Every Major Battlestar Galactica Villain, Ranked

This article contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault.

While the characters in the original Battlestar Galactica that began airing in 1978 had a fairly clear delineation of good and evil — with the human characters the good guys and the Cylons the bad guys — the 2004 Battlestar Galactica reboot series took a more nuanced approach. Characters who at first seem villainous eventually work toward the greater good of society. Conversely, some who at first seem innocent eventually show their true colors and turn toward the dark side.

This emphasis on moral gray areas and the ability to grow and change from villainy to heroics represents one of Battlestar Galactica’s core themes. That being said, there are still characters in the 2004 Battlestar Galactica reboot that are decidedly more villainous than others, either because they commit unredeemable deeds or because they harbor such hate in their hearts it skews their reasoning and turns them into ruthless figures.

10 Gaius Baltar

Played By James Callis

A prime example of a Battlestar Galactica character who starts out his journey causing harm, but eventually does the right thing, Gaius Baltar is less a villain, more of a self-serving opportunist at the beginning of the show. He is unwittingly complicit in the killing of 50 billion humans, and time and again his actions are rooted in saving his own hide rather than helping others. He is spineless, arrogant, and narcissistic, and he lacks a true moral compass.

It still takes him awhile to truly commit himself to the forces of good, but Baltar does eventually get there, and he works toward a lasting peace between the humans and the Cylons.

But as the series progresses, so does Gaius Baltar. With the help of Number Six (Tricia Helfer), Baltar begins to see the light. It still takes him awhile to truly commit himself to the forces of good, but Baltar does eventually get there, and he works toward a lasting peace between the humans and the Cylons. Still, throughout the course of the series, audiences never really know what to expect from Baltar, and this loose-cannon status just edges him into the realm of villainy.

9 Number Six

Played By Tricia Helfer

Number Six might be the most complex character in all of Battlestar Galactica. Her Cylon model is programmed to infiltrate human spaces, often by means of seduction, in order to carry out mass slaughter. But Number Six also experiences a wide range of human emotions, including love. Because of this, all incarnations of Number Six eventually become sympathetic to humans, deciding to work with them instead of against them in the pursuit of a more peaceful world.

This arc toward goodness doesn’t entirely erase Number Six’s evil deeds, however. She is directly responsible for the genocide of the Twelve Colonies that wiped out most of humanity, after all. And while this act haunts Number Six, particularly Caprica Six, it demonstrates the character’s ability to set aside moral reservations in the pursuit of militaristic Cylon goals.

8 Number Three

Played By Lucy Lawless

Much like Gaius Baltar, Number Three, a.k.a. D’Anna Biers, primarily looks out for herself. While she is predominantly allied with the Cylon mission to wipe out all of humanity, Number Three ultimately has her own agenda, and will stop at nothing in pursuit of it. This includes manipulating and endangering both humans and Cylons alike. Number Three’s duplicitousness shows how untrustworthy, and thus dangerous, she truly is.

One of Number Three’s most insidious acts is advocating for the boxing of Number Six and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park) after they come to believe the Cylons’ attack on the Twelve Colonies was a sin, demonstrating a hardline attitude toward Cylon logic. And yet, ironically, Number Three is herself boxed, wiping out her entire line, after she dares to question Cylon law in her pursuit of unveiling the Final Five.

7 Ellen Tigh

Played By Kate Vernon

The manipulative and power-hungry wife of Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan), Ellen Tigh will do anything to ensure her husband’s high-ranking status aboard the Battlestar Galactica, including seducing other men. She also brings out the worst tendencies in Saul, namely his alcoholism and penchant for self-loathing. Ellen is a constant source of antagonism for both Saul and Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos), and her actions are usually reckless and unpredictable.

Ellen’s betrayal comes from an understandable place — she did it to save Saul’s life — but the danger she inflicted upon the Resistance outweighs any nobility coloring her motives.

Ellen’s most egregious act is her betrayal of a group of human Resistance fighters led by Saul, which leads to a vicious Cylon attack and significant loss of life. This offense is punishable by death, and Saul himself carries out the execution by poisoning his wife. It’s one of the most tragic and heartbreaking deaths in Battlestar Galactica. Ellen’s betrayal comes from an understandable place — she did it to save Saul’s life — but the danger she inflicted upon the Resistance outweighs any nobility coloring her motives.

6 Number Four

Played By Rick Worthy

When audiences first meet Number Fou, a.k.a. Simon O’Neill, he is posing as a medic for the human resistance and attending to Kara “Starbuck” Thrace’s (Katee Sackhoff) gunshot wound. It is ultimately revealed, however, that Number Four is, in fact, a Cylon, one that functions on cold, hard logic, which he applies to his actual mission: kidnapping women, strapping them into machines, and forcing them into a breeding program aimed at producing human-Cylon hybrids.

Not only this, when the Cylons must decide whether to give the more machine-like Centurion Cylons sentience or lobotomize them, Number Four votes for the latter, and is tasked with carrying out the nefarious deed himself. Despite his allegiance to some of the Cylons’ more devious causes, at least one Number Four demonstrates an ability to adopt human emotions, and sacrifices himself rather than kill an entire ship full of humans, proving that even the most cold-blooded Cylons have the capacity to change.

5 Tory Foster

Played By Rekha Sharma

When the other members of the Final Five learn they are actually Cylons, it sends them into an existential crisis, as everything they thought they understood about themselves was discovered to be false. This isn’t the case for Tory Foster, however, who fully embraces her new identity, feeling that it frees her from the limitations of human existence. While Tory ultimately sides with the faction of Cylons working toward peace with the humans, she proves herself to be perfectly capable of cruel acts if it suits her.

Case in point: when Cally (Nicki Clyne) discovers her husband Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) and Tory are Cylons, she attempts to take her own life and the life of her infant son by launching herself out of Battlestar Galactica’s airlock. Tory manages to calm Cally down and talk her off the proverbial ledge; but when Tory has the baby in her arms, she locks Cally in the airlock and shoots her into space anyway. She does this simply to keep her Cylon status a secret from the rest of the ship, and feels no remorse whatsoever for the murder.

4 Number Two

Played By Callum Keith Rennie

Number Two, a.k.a. Leoben Conoy, is one of the most fanatically religious of all the Cylons on Battlestar Galactica, believing himself to be a prophet for the “one God.” This in and of itself doesn’t make Number Two a villain — in fact, his religious convictions ultimately lead him to pursue peace with the humans — but it does reveal an obsessive side to his personality that manifests itself in dangerous and disturbing ways.

Number Two was often written off as an unstable presence, his religious visions taking the flavor of the rantings of a madman. However, the way Battlestar Galactica ended leaves open the interpretation that his ravings were indeed prophetic.

This is most prominently seen when a Number Two copy becomes infatuated with Starbuck and abducts her. He keeps her imprisoned and inflicts psychological torment on her, telling Starbuck she unknowingly gave birth to a human-Cylon hybrid, and presenting her with a stolen child as “proof.” And because they were within range of a Resurrection Ship, Number Two ensures that every time Starbuck kills him and tries to escape, he always comes back to keep her in his grip.

3 Number Five

Played By Matthew Bennett

While not as prominent a character as some of his fellow Cylons, Number Five, a.k.a. Aaron Doral packs a punch when he does appear on Battlestar Galactica. Highly militant and ruthless, Number Five despises humans, and wholly supports their eradication. He is at odds with Cylons like Number Six, who recognize that humans have good in them despite their flaws and the evil they sometimes spread in the world.

This egregious act demonstrates how Number Five is willing to sacrifice one of his own if it will lead to wholesale human slaughter.

This disdain for humanity leads Number Five to heartlessly execute Number Six during a tense standoff on New Caprica. Five holds Gaius Baltar at gunpoint, ordering him to sign off on the deaths of 200 human prisoners. When Six protests, Number Five shoots her point-blank in the head. This egregious act demonstrates how Number Five is willing to sacrifice one of his own if it will lead to wholesale human slaughter.

2 Number One

Played By Dean Stockwell

Number One, a.k.a. John Cavil, is the primary antagonist of Battlestar Galactica, having orchestrated the deadly Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. Number One’s hatred of humans tops Number Five’s by leaps and bounds. He sees them as nothing more than vermin, akin to a stain in need of scrubbing from all existence. Number One is absolutely Machiavellian in this pursuit, and he openly mocks his fellow Cylons who show any sympathy whatsoever toward the humans.

On top of his genocidal attitudes toward humans, Number One seems to even hate his own kind, as he despises the Final Five, his creators, almost as much, viewing the humanity they imbued in the other Cylons as a curse. He also believes himself to be the superior Cylon above all other models. Number One’s parallels to fascistic modes of thinking are quite apparent, making him the ultimate villainous Cylon in all of Battlestar Galactica.

1 Helena Cain

Played By Michelle Forbes

The most evil character of Battlestar Galactica isn’t a Cylon, but in fact a human being, Rear Admiral Helena Cain, commander of the Battlestar Pegasus. Callous and exacting, Cain commits numerous atrocities against Cylons and humans alike, even going so far as sanctioning the torture and sexual assault of a Number Six as an interrogation method. Cain also plunders other human ships for parts, leaving the crews susceptible to attack.

Helena Cain's existence is a testament to the idea that blind allegiance to any cause can turn monsters into anyone, regardless of which side they’re fighting on.

Casting a human as the most villainous character in the entire series perfectly epitomizes Battlestar Galactica’s most prominent theme, that the supposed good guys aren’t always the most morally upright individuals, and that characters deemed as evil are capable of doing good in the world, provided they commit to the pursuit of peace. Helena Cain's existence is a testament to the idea that blind allegiance to any cause can turn monsters into anyone, regardless of which side they’re fighting on.