Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Sci Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s. Zarek is a charismatic and philosophical populist political leader from the Colony of Sagittaron, who was jailed twenty years before the Cylon holocaust for terrorist activities (he planted explosives in a government building, destroying it and causing many deaths) and for spurring political unrest.

After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, he and a number of other inmates find themselves stuck on the Astral Queen, a prison barge which joins the Battlestar Galactica in fleeing the Cylons. Gathering followers among the prisoners, Zarek leads a riot against the leadership of the ragtag fleet, protesting the poor living conditions on the Astral Queen. He creates a hostage situation which then-Commander Adama and President Roslin must resolve in the midst of a crisis of water supply in the fleet.

("Bastille Day"). As an homage to the original 1970s series, at one point in the episode Zarek and Lee Adama are in discussion sitting opposite each other in one of the cells. One of Zarek's co-conspirators calls "Apollo!", at which point they both turn in recognition.

Later in the series, Zarek runs for political office, and is elected representative for Sagittaron on the new Quorum of Twelve (the upper house of legislative branch of the government, and the only one expedient to use under the circumstances). He then runs for the vacant office of Vice President, in a power play meant to take a step towards ascending to the presidency, but is defeated when Roslin makes a surprise replacement for her own nominee, and Dr. Gaius Baltar is elected Vice President.

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