DW Monsters: Cybermen

Mk V

The Cybermen are surely second only to the Daleks as iconic Doctor Who monsters. It also seems to me that they are most significant such race that could be described as “humanoid”, and so are arguably overdue for an appearance here in my list of key races in that category.

This one, by the way, is going to be a long post. There’s a lot to cover!

Note: Since I started this series of posts, Cubicle 7 have announced a 5E version of their existing Doctor Who RPG. I'll continue posting my 5E interpretation of stats here, at least for the time being. Although it's likely they'll be very different from the "official" versions, not least because there will presumably be some difference in the fine details of the systems, these posts do at least include my reasoning.

Appearances

The Cybermen have the distinction of being the first “monster” other than the Daleks to appear in more than one story. They are also the oldest of the races in my pick of the top seven humanoid monsters, dating back all the way to the First Doctor’s era and his final story The Tenth Planet. Frequently re-invented since that first appearance, they appear no less than four times in the Second Doctor’s era (whereas the Daleks only appear twice). The Third Doctor is the only classic-era Doctor not to have a TV story featuring them, with Doctors Four to Seven having one major Cyberman story each, not counting their brief appearance in The Five Doctors. Skipping the Eighth and Ninth Doctors because of their short runs, every modern Doctor from Ten onwards has faced them. In total, that’s 23 stories featuring Cybermen as more than brief clips or mentions.

D&D Monsters: Otyughs

There has been some speculation that the otyugh is based on the tentacled monster in the trash compactor in the first Star Wars film (referred to in the tie-in material as a "dianoga"). Certainly, there is a resemblance, especially given that we don't see the whole creature in the film; based on that alone, the rest of the body could look like almost anything. On the other hand, the film only came out a few months before the otyugh made its debut so it would have to have been a very last-minute addition to the 1E Monster Manual if that really was the source. More likely, it's a coincidence, leaving the D&D monster as an original creation.

D&D Monsters: Ropers

The roper is another of the "does what it says on the tin" monsters that are original to D&D. Alongside such creatures as trappers and piercers, it's clearly intended to disguise itself as part of the background and attack unexpectedly but does have a more distinctive look and an unusual method of attack that make it more memorable than they are, with the result that it consistently appears in the core Monster Manual books of each edition.

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1E

In the original Monster Manual, the roper is a tapered pillar-like creature with a single large eye above the mouth near the top of the body - there are no apparent nostrils or ears. The eye has an odd brow-like structure that seems to partially cover the upper surface; this might be a ridge to protect it from falling debris, since it lives in caves and there's plausibly a lid that flips down from it as well. The mouth opens horizontally and has pointed isodont teeth in both jaws, although it seems unlikely that the creature has much of an internal skeleton to attach them to. The base is limbless and flat to the ground, while a vertically arranged row of three apparent tentacles arise from each side.

DW Monsters: Autons

It’s arguably a bit of a stretch to describe the autons as a “humanoid race”, but nonetheless, they are the fifth race I’m going to describe here.

Appearances

The autons make their debut in the first Third Doctor story, Spearhead from Space, making them the third race to appear in my list from that era (which is itself the only era to appear on the list more than once). They reappear only once more in the classic series, in Terror of the Autons at the start of the next season, and twice in the modern series, most notably in the Ninth Doctor’s debut story, Rose.

Outside of the TV series, they featured in a three-part straight-to-video series in the 1990s which, as with Sontarans and Zygons, indicates a certain degree of popularity. That, of course, existed outside the Doctor Who license since autons, like many other original races, have separate copyright status. But in material officially licensed by the BBC, they have so far appeared in three novels, two with the Sixth Doctor, and one with the Tenth. In the audios, they have faced the Doctor only once to date, but they have appeared in a Torchwood audio and a four-part box set featuring UNIT that, in some respects, updates Spearhead from Space for the 2010s. And, as one might expect, there are also a parade of shorter appearances in comics and short stories.

D&D Monsters: Mind Flayers

The mind flayer is a creature original to D&D and, like many of Gygax's early creations has a "does what it says on the tin" style name. To my mind, it's one of the better such names - although almost anything is better than, say, "lurker above". The look of the creature is obviously reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu, and Gygax stated that it was inspired by the cover of a book by Brian Lumley that does, indeed, feature a being from the Mythos. But, as it happens, it isn't the Big C himself that's on the cover, but a chthonian, a creature with a similar name, to be sure, but actually rather different. Still, it has tentacles and this, seemingly, was enough.

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1E

The mind flayer goes through relatively little change in physical appearance through the various editions of the game, to the extent that the few changes that are apparent could easily be put down to variations between individuals of the same species. Even the clothing doesn't change much, with the race clearly having a preference for robes and insisting on a skull motif somewhere on their belt. 

D&D Monsters: Umber Hulks

The origins of the D&D umber hulk are not clear. It predates what we'd now call 1E, first appearing in the Greyhawk supplement, and it has been proposed that it may be based on one of the same set of plastic toys that inspired the owlbear, rust monster, and bulette. If so, it doesn't closely resemble any of them, while the other three are very clearly drawn to resemble the toys in the 1E Monster Manual. So, if it's inspired by them at all, the connection is still vague enough that, to all intents and purposes, it's an original creation. Certainly, its signature power is original, doubtless intended to be related to its unusual appearance and, while evil sorcerers might be able to do something similar in myth, the same is not generally true of monsters.

DW Monsters: Zygons

The fourth race on my list of the seven key humanoid ‘monster’ races are the shape-shifting Zygons.

Appearances

The Zygons have a slightly unusual history, compared with those I’ve dealt with so far. They first appear slightly later, during the fourth Doctor story Terror of the Zygons, but that’s not the oddity. They immediately stood out due to a distinctive design and a particularly well-respected debut story and after that they… well, they just didn’t appear again in the classic series. In fact, they didn’t appear on TV again for another 38 years, although they have now shown up as significant antagonists twice in the modern era.