Jingo Linx
Linx of the Jingo clan was a Sontaran Commander in the Fifth Sontaran Army Space Fleet.
Biography
In the 13th century, (TV: The Sontaran Experiment) Linx was forced to make an emergency landing on Earth while on reconnaissance when his ship was attacked by a squadron of Rutan fighters. Linx allied himself with Irongron, who offered him shelter in exchange for advanced weaponry.
Linx abducted scientists from the 20th century to help him repair his ship. He went with Irongron to watch the attack upon Edward of Wessex for his own amusement.
Linx was intolerant of any interruptions from Irongron, who pestered him for weaponry. Linx did eventually supply Irongron with the guns he so desired. After a fist fight with the Third Doctor, Linx tried to launch his ship, but he died when Hal the Archer shot an arrow in his probic vent, and his ship exploded upon launch. (TV: The Time Warrior)
After meeting Styre, another member of the Sontaran race, Sarah Jane Smith briefly thought he was the same person, though she herself said that was impossible as she had seen Linx's ship blow up. Styre explained that as Sontarans are clones, he and Linx were identical. (TV: The Sontaran Experiment)
Personality
Linx was an extremely intelligent Sontaran and was a possessor of several advanced forms of technology. He was also a very sophisticated and powerful example of his species, and honourably declared the Earth as property of the Sontaran empire. Linx was extremely cynical, and freely admitted how the human face looked displeasing and ugly to him. Like many of his race, he deemed humans as insolent primitives, and admitted that he would have killed Irongron if he hadn't needed the man's help. (TV: The Time Warrior)
Skills and equipment
Linx's vehicle was a standard-issue Sontaran space pod. He possessed a hand-held device that could hypnotise other life forms, disarm an opponent or destroy their weaponry completely. Also, Linx carried a device that could enable him to translate his voice to any language that existed. (TV: The Time Warrior)
Behind the scenes
- Linx's full name was first given in the novelisation of his debut story. The Jingo clan and Linx class cruisers were introduced in the novel Lords of the Storm.
- Although played by the same actor, Linx and Styre weren't identical to the television audience. Linx had three digits per hand, a differently shaped head, and darker skin than Styre. In Lords of the Storm, the "rotten-wood shade" is cited as a feature of the Jingo clan.
- Commander Linx and his campaign in Medieval England is mentioned by Commander Strax in the fourth-wall-breaking cinema intro for The Day of the Doctor. He is disappointed to learn that the anniversary feature is about the Doctor as opposed to a Sontaran historical drama featuring heroic accounts of their various military campaigns which he was anticipating with his clone batch.
References
Culture
- The Doctor describes Linx as "nasty, brutish, and short", a quote from Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan.
