Thirteenth Tribe

The Thirteenth Tribe represents a faction of humanity who separate from the twelve other tribes of humanity on Kobol. The Thirteenth Tribe is said to have settled on a planet known as Earth.

In the Original Series

The Thirteenth Tribe is the Thirteenth Colony, separated from their bretheren who form what would be known as the Twelve Colonies of Man. The tribe leaves Kobol after environmental disasters on the planet doom the humans there unless they escape. The tribe settles on Earth, but apparently lose much of their knowledge of their Kobollian past, the knowledge of spaceflight and advanced technology in the thousands of years after their exodus.

During their escape from the Cylons, Captain Apollo discovers transmissions from Earth that appear to be an early spaceflight program (The Hand of God).

In the spin-off series, Galactica 1980, the battlestar and her fleet find Earth. However, the Earthlings are unaware of the Cylon threat and have rudimentary spaceflight ability, forcing Galactica's crew to aid in accelerating Earth's humanity in reaching for the stars and the knowledge above.

In the Re-imagined Series

The Thirteenth Tribe is described by priestess Elosha as leaving Kobol and its sister tribes some 2,000 years before the remaining tribes leave to form the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (The Eye of Jupiter).

"...The Sacred Scrolls tell that the 13th tribe left Kobol in the early days. They travelled far and made their home upon a planet called Earth...which circled a distant and unknown star." (Miniseries)

During some period, travel took place from Earth to Kobol, as the Sacred Scrolls report stories of the journey to Earth and the landing. In addition, the Tomb of Athena contains a 3D projection of an Earth star map. The effect of Earth culture on the 12 tribes appears significant, as Laura Roslin states that the star patterns from the Earth Zodiac shown in the 3D projection were used for the original flags of the 12 tribes, and the tribes original names matched the Earth names of the constellations inscribed on blocks in the projection. (Home, Part II)

At least a few of the Lords of Kobol remained to watch the 12 tribes leave Kobol. One of them is Athena, who kills herself in grief over the exodus.

Commander William Adama falsely claims to know the location of Earth, using the lie to give the battered remnants of humanity a cause and reason to hope after their escape from the devastated Colonies (Miniseries). Later, through the efforts of President Roslin, Adama and others locate a tomb on Kobol, which reveals a map and sufficient references to point his Fleet to the true general coordinates of the legendary Thirteenth Colony of Earth (Home, Part II).

Over a year later, an ancient probe, possibly the first tangible evidence of the Thirteenth Tribe's existence was recovered by the Cylons in the Lion's Head Nebula. The probe contained a microbial virus that proved particularly virulent to the Cylons on the baseship that recovered it. The Cylons feared the virus so much that they abandoned the baseship, moving their Resurrection Ship away to prevent any dying Cylons from resurrecting and transferring the bioelectric component of the pathogen to the Cylon populace. The probe was later destroyed after the baseship self-destructs ("Torn", "A Measure of Salvation").

The Thirteenth Tribe apparently has used one planet as a waystation in their journey. They settled on a planet and built a temple to five priests that worshiped what was apparently a controversial deity. Over 4,000 years later, the Temple of Five is later discovered by the Fleet. The refugee Colonials believe that an artifact called the Eye of Jupiter resides there, which is another marker on the path to Earth (The Eye of Jupiter).

No artifact actually exists, however. The Eye of Jupiter is, in fact, the image created by the planet's dying sun. A strange and highly improbable sequence of events occurs when both Cylon and Colonial forces meet at this unremarkable "algae planet" to find the legendary lost temple near the moment of the star's imminent nova. After they leave the system, the Colonials discover that the nova resembles another older nova that occurred in the time of the Thirteenth Tribe's exodus, located in the Ionian system, and believe that they have found the new marker to Earth.

The Temple was apparently designed for a human to witness a vision of some kind as the star begins to nova. Instead of a human using the mechanism, however, a Number Three Cylon uses the device, believing that it would reveal the identities of the final five Cylon models intentionally or accidentally lost to the Cylon history. Only Gaius Baltar witnesses this mechanism in use, but is reluctant to use it himself until it is too late, as the mechanism shuts down as the nova's light is replaced by the shadow of its shockwave (Rapture).