List of causes of regeneration

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Stand well clear, Jo!

This article is currently undergoing significant editing. Editors should not use this tag for more than 72 hours. Please do not edit it until you no longer see this message, or until 72 hours have passed from the time this message appeared in the edit history.

File:The General's Regeneration - Hell Bent - Doctor Who - BBC

The causes of regeneration, especially amongst Time Lords, were many and varied.

They ran the gamut from simple desire to change to sentencing for convictions, to life-threatening maladies, to blunt-force trauma. While all of these might have been cause for alarm in humans, Time Lords sometimes expressed much less concern. As the Twelfth Doctor once told Clara, "Death [was] Time Lord for man-flu". (TV: Hell Bent)

The following are the known causes of regeneration of specific Time Lords or other regenerating idividuals.

Gallifreyan Time Lords

N-Space, including alternate or aborted timelines

Individual Incarnation Details Sources
The Doctor First Timeless Child Accidentally fell from a cliff while playing with another child. TV: The Timeless Children
Second Timeless Child to Third Timeless Child Forced to regenerate by Tecteun over and over, to enable the scientist to crack the "secret" of regeneration.
Third Timeless Child
Fourth Timeless Child
Fifth Timeless Child
Sixth Timeless Child
First Doctor Collapsed due to his "old body wearing a bit thin" after his life force was drained by the Mondasian Cybermen, and regenerated with the help of the TARDIS. TV: The Tenth Planet, The Power of the Daleks, Twice Upon a Time
Second Doctor Forced to change his appearance by Time Lord court order as punishment for stealing the TARDIS and breaking the non-interference law. TV: The War Games
After the sentence was delayed, he was ultimately forced to complete his regeneration by animated scarecrows sent by the Time Lords. COMIC: The Night Walkers
Third Doctor Radiation poisoning upon prolonged exposure to the Great One's highly unstable web of Metebelis crystals. Drifted through time for ten years dying of the radiation poisoning before he returned to Earth, and had his regeneration triggered by K'anpo Rimpoche to compensate for the Doctor being unable to trigger it himself. TV: Planet of the Spiders, PROSE: Love and War
During the War in Heaven, history was altered so that the Third Doctor's regeneration was instead caused by a fatal shot to the chest from Magdelana Bishop. The bullet entered his ribcage at an angle which didn't damage any major organs; he instead died of blood loss. PROSE: Interference - Book Two
Fourth Doctor Fell to the ground from the telescope after battling the Tremas Master at the Pharos Project; merged with the Watcher, a projection of himself who had helped him prepare for his upcomign demise, at the moment of regeneration. TV: Logopolis
Fifth Doctor Contracted spectrox toxaemia on Androzani Minor, triggering regeneration. Regeneration completed after resisting the Master's attempt to stop his regeneration using their shared mental link to Kamelion. TV: The Caves of Androzani, AUDIO: Winter
Sixth Doctor According to one account, sustained physical injuries during the First Rani's attack on his TARDIS. PROSE: Time and the Rani, TV: Time and the Rani
According to another account, died from blunt head trauma while suffering from chronon energy starvation after his confrontation with the Lamprey. PROSE: Spiral Scratch
According to yet another account, regenerated following intentional exposure to focused beams of a radiation lethal to Time Lords consequent to the Rani's attack on the TARDIS. AUDIO: The Brink of Death
Seventh Doctor Following a non-fatal shooting, the Doctor was taken to a San Francisco hospital, where subsequent exploratory surgery with a camera accidentally clogged a vein; the anaesthetic he had been given delayed regeneration for several hours. TV: Doctor Who, PROSE: The Novel of the Film
In an alternate timeline in which the Nazis won World War II, the Seventh Doctor was gunned down by Nazi soldiers, and regenerated into an alternate eighth incarnation. AUDIO: Klein's Story
Eighth Doctor Died after a ship he was in crash-landed on Karn but was resurrected for four minutes by the Sisterhood of Karn. After his four minutes were up, he regenerated after drinking from a chalice which Ohila told him she had prepared herself to guide his change towards the form of a "warrior". TV: The Night of the Doctor
According to one account, Ohila later claimed that the drink she gave him was made of lemonade and dry ice, telling the Doctor that the warrior had been latent in his subconscious. PROSE: The Day of the Doctor
In an account where he never regenerated on Karn, the Eighth Doctor instead regenerated from injuries he had sustained from activating the Moment, with assistance from the Restoration. PROSE: Doctor Who and the Time War
In other possible futures, the Eighth Doctor regenerated into a variety of other possible ninth incarnations at some point after looking into the Tomorrow Windows, including a "listless-looking" Ninth Doctor. PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows, TV: The Curse of Fatal Death
War Doctor Regenerated from his body "wearing a bit thin" after finally letting go of his responsibilities of War. TV: The Day of the Doctor
"Listless-looking" Ninth Doctor In a timeline where the Doctor's ninth incarnation was a "listless-looking" man who prepared to marry his companion, said Ninth Doctor was killed by a Dalek gunstick blast intended for the Master. TV: The Curse of Fatal Death
"Quite Handsome" Tenth Doctor Injured attempting to repair the Daleks' Zectronic Beam Controller while hiding from Emma and the Master.
"Shy" Eleventh Doctor
"Handsome" Twelfth Doctor Hit by a discharge of pure zectronic energy, which was believed to have destroyed his regenerative ability. However, the Doctor was nevertheless able to regenerate into his next incarnation.
Ninth Doctor Directly absorbed the heart of the TARDIS, and the energies of the Time Vortex itself, the Bad Wolf to save the life of Rose Tyler, causing "every cell in his body" to die. TV: The Parting of the Ways
Tenth Doctor Grazed by the blast from a Dalek gun stick, causing a regeneration. However, the Doctor directed the regeneration energy to his severed hand, so aborted a full regeneration, healing the damage he had sustained without needing to actually change. This resulted, later down the line, in the creation of a meta-crisis Tenth Doctor and of the DoctorDonna. TV: The Stolen Earth, Journey's End
Radiation poisoning intentionally incurred in order to save the life of Wilfred Mott. TV: The End of Time
Eleventh Doctor Neared death from old age after exhausting all of his regenerations. Granted a new regeneration cycle by the Time Lords. TV: The Time of the Doctor
Twelfth Doctor Electrocuted by a Mondasian Cyberman, but delayed the regenerative process. Later shot repeatedly by another Cyberman and caught in a massive explosion, triggering the regeneration further. The regeneration was purposely delayed because he desired to not change again, only accepting the change after a meeting with the First Doctor. (TV: The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time)
"Previous Doctor" Regenerated into a new incarnation after being attacked on Karn while on a mission for the Time Lords. AUDIO: Seven Keys to Doomsday
"Previous Doctor" Regenerated into a new incarnation after being shot in the back shortly after a meeting with Mestizer. PROSE: The Cabinet of Light
Romana Romana I Regenerated into Romana II after appearing to "trying on" several possible appearances inside the Doctor's TARDIS. TV: Destiny of the Daleks
According to one account, unbeknownst to the Doctor, Romana I had been harmed by the Key to Time, and she regenerated inside a force field hidden away, while the "possible Romanas" the Doctor saw were projections of the TARDIS. PROSE: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe
According to other accounts, Romana I regenerated willingly "for the fun of it". PROSE: City of Death
According another account, she triggered a regeneration on purpose, not out of hedonistic desire for a new body, but to try and purge the influence of Pandora from her mind. AUDIO: Lies
Romana II According to one account, regenerated in preparation for the War in Heaven, adopting a body and attitude more suited for combat as the War Queen Romana III. PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon
In another account, Romana II started to regenerate due to contact with the decaying Eye of Harmony inside the Matrix into a different third incarnation, interacting with a projection thereof inside the Matrix. However, this regeneration didn't take hold due to K9 Mark II removing her from the Matrix in time. AUDIO: Renaissance, Ascension
In an aborted timeline, Romana II regenerated to give a power boost to the Moros engine shields in order to stop a black hole being formed. This regeneration was prevented due to the potential third incarnation wanting to stop the Omega war. AUDIO: Enemy Lines
Romana III After using a psychic attack on Ofrin, an elderly form of the Romana III who'd led Gallifrey in the War in Heaven died of exposure to the elements on an unnamed planet near the heat death of the universe and regenerated into a new, dark-skinned incarnation. PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar
Pavo The male Constable Pavo was shot by the Monk, who used a perception-altering ring to pose as Pavo while Pavo regenerated into a female incarnation with the aid of the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon. (AUDIO: The Black Hole) AUDIO: The Black Hole
The Master "Koschei of the Darkheart" Died from falling into a black hole, forsaking the name of "Koschei" in his last moments and vowing to become "the Master" in his new life. PROSE: The Dark Path
First Monk In an account where, at least according to the Celestial Intervention Agency, he was an incarnation of the Master, the First Monk was shot by the Daleks following his failure of them in the Kembel Master-Plan. TV: The Daleks' Master Plan, PROSE: CIA File Extracts
The War Chief According to some accounts, after being shot by the War Lords' personal guards, the War Chief, an early incarnation of the Master, escaped the Time Lords in his TARDIS. They would next pick up his trail on Earth, by which time he appeared as an older man with a graying beard. PROSE: Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons, TV: The War Games
According to another account, after being shot by the War Lord, the War Chief managed a partial regeneration into a deformed incarnation who called himself "Felix Kriegsleiter" during his activities in 1940s Germany, and continued to help the War Lord's people. His regenerative process then became "stuck", but Ace later saw it kickstarting again as the War Chief stood in a burning building. (This account did not specify the War Chiefs as past incarnations of the Master.) TV: The War Games, PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus
"Penultimate" Master According to one account, hit by a blast of artron energy when his attempt to attack the Twelfth Doctor backfired, and subsequently regenerated. COMIC: Doorway to Hell
According to other accounts, he never properly regenerated, reemerging directly as the disfigured the Decayed Master either from being shot with his own Tissue Compression Eliminator by Susan Campbell while holding a Dalek transmutation device, or after walking through a time corridor unprotected. PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks, CIA File Extracts
Thirteenth Master According to one account, the last incarnation of the Master's original cycle attempted to regenerate after sustaining deadly injuries. As he had no more regenerations, the process backfired, leaving him a disfigured ghoul. PROSE: Meet Missy!
Decayed Master Used the power of the Eye of Harmony to partially heal himself, altering his voice and facial appearance but still leaving him skeletal. TV: The Deadly Assassin, AUDIO: Trail of the White Worm
Some time after his exploits on Gallifrey, used the power of the Keeper of Traken to merge with Consul Tremas of Traken, a process which the resultant Master later described as "not exactly" a regeneration to the Third Doctor. TV: The Keeper of Traken, The Five Doctors
"Tremas" Master According to one account, after the body of Tremas was stripped from him by the Time Lords, a non-corporeal Master properly regenerated back into a Gallifreyan body with the appearance of his "Tremas" incarnation using regeneration energy stolen from his own past selves. PROSE: The Velvet Dark
According to one account, has his Tremas form converted into a genetically-accurate Gallifreyan body using Tzun nanites and was shortly thereafter shot by Ace, regenerating in Template:Frontier. PROSE: First Frontier
Old Master According to one account, pulled himself back together from his ashes as a Deathworm Morphant after being exterminated by the Daleks (although according to other accounts the Deathworm Morphant was a preexisting creature in whom the Master had transferred his consciousness). TV: Doctor Who
Decayed Master After gaining many new bodies through Deathworm Morphant-aided body theft as opposed to any kind of regeneration, the Master was reverted to his decaying form and died, but ultimately gained a new regeneration cycle. AUDIO: Day of the Master
War Master In one later-aborted timeline, regenerated during the Last Great Time War of unknown causes into a childlike, but inwardly cunning, incarnation. COMIC: The Organ Grinder, Fast Sleep
After transferring his consciousness in a fob watch biodata module while his body was Chameleon Arched as Professor Yana, returned to his Time Lord body only to be fatally shot by Chantho and regenerated inside the Doctor's TARDIS, after locking him out, into the The Saxon Master. TV: Utopia
The Saxon Master According to one account, mortally wounded while fighting Rassilon. PROSE: Pandoric's Box
According to another account, survived his duel with Rassilon but was stabbed in the back with a hidden dagger by his next incarnation (in such a precise way that he had time to reach his TARDIS before regenerating). TV: The Doctor Falls
Missy Shot by the The Saxon Master in a manner preventing normal regeneration, but managed to survive by creating an Elysian field to "kick start a new regeneration cycle". The process of cryogenetic extraction destroyed her body but retained a copy of her consciousness before regeneration, though casting out most of the "darknes" in her soul. TV: The Doctor Falls, AUDIO: The Lumiat
The Lumiat Shot by Missy after she "[grew] bored" of her, and was forced to regenerate. AUDIO: The Lumiat
Rassilon First incarnation According to one account, Rassilon regenerated for the first time following accelerated aging due to the temporal radiation of the Eye of Harmony's elemental forces and the stress of the situation he was in. PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey
Resurrected Rassilon Following his resurrection in the Last Great Time War, Rassilon was wounded by the Sicari, who had been allowed in Gallifrey by Romana and Livia, Rassilon was fatally wounded and forced to regenerate. AUDIO: Assassins
"Final Day" Rassilon Attacked by the Saxon Master with powerful energy blasts as the Time Lords were sent back into the Time War by the Tenth Doctor, and "stuffed his face full of White-Point Stars," causing Rassilon to regenerate into a new, older-looking incarnation. TV: The End of Time, PROSE: Lords and Masters, Pandoric's Box, TV: Hell Bent
The Hermit K'anpo Rimpoche Attacked by the Eight Legs on Earth. He regenerated into the form of Cho Je, who had previously been active as a non-corporal projection from the Hermit's own mind. TV: Planet of the Spiders
Borusa Unspecified incarnations between the Decayed Master's meedling with the Eye of Harmony and the Fourth Doctor's adventure opposite the Krikkitmen. Regenerating after being killed by a falling stack of books. PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen
Regenerated in a way somehow caused by a missing decimal point.
Regenerated due to an infected toenail.
One President Borusa Regenerated due to the stress of the office of Lord President into a stubborn and grandiose incarnation who sought immortality in the Tomb of Rassilon. PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey, TV: The Five Doctors
"Tomb of Rassilon" Borusa Was freed by Rassilon from the Tomb, and reverted back to an earlier, more stable incarnation in the process. PROSE: The Eight Doctors
"Wartime" Borusa Turned into a living possibility engine by Rassilon, Borusa cycled constantly through several possible regenerations. PROSE: Engines of War
Ailla Unnumbered incarnation Accidentally shot by Koschei while he was fighting with Imperial forces in the Darkheart; although badly injured and apparently dead (based on examinations of her assuming that she was only human), she was able to survive in her damaged body until she returned to Koschei's TARDIS and regenerated in the Zero Room. PROSE: The Dark Path
Rallon First incarnation Initiated all twelve of his regenerations at once to force the Celestial Toymaker out of his body; his previously-manifested Watcher subsequently merged with the Toymaker to keep him in check in the future, the Doctor noting that this would mean that the Toymaker himself had essentially regenerated as a person. PROSE: Divided Loyalties
Roche Unnumbered incarnation Caught in a traffic accident while on Earth; he retained enough control over the process after it began to deliberately shape his new appearance so that he was the exact duplicate of the Third Doctor PROSE: The Suns of Caresh
Tauras Unnumbered incarnation Attempting to free Omega from his anti-matter universe, Tauras was shot by Narvin and regenerated. AUDIO: Intervention Earth
Janartis Unnumbered incarnation Attacked by pig-rats and K9's stun laser and forced to regenerate, but because he was infected by the Dogma Virus, he became a pawn for Free Time. AUDIO: Panacea
Azmael Thirteenth Azmael In his thirteenth and final body, he deliberately regenerated past his limit, killing himself but also Mestor, who had been attempting to possess Azmael's body after his own was destroyed. TV: The Twin Dilemma
Iris Wildthyme "Beryl Reid" Iris Regenerated into the "Jane Fonda" Iris after a lengthy illness caused by eating a Dalek mutant raw. PROSE: The Scarlet Empress
Renegade Time Lord (The Eleven) The Eight Badly injured while helping the Eighth Doctor and River Song resist a telepathic attack from the Clocksmith, he went into the Doctor's TARDIS and regenerated into the Nine. AUDIO: The Doomsday Chronometer
The Eleven was killed when he attempted to propose an alliance between himself and three incarnations of the Master after the failure of his prior alliance with the Ravenous; denouncing the Eleven as a twisted lunatic, the three Masters shot him and expelled him from their TARDIS with only a vortex manipulator, whereupon he regenerated into the Twelve. AUDIO: Day of the Master

Parallel universes

Individual Incarnation Details Sources
"DEEP universe" counterpart to the Doctor The Doctor Had his neck broken by General Flint. AUDIO: Full Fathom Five
New Doctor Emerged from his regeneration only to be immediately shot dead by Ruth Mills.
"Inferno Earth" counterpart to the Doctor "Inferno Earth" Second Doctor Forced to change his appearance for the same reasons as his N-Space counterpart. Unlike his counterpart, however, he picked one of the faces the Time Lords offered him. PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation
"Exile Universe" counterpart to the Doctor "Previous Doctor" Committed suicide by jumping off of a pylon to escape the Time Lords. His next incarnation was a woman. AUDIO: Exile
Unbound Universe counterpart to the Master "Exiled" Unbound Master Was wounded in a plane crash and regenerated into a next incarnation. AUDIO: Sympathy for the Devil

Ruath

  • Ruath drained every drop of her blood from her body to restore Vampire Lord Yarven. Yarven subsequently turned her new incarnation into a vampire. (PROSE: Goth Opera)

Ophiuchus

Innocet

Verne

  • After voting for the side opposing those who had sponsored his rise to power, Verne was caught up in a fight and was so badly injured that he was forced to regenerate into an incarnation that had a plain face and a laughably high voice.
  • Upset at this, he immediately forced himself to regenerate again, this time into a deformed old man.
  • A third regeneration resulted in an amorphous blob.
  • A fourth resulted in a monstrosity which was ordered to be destroyed by the Lord President. (PROSE: The Twin Dilemma)

Glospin

  • Glospin force-regenerated himself into the double of the First Doctor after acquiring a genetic sample to influence the appearance of his next incarnation. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
  • Having killed Quences while disguised as the Doctor, Glospin regenerated again to conceal his role in the murder. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)

I.M. Foreman

  • As a priest, I.M. Foreman had been given the gift of regenerations. This made twelve different individuals, who were created by his body absorbing the DNA around him; all regenerations were caused by the Third Doctor sending Foreman's first twelve bodies back to Gallifrey's past so that they fell from a great height, each regenerating into their next body, the trauma of the regeneration causing each incarnation to lose their memories. (PROSE: Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two)

Cavis

Epsilon Delta

Gandar

Louis

Elbon

River Song

Karlax

Volstrom

Ollistra

The General

Thessalia

Larissa

Trave

Kallix

Albrecht

Proto-Time Lords

  • Brooke regenerated for the first time after being shot by River Song. (AUDIO: My Dinner with Andrew)
  • Lake's first regeneration was induced after he was mortally wounded by an unstable fuel cell. Seeking to determine the number of times he could do so, he tested the ability of his fellow Proto-Time Lords by inflicting fatal injuries on them or convincing them to commit suicide. Ironically, Lake's last victim was his third and final incarnation, a girl who became known as Lily after losing her memory of her prior lives. Having witnessed Lake regenerate into Lily after mortally wounding him in anger for murdering her, River Song was forced to send Lily back in time so she would meet her fate. (AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake)
  • Wadi's regenerations were all expended through fatal injuries inflicted by Lake. (AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake)
  • As part of his religious cult, Lake convinced Stream, Beck and Creek, to die multiple times on Terminus Prime so he could covertly study regeneration and find out how long he was able to live. (AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake)
  • Rindle first regenerated after being mortally wounded by a wild beast. He regenerated again, this time into a female form, by Lake when he mistook him for an imposter. Catching up with her, Lake forced to regenerate again, now becoming an older man, before expending Rindle's remaining regenerations to power his ship. (AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake)
  • Deceived by Lake into believing that regeneration was a constant rebirth, Tarn went to Terminus Prime to commit suicide so he could continually be born again. By the time he met River, he had already died eight times. He was killed again by Kevin and then again by Dave, regenerating at least ten times. (AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake)
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=List_of_causes_of_regeneration&oldid=3150343"