While the Rani comes in a close second, first place has to go to the Master.
All hail the Master, Lord of Time.
I listen and obey.
So, for everyone else, who is your favorite Villain/Monster/Alien/Baddie of the Week?
Please, nobody say this guy....
Tomorrow: Who is your favorite character?
Logging you in...
flamingpie 89p · 735 weeks ago
The Master, in any of his incarnations, is made of win (though I do have a soft spot for Simm's Master, because, well... John Simm).
I love his batshit insanity.
I love the fact that in Castrovalva his TARDIS was a fucking MARBLE PILLAR. HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK.
I love him for standing around in a field dressed as a scarecrow and giggling to himself for no apparent reason back in Mark of the Rani. I also love the Rani for kicking him in the nuts in the same episode, but I digress...
I've always had a bit of a love for villains of this sort. The ridiculous, over the top, asshole types that clearly just do everything they do for the LOLZ. I love that he doesn't even seem to have a life goal beyond MAKE DOCTOR'S LIFE A LIVING HELL.
I love the fact that he takes over the world to some POPPIN' DANCE TUNES and that he likes children's TV.
I love his weird, unhealthy, homoerotic subtext laden relationship with the Doctor.
I love the Master race.
I just love the fuck out of the Master.
NB2000 115p · 735 weeks ago
The Weeping Angels
As I said in my comment for Mark's review of Blink I find them more fascinating than scary. The actual design for them and the way they're portrayed on screen, as really quite beautiful angel statues so that you're drawn to look at them is really interesting to me. They're not big slimy scaly monsters or hulking metal shells or even regular humans that just happen to be alien under the surface.
My little army of Weeping Angel figures:
__Jen__ 99p · 735 weeks ago
The Doctor and his companions were sucked into a world where nothing seen could be trusted, reality is in question, and riddles are used to test and survive. The only limits are the limits of the characters' own minds. The villain isn't necessarily evil, just trying to sustain itself and prolong its own existence. The final battle was a duel of wits. It was just awesome.
I love a lot of fantasy in my sci-fi and The Mind Robber serial was definitely filled with it. This villain would fit perfectly in with Moffat's fairy tale world of Doctor Who, both literally and thematically as issues of memory and reality are essential to the story. So basically, Mr. Moffatt, if you are listening to this, take us back to the Land of Fiction. With the special effects and creativity available to the show now, I can't even imagine how awesome it would be! :D
psycicflower 114p · 735 weeks ago
Doctor Who has had a lot of really good bad guys over the decades. Personally I’m tempted to go with the Master as he’s the villain I’ve had the most experience of since I’ve seen some of his stories with Three as well as the modern day Master. However I think I’m going to have to go with the Daleks.
Over the past few years the Daleks have gotten a bit of a bad rap, largely due to the fact a lot of people feel like they’ve been over used. And let’s face it the ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ two parter wasn’t exactly a shining example of excellence in the Doctor Who. However the Daleks are the oldest villain we have. They go right back to the first series of Doctor Who and have been a threat though out the years.
They may be teased around the globe for looking like pepper pots with plungers that can’t even tackle a set of stairs but they can be genuinely terrifying and have caused many a person to hide behind the sofa. I’m not going to touch their history in Old Who because I’m not too familiar with it but just think back to ‘Dalek’ and how terrifying that one lone Dalek was to us and the Doctor. That one Dalek could’ve destroyed the world and I fully belief it. And that, the fact that you believe their threats and fear for the consequences, that for me is the sign of a great villian.
Hypatia_ 99p · 735 weeks ago
ETA: Well, now it works. That was weird.
Openattheclose 99p · 735 weeks ago
BRACE YOURSELVES, it's the Entity from MIDNIGHT.
It's the only "monster" in Doctor Who that you never see, and it's the scariest of them all.
Hypatia_ 99p · 735 weeks ago
OKAY, I'LL WRITE IT AGAIN.
If we're talking monsters that genuinely scared me, it's the alien entity or whatever it was from "Midnight". I don't know what it was but I never ever want to see it again (well, we never saw it in the first place. But you get my meaning).
I also have to be unoriginal and go with the Master. I love his crazy plans, even if they rarely work (at least in the old series). He's always been varying degrees of off his rocker, but Simm!Master is flat-out insane. I'm particularly fond of Simm!Master because he's just so much fun (except when he's not, and then he's still awesome).
I love the classic Master too, of course, he's insanely campy, even by Doctor Who standards. His plans suck and usually don't work out, but he still manages to wreak some sort of havoc. He did cause the Fourth Doctor's death. Plus, he's got a rubbish beard.
And of course the foe-yay between him and the Doctor is fabulous.
I also must mention the Daleks. They're nearly as iconic as the TARDIS, and they're like the cockroaches of the Whoniverse (if cockroaches were heavily armed, genocidal, and prone to constant shrieking). I love that the average Dalek's vocabulary seems to consist of about three phrases ("EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" "EL-E-VATE!" and "I OB-EY!") I love that they look like salt shakers with plungers and whisks attached, yet manage to be the terrors of the universe. I particularly enjoyed the "Ironsides" of "Victory of the Daleks". They've got little Union flags on them! They want to win the war for Churchill! THEY BRING PEOPLE TEA. This will never stop being funny.
Karen 115p · 735 weeks ago
THIS BAMF IS MY FAVORITE.
I love that we never find out exactly who or what it is. The unknown is always more scary than the known.
I also love that through his existence and presence in the story we get to explore things like the Doctor's belief system. Also, his possession of Toby? SUPER CREEPY. As was his possession of the Ood. Plus that moment where he's talking over the space station's intercom and making predictions/insights into the various characters? SO UNSETTLING.
Kaybee42 91p · 735 weeks ago
After that it's the Master, then the vashta nerada, then the weeping angels, then the cybermen.
echinodermata 118p · 735 weeks ago
I think they're gorgeous, and I do generally love the steampunk aesthetic (OMG ATLA SO EXCITE!), and they do get some awesome costumes. And I remember loving the end reveal with the spaceship name, and c'mon, these villains fixated on one woman because of a shared name. That is dedication to the cause.
They were villains because they were programmed to fix their ship at all costs, and they're basically looking for a leader - that's why they wanted Reinette's brain, because they needed command. How are they defeated? They get stranded from their ship, and stop functioning because they now lack purpose. Their villainry wasn't really their fault; it was probably more the humans' lack of following Asimov's laws of robotics. I want to see them back, in a non-villain role. Actually, thinking about it, I think I see parallels in these droids and when we were first introduced to the Ood, and I love the Ood and they definitely get an honorable mention for today's topic. (THEY LOOK LIKE CEPHALOPODS I CAN'T NOT LOVE THAT). But I talked about the Ood a lot in Mark's blog, so I'll leave it be.
Second honorable mention? The Krillitane. I love the idea of a species that scavenges biology as they choose. I actually remember explaining the concept to someone that didn't watch Doctor Who, just because I liked the idea so much and wanted to share it with someone.
And finally, another honorable mention for the Weeping Angels. NIGHTMARE FUEL FOREVER.
redhairedgothkitten 75p · 735 weeks ago
Starting off as a dream-monster coming from the 'dark places inside' is an excellent idea, and a nod towards the series belief that evil is rarely an external force, but something that exists within all living beings.
The Mara starts as a creepy whited out human in Teganns mind.
Becomes a tattoo on her arms and then a giant, less than scary snake
But it's the psychology of The Mara that fascinates me. The darkness at the heart of all life, a psychic thing that feeds on horror and despair. And the idea of something being able to get in my head and control me, make me act in ways that are antithetical to what I see is my nature- well, I share Tegans fear and horror, let's just say that.
Eager Ears · 735 weeks ago
I think my favorite villain is one we haven't properly seen yet -- the Silence. They were the driving force behind all of Season 5 -- they were able to take over the TARDIS and make it explode, which is pretty darn scary -- and yet we still don't know what they're up to. The TARDIS team simply head off at the end of Season 5 to figure it out. I find it fun to have this whole break between seasons to wonder and speculate without really being able to know what the answers are. Even from the hints that Moffat has been dropping in interviews, I'm fascinated to see what they end up being.
Medli 141p · 735 weeks ago
As I said in my Blink review, I am a Weeping Angels fangirl. They're probably my favorite monster EVER, not just in Doctor Who. I love the concept, their design, what they do, how sadistic and fucked up they are, their creepy as hell laugh, the way the fourth wall is involved... EVERYTHING, BASICALLY. FLAWLESS MONSTER IS FLAWLESS AND I LOVE MOFFAT FOREVER FOR CREATING THEM. <3 <3 <3
Albion19 84p · 735 weeks ago
I personally think the Valeyard is still a possibility and with the introduction of the Dreamlord I think it's even more likely that something will go down during the Doctor's 12th incarnation.
omg almost forgot to mention them: The Eternals! They're these incredibly powerful, reality bending amoral beings that are limited by their lack of imagination. So they use the emotions and creativeness of "Ephemerals" (humanoids) to give their lives meaning and stop the boredom. Like having actual boat races in space! To quote from Enlightenment:
Striker: You are a Time Lord, a lord of time. Are there lords in such a small domain?
The Doctor: And where do you function?
Striker: Eternity. The endless wastes of eternity.
They're so up Moffat's street and they've been mentioned a few times already.
ShayzGirl 67p · 733 weeks ago
I guess in a way they are a favourite even though they terrify me. The Weeping Angels. They scare me. I've had a couple of nightmares. I've even begun carrying a little laser light meant for my keyring to use at night to make sure they aren't waiting in the hallway or even in my room. One night, because of either sleep deprivation or because of too much DW, I thought I saw one in my eyes while I was looking in a mirror. I refuse to count things out loud or even in my head unless I absolutely have to.