Regeneration: Difference between revisions

Although Time Lords usually favoured [[humanoid]] forms in regeneration, this was not universal. One Time Lord, Lord Cardinal [[Zero (Spring)|Zero]], regenerated into an avian lifeform as a result of the poison which triggered the regenerative process. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Spring (audio story)}}) When [[Romana]] regenerated from her [[Romana I|first]] to [[Romana II|second incarnation]], the [[Fourth Doctor]] advised her not to "wear" [[Princess]] [[Astra of Atrios|Astra]]'s body and to "try another" body. Before once again assuming Astra's form, she tried various others, including a short blue humanoid and an extremely tall woman. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}) although according to another source, this particular episode was just the [[TARDIS matrix]] playing a trick on the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe (short story)}}) In another instance, the [[Time Lord|Archon]] [[Lotto]] had [[Lotto IV|a fourth body]] resembling that of a [[dog]], and [[Lotto V|a fifth]] had that of an anthropomorphic [[Lion|lioness]]. Though Lotto was originally a biological [[human]] despite his ability to change body, rather than a [[Gallifreyan|native]] of the [[Gallifrey|Archon's Homeworld]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Claus-Rosen Bridge (short story)}})

During the [[War in Heaven]], regeneration into extremely non-humanoid bodies became the norm for members of the [[House Military]], although bodies without obvious facial features were considered "informal"; this was the case even for a [[strategist]] like [[Entarodora]]. However, the same tendencies were implemented in the [[regen-inf]] soldiers, members of the [[lesser species]] who had been granted regeneration to serve as disposable foot-soldiers for the [[Great House]]s, who often resented having no choice but to transform into gigantic, living [[weapon]]s upon death. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}}) At least [[Homeworlder (Going Once, Going Twice)|one Homeworlder soldier]] in the House Military, who fought in the [[Battle of Cratosi Fields]], shared this mindset; upon beginning to regenerate from a humanoid form into a monstrous form with razor-sharp [[mandible]]s where her [[throat]] should have been, she broke down sobbing, begging all who would hear her to help her not to change. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Going Once, Going Twice (short story)}})

The [[Ninth Doctor]] mentioned being "not quite calibrated" after regeneration, and likened himself to a soft shell crab waiting to harden, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Beast of Babylon (short story)}}) and the newly regenerated [[Tenth Doctor]] spent hours unconscious after an initial burst of wild enthusiasm. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Christmas Invasion (TV story)}}) Immediately post-regeneration, the [[Eleventh Doctor]] craved various foods, which he hated upon tasting them. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Hour (TV story)}}) At the start of a new [[regeneration cycle]], the [[Twelfth Doctor]] experienced severe memory loss, forgetting how to pilot the TARDIS, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Time of the Doctor (TV story)}}) and spent the next few hours in a delirious state. He was unable to remember names and distinguish people from each other, to the point that he confused [[Clara Oswald]] with both [[Handles]] and [[Strax]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Deep Breath (TV story)}}) The [[Thirteenth Doctor]] began her life with some amnesia, unable to remember her own name. However, most of her memories and all of her intellect remained intact. Like the Tenth Doctor, she passed out and slept for a long period of time to recover, expelling [[regeneration energy]] while she was asleep. Though she was also awoken early due to circumstances, she did not suffer serious health complications like the Tenth Doctor did. She later regained access to her memories after an [[adrenalin]] rush from confronting [[Tzim-Sha]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)}}) Curiously, the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] did not experience any of the usual post-regeneration side-effects, ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Liberation of the Daleks (comic story)}}) although the Doctor did question his appearance. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Letter from the Doctor (DWAN 2024 short story)|page=6}}), [[TV]]: {{cs|The Star Beast (TV story)}})

As regeneration involved completely rewriting a Time Lord's biodata and exposing it to the Time Vortex, for a time, the Eighth Doctor speculated that his raw biodata was responsible for the transformation of his companion [[Sam Jones]] from her original dark-haired, self-destructive self into his blonde-haired "perfect" companion, as his biodata was particularly exposed after his traumatic regeneration and the opening of the [[Eye of Harmony]]. However, Professor [[Daniel Joyce]] dismissed this theory for blonde Sam's existence as impossible as the Doctor could never have had that degree of unintentional influence on a complete stranger, although he admitted that the basic concept of Time Lord biodata rewriting another person's biodata wasn't completely impossible if there was greater pre-existing contact between them. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Unnatural History (novel)}})