House of Iblis (TOS-RH)

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

The House of Iblis is a renegade dynasty founded by Count Iblis after his expulsion from the House of Kobol, becoming the greatest enemy of humanity and the creator of the Cylon race. The House represents a dark mirror of Kobollian civilization, dedicated to the destruction of humanity rather than its advancement.

Origins and the Schism

The House of Iblis originated from within the Lords of Kobol themselves when a man who lacked the purity of his brothers—a spiteful, bitter, angry individual who wanted power more than wisdom—broke ranks after being censured by the other Lords. In time, this man founded his own dynasty, and while the pure-blooded remained the House of Kobol, a portion of the population fell prey to his sharp tongue and devious wit, becoming his followers in the newly established House of Iblis.

The schism had deeper personal roots than mere philosophical disagreement. Iblis and Adama's distant ancestor, going back many generations, were brothers—both in line to replace the retiring elder and Council Head of the House of Kobol. Despite the deep and powerful love between the two men, Iblis, a scientific genius, suffered from intense jealousy of his gifted older brother. Though Iblis tried repeatedly to outdo his brother, his scientific accomplishments never meant as much to their father as his brother's wisdom, charisma, and strength of character.

Iblis felt his parents had always favored his brother, never affording him the respect his accomplishments deserved. The final blow came when the brother was awarded the position of council head. Iblis plotted in dark secrecy to have his brother murdered—a crime almost unheard of on Kobol. When the new council head discovered the plan, he was willing to forgive his brother, but the council forced him to discipline Iblis.

Exile to Cylon

Generations after the founding of the House of Iblis, on Kobol itself, the Kobollian forefathers cast Iblis and his followers out of the House of Kobol. They were exiled to the most hostile and uninhabitable planet in the galaxy—Cylon—where they were left to die.

The planet Cylon was home to a race of warlike, savage yet sentient reptilian creatures. Rather than perishing as intended, Iblis and his followers survived through their determination and Iblis's scientific genius. The exile became an opportunity for Iblis to pursue experiments he had begun on Kobol—work so horrific that the Lords of Kobol were forbidden to discuss what he had done.

Creation of the Cylon Race

On the harsh desert planet, Iblis's experiments culminated in the creation of a new species. He thought of himself as a scientist first and philosopher second, believing no idea was so wonderful that it couldn't be improved by combining it with an equally good or better notion. Recognizing that the reptilian race had the potential to be superior warriors, he combined this observation with his interest in recombinant DNA experiments to create something entirely new.

Iblis decided that if humans couldn't appreciate what he offered them, he would make his point with a new species that would conquer all. The reptiles were too violent and unpredictable to be properly controlled even by someone with Iblis's persuasive powers, so the solution was to combine reptilian and human DNA—making the physical a literal metaphor for the philosophical.

When one of his colleagues was horrified and tried to stop him, Iblis killed her, but upon reflection realized that her death provided more human genetic material for his experiments. Before he was finished, other members of his party met a similar fate. By then, he had started developing a new religion, ensuring fanatical followers willing to do anything he said because they believed his every utterance to be revealed Truth—and they had no desire to end up on a table in his laboratory. He rather enjoyed being a god.

Using a combination of human genetic splicing and cybernetic technology, Iblis nurtured the planet's reptilian lifeforms along the evolutionary path, instilling in them an insatiable hatred for humankind. He introduced the savage reptilians to technology and promised to make them the most ruthless, fearsome warriors the universe had ever seen. He kept that promise by introducing human DNA—his own DNA—into the Cylon genetic structure, evolving them into bipedal creatures. Cloning followed, making females of the species redundant and unnecessary, and genetic manipulation bred all emotion out of the reptilian creatures except hatred.

The terraforming of Cylon created new problems by activating long-dead spores, and everyone developed a breathing problem from the revived fungus that got inside the lungs—everyone except Count Iblis, who developed a cure in a spare moment but didn't bother sharing it with his fellow humans. His interest was almost entirely for the hybrid race he was creating.

Iblis vowed never again to be at the mercy of humans, believing humans were weak and destined for extinction. His experiments on Kobol and culminating work on Cylon created what he viewed as a perfect race, a species truly worthy of inheriting the universe, with two goals as a species: the conquest of the universe and the extermination of humanity.

The Death and Transcendence of Iblis

Predictably, the Cylons eventually turned upon their creator, destroying Iblis's human body and leaving his brain under their control. However, the Count proved more resilient and unpredictable than most. Although his brain remained enslaved to the Cylons, Iblis's mind and consciousness continued to evolve until he could project his esoteric body through space and time. Freed of the tyranny of flesh, Iblis became even more powerful and able to meddle in the Cylons' affairs, their evolution, and the upward crawl of many other races as well.

When Iblis died, he was "accelerated" just as all the Lords of Kobol were—his molecular structure undergoing the same transformation that granted the pure-blooded Kobollians their physical afterlife. Yet his soul was so twisted, so horrible and filled with hatred of his human brothers, that he did not become one of the Lords. In all the universe, Count Iblis became totally unique—a leech, sucking the fear and death of countless planets into himself for sustenance.

Before his death, Iblis prepared an Imperious Leader—a creature with all of his wisdom and knowledge to carry on in his place. To the cogitators, the only Cylons with whom one could have actual conversation, Iblis was widely considered a myth after his departure.

The House of Iblis and Baltar

Count Iblis claimed Baltar as his own descendant, revealing this information during a dark visitation to a Cylon base star. This ancestral connection explained certain aspects of Baltar's relationship with the Cylons and his role in the Great Betrayal.

The House of Iblis's legacy manifested physically in the creation of the new breed of Cylons equipped with a Human Logic Function—superior and more deadly in every way to their brethren, incorporating human cognitive patterns into their cybernetic minds. Lucifer mockingly referred to these advanced Centurions as Baltar's "children," acknowledging the human element derived from Iblis's original genetic experiments.

Goals and Philosophy

The fundamental goal of the House of Iblis was not merely political power but the corruption and destruction of the House of Kobol itself. Iblis sought to taint the pure-blooded line and tempt the descendants of his ancient enemies. His attempts to gain command of the Colonial Fleet served this larger purpose—corrupting the leadership of the House of Kobol rather than simply wielding temporal authority.

Iblis's relationship with the Cylons demonstrated his ultimate control over his creations. He proclaimed himself their creator, stating "They are my creatures, my beautiful creations," and maintained that they were puppets whose strings he held. His promise to save the fleet from the Cylons was credible precisely because he had no need to defeat them—they remained under his power despite centuries of apparent independence.

The House of Iblis represented a complete inversion of Kobollian values. Where the Lords of Kobol sought to improve themselves and humanity through meditation, wisdom, and the advancement of consciousness, Iblis pursued power through genetic manipulation, technological domination, and the destruction of his own species. His desire to be worshipped as a god reflected the ultimate corruption of the Kobollian spiritual quest—seeking divinity through fear and control rather than through enlightenment and service.

The Millennial Conflict

The conflict between the House of Iblis and the House of Kobol spanned millennia, with Iblis maintaining his vendetta against his former brothers and their descendants across countless generations. His existence became defined by the pain of his exile and transformation, agony that persisted through every micron of his existence over the millennia.

Iblis viewed Apollo and Athena as "the last of the direct descendants of the House of Kobol," who must die "to avenge the deaths of millions of my tribe." This statement revealed the ongoing nature of the conflict—not merely a personal grudge but a generational war between two Houses, with Iblis seeking to eliminate the pure-blooded Kobollian line entirely.

Relationship with the Imperious Leader

The relationship between the House of Iblis and the Cylon leadership proved complex and evolving. By the time of the Great Betrayal, the Imperious Leader had begun to view independence from Iblis as desirable. While acknowledging the Cylons were Iblis's children, the Imperious Leader believed it was time for the Cylons to go their own way, free of Iblis's meddlings and interference—to write their destiny in flame and blood across the stars without their creator's continued intervention.

The cogitator known as Lucifer discovered evidence of ongoing contact between the Imperious Leader and the darkness that was Iblis, hearing conversations in Kobollian and learning that the darkness addressed his master by the name "Iblis." This revelation suggested that some Imperious Leaders maintained the connection to their creator while others sought independence—or that a single Imperious Leader maintained a complex, duplicitous relationship with the House of Iblis.

Internal Cylon Schism

The House of Iblis's legacy eventually created a schism within the Cylon race itself. A damaged genetic program caused by a virus destroyed the Iblis programming in some two-brained Cylons. These Cylons not only ceased to care about the purposes for which Count Iblis had created their race, but went so far as to rethink the entire situation. They concluded that the human element in the Cylons was the virus that weakened the race and prevented it from conquering the universe.

A clandestine movement began right under the sensors of the Imperious Leader, advocating for purely reptilian Cylons over those with the human taint. A new religion was created to defy the orthodoxy of the Iblis Faith, insisting that ending the Iblis program was only the beginning. The new creed demanded that the human enemy must be destroyed, and not only the pure humans making up the colonies—any human element in the Cylon race must also be expunged, meaning any two-brained Cylon with human DNA would be treated the same as a full human.

See Also

• Count Iblis
• House of Kobol
• Lords of Kobol
• Cylons
• Cylon (planet)
• Imperious Leader
• Baltar
• Kobol
• Parnassus