The Imperial Daleks were a faction of Daleks loyal to their creator, Davros, rather than to the Dalek Supreme. Among the Daleks, they were known as the Ven-Katri Davrett. They fought for Davros, their new Emperor, in the Imperial-Renegade War. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks (novelisation))
History
Davros owned an injection-type mind control device which he used on a small group of Daleks, these became the first Imperial Daleks. These were destroyed by the Dalek Supreme's Renegade Daleks. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
Davros experimented with a new kind of Dalek at the Tranquil Repose funerary complex on Necros, using parts from cryogenically frozen bodies there. Some, like Arthur Stengos, he decapitated, modified and placed, still living, into a Glass Dalek casing. Stengos' personality shifted from that of a Human to that of a Dalek. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks)
Orcini set off an explosion in Davros' bunker, killing many of the prototype Imperials. Other Daleks, loyal to the Dalek Supreme then apprehended him to take him to Skaro for trial. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks) As part of a long-term strategy, the Doctor himself rescued Davros so that he could further develop the Imperials and caused an eventual Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War. (DWM: Emperor of the Daleks)
At a later stage in the war with the Renegades (as he called them) Davros created Imperial Daleks by grafting bionic appendages onto the bodies of Kaled mutants.
Davros led the Imperial Daleks to Earth in 1963 to acquire the Hand of Omega. They engaged in a battle with the Renegades, who seized the Hand, but interference by the Doctor led to the Imperials acquiring it. The Doctor tricked Davros into using the Hand of Omega on Skaro's sun, which caused it to turn supernova and destroy Skaro. Davros escaped his mothership in an escape pod. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- We do not know how many of the Imperial Daleks or their warfleet survived when the Hand of Omega caused Skaro's sun to supernova.
At some point after this, the names of the two factions were for some reason reversed, so the surviving Renegades, led by the Dalek Prime, called themselves Imperial Daleks. (EDA: War of the Daleks)
- What happened to Davros next is unclear. There are two accounts which may or may not be reconcilable.
Davros' escape pod was acquired by a garbage ship, the Quetzel, which the Doctor and Sam Jones also ended up on. A group of Thals arrived, with the intention of using Davros to effectively turn them into Daleks so they could fight the Daleks better. A Dalek force then arrived and took the Quetzel to a planet called Skaro. The Dalek Prime claimed that this was the original Skaro, and that the planet the Doctor had destroyed was a decoy called Antalin. The Dalek Prime knew that some of its own Daleks were loyal to Davros and put Davros on trial to flush them out. A battle ensued and the Dalek Prime's Daleks emerged victorious. Davros was apparently executed but may have been teleported to safety by a loyal Spider Dalek. (EDA: War of the Daleks)
Davros' escape pod entered the time vortex and was found by a Nekkistani ship. Davros killed the crew. The Doctor, Samson Griffin and Gemma Griffin found the Nekkistani ship in the vortex and the Griffins boarded the ship to investigate. Davros enacted his revenge by sending them back to Earth, wiping the Doctor's memory of them and operating on the TARDIS. Samson was sent home and Gemma became part of the "resistance" to the new race of Daleks Davros made on Earth, which took over, leaving only the area where Samson lived free from Dalek control. When the Doctor, Charley Pollard and C'rizz returned from the Divergent Universe, Davros was waiting for them. Davros' mind had become fractured between his own personality and that of "the Emperor". A series of events led to the Doctor actually giving the Daleks their Emperor and letting them leave Earth. Gemma was killed. Davros left Earth with his Daleks, the Emperor personality dominant. (BFA: Terror Firma)
- It was not stated which of the Imperial or Renegade factions were dominant at this point or after. It could be guessed that the Dalek Prime's Daleks won as in the episode Daleks in Manhattan the Daleks are shown to be led by a Dalek Supreme. This could be just necessity, though, as the Daleks had no official leader.
Characteristics
Appearance
In contrast to the drab gray and black Renegades, the more sleek Imperial Daleks had white livery with gold bumps, and high-pitched voices. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks)
Later Imperials now had golden eye-stalks and a lozenge shape on the front of their casings,diffrent-styled dome lights(or "Ears") and their gold plungers(appearing more funnel-like) were slotted to fit into machinery. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
A civil war, ostensibly over racial purity, broke out between the original, now Renegade Daleks, and the Imperial Daleks. Imperial Daleks augmented their battle tactics with the Special Weapons Dalek, now converted over to the Imperial cause and sporting a partially white casing. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Power of Flight
The Imperial Daleks could hover and fly (DW: Revelation of the Daleks, DWM: Emperor of the Daleks, DW: Remembrance of the Daleks), like Davros himself in his wheelchair, before he assumed the title of Emperor. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks, DWM: Emperor of the Daleks)
- We do not know if the Renegade Daleks of this period could, themselves, fly. During the civil war period, we know that they could hover a short distance above the ground. (DWM: Emperor of the Daleks)