Movies - Cylon

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The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the twelve colonies of humanity in the science fiction movie and television series Battlestar Galactica
, in the original 1978/1980 series as well as the movie and the reimagining of 2003-2006. The word "Cylon" was minted in the original production and is pronounced as /sīlon/.

The nature and origins of Cylons differ greatly between the two Galacticas.

Battlestar Galactica (1978) & Galactica 1980

Cylon models

In the 1978 Galactica movie and series and the 1980 spin-off, the Cylons were created to serve the reptilian race of the Cylon Alliance. Somehow, just prior to the start of The Thousand Yahren War, the android Cylons made a deal with the mysterious Count Iblis (meaning "Satan" in the Arabic language) and destroyed their biological masters. Only the higher ranking Cylons retain the physical appearance of their creators.

At the beginning of the series the Cylons are singularly devoted to the destruction of humanity. The war between the two species is stated in the episode "the Lords of Kobol" as being started when the Cylon empire sought to expand into the territory of a species allied with the colonies, so their original intentions may not have been genocidal. This may seem a quixotic mission but is reinforced in the same two part episode when Baltar, the betrayer of humanity, is spared and brought before the new Imperious Leader. This leader gives him command of several Basestars and tells him that he wishes Baltar to be a peace envoy sent to seek reconciliation. He states that this is because he is a newer model than the previous leader and has room for wider thinking on the subject of "lesser" species. Baltar takes the position but is clearly confused by the act. There is never peace with the Cylons, but they do drop out of sight for about ten episodes.

Cylon society is composed of five models, four of which have been well-documented:

Imperious Leader: The leader of the Cylon Alliance and highest Cylon model. The Imperious Leader is an IL-Series Cylon with some extra augmentation, including a third brain and a body shell resembling the reptilian Cylons. One was killed at the Battle of Carillon and another was likely killed during the Battle of Gamoray. The voice of the Imperious Leader is identical to that of Count Iblis
(both were voiced by Patrick Macnee
).
IL-Series: Acts as a commander for the military and governor for civilians of the Alliance. They have two brains, a humanoid face and wear shimmering cloaks. They are almost feudal in nature and bicker among themselves frequently. This could be a tactic to help the most skilled IL-Series ascend the throne and receive a third brain. IL-series Cylons have an effete human-sounding voice, unlike the flat mechanical tones of Centurions. They pride themselves on having two brains, as opposed to the single brains of Centurions. The IL-series also have two "eye" scanners as opposed to the one scanner of the Centurion model.
* Lucifer - Baltar's second in command. Presumably led pursuit of the Galactica after Baltar's capture. (voiced by Jonathan Harris
)
* Spectre - Commander on the planet Atilla in The Young Lords. Enemy of Lucifer.
Command Centurion: Centurions with gold armor. These are the lower commanders for individual military units. At least two, Vulpa of Gun on Ice Planet Zero and Cyrus of The Return of Starbuck, have a name. Voices are slightly different (lower pitched) than regular Centurions.
Centurion: Military androids with silver armor. Basic centurions make up the ground forces and pilots of the Alliance military. Centurions are armed with a powerful energy weapon, often referred to as a blaster rifle. They also have bayonets and swords for close combat and execution of prisoners. (Although Earth's Roman Centurions commanded a unit of one hundred men, Cylon Centurions form the rank and file of the Cylon forces.)
Android: A Cylon android was featured on the Halloween episode of Galactica 1980. This model had a superficial human appearance, a condescending/superior attitude toward Centurions, and was believed to be entirely electromechanical.

There is also a unique Cylon with glittering robes, with what looks like a mask attached to its face. They are seen in the Imperious Leader's delegation to Gamoray in The Living Legend. This is evidently some kind of civilian Cylon, as Gamoray was said to have a very large community of civilian Cylons, though how civilian Cylon society differed from its military was never explored.

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Movies - Cylon

Battlestar Galactica (1978) & Galactica 1980

Cylon models

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