Many characters appear to receive dreams, visions, messages and compulsions from outside themselves. Some turn out to be Humanoid Cylons, but several are not.
Dreams and Visions
Roslin's dreams
- A few months after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Laura Roslin dreams that she is being pursued through a forest by a group of Marines. A copy of Leoben Conoy saves her, and then appears to be sucked away. Later, a copy of Leoben Conoy is found to be stowed away in the fleet, and he is executed by being sucked out an airlock exactly as he was in Roslin's dream. (Flesh and Bone)
- Roslin, possibly under the influence of chamalla experiences several visions, including of Kobol as it was, and of serpents, 2 and 10.
- Roslin, taking chamalla again, experiences a dream of the Opera House where she wears an unusual brocade dress and appears younger than normal. In this dream, she chases Hera Agathon and encounters Sharon Agathon, Caprica Six, Gaius Baltar and the glowing figures of the Final Five. It is later discovered that Sharon and Six also experience the same vision. (Crossroads, Part I)
- The vision of the Opera House continues, with further visions of the Final Five.
The Music
Four people hear The Music. It draws them to recite lines from the song and eventually congregate in a room where they become aware that they are Cylons, members of the Final Five. This is also a compulsion.
Number Three's dreams and vision
- The Three acting as an overseer on New Caprica dreams that she visits the tent of Dodona Selloi. Three goes to visit Selloi when she awakens, and Selloi tells her she has a message from the Cylon God: Hera is alive and Three will hold her in her arms. Selloi's predictions prove to be accurate; Baltar finds Hera in the aftermath of the Battle of New Caprica. (Exodus, Part I and II)
- After the Cylons leave New Caprica, Three dreams that she is aboard Galactica, fleeing from a group of Marines. They corner her in front of a hatch marked "end of line" and execute her. When she awakens, Three orders a Centurion to shoot her, possibly believing her dream to be instruction from God. While she is downloading, Three finds herself in the Opera House on Kobol where Baltar's internal Six (above) showed him Hera's cradle. Five mysterious figures wearing white robes are also present. (Hero)
- In the Temple of Five she enters a beam of light at the moment of the Nova, and again sees herself in the Opera House with the five white-robed beings. (Rapture). Baltar, standing next to her does not see this. After seeing the vision, she dies, bleeding from the head.
Starbuck's Mandala
Kara Thrace has, since childhood, had an image in her head identical to the drawings in the Temple of Five believed to be the Eye of Jupiter. She drew it in large on the walls of her home on Caprica. She is not aware of the source of the image.
Starbuck and Leoben
In Maelstrom, Starbuck states that she has been regularly having dreams about Leoben Conoy since she left New Caprica. She also apparently hallucinates Cylon raiders on two separate occasions. At the end of the episode, she has a flashback to her mother's death, however a being who looks like Leoben (but who is suggested is not) appears in the flashback.
Projection
Cylons employ a virtual reality technology called Projection which provides a complete illusion of being in a different or imaginary space.
Virtual Beings
Main page: Virtual beings describes Baltar's nner Six and Caprica Six's inner Baltar.
Adama's Ex-wife
William Adama apparently sees and converses with Carolanne Adama, his presumably deceased ex-wife, every year, on their anniversary. (A Day in the Life)
Compulsions
Several characters engage in behaviour seemlingy driven by forces outside themselves. The Music, cited above as a vision, is also triggers a compulsion.
Boomer's Compulsions
Sharon Valerii undergoes several unconscious compulsions to sabotage fleet operations. Eventually these push her to shoot William Adama, revealing her as a Cylon Agent. She has been programmed to think she is human, the compulsions were the result of her special programming.
Tyrol's Compulsion
Galen Tyrol feels an unexplained compulsion on the algae planet to wander into the hills. He is drawn to the Temple of Five which he is unusually equipped to recognize. (The Eye of Jupiter) He is so drawn to the temple he disobeys direct orders to destroy it.
Tyrol later hears the music, and is one of the Final Five.
Tomb of Athena
When the Tomb of Athena is activated, all present experience a realistic 3-D virtual reality environment showing a grassy field at night with a modified version of the night sky of Earth. It is unclear if the objects provide tactile feedback, or whether this is an optical "holodeck" effect or fed directly into their brains.
Prophecies
A number of characters become aware of unusual information they should not know that is later confirmed.
Selloi's Prophecy
Dodona Selloi reports receiving a message from the Cylon god regarding Hera Agathon along with other information. The prophecies are accurate. She does not appear to think it odd to pass on a message from the Cylon god, who otherwise is not apparently known to the Colonial faith.
Leoben's Predictions
Leoben Conoy tells Kara Thrace she has a special destiny while he interrogates her, and repeats this at future meetings. He also recounts knowldge of her difficult history with her mother. He also predicts that the fleet will find Kobol and it will help them find Earth.
Yolanda Brenn
Yolanda Brenn recounts almost completely Leoben's statements to Thrace, and adds further details about her relationship with her mother.
Unknown Oracles
Socrata Thrace consulted oracles during the youth of Kara. They informed her of her special destiny and this drove her to be far too tough with her daughter.[1]