Everyone loves 'em, everyone does 'em, and now it's time for me to join in the fun with my exclusive top 10 of the original Battlestar Galactica! Keep in mind the way I do these is if two characters from BSG were to fight each other on a neutral planet right now, who would win?
1) Commander Adama: The majestic leader of the ragtag fleet (and sometimes a ragtag show), played with mastery and command by Lorne Greene, deserves the top spot even if he gets a little obsessed with that Kobol stuff early on and it clouds his judgment.
2) Captain Apollo: Well, where else can you rate the guy who is, according to the series, best at piloting, best at warrior-ing, best at surrogate fathering, best at actual fathering, best at diplomacy-ing, and even best at triad? I think the only thing he can't do is gamble, and that could be seen as a virtue.
3) Colonel Tigh: Maybe we are putting Tigh too High, but it's not his fault the series often reduced him to walking around the bridge looking constipated. Given the chance, Tigh could have stepped in and led the ragtag fleet all over the cosmos.
4) Colonel Starbuck: Forever second banana to Apollo, but he doesn't seem to mind. Within the show's universe, he is one pretty cool guy in addition to being the second-bestest pilot, triad player, etc. By the season's end, he is still impetuous but has some maturity to go along with his warrior spirit. Plus he says feldercarb a lot.
5) Boomer: No explanation should be needed here, really. As long as we're talking about triad, what's up with the thing where Starbuck and Apollo always team up against Boomer and some scrub who barely gets camera time, let alone dialogue, and then Boomer walks off after the game with the other team?
6) Commander Cain: Lloyd Bridges guests as Cain in two episodes (or one two-parter) and is the single best guest star the original series has to offer. The character is relatively complex and has some interesting personal dynamics with Adama. I wish there were more of Cain in the show's short run.
7) Sheba: I would love to put Athena in here, but the show treated her like an also-ran and then just stopped mentioning her. Sheba wasn't quite a top-echelon character as they tried to push her, but given time, she might have become that.
8) Count Iblis: Speaking of Sheba, she was drawn in by the enigmatic Iblis, played with full, uh, enigmacity by Patrick MacNee. This character is intriguing and ultimately a better foil for the main cast than the regular villains on the shows.
9) Chameleon: Hey, it's Fred Astaire! The details of the storyline are a little hazy, but it's a fun episode and cool to see a true legend on the series.
10) Jolly: I just don't have the heart to exclude him.
Not ranked: Cassiopeia, despite the efforts of the show to elevate her; Omega, who somehow became almost a main player on the ship by the end; Baltar, who certainly gave it his all; the Cylons, who just didn't stand out enough as individuals; Serina, who just didn't last long enough; Boxey because--well, let's just leave it at that; Muffit II.
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