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| The Sycorax |
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 Name: The Sycorax
Format:
Television show
Time of Origin: Came to Earth on Christmas
2006; exact planet of origin unspecified.
Appearances: "The
Christmas Invasion"
Doctors: Tenth
Doctor
Companions: Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith
History: A straightforward one-shot villain, the
Sycorax would normally be just one of many alien species The Doctor
has faced, the race only being significant as they were the first
species ever fought by the Tenth
Doctor. In appearance, the Sycorax
made a prominent visual impression, their heads possessing a prominent
exo-skeleton that gave the impression they were wearing a bone helmet
while their skin resembled exposed muscle, commonly wearing elaborate
robes and known for taking trophies of body parts from condemned
races. The primitive themes of this culture explain their apparent
belief in magic and witchcraft, and may also account for their sense
of honour and respect for the ‘Sanctified Rules of Combat’.
Drawn
to Earth by the recent launch of the Guinevere One probe, the Sycorax
approached the planet on Christmas Day 2006 in an asteroid-esque
spaceship, demanding that humanity surrender to them and give them
half the population as slaves. In an attempt to convince humanity
to surrender, they were able to use a sample of A+ blood that had
been included in Guinevere One to use blood control, taking ‘remote
control’ of everyone on the planet with A+ blood - approximately
a third of the population - and forcing them to walk to the rooftops,
apparently willing to make them jump off the buildings unless humanity
surrendered.
With the Tenth Doctor still unconscious after
his last regeneration and his companion Rose confused about what to do,
she and her family attempted to retreat into the TARDIS, only for the
Sycorax to draw the TARDIS up to their ship as they recognised it as
advanced technology. Just as the Sycorax leader was stating that Earth
would be gutted unless it provided a champion, The Doctor regained consciousness
- tea that had recently been spilt in the TARDIS stimulating his synapses
and getting his brain working again -, subsequently casually triggering
the blood control; like conventional hypnosis, blood control could only
make someone perform basic actions like walking, but lacked the power
to override the human survival instinct.
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| Fighting Earth’s
Champion |
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Although
the Sycorax leader arrogantly stated that he could still summon the
armada to take this world by force, The Doctor ordered him to withdraw
from Earth, taking a sword from another Sycorax and challenging the
leader under the sanctified rules of combat; with The Doctor now
fighting as Earth’s champion, he could win Earth’s freedom
from the Sycorax if he defeated the leader in a duel. Although the
leader appeared to win when he cut off The Doctor’s right hand,
The Doctor was able to regrow the missing limb - still being in the
first fifteen hours of his new body, he retained enough regenerative
energy to regrow his missing limb -, swiftly disarming the shocked
Sycorax leader, taken aback at this display of ‘witchcraft’,
and ordering the ship to withdraw in exchange for their lives (Although
he subsequently knocked the Sycorax leader off the ship when he attempted
to attack The Doctor even after the challenge had been defeated).
Unfortunately, as the ship departed, it was destroyed
by an alien weapon that had been acquired at some point in the distant
past by the mysterious ‘Torchwood’ organisation, leaving
The Doctor disgusted at the loss of life even after the Sycorax had
surrendered. Despite The Doctor’s anger at this action, it
appears that, with his defeat of the leader and the subsequent destruction
of the Sycorax ship, Earth was successfully spared future visits
from them; the only reference to them since has been a passing comment
in the novel "Snowglobe
7", which stated that the Sycorax
briefly returned to Earth in the late 21st century with hostile intent
but departed shortly after. |
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