Cyberman
Cybermen are a type of cybernetically augmented humanoids. They have varied greatly in design, with different offshoots factions throughout time and space. However, the two major groups, from which all other known versions are derived, are the Mondasian Cybermen, which originated on the planet Mondas, Earth's twin planet in the Doctor's universe, and the Cybus Cybermen, which originated on Earth in an alternate universe.
Despite the different origin and other differences, there is a number of similarities between both groups of Cybermen. For the most part, they have both lacked individuality or names. Cybermen no longer possessed emotions and viewed them as a weakness. They have frequently attempted to physically and mentally re-engineer humans and other humanoids into Cybermen, via a process called "cyber-conversion" or "upgrade"
Characteristics
Mondasian Cybermen
- Main article: Cybermen (Mondas)
These Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of Near-Humans who originated on Earth's former twin planet, Mondas. Mondas drifted into the outer solar system and to survive, the natives of that world adapted by turning themselves into cyborgs. (DW: The Tenth Planet) Eventually, all of the Mondasians underwent forced cyber-conversion. (BFA: Spare Parts). Many of them left Mondas and eventually developed into separate groups without connection with one another.
Nearly all were silver in colour, with the exception of a a black variety which also existed in the London sewers (DW: Attack of the Cybermen). They also exhibited exposed circuitry and tubing which may contain hydraulic fluids for motion, covering a rubber or mylar-like outer skin. The CyberMondasians which the Doctor met on Snowcap Base in 1986 had undergone a less radical conversion and still retained biological hands; it is possible these Cybermen were prototypes. (DW: The Tenth Planet) All other Cybermen were entirely covered up in their metallic suits. (DW: The Moonbase onwards)
These Cybermen had a number of major weaknesses, of which the most notable was the element gold. Gold, having a non-corrosive nature, choked their respiratory systems. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen). 20th century guns barely phased Cybermen, though explosives and bazooka shells were capable of taking them down. (DW: The Invasion, Silver Nemesis) UNIT would develop gold-tipped rounds for Cybermen. (DW: Battlefield) In later centuries, the Cybermen would take hits from laser guns and energy weapons: at close range, this could destroy them. (DW: Earthshock)
Cybus Cybermen
- Main article: Cybermen (Pete's World)
This type of Cyberman originated in another universe, where they were created by John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries. His Cybermen believed that all people must be "upgraded" to Cyber-form so that information is never lost and that the Humans physical and emotional weaknesses are abolished.
Cyber-conversion usually involved painfully removing the brain of the subject and placing it within a suit of armour. Once complete, the newly developed Cyberman had a special implant placed within them, which prevented them from feeling their emotions. However, if the implants were disrupted, then the Cybermen entered into a traumatic state as they were overloaded by the pain of the conversion, resulting in them dying in agony or their heads exploding from the overload of emotions. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel).
The Cyber-suit was constructed from bulletproof steel. These exo-structures were stauncher and more heavily built than the Cybermen of Mondas. A chest plate with the Cybus Industries logo housed a "heart of steel", the function of which is unclear, and the emotional inhibitor chip. The brain was contained within the head. Artificially grown nervous tissue was threaded throughout the body so the Cyberman responded like a fully biological organism. (DW: The Age of Steel) Without a brain inserted, the Cyber-suit was a robot which apparently had sufficient processing capacity to pursue and attack a human target, even it's head alone. (DW: The Age of Steel, The Pandorica Opens) The weakness for gold was not present in these alternate Cybermen.
Other
While no contact between the two major groups of Cybermen has been documented yet, there exist some Cybermen that share characteristics of both, which indicates that such contact could have taken place. While they greatly resemble the Cybus Cybermen and are said to be brains in metal shells like the Cybus creations, their use of Cybermats and their awareness of the fact that the Doctor is a Time Lord, and his reference to "races" conquered by them further indicate Mondasian origin.
An army of such Cybermen was buried under the ice in the Arctic Circle for tens of thousands of years after being hit by a temporal storm. An excavation began to awaken the army, releasing Cybermats which in turn created Cyberslaves. The Doctor arrived on May 4th 2010 and stopped their awakening. He blew up their base and put them back into stasis. (VG: Blood of the Cybermen)
Technology
Weapons
Cybermen of Mondas have possessed a variety of short range weapons, some in-built. During their attack on Earth in 1986 they had large hand-held energy weapons. (DW: The Tenth Planet) On the Moon in 2070, Cybermen possessed the power to generate arcs of electricity from their hands which had the power to stun and disable. (DW: The Moonbase) In the 21st century, the Cybermen who attacked Space Station W3 had death rays built into their chest units. (DW: The Wheel in Space) The Cybermen who attacked the Nerva Beacon had their weapons built into their helmets, activated with a touch of a hand. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen) Other appearances have shown them armed almost exclusively with hand-held cyber-guns. (DW: The Invasion onwards)
In contrast, the only weapons of the Cybus Cybermen were their electrified hands, (DW: Rise of the Cybermen) but they later gained a small wrist-mounted energy weapon. (DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday) At some point they gained the abililty to fire a tranquilizer dart from their mouth. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
History
Early history
The Doctor's universe's Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of Near-Humans who originated on Earth's former twin planet, Mondas. Mondas drifted into the outer solar system (and became an orphan planet) and to survive, the natives of that world adapted by turning themselves into cyborgs. (DW: The Tenth Planet) The original CyberMondasians, retained more of their organic form, and still had personal names. Another group, the CyberFaction, left Mondas in the "First Divergence", possibly around 5000 B.C. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen), and headed for Planet 14. These eventually developed into separate groups without connection with one another. (NA: Iceberg) Sometime post-Mondas was the "Second Divergence", early CyberNomads left the CyberFaction in Sol to explore the galaxy. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
In the 20th Century first the CyberFaction in the 1970s and 1980s, and then the CyberMondasians in the 1980s attempted to invade Earth, followed by an invasion of time-traveling CyberNomads from the future in the late 20th and early 21st century. In the middle to late 21st century, Space Station W3 was the site of a takeover by the CyberFaction and in 2070, by which time Earth's weather was being controlled by the Gravitron installation in the Moonbase, the CyberFaction planned to use the Gravitron to disrupt the planet's weather patterns and destroy all life on the planet.
Meanwhile, in 2007, from a crack in the universe, the Parallel Earth Cybermen were able to travel from their dimension into ours. Simultaneously, the Dalek Cult of Skaro exited the Void Ship and the Battle of Canary Wharf between the two races commenced. The Doctor opened the Void, sucking all the Daleks and Cybermen who had been in the Void back into it. However, some of the Cybermen trapped in the Void to be were released (through time) into the Earth's Victorian era. Another group of Cybermen apparently managed to escape the Void, but into a different point in time and space. Eventually these Cybermen would become a space-faring (and possibly time-traveling) race.
Afterwards, possible after the 21st century, the CyberFaction abandonded their home in the Sol system and journeyed into the galaxy to colonise a suitable planet. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
Post-21st century
At somepoint, possibly around 2150, late CyberNomads fought the Vogan war. (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen)
At somepoint, possibly in 2175, the CyberFaction colonised Telos, resulting in the CyberTelosians. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
The Cybermen had all but passed into legend when an archaeological expedition to the planet Telos found the CyberTombs, where hordes of Cybermen waited in cryogenic suspension. This tomb was sealed again (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen) and re-activated (DW: Attack of the Cybermen). It was also not the only CyberTomb. There were dozens across the galaxy and more wars were started off. Bernice Summerfield, who spoke of the Telos expedition in the past tense, discovered one in the early 27th century. (BFBS: The Crystal of Cantus) Another tomb was discovered, possibly around the year 2500, a CyberNomad group discovered the CyberTelosians and they united, resulting in the new CyberNeomorphs. (REF: Doctor Who: Cybermen)
Cyber-Wars
In 2526 several planets would unite in war against the Cybermen in an event called the Cyber-Wars. A force of Cybermen tried to devastate Earth using a Cyberbomb and convert the survivors. Failing this, they hoped to crash the freighter into Earth and cause an ecological disaster. Although the attempt failed, the freighter was catapulted back in time to become the "meteor" that wiped out the dinosaurs. (DW: Earthshock)
One of the last acts of the Cybermen during this war was attempt to blow up the planet Voga in order to stop the production of glitterguns. (DWN: Revenge of the Cybermen) In the aftermath of their failure, the Cybermen were reduced to the scattered remnants (DW: Revenge of the Cybermen)
Later history
On Telos, the Cybermen plotted to change history and, as already noted, divert Halley's Comet to Earth in order to destroy it and to save Mondas. This would lead to their loss of Telos. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
- As noted previously, these actions would have repercussions in the year 1985.
At some point, Telos was shattered by an asteroid impact. (BFA: Telos (audio drama))
During the Orion War between humanity and a race of androids, both sides would attempt to use the long-dormant Cybermen to win the war. This would lead to both races nearly wiped out and the temporary conquest of Earth before the Cybermen resurgence was stopped. (BFA: Sword of Orion, Cyberman (audio series))
By 3286, the Cybermen had been thought dead for centuries. The Cybermen eventually developed into cyborgs indistinguishable visually from Humans. (BFA: Real Time)
Later Cybermen would again use time travel and return back in time circa the 2000s to convert it. They used rain that caused extreme emotions (sadness, fear, anger) in an attempt to convince the peoples of the world emotions were bad in order to accept conversion willingly. The reason they needed Humans from a past era was clear to the Doctor; in the future of the Cybermen, the human genetic template had been corrupted and augmented by their interactions with varied alien races; as the Cyber-conversion protocols were keyed to Human or Mondasian biology, the number of available converts dropped dramatically.
The Doctor offered to regenerate for them, so they could gather the data of his regeneration and upgrade their conversion protocols to include other races, in exchange for leaving the Earth alone at the moment. While the Cybermen agreed, they betrayed him at the last moment (the Doctor was expecting this anyway). Using the fragment of the Time Vortex the future Cybership was using as a power source, the Doctor destroyed the Cyberfleet and dissolved the rain. (DWM: The Flood)
Final evolution
By the 101st century, the Cybermen had nearly died out. Several centuries before that, they choose a new name for their species and became pacifists. (PDA: Synthespians™)
Transcending into pure energy, the Cybermen would ultimately redeem the whole of sentient life and become the most peace loving-species in the whole of creation, becoming purely thought with no biological presence. (DWM: The World Shapers)
