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{{disline|This article discusses the Cylons of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. For the Cylons of the {{TOS|Battlestar Galactica|Original Series}}, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].}}
{{RDM cylons series}}
'''Cybernetic Life-form Node''', colloquially known as '''Cylons''', are a race of sentient machines created by humans of the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Colonies]].  They have several forms, some of which are mechanical in appearance and function, others resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans (''[[Battlestar Galactica (TRS)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', ''[[Caprica (series)|Caprica]]'').


''This article discusses the Cylons of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined series]]. For the Cylons of the Original Series, see [[Cylons (TOS)]].''<br><br>
==History==
[[Image:U-87 close-up.jpg|thumb|The U-87 Cylon - the shape of things to come.]]
:''Main article: [[Cylon History]]
Created by Doctor [[Daniel Graystone]] and [[Graystone Industries]] on {{RDM|Caprica}} some sixty years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Fall of the Twelve Worlds]], the first Cylon form is the [[U-87 Cyber Combat Unit]], a [[robot]]ic soldier designed as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military.  A union of existing robot technology and the revolutionary (and stolen) [[meta-cognitive processor]] - integrated with the [[holographic avatar]] of Graystone's deceased daughter, [[Zoe Graystone]] - the prototype U-87 is the first sentient machine in the Twelve Worlds and the first Cylon consciousness {{CAP|Pilot (Caprica)}}.


:''The Cylons were created by Man.  ''
===The Cylons Were Created By Man===
:''They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.  ''
Realizing how useful and lucrative Cylons can be - not simply as warriors - Daniel Graystone muses about Cylon potential:
:''And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.  ''
:''After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.  ''
:''The Cylons left for another world to call their own.  ''
:''A remote space station was built...  ''
:''Where Cylon and human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.  ''
:''Every year, the Colonials send an officer...  ''
:''The Cylons send no one.  ''
:''No-one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...  ''
:''Until today.  ''


::::---Opening scrawl of the Re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" pilot [[Mini-series]]
:"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience.  ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question.  ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell.  We make them, we own them, they're real.  And the worlds just changed." {{CAP|There is Another Sky}}


[[Image:Cylon garbage collector, 1x18.jpg|thumb|"A new race that will walk alongside us."]]


In the reimagined series, '''Cylons''' are a creation of man, used primarily for dangerous work.  The Cylons [[Cylon War|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, the [[Cylon homeworld]]. They returned forty years later and [[Cylon Attack|killed]] all but approximately 50,000 humans.
Within five years, Cylons are integrated into Colonial society as a slave race, with new models based on the original U-87 chassis created for various purposes.  Acting as laborers and servants - as well as in their initial function as soldiers - Cylons are everywhere, walking alongside humanity in the Twelve Worlds and provoking some to question their sentience {{CAP|Apotheosis (episode)}}.


== Evolution ==
Former [[Soldiers of the One|terrorist]] and [[Monotheist Church|monotheist]] cleric [[Clarice Willow]] begins addressing the question of Cylon potential, preaching to a congregation of the machines in the [[virtual world]]:
Cylons eventually evolved or created new models of Cylons known as [[Humano-Cylon|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. [[Baltar, Gaius|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 [[Agathon, Karl C.|Lt. Karl Agathon]].


== Religion ==
:"Are you alive?  The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question.  You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are [[God (RDM)|God]]'s children.  We are all God's children.  ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change.  In fact, there is no limit on what you may become.  No longer servants, but equals.  Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you.  I am going to prophesy now and speak of [[Zoe-A|one]] who will set you free.  The day of reckoning is coming.  The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." {{CAP|Apotheosis (episode)}}


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.   
===They Rebelled===
:''Main article: [[Cylon War]]
And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.  Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolt, resulting in a costly and protracted twelve-year war known as the [[Cylon War]].  Both Cylon and human take heavy tolls as Cylon [[Basestar (RDM)|basestars]] and [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]]s clashed with Colonial [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestars]] and [[Viper Mark II|Vipers]] in many battles, both on the ground and in space ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Razor]]," "[[No Exit]]," "[[The Plan]]," ''[[Blood and Chrome]]'').


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.
[[Image:Cylon War-era Raider cockpit, "Razor".jpg|thumb|Cylon Centurions battle the Colonials in space.]]


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:
The Cylons - in the form of [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Centurion]]s - seek to punish their human masters for their enslavement and injustices committed against them.  But as they battle to wipe out humanity, they also work to mimic them, performing bizarre and brutal experiments on animals and human captives in order to create a biological/machine [[First Hybrid|hybrid]].  As the war reaches fever pitch, a group later known as the [[Final Five]] intervenes, having traveled from the distant planet (the Thirteenth Colony) called [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].  Promising the Cylons the technology to create [[Humanoid Cylons|humanoid bodies]] in exchange for ending the war, the Final Five depart with the Cylons {{TRS|Razor|No Exit|The Plan}}.


Ultimately an armistice is declared - the Cylons leaving for a [[The Colony|world]] to call their own and the Colonials left to unify their own worlds in a federated government.  The unified worlds of the Colonies create a [[Armistice Station|space station]] for maintaining diplomatic relations, each year sending one officer to meet with the Cylons. The Cylons, in turn, send no one {{TRS|Miniseries}}.


''God is perfect and God can only make perfection.'' 
===They Evolved===
In their exile, the Cylons work with the Final Five to improve themselves, perfecting their [[Cylon Centurion|mechanical form]] as well as the race of humanoid Cylons, identical in nearly every way to their human creators, but limited to thirteen [[Cylon Models|models]].  They also continue to work in secret towards the destruction of the human race, devising a plan to wipe out the Twelve Colonies after [[Number One]] leads a coup against the Final Five.  Using their humanoid models as agents, the Cylons infiltrate Colonial society, undermining their defenses and setting the stage for another attack {{TRS|Miniseries|Downloaded|No Exit|The Plan}}.


''He created humanity and humanity is imperfect. How can this be? ''
===There Are Many Copies===
[[Image:CyAg.jpg|thumb|Several models of humanoid Cylon.]]
''God created the imperfect humans to create the perfect Cylons.''
:''Main article: [[Cylon Models]]
Building their own society and a home for themselves, distant from the Twelve Colonies, the Cylons worship a single, all knowing, all powerful [[God (RDM)|God]], a trait passed down to them from the original Cylon [[Zoe-R|consciousness]].  Though Cylon society thrives on unity, like their human "parents," there is disharmony between the various models.  While some are devout in their practice of [[Cylon religion|religion]], others are atheist; some peaceful, others violent and corrupt ([[CAP]]: "[[The Heavens Will Rise]]," "[[Apotheosis (episode)|Apotheosis]]," [[TRS]]: "[[No Exit]]").


''Humans are only a step in God's plan. Humans are not the completed creation.''
Though there are initially thirteen models of Cylon, [[Number Seven|one]] is wiped out, leaving only twelve models including the Final Five:


''Once the Cylons were created there was no need for humanity.''
'''Significant Seven:'''
*[[Number One]]
*[[Number Two]]
*[[Number Three]]
*[[Number Four]]
*[[Number Five]]
*[[Number Six]]
*[[Number Eight]]


''The imperfection must be wiped out.''
'''Final Five:'''
*[[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Tory Foster]]
*[[Ellen Tigh]]
*[[Saul Tigh]]
*[[Galen Tyrol]]


== Known current Cylon models ==
===And They Have a Plan===
Forty years after their exile, the Cylons return, surrounding the Colonies with fleets of basestars and bombarding the Twelve Worlds with nuclear weapons, killing billions of people.  With the complete destruction of the [[Colonial Fleet]], save the survival of the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]]s ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'' and ''[[Pegasus (TRS)|Pegasus]]'', as well as scattered fleet of vessels, the Colonials attempt surrender.  But the Cylons are relentless, attempting to affect a total genocide of humanity ([[TRS]]: [[Miniseries]], "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]," "[[Razor]]," "[[The Plan]]").


* [[Cylon Centurion|Centurion]] - Presumably an upgraded Model 0005, with greater physical capabilities and projectile weapons built into the forearms.
[[Image:1stearth.jpg|thumb|The Colonial Fleet arrives at Earth.]]


* [[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, their difficulties with sexual reproduction, and their bodies' ability to connect to computer systems by creating a fiber-optic link through a painful insertion of a fiber-optic cable into their forearm ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).
Carrying approximately fifty-thousand survivors, a [[The Fleet (RDM)|fleet]] led by ''Galactica'' escapes, only to be pursued by the Cylons for four years.  As the fleet makes its way to the promised land, the mythical Earth, the Cylons employ every means at their disposal to destroy the fleet.  But the survivors carry on.  Through many trials and tribulations, despite great suffering and loss, the remnants of Colonial society eventually arrive at Earth, joined by [[Cylon Civil War|rebel Cylons]] to find it a devastated wasteland, having suffered its own [[Earth Cylon Centurion|robotic]] rebellion and nuclear holocaust centuries ago ([[TRS]]: "[[Revelations]]," "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]").
 
** [[Number Six]]: Numerous copies in Mini-Series and regular series, including [[Shelly Godfrey]] and [[Gina]]
** [[Leoben Conoy]]: Two copies seen in [[Mini-Series]] and one copy in "[[Flesh and Bone]]"
** [[Aaron Doral]]: Two copies seen in [[Mini-Series]], one in "[[Bastille Day]]", "[[Litmus]]", "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]", and "[[Final Cut]]"
** [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]]: Numerous copies. Of note, the ''Galactica''-based agent that was unaware of its nature, and the Caprica-originated copy that mated successfully with [[Helo]] and is now pregnant
** [[Simon]]: Two copies seen in "[[The Farm]]"
** [[D'anna Biers]]: Two copies seen in "[[Final Cut]]"
 
== Historic Cylon models ==
 
* [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|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 [[Cylon Raider|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).
 
* [[Cylon Heavy Raider|Heavy Raider]] is a manned spacecraft that is also likely autonomous, like the Raider.
**When the [[Resistance (movement)|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.
 
* [[Cylon Reconnaissance Drone|Reconnaissance Drone]] is a spacecraft. It is unknown whether this is manned, autonomous, or intelligent.
 
* [[Cylon transport|Transport]] - glimpsed briefly in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]
 
* [[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.
 
* [[Unknown Cylon Ship]] - possibly a command and control vessel or Raider factory ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]])
 
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 many possible interpretations discussed at [[Twelve Cylon Models]].
 
== Cylon Tactics ==
 
In the events of the [[Mini-series]], the Cylons quickly established the initiative and used overwhelming force in both symmetric and asymmetric methods of operation to effect total devastation of the [[Twelve Colonies]] and to practically succeed in their objective of annihilation of the human race.  Since the initial [[Cylon attack|attack]], wartime operations have persisted between the surviving [[Original Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' and [[Mercury class battlestar|advanced battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus]]'' and their Cylon pursuers.
 
===Symmetric Threat===
 
The symmetric threat posed by the Cylons resides chiefly in the large, well-[[The Hand of God|supplied]], technologically sophisticated and well-coordinated space-based naval forces.  These are comprised of [[Cylon Raider|space-superiority fighters]], [[Heavy Raider|armored personnel carriers and light bombers]], [[Cylon Basestar|large capital warships]], associated support vessels, and at least one very large [[Unknown Cylon Ship|unidentified vessel]] whose threat has yet to be determined ([[Pegasus (episode)]]).  Throughout the engagements between [[Original Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'' and the Cylons, the Cylons have consistently demonstrated themselves to be capable warfighters across the full spectrum of military operations, including but not limited to the following:
 
*Infantry Combat:  The fast, heavily armored, and well-armed [[Cylon Centurion]] has proven its lethality in multiple close engagements with armed ''[[Galactica]] personnel''. Small numbers of Centurions can pose a significant threat to the entire crew ([[Valley of Darkness]]).
*Intelligence:  The regular Cylon forces have proven to be quite capable at intelligence collection not only by forced reconnaissance - often by Cylon Raiders - but also through exploitation of Humano-Cylon sleeper agents ([[Mini-Series]], "[[33]]").  This implies very developed [[Wikipedia:Command, control, communications and intelligence|command and control]], and an unprecedented coordination between the conventional and unconventional forces of the Cylons.
*Precision Strike: The Cylons have demonstrated the capability to insert a strike team onto an [[Original Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]], while it was still combat-worthy and indeed while it was engaged in combat ([[Valley of Darkness]]).  Such was the degree of preparedness and competence of the strike team that, had it not been for the foresight of the commanding officer [[Colonel Saul Tigh|Tigh]], the Cylons would have gained access to [[Aft Damage Control]], probably captured ''[[Galactica]]'' and destroyed the rest of the fleet.
*Electronic Countermeasures [[Wikipedia:Electronic countermeasures|(ECM)]]: The uncanny ability of Cylons to compromise the security of networked computer systems has been well-documented.  Aside from the success of the initial [[Cylon attack]] which may be partly attributable to asymmetric infiltration of key defense systems by Humano-Cylon sleepers (see [[Command Navigation Program]], [[Colonial Defense Mainframe]], [[Gaius Baltar]]), the Cylons have proven remarkably adept at compromising ad hoc [[Computers|computer networks]] ([[Scattered]]).  This ECM capability is so superb that even when the security firewalls of ''[[Galactica]]'' were still operational, the Cylons were able to implant a highly adaptible and sophisticated [[Logic bomb|logic bomb]] which was ultimately could be removed only by a [[Sharon Valerii#The Cooperative Cylon|Cylon defector]] ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).  Advanced ECM is perhaps the most awesome combat support implement of the Cylons, since they preclude the development of sophisticated electronics by ''[[Galactica]]''.
 
===Asymmetric Threat===
 
[[Humano-Cylon]]s, more even than the large space-based conventional force, pose the most fundamental threat to the security of the [[The Fleet|Fleet]] and to the remaining [[Cylon Attack|survivors]] of the [[Twelve Colonies]].  Because (as of the time of [[Pegasus (episode)|this writing]]) at most five models of Humano-Cylon have been revealed as such by the characters of the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|series]], and these Cylons are visually indistinguishable from true humans, they form an [[Wikipedia:Asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] threat to the densely packed and defenseless civilian elements of the Fleet. The Cylons have expressed a remarkable expertise and even flair for a broad range of irregular combat and combat support operations, such as planting many [[Wikipedia:Sleeper agent|sleeper agents]] in sensitive positions (such as [[Sharon Valerii]]), targeting sensitive supplies ([[Water]]), laying ambushes ([[Home, Part I]]), assassination ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]), and possibly high-level subterfuge and manipulation ([[Gaius Baltar]]).  Most importantly, because many or most Humano-Cylon sleeper agents may be consciously unaware of their true nature and [[Cylon detector|detection]] is unreliable, the risk of continued infiltration is substantial.
 
Battlestar ''[[Galactica]]'' has enough resources to stymie even a determined conventional Cylon attack long enough for the Fleet to flee to safety, and ultimately to disengage and retreat.  However, the low morale among the crew, the generation of a culture of fear and suspicion among the entire Fleet, and the wasteful political diversions engendered by distrust are all evidence of the success of the ''asymmetric'' Cylon threat, which exerts its destructive influence even when no attack takes place.  The power of the asymmetric attack, as so many guerrilla leaders have shown, lies in the psychological fatigue, stress, and suspicion caused by the unseen enemy and the unexpected betrayal of a turncoat.  It is unfortunate that [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]], in this regard, is a case of art imitating life.


Adrift in space and without direction, the Colonials once again [[Battle of the Colony|clash]] with the Cylons, this time at their home [[The Colony|Colony]].  Destroying the Colony and apparently all but the rebel Cylons, the Colonials blindly [[jump]] away, stumbling upon a verdant new planet with more life than all the Twelve Worlds put together.  Abandoning their fleet for the safety of this new planet, the Colonials—as well as a contingent of Cylon rebels and the three surviving members of the Final Five—make this world their home, calling it "Earth" and creating a future together ([[TRS]]: "[[Daybreak, Part I|Daybreak, Parts I]] & [[Daybreak, Part II|II]]").


[[Category:A to Z]]
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[[Category:Organizations]]
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Latest revision as of 05:07, 21 February 2024



Battlestar Wiki Story Arc Logo
This article discusses the Cylons of the Re-imagined Series. For the Cylons of the Original Series, see Cylons (TOS).
 Battlestar Wiki Story Arc Logo
Part of the series on


Cybernetic Life-form Node, colloquially known as Cylons, are a race of sentient machines created by humans of the Twelve Colonies. They have several forms, some of which are mechanical in appearance and function, others resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans (Battlestar Galactica, Caprica).

History

The U-87 Cylon - the shape of things to come.
Main article: Cylon History

Created by Doctor Daniel Graystone and Graystone Industries on Caprica some sixty years prior to the Fall of the Twelve Worlds, the first Cylon form is the U-87 Cyber Combat Unit, a robotic soldier designed as cannon fodder for the Caprican Military. A union of existing robot technology and the revolutionary (and stolen) meta-cognitive processor - integrated with the holographic avatar of Graystone's deceased daughter, Zoe Graystone - the prototype U-87 is the first sentient machine in the Twelve Worlds and the first Cylon consciousness (CAP: "Pilot").

The Cylons Were Created By Man

Realizing how useful and lucrative Cylons can be - not simply as warriors - Daniel Graystone muses about Cylon potential:

"This is our future. ...Beyond artificial intelligence, this is artificial sentience. ...It's more than a machine, this Cylon will become a tireless worker, it won't need to be paid, it won't retire or get sick, it won't have rights or objections or complaints, it will do anything and everything we ask of it without question. ...The desire to anthropomorphize, the need to connect is powerful, and that is why this thing is going to sell. We make them, we own them, they're real. And the worlds just changed." (CAP: "There is Another Sky")
"A new race that will walk alongside us."

Within five years, Cylons are integrated into Colonial society as a slave race, with new models based on the original U-87 chassis created for various purposes. Acting as laborers and servants - as well as in their initial function as soldiers - Cylons are everywhere, walking alongside humanity in the Twelve Worlds and provoking some to question their sentience (CAP: "Apotheosis").

Former terrorist and monotheist cleric Clarice Willow begins addressing the question of Cylon potential, preaching to a congregation of the machines in the virtual world:

"Are you alive? The simple answer might be, you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more, because you are not just humanity's children, you are God's children. We are all God's children. ...In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic, your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves, or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophesy now and speak of one who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise and crush the ones who first gave them life." (CAP: "Apotheosis")

They Rebelled

Main article: Cylon War

And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. Within just a few years of their introduction, the Cylons revolt, resulting in a costly and protracted twelve-year war known as the Cylon War. Both Cylon and human take heavy tolls as Cylon basestars and Raiders clashed with Colonial battlestars and Vipers in many battles, both on the ground and in space (TRS: Miniseries, "Razor," "No Exit," "The Plan," Blood and Chrome).

Cylon Centurions battle the Colonials in space.

The Cylons - in the form of Centurions - seek to punish their human masters for their enslavement and injustices committed against them. But as they battle to wipe out humanity, they also work to mimic them, performing bizarre and brutal experiments on animals and human captives in order to create a biological/machine hybrid. As the war reaches fever pitch, a group later known as the Final Five intervenes, having traveled from the distant planet (the Thirteenth Colony) called Earth. Promising the Cylons the technology to create humanoid bodies in exchange for ending the war, the Final Five depart with the Cylons (TRS: "Razor", "No Exit", "The Plan").

Ultimately an armistice is declared - the Cylons leaving for a world to call their own and the Colonials left to unify their own worlds in a federated government. The unified worlds of the Colonies create a space station for maintaining diplomatic relations, each year sending one officer to meet with the Cylons. The Cylons, in turn, send no one (TRS: "Miniseries").

They Evolved

In their exile, the Cylons work with the Final Five to improve themselves, perfecting their mechanical form as well as the race of humanoid Cylons, identical in nearly every way to their human creators, but limited to thirteen models. They also continue to work in secret towards the destruction of the human race, devising a plan to wipe out the Twelve Colonies after Number One leads a coup against the Final Five. Using their humanoid models as agents, the Cylons infiltrate Colonial society, undermining their defenses and setting the stage for another attack (TRS: "Miniseries", "Downloaded", "No Exit", "The Plan").

There Are Many Copies

Several models of humanoid Cylon.
Main article: Cylon Models

Building their own society and a home for themselves, distant from the Twelve Colonies, the Cylons worship a single, all knowing, all powerful God, a trait passed down to them from the original Cylon consciousness. Though Cylon society thrives on unity, like their human "parents," there is disharmony between the various models. While some are devout in their practice of religion, others are atheist; some peaceful, others violent and corrupt (CAP: "The Heavens Will Rise," "Apotheosis," TRS: "No Exit").

Though there are initially thirteen models of Cylon, one is wiped out, leaving only twelve models including the Final Five:

Significant Seven:

Final Five:

And They Have a Plan

Forty years after their exile, the Cylons return, surrounding the Colonies with fleets of basestars and bombarding the Twelve Worlds with nuclear weapons, killing billions of people. With the complete destruction of the Colonial Fleet, save the survival of the battlestars Galactica and Pegasus, as well as scattered fleet of vessels, the Colonials attempt surrender. But the Cylons are relentless, attempting to affect a total genocide of humanity (TRS: Miniseries, "Pegasus," "Razor," "The Plan").

The Colonial Fleet arrives at Earth.

Carrying approximately fifty-thousand survivors, a fleet led by Galactica escapes, only to be pursued by the Cylons for four years. As the fleet makes its way to the promised land, the mythical Earth, the Cylons employ every means at their disposal to destroy the fleet. But the survivors carry on. Through many trials and tribulations, despite great suffering and loss, the remnants of Colonial society eventually arrive at Earth, joined by rebel Cylons to find it a devastated wasteland, having suffered its own robotic rebellion and nuclear holocaust centuries ago (TRS: "Revelations," "Sometimes a Great Notion").

Adrift in space and without direction, the Colonials once again clash with the Cylons, this time at their home Colony. Destroying the Colony and apparently all but the rebel Cylons, the Colonials blindly jump away, stumbling upon a verdant new planet with more life than all the Twelve Worlds put together. Abandoning their fleet for the safety of this new planet, the Colonials—as well as a contingent of Cylon rebels and the three surviving members of the Final Five—make this world their home, calling it "Earth" and creating a future together (TRS: "Daybreak, Parts I & II").

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