The robotic Cylons in the new version of Battlestar Galactica are usually animated characters, while the Asgard in Stargate SG-1 are animated when they are shown walking around or more than one is on screen at once.

It is then revealed that present day humans are descended from a combination of native humans, Colonial humans, and humanoid Cylons.

The Cylons of the 1978 / 1980 series are not the mechanical foils seen throughout the series, but an advanced reptilian race who created the robots ( who were referred to as Cylons within the show ) to serve them, maintain their vast empire and to man their military forces in the face of a sudden population drop that eventually led to the Cylons ' extinction — seemingly overnight.

The Cylons of the 2003 miniseries and 2004 Battlestar Galactica series are fundamentally different from the Cylons of the original 1978 / 1980 series.

Although these human-form Cylons are the focus of the series, alongside the humanoid models there are also Centurions similar to those in the original series.

Adama points out that as long as the Cylons are kept out of the networks, humankind's superior numbers and the size of the industrial base gives humankind the tactical and strategic advantage.

Set during the year 1980, and a generation after the original series, the Galactica and its fleet of 220 civilian ships have finally discovered Earth, only to find that its people are not as scientifically advanced and that the planet can neither defend itself against the Cylons nor help the Galactica as originally hoped.

The " aliens " featured in the ride are suited actors ( and not animatronic as suggested in the film ) which closely resembled the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica.

This force of Battlestars and Vipers has held the Cylons at bay and can easily outwit superior Cylon numbers with human ingenuity ; Fleet personnel are renowned for their bravery and prowess in warfare in the Colonies and beyond.

No communications are received from the Cylons while the fleet is in transit.

Commander Adama of the Galactica suspects that the Cylons are up to something, and informs the President of his concerns, but the President states that it was the Cylons who sued for peace through Count Baltar, and tries to allay Adama's fears.

When told that the Cylons are likely simultaneously attacking the colony worlds as well, Adar dies in despair realizing the cost of his mistake aboard his flagship, the Battlestar Atlantia, when it is destroyed during The Destruction of the Twelve Colonies.

The Cylons attempt to crush the resistance by imprisoning, torturing, and even executing humans who are active in the resistance.

Eventually, the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus return to New Caprica to rescue the humans on the planet, and after a fierce battle in which the Pegasus is destroyed and numerous Cylons and humans are killed, humanity escapes, and resumes the course towards Earth.

Since the Cylons are dedicated to the complete annihilation of humanity, the Imperious Leader goes back on his word, and destroys all twelve Colonies in the attack.

The succeeding Imperious Leader ( also embodied by Dick Durock and voiced by Patrick Macnee ) spares Baltar's life, believing that Baltar, being human, would have a superior insight into the minds of the remnants of humanity which the Cylons are pursuing.

" Baltar then lands on Kobol itself, alone, to tell Adama a different story: He was " as much a victim " as anyone else in the destruction of the Colonies, and the Cylons -- being spread out all over the galaxy in search of the Galactica -- are vulnerable ; he proposes escorting the Galactica to Cylon in order to " launch a devastating counter-attack against those demons "-- with Starbuck's release as proof of his sincerity.

The Twelve Colonies have warred for decades with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons, whose goal is the extermination of the human race.

In the new version, the Cylons were created by humans as cybernetic workers and soldiers.

As in the original series, the Cylons destroy almost the entire human civilization, chasing a few ship-borne survivors into deep space.

Nicknamed " Caprica Six " by fellow Cylons, she is viewed as a hero within the Cylon civilization for her complete success in her mission to compromise the colonies ' defenses.

Despite the Colonies ' help, the Hasaris civilization was eventually destroyed by the Cylons.

In the main first-person display, the player can look out the front or rear of the ship and shoot " photons " at Zylon ships, which come in three different varieties reminiscent of ships from Star Wars, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica ( whose villains were the similarly titled Cylons ).

* Old " Cylons " at Battlestar Wiki

* New " Cylons " at Battlestar Wiki

Each year the Humans sent an officer ; the Cylons sent no one — until 40 years after the war ended, when the Cylons suddenly reappeared at Armistice Station with no warning.

The Plan shows exactly what happened: after preparing a massive fleet at The Colony ( Cylon base that was basically the Cylon home world and site of the final battle between Galactica and the Cylons ), the Cylons jumped their fleet into the orbits of the Twelve Colonies.

Forty years after the end of the Cylon War, the Cylons were ready to strike at the Colonies again.

Baltar, however, had no method at the time for testing for Cylons in the fleet.

* Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica which focuses on the guerrilla war against the Cylons by the former citizens of the Twelve Colonies on New Caprica.

It is also revealed that the final five Cylons had previous lives on Earth 2000 years in the past, when an apparent nuclear war devastated the planet.

The original 1978 Battlestar Galactica series and the remake in 2003 to 2009, depicts a race of Cylons, sentient robots who war against their Human adversaries.

The remake Cylons eventually had their own civil war and the losing rebels were forced to join with the fugitive Human fleet to ensure the survival of both groups.

Humans often derisively refer to Cylons as " toasters ," due to the resemblance of the Cylon centurions from the first Human / Cylon war ( the design of which is based on that of the centurions from the original series ) to " walking chrome toasters ", as described by Gaius Baltar in the miniseries.

In the original series the Cylons, an aggressively expanding empire, declared war on Humanity because they intervened on behalf of a race of beings called the Hasaris who had been enslaved by the Cylons and who had sought the aid of the Colonials.

She points out that most of the Cylons ' failings, including those mentioned above, along with Number Two Leoben Conoy's interaction with Lieutenant Kara " Starbuck " Thrace and Shelly Godfrey's failure to ruin Gaius Baltar, have been due to love, and leaves the room telling Cavil that " you can't declare war on love ".

They fought a thousand-year war with the Cylons, warrior robots created by a reptilian race which expired long ago, presumably destroyed by their own creations.

The war with the Cylons had lasted 1, 000 yahrens ( years ), and in that time both sides, human Colonials and Cylons, suffered heavy losses with no end in sight.

Unknown to the new Fleet, they ended up with thirteen Cylons within it: the Final Five, the Cavil responsible for the destruction of the Colonies and the war that followed, two Sixes, a Doral, a Leoben, a Three, a Simon and a Sharon who was a sleeper agent on Galactica.

They agreed to cease the war with humanity in exchange for the Final Five building them fully humanoid Cylons with the ability to resurrect.

The Cylons were designed as war robots, and they needed a new enemy after they had destroyed their biological masters.

Always seeking new and better technology, the Twelve Colonies created the Cylons — highly intelligent robots designed to make human lives easier ; however, the Cylons rebelled against their human masters, causing war to break out between man and their creations.

The war ended after twelve and a half years, when a peace accord was signed between the Twelve Colonies and the Cylons.

The Final Five, human-form Cylons from the legendary planet of Earth make the Centurions a deal: end the war with the humans and they will help the Centurions create human-form Cylons of their own ( something the Centurions had been trying and failing to do on their own ) and give them Resurrection technology.

The Colonials, hoping to prevent another war through diplomatic means, built Armistice Station as a place for Humans and Cylons to meet in order to maintain a peaceful dialogue between both races.

After three years of war, four of the Final Five learn of their identites as Cylons and during a battle, one is detected by a Cylon Raider, causing the Raiders to break off their attack on the Fleet, saving it.

Towards the last years of The Thousand Yahren War between the Cylons and the Twelve Colonies of Man, Council of Twelve-member Baltar acts as a liaison between the Twelve Colonies and the Cylons, and arranges for a peace conference that would bring an end to the war — with the Cylons apparently conceding defeat.