica, but he left the unborn child's mother, his lover at the time. Such a pregnancy, if Lee Adama was indeed an agent, would introduce the ability of Cylon males to sire children (currently, episodes only show that it is possible for a Cylon female to conceive).

There are reports of fan fiction with stories involving Lee Adama as a Cylon. Battlestar Wiki does not post fan fiction (whole or in excerpts), or speculation generated by these stories. An article's content must (with some silly, non-sequitur exceptions) provide sufficient basis in fact or probability based on aired episode information or other official sources as described in the Battlestar Wiki:Citation Jihad project page.

Felix Gaeta?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (Sharon Valerii)
• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)

Lt. Felix Gaeta is in a good position for a Cylon—not conspicuous but nonetheless in a position where he can help the Cylons quite a bit. Gaeta arguably seems to hand something to Boomer in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" before she shoots Adama (a frame by frame analysis shows that their hands are not in frame dispite the camera intentionally panning down when he shakes her hand, leaving the question unanswered). However, he did not hand her a gun, because pilots always carry sidearms, and she walked into CIC with it. Gaeta can recognize Cylon devices, and is close to Dr. Baltar. Gaeta has plotted coordinates to a water planet, a Cylon tyllium base, and Kobol with uncanny accuracy. He "forgot" to send updated coordinates to the fleet in "Scattered", leaving Galactica vulnerable to Cylon electronic attack after having to network the ship computer systems together.

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 since Gaeta is normally a calm, reserved officer even under the worst of conditions. Contrast this behavior with Boomer, the Galactica copy of Sharon 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.

In the end, 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 Mini-Series. 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.

Jammer?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (Sharon Valerii, as deck specialist)
• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: No

Jammer has exhibited suspicious actions numerous times. Along with Cally and Socinus, he serves under Chief Tyrol on the hangar deck. 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 even pointed out that Jammer's kind of thinking is exactly what the Cylons want: for everyone to become suspicious and paranoid. Jammer keeps doing this through the second season: when Tyrol is accused of being a Cylon in "Resistance" he immediately yells at Cally that the Chief 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 being suspected, and that she should take it up with Boomer. Jammer can then be seen as having manipulated Cally into killing Boomer (Cally need not be a Cylon; Jammer could tell she was suffering from post-traumatic stress after Kobol and that she would go after Boomer if he suggested it to her).

One of the biggest pieces of evidence against Jammer is that when Galactica was boarded by Cylon Centurions in "Valley of Darkness", Apollo and his group of marines found him hiding in a small arms locker, completely unharmed, although the room was littered with the corpses of crewmen the Cylons had killed. He claimed to have just hid then snuck inside, but perhaps he was already there and the Centurions spared him because they knew he was a Cylon as well. Anastasia Dualla was also found alive in a room filled with dead crewmen, but she was in the lavatory, which isn't a vital area of the ship, while Jammer was in a small arms locker. Further, Dualla was wounded; she had a light concussion and presumably a Centurion knocked her unconscious, assumed she was dead, and moved on. Jammer was just standing around inside of the weapons locker.

Jammer continues to exhibit pessimistic, counterproductive, and morale-draining behavior. When Chief Tyrol was trying to construct the Blackbird, he vocally tried to convince the other deckhands that it couldn't be done and it wasn't worth trying. He may have done this to undermine the military assets of Galactica: the Cylons may be hoping to wear down Galactica's Viper numbers through gradual attrition, while because the Cylons have dedicated manufacturing capabilities for Raiders on the Cylon homeworld and possibly on basestars, Raiders are easily replaceable. With this in mind, the last thing the Cylons would want is for Galactica to start constructing her own replacement fighters (Flight of the Phoenix).

Bell?

• Regular association with other agents: Yes (D'anna Biers)
• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Association with known disqualifing character: No

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 infiltator target). In addition, instead of filming the Hangar Deck after the destruction of the two Raiders, Bell focuses on Apollo's post-flight check.

Billy Keikeya?

• Regular association with other agents: No
• Known siblings or adult children: No
• Known family members: No
• Witnessed/participated in Cylon War: No
• Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: No.

Billy Keikeya might also be a Cylon due to the relative lack of confirmation surrounding his character. In a deleted scene in the Miniseries, it is revealed that Roslin met Billy for the first time when she boarded Colonial One to travel to Galactica; thus he presence can only be "confirmed" immediately before the attack, far short of even the 2 years that Number Six and Boomer had infiltrated the Colonies. Virtually nothing can be confirmed about Billy; although he states in the Miniseries that his parents and siblings were living on Picon when it was nuked, we really only have his word for it and no way to confirm that these were actual facts. Everyone just takes Billy's word for it. Billy has also stated (in deleted scenes in "Home, Part II") that he is an atheist. Again, he could simply be behaving based on implanted false memories that form a fake personality crafted by the Cylons, and it would be an ironic twist if an atheist character was revealed to belong to a race of religious zealots. Billy could be a Cylon that was sent to keep tabs on Laura Roslin during the attack; Roslin was a viable target due to her status as a high-ranking government official. He could also be a plant, specifically placed close to the most likely candidate to succeed President Adar after the attack, thus being close enough to Roslin to covertly influence her into making decisions as President that coincide with the Cylon "Plan". In an interesting deleted scene in "Fragged" Billy appears in one of Roslin's dreams as a manifestation of her own doubts and fears. In the dream he antagonisticlly taunts her for her faith in the Sacred Scrolls and Kara Thrace then stabs her in the heart with a knife afterwhich she wakes up screaming in terror. Given the prophetic conotations of Roslin's previous dreams and visions this could possibly be taken as evidence for Keikeya being a Cylon, however like most deleted material its canonicity is tenative at best.

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.