Hybrid
the living mind of the basestar
The Hybrid was a model of Cylon created in the final days of the Cylon War. A biological body fused into a computer, it served aboard Basestars in place of a conventional crew, often speaking in fragments of poetry that its makers could not agree how to interpret.
The Hybrid was a model of Cylon created in the final days of the Cylon War. A cybernetic being made from a biological body fused into a computer, it served aboard Basestars in place of traditional computers.
The prototype#
The Hybrids were developed by the Cylons at the close of their mutually genocidal war with mankind. Having held monotheistic beliefs since even before the war, the Cylons desired to attain human-like bodies, believing they would be closer to the One True God if they resembled one of His creations. By attacking civilian transports and abducting their occupants, the Cylons secured a renewable supply of subjects for experimentation. These experiments included live vivisection without anesthesia and the removal of limbs for individual testing.
The Cylon laboratory complex drew the attention of the Colonial Fleet around the year 1960. Believing it to be an advanced weapons complex, the Fleet initiated Operation Raptor Talon. At the same time, the Cylons' meeting with the Final Five resulted in a call for an armistice with the Colonials in exchange for the relevant technology on how to ascend toward purely biological beings.
The prototype, an aging human wired into a Basestar, was evacuated from the planet before it could be destroyed. The Basestar's occupants then rebelled and, with their Hybrid, abandoned Cylon civilization to pursue their own destiny. This Basestar and its occupants were destroyed sometime around the year 2000.
Later models#
Though the prototype was lost at the end of the Cylon War, the continuing need for Hybrids as the computer system aboard Basestars required the mass production of more. Using the artificial biological sciences brought over by the Final Five, humanoid Hybrid clones were created for this task.
This mass-produced variety was given a human female appearance and was intelligent and sentient like the eight Humanoid Cylon models. They were not, however, enfranchised, and could not vote. Owing to a tendency to speak random words and strings of poetry, there was debate among the humanoid models as to their mental state. Some believed the Hybrids had been driven mad by being wired into their ships, while others, such as the Number Twos, believed they were the voice of God.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Hybrid in Battlestar Galactica?
- The Hybrid was a model of Cylon created in the final days of the Cylon War, a biological body fused into a computer. It served aboard Basestars in place of traditional computers, running the ship in place of a conventional crew.
- How was the first Hybrid created?
- The first Hybrid was an aging human wired into a Basestar, produced from captives taken in raids on civilian transports. The subjects were subjected to live vivisection without anesthesia and the removal of limbs for individual testing, part of the Cylons' effort to attain human-like bodies and grow closer to the One True God.
- What was Operation Raptor Talon?
- Operation Raptor Talon was an attack the Colonial Fleet launched against the Cylon laboratory complex around the year 1960, believing it to be an advanced weapons complex. At the same time, the Cylons' meeting with the Final Five resulted in a call for an armistice in exchange for the technology to ascend toward purely biological beings.
- What happened to the prototype Hybrid?
- The prototype was evacuated from the planet before it could be destroyed. Its Basestar's occupants then rebelled and, with their Hybrid, abandoned Cylon civilization, before the Basestar and its occupants were destroyed sometime around the year 2000.
- Why did the Cylons disagree about the Hybrids' sanity?
- The mass-produced Hybrids tended to speak random words and strings of poetry, prompting debate among the humanoid models about their mental state. Some believed the Hybrids had been driven mad by being wired into their ships, while others, such as the Number Twos, believed they were the voice of God.
Sources
- WikiHybrid — Battlestar Wiki entry
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Related entries
Basestar
The basestar was the Cylons' primary capital ship, an armored carrier and battleship hybrid. The modern Type-D, grown from hardened organic matter and run by a living Hybrid, led the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Cylon
The Cylons were a race of sentient machines created as military robots by Graystone Industries on Caprica. Built from research into artificial consciousness, they rebelled against their human masters, fought a decades long war, and forty years later returned to annihilate humanity.
The Final Five
The Final Five were five humanoid Cylon models hidden from the rest of their kind, descendants of the Thirteenth Tribe and the creators of the Significant Seven.
Humanoid Cylon
Humanoid Cylons were a form of biological Cylon engineered to look and behave exactly like human beings. Created by the Final Five after the Cylon War, these synthetic humans were both wholly organic and wholly artificial, and their infiltration of the colonies made the Fall possible.
Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy was a Number Two humanoid Cylon who infiltrated Colonial society as a yoga instructor before the Fall. He survived into the refugee fleet and became fixated on Lieutenant Kara Thrace, whom he believed to be divinely led.
Colonial Fleet
The Colonial Fleet was the naval arm of the military of the United Colonies of Kobol, founded during the Cylon War to unite the forces of the Twelve Worlds. At its height it numbered some 120 battlestars, yet a single Cylon exploit reduced it to two ships in the opening minutes of the Fall.
Mentioned in7 entries
Basestar
The basestar was the Cylons' primary capital ship, an armored carrier and battleship hybrid. The modern Type-D, grown from hardened organic matter and run by a living Hybrid, led the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Basestar Type-C
The Basestar Type-C was a Cylon warship of the closing years of the Cylon War. Resembling the modern basestar with a more industrial look, it was the first known type to be controlled by a Hybrid rather than by conventional means.
Centurion Model 0005
The Centurion Model 0005 was the line of mechanical Cylon soldiers that fought in the Cylon War. Sentient beings built on the consciousness of Zoe Graystone, they pursued a humanoid form and were later enslaved by their own humanoid creations.
Ellen Tigh
Ellen Tigh was the wife of Colonel Saul Tigh, a scientist of the original Earth, and the eldest of the Final Five Cylons. She led the work that rediscovered Resurrection and created the humanoid Cylon models, and was the only one of the Five to fully regain her memories.
Humanoid Cylon
Humanoid Cylons were a form of biological Cylon engineered to look and behave exactly like human beings. Created by the Final Five after the Cylon War, these synthetic humans were both wholly organic and wholly artificial, and their infiltration of the colonies made the Fall possible.
Pegasus
Pegasus was a Mercury-class battlestar and one of the most advanced warships in the Colonial Fleet. With Galactica it was one of only two capital ships to survive the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, serving under Rear Admiral Helena Cain before its destruction during the exodus from New Caprica.
Samuel T. Anders
Samuel T. Anders was a citizen of the original Earth and one of the Final Five Cylons. Living for years as a human Pyramid star, he led the resistance on occupied Caprica before awakening to his true nature and becoming, in his final role, the Hybrid of Galactica.
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