Number Five
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Overview
Category: Cylon
Type: Humano-Cylon
Sex: Male
Played by: Matthew Bennett
Overview
Aaron Doral appear to be a man in his mid-thirties. He is initially encountered aboard the Battlestar Galactica, where he is operating as a Public Relations executive. Later he is active both within the fleeing Colonial fleet and on Caprica.
Roles
PR Executive
On first being encountered, Doral appears to be exactly what he claims: a PR executive (Mini-Series). He is charged with coordinating the ceremony surrounding the Galactica's final decommissioning and hand-over to the civilian authorities represented by Education Minister Laura Roslin.
In the role of PR executive, he is efficient, polite and carries the correct about the difference to those around him to enable him to carry out his work without ruffling feathers, while at the same time being able to marshall and manage the media.
Following Gaius Baltars' arrival on the Galactica, Doral becomes the fall-guy Baltar needs to divert any suspicions he feels may otherwise be directed at him following the Cylon incursion into the 12 colonies. In this, he is partially steered by Six - although the selection of Doral as his fall-guy appears to be Baltar's own choice Mini-Series.
Arrested and thrown into the brig, Doral loudly proclaims his innocence of all charges, citing his backgound and upbringing: that he was born in Oasis, a hamlet near Caprica City, grew up on the south side of Caprica city itself before going to Geminon, where he studied public relations at the Kobol Colleges (Mini-Series).
Later, after being left at the Ragnar Anchorage space station, Doral exhibits all of the symptoms initially shown by Humano-Cylon Leoben Conoy, confirming the fact that he is a Cylon and that, however "coincidentally", Baltar selected the "right" man.
Given his protestations of innocence, and the palpable level of fear he demonstrated within the brig, it is possible that the Doral on Galactica was one of the Cylons that - like Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, was programmed to think he genuinely was human, until the radiation around Ragnar began to affects his silica pathways, causing his underlying Cylon identity to come to the fore.
In selecting Doral as his victim, Baltar accidently - assuming it wasn't so form of subconscious prompting from Six - acheived two goals: firstly, he increased his value to the Colonials by "developing" his first "Cylon detector". Secondly, he enabled a Cylon agent to pass on intel to its peers from a place where direct communications - because of the radiation - was impossible. Unfortunately, at the time of his arrest, Doral hadn't gained the information he may have needed to be of more value: Adama's intentions for the Galactica and the fleet.
Caprican Overseer
On Caprica, Doral performs the role of a Cylon overseer, working with Number Six to ensure their experiment involving the stranded Karl C. Agathon and Valerii either reaches its desired conclusion, or is suitably terminated (Litmus, Secrets and Lies).
In this, he shows both a harder attitude towards humans than Six. When she expresses regret that the destruction of humanity was necessary in order for the Cylons to achieve their ends, he is not so forgiving:
ares the same seductive characteristic as shown by her "sisters" at Armistice station and with Baltar - her first act on "freeing" the captured Agathon is to kiss him. Following the destruction of this particular Six (shot by Valerii, in order to enable her to "rescue" Agathon), her "sister" on Caprica demonstrates a certain vindictiveness towards Valerii when she gives her a beating that goes far beyond the needs of the experiment (Litmus), thus revealing she may well be experiencing resentment for being shot (remembering that experiences and knowledge are passed from body to body among the various types of humano-Cylon), as well as jealousy at Valerii's chosen role in proceedings.