Walter Simeon

Walter Simeon
Species:	Human
Place of origin:	England
First appearance:	The Snowmen
Appearances:	TV: The Snowmen TV: The Bells of Saint John
Main actor:	Richard E. Grant
Other actors:	[[other actor::Cameron Strefford]]

Dr. Walter Simeon was a man who was associated with, and later became, the Great Intelligence.

Biography

Walter Simeon found the Great Intelligence as a young boy, and unwittingly began pouring his darkest thoughts into it. Believing its orders to be its own rather than a reflection of himself, Simeon began to go about building an army of ice for himself to be in power. To this end he established the Great Intelligence Institute and sought to bring the Ice Governess to the Intelligence, which brought him up against the Doctor.

Young Walter Simeon first encountering the Great Intelligence in 1842.

When he confronted him at the Institute, the Doctor showed him how the Intelligence was nothing more than a reflection of Simeon himself rather than a separate entity. Undaunted by this revelation, Simeon sought to get the remains of the Governess, but the Doctor tricked him into being bitten by a memory worm. The memories of his adult life were erased, but the Intelligence had by this time gained enough independence to survive and fill in the void left and take over Simeon's body. After a brief scuttle with the Doctor, whatever was left of Simeon died when the Intelligence was defeated and relinquished control of his body. (TV: The Snowmen)

Although Simeon's physical body had died, the Great Intelligence used his image as an avatar to communicate with Miss Kizlet via a large wall-mounted video screen at the Shard. (TV: The Bells of Saint John)

Personality

Walter Simeon was a cold hearted sociopath. As a child, he believed that other children were "silly" and didn't want to play with them. His mother commented that his solitary nature was unhealthy, and since Simeon never even tried to emotionally connect with other people he grew into a heartless man who showed very little emotion. He allowed his Snowmen to eat a group of homeless people who had been building them without any concern for their lives, coldly stating, "I said I'd feed you. I didn't say who to." An intelligent and very power hungry man, Simeon was determined to take over the world with his ice army, although for most of his life he thought he was obeying the orders of the Great Intelligence, not realising that it was a reflection of himself. The one time he did show emotion was when he realised who and what the Great Intelligence was, seeming shocked and slightly fearful of the entity he had served for almost his entire life. Nonetheless, this did not stop him from trying to dominate the world, which he and the Great Intelligence had been working towards for fifty years.

Walter Simeon would appear to still have his uses. The Great Intelligence uses his image as an avatar on a large wall-mounted video screen at the Shard in 2013.

Simeon was also shown to be arrogant and casually informed Vastra and Jenny Flint of his plan, believing that there was nothing they could do to stop it. When Vastra said she knew someone who could stop him, Simeon merely responded "I look forward to meeting him" not taking the Silurian's words seriously. He was also indifferent when he lifted Vastra's veil and saw she was a Silurian, and although he commented that the Veiled Detective was a woman, possibly implying a degree of sexism, he said nothing about her species. (TV: The Snowmen)