Cybermen

The Cybermen were a "race" of cyberneticallyaugmented humanoids. They varied greatly in design, with different factions originating independently by parallel evolution (TV: The Doctor Falls) on planets throughout time and space, including Mondas, Telos, an alternate Earth, Planet 14, and Marinus. Some Cybermen were born out of an instinct to survive, others hunger for immortality because their civilisations were dying out and they wanted to survive, and some the intent to upgrade themselves and everyone around them. (TV: The Tenth Planet, Rise of the Cybermen, The Doctor Falls; AUDIO: Spare Parts, Human Resources)

Despite their many different origins, there were similarities between most groups of Cybermen. For the most part, they lacked individuality or names, and had no emotions, viewing them as a weakness. They frequently attempted to physically and mentally re-engineer humans and other humanoids into Cybermen, via a process called "cyber-conversion". (TV: The Tenth Planet, The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, Doomsday, Closing Time, Nightmare in Silver, Ascension of the Cybermen)

Characteristics edit

Variants edit

The Cyberman form was known as a Cyber-body (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet) or Cyber-suit. (AUDIO: Real Time, TV: The Age of Steel)

Though the Cybermen varied greatly in design over time, the many versions had several things in common. Nearly all were silver in colour, except for a black variety in the London sewers. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, et al.)

Cybermen also exhibited exposed circuitry and tubing covering a rubbery or mylar-themed outer skin. (TV: The Tenth Planet) Cybermen frequently attempted to increase their numbers by cyber-conversion.

The Mondasians which the First Doctor met on Snowcap Base in December 1986 had undergone a less radical conversion and still retained biological hands. (TV: The Tenth Planet)

Most other Cybermen were entirely covered by their metallic suits. (TV: The Moonbase et al.) Some partial conversions were known to exist that still held human features, among them Tobias Vaughn. (TV: The Invasion)

The Cybermen on the Moonbase and those released by Eric Klieg on Telos were slim and spoke in a monotone, buzzing voice, emphasising their lack of emotion. (TV: The Moonbase, The Tomb of the Cybermen) The ones which infiltrated Briggs' freighter in 2526had bulkier, more imposing forms and deeper voices. (TV: Earthshock) Similar ones also existed in the 1980s. (TV: Silver Nemesis) The Cybermen from Pete's World were also rather bulky, notably using the Cybus Industries logo on their chest plate. Their emotional inhibitor was a metal rectangular device placed near the heart. The Tenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver was capable of turning off the inhibitor once the chest plate was removed. (TV: The Age of Steel)

Early Mondasian Cybermen had a quavering voice which put inflected syllables in a seemingly random, sing-song manner. Their suits were not entirely metallic, the face and hands being instead covered in a sort of hardened medical gauze. (TV: The Tenth Planet) Those on the colony ship, like Bill Potts, spoke like this as well. (TV: The Doctor Falls)

Cybermen from Pete's World spoke in an electronic, monotone voice, far more emotionless and deeper than the Cybermen of the Doctor's universe. Because of their lack of emotions, the Cybermen used technical terms like "compatible" and their battle cry, "DELETE!". (TV: Rise of the Cybermen) The Cybermen were shown to misunderstand lower-level, spoken language terms, instead preferring higher-level language. For example, the Cyber-Lordcouldn't understand the word "best" so Miss Hartigan had to say "I will operate at maximum efficiency". (TV: The Next Doctor)

The jug-handles-like device fitting over the skull served as these Cybermen's emotional inhibitor; while it did not lessen the pain felt by the Cybermen ever after their conversion, it "did stop [them] caring about it". (TV: World Enough and Time)

After recovering from the Cyber-Wars, the Cybermen had advanced suits. Their chest units glowed blue. They were sleeker and far less bulky than previous models. No circuitry was visible outside the suit and they developed a plethora of new features: the post-Cyber War Cybermen could move at blurring speed, to the point where everything around them would seem frozen. They were capable of rotating their heads 180 degrees, as well as being able to detatch body parts such as their hands or their head. Their armour was thick enough to deflect lasers, though an anti-cyber gun could completely disintegrate them. (TV: Nightmare in Silver, The Time of the Doctor)

Conversion edit

Cyber-conversion was the process by which compatible beings were physically and mentally altered into Cybermen. This process was necessary for the Cybermen to increase in number and was carried out in many locations. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)

Partial conversions occurred. In a partial conversion, the subject took on several features of the Cybermen. For example, Tobias Vaughn's torso was immune to gunfire. (TV: The Invasion)

A great weakness of the conversion was they could only convert species close to humans. This left Time Lords like the Doctor safe for a time. (TV: Closing Time) However, the post-Cyber-Wars variety no longer had this drawback, and were able to temporarily incorporate his mind to create the Cyber-Planner, "Mr Clever". (TV: Nightmare in Silver) A further upgrade to the process resulted in Cybermen being able to convert corpses, regardless of their condition. However, this could only work with the Nethersphere, or a similar Matrix-like computer; the minds of the dead, or "software" would be stored until their bodies were turned into Cybermen. While stored, they could choose to delete their emotions. (TV: Death in Heaven)

The Cybermen of Pete's World were created by taking the brains of humans and placing them in cybernetic bodies. These exostructures were built from high content metal and were stauncher and more heavily built than the Cybermen of Mondas. The brain was preserved in a cradle of Cybus-copyrighted chemicals and welded to the exoskeleton, to which cyber-kinetic impulses were bonded, while an artificially grown nervous system was integrated. The remaining human body was simply incinerated. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen) Once complete, the newly developed Cyberman had an emotional inhibitor implanted. This prevented them from feeling their emotions, but, if disrupted, the Cybermen entered a traumatic state as they were overloaded by the pain of the conversion. This would make them die in agony or cause their heads to explode from the emotional overload. (TV: The Age of Steel) In times of emergency, cyber-conversion consisted of only constructing a Cyber-suit around a living being with some internal modifications. (TV: Cyberwoman)

Vulnerabilities edit

Different Cybermen had a variety of weaknesses.

The most notable was the element gold which, being non-corrosive, choked their respiratory systems, a property exploited by the glittergun used during the Cyber-Wars. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen, Earthshock, Silver Nemesis; AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen) On occasion, the mere touch of gold was toxic to them. Gold coins or gold-tipped arrows could destroy them. (TV: Earthshock, Silver Nemesis) Gold also blocked their sensors and caused cybermats to malfunction. (PROSE: The Revenge of the Cybermen)

During the Cyber-Wars, these Cybermen merged technology with the Cybus variety, eliminating more of their lingering organic needs, like the respiratory system; though contact with gold could still briefly scramble the operating systems. They were also still vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses from hand devices, especially when amplified by the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver. An enemy anti-cyber cannon was also capable of outright destroying them, though they later evolved and became immune to it. (TV: Nightmare in Silver) These models were vulnerable to their own blasters. (TV: Death in Heaven) These models could also be disabled when attacked by a Mondasian's cybernetic laser beam and the Master's laser screwdriver after several seconds. The Twelfth Doctor's sonic screwdriver and Missy's sonic umbrellacould also combine to form a barrier around the Cybermen to slow them down. (TV: The Doctor Falls) A special wooden variant of these Cybermen could also be destroyed by the flamethrower on its own wrist. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)

Other fatal weaknesses of the Cybermen included the combination of solvents known as Polly Cocktail, (TV: The Moonbase) excessive levels of radiation, (TV: The Tenth Planet, AUDIO: Telos) and the scent of a particular type of flower. (COMIC: Flower Power)

Cybermen affected by the Cerebration Mentor, an emotion-enhancing device, went "mad". (TV: The Invasion)

Bullets were unable to damage Cybermen. Explosives and bazooka shells took them down easily. (TV: The Invasion, Silver Nemesis) UNITdeveloped gold-tipped rounds to combat Cybermen. (TV: Battlefield) At close range, attacks with energy and laser weapons could kill Cybermen. (TV: Earthshock)

Raston Warrior Robots counted Cybermen among the many beings they could kill. Although equipped only with javelins and blades, the technology of the robots allowed them to easily destroy several Cybermen. (TV: The Five Doctors)

While Cybermen native to Pete's World were mostly immune to bullets, (TV: Rise of the Cybermen) they could be destroyed by rocket launchers. (TV: Doomsday; PROSE: Made of Steel) A huge overdose of electricity could also fry their circuits, such as an electromagnetic pulse. (TV: The Age of Steel) A Dalek's gunstick could also kill them. (TV: Doomsday) A sword could also pierce their armour. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)