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Cybermen are a type of cybernetically augmented humanoids. They have varied greatly in design, with different offshoots factions throughout time and space. However, the two major groups, from which all other known versions are derived, are the Mondasian Cybermen, which originated on the planet Mondas, Earth's twin planet in the Doctor's universe, and the Cybus Cybermen, which originated on Earth in an alternate universe.
Despite the different origin and other differences, there is a number of similarities between both groups of Cybermen, and there are groups that share the characteristics of both. For the most part, they have both lacked individuality or names. Cybermen no longer possessed emotions and viewed them as a weakness. They have frequently attempted to physically and mentally re-engineer humans and other humanoids into Cybermen, via a process called "cyber-conversion" or "upgrade"
Characteristics
Mondasian Cybermen
- Main article: Cybermen (Mondas)
These Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of Near-Humans who originated on Earth's former twin planet, Mondas. Mondas drifted into the outer solar system and to survive, the natives of that world adapted by turning themselves into cyborgs. (DW: The Tenth Planet) Eventually, all of the Mondasians underwent forced cyber-conversion. (BFA: Spare Parts). Many of them left Mondas and eventually developed into separate groups without connection with one another.
Nearly all were silver in colour, with the exception of a a black variety which also existed in the London sewers (DW: Attack of the Cybermen). They also exhibited exposed circuitry and tubing which may contain hydraulic fluids for motion, covering a rubber or mylar-like outer skin. The CyberMondasians which the Doctor met on Snowcap Base in 1986 had undergone a less radical conversion and still retained biological hands; it is possible these Cybermen were prototypes. (DW: The Tenth Planet) All other Cybermen were entirely covered up in their metallic suits. (DW: The Moonbase onwards)
These Cybermen had a number of major weaknesses, of which the most notable was the element gold. Gold, having a non-corrosive nature, choked their respiratory systems. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen). 20th century guns barely phased Cybermen, though explosives and bazooka shells were capable of taking them down. (DW: The Invasion, Silver Nemesis) UNIT would develop gold-tipped rounds for Cybermen. (DW: Battlefield) In later centuries, the Cybermen would take hits from laser guns and energy weapons: at close range, this could destroy them. (DW: Earthshock)
Cybus Cybermen
- Main article: Cybermen (Pete's World)
This type of Cyberman originated in another universe, where they were created by John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries. His Cybermen believed that all people must be "upgraded" to Cyber-form so that information is never lost and that the Humans physical and emotional weaknesses are abolished.
Cyber-conversion usually involved painfully removing the brain of the subject and placing it within a suit of armour. Once complete, the newly developed Cyberman had a special implant placed within them, which prevented them from feeling their emotions. However, if the implants were disrupted, then the Cybermen entered into a traumatic state as they were overloaded by the pain of the conversion, resulting in them dying in agony or their heads exploding from the overload of emotions. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel).
The Cyber-suit was constructed from bulletproof steel. These exo-structures were stauncher and more heavily built than the Cybermen of Mondas. A chest plate with the Cybus Industries logo housed a "heart of steel", the function of which is unclear, and the emotional inhibitor chip. The brain was contained within the head. Artificially grown nervous tissue was threaded throughout the body so the Cyberman responded like a fully biological organism. (DW: The Age of Steel) Without a brain inserted, the Cyber-suit was a robot which apparently had sufficient processing capacity to pursue and attack a human target, even it's head alone. (DW: The Age of Steel, The Pandorica Opens) The weakness for gold was not present in these alternate Cybermen.
Unification?
While no contact between the two major groups of Cybermen has been documented yet, there exist some Cybermen that share characteristics of both, which indicates that such contact could have taken place. While they greatly resemble the Cybus Cybermen (aside from the Cybus symbol) and are said to be brains in metal shells like the Cybus creations, their use of Cybermats and their awareness of the fact that the Doctor is a Time Lord, their spacefaring capabilities and his reference to "races" conquered by them further indicate possible Mondasian origin. By the 51st century, such Cybermen are known to be organized into Cyber Legions.
Culture
Cybermen made "survival" their central objective. Since they could not reproduce naturally, they needed to create new members of their population by other means, via cyber-conversion. At times they tended to focus on converting the population of Earth, at other times on simply destroying it. (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen)
Mondasian Cybermen usually tended toward covert activity, scheming from hiding and using Human or other agents (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen, Earthshock, Attack of the Cybermen), cybermats or androids (DW: Earthshock) to act as their proxies until they appeared.
Throughout their history, groups of Cybermen sometimes diverged from one another and migrated through their galaxy, resulting in several factions: (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
- CyberMondasians, the original Cybermen on Mondas. (DW: The Tenth Planet)
- CyberFaction, that split off from the CyberMondasians, making Planet 14 their home. (NA: Iceberg)
- CyberTelosians, originating from the CyberFaction's colonisation of Telos. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
- CyberNomads, groups of Cybermen that split off from the CyberFaction to explore the galaxy. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
- CyberNeomorphs, the result of a group of CyberNomads discovering frozen CyberTelosians.
Individuality and emotion
Throughout their history, Cybermen, for the most part, lacked individuality or names.
Some few Cybermen had individual names such as Krang (DW: The Tenth Planet) or Kroton. (DWM: Throwback: The Soul of a Cyberman)
- In the script and cast listings for The Tenth Planet the individual Cybermen had names. They were Krail, Talon, Shav, Krang, Jarl and Gern. (REF: Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia)
Cybermen in positions of authority had included the ground level Cyber-Leader, sometimes aided by a Cyber-Lieutenant. Immobile computer-like Cyber-Planners would sometimes made decisions (DW: The Wheel in Space, The Invasion). The Cyber-Controllers, who possessed enlarged craniums, may have had the position of highest possible authority. (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Attack of the Cybermen)
- Only one Cyber-Controller ever appeared at one time.
Cybermen no longer possessed emotions and viewed them as a weakness. However, several of the Cyber-Leaders sounded angry, amused, and, at times, quite smug. (These could be simulations) (DW: Earthshock)
History
Early history
- See: Cyberman (Mondas) and Cyberman (Pete's World) for more details
The Doctor's universe's Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of Near-Humans who originated on Earth's former twin planet, Mondas. Mondas drifted into the outer solar system (and became an orphan planet) and to survive, the natives of that world adapted by turning themselves into cyborgs. (DW: The Tenth Planet) The original CyberMondasians, retained more of their organic form, and still had personal names. Another group, the CyberFaction, left Mondas in the "First Divergence", possibly around 5000 B.C. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen), and headed for Planet 14. These eventually developed into separate groups without connection with one another. (NA: Iceberg) Sometime post-Mondas was the "Second Divergence", early CyberNomads left the CyberFaction in Sol to explore the galaxy. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
In the 20th Century first the CyberFaction in the 1970s and 1980s, and then the CyberMondasians in the 1980s attempted to invade Earth, followed by an invasion of time-traveling CyberNomads from the future in the late 20th and early 21st century. In the middle to late 21st century, Space Station W3 was the site of a takeover by the CyberFaction and in 2070, by which time Earth's weather was being controlled by the Gravitron installation in the Moonbase, the CyberFaction planned to use the Gravitron to disrupt the planet's weather patterns and destroy all life on the planet.
Meanwhile, in 2007, from a crack in the universe, the Parallel Earth Cybermen were able to travel from their dimension into ours. Simultaneously, the Dalek Cult of Skaro exited the Void Ship and the Battle of Canary Wharf between the two races commenced. The Doctor opened the Void, sucking all the Daleks and Cybermen who had been in the Void back into it. However, some of the Cybermen trapped in the Void to be were released (through time) into the Earth's Victorian era. Another group of Cybermen apparently managed to escape the Void, but into a different point in time and space. Eventually these Cybermen would become a space-faring (and possibly time-traveling) race, possibly joining their Mondasian counterparts.
Afterwards, possible after the 21st century, the CyberFaction abandonded their home in the Sol system and journeyed into the galaxy to colonise a suitable planet. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
Post-21st century
At somepoint, possibly around 2150, late CyberNomads fought the Vogan war. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen)
At somepoint, possibly in 2175, the CyberFaction colonised Telos, resulting in the CyberTelosians. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
The Cybermen had all but passed into legend when an archaeological expedition to the planet Telos found the CyberTombs, where hordes of Cybermen waited in cryogenic suspension. This tomb was sealed again (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen) and re-activated (DW: Attack of the Cybermen). It was also not the only CyberTomb. There were dozens across the galaxy and more wars were started off. Bernice Summerfield, who spoke of the Telos expedition in the past tense, discovered one in the early 27th century. (BFBS: The Crystal of Cantus) Another tomb was discovered, possibly around the year 2500, a CyberNomad group discovered the CyberTelosians and they united, resulting in the new CyberNeomorphs. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
Cyber-Wars
In 2526 several planets would unite in war against the Cybermen in an event called the Cyber-Wars. A force of Cybermen tried to devastate Earth using a Cyberbomb and convert the survivors. Failing this, they hoped to crash the freighter into Earth and cause an ecological disaster. Although the attempt failed, the freighter was catapulted back in time to become the "meteor" that wiped out the dinosaurs. (DW: Earthshock)
One of the last acts of the Cybermen during this war was attempt to blow up the planet Voga in order to stop the production of glitterguns. (DWN: Revenge of the Cybermen) In the aftermath of their failure, the Cybermen were reduced to the scattered remnants (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen)
Later history
On Telos, the Cybermen plotted to change history and, as already noted, divert Halley's Comet to Earth in order to destroy it and to save Mondas. This would lead to their loss of Telos. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
- As noted previously, these actions would have repercussions in the year 1985.
At some point, Telos was shattered by an asteroid impact. (BFA: Telos (audio drama))
During the Orion War between humanity and a race of androids, both sides would attempt to use the long-dormant Cybermen to win the war. This would lead to both races nearly wiped out and the temporary conquest of Earth before the Cybermen resurgence was stopped. (BFA: Sword of Orion, Cyberman (audio series))
By 3286, the Cybermen had been thought dead for centuries. The Cybermen eventually developed into cyborgs indistinguishable visually from Humans. (BFA: Real Time)
Later Cybermen would again use time travel and return back in time circa the 2000s to convert it. They used rain that caused extreme emotions (sadness, fear, anger) in an attempt to convince the peoples of the world emotions were bad in order to accept conversion willingly. The reason they needed Humans from a past era was clear to the Doctor; in the future of the Cybermen, the human genetic template had been corrupted and augmented by their interactions with varied alien races; as the Cyber-conversion protocols were keyed to Human or Mondasian biology, the number of available converts dropped dramatically.
The Doctor offered to regenerate for them, so they could gather the data of his regeneration and upgrade their conversion protocols to include other races, in exchange for leaving the Earth alone at the moment. While the Cybermen agreed, they betrayed him at the last moment (the Doctor was expecting this anyway). Using the fragment of the Time Vortex the future Cybership was using as a power source, the Doctor destroyed the Cyberfleet and dissolved the rain. (DWM: The Flood)
Final evolution
By the 101st century, the Cybermen had nearly died out. Several centuries before that, they choose a new name for their species and became pacifists. (PDA: Synthespians™)
Transcending into pure energy, the Cybermen would ultimately redeem the whole of sentient life and become the most peace loving-species in the whole of creation, becoming purely thought with no biological presence. (DWM: The World Shapers)
Behind the scenes
Inspiration for the Cybermen
The idea from the Cybermen came from Kit Pedler's interest in new medical advances and his fears as to where they might possibly lead. Earlier conceptions of the Cyberman design would have emphasized the "man" part of the equation, but the proposed design would have cost too much money. Indeed, the televised version of The Tenth Planet featured much more human-like Cybermen, who had human hands.
Prologues to certain Target Books novelisations reflect the earlier ideas about the Cybermen, which state that perfected the science of cybernetics as a means to gain immortality. The Cybermen were the result: immortal, but at the cost of losing their humanity.
Development of the characters
The second appearance of the Cybermen in The Moonbase (pre-planned by the production team even before The Tenth Planet had aired), re-designed them rather radically, making them appear much more robot-like in appearance. The Cybermen went through another major re-design in The Invasion, yet another in Earthshock, and one in the comic strips in The Flood. Various minor re-designs would take place as well. As the Cybermen stories do not appear in a chronological order, this makes their evolution rather confusing: more 'advanced' Cybermen are around at the same time as more 'primitive' ones and vice versa.This, however can be explained through time travel, though the Cybermen only captured one time ship. ( DW: Attack of the Cybermen)