Battlestar Galactica 2004's Best Character Was Made Possible By A Big Change To The 1970s Series
Battlestar Galactica's 2004 reboot series made many changes to its source material, and one of those deviations led directly to the show's best character. Beyond the name and central premise, Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica TV show shared very little in common with the 1970s series created by Glen A. Larson. Moore's tone was darker, the story was richer, the characters were more nuanced, and the Cylons were more fleshy. Nevertheless, Battlestar Galactica's reboot retained many main characters from the original series, including Starbuck, the Adamas, and Colonel Tigh.
Most of these recycled characters only carried a vague resemblance to their namesakes. Battlestar Galactica 2004's cast of characters received more layered development, more backstory, and more color to their personalities. In virtually every case, the reboot's character alterations could be considered improvements, but one reinvention proved particularly successful by turning a run-of-the-mill antagonist into one of sci-fi's greatest characters.
Baltar Is A Completely Different Character In Battlestar Galactica 2004 Compared To The Original Show
Lord Baltar & Gaius Baltar Are Barely Alike
Played by John Colicos, Lord Baltar (as he was known in 1978) was a sci-fi villain typical of that era. Almost Looney Tunes-esque, Baltar fumbled from one dastardly scheme to the next, always serving his own interests and willing to plumb any moral depths. Always capable of a classic bad guy cackle, Colicos played Baltar with an over-the-top slant not dissimilar to the Master in early Doctor Who, or a pantomime villain whose arrogance and wickedness inevitably bring about their downfall.
Antihero might be a bit strong, but Gaius was certainly more of a force for good.
Had James Callis' character in Battlestar Galactica 2004 not been named "Gaius Baltar," it would have been very difficult to guess he was adapted from the 1978 series at all. Crucially, Gaius Baltar was not cut from the same straightforward villain cloth as Lord Baltar. Gaius' dalliance with the Cylons was largely accidental, and while Callis' version of the character was willing to lie and cheat his way to glory, Gaius lacked the stomach for crimes as severe as murder and treason when Battlestar Galactica's reboot introduced him.
While Battlestar Galactica's 1970s Baltar was outright evil, 2004's Gaius Baltar often found himself caught between his greed, his survival instinct, and his inner desire to atone for inadvertently causing humanity's downfall. Even during Baltar's worst moments - his stint as president of New Caprica, for instance - Gaius would strive to do the right thing when the opportunity presented itself. Antihero might be a bit strong, but Gaius was certainly more of a force for good when judging his arc in its entirety.
Battlestar Galactica Changing Baltar Made Him The Reboot's Most Interesting Character
An Authentic Baltar Would Have Been Boring
Reinventing Baltar was one of Battlestar Galactica 2004's cleverest moves. Instead of a predictable villain doing predictable villain things, Gaius Baltar became the most morally ambiguous and gloriously chaotic human survivor in Battlestar Galactica's cast. Audiences could never tell whether Baltar would sell out his own race, accidentally start a cult, or end up in a cell. How many women he would sleep with on the way was even harder to guess.
Sometimes Gaius would be blinded by his own temptations; other times he was the only character able to see the path to peace. That ability to occupy both extremes, rather than just the villainous extreme of his predecessor, ensured Battlestar Galactica's rebooted Gaius was never anything less than utterly compelling. This wouldn't have been possible if Battlestar Galactica hadn't envisioned Baltar as more than a space-faring Bond villain.
Even if the 2004 series had embellished a more authentic version of Baltar with a deeper backstory, a more serious tone, and a grand masterplan, the character would have come out looking something like the Cylons' leader, Cavil. It was the daring move to make Gaius a hero hidden under a cloak of villainy, not an antagonist in his own right, that truly made him Battlestar Galactica's greatest character.
Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television series that premiered in 2004. The plot follows the crew of the aging Battlestar Galactica as they protect a small fleet of human survivors from the renewed threat of the Cylons, in a quest to find the mythical 13th colony, Earth.
- Network
- SyFy
- Cast
- Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Dean Stockwell, Donnelly Rhodes, Kate Vernon, Lucy Lawless, Michael Leisen, Morris Chapdelaine, Rekha Sharma, Sam Witwer, Brad Paisley, Erica Cerra, Leah Cairns, Lymari Nadal, Maya Washington, Stefanie Samuels, Tahmoh Penikett, Grace Park, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, Michael Trucco
- Showrunner
- Ronald D. Moore
- Seasons
- 4
