Number Six (Battlestar Galactica)

This article is about the character from the 2003 television miniseries and the 2004 television series Battlestar Galactica; for other meanings, see Number Six.

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Number Six is a gynoid Cylon agent portrayed by Canadian actress Tricia Helfer in the television remake of Battlestar Galactica which first aired as a mini-series in 2003 and continued as a weekly series aired in the United Kingdom in the fall of 2004 and in North America in early 2005.

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Number Six

Number Six is a seductive, blonde, statuesque Cylon infiltrator. She represents a new sequence ("six of twelve") of Cylons capable of adapting to human form and emotions. Little else is known of her earlier years.

In the beginning of the miniseries, we see her having an intense sexual affair with Dr. Gaius Baltar. Pretending to be an employee of a rival computer corporation, Number Six has Baltar slip her computer secrets from his defense work. Number Six then revealed to Baltar that she was really a Cylon, and 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 Worlds. That day, the Cylons launched their attack and destroyed most of humanity. In a twist of events, Baltar was later voted in as Laura Roslin's Vice President. In a further twist of events, Roslin may know that Baltar knew Number Six prior to the Cylon attack.

Six constantly remains in the memory of Dr. Baltar appearing as a real to him, yet invisible to everyone else. She suggested the reasons behind this were possibly a computer chip implant or insanity over his guilt. When Baltar underwent a "brain scan" (which appeared similar to an MRI), it revealed no sign of a computer chip or any other foreign object in his brain. While this briefly led Baltar to think that he had truly gone insane, he then realized that the visions of Number Six he sees could not possibly be a hallucination generated by his subconscious mind, because she was aware of facts that his own mind could not possibly know. For example, Number Six told Baltar that the first Human/Cylon Hybrid would be born in the ship's brig, and soon after the Caprican version of the Cylon Sharon Valerii (pregnant with the human Karl Agathon's child) was imprisoned in it. When Baltar confronted Six with this, she admited that she was neither a computer chip nor a hallucination produced by mental instability. When Baltar then asked just who or what she was, she simply replied that she was "an angel of God sent here to protect you".

In one episode entitled "Six Degrees of Separation", a copy of Number Six appears as "Miss Shelly Godfrey" and is visible to everyone.

Number Six can, like other of the new twelve models of cylons, retain memories and be downloaded into another body if the original body is damaged. Like her counterparts, her body was designed to mimic the human body at cellular level making them almost undetectable to testing procedures. Instances of Number Six have expressed sympathy and regret over the destruction of the colonies, and have also claimed to be in love with Baltar; it is not known as yet, however, if these feelings are genuine, subterfuge, or if they are simply a case of her programming mimicking human behavior. Her intentions and loyalties are also unclear. She has vastly helped humans by pointing out a Cylon bomb to Baltar on Galactica and helped him build a cylon detector, yet she also expresses enjoyment over what she considers the inevitable extinction of the human race.

Number Six often appears suddenly, without warning; usually only Baltar is aware of her presence. She advises and gives instructions to him; occasionally he is also "pulled" into a world within his mind where he interacts with her. 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).

When she interacts with him in the real world, Baltar can be physically affected by them - 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. This has created numerous awkward moments for Baltar on occasions when the illusory Number Six decides to do something sexual with him or when he is talking with her, yet no one else can see her.

Number Six is extremely religious. In contrast to the colonists, she believes in a monotheistic God, whom she identifies as Love. She has prompted Dr. Baltar to accept God's existence, and to accept that he is an important part of God's plan or will.

In the episode Pegasus, we learn that another copy of Number Six had hidden aboard the battlestar Pegasus, posing as a civilian dockworker. After 'Gina' (this Six's identity) was exposed as a Cylon, she was imprisoned and subjected to torture and gang rape by members of the Pegasus crew. By the time we meet her, 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 Six), Gina escapes and flees into the civilian fleet after murdering Admiral Cain. She has since joined a group of Cylon sympathizers, who want humanity to make peace with the Cylons. The sympathizers do not, however, know that Six is a Cylon.

In the episode Downloaded, we discover that the Number Six model that seduced Baltar and was destroyed saving him from consequences of a nuclear blast ended up downloaded into a new body. This Six is viewed as a hero amongst the Cylon civilization for her complete success in her mission to compromise the colonies' defenses. She also retained her sentimentality and expressed some regret at her actions, as evidenced by her constant visions of Baltar. This Baltar plays a similar role to her that the virtual Six plays towards the real Baltar, as a critical counselor. Six was enlisted to motivate the resurrected Sharon to move out of her apartment and reintegrate into Cylon society. Eventually, she joined Sharon after aiding a human rebel in preaching towards the Cylons that the way of peace is the way of their god.

Trivia

Aside from the Six we usually see (the one in Baltar's mind), several other copies of Six have appeared in various episodes. Whenever any given copy of Six meets a human being for the first time, she has often asked "Are you alive?" We see this happening in the miniseries and in some of the regular series episodes set on Caprica.

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).

Number Six is one of several sexy cyborg or android female characters in recent science fiction to be identified by a number. In Star Trek: Voyager, Seven of Nine is a former Borg drone (born a human female but later captured and assimilated) who becomes a member of the crew. In the animated series, Tripping the Rift, a character named Six is a pleasure android.

According to the novelizaton of the mini-series by science fiction novelist Jeffrey A. Carver, the human name that Baltar called Six before the Cylon revelation was "Natasi." Since this name has never been mentioned in the events of the screenplay or regular episodes, its canonical value is debatable, particularly since nearly two seasons of the regular series has been seen before this 2006 novelization of the mini-series was published.

The name 'Gina' (given to Number Six's counterpart aboard the Battlestar Pegasus) is a jab at some fans of the original series who proclaimed the remake to be 'GINO' - Galactica In Name Only.

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