Saur,
In the original, we all came from a planet called Kobal which begain to suffer from some sort of enviromental disaster caused by polution. The people from Kobal all left the planet and settled 12 planets called the 12 Colonies. IIRC, there was a period of Ludditism where all space travel, etc. was lost. Then the 12 Colonies begain to go into space, find their neighbors and set up a interplanetary government. However, there was a legend (or religion if you like) that said a group from Kobal colonized a 13th planet and it was called Earth. One of the interesting things was that 12 Colony planets were named similar to Earth constellations. I guess to show that there was a connection.
Later they ran into a race of machines called the Cylons. The Cylons had been created by a race of reptiles and had killed their creators. The Cylons were on a mission to destroy or enslave any living thing and were attacking a third race. The Colonials intervened on behalf of the other race and caused the Cylons to declare war on them (which, it was infered, would have eventually happened anyways). After a war of 1000 years, the Cylons convienced humans that they were ready for peace. However the humans were betrayed by one of their own, Councilman Baltar, and the last human fleet was destroyed in an ambush. The Colonies were destoryed. The last battlestar, Galactica, leds a rag-tag fleet in search of the 13th Colony, a planet called...Earth.
Wow. I guess I watched that show way too much
BTW, the original writer of BG, Glenn Larson, was a Mormon and it had a influence on the show:
http://www.michaellorenzen.com/galactica.htmlSimilarities in the Plot of Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism
There are many parallels between the story of Battlestar Galactica and Mormon teachings. The Book of Mormon tells the story of how the Prophet Lehi took the remnant of the Tribe of Joseph to ancient America around the year 600 BC. In Battlestar Galactica, mankind founded twelve different colonies. In addition, mankind also founded a thirteenth colony on Earth that was lost from the other twelve. In the same way that The Book of Mormon has a Tribe of Israel lost on another continent beyond the knowledge of the other tribes, Battlestar Galactica has a lost colony of man separate from the main body of humanity. The lost Tribe of Israel is central to The Book of Mormon in the same way that the lost colony of Earth is central to Battlestar Galactica.
In the Battlestar Galactica episode originally aired on the 24th of September and 1st of October 1978 titled "Lost Planet of the Gods", the home world of all humanity is revealed to be the planet Kobol. This name is strikingly similar to the star Kolob which is discussed in Mormon theology. In The Pearl of Great Price, The Book of Abraham Chapter Three, Kolob is described as the star "nearest onto the Throne of God." Interestingly, the ship on which armistice talks between the colonies and the Cylons took place was the "Star Kobol" as revealed in the premier episode which aired on 17th September 1978.
Another similarity between Mormonism and Battlestar Galactica is in the political structure of the ruling bodies of each. The Mormon Church is run by a Quorum of the Twelve which is headed by a president. In Battlestar Galactica, the colonies are ruled by a Council of Twelve which is also headed by a president (Ford 84).
