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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|image = [[file:Morbius and his brain.jpg|250px]]
|image             = <gallery>
|individual name = Morbius
Morbius in Junior Novelisation.jpg|Original
|alias = The Imperator
Morbius_the_Monster.jpg|Monster
|race = [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord]])
Morbius.jpg|Aborted resurrection
|home planet = [[Gallifrey]]
Middlewich Morbius.png|Temple resurrection
|appearances = [[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]''<br>[[PDA]]: ''[[Warmonger]]''<br>[[BFA]]: ''[[The Vengeance of Morbius]]''<br>[[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]''<br>
</gallery>
|mentions = [[EDA]]: ''[[Scarlet Empress]]''<br>[[BFA]]: ''[[Excelis Dawns]]''<br>[[BFA]]: ''[[Sisters of the Flame]]''
|aliases          = The General
|actor = <ul><li>[[Michael Spice]] (voice)</li><li>[[Stuart Fell]] (monster)</li><li>[[Samuel West]] (audio plays)</li></ul>}}
|species          = Time Lord
'''Morbius''' of [[House Dvora]] was a high-ranking [[Time Lord]]. His career was the first in millennia to dramatically alter [[Gallifrey]]'s relations with the wider universe. He briefly moved Gallifrey's policy away from observation and manipulation and towards a brutal restructuring of the universe to suit Gallifrey's interests. ([[DW]]:''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'', [[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'') The [[Fifth Doctor|Doctor]] became embroiled in the resulting chaos. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Warmonger]]'')
|job              = Lord President
|affiliation      = High Council
|origin            = [[Gallifrey]]
|first cs          = The Brain of Morbius (TV story)
|appearances       = {{appears}}
|actor            = Stuart Fell
|voice actor      = Michael Spice
|other voice actor = [[Samuel West]]
|bts              = Restoring Classic Monsters - Doctor Who The Fan Show
}}{{Incarnations of Morbius}}{{Devils}}
'''Morbius''' was an infamous [[Time Lord]] [[tyrant]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}}) most notable for starting, and losing, [[Gallifrey]]'s first-ever [[Civil War]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}}, etc.) Near the end of his [[First Morbius|first life]], having become a [[Renegade Time Lord|renegade]] from Gallifrey, he adopted [[Vocational name|the alias]] of '''the General''', ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Warmonger (novel)}}) a title he continued to claim during his involvement in the [[Last Great Time War]], once listing his names and titles as "Morbius, the General, the Rightful [[President of Gallifrey]], the [[King of the Foregone|King]] of [[the Foregone]], [[Time's Butcher]], [[Herald of the New Order]], the [[Incalculax Prime]]". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}})  


His career ended in ignominy and destruction. He escaped a death sentence only by a secret [[brain]] transplant, subsequent to which he encountered the [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnation]] of the Doctor. ([[DW]]:''[[The Brain of Morbius]])''
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, sparking the Civil War. He failed, was [[exile]]d and eventually executed, only to survive, saved by [[Cult of Morbius|his followers]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}}, etc.)


==Biography==
The dating of Morbius's reign of terror varied between accounts; indeed, by one source, the history of the Civil War was constantly shifting, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)|part=2}}) By one account, the civil war occurred ''after'' [[the Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)}}) while others had Morbius predate the Doctor's generation; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}, {{cs|Warmonger (novel)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}}) the [[Scrolls of Gallifrey]] written by [[Postar the Perfidious]], which uniquely depicted Rassilon as a rather recent figure relative to the Doctor, indicated that the war had occurred in the generation immediately after Rassilon and the generation immediately before the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) Moreover, ''[[The Book of the War]]'' described a figure known as [[the Imperator]], whose history largely matched his, as a member of the same "[[broken generation]]" of renegade as the likes of [[the War King]], [[Grandfather Paradox]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}}) and the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Lungbarrow (novel)}}) One account of Morbius's activities in the Time War described as both as ancient as Rassilon, and as merely a few "centuries or millennia" before the era of the Time War, also asserting him to have been a contemporary of [[the Corsair]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}})
=== The Imperator Crisis ===
Morbius' ambition led him to become the head of the High Council. His warlike nature led him to urge the Time Lords toward a policy of conquest ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]''), demanding the [[Laws of Time]] and the [[Spiral Politic]] to be redrawn to better suit Gallifrey's needs ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'').


While based on Gallifrey he formed a personal army of dedicated followers and mercenaries of other species. He promised his followers the secrets of [[time travel]] and immortality, ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'') but withheld from them admission into his House. ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'')
== Biography ==
=== Incarnations of Morbius ===
{{section stub}}
* Morbius's [[First Morbius|original incarnation]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') was a charismatic man slightly below medium height, with "classically handsome" features and a domed forehead. He served as [[President of the High Council]] before being deposed, taking on the name of "the General". He was ultimately executed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warmonger (novel)|Warmonger]]'')
* After [[Morbius' brain|his brain]] was salvaged, Morbius was transplanted into a [[Second Morbius|new body]] by [[Mehendri Solon]]. An unstable patchwork of parts from various species, topped by a purely artificial brain-case, the "monster" was hounded off the edge of a cliff by the [[Sisterhood of Karn]] and destroyed shortly after Morbius had been transplanted in this body. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
* [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] recovered Morbius' brain and made it into a [[Cyber-Controller]] known as [[Cyber-Morbius]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (game)}})
* Using a fragment of Morbius's original brain and biodata from [[Straxus]], the [[Cult of Morbius]] managed to effect a full [[regeneration]] from the brain fragment, with Morbius resurrected in a [[Third Morbius|new Time Lord body]]. However, he needed frequent transfusions of biodata from Straxus to keep himself stable. This resurrection was later temporally undone, with only Straxus and [[Lucie Miller]] remembering the [[aborted timeline]]. Although this account implied that Morbius's new body was a new appearance distinct from his original body, with the Doctor remaking that his old robes now fit him badly, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Vengeance of Morbius (audio story)}}) a later account depicted [[Morbius (Morbius)|an alternative resurrected form of Morbius]] with the same appearance only for [[Argento]] to recognise him on sight, suggesting this appearance matched his original incarnation. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)|part=2}})
* Separately from the fate of Morbius's physical brain, a [[Morbius (Morbius)|copy of Morbius's mind]] was salvaged by [[Veritas (Morbius)|Veritas]], a telepathic follower of Morbius in the War. Veritas carried this echo of Morbius within him away from Karn on [[Proteus (ship)|a Gallifreyan prison ship]], from which he subsequently hatched a plot of escape and resurrection, ultimately possessing the body of [[Middlewitch]] and [[regeneration|regenerating]] it into a copy of this original form. After his plan to reach [[Dark Gallifrey]] was foiled by Captain Argento and a [[the Matrix|Matrix]] projection of the [[Fourth Doctor]], ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius (audio story)}}) this Morbius resurfaced in [[the Valley]] during the [[Last Great Time War]] and sought revenge on the [[War Doctor]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Morbius the Mighty (audio story)}})


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|Games of Rassilon]] in an effort to gain [[Rassilon]]'s gift of immortality. This attempt was ultimately thwarted. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Scarlet Empress]]'')
== Alternative timelines ==
In [[True Lords' timeline|an alternative timeline]], [[Morbius (Annihilation)|Morbius]] was a [[Gallifrey (True Lords' timeline)|Gallifreyan]] who became a [[Great Vampire|Vampire]] and served [[Prydon|Lord Prydon]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Annihilation (audio story)|Annihilation]]'')


When the Time Lords, spurred by the [[Order of the Weal]] ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]''), finally denounced him, he and his followers abandoned Gallifrey and attacked the cultures of the external universe ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'').
== Behind the scenes ==
* Morbius was named after Dr Edward Morbius from the 1956 film ''[[Forbidden Planet (film)|Forbidden Planet]]''. ([[INFO]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'')
* Morbius was referenced in [[Craig Hinton]] and Chris McKeon's unproduced novel ''[[Time's Champion (unproduced novel)|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.
* [[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.
* The colour of the robes worn by the resurrected Morbius in ''[[The Vengeance of Morbius (audio story)|The Vengeance of Morbius]]'' would suggest that he was a member of the [[Dromeian Chapter]], in contrast to ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'' asserting that he belonged to the [[Patrex Chapter]]. The Imperator, meanwhile, is depicted as a member of [[House Dvora]], a House belonging to the [[Prydonian Chapter]].


Gallifrey's society struggled to understand these inconceivable events. The long-term cultural changes brought about would include the increased influence of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] and the founding of [[Faction Paradox|House Paradox]] ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'').
== External links ==
 
{{Presidency}}
=== War with The Alliance ===
{{Maruthea}}
[[file:Morbiushead.jpg|150px|thumb|left|The Doctor sits next to a clay sculpture of the head of Morbius. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
{{NameSort}}
Unsure how to respond to the physical campaign of conquest Morbius was waging against the universe, ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'') the Time Lords eventually chose to fight the war by proxy.
[[Category:Morbius]]
 
[[Category:The Ones That Went Mad]]
[[Fifth Doctor|The fifth incarnation]] of the 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, [[Cybermen]], [[Ogron]]s, [[Ice Warrior]]s and [[Sontaran]]s against Morbius.
 
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.
 
The Alliance at long last defeated Morbius on [[Karn]] with the help of the [[Sisterhood of Karn|Sisterhood]]. They brought him to trial, although the verdict had been decided in advance. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Warmonger]]'') 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 opposing them ([[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'').
 
His body was destroyed, with Sisterhood leader [[Maren]] among those attending. However, Morbius escaped death when one of his followers, the [[human]] surgeon Doctor [[Mehendri Solon]], secretly removed the Gallifreyan renegade's [[brain]] before his disintegration.
 
Solon went into hiding on [[Karn]], where he began planning to build a new body for Morbius. The Sisterhood's means of defending the [[Elixir of Life]] was to cause nearby spacecraft to crash. This provided a regular supply of corpses from which Solon scavenged body parts for his project ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'').
 
This accepted account of Morbius's downfall could be inferred to be part of the Time Lord propaganda series known as ''The Houseworld Chronicles''. ([[FP]]: [[Newtons Sleep|''Newtons Sleep)'']]
 
=== Morbius' Brain===
[[file:St--4k13.jpg|150px|thumb|right|The corpse-created body built to house the disembodied brain of Morbius. ([[DW]]: ''[[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 lungs from a [[Birastrop]], a left hand from Solon's unknowing assistant [[Condo]], and a giant lobster-like right hand. 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]].
 
The haphazardly asesembled body lacked a head to hold the brain of Morbius. After Morbius's brain was damaged during a fall, Solon was forced to use a plastic brain case.
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. Morbius then staged a mind-bending contest against the Doctor.
[[file:Long way down.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Morbius falls from a cliff. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')]]
After the duel, Morbius was in a dazed, animalistic state. He did not speak again, only groaned in agony. Upon leaving Solon's castle, he was chased by the [[Sisterhood of Karn]], surrounded and forced over a cliff, apparently falling to his death. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'')
 
===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 to bring about his resurrection. ([[BFA]]: ''[[The Vengeance of Morbius]]'')
 
==Behind the scenes==
*Morbius was named after a character from the [[1956]] film, ''[[wikipedia:Forbidden Planet|Forbidden Planet]]''.
 
{{Start box}}
{{Succession box
|title=[[Lord President]] of [[Gallifrey]]
|current=Morbius
|before=[[Pandora]]
|before-story=
|after=[[Saran]]
|after-story=
}}
{{End box}}
 
{{Time Lords}}
{{season 13 aliens}}
[[category:Individual Time Lords]]
[[Category:Renegade Time Lords]]
[[Category:Renegade Time Lords]]
[[Category:Time Lord Presidents]]
[[Category:Time Lord Presidents]]
[[Category:Fourth Doctor enemies]]
[[Category:Eighth Doctor enemies]]
[[Category:Cult leaders]]
[[Category:Cult leaders]]
[[Category:Individuals with psychic powers]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Residents of Gallifrey]]
[[Category:Biologically modified individuals]]
[[Category:Time Lords who have been to Maruthea]]
[[Category:Resurrected individuals]]
[[Category:Military officers]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Patrexes]]

Latest revision as of 14:13, 21 September 2024

Morbius
Appearances

Morbius was an infamous Time Lord tyrant, (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"]) most notable for starting, and losing, Gallifrey's first-ever Civil War. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"], AUDIO: Morbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"], etc.) Near the end of his first life, having become a renegade from Gallifrey, he adopted the alias of the General, (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Loading...["Warmonger (novel)"]) a title he continued to claim during his involvement in the Last Great Time War, once listing his names and titles as "Morbius, the General, the Rightful President of Gallifrey, the King of the Foregone, Time's Butcher, Herald of the New Order, the Incalculax Prime". (AUDIO: Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"])

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, sparking the Civil War. He failed, was exiled and eventually executed, only to survive, saved by his followers. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"], etc.)

The dating of Morbius's reign of terror varied between accounts; indeed, by one source, the history of the Civil War was constantly shifting, (AUDIO: Morbius (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"Morbius (audio story)"}) By one account, the civil war occurred after the Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (novelisation)"]) while others had Morbius predate the Doctor's generation; (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"], Warmonger [+]Loading...["Warmonger (novel)"], AUDIO: Morbius [+]Loading...["Morbius (audio story)"]) the Scrolls of Gallifrey written by Postar the Perfidious, which uniquely depicted Rassilon as a rather recent figure relative to the Doctor, indicated that the war had occurred in the generation immediately after Rassilon and the generation immediately before the Doctor. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) Moreover, The Book of the War described a figure known as the Imperator, whose history largely matched his, as a member of the same "broken generation" of renegade as the likes of the War King, Grandfather Paradox, (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"]) and the Doctor. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Loading...["Lungbarrow (novel)"]) One account of Morbius's activities in the Time War described as both as ancient as Rassilon, and as merely a few "centuries or millennia" before the era of the Time War, also asserting him to have been a contemporary of the Corsair. (AUDIO: Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"])

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Incarnations of Morbius[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Please help by adding some more information.

Alternative timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]

In an alternative timeline, Morbius was a Gallifreyan who became a Vampire and served Lord Prydon. (AUDIO: Annihilation)

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

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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