Venusian

Stand well clear, Jo!

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Venusian
Biological type:	Sapient creatures
Place of origin:	Venus
Notable individuals:	Jellenhut, Inikhut, Radico Harstel
Appearances:	PROSE: Venusian Lullaby, AUDIO: Voyage to Venus (audio story)

"Venusian" was both a demonym and a name. It described both the sentient species which first arose on the planet Venus, as well as those humans who were natives of the planet.

As name

Biology

Venus' original sapient lifeforms had twelve eye-stalks in pairs. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby, PROSE: Bad Therapy, WC: The War of Art) They had five arms, (PROSE: Bad Therapy, PROSE: First Frontier), five legs (PROSE: First Frontier), large feet, (TV: The Time Monster) and tentacles. (WC: The War of Art) They were capable of eating the brains of other Venusians to gain their memories. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby)

Culture

Venusians practised a form of Aikido called Venusian aikido which the Third Doctor also practised (TV: The Mutants, The Time Warrior). They also had a nerve pinch, which induced short term amnesia (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus). The Venusians would sing lullabies, (TV: The Curse of Peladon, The Monster of Peladon) though some claimed it was only a bawdy rhyme (PROSE: Lucifer Rising). The Venusians play a game called Venusian Hopscotch, similar to Earth hopscotch in many ways. (TV: Death to the Daleks)

History

Early in its history, Venus supported life, including the Venusians. When the planet became uninhabitable, the Venusians planned to escape to Earth, but were unsuccessful. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby)

Billions of years later, the Venusians survived or were reconstructed. One Venusian, Radico Harstel, was an artist. He created the artwork called The Physical Impossibility of Getting a Shanghorn into a Glass Tank, which was kept in the Paloma Centre. (WC: The War of Art)

Undated events

• The Second Doctor, Ben and Polly encountered Venusians, Draconians and Alpha Centaurans at a spaceport bar. (PROSE: The Murder Game)

As demonym

Another group that used the name "Venusian" were those humans who built the great civilisation centred around New Paris. It was unclear how long this civilisation lasted, or what its relationship was to the Venusian species. What was known was that Venusians were unusually resistant to the Dalek invasion of the Solar System. They put up a prolonged resistance to Dalek occupation that usefully delayed a Dalek invasion of Earth. Among the chief leaders of the Venusian insurrection were Jeff, Andy and Mary Stone.

These "human Venusians" named a number of geologic features of Venus after people and places significant to Earth. A famous mountain range, for instance, was called "the Churchill Mountains" after Winston Churchill. (The Dalek Book)