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Les cylons sont une race fictive d'êtres bio-mécaniques apparaissant dans la série télévisée Battlestar Galactica.

Sommaire 1 Généralités 2 Histoire 3 Centurion 3.1 Premiers modèles 3.2 Current Model 4 Chasseur 5 Cylons humanoïdes 5.1 Numéro Trois 5.2 Numéro Cinq 5.3 Numéro Six 5.4 Numéro Huit 5.5 Leoben Conoy 5.6 Cavil 5.7 Simon 5.8 Les cinq derniers cylons humanoïdes 6 Hybride 7 Religion 8 Vulnerabilities 9 References 10 See also 10.1 Cylon vessels 11 External links

[modifier] Généralités

À l'inverse des cylons de la série originale, ils furent à l'origine créés par les Colonies de Kobol en tant que main d'œuvre tant ouvrière que militaire. Lors d'un événement encore inconnu, ils se rebellèrent et firent la guerre à leurs créateurs, disparaissant complètement juste après qu'un armistice fut signé. Depuis leur isolement, les cylons ont évolué en une société complexe qui inclut une variété de douze modèles bio-mécaniques de par nature et presqu'indistinctibles des êtres humains. Après quelques 40 années, les cylons revinrent et, commme dans la série originale, détruisirent les Douze Colonies et chassèrent sans relâche les survivants à travers l'espace. En plus des modèles humanoïdes, la société cylonne consiste en une classe ouvrière/guerrière de centurions, souvent surnommés grille-pains à cause de leur carapace en métal brillant et poli, et une classe transporteuse/combattante aérienne de bases et chasseurs. Ces trois dernières formes de cylons sont partièlement biologiques et donc sujettes à des infections virales.

The humanoid Cylons are the leaders of the Cylon empire and the revelation that these infiltrators can perfectly mimic human form, even down to the internal organs and lymphatic system, creates a wave of fear and paranoia among the humans. Some humanoid Cylons are "sleeper" agents, programmed with false memories so they think they are human. Cylons can interact with humans very convincingly, even being capable of intimate emotional and sexual relationships. Although they cannot successfully reproduce with each other, there have been two cases of Cylons reproducing with humans. The Cylons are also capable of the same psychological and emotional responses as human beings. Nonetheless, they have certain superhuman abilities, such as increased stamina and strength and the ability to physically interface with computer systems.

Cylons have the ability to download their consciousness into another body when the body they are currently using is killed or destroyed. The second season of Battlestar Galactica explored this notion in greater depth—the limited range of these downloads required the Cylons to build a "Resurrection Ship" to capture downloads from the human fleet, while the episode "Scar" established that the downloading procedure is shared by the Raider spacecraft. An entire episode, "Downloaded", also centered on the difficulties of two Cylon characters adjusting to their lives after downloading into new bodies.

[modifier] Histoire

The first Cylons were built as workers for the Colonies, but after developing sapience, they rebelled against their creators. The Colonial military responded by building Battlestars and Vipers to counter the Cylons. After ten years of fighting, an armistice was signed and a station was constructed for diplomatic means. Each year, the Colonies sent a representative but the Cylons never came, and nobody saw them again for another forty years. Eventually, the Colonial government sent the Battlestar Valkyrie to monitor Cylon activities. This move resulted in an incident in which the Valkyrie's commanding officer, Colonel William Adama, attempted to shoot down his own Stealthstar recon ship that had crossed the armistice line. That ship's pilot, Lt. Daniel "Bulldog" Novacek, was captured by the Cylons and held as a prisoner of war.

During their long isolation, the Cylons experimented with biotechnology. As a result, the Cylons were able to masquerade as humans in order to infiltrate Colonial defenses (though, given the revelation at the end of season three, and Colonel Tigh's age, it would appear that they were experimenting before their isolation). Their religious beliefs also diverged from those of the Twelve Colonies, switching from polytheism to monotheism. A year after the Valkyrie incident, the Cylons returned to the Twelve Colonies. With help of the humanoid Cylons, the Colonial defense network was shut down, allowing the destruction of the fleet and nuclear bombardment of the Twelve Colony planets. Battlestar Galactica, due to its un-networked systems, was able to elude Cylon hacking and escape with a fleet of civilian ships and about 50,000 survivors. The Pegasus, a Mercury-class battlestar, was docked at the Scorpion Fleet shipyards undergoing a retrofit when the Cylons attacked. They avoided Cylon infiltration because half of their systems were down for the retrofit and escaped with a blind faster-than-light jump. The Pegasus met up with Galactica and the human fleet several months later. Some of the remaining survivors on Caprica organized a resistance effort.

Accelerating their plans, the Cylons made their attempt to "get closer to God". To this end, they captured several human female survivors and infused their ovaries with Cylon "DNA" to create a Cylon-human hybrid, but had no success. They concluded that "love" is essential to achieve such a creation. Knowing that a pilot from Galactica, Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon, was stranded on Caprica after giving up his seat for Gaius Baltar, the Cylons attempted to manipulate his love for Sharon Valerii, a Cylon agent. However, the copy of Sharon, who indeed had fallen in love with Helo, betrayed her own kind to save him, and they both returned to Galactica.

After a year of chasing the Colonial survivors led by Galactica, the Cylons received significant losses to their forces, including a Resurrection Ship. Two "war heroes" of the Cylons, a Six known as Caprica Six and Sharon Valerii, the Eight once known as Boomer, saw that the destruction of the Colonies was wrong. As a result, the Cylons left the Twelve Colonies and told humanity they will go their separate ways.

This was not to last, for the Cylons detected a nuclear explosion a light year away. Traveling to the origin of the explosion, the Cylons found that the Colonials had settled on a habitable planet dubbed New Caprica. The Cylons decided to occupy the new human settlement, and a resistance movement formed, led by former Galactica XO Colonel Saul Tigh. Galactica launched a rescue mission, but it was joined by the Pegasus while it was surrounded by four basestars. The Pegasus was lost, but the mission was a success, with the human population managing to escape the planet.

Having failed at their occupation, the Cylons abandoned the planet, carrying along an unexpected guest, Gauis Baltar, former president of the Twelve Colonies and the Cylon-human hybrid child, Hera Agathon.

The Cylons began following the Colonial fleet towards Earth, who also wanted it as their new home. After a trail of markers and the release of a deadly virus that can infect Cylons, they met the Colonials in orbit of an algae planet in search for the Eye of Jupiter. However, one of the humanoid Cylons, (Number Three), went down to the temple where the Eye was located to see the identities of the "Final Five", the last models of Cylons. As the blue sun of the system began to go supernova, the Cylons jumped away and deactivated the Three line. For some reason, the humanoid Cylons cannot seek out the identities of the "Final Five."

When the Colonials reached the Ionian nebula, the Cylons once again reached them. As Galactica launched its Vipers for cover, four of the Final Fives' identities were revealed. They were in fact Galen Tyrol, Tory Foster, Samuel T. Anders and Tigh. Despite their origin, they still served the Fleet.

[modifier] Centurion

Le centurion cylon est l'unité terrestre d'infanterie de base, laissée délibérément moins intelligente que les modèles humanoïdes, et semble être entièrement mécanique. Les centuriions gardent l'apparence métallique, le corps robotique, la tête en forme de heaume et la barre rouge des yeux oscillante de leur correspondant de la série originale, mais sont plus grands, forts, agiles et ont une apparence plus profilée. Ils ont également des pistolets rétractiles intégrés à leur avant-bras, des bouts de doigts en forme de lame, et sont souvent bien caparaçonnés.

[modifier] Premiers modèles

La télésuite montre que ce centurion a pour origine quelque chose ressemblant au centurion des premières séries.

Dans le téléfilm Razor, un groupe de centurions de la première guerre contre les cylons apparaît. Ces centurions presque les mêmes que ceux des séries originales, à l'exception près qu'ils sont des images de synthèse en trois dimensions.

[modifier] Current Model

Unlike the original series, these Centurions have not been shown using speech. It is unknown if this is because they are not intelligent enough to speak, use some other non-vocal method of communication, or simply because they have nothing to say. Ronald D. Moore has commented on his blog that these new Cylon Centurions do not download into new bodies when they are destroyed. Based on a comment by an Eight (probably Galactica Boomer) in the episode "Torn" the Hybrids have something to do with the programming of the Centurions. She states that when the virus infected the Hybrid on the infected Basestar that it caused the Centurions to shut down; however, we know from several instances that the Centurions can function independently even when no Basestars or humanoid models are there to command them. As of now, the extent of the connection between the Centurions and the Hybrids has not been fully explored.

It is hinted that in an episode of the fourth season, the Centurions will rebel against their humanoid masters.

[modifier] Chasseur

Les chasseurs cylons sont des cylons bio-mécaniques ayant la forme d'un petit vaisseau spatial qui ont également la capacité de télécharger leur conscience à leur mort. Les chasseurs sont inféodés et sont comparés à des chiens par les cylons humanoïdes. Un chasseur appelé Cyclope a développé une personnalité, comme on a pu le voir dans l'épisode Double Affrontement.

[modifier] Cylons humanoïdes

Bien qu'ils n'aient fait qu'une brève apparition dans l'un des épisodes de Galactica 1980, les cylons humanoïdes jouent un rôle majeur dans Battlestar Galactica. Le terme « cylon humanoïde » est davantage une description qu'une désignation officielle.

Ronald D. Moore a confirmé lors d'interviews qu'il y a douze différents modèles de cylons humanoïdes, avec plusieurs copies de chaque modèle existant. Les cylons ont des moyens muets de partager des informations, mais n'ont pas un esprit de ruche. On les voit souvent parler l'un à l'autre. Même des cylons identiques sont des individus différents. Moore a également déclaré que les cylons humanoïdes ne sont pas dessinés d'après des modèles humains : « L'idée n'esst pas d'avoir un modèle humain original que les cylons auraient copiés. L'idée est que ces modèles de cylons sont les résultats de leurs propres études menées sur nous. Les cylons ont à un moment regardé l'humanité et dit « Vous savez quoi ? Il n'y en a réellement que douze comme vous. » Si ceux-ci sont ces douze, et en quelques sortes, si vous les regardez, ils représentes les différents archétypes de ce qu'est l'humanité. »

La société cylonne des faite de sept modèles connus et produits en masse. Pour une raison inconnue, les cinq autre modèles sont complètement inconnus à la fois des humains et des cylons, et les cylons n'ont pas le droit de tenter de découvrir leurs identités de par leur programmation. Quand D'Anna (Numéro Trois) tente de le faire, tout son modèle est mis en boîte — désactivé indéfiniment avec leurs souvenirs téléchargés dans une chambre froide — en guise de punition par les six autres modèles. Dans l'épisode final de la troisième saison, quatre des cinq derniers modèles s'avèrent être des personnages « humains » avec une longue histoire sur le Galactica. Leur but ainsi que les manières et raisons de leur isolement envers le reste de leur espèce sera sans doute un point majeur de l'intrigue de la quatrième et dernière saison de la série.

The humanoid Cylons appear to be responsible for command decisions. While the command structure has not been fully explored, some hints at organization have been revealed. At the end of the miniseries, a group of cylons are debating what to do, and one speaks authoritatively, to which another responds, "by your command", a reference to the original series.

In the episode "Precipice", a Cylon council (made up of multiple copies of several models) appears to cast votes collectively by model, indicating that model plays an important role in the hierarchy of Cylon society and that they always make decisions in this fashion, as Cylons of the same model are implied to have higher or lower ranks than Cylons of other models at various times. However, it was also shown during the occupation of New Caprica, that a select group of humanoid Cylons, mostly ones whom had been within the Colonies, such as Boomer and Caprica Six, seemed to have seniority within their own model. One of each model was seen deliberating and discussing their course of action, with each of the 'senior' models representing the opinion of their entire model group.

Although little is known about Cylon psychology, it is clear that they share many of the same emotional vulnerabilities that humans possess. This is evidenced by Gina's catatonic state as a result of the severe trauma of her abuse at the hands of the Pegasus crew. This abuse, undoubtedly, was presented in the form of multiple sexual assaults, battery, starvation and outright torture. Number Six / Caprica Six also revealed that Cylons exist by 'projecting' an environment of their choice on the real/physical world.

The eleven humanoid models revealed so far include:

[modifier] Numéro Trois

Alias 

D'Anna Biers

The Number Three model first appeared as D'Anna Biers, a reporter for the Fleet News Service who is asked by President Roslin and Commander Adama to create a propaganda-type documentary to ease tension between the fleet and the military forces aboard Galactica. In truth, the Biers model used the documentary as an excuse to relay information regarding the Cylon Sharon being alive to her fellow Cylons back on Caprica.

The Number Three Cylons are among the more agressive Cylons of the seven models, as well as sharing a fate-based understanding towards the Cylon religion as far as everything that happens is the will of God. However, their religious devotion masks a deep despair that the Number Threes (in particular, the D'Anna Biers model) have as far as questioning why bad things are allowed to happen by God.

The Number Threes possess an "alpha-female" type agressiveness, almost always forcing themselves upon other Cylons as the defacto leader in any situation that the Cylons engage in. They are often rivals of the Number Six Model, which stems to when the "Caprica" Six Cylon shoots one of the Number Three models in the skull to save the human Samuel Anders from being tortured and ultimately killed by Three. This affair ultimately resulted in D'Anna getting revenge on Caprica for her act of fratricide by stealing Baltar from Caprica.

The Number Threes are also amongst the more anti-human Cylons, though for practical reasons: in Exodus Part II, D'Anna tells Baltar that she believes that humanity must die if only to prevent future generations of humans from seeking revenge against the Cylons for their acts of genocide and oppression against humanity.

Ultimately, D'Anna and the entire Number Three Cylon line, came to her end when Baltar seduced her by exploring her crisis of faith, which led to her secretly committing suicide (a major tabboo in Cylon society) in order to indulge in near-death experiences that D'Anna felt would answer the burning questions regarding her faith, most notably the identity of the final five Cylons. This culminated in the episode Rapture, as D'Anna committed suicide in the Eye of Jupiter temple and discovered the identity of the Final Five (one of whom apologized towards). Unfortunately, while doing so, the other Cylons had voted to "box" not only D'Anna but also the entire Number Three model line. Cavil, the Cylon who carried out the "boxing", revealed to D'Anna that she was being punished to silence her about what she saw regarding the final five and that her memories would be be kept in "cold storage" as a result, leaving the door open for her return in season four.

Number Threes are played by Lucy Lawless.

[modifier] Numéro Cinq

Alias 

Aaron Doral

In the miniseries, Doral appears as a public relations worker for the abortive Battlestar Galactica museum. In the episode Litmus, another copy of Doral sneaks on board the Galactica and detonates an explosive. This event prompts the fleet-wide announcement that Cylons can have a human appearance. During the Occupation of New Caprica, the Fives seem to be one of the most anti-human and aggressive models. As a series, the Fives seem to specialise in public relations and control, using large scale events and media manipulation to their advantage.

Number Fives are played by Matthew Bennett.

[modifier] Numéro Six

Alias

Caprica Six

Shelley Godfrey

Gina Inviere

Natalie

The first model explicitly revealed to be a Cylon in the miniseries, the Sixes often use seduction to their advantage. Important copies include Shelley Godfrey, Gina, Head Six, and Caprica Six (seen in the mini-series).

The Number Six is the most complex of all the known Humanoid Cylon models. One of the models, on her way to meet with Dr. Gaius Baltar, murdered an infant by breaking its neck. This could either be considered sociopathic, or a mercy killing due to the coming Cylon attack. She went on to save Baltar's life when his house was struck by a blast wave from the Cylon attack on Caprica.

This model has a love-hate relationship with Gaius Baltar; alternately defending him to other Cylon models or leaving him to suffer at their hands and progressing to re-initiating a sexual relationship with him.

The Six has proven herself difficult to predict, and impossible to trust. An incarnation of Six (named Caprica Six as she was the cylon who obtained the codes from Baltar, allowing the attacks on the colonies), while stranded in a bombed building on Caprica, committed the first incident of Cylon-on-Cylon violence seen in the series. This was apparently to save the life of a Human insurgent (Samuel T. Anders) who was facing certain death.

With Caprica Six imprisoned on Galactica after helping a Sharon (Number Eight) escape from the Cylons with Hera, she offered to testify against Dr. Baltar.

It should also be noted that Caprica has a "Virtual Baltar" which only she sees similar to how Baltar has a "Virtual Six" that only he can see; "Virtual Baltar" serves as a sort of conscience for Caprica Six, but also an advisor in times of trouble or danger, much the same role that "Virtual Six" plays for Baltar. How this is possible has not yet been explored, but there has been rampant speculation that Baltar is a Cylon.

Tricia Helfer stated in an interview at Comic-Con 2007 that a new version of Number Six named Natalie would appear in season four of Battlestar Galactica.^[1]

Number Sixes are played by Tricia Helfer.

[modifier] Numéro Huit

Alias

Lieutenant Sharon « Boomer » Valerii

Lieutenant Sharon « Athena » Agathon

Sharon "Boomer" Valerii first appears as a raptor pilot aboard the Galactica. Her true nature as a Cylon was only revealed at the end of the miniseries, and the series quickly establishes that Sharon acted as a sleeper agent, unaware of her true nature and programmed to carry out attacks on the fleet without her human side realizing what she was doing. She was revealed to be the 8th model in the episode "Downloaded".

The other significant copy of this model, Sharon "Athena" Agathon, married Karl "Helo" Agathon, rebelled against the Cylons and joined forces with the Colonials. Her child with Helo, a daughter named Hera, is the first natural conception of a Cylon/human hybrid. Such a child is the subject of a Cylon prophecy and therefore very important as it was a 'child born of love'. The child was hidden from the Cylons and her parents. They were told the child had died after birth and was cremated. During the exodus from New Caprica the child's adoptive mother was killed and the baby was recovered by a Number Three. After being told by another Number Eight that the child was alive within the Cylon fleet, Sharon had Helo kill her, allowing her to download into a new body within the Cylon fleet. Sharon has since returned with the baby to Galactica.

Ostensibly, the Valerii model is viewed by Six models as being "...weak...", and, indeed, some evidence exists that they are less violent than the other known models. However, it should be noted that these models are quite probably present on every Cylon base star, and therefore were willing participants in the invasion of the Colonies, and the near-extermination of the Human Race that resided there. Additionally, in a confrontation with the Human-Cylon hybrid child Hera's actual mother, in her frustration with the child, the Number 8 that was in charge of the baby appeared to be about to murder Hera. Other Cylons of this model, upon encountering Sharon from the Galactica have immediately condemned her with the word "traitor". The Number 8, while capable of more mercy than many of the other Cylon models, is still capable of homicide. In an apparent assassination attempt, she shot Admiral Bill Adama in the abdomen at the end of Season 1.

Number Eights are played by Grace Park.

[modifier] Leoben Conoy

Numéro

Inconnu

Leoben first appears as a smuggler at the munitions depot at Ragnar Anchorage, where he was exposed as a Cylon in the mini-series. The Leoben model Cylons are known for their religious zealotry, which is intertwined with a pathological, and sometimes sexual, obsession with Starbuck.

Like his fellow Cylons, the Leoben models are skilled at deception and deceit. This was most notably seen when he manipulated Starbuck into thinking that a young girl he had kidnapped on New Caprica was her biological daughter. The Leoben models are known for their cunning minds and ability to find and exploit the weaknesses of others. As such, they are known to mix their lies with truths in order to better manipulate their victims.

In the season three episode "Maelstrom", Starbuck is confronted while flying her fighter jet by a version of Leoben that attacked her telepathically and forced her to relive her final visit to her abusive mother, in order to "prepare her" for her impending act of apparent suicide (which Starbuck survived). Before he left her, the being denied being Leoben, leading to much debate as to who or what this incarnation was.

Leoben Conoy is played by Callum Keith Rennie.

[modifier] Cavil

Numéro

Inconnu

Cavil first appears on Galactica, posing as a priest. His nature as a Cylon is revealed when a second copy gets on Galactica. Cavil's role in society is one of contradictions and occasionally serves as a devil's advocate, pointing out the absurdity of his fellow Cylons and their religious zealotry. Despite his talk of religion and his alter-ego as a priest, Cavil is an atheist (the only one of the seven models who is one) and will often mockingly make quotation signs with his hands when saying the word "God". His opinions of humans are also driven by contradictions; despite being one of the most violently anti-human Cylon model (going so far as to torture Saul Tigh by gouging out one of his eyes and showing it to him) as well as advocating a policy of culling humanity down to a "controllable number", Cavil claimed to have been against the destruction of the Twelve Colonies and advocates a unique Cylon Society, not one that emulates its creators. He also carried on an affair with Saul Tigh's wife by exploiting her desire to save her husband from future suffering. Though she is able to win Saul's freedom this way, Cavil ultimately forces Ellen to betray the resistance to protect Saul from future reprisals.

Cavil is portrayed as being aloof compared to the other models, though it has been implied by Cylon Model 8 "Boomer" that Cavil has begun mentoring her with his philosophy regarding Cylons not emulating humanity. Cavil has also shown signs of being aware of aspects of Cylon lore that the others models are not aware of; his knowledge of the "final five" led to him "boxing" Cylon Model Three D'Anna (as well as all remaining Number Threes) in order to ensure that whatever information about the Final Five she gained are "boxed" with her.

Cavil is played by Dean Stockwell.

[modifier] Simon

Numéro

Inconnu

Simon is a tall, slender black male with closely cropped or balding hair. He first appears posing as a human physician treating Starbuck for a gunshot wound in what was supposedly a hospital on Caprica. In reality, he was also performing invasive tests on her reproductive organs. After Starbuck begins to suspect Simon's true nature and kills him, she escapes from the facility, her fears confirmed when a second copy of the model greets her on her way.

At least one other copy is seen on Cylon-occupied Caprica (Downloaded).

A Simon is present in President Baltar's office during the Battle of New Caprica (Exodus, Part 2).

One Simon, assigned as part of one basestar's command crew that witnesses a sister basestar's plight, determines that a decision to rescue the infected basestar cannot be reached scientifically (Torn).

A Simon captured on the infected basestar near the Lion's Head Nebula is interrogated on Galactica. He reveals information about the ship and the Cylons' motives for abandoning it, in exchange for a cure promised by the humans. However, there is no cure, only a treatment. It was thought that this Simon was killed when Karl Agathon sabotages the environmental control system, killing the Cylon prisoners to stop them from being used as biological weapons (A Measure of Salvation), only to be heard of again when a Number 3 talks to Baltar in the next episode (The Passage) after consulting with Simon about the Cylons' next move towards Earth.

Of the original seven disclosed models, Simon is the only model that has not been used as infiltration within the fleet. Simon also speaks calmly and clearly, and seems to use logic to solve his problems and decisions.

Simon is played by Rick Worthy.

[modifier] Les cinq derniers cylons humanoïdes

In the Season 3 episode "Torn", Gaius Baltar questions Number Six as to why only seven humanoid models appeared on New Caprica and why he has seen only these same seven aboard the Basestar, yet she had told him previously that there were twelve models. Six says that the Cylons do not talk about the other five models. Baltar, who has become worried that he may in fact be a Cylon himself, presses her on whether they would recognize one of the "final five". Their conversation ends abruptly, leaving the truth of the other models unknown.

In the Season 3 episode "Hero", Number Three has a dream immediately after she dies, where she sees five glowing figures. As seen in the episode "The Passage", Number Three tries to hold on to the memory of their faces and draws pictures of them soon after downloading, but the memories fade and the drawings are too surrealistic to be of practical use. It's clear that she does not consciously know what the final five look like. In the twelfth episode of season three, "Rapture", D'Anna and Baltar reach the Eye of Jupiter and she receives a vision of the final five. She seems to recognize one of them, but the vision is cut short before we see any detail of the figures. The shock kills her and upon reawakening on the Resurrection Ship she is "boxed", taking the secret of the final five with her.

D'Anna's final conversation with Cavil confirms that the other already revealed Cylons do not know who the "final five" are. Even more, seeking such knowledge is strictly forbidden, part of the reason why D'Anna is "boxed". Beforehand, hints to their identity include D'Anna's begging forgiveness of one of the "final five", and her telling Baltar that he was right, but in reference to something other than his question of whether he is one of them.

In "Crossroads," four of the final five Cylons are revealed. Samuel T. Anders, Galen Tyrol, Tory Foster, and Saul Tigh discover that they have been hearing the same hallucinatory music that no one else can perceive (which turns out to be a version of All Along the Watchtower written by Bob Dylan). When the music draws them towards each other, a "switch goes off" in their minds and they realize that they are all Cylons. They resolve, nevertheless, to continue doing their duty as part of the fleet. Ronald D. Moore, the creator and executive producer of the series confirmed in an interview that the four are indeed full Cylons - however, "fundamentally different." ^[2]

[modifier] Hybride

The Hybrids resemble human beings inside an immersion tank similar to a Cylon rebirthing tank. The Hybrids do not have a completely human body, but rather appear to be more like cyborgs, consisting of conduits and other connectors mated to, or in place of elements of their bodies. The Hybrid is not one of the "twelve models" of humanoid Cylon, but is a separate model that effectively further bridges the gap from primarily mechanical Centurion, to partially bio-mechanical Raider, to Hybrid, to humanoid Cylon. They are similar to the autonomous bio-mechanical pilots within Raiders, specially constructed as living computers that manage the autonomic functions of the basestar, including navigation and FTL jumps and climate control. The Hybrids are so integrated into the basestar's functionality that they are, for all practical purposes, the basestar.

In addition, the Hybrids continually speak what most of the humanoid Cylons consider to be gibberish, although there is some difference of opinion on this point. Many Cylons believe a hybrid's conscious mind is completely mad and the functions one performs are part of a deeper state of mind in connection with the ship. Caprica Number Six states that the Leoben Conoy models believe that every word a hybrid says is channeled from the Cylon god. A Hybrid is not allowed a vote in the Cylon democratic process by the humanoids, though it sometimes objects to the course of action they take, for example, leaving another Basestar full of disease-infected Cylons to their fates. ^[3]

In his Battlestar Galactica Podcast, Ronald Moore explained that the Hybrids should be considered a "Model 0" of humanoid Cylons, an intermediate step between humanoid and mechanical model Cylons.

The Hybrids are played by Tiffany Lyndall-Knight.

[modifier] Religion

Humanoid Cylons follow a monotheistic religion. Religious fanaticism partially motivates their genocide of humanity, and despite their origins, the Cylons believe themselves to be spiritual beings. This monotheism seems to share many of the characteristics as the Abrahamic religions: belief that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, that he will one day deliver divine retribution, and that he intervenes in the mundane world.

Ron Moore, the creator of the show, has said that this comes when a race becomes sentient and self-aware - questioning faith and religion and about what happens after death. ^[4]

Their beliefs are, however, separate from the Christian beliefs in that there is no hierarchical church, no heaven and hell, and they deal with issues such as consciousness, enlightenment and reincarnation.

The different models of Cylon have slightly different ways of talking about and dealing with their god, reflecting the different aspects of humanity that each Cylon model reflects^[4].

[modifier] Vulnerabilities

Cylons are highly susceptible to an ancient virus which can be transmitted by rodents, but which humans have developed an immunity to, "lymphocytic encephalitis". This virus disrupts all organic Cylon technology including Raiders, Hybrids (which in turn disrupts Centurions), and Humanoid Model Cylons. The Cylons believe that a critical symptom of this virus, a harmful "bioelectric feedback", can be transmitted during a download and have so far prevented any Cylons infected from being downloaded into a resurrection ship. The only Cylon found to be immune is a Number 8 model, Sharon "Athena" Agathon, who had given birth to a half-human child.

Dr. Cottle developed a vaccine to the virus, which had infected a number of humanoid Cylons on a basestar near the Lion's Head Nebula. However, this vaccine's RNA was broken down in the blood stream of a Cylon humanoid model by their own immune response, forcing regular injections to keep an infected Cylon healthy. The Cylons themselves have not managed to develop an antidote or vaccine to the virus at this time.

In addition to this, the silica pathways of humanoid Cylons are affected by certain forms of radiation, such as that surrounding Ragnar Anchorage. It is not stated but is assumed that this radiation affects all types of Cylon, as the station was chosen as a refuge by Commander Adama before he learned of the existence of biomechanical models, and the radiation had deleterious effects on the Leoben Conoy model they found at Ragnar Anchorage. This also suggests that "humans" are not vulnerable to the effects of this radiation. In addition, plutonium is used for Baltar's "Cylon Detector" because its radiation affects humans and cylons differently.

[modifier] References

[modifier] See also

[modifier] Cylon vessels

• Basestar - controlled by Hybrids
• Raider - individuals in their own right
• Heavy Raider
• Resurrection ship

[modifier] External links

• Humanoid Cylon at Battlestar Wiki
• Cylons at Battlestar Wiki