| Cylon (battlestar Galactica) |
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Information AboutCylon (battlestar Galactica) |
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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:
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. All Cylons from the IL-series on down, typically repeat the phrase "By Your Command" when responding to an order. The Cylon Centurions – the type most often depicted in the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' – were strikingly similar to the Imperial Stormtroopers of '' Star Wars ''. The similarities were noted by many at the time and may have been one of the factors that prompted 20th Century Fox 's lawsuit for copyright infringement against Universal Studios , the owners of ''Battlestar Galactica''. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed as "Groundless." Cylon spacecraft
Cylon Government Cylons are led by the Imperious Leader, an IL-Series Cylon elevated to a supreme leadership position over all Cylons. The Cylon Empire is also responsible for tributary powers under the aegis of the Cylon Alliance. The Ovions are the only known member of the Cylon Alliance shown onscreen, other than the Cylons themselves. This may be due to the fact that the Cylons rarely maintain alliances for longer than is necessary for efficiency; they regularly turn on and exterminate their living allies when it suits them. Cylon society is almost exclusively military - until the discovery of Gamoray, which the Colonial fleet had targeted for its rich fuel reserves, no civilian Cylon outpost has ever been seen by anyone. TRIVIA In the classic arcade video game faced being known as the Evil Otto , who happens to be indestructable, bounces around the room in attempts to kill the character. As the result in doing so, the being takes out the robots who happen to be in its path). Sci-fi fans traveling through Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta were always quick to note that the automated voice on the trains connecting the passenger concourses to the main terminal was a perfect match for the voice of a Cylon. However, in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics , the airport was renovated and the Cylon voice was retired in favor of a pre-recorded "human" voice. The voice heard going down the escalator to the trains, however, still reminds them of the robot guarding the path to sanctuary in '' Logan's Run ''. In the Source Code of Mozilla (and its Netscape predecessor), the "undetermined" progress bar that slides back and forth -- rather than filling up the bar from left to right -- is referred to as the "Cylon". A Cylon appears in the '' Futurama '' episode " Bendin' In The Wind ". He’s part of the musical duo ''Cylon and Garfunkel'', a parody of Simon And Garfunkel . 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 channel. He introduces the forum by putting a classic Centurion mask on and saying "Welcome to Battlestar Galactica Forum" in traditional Cylon computerized-monotone. In the opening credits of certain seasons of '' The A-Team '', Dirk Benedict watches a Cylon walk past (while at the Universal Studios tour), initially expresses concern, and then decides to ignore it. Dirk Benedict played the character Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica series. This scene is later recreated on the animated show '' Family Guy ''. Glen A. Larson produced both the original Battlestar Galactica and '' Knight Rider ''. He incorporated the Cylon scanning moving eye into KITT, and it is speculated in Fanon that KITT 's electronic brain was originally part of a Cylon that crashed on Earth in ''Galactica: 1980''. In the ''Knight Rider'' third season episode "Halloween Knight", the episode villain is shown briefly in a Cylon mask. In his podcast, Ron Moore revealed that the Pegasus cylon based on Number Six was named "Gina" as a back-handed reference to the numerous fans of the original series who had referred to the reimagined series as "GINO," or "Galactica in name only." Although the term "Centurion" for Cylon warriors is commonly spelled as such, several sources from the original series, as well as the "Cylon datasheet" in the opening scene of the 2003 miniseries, actually spell the term: '' "Centurian" ''. SOURCES FOR THE NAME The word could be a combination of "Cy" for Cybernetic / Cyborg and the Greek suffix "lon" meaning member/structure/unit (as in "pylon"). It could be an allusion to the ancient Greek Cylon , who was advised by the oracle at Delphi to try to overthrow Athens. It may also be an allusion to the German word ''Zyklon'' ( Tsʏkloːn ), which has a "TS" sound at the beginning rather than a "Z" sound. It also may be an alteration of the Greek name " Cyclops ," as the Centurion s are one-eyed robots. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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