Number Six (Battlestar Galactica)
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| Number Six | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Race | Humanoid Cylon |
| Gender | Female |
| Portrayed by | Tricia Helfer |
| First appearance | Miniseries |
| Colony | Cylon Homeworld |
| Affiliation | Cylon |
Number Six is a fictional character portrayed by Canadian actress Tricia Helfer in the television "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica.
The name "Number Six" is, according to Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion (Titan Books, 2005), written by David Bassom, a tribute to the character Number Six played by Patrick McGoohan who appeared in the 1960s British cult classic series The Prisoner (which also featured spies, mind implants, illusionary experiences, valuable secrets and sabotage).
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[edit] Background
Number Six is a seductive, statuesque Cylon infiltrator. She was the first example shown of a new generation of Cylons capable of adapting to human form and emotions. Little else is known of her earlier years. She can, like other Cylons, retain memories and be downloaded into another body if the original body is killed. Like her counterparts, her body was designed to mimic the human body at the cellular level, making her almost undetectable to testing procedures.
[edit] Leitmotif
Since her debut in the mini-series, a leitmotif has been used in scenes figuring Tricia Helfer as Number Six. This simple 9-note motif was composed by Richard Gibbs. The 9/8 figure is divided unevenly into a group of 3 notes, followed by 3 groups of 2. It is almost always performed on a gamelan, and also plays over the introduction to each episode of the series. On the published series soundtrack, the melody is listed as The Sense of Six.
[edit] Versions
Copies of Number Six appear regularly, mostly within Cylon society. Several notable versions have had more prominent roles:
[edit] Caprica-Six
At the beginning of the miniseries, a Six copy is involved in an intense sexual affair with Dr. Gaius Baltar. Pretending to be an employee of a rival computer corporation, Six seduces Baltar while helping him with his work on the colonial defense system. Caprica-Six then reveals her true nature to Baltar, and informs him that the Cylons will use the computer secrets that he has given her to infiltrate the Colonial defense systems, disable the Colonial military and attack the Twelve Colonies. That day, the Cylons launch their attack and destroy most of humanity. Six uses her body to shield Baltar from a blast from the attack, saving his life and sacrificing hers.
In the episode "Downloaded", this copy is downloaded into a new body. This Six, nicknamed "Caprica-Six" by fellow Cylons, is viewed as a hero amongst the Cylon civilization for her complete success in her mission to compromise the colonies' defenses. She retains her sentimentality and expresses some regret at her actions, as evidenced by her constant visions of Baltar. This "Phantom" Baltar plays a similar role to her that the virtual or 'inner' Six plays towards the real Baltar, as a critical counselor and manipulator. Caprica-Six is enlisted to motivate the resurrected Galactica copy of Sharon Valerii (Boomer, not Athena) to move out of her apartment and reintegrate into Cylon society. However, in defiance of their superiors, both Caprica-Six and Sharon opt instead to aid a human — to the extent that Caprica-Six murders a fellow Cylon to save a human. Caprica-Six and Sharon then begin preaching peace with the humans as the way of their God. This leads them to take over Cylon culture and to resume the hunt for humanity, leading them to the colony of New Caprica, which they take over in a bloodless coup facilitated by Baltar, who surrenders to Caprica-Six as soon as the Cylons arrive.
After the Cylon occupation of New Caprica, Caprica-Six alienates the other Cylons with her desires for peaceful coexistence with humans. Her reunion with the real Gaius Baltar, however, shatters her illusions about her former pawn, as Baltar impotently allows the Cylons to bully him into enacting their oppressive tyranny upon New Caprica.
The other Cylons insist Baltar must sign an execution order for 200 insurgents in response to two suicide bombings by the human resistance movement. Baltar initially refuses and Caprica-Six alone objects strongly to her fellow Cylons desire for mortal retribution. These objections result in her being shot in the head by fellow Cylon Aaron Doral. Her death and an immediate threat to shoot Baltar force him to sign the order. Caprica-Six is reborn and helps Baltar escape onto a Cylon Basestar when New Caprica is ultimately abandoned by its population.
After settling on the basestar she becomes involved in a menage a trois with Baltar and Number Three and explicitly states that she loves both of them. She becomes involved in rescuing an inexplicably sick Hera from the Basestar. She assists in Athena's download and witnesses the obvious bond between Athena and Hera. Caprica subsequently disables and then kills Boomer who threatens to throttle Hera despite Athena's anguished pleas. She leads Athena and child to a captured Raptor and returns with them to Galactica, where she is promptly imprisoned.
[edit] Baltar's inner Six
A distinct copy derived from Caprica-Six resides in Baltar's head following the destruction of the colonies, "Inner Six" appears as a figment of his imagination, invisible to everyone else. She suggests that this phenomenon might be caused by either a computer chip implant or insanity over his guilt. When Baltar undergoes an MRI-like "brain scan", it reveals no sign of a computer chip or any other foreign object in his brain. While this briefly leads Baltar to think that he has truly gone insane, he concludes this is impossible, given Six's knowledge of events unknown to him (for example, the prediction of the birth of the Human/Cylon Hybrid to Sharon Agathon while a prisoner aboard Galactica). Confronted with this, Six declares that she is neither a computer chip nor a hallucination produced by mental instability. When Baltar then asks just who or what she was, she simply replies that she is "an angel of God sent here to protect you."
This Six often appears suddenly, without warning. She often advises and gives instructions to Baltar. While she usually appears to him as part of the real world, occasionally he interacts with her in an imagined but persistent dream-like setting within his mind. In this, Number Six resembles the character of Harvey from Farscape (who in turn was based on the "imaginary" character from the Jimmy Stewart film Harvey).
While Six can physically interact with Baltar in his imagination, she also appears able to physically affect him in the real world — for example, in one episode an unusually violent Number Six throws Baltar into a bulkhead and grabs him by the throat, and passersby see his physical reaction to this. On another occasion, she can be seen while she ties the knot on Baltar's improvised noose.
This manifestation of Six in particular is extremely religious. In contrast to the colonists, and like the other Cylons, she believes in a singular God, whom she identifies as Love. She constantly attempts to convince Baltar to believe in the Cylon God, and to accept his part in God's plan or will.
Her motivations are unclear. While some of her advice appears to benefit humanity, for example pointing out a Cylon device to Baltar on Galactica and helping him build a Cylon detector, it more often serves only Baltar's needs, and she expresses enjoyment over what she considers the inevitable extinction of the human race.
[edit] Shelley Godfrey
In the episode "Six Degrees of Separation", a copy of Number Six in the fleet using the name "Shelley Godfrey" appears. Godfrey attempts to frame Baltar for betraying the human race with supposed photographic evidence. In addition, she attempts to seduce Commander Adama. She disappears abruptly after her "photographic evidence" is proven to be fake. As her appearance coincided with the temporary disappearance of Baltar's Inner Six, it is often wondered (and indeed voiced by Baltar himself) whether she was a physical manifestation of Inner Six posing in a dual identity.
[edit] Gina
In the episode "Pegasus", it is revealed that a copy of Number Six had hidden aboard the Battlestar Pegasus, posing as a civilian dockworker and using the name "Gina". After Gina is exposed as a Cylon, she is imprisoned and subjected to torture and gang rape by members of the Pegasus crew. By the time of the events of the episode, Gina appears to be catatonic from the severe trauma of her abuse. With the assistance of Baltar (who has fallen in love with Gina, vastly complicating his relationship with the Six in his head), Gina escapes and flees into the civilian fleet after murdering Admiral Cain. She then joins a group of Cylon sympathizers, who want humanity to make peace with the Cylons. The extensive sexual abuse she has suffered renders Gina psychologically unable to be intimate with Baltar until shortly before her death. In the finale to the second season, Gina detonates a nuclear weapon she had received from Dr. Baltar, killing herself, signaling the location of the human settlement to the Cylons, and destroying the Cloud 9 and several other ships in the human fleet.
Gina has honey-blonde hair, actress Tricia Helfer's natural hair color, instead of the platinum-blonde of most Sixes. Like Shelly Godfrey, she sometimes wears glasses.
The name 'Gina' is believed by some[citation needed] to be a jab at some fans of the original series who proclaimed the remake to be 'GINO' — Galactica In Name Only. Anne Cofell-Saunders, the writer of "Pegasus", told Michael Hinman of SyFy Portal after the episode aired that "Gina" was actually named after one of her relatives; however, series creator Ron Moore says in the DVD commentary for "Pegasus" that "Gina" is directly meant as a jab against users of the "GINO" term.
[edit] Other versions
- A copy in a red dress, who arrives aboard the Armistice Station and seduces the Colonial representative shortly before the station is destroyed. Similar copies are part of the group that board Ragnar Anchorage to rescue and debrief Aaron Doral.
- A copy, wearing a white rain-coat, who captures and kisses Helo before being shot by Sharon Agathon. Another raincoat-wearing Six observes their escape, and another (possibly one of these two) later leads Centurion troops in pursuit of them.
- A copy of Six in a black suit, who acts as "overseer" to the breeding experiment concerning Helo and Sharon Agathon. This copy (or a similar one) later fights Starbuck hand-to-hand.
- Two copies (one in a black suit and one in a white raincoat) who are talking to each other as Helo and Sharon Agathon are trying to steal a transport to escape the planet.
- A copy seen by Starbuck when she is captured and taken to a "farm".
- Numerous naked copies of Six aboard a resurrection ship, seen both in reconnaissance pictures and when the ship is destroyed.
- A copy who sits in a movie theatre (with other Cylon models) and watches the footage broadcast from the Colonial Fleet by D'Anna Biers.
- Copies, clad in gold tunics, who act as "nurses" or "midwives", helping Caprica-Six and Boomer through their respective resurrections.
- Several copies seen walking around Cylon-occupied Caprica going through daily life in the episode "Downloaded", in a variety of different outfits.
- Copies who are killed when Samuel Anders and Galen Tyrol detonate a bomb near a heavy raider.
- Two copies that take part in a meeting aboard Colonial One on New Caprica, and agree with the proposal to execute over 200 human detainees. They vote on behalf of the majority of the Number Six model (Caprica-Six dissents).
- A raven-haired copy, dying from a disease aboard a basestar, whom Baltar strangles after she hysterically accuses him of deliberately leading them to the disease-carrying beacon.
- A copy, dying from a disease aboard a basestar, who is taken captive by Galactica. Later, she and the rest of the Cylon prisoners are killed by Helo in an attempt to prevent genocide against the Cylons.
[edit] External links
| Characters on Battlestar Galactica |
| Lee "Apollo" Adama | William Adama | Karl "Helo" Agathon | Gaius Baltar | Anastasia "Dee" Dualla | Felix Gaeta | Laura Roslin Kara "Starbuck" Thrace | Cally Tyrol | Number Three | Number Six | Number Eight | Samuel Anders | Tory Foster | Saul Tigh | Galen Tyrol |
| List of Battlestar Galactica characters |
