List of causes of regeneration
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The causes of regeneration, especially amongst Time Lords, were many and varied. They ran the gamut from simple desire to change, to life-threatening maladies which typically resulted in human death. The following are the known causes of regeneration of specific Time Lords.
The Doctor
This chart considers regeneration to be something which results in an actual, irreversible transformation from one body to another. The reversal of regeneration in The Touch of the Nurazh, is not included here. Also not considered here are Doctors from alternative timelines.
| Doctor | Reason | Story | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claimed to be "wearing a bit thin"; apparently died of simple old age, but other accounts suggest he also had his waning life force pulled out of him by the planet Mondas. | The Tenth Planet | File:First Doctor regenerates - William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton |
| 2 | Forced to change his appearance by Time Lord court order (as punishment for stealing the TARDIS and breaking the non-interference law), and eventually executed by animated scarecrows. | Sentence passed in The War Games, carried out in The Night Walkers | 
|
| 3 | Radiation poisoning upon prolonged exposure to The Great One's highly unstable web of Metebelis crystals. This Doctor would spend ten years lost in the Time Vortex before dying at UNIT HQ; the regeneration occurred following "a little push" from K'anpo Rimpoche. | Planet of the Spiders | File:Third Doctor regenerates - Jon Pertwee to Tom Baker - BBC |
| 4 | Fell to the ground from great height at the Pharos Project; indirectly caused by the Tremas Master. This regeneration required assistance from the Watcher, and was difficult enough to force the Doctor to recuperate in the TARDIS's Zero Room during the events of Castrovalva. | Logopolis | File:Fourth Doctor regenerates - Tom Baker to Peter Davison - BBC |
| 5 | Contraction of spectrox toxaemia on Androzani Minor. Upon receiving the bat's milk necessary to cure the disease, he spilled one vial while bringing a dying Peri Brown to the TARDIS and chose to give the remaining antidote to her, succumbing to the fatal effects of the poisoning. The Master attempted to block this regeneration, but was prevented by the Doctor's former companion Nyssa and her husband Lasarti. | Regeneration seen in The Caves of Androzani, the Master's involvement explained in Winter | File:Fifth Doctor regenerates - Peter Davison to Colin Baker - BBC |
| 6 | Ambiguous injury consequent to the Rani's attack on the TARDIS. Some accounts indicated the Doctor hit his head on the TARDIS console. Others suggest that he was also suffering from chronon energy starvation after his confrontation with the Lamprey and this served as the killing blow. | Time and the Rani (explained in Head Games, Spiral Scratch) | File:Sixth Doctor regenerates - Colin Baker to Sylvester McCoy - Doctor Who Time and the Rani - BBC |
| 7 | Following a non-fatal shooting, the Seventh Doctor was taken to a San Francisco hospital. There, the staff mistook his two hearts as a double-exposure and his inhuman heartbeat as deadly fibrillation (having no understanding of Time Lord physiology), forcing him to undergo open heart surgery. Since the attending cardiologist was also unaware of Time Lord physiology, she accidentally killed him. Due to the Doctor being under the effects of anaesthesia at the time, he did not regenerate until several hours after his "death". | Doctor Who | |
| 8 | Died after a ship he was in crash-landed on Karn; temporarily resurrected to consume the Sisterhood of Karn's Elixir of Life and control his next regeneration into a "warrior" capable of fighting in the Last Great Time War. | The Night of the Doctor | |
| War | As with the First Doctor, he claimed to be "wearing a bit thin". Unlike most instances, the Doctor didn't appear to experience any physical distress before or during the process, and uniquely seemed to welcome it, which suggests that the regeneration was at least partly voluntary. | The Day of the Doctor | |
| 9 | Directly absorbed time vortex time vortex energy from the Bad Wolf to save the life of Rose Tyler, causing fatal cellular degeneration. | The Parting of the Ways | File:Ninth Doctor regenerates - Christoper Eccleston to David Tennant - Doctor Who - BBC |
| 10 | Grazed by the blast from a Dalek gun stick, causing a regeneration. However, the Tenth Doctor directed the regenerative energy to his hand, and thus aborted a full regeneration; however it still used up one of his lives, as explained in The Time of the Doctor. Afterwards, Donna Noble touched the energised hand's container, and an instantaneous biological Meta Crisis was created, allowing the energy to regenerate the entire missing body of the Doctor into the Meta-Crisis Doctor. | Journey's End | |
| 10 | Intentional radiation poisoning incurred in order to save the life of Wilfred Mott. | The End of Time | File:The Tenth Doctor Regenerates - David Tennant to Matt Smith - Doctor Who - BBC |
| 11 | Neared death from old age after exhausting all 12 of his regenerations. Granted a new regeneration cycle by the Time Lords. | The Time of the Doctor | File:The Eleventh Doctor Regenerates - Matt Smith to Peter Capaldi - Doctor Who - BBC |
Romana
- First to second incarnation: Decided it was time for a change, another account said unknown to the Doctor, Romana was harmed by the Key to Time. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks, AUDIO: Lies, The Key 2 Time - The Chaos Pool, PROSE: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe)
- Second to third incarnation: Regenerated in preparation for the Second War in Heaven, developing a body and attitude more suited for combat. (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon)
- The second incarnation started to regenerate due to contact to the decaying Eye of Harmony inside the Matrix. (AUDIO: Renaissance). This regeneration didn't take hold due to K9 Mark II removing her from the Matrix. (AUDIO: Ascension)
- Third to fourth incarnation: Managed to survive the Second War in Heaven, although this may have entailed a regeneration. (PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar)
The Master
- Apparently exhausted most of his lives after being trapped in the event horizon of the black hole powering the Darkheart. (PROSE: The Dark Path)
- Shot by Ace after receiving a new set of regenerating nanites from the Tzun. (PROSE: First Frontier) However, these were apparently only effective in the short term, as he was later shown attempting to restore his ability to regenerate using the Sacred Loom of Rassilon's Mouse. (PROSE: Happy Endings)
- During the Last Great Time War, the Time Lords resurrected the Master, gaining a new regeneration cycle in the process (TV: The Sound of Drums) as, when the War Master was shot by Chantho, he regenerated into a new incarnation. (TV: Utopia)
- Vitality exhaustion after most of his life force was expended as a weapon against Rassilon. (TV: The End of Time) Regenerated into a female incarnation and escaped from the pocket universe in which Gallifrey was situated. (TV: Dark Water)
- Note: Other occasions in which the Master has appropriated a new body, (TV: The Keeper of Traken, Doctor Who, COMIC: The Glorious Dead, AUDIO: Mastermind) are not considered regenerations.
Rassilon
- Rassilon was said to have achieved immortality in the form of a "Timeless, perpetual, bodily regeneration." (TV: The Five Doctors) He appeared to have been reduced to a mind within the Matrix (AUDIO: Zagreus), but he was able to manifest a new body in his workshop, and was later restored to full corporeal form to lead Gallifrey in the Time War. (PROSE: Engines of War) Later attacked by the Master as the Time Lords were pulled back into the time lock. It is unkown what happened to him as a result of this. (TV: The End of Time)
K'anpo Rimpoche
- K'anpo Rimpoche was attacked by the Eight Legs on Earth. He regenerated into the form of Cho Je, a projection of his own mind. (TV: Planet of the Spiders)
Borusa
- Borusa regenerated at least three times, and had at least four incarnations. (TV: The Deadly Assassin, TV: The Invasion of Time, TV: Arc of Infinity, TV: The Five Doctors) After being retro-evolved into the possibility engine, he was trapped in an iterative regenerative loop, his body transforming into each of his thirteen incarnations in turn. (PROSE: Engines of War)
Chronotis
- Salyavin used up his thirteenth and final incarnation when he was attacked by the Sphere. However, when his Type 12 TARDIS was sent backwards, it altered his personal timeline and brought him back to life. (HOMEVID: Shada/WC: Shada)
Rallon
- Rallon initiated all twelve of his regenerations at once to force the Celestial Toymaker out of his body. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties)
Roche
- Lord Roche was caught in a traffic accident while on Earth; he retained enough control over the process after it began to deliberately shape his new appearance so that he was the exact duplicate of the Third Doctor. (PROSE: The Suns of Caresh)
Azmael
- In his thirteenth and final body, Azmael regenerated past his limit, killing him and Mestor, who possessed Azmael's body after his own was destroyed. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
Iris Wildthyme
- Iris Wildthyme regenerated after a lengthy period of illness following the consumption of a live Kaled mutant. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress)
The War Chief
- The War Chief underwent a faulty regeneration after being shot by War Lords; lack of medical care and the scale of the damage sustained resulted in his new form appearing like two bodies fused together, the damage preventing him from ever regenerating again. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)
Ruath
- Ruath drained every drop of her blood from her body to restore Vampire Lord Yarven. Yarven subsequently turned her into a vampire. (PROSE: Goth Opera)
Innocet
- Innocet was killed by a Quences-possessed Badger to protect the Doctor. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
Glospin
- Glospin was stated to have regenerated at least twice before the events of his scheme against the Doctor.
- Glospin force-regenerated himself into the double of the Doctor after acquiring a genetic sample to influence the appearance of his next incarnation (PROSE: Lungbarrow).
- Having killed Quences in 'disguise' as the Doctor, Glospin regenerated again to conceal his role in the murder (PROSE: Lungbarrow).
I.M. Foreman
- As a priest, I.M. Foreman had been given the gift of regenerations. This made twelve different individuals, who were created by his body absorbing the DNA around him; all regenerations were caused by the Third Doctor sending the first twelve back to Gallifrey's past so that they fell from a great height and regenerated into the next one. (PROSE: Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two)
Cavisadoratrelundar
- A Time Lord agent, Cavis nearly regenerated after she was decapitated by Queen Regent Mab, but Mab also stabbed her in both hearts to ensure that she remained dead. (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon)
Gandarotethetledrax
- A Time Lord agent, Gandar was stabbed in the heart by Mawgryn, but regenerated as Margwyn was unable to impale his second heart.[statement unclear] (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon)
- Gandar regenerated again shortly after his previous regeneration when he received a fatal sword wound; his new incarnation resembled a hybrid of human and Silurian, and was far more peaceful than his previous violent selves. (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon)
The Corsair
- The Corsair regenerated several times, with "a couple" of his incarnations being female. He was back to male by the time he was killed by House. He/she either created or acquired the same snake tattoo in each incarnation. (TV: The Doctor's Wife)
River Song
- First to second incarnation: As a little girl, Melody Pond, later known as River Song, regenerated on the streets of New York City in 1970 due to a terminal illness. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon)
- Second to third incarnation: Melody later regenerated in Hitler's private study in 1938 after the Führer accidentally shot her while aiming for the Teselecta. She later used up all of her remaining regenerations to heal the Doctor from a poison with which she had infected him. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler) She later suffered a fatal electric shock when she sacrificed her memory space to save the lives trapped inside CAL. However, the Tenth Doctor uploaded her data ghost to the The Library's supercomputer. (TV: Forest of the Dead)
Karlax
- Exposure to the space vacuum after Dalek stealth ships destroyed his Battle TARDIS during the Last Great Time War. (PROSE: Engines of War)
