More actions
Gallifreyans (Dominus temporis) were a near-human species native to the planet Gallifrey. (NSA: The Last Dodo) The powerful Time Lords arose from this species.
History
- See Gallifreyan history.
Appearance and Biology
Gallifreyans were externally identical in appearance to humans, but had several biological differences internally.
Culture and Society
There was always a Lord or Lady President of Gallifrey, with a council of other Time Lords, approving or vetoing decisions. An exception to this was when the Lord President (ignoring the Chancellor) broke two Laws of Time to bring the First, Second and Third Doctor together to solve the problem of the power/life force-drainage into Omega's black hole. (DW: The Three Doctors)
Gallifreyans and Time Lords
The term Gallifreyan was often used interchangeably with Time Lord, despite indications that not all Gallifreyans were members of the Time Lord society. The Gallifreyan species existed for aeons before the time of Rassilon and Omega, the founders of Time Lord society.
Time Lords may have been just Gallifreyans in possession of a TARDIS. (BFA: Omega)
There were at least three, or perhaps four, non-Gallifreyan Time Lords. Although Jenny, the Doctor's biological "daughter", was created from his DNA on the planet Messaline and was therefore a Time Lord who did not originate on Gallifrey, she had the biological characteristics of a Gallifreyan, including two hearts and the ability to use bio-energy to revive herself from a bullet wound. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
Donna Noble, who was originally a human, was the second known 'anomalous' Time Lord, and the first to possess non-Gallifreyan DNA. She became a human/Time Lord hybrid after a metacrisis, but her human brain was unable to maintain the knowledge gained by this.
The third anomalous Time Lord, also produced during the metacrisis, was the Meta-Crisis Doctor. This "Doctor" was able to maintain the knowledge of the Doctor, but only had one heart and could not regenerate. (DW: Journey's End)
The fourth was River Song, a human with some Time Lord DNA due to having been conceived inside a TARDIS with the Time Vortex. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)
Another, possibly apocryphal account, portrays a human, Ace, growing in her knowledge and understanding of the cosmic order and attaining the position of Time Lord. (WC: Death Comes to Time)
A quarter of Gallifreyans on their homeworld worshiped the higher Eternals such as Death and Time. (NA: Happy Endings)
I.M. Foreman stated that Time Lords were a separate species due to Rassilon's intervention. (EDA: Interference - Book One) The Eleventh Doctor and Vastra said that the Gallifreyans evolved into Time Lords via exposure to the Time Vortex and the Untempered Schism over billions of years. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)
Time Lords and Gallifreyans regarded the Flower of Remembrance as an omen of death. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell)
Within the Capitol
Even within the Time Lord sanctum of the Capitol, "plebeian classes" existed. (DW: The Deadly Assassin)
- This reference may well indicate the presence of ordinary Gallifreyans, rather than just Time Lords, in the Capitol. In fact, it remains unclear whether particular groups, like the Chancellory Guard belong to the Time Lord or one of the common Gallifreyan classes.
Outsiders and Outcasts
Living in the wild lands outside the Capitol, bands of Gallifreyans called Outsiders lived a primitive lifestyle, wearing fur skins and using weapons like bows, arrows and spears for hunting food. (DW: The Invasion of Time)
Within the Capitol, rebels known as Shobogans committed petty acts of vandalism. (DW: The Deadly Assassin)