Destrii
Encyclopedia
Destrii, or to give her full title, the Primatrix Destriianatos, is a fictional character
who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
comic strip based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. She was a companion
of the Eighth Doctor
. The canonicity of the comic strips, like other Doctor Who spin-off
media, is open to interpretation.
humanoid with scaly skin, claws and a face resembling that of a fish. She first appears in Ophidius, which ran in issues #300-#303 of DWM, written by Scott Gray and drawn by Martin Geraghty and Robin Smith. The Doctor
and Izzy
encounter her inside the gargantuan snake-like spacecraft
known as Ophidius, which has swallowed the TARDIS. She is extremely agile, shows remarkable combat abilities and has a knowledge of Earth
popular culture, but is also initially unprincipled and quick to violence.
Destrii has survived on her own inside the belly of Ophidius for quite a while, and is being pursued by the aliens that control the world-snake. To evade pursuit, she tricks Izzy into using a machine which places their minds in each others' bodies. Destrii tries to pose as Izzy and escape with the Doctor in the TARDIS
, but the Doctor, seeing her violent tendencies, sees through the deception. However, before the Doctor can do anything to reverse the mind switch, Destrii, in Izzy's body, is apparently disintegrated by a member of the predatory (but intelligent) species known as the Mobox.
While Izzy is adjusting to the trauma of being trapped in an alien body, she is kidnapped by representatives of Destrii's mother, the Matriax Scalamanthia of the planet Oblivion. Retracing his steps with the help of former companion Fey
, the Doctor finds Ophidius anchored in the skies above the Mobox homeworld, and Destrii alive in its jungles. It transpires that the Mobox have the ability to retain the patterns of those they disintegrate and reconstitute them. B'rostt, the Mobox who had attacked Destrii, had reconstituted Destrii and left her in the jungles to die, later to build a new empire on his planet. Destrii, however, was made of sterner stuff and had survived, even in Izzy's body. The Doctor takes Destrii with him, determined to find Izzy and restore his companion to her rightful body (Uroboros, DWM #319-#322).
On Oblivion, the Doctor discovers that Destrii is a member of a race that had been genetically manipulated so that no two individuals are alike. Generations ago, the people of Oblivion had looked human, until the ruling families attacked their enemies using a plague that stripped its victims' minds bare. The families sealed themselves up to wait out the plague's progress, but discovered that the victims had been transformed instead into living generators of psychic energy who shared a gestalt consciousness. The Horde, as they were now known, transformed the ruling families into animalistic humanoids for their sport and sealed Oblivion from the rest of the universe.
Discovering that Destrii is in Izzy's body, the Horde representatives that kidnapped Izzy switch them back, and Destrii and Izzy see into each others' minds as the transfer occurs. Izzy sees that Destrii is the daughter of the ruling Matriax, whom the Horde still defers to. However, Destrii had also been raised in the arena, fighting death duels all her life and is feared by everyone except her uncle Jodafra, who looks like a humanoid lion. Jodafra has built a chronon capsule that Destrii used to escape before, but the Matriax brought her back to be wed. When Destrii refuses, the Matriax begins to beat her and, pushed beyond tolerance, Destrii kills her mother. The Horde then descends on Destrii, choosing her as their new leader and transforming her into a psychic energy generator as well.
Destrii is about to destroy the cities of Oblivion with her newfound power but Izzy reminds her of her desire to be free and urges her not to become just one of the monolithic Horde. It is then revealed that Jodafra had allowed Destrii to escape to prove his chronon capsule sound, and while the Matriax and the Horde searched for Destrii, he had perfected a device that would drain the Horde to power the capsule for his escape. Realizing that she has been used, Destrii pours her own energy and that of the Horde into the capsule, reverting to her amphibian form and giving her and her uncle the ability to roam time and space (Oblivion, DWM #323-#328).
The Doctor next encounters Jodafra and Destrii in North America
in 1875 near the Lakota village led by Chief Sitting Bull
. Jodafra has made an agreement with the other-worldly spirit known as the Windigo
to feed it human flesh in exchange for help to navigate the time stream. When Destrii realizes that Jodafra means to sacrifice Lakota children to the Windigo, she destroys the equipment that supports the Windigo, allowing the Doctor and the Lakota to defeat it. Enraged, Jodafra beats Destrii nearly to death, leaving her battered and unconscious body in the snow and departing in his capsule. The Doctor finds Destrii and takes her to Hippocrates Base, a space station
hospital, to heal (Bad Blood, DWM #338-#342).
There, Destrii aids the Doctor in repelling a Zeronite attack on the base. While the Doctor acknowledges that Destrii is an "egocentric, immature hellion" with a violent streak "wider than the Gobi Desert
", he also feels that there is a decent person underneath that surface. He offers to give her a second chance and show her the universe if she will stick to the rules, and Destrii gladly accepts (Sins of the Fathers, DWM #343-#345).
Their first trip together is to Earth
, where Destrii wears a holographic disguise that makes her look human. Together, they foil an invasion by the Cybermen
(The Flood, DWM #346-#353). That turned out to be the last regular Eighth Doctor comic strip story in DWM, and the story ends with Destrii and the Doctor walking off into the sunset to as-yet unrevealed further adventures.
on how Destrii would transform from a villain to a companion. In his pitch, Gray proposes that, among other things, Destrii be sexually attracted to the Doctor and that her holographic appearance be that of a young black woman with dreadlocks
.
In a supporting essay on the "Sins of the Father" comic strip arc, which describes the origins of Destrii's holographic disguise, Gray writes that Destrii's disguise was given red hair instead because the BBC had just announced the Scream of the Shalka
webcast adventure, and giving Destrii dreadlocks would have made her look almost identical to the Shalka Doctor
's companion, Alison Cheney. Destrii's holographic disguise was based on pop star Ashanti, after Gray saw her in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "First Date".
In "Flood Barriers", an essay by Hickman on the end of the Eighth Doctor comic strips, it is stated that when the 2005 revival of the series was announced, he had originally planned for Destrii to witness the Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth Doctor
at the end of The Flood, followed by a "Ninth Doctor: Year One" story arc which would have written Destrii out before the Doctor's adventures resumed with Rose Tyler
. This was vetoed by new series producer Russell T Davies.
A letter to Doctor Who Magazine
noted that in the Torchwood
episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts
", an alien calling itself "Mary" bore a strong resemblance to Destrii; the magazine's editors concurred. Later, The Torchwood Archives by Gary Russell
specified that Destrii and Mary are from the same system. Destrii's home planet Oblivion is listed along with Devos, Krant and Arcateen IV, V and VI form the Arcan system. The Sarah Jane Adventures
episode "Invasion of the Bane
" had featured another such alien, "star poet", from Arcateen V.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. She was a companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
of the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
. The canonicity of the comic strips, like other Doctor Who spin-off
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
media, is open to interpretation.
Character history
Destrii is an amphibiousAmphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
humanoid with scaly skin, claws and a face resembling that of a fish. She first appears in Ophidius, which ran in issues #300-#303 of DWM, written by Scott Gray and drawn by Martin Geraghty and Robin Smith. The Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
and Izzy
Izzy Sinclair
Isabelle "Izzy" Sinclair, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor...
encounter her inside the gargantuan snake-like spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
known as Ophidius, which has swallowed the TARDIS. She is extremely agile, shows remarkable combat abilities and has a knowledge of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
popular culture, but is also initially unprincipled and quick to violence.
Destrii has survived on her own inside the belly of Ophidius for quite a while, and is being pursued by the aliens that control the world-snake. To evade pursuit, she tricks Izzy into using a machine which places their minds in each others' bodies. Destrii tries to pose as Izzy and escape with the Doctor in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, but the Doctor, seeing her violent tendencies, sees through the deception. However, before the Doctor can do anything to reverse the mind switch, Destrii, in Izzy's body, is apparently disintegrated by a member of the predatory (but intelligent) species known as the Mobox.
While Izzy is adjusting to the trauma of being trapped in an alien body, she is kidnapped by representatives of Destrii's mother, the Matriax Scalamanthia of the planet Oblivion. Retracing his steps with the help of former companion Fey
Fey Truscott-Sade
Fey Truscott-Sade, also known as Fey or Feyde, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor...
, the Doctor finds Ophidius anchored in the skies above the Mobox homeworld, and Destrii alive in its jungles. It transpires that the Mobox have the ability to retain the patterns of those they disintegrate and reconstitute them. B'rostt, the Mobox who had attacked Destrii, had reconstituted Destrii and left her in the jungles to die, later to build a new empire on his planet. Destrii, however, was made of sterner stuff and had survived, even in Izzy's body. The Doctor takes Destrii with him, determined to find Izzy and restore his companion to her rightful body (Uroboros, DWM #319-#322).
On Oblivion, the Doctor discovers that Destrii is a member of a race that had been genetically manipulated so that no two individuals are alike. Generations ago, the people of Oblivion had looked human, until the ruling families attacked their enemies using a plague that stripped its victims' minds bare. The families sealed themselves up to wait out the plague's progress, but discovered that the victims had been transformed instead into living generators of psychic energy who shared a gestalt consciousness. The Horde, as they were now known, transformed the ruling families into animalistic humanoids for their sport and sealed Oblivion from the rest of the universe.
Destrii is about to destroy the cities of Oblivion with her newfound power but Izzy reminds her of her desire to be free and urges her not to become just one of the monolithic Horde. It is then revealed that Jodafra had allowed Destrii to escape to prove his chronon capsule sound, and while the Matriax and the Horde searched for Destrii, he had perfected a device that would drain the Horde to power the capsule for his escape. Realizing that she has been used, Destrii pours her own energy and that of the Horde into the capsule, reverting to her amphibian form and giving her and her uncle the ability to roam time and space (Oblivion, DWM #323-#328).
The Doctor next encounters Jodafra and Destrii in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 1875 near the Lakota village led by Chief Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
. Jodafra has made an agreement with the other-worldly spirit known as the Windigo
Wendigo
The Wendigo is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans...
to feed it human flesh in exchange for help to navigate the time stream. When Destrii realizes that Jodafra means to sacrifice Lakota children to the Windigo, she destroys the equipment that supports the Windigo, allowing the Doctor and the Lakota to defeat it. Enraged, Jodafra beats Destrii nearly to death, leaving her battered and unconscious body in the snow and departing in his capsule. The Doctor finds Destrii and takes her to Hippocrates Base, a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
hospital, to heal (Bad Blood, DWM #338-#342).
There, Destrii aids the Doctor in repelling a Zeronite attack on the base. While the Doctor acknowledges that Destrii is an "egocentric, immature hellion" with a violent streak "wider than the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
", he also feels that there is a decent person underneath that surface. He offers to give her a second chance and show her the universe if she will stick to the rules, and Destrii gladly accepts (Sins of the Fathers, DWM #343-#345).
Their first trip together is to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, where Destrii wears a holographic disguise that makes her look human. Together, they foil an invasion by the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
(The Flood, DWM #346-#353). That turned out to be the last regular Eighth Doctor comic strip story in DWM, and the story ends with Destrii and the Doctor walking off into the sunset to as-yet unrevealed further adventures.
The Flood
In 2007, Panini Books reprinted Destrii's final comic strip adventures in the reprint volume Doctor Who: The Flood (ISBN 978-1-905239-65-8). The book includes Scott Gray's original pitch to strip editor Clayton HickmanClayton Hickman
Clayton Hickman is a British writer, magazine editor and designer. Born in Bristol in 1977, he first worked in publishing as Editorial Assistant on Film Review magazine from 1999-2000, and went on to become the longest-serving editor of Panini Comics' Doctor Who Magazine, overseeing the...
on how Destrii would transform from a villain to a companion. In his pitch, Gray proposes that, among other things, Destrii be sexually attracted to the Doctor and that her holographic appearance be that of a young black woman with dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
.
In a supporting essay on the "Sins of the Father" comic strip arc, which describes the origins of Destrii's holographic disguise, Gray writes that Destrii's disguise was given red hair instead because the BBC had just announced the Scream of the Shalka
Scream of the Shalka
Scream of the Shalka is a flash-animated series based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was produced to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the series and was originally posted in six weekly parts from 13 November to 18 December 2003 on bbc.co.uk's Doctor Who...
webcast adventure, and giving Destrii dreadlocks would have made her look almost identical to the Shalka Doctor
Shalka Doctor
The Shalka Doctor is the common fan name given to the character that appeared as an alternate incarnation of the Doctor in the flash-animated serial Scream of the Shalka in 2003 and the later short story The Feast of the Stone which were based on the British science fiction television series,...
's companion, Alison Cheney. Destrii's holographic disguise was based on pop star Ashanti, after Gray saw her in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "First Date".
In "Flood Barriers", an essay by Hickman on the end of the Eighth Doctor comic strips, it is stated that when the 2005 revival of the series was announced, he had originally planned for Destrii to witness the Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
at the end of The Flood, followed by a "Ninth Doctor: Year One" story arc which would have written Destrii out before the Doctor's adventures resumed with Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
. This was vetoed by new series producer Russell T Davies.
A letter to Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
noted that in the Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts
Greeks Bearing Gifts (Torchwood)
"Greeks Bearing Gifts" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the seventh episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 26 November 2006.-Synopsis:...
", an alien calling itself "Mary" bore a strong resemblance to Destrii; the magazine's editors concurred. Later, The Torchwood Archives by Gary Russell
Gary Russell
Gary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
specified that Destrii and Mary are from the same system. Destrii's home planet Oblivion is listed along with Devos, Krant and Arcateen IV, V and VI form the Arcan system. The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
episode "Invasion of the Bane
Invasion of the Bane
-Sladen and Doctor Who:Elisabeth Sladen, who previously played Sarah Jane between 1973 and 1976. In 1981, she was offered the role again to ease the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, which she declined, but agreed to star in the pilot for the spin-off series K-9 and Company, which...
" had featured another such alien, "star poet", from Arcateen V.