Weevil
The Weevils were a race of savage alien humanoids found in Cardiff, due to the Cardiff Rift.
Biology
Weevils were roughly humanoid in shape and size, but were a bit taller and had flattened faces with many sharp, fang-like teeth. Though faster and stronger than Humans, they were not extraordinarily powerful and could be injured with electricity, brute force or by Torchwood's anti-Weevil spray. Due to its constant use, Weevils began to develop a resistance to the spray. (TW: Combat)
Though not quite cold-blooded, Weevils had a much lower body temperature than Humans. (TWN: Slow Decay) Weevils had an advanced digestive system, allowing them to eat almost anything, though they preferred meat. (TW: Everything Changes, TWN: Slow Decay) They had powerful teeth and killed by ripping out the throat. (TW: Countrycide, TWN: Something in the Water)
Their digestive system was connected to their circulatory system, meaning that anything that got in it (be it bacteria or bullets) would eventually be digested. (TWN: Slow Decay) The Pharm was able to extract a pesticide and a powerful defoliant from the Weevils. (TW: Reset)
Abilities
Weevils had mild telepathic abilities and could feel strong emotions from other Weevils far away. (TW: Combat, TWN: Slow Decay) They were also believed to have a degree of time sensitivity (TW: End of Days); had the ability to detect the illusions created by Bilis Manger (TW: End of Days); were afraid of the sleeper agents (TW: Sleeper); and followed Owen Harper after he was brought back by the Resurrection gauntlet. (TW: Dead Man Walking)
Weevils were incapable of swimming. (BBCR: Lost Souls)
Culture
Despite their violent actions, Weevils were at least partly intelligent. They wore clothing, had a basic social order and mourned the pain and loss of other Weevils. (TW: Combat, TWN: Slow Decay) When they first arrived from the rift they wore "half-clothing", but inevitably acquired human-made suits and garments. (TWN: Another Life) They also treated their dead with respect and were not cannibals. They would mourn the deaths of other Weevils by whistling. (TWN: Slow Decay) Despite this, they were unable or unwilling to communicate with Humans. (TW: Everything Changes) When feeding on Humans, they tended to hide the remains in the same place until they ran out of room. (TWN: Skypoint)
The Weevils worshipped the Duroc, the Resurrection gauntlet that created it, and Owen Harper after he was brought back by the gauntlet. (TW: Dead Man Walking)
History
Origins
The Torchwood Institute did not know the native time period and/or homeworld of the Weevils. An uninformed layperson, Mark Lynch, believed that the Weevils may be descended from Humans at a point in the future when "all we have left is our rage". (TW: Combat) However, early Torchwood Research indicated they weren't derived from any native Earth species. (WEB: torchwood.org.uk)
Early interactions with Humans
The Weevils had been arriving on Earth for over a thousand years. In 102, A.D., wherein at least one Weevil is shown alongside the Alliance, a group gathered together to rid the universe of the Eleventh Doctor by using the Pandorica, located beneath Stonehenge, to seal him away. (DW: The Pandorica Opens) When the plan failed, the Weevil was turned to dust and removed from the universe along with the rest of creation beyond the area of the Earth and its moon. They were returned when the Doctor managed to "reset" the universe. (DW: The Big Bang)
- What this says about Weevils' intelligence as a species is unclear. It is unknown if the Weevil represented his species in a diplomatic way or was merely an accessory of other species, like the Roboforms often were. What this says about the Weevils' chronological and stellar origins is also unclear, as the Alliance was made up of a number of time-active races.
Torchwood Three believed they had been possibly seen in such places as the sewers of 4th century Byzantium and 1930s New York. The Torchwood Institute had known about them since the 1950s. (WEB: torchwood.org.uk)
- It is more likely that the 1930s New York infestation was actually that of Pig slaves created by the Daleks. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks)
In 1479, via a Resurrection gauntlet, a powerful being, Duroc, identified with and embodying death itself, entered the Universe in Cardiff. The Weevils worshipped it. Humans associated Weevils with death and in, woodcuts, illustrated a Weevil with the traditional cowl and scythe of the Grim Reaper. (TW: Dead Man Walking)
21st century
The Weevils had been commonly seen in 21st century Cardiff, where hundreds lived in the sewers. They generally ate the most common resource in the sewers, though they occasionally ventured out to feed on Humans. (TW: Everything Changes) They were incredibly common, with Toshiko Sato believing they were as common as rats. (TWN: Skypoint) Some lived in the the church of St. Mary's, where they had collected a wide range of Human artifacts. (TW: Dead Man Walking)
One of the jobs of the Torchwood Three team was to capture these Weevils and put them in storage cells in the lower level of the Hub. Several cages were kept for storing these rogue Weevils and anti-Weevil spray and handcuffs were stored for this purpose. (TW: Everything Changes) As such, many missions of Torchwood were started while hunting Weevils. (TW: Reset, BBCR: Lost Souls) As they were so commonly encountered, the firing range at Torchwood used pictures of Weevils as targets. (TW: Everything Changes, TWN: The Undertaker's Gift)
During the flooding caused by a Bruydac ship, many Weevils were forced aboveground, including one which Jack Harkness accidentally hit and killed with the Torchwood SUV. Following the Bruydac incident, Torchwood was forced to track down the displaced Weevils. (TWN: Another Life)
When Doctor Scotus started distributing alien tapeworms, they made the patients so ravenously hungry that they would kill and eat Weevils. The Weevils started to fear these infected people. (TWN: Slow Decay)
Some Weevils were captured by Mark Lynch for his "Weevil Fight Club", where Humans battled against Weevils to deal with their pent-up rage; one of the Weevils captured was Torchwood's Janet, who was subsequently recovered. (TW: Combat)
When the Cardiff rift fractured, more Weevils than ever appeared on the streets, making Torchwood Three's task of rounding them up even more difficult. (TW: End of Days)
- When the fractures sealed up and the other temporal refugees returned home, we do not know if the new Weevils vanished as well.
For several months, Torchwood Three was following a Weevil known as "Big Guy". As the name suggested, it was particularly large Weevil, as well as far more aggressive, killing and injuring several people. It was eventually killed by Sally Blackteeth, leaving Torchwood to find the body. (TWN: Something in the Water)
Unknown to Torchwood Three, the Pharm had also captured at least one Weevil as part of their self-assigned mission to exploit the unique qualities of alien species for use in biomedical research. As noted above, the Pharm discovered the Weevils useful as far as developing new kinds of defoliant and pesticide. (TW: Reset)
After Owen Harper was killed at the Pharm, Jack Harkness went to the church of St. Mary's and stole a Resurrection gauntlet from the Weevils. When Durac returned and possessed the undead Owen Harper, Weevils followed him and chased him.(TW: Dead Man Walking)
Soon after Gwen Cooper's honeymoon, she chased a Weevil through Splott. She had become so used to this that the only part she thought was odd was the fact that the Weevil had a limp. Later, when trapped in the SkyPoint apartments, airborne hallucinogens caused Gwen to think Jack Harkness was a Weevil. (TWN: Skypoint)
The Vandrogonite Visualiser that was dug up in Rhiwbina had records of the Weevils. When Gareth Portland created MonstaQuest, he used the Weevil as one of the characters, renaming it "Toothsome". Since Toothsome was a common character, Weevils were frequently created by the Visualiser, leading to an outbreak of Weevil attacks. (TWN: Pack Animals)
Gray controlled Weevils in his attack on Cardiff via use of a high-pitched noise from his wrist strap, he first used some to attack the Cardiff Police Station and kill the four most senior officers. He later released all the Weevils in the sewers and they started attacking people in the streets. He also commanded those in the Torchwood Hub's cells, Janet and another Weevil, to attack John Hart and Gwen but they were shot and wounded by Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato. When Gray was defeated, John used the wrist strap to return the Weevils back to the sewers. (TW: Exit Wounds)
On another occasion, Torchwood was chasing a rogue Weevil through Cardiff when Jack was contacted by Martha Jones on the disappearances at the Large Hadron Collider. In the meantime, the Weevil was accidentally chased into the river, where it drowned. (BBCR: Lost Souls)
A fortnight before the Undertaker's Gift was activated, the Weevils of Cardiff went into hiding. When the Undertaker's Gift was activated, the Weevils were driven out into the city, where they started attacking Humans. When the Vortex Dweller returned things to normal, the Weevils were returned to their hideouts. (TWN: The Undertaker's Gift)
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