Judoon
Justice is swift.
The Judoon were a race of rhinocerid humanoids employed, as the Doctor put it, as "police-for-hire" (or, he added, "interplanetary thugs").
Characteristics
Biology
Judoon were two-metre high humanoids with a stocky build and rhinoceros-like heads. They had large lungs to help with breathing even in environments with low levels of oxygen.
Behaviour
Witness: the crime. Charge: physical assault. Plea: guilty. Sentence: Execution.
Judoon were brutish and meted out punishments that might seem cruel to some races (for example, physical assault incurred one of the Judoon's favourite punishments, execution). However, they still operated under Galactic Law. They reserved the right to execute without proper trial. The Doctor suggested they operated in terms of guilt by association, claiming they might kill everyone in the Royal Hope Hospital for assisting their target.
Their language was composed of many one-syllable words ending in a long "o" sound. Each sentence was composed of several of these words hyphenated together.
The Doctor described them as logical but stupid and they seemed to favour methodical patterns of behaviour, to a fault. (DW: Smith and Jones) Judoon do not like Opera. (DWAM: The Great Mordillo) However the Judoon showed signs of compassion when they made the choice to return Royal Hope Hospital to Earth rather than let everyone inside the hospital suffocate, demonstrating that they are not too brutal and still deserve the title of "police".
Technology
The 'execution' punishment the Judoon were so fond of was delivered using a directed energy weapon with a red beam. The Judoon had scanners which would tell the Judoon the species of the scanned being. However, the scanners could be fooled by previous close contact with another species. Metamorphic beings capable of altering their internal biology using assimilated biomatter could also deceive the scan. They also had translation devices which worked by analysing the recorded voice of a being. The translation was reciprocal.
In general, their technology was a dark red or black colour, and most instruments, such as their weapons, scanners and translators, were thick and pen-shaped, similar to a large sonic screwdriver. They did have a pen, a thick marker pen, used to mark "catalogued" people - those who had been scanned and deemed not to be a suspect - on their right hand.
The Judoon also had a contact device that reaches every Judoon helmet, allowing the Judoon Captain to give orders with a press of a button, albeit not pen-shaped. It is the same device as the language assimilator.
Their spacecraft were large cylindrical craft with four boosters, and four claws at the bottom which served as landing gear. Each craft could hold several thousand Judoon in troops of several hundred each. Three of these craft landed on the Moon.
The Judoon could also use an H2O Scoop to transport buildings across space, and shield them with force fields as required by Galactic Law. (DW: Smith and Jones)
The Judoon serve as the main law enforcers for the Interplanetary Peace Organization, the Shadow Proclamation.
Known victims of the Judoon
- The Plasmavore "Florence Finnegan"
- A Slab.
- A hospital patient who assaulted one of the Judoon.
- The Slitheen (who only described the Judoon as "interplanetary police"). (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
- Numerous army members. (TDA: Revenge of the Judoon)
Behind the Scenes
- Fans of Doctor Who have noted a similarity between the appearance of the Sontarans and the Judoon. A creature bearing a striking resemblance to a Judoon also appeared in the video for Billie Piper's debut hit single "Because We Want To". The "Judoon" in the video worked as a bouncer.
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