# Were the Colonials in the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot originally going to be far more barbaric? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 6, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794 "2022-10-06T01:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/1 "2022-10-06T01:56:13Z")
On another forum I frequent someone is claiming (without cites) that in the original concept for the _Battlestar Galactica_ reboot, the Twelve Colonies were originally going to be portrayed as shockingly barbaric. The phrase used was “A Bronze Age culture with Space Age technology”. Things like ritual human sacrifice, open pederasty, execution by slow torture, slavery, etc. But that to get greenlighted the producers had to tone most of that down until all that was left was some polytheism, plus a few hints carried over into the prequel _Caprica_. I would have thought I’d have heard of this before if it were true; has anyone heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/2 "2022-10-06T01:58:10Z")
P.S. Am I supposed to mark posts in CS with sub-topics? If so, how? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/3 "2022-10-06T02:02:56Z")
It isn’t required at all, I set the tags for any new Café or Game Room threads. It is almost always done within 24 hrs. When you’re in the new Topic interface, the spot after Category (Forum) is Optional tags. That is where you would be able to set it. If you’re doing a TV show and just type TV, the [tv-shows-scripted](https://boards.straightdope.com/tag/tv-shows-scripted) tag will be suggested. Same as Mov for movies or Dis for [disney-hulu](https://boards.straightdope.com/tag/disney-hulu), etc. But again, 100% optional. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/4 "2022-10-06T02:25:17Z")
Without specific evidence, I don’t see any reason to believe it. Glen A. Larson was a devout Mormon who put hints of Mormon theology throughout the portrayals of the Colonials. And in interviews he said he wanted to portray sympathetic refugees. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/5 "2022-10-06T02:41:14Z")
“Reboot” was used in the OP, so I was assuming we were talking about the 2003 miniseries/2004+ series. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/6 "2022-10-06T02:54:01Z")
I haven’t heard anything that the 2004 version had even preliminary plans along those lines, but it’s remotely possible that one of the planned reboots prior to that (2 or 3 that I recall) may have had more hardcore elements. Note I say ‘may’. I haven’t heard anything else, but it’s always possible that something that never even got to the drawing board as it were had a bunch of ‘what ifs’ that wouldn’t have even made it to the first treatment. Personally, I doubt it. All the parties interested in rebooting the franchise were pretty much fans of the original - they would have been happy to remake it in a way uniquely their own, but the extremes you mention would probably be a step too far. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/7 "2022-10-06T03:35:02Z")
It is an intriguing idea though: that instead of being Frankensteinian monsters, the Cylons were basically the Scourge of God, the Colonials virtually deserving genocide. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/8 "2022-10-06T04:08:49Z")
I haven’t hear that, but the original idea for Ron D Moore’s reboot was to have the 12 Tribes just be 12 nation-states on the planet Kobol with the 13th Tribe having left Kobol to settle Earth. Obviously that concept was ditched before the miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-colonials-in-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-originally-going-to-be-far-more-barbaric/972794/9 "2022-10-06T04:48:08Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > But that to get greenlighted the producers had to tone most of that down until all that was left was some polytheism, plus a few hints carried over into the prequel _Caprica_. The polytheism wasn’t even settled on as of the miniseries, sonce Col. Tigh slips in an ad-libbed “Jesus!” at one point that they didn’t bother cutting.