Characters / Doctor Who – Davros

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Davros (Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Twelfth and Fourteenth Doctors^note the Fourteenth Doctor never encounters him face-to-face, though he does appear during his tenure)

"Name one planet whose history is not littered with atrocities and ambition for empire. It is a universal way of life!"

^{Click here to see Davros as a child.}
"Which side are you on? Are you the enemy?"

^{Click here to see Davros as an adult, pre-disfigurement.}
"The war has caused the Kaled race to mutate, but... within this casing, we can evolve, we can start anew, we can become stronger than ever!"

Played by: Michael Wisher (1975); David Gooderson (1979; 2021); Terry Molloy (1984–88); Julian Bleach (2008; 2015; 2023)

"Today the Kaled race is ended, consumed in a fire of war but, from its ashes will rise a new race, the supreme creature, the ultimate conquerer of the universe, the Dalek!!!"

The creator of the Daleks, a Kaled from the war-torn planet of Skaro. Davros was the Kaleds' greatest scientist, and he was indispensable to his people. Horribly crippled in an accident, his brainpower and intellect remained intact, which allowed him to maintain his position in a culture where the disabled were "rejected".

Davros originally created the Daleks as nothing more than a travel machine and protecting case for his people for their eventual fate; helpless blobs as the result of chemical weapons used in the war. But darker thoughts entered Davros's mind as he begin to tamper with their emotions to eradicate all feeling save aggression...

His genius is matched only by his insanity. One of his actors, Julian Bleach, has described him as a cross between Adolf Hitler and Stephen Hawking - which is both correct and horrifying. Davros has cheated death many, many times; nothing can stop this genocidal maniac from coming back over and over again - much like his creations!

If he's not having a dramatic rant, be incredibly concerned: he's plotting something and it will involve death.

Davros' relationship with the Doctor is one of begrudging mutual respect for the other's genius. Along with the Master, Davros is one of the strongest contenders for the title of the Doctor's Arch-Enemy.

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Tropes associated with the television continuity

• Aesop Amnesia: His defining trait in the Classic Series was his refusal to recognize that no matter what, the Daleks will always betray him in the end. But by the time of the Twelfth Doctor's era he has finally learned and accepted that while he may have created the Daleks, this does not mean that he controls them.
  Davros: [fondly] You know what children are like...
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • In "Genesis of the Daleks", Davros, in a towering moment of irony, begs the Daleks for pity, only for the Daleks to remind him that they have none. Three guesses who specifically bred this quality into the Daleks.
  • When his plot to use the Hand of Omega went sideways, Davros had the gall to plead with the Doctor for help. The Seventh Doctor shows about as much pity as Davros deserves.
    Davros: Have pity on me!
    The Doctor: I have pity for you.
  • Averted in "Journey's End"; despite the Doctor actually trying to save him, Davros all but spits the offer in the Doctor's face.
• Almighty Janitor: Played With. Davros is little more than a "pet" for the Supreme Dalek upon his return in Series 4, but it's his plan for the Reality Bomb his creations are following. Caan saved him from the Time War knowing he was the only way to recreate their race, and because of his personal enmity with the Doctor, Davros is effectively the face of the Dalek threat.
• And I Must Scream: Was frozen for 90 years, remaining conscious every second.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • As the creator of the Doctor's most hated enemies and the second most recurring individual villain, Davros is up there with the Master.
  • The Twelfth Doctor refers to Davros as his arch-enemy in "The Magician's Apprentice". Missy, the Master's female incarnation, who is standing next to the Doctor when he says it, takes some offence to the remark.
• An Arm and a Leg: His remaining hand gets shot off by Bostock in "Revelation of the Daleks", and he is later shown with an artificial hand in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End".
• Ax-Crazy: He lacks the mobility for much direct violence, but the sheer glee he takes in building doomsday weapons and causing massacres says a lot - not to mention the pride he occasionally expresses at the devastation the Daleks cause.
• Back from the Dead: He's killed by the Daleks in "Genesis" and succumbs to the Movellan virus in "Resurrection", yet manages to survive both times.
• Badass Normal: While "normal" is not the best word that could be used to describe someone like Davros, his genius is on-par with the Doctor's despite coming from a planet that was only barely above Earth's technology when he was born. At their height, his creations — the Daleks — nearly destroyed the Time Lords, who were top dogs of the universe during that time.
• Bait the Dog: He seemed like he was legitimately going to reform in "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar" as he was dying, but in truth used it to sucker the Twelfth Doctor into both reviving him and creating Dalek/Time Lord hybrids using his regeneration energy. The Doctor saw through it, and Out-Gambitted him.
• Bald of Evil: He's got no hair, and is evil as they come. Presumably whatever hair he did have got burnt off in the explosion that crippled him.
• Big Bad: Considering he made the Daleks, he's a contender for one of the Biggest Bads of the franchise. Specifically, he's the main antagonist of "Genesis of the Daleks", "Destiny of the Daleks", and "Revelation of the Daleks". He returns as this for Series 4 of the revival; although the Daleks are keeping him prisoner, he's the one pushing and guiding them to make the Reality Bomb. He returns to this role in "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar".
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The best way to describe his relationship with the Supreme Dalek in Series 4. While the Supreme Dalek is the one actually in control of the Daleks, with Davros being effectively its "pet", it's Davros who devised the Reality Bomb and whose plan the Daleks are following.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With the Supreme Dalek for "Resurrection of the Daleks", in which the two start off working together but have opposing agendas, and "Remembrance of the Daleks", which see his Imperial Daleks fighting the Supreme's Renegade Daleks in an Enemy Civil War.
• Body Horror: Davros' body was already ravaged by the bombing that crippled him (the Series 9 premiere shows that he once looked as human as the other Kaleds), but his physical condition deteriorates over the course of his appearances until he's little more than a head, kept alive by machines. He has most of his body back in the revival, but he sacrifices much of what's left of him to create more Daleks, leaving a gruesome cavity in his torso. A look at Davros outside of his chair in "The Witch's Familiar" shows that his body just ends slightly above where his waist used to be, with a cybernetically-enhanced spine showing through the absence of his lower body.
• Brain in a Jar: He appears to have been reduced to this in "Revelation of the Daleks". As it turns out, however, it's just a decoy.
• Breaking Speech: Fond of these, especially in the new series. He has broken the Tenth and Twelfth Doctors just by talking.
  Davros: The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun, but this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion them into weapons... behold your Children of Time, transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor, you made this.
  The Doctor: They're trying to help.
  Davros: Already I have seen them sacrificed today, for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman who fell opening the Sub Wave Network.
  The Doctor: Who was that?
  Rose: Harriet Jones. She gave her life to get you here.
  Davros: How many more? Just think, how many have died in your name? The Doctor, the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you yourself.
• Breakout Villain: He made such an impression in "Genesis of the Daleks" that all the remaining Dalek stories in the original series are basically Davros ones to some degree.
• Call-Back: While giving his speech about the Reality Bomb to the Tenth Doctor and Donna, he makes a similar hand gesture to the one he did while responding to the Fourth Doctor's hypothetical question about a virus. The horrifying implication being that it was the Doctor who unwittingly gave Davros the inspiration to create the Reality Bomb in the first place.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: On the receiving end: it's clear that after overthrowing him the Daleks would have killed him but for his scientific brilliance in constructing things like the reality bomb. Russell T. Davies' original script had this taken into Death Seeker territory - when Ten taunts him that the Daleks will exterminate him once they've finished destroying reality, a resigned Davros acknowledges that for him that'll be "peace".
• Character Development: A subtle case, but Davros' attitude has shifted somewhat by his return in the New Series. In most of the Classic Series he was dedicated in trying to control the Daleks, but by "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" two-parter he has reluctantly accepted the Supreme Dalek's control instead of trying to wrestle power from him, and by the Twelfth Doctor's tenure he has finally accepted he does not control them. While still egotistical, it's a bit more reserved than it used to be.
• The Chessmaster: Watch "Genesis of the Daleks" — for the whole 6 episodes, he is not so much as momentarily inconvenienced by any of the events of the serial until the very end.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He has a particularly developed case, which gives the fact that he does not foresee the Daleks' betrayal of him a nice sense of irony.
• Classic Villain: The Doctor's absolute antithesis, representing Pride and Wrath. He doesn't care if the entire universe is destroyed so long as he's the one responsible for it.
• Cold Ham: When opposing the 12th Doctor, Davros is dying, lacking the energy to be the Large Ham he usually is. It's somehow more disturbing.
• Cool Chair: His powered wheelchair which is effectively the bottom half of a Dalek casing.
• Costume Evolution: Throughout the show's history, Davros's appearance has changed subtly but noticeably as the years go by. In the Fourth Doctor Era, Davros' skin was a sickly green. Beginning with "Resurrection of the Daleks", his skin became orange and his face looked melted. In the revival, his skin is still orange, but more wrinkled.
• Crazy-Prepared: It's little surprise he has fitted his Cool Chair with a force field that is impervious to Dalek fire. It's also why the Twelfth Doctor steals it for himself when he is visiting Skaro.
  Twelfth Doctor: Proposition: Davros is an insane, paranoid genius who has survived among several billion trigger-happy mini-tanks for centuries. Conclusion: I'm definitely having his chair.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Not that he had much of a soul to begin with.
• Cyborg: Has a mechanical Third Eye, a life support chair replacing the lower half of his body and other mechanical devices keeping him alive. Later he ends up having his remaining hand replaced by an mechanical one.
• Dark Lord on Life Support: He gets around in a life-support chair that helps keep him alive. "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar" has this even more so than normal, as he's dying.
• Deadpan Snarker: Especially in "Revelation of the Daleks" and "The Magician's Apprentice".
• Didn't Think This Through: For such a mega-genius, creating an entire race of psychotic xenophobes who hate everything that isn't them and not exempting yourself from that category isn't such a good idea. To no one's surprise, the Daleks have no respect for their creator and continually stab him in the back.
• Dragon-in-Chief: To the Kaled government in "Genesis of the Daleks". He's technically working under them, but he's the mastermind behind the Dalek project and the moment the Kaled higher-ups intervene to try and shut it down, Davros arranges for them all to be completely eradicated.
• The Dreaded: Much like the Daleks, he is very much this to the point that the Doctor is frozen in fear upon hearing his voice for the first time in untold years.
• Emperor Scientist: As ruler of the Imperial Daleks, which Davros himself personally engineered and modified. He even literally becomes one in "Remembrance of the Daleks".
• Enemy Civil War: During the Sixth Doctor's time, Davros created Daleks that were loyal only to him, the Imperial Daleks (white and gold casing). This led to a civil war between them and the other Daleks (the Renegades), which lasted until "Remembrance of the Daleks", when the Seventh Doctor managed to take out both sides.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In "Genesis of the Daleks", he's quite upset when the Daleks kill Nyder, and when they move to kill his only other loyal supporters too, he is shocked and tries to think up reasons for why the Daleks ought to let the men live. Though it's downplayed and subverted in that he doesn't seem to care about them afterwards, not even mentioning them.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He truly, honestly believes that the Daleks killing every other lifeform will be a good thing.
• Evil Counterpart: To the Doctor. Both of them are genius outcasts who have lived for centuries and are on opposite sides of the Time War. Davros is the creator of the Daleks, while the Doctor is the one who has to keep ensuing their destruction whenever they resurface.
• Evil Cripple:
  • His laboratory was bombed out while he was still inside it. The blast burned away his left arm, entire lower body, and even his taste buds. Davros ended up hooked in a life support system with a bionic eye and other mechanical bits in his body. On top of that, he lost his right hand when Bostock shot it to bits in "Revelation of the Daleks" and now has a robot prosthesis. Oh, and half his chest cavity has been hollowed out to clone Daleks out of his DNA. Davros has been ground up like no other.
  • For a long time it was believed that the blast also burned away his eyes, but according to "The Witch's Familiar", he still has his original eyes, it's just very, very hard to tell given how badly his face has been damaged. We also get to see Davros out of the chair... and he stops at the stomach. We see his spine.
• Evil Genius: Though crippled with only one working arm, he created the most dangerous life form the universe has ever seen and set them on a path of genocide against all other forms of life in existence. His intellect is so great that the Daleks often will refuse to kill him, despite him being an "inferior" creature by their doctrine, simply because his intelligence is too useful to them. Even the Doctor readily admits Davros' genius, and he is not one inclined to praise other's mental capabilities (at least not without stating how much smarter he is). As for why he's doing any of this? If the Daleks win, and all life is wiped out save for them... it would be his hand that set it all in motion. He would be the one who killed the universe.
  Davros: That power would set me above the gods! And through the Daleks, I shall have that power!
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humour: When he does joke, they are terrible. Especially "the only other chair on Skaro" bit.
• Evil Is Hammy: He screams a lot, which is probably a reason his creations do as well.
• Evil Is Petty: Played with in "Revelation of the Daleks". It's indicated that he despises the Tranquil Repose DJ simply for his goofy performances. However, Davros does tolerate the DJ, only punishing him after he assists the Doctor and Peri.
• Evil Overlord: On the times the Daleks happen to listen to him and he's able to assert control. His diabolical intelligence and scientific genius make for a very ruthless tyrant.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Julian Bleach gives him a deep rasp similar to Sheev Palpatine.
• Evil Wears Black: Clad in a black uniform, much like the other Kaleds. His mobility chair is also black.
• Eviler than Thou: To both the Kaleds and the Thals, whom he was responsible for wiping out. Only to then have this trope pulled on him by his own creations.
• Evilutionary Biologist: Davros realised the Kaleds were beginning to mutate, thanks to the damage done to Skaro by the long war. Then he decided not only to speed up everyone turning into blobby little tentacles, but also felt the need to remove a few unnecessary things like "pity" or "empathy" while he was there.
• Eyes Always Shut: While it initially seems like Davros simply doesn't have eyes anymore the episode "The Witches Familiar" shows that he does have his original eyes though they're only shown after Davros shuts off his mechanical Third Eye so he can truly see the Doctor for the first time.
• Expy: He was modelled on The Mekon.
• Facial Horror: That bomb that blew up his lab didn't spare his face, either.
• Falsely Reformed Villain: In "Revelation of the Daleks", he takes to calling himself the Great Healer and offering a solution to galactic famine. Thanks to this, Davros can truly call himself humanitarian.
• Faux Affably Evil: For a shriveled up humanoid potato, Davros can be surprisingly charming when it suits him, but usually he's faking it.
• Foil:
  • To the Doctor himself. Both are brilliant geniuses and outcasts among their people, but while the Doctor is motivated by a desire to get away from his stagnant homeworld and explore the universe, Davros is an Absolute Xenophobe who wants to see all other alien races eradicated by the Daleks. The Doctor, despite having the means to commit violence, is a pacifist who tries to refrain from it as much as possible, while Davros, despite being bound to a wheelchair, is perfectly willing to harm others and even destroy the entire universe just to satiate his ego.
  • To the Master. Both are the top contenders for the Doctor's Arch-Enemy, but while the Master is someone who just wants to match wits with the Doctor and is generally viewed as an equal, Davros is single-minded in his goal to revive the Daleks and push for their conquest of everything. The Doctor and Master were once friends and still often remain chummy as Friendly Enemies, while the Doctor and Davros just full-on hate one another outside of rare instances.
• For Science!: He once admitted he'd gladly wipe out the whole universe just to prove it could be done.
• For the Evulz: The Doctor poses him a philosophical question: "If you had a virus that, when released, would kill everyone in the universe, would you release it?" Davros' answer is that yes, he would release it, simply for the thrill of experiencing such power.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Once invaded the real world with one of his Dalek minions to force the orchestra playing at the Royal Albert Hall to play the Dalek "music of destruction."
• Freudian Excuse: Throughout the series, it's implied that Davros' violent insanity comes from his experiences in the Thousand Year War. "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar" explores this further (see Used to Be a Sweet Kid). Big Finish debunked it with their miniseries "I, Davros": yes, Davros grew up in a horrible environment in a constant state of oppression and warmongering, and yes he was being deliberately groomed for power by his equally-villainous mother, but it's also made clear that Davros was born a psychopath and probably would've ended up as a Mad Scientist regardless of his childhood.
• Friendly Enemy:
  • One-sided with the Doctor and eventually subverted. On a few occasions, he has put aside his threats and seriously tried to engage the Doctor in talks of science, philosophy etc. Probably because the Doctor is the only man he's met who is on his level, intelligence wise. The Doctor, however, has nothing but loathing and contempt for him throughout his lives, until the Twelfth Doctor, who's moved to show him kindness and compassion by giving a him a little regeneration energy... at which point Davros viciously stabs him in the back, having planned the whole thing from the start to take advantage of him... except Twelve saw it coming a mile away and factored it into his plans by directing that same energy into the very angry Daleks discarded in the city's catacombs, who are quick to take revenge on their comrades for throwing them away.
  • After some nasty conflicts over the years (including at least one full-blown war with armies involved), the Daleks and Davros now seem to be in this relationship, with the Daleks recognising that they have some obligations to Davros as their creator and letting him hang out with them, and Davros still openly pursuing his own personal objectives but not blatantly trying to enslave the Daleks in the service of them.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He started off as just a child from the war-torn planet of Skaro, but would eventually become a Mad Scientist who ended up wiping out his own people and whose creations, the Daleks, would threaten the safety of the universe.
• Genius Cripple: Emphasis on genius. Despite appearances, he's actually a normal Kaled, yet is easily on the Doctor's level when it comes to brainpower.
• Genocide from the Inside: He helped the Thals commit genocide against the Kaleds when the Doctor persuaded the Kaled government to try to stop the Dalek project.
• Genre Blind: Fails to realize that Daleks are xenophobic towards him along with the rest of creation. And he made them like that.
• Godhood Seeker: Created the Daleks to put himself "above the gods", and admits he would wipe out all life to get the same rush.
• Gone Horribly Right: He wanted the Daleks to be ruthless, xenophobic bastards obsessed with their own supremacy. He succeeded alright, since this led them to kill him for a time and refuse to obey him for not being Dalek.
• Greater-Scope Villain: If he's not directly involved in a Dalek story, he is this. As the creator of the Daleks, he's both directly and indirectly responsible for all the death and destruction they've caused across the universe.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: "The Witch's Familiar" shows Davros has lost his legs and some of his lower body. He is apparently connected to his chair by a mechanically enhanced spine.
• Handicapped Badass: Only has one arm, a bionic eye and the upper half of his body, yet still manages to be one of the Doctor's greatest enemies.
• Hell Is That Noise: His voice modulator is faulty, but oddly off-putting most times. When he screams, however, he sounds just like a Dalek.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Certain pre-revival spin-off media, most notably The Terrestrial Index book of the early 90s, postulated that eventually Davros' quest for control over his creations led to his further experimenting on himself and losing the last vestiges of his Kaled identity, becoming the Emperor seen in Evil of the Daleks.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the Daleks. In "Resurrection of the Daleks" he seems to be learning, and tries to wipe out the Daleks and start again. In "Remembrance of the Daleks" it is implied he was so successful with his new Daleks he has taken over Skaro. However, he falls victim to this again when he tries to use the Hand of Omega and destroys Skaro, in the Seventh Doctor's first use of this trick.
• Hope Crusher: He tries to push the already guilt-stricken Doctor to the Despair Event Horizon in hopes that he can turn him into a man willing to kill Davros's younger self, willing to commit genocide against the Daleks at last... all to prove his own belief that the Doctor and his compassion are wrong and have an ultimate victory over his nemesis.
• Human Resources:
  • Utilized the dead and frozen on Necros for material to his new Imperial Daleks.
  • In "Journeys End" it's revealed that, after being saved from the Time War, he brought the Dalek's back from the brink by using ''his own body.''
• Hypocrite:
  • In his first appearance, wherein he was prepared to exterminate all creation, but was shocked when the Daleks turned on him. This aspect of his personality has left as he has gotten more and more insane.
  • Also, he is openly contemptuous of the concepts of compassion and mercy, viewing them as weaknesses and consciously attempting to breed them out of the Daleks. Several of his stories have ended with him desperately shrieking for compassion and mercy from either the Doctor or the Daleks.
  • As his plan with the Reality Bomb quite literally blows up around him, Davros spitefully dubs the Doctor "the destroyer of worlds". Davros, whose creations have ravaged the universe, who once happily proclaimed that he would end all life purely for the feeling of power it would give him, and whose plans in that very story were centred around the destruction of reality itself (something in which Davros took an utterly sinful glee).
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most recognisable and iconic villains in all of the Whoniverse, and one of the contenders for the Doctor's Arch-Enemy, and he debuted in Season 12.
• In Spite of a Nail: At the end of "The Witch's Familiar", the Doctor saves Davros as a young child, and tells him the value of mercy... and he still turns out an utter bastard. That one bit of mercy saved Clara's life, though, in spite of what Davros would become. It also goes a way to explaining Daleks like "Rusty" and why they need a Morality Dial to stay evil.
• It's All About Me: He really does not care about anyone but himself; he was willing to sacrifice all of his own people just to ensure his Dalek project would go through. He's also so self-centered that he keeps forgetting that the Daleks (with exceptions) are not slavishly loyal to him.
• Joker Immunity: Like the Master and the Daleks themselves, Davros is too iconic a villain to kill off for good. Russell T Davies even outright admitted that Davros survived the events of "Journey's End" because he didn't want to kill off such a classic villain.
  Davros: I am very difficult to kill. You should already know that.
• Karmic Death: Not quite death, but his defeats are typically ironic.
• Lack of Empathy: Doesn't care for anyone, including his fellow Kaleds. In fact he thinks empathy is a weakness, which is why he engineered it out of the Daleks. He even tries to convince the Doctor that, as he puts it, "Compassion is wrong."
• Large Ham: As an Expy of Adolf Hitler, he's prone to melodramatic speeches and grand gestures.
• Last of His Kind:
  • Not stated as such in-universe, but he is the last known surviving Kaled. Just don't expect much angst from him about it, because he helped the Thals kill all of the Kaleds, then used the Daleks to kill most of the Thals.
  • In "The Witch's Familiar", while talking with the Doctor, he says a man should have somewhere to belong, a home, a people, the implication being that he feels the absence of the Kaleds — albeit for his own nationalist, fascist reasons.
    "A man should have a race, a people, an allegiance. A man should belong."
• Light Is Not Good: His Imperial Daleks all have white casings in contrast to the dark gray ones of the Dalek Renegades, and as their Emperor he also has a white dome and mobility chair.
• Mad Scientist: Sealing tiny little mutant omnicidal maniacs into personal tanks can't be anything but mad.
• Major Injury Underreaction: In most cases, Davros barely acknowledges the horrible state of his body beyond a clinical analysis. Occasionally, some people even note that Davros has the intelligence and scientific background to fully heal or replace his body, but uses his constant agony as motivation.
• The Maker: Of the Daleks. The Daleks seen in "The Magician's Apprentice" even refer to him as "the creator" and seem to have a certain level of reverence for him, even if they don't listen to him.
• Maker of Monsters: Considering he created the Daleks, he has a strong claim to being one. Some EU materials have Davros developing other monstrous creations as well, including hybrid Mechanoids called "Juggernauts" designed specifically to kill Daleks in one audio story, and the Nightmare Child during the Time War.
• The Man Behind the Monsters: Unlike his creations, Davros still looks somewhat humanoid on account of being a Human Alien.
• Man in a Kilt: Well, the first actor was. When he played the character, he wore a kilt underneath the "Dalek wheelchair". Also applies to the "wheelchair" itself, as it's been continually referred to as one during filming. And he was Scottish during his second appearance for some reason.
• Manipulative Bastard: Manipulates the Doctor into giving him regeneration energy. He is a very good actor.
• Master Actor: "The Witch's Familiar" shows Davros can be quite the actor when he needs to, even doing Crocodile Tears to get the Doctor to feel sympathy for him.
• Monster Progenitor: To the Daleks. He's not a Dalek himself, but with his Dalek-esque life-support machine and his Omnicidal Maniac tendencies, he's halfway there. He's the creator of the original race, his own Imperial Daleks and the reborn Dalek Empire of the Medusa Cascade (which, for added points, are grown from his own cells).
• Mood-Swinger: He can ramp up from calm discussion of philosophy or his latest plan to screaming megalomaniacal rants in seconds.
• Motive Rant: Two prominent examples, one in the Classic series and one in the Revival, each establishing that creating the Daleks and guiding them to succeed was essentially one massive ego stroke for him.
  • In "Genesis of the Daleks", there's the rant he goes on when the Doctor tries to talk him out of creating the Daleks, comparing them to a virus capable of destroying the universe.
  "It is an interesting conjecture. The only living thing, a microscopic organism, reigning supreme. A fascinating idea! Yes... Yes... To hold in my hand, a capsule that contained such power. To know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes! I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! And through the Daleks, I! Shall! Have! That! Power!"
  • In Series 4, there's the speech he gives explaining the Reality Bomb, in which he notably also makes the same gesture he did while giving the above speech.
  "Across the entire Universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading. People, planets and stars will become dust, and the dust will become atoms, and the atoms will become... nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift of the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every SINGLE CORNER OF CREATION! THIS is my ultimate victory, Doctor: The destruction of reality ITSELF!"
• Multiversal Conqueror: He fills this role in the Series 4 finale, although he wants to destroy them rather than rule them, leaving only Daleks.
• Narcissist: Creating the Daleks was effectively one big ego streak for him. He'd gladly wipe out all other life in the entire universe simply to be the one responsible for ending it all.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: The Kaleds and the Daleks are blatantly Nazi allegories. Davros, as a Mad Scientist, would be their Mengele.
• Non-Action Big Bad: His crippling injuries and confinement to a life support chair mean he's not up to much physical fighting. Doesn't stop him from being one of the Doctor's greatest enemies and biggest threats to the whole universe.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • He's tried to pull this on the Doctor a few times, such as in "Journey's End".
    Davros: The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor. You take ordinary people, and you fashion them into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor; you made this.
  • He even ventures that the Twelfth Doctor's face is so much like his.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: From his perspective, he thinks he's doing a service to the Kaleds by replacing them or transforming them into the Daleks, and believes that their Omnicidal Maniac tendencies will bring an end to war. In reality he's motivated by a god complex and cannot fathom an actual peaceful solution.
• Obviously Evil: He's a hideously scarred man with a skeletal face and a penchant for hamming it up while talking about how Virtue Is Weakness. The only reason anyone ever trusts him is because he's an expert manipulator and people value his vast intellect.
• Omnicidal Maniac:
  • Especially in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", when he planned "THE DESTRUCTION! OF REALITY! ITSELF!!!"
  • This was alluded to back in "Genesis of the Daleks", where he admitted that, if he could wipe out all life with his own creation, he would, for no other reason than because he could. Explains the Daleks.
    The Doctor: Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?
    Davros: It is an interesting conjecture! [...] To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice... To know that the tiny pressure of my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything... Yes, I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!
• Pet the Dog: The only being he's ever treated with anything close to kindness that wasn't faked was Nyder, and the Daleks killed him a long time ago. He also seems to be genuinely impressed by Dalek Caan breaking into the Time War, and tells the Supreme Dalek to "show respect" after it calls Caan an insane abomination.
• Playing Both Sides: Worked as top scientist for the Kaleds, but when his superiors attempted to shut down his project, Davros aided the Thals in destroying them before using his Daleks on them too.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Lacks the extreme xenophobia of his creations. While he still views the Daleks as supreme to all other forms of life, he isn't all that concerned with where the source for their genetic material comes from, believing the final result is all that matters.
• The Quisling: Gives instructions to the Thals, the race his people the Kaleds have been fighting against for a thousand years, on how to destroy the Kaleds when they threaten to shut down his Dalek project. Then subverted when he sends the Daleks to wipe out the Thals.
• Really 700 Years Old: We don't exactly know how old Davros is, but thanks to his built-in life support system and frequent bouts of suspended animation he's clearly lived long beyond the natural limits of a Kaled. By Series 9, he is finally dying and Ohila notes he should have already turned to dust centuries ago, so he tricks the Doctor into giving him a new lease on life.
• Returning Big Bad: After the Dalek Emperor, the Cybermen and the Master served as the main villains for the first three seasons of revival Doctor Who, it's natural that Davros was the next Big Bad to reappear.
• Shock and Awe: In later stories, he would use his right hand to to discharge electricity to stun enemies.
• Smug Snake: Downplayed. Whilst he is a supremely competent one due to being one of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, his extreme arrogance and inability to read his creations leading to his first death at the end of his debut episode. Despite this, he continues trying to work with his creations, even as they keep on turning on him.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: When he's not hamming it up, he's this. Tends to switch between them on the fly. Is mainly this in his Series 9 appearance (justified, since he's dying).
• The Sociopath: Shows all the hallmarks of highly intelligent yet violent psychopath; an ego so big he practically sees himself as a god, a profound Lack of Empathy to the point he thinks it's a weakness, and an impressive capacity for manipulation. He can also be rather charming, notably in his one-sided dynamic with the Doctor.
• The Starscream: To his superiors in the Kaled government, whom he eventually has killed when they get in the way of his research.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It's probably not a coincidence that his "children" have a single cyclopean eye in the center of their "heads," a single manipulator limb on the right side of their bodies, and scoot around on hovering angled flat surfaces. They also have a tendency to spit out their lines one word at a time when emotionally agitated; their "father" just isn't emotionally agitated all the time like they are.
• Super Wheelchair: Based the Daleks' armour on his own bionic eye and life-support chair.
• Team Dad: In a bizarre way, he acts as a sort of one for the Daleks in the revival series, having given up trying to exert control over them and instead being content to simply see his "children" reign supreme.
• Too Dumb to Live: Despite being a genius whose brain was so invaluable the Kaleds made an exception to their hatred of the disfigured, when creating the Daleks, he gives them a burning loathing for anything not them, and didn't exclude himself from that category, leading to the Daleks backstabbing him numerous times. To boot, he also didn't give them a concept of pity, so his pleas to get them to not execute the Kaled scientists falls on deaf ears. To his credit though, "The Magician's Apprentice" reveals he had at least enough foresight to give his chair a built-in one-way forcefield that keeps the Daleks from shooting him.
• Unexplained Recovery:
  • "Resurrection of the Daleks" ended with him succumbing to the Movellan virus. In his next appearance, he's fine.
    • Even expanded media doesn't explain it; Davros opens with him in an escape pod owned by the Galactic Bank, launched over ninety years prior to the main storyline with Davros having been trapped there in a semi-conscious state ever since, but it's never explained how he cured himself of the virus.
  • Happens again in the New Series. In "Journey's End", he's last seen on an exploding Dalek saucer spitefully rebuffing the Tenth Doctor's offer to save him. Seven years later, in "The Magician's Apprentice", he pops up on Skaro without any explanation.
• The Unfettered: There is absolutely nothing he's not prepared to do to ensure the survival of the Daleks... or himself.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The Twelfth Doctor accidentally ended up on Skaro when Davros was still a kid, and was in the process of saving him from a mine field until he learned that the boy he was trying to save would grow up to be his most hated enemy. And Davros remembers the encounter.^note Big Finish did an audio drama, I, Davros, which came to the conclusion that Davros is naturally a sociopath and would end up as an evil Mad Scientist regardless of any outside circumstances. In the end, the Doctor saves him from the minefield anyway.
• Villainous Breakdown: He very quickly lapses into one when his creations betray him. And when the Hand of Omega is activated.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He was the head of the Kaled Scientific Elite, and later took on the guise of the "Great Healer" on Necros (working hard to avoid creating "consumer resistance").
• Villains Out Shopping: The short story "Father of the Daleks" has Davros meeting up with the Doctor of all people (implied to be Eleven) at Christmas on multiple planets. Even if he doesn't really understand the concept and why it spread to multiple alien cultures, he finds he can at least enjoy the sight of the festive lights coming on.
• We Can Rebuild Him: The novelization to "Remembrance Of The Daleks" said he was originally injured in a Thal bombardment and had to be rebuilt
• Where I Was Born and Razed: He helped the Thals kill all of the Kaleds, then used the Daleks to kill most of the Thals.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • He genuinely respects the intellects of the preserved on Necros, and even believes he's honouring them by converting them into Daleks.
  • Also most certainly considers the Doctor this. And the Daleks, whenever they're opposed to him.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Davros tries to play on the Doctor's sympathies by asking to see the sunrise with his own eyes one last time. The Doctor decides to donate a little regeneration energy to help him along, at which point Davros reveals it was an act so he could drain all the regeneration energy to create Dalek/Time Lord hybrids. Unfortunately for him, the Doctor knew what he was up to and knew the Meat Moss Daleks would also be energized, and they hate other Daleks.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: In "Destiny of the Daleks", he apparently still thinks it's the Philip Hinchcliffe era, and that the story is another grim Nazi allegory. In the far Lighter and Softer Graham Williams/Douglas Adams era, he ends up coming across as an overblown idiot rather than a dangerous villain.
• You See, I'm Dying: In "The Magician's Apprentice", he is dying and wants to see the Doctor.

Tropes associated with Big Finish

Voiced by: Terry Molloy (2003–present)

Davros first appeared for A Day in the Limelight in the episode "Davros", and went on to get his own Big Finish spinoff titled "I, Davros". He also has encountered the Doctor several times, including a future incarnation (from his perspective, anyway), and during the Time War.

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• Alternate Self:
  • "Masters of War" features a Davros in an alternate universe where the Third Doctor was never stranded on Earth and arrived on Skaro with the Brigadier. In this history Davros abandoned the Daleks under the belief that he could never truly make them perfect and joined an alien race known as the Quatch who he believed could help him. He eventually learned however that the Quatch were in fact responsible for the Thal-Kaled war and his accident, and betrayed them by pulling a Heroic Sacrifice that sent them back to their original dimension and preventing them from taking over Skaro.
  • During the Time War, an alternate Davros who lived a peaceful life was corrupted by the Daleks and merged with various other versions of himself, becoming little more than a copy of the original Davros.
  • In Doctor of War, the Fourth Doctor’s decision to destroy the Daleks in “Genesis of the Daleks” caused a time paradox and the Time War starting earlier than in the main universe. The Doctor, regenerating into a new incarnation called the Warrior, spent centuries fighting in the war with the paradox also altering his history to the point he has no memory of Davros. When the White Guardian sent the Warrior on the quest for the Key to Time, she pairs him with Davros instead of Romana.
  • In Anti-Genesis, the Master steals a Time Lord device used to alter what should be fixed points in time, and lures Davros into a trap he does not survive, leaving him free to ascend in the Kaled ranks as their new scientist and creator of the Daleks.
• And I Must Scream: Prior to being freed by Lytton, Davros spent ninety years floating in a space capsule, completely alone, with every second feeling like the worst kind of psychological torture.
• Badass Boast: "Everything ends. Eventually. Until now."
• Bastard Bastard: In the first episode of "I, Davros", it is revealed his mother Calcula's husband was sterile when he was conceived and his biological father was Councillor Quested.
• Body Horror:
  • One of the flashbacks in the "Davros" episode details the moments after Davros having narrowly survived a Thal attack, but suffered horrific injuries because of it, including having most of his flesh cooked off.
  Davros: ... What ... what is that smell?
  Ral: [hesitantly] ... It's you, Davros.
  • At one point, during a "Freaky Friday" Flip, the Doctor learns what it's like to be Davros: Constant, horrific, agonizing pain, and he seriously admits that if he could kill himself at that moment, he might. Davros, naturally, doesn't have the same problem.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The Emperor has the alternate Davros created in Palindrome put in stasis after he tries to subvert the Daleks to his cause, reasoning that in spite of his insanity and The Starscream tendencies his genius could still prove useful in the Time War.
• Crazy-Prepared: In the aptly named Davros, the nutjob in question is so prepared for the Doctor that he's trapped the Sixth Doctor in a cave with a nuclear bomb in it. The bomb has a speaker wired into it. Why, you may ask? So that he can hammily taunt the Doctor before he gets nuked.

  Davros: Goodbye, Doctor. I shall... miss you. [snickers] but then... a nuclear bomb [chuckles] — that couldn't ''possibly'' miss! [full-tilt psychopathic cackling] NOT AT THAT RANGE! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!!!

• Creepy Monotone: 16-year-old Davros, heard in "Innocence", almost sounds like a regular inquisitive teenage boy — but speaks in a detached and scientific way, with very blunted affect. The result is genuinely creepy.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: In Palindrome, an alternate version of Davros is manipulated into being merged with some of his alternate selves by the Dalek Time Strategist, who 'promises' Davros that he will be able to make the new Daleks better than they were. Unfortunately, while this alternate Davros was basically a good man, the sheer amount of alternate Davroses who did turn to evil eventually overwhelms him, to the extent that he kills his Thal wife and doesn't even recognise her.
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Palindrome sees the Dalek Time Strategist use an alternate Davros to basically 'recreate' the seemingly-dead 'Prime' Davros, but for all his talk that the alternate Davros will be in control of the amalgamation, it is soon clear that the Daleks still see Davros as little more than a means to an end and would have ignored him if he had tried to change them.
• Driven to Suicide: Deliberately ignored; Davros opens with the moment when Davros contemplated whether or not he should kill himself after he was crippled. In The Curse of Davros, when the Sixth Doctor was trapped in Davros's body, he reflected that he wouldn't be able to keep going if he was stuck in Davros's body for good. Despite the beliefs of others, Davros chooses to use his pain and agony to inspire himself to do more, which might be commendable if he wasn't using his existence to plan how to kill more people.
• Enemy Mine: He comes to deeply admire the Sixth Doctor, and considers him the closest thing he's got to a friend. Six does not agree. At all.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played with in the Big Finish Audio Dramas Davros and I, Davros; young Davros seems to demonstrate real friendship for his colleague Reston, even bearing something close to romantic feelings towards fellow scientist Shan, and despite his complicated relationship with his family, he appears to demonstrate genuine affection for his sister Yarvel and mother Calcula. However, it soon becomes clear that his ambitions and Lack of Empathy override any real feelings he has for anyone but himself: over the course of I, Davros, he leaves Reston to die alone out of sheer disgust, has Shan used as a scapegoat and executed, and uses the bodies of both Yarvel and Calcula in his experiments (although he didn't kill either himself). And every time he comes close to experiencing something like remorse or even nostalgia for the time he spent with his "loved ones", it only ends up becoming a springboard for another horrific act.
• Evil Can Not Comprehend Good: In I, Davros, his only friend Reston asks Davros to kill him after he's wounded so that he wouldn't slow Davros down and so he won't be captured by scavengers. Davros sees Reston's attempt at giving Davros the best chance of survival as a sign of weakness, since to him nothing is more important than one's survival.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Gets into one with the Sixth Doctor in Curse of Davros, when the Doctor tried to sabotage Davros's efforts to change the Napoleonic Wars by switching bodies with Davros; Davros, naturally, enjoyed being in his enemy's body for a time.
• Freudian Excuse: Invoked: his childhood was a bit screwed up, with his mother being pretty much an Expy of Livia. Still, it's abundantly clear that he would have become a Mad Scientist no matter what, and that's he's naturally a sociopath.
  • Played straight in Palindrome, which shows that if he hadn't grown up during the Kaled/Thal war, he would have become a genuinely Nice Guy and loving husband.
• Hypocrite: Rails against the very concept of a Supreme Dalek in the TV series proper - but The Curse of Davros establishes there's an Imperial Supreme acting as his Number Two.
• Joker Immunity: Played for Drama; Six recognises it as yet another way in which he and Davros are similar.
• Large Ham: If you think Eight is a large ham, remember this is the person who came close to out-hamming Eight (a feat of it's own merit!)
• Laughing Mad: "The Davros Mission" gives us Davros having a laughing fit at the idea that anyone would want to save him. It's terrifying.
• Long Game: In "Terror Firma", it's revealed that he's been tracking the TARDIS ever since "Storm Warning".
• Loss of Identity: During his encounter with Eight, he's suffering a Sanity Slippage where he's succumbing to a new personality that identifies itself as 'the Dalek Emperor'.
• Mad Doctor: Leads to one hell of a Wham Line in "Terror Firma":
  Davros: I was able to operate–
  Eighth Doctor: My TARDIS?
  Davros: Operate on your TARDIS.
• Morton's Fork: A core element of the "Masters Of War" story is an alternate Davros constantly having to choose between two negative outcomes: either give his Daleks some kind of moral compass and compassion and have his entire army be more vulnerable because of it, or create them without morals and inevitably end up betrayed by them. The episode really dives into this idea and explores it from all possible angles.
• Motive Rant: He's infamous for getting in at least one good rant per story. His day in the limelight episode, therefore, begins with one showing his thoughts immediately after receiving his crippling injuries as he contemplates whether or not to kill himself.
• Nature Versus Nurture: The audios have gone back and forth on what exactly turned Davros into genocidal madman he is, whether the war between the Kaleds and the Thals created a horrible enough situation that turned him insane or whether he was always a monster.
  • I, Davros seems to support the "nature" answer by demonstrating that Davros was always ambitious and borderline psychopathic from an early age, but he still required the influence of events throughout his life to be shaped into the omnicidal madman he became.
  • Palindrome leans towards the "nurture" argument, depicting a version of Davros in a world where the Kaleds and Thals never went to war. He is a kindhearted scientist who is married to a Thal, and displays none of the cruelty or racism of his alternate self. He adores his wife, and is willing to destroy a dimensional portal he's spent his life building to save her life. It's only after he's tricked by the Time Strategist into merging with every other possible Davros, that the violent traits of version of him who did grow up in the war begin to manifest.
• "Not So Different" Remark: From Six. Davros poses that they might have been friends if they hadn't been enemies. Six does not agree.
• Psychological Horror
• Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Palindrome features an alternate Davros on a Skaro where Kaleds and Thals have been at peace for centuries (it's suggested that the Time Lords attacked the planet in the distant past to stop the creation of the Daleks and this prompted the two species to band together). The Dalek Time Strategist tricks him into being merged with some of his other selves to restore a variation of the 'Prime' Davros.
• Start of Darkness: We first get to hear a few flashbacks of his life on Skaro before he became an Evil Cripple in Davros. After that, the box set "I, Davros" follows his military career starting at age 16, and offers a glimpse into his family circumstances. As it turns out, he always had psychopathic traits, and the influence of toxic mentor figures only amplified his unpleasant nature.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Subverted in the first audio of the I, Davros series. While Davros does show a more caring side at sixteen and ironically judges his sister for not showing empathy towards an animal, he's just as much of a psychopath as he is as an adult.
• Villain with Good Publicity: In "Davros", the eponymous warmonger is idolized by a small but dedicated (and controversial) group of people in the 38th century. A woman named Loraine Baynes, the most prominent of these people, even arranges for him to be revived and placed as a head scientific consultant for an interplanetary corporation. It doesn't end well.

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"I had hoped to see the sun one last time with the eyes of my true self."