Tahmoh Penikett as Karl "Helo" Agathon
Karl “Helo” Agathon, on the Sci-Fi Channel’s
Battlestar Galactica, is portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett. Agathon, whose aviator call sign is “Helo,” formerly worked as Sharon Valerii’s Electronic Countermeasures Officer. He and Sharon were on their Raptor when it incurred some damage during the initial Cylon attack. As they were repairing the Raptor in Caprica, a number of survivors approached them, asking to be taken off the planet. Since there wasn’t enough room for all of them in the Raptor, Agathon decided to stay behind, giving up his seat to Dr. Gaius Baltar.
Alone and desperate to escape the pursuit of Cylon forces, he ran into the wilderness, but was eventually caught by a Number Six copy. He was then rescued by a Number Eight copy pretending to be Sharon Valerii, but because he was not wise to the Cylon’s disguise, he ultimately fell in love with her, and their relationship resulted in a pregnancy. The pregnancy was part of the Cylon community’s plan to produce a human/ cylon offspring, but an unexpected side effect led the Number Eight Copy to develop feelings for Agathon as well.
Eventually, Agathon found out about Valerii’s true identity, and subsequently fled from her and the camp. She ran after him and told him she was pregnant, and despite her deceitful ways, he could not bring himself to kill Valerii. He then brought her to the Delphi museum, where he was reunited with Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. Kara tried to kill Valerii, but the latter escaped in the Cylon Raider, leading Agathon and Kara to flee on foot. After they fetched an army truck from Kara’s old apartment, they were captured by the Cylons, but to their surprise, Valerii came to their rescue. All three of them returned to Galactica, but instead of being met with a joyous welcome, Agathon’s old friends turned away from him because of his relationship with Valerii. However, despite the many trials Agathon faced because of Valerii, he eventually married her and even got promoted to Executive Officer, replacing Colonel Saul Tigh.