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{{rename|[[Morbius I]]: see [[Talk:First Morbius#Time Lord incarnation naming|the talk page.]]}}
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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|image = Morbius and his brain.jpg
|image             = Morbius in Junior Novelisation.jpg
|name = Morbius
|alias            = The General
|species = Time Lord
|species           = Time Lord
|origin = [[Gallifrey]]
|job              = Lord President
|first = The Brain of Morbius (TV story)
|origin           = [[Gallifrey]]
|appearances = [[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]''<br />[[GAME]]: ''[[Destiny of the Doctors]]'' (stock image; illusion)<br />[[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger]]''<br />[[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Vengeance of Morbius]]''
|first cs          = The Brain of Morbius (TV story)
|actor = Stuart Fell
|appearances       = {{il|[[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}, {{cs|Warmonger (novel)}}|[[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}}}}
|voice actor= Michael Spice  
|main actor       =  
|voice actor       = Michael Spice
|other voice actor = [[Samuel West]]
|other voice actor = [[Samuel West]]
}}
|clip              =
}}{{you may|The General|n1=the Time Lord who held the name of "the General" during the Last Great Time War}}
{{incarnations of Morbius}}
In his '''original incarnation''', [[Lord President]] '''[[Morbius]]''' attempted to overturn [[Gallifrey]]'s [[non-interference policy]] in favour of military conquest, a controversial move which sparked the [[Time Lord]]s' first and greatest [[Civil War]]. He failed and was exiled. Forming a new army of non-Gallifreyans, he began calling himself '''the General''' and attempted to resume his conquest of the universe, but was defeated and executed.


'''Morbius''' was a notorious and malevolent [[renegade Time Lord]]. His career was the first in millennia to dramatically alter [[Gallifrey]]'s relations with the wider [[universe]]. He attempted to overturn Gallifrey's [[non-interference policy]] in favour of military conquest, but was exiled and eventually executed, only to survive, saved by [[Cult of Morbius|his following]].
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
By [[Postar the Perfidious]]'s account, Morbius was born to the [[Patrex Chapter]] during [[Rassilon]]'s day. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) Another account, which largely aligned with Postar's narrative, agreed that he had lived in such early time. It saw [[Morbius (Morbius)|an echo of Morbius]] recall his youth growing up in [[the Capitol]] as the child of an "unnamed", under-privileged House. He had never left the Capitol before going to the Academy, unlike many of his nobler classmates. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)|part=1}}) By a connected account, he attempted to found his [[House Morbius|own House]], but it went "unrecognised", to his frustration. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}})
 
According to other accounts, Morbius was a contemporary of [[the Doctor]]'s or slightly preceding, born into a long-established Gallifreyan society. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Warmonger (novel)}}, {{cs|Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)}}) ''[[The Book of the War]]''{{'}}s similar figure of [[the Imperator]] was a child of [[House Dvora]], and one of the several renegades [[loom]]ed simultaneous, forming an unprecedented "[[broken generation]]"; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}}) channeling "[[the Other|impurities]]" in the systems, it also included [[the War King]], [[Grandfather Paradox]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Crimes Against History (short story)}}) and [[the Doctor]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Lungbarrow (novel)}})
 
Like all [[Time Lord]]s, Morbius was taken from his family at the age of eight for the [[Time Lord initiation rite]] in the [[Drylands]]. Staring into the [[Untempered Schism]], Morbius was said by [[Boy (Heaven Sent)|one Time Lord historian]] to have been driven mad by what he saw in the Schism. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)}})
 
At the [[Time Lord Academy]], the young Morbius was deemed "bad blood" by his tutors ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}}, {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}}) and forced to carry out various "demeaning" chores, such as scrubbing the [[Trinity Fountains]] clean of the [[algae grub]]s which infested them. He took his frustrations out on the grubs, slowly pulling them apart with his bare hands to "great satisfaction". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}})
 
=== Political career ===
According to [[Postar the Perfidious]]'s narrative, following [[Rassilon]]'s abdication from the head of the [[Lord President|Presidency]], the nature of the [[High Council]]'s membership was refined and codified with Rassilon's former [[Lord Cardinal|Cardinal]] and fellow [[Prydonian Chapter|Prydonian]], [[Pandad]], as the first regular Lord President. The Council would now include four [[Councillor]]s, and the charismatic Morbius was one of those four.
 
However, unlike his fellow members of the High Council, Morbius disapproved of much of Rassilon's new order, wanting a more egalitarian Gallifreyan society. He argued that all [[Chapter]]s should be represented on the Council equally, and also that the [[Eye of Harmony]] should be unlocked so that all remaining [[Gallifreyan]]s could be given the ability to [[regeneration|regenerate]], rather than it remaining a privilege of the bloodlines which Rassilon had personally favoured. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) Another account, which otherwise largely aligned with this narrative, suggested that all Time Lords had originally been granted regeneration, and that the oppressed class in favour of which Morbius spoke out were opponents to Rassilon's regimes, whose Time Lord powers and privileges had been revoked ''en masse'' as punishment — making them the first [[Outsider]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)|part=2}})
 
Almost despite himself, Morbius became a sort of populist cult-leader as he continued defending these policies, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) a dogma to which, over time, a belief that Time Lords should take advantage of their power to conquer the [[universe]] was appended. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
 
Though he might have considered granting Morbius his earliest demands for better Chapter representation and the spreading of regeneration, Lord President Pandad could not condone Morbius's eventual demand for the Presidency itself. Pandad ordered him exiled, alongside some of his more vocal supporters, hoping that this show of force would quench the brewing rebellion. According to one account, Pandad was successful, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') but in another account, Morbius succeeded in becoming head of the High Council, with one [[Saran]] as his [[Vice President of the High Council|Vice President]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
 
[[File:Morbiushead.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Fourth Doctor]] sits next to a clay bust of Morbius. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
While based on Gallifrey, Morbius formed a personal army of [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], bought by his promises of [[time travel]] and [[immortality]]. His following came to be known as the [[Cult of Morbius]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
 
Gallifreyan society struggled to deal with these inconceivable events. The long-term cultural changes brought about included the increased influence of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
 
=== The Civil War ===
According to one account, President Morbius's own High Council, disapproving of the path he had taken, decided to betray him and attempted to have him exiled. In return, he and his followers abandoned Gallifrey and attacked the cultures of the outside universe with renewed fervour. Taking on the alias of "the General", Morbius recruited an army of [[space pirate]]s with which he ransacked more and more planets, gaining more followers and more proper armies in the process.
 
Gallifrey knew that he must be stopped, but, uncomfortable with being seen to act directly in the universe, the Time Lord High Council eventually chose to fight this war by proxy. The [[Fifth Doctor]], who had travelled into Gallifrey's past, was appointed "Supreme Coordinator of the Alliance Battle Fleet" and directed an unlikely army of [[human]]s, [[Draconian]]s, [[Cyberman|Cybermen]], [[Ogron]]s, [[Ice Warrior]]s and [[Sontaran]]s against Morbius, with the Time Lords providing the Doctor with financial support and a flagship. At one point, the Doctor experienced a [[nightmare]] in which the [[Dalek]]s offered to join the effort to "[[exterminate]]" Morbius. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')


== Biography ==
According to the [[Scrolls of Gallifrey]], Morbius had been [[exile]]d by [[Lord President]] [[Pandad]] as soon as he had made his bid for the Presidency, though he then claimed the title of President-in-exile. Escaping his exile, Morbius and his Cult assembled an "army of evil" with which to take the [[Capitol]] by force and returned to Gallifrey ready to attack, starting the Time Lords' great [[Civil War]]. Pandad took the lead of Gallifrey's armies against Morbius's own force, which mostly comprised alien lifeforms.
=== Reign, conquest and fall ===
Morbius's ambition led him to become the head of the [[High Council]] of Time Lords. His warlike nature led him to urge the Time Lords toward a policy of conquest. While based on Gallifrey, Morbius formed a personal army of [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], bought by his promises of [[time travel]] and [[immortality]]. His following came to be known as the [[Cult of Morbius]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')


In his search for immortality, he used the [[time scoop]] and the [[Death Zone]]. He drew seven incarnations of [[Iris Wildthyme]] to play the Game of Rassilon in an effort to gain [[Rassilon]]'s gift of immortality. This attempt was ultimately thwarted. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Scarlet Empress]]'')
The war dragged on for many [[year]]s and claimed the lives of untold numbers of Time Lords, Gallifreyans, and other sentients. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') [[Planet]]s involved in the conflict included [[Fangoria]], [[Romark]], [[Darkeen]], [[Martak]] and [[Freedonia (planet)|Freedonia]], which provided troops for Morbius, and [[Sylvana]], [[Zandir]], [[Tanith]] and [[Electra]], which fell to him. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')


When the Time Lords finally denounced him, he and his followers abandoned Gallifrey and attacked the cultures of the outside universe. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') Gallifreyan society struggled to deal with these inconceivable events. The long-term cultural changes brought about included the increased influence of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
In the end, the last of Morbius's forces were forced by the last of Pandad's to the planet [[Karn]] for a final clash during which the better part of both armies died, as did [[Masters of Karn|Karn's native population]]. The only local institution or population to survive the clash of Time Lords was the [[Sisterhood of Karn]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') who had originated on Gallifrey itself, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'') and helped the Alliance defeat Morbius, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') who throughout all these events was still in his first [[incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')


=== War with the Alliance ===
=== Trial and execution ===
[[File:Morbiushead.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Fourth Doctor]] sits next to a clay bust of Morbius. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
Although the [[death sentence|grisly verdict]] had been decided in advance, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') Morbius was still put [[Trial of Morbius|on trial]] by the Sisterhood of Karn, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') with the Sisterhood's leader [[Maren]] attending the execution personally. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') The sentence of death by public and ceremonial [[molecular dispersal|disintegration]] was in part a panicked attempt by the Time Lords to caution the [[universe]] at large against ever opposing them. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')
Uncomfortable with being seen to act directly in the universe, the Time Lord High Council eventually chose to fight the war by proxy. The [[Fifth Doctor]], who had travelled into Gallifrey's past, was appointed "Supreme Coordinator of the Alliance Battle Fleet" and directed an unlikely army of [[human]]s, [[Draconian]]s, [[Cyberman|Cybermen]], [[Ogron]]s, [[Ice Warrior]]s and [[Sontaran]]s against Morbius. [[Planet]]s involved in the conflict included [[Fangoria]], [[Romark]], [[Darkeen]], [[Martak]] and [[Freedonia (planet)|Freedonia]], which provided troops for Morbius, and [[Sylvana]], [[Zandir]], [[Tanith]] and [[Electra]], which fell to him. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger]]'')


With the help of the [[Sisterhood of Karn]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger]]''), who had originated on Gallifrey itself ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]''), the Alliance at long last defeated Morbius on the Sisterhood's planet [[Karn]].
Morbius was already encased in a [[dispersal chamber]] when [[Pandad]] climbed atop one of Karn's cliffs to grandiosely deliver the verdict in a public address. Before he could do so, Pandad, lost in the momentousness of what he had to say, misjudged his footing and plummeted to his death. Pandemonium erupted, but Cardinal [[Helron]], one of Pandad's High Council, seemed to manage to action the execution machine before Morbius could take advantage of the confusion to escape; ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') Morbius's body was publicly atomised "to the nine corners of the universe". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')


[[File:Morbius the monster.jpg|right|thumb|The body crafted for Morbius by [[Mehendri Solon|Solon]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
However, Morbius had actually escaped death: one of his followers, the [[human]] surgeon [[Mehendri Solon]], secretly removed Morbius' [[brain]] prior to his disintegration. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') Solon had secretly been aided by the Fifth Doctor, who knew that Morbius's brain had to survive in order to keep history on track. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') One account suggested that Solon had removed Morbius's brain from his skull before the trial, while Morbius was locked in a cell; Solon transported the brain out of the cell in a large bag he carried over his shoulder, with the wardens clueless about the bag's content or the origin of the blood stains on the pliers Solon was holding in his other hand. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Mehendri Solon (short story)|Mehendri Solon]]'')
Although the verdict had been decided in advance, the Sisterhood still put Morbius [[Trial of Morbius|on trial]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger]]'') The Sisterhood's leader [[Maren]] attended the execution where Morbius was placed in a [[dispersal chamber]] and atomised to the nine corners of the universe. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')


Morbius escaped death when one of his followers, the [[human]] surgeon [[Mehendri Solon]], secretly removed Morbius' [[brain]] prior to his disintegration. Solon was secretly aided by the Fifth Doctor, who knew that Morbius's brain had to survive in order to keep history on track. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger]]'') Solon went into hiding on [[Karn]], where he began planning to build a new body for Morbius. The Sisterhood began to defend the [[Elixir of Life]] by causing nearby spacecraft to crash. These space travellers provided a regular supply of corpses from which Solon scavenged body parts for his project. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')
Separately from this plot, another follower of Morbius, [[Veritas (Morbius)|Veritas]], used his native gifts as a [[Hydran (Morbius)|Hydran]] to take a copy of Morbius's mind into his own mind. Veritas allowed himself to be transported onto a [[Gallifrey]]an prison ship, the ''[[Proteus (ship)|Proteus]]'', so as to get a lift off [[Karn]]. Seducing part of the crew, the Morbius-loyal prisoners got ashore at the [[Isle of the Dead (Morbius)|Isle of the Dead]], where Veritas transferred the ghost of Morbius into the body of the captured first mate, [[Middlewitch]]. Morbius [[Possession|possessed]] him and triggered a [[regeneration]], now reborn in [[Morbius (Morbius)|a new body]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}})


=== Morbius' brain ===
=== Post-mortem ===
Over the years, Solon acquired a great many body parts, which he used to create Morbius's new body. These included lungs from a [[Birastrop]], a left hand from Solon's unknowing assistant [[Condo]], and a claw for his right. This plan to create a new body for Morbius was nearing completion when the [[Fourth Doctor]] and his [[companion]] [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah Jane]] arrived at his castle upon the planet Karn.
[[File:First face seen in the mindbending contest.jpg|thumb|left|Morbius' original [[incarnation]], as seen in his [[mindbending]] contest with [[the Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]Having absconded with the brain of Morbius, [[Mehendri Solon]] stayed on [[Karn]] in hiding, where he began planning to build [[Second Morbius|a new body]] for Morbius. After he was reborn in this makeshift body, Morbius later entered a [[mindbending]] duel with the [[Fourth Doctor]] during which he was mentally regressed to his earlier, more humanoid face. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')


The haphazardly-assembled body lacked a head to hold the brain of Morbius, so Solon planned to use the Doctor's head. After Morbius's brain was damaged during a fall when Condo fought with Solon on discovering his arm was being used, Solon was forced to use a plastic brain case. He had not used this before as there was the danger of a static build-up. Morbius was unable to speak for some time due to the damage sustained. Eventually Solon was able to repair this, but was killed soon afterward when the Doctor poisoned him with [[cyanide]] gas. Morbius was challenged to a mind-bending contest by the Doctor and agreed.
=== Legacy ===
[[File:Long way down.jpg|left|thumb|Morbius falls from a cliff. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
Morbius was known to the [[Fourth Doctor]] as "one of the most despicable criminally minded wretches that ever lived", though [[Mehendri Solon|Solon]] noted that members of the surviving [[Cult of Morbius]] obviously begged to differ. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') Morbius' presidency and war had occurred after the Doctor had abandoned his people to roam the universe as a fugitive, but the events were so notable that he heard rumours even in the most distant galaxies. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius]]'')
Morbius was apparently winning the contest, but the static build-up left him in a dazed, animalistic state. He didn't speak again, only groaning in agony. Upon leaving Solon's castle, he was chased by the [[Sisterhood of Karn]], surrounded and forced over the edge of a high cliff, apparently falling to his death. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')


=== Vengeance ===
''[[The Book of the War]]'' documented an unprecedented event in Time Lord history it dubbed the "Imperator presidency" wherein which "[[the Imperator]]" had seized power on Gallifrey and attempted to wage war on the universe, only to eventually be betrayed by the Time Lords and hurriedly executed by molecular disintegration. The ''Book'' described the Imperator as one of the original [[Renegade Time Lord|Renegade]]s, of the same generation as [[the War King]] and [[Grandfather Paradox]], but also as a member of [[House Dvora]], a [[newblood]] house. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')
[[Cristophe Zarodnix]] later became the leader of the [[Cult of Morbius]] and bought the planet Karn, forcing the Sisterhood off-world. On Karn, he found a fragment of Morbius' brain and began to look for a Time Lord, so he could extract [[DNA]] to fuse with what was left of Morbius, in order to effect his resurrection. Zarodnix used DNA from the Time Lord agent [[Straxus]] to effect a new [[regeneration]] for Morbius. In his new form, Morbius used a [[stellar manipulator]] to suck the power of the [[Eye of Harmony]], making the Time Lords powerless to stop his conquest. Morbius rebuilt his military forces, including mind-controlled [[Trell]], and spent a decade conquering over ten thousand worlds, but his body was unstable and required frequent gene-splicings (called "feedings") from Straxus.


The [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Lucie Miller]], who had barely escaped from Gallifrey before Morbius used the stellar manipulator, arrived and worked with Straxus and the cybernetically augmented Trell policeman [[Rosto]] to steal the remote control for Morbius' stellar manipulator. The Doctor succeeded in taking the control and releasing the Time Lords, who promptly broke the [[Laws of Time]] to prevent Zarodnix's purchase of Karn and Morbius' resurrection; however, at the moment before the [[Timeline]] was rewritten, Morbius and the Doctor fell from the balcony of Morbius' palace. The Time Lords believed the Doctor to be dead, but he was actually transported by the Sisterhood to the planet [[Orbis]]. The timeline in which Morbius had been brought back to life was unmade, with only Lucie Miller and Straxus remembering it. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Vengeance of Morbius]]'')
The black, friable spires of [[Yarvelling's Church]] from [[Skaro]] were a fragment of the [[Last Great Time War]]. According to one account, the [[Eighth Doctor]] saw the Cathedral fused with fragments of Morbius' [[Red Capitol]] in the backwater where he triggered [[the Moment]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Time War (short story)|Doctor Who and the Time War]]'')


== Behind the scenes ==
== Appearance ==
* Morbius was named after a character from the [[1956]] film {{wi|Forbidden Planet}}. ([[INFO]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')
Morbius's original Gallifreyan body appeared as a middle-aged man with a strong forehead and sunken eyes. He had short, dark hair and prominent cheekbones. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') He was "slightly under medium height" with a high domed head and "classically handsome features". Prior to being deposed, he dressed in the traditional outfit of a [[President of Gallifrey]], wearing the Presidential robes, the [[Sash of Rassilon]] and the [[Coronet of Rassilon]], and carrying the [[Rod of Rassilon]]. Later, as the General, he wore a uniform of his own design, [[sky blue]] in colour. It had [[Gold (colour)|gold]] [[epaulette]]s and [[braid]], a [[scarlet]] [[sash]], and a number of [[medal]]s — all, naturally, self-awarded.([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
* A different account of Morbius's presidency and its aftermath is given, with slight changes for the sake of copyright, in the ''Faction Paradox'' book ''{{fp|The Book of the War}}'', which is [[Tardis:Valid sources|outside the scope of this wiki]]. In ''The Book of the War'', Morbius is referred to as "{{fp|Imperator|the Imperator}}".
* One theory regarding the faces seen during Morbius' battle with the Doctor is that they are in fact Morbius' previous incarnations.


== External link ==
== Personality ==
{{fpx|Imperator|Imperator}}
According to the [[Fifth Doctor]], Morbius had "tremendous charisma and almost hypnotic powers of persuasion" and was a "military [[genius]]". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'') In his [[Second Morbius|next body]], Morbius would look back on his glory days as a man who had "dreamed the greatest dreams in history". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') He displayed a degree of narcissism; as "the General", the walls of the War Room of his flagship was covered in [[mirror]]s, such that, "from anywhere in the war room, Morbius could see his reflection – full length, head and shoulders, full-face, left and right profiles". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')


{{Presidency}}
== Behind the scenes ==
{{Time Lords}}
* No actor was cast as the original incarnation of Morbius in ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'': the face glimpsed in the mindbending duel is visibly not a human actor but the clay bust earlier seen in the hands of [[Mehendri Solon]].


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Latest revision as of 04:59, 6 October 2024

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In his original incarnation, Lord President Morbius attempted to overturn Gallifrey's non-interference policy in favour of military conquest, a controversial move which sparked the Time Lords' first and greatest Civil War. He failed and was exiled. Forming a new army of non-Gallifreyans, he began calling himself the General and attempted to resume his conquest of the universe, but was defeated and executed.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Early life[[edit] | [edit source]]

By Postar the Perfidious's account, Morbius was born to the Patrex Chapter during Rassilon's day. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) Another account, which largely aligned with Postar's narrative, agreed that he had lived in such early time. It saw an echo of Morbius recall his youth growing up in the Capitol as the child of an "unnamed", under-privileged House. He had never left the Capitol before going to the Academy, unlike many of his nobler classmates. (AUDIO: Morbius (part 1) [+]Loading...{"part":"1","1":"Morbius (audio story)"}) By a connected account, he attempted to found his own House, but it went "unrecognised", to his frustration. (AUDIO: Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"])

According to other accounts, Morbius was a contemporary of the Doctor's or slightly preceding, born into a long-established Gallifreyan society. (PROSEWarmonger [+]Loading...["Warmonger (novel)"]Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)"]) The Book of the War's similar figure of the Imperator was a child of House Dvora, and one of the several renegades loomed simultaneous, forming an unprecedented "broken generation"; (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"]) channeling "impurities" in the systems, it also included the War King, Grandfather Paradox, (PROSECrimes Against History [+]Loading...["Crimes Against History (short story)"]) and the Doctor. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Loading...["Lungbarrow (novel)"])

Like all Time Lords, Morbius was taken from his family at the age of eight for the Time Lord initiation rite in the Drylands. Staring into the Untempered Schism, Morbius was said by one Time Lord historian to have been driven mad by what he saw in the Schism. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"])

At the Time Lord Academy, the young Morbius was deemed "bad blood" by his tutors (AUDIO: Morbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"]Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"]) and forced to carry out various "demeaning" chores, such as scrubbing the Trinity Fountains clean of the algae grubs which infested them. He took his frustrations out on the grubs, slowly pulling them apart with his bare hands to "great satisfaction". (AUDIO: Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"])

Political career[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to Postar the Perfidious's narrative, following Rassilon's abdication from the head of the Presidency, the nature of the High Council's membership was refined and codified with Rassilon's former Cardinal and fellow Prydonian, Pandad, as the first regular Lord President. The Council would now include four Councillors, and the charismatic Morbius was one of those four.

However, unlike his fellow members of the High Council, Morbius disapproved of much of Rassilon's new order, wanting a more egalitarian Gallifreyan society. He argued that all Chapters should be represented on the Council equally, and also that the Eye of Harmony should be unlocked so that all remaining Gallifreyans could be given the ability to regenerate, rather than it remaining a privilege of the bloodlines which Rassilon had personally favoured. (PROSEThe Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) Another account, which otherwise largely aligned with this narrative, suggested that all Time Lords had originally been granted regeneration, and that the oppressed class in favour of which Morbius spoke out were opponents to Rassilon's regimes, whose Time Lord powers and privileges had been revoked en masse as punishment — making them the first Outsiders. (AUDIO: Morbius (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"Morbius (audio story)"})

Almost despite himself, Morbius became a sort of populist cult-leader as he continued defending these policies, (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) a dogma to which, over time, a belief that Time Lords should take advantage of their power to conquer the universe was appended. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

Though he might have considered granting Morbius his earliest demands for better Chapter representation and the spreading of regeneration, Lord President Pandad could not condone Morbius's eventual demand for the Presidency itself. Pandad ordered him exiled, alongside some of his more vocal supporters, hoping that this show of force would quench the brewing rebellion. According to one account, Pandad was successful, (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) but in another account, Morbius succeeded in becoming head of the High Council, with one Saran as his Vice President. (PROSE: Warmonger)

The Fourth Doctor sits next to a clay bust of Morbius. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

While based on Gallifrey, Morbius formed a personal army of mercenaries, bought by his promises of time travel and immortality. His following came to be known as the Cult of Morbius. (TV: The Brain of Morbius, PROSE: Warmonger)

Gallifreyan society struggled to deal with these inconceivable events. The long-term cultural changes brought about included the increased influence of the Celestial Intervention Agency. (PROSE: Warmonger)

The Civil War[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to one account, President Morbius's own High Council, disapproving of the path he had taken, decided to betray him and attempted to have him exiled. In return, he and his followers abandoned Gallifrey and attacked the cultures of the outside universe with renewed fervour. Taking on the alias of "the General", Morbius recruited an army of space pirates with which he ransacked more and more planets, gaining more followers and more proper armies in the process.

Gallifrey knew that he must be stopped, but, uncomfortable with being seen to act directly in the universe, the Time Lord High Council eventually chose to fight this war by proxy. The Fifth Doctor, who had travelled into Gallifrey's past, was appointed "Supreme Coordinator of the Alliance Battle Fleet" and directed an unlikely army of humans, Draconians, Cybermen, Ogrons, Ice Warriors and Sontarans against Morbius, with the Time Lords providing the Doctor with financial support and a flagship. At one point, the Doctor experienced a nightmare in which the Daleks offered to join the effort to "exterminate" Morbius. (PROSE: Warmonger)

According to the Scrolls of Gallifrey, Morbius had been exiled by Lord President Pandad as soon as he had made his bid for the Presidency, though he then claimed the title of President-in-exile. Escaping his exile, Morbius and his Cult assembled an "army of evil" with which to take the Capitol by force and returned to Gallifrey ready to attack, starting the Time Lords' great Civil War. Pandad took the lead of Gallifrey's armies against Morbius's own force, which mostly comprised alien lifeforms.

The war dragged on for many years and claimed the lives of untold numbers of Time Lords, Gallifreyans, and other sentients. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) Planets involved in the conflict included Fangoria, Romark, Darkeen, Martak and Freedonia, which provided troops for Morbius, and Sylvana, Zandir, Tanith and Electra, which fell to him. (PROSE: Warmonger)

In the end, the last of Morbius's forces were forced by the last of Pandad's to the planet Karn for a final clash during which the better part of both armies died, as did Karn's native population. The only local institution or population to survive the clash of Time Lords was the Sisterhood of Karn, (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) who had originated on Gallifrey itself, (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) and helped the Alliance defeat Morbius, (PROSE: Warmonger) who throughout all these events was still in his first incarnation. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

Trial and execution[[edit] | [edit source]]

Although the grisly verdict had been decided in advance, (PROSE: Warmonger) Morbius was still put on trial by the Sisterhood of Karn, (PROSE: Warmonger) with the Sisterhood's leader Maren attending the execution personally. (TV: The Brain of Morbius) The sentence of death by public and ceremonial disintegration was in part a panicked attempt by the Time Lords to caution the universe at large against ever opposing them. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

Morbius was already encased in a dispersal chamber when Pandad climbed atop one of Karn's cliffs to grandiosely deliver the verdict in a public address. Before he could do so, Pandad, lost in the momentousness of what he had to say, misjudged his footing and plummeted to his death. Pandemonium erupted, but Cardinal Helron, one of Pandad's High Council, seemed to manage to action the execution machine before Morbius could take advantage of the confusion to escape; (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) Morbius's body was publicly atomised "to the nine corners of the universe". (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

However, Morbius had actually escaped death: one of his followers, the human surgeon Mehendri Solon, secretly removed Morbius' brain prior to his disintegration. (TV: The Brain of Morbius, PROSE: Warmonger) Solon had secretly been aided by the Fifth Doctor, who knew that Morbius's brain had to survive in order to keep history on track. (PROSE: Warmonger) One account suggested that Solon had removed Morbius's brain from his skull before the trial, while Morbius was locked in a cell; Solon transported the brain out of the cell in a large bag he carried over his shoulder, with the wardens clueless about the bag's content or the origin of the blood stains on the pliers Solon was holding in his other hand. (PROSE: Mehendri Solon)

Separately from this plot, another follower of Morbius, Veritas, used his native gifts as a Hydran to take a copy of Morbius's mind into his own mind. Veritas allowed himself to be transported onto a Gallifreyan prison ship, the Proteus, so as to get a lift off Karn. Seducing part of the crew, the Morbius-loyal prisoners got ashore at the Isle of the Dead, where Veritas transferred the ghost of Morbius into the body of the captured first mate, Middlewitch. Morbius possessed him and triggered a regeneration, now reborn in a new body. (AUDIOMorbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"])

Post-mortem[[edit] | [edit source]]

Morbius' original incarnation, as seen in his mindbending contest with the Doctor. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

Having absconded with the brain of Morbius, Mehendri Solon stayed on Karn in hiding, where he began planning to build a new body for Morbius. After he was reborn in this makeshift body, Morbius later entered a mindbending duel with the Fourth Doctor during which he was mentally regressed to his earlier, more humanoid face. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Morbius was known to the Fourth Doctor as "one of the most despicable criminally minded wretches that ever lived", though Solon noted that members of the surviving Cult of Morbius obviously begged to differ. (TV: The Brain of Morbius) Morbius' presidency and war had occurred after the Doctor had abandoned his people to roam the universe as a fugitive, but the events were so notable that he heard rumours even in the most distant galaxies. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius)

The Book of the War documented an unprecedented event in Time Lord history it dubbed the "Imperator presidency" wherein which "the Imperator" had seized power on Gallifrey and attempted to wage war on the universe, only to eventually be betrayed by the Time Lords and hurriedly executed by molecular disintegration. The Book described the Imperator as one of the original Renegades, of the same generation as the War King and Grandfather Paradox, but also as a member of House Dvora, a newblood house. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

The black, friable spires of Yarvelling's Church from Skaro were a fragment of the Last Great Time War. According to one account, the Eighth Doctor saw the Cathedral fused with fragments of Morbius' Red Capitol in the backwater where he triggered the Moment. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Time War)

Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]

Morbius's original Gallifreyan body appeared as a middle-aged man with a strong forehead and sunken eyes. He had short, dark hair and prominent cheekbones. (TV: The Brain of Morbius) He was "slightly under medium height" with a high domed head and "classically handsome features". Prior to being deposed, he dressed in the traditional outfit of a President of Gallifrey, wearing the Presidential robes, the Sash of Rassilon and the Coronet of Rassilon, and carrying the Rod of Rassilon. Later, as the General, he wore a uniform of his own design, sky blue in colour. It had gold epaulettes and braid, a scarlet sash, and a number of medals — all, naturally, self-awarded.(PROSE: Warmonger)

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to the Fifth Doctor, Morbius had "tremendous charisma and almost hypnotic powers of persuasion" and was a "military genius". (PROSE: Warmonger) In his next body, Morbius would look back on his glory days as a man who had "dreamed the greatest dreams in history". (TV: The Brain of Morbius) He displayed a degree of narcissism; as "the General", the walls of the War Room of his flagship was covered in mirrors, such that, "from anywhere in the war room, Morbius could see his reflection – full length, head and shoulders, full-face, left and right profiles". (PROSE: Warmonger)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • No actor was cast as the original incarnation of Morbius in The Brain of Morbius: the face glimpsed in the mindbending duel is visibly not a human actor but the clay bust earlier seen in the hands of Mehendri Solon.