List of Battlestar Galactica objects
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable objects found in Battlestar Galactica
, original
and new
continuities.
holocaust.
In the 1978 pilot episode, "Saga of a Star World
", Boxey
(Noah Hathaway) loses his pet daggit, Muffit, in the Cylon attack. Boxey is given a replacement pet, a robotic daggit named Muffit II, a prototype intended to replace the lost daggit species' warrior support roles.
Like a real daggit, the new Muffit proves its bravery and dedication to protecting humans during a dangerous fire aboard Galactica ("Fire in Space").
Muffit II made a regular appearance in the original series
, and was portrayed by a trained chimp named Evolution ("Evie"). Muffit does not play a role in the 2000s revival of Battlestar Galactica, where it appears that at least one dog survives the Cylon attack on the colonies.
In the reimagined series, dogs are simply called dogs, and unlike the original series, a number of these pets survive the holocaust and proceed to travel with the Fleet.
space ships, including for the purpose of faster than light (FTL) jumps. Tylium is featured in the original Battlestar Galactica
's pilot, where it was pronounced "Tie-lium".
In the original 1978 pilot episode/movie, there are references to mining tylium, which implies that it is a solid or is contained within a solid; however, fuel consumption meters on the Colonial Viper
instrument panel behave as if the fuel is a fluid.
, (one of the Lords of Kobol
), and was sought by the Colonial President Laura Roslin
. It was written in the scriptures that the arrow be taken to the legendary Tomb of Athena on Kobol
, and there it would point the way to the "lost" 13th colony of Earth
.
Before its retrieval, the arrow was kept in a museum in the city of Delphi on the colony of Caprica. Starbuck
takes the unauthorized mission in her captured Cylon Raider
, to go back to Caprica and retrieve the arrow for Roslin. She eventually finds the arrow unscathed in its display case
, along with encountering Karl "Helo" Agathon
and a copy of the Cylon
spy Sharon "Boomer" Valerii.
President Roslin and her opposition group against Commander Adama
fled to Kobol to await Starbuck's return. Roslin's spiritual advisor, Elosha
, had died during a Cylon attack on the planet when Roslin leads an expedition to find Athena's tomb. Later, they were peacefully reunited with Commander Adama who led a rescue team to find the rogue expedition.
With the unsettling help of the Cylon prisoner, Sharon, the group finally finds the Tomb and used the arrow to activate a "starmap" that showed celestial objects recognized by Adama. Getting his bearings, he decides to follow a course toward a distant nebula cloud which he believes will eventually guide them to Earth.
The arrow is loosely based upon the Liahona in Mormon theology, with which travelers could be directed toward the land where the Lord wished them to go.
or RADAR
. It works in space, can be interfered with by radiation, and has a hard time detecting composite material
s. Objects can be specially designed to avoid DRADIS (e.g. Stealthstar). Unlike conventional radar or sonar which only measures direction and distance in two dimensions, DRADIS measures direction in three dimensions - "carom".
During the episode "Rapture
" it was stated that the supernova itself was the "Eye of Jupiter", and the mosaic was part of a holographic interface to be used by "The Chosen One" to view the five priests of the temple during the beginning stages of the supernova.
, or "Faster Than Light", drive is a propulsion technology that allows spaceships to achieve superluminal travel. It functions along the basic principles of a jump drive
, with a ship disappearing from its initial location and reappearing instantaneously in a new location.
In the Miniseries
, some crewmembers are shown reacting with nausea
and/or vertigo
when undergoing a jump, though no harm appears to come to living beings even after many jumps. Making a jump eventually proves damaging to the ship's armor and structure in later episodes, after several years of continual combat and metal fatigue have taken their toll
on the elderly ship. An FTL jump can be executed in the gravity well of a planet (indeed, Galactica jumps in and out of a planet's atmosphere in the episode "Exodus, Part II
"). Nonetheless, it is preferred not to jump too close to a planet, not necessarily because of any physical limitations, but because if the coordinates are calculated wrong there is a risk that a ship might jump too close to the planet and crash into it, or reappear within the planet (This happens to a Raptor
in the episode "Lay Down Your Burdens"). Further, a BSG FTL drive can theoretically travel anywhere in the galaxy; the limiting factor is not the drive itself, but the finite distance that the navigation computer is able to safely calculate a jump trajectory; more advanced computers are able to calculate longer range jumps (e.g. the Cylons have better computers and have an effective jump range at least three times that of the Colonials). The extreme distance that a safe jump can be plotted is called "the Red Line", and while a vessel might jump a theoretically infinite distance beyond that, it is possible the vessel could end up colliding with a star, asteroid, or other space debris.
space ships, including for the purpose of FTL jumps. Tylium is the focus of episode 10, season one, and is pronounced "till-ium", or occasionally "Tylinium".
In the re-imagined series, raw Tylium ore appears as a yellow, sand-like substance before it is refined into a golden liquid similar in appearance to motor oil; however it flows quickly like gasoline. In the episode "Dirty Hands
", it is shown that the raw Tylium is stored in massive silos aboard the fleet's Refinery Ship where it is poured (by hand) onto conveyor belts and heated in ovens. It was never specified how this process actually converts the raw Tylium to a liquid state, however it is stated that "hot" Tylium is highly unstable, and if the carefully controlled process is interrupted it could "go critical" and explode.
In the episode "The Hand of God
", Gaius Baltar
mentions in dialog that the enthalpy
of refined Tylium is
(the enthalpy of combustion of gasoline is 
by comparison). Tylium is unstable and has a strong exothermic reaction if sufficiently heated, especially the less stable refined Tylium precursor. It is also mentioned that Tylium will become useless if subjected to strong radiation
, which renders the ore inert.
Battlestar Galactica: The only military vessel in the fleet, and is a combined "Battleship" and "Fighter Carrier". It deserves its own page as we learn much of how the ship works.
Colonial 1: The home of the President
Cloud 9: A beautiful civilian ship with an on board green house. The ship was destroyed by a Six.
Olympic Carrier: The Olympic Carrier was a civilian vessel destroyed by Adama in fear of a Nuclear attack by the Cylons. During the early stages of the flight from Caprica, the fleet was forced to make FTL jumps every 33 minutes due to Cylon attack. During one of the final jumps, the Olympic Carrier fell behind. It reappeared a number of days later. Because its location was unknown during this time, would not communicate with Galactica, and seem to have a nuclear radiation signature, Adama, much to the protest of the President, ordered his son to destroy it.
Tylium Refinery: The site of a major strike within the fleet, it employed people of all ages and truly brought to light the segregation of the different tribes within the fleet.
Viper: The primary attack fighter for the fleet.
Raptor: The search, rescue, bomber, troop deployment, and any other odd job multi use vessel of the fleet.
Viper Mark IV: A newer version of the Viper that Apollo and Starbuck fly later in the series
The Stealth Ship: A carbon composite ship built by Chief Tyrol and used successfully on an attack on a Resurrection ship before its quick demise.
CYLON VESSELS
Base Ship
Raider
Heavy Raider
Resurrection Ship
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
, original
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
and new
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
continuities.
Daggit
Daggits are a class of dog-like Colonial pets. Like Earth dogs, they served as a domesticated pet, watch animal, or tracker; none survived the CylonCylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
holocaust.
In the 1978 pilot episode, "Saga of a Star World
Saga of a Star World
"Saga of a Star World" is the pilot for the American science fiction television series of Battlestar Galactica which was produced in 1978 by Glen A. Larson...
", Boxey
Boxey
Boxey is a fictional character from the original Battlestar Galactica television series portrayed by Noah Hathaway. He is the son of Serina and the stepson of Captain Apollo. Boxey grows up to become Captain Troy in Galactica 1980, portrayed by Kent McCord...
(Noah Hathaway) loses his pet daggit, Muffit, in the Cylon attack. Boxey is given a replacement pet, a robotic daggit named Muffit II, a prototype intended to replace the lost daggit species' warrior support roles.
Like a real daggit, the new Muffit proves its bravery and dedication to protecting humans during a dangerous fire aboard Galactica ("Fire in Space").
Muffit II made a regular appearance in the original series
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
, and was portrayed by a trained chimp named Evolution ("Evie"). Muffit does not play a role in the 2000s revival of Battlestar Galactica, where it appears that at least one dog survives the Cylon attack on the colonies.
In the reimagined series, dogs are simply called dogs, and unlike the original series, a number of these pets survive the holocaust and proceed to travel with the Fleet.
Tylium
Tylium is a metallic ore, and is very rare throughout the known universe, but essential for fueling both human and CylonCylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
space ships, including for the purpose of faster than light (FTL) jumps. Tylium is featured in the original Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
's pilot, where it was pronounced "Tie-lium".
In the original 1978 pilot episode/movie, there are references to mining tylium, which implies that it is a solid or is contained within a solid; however, fuel consumption meters on the Colonial Viper
Colonial Viper
The Colonial Viper is the primary fighter spacecraft type used by the human protagonists in the Battlestar Galactica fictional universe. Appearing in both the 1978 original series and the 2003 reimagined series, as well as various derivative works, the single-pilot spacecraft are carried aboard...
instrument panel behave as if the fuel is a fluid.
Arrow of Apollo
The Arrow of Apollo is an ancient artifact; the symbol of the deity ApolloApollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, (one of the Lords of Kobol
Lords of Kobol
The Lords of Kobol are deities featured in the fictional universe of Battlestar Galactica. The Lords of Kobol are worshiped by the humans of the Twelve Colonies...
), and was sought by the Colonial President Laura Roslin
Laura Roslin
Her first actions include organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander William Adama to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons. President Roslin and Billy Keikeya, her aide/press secretary/chief of staff, establish a working office space aboard her transport, renamed...
. It was written in the scriptures that the arrow be taken to the legendary Tomb of Athena on Kobol
Kobol
Kobol is the name of a planet in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe.Within the context of both Battlestar Galactica stories, Kobol is the birthplace and original home of humanity, from which the civilization departed and formed the Twelve Colonies on other worlds...
, and there it would point the way to the "lost" 13th colony of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
Before its retrieval, the arrow was kept in a museum in the city of Delphi on the colony of Caprica. Starbuck
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
takes the unauthorized mission in her captured Cylon Raider
Cylon Raider
The Cylon Raider is the standard starfighter used by the Cylons, in the various Battlestar Galactica movies and television series. Cylon raiders are used as the main line of defense for Cylon Basestars.- Original series :...
, to go back to Caprica and retrieve the arrow for Roslin. She eventually finds the arrow unscathed in its display case
Display case
A display case is a cabinet with one or often more transparent glass sides and/or top, used to display objects for viewing, for example in an exhibition, museum, house, in retail, or a restaurant. Often labels are included with the displayed objects, providing information...
, along with encountering Karl "Helo" Agathon
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
and a copy of the Cylon
Cylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
spy Sharon "Boomer" Valerii.
President Roslin and her opposition group against Commander Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
fled to Kobol to await Starbuck's return. Roslin's spiritual advisor, Elosha
Elosha
Elosha is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.Elosha is a priestess who follows the religion of the Lords of Kobol. After having a troubled childhood, a young Elosha turned to religion and studied the scriptures inside and out, probably on the colony Gemenon...
, had died during a Cylon attack on the planet when Roslin leads an expedition to find Athena's tomb. Later, they were peacefully reunited with Commander Adama who led a rescue team to find the rogue expedition.
With the unsettling help of the Cylon prisoner, Sharon, the group finally finds the Tomb and used the arrow to activate a "starmap" that showed celestial objects recognized by Adama. Getting his bearings, he decides to follow a course toward a distant nebula cloud which he believes will eventually guide them to Earth.
The arrow is loosely based upon the Liahona in Mormon theology, with which travelers could be directed toward the land where the Lord wished them to go.
DRADIS
DRADIS "Direction, RAnge, and DIStance" is Battlestar Galacticas version of a remote sensing system akin to SONARSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
or RADAR
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
. It works in space, can be interfered with by radiation, and has a hard time detecting composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s. Objects can be specially designed to avoid DRADIS (e.g. Stealthstar). Unlike conventional radar or sonar which only measures direction and distance in two dimensions, DRADIS measures direction in three dimensions - "carom".
Eye of Jupiter
The Eye of Jupiter is a religious artifact left by the thirteenth tribe in the Temple of Five on the Algae Planet that points the way to Earth (according to the scrolls of Pythia). It is a raised mosaic in an alcove (also Eye of Jupiter) on the floor of the Temple of Five, with a hole in the ceiling to let a shaft of natural sunlight illuminate it. The design of the mosaic is based on the Eye of Jupiter Nova. The mosaic is destroyed by a nova reminiscent of the Eye of Jupiter.During the episode "Rapture
Rapture (Battlestar Galactica)
"Rapture" is the twelfth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. Aired on January 21, 2007, this episode marks the return of regular broadcasting after the Christmas mid-season hiatus.-Plot:...
" it was stated that the supernova itself was the "Eye of Jupiter", and the mosaic was part of a holographic interface to be used by "The Chosen One" to view the five priests of the temple during the beginning stages of the supernova.
FTL Drive
The FTLJump drive
A jump drive is one of the speculative inventions in science fiction, a method of traveling faster than light .Related concepts are hyperdrive, warp drive and interstellar teleporter. The key characteristic of a jump drive is that it allows a starship to be instantaneously teleported between two...
, or "Faster Than Light", drive is a propulsion technology that allows spaceships to achieve superluminal travel. It functions along the basic principles of a jump drive
Jump drive
A jump drive is one of the speculative inventions in science fiction, a method of traveling faster than light .Related concepts are hyperdrive, warp drive and interstellar teleporter. The key characteristic of a jump drive is that it allows a starship to be instantaneously teleported between two...
, with a ship disappearing from its initial location and reappearing instantaneously in a new location.
In the Miniseries
Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)
Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series...
, some crewmembers are shown reacting with nausea
Nausea
Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...
and/or vertigo
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
when undergoing a jump, though no harm appears to come to living beings even after many jumps. Making a jump eventually proves damaging to the ship's armor and structure in later episodes, after several years of continual combat and metal fatigue have taken their toll
Battlestar Galactica (season 4)
The fourth and final season of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States on April 4, 2008, and concluded on March 20, 2009. Similar to the second season, it was split into two parts, each containing 10 episodes...
on the elderly ship. An FTL jump can be executed in the gravity well of a planet (indeed, Galactica jumps in and out of a planet's atmosphere in the episode "Exodus, Part II
Exodus (Battlestar Galactica)
"Exodus" are the third and fourth episodes of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. The episodes originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel on October 16 and 23, 2006....
"). Nonetheless, it is preferred not to jump too close to a planet, not necessarily because of any physical limitations, but because if the coordinates are calculated wrong there is a risk that a ship might jump too close to the planet and crash into it, or reappear within the planet (This happens to a Raptor
Colonial Raptor
The Raptor is a multipurpose military spacecraft featured in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. According to producer Ronald D. Moore, the Raptor is analogous to the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler.-Description:...
in the episode "Lay Down Your Burdens"). Further, a BSG FTL drive can theoretically travel anywhere in the galaxy; the limiting factor is not the drive itself, but the finite distance that the navigation computer is able to safely calculate a jump trajectory; more advanced computers are able to calculate longer range jumps (e.g. the Cylons have better computers and have an effective jump range at least three times that of the Colonials). The extreme distance that a safe jump can be plotted is called "the Red Line", and while a vessel might jump a theoretically infinite distance beyond that, it is possible the vessel could end up colliding with a star, asteroid, or other space debris.
Tylium
Tylium is a metallic ore, and is very rare throughout the known universe, but essential for fueling both human and CylonCylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
space ships, including for the purpose of FTL jumps. Tylium is the focus of episode 10, season one, and is pronounced "till-ium", or occasionally "Tylinium".
In the re-imagined series, raw Tylium ore appears as a yellow, sand-like substance before it is refined into a golden liquid similar in appearance to motor oil; however it flows quickly like gasoline. In the episode "Dirty Hands
Dirty Hands (Battlestar Galactica)
"Dirty Hands" is the sixteenth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica.-Plot:A Raptor piloted by Racetrack experiences engine failure soon after launch and collides with Colonial One, nearly killing President Roslin and her aide Tory Foster...
", it is shown that the raw Tylium is stored in massive silos aboard the fleet's Refinery Ship where it is poured (by hand) onto conveyor belts and heated in ovens. It was never specified how this process actually converts the raw Tylium to a liquid state, however it is stated that "hot" Tylium is highly unstable, and if the carefully controlled process is interrupted it could "go critical" and explode.
In the episode "The Hand of God
The Hand of God (2004 Battlestar Galactica)
"The Hand of God" is the tenth episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It shares its title with the last episode of the original series....
", Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
mentions in dialog that the enthalpy
Enthalpy
Enthalpy is a measure of the total energy of a thermodynamic system. It includes the internal energy, which is the energy required to create a system, and the amount of energy required to make room for it by displacing its environment and establishing its volume and pressure.Enthalpy is a...
of refined Tylium is
(the enthalpy of combustion of gasoline is by comparison). Tylium is unstable and has a strong exothermic reaction if sufficiently heated, especially the less stable refined Tylium precursor. It is also mentioned that Tylium will become useless if subjected to strong radiationRadiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
, which renders the ore inert.
Vehicles
COLONIAL SHIPS:Battlestar Galactica: The only military vessel in the fleet, and is a combined "Battleship" and "Fighter Carrier". It deserves its own page as we learn much of how the ship works.
Colonial 1: The home of the President
Cloud 9: A beautiful civilian ship with an on board green house. The ship was destroyed by a Six.
Olympic Carrier: The Olympic Carrier was a civilian vessel destroyed by Adama in fear of a Nuclear attack by the Cylons. During the early stages of the flight from Caprica, the fleet was forced to make FTL jumps every 33 minutes due to Cylon attack. During one of the final jumps, the Olympic Carrier fell behind. It reappeared a number of days later. Because its location was unknown during this time, would not communicate with Galactica, and seem to have a nuclear radiation signature, Adama, much to the protest of the President, ordered his son to destroy it.
Tylium Refinery: The site of a major strike within the fleet, it employed people of all ages and truly brought to light the segregation of the different tribes within the fleet.
Viper: The primary attack fighter for the fleet.
Raptor: The search, rescue, bomber, troop deployment, and any other odd job multi use vessel of the fleet.
Viper Mark IV: A newer version of the Viper that Apollo and Starbuck fly later in the series
The Stealth Ship: A carbon composite ship built by Chief Tyrol and used successfully on an attack on a Resurrection ship before its quick demise.
CYLON VESSELS
Base Ship
Raider
Heavy Raider
Resurrection Ship