The Cult of Skaro, named after the Dalek homeworld, was a secret group of four renegade Daleks made up of three Dalek drones and one Supreme Dalek.
History
Purpose
The Cult of Skaro were assigned the task of furthering the Dalek cause through the development of new and unorthodox ideas and strategies. The leader of the Cult claimed that it was created primarily to further the process of Dalek evolution. Their willingness to adopt alien modes of thought was demonstrated by the fact that they had individual names, a concept most Daleks found abhorrent. Led by Sec, the Black Dalek, they answered to no one, not even the Dalek Emperor, although they still revered him. (TV: Doomsday)
Origins
The Cult of Skaro were at first just four ordinary Daleks. Dalek Sec was a commander of a Dalek group sent to wipe out the remnants of the Mechanoids which they succeeded in doing. After doing this all four of them were promoted to become the Cult of Skaro. They were given their names - making them the only Daleks with names - and Dalek Sec was chosen their leader. (PROSE: Birth of a Legend)
Survival
They were a secret order who were to think like their enemies in order to destroy them, although their original purpose was to imagine new ways of survival. During the Last Great Time War, they operated as a final strategic reserve - rather than fighting, they escaped into the space between universes, along with what they called the Genesis Ark, a piece of Time Lord technology. Having left the universe, they were not caught in the destruction of the Dalek fleet. (TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday, Daleks in Manhattan)
Conflict with the Cybermen
The Torchwood Institute's meddling began to open the barrier to the Void which had been broken down by the Cult's Void ship. Torchwood Tower, known to the public as Canary Wharf, had been built around the gap into the Void so that Torchwood One could study it and use its energy. When the Void Ship opened, the Cult exited the ship and declared war - or "pest control" - against the Cybermen that had invaded Earth from Pete's World, leading to the Battle of Canary Wharf. They then opened the Genesis Ark and released thousands of Daleks onto England. All these Daleks were sucked into the void along with the Cybermen, by the Doctor's intervention. The Cult escaped before being returned to the void, by using an emergency temporal shift. (TV: Doomsday)
In New York City
After using the temporal shift, the Cult ended up in New York City in 1930. They infiltrated the construction of the Empire State Building and began what they called the "Final Experiment" - the creation of a new Dalek race. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks) Inside the sewers below the Empire State Building, they set up a genetic laboratory and attempted to create new Dalek embryos. After the failure of this experiment, they tried thinking creatively, as the Cult was designed to. They devised a plan using Earth's greatest resource - its people. They placed Dalekanium upon the mast of the Empire State Building, intending to fuse the DNA of Daleks and humans using an incoming ray of gamma radiation from the sun. Dalek Sec tested this on Mr Diagoras, becoming a "human Dalek" hybrid, now with human thoughts and emotions. Dalek Sec wanted to make the Dalek-humans' DNA 90% human. The other Daleks, although bred to obey Sec, believed that this was against the Dalek cause. They so changed the DNA to 100% Dalek and imprisoned Dalek Sec. Dalek Sec was later exterminated accidentally after the other Cult members fired their gunsticks at the Tenth Doctor.
The Doctor got in the way of the blast of gamma radiation and so infused the DNA with some of his own. Therefore the humans rebelled and killed Dalek Thay and Dalek Jast, before being killed themselves. The Doctor offered to help Dalek Caan — the last surviving Dalek — but instead of taking it, Caan used an emergency temporal shift to escape once more. (TV: Evolution of the Daleks) Caan was eventually able to penetrate the time lock on the Last Great Time War, from which he rescued Davros from his doomed command ship. Caan, however, became insane during his successful attempt at rescuing Davros. He came to view the Daleks negatively, and set in motion a chain of events that would destroy the New Dalek Empire. Caan, the last remaining member of the Cult of Skaro, was presumed killed when the Crucible was destroyed. (TV: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)
- See the individual sections on members for what is known about their respective histories:
Members of the Cult of Skaro
Dalek Caan
For a full biography, please see Dalek Caan.
Dalek Caan originally had the lowest-pitched voice out of the members of the Cult. He survived the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007. (TV: Doomsday), the events in 1930 New York City (TV: Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks), and rescued Davros from the Last Great Time War. He can be credited with the defeat of Davros and was presumed killed in the destruction of the Crucible. (TV: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End)
Dalek Sec
For a full biography, please see Dalek Sec.
Dalek Sec was the original Supreme Dalek of the Cult of Skaro. He was notable for becoming the first Dalek-human hybrid. He led the Cult during the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007. (TV: Doomsday) He survived to take the Cult to 1930 New York City, where he was killed by Dalek Thay. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks)
Dalek Thay
For a full biography, please see Dalek Thay.
Dalek Thay spoke in a low-pitched voice with a slight nasal croak. He was tricked into identifying the Daleks by the Cybermen during the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007. (TV: Doomsday) He survived and escaped with the rest of the Cult to 1930s New York City, where his Dalekanium plates were used on the Empire State Building mast. He killed Dalek Sec with a blast intended for The Doctor, and was killed by the Dalek-human hybrids. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks)
Dalek Jast
For a full biography, please see Dalek Jast.
Dalek Jast has the highest-pitched voice of the Cult of Skaro. He recognised the Tenth Doctor as an enemy of the Daleks at the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007. (TV: Doomsday) He turned against Dalek Sec in New York City, and was destroyed by the Dalek-human hybrids. (TV: Evolution of the Daleks)
Behind the scenes
- Throughout their appearances, Thay, Jast and Caan's recognition codes switch. In TV: Doomsday, Dalek Jast's recognition code had two short lines on the bottom and middle and a long line on the top, and Dalek Caan's had two short lines on the top and bottom, and a long line on the middle; while in TV: Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks, Jast's recognition code had two short lines on the top and bottom and no third line in the middle, and Caan's recognition code had two short lines on the middle and bottom and a long line on the top.