Gallifreyan
The Gallifreyans were the original humanoid species native to the planet Gallifrey. Already a proud spacefaring civilisation with pretensions to godhood, (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) who sometimes called themselves the Space Lords of Gallifrey, (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty) they were granted the power of time travel and regeneration thanks to Rassilon and Omega's creation of the Eye of Harmony, and became the Time Lords. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey)
The majority of Time Lords were genetically Gallifreyans, since they arose from the species; they considered themselves to be the elite of Gallifreyan society, (PROSE: Interference - Book Two) as only a select few bloodlines had been granted the privilege of becoming Time Lords when Rassilon originally unveiled the Eye. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) Accounts were, however, divided on whether there remained any non-Time-Lord Gallifreyans on the planet in later periods of its history.
There also existed one account according to which the original native species of Gallifrey was the Shobogans; an explorer of their kind, Tecteun travelled to another world where she found a Timeless Child and brought regeneration to her homeworld, with the Shobogans eventually building themselves a Citadel and renaming themselves (with "characteristic pomposity") the Time Lords. (TV: The Timeless Children)
History
- Main article: Gallifreyan history
Appearance and biology
- Main article: Gallifreyan physiology
Gallifreyans were externally identical in appearance to humans but had several biological differences internally. They had two hearts, (TV: Spearhead from Space) two or three brain stems, (TV: Spearhead from Space, The Magician's Apprentice) and a respiratory bypass system. (PROSE: Island of Death, et al.) Compared to humans, they also boasted larger brains (TV: The Brain of Morbius) and lower body temperatures. (AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks)
By one account, Gallifreyans from the Drylands (who were not initiated as Time Lords) were incapable of regenerating, and had one life only. (AUDIO: Assets of War) Another account held that all Gallifreyans, Time Lords or not, had the ability to regenerate twelve times. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
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. (TV: The Three Doctors)
Time Lords and Gallifreyans regarded the Flower of Remembrance as an omen of death. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell)
A quarter of Gallifreyans on their homeworld worshipped the higher Eternals such as Death and Time. (PROSE: Happy Endings)
Gallifreyans and Time Lords
Sources were controversial on the difference (if there was any) between Gallifreyans and Time Lords.
Time Lords may have been just Gallifreyans in possession of a TARDIS. (AUDIO: Omega)
I.M. Foreman stated that Time Lords were a separate species due to Rassilon's intervention. (PROSE: 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. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
At one point in Gallifreyan history, members of Gallifreyan religious orders who were not Time Lords were nonetheless given certain rights: access to time travel, certain genetic privileges, and the right to observe High Council procedure. However, the High Council later disestablished the churches, monasteries and other religious orders, effectively abolishing these rights. (PROSE: Interference)
Despite the fact that the vast majority of Time Lords were Gallifreyans, many Time Lords were non-Gallifreyan. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors) These included Ace, (AUDIO: Intervention Earth) members of House Paradox, (PROSE: The Book of the War) Lolita, (AUDIO: The Shadow Play) and River Song. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
Within the Capitol
Even within the Time Lord sanctum of the Capitol, "plebeian classes" existed. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
Outsiders and outcasts
Billions of Gallifreyans lived outside the Capitol and the other cities of the Time Lords. They made up almost the entire population of Gallifrey. They lived on farms or homesteads and worked through the day to provide food for themselves and the Time Lords in the cities. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
By one account, Gallifreyans from the Drylands were not Time Lords, and lacked their special abilities. They were largely dismissed by Time Lords, though some were given the chance to stare into the Untempered Schism, and to join the Academy, should their minds be deemed suitable. This segment of the population on Gallifrey continued to be excluded, into the Last Great Time War. (AUDIO: Assets of War)
Bands of Gallifreyans called the Outsiders dropped out of the Time Lord Academy and lived in the Drylands to reconnect with nature. They lived a primitive lifestyle, wearing fur skins and using weapons like bows, arrows and spears for hunting food. (TV: The Invasion of Time, PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
Within the Capitol, rebels known as Shobogans committed petty acts of vandalism. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
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