History Characters / DoctorWhoEighthDoctor

* LimitedWardrobe: Cream trousers, black boots, green velvet frock coat, silk cravat and double-breasted waistcoat. This was based on a stylized "Wild Bill Hickok" fancy dress costume he stole (though it doesn't seem to much resemble any genuine outfit worn by Wild Bill Hickok). For his Creator/BigFinish series ''Dark Eyes'', he introduced a new costume: a blue leather naval coat, jeans and a brown pouch bag.
* LooseCanon: The ''first'' destruction of Gallifrey, in the [=EDAs=] that is, was the one the Eighth Doctor enacted to save Gallifrey from Faction Paradox (''The Ancestor Cell''). A previous book, ''Alien Bodies'', introduced the War storyline which would become central to the Revival Series: the loss of the Time Lords results in a universe where the laws of time are no longer being enforced ("The Book of the Still"). The Series/BigFinish anniversary episode "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus Zagreus]]" cleared up the confusion over those novels' canonicity, by stating they're an alternate timeline possibility (and forcing Eight to watch that alternate self for a bit). Although Creator/BigFinish still tends to be, as Creator/NicholasBriggs likes to put it, "a bit naughty" in regards to canon, and has Eight referencing the novels ''and'' the comics a few times later on.

* NiceGuy: Eight is the sweetest Doctor there's ever been... until BreakTheCutie sets in.

* TakeMyHand: To the Master, who refused and let himself be dragged into the Eye of Harmony. It's a bit of a recurring trope for Eight that [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho052Scherzo offering to take someone's hand ends very badly]].

* AmnesiacHero: Starts out this way, and manages to find new and exciting ways to contract amnesia every couple of stories -- both in the ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' novels and in Big Finish.
* ArchEnemy: The Master, who remains the only enemy to tackle the Eighth Doctor in all forms of media he appeared in; the telemovie, the comics, the books and the audios.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: In reaction to scheming Seven, Eight can't stay on one task or thought for more than two seconds. Everything carries the same weight. This became his principal trait in the ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' novels... to the point where, dying and with four minutes left to live, he proclaims boredom due to no books, TV, or knitting on hand.

* BigDamnKiss: Has a habit of randomly snogging people when he gets excited, and was consequently the first Doctor ''ever'' to be properly romantic with his companions. His kiss with Grace in the movie was as much a surprise for the audience as it was for her. Has another BigDamnKiss in Creator/BigFinish with companion Charley, although it's played for horror, with Grace (again) and Destrii in the comics, and with companions Sam, Fitz and Characters/BerniceSummerfield in the novels.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's a bit loopy even by Doctor standards, though it doesn't stop him getting the job done.
* ClassyCravat: He originally wore a grey one that came with his original Victorian ensemble. When he switches to a Regency era clothing he wears a more rugged blue one.

* DitzyGenius: Possibly the ditziest Doctor of them all, at least at first. Not so much later on.

* FiveFingerDiscount: In his single TV adventure, the Eighth Doctor demonstrated a talent for pickpocketing people while directly speaking with them. He uses this talent to steal an ID card and a gun... which he uses to hold himself hostage.
* HalfHumanhybrid: The Doctor infamously declares himself to be half human on his mother's side. The Master confirms he's half human by checking a [=DNA=]. Fans generally prefer to ignore this and the franchise never mentioned it again.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm a doctor. But probably not the one you're expecting."'']]

![[center:'''[[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Index]]:''' Incarnations of the Doctor | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFirstDoctor 1]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSecondDoctor 2]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor 3]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor 4]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoFifthDoctor 5]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSixthDoctor 6]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor 7]] | '''8''' | [[Characters/DoctorWhoWarDoctor War]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoNinthDoctor 9]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor 10]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoEleventhDoctor 11]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoTwelfthDoctor 12]] | [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirteenthDoctor 13]]]]

* SignificantWardrobeShift: After [[spoiler: Lucie's death]] utterly breaks him, a more cynical and somber Eight ditches his Victorian outfit and replaces it with a more practical WWI era leather peacoat in "Dark Eyes". By the time of ''Night of the Doctor'' he'll trade that in for a dishevelled Regency era ensemble when he's desperate to be the man ''he was'' but can't be anymore.

** He does not approve of Seven's chess master tendecies.

Notably, he was the Doctor who shattered the NoHuggingNoKissing policy forever, happily snogging his companions just because he wanted to. He also claimed to be half-human, which was either ignored or denied in later stories. Alas, TV audiences only knew him for a single night, owing to neither BBC nor Fox being interested in turning the TV movie into a full revival of the series despite it doing quite well in the franchise's native UK (Fox lost interest because the film flopped in America-- for whom it was directed-- though for whatever reason its British success didn't faze the BBC).

* VillainousBreakdown: [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks and Time Lords]] [[NotSoDifferent alike]] are screaming helplessly in the distance at Eight to stop and not use the Moment against them. He looks at the gnarled landscape of the wasteland world he is on, devastated by the Time War, looks to the skeleton of the mysterious woman turning to dust, and coldly ignores them.

* NotSoDifferent: From the Monk, with plenty of GreyAndGreyMorality.

* NotSoDifferent: As Cass points out to him, he and the Time Lords as a whole have committed so many atrocities during the Time War that there really is little difference between them and the Daleks.

* PungeonMaster: Extremely fond of them, even musing at one point that he picked some horrible FamousLastWords to go out on. Which might explain why he was so deliberate about choosing [[spoiler: his ''real'' last words.]]

* FamousLastWords: "Physician, heal thyself."

Bouncy, chatty and very fond of humans, the Eighth Doctor was fleshed out considerably in Creator/BigFinish audio stories and quickly became the series' BreakoutCharacter. After the new TV series stated that the Doctor would end up committing double genocide in the Last Great Time War, Big Finish started slowly but steadily [[BreakTheCutie breaking him]]. Eventually he would stop being in the monthly audios, and he would get his own separate series - "The "New Eighth Doctor Adventures" which takes place at a later time in the same continuity and its sequel series ''Dark Eyes'', ''Doom Coalition'', and ''Ravenous'' sees him eventually outgrowing his Victorian look.

In the later years of his life, he had turned colder and angrier and less willing to take on companions because it was becoming clear that something terrible in the universe had been brewing. Finally, the Daleks and Time Lords were locked into a terrible and enormous war, which the Doctor avoided like the plague. However, he got forced into involvement in its early years, but kept his distance from the center of the battle. When he offered safety to a gunship crewmember in an act of goodwill and got rebuked, Eight went down with the ship and awoke to the unavoidable truth that he ''must'' enter the Time War or the universe would soon be gone. Caving to despair and rage, he allowed himself to become a warrior and gave up on being the Doctor.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: His upbeat and forgiving attitude contrasted Seven's MagnificentBastard tendencies.

The [[{{Keet}} bouncy]], [[PrettyBoy charming]], [[ThePollyanna optimistic]] [[TheCharmer romantic]], [[BreakTheCutie slowly]] [[DarkerAndEdgier darkened]] by the [[HopelessWar Last Great]] [[WarIsHell Time War]] into a [[{{Hunk}} rugged]] WarriorPoet from [[TraumaCongaLine loss]] and [[HurtingHero sorrow]]. From the little we saw of him, the Eighth Doctor was a chatty, passionate figure who reveled in life and living and -- uniquely among the Doctors -- seemed to enjoy giving people hints about their futures.

* KaleidoscopeEyes: Usually blue, (sometimes described as IcyBlueEyes), but sometimes gray eyes or green. DependingOnTheWriter and his own mercurial personality, a lot of the associated characteristics of each eye color apply.

* TheMentallyDisturbed: His mental health is somewhat variable. He's usually sort of a high-functioning CloudCuckoolander, but he has moments of being certifiably insane. He has a full-on psychosis in ''Alien Bodies'', twice. ''The Slow Empire'' plays this for [[BlackComedy fairly dark humor]] and mentions that after developing TraumaInducedAmnesia, he occasionally couldn't distinguish between TV and reality, and so had attacks of being able to be DrivenToSuicide by the [[CrapsackWorld utter depressingness]] of ''Series/EastEnders'' [[note]]suggesting, incidentally, that the boredom of WalkingTheEarth alone turned him into a bit of a DayTimeDramaQueen[[/note]], and due to watching {{Superman}} he got some odd ideas about [[ClarkKenting disguises]] and "the relative position of the trousers and [[UnderwearOfPower underpants]]". He also seems to think that someone who was having a nosebleed four days ago may still need a handkerchief. He even had what may have been a momentary AxeCrazy blackout in ''City of the Dead''. In ''The Blue Angel'' he has an alternate self who apparently suffers from schizophrenia, completely averting FunnySchizophrenia; it's reasonably understated and not PlayedForLaughs at all. (Also, his POV in ''The Blue Angel'' is occasionally written in a subtly strange way — for example, he tends to bring something up which doesn't make a lot of sense without further explanation and then drift away from the topic, which resembles some [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder symptoms of schizophrenia]].)

* GallowsHumor: As a constant coping mechanism, which was eventually carried over to his final TV series appearance.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: After [[spoiler: Lucie's death]] utterly breaks him, a more cynical and somber Eight ditches his Victorian outfit and replaces it with a more practical WWI era leather peacoat in "Dark Eyes". By the time of ''Night of the Doctor'' he'll trade that in for a disheveled Regency era ensemble when he's desperate to be the man ''he was'' but can't be anymore.

* InnocentBlueEyes[=/=]IcyBlueEyes: Used in alternating ways to highlight both the lighter romantic sides of his personality as well as the more understated darker ones. The former is prominently on display in the movie promo-pictures, while the latter has come to the forefront in the ''Dark Eyes'' and "The Night of the Doctor" promo-pictures.

* DeadManWalking[=/=]NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: He did actually die in the spaceship crash that also claimed Cass' life, but is temporarily brought back to life for around 4 minutes by the Sisterhood of Karn, so he could choose his next regeneration.

* DownerEnding[=/=]CerebusSyndrome: Started out as the sunniest Doctor yet, with an unadulterated glee about the prospect of living and making new friends that would not be seen again until his Tenth or even Eleventh iteration. By the time he got to Karn, however, he is a broken and emotionally haggard man who believes he deserves to have his life ended in agony. He even renounces his very identity as the Doctor to become someone who can fight the war. This is the only time the Doctor ever regenerates [[TearJerker genuinely believing that all hope is lost]].

* ItHasBeenAnHonor[=/=]ToAbsentFriends: Before consuming the Sisterhood's regeneration elixir, he raises a toast to each of his Big Finish companions. Though he has since acquired several more companions that were not mentioned here, it's easy to interpret this toast as being for the companions he believes are dead.

** DarkMessiah: What he actually becomes.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: As seen in "The Name of the Doctor", he had a mostly off-screen adventure with the Second Doctor.

** One notable instance had him starting to ramble about ''Radio/JustAMinute'' to his captor, [[{{Adorkable}} of all things.]]

* [[spoiler:OutlivingOnesOffspring: Miranda, his adopted daughter who's implied to be his KidFromTheFuture, dies of RapidAging in ''Sometime Never''.]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulMcGann (2001–present), India Fisher (2010)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulMcGann (2001-present), Angus Villiers-Stuart (2020)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulMcGann (many occasions), Angus Villiers-Stuart (2020)

->'''Voiced by:''' Angus Villiers-Stuart (2020)

* FaceDeathWithDignity

* HeroicSuicide: Enforced by the Sisters Of The Flame.

* HalfHumanhybrid: The Master infamously declared him to be half human.

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: From himself! When [=McGann=] resumed the role in 2001, the writing for his Doctor leaned heavily on the earnest, almost innocent character he was in the TV movie and Eighth Doctor novels. As McGann found his feet in the role again and started having creative input in the character's direction, he turned into a more deadpan, world-weary yet still fiercely compassionate figure. His very earliest adventures with Charley could conceivably be the same man as the novels (and indeed featured many of the same writers). The Eighth Doctor by ''Night of the Doctor'' is ''very'' different.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Paul [=McGann=]'s certainly very attractive to begin with, but EDA writers often described the Doctor as younger, taller[[note]]The book Doctor often seems positively lanky and taller than most of his companions, but Paul McGann is only 5'8''![[/note]], thinner and prettier than [=McGann=].

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Paul [=McGann=]'s certainly very attractive to begin with, but EDA writers often described the Doctor as younger, taller, thinner and prettier than [=McGann=].

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: From himself! When [=McGann=] resumed the role in 2001, his interpretation of the character and his creative input on the show's direction meant that the Doctor went from the passionately earnest version of the novels built on the TV film, to a more ironic and deadpan version. His very earliest adventures with Charley could conceivably be the same man (and indeed featured many of the same writers). The Eighth Doctor by ''Night of the Doctor'' is ''very'' different.