Macra
Macra
Main aliases:
Biological type:
Affiliated with:
First appearance:
Appearances:
TheMacra were a gigantic crustacean race that fed on unclean gases which werepoisonous tohumans. They would consume humans when possible.
Eventually, the Macra fell into evolutionary decline, reverting to mindless creatures in the depths ofNew New York.
Biology[[edit] |[edit source]]
There were two known types of Macra, the original sapient species and the later predators ofNew Earth. Both fed upon poisonous gases and organic lifeforms when available.
Sapient species[[edit] |[edit source]]
The sapient species of Macra were larger than humans, able to hold a human in oneclaw. They were stocky in build, with large eye-stalks and large claws, and had a second, smaller set of claws beneath the mouth. They were a dark, murky brown colour. They were also covered in hairs. (TV:The Macra Terror[+]Loading...["The Macra Terror (TV story)"])
Predator species[[edit] |[edit source]]
The predator species of Macra were much larger in size, several hundred times larger than a human. They were more instinctive and less logical than the sapient Macra they descended from, having fallen into evolutionary decline.
They had gigantic claws, large enough to easily hold an entireNew Earth car, which were proportionally much larger than the rest of their bodies. They had glowing eyes on thin stalks and six spindly legs. These Macra were predators who hunted by sensing movement, and showed no signs of intelligence. They also had distinctive and terrifying roars. (TV:Gridlock[+]Loading...["Gridlock (TV story)"])
History[[edit] |[edit source]]
Empire[[edit] |[edit source]]
The Macra were an ancient race with alarge empire - "the scourge ofthis galaxy," as theTenth Doctor put it. (TV:Gridlock[+]Loading...["Gridlock (TV story)"]) When their home planet was colonised by humans, the Macra took control of the colony andhypnotised the humans into mining gases for them. (TV:The Macra Terror[+]Loading...["The Macra Terror (TV story)"])
During theEternal War, a Macra killedGith, causing him toregenerate. Another Macra later beheaded him onLerna. (PROSE:The Multi-Faceted War[+]Loading...["The Multi-Faceted War (short story)"])
Their control over the humans on their homeworld came to an end when they were defeated by theSecond Doctor, who effected an uprising on the planet and destroyed the control centre with an explosion, killing the Macra in charge and apparently dooming the Macra on the planet. (TV:The Macra Terror[+]Loading...["The Macra Terror (TV story)"])
At some point before2157, theGuild of Adjudicators dealt with the Macra. (PROSE:Lucifer Rising[+]Loading...["Lucifer Rising (novel)"])
A sapient Macra visitedBeachelguese with aSilurian and aSea Devil. (COMIC:Surfshock[+]Loading...["Surfshock (comic story)"])
Devolution[[edit] |[edit source]]
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After many billions of years, they evolved into feral beasts. OnNew Earth, a colony of Macra escaped from theNew New York Zoo when the power broke down, (PROSE:Creatures and Demons[+]Loading...["Creatures and Demons (reference book)"]) and survived and multiplied in the depths ofthe Motorway inNew New York, feeding on the poisonous fumes and stray people who came down in their cars to the "Fast Lane". They were apparently again doomed when by5,000,000,053, theTenth Doctor opened the roof of the Motorway, allowing the cars to escape to the Upper City, depriving the Macra of food and gases. (TV:Gridlock[+]Loading...["Gridlock (TV story)"]) The Macra preyed onScorpionkind, thoughSenatorHame believed Scorpionkind to be worse. (AUDIO:The Cats of New Cairo[+]Loading...["The Cats of New Cairo (audio story)"])
Following the opening of the Motorway, the Macra got a "new career" cleaning up the city's pollution. However, theCybermen also used the Macra to begin disposing of non-humans. (COMIC:In-Flight Entertainment[+]Loading...["In-Flight Entertainment (comic story)"])
River Song had met the Macra, or at least, had heard of them. (PROSE:River of Time[+]Loading...["River of Time (short story)"])
Other references[[edit] |[edit source]]
In thevideo gameHappy Deathday, played byIzzy Sinclair on theTime-Space Visualiser, a Macra was among a host of "every singleenemy" thatthe Doctor had everdefeated, who were assembled by theBeige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eightincarnations. (COMIC:Happy Deathday[+]Loading...["Happy Deathday (comic story)"])
According toa joke book which theThirteenth Doctor andYaz Khan became trapped within,Snap was the Macra's favourite card game. (PROSE:Knock! Knock! Who's There?[+]Loading...["Knock! Knock! Who's There? (novel)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] |[edit source]]
- The Doctor labelled the Macra as the "Scourge of this Galaxy" inGridlock, a title he also gave toBaltazar inThe Infinite Quest. However, they are from different galaxies.
- In The Macra Terror, the Macra seen to be in charge through the porthole in the last episode is white rather than brown (a scene for which the sole Macra prop had to be repainted).
- Approximately forty years passed between the Macra's first appearance onDoctor Who and their second. As of June 2024, this is the fifth longest such interval between TV appearances for any creature in the franchise.The Toymaker is in the lead with 57 years,Sutekh is second with 48 years, followed by theGreat Intelligence with 44 years, thenAlpha Centauri with 43 years, with the Macra rounding out the top five.Axos had the longest wait to return inall media, with a thirty-nine-year gap.
- Macra also feature in theDecide Your Destiny book,Claws of the Macra, where a group of the feral kind seen inGridlock infest a gas refinery onEarth.
- InGridlock, the Doctor refers to the Macra "devolving". However, in real world terms, this is simplyevolution: adaptation of a creature to its given environment. The modern concept of evolution is not progresstowards anything; rather, it's an incredibly dynamic process. Each organism traces the path of its evolution only in the direction of the greatest chances for its survival (and for the fulfilment of needs)within a given context; the "more evolved" are not those closer to a higher-order ideal, but those best suited to their own circumstances. Evolution thus cannot operate in reverse, however we might classify the degree to which a creature is "primitive", compared to ourselves.
