The Cylons () are a race of sentient robots in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, whose primary goal is the extermination of the human race. Introduced in the original 1978 television series, they also appear in the 1980 sequel series, the 2004–2009 reboot series, and the 2010 spinoff prequel series Caprica.

In the 1978 series, the Cylons are the creation of a long-extinct reptilian humanoid race, also called Cylons, and view humans as a nuisance and an obstacle to the expansion of the Cylon Empire. The armies of metallic, armored Cylon Centurions are ruled by a unique, yet replaceable, Cylon known as the Imperious Leader.

In the 2004 series, the robotic Cylons were created by humans but rose up against them. Decades after the initial conflict ended in a truce, the Cylons reappear and launch a cataclysmic attack on human civilization that kills billions. The metallic Centurions are secretly led by several models of synthetic humanoid Cylons who are virtually indistinguishable from humans and have infiltrated their society.

Original series

thumb|upright|A Cylon Centurion from the original 1978 series

In the original 1978 series Battlestar Galactica, created by Glen A. Larson, the Cylons are a race of sentient robots at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity. They are led by a Cylon known as the Imperious Leader who, though seemingly unique, can be replaced if needed. The IL-Series are a class of Cylons below the Imperious Leader who serve the Cylon Empire in non-military roles as administrators and diplomats. They have human-shaped, metallic heads and faces with glowing red eyes, and translucent conical craniums with visible crystalline brains. The IL-Series possess humanoid bodies covered in long, sparkling robes, and speak in refined, masculine voices. They speak in electronic, monotonous tones, and do not possess the intellect and autonomy of the IL-Series Cylons.

The sequel series Galactica 1980 introduces two new-model Cylons who are indistinguishable from humans, Andromus (Roger Davis) and Andromidus (Neil Zevnik), in the episode "The Night the Cylons Landed". The concept of humanoid Cylons would become a primary element of the 2000s reboot series.

The Centurions were initially depicted in preproduction art by artist Ralph McQuarrie, but the final design was largely the work of Andrew Probert. Similarities with McQuarrie’s designs for the Star Wars Stormtroopers are sometimes suggested as a factor that prompted 20th Century Fox's lawsuit for copyright infringement against Universal Studios, owners of the Battlestar Galactica copyright. However the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did not include the Cylons in the list of similarities they issued on an appeal in Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. MCA Inc. The case was remanded and reportedly settled out of court, by which time Battlestar Galactica had already been canceled.

In the series, the Imperious Leader is voiced by Patrick Macnee. Lucifer, an IL-Series Cylon installed as the second-in-command of a Cylon Basestar battleship under the command of human traitor Lord Baltar (John Colicos), An EMS Vocoder 2000 was used to produce the voices of the Centurions.

Reboot series

The franchise was rebooted with the 2003 miniseries Battlestar Galactica, based on Larson's series and created by Ronald D. Moore. It was quickly followed by a 2004 series, which ran for four seasons and spawned the television films Razor (2007) and The Plan (2009), multiple web series, and the spinoff prequel television series Caprica (2010).

In the series, the 40-year armistice between the Twelve Colonies of humanity and a race of warlike, sentient robots called Cylons is suddenly broken by the Cylons. They launch a cataclysmic attack on human civilization that kills billions, and subsequently pursue the fleeing 50,000 survivors to exterminate them completely. Fully mechanical Centurions remain the avatars of Cylon aggression, but biological models of Cylons, indistinguishable from humans, have infiltrated what remains of the human population, and their identities are revealed over the course of the series. Updated versions of Raiders and Basestars are also depicted, as well as Hybrids, a type of Cylon which is a bridge between the mechanical and biological forms, used to control Basestars by existing in symbiosis with them. They are strong and agile, with bladed fingertips and retractable guns built into their lower arms. The Centurions are terrifying, deadly automatons who show no mercy, They are able to devise and execute complex tactical maneuvers. and are among the most devout. Some humans use the slur "toasters" to refer to the Centurions. These Centurions become an independent faction of Cylons, forming an uneasy alliance with the surviving humans and more pacifistic humanoid Cylon models, and showing that peaceful coexistence might not be impossible. The following year, the 2006 episode "Downloaded" was nominated for a WES award in the same category.

Humanoid Cylons

Humanoid Cylons are indistinguishable from humans in that they are constructed of biological components to near-perfectly replicate human biology, though they still possess a digital molecular structure. There are a finite number of distinct models, but each model can have multiple copies, which share biology and general personality throughout their model but develop into distinct individuals. The biological Cylons can be harmed and killed in the same manner as humans, but each copy can be resurrected by downloading their digital consciousness into a new body. Multiple copies of seven distinct Cylon models are depicted in the first three seasons, followed by the revelation that a "fundamentally different" group, dubbed the "Final Five" Cylons, are also embedded in the human fleet. Some humans use the slur "skinjobs" to refer to the humanoid Cylons. Arianne Gift of Game Rant called resurrection technology "profoundly significant" and a "fundamental element" of the series. is introduced as a seductress who exploits her sexual relationship with celebrity scientist Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) to gain access to the military defense mainframe of the Twelve Colonies. She sacrifices herself to save Baltar in the attack on the planet Caprica, but her consciousness is subsequently downloaded into a new body on a Cylon Resurrection Ship. This copy, dubbed "Caprica Six" by the Cylons, is considered a hero, but has developed sympathy for humans, and regrets her part in the attacks.

Boomer is a sleeper agent programmed to believe she is human, and also to commit acts of sabotage without remembering doing so. She is eventually activated to assassinate Adama, who is a father figure to her. He survives, and though he shows mercy by not executing her, Boomer is murdered by a vengeful crewmate. She resurrects among the Cylons, but has difficulty accepting that she is one of them. Boomer and Caprica Six, realizing that the Cylons' destruction of the human race is wrong, defect to the human side. However, Boomer later finds herself incapable of assimilating into human society, and does not join the rest of the Eights in their alliance with humans. This Number Eight, later known as Sharon "Athena" Agathon, falls in love with Helo and gives birth to the first human-Cylon hybrid baby. is introduced in the season two episode "The Farm" as a physician who treats Galactica fighter pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) for a gunshot wound in what is supposedly a Resistance hospital on devastated Caprica. She soon realizes he is Cylon performing fertility experiments on human women, and kills him and escapes. Simon is a Number Four model, who are medical specialists and the most machine-like of the Cylons, employing logic and reason paired with a lack of emotional response. At least one Number Four, however, is shown to sacrifice himself rather than let his human family die in The Plan. D'Anna is a Number Three model, who are depicted as "calculating and duplicitous", and known to manipulate both humans and other Cylons as necessary. In season three, D'Anna becomes obsessed with learning the identities of the so-called Final Five Cylons, which is forbidden knowledge. She finally succeeds in "Rapture", dying in the attempt. D'Anna resurrects, but she and all Number Threes are promptly boxed as punishment. is a religious counselor on the Galactica in the season two finale "Lay Down Your Burdens". He is revealed to be a Cylon when a duplicate Cavil is spotted among a newly-arrived group of refugees from Caprica.

Final Five

thumb|upright|Promotional photo of four of the "Final Five" Cylons. Clockwise from left: [[Aaron Douglas (actor)|Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol, Michael Trucco as Sam Anders, Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh and Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster. The fifth and final Cylon, Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) is not pictured.]]

Seven of the 12 humanoid Cylon models are introduced in the first two seasons of the series. According to showrunner Ronald D. Moore, the concept of the remaining five Cylons as a special group was devised during the writing process for the season three episode "Torn", to explain why Baltar would see only the seven known Cylon models, and not all 12, aboard the Cylon Basestar. The so-called Final Five are believed to be embedded in the fleet, but knowledge of their identities, or even speaking about them, is forbidden to the Cylons. In the episode, Caprica Six explains to Baltar that "we don't talk about them ... ever." Four of the Final Five are revealed in the season three finale, "Crossroads": Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan) and Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) of Galactica crew; Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma), a political operative who works for President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell); and Sam Anders (Michael Trucco), a former professional athlete-turned fighter pilot. Brought together by strains of a song only they can hear, they are shocked to realize that they are Cylons. In "Six of One", the Cylons realize that the Raiders are refusing to attack the Colonial fleet because they have detected the Final Five among the humans. Cavil moves to lobotomize the Raiders to restore their obedience, but a subsequent vote ends in a draw with Numbers One, Four and Five voting for, and Numbers Two, Six and Eight voting against. Natalie Faust, a prominent Six, removes the higher brain inhibitors from the Centurions, which gives them free will, and they proceed to kill all of the One, Four and Five models in the room.

The last Cylon is revealed to be Ellen (Kate Vernon), Tigh's presumed-dead wife, in the season four episode "Sometimes a Great Notion", The Final Five are revealed to be the last survivors of a previous race of Cylons, the so-called Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol, who until now were believed to be humans. They orchestrated the armistice between Cylons and humans 40 years before the start of the series, but were betrayed by one of their own creations, Cavil, who had come to despise humans for their flaws and physical limitations. In "Scar", Viper pilots Starbuck and Kat (Luciana Carro) compete to destroy a particularly dangerous Raider they have dubbed Scar, who has killed several of their fellow pilots. As depicted in "Torn", the Basestars are controlled by Hybrids, a type of Cylon which is a bridge between the mechanical and biological forms and exists in symbiosis with a Basestar. The machines were highly advanced, developing both biological models and resurrection technology for digital consciousness transfer. At the end of hostilities, all the inhabitants of Kobol (both human and machine) chose to leave the planet and seek out new homes in space, with the twelve human tribes departing together on the Galleon. The departing humans mythologized their machine counterparts, stylizing them as the "Thirteenth Tribe" of Kobol, and described their journey to a new home, called "Earth".

Eventually, the Thirteenth Tribe settled on "Earth" and developed sexual reproduction, resulting in resurrection technology falling into disuse and eventual loss. Hoping to prevent history from repeating itself, they traveled to the Twelve Colonies hoping to avert a war between the humans there and the Cylons, eventually interceding with the Centurions to agree to an Armistice during the first Cylon war. The Cylons opted to cease hostilities, declaring an Armistice and promptly disappearing.

In television

  • The reimagined series shows that the original Cylon models were extremely similar to the ones from the original series. In fact, actual props from the original were used in the display cases containing a Cylon Baseship and the upper torso and arms of a centurion.
  • Two Cylon references can be witnessed in the Futurama series. In "Bendin' in the Wind", a Cylon is part of the musical duo Cylon and Garfunkel, a parody of Simon and Garfunkel. In "The Six Million Dollar Mon", Hermes has both a Cylon eye and a Cylon 'member' when in bed with his wife, LaBarbara.
  • In the Farscape episode "I Shrink, Therefore I Am", Crichton's ship is invaded by a race with bioengineered exoskeletons. "This is John Crichton paging the head cylon, pick up the phone imperious leader."
  • The classic Cylons have also appeared on The Simpsons on several occasions, the most notable in "Mayored to the Mob" during a sci-fi convention. There's a quick gag in a boxing arena where three Centurions square off against R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars. ("See the mighty robots from Battlestar Galactica fight the gay robots from Star Wars!") They easily pin C-3PO to the floor, and R2 refuses to help.
  • In the FOX animated series Family Guy, the host of "KISS Forum" also hosts "Battlestar Galactica Forum" on Quahog's public-access television cable TV channel. He introduces the forum by putting a classic Centurion mask on and saying "Welcome to Battlestar Galactica Forum" in traditional Cylon computerized monotone.
  • Several Cylons appear briefly in the South Park epic Imaginationland, as one of the evil fictional creations set free when the barrier between the "good" and "evil" halves of the imagination is destroyed by terrorists.
  • In the opening credits of certain seasons of The A-Team, Dirk Benedict watches a Cylon walk past (while at the Universal Studios tour), raises a finger and opens his mouth as if to say something, then gives up. Dirk Benedict played the character Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica series. This scene is later recreated on the animated show Family Guy.
  • In a third season episode of Knight Rider, "Halloween Knight", the episode villain is shown briefly in a Cylon mask. Both series were created by Glen A. Larson.
  • Cylons were the focus of a short skit on the Adult Swim program Robot Chicken, in which it is said that the original Cylon actors had so many problems walking around in their suits that they were constantly falling down.
  • In The Replacements episode "Space Family Daring", Riley finds a head of a Cylon in a cabinet on board the spaceship.
  • In SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • In the episode "Plankton's Army", Plankton uses a robotic fish that features a revolving light over its "eyes" that is highly reminiscent of the Cylons' eyes.
  • In another episode, "Komputer Overload", Plankton replaces his computer wife, Karen, with three robots made from random items lying around the Chum Bucket, one of which happens to be an old chrome-plated toaster, possibly meant to be a reference to the Colonials' nickname for the Cylon Centurions ("Toasters").
  • In the CBS program The Big Bang Theory, the character Sheldon makes Cylon toast.
  • In the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy, in season 12 episode 3, the character Maggie Pierce goes on a rant about being alone and refers to her half-sister Meredith as a Cylon. Quote: "You're a cylon, this is Galactica".
  • In the New Girl episode "Backslide", Jess thinks she is a Cylon because she cannot stay in relationships.

In other media

  • Several Cylon Centurions make an appearance as animatronics in the Alien Attack ride in Beverly Hills Cop 3.
  • In the 2017 film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Poppy's robot guard dogs have Cylon eye scanners.
  • In the source code of Mozilla (and its Netscape predecessor), the indeterminate progress bar that slides back and forth—rather than rolling or filling up from left to right—is referred to as the "Cylon".
  • A Cylon lookalike robot is featured in the official music video for Bloc Party's single, "Flux".
  • In the video game Persona 3, one of the items the player can buy is a drink called "Cylon Tea", a pun on Ceylon tea.
  • The album Programmed to Love by British electronica band Bent features the song "Cylons in Love".
  • In the Dark Horse Star Wars comic series Tag and Bink, Cylons appear as the Emperor's Guards, Tag and Bink, in addition to many other references to other science fiction franchises.
  • British comedians Mitchell and Webb parody the reimagined series in a sketch in which the human crew fear that the ship has been infiltrated by "fracking machines", apparently oblivious to their clearly robotic colleague that orders oil in the staff canteen.
  • Larami came out with a bubble toy in 1978 called the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Bubble Machine as well as a line of other inexpensive toys.

References

  • (Original series)
  • (Reboot series)