Dr. Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Lord Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series. He is one of the show's primary characters.
Personality
Gaius Baltar regularly uses a well-developed acting talent to spin yarns on virtually any subject when he feels the need. He possesses a dry, cynical sense of humour but is prone to bouts of neurosis. A charismatic genius and womanizer, he is initially portrayed as a self-serving opportunist, but becomes a braver and more caring character over the course of the series, expressing regret for having been "a profoundly selfish man." Baltar is initially an atheist, but ultimately converts to the Cylons' monotheistic religion. Baltar is described as "weak", "arrogant" and "a coward" by Lee Adama while Caprica Six describes Baltar as "narcissistic, self-centered, feckless and vain." William Adama once indicated that Baltar consistently sees himself as a "victim," allowing him to escape responsibility for his guilt. Later in the series, his most profound changes begin during his adoption (against his will) as a religious figure, and he begins demonstrating increased compassion and bravery. His eventual self-awareness, love for Caprica Six, and compassion for the Agathons also motivate him to humble himself, serving in the Colonial Fleet during Hera's rescue mission and eventually choosing a quiet life as a farmer.
Character biography
Early life Gaius Baltar claims to be from the colony of Aerilon, and that at the age of ten, finding the Aerilonian dialect to be detrimental to his career dreams, he trained himself to speak the Caprican dialect in hopes of one day being considered a citizen of one of the more respected and wealthy colonies such as Caprica. He also has a very troubled relationship with his father.
The destruction of the Twelve Colonies At the onset of the show, he is involved in a sexual relationship with a blonde woman. Believing her to be working for a corporation in the defense industry, and desiring a more permanent relationship with her, he gives her access to the highly classified Colonial defense mainframe (an act of treason punishable by the death penalty) so her employers can have an advantage in future contract bidding. In exchange for his access to the government mainframe, she helps him design a navigation program used by Colonial warships, covertly creating backdoors in the program. When the Cylons attack the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, they use those backdoors to penetrate software security firewalls, disabling entire fighter squadrons outright and sabotaging vital capital-ship systems. On the day the Cylons attack humanity, the woman reveals she is an advanced Cylon, model Number Six (later known as Caprica Six), and she used the information that Baltar gave her to shut down the Colonial defenses, thus making him responsible for the Cylons' successful genocidal campaign against the Twelve Colonies. Baltar manages to survive the nuclear explosion that destroys his home due to Caprica Six using her body to shield him.
As a result of the nuclear blast, Number Six is killed, and as a Cylon her memories are automatically "downloaded" during the blast to be later resurrected, as revealed in later episodes. For the duration of the series, Baltar is haunted by a version of Six only he can see. This woman toys with alternate explanations for her existence, from a Cylon chip in his brain sending signals, to an hallucination created out of guilt over the attacks, and thirdly to her being an Angel sent by God to watch over him, and Baltar finally assumes the latter following a medical checkup and rationalising that her extraordinary information to solve problems cannot simply be his own mind.
Having unintentionally brought about the near-annihilation of the human species, Baltar flees Caprica when Karl Agathon gives up his place on a Raptor, feeling that his own life is less important to save than a famed scientist's. The Raptor returns to the Battlestar Galactica, where Baltar attempts to endear himself to Laura Roslin, the new President of the remnants of the Twelve Colonies, and hopes to conceal his involvement in the genocide that has taken place.
Scientist for the Fleet
Once a part of the fleet, Baltar is haunted by visions of Number Six, with whom he converses often (cf. Head Six). It is unclear to Baltar whether these projections are from a chip Number Six implanted in his brain while they were together on Caprica (the explanation originally given by the Number Six vision, which she later disclaimed) or if she is simply a manifestation of Baltar's own mind. Although the vision of Number Six manipulates Baltar through his fear of discovery, she lends him an edge by granting him knowledge of situations. The model of Number Six who had seduced him on Caprica later experiences similar visions after her consciousness was downloaded into a new body. Whereas Baltar experienced visions of her, she experienced visions of him. Both visions acted in similar ways: they were seemingly crueler than the person they were based on and often manipulated the affected party against his or her own species.
Shortly after Baltar comes on board Galactica, Head Six reveals that a device that he had previously seen in possession of Six on Caprica has been surreptitiously installed in Galactica's Combat Information Center (CIC) (the command and control center of the battlestar). Head Six tells him it wasn't her job to put it in there. Baltar realizes there is a Cylon on board Galactica, but knows he cannot reveal that information, or indicate the device is not a part of the ship without implicating himself in the destruction of the Colonies. Baltar decides to implicate a person on board who goes by Aaron Doral because he is a civilian who has had access to the CIC during the last several weeks and, as an outsider, would be more likely to not be trusted by the Galactica crew. Having already been put in charge of testing the fleet for Cylons, Baltar informs the Executive Officer that he discreetly collected hair samples of crew members and has found Doral is a Cylon. Baltar, however, had no method at the time for testing for Cylons in the fleet. Baltar also explains he saw Doral doing something with a strange-looking device in the CIC he does not recognize. This forces him to develop an actual method for testing the fleet for Cylons, having already "demonstrated" an ability to do so. The process he eventually creates is reliable and is done through the testing of blood samples, but is time-consuming (it takes 11 hours to test one person).
In the episode "Six Degrees of Separation", Baltar is accused of being a traitor to the human race when a flesh-and-blood Number Six (after Baltar and Head Six have a heated argument over whether or not God exists) produces photographic evidence showing that Baltar carried an explosive device into the Colonial Defense Mainframe on Caprica, allowing the Cylons to carry out their nuclear attack. When it is found the evidence is fake, President Roslin holds a press conference publicly exonerating Baltar. Head Six tells him his public position is now stronger than ever since he has been accused of a serious crime and found innocent, and even possibly been the target of a Cylon plot. Meanwhile, the real-life Six disappears from Galactica and is nowhere to be found.
In the episode "The Hand of God", Baltar successfully helps the fleet destroy a Cylon mining base on an asteroid with badly needed tylium ores for fueling the fleet. The planners of the attack ask Baltar to point out where the best target for a bomb run is on a recon photo, even though he has no idea what it looks like. In his mind, Baltar asks Head Six for help, but she tells him it is in God's hands and He will 'tell' Baltar where to point. Baltar then points to one of the buildings of the base, simply as a wild guess. Much to Baltar's surprise, his guess was correct. Baltar comes to believe the only logical explanation is that God guided his hand.
Vice-Presidency
In the episode "Colonial Day", Baltar, now Caprica's representative to the Quorum of Twelve, is elected vice-president with Roslin's support. In the episode "Home, Part II", Baltar undergoes a brain scan that reveals no sign of a computer chip. He realizes his vision of Number Six could not be a hallucination, as she is aware of facts he could not possibly know. She tells him the first Human/Cylon Hybrid will be born in the ship's brig; soon, the Caprican version of the Cylon Sharon Valerii (pregnant with the human Karl Agathon's child) is imprisoned in it. When Baltar confronts Six with this, she simply replies she is "an angel of God sent here to protect you, to guide you, and to love you". Head Six later persuades Baltar to give a nuclear warhead to a pacifist movement. Admiral William Adama had given the nuclear warhead to Baltar in an earlier episode for use in constructing a Cylon detector.
Baltar proceeds to run for president against Roslin. He is far behind Roslin in the polls when a habitable planet is accidentally discovered in a region of space where heavy electromagnetic interference makes long-range observation difficult. Baltar announces that he will begin immediate civilian settlement of New Caprica if elected. Due to his support for settlement of New Caprica, the election promptly swings in Baltar's favor and he is sworn in as president. During the inauguration itself, the nuclear warhead Baltar gave up destroys a luxury liner. Following this apparent act of Cylon terrorism, Admiral Adama urges Baltar to focus immediately on internal security and investigate how a Cylon agent could have carried out the bombing. Baltar refuses, however, and proceeds with plans for settlement.
Presidency
After one year, life on New Caprica is extremely difficult, with the civilian population living in rough conditions and shortages of basic supplies like antibiotics persisting. A Cylon fleet arrives in orbit of New Caprica and the remaining military fleet jumps away. A Cylon delegation accepts Baltar's surrender. When Baltar asks how the Cylons managed to detect New Caprica, it is revealed they were a light-year away when they detected the light and radiation from the nuclear explosion Gina set off the year before. Baltar continues to hold the office of the Presidency, but only as a figurehead. Compounding his alienation to his people, he was forced at gunpoint to sign an execution order for hundreds of humans. Throughout the occupation of New Caprica, Baltar tried to persuade the Cylons their mission to rule over the human race could not succeed and they should leave the planet. When the Colonials evacuate New Caprica, Baltar and Caprica-Six discover Hera, the child of Sharon "Athena" Agathon whom Head Six predicted would be born in Galactica's Brig. Baltar's rescue of the child helps him convince the Cylons to make him a member of their fleet.
Life among the Cylons
In the episode "Collaborators", we find Baltar living on a Cylon Basestar in a barless cell. Caprica-Six informs Baltar she has had a change of heart about him and has let her feelings for him cloud her judgment, presumably ending their relationship. By the end of the episode, however, it is indicated she has cast the tie-breaking vote amongst the Cylons to allow Baltar to remain alive aboard the Cylon Basestar, though it is clear they remain estranged. Over time, Baltar becomes accustomed to his new environment. Once Baltar learns that no one knows what the "Final Five" Cylons look like, he begins to suspect that he himself may be a Cylon. He admits that this is wishful thinking on his part, because of his desire to have all his 'sins' forgiven and become a hero to another people.