(Credit: Sky One)
Humano-Cylon Agent
Sex: Male
Portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie.
Biography
Leoben Conoy has the appearance of a man in his mid-forties. He is first encountered at the Ragnar Anchorage, where he poses as an arms dealer. Already sick from the radiation around Ragnar, he becomes trapped aboard the station with Commander Adama after a warhead is accidentally detonated (Mini-Series).
As they try to find another way out the station, Leoben reveals his true nature to Adama through conversation, initially by claiming to be something of a philosopher. Identifying Conoy as a Cylon on the point of death, Adam challenges him, and learns of the Cylon's ability to transfer their consciousness to another body when dying. Only Leoben can't - the radiation is interfering with his ability. A fight ensues, during which Adama manages to bludgeon Conoy to death, bringing the body back to the Galactica for examination. The body is then stored in the ship's morgue (Flesh and Bone).
Conoy is again encountered when a copy is found apparently stowing away aboard the Gememon Traveller. Knowing the model's ability to weave fact, fiction and outright lies into a confusing fabic of truth, half-truths and deceit, Adama wants the copy destroyed. However, he is overruled by President Roslin, who demends the model is interrogated.
Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is assigned to interrogate Conoy aboard the Gememon Traveller. Over the course of eight hours, Conoy demonstrates his ability to confuse and mix truth with lies: he claims to have planted a nuclear device somewhere in the fleet, but will not reveal where. He also mixes what appears to be religious mumbo-jumbo with penetrating insights into Colonial philosophy and Starbuck's own past (Flesh and Bone).
While she resorts to ever-more drastic measures to obtain details on the alleged bomb's location, Starbuck finds herself being drawn into Leoben's vision of life. So much so that when Roslin orders his execution, Starbuck very much empathises with him.
Prior to his death, Conoy reveals there is no bomb, and uses a reason suggested by Starbuck in the initial stages of his interrogation: that his is so far from other Cylon centres of influence, he cannot transmit his "soul" back to home should his body die. However, the real purpose of his mission is revealed when President Roslin arrives aboard the Traveller and he manages to whisper to her that Adama is in fact a Cylon - thus planting a potentially dangerous seed of doubt between her and Adama.
Convinced now of the danger in keeping conoy alive, Roslin orders him ejected from the Traveller.
Interestingly, Roslin had a premonition of Conoy's surfacing in the fleet when she had a dream about him at the time he was captured. Later, in her cabin on Colonial One, she had a vision of him talking to her which prompted her decision to visit him in person - thus allowing him to complete his mission.
At the time of the dream and the vision, Roslin assumed both were the result of her using Kamala to treat her cancer. However, both may have been the result of some form of psychic ability on the part of Conoy.