The Cylon's transformation into humanoid form introduces serious problems for the remnant of humanity known as the Fleet to identify Cylon operative from human.
This article details plausible speculation on central and supporting characters in Battlestar Galactica who, based on their behavior, motive, and background, could be a Cylon agent.
Needed Qualifiers for Speculation[edit]
For a character to be logically considered a possible agent, there are a few established parameters to meet:
- The suspect must not have any adult children or siblings. For purposes of this article, a pregnancy can be generally established as a disqualifier. With one exception, Cylon agents have extreme difficulty with human sexual reproduction to the point of effectively infertility.[1] If a character has adult, biological children, it automatically excludes them as being a Cylon agent as the procreation of the child and the age of the child both violate the 2nd qualifier. Although humanoid Cylons have, eventually, proven to be capable of reproduction with humans, the birth of the hybrid child Hera was considered such a seminal event by the Cylons that it seems safe to conclude that no Cylon ever had a child before that point.
- The suspect must not have a verifiable family history (other than marriage). A parent would known their child from birth (unless otherwise specified), and Cylons are not copies of prexisting humans. This is an expansion of the "confirmed character history" point below.
- The suspect cannot be confirmed to have witnessed or participated in the Cylon War. This is another expansion of the "confirmed character history" point; the Cylons definitely didn't have humanoid models during the First Cylon War[citation needed], so if someone is confirmed to have participated in the war 40 years ago, that person is not a Cylon, e.g. William Adama and Saul Tigh.
- The suspect does not have a reliable history involving direct association (i.e. working or personal relationship) with a confirmed human character for more than 2 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies.
Based on information from the Miniseries, the Cylon agents began their infiltration and integration into Colonial society approximately 2 years before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. If a character has a direct association with a character that cannot be a Cylon agent, that association excludes them since they are older than the stated time that the agents began to integrate themselves into Colonial society. Note that the 2-year period is based on information given by Number Six to Gaius Baltar: Their relationship lasted for 2 years prior to the Cylon attack. There is also supporting information that Boomer's tour of duty in the Colonial Fleet was also approximately 2 years.
According to Ron D. Moore, the twelve humanoid models are based on human behavior and personality archetypes distilled into twelve varieties. Cylon agents are NOT copies or clones of any pre-existing humans, living or dead: In an October 24th, 2005 podcast interview Ron Moore stated that:
- "The idea is not there was one like an original human model that they were copied from. The idea was that these were...these models of Cylon were developed out of their own study of us. The Cylons on some level looked at humanity and said, 'Well, you know what, there's really only twelve of you...and these are the twelve.' And then if you look at them, they kind of represent different archetypes of what humanity is."
Moore and the writers could always, of course, change their minds about anything not specifically established within the canon if needed. There is even precedent for retconning facts established within the canon itself, such as the amount of time remaining in the President's term (between Bastille Day and Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I) or the number of prisoners held aboard the Astral Queen (between the Miniseries and Bastille Day.) Nonetheless, based on the qualifiers yet established, each assessment below is marked accordingly with their probability of being a Cylon infiltrator.
Suspected Cylon infiltrators[edit]
High probability of being a Cylon[edit]
James "Jammer" Lyman?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Association with known disqualifing character: No
- Chances of being a Cylon: High
James "Jammer" Lyman has exhibited suspicious actions numerous times. Along with Cally and Socinus, he serves under Chief Tyrol on the hangar deck. Jammer consistently makes remarks that seem to be trying to divide the humans against each other. When it was revealed to the Fleet that Cylons now can look like humans in "Litmus", he kept arguing that everyone should stop trusting each other and that it was "every man for himself now", while Socinus said that if they didn't trust each other they wouldn't survive. Cally even pointed out that Jammer's kind of thinking is exactly what the Cylons want: for everyone to become suspicious and paranoid. Jammer keeps doing this through the second season: when Tyrol is accused of being a Cylon in "Resistance" he immediately yells at Cally that the Chief must be a Cylon. Whenever Jammer appears he seems to be trying to sow mistrust among the crew. Also, he told the emotionally unstable Cally that she should be angry at "Boomer" (the first Sharon Valerii copy) not himself, for Tyrol's being suspected, and that she should take it up with Boomer. Jammer can then be seen as having manipulated Cally into killing Boomer (Cally need not be a Cylon; Jammer could tell she was suffering from post-traumatic stress after Kobol and that she would go after Boomer if he suggested it to her).
Two of the biggest pieces of evidence against Jammer appear in the episode, "Valley of Darkness."
- Apollo and his group of marines found Jammer hiding in a small arms locker, completely unharmed, although the room was littered with the corpses of crewmen the Cylons had killed. He claims to have just hid then snuck inside, but perhaps he was already there and the Centurions spared him because they knew he was a Cylon as well. Anastasia Dualla was also found alive in a room filled with dead crewmen, but she was in the lavatory, which isn't a vital area of the ship, while Jammer was in a small arms locker. Further, Dualla was wounded; she had a light concussion and presumably a Centurion knocked her unconscious, assumed she was dead, and moved on. Jammer was just standing around inside of the weapons locker.
- Before the fight to protect Aft Damage Control, Captain Adama says a phrase of his father's: "Sometimes you have to roll the hard six." Jammer asks what this means, and Adama explains. To date, no aired episode explains where Caprica-Valerii, a known agent, learns of this phrase, which she uses in a pressing situation in her efforts to defend Galactica in "Flight of the Phoenix." Unwittingly, it is plausible that Valerii's knowledge of this phrase (and its origin) came from Jammer via the vague but tangible collective knowledge database of the Cylon agents. However, it is also plausible that Galactica-Valerii heard this phrase sometime prior to her memories being copied into Caprica-Valerii.
Jammer continues to exhibit pessimistic, counterproductive, and morale-draining behavior. When Chief Tyrol was trying to construct the Blackbird, he vocally tried to convince the other deckhands that it couldn't be done and it wasn't worth trying. He may have done this to undermine the military assets of Galactica: the Cylons may be hoping to wear down Galactica's Viper numbers through gradual attrition, while because the Cylons have dedicated manufacturing capabilities for Raiders on the Cylon homeworld and possibly on basestars, Raiders are easily replaceable. With this in mind, the last thing the Cylons would want is for Galactica to start constructing her own replacement fighters (Flight of the Phoenix).
Jammer's suspicious behavior extends through the first two webisodes, as he talks with Duck about the proposed New Caprica Police. To Duck's disgust at the notion, Jammer replys "Some people say it's a good thing... Get the Centurions off the streets, let us patrol them ourselves," tentatively advocating the Cylons' agenda. Of course, this statement is ambiguous, as Jammer is ostensibly "feeling out" Duck for recruitment into Tyrol and Tigh's resistance cell, so his pro-Cylon idea could just be a tactic to draw Duck's opinion out further.
Jammer also advises Tyrol not to be angry about Duck's refusal to join and to give up on recruiting him. Jammer balks at hiding weapons in the temple on New Caprica as well, although he is overruled by Tigh. Later on, he rails against Tigh for his callous attitudes toward the innocents killed at the temple after the Cylons stormed it to seize the weapons. He is brought in for questioning by Aaron Doral at a Cylon detention center, much to Tigh's concern. However, while in the detention center he exhibits genuine fear and anxiety, indicating that if he is a Cylon agent then he is not aware of it.
Moderate probability of being a Cylon[edit]
Anastasia "Dee" Dualla?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
- Chances of being a Cylon: Moderate
Dualla seems to have a fairly well developed backstory regarding her past; she is a Sagittaron (Bastille Day), her father disapproved of her joining the military (Final Cut), but upon closer inspection none of this can be confirmed by a third party: the only source of information about Dualla's past in the series has been Dualla herself. Dualla's position in charge of Galactica's communications puts her in an ideal position for subversion. In "Valley of Darkness", Dualla is found in the enlisted head, having suffered a blow to the head from Cylon Centurions that passed through. The Centurions killed everyone else, and it does seem plausible that one merely swiped her in the head, knocking her out, and thus thought she was dead and moved on. However, it still seems odd that she was the only survivor. In addition, Number Six later demonstrated in "Downloaded" how she was willing to physically damage herself in order to manipulate Galactica-Sharon's sympathy: perhaps Dualla hit herself in the head, to fake an injury, thus throwing suspicion off of herself. Dualla started a relationship with President Roslin's aide, Billy Keikeya, possibly to gain a foothold in the president's office, and then began a relationship with Lee Adama, CAG of Galactica and son of the military commander of the entire fleet. Eventually, Apollo was promoted to Pegasus commander and Dualla left Galactica to marry him and become his XO, further insinuating herself into the command structure.
Felix Gaeta?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Association with known disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
- Chances of being a Cylon: Moderate
Lt. Felix Gaeta is in a good position for a Cylon—not conspicuous but nonetheless in a position where he can help the Cylons quite a bit. Gaeta arguably seems to hand something to Boomer in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" before she shoots Adama (a frame by frame analysis shows that their hands are not in frame dispite the camera intentionally panning down when he shakes her hand, leaving the question unanswered). However, he did not hand her a gun, because pilots always carry sidearms, and she walked into CIC with it. Gaeta can recognize Cylon devices, and is close to Dr. Baltar. He admitted to ignoring the Cylon device installed on his console in the miniseries, explaining that he thought it was unimportant. Gaeta has plotted coordinates to a water planet, a Cylon tyllium base, and Kobol with uncanny accuracy. He "forgot" to send updated emergency jump coordinates to the fleet in "Scattered", leaving Galactica vulnerable to Cylon electronic attack after having to network the ship computer systems together. In "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" Gaeta helps the Cylon cause by uncovering the ballot tampering which leads to the election of Gaius.
Gaeta's recent behavioral changes from the stress of working at evading the Cylons shows by "Final Cut" as Gaeta is shown in his interview drunk, smoking, and wearing a new tattoo. By the following episode, "Flight of the Phoenix", Gaeta angrily snaps at Colonel Tigh for giving a difficult order, causing surprise throughout CIC since Gaeta is normally a calm, reserved officer even under the worst of conditions. Contrast this behavior with Boomer, the Galactica copy of Sharon Valerii, who still appeared quite alert after 5 continuous days of combat status. Note the following dialogue from the first regular series episode, "33":
While even Cylon agents develop severe behavioral and physiological issues after extended work and abuse (Pegasus), Cylon agents appear to be more resilient than humans, which may limit the likelihood of Gaeta's possible Cylon connection. On the other hand, if he were a Cylon, Gaeta's human personality may have finally been overtaxed by that time, suggesting that an actual human might have snapped earlier in their exodus in contrast.
In the end, Gaeta's likelihood as a Cylon operative may be in doubt over one key element: The Cylons appear to have integrated human agents into the Colonies no earlier than 2 years before the events of the Miniseries. Gaeta has served on Galactica with Commander Adama for three years (Miniseries). Since humanoid Cylons are not clones of actual humans, the likelihood of Gaeta as a Cylon agent would depend on the start of Cylon agent introduction.
Ellen Tigh?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: None
- Known family members: None
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: Maybe (Character over 40 years of age)
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Seven-year marriage to Saul Tigh
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low to Moderate
In light of her statistic-defying survival of the Cylon holocaust and her manipulations of her husband during Commander William Adama's incapacitation (Scattered through Resistance), Ellen Tigh's actions have demonstrated the possibility that she may be a Cylon agent. For someone who seems so intelligent and far-sighted, she should be well aware that pushing her husband to strong-arm the rest of the Fleet to conform with his (and her) views would only end in chaos. If she is a Cylon looking to destroy the Fleet from within, then the best weapon in her arsenal is the man she's married to.
In an October 2005 webcast, Ronald D. Moore indicated that the likelihood of Ellen Tigh being a Cylon was low. Essentially, this was due to the feeling that having her be a Cylon agent would not only be convenient, but unrealistic from a story point-of-view as well. Moore's comments don't eliminate Ellen Tigh from consideration, but reduces the likelihood of this speculation. Some viewers surmise that Moore may have meant that revealing Tigh as a Cylon in her debut episode in addition to the character's many other complexities, would stretch the overall believability or integrity of the character at that point, but that he was not refering to her actual status as a Cylon or not at the time.
Ellen Tigh's celebrated her seventh wedding anniversary with Saul Tigh in a deleted scene from the episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I". If the canonicity of this scene stands, then Ellen's likelihood of being an agent drops dramatically. Else, the establishment of their wedding "date" should aid in increasing or reducing speculation on this intriguing character.
In the preview clip for "Occupation", Ellen is shown having sex with a Cavil, in exchange for her husband's release for captivity. This, on the surface, would seem to be the firmest possible evidence that Ellen is not, in fact, a Cylon. However, it has not firmly been established that Cylons do not have sex amongst themselves for pleasure; and even if they do not, this incident might simply be a ploy to further cement her position (such as it is) among the human population. (Ironically enough, this incident of infidelity is probably the nicest, most-spouselike thing Ellen has done for Tigh since her arrival.)
Low probability of being a Cylon[edit]
Gaius Baltar?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: None
- Known family members: None
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifying character: No
- Chances of being a Cylon: Very low
There is very low chance that Gaius Baltar is actually a Cylon. He has been a prominent public figure for years. Number Six earnestly wanted to have a hybrid child with him as the biological father and her as the biological mother, but had to change her plans to considering Hera to be "their child" even though it is not biologically theirs. Cylons talking amongst themselves in "Downloaded" continually referred to Baltar as a human.
To review a detailed breakdown of the whys and whatfors of the possibility of Baltar as a Cylon, see Baltar as Cylon speculation
Bell?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Association with known disqualifing character: No
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low
D'anna Biers' cameraman/assistant is another possible candidate for a Cylon infiltrator, as he has been shown willingly taking part in the same devious and manipulative activities as D'anna Biers (Final Cut). Whether he is a Cylon working in tandem with Biers, or just a nosy human journalist following his superior’s equally devious wishes has yet to be determined.
Bell's speculation as a Cylon agent is questionable based on some of his actions in "Final Cut." When he is free of D'anna Biers, he doesn't film sensitive, if seemingly trivial, data. He overlooks the carbon dioxide scrubbers (a potential Cylon infiltrator target). In addition, instead of filming the hangar deck after the destruction of the two Raiders, Bell focuses on Apollo's post-flight check. Since Bell has not been seen in the series since this episode, the lack of further appearances all but eliminates the likelihood for this character to be a Cylon agent.
Tory Foster?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: No
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low to Moderate
Tory Foster's past is unconfirmed, and she seemed eager to work her way into President Roslin's administration. The odds that another aide with skills like Billy Keikeya would also happen to be alive in the Fleet is also tenuous.
Cally Henderson[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low to None
Cally shot Boomer in a "Jack Ruby-style" assassination, preventing the Fleet from interrogating her further. While this might benefit the Cylon agenda, Cally had a perfectly understandable reason for doing it, which she has openly stated: she hated Boomer for what she did to Chief Tyrol, hated her for betraying all of their trust and shooting Adama, and simply because she was a Cylon. Indeed, many other characters in "Flight of the Phoenix" congratulate Cally and say they would have done the same given the chance. Little can be confirmed about Cally's past, but this has not pointed to any Cylon origin. Finally, Cally has given birth to Tyrol's child Nicholas as of season 3, meaning it is impossible for them both to be Cylons and improbable in the extreme that either of them is.
Billy Keikeya?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: No
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low
Billy Keikeya might also be a Cylon due to the relative lack of confirmation surrounding his character. In a deleted scene in the Miniseries, it is revealed that Roslin met Billy for the first time when she boarded Colonial One to travel to Galactica; thus he presence can only be "confirmed" immediately before the attack, far short of even the 2 years that Number Six and Boomer had infiltrated the Colonies. Virtually nothing can be confirmed about Billy; although he states in the Miniseries that his parents and siblings were living on Picon when it was nuked, we really only have his word for it and no way to confirm that these were actual facts. Everyone just takes Billy's word for it. Billy has also stated (in deleted scenes in "Home, Part II") that he is an atheist. Again, he could simply be behaving based on implanted false memories that form a fake personality crafted by the Cylons, and it would be an ironic twist if an atheist character was revealed to belong to a race of religious zealots. That being said, the most recently revealed Cylon agent, Cavil, also exhibits atheistic or agnostic tendencies, explicitly stating that "there is no God" when interrogated by Roslin and Adama.
Billy could be a Cylon that was sent to keep tabs on Laura Roslin during the attack; Roslin was a viable target due to her status as a high-ranking government official. In an interesting deleted scene in "Fragged" Billy appears in one of Roslin's dreams as a manifestation of her own doubts and fears. In the dream he antagonistically taunts her for her faith in the Sacred Scrolls and Kara Thrace then stabs her in the heart with a knife after which she wakes up screaming in terror. Given the prophetic connotations of Roslin's previous dreams and visions this could possibly be taken as evidence for Keikeya being a Cylon, however like most deleted material its canonicity is tentative at best.
The character of Billy Keikeya dies in the episode, "Sacrifice." As only Cylon agents can "return from the dead," the argument for Keikeya as a Cylon agent is effectively invalid unless the character appears in a present-time (non-flashback) episode of the series, which would confirm Keikeya's true nature.
Galen Tyrol?[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
- Chances of being a Cylon: Low to None
Chief Galen Tyrol was in an illicit relationship with Boomer, and later had recurring nightmares based on his fear that he might also be a Cylon sleeper agent. However, he has served under William Adama on Galactica for 5 years, and as Adama put it, had he been a Cylon and they wanted the ship to be destroyed, he more than knew how to do it, and should have already done it by this point. Tyrol and Cally's child, born as of season 3, all but removes suspicion for this character (love does allow human-Cylon pregnancies to occur, however).
Characters who cannot possibly be Cylons[edit]
The following characters, for individual reasons below, have been disproven from any possibility of being humanoid Cylon sleeper agents.
Lee "Apollo" Adama[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: Yes, with qualifier (See "Black Market")
- Known family members: Yes (William Adama, Zak Adama)
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
In "Flesh and Bone", a copy of Leoben Conoy, a Cylon agent, grabs Laura Roslin and tells her, "Adama is a Cylon," prior to his execution. If his statement is true, it leaves doubt on which Adama he is talking about, although Roslin's actions in the next episode, "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", indicate that she believes Conoy spoke of Commander Adama.
Cylon agents are not copies (clones) of existing people. Evidence from Sharon Valerii's and Number Six's conversations indicate that humanoid Cylon infiltration began no earlier than 2 years prior to the events of the Miniseries, although their respective backstories may suggest they have been "alive" for many years. As Lee Adama was alive long before this introduction, and his father knew him since he was born and can thus confirm this, the probability that Lee Adama is a Cylon is as low as that of his father.
Information from the episode, "Black Market" suggests that Adama was to be a father to a child he conceived on Caprica, but he left the unborn child's mother, his lover at the time. Such a pregnancy, if Lee Adama was indeed an agent, would introduce the ability of Cylon males to sire children (currently, episodes only show that it is possible for a Cylon female to conceive).
There are reports of fan fiction with stories involving Lee Adama as a Cylon. Battlestar Wiki does not post fan fiction (whole or in excerpts), or speculation generated by these stories. An article's content must (with some silly, non-sequitur exceptions) provide sufficient basis in fact or probability based on aired episode information or other official sources as described in the Battlestar Wiki:Citation Jihad project page.
William Adama[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: Yes (Lee Adama and Zak Adama)
- Known family members: Yes (Caroline Adama and Anne Adama)
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: Yes (widely-known Veteran)
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (Saul Tigh)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Of all the suspected infiltrators, the case against William Adama appears to be the weakest.
In the Miniseries, Adama seems to know that the Cylon agents have "silica relays" in their brains, and that they would be affected by the storm around Ragnar Anchorage. This knowledge is not explained, but the Number Five copy left on the station showed signs of being affected, whereas Adama did not. In "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", Commander Adama disappears mysteriously and returns with Ellen Tigh. Around the same time, a Cylon Raider shows up. However, this was all explained later in the same episode, when Adama reveals that he was reluctant to openly announce Ellen's sudden appearance because he was afraid she could be a Cylon.
Adama also has exhibited strange behavior, from expressing vague Cylon sympathies (both in his speech in the Miniseries and in his discussion with Tyrol in "Home, Part I" where he seems to concede that Boomer was more than a machine). While not openly friendly to the Cylons, Adama seems to at least respect them as persons in that he does not treat the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii inhumanely (despite an attempt at strangling her when they first met), despite what was done to him by the Valerii copy known as "Boomer". While this could indicate a Cylon nature, it's also extremely likely that Adama's strength of character and personality enable him to think that Valerii might actually have changed.
William Adama is the father of two children, Lee and Zak. Before the conception of Valerii's hybrid child the Cylons have been unable to produce children through sexual reproduction. Further, Adama is, by all accounts, a veteran of the well-documented Cylon War, back at a time where Cylons were purely mechanical and not biosynthetic.
When the recent revelation by Ron Moore that Cylon agents are unique beings and not copies of existing humans is added to this, the likelihood of William Adama as a suspected infiltrator could be all but ruled out. This also throws the validity of Leoben Conoy's final words to Roslin accusing Adama as a Cylon in "Flesh and Bone" into question (which were almost certainly meant to just spread paranoia).
The strongest convincing evidence against Adama as a Cylon is that we have seen flashbacks of Adama and Saul Tigh set 20 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies, after the first Cylon War. Since Cylon agents aren't copies of humans, it is not possible for Adama (or Tigh) to be Cylon operatives (at least of the type used thus far).
Karl "Helo" Agathon[edit]
- Known siblings or adult or hybrid children: Yes (Hera)
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Helo fathers a Cylon-human hybrid, Hera, with a known Cylon agent, Sharon Valerii. As Cylon males cannot sire children with Cylon females (per data from "The Farm"), Helo cannot realistically be a Cylon himself.
Samuel Anders[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Unknown (Was Pyramid Ball player but not known for how long)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
As the leader of an anti-Cylon resistance movement on Cylon-occupied Caprica, Anders stands small chance of actually being a Cylon. He was a well known public figure as a sports star, though this might have only happened recently. In "Downloaded", while he is unconscious Number Three and Number Six refer to him between themselves as a human.
Helena Cain[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Admiral Helena Cain may have been ruthless and a danger to the Fleet, but she was a publicly known figure for years. Cain spent years rapidly rising through the ranks all the way up to Admiral. Adama has personally witnessed this rise, which must have taken longer than the 2 year cutoff for likely Cylon agent infiltration as defined in this article.
Laura Roslin[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (President Richard Adar)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
President Laura Roslin may have prophetic moments, like Number Six and Leoben Conoy, but she cannot possibly be a Cylon. Roslin was a public figure for 20 years (Litmus), working with later-President Adar and eventually serving as Secretary of Education: her past is totally confirmed. Cylon agents appear to be resistant to cancer, and Roslin was dying of cancer until she was cured by a blood transfusion from the Cylon-Human hybrid foetus (Epiphanies).
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: Yes (alluded to in "The Farm" by Simon)
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: No
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes, with qualifier (the Adama family)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Starbuck has been disproven from being a Cylon: Simon wanted to use Starbuck's egg cells in Cylon/Human hybrid experiments, and it would be totally illogical for him to need to hold her against her will to obtain her genetic material, if the Cylons already have hundreds of copies of a Starbuck-model Cylon to obtain it from. Starbuck's incarceration in a Cylon Farm disqualifies her from being a Cylon. Further, reproduction between humanoid Cylons is impossible, and Starbuck would not have been captured for use in human-Cylon hybrid experiments if she was not human.
A further disqualification may come from how long she has known Lee or William Adama, based on her relationship with Zak. This, however, would depend on how long ago the relationship ocurred, which has not to date been mentioned.
Saul Tigh[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: None
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: Yes (widely-known Veteran)
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (William Adama)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Saul Tigh is well known as a veteran of the first Cylon War, and has served as a non-obscure officer in the Fleet for decades. In many respects the case against Saul Tigh being a Cylon is similar to that of William Adama's (above).
The strongest convincing evidence against Tigh as a Cylon is that we have seen flashbacks of Tigh and William Adama set 20 years prior to the destruction of the Colonies, after the first Cylon War. Since Cylon agents aren't copies of humans, it is not possible for Tigh or Adama to be Cylon operatives (at least of the type used thus far).
Tom Zarek[edit]
- Known siblings or adult children: No
- Known family members: No
- Confirmed participation in Cylon War: Unknown
- Three-year or longer association with disqualifing character: Yes (President Adar, publicly known to be held in prison for 20 years)
- Chances of being a Cylon: None
Tom Zarek may seem subversive to the status quo of the Fleet and opposed to President Roslin's administration, but he can't be a Cylon. Zarek has been a well-known terrorist/political dissident for decades. He is widely known for blowing up a government building on Sagittaron, leading to his arrest 20 years ago, and he was presumably a prominent Sagittaron leader for years beforehand. President Adar publicly offered him amnesty if he would renounce his campaign of violence to free Sagittaron and Zarek refused. Due to being such a publicly known figure for so many decades before the Cylon Attack, Zarek could not be a Cylon.
References[edit]
- ↑ During a discussion of the reproductive intentions of Cylons in The Farm:
Starbuck: So farms, that’s great. What were they gonna do? Knock me up with some Cylon kid?
Sharon: They were gonna try to. We haven’t been successful so far.
Anders: Supposedly they can’t reproduce. You know biologically. So they have been trying every which way to produce offspring.