Humanoid Cylon speculation

This article is based on plausible speculation, which can violate policies on fan-generated theories if analysis is taken too far.

The Cylons' transformation into twelve distinct humanoid forms introduces serious problems for the remnant of humanity known as the Fleet to identify Cylon operative from human. At the beginning of their journey it seemed that anyone could be a humanoid Cylon, causing doubt and suspicion within the human populace (as evidenced in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down").

In the real world speculation about who could be a Cylon infiltrator in the Fleet has also been rife among fans of the show. Over the course of the miniseries and the first two seasons viewers were introduced to the "Significant Seven", however the natures of each of these characters were all revealed shortly after the characters' introductions.

In season three the nature of speculation for both the characters and the fans turned to the Final Five, enigmatic, almost-mystical figures who seemed to have a link to ancient colonial history. The nature of the five, according to Moore, is "fundamentally different" from the other seven models.

At the conclusion of "Crossroads, Part II" four recurring characters are revealed to be Cylons. The revelation that long standing characters such as Col. Tigh and Chief Tyrol were Cylons blew the field wide open, if they could be "toasters," then anyone could be the last Cylon. In particular, Tigh has a long and well-documented character history dating back to the First Cylon War.

This article details plausible speculation on which of the central and supporting characters in Battlestar Galactica could be the final one.

Clues from Official Sources

During a Q&A session on the official Sci Fi channel Battlestar Galactica forum Ronald D. Moore notes that he already knows who the last Cylon is, and that he's already left clues as to who it is.

Bradley Thompson was asked when the writers knew the identity of the final five:

"Four of the five were recent. If memory serves, the fifth (which may change) we've been kicking around since about the end of Season One."

General factors for consideration

In terms of narrative, to prevent an anti-climax it seems likely that the final Cylon would probably need to be a more prominent character than those of the Four. This centres the spotlight in the central "human" characters (Roslin, Bill and Lee Adama, Baltar and Starbuck). However, there is still an entire series for characters to develop and gain significance with viewers.

With the Final Five being "fundamentally different" from the Seven, extrapolating any characteristics we learned of Cylons from the Seven (including physiology, loyalty or self-awareness) is of questionable validity.

Col. Tigh has a well documented history stretching back at least to the first Cylon War. Also considering the Temple of Five, Final Five Cylons, somehow, significantly pre-date the Seven.

It has been seen that Cylons can start families, however it is unclear how the Five came to exist. Having natural parents would seem to preclude one being any more than half-Cylon.

Of the 11 so far there have been only four female models (and one has been boxed). The final Cylon being female would serve to equalize this gender bias.

Characters

With the exception of Karl Agathon and Cally Tyrol, who are confirmed to have half-cylon, half-human children, any "human" character could be a Cylon.

Laura Roslin

The colonies' president has been unquestionably a boon to humanity's search for earth, indeed the two times she has been removed from office have been the two greatest setbacks in the journey. Though her loyalty is unquestionable, her past is more difficult to ascertain. Roslin has never discussed her family in any way.

Roslin has also experienced prophetic dreams and visions (those induced by Chamalla, and a dream she shared with the Cylons Caprica Six and Sharon Agathon). She fits very well the profile of the scroll's dying leader, the scrolls also having links to other more mystical elements of the series, including the Temple of Five.

However her dying nature, from an aggressive form of breast cancer is also the biggest cause to doubt Roslin being a Cylon. It is unknown whether the Final Five can succumb to cancer, but Cylons seem to be generally tougher than humans. Baltar's cure in "Epiphanies" was probably designed based on the assumption that Roslin's physiology was human.

William Adama

If the colonies' military hero William Adama was revealed to be a Cylon it would be one of the biggest shocks the series could produce. Overall Adama appears to epitomise a very human set of strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless he does experience hallucinations in the fifth Razor Flashback, although he sees and hears people in his environment instead of seeing himself in a different one. The experience could also be explained by stress or other factors, however.

The Adama family is well documented. His father, Joseph Adama, was known to Romo Lampkin. The proposed spin-off Caprica, would have featured the history of the Adama family. This may have been difficult to square with any revelation about William Adama being a Cylon.

Lee Adama

Could Lee's chronic angst be partly due to guilt at his Cylon nature? Was the Leoben who said "Adama's a Cylon" (Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down) referring to Lee? (note: the writers hadn't decided on the identity of the final Cylon at that point). He does appear to project in "Resurrection Ship, Part II", though this may have been an oxygen deprivation induced hallucination.

In his defence, Lee is also a member of the well-documented Adama family. A "switched at birth" scenario could explain this.

This essay on who the final Cylon could be places Lee as the front runner.

Gaius Baltar

Main article: Baltar as Cylon speculation

Reasons for suspicion Baltar's vast intelligence, weak character and lack of loyalty to anyone but himself have made him ultimately humanity's (unwitting) betrayer. Baltar himself longs to be a Cylon as this would absolve him of the guilt of betraying his own people, however comes to the conclusion that he is human after all.

There are good reasons to suspect Baltar. He exhibits vast intelligence that may be superhuman in nature. His Vitual Six, her precognitive abilities, and the apparently projected environments they often co-experience are suspicious, as well as the fact that both Virtual Six and later the Hybrid tell him that he is "chosen".

In Caprica Six's final vision in "Crossroads, Part II" she sees the hooded figures of the final five staring at her from the upper level. Baltar is standing next to her in the vision as well.

Kara Thrace

See also: The Destiny

Kara Thrace's path towards her destiny has involved many strange, perhaps supernatural events. Whether this destiny involves her being a Cylon is a matter of speculation (indeed members of the Significant Seven, who do not know who the final five are, tell Starbuck she has this destiny), but it is certain Thrace is something special.

Certainly Thrace exhibits phenomenal natural skill as a pilot, and manages to learn to fly a Raider exceptionally quickly (You Can't Go Home Again). From childhood, Thrace has been drawing the mandala from the Temple of Five. However she was also physically abused as a child and still carries the scars; Cylonsseem to be more robust than humans and possibly may not carry such long-term injuries. The same may be said of the knee injury which put a stop to Thrace's Pyramid playing ambitions.

Most strikingly, the ace pilot apparently dies in "Maelstrom" but returns (resurrected?)in "Crossroads, Part II". Furthermore not being on Galactica at the time, Thrace is the only major "human" character who has a reason for not reacting to the Music which, to the "four" reverberated around the ship. However the final Cylon may, for some reason, not have heard it, or may have ignored it.

Katee Sackhoff was apparently told she was not a Cylon.

Virtual beings

The Virtual beings (possibly including Virtual Leoben) may actually be a single entity, the final Cylon being more spiritual than corporal. Virtual Six claims to be an angel from the Cylon God, which could be roughly correlated with the "the five priests devoted to the one whose name cannot be spoken" from Pythia. The overall actions of these beings seem to be neither pro-Cylon or pro-human, which fits with the Final five being a third party in the dynamic of the battle.

None of the other final five members have shown similar characteristics to this, and there is no particular reason to suggest the final Cylon is greatly different from his or her four "siblings".

Galactica 1980 definition:  a unit of temperature; 2000 degrees chronic would be the skin temperature of the A-B Raider at maximum upon entering Earth's atmosphere (1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I")