Time Lord Victorious was a 2020-2021 multi-media Crisis Crossover event covering all the then-active parts of the Doctor Who Expanded Universe, with arcs in both the Titan comics and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, two New Series Adventures novels, and several Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas. This Titan comic arc had the subtitle Defender of the Daleks, was created by the coinciding Doctor Who (Titan): Thirteenth Doctor creative team of writer Jody Houser and artist Roberta Ingranata, and published in two installments followed by a collection.
The Tenth Doctor suddenly and mysteriously finds himself and his TARDIS in a timeline where the Last Great Time War never occurred, and where the Daleks are desperate for him to help them against the Hond, an omnicidal species of abominations from Time Lord myth who intend to wipe out all life in the universe including themselves. Against his impulses, the Doctor teams up with the Daleks to defend the rest of the universe.
This series includes the following tropes:
- Admiring the Abomination: The Doctor's first response on seeing the Hond horde is "Oh, but you are beautiful".
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Doctor forces the Dalek Emperor to ask him politely for help.
- Alternate Timeline: Created by something unexplained within the story.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Done when the Prime Strategist shoots a security drone that was creeping up on the Doctor.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Thirteenth Doctor turns up at the end to save Ten from the Daleks.
- Continuity Nod: The series begins with Ten saying "What?" three times, in a reference to the cliffhangers leading into his Christmas specials.
- The Creon: The Prime Strategist tells the Doctor that it does not want to be Emperor.
- Death Course: The security systems of the Vault of Obscenities. Lampshaded by Ten:"Ooh, built a big old building chock full of important stuff. Better load it up with death traps!"
- Death Seeker: The Hond are seeking their own destruction as well as everyone else.
- Enemy Mine: The whole concept of the series, with the Doctor forced to team up with the Daleks against something even worse.
- Feed It with Fire: Dalek attacks make the Hond horde stronger. This is because the Hond are manifestations of pain, so inflicting pain only reinvigorates them, even from death.
- From a Single Cell: The Hond in the Vault is reduced to a puddle by a Dalek blast, but then reconstitutes itself.
- Horrifying the Horror: The Daleks are truly scared of the Hond.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Doctor discovers that he has to go into an ancient weapons cache on Skaro that the Daleks themselves refer to as "the Vault of Obscenities".
- Inevitable Mutual Betrayal: What the Doctor knows is coming after he and the Daleks defeat the Hond.
- Mercy Kill: What the Doctor eventually does to the Hond, by curing their pain and hence erasing their existence.
- Muck Monster: The Hond are made from primordial sludge.
- Mythology Gag: The design for the Dalek Emperor in this story is closely based on the first ever Dalek Emperor design from the TV Century 21 "The Daleks" comic strip, albeit updated to a Time War-style casing. The Dalek drones likewise have a 60s era colour scheme despite also having Time War casings.
- Omnicidal Maniac: The Hond are determined to destroy all life in the universe.
- Scars Are Forever: The Prime Strategist claims that it keeps its damaged casing as a matter of pride, but it turns out to be a punishment from the Emperor.
- Sequel Hook: The Prime Strategist explains to the Emperor that although Ten has escaped, it has a new plan aimed at the Eighth Doctor.
- Shout-Out:
- The Doctor compares the Vault to the "temple of doom". Naturally, cue death traps.
- The Hond look very like the iconic design for Clayface from Batman: The Animated Series.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: The Hond in the Vault responds to the Doctor making a lengthy speech offering to help it end or rise above its pain and depression by trying to kill him.
- Tortured Monster: The Hond are conscious manifestations of all the pain in the universe.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The Hond believe that all life is suffering and want to destroy it.
