Count Iblis - Comic Continuity

Comic Continuity

In the 1995-1997 comic series take on Battlestar Galactica, the diabolical Count Iblis was indeed the catalyst for the fall of the original organic Cylon race. Count Iblis deceived the last organic Imperious Leader, named Sobekkta (Sobek being the crocodile–god of ancient Egypt), into a deal with the promise of power akin to his own. But instead, the Imperious Leader found himself transformed into a half-cybernetic being. Enraged, the Imperious Leader swore revenge upon him, firing at Count Iblis while he vanished away, laughing cruelly. As a result, the succeeding Imperious Leaders' voices all sound exactly like Count Iblis.

Because Count Iblis' actions resulted in the destruction of the organic Cylon race and the creation of mechanical soldiers who would threaten the safety and freedom of the universe, Count Iblis was arrested by his angelic brothers, the Seraphs. As punishment for his grave crime against all creation, he was forced into an amnesiac, non-corporeal existence during which his essence would remain trapped within the pain-wracked lives of others. He would only briefly gain full remembrance of his identity when such painful lives came to an end, suffering death. This punishment he would endure for a thousand yahrens — the exact time length of the initial conflict between the Cylon Empire and the Colonies.

For his deceitful actions on board the Galactica, Count Iblis was most assuredly going to be punished again, as the Seraph that spoke with Starbuck, Sheba, and the resurrected Apollo stated that he would be. However, the diabolical Count escaped, hiding himself "amongst eternity", as he related to Count Baltar. Reunited with the mechanical Cylons, Count Iblis would again wage aggression against the Colonial Fleet.

Count Iblis was now depicted as being bald, and of having supremely enhanced powers, above the level that he previously displayed. During an attack upon Baltar's Cylon squadrons by the Seraphs' ships of light, Baltar entreated Count Iblis to stop the Seraphs before the attack wiped out all of his base star's raiders. Iblis agreed, and with a gesture and a distorted depiction of his true, horrible face, he destroyed all of the attacking Seraph ships, proclaiming in the act: "Hear these words, Seraphs, and know them to be true: No one has dominion over me! No one!! Die, my brothers, and writhe in the fires of Damnation!!"

Count Iblis' next act was hypnotizing Sheba, who is now Apollo's wife, into killing Apollo. To do this, Count Iblis deceived Sheba into believing that Apollo had lied to her about the true nature of the remains that he and Starbuck discovered in the crashed ship on the planet where Count Iblis was discovered. Iblis told Sheba that the remains were actually those of her father, Commander Cain, and he transported her to the wreckage where they'd first met, and she looked inside and saw bodies she believed were those of her father and other Colonial warriors. When enough doubt had been sown into Sheba's mind, Count Iblis seized control of her will.

When Baltar's fleet overtook the Colonial fleet and launches a devastating attack, Apollo was confronted by the hypnotized Sheba, but she proved unable to go through with killing her husband; she then turned the gun on herself, but when Apollo stopped her the gun discharged into his chest. He was soon but reluctantly resurrected by John, a Seraph with whom Apollo has had previous dealings (the television episode "Experiment in Terra"). Apollo explained to John that the corpses that he and Starbuck discovered aboard the crashed ship were not human remains, but those of deceased demonic creatures, the followers of Count Iblis who paid the ultimate price for their loyalty to him. Apollo also explained that his second death was now once again the result of Count Iblis' deceitful machinations, and that if John didn't return Apollo to life, more lives and souls (especially Sheba's) would be in jeopardy because there would be no one to stop Iblis' rampage — an indirect consequence of which was the death of Commander Adama, shot by Baltar. An armed Baltar was transported dangerously into Commander Adama's direct presence by Count Iblis' own power. After a brief skirmish in which the newly resuscitated Adama felled two Cylon Centurions and Baltar swiftly escaped, Commander Adama was mortally wounded.

The Colonial fleet, however, was rescued by the appearance of Commander Cain and the battlestar Pegasus, through the efforts of the Seraphs. Baltar escaped, and after another attack on the fleet was thwarted (during which Lieutenant Starbuck disappeared, sacrificing himself to stop the Cylon saboteur Ares), he was demoted by the Imperious Leader. Iblis, however, undertook his next act of vengeance by hypnotizing Apollo into shooting Commander Cain, for which Apollo was jailed. Count Iblis then freed the imprisoned Borellian Nomen (from the episodes "The Man With Nine Lives" and "Baltar's Escape") as well as human prisoners to launch a revolt against the Colonial government. Apollo escaped, where he was taken by Count Iblis and seemingly persuaded that every tragedy in his life (the deaths of his brother Zac and first wife Serina, the death of his father, the disappearance of Starbuck) was a result of his direct lack of intervention, and that the only path of his life is the path of overthrowing the descendents of the Lords of Kobol - i.e. the survivors of the Colonies.

After being returned to the world of the living, however, Apollo defeated Count Iblis using his father's medallion. This medallion carried a power that magnifies the psychic strength of the individual who wears it. Count Iblis knew this, and tried to entice Apollo into giving it to him. However, Apollo's strength of character and force of will prevailed and Count Iblis was twice wounded by blasts of psychic energy, which was enough to push him into retreating from the fleet. Apollo then used the medallion's power to undo the chaos created by Count Iblis, including restoring to full health the dying Commander Cain.

Amid the battle between Apollo and Iblis, the Cylons had transported a gigantic fleet of base stars across the universe to destroy Earth and the surviving members of humanity. This fleet was diverted away from Earth, however, by Baltar, who wished to lead the humans' destruction himself; as a result the Cylon in command of the fleet, Spectre (the television episode "The Young Lords") was deactivated by Imperious Leader.