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The Twelfth Doctor emerged from the Eleventh Doctor's explosive regeneration on Trenzalore, being the product of what his predecessor called "regeneration number thirteen" as well as being the first incarnation of the Doctor's second regeneration cycle.
Contrary to his predecessors, the Twelfth Doctor did not act out in a childish manner as a defence mechanism to avoid the guilty feelings lingering from the Last Great Time War. After assuring the survival of Gallifrey, he was no longer chained down by his guilt. His personality shifted from frivolities to a serious and applied disposition.
However, with his darkening nature, the Doctor turned colder and stoic, taking on many aspects likened to those of an introvert. With his emotions subdued, he became harder to read correctly, heightening the alien qualities he had in his previous incarnation. However, this difficulty of understanding how his rationale worked could lead others to quickly distrust him. In extreme cases, the Doctor's unknown and unpredictable tendencies could generate fear, both for himself and his associates.
Biography
A chaotic beginning
After fighting in the Siege of Trenzalore for 900 years, (PROSE: Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor's Last Stand) the Eleventh Doctor, facing extermination by the Daleks in his old age, was ready to accept that he had reached the end of his life. Clara Oswald appealed to the Time Lords to intervene, and he was granted a new regenerative cycle. After using his regenerative energy to destroy the attacking Daleks and their mother ship, the Eleventh Doctor returned to the TARDIS to complete his regeneration.
Suddenly changing in a flash before Clara's eyes, this new Twelfth Doctor first expressed surprise at sensing his new kidneys, stating, "I don't like the colour!" The TARDIS then began shaking violently, and the Doctor realised he had forgotten how to pilot his ship. (TV: The Time of the Doctor) Crash-landing on pre-historic Earth, the TARDIS was chased and subsequently swallowed by a female Tyrannosaur; when the Doctor brought the TARDIS to 1890s London, this dinosaur was accidentally brought along with it. (TV: Deep Breath)
In London, the Doctor was reunited with the Paternoster Gang, and witnessed the apparent spontaneous combustion of the dinosaur. Though still suffering from partial amnesia and occasional delirium as after-effects of his regeneration, he learned Clockwork Droids had been harvesting humans to repair themselves. Their leader, the Half-Face Man, sought to reach the Promised Land. The Doctor confronted the Half-Face Man, and warned him that he would do whatever necessary to protect the innocent humans that the droid was targeting.
Trying to speak on peaceful terms, the Doctor snapped the droid out of his illusion of the "Promised Land" by revealing the true state of his existence. Having switched out spare parts so many times, the Half-Face Man had truly no traces left of his original self. Knowing he would not go to a promised land or be truly alive, the Half-Face Man's logic dictated him to self-terminate, but he said it was against his basic programming, struggling against the Doctor. The Doctor replied that murder was against his "programming". Both agreeing that one of them was lying, the Half-Face Man ended falling out of his escape pod, to his death.
The Doctor, having completely regained his memory and senses, briefly left Clara behind to redecorate the console room and settle on a new outfit. Attempting to return her to the 21st century, the Doctor ended up in Glasgow by mistake. However, they decided to go out for coffee after the Eleventh Doctor called Clara and encouraged her to help the new Doctor. (TV: Deep Breath)
New adventures with Clara
Am I a good man?
Leaving Clara behind in Glasgow to get coffee, the Doctor got distracted, went off in the TARDIS on his own and ended up saving a Combined Galactic Resistance fighter pilot named Journey Blue from a Dalek Saucer attack, though left her brother Kai behind in the explosion. After prompting her into asking nicely, the Doctor returned Journey to her command ship, the Aristotle, where Journey's uncle, Colonel Morgan Blue, introduced him to a Dalek that had developed a fault and wanted to destory all of the other Daleks. The Doctor later described the Dalek as "[a] Dalek so damaged it's turned good. Morality as malfunction."
Returning for Clara, three weeks later from her perspective, the Doctor asked her if she thought he was a good man, a question that Clara found herself unable to answer, and returned to base to help the Dalek. Joined by Journey and two other soldiers named Gretchen Carlisle and Ross, the Doctor and Clara used a Molecular nanoscaler to miniaturise themselves and enter the Dalek — whom the Doctor nicknamed "Rusty". After losing Ross to the Dalek's antibodies, the Doctor discovered a radiation leak from within the Dalek and learned that Rusty had decided that stars are born every day, and that life could not be stopped, when it saw star being born. Following the radiation, the Doctor discovered damage to Rusty's power source was slowly killing him, and repaired the damage with his Sonic screwdriver.
However, fixing Rusty's power core resulted in the malfunction to be reversed, with Rusty's destructive nature returning, and causing Rusty to go on a killing spree, as well as send a distress beacon to summon the Daleks to the rebels' base. After getting slapped and lectured by Clara for his apathy, the Doctor realised that "a good Dalek" was possible because the Dalek still had memory of the star, but it was suppressed by the cortex vaults.
Instructing Clara to find a way to restore Rusty's memories of the star, the Doctor linked his mind to Rusty's. At first the plan seemed to have worked. To the Doctor's horror, mind-linking with Rusty was causing Rusty to see the Doctor's hatred of the Daleks, which caused Rusty to go and destroy the Daleks that had responded to his distress beacon. Rusty said it would convince the other Daleks the Aristotle had activated its self destruct sequence. The Doctor told Rusty that he looked inside him and saw hatred and that wasn't a victory. He said, "Victory would have been a good Dalek". Before Rusty left to continue the crusade against the Daleks, Rusty commented that while Rusty wasn't a good Dalek, the Doctor himself was a good Dalek before both of them left. After declining Journey's request to travel with him and Clara, the Doctor returned Clara home, both still unsure if the Doctor was a good man, but with Clara convinced he was at least trying to be one. (TV: Into the Dalek)
Further adventures
Spending some more time on his own, the Doctor became alerted to a creature that disguised itself as a motorway to consume planets into other dimensions. Summoning Clara to assist him, the Doctor was surprised when the creature disappeared, unaware that Clara had tricked the creature into consuming itself. (COMIC: Road Rage)
Deciding to give Clara the choice of their next destination, the Doctor took her to Sherwood Forest to meet Robin Hood, though the Doctor remained sceptical of Robin's existence. He was proven wrong immediately on arrival when Robin shot his TARDIS with an arrow; however, he remained adamant to prove Robin Hood and his Merry Men were a fake.
After participating in an archery contest for a golden arrow, the Doctor, Clara and Robin were caught by the Sheriff of Nottingham, who had allied with alien robots disguised as his knights. Escaping, the Doctor found out that the robots were trying to reach the Promised Land, but lacked sufficient gold to repair their engine. Believing Robin was also a robot, the Doctor was captured by the Sheriff as Clara and Robin escaped through a window. Leading a revolution in the Sheriff's dungeon, the Doctor was informed by the Sheriff that Robin Hood was not a robot, just as Robin came to his rescue and defeated the Sheriff. Assisting Robin with Clara's help, the Doctor helped launch the golden arrow into the ship to allow it to escape velocity and explode harmlessly in space.
Robin, having learned about the Doctor's origins and story, noted that the two of them were not so different from each other, both of them being people born into status and privilege and having given up both to live the life of an adventurer in order to fight injustice. (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
The Doctor and Clara used a goo bomb to foil the Sibro's attempt to weaponise a Conlanian clock tower, (COMIC: Chime Time) and caused a ceasefire in a war between anthropomorphic cats and dogs by allying them against an army of alien flees that planned to attacking every planet in the universe. (COMIC: Once Bitten)
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During one of Clara's breaks from the TARDIS, the Doctor became obsessed with the idea that a creature designed to hide was following him around and that everyone was similarly being followed. The Doctor visited Clara for help in finding the hiders, by using the TARDIS telepathic circuits to pilot into her past. However, Clara got distracted by a phone call from Danny Pink and piloted them into his past instead, back when Danny was called Rupert. Finding a figure under Rupert's bed sheet, the Doctor had Clara and Rupert turn their backs to allow the being to walk out the room unobserved, leaving them unsure if it really was a creature or just another child playing a trick on Rupert.
Returning Clara to her date with the adult Danny Pink, the Doctor continued to follow his theory by trying to use a trace of Clara left in the telepathic circuits, ending up at the end of the universe where a time traveller named Colonel Orson Pink had been trapped for six months. Intrigued by how following Clara's timeline led him to Orson, the Doctor returned for Clara and had them wait at the end of the universe for the night, believing it to be the perfect time to find out if the hiders were real. Finding a chance to confront the creature outside the ship, the Doctor sent Clara into the TARDIS and seemed to get a look at what was chasing before the atmospheric shell broke and Orson had to rescue him. As the Doctor was knocked out and they seemed to be under attack, Clara used the telepathic circuits to fly the TARDIS away to the First Doctor's childhood inside a Gallifreyan barn.
Waking up to find Clara gone, the Twelfth Doctor called out to her and inadvertently alerted his original incarnation to Clara's presence. Orson asked the Doctor what was outside Orson's ship, but Clara entered and asked the Doctor what if there was nothing behind the door, or under everyone's beds, and "What if the big bad Time Lord doesn't want to admit he's just afraid of the dark?"
Clara made the Doctor the Doctor promise to leave and not find out where they had landed. Afterwards, the Doctor returned Orson and Clara to their own times and, satisfied by what he had learned, underlined the word "Listen" that the creature had written on his chalkboard. (TV: Listen)
Returning to pick up Clara, and persuade her to away from a date with Danny Pink in favour of other travel destinations, the Doctor received a call from Madame Karabraxos, who requested he free the Teller and its mate from the Bank of Karabraxos, as he had done on the day she met him. Realising the ramifications of this request, the Doctor build up the identity of "the Architect", using this identity to stage a bank heist for him to commit, with the assistance of Clara, an augmented human named Psi, and a shape sifting mutant human named Saibra.
Using memory worms to erase the plan from their minds and prevent the Teller from alerting the young Karabraxos, the Doctor and Clara found themselves already in the Bank with their accomplices, their last memory being the TARDIS phone ringing.
Receiving instructions from the Architect on their location, objective, and the Bank's security system, the team infiltrated the Bank. Entering a safety deposit box, Team Not Dead - the Doctor's name for the assembled team - set of a dimensional shift bomb into a service corridor, where the team found a briefcase containing six teleporters disguised as atomic shredders.
Seemingly loosing Saibra and Psi to the shredders when the Teller locked onto them, the Doctor figured out that time travel was involved with the heist plan when a perfectly timed solar storm unlocked the Bank's vault. Retrieving what the Architect had promised Psi and Saibra, the Doctor and Clara were caught by the Teller and delivered to the bank manager, Ms. Delphox. After Delphox left them to be executed, the Doctor and Clara were saved by Psi and Saibra, who revealed the true nature of the shredders.
Venturing into the Bank's private vault to find his and Clara's reward, the team instead found Director Karabraxos, and discovered that Delphox, as well as a majority of the bank's staff, was an exact clone of Karabraxos. Seeing Karabraxos' hatred of her own clones caused the Doctor to have an epiphany on the identity of the Architect, and he gave his phone number to Karabraxos as she fled from the solar storm about to hit the Bank. Subjecting himself to the Teller's powers, the Doctor regained his lost memories and realised the true objective of the bank heist. Freeing the Teller and its mate to a place to live in solitude, the Doctor then parted ways with Psi and Saibra, giving them their rewards, and returned Clara home for her date. (TV: Time Heist)
Undated events
- The Twelfth Doctor joined his previous selves in helping place Gallifrey in a pocket universe at the end of the Last Great Time War. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Psychological profile
Personality
A sarcastic man armed with a dry, acerbic wit and a brutal honesty, the Twelfth Doctor was dark and at times manipulative, willing to place his companions in danger if it meant appeasing his curiosity and leaving them out of the details in his plans. However, if he believed the situation was too dangerous for them, the Doctor would send his companions to the safety of the TARDIS while staring down the threat alone. (TV: Deep Breath, Listen, COMIC: Chime Time)
Despite coming across as uncaring, he would fight to protect those in his care, and would react with devastation if harm befell them. Such was his reaction to the death of a female Tyrannosaurus rex that had been inadvertently dragged through time by the TARDIS. (TV: Deep Breath) However, for the most part, this Doctor was far more detached than his immediate predecessors and occasionally callous, reacting with indifference during his first encounter with Journey Blue, who had just lost her brother, (TV: Into the Dalek) and laughing at Orson Pink's name, though he apologised for the latter. (TV: Listen) He also acted indifferent to the apparent death of Saibra causing Psi to ask him if he called himself the Doctor due to professional detachment. (TV: Time Heist)
The Twelfth Doctor showed even less restraint than his predecessor, and would get frank and physical with his enemies. (TV: Deep Breath) However, he had a conflicted sense of morality and the struggle with his inner darkness. He sometimes voiced preconceptions about the Daleks or human nature, but might find them maligned and questioned his own judgement afterward. (TV: Deep Breath, Into the Dalek)
Though he retained a respect for humanity, the Twelfth Doctor would insult them for being slow minded and violent, dubbing Earth the "planet of the pudding-brains". (TV: Deep Breath) He expressed a strong dislike for soldiers, because of their hidebound nature, (TV: Into the Dalek) and was easily annoyed by swashbucklers who did not take things seriously. (TV: Robot of Sherwood) He also claimed to dislike karaoke, mime, babysitters, and bantering. (TV: Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, Robot of Sherwood)
Unlike his immediate predecessor, the Twelfth Doctor was very awkward when it came to physical contact with people, specifically women, failing to return Clara's hug, or protesting against them, (TV: Deep Breath, Listen) and being momentarily dumbfounded when Maid Marian pecked him on the cheek in gratitude for saving her. (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
Though this Doctor stated that murder was against his moral code, he and the Half-Face Man agreed that one of them was lying about their basic programming. Indeed, the Doctor did show some initial reluctance in going forth with killing the Half-Face Man himself, offering him a drink of alcohol and trying to persuade the Clockwork Droid to self-destruct of his own free will. (TV: Deep Breath) He also informed Saibra that, despite how much he hated him, he had no intention on killing the Architect. (TV: Time Heist)
Much like his seventh and war incarnations, the Twelfth Doctor was heavily inclined to err toward a greater good and was willing to allow one inevitable death if it meant saving the majority or if it would exposed him to an adversary. Through this attitude, he acted like a pragmatist who would not hesitate to abandon someone whose fate was already sealed, nor mourn for an ally until his objective had been reached. (TV: Into the Dalek, Time Heist)
Also like his previous incarnation, he relied on his companions to keep him from succumbing to his darker nature, but, unlike his predecessors, the Twelfth Doctor actively praised them for it, even claiming that Clara Oswald needed a "raise" for dealing with him. (TV: Into the Dalek)
By his own testament, the Twelfth Doctor did not suffer fools gladly, (PROSE: The Blood Cell) nor did he tolerate poor manners, even when held at gunpoint, and believed that one should make requests politely.
Having devoted countless centuries to combating them, this Doctor's hatred toward the Dalek species was rigid, with Clara describing it as "prejudice". He seemed conditioned to believe Daleks could not change and was closed-minded as he dealt with their presence. After his act of fixing a malfunctioning "good" Dalek caused it to revert to "evil", the Doctor was almost pleased that his belief of there being "no such thing as a good Dalek" was vindicated. This horrified Clara, who became angered to the point of slapping him.
His revulsion of the Daleks was so intense that when he entered Rusty's mind, intent on showing it the beauty of the universe, he ultimately exacerbated its homicidal nature. Instead of offering it a soul, the Doctor, through his sheer hatred for the Daleks, reconditioned Rusty into a merciless killer of its own kind. (TV: Into the Dalek)
The Doctor indicated a degree of self-hatred similar to the Eleventh Doctor: he realized that the Architect was him as he hated the Architect similar to the Eleventh Doctor realizing that the Dream Lord was himself because to the Doctor there was only one person that hated him as much as the Dream Lord did. (TV: Time Heist)
Unlike his predecessor, the Twelfth Doctor did not think bowties are cool. (TV: Time Heist)
Habits and quirks
Much like his seventh incarnation, the Twelfth Doctor spoke with a Scottish accent, which he took as an entitlement to complain about things. (TV: Deep Breath)
When proposing a theory, the Doctor would use words such as "question" or "proposition", and would begin his conclusion with "answer" or "conjecture". After working out the important questions in his head, he waited for others to come to the same conclusion, becoming increasingly annoyed with each wrong question they proposed. (TV: Deep Breath, Listen)
Like the Ninth Doctor labelling humanity as "stupid apes", the Twelfth Doctor would call them "pudding brains" when he found them slow minded and stupid. (TV: Deep Breath, Robot of Sherwood )
He seemed to regain a tolerance for alchoholic beverages, (TV: Deep Breath, Time Heist) something his immediate predecessor didn't have. (TV: The Lodger, The Impossible Astronaut)
Much like his predecessor, the Twelfth Doctor also used hand gestures to extenuate a point, but applied more dedication to his movements, standing firm, while speaking with conviction. (TV: Deep Breath, Time Heist)
This Doctor made a habit of assigning nicknames to others, giving them names based on their appearance or by an accessory they carried. (TV: Deep Breath, Into the Dalek)
When not out adventuring, the Doctor could be found jotting down equations and theories on various chalkboards in his TARDIS console room. (TV: Robot of Sherwood, Listen)
Skills
Highly observant, the Doctor was able to point out the Half-Face Man as non-human from his lack of interest in a burnt dinosaur corpse, and later noticed that he and Clara were trapped in a room full of Clockwork Droids due to only them breathing. (TV: Deep Breath) He was also able to make accurate deductions from observing his surroundings, identifying the Aristotle as a medical ship within seconds of being onboard. (TV: Into the Dalek), and the spaceship that made its home as the castle of Nottingham as being from the 29th century. (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
The twelfth incarnation retained his predecessor's ability to converse with other species, such as dinosaurs. (TV: Deep Breath)
Strong and durable, the Doctor was able to support his own weight single-handedly, wrestle the Half-Face Man into a corner, fall out of a high tree branch and shake off the fall quickly, and dive off a bridge into the Thames to swim across the river without being hampered, though the latter two events can be linked to him still being within the early hours of his regeneration. (TV: Deep Breath)
Like several of his predecessors, the Twelfth Doctor was both a highly proficient swordsman and skilled in Venusian aikido, using it to defend himself from Abesse and disarming Robin Hood. (TV: Robot of Sherwood, PROSE: The Blood Cell)
Despite initially forgetting how to pilot his TARDIS due to post-regenerative trauma, (TV: The Time of the Doctor) the Doctor eventfully mastered his way around the TARDIS console, being able to save Journey Blue by piloting the TARDIS around her, one second before her ship exploded. (TV: Into the Dalek)
Like his second, tenth and eleventh incarnations, the Twelfth Doctor also displayed telepathic abilities, being able to link his mind with Rusty to show the Dalek the beauty of the universe and put Rupert Pink to sleep by placing his index finger on his forehead, editing his memories while he did so. (TV: Into the Dalek, Listen)
Appearance
While a good many of his predecessors, especially the Eleventh, began their lives looking young, (TV: The Parting of the Ways, The End of Time) the Twelfth Doctor started out appearing very much older. He had short grey hair, a hooked nose and sharp silvery blue eyes, with big ears. (TV: The Time of the Doctor) He was of a light build. (COMIC: Chime Time) Clara was confused at the Twelfth's older appearance, saying to Vastra that "he [didn't] look renewed." Even the Doctor was confused about his aged appearance, asking himself, "Who frowned me in this face?" (TV: Deep Breath) He was once described by Clara as looking like a "grey-haired stick insect." (TV: Listen)
Most changed were his eyebrows, which went from "delicate" (TV: The Time of the Doctor) to extremely thick and furrowed. (TV: The Day of the Doctor) Startled by the change, the Doctor described them as "attack eyebrows" which could "take bottle tops off" and were ready to set up their own independent state. (TV: Deep Breath) He later considered his intimidating eyebrows as a major contributor to his gravitas when he assumed the role of a leader. (TV: Time Heist)
Clothing
Immediately following regeneration, he initially wore the Eleventh Doctor's attire, a Victorian nightshirt, and then a coat that he "bought" from a tramp, before stealing a Clockwork Droid's suit in order to masquerade as one.
After having a chance to return to the TARDIS, though, the Doctor chose a new outfit for himself. He donned a navy blue cardigan with a white collared shirt with no tie, matching blue trousers that now covered his ankles instead of being too short, and black brogue boots. Over the top, he sported a thigh-length, dark blue jacket with red lining, often wearing it with the top button done. On his left hand ring finger, he had a pair of gold rings, a normal gold band and a second ring with an emerald gemstone that rested atop the first band. (TV: Deep Breath)
The Doctor would wear variations of his attire, switching from vested garments with a white collared shirt for simply a dress shirt on its own, such as maroon (TV: Robot of Sherwood) or midnight blue. (TV: Time Heist) Other times, he would dispense with the shirt as well and don a black turtleneck jumper with glittering silver flakes that looked like twinkling stars in a night sky. (TV: Listen) He also had at least two styles of cardigans- one with shawl lapels and a ribbed waistline (TV: Deep Breath), the other a simpler v-necked waistcoat. (TV: Into the Dalek) Despite this, his Crombie coat remained a constant staple of his appearance.
The Doctor picked his look with the intention of "aiming for minimalism", but instead felt like he "ended up with magician" after solidifying his wardrobe. (TV: Time Heist)
Behind the scenes
- Like the War and Ninth Doctors, the Twelfth Doctor debuted on television before his regeneration from his predecessor was screened.
- His first words — "Kidneys! I've got new kidneys!" — keep to the modern tradition of new Doctors commenting on their bodies. Previously, the Ninth Doctor commented on his ears, (TV: Rose) the Tenth Doctor commented on his "new teeth", (TV: The Parting of the Ways) and the Eleventh on his legs. (TV: The End of Time)
- His costume was revealed in DWM 470 and online.
- He starred in The Daft Dimension, a comic strip published in Doctor Who Magazine.
- Peter Capaldi wanted to wear his wedding ring as part of his Doctor's attire, and requested a prop to disguise it. He was given an emerald ring with a gemstone that fits over the top of his original band. The First Doctor also wore a gemstone ring, and as such the Twelfth Doctor is the first incarnation since then seen to sport one. He is also the first incarnation since the Third Doctor to wear an ordinary ring.