Overview[edit]
"Count Iblis" is the Colonial version of the Prince of Darkness, who almost tricked a majority of The Fleet's citizens to follow "him".
He was previously a Being of Light who fell from grace after using his powers for evil purposes. He is known as Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, Mephistopheles, "The Devil", and Diabolis.
He first appeared in the episode War of the Gods, Part I (TOS).
Discovery by the Fleet[edit]
Captain Apollo and Lieutenants Sheba and Starbuck came across this manifestation of evil itself when they were about to investigate the wreckage of what once was a fairly large vessel. Iblis managed to trick them into believing he was a confused survivor of the crash, also fooling Apollo's instruments into believing that the ship had a high radion level. Sheba apparently became fond of him, and would become his follower that she had relations with.
They took him back to the Fleet, initially believing that he was benevolent. Sheba, much to the ire of Commander Adama, showed him around the sensitive areas of the ship -- revealing that their technology was being interfered with by Iblis. (Though this was unknown at the time.) Two medtechs attempted to gather readings from the newcomer, however nothing ever was recorded from their scanners; Cassiopeia also attempted to do a scan of him, however again it was in vain.
Iblis began to influence people to turn their backs on Adama and the mission, promising anyone who would pledge fealty to him that they would be protected. He also has the ability to read minds, influence those that follow the ways of evil or pledge fealty to him, take control of those who allow him to do so, and even kill those within his dominion. He must, however, convince people to follow him and not force them to do so. In order to convince people to join him in his pursuits of evil, he performed feats such as providing food aplenty from the Agro Ship Nine and bringing Lord Baltar, humanity's traitor, to them. This caused celebration throughout the Fleet, and for people to suddenly decry Adama. He also took possession of Boomer's body in a Triad game onboard the Rising Star when the Warrior commented that he would do anything to beat Apollo and Starbuck. (This happened with Boomer's consent, though he did not explicitly know that he had done so at the time.)
All of this further cemented Iblis' position within the Fleet. Yet, ironically, when battle stations were called, and the pilots were too tired to respond, he severely chastised and threatened them.
Of course, those who opposed the ways of evil and hatred watched such a being, and spheroid-like specters appeared and disappeared at random. Iblis instilled what people would call "the fear of God" into people who saw the lights, including Sheba, who stayed close to this incarnation of Evil itself.
Adama, on the other hand, opposed him, joined with Tigh and a few others — essentially a minority, though still threatening to Iblis' power. At the time, the majority supported Iblis, since he seemed to do more than the mortal Adama could.
Of course, had it been discovered that Iblis was the one who helped foster the Cylons that destroyed the Colonies, he would be cast out by a majority of the Fleet. (This was discovered, in part, by the captured Baltar's recognition of Iblis' voice being the same as the Imperious Leader's.)
Apollo and Starbuck's Uncovering of Truth / Iblis' Punishment[edit]
When Apollo informed Adama that he was going back to the planet to find out what was in the wreckage, Adama informed him that he would do his best to avoid being scanned by Iblis. Iblis, however, felt something was wrong and went to Adama, who attempted to block out Iblis by thinking of other things, playing music in his head, and other methods he was taught at the Colonial Military Institute in Telekinetics. His mental abilities much more powerful than the Kobollian's, Iblis found out that Apollo (and Starbuck) were en route back to the planetoid. Sheba, presumably influenced in some manner by Iblis, followed in her Viper and attempted to stop them.
After Apollo and Starbuck discovered the demon in the wreckage of the leviathan vessel on the unidentified red planet, Iblis was revealed for who he truly was. Laser discharges from Apollo proved ineffective to Iblis, although it did cause him to reveal his true appearance -- into a horned-creature of purple-color with red-eyes.
When Starbuck and Apollo haphazardly managed to convince Sheba to reject Iblis, he attempted to make an example of her. Apollo stepped in the way of the blast of light and was killed in the process.
This act caused the Beings of Light to deal with him; he was not permitted to kill anyone outside of those that gave him dominion.
As Apollo was not meant to die, the Beings of Light restored him from the death by "primitive measures" and sent them on their way while Iblis was, despite his threats, being dealt with. (War of the Gods)
Notes[edit]
According to the writer of the episode "Iblis" was a shorter version of the name "Diabolis" that they used in one of the earlier scripts. The name "IBLIS" was formed with some the letters of "dIaBoLIS"
"Iblis" is pronounced "ib-lee". Appropriately, Iblis is the name of the first and original jinn who causes destruction and presides over places where activities of evil occur in Muslim writings. These writings tell of Iblis casting out by Allah for refusing to worship the first man of Humanity, Adam.
Interestingly enough, this similar instance occurs in "War of the Gods" where he is cast out for killing Apollo, who intercepted the bolt meant for Sheba.
Additionally, as all the Vipers set down on the "Red Planet" were capable of holding one person, it would be interesting to know exactly how he got to the Galactica in the first place without revealing himself...
Portrayed by Patrick Macnee
In the Re-Imagined Series[edit]
- In an interview with BattlestarGalactica.com on December 28th, 2005 Ronald D. Moore was asked about fan speculation that the Cylon God may be Count Iblis in the Re-imagined Series:
- Q: "There's speculation that Count Iblis' counterpart in this series is the as-yet-unseen Cylon God. Is there any possibility that elements of the original series "War of the Gods" storyline may weave themselves into the new series?
- RDM: While I have thought of incorporating the Count Iblis/Ship of Lights mythology from the original show into the series, I've pretty much decided not to go there for now. The theological construct we've been establishing seems more interesting to me at this point and I don't think Iblis will be part of the current show."