Davros

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The Kaled scientist, Davros was creator of the Daleks. The design of the Dalek travel machines much resembled the wheelchair-life support system in which he survived. Davros was thought killed by his creations but lived, in suspended animation but was revived centuries in the future. Following the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War, he became the Emperor of the Daleks.

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Character History

When he first encountered the Fourth Doctor in the 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks, Davros (played by Michael Wisher) was the chief scientist of the Kaleds, heading the Scientific Elite Division. Davros realised that contamination from the nuclear and biological weapons used in the war was mutating the Kaled race, and artificially accelerated the process to examine the ultimate evolutionary end product. The mutations were weak and crippled: no more than brains with tentacular appendages and with no hope of survival on their own. His solution was to remove all emotions pertaining to weakness, a category in which he grouped such emotions as compassion, mercy and kindness, and place the mutants in tank-like "Mark III travel machines" that were partly based on the design of his wheelchair. He later named these creatures Daleks, an anagram of Kaled.

Davros quickly became obsessed with his creations, considering them to be the ultimate form of life, superior to all others. To stop his own people from shutting down his Dalek project, he arranged for them to be wiped out by the Thals. The Daleks then almost exterminated the Thal victors, but ultimately turned on Davros and apparently killed him at the conclusion of the serial.

He proved too effective a character to be kept dead and was resurrected four years later in 1979's Destiny of the Daleks (played by David Gooderson using Wisher's mask, which did not fit his face properly). The Daleks unearthed their creator — who had apparently been in suspended animation since his "death" in Genesis — to help them break a logical impasse in their war against the android Movellans. However, the Dalek force was destroyed by the Doctor, and Davros was captured and imprisoned by the Earth Empire.


Terry Molloy as Davros in "Resurrection of the Daleks"In the Fifth Doctor story Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), a small Dalek force aided by human mercenaries and Dalek duplicates liberated Davros (now played by Terry Molloy with a differently designed mask that, this time, properly fitted the actor's face) from his space station prison, needing his expertise to find an antidote for a Movellan-created virus that had all but wiped them out. Believing his creations to be treacherous, Davros began using mind control on Daleks and humans, ultimately releasing the virus to kill off the Daleks before they could exterminate him. However, at the end of the story, he apparently succumbed to the virus himself before he could escape, his physiology being close enough to that of the Daleks for the virus to affect him. Ironically, the hypothetical creation of a viral weapon was the subject of a discussion between the Fourth Doctor and Davros in Genesis of the Daleks.

Davros emerged as "The Great Healer" of the funeral and cryogenic preservation centre Tranquil Repose on the planet Necros in the Sixth Doctor story Revelation of the Daleks (1985), where he used frozen bodies to engineer a new variety of Daleks loyal to him, distinguished from the original Daleks by their white and gold livery and slightly changed design. In this story there appeared to be two Davroses: one was a head in a tank and apparently a decoy for assassins; the other was in his usual chair (which could now hover), emerging from hiding when the clone was indeed assassinated. Davros could now move his neck and fire electric bolts from his hand, although the hand was shot off shortly before his original creations arrived to destroy the new Daleks and transport Davros to face trial on Skaro.

Davros' last television appearance (played again by Molloy) was as the Dalek Emperor in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), with his white and gold Daleks now based on Skaro and termed "Imperial Daleks", fighting against the grey "Renegade Dalek" faction. By this time, Davros was physically reduced to a head in a customised Dalek casing. Both Skaro and the Imperial Dalek mothership were apparently destroyed by the Seventh Doctor using the Time Lord artifact known as the Hand of Omega, which had been stolen by the Daleks. However, a Dalek on the bridge of Davros' ship reported that the Emperor's escape pod was being launched and a white light was seen speeding away from the ship moments before its destruction, leaving a clear route to bring Davros back in the future.

In the 2005 series, it was revealed that the Daleks and the Time Lords had engaged in a mutually destructive Time War, although the Dalek Emperor survived to build a new race of Daleks. Davros was referred to (albeit not by name) in the episode "Dalek": the Ninth Doctor explains that the Daleks were created by a genius, "a man who was king of his own little world."

When the Emperor made its appearance in the season finale, "The Parting of the Ways", it was a Dalek mutant floating in tank of fluid connected to a giant Dalek shell, and was evidently not Davros. Davros' status at this point, or any role he may have played in the Time War, is unknown.

An article by Russell T. Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 states that one of the "Dalek Puppet Emperors" openly declared his hostilities towards the Time Lords and their planet, Gallifrey. This may be a reference to Davros' threats against the Time Lords in Remembrance of the Daleks.

In the 2007 episode "Evolution of the Daleks", the Doctor referred to the Daleks' creator as believing that "removing emotions made a race stronger". Again, he was not referred to by name, and has yet to be in the new series.

In the last episode of Doctor Who confidential of series 3, Davies stated that he had set out a plan to bring the Daleks back in Series 1, the Cybermen back in Series 2, the Master back in Series 3. He also stated that he "hasn't quite finished with that plan yet," and "but we'll be talking more about that this time next year.". This could imply the bringing back of Davros, but this is speculation only.

On August 7, 2007, The Sun reported that Sir Ben Kingsley is to play Davros in the 2008 series.[1] This has not been confirmed by the BBC.


Early life

Davros was born during the Thousand Year War between Thals and Kaleds on the planet Skaro. It was a time when mercy and nobility was all but nonexistent and life was harsh and grim. The use of atomic weapons and other agents of mutation had started to produce mutants known as mutos, however Davros himself was originally physically healthy and un-deformed.

Life after disfigurement

Davros, however, was grievously wounded by an attack and afterwards would need a mobile life support system just to live, let alone to move. (Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation)) Less than a minute without his life support would have killed him. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks)

With his equally ruthless aide Nyder, Davros ascended to a high rank in the Kaled Scientific Elite and presided over the creation of the Daleks.

For more see main article.

The Daleks eventually turned on Nyder, exterminating him, and later on Davros himself, who sought now to destroy them. Davros was later killed, or so it seemed to the Daleks. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks')

Revival

Davros lived, in suspended animation while his life support worked to regenerate him. Davros was found by the Daleks and revived so that he might offer them a way out of the Daleks' empasse as far as fighting their enemies the Movellans. Davros though was captured by Human authorities and put on trial. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)

The Humans decreed a sentence of ninety years of suspended animation during which time, Davros retained full consciousness. The Daleks, at this time led by the Dalek Supreme liberated Davros from a prison ship in space, and revived him, believing that he might help them win the war with the Movellans. Davros soon rebelled against the Dalek Supreme and had begun to convert Daleks to his side when the station exploded. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)

Davros, again, lived and set himself up as "the Great Healer" on the planet Necros and lured the Doctor there. The Supreme Dalek's forces also arrived on Necros and captured him in order to put him on trial. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks)

For more background on and an account of the war that followed between Dalek factions, see Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War.

Personality

Davros had a sound mind early in his life, and even into his later life had a brilliant mind.

Early Personality (pre Thal attack)

Early Personality (post Thal attack)

Davros was a brilliant and driven scientist, relentlessly experimenting to find the final form of the Kaled people. Davros was a cool and sadistic person, it was his ability to command and delegate that was most forceful and cold.

Personality following attempted Extermination

Davros' attempted assassination by his own creators appears to be the instigator in his decent into madness. While his conversation with the Doctor following his awakening suggests that he may have survived the extermination attempt through forethought, it does still seem to have made Davros more bitter than he had originally been.

Personality following stasis by humans

Following his imprisonment in stasis Davros suffered in a conscious waking state through however many hundreds of years of prison. It had made Davros much more bitter and cold towards humans despite their involvement in the Dalek's campaign against the Movellans.

Personality in later life

Davros only continues to descend further into madness until by the end of one part of his life he is teetering on the edge of sanity when he encounters the Doctor on the Earth that he had taken over with a virus. (BFA: Terror Firma)

Physical Appearance

Davros was originally sitting upright in a movement and life support chair. With a central blue eye in the centre of his forehead it allowed him some semblance of sight. He only had one hand which he used to operate various controls on his chair; which could perform various functions from controlling doors, mark III travel machines, to his own life support system.

Following his operation on Necros he lost much of his hand and thus his independent operability.

By his attempt to recover the Hand of Omega from 1963 Earth he had lost much of his Skarosian body and was completely encased within an Imperial Daleks like shell, though his head and upper body appeared to still be at least slightly still a physical Skarosian.

Creations

Most notable of Davros's creations is the Mark III travel machine, which then became known as a Dalek.

Davros also experimented with other Dalek forms, such as a Dalek able to walk over rough terrain known as a Spider Dalek. (EDA: War of the Daleks)

Davros also created an Imperial faction of Daleks to counter what he saw as a Renegade faction of Daleks. Included within these Imperial faction was a Special Weapons Dalek, consisting of a large turret able to destroy many targets at once.

Davros also created the cyborg Juggernauts by combinning Human DNA with the mechanical Mechanoids.

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