Gaius Baltar

Gaius Baltar
Battlestar Galactica character
James Callis as Gaius Baltar
First appearance	"Miniseries"
Last appearance	"Daybreak (Part 3)"
Portrayed by	James Callis
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Computer Scientist specializing in Artificial Intelligence (Miniseries) Science Advisor to Laura Roslin (Miniseries-Episode 1.11) Caprica delegate to the Quorum of Twelve (Episode 1.11) Vice President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (Episode 1.11–2.20) President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (Episode 2.20–3.04) Cult Leader (Episode 4.03-Episode 4.20) Marine on board Galactica (Episode 4.20)
Colony	Born and Raised on Aerilon, relocated to Caprica

Dr. Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series. He is one of the show's primary characters.

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-centred, feckless and vain."

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.

At the onset of the show, he is involved in a sexual relationship with a beautiful 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, 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.