Tauron
The Old Colony
Tauron was a planet in the Cyrannus star system and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as "The Old Colony", it was a proud, industrious world scarred by famine, civil war and a genocide of its native Ha'la'tha people before falling in the Cylon assault that ended colonial civilization.
Tauron, known as "The Old Colony" and originally named Taurus, was a planet in the Cyrannus star system, orbiting the star Helios Alpha. It was one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, named after the Taurus tribe who had resided on Kobol, though its citizens may not have been affiliated with that tribe. A rich and industrious world defined by hardship and fierce pride, Tauron suffered famine, civil war and a recognized genocide of its native people before being exterminated in the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Settlement and early history#
Following the conclusion of the Gemenese dark age and humanity's reinvention of space flight, Tauron was colonized for the rearing of livestock. The city of Minos began in the middle of a cattle trail. Not as aggressively developed as other worlds of its time, Tauron suffered from famines brought on quickly by conflict, forcing people to eat dirt to survive. The term "dirt-eater" lived on afterward as a racial slur against native Taurons, who were known as the Ha'la'tha in their own language.
Beginning in the 12th century, Tauron endured colonization by Virgon and Leonis as those worlds expanded their interplanetary empires. Tauron independence resumed in the mid-18th century in a popular revolt known as "Our Day", yet cultural distinctions between the native Ha'la'tha and Tauronised settlers persisted. The government was predominantly represented by the settler community, which held strong ties to neighbouring worlds such as Caprica.
Civil war and genocide#
An uprising by native farmers against the government broke out in the 1910s and quickly led to the two-year Tauron Civil War. In its aftermath the government relied on urban units known as the Heraclis, whose wide-ranging powers in suppressing a further rebellion led to the mass execution and starvation of many Taurons. The Twelve Worlds recognized the act as a genocide. It produced a wide body of Ha'la'tha refugees who settled across the Cyrannus star system, from Caprica to Sagittaron, and became linked to organized crime. The complicity of those worlds in the regime's continued strength was not forgotten. In 1942 another uprising took place, with the Ha'la'tha better prepared and supported by gun-running across the Twelve Worlds.
The Cylon War and the Fall#
When the Cylons rebelled against mankind in 1948, spawning a twelve-year war, Tauron formed part of the United Colonies of Kobol, an arrangement that allowed all planets to receive equal military support. On the final day of the Cylon War in 1960, Cylon forces attacked Tauron and abducted civilians for unknown ends. Despite this, Tauron remained one of the richest and most industrious colonies, known for its pride and for vast wealth concentrated among a few.
Little is recorded of Tauron over the following forty years of peace, though it was infiltrated by humanoid Cylons. In the year 2000 Tauron faced large-scale nuclear bombardment by basestars, followed by an equally massive landing force of Centurions that successfully exterminated the remaining survivors.
Geography#
The capital of Tauron was Hypatia. Its other major cities were Tauron City and Minos, the latter having grown from a stop on an early cattle trail. Notable attractions included Minos, the Olympia Hippodrome and the Great Tauron Plain.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Tauron?
- Tauron, known as "The Old Colony" and originally named Taurus, was a planet in the Cyrannus star system orbiting the star Helios Alpha. It was one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, named after the Taurus tribe who had resided on Kobol.
- Who were the Ha'la'tha?
- The Ha'la'tha were the native people of Tauron, known by that name in their own language. After a recognized genocide produced a wide body of Ha'la'tha refugees, they settled across the Cyrannus star system, from Caprica to Sagittaron, and became linked to organized crime.
- What was the Tauron Civil War?
- An uprising by native farmers against the government broke out in the 1910s and quickly led to the two-year Tauron Civil War. In its aftermath the government relied on urban units known as the Heraclis, whose powers in suppressing a further rebellion led to the mass execution and starvation of many Taurons, an act the Twelve Worlds recognized as a genocide.
- What happened to Tauron during the Cylon War?
- When the Cylons rebelled in 1948, Tauron formed part of the United Colonies of Kobol. On the final day of the Cylon War in 1960, Cylon forces attacked Tauron and abducted civilians for unknown ends.
- How was Tauron destroyed in the Fall of the Twelve Colonies?
- In the year 2000 Tauron faced large-scale nuclear bombardment by basestars, followed by an equally massive landing force of Centurions. The Centurions successfully exterminated the remaining survivors.
Gallery
Images via Battlestar Wiki
Sources
- WikiTauron — Battlestar Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
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.
Kobol
Kobol was the ancestral homeworld of the Twelve Tribes and the Thirteenth Tribe, abandoned for over two thousand years and rediscovered by the refugee fleet during its search for Earth.
Leonis
Leonis was the largest world in the Cyrannus star system and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as the "Heart of the Colonies", it was the seat of a former empire, renowned for its wine, ski slopes and learning, and was left uninhabitable by the Cylon assault.
Sagittaron
Sagittaron was a barren, mountainous world in the Cyrannus star system and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Settled by Gemenese fundamentalists, it was known for religious isolationism, distrust of modern medicine, and the resentment that fed Tom Zarek's insurgency.
Virgon
Virgon was a temperate world in the Cyrannus star system and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Once the seat of a dominant interplanetary empire, the "Imperial" colony was ruled by a royal family and was destroyed in the Cylon assault on the Twelve Worlds.
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 in15 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.
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.
Cyrannus star system
The Cyrannus star system was a double binary of four stars, Helios Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, that contained all Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Settled by the Kobol refugees some two thousand years before the Fall, it was the cradle of colonial civilization.
Daniel Graystone
Dr. Daniel Graystone was the Caprican computer engineer behind Graystone Industries and the U-87 battle robot. By marrying a stolen processor to his late daughter's consciousness program, he created the first Cylon and set the Twelve Colonies on the road to their own destruction.
Erebos: the Tauron mining belt
The Erebos asteroid belt orbited Helios Alpha in the Cyrannus star system, lying between the worlds of Tauron and Zeus. Mined by Tauron prospectors for hundreds of years, its mineral wealth helped fuel the high-tech revolution on Tauron.
Icarus: the molten innermost planet of Helios Alpha
Icarus was the first planet of the star Helios Alpha in the Cyrannus Star System. Its extremely close orbit left its surface largely molten metal, and the Colonials ignored it as unfit for exploration, mining, or settlement.
Leonis
Leonis was the largest world in the Cyrannus star system and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as the "Heart of the Colonies", it was the seat of a former empire, renowned for its wine, ski slopes and learning, and was left uninhabitable by the Cylon assault.
Minos
Minos, also known as Tauron I, was the largest moon in the Twelve Colonies and the only one with a ring system. Though it lacked an atmosphere, it housed several of Tauron's scientific and mining colonies.
Tamara-A: the avatar of a lost daughter
Tamara-A was a sentient artificial intelligence created in the years before the Cylon War through the Avatar Program. Based on Tamara Adams, a girl killed in the Caprica City Maglev bombing, she was conceived as part of a bargain between Daniel Graystone and the Adama family and was abandoned soon after her creation.
Tauranian Traveller
The Tauranian Traveller was a civilian ship in President Laura Roslin's refugee fleet. In the days after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies its captain tried to abandon the fleet, only to be forced back into formation by Galactica's Vipers. It survived to take part in the election that led to New Caprica.
Twelve Colonies of Kobol
The United Colonies of Kobol, also called the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was the interplanetary state that represented humanity from the Cylon War until its dissolution upon the settling of the second Earth.
+ 3 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.