The First Cylons

[kingfish]

Thought I would start this one. I wonder where/how Glen Larson came up with the mechanical Cylons? I had a thought, Daleks. What gave me that thought?

Baltar: What is the standing order for humans?

Centurion: Extermination.

I saw a number of Dr Who Dalek episodes where these machines rolled around spouting off the same line while desintegrating hapless humans.

[Dawg]

I can't help but imagine the influences were legion.

Glen's influences probably go back to the 1930's pulp sci-fi magazines, Heinlein, and every other sci-fi author who wrote of the potential of man vs. machine conflict. The basic thought is hardly unique; it's up to the creator of the specific work to make that rendition of that basic idea something special. Daleks were one such creation. Cylons were another.

And don't forget the original concept for the Cylon was a blending of organic and inorganic - the term coined for this was "cyborg" (think "Six Million Dollar Man"). However, network censors nixed the idea because killing machines wasn't as upsetting.

I doubt the "extermination" line came from the Daleks (but at the same time it wouldn't surprise me). That word - Extermination - carries a finality to it that "kill them" or something similar simply doesn't. It's a single word that says "genocide", "destroy" and "eliminate" all at once. I think any writer worth his salt would have chosen that word for that moment, whether or not he'd ever heard of Dr. Who.

But that's just my opinion. It's a good one, of course, if only because I'm a writer, but it's just mine.



I am
Dawg

[Stray Viper]

Extermination also infers that humanity is a pest, like a colony of insects to be destroyed for the benefit or comfort of other living beings. And the single eye signifies a focus, a singleminded purpose, to destroy mankind. They have no conscience or decision making of their own. Of course, Starbuck proved all that wrong in "Return of Starbuck" but it was a nice thought anyway. Dawg, I agree that the man vs. machine theme was most likely the inspiration for the Centurions, but I wonder why Larson did not make the Cylons a race of robots, but rather a race of alien creatures with a robot army?

It just made me think of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for a moment there, with the alien Trade Federation bosses using a droid army to conquer a world.

[Ninja]

This is from a website that I posted the link to in a different thread.

quote "Glen Larson originally planned for the Cylons to be living aliens underneath their armor, but ABC vetoed the idea due to its non-violence standards. Their reasoning was that it would be too violent to have the Colonial warriors killing living beings so it was decided that the Cylons would be machines"