Cylons (RDM)

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Origins

In the reimagined series, Cylons are a creation of man, used primarily for dangerous work. The Cylons revolted against their masters, resulting in a costly and protracted war between them and humans. Eventually, they declared a truce and the Cylons left the Colonies to establish their own planet. They returned fifty years later and killed all but approximately 50,000 humans.

Evolution

Cylons eventually evolved or created new models of Cylons known as Humano-Cylons. The evolution is most likely a result of self teaching capabilities incorporated into the early Cylons. With the exception of a glowing red spine, it is quite difficult to determine the difference between a Humano-Cylon and a "pure" human. (TPTB have expressed that the glowing red spine was, in retrospect, a continuity error that was visually appealing at the time.) Another significant difference is the presence of Silica Pathways which are vulnerable to radiation. Dr. Gaius Baltar was able to successfully build a Cylon Detector based on this principle with the help of Number Six; however, he has determined it is simpler for everyone "if all the results are green." An interesting new step in the evolution came about with the conception of a Cylon-human hybrid, the child of Sharon Valerii and Lt. Karl Agathon.

Religion

Cylons are monotheistic while their human creators are polytheistic. Cylons view the worship of multiple gods as blasphemies against their God. Like the Cylons themselves their religion seems to have evolved from its human origins. The Cylons seem to derive their faith from that of the humans, using human writings and prophesies as the biases of their own religion.

Sometimes it seems that the Cylons worship an actual entity, a physical being, possibly another Cylon (the leader of the rebellion against humanity?) but other times it seems that they are worshipping a supernatural being, something beyond creation, something that wishes for all to believe in it and love it, human and Cylon alike. It maybe both.

The Cylons seem to use their religion, their beliefs, their interpretation of the prophesies to rationalize their hatred for humanity. They seem to use it as a justification for their actions. An example of a Cylon argument may go something like this:

God is perfect and God can only make perfection.

He created humanity and humanity is imperfect. How can this be?

God created the imperfect humans to create the perfect Cylons.

Humans are only a step in God's plan. Humans are not the completed creation.

Once the Cylons were created there was no need for humanity.

The imperfection must be wiped out.

Known current Cylon models

• Centurion - Presumably an upgraded Model 0005, with greater physical capabilities and projectile weapons built into the forearms.

• Humano-Cylon - The series has established there are 12 models of Humano-Cylons. There are currently six known models. They appear to be almost entirely human in physiology, with a few exceptions: their vaguely-alluded-to Silica Pathways, which enable their consciousnesses to be downloaded into Cylon computer systems upon their death, and their difficulties with sexual reproduction.
  • Number Six a.k.a. Shelly Godfrey a.k.a. Gina
  • Leoben Conoy - Mini-Series - Mini-Series, Flesh and Bone
  • Aaron Doral - Mini-Series - Mini-Series, Bastille Day, Litmus, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
  • Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
  • Simon - The Farm
  • D'anna Biers - Final Cut

Historic Cylon models

• Centurion Model 0005 - The "basic" model from the Cylon War. When Number Six tells Gaius Baltar that the "chrome toaster" models are still in use, she may be referring to this model in particular, or its descendant, the Cylon Centurion. This model also bridges the reimagined series to the Original Series. This is a 40-year old model and likely obsolete—no operational models have been shown, and the current Centurion seems to replace it entirely. In the miniseries, Baltar remarks "the last time anyone saw a Cylon they looked more like walking chrome toasters," to which Six responds, "Those models are still around. They serve their purpose." Some interpret this remark as referring to the Model 0005, while others believe it refers to the current Cylon Centurion.

Cylon spacecraft

There is no definitive statement either way whether or not the spacecraft themselves are considered to be Cylon models.

• The Raider is an autonomous attack fighter with a metallic carapace and a largely organic interior. The Galactica copy of Sharon Valerii offers the following "guess" at its nature in the episode "Six Degrees of Separation":
  • "It's not really a thing, y'know? It's probably a Cylon itself. More of an animal, maybe, than the human models. Maybe they genetically design it to perform a task. To be a fighter. [You] can't treat it like a thing and expect it to respond. [You] have to treat it like... a pet. At least that's my guess."
  • Not knowing she is a Cylon, Boomer would presumably have some intuition but not a complete recollection of how to treat a Raider. Also, the Raider in question was already "dead", as its brain was removed by Starbuck (and there was a bleeding hole in its head even before that).

• Heavy Raider is a manned spacecraft that is also likely autonomous, like the Raider.
  • When the Resistance on Caprica plans to capture one in the Episode The Farm, Kara Thrace anticipates having to "blow its brain out" before it can be comandeered. It is not known whether the Caprica copy of Valerii, who comandeered the craft that Thrace and Karl Agathon escaped on, performed such a procedure.
  • The Heavy Raider in Scattered and Valley of Darkness crashes into Galactica's hangar bay and deploys Cylon Centurions. If the Heavy Raider is autonomous, it performed its mission in concert with the Centurions and Cylon commanders at the battle. On this principle, perhaps Caprica Boomer, with a more complete knowledge, managed to coax, command, or convince the Heavy Raider on Caprica to carry her and her companions about, like a jockey riding a horse.

• Reconnaissance Drone is a spacecraft. It is unknown whether this is manned, autonomous, or intelligent.

• Cylon Basestar is a very large manned spacecraft of partly biological design. There is no indication that this craft is autonomous other than the circumstantial evidence provided by the Raider.

Depending upon whether the spacecraft are counted as Cylon models, and whether the original Centurion is still in service, anywhere between seven and twelve known Cylon models are currently in service.

The twelve models

In the miniseries, Baltar and Six have the following conversation:

Six: Gaius, I can't die. When this body is destroyed, my memory, my consciousness will be transmitted to a new one. I'll just wake up somewhere else in an identical body.

Baltar: You mean there are more out there like you?

Six: There are twelve models. I am number six.

This suggests three possible interpretations.

1. There are twelve copies of Number Six, of which the one speaking is the sixth.
2. There are twelve models of Humano-Cylon including Number Six.
3. There are twelve models of Cylon in total, including Number Six.

The series introduction refers to instances of the same Cylon model as "copies", not "models", seeming to rule out the first interpretation. As no one seems to hold it it is not discussed here.

The third interpretation de-emphasizes the context of the discussion, but Six may have been ignoring Baltar's interjection entirely—Baltar may have been asking about the other copies of Six while Six simply ignored his interjection and gone on to make another point. (Six has been known to ignore whatever Baltar is doing or saying if there's something she feels like saying to him.)

Later on, Adama finds a note in his quarters that simply reads, "There are only 12 Cylon models." This note appears outside the context of the conversation and, if interpreted literally, states that there are twelve Cylon models in total. However, we have reason to believe that the note's literal interpretation may not be correct; if Gaius Baltar left it based on the information Six told him, he presumably took the third interpretation even if it was untrue.

Overall, the following possibilities exist:

• If the twelve models only include humanoid models, six have been revealed.
• If the twelve models include humanoid models and the current Cylon Centurion, seven models have been revealed.
  • This assumes that the Cylon Centurion is a single model. In fact, different Centurion variants have been seen—those which boarded Galactica in Scattered and Valley of Darkness could only be killed by explosive rounds while the ones encountered by Helo on Caprica could be killed with regular bullets. If we count these variants as separate models, eight models have been revealed.

Spacecraft

The following four spacecraft would each add one to the number of revealed Cylons if they were counted as separate Cylon models:

• Cylon Raider
• Cylon Heavy Raider
• Basestar
• Reconnaissance Drone

Of the above, all but the Reconnaissance Drone are known for certain to be of a partly biological design. The Reconnaissance Drone may not be rightly considered a Cylon model; as the term "drone" suggests, it might just be a machine the Cylons use and not a Cylon itself.

Sharon Valerii, a Cylon sleeper agent, guesses that the Cylon Raider is a Cylon. As Valerii does not know she is a Cylon, her intuitions are suspect—she also suggests the Raider is "more like a pet". In either case, the Cylon Raider is definitely autonomous, and the Heavy Raider may be as well.

The Heavy Raider and Basestar are also both known to be manned by other Cylons. Also, by one means or another, a copy of Sharon Valerii on Caprica is able to control a Heavy Raider. Finally, the Heavy Raider could be considered a variant of the Raider and not a separate model in its own right.

Old models

• If the original Centurion model 0005 is included in the count, the count is increased by one. Model 0005 can be counted based upon two assumptions: either that Model 0005 is still in use, or that all models, past and present, are counted among the "twelve models". The notion that Model 0005 is still in use largely comes from the following dialogue:

Baltar: ...the last time anybody saw a Cylon they looked more like walking chrome toasters!

Six: Those models still exist. They have their uses.

• • However, Six may have been referring to the Centurion in general and not to Model 0005 in particular. It's also notable that Six refers to the Centurion—or as Baltar calls it the "walking chrome toaster"—as a Cylon model.

• The original Basestar and Raider could be included, since scale replicas of which are visible in the miniseries. As the replica Raider and Basestar appear identical to those of the Original Series, we may presume that they are not Cylons themselves and are in fact manned by Centurions as they were in the original series—however, these are included for the purpose of completeness.

So how many would that be?

The most liberally inclusive policy—in other words, the policy that counts all possible Cylon models as Cylons—provides for a total of fifteen. This contradicts with the interpretation that there are only twelve Cylon models. However, this does not disprove the intepretation that the "twelve models" notion refers to Cylons in general, as this policy relies on many other assumptions that are as questionable, if not more questionable, than the idea that there are only twelve Cylon models.

The most conservatively inclusive policy that maintains the interpretation that there are a total of twelve Cylon models provides for a total of seven known models: the six humanoids and the Centurion. This maintains the presumption that the "bulletproof" Centurions are not a separate model.

Any policy is possible in between this, based upon the selective counting of particular spacecraft or past models. However, any policy that counts twelve or almost twelve models to have already been revealed contradicts the perhaps reasonable assumption that new Cylon models will be introduced as time proceeds.

Obviously the policy that leaves the most room for expansion is the idea that the statement refers only to humanoid Cylons. As more suspected Cylon models are introduced—humanoid or not—this becomes a growing problem. This is amplified by the claim by Valerii that there are eight Cylon agents still in the fleet—at that time, only Aaron Doral, Leoben Conoy, and Sharon Valerii had been revealed to the entire crew while Number Six has been revealed to Baltar and Simon has been revealed to Kara Thrace. Assuming that Valerii's statement that there are eight agents in the fleet is correct, and assuming that each agent is distinct from any agent yet revealed to the entire fleet, this would suggest that at least eleven models are humanoid. Eliminating any Number Six model this would suggest that a total of twelve models are humanoid, but this relies upon the assumption that Shelly Godfrey has left the fleet.

That said, it's not necesssarily the case that all Cylon agents remaining in the fleet are unique. Identical twins exist among humans, and Cylon agents might be posing as them. It may also be possible, within a population of 47,000, to hide sets of doppelgangers on separate ships on separate missions, or to have two agents both posing as a single person.

In the end, there is also the possibility that the statement is incorrect entirely. It could be a Cylon deception intended to lull humans into a false sense of security—once they find the twelfth model, they're vulnerable to infiltration from model number thirteen. It's been suggested that the twelve models, the twelve Lords of Kobol, and the twelve colonies of Man have some connection—if there is a thirteenth colony of man, could there also be a thirteenth model of Cylon?

While in conclusion it's possible to claim that the "twelve Cylon models" notion refers only to humanoids, it is also possible, under a number of circumstances, that it refers to all Cylon models. Any argument that this is impossible usually relies upon making assumptions that may not be warranted—namely that spacecraft, past Cylon models, and different variants of the same model qualify as unique models, or that there are eight unique Cylon agents still hiding in the fleet other than Shelly Godfrey. While it remains an open question, one must not introduce extra assumptions on the part of one's opponents in order to weaken their position, a classic case of the straw man fallacy. In any case, the question has been submitted to Ronald D. Moore who may address the issue in a future Battlestar Blog entry or commentary podcast.