Cyberman

As defined by the Doctor, a Cyberman was a technologically augmented human being designed to survive in a hostile environment. Cybermen were the product of parallel evolution on multiple inhabited worlds.

The Cybermen, also known as the Cyber race, were a race of cybernetic beings that were originally native to the planet Mondas.

The Cybermen created by Cybus Industries were cybernetic constructs with human brains that originated from a parallel Earth known as Pete's World.

Cybermen also emerged on Telos (which was conquered by Cybermen of Mondasian origin), Earth (created by Missy), Planet 14 and Marinus.

250,000 years after the 21st century, the Cyberiad existed as a hive mind of Cybermen.

A Cyberman originating from Planet 14 (1971)

Physiology

Mondas

This type's entire body was mechanical with a brain that had been treated neurosurgically to remove all human emotions, including the sense of pain. (DW: "The Wheel in Space") Their bodies contained hydraulic muscles and were resistant to gunfire. Due to its non-corrodible nature, gold was lethal to them as it plated their chest unit's breathing apparatus and caused suffocation. (DW: "Revenge of the Cybermen") They could also be incapacitated if their chest units were clogged with plastic or dissolved by a solvent mixture consisting of acetone, benzene, ether, alcohol and epoxypropane. (DW: "The Wheel in Space", "The Moonbase")

History

Mondas

Aeons before the 20th century, the planets Mondas and Earth were twins until Mondas drifted away on a journey to the edge of space. The human beings who inhabited the planet were exactly like those on Earth until their cybernetic scientists realised that their race was getting weak and were coming to have increasingly shorter life spans. The scientists and doctors of their people devised spare parts for their bodies until they could be completely replaced. (DW: "The Tenth Planet")

Pete's World

"...paramount. This body of steel supports the mind of man – the perfect combination, free from ageing and failure. This is the Man of the Future. This is the Cyber Man."

- John Lumic (DW: "Rise of the Cybermen")

The Cybermen created by John Lumic (2007)

Culture

Mondas

This type of Cyberman believed that they functioned more efficiently than animal organisms, and that this advantage would allow them to rule the galaxy. (DW: "The Tenth Planet", "Revenge of the Cybermen") They considered themselves fortunate that they did not possess the "weakness" of feelings. As they were consequently unfamiliar with the concept of revenge, retaliatory action was only seen as a way to eliminate dangers to them. (DW: "The Moonbase") It was thought that emotions restricted and curtailed the intellect and logic of the mind. (DW: "Earthshock") They did not subscribe to any theory of morality in war, flouting the terms of agreements such as the Armageddon Convention. (DW: "Revenge of the Cybermen")

Appendices

Appearances

Mondas

• Doctor Who:
  • "The Tenth Planet"
  • "The Moonbase"
  • "The Tomb of the Cybermen"
  • "The Wheel in Space"
  • "Revenge of the Cybermen"
  • "Logopolis" (archive footage only)
  • "Earthshock"
  • "The Five Doctors"
  • "Attack of the Cybermen"
  • "Silver Nemesis"
  • "Dalek" (head)
  • "World Enough and Time"
  • "The Doctor Falls"
  • "Twice Upon a Time" (archive footage only)
• "Real Time"
• "Human Resources"

Pete's World

• Tardisodes:
  • "Tardisode 5"
  • "Tardisode 6"
  • "Tardisode 12" (ghost)
  • "Tardisode 13"
• Doctor Who:
  • "Rise of the Cybermen"
  • "The Age of Steel"
  • "Army of Ghosts"
  • "Doomsday"
  • "Human Nature" (archive footage only)
  • "The Sound of Drums" (archive footage only)
  • "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (chestplate insignia)
  • "The Next Doctor"
  • "The Eleventh Hour" (hologram, archive footage only)
  • "The Lodger" (archive footage only)
• Torchwood: "Cyberwoman" (partially converted)
• The Sarah Jane Adventures:
  • "Invasion of the Bane" (diagram)
  • "Warriors of Kudlak" (diagram)

Other appearances

• Doctor Who:
  • "The Invasion"
  • "The War Games" (thought channel)
  • "The Mind of Evil" (hallucination)
  • "Carnival of Monsters"
  • "Mawdryn Undead" (archive footage only)
  • "The Pandorica Opens"
  • "The Big Bang" (afterimage)
  • "A Good Man Goes to War"
  • "Closing Time"
  • "The Wedding of River Song" (illustration)
  • "Nightmare in Silver"
  • "The Day of the Doctor" (head)
  • "The Time of the Doctor"
  • "Dark Water"
  • "Death in Heaven"
  • "The Zygon Inversion" (head)
  • "Face the Raven"
  • "Hell Bent"
  • "The Lie of the Land" (archive footage only)
  • "Twice Upon a Time" (archive footage only)
  • "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" (partially converted)
  • "Ascension of the Cybermen"
  • "The Timeless Children"
  • "Once, Upon Time"
  • "The Vanquishers"
• "Shada"
• The Adventure Games:
  • "Blood of the Cybermen"
  • "TARDIS" (chestplate insignia)
  • "The Gunpowder Plot" (head)
• SJA: Alien Files: "Episode 4" (hologram)

References

Mondas

• Doctor Who:
  • "The Faceless Ones"
  • "The Abominable Snowmen"
  • "Fury from the Deep"
  • "The Dominators"
  • "Time-Flight"
  • "Arc of Infinity"
  • "The Curse of Fenric"
• Children in Need: "Time Crash"
• Serpent Crest: "Survivors in Space"
• Destiny of the Doctor: "Shockwave"

Pete's World

• Torchwood: "Greeks Bearing Gifts"
• Doctor Who:
  • "Smith and Jones"
  • "The Runaway Bride"
• The Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Mad Woman in the Attic"
• The Lost Files: "Submission"

Other references

• Doctor Who:
  • "The Dæmons"
  • "The Three Doctors"
  • "Time Inc."
  • "Battlefield"
  • "The Age of Steel"
  • "Doomsday"
  • "The Almost People"
  • "The Name of the Doctor"
  • "The Witch's Familiar"
  • "Under the Lake"
  • "Fugitive of the Judoon"
  • "Revolution of the Daleks"
• "Blood of the Daleks"
• SJA: Alien Files: "Episode 6"
• Serpent Crest: "The Hexford Invasion"
• "The Inforarium"

Background

The Cybermen first appeared in the 1966 Doctor Who serial "The Tenth Planet". The story was a collaboration between medical scientist Kit Pedler and Doctor Who story editor Gerry Davis. Pedler in particular was fascinated by the concept of mankind's misuse of science, as well as new developments in the fields of organ transplantation and cybernetics. The Cybermen were his reaction to all these influences, showing what mankind could become if science was left unchecked. Pedler described the Cybermen as "strong and immortal but the antithesis of everything I conceive to be human."