Names for the Time Lords

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Although primarily known as the Time Lords (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["[[The War Games (TV story)]]"]), the species/people which held dominion over time and resided on Gallifrey were also known by various alternative titles. Despite their many differences, the vast majority of these names shared the commonality of referencing either this species' Lordship, o relationship to Time, or their role in the "creation" of the universe and history. (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"], etc.)

Collectively, the Time Lords were frequently referred to as the Great Houses or the Houses, in reference to the family units in which they were divided, each of whom dwelt in a literal Chapterhouse. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"], etc.) They were also refered to as the Houses of the Hostes of Heaven (PROSE: The Brakespeare Voyage [+]Loading...["The Brakespeare Voyage (novel)"]) and individually as House-Dwellers. (PROSE: The Armored Creature of 004X [+]Loading...["The Armored Creature of 004X (short story)"]) Members of the Houses were sometimes termed Homeworlders (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"]) or Houseworlders. (PROSE: A Bloody (And Public) Domaine [+]Loading...["A Bloody (And Public) Domaine (short story)","A Bloody (And Public) Domaine"]) Furthermore, "the Homeworld" was occasionally deployed metonymically to refer to the inhabiting species; (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"], etc.) indeed, the Seventh Doctor suggested that the word "Gallifrey", before coming to refer to the planet, had been a name for the Time Lords themselves, as it originally translated to "they that walk in the shadows". (PROSE: The Pit [+]Loading...["The Pit (novel)"]) The latter meaning was echoed by the rarer "Shadow-People, still in use in V-Time. (PROSE: The Armored Creature of 004X [+]Loading...["The Armored Creature of 004X (short story)"])

As The Book of the War highlighted, members of the Great Houses had woven their biodata into the very metastructure of history, (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"]) which meant they were considered elementals, (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"]) or more precisely, Lesser Time Elementals (with their timeships being "Greater Time Elementals"). (PROSE: Love & War [+]Loading...["Love & War (short story)"])

This unique relationship to time was, at other times, highlighted by referring to members of the Houses as Archons of Time,[nb 1] (PROSE: The Bloodletters [+]Loading...["The Bloodletters (novel)"]) with archons, (PROSE Crimes Against History [+]Loading...["Crimes Against History (short story)"]) Archons, (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"]) and Archons of the Morning Star, (PROSE: Previously On... The Multiverse [+]Loading...["Previously On... The Multiverse (short story)"]) also being documented variants, as well as Chronarchs; (COMIC: 4-D War [+]Loading...["4-D War (comic story)"], PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice [+]Loading...["Going Once, Going Twice (short story)"]) or "[the] chronarchy". (PROSE: Eyes [+]Loading...["Eyes (short story)"])

Other names alluding to their relationship to Time and history included Lords Temporal, [nb 2](PROSE: First Meetings [+]Loading...["First Meetings (short story)"], Master Faustus [+]Loading...["Master Faustus (short story)"], TV: The Devil's Chord [+]Loading...{"minute":"29)","1":"The Devil's Chord (TV story)"}) the Race of Temporal Supremacy, (PROSE: Ring Theory [+]Loading...["Ring Theory (short story)"]) Authors of History, (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"]) Overseers of Causality, (PROSE: "The War King" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedep":"The War King","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Engineers of History, (PROSE: "The War King" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedep":"The War King","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}, Opioid Painkiller of the People [+]Loading...["Opioid Painkiller of the People (short story)"]) Watchmakers, (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet [+]Loading...["Christmas on a Rational Planet (novel)"], etc.) (French: les Horlogers (POEM: Auteur and the Homeworld [+]Loading...["Auteur and the Homeworld (poem)"])) or Causal Initiators. (PROSE: The Dinosaur in the Snow [+]Loading...["The Dinosaur in the Snow (short story)"]) The Interior Designer's suggestion of "Temporal Emperors" failed to catch on. (PROSE: A Big Hand for the Doctor [+]Loading...["A Big Hand for the Doctor (short story)"])

Though harkening back to this element, the designation of Gods of the Fourth Dimension (PROSE: Our Finest Gifts We Bring (part 13) [+]Loading...{"part":"13","1":"Our Finest Gifts We Bring (short story)"}) or Gods of the Fourth ((WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Loading...["Death Comes to Time (webcast)"]) also echoed a number of cultures' tendency of referring to them as simply Gods, (TV]: Underworld [+]Loading...["Underworld (TV story)"]) gods, (PROSE: The Book of the Enemy [+]Loading...["The Book of the Enemy (short story)"])) or angels. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"]) Indeed, Despite the importance of Time to this species, some titles did not reference it directly. However, they often did reference either Lordship or role in Creation.

Titles which referenced this people's role in the ordered universe and its genesis without emphasising their connection to time included Architects[nb 3], (PROSE: Golden Age [+]Loading...["Golden Age (novel)"], The Great Houses [+]Loading...["The Great Houses (feature)"], Lilith [+]Loading...["Lilith (feature)"] etc.) Sun Builders, (PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice [+]Loading...["Going Once, Going Twice (short story)"], Out of the Box [+]Loading...["Out of the Box (short story)"], etc.) Lightbringers, Celestials, Grigori, [nb 4], (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"]) Lords of the Continua, (PROSE: "The War King" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedep":"The War King","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Lords of the Morning Star, (PROSE: Our Finest Gifts We Bring (part 23) [+]Loading...{"part":"23","1":"Our Finest Gifts We Bring (short story)"}) Lords of Jewel, (PROSE: A Bright White Crack [+]Loading...["A Bright White Crack (short story)"]), Lords of the Universe, (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"]) and Lords of Creation. (PROSE: The Brakespeare Voyage [+]Loading...["The Brakespeare Voyage (novel)"]) They were also known as the Great Race. (PROSE: The V Cwejes [+]Loading...["The V Cwejes (short story)"]) Yet others referenced their immortality, such as "Perpetua". (PROSE: The Armored Creature of 004X [+]Loading...["The Armored Creature of 004X (short story)"])

Footnotes

Notes

  1. "Archon", roughly speaking, means "Lord" in Greek. In Gnosticism, the Archons are the antagonistic builders and rulers of the physical universe, keeping souls trapped and unable to ascend to higher forms of reality.
  2. As of 17 May 2024, this is the only alternative-name-for-the-Time-Lords which first coined by the Expanded Universe to feature on live-action Doctor Who
  3. The French for this, 'Architectes, was included in Auteur and the Homeworld [+]Loading...["Auteur and the Homeworld (poem)"].
  4. The Watchers (Greek: Grigori) were a group of angels who rebelled against God in the apocryphal Book of Enoch.