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Many Time Lords used meaningful titles, usually of the form "the [Something]". (TV: Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"], etc.) These vocational names (PROSE: The Two Auteurs [+]Loading...["The Two Auteurs (short story)"], Our Finest Gifts We Bring (part 19) [+]Loading...{"part":"19","1":"Our Finest Gifts We Bring"}) were a matter of personal choice, at least for Renegades; (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Loading...["The Sound of Drums (TV story)"]) according to the Eleventh Doctor, "the name [that one chose was] like a promise [one made]". (TV: The Name of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"])
A Renegade's original designation might in some cases be erased altogether, in a process known as Elective Semantectomy. Accounts varied on whether "the" titles were peculiar to renegades who had undergone such a process, (PROSE: Weapons Grade Snake Oil [+]Loading...["Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)"]) or a wider fixture of Time Lord culture. (TV: Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"], WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Loading...["Death Comes to Time (webcast)"])
Known instances
The Doctor
The most notable, but far from the only Renegade Time Lord whose name was in the form of an impersonal title was the Doctor, (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) whose chosen title embodied a "promise". (TV: The Name of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"]) The First Minister of Chance and the Kingmaker held the title to be synonymous with "the Truth-Seeker". (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Loading...["Death Comes to Time (webcast)"])
The same individual was alternatively known as the Warrior, (PROSE: The Stranger [+]Loading...["The Stranger (short story)"]) the Valeyard, (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Loading...["The Ultimate Foe (TV story)"]) the Emperor, (PROSE: Father Time [+]Loading...["Father Time (novel)"]) and the Curator, (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]) with other aspects including the Watcher (TV: Logopolis [+]Loading...["Logopolis (TV story)"]) and the Dream Lord. (TV: Amy's Choice [+]Loading...["Amy's Choice (TV story)"])
After altering his memories, the Great Houses made Chris Cwej believe that he had travelled with a fictitious malevolent renegade who intentionally called himself "the Evil Renegade", (PROSE: Dead Romance [+]Loading...["Dead Romance (novel)"]) instead of the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: Original Sin [+]Loading...["Original Sin (novel)"], etc.)
In other realities, counterparts of the Doctor included the Warrior, the Pilgrim, and the Wanderer. (AUDIO: The Key To Key To Time [+]Loading...["The Key To Key To Time (audio story)"])
Learning that the Meep's chosen pronoun was the definite article, the Fourteenth Doctor acknowledged that he too "[did] that". (TV: The Star Beast [+]Loading...["The Star Beast (TV story)"])
Other cases
Renegades
Other Time Lords going by such names included renegades such as the Monk, (TV: The Time Meddler [+]Loading...["The Time Meddler (TV story)"]) the Master, (TV: Terror of the Autons [+]Loading...["Terror of the Autons (TV story)"]) the Rani, (TV: The Mark of the Rani [+]Loading...["The Mark of the Rani (TV story)"]) the Interfering Nun, (PROSE: Shada [+]Loading...["Shada (novelisation)"]) the Colonel, (PROSE: CIA File Extracts [+]Loading...["CIA File Extracts (novel)"]) the Grandfather, (PROSE: Interference - Book One [+]Loading...["Interference - Book One (novel)"], The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"]) the Hussar, (PROSE: Weapons Grade Snake Oil [+]Loading...["Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)"]) the Clocksmith, (AUDIO: The Eighth Piece [+]Loading...["The Eighth Piece (audio story)"]) the Magician, (PROSE: Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma [+]Loading...["Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma (novel)"]) the Eleven, (AUDIO: The Eleven [+]Loading...["The Eleven (audio story)"]) the Corsair, (TV: The Doctor's Wife [+]Loading...["The Doctor's Wife (TV story)"]) and the Corsair, (PROSE: The Bloodletters [+]Loading...["The Bloodletters (novel)"]) the Heretic, (AUDIO: The Two Masters [+]Loading...["The Two Masters (audio story)"]) and the Dark Citizen. (AUDIO: Dark Universe [+]Loading...["Dark Universe (audio story)"]) The Time Lord originally known as Caleera became the Sonomancer and later the Red Lady. (AUDIO: Scenes From Her Life [+]Loading...["Scenes From Her Life (audio story)"], The Sonomancer [+]Loading...["The Sonomancer (audio story)"], The Red Lady [+]Loading...["The Red Lady (audio story)"])
Morbius, sometimes considered the "First Renegade", (PROSE: Still Need a Title! [+]Loading...["Still Need a Title! (short story)"]) operated under the name of "the General" during his exile from Gallifrey in his first incarnation. This allowed Gallifrey a window of plausible deniability about whether "the General's" intergalactic crimes were Gallifrey's responsibility, and thus, whether they had a duty to intervene. Eventually, however, the Doctor convinced them that the General and Morbius were one and the same, and they sent him to intervene. (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Loading...["Warmonger (novel)"]) After his execution and survival, the tyrant mostly returned to calling himself simply "Morbius" (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Brain of Morbius (TV story)"], AUDIO: The Vengeance of Morbius [+]Loading...["The Vengeance of Morbius (audio story)"]) but still declared himself "the General" on occasion. (AUDIO: Morbius the Mighty [+]Loading...["Morbius the Mighty (audio story)"])
The Renegade Time Lord encountered by the Second Doctor who planned out the War Games was going by the name of "the War Chief". Although "War Chief" was his job title within the hierarchy of the aliens with whom he'd made a pact, (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) some sources treated it as his "title" in earnest, (GAME: The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"], GAME: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (game)"]) and one account showed him continuing to use it in a new incarnation after parting ways with the aliens. (GAME: The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"]) Another account acknowledged it as his title but suggested he might have chosen another after regenerating; (GAME: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (game)"]) in fact, one suggested that the architect of the War Games survived in the form of the Master, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon (novelisation)"]) though one account referencing this notion suggested that he had already called himself the Master before the inception of the War Games scheme, (AUDIO: The Home Guard [+]Loading...["The Home Guard (audio story)"]) and other accounts besides disputed the conflation of the two figures. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"], etc.)
Mappers
Some of the first members of the Great Houses to shed their names and take on new ones were actually the Mappers who first explored the Spiral Politic after the anchoring of the thread, who all went insane sometime after finishing their work. However, instead of the "titles and stuff" which typified later Renegades, they chose "really stupid names" (in Intrepid's opinion) based on a timekeeping theme, such as Astrolabe or Pendulum. (PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice [+]Loading...["Going Once, Going Twice (short story)"])
As a wider feature of Time Lord culture
The Fifteenth Doctor suggested to Ruby Sunday that using chosen titles instead of ordinary names was a "posh thing" common to the entire Time Lord culture, rather than a specific mark of snobbery; he even suggested that his own original name had already been a "the" title. (TV: Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"]) After jokingly claiming his real name was "unpronounceable", the First Minister of Chance explained his people's names to Sala in a manner suggesting it was a cultural feature of Time Lords in general. (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Loading...["Death Comes to Time (webcast)"])
Oh, we arrive by our names in the same way you do — your ancestors were named, perhaps, after what they did, and that nickname would become their name. Erm, the Giver, the Taker, the Meddler, the Truth-Seeker. I was always concerned with… probability.
Without going as far as saying this was the norm, other accounts showed it was possible for Time Lords to go by such titles without turning their backs on the Gallifreyan orthodoxy. In one of the visions he had during the V-Time Experiment, Chris Cwej, who was calling himself "the Adjudicator", suggested that becoming known by a title was a mark of honour among the Superiors. Indeed, the Experiment was carried out by an individual calling himself the Surgeon, who was evidently prestigious among the Superiors' establishment. (PROSE: The V Cwejes [+]Loading...["The V Cwejes (short story)"]
Where I come from, the greatest heroes are honored by having their names erased rather than immortalised. Titles strip arbitrariness to reveal innermost function.
Even before the Time War, K9 Mark I's overseer in Gallifrey High Command was known as simply the Space Controller (PROSE: K9 and the Zeta Rescue [+]Loading...["K9 and the Zeta Rescue (novel)"]) and the overseer of the Cartago colony was simply "the Governor". (PROSE: The Bloodletters [+]Loading...["The Bloodletters (novel)"])
According to a guide to Gallifreyan history written by a temporal tourism tour operator in the post-War universe, the "figurehead Lord President" who stood in for Romana II after her disappearance was in fact "un-named", and not merely obscure. (PROSE: Gallifrey: A Rough Guide [+]Loading...["Gallifrey: A Rough Guide (short story)"])
During the War in Heaven, some Homeworlders volunteered to undergo Elective Semantectomy before being stationed among the lesser species, due to fears that adopting a local name might lead to conceptual contamination. (PROSE: Weapons Grade Snake Oil [+]Loading...["Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)"]) The Houses' leader the War King, formerly a Renegade, was referred to exclusively by his title. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"], etc.)
Likewise, during the Last Great Time War, Time Lords very much in service of orthodox Gallifrey were also known to bear such "titles" instead of ordinary names, including the Visionary (TV: The End of Time [+]Loading...["The End of Time (TV story)"]) the Player, (AUDIO: The Plague of Dreams [+]Loading...["The Plague of Dreams (audio story)"]) and the General. (TV: Hell Bent [+]Loading...["Hell Bent (TV story)"])
Unclear
By some accounts, the young Doctor's hermit mentor on Gallifrey (TV: The Time Monster [+]Loading...["The Time Monster (TV story)"], etc.) was genuinely known as the Hermit. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)"], Lucifer Rising [+]Loading...["Lucifer Rising (novel)"])
Among the Minister of Chance's fellow survivors in a state of reality where most Time Lords had been wiped out, and the survivors acted as a wandering order of sorts, (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Loading...["Death Comes to Time (webcast)"]) were counted the Horseman, the Sage of the Waves, the Pilot and the Summer King. (AUDIO: The Forest Shakes [+]Loading...["The Forest Shakes (audio story)"], Paludin Fields [+]Loading...["Paludin Fields (audio story)"], In a Barque on the River Hex [+]Loading...["In a Barque on the River Hex (audio story)"], PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Loading...["The Minister of Chance (novelisation)"])
"The Monk" who mentored, then travelled with, the Corsair was referred to as such even before he "turned Renegade", (PROSE: The Bloodletters [+]Loading...["The Bloodletters (novel)"]) although he eventually clarified to the Corsair Queen that "Monk" was simply a nickname, and she had been wrong to believe it to be a vocational name and give it a definite article. The Corsair was unsure that he was joking, and continued to refer to him as "Monk" instead of his original name. (PROSE: Our Finest Gifts We Bring (part 19) [+]Loading...{"part":"19","1":"Our Finest Gifts We Bring (short story)"})
When River Song expressed scepticism as to the Eleventh Doctor's uncle being known simply as the Uncle, the Doctor described it as "a Time Lord thing." (GAME: The Eternity Clock [+]Loading...["The Eternity Clock (video game)"])
When explaining Time Lord names to Ruby Sunday, the Fifteenth Doctor cited the Bishop, the Pedant and the Sagi-shi alongside the Rani and the Conquistador. (TV: Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"])
Find Your Time Lord Name
Find Your Time Lord Name was a feature in a book written by the Eleventh Doctor. (PROSE: "Find Your Time Lord Name" [+]Part of How to be a Time Lord, Loading...{"page":"170-171","namedpart":"Find Your Time Lord Name","1":"How to be a Time Lord (novel)"})
A Time Lord must have a strong name that represents their power, status and beliefs. Those who are not allotted a name or nickname during their time at the Time Lord Academy can use these charts to find a title.
Following the charts, one would take the first letter of their first name to discover what their "title or introduction should be".
By taking the first letter of their surname, one would learn their "main Time Lord name".
- A = Venturer
- B = Saint
- C = Winner
- D = Explorer
- E = Shield
- F = Infinite
- G = Challenger
- H = Meteor
- I = Protector
- J = Vortron
- K = Athlete
- L = Zenarck
- M = Dimensioneer
- N = Golven
- O = Immortal
- P = Dynamo
- Q = Shadow
- R = Pioneer
- S = Force
- T = Champion
- U = Voyager
- V = Typhoon
- W = Dextive
- X = Moorid
- Y = Cosmos
- Z = Defender
Behind the scenes
- Paul Cornell coined the term of "Vocation Name" for Time Lord titles in a deleted flashback chapter intended for his novel No Future [+]Loading...["No Future (novel)"]. The scene featured a glimpse of Theta Sigma, Magnus, Alanir and Mortimus — i.e. the young Doctor, the young Master, the young Rani, and the young Monk.
[Alanir's] name was a personal one, given to her by her ambitious Cardinal mother, an old Gallifreyan name that would command respect in her daughter's political future. Unknown to her mother, Alanir had already taken up a secret Vocation Name, cutting her palm before an altar of Rassilon. There were those in the Capitol who encouraged such things.
Beside her paced Magnus, who called himself Bastard Son. he had gone through three Vocation Names already, his hands lined with knife cuts. He told the names to everybody.