Number Eight

Battlestar Galactica 2004 Continuity
(Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica and Blood & Chrome)

Number Eight was a model of Humanoid Cylon created by the Final Five, with the assistance of the original Number One. Millions of individual Eights were created, and typically went by the name "Sharon".

Known Eights

• A copy joins a group of Twos, Fives, and Sixes at Ragnar Anchorage after Galactica and the fleet depart having stranded "Aaron Doral." This copy declares that the humans will be hunted down, and a Six replies, "By your command."
• A copy wearing a white coat at the Spaceport at Delphi, whom Athena kills before the other Eight can shoot Helo.
• Multiple naked copies aboard the basestar above Kobol, which Boomer was sent to destroy and upon which she learns her identity as a Cylon.
• A copy who sits in a movie theatre (with other Cylon models) and watches the footage sent from the Fleet by D'Anna Biers (it can be assumed that it is the same one that Athena shot because she wears the same coat as the above-mentioned copy).
• Copies who act as "nurses" or "midwives," aiding the respective resurrections of Caprica Six and Boomer.
• Several copies on Cylon-occupied Caprica going through daily life in the episode "Downloaded", wearing a variety of outfits.
• Copies who are killed when Samuel Anders and Galen Tyrol detonate a bomb near a Cylon Heavy Raider.
• A copy who sits next to Boomer during a meeting on Colonial One (during the New Caprican occupation), when the suicide bombings are discussed.
• Multiple copies aboard the basestar that Caprica Six and Baltar inhabit.
• Multiple copies dying aboard a diseased basestar.
• A copy, dying from a disease aboard a basestar, who is taken captive by Galactica. Later, she and the rest of the Cylon prisoners are killed by Helo in an attempt to prevent genocide against the Cylons. This copy, despite calling Sharon a traitor, showed typical Eight concern for her and warned her to stay away due to the disease.
• Multiple copies who approach Athena on the rebel basestar, asking her to lead a rebellion against the Sixes. Athena expresses disgust with their typical Eight fickleness.
• A copy shot and killed by a Centurion while attempting to unplug the Hybrid. She is comforted by Anders in her final moments after Athena refuses to do so.
• The Eight copy who had downloaded Athena's memories and helped Helo bring back D'Anna.
• The Eights in flight uniforms during the briefing for the attack on the Resurrection Hub.
• The multitude of inactivated Eights Helo sees aboard the soon to be destroyed Resurrection Hub.

Two Eights that were on the Raptor with four humans including Felix Gaeta as seen in The Face of the Enemy webisodes. One had a cynical air and was dressed in a black Cylon flight suit, the other was dressed in civilian garb and had an air of innocence. This latter Eight is the one who pretended to collaborate with Felix Gaeta and had an affair with him on New Caprica. The existence of their interactions on New Caprica was also revealed in The Face of the Enemy webisodes. When the Raptor effectively became lost in space due to a malfunction, the "Innocent" Eight murdered the "cynical" Eight and three humans to in order to conserve the air supply for herself and Gaeta. She then revealed to Gaeta that of the people Gaeta had given her a list of to save, most were really murdered by the Cylons just for being important enough to be listed. She intended to spare Gaeta because she loved him, but Gaeta killed her in revenge for the murders she committed on New Caprica and in the Raptor.

Multiple Eights are seen helping repair Galactica in "Someone to Watch Over Me". One of them is knocked unconscious by Galen Tyrol and substituted for Boomer in the brig. Another is mortally injured in "Islanded in a Stream of Stars" during a major hull breach aboard Galactica; while in sick bay, she asks for Saul Tigh to visit her, and thanks him for the opportunity to meet her "father" (referencing his status as one of the Final Five Cylons) as she dies. Another was prominent at the bedside of Samuel Anders in "Deadlock", "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Islanded in a Stream of Stars" making some key suggestions like connecting Anders to the Galactica's power systems and the Cylon data stream to attempt to jump start his brain. It failed but that Eight's action led him to eventually becoming the Galactica's hybrid and was instrumental in rescuing Hera.

Typical Eight traits

Unlike most other Cylon models, the Eights typically show a great deal of concern and affection towards others. The Eights tend to be the most naive of the models and are often emotionally immature. While capable of convincing manipulation and deception, they are also vulnerable to forming emotional attachments. The Eights also have a propensity for fickleness, often changing loyalties to better suit their own needs and desires, with the notable exception of Sharon "Athena" Agathon, whose loyalty to Commander Adama, Helo, and her daughter are unwavering and uncompromising. Moore has also commented that the Eights are more likely to "shoot things they don't like". It was revealed by Caprica showrunner Kevin Murphy that the Eights were modeled after Tamara Adama.