The Battlestar Galactica Quiz

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7 min
The Battlestar Galactica Quiz
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About This Quiz

Note: Except where specified, all questions refer to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series (2003-2009) developed by Ronald D. Moore.
Who or what was “Scar,” in the third season episode of the same name?
A notoriously cunning and lethal Cylon Raider.
Scar was the Cylon Raider responsible for the death of many of Galactica’s Viper pilots. Kat and Starbuck eventually defeated Scar.
The first Number Four model of Cylon seen in the series.
The call sign of Viper pilot Louanne “Kat” Katraine
The code name for a top-secret plan to abandon the Fleet in case of emergency

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Why does Kara feel guilt over the death of Zak Adama?
She let Zak graduate flight school even though he wasn’t qualified
As she confessed to Lee in the pilot miniseries, Kara gave Zak passing marks because they were romantically involved, not because Zak had any real “feel for flying.” The Zak storyline reimagined the fate of original series character Zac, Apollo’s brother, played by future rocker Rick Springfield.
She never told Zak she loved him before he died
She was in a relationship with Zak even though she loved his brother more
She signed off on the flightworthiness of Zak’s Viper without inspecting the ship herself

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Whenever Commander Adama greets Starbuck with the question, "What do you hear?," what is Starbuck’s response?
"Nothing but the rain"
Starbuck responds, "Nothing but the rain." Adama responds, “Then get your gun, and bring the cat in.” Ronald D. Moore wrote the litany as a piece of military chant, but hinted in interviews that it held deeper meaning for the characters (if so, that significance was never revealed onscreen).
"I live outside the box"
"Must be some way outta here"
"Nothing but the wind"

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Which actor from the original Battlestar Galactica series returned to play a prominent recurring role in the re-imagined series?
Dirk Benedict
Terry Carter
Richard Hatch
Richard Hatch, the original series’ Apollo, played Tom Zarek, former prisoner and President Roslin’s political nemesis, in 22 episodes of the re-imagined series. Hatch advocated for his own continuation of the series during the 1990s, writing several new Galactica novels and even producing a trailer, entitled The Second Coming.
Maren Jensen

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What was the short-lived, 2010-2011 Syfy prequel series that chronicled Adama family history and the creation of the Cylons?
The Colonials
Caprica
The prequel series was called Caprica. It starred Esai Morales as attorney Joseph Adama (William’s father) and Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone, who transferred his daughter Zoe’s consciousness into the first Cylon body.
Blood and Chrome
The Plan

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Which of the following characters never occupies the office of President of the Colonies?
Laura Roslin
Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek served as Vice-President after the fleet’s sojourn on New Caprica, but never assumed the presidency. He did, however, help stage an ill-fated coup in the fourth season.
Lee Adama
Gaius Baltar

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What was the name of the Pyramid team Sam Anders captained on Caprica?
The Picon Panthers
The Tauron Bulls
The Aerilon Warriors
The Caprica Buccaneers
Anders captained the Buccaneers. The team’s slogan was “C-Bucks Rule!” In the 1978 Battlestar Galactica, pyramid was a card game, not a ball game.

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Which of the following pairs is not a sparring match-up seen during the Galactica crew’s “fight night” in the third season episode “Unfinished Business”?
Starbuck and Chief Tyrol
Admiral Adama and Hot Dog
Admiral Adama and Hot Dog did not fight (although Hot Dog did lose a match to Apollo). In real life, Bodie Olmos, who played Hot Dog, is Edward James Olmos’ (Admiral Adama) son.
Apollo and Starbuck
Helo and Apollo

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Which of these physical artifacts proved critical in the Galactica’s search for Earth in the reimagined series?
Sword of Damocles
Eye of Jupiter
Heart of Picon
Arrow of Apollo
President Roslin sends Starbuck back to Caprica to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo. It activates a planetarium on Kobol that shows the position of the constellations as seen from Earth’s surface.

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What term does Commander Helena Cain use to refer to someone who can set aside “every natural inhibition that during battle can mean the difference between life and death?”
Switchblade
Razor
Cain calls such people, herself included, “razors.” Razor was also the title of the made-for-TV movie focusing on Cain and the only other surviving battlestar, Pegasus, which aired between seasons three and four.
Raptor
Arrowhead

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Which of these characters from the original Battlestar Galactica series had no direct counterpart in the reimagined series?
Athena
Serina
Serina—a reporter who survived the Cylon attack, only to be mortally wounded by Centurions on the planet Kobol—was played by Jane Seymour, and was not “reimagined” for the new series (although the reimagined Apollo was married, also briefly, to Dualla).
Baltar
Commander Cain

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In the original Battlestar Galactica series, the young boy Boxey had a robotic dog named what?
Muffit
The dog’s name was Muffit; its species was “daggit.” After Muffit died on Caprica during the Cylon attack, Galactica scientists constructed a robotic duplicate (played by a chimpanzee in a suit).
Daggit
Buffy
Trapper

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What critical substance fuels the Galactica and the fleet?
Dilithium
Berillium
Tylium
Tylium fuels the Galactica and the fleet. In the third-season episode “Dirty Hands,” Chief Tyrol heads a successful labor strike to improve deplorable working conditions aboard Hitei Kan, the fleet’s sole tylium processing ship.
Adamantium

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What favorite saying does Commander Adama use to describe a tough decision?
"Sometimes you have to stand your ground, no matter the cost."
"Sometimes you have to roll the hard six."
"Sometimes you have to roll the hard six." On one occasion, Lee confessed his own confusion about his father’s maxim, saying, "I don’t really know what it means, either."
"Sometimes you just have to jump in blind."
"Sometimes you have to play the wrong card to win."

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In the 2003 miniseries, why does Karl “Helo” Agathon stay behind on post-apocalyptic Caprica?
He gives up his seat on the raptor for Gaius Baltar
Helo stayed behind so Baltar could go to the Galactica. Helo recognized the computer genius and reasoned Baltar’s talents would be needed. The show’s creative team hadn’t planned for Helo to continue beyond the miniseries, but Tahmoh Penikett’s performance convinced them to keep Helo aboard.
He gives up his seat on the raptor for Boxey
He is detained by Cylon Centurions and misses his rendezvous with the raptor
Sharon’s secret Cylon programming leads her to take off without Helo

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What civilian ship does Apollo shoot down at the climax of the series’ first regular episode, "33"?
Cloud Nine
Rising Star
Olympic Carrier
Lee reluctantly destroys the Olympic Carrier. Commander Adama fears the ship’s unexplained absence and return mean Cylon agents are aboard. Ronald D. Moore wanted Lee—and the audience—to see passengers through the Olympic Carrier’s windows, but network pressure resulted in no clear indication of whether the ship was inhabited when destroyed.
Astral Queen

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In the first season episode "You Can’t Go Home Again," how does Kara return to Galactica after having crash landed on a planet?
She learns to control the Cylon Raider that crashed on the planet with her.
Kara learns to fly the crashed Raider. She uses tape to write a message on the underside of its hull to let Galactica know she is aboard, and is not an enemy fighter.
She enters the Temple of the Five and finds herself transported back to Galactica.
She improvises an emergency distress beacon to attract Galactica’s attention.
Her mysterious return, in a pristine new Viper, remained unexplained.

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What lie does Leoben whisper in Roslin’s ear in the first season episode "Flesh and Bone?"
He tells her she is a Cylon.
He tells her Commander Adama is a Cylon.
Leoben whispers in Roslin’s ear, “Adama is a Cylon.” Roslin orders Leoben pushed out an airlock, but is still wrestling with doubts about Adama as the next episode, "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down," begins.
He tells her Gaius Baltar is a Cylon.

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In the original Battlestar Galactica series, “felgercarb” was a curse word. In the reimagined series, “felgercarb” was:
A variety of algae
A brand of toothpaste
In the fourth season episode “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Starbuck offers the last known tube of Felgercarb toothpaste as a reward to the first Viper pilot to discover a habitable planet for the Fleet.
A planet alluded to in the Pythian prophecy
A character popular in Caprican children’s books

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What song “switches on” four of the Final Five Cylons in the last episode of season three?
"Stairway to Heaven"
"Purple Haze"
"All Along the Watchtower"
In a 2009 interview, Ronald D. Moore told TV Guide he chose “All Along the Watchtower” as the song that “awakens” the final Cylons to suggest that music persists in humanity’s collective unconscious throughout thousands of generations.
"Tears of Rage"

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In the fourth season episode “The Ties that Bind,” where is Cally when she learns that Tyrol, Tory, Anders and Tigh are Cylons?
Crawlspace next to a weapons locker
Cally is in the crawlspace next to weapons locker 1701D, numbered in tribute to the U.S.S. Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation, on which Ronald D. Moore worked as a writer and story editor.
Air duct above the CIC
Closet in the back of the Viper pilots’ ready room
Hiding under a Viper on Landing Bay 3

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Who is Nicholas Tyrol’s biological father?
Galen Tyrol
Brendan “Hot Dog” Costanza
In “A Disquiet Follows My Soul,” Hot Dog learns he is little Nick’s biological father. Tyrol tells Hot Dog that being a father “sucks—except for the parts that don’t.”
Hamish “Skulls” McCall
Peter Laird

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D’Anna Biers, the journalist who reports on the fleet in the episode “Final Cut,” is revealed to be which model of Cylon?
Number Four
Number Three
D’Anna was a Number Three. She was played by Lucy Lawless, arguably best known to science fiction and fantasy fans as Xena, Warrior Princess.
Number Six
Number Ten

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Why did the other Cylons “box,” or permanently kill (so they thought), the Number Three line?
A Three revealed the location of Earth to the Colonial Fleet
A Three opposed Caprica Six and Sharon’s plan to love rather than fight the humans
A Three saw the forbidden sight of the Final Five Cylons’ faces
Insatiably curious about the identity of the Final Five, a Number Three repeatedly killed herself in order to look on their faces in the moments between death and resurrection.
A Three infected a Cylon Baseship with a malicious computer virus

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Which of the following character dies in a terrorist attack aboard the luxury starship Cloud Nine?
Dualla
Boxey
Billy
Billy, President Roslin’s aide and would-be husband of Dualla, is killed in the second season episode “Sacrifice.” He was played by Paul Campbell, who later starred in another reimagined TV series, the 2008 version of Knight Rider.
Kat

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What lie does Felix Gaeta tell on the stand during Baltar’s trial?
Baltar transmitted the coordinates of New Caprica to the Cylons.
Baltar signed the mass execution order willingly, without hesitation.
Although Baltar was indirectly responsible for Cloud Nine’s destruction--he supplied the Cylon sympathizers with the nuclear device used to destroy it--Gaeta told the court Baltar willingly signed the mass execution order on New Caprica. In fat, Baltar signed it at gunpoint.
Baltar pled, unsuccessfully, for amnesty for Tom Zarek
Baltar was responsible for the destruction of luxury star liner Cloud Nine

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Who are the beings who operate Cylon baseships?
Centurions
Pre-Cogs
Hybrids
Hybrids operate Cylon baseships. They are living computers, female in appearance, who are half-submerged in pools of viscous liquid and who speak in seemingly incomprehensible mixtures of system status reports and ambiguous, oracular sayings.
Overseers

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What does Kara give Admiral Adama before she leaves Galactica on what appears to be her final flight?
A figurine of Aurora, goddess of the dawn
Kara gave Adama a figurine of Aurora which, at Kara’s suggestion, he mounted as the figurehead on the model ship he was building. Edward James Olmos improvised the scene in which Adama, distraught by Kara’s apparent death, smashes the model ship—not realizing the ship was an expensive replica, not a cheap prop.
A figurine of Pythia, prophet who wrote about the way to Earth
A figurine of Cassandra, the prophet doomed to speak unbelieved truth
A figurine of Artemis, the hunter goddess

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In “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1,” how does Brother Cavil claim he knows that Chief Tyrol isn’t a Cylon?
He says Tyrol registers as a human according to Baltar’s Cylon detection test.
He says Tyrol can’t be a Cylon because a true Cylon would not question his identity.
He says he hasn’t seen Tyrol at the Cylon meetings.
Cavil tells Tyrol, in a joking tone, “Oh, well, maybe because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings.” Cavil, of course, is eventually revealed as not only a Cylon but the first human-like Cylon model, John. He was played by Dean Stockwell, perhaps best known to science fiction fans as Al, the hologram who guided Dr. Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap.
He says Tyrol’s lifetime of memories proves Tyrol is a human being.

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What comedian had a small role in the fourth season episode “No Exit” as brain surgeon Dr. Gerard?
Jon Stewart
John Oliver
John Hodgman
John Hodgman played Dr. Gerard. Hodgman was an enthusiastic fan of the series, and writer Jane Espenson created the small role with Hodgman specifically in mind. In 2011, Hodgman told The A.V. Club that one of the highlights of his experience was hearing Starbuck tell his character to “frak off.”
John Goodman

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With what name does the deck christen the stealth Viper built in the second season episode “Flight of the Phoenix”?
Laura
The crew christens the new Viper the Laura, in honor of President Laura Roslin. She calls the craft “more than a ship… This is an act of faith. It is proof that despite all we've lost, we keep trying. And we will get through this, all of us, together.” The Laura, however, is eventually destroyed in the Galactica’s attack on the Cylon Resurrection Ship.
Caprica
Flosha
Pythia

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What major revelation concerning Hera’s identity occurs at the end of the series finale?
She is an angel sent from the Cylons’ one true God.
She is a previously unknown thirteenth model of Cylon.
She is “Mitochondrial Eve,” ancestor of all human life on our Earth.
Hera is revealed to be Mitochondrial Eve, the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of all humans alive today. Ronald Moore makes a cameo as the present day man reading a newspaper article about scientists’ discovery of Mitochondrial Eve (the study was published in the journal Nature in 1987).
She is gifted with telepathy and future sight.

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In the 2003 miniseries, what does the Galactica crew present to Commander Adama before the battlestar’s decommissioning ceremony?
His father’s refurbished pocket watch
His father’s recently discovered legal library
His refurbished Viper from the First Cylon War
The deck crew presents Adama with his old Viper, lovingly restored. The Viper bears Adama’s old call sign, “Husker,” on its hull. Lee Adama flies this Viper during the decommissioning ceremony itself.
His model sailing ship

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Stu Phillips’ theme song for the original BSG is heard three times in the reimagined series (restyled as the “Colonial Anthem”). Which of the following is NOT one of the occasions on which it is heard?
During the Galactica’s decommissioning ceremony in the pilot miniseries.
During D’Anna’s news report about the Fleet in “Final Cut."
When Baltar is inaugurated as president in “Lay Your Burdens Down.”
The theme is not played during Baltar’s inauguration. Original series composer Stu Phillips helped reimagined series composer Bear McCreary newly arrange the theme.
When the Galactica and fleet are flown into the sun in the series finale.

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When creator Glen Larson pitched Battlestar Galactica to networks in the late 1960s, what was the series’ title?
Saga of a Star World
Adam’s Ark
The series’ original title, “Adam’s Ark,” echoes the story of Noah. “Adam” (later “Adama”) protects the human survivors of the Cylon attack as they search for a new home, as Noah sheltered his family and the earth’s animals in his ark after the great flood. “Saga of a Star World” was the title of the original series’ feature-length premiere episode.
The Ragtag Fleet
Brothers of Man

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