The War Chief (The Legions of Death)
According to one account which depicted him as a Time Lord in his own right distinct from the Master, the War Chief encountered by the Second Doctor regenerated into a a new incarnation who continued to use the name of "the War Chief" and hatched a plot to take control of the Roman Empire in 43 AD by interfering in the Roman invasion of Britain.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Origins and early days[[edit] | [edit source]]
After the War Chief encountered by the Second Doctor was executed at the War Lord's behest, (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) he "dragged himself" to a still-active SIDRAT. He regenerated onboard, and made his way back to his actual TARDIS, which he had stashed away in a safe place. In his new form, the War Chief decide to go into hiding, fearful of retribution from the Master, who had helped him to hatch the War Games plot and blamed him for its failure, a belief which was mutual. He spent his time perfecting the War Lords' processing machines, combining them with rho wave technology to create more intricate and lasting fantasy-worlds in which to trap the victims. (GAME: The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"])
War god of the Sacred Wood[[edit] | [edit source]]
Eventually, recalling how impressed he had been with the Roman soldiers during the War Games, he decided to try to take over the Roman Empire itself, and then boost its capabilities with advanced technology so as to take over the entire Earth and, from there, the rest of the universe. He considered various possible Roman Emperors he might turn into puppets and settled on the weak-willed Claudius. Ruling that his best shot at discreetly abducting Claudius would be in the chaos of a carefully-orchestrated military option, he used refitted, hologram- and rho wave-projecting Sontaran recon drones to appear to various Briton leaders as a "divine vision". Posing as a sorcerer, "war god", or both, he created a cult-like alliance centred around his TARDIS, disguised as a sacred oak tree in the Sacred Wood, and amassed a second army to ambush Claudius's legions after his established historical victory over the British army of Caractacus and Cattigern. His scheme ended up going better than he expected when among the Roman soldiers he captured and hypnotised, he found none other than future Emperor Vespasian, offering him a fallback plan if his abduction of Claudius failed. (GAME: The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"])
Defeat[[edit] | [edit source]]
Eventually, however, the pulse-wave caused in the Time Vortex by the energy the War Chief was redirecting from the Eye of Harmony to power the hypnotic equipment was detected by the TARDISes of one or more Renegades, who may have included any of the Third Doctor, the Colonel and Leora, as well as their various companions. With the help of Roman Tribune Marcus Cornelius Falco and Briton princess Branimandua, the time-travellers eventually uncovered parts of the War Chief's scheme. Eventually, they made their way to the Sacred Wood, only to be captured by the War Chief. However, he tarried in subjecting the humans to the hypnotic process, giving them time to mount an escape. In the ensuing fight, they managed to destroy the hypnotic controls, releasing all the War Chief's brainwashed soldiers from his control and freeing the imprisoned Vespasian. In all likelihood, however, the War Chief himself managed to escape, either making it back to his TARDIS after narrowly escaping a gunshot from the Colonel's companion Roderick Mitchell, or else being cut off from his TARDIS's control but escaping in a SIDRAT he had stored in one of its rooms. (GAME: The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"])
Christmas[[edit] | [edit source]]
He later visited the Princess when she was centuries old, and admitted he had forgotten his prior name/identity, only knowing he had tricked himself into believing he was someone else. (PROSE: The God Who Came For Christmas)
Physical appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]
The War Chief appeared as "a tall man of average build, with dark hair and an aura of fanatic determination about him". (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) When he abducted Vespasian, he was wearing a silver outfit with a golden helmet, (GAME: "Introductory Story" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Introductory Story","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) while at the time of his defeat, he greeted his "prisoners" wearing an all-black outfit with red and silver trim, and a silver helmet. (GAME: "The War Chief" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"The War Chief","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
