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Mechonoids were large spherical robots originally built by humans to help colonise worlds until they were abandoned and forgotten on Mechanus. The Mechonoids became a force in their own right and Mechanus became their home planet. They were one of the few beings who could prove a match for the Daleks.
History
The Mechonoids first encountered the Daleks when they built a space station for refuelling on the route to the planet Oric. The Mechonoids used their suspicion ray on one of the Daleks there, causing it to perceive other Daleks as its enemies and kill them. The Mechonoid Interceptor which held the ray was destroyed by the Daleks, but the Dalek ship was then attacked and melted by two other Mechonoid ships. The Mechonoids then broadcast a message to the Daleks on Skaro, warning them to avoid their territory. The Daleks instead began preparing for war with the Mechonoids. (COMIC: Eve of War)
The Zerovians, seeking to prevent war from breaking out between the Daleks and the Mechonoids, sent their robot agent, 2K, to accomplish this. The robot manipulated the Daleks into destroying the rogue planet Skardal, which they had set on a collision course with Mechanus, then told the Mechonoids that the Daleks had saved them purposely. The Mechonoids then called off the war, although they still considered the Daleks their enemies. (COMIC: Impasse)
Some Mechonoids were sent by humans to prepare Mechanus for colonisation, but Earth got caught up in interplanetary wars such as the Human-Draconian War, the Second Dalek War and the Third Dalek War which put an end to the Earth Empire's expansionist phase (PROSE: The Chase) and the colonists never arrived. Steven Taylor crashlanded on Mechanus and was taken prisoner by the Mechonoids. The Daleks followed the Doctor's TARDIS to Mechanus and battled the Mechonoids. (TV: The Chase) The Mechonoids came close to winning by drawing the Daleks into an ambush at Mechonoid City, only for the Daleks to destroy the city with an atom divider. The survivors swore revenge. (COMIC: The World That Waits)
The Daleks later fought Mechonoids on Hesperus. (PROSE: War of the Daleks)
By 2382, Mechanoids were no longer used by humans, and had not been for some time. (PROSE: Fear of the Dark)
On Lethe, Davros combined organic tissue with Mechonoid shells to create Juggernauts. (AUDIO: The Juggernauts)
At some point, the Mechonoids fought a series of wars with the Thals. (AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks)
The Mechonoids' last stronghold was on Magella. The Daleks attacked and destroyed all the Mechonoids, making them extinct. (PROSE: Birth of a Legend)
During the 41st century, Mechonoid shells were recovered from worlds ravaged by the Daleks and brought to Station 7. At some point, a Dalek force attacked the station while searching for "the Abomination", and the Mechonoid shells were destroyed along with the station. (COMIC: The Only Good Dalek)
Morality
Mechonoids did not seem to be inherently bad or good, as they only turned violent when their home planet was threatened. Otherwise, they seemed to be peaceful and open to visitors; when the First Doctor, along with his companions, encountered a Mechonoid, it had them follow it back to the city, and detained them to inquire about them. (TV: The Chase)
Behind the scenes
- No explanation has been given reconciling the conflicting accounts of the Mechonoids being human servants on television and being an alien race in the comics.
- Designer Raymond Cusick contended that the Mechonoids were originally meant to be called the "Mechons". However, the name had to be altered due to the similarity with Dan Dare's main enemy, the Mekon. (DCOM: Day of Armageddon) Nonetheless, the Daleks do call the Mechonoids "Mechons" at one point in The Chase. The Mekon later influenced the visual design of Davros. (BBC DVD: Genesis of the Daleks)