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| A Krillitane |
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 Name: The Krillitanes
Format:
Television Show and Book
Time of Origin: Exact planet of origin was never given, but have existed in some variation of their present form from the twelfth century into the twenty-first.
Appearances: "School Reunion", "The Krillitane Storm" and "Code of the Krillitanes"
Doctors: Tenth Doctor, unrecorded encounter with one of the first four Doctors
Companions: Sarah Jane Smith, K9, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith
History: A unique race in the universe, the Krillitanes are capable of directly influencing their own evolution due to a unique oil that they secrete from their bodies, essentially absorbing the best parts of the races they conquer into their own biologies.
Although the precise details of The Doctor's first encounter with them are unknown, it apparently occurred at a point that allowed the Fourth Doctor to include information about Krillitane oil in K9 Mark 3's databanks when constructing him, and allegedly took place so far back in the Krillitane's evolution that they simply looked like long-necked humans. Since that point, however, the Krillitanes have evolved into a significantly different appearance, their default state now resembling large bats.
Frequent physiological and chemical changes resulted in Krillitane oil becoming toxic to the Krillitanes themselves unless it was treated appropriately, although it was still a necessity for them to trigger their physiological changes.
Arriving in Earth in the village of Worcester while travelling alone ("The Krillitane Storm"), the Tenth Doctor learned of brutal deaths being attributed to the mysterious 'Huntsman' only to be caught and accused of being the Huntsman after he discovered the latest body as a Krillitane killed it (At this point, the Krillitanes were in the initial stages of the bat-forms they would possess in the twenty-first century, having hooked tails and long necks, giving them an appearance that resembled the image of the Devil). Fortunately, he was rescued by fellow alien visitor Emily Parr, who provided The Doctor with an alibi by identifying him as her husband so that she could determine what he was doing on Earth, The Doctor quickly explaining his situation and the implications of the Krillitanes' presence on Earth, later winning the aid of local Captain Darke in investigating the strange events.
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The Krillitane Storm
(Christopher Cooper) |
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Examining the castle, The Doctor determined that it was equipped with various pieces of advanced technology, but noted that none of it appeared to be of Krillitane manufacture, with Emily later identifying the true mastermind as alien Lozla Nataniel Henk, The Doctor in turn deducing that Henk had taken control of the local sheriff to keep an eye on potential threats to his work. Searching the castle, The Doctor discovered a chamber filled with Krillitanes being kept trapped as their oil was extracted, but was captured before he could take any action. Talking with one of the Krillitane, The Doctor learned that this group had attempted to mount a coup against their race's leader, believing that the Krillitanes should focus on improving their own evolutionary potential over the 'Esteemed Leader's' philosophy of leaving the Krillitanes as a strictly predatory people, but had been forced to flee after it failed. With some of them injured, they had sought aid from Belima Febron, a scientist whose experiments were financed by Henk, only for Febron and Henk to capture the Krillitanes due to the military potential of their oil, which they sought to use it as a weapon that he could sell to the highest bidder; they were even attempting to use the oil to create a 'Super Krillitane', releasing the Krillitanes to feed on humans so that they could produce more oil.
Although The Doctor knew that he couldn't completely trust the Krillitanes, he was able to make a deal with the Brood Mother that he would help free her brood if she agreed to depart Earth afterwards, only for the deal to be jeopardised when the Krillitanes' Supreme Leader came to Earth. Escaping the compound with a distilled sample of Krillitane oil, The Doctor witnessed Henk attempting to demonstrate his achievements to the visiting Calabrians, only to learn too late that the Calabrians had been replaced by Krillitanes who were naturally angered at his use of their oil. With Emily identified as the daughter of a bounty hunter sent after Henk who had been killed and fed to the Krillitanes, The Doctor and Emily were able to kill the Super Krillitane when a large container of oil was hurled into its mouth as it rampaged through Worcester, the subsequent rampage resulting in the deaths of the Krillitane Supreme Leader and the renegades' Brood Mother as they sought to eliminate each other. With the original leaders dead, a Krillitane known as 'Broken Wing' took command of the renegade Krillitanes, but nevertheless agreed to the terms of The Doctor's original deal and departed Earth, apparently for good.
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The Krillitanes
(School Reunion) |
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Despite this deal, The Doctor eventually encountered the Krillitanes on Earth once again - although it was his first fight with them in this form from his perspective - when investigating strange UFO sightings and recent record grades at local school Deffry Vale as reported by his companion Rose Tyler's ex-boyfriend Mickey Smith, The Doctor and Rose infiltrating the school as a science teacher and dinner lady respectively (The Doctor having sent his 'predecessor' a winning lottery ticket to give him the opportunity to work in the school) ("School Reunion"). Aided by The Doctor's old companion Sarah Jane Smith - who had been investigating the same situation based on independent leads - and analysis of a sample of Krillitane oil performed by the now-repaired K9, The Doctor was able to identify the Krillitanes as their current enemies. In a subsequent confrontation with the school's headmaster, Mr Finch, The Doctor learned that almost the entire school staff had been replaced with Krillitanes - apparently utilising an unspecified ability to change their appearances to assume human form while also retaining their original shapes, although Finch had assumed a permanent human shape; it was never clarified if the other Krillitanes were actual shape-shifters or using another kind of disguise - and were feeding Krillitane oil to the students in the school chips, Finch confidently stating that The Doctor would willingly help them once he learned what they were doing.
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Mr Finch
(School Reunion) |
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During a more thorough investigation of the school, The Doctor realised that the Krillitanes were attempting to use the children - their intelligence having been enhanced by the oil and their natural imagination providing the key that the Krillitanes needed - to crack the near-mythical Skasis Paradigm, a code which would allow the user to gain control over the fundamental building-blocks of the universe. Although The Doctor was briefly tempted to work with Finch in order to use the Paradigm to undo the Time War and allow him to preserve his companions beyond their usual life span, Sarah reminded him that everything had its time, driving him to shut down the computer program and flee the school. Retreating to the kitchens with Rose, Sarah and K9 as Mickey evacuated the students, The Doctor was able to set up drums of Krillitane oil with the intention of detonating them to destroy the Krillitanes, but K9's depleted power meant that The Doctor was forced to leave K9 beside the vat so that his weapon could generate sufficient explosive force to destroy the drums, his old companion sacrificing himself to kill the Krillitane (Although The Doctor was later able to rebuild K9's body with upgraded systems while retaining the memories of the model that had been destroyed).
The Doctor's last encounter with the Krillitanes - this time the last encounter from both perspectives, rather than the previous two encounters occurring out of order for both sides - occurred when The Doctor paid a brief visit to the early twenty-first century, shortly after his original encounter with the Krillitanes, witnessing children eating 'Brainy Crisps' that literally made them smarter; ten-year-olds could now fully explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity ("Code of the Krillitanes". Quickly confirming that the crisps contained Krillitane oil, The Doctor tracked down the manufacturers and managed to create a false personnel record for himself as Doctor John Smith, Strategy and Workflow Manager, so he could investigate the factory from the inside. Determining that the Krillitanes were trying to use the crisps and the Internet to calculate the solution to the riddle of life itself so that they could improve their own genetic structure, The Doctor confronted the Krillitanes during a meeting of the company shareholders, using the crisps as a weapon to drive them back while he altered the Krillitane program to create a new, kinder breed of Krillitane. With the two breeds of Krillitanes destroying each other in the subsequent clash, The Doctor departed, satisfied that Earth was safe and the Krillitane would not cause any further damage. |
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