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The Raxacoricofallapatorians were a race from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius.
Biology
External Features
Raxacoricofallapatorians were large, bulky humanoids, up to eight feet tall. They were well adapted to their home-planet, with large eyes for seeing through the blizzards of the poles and powerful arms to swim through the oceans. (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary) They had thick, lumpy skin, ranging in colour from a yellowish green to a paler, grey-green. (NDA: The Monsters Inside)
Raxacoricofallapatorians hatched from large green eggs with several tendrils (DW: Boom Town) and would break out of these eggs using their powerful claws (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary). By the age of 12, Raxacoricofallapatorians were still considered children and were shorter than a Human of equivalent age. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
Raxacoricofallapatorians had a great instinct to hunt, and would use their strength and poison-tipped claws to kill their prey. (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary) Despite their large bulk, they were also capable of surprising speeds and could easily overpower a Human. Raxacoricofallapatorians could hunt by scent and can identify an individual's species, age, sex, emotional state and location by it. This sense of smell was officially the best in the Galaxy. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen) They could also sense the pain of closely related individuals from far away. (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three)
- This ability to sense the pain of other individuals may have been partially telepathic, since it was shown to work from across planets. (NDA: The Monsters Inside)
Internal Anatomy
Raxacoricofallapatorians were calcium-based life, as opposed to the more common carbon and silicon based life. Due to their biochemistry, Raxacoricofallapatorians were vulnerable to acetic acid and would react explosively with it (DW: Aliens of London), a feature that was utilised in the Raxacoricofallapatorian death penalty. (DW: Boom Town)
Raxacoricofallapatorians had a more efficient metabolism then a Human, meaning they only needed to eat every few weeks and produced less waste. Raxacoricofallapatorian blood was red and their tears were milky in colour and slightly acidic. (NDA: The Monsters Inside) The females of the species could create poison when in danger, released either by a dart-like claw or by their breath. (DW: Boom Town)
Technology
The Raxacoricofallapatorians were a scavenger species, known for stealing advanced technology from other species. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen) They were more advanced than Humans and had developed faster-than-light travel in the form of slipstream engines sometime prior to 2006. They could also modify a pig into a humanoid form using their own technology. (DW: Aliens of London). Some of the Raxacoricofallapatorian technology appeared organic in nature. While in Justicia, Ecktosa and Dram used sticky nets as hammocks. This nettings were covered in a slime that quickly hardened away from body heat. Other Raxacoricofallapatorian buildings had their floors covered in a sticky substance. (NDA: The Monsters Inside)
The Raxacoricofallapatorians' most distinguishable technology was their compression field. The Slitheen and Blathereen families were able to disguise themselves as other, smaller humanoids by fitting into their skins. This was done with the compression-field collars that they wore on their necks. When unzipped, pent-up energy was released through the zip in the form of a flickering blue light. Their size was controlled by the movement of gas, which caused a condition similar to flatulence, but with a smell slightly similar to that of rotten teeth (due to their calcium-based biology) (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three). These individuals originally needed to be large, but the advancement of technology meant smaller skins could be used. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, NDA: The Monsters Inside) Their skin suits were apparently inferior to those of other species (NDA: The Nightmare of Black Island)
Culture
Raxacoricofallapatorian society was based off families, such as those of the Slitheen, Blathereen, Slavereen and Hostrozeen. Raxacoricofallapatorian names were complex with the various hyphenation showing their exact placement on the family lines. (Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary) Raxacoricofallapatorians were led by a Grand Council and an Assembly. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
The Raxacoricofallapatorians had the death sentence for dangerous criminals like the Slitheens, which was carried out in a gruesome way. The criminal would lowered into a cauldron of acetic acid, which would then be heated to boiling. The acidity of the solution was formulated to dissolve the skin, allowing the internal organs to drop into the liquid while the condemned was still alive, resulting in a slow and painful death. (DW: Boom Town)
Based on the comments of Blon, Raxacoricofallapatorians neither brushed their teeth nor prepared their food in complicated ways. (DW: Boom Town)
Two known Raxacoricofallapatorians insults were "May plaque brown your belly" and "May your mother boil in the cauldron of atonement". Both were presumably related to their calcium based biology. (NDA: The Monsters Inside)
Minor references
- The severed arm of a Raxacoricofallapatorian found its way into Henry van Statten's private museum of alien artefacts. (DW: Dalek)
- The arm may have come from off the body of a dead member of the family Slitheen.
- While attempting to bluff the Sycorax leader out of attacking Earth, Rose name-dropped the Raxacoricofallapatorians. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
- Rose Tyler remarked the Abzorbaloff as "a bit Slitheen", but when the Doctor asked he revealed that he was from Clom, Raxacoricofallapatorius's twin planet. The Abzorbaloff spoke of the Raxacoricofallapatorians with contempt. (DW: Love & Monsters)
- The Doctor and Martha were once involved in an adventure where they were hanging onto a cable in a lift shaft while surrounded by Raxacoricofallapatorians. (Doctor Who Storybook 2008')