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The Judoon were a race of rhinoform humanoids from the planet Judoonia, frequently employed as a mercenary police force. They were known to be brutish and single-minded in carrying out their tasks, without regard for unintended consequences of their actions.
Biology
Described as rhinoform bipeds, (AUDIO: Judoon in Chains) Judoon were two-metre high humanoids with stocky builds and rhinoceros-like heads. They had large lungs and could breathe even in environments with low levels of oxygen. They were resistant to even harsh physical assault, such as being hit with a marble statue. (TV: Smith and Jones) Judoon had yellow blood. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon) They also had rather small brains; a Judoon brain was able to fit in a chest that could easily be held in a humanoid palm, or fit in a teaspoon. (WC: Prequel: A Good Man Goes to War, AUDIO: Judoon in Chains) The Judoon had canines, incisors, molars and pre-molars - the teeth of an omnivore, which meant they ate meat and vegetables. (WC: Teeth and Eating) Judoon were largely non-sexually dimorphic, with males and females looking and sounding identical. The only noticeable difference was that females had hair on their scalps, while males were completely bald. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon)
Culture
The Judoon were known for their strict obedience to the law and their brutal efforts in maintaining it. Crimes like physical assault towards a Judoon incurred the death penalty, without chance for trial. The Tenth Doctor described them as logical, but stupid, and they seemed to favour methodical patterns of behaviour to a fault. (TV: Smith and Jones) Even on crucial missions, Judoons would obey local laws and signs, including traffic laws and "Authorised personnel only" and "Pay and Display" signs. Similarly, they would follow mission procedure rigidly and always get a form signed when commandeering transport. The Judoon were trained to use all known forms of transit, albeit not very well in the case of cars. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon) Their strict compliance with an established order even made them despise development even with their culture, and those who went out of their norms were often ostracised. (AUDIO: Judoon in Chains)
Their language was composed of many one-syllable words ending in a vowel, generally an "o" sound (such as "blo mo co jo") but occasionally an "a". Each sentence was composed of several of these words strung together. (TV: Smith and Jones, The Stolen Earth, PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon)
Although they did not laugh, Judoons would shake and make laughter-like noise when amused. (AUDIO: Judoon in Chains, PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon)
A favourite sport among the Judoon was nukeball, but it was illegal on their planet to avoid the destruction of the population. (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles) Judoon did not like opera. (COMIC: The Great Mordillo)
The Judoon had nothing to compare with poetry. (AUDIO: Judoon in Chains)
If a Judoon lost it horn under any circumstance, it was considered a great dishonour, especially amongst captains. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon)
Technology
In general, Judoon technology was a dark red or black colour, and most instruments, such as their weapons, scanners and translators, were thick and pen-shaped, similar to a large sonic screwdriver. (TV: Smith and Jones)
Communication and scanning
The Judoon had scanners which would tell the Judoon the species of the scanned being. However, the scanners could be fooled by previous close contact with another species. Metamorphic beings capable of altering their internal biology using assimilated biomatter could also deceive the scan. They also were known to use a thick marker pen or stamp to mark "catalogued" people — those who had been scanned and deemed not to be a suspect — on their right hand.
The Judoon had translation devices which worked by analysing the recorded voice of a being. The translation was reciprocal. It also had a contact device that reached every Judoon helmet, allowing the Judoon Captain to give orders with a press of a button. (TV: Smith and Jones, Fugitive of the Judoon)
They used crime scene forensic scanners. The Seventh Doctor bought a second hand one from a retired Judoon. (AUDIO: The Blood Furnace)
Transportation
Judoon rockets
- Main article: Judoon rocket
The Judoon rockets were large, cylindrical craft with four boosters and four claws at the bottom which served as landing gear. (TV: Smith and Jones)
Other transportation
The Judoon also had teleport technology. (PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon, TV: The Pandorica Opens, A Good Man Goes to War)
The Judoon were known to use an H₂O scoop to transport buildings across space, and shield them with force fields as required by Galactic Law. (TV: Smith and Jones, AUDIO: Judoon in Chains)
Judoon operated various land vehicles to find lawbreakers, including motorbikes that hovered, tanks and tall, all-terrain machines with four legs. (COMIC: A Rare Gem)
Weaponry and armour
The "execution" punishment was delivered using a directed energy weapon with a red beam which could incinerate the target.
Judoon wore heavy black armour, and with their helmets on closely resembled Sontarans. (TV: Smith and Jones)
Other
In the 25th century, the Judoon were able to remotely lock down the communication and transport systems of spaceships. (PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon)
The Thirteenth Doctor considered Judoon chocolates to be of high quality. (PROSE: The Secret in Vault 13)
History
The Judoon were originally a warlike race. They became mercenaries for various Galactic organisations, including the Padrivole Regency and the Shadow Proclamation. (WC: Monster File: Judoon) They came to be one of the universe's most trusted mercenary races largely at the expense of the Ogrons, who lost their dominant position as "hired guns" because of a string of defeats by the Third Doctor. (COMIC: Fugitive)
Early in universal history, the Judoon joined Rassilon in the Alliance of Races against the Hyperions. After the Hyperions were defeated, the Alliance then went on to purge the universe of other threats to universal harmony, one of those threats being Count D'if of the Cybock Imperium. (COMIC: Gangland)
In 102, the Judoon were among the races who joined the Alliance. They came to Stonehenge and helped imprison the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica in order to save the universe. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)
Judoon Captain Kybo of the Nineteenth Judoon Interplanetary Force became stranded in a Victorian circus, on 19 May 1884. He was bound in chains and forced to perform. Hot on his tail, the Sixth Doctor followed closely behind and met the same fate. Together with Eliza Jenkins, the three of them successfully delayed the following fleet of Judoon, and successfully revealed to the galaxy the truth behind Meretricious Gedge's plans regarding the terraforming of an inhabited planet. (AUDIO: Judoon in Chains)
In 1902, while working for the Galactic Council, the Judoon were conned into assisting in a plot to use Temporal Reversion Devices on Earth. As they abducted Balmoral Castle during this, the misunderstanding would be known as "the Balmoral Incident". As a result of this, the Judoon were banned from Earth. (WC: Monster File: Judoon, PROSE: Revenge of the Judoon)
In 1963 the Judoon attempted to prevent the Cybock Imperium from stealing the Time-Gun of Rassilon from the vaults on Janizzar. The member of the Imperium used the time-gun on them and wiped them from history. (COMIC: Gangland)
At some point after the 1980s, the Judoon came to Earth, despite it being out of their jurisdiction. They came to the house on Allen Road, looking for an Eye of Akasha. The Fifth Doctor followed them and was forced to help them look for it after they threatened Tegan. He handed it over and let them leave, but using sleight of hand he switched the Eye with a cricket ball. (COMIC: The Forgotten)
In 2008, a Plasmavore who was pretending to be an old lady called Florence Finnegan murdered the Child Princess of Padrivole Regency 9 and then escaped to the Royal Hope Hospital. The Judoon used an H₂O scoop to transport the Royal Hope Hospital to the Moon, as they had no jurisdiction over Earth. The Plasmavore had drunk the blood of a human, though, and passed as a human to their scanners. The Tenth Doctor was able to make her drink his own blood, making her seem like an alien again. Martha Jones then convinced the Judoon to check her again. Finding her to be the alien they sought, they killed her. The Judoon then returned the hospital to Earth. (TV: Smith and Jones) The Judoon also investigated Slitheen activities on Earth. (TV: Revenge of the Slitheen) They had forced some members of the Slitheen family, including Kist Magg Thek Lutiven-Day Slitheen, out of Raxacoricofallapatorius. (PROSE: Revenge of the Slitheen)
When the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble came to the Shadow Proclamation to investigate the stolen planets, the Judoon were working there. (TV: The Stolen Earth) A Judoon was guarding the Shadow Architect when Colony Sarff entered the Shadow Proclamation, demanding to know the Twelfth Doctor's location. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice)
In 2009, Captain Tybo of the One Thousand and Fifth Judoon Guard crashed on Earth while transporting the prisoner Androvax. Androvax escaped, and Tybo (wounded in his pursuit) was forced to accept help from Sarah Jane Smith and her friends. He was eventually able to track Androvax down and return him to custody. He initially sentenced Rani and Clyde to disintegration for interfering with his pursuit (by locking him in an EM shielded room), but he later commuted their sentences to planetary confinement after they helped prevent Androvax from escaping. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon) The Judoon later took Androvax to a prison planet in the Calysteral cluster. (TV: The Vault of Secrets)
Some time after these events Clyde Langer told jokes while some Judoon were present. The jokes weren't translated well and the Judoon put Clyde into prison. Mr Smith and Rani Chandra convinced Captain Tybo to let Clyde go, by giving food to the hungry Judoon. (WC: Teeth and Eating)
In 2010, a Judoon was at the bar where the Tenth Doctor came to visit Jack Harkness one last time before his regeneration. (TV: The End of Time)
In late 2009 the Krulius captured several aliens. Mr Smith informed the Judoon that the Krulius was at the Doloth Star Base. The Judoon, led by Captain Tybo, brought the Krulius to their prison ship. (COMIC: Monster Hunt) All the captured aliens were set free. However the Krulius escaped from the Judoon and had managed to take clone cell samples of his former captured aliens and the Judoon with him, which allowed him to grew perfect copies of these aliens. (COMIC: Return of the Krulius)
In late 2010, three Judoon were part of the army of alien slaves led by the Krulius to attack Sarah Jane's house. When Clyde defeated several of the aliens, the Judoon regrouped with the army and the Krulius ordered them to retreat. Sarah Jane thought that the aliens in the army were under some kind of hypnotic influence. (COMIC: Defending Bannerman Road)
Prior to 2011, Torchwood Three acquired a Judoon firearm. (PROSE: The Men Who Sold the World)
A pair of Judoon policed the hidden trap street in London, which housed lost aliens on Earth under the protection of Mayor Me. As with the rest of the inhabitants they appeared cloaked in human form through use of the lurkworms' misdirection circuit. (TV: Face the Raven)
In 2020, (TV: Can You Hear Me?) the Judoon, led by Pol-Kon-Don, were hired by the Time Lords to hunt a past incarnation of the Doctor in Gloucester. The platoon initiated a forcefield around the city that was infiltrated by the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions. The Judoon reluctantly worked with the Doctor to find the fugitive, however upon Ruth Clayton's momentary return to her true self the platoon were humiliated and Pol-Kon-Don's horn was removed, a source of huge embarrassment for the platoon. Later, the platoon scooped the TARDIS into their ship, but upon the death of Gat they retreated following threats by two incarnations of the Doctor. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon)
When the Council of Dead were planning to sell humans in slavery, they had to avoid the attention of the Judoon. The Eleventh Doctor believed he could scare off the buyers, the Zu'nar, with the threat of the Judoon. (PROSE: Attack of the Snowmen)
In 2487, the Judoon investigated the Invisible Assassin. They tracked it to New Memphis. The Tenth Doctor believed they would cause more harm than good and agreed to work with the Judoon commander, Rok Ma, provided the other Judoon kept off the planet. With the help of Nikki Jupiter, they were able to find the Invisible Assassin, bring down two criminal empires and find the bombs planted within Terminal 13. After the mission, Rok Ma left the Judoon forces and joined Nikki's detective Agency. (PROSE: Judgement of the Judoon)
In the 52nd century, Dorium Maldovar procured security software for the headless monks by extracting it from the memory of a Judoon trooper. (WC: Prequel (A Good Man Goes to War)) Later, a squad of Judoon were part of the Eleventh Doctor's army which assaulted Demons Run in order to rescue Amy Pond and her baby. When Colonel Manton gave the Clerics the order to abandon Demons Run, the Judoon escorted them off the station and out of the quadrant. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
In 51,007, some Judoon took part in the tournament for the Arrow of Law. (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles)
The Judoon were called in to Agratis by Mason Vox to investigate the disappearance of the Jewel of Fawton. (COMIC: A Rare Gem)
In 5000000057, the Judoon had become corrupted and had joined forces with the Cybermen. Together, the two armies invaded New Earth with plans to upgrade and enslave the population. However, they were stopped by the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. (COMIC: In-Flight Entertainment)
In the far future, the Judoon "Cold Case Unit", led by Pol-Kon-Don, somehow managed to teleport into the Thirteenth Doctor's TARDIS on the refugee planet. The Judoon placed her under arrest and imprisoned the Doctor in one of their facilities. (TV: The Timeless Children)
Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline, the Cybermen made use of Borg technology to convert the entire Judoon race into Cybermen. (COMIC: Assimilation²)
Undated events
- The Judoon were behind the loss of the Extron's body. (COMIC: The Monster Upstairs)
- Following the activities in the Silver Devastation, Judoon were sent to pick up the criminals. (PROSE: The Game of Death)
- Some Judoon firearms were part of a shipment taken from the Hub that was then stolen by a rogue CIA Special Operations Division. (PROSE: The Men Who Sold the World)
- At least one Judoon was abducted and sent to face their fear in the Minotaur's Prison Ship. (TV: The God Complex)
- The Judoon worked as security officers at the Spaceport One. These Judoon dressed in red as opposed to black. Rory Williams ran into one and informed the Judoon officer of a Reptilodon invasion led by General Mystan. (PROSE: Rory's Adventure) The Judoon were soon on the scene to arrest the invading Reptilodons before anyone was hurt. (PROSE: Amy's Escapade)
- Judoon were summoned on the planet Agratis after the theft of the precious Jewel of Fawton. They became placid and friendly once the original legal owners, a species of crystalline creatures, were awakened and Jewel was returned to them. (COMIC: A Rare Gem)
- Judoon ships were seen among the fleets above Trenzalore who travelled there in response to the First Question. They were either destroyed or retreated when the Daleks broke through the planet's force field and the Siege of Trenzalore grew into a war. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
- Judoon in orange armour arrested the owner of Garage 10. (COMIC: The Ministry of Time)
- At some point, the Judoon faced an attack by the Cybermen. (PROSE: Ghost in the Machine)
Other references
- The Third Doctor observed that the Infinite Cocoon could not accomodate a creature as large as a Judoon. (PROSE: Harvest of Time)
- The Tenth Doctor described being in a mind-reading device “like he has gone six rounds with a Judoon bare-knuckle boxer”. (COMIC: The Green, the Bad and the Ugly)
- Clara Oswald used the Judoon to threaten the Seevith. (COMIC: More Than Meets the Eye)
- By 21 July 2006, UNIT had files on Judoon culture. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters)
Behind the scenes
- Introduced in Smith and Jones, the Judoon were created by writer Russell T Davies, who was credited for their reprisals beginning with A Good Man Goes to War.
- The Judoon are the first alien race introduced since 2005 to have appeared in stories under all three revival era showrunners.
The Brilliant Book 2012
According to The Brilliant Book 2012, a book that contains non-narrative based information this wiki does not consider a valid source, the Church had plans to complain to the Shadow Proclamation about the Judoon's involvement with the Doctor.
The Visual Dictionary
The Visual Dictionary, a book that contains non-narrative based information this wiki does not consider a valid source, contains more information about the Judoon.
- The Judoon's thick skins were capable of withstanding most forms of attacks and their ears were capable of selective hearing.
- Judoon slept with their boots on to show their dedication to their job. They also believed that a studded kilt was the sign of a warrior.
- Judoon armour was sealed to allow them to survive in hostile environments. Their knees, feet, wrists and torsos were heavily armoured and reinforced for both offensive and defensive purposes.
- The Judoon encountered the Sycorax at some point before 2006. The Sycorax who invaded Earth had belts made of Judoon skin.