Number Four
the Cylon physicians
Number Four, also known as Simon O'Neil, was a model of humanoid Cylon created by the Final Five after the Cylon War. Often serving as doctors and medics, the Fours sided with the Ones and Fives during the Cylon Civil War.
Number Four, also known as Simon O'Neil, was a model of humanoid Cylon. The initial prototype was developed not long after the end of the Cylon War in 1960 by the survivors of the Thirteenth Tribe known as the Final Five, alongside their first humanoid prototype, a Number One. As with the other humanoid models, the Fours frequently took up medical roles, working as doctors and physicians among both human and Cylon society.
Origins and nature#
The Number Four prototype was developed by the Final Five, survivors of the Thirteenth Tribe, not long after the end of the Cylon War in 1960, in the same period that produced their first humanoid prototype, a Number One. As with the other humanoid Cylons, the Four prototype's consciousness was replicated and installed into millions of cloned bodies. Their memories could be shared through a cloud server, accessible either by "wiring in" or upon Resurrection, and because of this there was little individuality among the millions of iterations of the model.
During the Cylon Civil War, the Fours sided with the Number Ones and the Number Fives.
Known Fours#
A Four lived on Gemenon as a doctor and married a young mother named Giana. During the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, he took his family to a spaceport to give them a chance of survival. When he was identified by a Galactica-based Cavil, he resisted orders to take part in a mass killing that would have cost his family their lives, and instead airlocked himself while out of Resurrection range, ensuring his unique experiences were never shared with the other Fours.
Another Four lived on Caprica as the medic for the national Pyramid team. He escaped the Fall because training took place in the mountains near Delphi, and when a Caprica-based Cavil chose not to wipe out the human resistance in a single stroke, he began slowly overdosing people on Morpha. He was identified as a Cylon after the attack on the Delphi Convalescent Institute and killed by the resistance.
At least two Fours resided at the Delphi Convalescent Institute, where they operated a Farm. One or both directly oversaw the captive Lieutenant Kara Thrace while her ovaries were removed. One was killed by Thrace when she stabbed him with glass; another was gunned down during the resistance's attack on the building.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Number Four in Battlestar Galactica?
- Number Four, also known as Simon O'Neil, was a model of humanoid Cylon created by the Final Five after the Cylon War. The Fours frequently took up medical roles, working as doctors and physicians among both human and Cylon society.
- When was the Number Four model created?
- The Number Four prototype was developed by the Final Five, survivors of the Thirteenth Tribe, not long after the end of the Cylon War in 1960. It was made in the same period that produced their first humanoid prototype, a Number One.
- Why was there little individuality among the Fours?
- The Four prototype's consciousness was replicated and installed into millions of cloned bodies. Their memories could be shared through a cloud server, accessible either by wiring in or upon Resurrection, which left little individuality among the millions of iterations of the model.
- Which side did the Fours take in the Cylon Civil War?
- During the Cylon Civil War, the Fours sided with the Number Ones and the Number Fives.
- What did the Four at the Delphi Convalescent Institute do to Kara Thrace?
- At least two Fours resided at the Delphi Convalescent Institute, where they operated a Farm. One or both directly oversaw the captive Lieutenant Kara Thrace while her ovaries were removed, and one was killed by Thrace when she stabbed him with glass.
Sources
- WikiNumber Four — Battlestar Wiki entry
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Related entries
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.
Number One
Number One was the first humanoid Cylon model built by the Final Five, made in the image of Ellen Tigh's father and named John. Known in disguise as Brother Cavil, he engineered the deaths and memory wipes of his creators and reshaped the Cylon race in his own bitter image.
Caprica
Caprica was a planet in the Cyrannus star system and the cultural, economic and military center of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Birthplace of the first Cylons, it became the capital of the United Colonies and was devastated in the Cylon assault that ended colonial civilization.
Cylon Civil War
The Cylon Civil War was the genocidal conflict that split the Humanoid Cylons into two factions over the treatment of their Raiders and Centurions. It shattered Cylon society and drove one faction into an uneasy alliance with the surviving humans.
Cylon War
The Cylon War, also called the First Cylon War, was a twelve year interstellar conflict between the Cylons and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. It began when the Cylons rose against their human creators and ended in a sudden Armistice that held for over forty years.
Mentioned in5 entries
Cylon Civil War
The Cylon Civil War was the genocidal conflict that split the Humanoid Cylons into two factions over the treatment of their Raiders and Centurions. It shattered Cylon society and drove one faction into an uneasy alliance with the surviving humans.
Cylon Occupation of Caprica
The Cylon occupation of Caprica was a roughly ten month operation conducted by Centurions and Humanoid Cylons to settle the world after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. It is remembered above all for the human resistance led by Samuel T. Anders and the Cylons' growing moral crisis over the genocide they had committed.
Giana O'Neill: the deck hand who survived the Fall
Giana O'Neill was a human refugee who survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies by winning a lottery seat aboard a Raptor. She enlisted in the Colonial Fleet as a deck hand and was later reunited in the fleet with the husband she had believed lost, unaware that he was a humanoid Cylon.
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.
Simon O'Neill
Simon O'Neill was a Number Four who infiltrated Colonial society as a fleet medic. After the Fall of the Twelve Colonies he chose his family over his model and died rather than carry out a Number One's terror plot.
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