Retro-regeneration
Retro-regeneration or degeneration was the process of regenerations being forced in reverse, causing the Time Lord in question to revert to previous incarnations, (COMIC: The Fountains of Forever, TV: The Power of the Doctor) known only to be attempted by Time Lords of the First Rank (PROSE: State of Change) though it was not known to be permanent in any cases. (COMIC: Timeslip, The Fountains of Forever, Outrun)
Instances
The Fourth Doctor and his TARDIS were once infected by a space amoeba, which caused him to revert into his third, second, and first incarnations. (COMIC: Timeslip)
The Sixth Doctor was similarly forced to revert to all of his previous incarnations on Terra Nova. (PROSE: State of Change) A similar occurrence took place inside the TARDIS while fending off the Funhouse. (COMIC: Funhouse)
While the Seventh Doctor battled the energies of the Charon, he erupted into flame and momentarily regressed into (at least) his sixth, fifth, fourth, third, and second incarnations. (PROSE: Sky Pirates!)
When Borusa was freed from the Tomb of Rassilon, he emerged in the incarnation he was in during the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey instead of the incarnation that had been imprisoned by Rassilon. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
Having regenerated into a child incarnation during the Last Great Time War, the Master regenerated back into the War Master after being caught in a time paradox. (COMIC: Fast Asleep)
The Tenth Doctor was once forced to retro-regenerate into his ninth incarnation by an age-regression gun. (COMIC: The Fountains of Forever)
When The Then and the Now attempted to ingest the timeline of the Eleventh Doctor, it caused him to regress through his incarnations to the War Doctor, where the Doctor's resistance of that period of his life halted the ingestion. (COMIC: Outrun) A similar occurrence happened earlier, and the Eleventh Doctor appeared between his first incarnation and the Curator. (COMIC: The Then and the Now) The next time it happened, the Eleventh Doctor partially became his second, third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth incarnations, as well as his twelfth, a future incarnation. (COMIC: Running to Stay Still)
The Twelfth Doctor was hit by energy from a time storm and entered a degeneration cycle, going back from his eleventh incarnation to his first. (AUDIO: The Lost Magic)
Having been subjected to a forced regeneration, the Thirteenth Doctor regenerated into the form of the Spy Master, who took possession of the Doctor's body. Though he insisted to Yasmin Khan that he could not change back, Yaz and the Doctor's AI hologram used the regeneration energy of a group of CyberMasters to initiate a "forced degeneration", restoring the Thirteenth Doctor and forcing the Master back to his own body, which started to fail as a result of his actions. (TV: The Power of the Doctor)
Other references
During the First Omega Crisis, it took time for the Brigadier to realise that the Second Doctor was genuinely from the past rather than the Third Doctor having changed his face back into the Doctor who he had first met, despite both the Second Doctor and Sergeant Benton's attempts to convince him otherwise. (TV: The Three Doctors)
Reunited with the Third Doctor in the Death Zone, Sarah Jane Smith reminded him of when he changed, only for him to explain that it was yet to happen for him. (TV: The Five Doctors)
While explaining to Alice Obiefune how time worked different during the Last Great Time War, the "Child" Master briefly turned back into his "UNIT enemy" incarnation. (COMIC: Kill God)
Shortly after witnessing the Ninth Doctor regenerate into the Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler wanted him to change back and asked him if he could do so, only for the new Doctor to claim that he could not. (TV: Children in Need Special)
On more than one occasion, the Doctor saw that faces from their past awaited them in the future. Looking into his future through a Tomorrow Window, the Eighth Doctor saw many men in pseudo-Edwardian dress as well as the First Doctor. (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows) Musing that he may eventually retire and become the curator of the National Gallery, the Eleventh Doctor met with the Curator, who he found to have a familiar face. The Curator told the Doctor that "in years to come", he may find himself revisiting "a few, but just the old favourites". (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Shortly after enduring a temporary forced regeneration which ended with a degeneration, the Thirteenth Doctor was mortally wounded by the Spy Master. This caused her to regenerate into a form resembling the Tenth Doctor, much to his shock. (TV: The Power of the Doctor)
Behind the scenes
- A very different meaning of "degeneration" was used in the invalid source Movie Millie, where an incarnation of the Doctor in a alternate version of Doctor Who chased Millie in a way which could be described as "degenerate".
