Battlestar Galactica is a must-watch sci-fi series. Story follows humans fleeing from robot foes, Cylons, as they hunt for Earth. It dives into politics, religion and human nature. Plus, it serves up action and plot twists. With rich characters and smart storytelling, Battlestar Galactica is a true classic.

Meet the characters from Battlestar Galactica

William Adama

Adama is the kind of grizzled, quiet leader you picture when someone says “old soldier” — but also way more tender than he lets on, like he secretly reads bedtime stories to models of the Galactica (or maybe that’s just something he would do, I swear). Stern, principled, stubborn as a rusted bolt, he runs the ship with a slow-burning moral code and a thousand little practical rules that somehow keep everyone alive. He can be gruff and explosive one minute and then nursing a broken crew member the next, which is confusing but also exactly why people trust him. Also, he collects cigars like trophies even though he never lights them in front of people — or does he?

Laura Roslin

Roslin is this fierce, ex-schoolteacher-turned-president who somehow blends idealism and political ruthlessness like it’s an art form — she will quote scripture and then sign a law that makes you gasp, and somehow both feel right. There’s this whole vibe of her being resolutely moral yet painfully pragmatic; she believes in humanity but can make the hardest decisions with a steady hand and a little trembling lip. She’s eloquent, intense, and carried by a stubborn faith (and not always the kind you expect), plus she loves bad classical music at midnight when the ship’s quiet. Also, she keeps stashing those little hospital candies in her pockets; it makes her seem human, which she absolutely is, even when she feels like she isn’t.

Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama

Lee is the golden-boy pilot/lawyer son who wants to do the right thing but is about 90% angst and complicated loyalty issues — he’s honorable, a tad stiff, and brutal with honesty, which is sometimes adorable and sometimes, like, why. He tries to be the calm professional while secretly craving to smash things with reckless flying, go figure. There’s this steady charisma: good at strategy, worse at romantic timing, and incredibly soft about his family even when he argues with them for chapters. Also, he apparently collects tie clips? I noticed one ep where he’s very specific about a tie and now I’m obsessed.

Dr. Gaius Baltar

Baltar is a walking mess of charm and self-preservation; brilliant, vain, and constantly inventing new rationalizations for why he’s still breathing, which is somehow hypnotic. He oscillates between genius scientist, shameless coward, charismatic demagogue, and broken man with no shame about any of it — very theatrical, very messy, very human (and sometimes horrifically not). Oh, and he talks to Number Six in his head sometimes — like, literally — which makes everything ten times weirder and kind of tragic. He also hoards pens and calls them “instruments of destiny” when asked, which I might have made up but also might not.

Number Six

Number Six is lethal and soft all at once, a flirtatious, philosophical enigma who can seduce a man and then deliver the coldest lines about existence before breakfast. She’s the elegant, serene manipulator who occasionally turns maternal, and those sudden shifts are the best/worst part of her — you trust her and fear her in the same breath. There’s a strange tenderness under the intrigue, like she genuinely believes in something larger but also enjoys playing with people (in a very creepy, perfect couture way). Also, she hums this little tune when she’s thinking; it will haunt you and you’ll love it.

Sharon ‘Boomer’ Valerii

Boomer is this shy, sweet Raptor pilot who has the most tragic “who even am I?” energy — loyal to a fault, bewildered by her own hands, and perpetually apologizing to the universe. She’s quiet, competent, and then suddenly devastating when her identity gets yanked out from under her; you feel so bad for her and also terrified, which is a weird combo. There’s a dogged earnestness to her that makes people want to protect her, even though she might be the one who betrays you, which is horribly poetic. Also, she collects old engine grease-stained pens for reasons I can’t explain but it feels right.

Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace

Starbuck is chaos in a leather jacket and you love her for it — reckless, brilliant, profane, and somehow heartbreakingly honest when she doesn’t even mean to be. She’s the best pilot (arguably), the biggest rule-breaker, and the type to throw a drink in your face then patch your shoulder in the dark five minutes later; contradictory, magnetic, exhausting. She laughs like a war, cries like an apology, and cheats at cards but always tips the dealer, which says a lot about her messy honor code. Also, she has no sense of where her socks go and insists poker is a life skill — fight me on that.

Saul Tigh

Tigh is the grumpy XO with a beer-can heart — bitter, caustic, and absolutely loyal to the bone, like a pit bull who also writes terrible poetry sometimes. He curses at the universe and gets punched a lot emotionally, but he is the backbone of command when Adama needs someone to be the immovable object. Deep down there’s this molten core of pain and devotion, and his sarcasm is basically his love language (insofar as he has one). Also, he keeps a ridiculous stash of old war medals in his locker that he totes around like comfort toys, which is both sweet and hilarious.

Galen Tyrol

Tyrol is the blue-collar deck chief who is so steady you can set your coffee on him and not worry — practical, compassionate, a bit world-weary, and deeply rooted in keeping the engines (and people) running. He’s patient, quietly heroic, and has that “fix anything” vibe, except when his past catches up and things get complicated in the gut-wrenching way. He cares like a lonely bear, building a life from scrap metal and small kindnesses, which makes his doubts hit twice as hard. Also, he whistles tunelessly when nervous, which is the cutest micro-trait ever.

Karl ‘Helo’ Agathon

Helo is the impossibly decent human being who makes you both sigh with relief and roll your eyes because he’s just that earnest and stubborn about doing right. Courageous and soft, he sticks to his moral compass even when the map is on fire, and somehow keeps being the person others trust when everything else is collapsing. He’s also unexpectedly domestic — makes terrible pancakes but will defend your honor and your kid’s bedtime story like a champ. Also, has this habit of talking to plants on the flight deck (or at least I think I saw him do it once), which is peak Helo.

Felix Gaeta

Gaeta is the tactical brain with the quietly righteous heart who starts out warm and becomes increasingly haunted by betrayal and ideology, like a slow-burn Greek tragedy in uniform. He’s tidy, intelligent, principled, and then—plot twist—those principles get jagged and dangerous as the ship’s politics eat him alive. There’s a real sadness to him, the way someone can be brilliant at numbers but collapse under the weight of people, and he writes tiny poems in the margins of his reports sometimes (fictional, maybe, but I like to believe it). Also, he always carries a pocket watch that probably doesn’t work, but it makes him look more dramatic than he admits.