Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Who are the Cylons?
Cylons are a fictional artificially-intelligent "species" envisioned in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction series and related franchises. Originally created to serve human needs like other machines, a series of events involving the transfer of a human's consciousness into a Cylon's neural network led Cylons to evolve into sentient, self-aware beings. The original Cylons were purely mechanical.
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the "Battlestar Galactica" science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, "Caprica". In the 1978 series, Cylon is also the name of the reptilian race who created the robot Cylons.
Over the course of the show's four seasons, the war between the Colonials and the Cylons takes many twists and turns. Despite the animosity on both sides, the humans and a faction of the Cylons eventually form an uneasy alliance, in the wake of the Cylon Civil War. The Cylon leader, a humanoid Cylon "Number One" named John Cavil, precipitated the schism in the Cylon ranks. Cavil deceives the other models by obsessively hiding the identities and origins of the remaining five humanoid Cylon models, the "Final Five", who, known only to him, are a more ancient type of Cylon, created by a previous iteration of human civilization. Other plotlines involve the mysterious destiny of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, who is the subject of a prophecy claiming that she is the "Harbinger of Death" who will "lead them all [humanity] to its end", as well as the redemption of Gaius Baltar through the Cylons' monotheistic religion, after he becomes a pariah within the fleet.
In the weeks prior to the movie's premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel, a series of mini "webisodes" (each less than five minutes in length) called were screened online to promote it. These featured a young William Adama (played by Nico Cortez) as a Viper pilot on his first mission at the end of the first Cylon War over 40 years earlier. The inclusion of the first Cylon War was a relevant plot point within the "Razor" TV movie and viewers got to see Cylon Centurions, Raiders and Basestars similar to those in the original series. Further references to the original series included a golden Centurion commander, and another Cylon saying, "By your command." However, while the Cylon Centurions seen here are similar in design to the original series Cylons (the original actor who provided their voices in the original series returned as well), they were CGI rather than actors in suits.
Tigh has Chief Galen Tyrol thrown in a cell with Boomer who has recently been found to be a Cylon. He then orders Baltar to determine whether he is also a Cylon. Instead, Baltar injects Tyrol with poison and demands that Boomer reveal the number of Cylon agents still secretly aboard the fleet. After Boomer guesses that there are eight agents, Baltar administers the antidote and later clears Tyrol of being a Cylon.
Man created the Cylons. The Cylons evolved. The Cylons Rebelled. The game begins 40 years after the first Cylon war. The Cylons paid a visit to the Twelve Colonies to annihilate the humans and take their resources. The aging Battlestar Galactica managed to escape the attack, gather a fleet of civilian ships, and set out for the home of the legendary 13th Colony (Earth). The Cylons pursued Battlestar Galactica for months until Battlestar Galactica reunited with Pegasus, the other survivor from the Cylon attack. Together, they were strong enough to retaliate and destroy the Cylon’s Resurrection Ship.
Adama later finds a note in his quarters stating that "there are only 12 Cylon models." This is implied to have been left by Baltar who was told exactly the same thing by Number Six on Caprica. Number Six tells Baltar that the human race has only been granted a reprieve and states that the Cylons will eventually find and destroy them. Number Six reminds Baltar that there are very likely other Cylon agents within the fleet waiting to strike. Number Six reveals that some of these agents might not know they are Cylons at all. Instead, these Cylons will be "sleeper agents" programmed to believe that they are human until they are activated to carry out their missions.
The humans settled on a barren planet they dubbed New Caprica. The refuge lasted a year before the Cylons found them. The Cylons occupied the new human settlement, at first peacefully but later forcefully and more viciously as the human Resistance increased. In the end they used punitive methods to keep the humans in line, including summary executions and infiltration by seemingly sympathetic Cylons. One such infiltrator was an Eight model who manipulated Felix Gaeta into giving her a list of people the Resistance desired to free from Cylon detention whom she then had executed.
The Cylons of the 2003 miniseries and 2004 "Battlestar Galactica" series are fundamentally different from the Cylons of the original 1978/1980 series. In the new version, the Cylons were created by humans as cybernetic workers and soldiers. As in the original series, the Cylons destroy almost the entire human civilization, chasing a few ship-borne survivors into deep space. Unlike the original series, however, the reimagined series includes thirteen Cylon models that are nearly indistinguishable from human beings. Although these human-form Cylons are the focus of the series, alongside the humanoid models there are also Centurions similar to those in the original series. Much of the Cylons' technology is based heavily on bioengineering and/or synthetic biology rather than conventional robotics. Humans often derisively refer to Cylons as "toasters", due to the resemblance of the Cylon centurions from the first Human/Cylon war (the design of which is based on that of the centurions from the original series) to "walking chrome toasters", as described by Gaius Baltar in the miniseries. The humanoid models are referred to as "skin-jobs" (a term originally used in "Blade Runner" for the replicants) to differentiate the two variants.
After the Cylon attack, the ship is compromised by the Cylons, who use it to pinpoint the fleet's location every time they make an FTL jump. Over the next few days, the fleet is attacked by Cylon Basestars every 33 minutes, to the exact second. Later however, the "Olympic Carrier" falls behind during a jump and did not return for several hours. In the meantime, the Cylons do not attack. Suddenly, the "Olympic Carrier" reappears; the crew claim they had a problem with their FTL drive. When asked over radio how they escaped the Cylons, they give unconvincing excuses that they were "let go" and "just lucky". Exactly 33 minutes after the reappearance of the "Olympic Carrier", the Cylons reappear.
In the final episodes, an inexplicably resurrected Kara Thrace leads the surviving humans and their Cylon allies to a new planet, which Adama names "Earth". The first group of survivors settle in ancient Africa. The "real" Earth that the Colonials had searched for during their years in space was revealed in an earlier episode to have been originally inhabited thousands of years before by a previous form of humanoid Cylons; the "Final Five" were the last of these Cylons. Ironically, these humanoid Cylons had created their own Centurion robotic slaves, who waged a nuclear attack against their masters, devastating the planet and making it uninhabitable. The new Earth is found to be inhabited by early humans, who are genetically compatible with the humans from the Galactica and the rest of the fleet, but who possess only the most rudimentary civilization.
The Imperious Leader is the leader of the Cylon Alliance and most advanced Cylon model. According to the IL-Series Cylon "Lucifer", the Imperious Leader is an IL-Series Cylon, although it does not look like an IL-Series Cylon. All of the Imperious Leaders look identical.
The original 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" series and the remake in 2003 to 2009, depicts a race of Cylons, sentient robots who war against their Human adversaries. The 1978 Cylons were the machine soldiers of a (long-extinct) reptilian alien race, while the 2003 Cylons were the former machine servants of humanity who evolved into near perfect humanoid imitation of Humans down to the cellular level, capable of emotions, reasoning, and sexual reproduction with Humans and each other. Even the average centurion robot Cylon soldiers were capable of sentient thought. In the original series the Humans were nearly exterminated by treason within their own ranks while in the remake they're almost wiped out by Humanoid Cylon agents. They only survived by constant hit and run fighting tactics and retreating into deep space away from pursuing Cylon forces. The remake Cylons eventually had their own civil war and the losing rebels were forced to join with the fugitive Human fleet to ensure the survival of both groups.
Approximately one year prior to the Cylon assault on the Twelve Colonies, Commander Adama was ordered by the Admiralty to approach the Armistice Line and send over a stealth fighter (piloted by Lt. Daniel "Bulldog" Novacek) to test Cylon defenses and determine whether the Cylons were preparing to attack the Colonies under the guise of looking for Taurons who were mining illegally over the line. After the stealth fighter was disabled on the Cylon side of the Armistice Line, and two other (presumably Cylon) vessels entered the area, Adama ordered the Stealthstar shot down with a ship-to-ship missile. Unknown to Adama, "Bulldog" ejected from the stealth fighter before it was destroyed and was captured by the Cylon forces. Bulldog eventually escaped from the Basestar where he was being held and hijacked a Cylon Raider back to the "Galactica". However, it is later revealed that the Cylons let Bulldog escape, hoping that he would discover the true circumstances surrounding his capture and kill Adama in revenge.
In the episode "Downloaded", D'Anna debriefs newly resurrected Caprica Six and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and helps them to integrate back into Cylon society. When the two begin to show sympathy towards the humans, D'Anna reacts with disgust. Ultimately she is killed by Caprica Six to protect Anders, a resistance fighter. After D'Anna has resurrected (offscreen), she claims this to be the first act of Cylon-on-Cylon violence in their history. Caprica averted Three's own unwitting act of Cylon-on-Cylon violence, patricide in fact, as Anders is later revealed to be one of the Final Five, the creators of D'Anna and all other Humanoid Cylons. Three is also unaware of Boomer destroying a Basestar filled with copies of herself, as well as Athena gunning down on two separate occasions a Number Six and a Number Eight who threatened Karl "Helo" Agathon on Caprica.
In the Maximum Press comic, the Cylons were originally led by a ruthless, conquest and expansionism-driven emperor named Sobekkta, one of the original living Cylons, who were a race of intelligent humanoid reptiles.
Colonial troops board and take control of the Cylon ship. Adm. Adama, President Roslin, Col. Tigh, and presidential aide Tory Foster interview Natalie, one of the Sixes and leader of the rebel Cylons. She tells them of the Cylon civil war and the rebels' desire to find the Final Five Cylons, whom they believe will help them find Earth. Adama and Roslin express disbelief that the Cylon rebels can be trusted, but Natalie offers them proof of her goodwill: The "Final Five," she says, are somewhere in the human fleet. Natalie offers to take the "Galactica" to the Hub, which is a nexus of operations for all Cylon "resurrection ships." If the Hub is destroyed, the resurrection ships will cease to function and all Cylons will become mortal. Natalie tells them that the Hub is also where the deactivated Number Threes known as D'Anna Biers are located, who know the faces of the Final Five. Roslin and Adama agree to the plan.
The nature and origin of the Cylons differ greatly between the two "Battlestar Galactica" continuities. However, both series feature Cylon Raiders, Cylon Basestars and Cylon Centurions. The prequel series, "Caprica", focuses on the creation of the Cylons, which differs from all the previous "Battlestar Galactica" series.
After the human fleet leaves, the Cylons board Ragnar Anchorage where a visibly-ill Doral remains. The arriving Cylons consists of several copies of Leoben and Number Six and a second copy of Doral, confirming his identity as a Cylon. Doral tells the other Cylons that the humans have left, but he has no idea where they went to. As the other Cylons discuss how long it will take them to hunt down the human fleet, another Cylon joins them, assuring the Cylons that they will do whatever it takes to find them. The new Cylon is revealed to be identical to Boomer, revealing that Boomer is secretly a Cylon agent.
The Final Five were Cylon models who could not be named or researched by skinjobs ("Rapture"). They were the original humanoid Cylons, born 2,000 years before the series, on Earth, as part of the Thirteenth Tribe. ("Sometimes a Great Notion") They were born to Cylon parents through sexual reproduction, rather than built. They were the researchers who rebuilt the Cylon resurrection technology that had been abandoned when the Thirteenth Tribe gained the ability to procreate. Saul and Ellen were married at the time, while Tyrol and Foster were in love and planned to marry ("No Exit").
Cylons are susceptible to an ancient virus that can be transmitted by rodents to which humans are immune, lymphocytic encephalitis. This virus was carried on a beacon left by the Thirteenth Tribe at the Lion's Head Nebula millennia before and disrupts all organic Cylon technology including Raiders, Hybrids (which in turn disrupts Centurions) and the skinjobs. The humans speculate that the beacon was accidentally contaminated when someone sneezed. The Cylons believe that a critical symptom of this virus, a harmful bioelectric feedback, can be transmitted during a download and attempt to prevent infected Cylons from downloading. The only immune Cylon is Athena, who had given birth to a half-human child and thus 'inherited' human antibodies from her offspring (although it is unclear whether she retained this immunity after downloading).
Between 3–4,000 years before the Second Cylon War, it is implied that the humans and Cylons of Kobol fought each other, but the nature of the conflict remains unrevealed. The Thirteenth Tribe were Cylons who fled Kobol and settled on a planet they dubbed Earth. Eventually, they developed the ability to reproduce sexually. Resurrection technology fell into disuse and was lost. The Final Five redeveloped resurrection, following warnings by mysterious "angels" that a Kobol-like disaster was coming. When life on Cylon Earth was destroyed in a nuclear war between the thirteenth tribe and their mechanical Cylon creations (stemming from the latter's maltreatment at the hands of the Tribe), the Final Five downloaded into an orbiting vessel.[2]
When Kara Thrace returns to the fleet in a crippled Cylon Basestar, Laura, along with Baltar, is invited aboard by a rebel Cylon crew, who are on the run and intent on finding D'anna (Number Three), who knows the identities of the Final Five Cylons. Roslin is taken hostage along with Baltar and several Galactica pilots when Sharon "Athena" Agathon guns down Natalie, a more assertive copy of Number Six and the leader of the rebel Cylons, in a misguided attempt to thwart the vision she shares with Roslin from coming to pass.
Other important Sixes include Natalie, who originally leads the rebel Cylon faction against Cavil's faction before she is killed by Athena in a misunderstanding, and Sonja, who was elected to represent the rebel Cylons in the Colonial fleet's Quorum of Ships' Captains.
Meanwhile, back on Cylon-occupied Caprica, the other version of Cavil has ingratiated himself with Sam Anders. Cavil has ordered the Number Four to attempt to kill members of Sam's team, but none have died and Cavil criticizes the Four's actions. Starbuck returns to Caprica and meets the stranded Colonial pilot Karl "Helo" Agathon. Cavil makes a failed attempt to trick Sam into thinking they are Cylons and attacking them. Helo and Starbuck join them and attack a local Cylon base. Starbuck is wounded, taken captive by the Cylons, and subjected to various breeding experiments. Anders, Helo, and the others rescue her, discovering that Simon is a Cylon in the process. Later, Cavil tries to assassinate Starbuck and Anders but finds that he cannot pull the trigger, because he cannot stop thinking about Anders' comment that death wouldn't make him love these people any less. When the Cylon Centurions attack, Cavil is forced to hide with the rest of the humans. That night, Cavil meets with a Number Six who informs him that the Cylons have agreed to end their attacks on the human race. Cavil, who has changed his mind about humanity, agrees to pass on the message to the humans despite the fact that his model voted against the truce. Cavil returns to the human camp, and the humans leave the next day for the "Galactica."