Battlestar Galactica's premise is that mankind actually evolved in another planet, Kobol. The people of Kobol where formed into thirteen colonies which, when the planet was evacuated, went in thirteen different ways to different planets. Twelve of them eventually became united into one government, the Council of Twelve. But the last one was lost. Legend says that the last colony of man eventually settled a planet called Earth.
The Twelve Colonies got into a war with the Cylons. the war lasted a millennia until a peace initiative was launched by Count Baltar. He later betrayed the Colonies and they were destroyed by the Cylons. The last of the great battlestars, the Galactica, gathered up the survivors and went searching for the lost colony of man hoping that they could help defeat the Cylons.
SCHEMATICS
Cylon SHIP
This dictionary is divided into:
(Note) This is not intended to be a complete listing of all the characters that ever appeared in the series.
Commander Adama (Lorne Greene): Born in Caprican of pure Kobollian blood, Adama lost his wife, Ila, and his youngest son, Zac, in the Cylon attack. His controversial action to call the crew to a battle stations drill saved the ship from destruction at Cimtar. The Galactica gathered all surviving space worthy vessels, and set out on a voyage to find the Thirteenth Colony: Earth.
Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch): Adama's oldest son is the flight leader of Blue Squadron.. Apollo is a man of peace forced to war. Like his father, he is also a man of faith. He married news reporter Serina who was killed by the Cylons on Kobol. He was left alone to raise Boxey.
Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict): Also a Caprican and Apollo's buddy. A native of the Caprican city of Umbra (near the Thorn Forest), Starbuck was orphaned in a Cylon attack on Umbra in 7322. He is a gambler, a hustler and a Don Juan. He is attracted to both Athena and Cassiopeia but he admitted to both of them that he would find it very difficult to commit himself to one woman.
Lieutenant Boomer (Herbert Jefferson, Jr.): A Leonid who lived on Caprica in his youth. Early in the series he is a Flight Sergeant.
Ensign Athena (Maren Jensen): Daughter to Adama and younger sister to Apollo. She is a Galactica bridge officer. She has a love/hate relationship with Starbuck.
Cassiopeia (Laurette Spang): a former Gemonese sociolator, she sustained a broken arm during the evacuation and was about to be lynched by her fellow Gemonese when Starbuck came to the rescue. She became a medtech and assistant to Doctor Salik in the Life Center. She is also in a love/hate relationship with Starbuck.
Serina (Jane Seymour): Caprican news reporter. She and her son Boxey survived the Cylon attack She became a Warrior when the male warriors succumbed to a plague. Serina married Apollo just before they reached the planet Kobol, and she died there, killed by a Cylon.
Boxey (Noah Hathaway): A survivor of the Cylon attack, adopted by Apollo when he married Boxey's mother Serina. His drone daggit is named Muffit II.
Colonel Tigh (Terry Carter):, Tigh is the Galactica's Executive Officer and in charge of the infantry units for ground operations. Tigh and Adama attended the Academy together. Colonel Tigh is usually very reserved and cautious. He is a triad fan and Adama's closest friend.
Lieutenant Jolly (Tony Swartz): Fourth in command of Blue Squadron, Jolly is an overweight ladies man and a gentleman.
Lieutenant Sheba (Anne Lockhart): Cain's daughter, leader of Silver Spar Squadron. She was transferred off the Pegasus to the Galactica at Gamoray. She eventually becomes close friends with Apollo and they feel a mutual attraction.
Doctor Salik (George Murdock): Head of the Life Center.
Lieutenant Zac (Rick Springfield): The youngest son of Adama. He is killed while trying to get back to the Fleet to warn of the Cylon attack.
Flight Corporal Rigel (Sarah Rush): Officer who said: "Core systems transferring control to probe craft...launch when ready."
President Adar (Lew Ayres): President of the Council of Twelve. Killed at the Cylon attack at Cimtar.
Doctor Wilker (John Dullaghan): Engineer who built daggit droid Muffit II. He also attempted to reconstruct the two Cylon pilots (captured along with Baltar) he took apart. He was disliked by the Warriors and was a Council lackey.
Commander Cain (Lloyd Bridges): A Gemon and the commander of the Pegasus. It was said that he didn't know the meaning of the word "lose." Adama outranks him because Adama's battlestar command commission was posted first.
Lieutenant Bojay (Jack Stauffer): Sheba's wingman. Also belonged to Blue Squadron before he was transferred to the Pegasus. During the assault on Gamoray, he was seriously injured and was transferred to the Galactica along with Sheba.
Commander Kronus (Paul Fix): Commander of the ship Celestra. When he was on active duty, Adama used to be his aide, and he clearly didn't like the current arrangement. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medallion and given executive command of the industry ships. When the Celestra is taken over by mutineers, he died in the attempt to retake the ship.
Imperious Leader (In body: Dick Durock. In voice: Patrick Macnee): the only three-brain Cylon. Also the only Cylon with an unarmored reptilian/humanoid body. Imperious Leader possesses access to all known Cylon information nets.
Lucifer (In body: Felix Silla; In voice: Jonathan Harris): A top-of-the-line IL-series Cylon. Because of his objective analysis, Lucifer could see the errors of Baltar's plans but Baltar never listened to him. Lucifer also displays a great distrust of earlier IL-series models (and toward Spectre in particular).
Count Baltar (John Colicos): Baltar was the Council member who was "selected" by the Cylons to "negotiate" a "peace treaty" with the Colonies. In return for a dominion of his own and the saving of his own colony, he betrayed the Colonies. Of course, the Cylons bomb all Twelve Colonies. Baltar was to be executed by Imperious Leader, but was spared because Lucifer convinced the Imperious Leader that it would be best to set a human to catch other humans.
Baltar was captured by the Colonials when he met with the Galactica under a universal signal of truce, because he was concerned about some strange lights. He was sentenced to life aboard the Prison Barge. Adama made a deal with Baltar to set him free in exchange for his help in defeating a base star. Adama honored the bargain; he was put on an uninhabited delta-class planet suitable for human life.
Spectre: An earlier IL-series Cylon who was sneakier than Lucifer. A cybernetics expert, he reconstructs the shells of Cylons who died of disease on Antila, converting them into his own private army. Spectre is also a bureaucratic master at requisitioning fuel, food and weaponry for a garrison that doesn't need them.
Vulpa An executive officer/command gold colored centurion, he was banished to the planet Arcta by Imperious Leader when he suggested that the Cylons abandon pursuit of the Galactica, reasoning that Cylon resources could be used elsewhere to solve the Empire's problems.
AGRO PARTS - Farming things
ALPHA SHUTTLE: Transport ship
AMBROSA - An alcoholic beverage. Very rare and very expensive.
ASTRALONS - Meteor like things that can damage ships.
BAHARRI: Similar to beer
BATTLESTAR -Huge fighter carrier and warship. Capable of a great speed and firepower.
BOOK OF STRATEGY - Colonial Warrior manual
CLAXON - Siren
CLUB ELITE - Private club of Sire Uri
COLONY - Planet
COLONIAL VIPERS - The best starfighter ever made
by humans. It has two turbolaser cannons and can surpass the speed of
light.
CONSUMABLES - Food as said by Cylons
CRAWLON - Spider
CRYOGENIC SUSPENSION -Medical procedure of
freezing a patient until a cure can be found
CUBIT - Colonial currency. Gold coins.
DAGGIT -Dog.
DECONTAMINATION -Process of getting all microbes
and alien things out of the pilot's body after a mission
EDICT OF EXTERMINATION -Edict of the Cylons to
kill all humans.
FUMARELLO - Cigar
GALACTICA - The last of the battlestars
GEMONI FREIGHT - Passenger vehicle
GOLDEN CLUSTER - Colonial Warrior Highest battle
award
GROG: Similar to rum.
HYDRONIC MUSHIES - Food. Tasty and healthy
INTERFLEET BROADCASTING: InterVid channel that
had a popular segment "Warrior of the Centare."
INSTRUCTIONAL PERIOD - School
K BISCUIT - Food. Used as a snack
LANDRAM -Ground vehicle
LASER GENERATORS - Self explanatory
LUPUS - Wolf-like animal
MAGNETIC SEA (OR ABYSS) - Endless black void
MINE - Hive-like structures on Carillon. There
the Chosen Creatures extract tylium
MINERAL SHIPS - Landram party ships on
Carillon
MUSHIES: Junk food.
NUMO - Compressed air gun.
OVINES - Sheep-like animals
PLUTON - Substance made by the fallout of
neutron decay.
PRIMARIES -Food. Very basic
PULSAR - (ALSO KNOWN AS ULTIMATE WEAPON,
RAVASHOL LASER) Located on the asteroid, Arcta, invented by Dr. Ravashol. This
was originally not a weapon but a device to communicate across the galaxy. The
Cylons converted this to the most powerful weapon in the star system.
PYRAMID- Game similar to poker whose hands
include the half and three-quarter pyramids and the rarest ones is the perfect
pyramid.
RAG TAG FLEET -Term used to describe the Fleet
escaping the Cylons under the protection of the Galactica
RECON VIPER - Colonial Viper modified for
reconnaissance missions. It is much faster than a normal Viper, but it is
unarmed. It also has a CORA computer installed.
RISING STAR - The Fleet's luxury liner. Has the
Astral Restaurant
SANITATION SHIP - Fleet garbage ship.
SEAL - Marry
SEVEN AND ELEVEN - Game similar to blackjack
SHUTTLE -Vehicles used for short range
transport.
SIMULATOR - Control Room aboard the battlestars
where pilots train in simulators
SOCIALATOR - A great date, prostitute.
SOLIUM - Liquid fuel
SOLENITE - Powerful explosive
STARLINER - Transport ship
SNOW RAM - Land vehicle.
TALON PLANT: Food.
TOP PRIORITY SCRAMBLED CODE - Method of relaying
messages from space vehicles back to a battlestar
TRANS STELLAR SPACE SERVICE - Ship
TRANSVID - Similar to television
TRIAD - Court game similar to basketball. Played
by two teams of two on a triangular court. Game lasts for probably one
centare. They use a silver-colored ball.. Each goal is one point. Fighting and
blocking is illegal and results in ejection from the game. Penalties are
strictly enforced. Free shots are awarded for various penalties.
TUARON BUS LINES - Space trams
TULIPIAN BUDS -Food. Used as a side dish.
TURBOWASH: The showers.
TURBOFLUSH: Restroom. Also known as the Cylon
Throne Room.
TYLIUM - Mined in Carillon. Very volatile and
very valuable.
VALCRON - Fabric. Cotton-like.
VAPOR POINT -When an element vaporizes
WEAPONS:
TURBOLASER - Fighter weapon
LASER - handheld weapons
SHORT-SPANS, COMAS, BRAIN CRYSTALS - Chemical
weapons. They are encapsulated and produce results suggested by their names
WARSHIP OF THE SUNSTORM - Gemonese religious
ceremony. It is known for physical contact between genders
WARBOOK - Library of all the characteristics of
enemy ships
BLUE: Colonial Fleet high-ranking and bridge
officers. Rank pins are silver. Dress robes match.
BROWN: Colonial Warrior jackets and dress robes.
Rank pins are oregg (like gold).
TAN: Duty dress for Colonial Fleet personnel,
including Colonial Warriors (except bridge officers) and medical personnel.
Rank pins are gold.
BLACK: Used by Council Security guards. Also called "Blackshirts"
WHITE: Colonial Fleet Life Center staff jackets.
Rank pins are gold. Also, white robes are worn by members of the Council of
Twelve.
HUMANS -Originally from Planet Kobol. They
colonized Caprica and other planets destroyed by Cylons
HUMANOIDS - Cylon name for humans
CYLONS -Originally a reptilian species. They
were replaced by machines who then took their name.. They have been at war
with the humans for a millennia
CENTURIONS - Cylon soldiers
COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE - Council made up of
representatives of the twelve Colonies.
ALLIANCE -The bad guys. They include the Chosen
Creatures, Cylons, etc.
OVIONS - Insect-like inhabitants of Carillon
They are a communal species and have no emotions
OVINERS - Farmers from Equellus
OTORIS - A Geminis religious sect. They believe
in physical contact between genders only in ceremonies
HASARIS - A race once helped by humans
LORDS OF KOB0L - Leaders of the ancestors of
humans
TUCANAS - Feline species. Some sang on
Carillon
DRONES - robots
DAGGITS - Dogs
CHOSEN CREATURES - People of Carillon. They
employ slaves to do their work
ORIGINAL SINNERS - Ancestors of the people
living on the Proteus Prison. Their descendants were still imprisoned and
carried, as a name, the sin of their ancestor. They made ambrosa for the war
effort but it never left the prison.
AERIES - Planet of Aerians
CAPRICA - One of the Twelve Colonies
CROTAN - Agricultural planet
CARILLON -Planet of Ovions. Full of pleasure.
CYLON - Planet of Cylons
CYRANUS GALAXY -Galaxy where our heroes
lived.
EARTH - The lost Thirteenth Colony
EQUELLUS -Planet where Apollo was stranded on.
Very similar to the Wild West.
GEMONI - Planet of Gemons
HATARI SYSTEM - Star system. Equellus was a
planet of that system.
KALPA - Ice planet
KOBOL -Planet where the Humans came to be. Now
uninhabited, only tombs of Lords exist there now
NOVA OF MADAGON -Alternate route to Carillon. It
produced a blinding light.
PICON - Planet of Picons
PROTEUS PRISON - Planetoid that served as a
prison. The descendants of the original prisoners still live there.
QUOTARA - Magnificent star cluster. The Rising
Star sailed there before the war
SAGITARIA - Planet of Sagitarians
SCORPION - Planet of Scorpions
TAURON - Planet of Taurons
VIRGON - Planet of Virgons
TIMES
Centare - equivalent of an hour
Centon - (sentonn) - equivalent of a minute
Micron - a tenth of a centon
Yahren - a year
Millenium - a thousand years
DISTANCES
Metron (mettron) - approximately one meter
Parsec (parseck) - 90 million miles (distance
between sun & Earth)
Hectare (hecktarr) - nine million miles
WEIGHTS
Megon - (meggon) - a ton
FRACK: A swear word. It has a similar equivalent
in American English. Used in phrases like: "Oh, frack!"
FELDERCARB: Another swear word. Similar to
"crap". Used in phrases like: "Aw, felgercarb!" "Cut the felgercarb!" "That's
a bunch of felgercarb!"
HADES: Hell
POGEES: Also similar to feldercarb. Used in
phrases like: "He scared the pogees out of me!"
FOR SAGAN'S SAKE: Similar to: "For Heaven's
sake."
MODAKA: Seems to be a term of endearment used in friendly joking. Used in phrases like: "How is the old modaka?"
