The Trickster's Brigade

The Trickster's Brigade
Affiliation:	Pantheon of Discord
Bases:	Limbo
Leader:	The Trickster
Notable members:	See below
Appearances:	see list

The Trickster's Brigade were a group of beings led by the Trickster.

History

Like their leader, the Brigade sought to change the course of history by altering details in individuals' lives. According to the Tenth Doctor, most of these changes were "tiny" ones the universe could "compensate" for. However, if the Brigade's victim had a particularly great influence on the universe, the change would create an entire parallel world around that person. (TV: Turn Left)

In 1927, the Brigade smuggled a brain parasite to Earth, intending to infect the future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The plan was that he would be driven mad and the United States and its allies would be unable to stop Nazi Germany in the future, ensuring their victory in the Second World War. This plan was foiled by Captain Jack Harkness and Angelo Colasanto. (TV: Immortal Sins)

The Trickster altered timelines by swapping Sarah Jane Smith for her school-friend Andrea Yates during a cliff-side accident on 13 July 1964, the Trickster caused Sarah Jane to die instead of Andrea. The timeline was restored when Andrea Yates ended the agreement she had made with the Trickster during the accident. (TV: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)

Time Beetles were the only beings definitively identified by the Doctor as "one of the Trickster's Brigade", but this language implied the existence of others. (TV: Turn Left)

The Trickster's Brigade is possibly another name for the Pantheon of Discord, which the Doctor said the Trickster belonged to, or the name of the group that the Trickster formed after he and the Pantheon parted ways. (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith)

One of the Brigade's attempts to radically change the universe created a world where Donna Noble never met the Tenth Doctor and he died. The Doctor's companions stopped some of the threats to Earth, but all died (or in Jack Harkness's case, trapped on another world) doing so until only the alternate Donna Noble and Rose Tyler from the correct universe remained. Rose convinced the alternate Donna Noble to travel back in time with an improvised time machine and reverse the Brigade's effects by sacrificing herself to force her past self to change her mind. (TV: Turn Left) The new universe was erased, the Time Beetle died after history reverted and the fortune teller ran away in fear. If the original time line had not been restored, all realities would have been destroyed by Davros's reality bomb as only the correct Donna Noble and the Doctor could stop it. (TV: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End)

Individuals connected with the group

Known members

• The Trickster (leader)
• Time Beetle
• Brain parasite

Allies

• Krislok (freed)
• Fortune teller
• Andrea Yates (revoked deal)
• Peter Dalton (revoked deal)
• Salvatore Maranzano (defected)

Behind the scenes

• The Trickster's Brigade are the only enemies to be faced in Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.