Number Six

Character bio courtesy of Battlestar Wikipedia

TRICIA HELFER

Victoria's Secret model Tricia Helfer was born on April 11, 1974 in Donalda, Alberta, Canada. Grew up working on her parents' grain farm. Started modelling at 17. Left home to start modeling right before her 18th birthday and competed in the Ford Supermodel of the World contest when she was 18. Tricia was "discovered" in a small town movie theatre line by a modelling agent. Tricia won the 1992 Ford Supermodel of the World winner and former Elite model has graced the covers of such magazines as Elle, Amica Italia and Cosmopolitan UK, and has walked the runways for Christian Dior, Givenchy, Claude Montana, Emanuel Ungaro and other top fashion designers. Besides Victoria's Secret, she has appeared in advertisements for clients including Giorgio Armani, Oil of Olay and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Tricia is 5'10" tall, measurements 34-24-34. Her father is half-English, half-German and her mother is half-Swedish, half-Norwegian. An interesting physical attribute of Helfer's, which she claims to be her "favorite quirk", is her webbed toes. [1]

Started acting in 2002 after taking night classes for a year and a half in New York City at I studied at the Penny Templeton Studios while she was still modelling. Later studied at Larry Moss in L.A, Margie Haber in L.A. and coached with Crystal Carson in L.A.. After doing correspondent work for the Canadian style/fashion TV-magazine series Ooh La La, Helfer gained attention as an actress when she played the lead female role of Sarah, the hero's love interest, in the two-hour premiere of the Showtime series Jeremiah. She later memorably played a teen model who tries to cut off her own face in an episode of the hit series C.S.I. and starred as Farrah Fawcett-Majors in the 2004 telefilm Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels. Helfer, who can be seen in the modelling documentaries Catwalk and Unzipped, also appears in the comedy short Eventual Wife, seen on HBO/Cinemax and on the AtomFilms Web site.

Beginning in the spring of 2006, Helfer will host the reality series Canada's Next Top Model (a spin-off of America's Next Top Model).

Tricia donates many of her profits towards charities that benefits animals and animal shelters.

Although the character Number Six has platinum blonde hair, Tricia is a natural brunette. Originally, her own hair was dyed white. However, this eventually resulted in her hair "breaking off in chunks an inch long", so by the 8th episode of season 2, she switched to a wig, and played Gina with her own honey-blonde dyed hair.

IMDB PROFILE: Tricia Helfer

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Number Six is a portent of doom for the peoples of the Twelve Colonies; she arrives on Armistice Station shortly before it is destroyed in what are the opening shots of the Cylon attack in the Miniseries. Dressed in a long-sleeved red tunic and matching knee-length skirt, she is the first and last "diplomat" ever sent to the station by the Cylons since its construction. She greets the Colonial officer present with the question "Are you alive?" When he answers that he is alive, she tells him to prove it - by making out with her. After he realizes that Armistice is under attack, she smiles and forces another kiss on him shortly before they are both destroyed.

Later, three Sixes in the same outfit are among the group of Cylons that rescue and debrief Aaron Doral, following his stranding on Ragnar Anchorage by the suspicious Colonials. One of them responds to a comment of the Eight in the group with "By Your Command," a trademark Cylon phrase in the Original Series

Caprica-Six ( Natasi)

Prior to the attack, Caprica-Six[1] was a copy of Six who played an important role in preparing the way for a Cylon invasion.

For two years, Caprica-Six lived on Caprica. Seducing the ambitious, self-obsessed, arrogant Gaius Baltar, she fooled him into believing she was a corporate spy, seeking to gain advantage over her competitors in order to secure a lucrative defence contract (Miniseries). Over the course of two years, she used Baltar to gain access to his work -- even to the extent of re-writing many of his own algorithms -- in order to subvert his own Command Navigation Program so that it could be used in the forthcoming Cylon attack to cripple Colonial forces. With the opening of the Cylon attack, Caprica-Six is apparently destroyed protecting Baltar from the effects of a nuclear blast shockwave on Caprica.

She is reborn into a new body and is hailed as a "Hero of the Cylon". Just as Baltar has visions of her, Caprica-Six has persistent visions of Gaius Baltar. When she asked the other Cylons, particularly Number Three, if Baltar was still alive Three said he died along with nearly everyone else still on Caprica and the other Colonies. While living on Cylon-occupied Caprica her vision of Baltar and her own developing feelings and intuitions lead her to question some of the basic ideals that the Cylons hold dear. Unbeknownst to her, Number Three had become distressed with her lingering attachment to Baltar and sought to manipulate her feelings in order to make her unstable, thus giving Three an excuse to "box" her. Three pointed Caprica-Six in the direction of a Number Eight Cylon who was having trouble adjusting to life as a Cylon and still clinging to her old false human identity; Lt. Sharon Valerii of the Battlestar Galactica.

Through her counselling work with Galactica-Sharon she learned that Three had deceived her and Baltar was indeed alive and was actually the Vice President of the Colonies in the rag-tag fleet of survivors fleeing the Colonies. After uncovering the lie about Baltar's death she and Galactica-Sharon began to question what else the Cylons could be lying about. If murder was a sin in the eyes of God when committed by humans, why is genocide condoned by God when committed by Cylons? Questions like these began to take hold in Caprica-Six's mind and were compounded by feelings of guilt for her role in the attack on the Colonies. While trapped in a garage with Sharon, Three and Anders, Caprica is directly confronted with the hypocrisy of the Cylons (through the dry conversation), and she ultimately rejects the false "truths" of her existence and chooses instead to use her newfound celebrity to speak out against the Cylon's continuing war against humanity. Together with Galactica-Sharon she set out to bring fundamental changes to Cylon society, their first action being to save the life of Anders. (Downloaded).

Just over a year after the human colonization of New Caprica, Caprica-Six is one of the leaders (with Galactica-Sharon and a copy of Number Five) of the Cylon force that meets with President Baltar (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).

Baltar's Internal Six

Fleeing Caprica City and then the planet itself, Dr. Gaius Baltar is shocked to discover that the woman he had a relationship with on Caprica lives on - inside his head.

At first he tries to dismiss her presence as a manifestation of his own guilt over what has happened to his people, and his role in it. However, Six suggests that she is in fact a controlled hallucination resulting from a chip she implanted inside his head. However, while some of her actions - such as terrifying Baltar into constructing a genuine Cylon detector (Bastille Day) - very much suggest she is a part of his own psyche, this is countered by her underlying actions and deeds, all of which represent a furtherance of those aims and goals she expressed as a corporeal entity. Some of these are characteristics never witnessed by Baltar himself - such as her jealous reaction to Boomer's visit with Baltar in his lab (Flesh and Bone), which closely mirrors the jealousy she shows towards the Valerii copy on Caprica (Litmus, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down).

Her existence as a personality download within Baltar's brain is a view he himself comes to embrace, as he relies more and more on her for guidance and insight into Cylon ways - so much so that she deliberately suggests that her presence within him is something of which other Cylons have no knowledge. However, in her relentless drive to get Baltar to fully accept the Cylon concept of God, it certainly seems for a time that not only are other Cylons in the fleet aware of her "existence", they are in communication with her: hence the arrival of "Shelly Godfrey" onboard Galactica with her accusations of treachery at the precise time Six ceases to communicate with Baltar.

When Baltar begins to deny Six's actual existence, she turns the tables on him by assuming a more 'natural' appearance and telling him that he is, indeed, "crazy" (Home, Part II). Baltar asks Dr. Cottle to perform a brain scan to check for anything unusual. "Nothing, nothing, more nothing" is the gruff diagnosis from Cottle. However, later in the same episode Baltar comes to believe that the Six he sees could could not possibly be a hallucination caused by him going "crazy", because she seems to know things (such as that Sharon Valerii was pregnant) that his subconscious mind has no way of knowing. When confronted with this, Six agrees that she is not a product of Baltar's mind, although scans show no chip in his brain. When Baltar asks her what she really was, Six only replies that "I'm an angel of God sent here to protect you, to guide you and to love you". While Baltar may not have a conventionally visible chip in his head, it could conceivably be organically-based (like the Cylon agents) and indistinguishable from other tissues in his brain or central nervous system. There was thought by many to be a remote chance that Baltar could be a Cylon agent himself (see the Cylon agent speculation article for arguments for and against Baltar as a Cylon agent), but later episodes have all but disproven this.

Not only does Baltar's former lover appear to him as herself in the context of his physical surroundings, but she can also make him see or experience an environment which is not real. Six has often interacted with him in the memory of his lakeside house on Caprica, which now exists purely in Gaius' mind (33). These visions have become less frequent as Dr. Baltar feels less nostalgic about his former dwelling (Resurrection Ship, Part I) .

The best example of Six's powers of illusion is during Baltar's ordeal on Kobol, in which he had a number of mass hallucinations. The first was during the traumatic crash of Lt. Crashdown's Raptor. Six appeared to save Baltar's life by leading him through the flames unharmed. In reality, he was saved by Crashdown. The next vision was of the Forum and the City of the Gods, which he saw complete and undamaged. In this hallucination, Six leads him down the aisle of the Great Opera House onto the stage, where a white cradle awaits them. Six reveals to him there the plan that God has for Baltar and she, to create the next generation of God´s Children. (Interestingly enough, we later see that same cradle in New Caprica, where baby Hera is kept.)

The next hallucination in Kobol also deals with the Cylon hybrid child. Baltar has a vivid dream in which Galactica's SAR team has arrived, with Adama leading the mission. Adama takes Baltar's child, and proceeds to drown her. When Baltar wakes up, he realizes that he must stop at nothing to ensure the survival of his baby, which seems to be exactly what Six wanted to see happen. Later, tells him that one of their party will betray the others during the mission to destroy the Cylon missile battery preventing their rescue, and that to prove his worthiness as a father he must act like a real man for a change. This prompts him to take part in the mission as a scout, and later to kill Crashdown when he threatens Cally's life.

When the Battlestar Pegasus joins with the Fleet, Dr. Baltar is asked to examine their Cylon prisoner, Gina. Both the doctor and his Internal-Six are shocked and horrified to find that Gina (another Number Six version) has been tortured and gang-raped by the Pegasus crew. Six tearfully asks Baltar to help Gina, and he vows to do everything he can (Pegasus). Her concern is replaced by jealousy and animosity, however, when she begins to suspect that Gaius is developing feelings for her "3-dimensional duplicate." Baltar learns from the suicidally depressed Gina that the large, previously unidentified vessel in the Cylon fleet following Galactica is the Resurrection Ship, where Cylon consciousnesses are downloaded into new bodies following the demise of their previous ones. Giving this information to Admiral Cain and Commander Adama results in the destruction of the ship and thus the permanent deaths of the Cylon agents aboard the Basestars guarding it, and of the attached squadrons of Raiders. Six proclaims that causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cylons is an unforgivable sin, but Gina says that God will forgive Gaius and her. Baltar chooses to listen to Gina, and his internal Six temporarily vanishes (Resurrection Ship, Part II).

Six's Internal Baltar

In the episode "Downloaded" it is revealed that the vision of Number Six that Baltar sees everywhere is definately not the same Number Six consciousness as the one he had a relationship with back on Caprica: Caprica-Six's consciousness downloaded into a new body, and for nine months continued to live on Cylon-occupied Caprica. Within a few seconds, it it clear that "Caprica's" personality is completely different from the one in Baltar's head. Not only that, but just as Baltar has visions of her, Caprica-Six has persistent visions of Gaius Baltar. This image confronts her with her guilt in the slaughter of billions of human beings, and with the logical error behind the Cylons' actions. If murder, genocide, and vengeance are sins in the eyes of God when humans commit them, then why would God sanction the Cylons' mass murder of an uncountable number of unsuspecting people? Under the influence of Internal- Baltar, "Caprica" speaks out against the war alongside the reincarnated Sharon Valerii, and a new path is forged.

Shelly Godfrey

A copy of Number Six that physically appears on board Galactica to try to discredit Baltar as a traitor, using evidence which was flawed, so that he ended up being more popular than before. For more, see the article, "Shelly Godfrey."

On Caprica, Six performs the role of a Cylon overseer, working with Aaron Doral to ensure their experiment involving the stranded Karl Agathon and Valerii either reaches its desired conclusion, or is suitably terminated (Litmus, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down). These copies of Number Six wear a militaristic black outfit, with a black body-suit underneath suited to martial arts.

Following the destruction of a "troop leader" Six (shot by Valerii, in order to enable her to "rescue" Agathon), her "sister" on Caprica demonstrates a certain vindictiveness towards Valerii when giving her a beating that goes far beyond the needs of the experiment (Litmus), thus revealing she may well be experiencing resentment for being shot (remembering that experiences and knowledge are passed from body to body among the various types of Cylon agents), as well as jealousy at Valerii's chosen role in proceedings.

A further "overseer" Six is present at the Cylon's established base at Delphi, and is briefly seen by Helo when he attempts to gain access to the base in order to steal a ship and get off the planet (Colonial Day).

Perhaps this same overseer-Six surprised kara in the Delphi Museum when she returned to Caprica to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo. They engaged in an all-out brawl, and just as Six appeared to be winning kara rushed her, knocking both of them off of a ledge. This Number Six fell underneath kara, breaking kara's fall, and was impaled on building debris, killing her (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II).

Another "overseer" Six was present at the "farm" where kara was taken after she was incapacitated by the Cylons. While the Cylon doctor Simon operated on her, Six was there to relay orders and see that everything was proceeding smoothly. She was definitely the controlling figure of the operation. This copy was later bashed over the head with a fire extinguisher by kara Thrace as she made her escape (The Farm).

Yet another overseer, or possibly one of the previously witnessed copies, viewed D'anna Biers' broadcast in a theatre on Cylon-occupied Caprica in the episode "Final Cut". She remarked that the resilience displayed by the Colonials was impressive, and seemed overjoyed that Sharon's hybrid baby survived.

Caprican Troop Leaders

At least 3 additional variants of Six have been operational on Caprica, and appear to lead Cylon Centurion squads and have a subservient role to the "overseer" Six variants. This variant of Six is distinguished by the white raincoat it wears.

One of these variants distracted Helo, enabling him to be captured. In this, she shared the same seductive characteristic as shown by her "sisters" at Armistice station and with Baltar - her first act on "freeing" the captured Agathon is to kiss him. (33)She was subsequently shot by Valerii.

The second acted as an observer to Helo's "escape", and this same variant may have been leading the Centurion troops into the Caprican farm Helo was hiding in (The Hand of God).

The third was present at Delphi, taking orders from an "overseer" Six.

"Downloaded"

In this episode, a Number Six in a gold tunic is one of four 'rebirth nurses' who greets the reincarnated Caprica-Six (this takes place shortly after the Cylon Attack has run its course), and it is likely this same group who nurse Boomer as she returns to life several months later. The Six in the group welcomes Boomer home and refers to her as "little sister".

Several other copies of Six were seen on Caprica in a variety of different outfits, which could indicate different functions or simply fashion choices.

Gina is a Cylon agent who posed as a crewmember aboard the battlestar Pegasus (Resurrection Ship, Part I). She was identified by the crew of that ship and apprehended (killing seven crewmen in the process). She was incarcerated, brutally interrogated, tortured, and systematically gang-raped by many of the crew.

When Pegasus encounters Galactica and her fleet, Gina is examined by Gaius Baltar. He is heartbroken by her state, and resolves to help her in any way he can. He convinces Admiral Helena Cain to permit her to be fed, and recounts to Gina a story of his love for her copy on Caprica, before the Cylon attack (Pegasus).

Gina begs for Baltar to kill her and put an ultimate end to her suffering. When Baltar reminds her that she would just be revived in another Number Six body somewhere else, Gina reveals to him that it wouldn't happen if the unknown Cylon ship that Pegasus had been tracking is destroyed. She calls the vessel a Resurrection Ship, and that it was used to collect the consciousnesses of Cylons who die too far away from the Cylon homeworld and download them into new bodies. With no Resurrection Ship to download her consciousness, Gina would truly die if she were killed (Resurrection Ship, Part I).

When she senses that the Resurrection Ship has been destroyed, Gina begs Baltar to kill her. She is incapable of killing herself, because within the Cylon religion suicide is a sin. However, Baltar convinces Gina that she should go on living and get "justice" for what happened to her. With Baltar's help, Gina escapes from her cell, makes her way to Cain's quarters and shoots Cain with a pistol, killing her. Then, through unexplained means (probably aid from Baltar), she manages to escape the Pegasus (Resurrection Ship, Part II).


Gina

A copy of Number Six captured aboard the battlestar Pegasus and repeatedly tortured and sexually abused by the crew, before escaping with Baltar's help.

After Laura Roslin finds herself at her death bed, the Cylon peace movement summons Baltar to Cloud 9. Here, Gina has assumed a role as one of the leaders within the peace movement, leaving her followers unaware of her Cylon nature. She disguises herself by means of glasses and a different hairstyle. Gina attempts to convince Baltar that, upon assuming the presidency, he should go up against Adama -- and thus solidify the distrust for the military within the Fleet. As a result of the massive sexual abuse she has suffered, unlike "standard" Number Six copies Gina is averse to intimate contact of any kind, as observed when she bites Baltar when he instinctly tries to kiss her. After Roslin recovers from her cancer -- thanks to Baltar -- Gina is given the nuclear warhead earmarked for Baltar's research into a Cylon detector (Epiphanies).

Gina was supposed to appear in a subplot in "Downloaded" in which she conspired with D'anna Biers to kidnap Hera, however the episode ran long and all of the scenes involving Cylons aboard Galactica were cut.

Following Baltar's election as president of the Twelve Colonies, he visits Gina in her room aboard the Cloud Nine, attempting to explain to her that because of his new duties he'd be unable to see as much of her as they'd like. After he remarks that he'd make what time he could on New Caprica, she tells him that she wouldn't be leaving the ship to join the new colony. Angry, Baltar attempts to leave the room, but Gina simply says "stay," while proceeding to undress, choking back her physical aversion in a desperate attempt to make him stay with her. They share an intimate interlude, and later, while Baltar is being sworn in as president, Gina sits naked on the floor of her room in front of the nuclear warhead. The timer running, Gina is crying softly as the device detonates, destroying the Cloud 9 and several ships in the vicinity (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).

With the Resurrection Ship destroyed, Gina's death is presumed final.