Twelve Colonies of Kobol
the United Colonies
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.
The United Colonies of Kobol, also known as the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was an interplanetary state that represented humanity during the Cylon War and was dissolved upon the settling of the second Earth nearly sixty years later. Formed from twelve independent planetary states descended from the lost world of Kobol, it bound the worlds together as a single federation and provided the political framework of human civilization until the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. (Battlestar Galactica, "Colonial Day"; Battlestar Galactica miniseries; Battlestar Galactica, "Daybreak, Part II")
Formation#
The United Colonies of Kobol were formed by the Articles of Colonization some fifty-two years before the Fall. Until then the twelve worlds had been separate states, each with its own government; Caprica, for instance, had its own Minister of Defense. During the First Cylon War they unified as a single state. (Battlestar Galactica, "Colonial Day"; Caprica, "Pilot")
The Armistice and the decades that followed#
Forty years before the Fall, after roughly twelve years of fighting, the war ended in an armistice. It left a stalemate and a border, the Armistice Line, between human and Cylon space, with a station where the two sides were supposed to meet each year. Little is known of colonial history over the following forty years. The scraps that survive are gathered in the timeline of the series. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries; Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks)
The last president before the Fall was Richard Adar, whose admirals pushed to modernise the fleet against a Cylon threat no one could prove. The government invested in Gaius Baltar's Command Navigation Program, a decision that ultimately led to its downfall. Cylon agents became aware of the research and directly influenced the writing of its algorithms so that it could be infiltrated. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries; Battlestar Galactica, "Hero")
Politics#
The United Colonies operated as a federation. At its head was the President, who presided over the Quorum, a house of twelve delegates each elected by the citizens of their respective colony. There were more inhabited worlds than the twelve, such as Virgon's moon Hibernia, and the series never says how the Quorum represented them. (Battlestar Galactica, "Colonial Day"; Battlestar Galactica: Map of the 12 Colonies)
Member worlds#
The twelve principal worlds were Aerilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron and Virgon. Beyond the Twelve Worlds, other colonies were associated with the state, including Djerba, Hibernia, and the former colony of Troy. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries; Battlestar Galactica: Map of the 12 Colonies; Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome)
The Fall#
During the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, the Cylons exploited Baltar's Command Navigation Program to disable nearly the entirety of the Colonial Fleet and its defenses. With colonial forces crippled, the Cylon basestar armadas swiftly annihilated their opponents and carried out the nuclear bombardment of each of the Colonies unhindered. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries)
Frequently asked questions
- What were the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?
- The Twelve Colonies of Kobol, formally the United Colonies of Kobol, were an interplanetary state that represented humanity from the Cylon War until its dissolution upon the settling of the second Earth. Formed from twelve independent planetary states descended from the lost world of Kobol, it bound those worlds together as a single federation.
- When were the United Colonies of Kobol formed?
- The United Colonies were formed by the Articles of Colonization some fifty-two years before the Fall, when the twelve independent worlds unified during the First Cylon War.
- How was the government of the Twelve Colonies structured?
- The United Colonies were headed by a President, who presided over the Quorum, a house of twelve delegates, one for each colony. There were more inhabited worlds than the twelve, such as Virgon's moon Hibernia, and the series never says how the Quorum represented them.
- What were the twelve worlds of the Colonies?
- The twelve principal worlds were Aerilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron, and Virgon. Beyond the Twelve Worlds, other colonies were associated with the state, including Djerba, Hibernia, and the former colony of Troy.
- How were the Twelve Colonies destroyed?
- During the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, the Cylons exploited Gaius Baltar's Cylon-compromised Command Navigation Program to disable nearly the entirety of the Colonial Fleet and its defenses. With colonial forces crippled, the Cylon basestar armadas swiftly annihilated their opponents and carried out the nuclear bombardment of each of the Colonies unhindered.
Sources
- EpisodeColonial Day, Season 1, Episode 11 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica miniseries, Two-part miniseries, Sci Fi Channel (2003)
- EpisodeDaybreak, Part II, Season 4, Episode 20 (2009)
- EpisodePilot, Caprica, Season 1, Episode 1 (2010)
- SerialBattlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks, Webisodes, Sci Fi Channel (2007)
- EpisodeHero, Season 3, Episode 8 (2006)
- BookBattlestar Galactica: Map of the 12 Colonies, Official map, Quantum Mechanix, made with Jane Espenson and Kevin Grazier
- FilmBattlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, Web series and television film (2012)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Colonial Fleet: 120 battlestars
The navy of the Twelve Colonies, which fought the Cylon War. One software exploit cut it to two surviving battlestars on the day of the Fall.
Hibernia
Hibernia was the only moon of the colony Virgon, orbiting the star Helios Beta in the Cyrannus star system. Though only marginally habitable, it was settled a few centuries before the Fall by Virgon dissidents known as the Celtans.
Aerilon
Aerilon was an agricultural world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as the food basket of the Colonies, it was a poor, working-class farming world and the birthplace of Gaius Baltar.
Aquaria
Aquaria was a cold, sparsely populated ocean world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Official guides describe it as a former research outpost that grew into a frontier colony governed by direct democracy.
Canceron
Canceron was a planet of the Cyrannus star system orbiting Helios Delta, the most populous of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. A long-standing democracy of vast cities and sprawling slums, it shared an orbit with Aerilon and Hestia.
Caprica: the Colonial capital
Caprica was the richest of the Twelve Colonies, seat of the Colonial government, and the world where the Cylons were built. The Cylon attack destroyed it.
Mentioned in51 entries
Admiral Nagala: the last commander of the Colonial Fleet
Admiral Nagala was the flag officer who took personal command of the Colonial Fleet after Picon Fleet Headquarters was destroyed in the opening barrage of the Fall. The admiral led a counterattack near Virgon that the Cylon corruption of the Command Navigation Program turned into a massacre, and died aboard Atlantia.
Aerilon
Aerilon was an agricultural world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as the food basket of the Colonies, it was a poor, working-class farming world and the birthplace of Gaius Baltar.
Algae planet
The algae planet was a habitable world orbiting an unstable star, once visited by the Thirteenth Tribe and later sought by human refugees for its algae before a supernova destroyed it.
Aquaria
Aquaria was a cold, sparsely populated ocean world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Official guides describe it as a former research outpost that grew into a frontier colony governed by direct democracy.
Atlas: Lord of Kobol who bore the sky
Atlas appears to be one of the Lords of Kobol worshipped in the Colonial polytheist faith. He gave his name to Caprica City's Atlas Arena, where a great statue of him, posed as if bearing a heavy load, stood watch.
Aurora: civilian ship of the Fleet
Aurora was an FTL-capable civilian vessel that survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and joined the refugee fleet led by Galactica. It shared its name with Aurora, the Colonial goddess of the dawn.
Basestar Type-D: the modern Cylon baseship
The Basestar Type-D, also called the Modern Basestar, was the primary Cylon capital ship at the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and through the war that followed. Partly organic and run by a Hybrid, it served as a fleet carrier and missile platform in the mould of a Colonial battlestar.
Battle of the Resurrection Ship
The Battle of the Resurrection Ship was an engagement between Colonial and Cylon forces that destroyed a resurrection ship shadowing the Cylon pursuit fleet. Its destruction stripped the hunters of their ability to download the dead and left them wary of pressing the chase.
Battlestar Galactica (2003) Miniseries Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The 2003 miniseries is where the reimagined Battlestar Galactica starts: the Cylons come back after 40 years, the Colonies burn, and one old battlestar leads about 50,000 survivors into the dark. Here's what happens across both nights, what the ending means and where it fits in the watch order.
Battlestar Galactica Timeline: every major event from Kobol to the arrival on Earth
The Reimagined Series chronology in order, from the exodus from Kobol and the death of the first Earth to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and the fleet's arrival 150,000 years ago. A shorter section at the end covers the separate 1978 series and Galactica 1980.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, the Cylon side of the story
The Plan is the 2009 TV film that replays the attack and the first two seasons through the eyes of two copies of Cavil. Here's what happens, what it adds, and whether you should watch it.
Battlestar Triton
Triton was a Colonial battlestar that served after the First Cylon War and was destroyed during the opening engagements of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
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