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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|image            = Morbius.jpg
|image            = Morbius the Monster.jpg
|alias            =
|species          = Time Lord
|species          = Time Lord
|job              = Lord President
|job              =  
|affiliation      = High Council
|origin            = [[Gallifrey]]
|origin            = [[Gallifrey]]
|first             = The Brain of Morbius (TV story)
|first cs          = The Brain of Morbius (TV story)
|appearances      = [[Morbius - list of appearances|'''''see list''''']]
|appearances      = {{Appears|Morbius}}
|actor            = Stuart Fell
|actor            = Stuart Fell
|voice actor      = Michael Spice
|voice actor      = Michael Spice
|other voice actor = [[Samuel West]]
|clip              =  
|bts              = Restoring Classic Monsters - Doctor Who The Fan Show
}}
}}
'''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, a controversial move which sparked the Time Lords' first and greatest [[Civil War]]. He failed, was [[exile]]d and eventually executed, only to survive, saved by [[Cult of Morbius|his followers]].
{{incarnations of Morbius}}
The '''second incarnation''' of the [[Time Lord]] criminal '''[[Morbius]]''' was an artificial, monstrous form created for him by the scientist [[Mehendri Solon]], referred to in some accounts as "the '''Morbius Monster'''". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)}}, {{cs|Monsters and Villains (reference book)}}) Following his botched execution, Morbius was reduced to a disembodied brain, the '''Brain of Morbius''', ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Universal Databank (reference book)}}) which Solon installed in a monstrous new patchwork body. Although not the product of [[regeneration]], the Monster was considered distinguishable enough from Morbius' [[First Morbius|original incarnation]] to appear separately from it as one of the faces in his [[mindbending]] duel with the [[Fourth Doctor]].


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
=== Creation ===
Morbius was born to the [[Patrex Chapter]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') Like all [[Time Lord]]s, Morbius was taken from his family at the age of eight for the selection process in the [[Drylands]]. Staring into the [[Untempered Schism]] as part of a [[Time Lord initiation rite]], Morbius was said by [[Boy (Heaven Sent)|one Time Lord historian]] to have been driven mad by what he saw in the Schism. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'')
After the execution of his [[First Morbius|original incarnation]], Morbius's follower [[Mehendri Solon]] absconded with his still-living [[brain]], which he kept alive in his secret laboratory on [[Karn]].


=== Political career ===
[[File:Morbius the monster.jpg|right|thumb|The body crafted for Morbius by [[Mehendri Solon|Solon]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})]]
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 [[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.  
Over the years, Solon acquired a great many body parts, which he used to create Morbius's new body. These included [[lung]]s from a [[Birastrop]], a left arm from Solon's unknowing assistant [[Condo]] and a claw for his right arm. During this time, Morbius hid his presence from the Sisterhood by placing a barrier around his mind, and his hatred for them had increased. This plan to create a new body for Morbius and wreak vengeance was nearing completion when the [[Fourth Doctor]] and his [[companion]] [[Sarah Jane Smith]] arrived at his [[castle]] on Karn.


However, unlike his fellow members of the High Council, Morbius disapproved of much of Rassilon's new order, wanting a more equalitarian 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. Almost despite himself, Morbius became a sort of populist cult-leader as he continued defending these policies, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') 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]]'')
By this point, Morbius had become increasingly antagonistic towards Solon, frustrated by the [[scientist]]'s never-ending promises. He didn't care about what he looked like in his new body, he only wished to walk, to feel and to see again. He likened himself to "a [[sponge]] beneath the [[sea]]", though he noted that a sponge had more life than what he was going through. He pitied his fate, which he saw as tragic, mourning that when he led the High Council on Gallifrey, he had "dreamed the greatest dreams of history". ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})


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, he 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]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
=== A new body ===
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]] braincase. He had not used this before as there was the danger of a [[static electricity]] build-up which would probably damage the brain. Morbius was unable to speak for some time due to the damage sustained. Eventually, Solon was able to repair this but was killed soon afterwards when the Doctor poisoned him with [[cyanide]] [[gas]]. As Morbius proclaimed his return to power, he was challenged to a [[mindbending]] contest by the Doctor, who informed him that he doubted Morbius's power after his brain had spent so long trapped in the tank, and agreed.


[[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]]'')]]
[[File:Long way down.jpg|left|thumb|Morbius falls from a cliff. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})]]
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]]'')  
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]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})


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]]'')
=== Reduced to a brain once more ===
After the Doctor left Karn, the Sisterhood went to the bottom of the cliff and recovered what was left of Morbius's "not entirely destroyed" brain. [[Ohica]] led the wounded Morbius to the [[Death Zone]] to use the remains of Rassilon to give Morbius immortality. Ohica discovered that [[Iris Wildthyme]] had infiltrated the Sisterhood and used the [[Time Scoop]] to bring seven of Iris' own incarnations to Death Zone. The Irises were able to get past the [[Ice Warrior]]s, [[Ogron]]s, [[Sea Devil]]s, [[Zarbi]], [[Mechanoid]]s and [[Quark]]s that Ohica time scooped to the Death Zone and defeated Morbius before he gained immortality. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Verdigris (novel)}}) [[The gathering of the Irises in the Death Zone|This adventure]] would be often alluded to by Iris. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Scarlet Empress (novel)}}, {{cs|The Blue Angel (novel)}}, {{cs|Bafflement and Devotion (short story)}}, etc.)


=== The Civil War ===
[[Cyberman|Cybermen]] recovered the brain and made it into a powerful [[Cyber-Controller]] known as [[Cyber-Morbius]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (game)}})


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. 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.  
Morbius cultists would later acquire fragments of Morbius's brain and use them to resurrect him in a [[Third Morbius|new and more humanoid, though unstable, body]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Vengeance of Morbius (audio story)}})


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. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
=== Legacy ===
[[File:Morbius DWM illustration.jpg|thumb|right|The Fourth Doctor summons the Morbius Monster. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}})]]
In a battle with another resurrected aspect of Morbius, that of the ''mind'' of Morbius, a [[matrix projection]] of the [[Fourth Doctor]] summoned a [[hard light]] projection of the Morbius Monster to fight on his behalf. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}})


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.  
In the [[video game]] ''[[Happy Deathday]]'', played by [[Izzy Sinclair]] on the [[Time-Space Visualiser]], Morbius was among a host of "every single [[enemy]]" that [[the Doctor]] had ever [[defeat]]ed, who were assembled by the [[Beige Guardian]] and pitted against the Doctor's first eight [[incarnation]]s. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Happy Deathday (comic story)}})


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]]'')
The TV show ''[[Doctor Who (in-universe)|Doctor Who]]'', which existed as a popular work of [[fiction]] on [[Earth]], had featured "the Brain of Morbius" as an antagonist by [[1981]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Fanboys (short story)}})


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 popuplation 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]]'')
== Appearance ==
The body built for Morbius by Solon was a lumbering, asymmetrical creature, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}}) a "hideous hybrid of alien life forms", made up of "bits of other creatures; (...) fur, scales and even feathers were jumbled together in a ghastly parody of life". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)}}) His left arm was human, having been taken from Solon's assistant [[Condo]] while the right was an enormous, crab-like [[claw]]. With Solon unable to graft an organic head quickly enough to satisfy his master's wishes, the finished product utilised a clear glass brain-case to contain Morbius's original Gallifreyan brain, with two trumpet-like "horns" jutting out of it. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})


=== Trial and execution ===
== Personality ==
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]]'')  
Following his long years of being trapped in a tank as a disembodied brain, the Morbius Monster was a combination of depressed and vengeful, resenting the universe for what had happened to him. He retained his former arrogance, however, claiming that he was still "a Time Lord of the [[First Rank]]" (something which the [[Fourth Doctor]] doubted). ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}})


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 publically atomised to the nine corners of the universe. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
== Behind the scenes ==
 
*In ''The Brain of Morbius'', the Monster was referred to simply as "Morbius". He was first given the name "Morbius Monster" in [[Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)|the novelisation]] and later in [[Justin Richards]]'s 2005 reference book [[PROSE]]: ''[[Monsters and Villains (reference book)|Monsters and Villains]]''.
[[File:First face seen in the mindbending contest.jpg|thumb|Morbius' original [[incarnation]], as seen in his [[mindbending]] contest with [[the Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|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]]'') Solon stayed on [[Karn]] in hiding, where he began planning to build a new body for Morbius. The Sisterhood took to defending the [[Elixir of Life]] by causing passing spacecrafts 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 (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
 
=== Morbius' brain ===
==== In hiding ====
[[File:Morbius the monster.jpg|right|thumb|The body crafted for Morbius by [[Mehendri Solon|Solon]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]Over the years, Solon acquired a great many body parts, which he used to create Morbius's new body. These included [[lung]]s from a [[Birastrop]], a left arm from Solon's unknowing assistant [[Condo]] and a claw for his right arm. During this time, Morbius hid his presence from the Sisterhood by placing a barrier around his mind, and his hatred for them had increased. This plan to create a new body for Morbius and wreck vengeance was nearing completion when the [[Fourth Doctor]] and his [[companion]] [[Sarah Jane Smith]] arrived at his [[castle]] on Karn.
 
By this point, Morbius had become increasingly antagonistic towards Solon, frustrated by the [[scientist]]'s never-ending promises. He didn't care about what he looked like in his new body, he only wished to walk, to feel and to see again. He likened himself to "a [[sponge]] beneath the [[sea]]" though he noted that a sponge had more life than what he was going through. He pitied his fate, which he saw as tragic, mourning that when he led the High Council on Gallifrey, he had "dreamed the greatest dreams of history".  ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
==== A new body… at last? ====
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]] braincase. He had not used this before as there was the danger of a [[static electricity]] build-up which would probably damage the brain. Morbius was unable to speak for some time due to the damage sustained. Eventually, Solon was able to repair this but was killed soon afterwards when the Doctor poisoned him with [[cyanide]] [[gas]]. As Morbius proclaimed his return to power, he was challenged to a [[mindbending]] contest by the Doctor, who informed him that he doubted Morbius's power after his brain had spent so long trapped in the tank, and agreed.
 
[[File:Long way down.jpg|left|thumb|Morbius falls from a cliff. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|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 (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
 
==== Saved by Ohica ====
After the Doctor left Karn, the Sisterhood went to the bottom of the cliff and recovered what was left of Morbius' "not entirely destroyed" brain. [[Ohica]] led the wounded Morbius to the [[Death Zone]] to use the remains of Rassilon to give Morbius immortality. Ohica discovered that [[Iris Wildthyme]] had infiltrated the Sisterhood and used the [[Time Scoop]] to bring seven of Iris' own incarnations to Death Zone. The Irises were able to get past the [[Ice Warrior]]s, [[Ogron]]s, [[Sea Devil]]s, [[Zarbi]], [[Mechanoid]]s and [[Quark]]s that Ohica time scooped to the Death Zone and defeated Morbius before he gained immortality. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Verdigris (novel)|Verdigris]]'')
=== Vengeance ===
[[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 (audio story)|The Vengeance of Morbius]]'')


=== Legacy ===
{{TitleSort}}
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]]'')
 
''[[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]]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]]'')
 
== Behind the scenes ==
* [[The Imperator]] as featured or mentioned the [[Faction Paradox (series)|''Faction Paradox'' series]] fills the same place in Time Lord history as Morbius, and the authorial intent is clearly that "the Imperator" be read as a title or alias of Morbius. However, as none of the stories featuring the Imperator held the licence to the character or name of Morbius, this Wiki does not acknowledge them to be the same individual. Interestingly, the Imperator's contemporary in ''Faction Paradox'', [[the War King]], is for his part implied to be a future version of [[the Master]]; this would, logically, mean that "Morbius" was a contemporary of [[the Doctor]] themselves.
* Morbius was named after Dr Edward Morbius from the 1956 film {{wi|Forbidden Planet}}. ([[INFO]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
* Morbius was referenced in [[Craig Hinton]] and Chris McKeon's ''Time's Champion'', a sequel to Hinton's ''[[Millennial Rites (novel)|Millennial Rites]]'' and ''[[The Quantum Archangel (novel)|The Quantum Archangel]]''. It was revealed Morbius fathered twin children, the Children of Contempt, with an unknown renegade Time Lady.


== External links ==
[[Category:Incarnations of Morbius]]
{{fpx|Imperator|Imperator}}
{{Presidency}}
{{Maruthea}}
{{NameSort}}
[[Category:Individual Time Lords]]
[[Category:Renegade Time Lords]]
[[Category:Renegade Time Lords]]
[[Category:Time Lord Presidents]]
[[Category:Cult leaders]]
[[Category:Cult leaders]]
[[Category:Individuals with psychic powers]]
[[Category:Individuals with psychic powers]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Residents of Gallifrey]]
[[Category:Biologically modified individuals]]
[[Category:Biologically modified individuals]]
[[Category:Time Lords who have been to Maruthea]]
[[Category:Time Lords who have been to Maruthea]]
[[Category:Resurrected individuals]]
[[Category:Military officers]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Patrexes]]
[[Category:Patrexes]]

Latest revision as of 19:09, 21 September 2024

The second incarnation of the Time Lord criminal Morbius was an artificial, monstrous form created for him by the scientist Mehendri Solon, referred to in some accounts as "the Morbius Monster". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)"], Monsters and Villains [+]Loading...["Monsters and Villains (reference book)"]) Following his botched execution, Morbius was reduced to a disembodied brain, the Brain of Morbius, (PROSE: The Universal Databank [+]Loading...["The Universal Databank (reference book)"]) which Solon installed in a monstrous new patchwork body. Although not the product of regeneration, the Monster was considered distinguishable enough from Morbius' original incarnation to appear separately from it as one of the faces in his mindbending duel with the Fourth Doctor.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Creation[[edit] | [edit source]]

After the execution of his original incarnation, Morbius's follower Mehendri Solon absconded with his still-living brain, which he kept alive in his secret laboratory on Karn.

The body crafted for Morbius by Solon. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

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 arm from Solon's unknowing assistant Condo and a claw for his right arm. During this time, Morbius hid his presence from the Sisterhood by placing a barrier around his mind, and his hatred for them had increased. This plan to create a new body for Morbius and wreak vengeance was nearing completion when the Fourth Doctor and his companion Sarah Jane Smith arrived at his castle on Karn.

By this point, Morbius had become increasingly antagonistic towards Solon, frustrated by the scientist's never-ending promises. He didn't care about what he looked like in his new body, he only wished to walk, to feel and to see again. He likened himself to "a sponge beneath the sea", though he noted that a sponge had more life than what he was going through. He pitied his fate, which he saw as tragic, mourning that when he led the High Council on Gallifrey, he had "dreamed the greatest dreams of history". (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

A new body[[edit] | [edit source]]

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 braincase. He had not used this before as there was the danger of a static electricity build-up which would probably damage the brain. Morbius was unable to speak for some time due to the damage sustained. Eventually, Solon was able to repair this but was killed soon afterwards when the Doctor poisoned him with cyanide gas. As Morbius proclaimed his return to power, he was challenged to a mindbending contest by the Doctor, who informed him that he doubted Morbius's power after his brain had spent so long trapped in the tank, and agreed.

Morbius falls from a cliff. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

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 [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

Reduced to a brain once more[[edit] | [edit source]]

After the Doctor left Karn, the Sisterhood went to the bottom of the cliff and recovered what was left of Morbius's "not entirely destroyed" brain. Ohica led the wounded Morbius to the Death Zone to use the remains of Rassilon to give Morbius immortality. Ohica discovered that Iris Wildthyme had infiltrated the Sisterhood and used the Time Scoop to bring seven of Iris' own incarnations to Death Zone. The Irises were able to get past the Ice Warriors, Ogrons, Sea Devils, Zarbi, Mechanoids and Quarks that Ohica time scooped to the Death Zone and defeated Morbius before he gained immortality. (PROSE: Verdigris [+]Loading...["Verdigris (novel)"]) This adventure would be often alluded to by Iris. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress [+]Loading...["The Scarlet Empress (novel)"], The Blue Angel [+]Loading...["The Blue Angel (novel)"], Bafflement and Devotion [+]Loading...["Bafflement and Devotion (short story)"], etc.)

Cybermen recovered the brain and made it into a powerful Cyber-Controller known as Cyber-Morbius. (GAME: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (game)"])

Morbius cultists would later acquire fragments of Morbius's brain and use them to resurrect him in a new and more humanoid, though unstable, body. (AUDIO: The Vengeance of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Vengeance of Morbius (audio story)"])

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Fourth Doctor summons the Morbius Monster. (AUDIO: Morbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"])

In a battle with another resurrected aspect of Morbius, that of the mind of Morbius, a matrix projection of the Fourth Doctor summoned a hard light projection of the Morbius Monster to fight on his behalf. (AUDIO: Morbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"])

In the video game Happy Deathday, played by Izzy Sinclair on the Time-Space Visualiser, Morbius was among a host of "every single enemy" that the Doctor had ever defeated, who were assembled by the Beige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eight incarnations. (COMIC: Happy Deathday [+]Loading...["Happy Deathday (comic story)"])

The TV show Doctor Who, which existed as a popular work of fiction on Earth, had featured "the Brain of Morbius" as an antagonist by 1981. (PROSE: Fanboys [+]Loading...["Fanboys (short story)"])

Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]

The body built for Morbius by Solon was a lumbering, asymmetrical creature, (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"]) a "hideous hybrid of alien life forms", made up of "bits of other creatures; (...) fur, scales and even feathers were jumbled together in a ghastly parody of life". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)"]) His left arm was human, having been taken from Solon's assistant Condo while the right was an enormous, crab-like claw. With Solon unable to graft an organic head quickly enough to satisfy his master's wishes, the finished product utilised a clear glass brain-case to contain Morbius's original Gallifreyan brain, with two trumpet-like "horns" jutting out of it. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

Following his long years of being trapped in a tank as a disembodied brain, the Morbius Monster was a combination of depressed and vengeful, resenting the universe for what had happened to him. He retained his former arrogance, however, claiming that he was still "a Time Lord of the First Rank" (something which the Fourth Doctor doubted). (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"])

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

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