Karl Agathon

Karl C. Agathon
Battlestar Galactica character
Tahmoh Penikett as Karl "Helo" Agathon
First appearance	Miniseries
Last appearance	"Daybreak"
Portrayed by	Tahmoh Penikett
Information
Aliases	Helo
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Title	Lieutenant (BSG Miniseries - Episode 3.05) Captain (Episode 3.06)
Colony	Caprica
Affiliation	Colonial Fleet

Karl C. Agathon (callsign "Helo") is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.

Agathon is an Electronic Countermeasures Officer, part of a two-person Colonial Raptor crew based on the Battlestar Galactica, and is paired with Sharon "Boomer" Valerii before the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. Unlike other major characters such as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace or Gaius Baltar, the series reveals little about Agathon's life before the events of the series. It is confirmed Helo is a Caprican, which is partly why he and Starbuck knew each other.

The (unofficial) backstory Tahmoh Penikett and Katee Sackhoff came up with to explain a comment from Thrace in "Scattered" that she and Helo "go way back" is the two were old friends for a long time who most likely attended the academy together as cadets and as "drinking buddies".

During the Cylon attack, Agathon and Sharon's Raptor is damaged, he takes a shrapnel hit in the leg and they are forced to land on Caprica. While making repairs, they are mobbed by a group of survivors desperate to get off the planet. A lottery is used to decide who will be allowed to escape due to the Raptor's limited space. The injured Agathon sacrifices his own seat to allow Dr. Gaius Baltar, discovered in the crowd, to survive. Boomer lifts off with refugees aboard and Helo is left on the nuked and occupied Caprica with only a med kit and sidearm.