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{{Short description|Fictional character in Battlestar Galactica (2004)}}
{{About|the characters from the 2004 reimagining of Battlestar Galactica|the 1978-1979 Galactica Boomer|Lieutenant Boomer}}
{{sourcesUse existmdy dates|date=September 2023}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Number Eight (''Battlestar Galactica'')}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Number Eight<br>Sharon "Boomer" Valerii<br>Sharon "Athena" Agathon
| series = [[Battlestar Galactica]]
| image = BSG - Number Eight (Grace Park).jpg
| caption =
| first = [[Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)|Miniseries]]
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}}
 
'''Number Eight''' is a female humanoid [[Cylon (2003)|Cylon]] model on the television series ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', a reimagining of the [[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|classic1978 show of the same name]]. She is portrayed by Canadian-American actor [[Grace Park (actress)|Grace Park]]. Two prominent Number Eight copies serving as ''pilots on the [[Battlestar Galactica (shipfictional spacecraft)|Battlestar ''Galactica]]'' pilots]] are '''Sharon Valerii''' and '''Sharon Agathon''', using the [[Aviator call sign|call signs]] "'''Boomer'''" and "'''Athena'''", respectively. The [[Aviator call sign|call signs]] for both Sharons are references to two characters from the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' series.: Viper pilot [[Lieutenant Boomer|Boomer]] was the name (not the call sign) of a Viper pilot, played by [[Herbert Jefferson, Jr.]], whileand [[Lieutenant Athena was]], the namedaughter of [[Commander Adama's daughter(original Battlestar Galactica)|Commander Adama]] ([[Lorne Greene]]), played by [[Maren Jensen]].
 
==Notable copies==
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===Sharon "Boomer" Valerii===
Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii is a [[Cylon (reimagining)|Cylon]] [[sleeper agent]] programmed with false memories of being raised in the mining colony Troy. Before the mini-series, Boomer and [[Galen Tyrol]] are romantically involved. Her programming leads her tosabotageto sabotage the ''Galactica'' on several occasions, which Tyrol unwittingly abets by hiding evidence implicating her. In "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming]]", [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] sends Boomer on a mission to destroy the Cylon basestar orbiting Kobol; and afterupon her return, she shoots Adama twice in the chest, putting him in a coma and revealing her nature to the crew. While Boomer is being transported from the brig, Cally shoots and kills her.<ref name="Resistance">{{cite episode| episode-link=Resistance (Battlestar Galactica)| title=Resistance| series=[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)]]}}</ref>
 
In "[[Downloaded (Battlestar Galactica)|Downloaded]]", Boomer's preserved consciousness is downloaded into a new body in Cylon-occupied Caprica. She resists being identified with the Cylon cause and tries to persuade the Cylons to reduce hostility against humans. In "[[The Eye of Jupiter (Battlestar Galactica)|The Eye of Jupiter]]", Boomer attempts to care for Athena's hybrid child Hera on the Cylon base ship, where the child ended up after the New Caprica evacuation. In a conflict with the visiting Athena over whether the humans negotiated in good faith, Boomer is killed by Caprica Six for endangering the child. After resurrecting againinto a third body, Boomer develops a relationship with [[John Cavil]], a Number One who embraces his machine nature and sees human traits as a weakness. Cavil enlists Boomer's support when the Cylon models become deadlocked in a vote over whether the Raiders should be lobotomized. Boomer turns against Cavil during the Colonial assault on the Cylon colony. After returning Hera to Athena and Helo, who were part of the boarding party, Boomer allowsis Athenaexecuted toby gun her down as penanceAthena for her previous actions.
 
===Sharon "Athena" Agathon ===
Sharon "Athena" Agathon is Numberoriginally Eightcreated whoto impersonatesimpersonate Boomer toand carryensure outthe success of a Cylon experiment to create a Human-Cylon hybrid. She aids [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]] on Caprica, intending eventually to kill him. However, she eventually falls genuinely in love with Helo and tries to help him escape, during which he both discovers her true identity. Sharon revealsand that she is pregnant with his child. Sharon uses her knowledge of the Tomb of Athena on Kobol as leverage to avoid immediate execution on theaboard ''Galactica'' and consistently demonstrates her loyalty by defending the group from Cylon ambushes. Sharon's reunion with the ''Galactica'' personnel is tense due to Boomer's history with them, but she makes it clear that she isand aBoomer separate consciousness and aare different person from Boomerpeople.
 
Upon findinglearning outof aboutirregularities Sharon'sin the pregnancy, President Roslin orders it terminated but rescinds herthe decision when theSharon's fetal blood successfullyis used to curescure her terminal cancer. Sharon gives birth to her child prematurely and names her Hera. The Colonial administration decides it is too dangerous to let a hybrid child be raised by a Cylon mother, so they fake the child's death and rehome her with a human mother. Despite the strain this puts on Sharon's loyalty, she continues to help the ''Galactica''.
 
Sharon and Helo are married in the gap between Season 2 and Season 3, and Sharon is swornrecognized infor asher anservice officerby inbeing thesworn Colonial Fleetin at Boomer's rank of Lieutenant JG. She is sent back to New Caprica as the liaison between the ''Galactica'' fleet and the resistance effort, and is able to infiltrate the Cylon base and steal the keys for the civilian ships. After the successful rescue mission, Sharon receivesis assigned to join the call''Galactica''{{'}}s signpilot corps with the callsign "Athena," after the [[Athena|goddess of warfare and wisdom]]. During Colonial negotiations with the Cylons, Athena and Helo learn their daughter is still alive on a Cylon ship. Athena travels to the ship and, retrieves her daughter, promptingand ahonors conflictBoomer's withwish Boomerto inbe whichexecuted Boomerfor isbetraying the Colonial killedcause.
 
== Analysis ==
The character has been discussed in the context of [[stereotypes of Asians]], and the relationships between [[Asian Americans]] and [[white Americans]],. andJuliana herHu plotlinePegues comparedwrites tothat thosethe different copies of Number Eight highlight and challenge varying stereotypical descriptions of Asian Americans; Boomer, as the unaware sleeper agent, appears as the "[[Missmodel Saigonminority]]", andwhile Athena, initially acting with the intent to deceive, typifies a "[[Madameyellow Butterflyperil]]" stereotype.<ref name="Pegues 2008">{{Cite journal |last=Pegues |first=Juliana Hu |date=2008 |title=Miss Cylon: Empire and Adoption in "Battlestar Galactica" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20343513 |journal=MELUS |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=189–209 |doi=10.1093/melus/33.4.189 |jstor=20343513 |issn=0163-755X}}</ref> JulianaEve HuBennett Peguessimilarly writes that theBoomer's differentactions copiesas ofa Numbersleeper Eightagent highlightecho andstereotypes subvertof varyingEast-Asians stereotypicalas descriptionsconformist ofand Asianrobotic, Americans;and Boomer,a ascharacter thewhose unawaremotivations sleepercannot agent,be appearsunderstood asin thehuman "[[modelterms. minority]]",The whileuse Athena,of initiallyNumber actingEight withto depict the intentuniformity toin deceive,Cylon typifiessociety ain "[[yellowKobol's perilLast Gleaming]]" stereotypealso highlights similar stereotypes. Athena'sBennett eventualalso romancecomments withthat Karlthe Agathon,repeated whichdepiction leadsof hernaked toNumber changeEight hermodels allegiance(when toCylons theare humans,usually clothed) is specificallyan describedexample as mirroringof the narrativeeroticization of East-Asian women in the Western media.<ref name="MissBennett Saigon2012">{{cite journal |last=Bennett |first=Eve |date=April 8, despite2012 ''Battlestart|title=Techno-butterfly: Orientalism old and new in Battlestar Galactica'''s [[color-blind|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/471022 casting]]|journal=Science Fiction Film and Television |publisher=Liverpool University Press |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=23–46 |doi=10.<ref3828/sfftv.2012.2 name|s2cid="Pegues143260462 2008"|issn=1754-3789}}</ref>
 
Number Eight's plotline has been compared to those of ''[[Miss Saigon]]'' and ''[[Madame Butterfly]]''. Athena's eventual romance with Karl Agathon, which leads her to change her allegiance to the humans, is specifically described as mirroring the narrative in "Miss Saigon", despite ''Battlestar Galactica'''s [[color-blind casting]]. This narrative is later subverted, when a scene mirroring Miss Saigon's suicide occurs when Athena is "killed" so she may download into a new body and rescue her child.<ref name="Pegues 2008"/> Bennett writes that while Number Eight in some ways defies the stereotype of a [[femme fatale]] — Athena remains faithful to Karl Agathon — narrative tension surrounds this eventual outcome, and numerous similarities exist to other robotic characters who embody that stereotype. Boomer, despite siding with the Cylons, appears to remain in love with Tyrol, and tries to persuade him to come away with her. Athena, conversely, does not entirely abandon her Cylon identity despite remaining loyal to the humans. More generally, she retains a "spirited personality", and does not flinch from expressing strong views and challenging Helo's actions. She is thus described as subverting narratives of obedient and passive "oriental" women and the "Madame Butterfly" trope.<ref name="Bennett 2012"/>
 
Pegues writes that in the human society depicted in the series, race is not a meaningful category, but the show nonetheless explores racial difference via Human-Cylon relations. The character of Athena also defies the Human-Cylon binary; though allied with the humans, she refuses to identify other cylons hidden among them, refusing an "absolute allegiance". Pegues describes her as a [[Liminality|liminal subject]], and writes that her "irreducibility" made the series an enjoyable one to analyze. The plotline of Athena's child, in particular, is described as examining the fear of [[miscegenation]] in [[White people|white societies]]: the "biracial" child is an object of anxiety among the humans, and its birth mother is entirely excluded from decisions about it.<ref name="Pegues 2008"/>
 
Number Eight, and Boomer specifically, also symbolize the [[othering]] of West Asian and Arab peoples following the [[September 11 attacks]], particularly when she is tortured in "[[Litmus (Battlestar Galactica)|Litmus]]". Pegues compares the treatment of the Number Six prisoner on the Battlestar Pegasus (where she is raped, and endures other physical abuse) to the treatment of Boomer as a prisoner on Galactica. She writes that while the comparison superficially suggests that Galactica prosecutes a more humane war, it symbolizes the overt [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|abuses in Abu Ghraib]] and the less publicized treatment of prisoners at [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]].<ref name="Pegues 2008"/>
 
==See also==
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==References==
{{reflist}}
<references />
 
==External links==
* [[BattlestarWiki:Number Eight{{Battlestarwiki|Number Eight]] at Battlestar Wiki}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/every-battlestar-galactica-skinob-humanoid-cylon-model-explained/|title=Every ''Battlestar Galactica'' Cylon Model Explained|first=Sarah|last=Richards|date=January 15, 2023|website=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=January 11, 2024}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/battlestar-galactica-best-cylon-characters-ranked/|title=''Battlestar Galactica''{{'s}} 10 Best Cylon Characters, Ranked Worst to Best|first=Nicholas|last=Bigelow|date=January 16, 2024|website=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=February 9, 2024}}
 
{{Battlestar Galactica characters}}
{{Battlestar Galactica}}
 
<!--The following categories apply to both major Sharons -->
 
[[Category:CylonsBattlestar Galactica Cylon characters]]
[[Category:Fictional fighter pilots]]
[[Category:Fictional cyborgs]]
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[[Category:Fictional clones]]
[[Category:Fictional female lieutenants]]
[[Category:Fictional female secret agents and spies]]
[[Category:Fictional sleeper agents]]
[[Category:Fictional characters with death or rebirth abilities]]