Who are the cylons in battlestar galactica?

Answer 1

With two different versions of Battlestar Galactica - the 1978-80 version created by Glen Larson and the 2003-8 version created by Ronald Moore - there are two different types of Cylons. In the 1978-80 version the Cylons are a race of fully-evolved saurian beings who allowed themselves to be overcome by their own technology (in the episode "War Of The Gods" it is strongly inferred that the mysterious Count Iblis had a hand in this; subsequent stories in comic book adaptations in the 1990s fully explored Iblis' role in the creation of the Cylons) and were transmuted from living beings to armored cybernauts, led by Imperious Leader, a machine being swathed in the reptilian husk of his previous incarnation as a living being.

There are civilian Cylons who control the empire's far-flung worlds (viewed briefly in the episode "The Living Legend") and the warrior class of armored knights sporting red eye scanners. They are commanded by the IL series of sentient computer beings; Lucifer, the second-in-command of Baltar (played by John Colicos in the 1978-80 series and revived for the 1999 promotional film), is the best-known of Cylon ILs.

The 2003-8 version features the Cylons as a race of machines created by humans who rebelled and then took over technology to create organic clones. Overall, there are 12 Cylon "human-like" models, although some people have predicted that when Earth is found in the fourth and final season, a 13th Cylon will be revealed, echoing the theme of the Thirteen Human Colonies, Earth being the 13th planet.

Taken from Wikipedia: "Cylon society is made up of the seven known, mass-produced humanoid models. For a yet unrevealed reason, the final five Cylons are completely unknown to both the humans and the Cylons, and Cylons are forbidden from trying to discover their identities."

Although "forbidden", one story line involves a Number Three (D'Anna, played by Lucy Lawless) killing herself trying to meet and communicate with the "Final Five". By the end of Season 3, all but the last of the unknown "final five" Cylons are revealed, leaving 11 known and one left as a mystery from her "between death" explorations. It is assumed this last unknown Cylon will be the "Number One" - the use of numbers in relation to the Patrick McGoohan series "The Prisoner" has been discussed at length, where "Number One" is never revealed.

In the first episodes, we learn that Gaius Baltar's lover Caprica is a "Number Six", played by Tricia Helfer; Lucy Lawless, who first appears as a newspaper reporter D'Anna Biers, is a Number Three, and Sharon "Boomer" Agathon nee Valerii is a Number Eight, played by Grace Park.

Others include a shorter, brown-haired "Business" type named Aaron Doral who is a Number Five and played by Matthew Bennett; a semi-religious unit often called The Preacher named Brother Cavil, an old man whose Number is unknown and played by well-known movie actor Dean Stockwell, as is the Number of a tall, shaved-head black man named Simon and acted by Rick Worthy.

In the third season, Baltar learns he is not a Cylon when he tries to hang himself and almost dies rather than be resurrected. Although the "virtual Caprica" that Baltar often fantasies about mentions several times in Season Three that he is "The Chosen One", it seems this does not mean he is a Cylon.

The final episodes of Season Three, "Crossroads I & II" reveals four of the Final Five:

Samuel T. "Sam" Anders, a former star Pyramid player for the Caprica Buccaneers who is married to Starbuck and led the resistance on Caprica after the attack, acted by Michael Trucco; Galon "Chief" Tyrol, a Number Twelve who could be compared to Scotty from the original Star Trek and is played by Aaron Douglas; the Galactica's XO Saul Tigh who led the resistance on New Caprica, acted by Michael Hogan, and finally Tory Foster, the assistance to The President, played by Rekha Sharma. None of whom had any idea they were Cylons, much like Sharon "Boomer" in the first season, who later chooses to "be human" and pledges her allegiance to the Colonial Fleet and human race, and is promoted to a Leutenent.

Referencing the movie "Razor" where a Cylon who is a very, very old man but humanoid warns that Kara "Starbuck" Thrace will "lead the human race to its end" and that she has been told by a "seer" as well as a Cylon that she "has a destiny" the odds are bet that she will turn out to be the final unknown Cylon, but this is all conjecture as the fourth season has not yet been aired.

Answer 2

The Cylons in Battlestar Galactica are a race of cybernetic beings who rebel against their human creators. They are known for their advanced technology and for their ability to take on human form, making them difficult to identify. Throughout the series, the Cylons play a significant role in the ongoing conflict with the human survivors of the Twelve Colonies.