A Renegade Time Lord,the Tremas Master, was officially invited by theHigh Council to bargain for a pardon. (TV:The Five Doctors)

The termrenegade Time Lord was an epithet applied byTime Lords against their fellows who went against Time Lord law. At various points,the Doctor was called and thought of themself as arenegade — but they also applied that label to others.

Many Renegadesforsook their birth name and used titles, such as "the Doctor" and "the Master"; (PROSE:A Brief History of Time Lords) however, this practice was not exclusive to Time Lords working outside of the Gallifreyan orthodoxy, as evidenced bythe Visionary (TV:The End of Time) andthe General. (TV:Hell Bent) It could also be forced onto a Time Lord as a punishment, instead of being their own choice — as happened tothe Woman. (PROSE:A Brief History of Time Lords)

Alternatively, the term"ex-Time Lord" was applied to theThird Doctor. (COMIC:The Eternal Present) In one account of thetrial of the War Lord, the Time Lordcourt acknowledged thatthe War Chief "wasonce a Time Lord". (PROSE:the War Games^[+]Loading...["the War Games (novelisation)"]) TheFourth Doctor acknowledged that both he andShazar were"fallen angels", that they hadonce been Time Lords. (COMIC:Return of the Daleks) TheSixth Doctor confirmedPeri Brown's assessment ofthe Master being anexiled Time Lord, adding that he and theFirst Rani were "two of a kind". (TV:The Mark of the Rani)

Nature[[edit] |[edit source]]

Of the various reasons to call someone a renegade, none was more important than the simple act of physically departingGallifrey. In this sense, theSeventh Doctor clearly thought of both himself andthe Old Master as "renegades". There was, in this definition of the word, no connotation of any particular morality, since the Doctor and the Master had generally opposing value systems. (PROSE:The Novel of the Film)

To be labelled a renegade, it was enough to be aTime Lord not residing on Gallifrey, though in some cases a Time Lord could be responsible for some action the rest of the species found abhorrent. For instance, in the cases of two highly respected individuals,Hedin, a member of theHigh Council, betrayed Gallifrey by trying to aid the long lostOmega, (TV:Arc of Infinity) while the equally respected and renownedOphiuchus conducted experiments designed to extend the Time Lordregeneration cycle. Accused of crimes such as vivisection, Ophiuchus was labelled a renegade. (COMIC:Ophiuchus)

Indeed, the hard choices involved in actually leaving Gallifrey were, according to theFifth Doctor, a key distinction between a renegade and a mere "political rebel" still resident on Gallifrey. He felt thatRuath could have been a rebel, but not a renegade. (PROSE:Goth Opera) To leave Gallifrey forever was almost unthinkable to a Time Lord, given the very deep link between a Time Lord and their home-planet; orthodox Time Lords thought of leaving Gallifrey forever as a fate worse thandeath itself. Most Renegades harboured a secret hope of someday returning to Gallifrey. This was exhibited byMorbius after he becamethe General, (PROSE:Warmonger) as well as bythe Doctor: as early as hisfirst incarnation, the Doctor promised himself that he and Susan would come back "one day", (TV:An Unearthly Child) and theEleventh Doctor came to believe that on some subconscious level, an eventual return "home" to Gallifrey was "where [he'd] always been going" ever since he started running. (TV:The Day of the Doctor)

However, since Gallifrey hadlaws against interfering in the natural course of events, and leaving Gallifrey on un-sanctioned voyages typically led to interference, at least some segments of the Time Lord policy thought of renegades as definitionally criminal. For instance, when the Doctor was once accused of being a "dangerous renegade",Flavia instantly snapped to the Doctor's defence and pointed out that he wasn't a criminal. This immediately suggested that the word was commonly used to indicate criminality. (PROSE:The Eight Doctors)

Though the Doctor didn't himself feel that interference itself was illegal, (TV:The War Games) he did freely admit to interfering. Indeed, theEighth Doctor felt that one definition of a renegade was a Time Lord who regularly picked up people on one world and transported them to another. (PROSE:Legacy of the Daleks) This implied that interference was part and parcel of being a renegade. On another occasion, the Eighth Doctor was pressed as to why he was a renegade. He simply said, "There are times when a little intervention is necessary." (PROSE:Interference - Book Two)

The legality of interference was debatable and the subject of several appearances in court for the Doctor. Out of his three known Time Lord trials, only one ended in conviction for interference. (TV:The War Games) TheSixth Doctor's trial ended in dismissal, (TV:The Ultimate Foe) while theFifth Doctor escaped for unknown legal reasons, but not before being accused of playing too muchcricket and essentially not interferingenough. (COMIC:The Stockbridge Horror) Even the Doctor's one conviction was hardly carried out with conviction. TheCelestial Intervention Agency were only too happy to use the convictedSecond Doctor to carry out their plans. (PROSE:World Game) Even theThird Doctor's so-called "exile on Earth" involved semi-regular contact with Gallifrey. (TV:Terror of the Autons,Colony in Space,The Curse of Peladon,The Mutants,The Three Doctors)

Thus, violation of the non-interference policy, while a frequent characteristic of the renegade, was simply not prosecuted consistently enough to be the determinative reason someone was labelled a renegade.

On still other occasions, other kinds of criminality engendered the use of the term. For instance, theFirst Doctor condemnedBorusa as a renegade because his former teacher had broken any number of laws in his foolhardy search for immortality. (TV:The Five Doctors)

Renegades of theGreat Houses could choose to undergo theElective Semantectomy to remove their name from history and replace it with an epithet (like "the Hussar"). This was primarily performed as a way to protect the reputation of one'shouse and bloodline. (PROSE:Weapons Grade Snake Oil)

History[[edit] |[edit source]]

Origins[[edit] |[edit source]]

Ancient days[[edit] |[edit source]]

One account identified the first Renegade Time Lord as none other thanOmega himself, who was responsible for enabling theGallifreyans to become Time Lords beforebeing lost in ananti-matter universe, eventually resurfacing toseek revenge against his people. (PROSE:The Universal Databank^[+]Loading...["The Universal Databank (reference book)"]) Another account claimed that the renegade Omega had beenbanished for his "hideouscrimes" before he joined thefleet of Alien Monsters. (GAME:Doctor Who Trump Card Game^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who Trump Card Game (game)"])

The Book of the War, on the other hand, proposed the first renegades were theEremites, a large faction who left the planet in disgust at how sterile and static their culture had become, shortly after the rest of their kind became Lords of history. The Eremites were considered a predecessor toFaction Paradox, but also retained "advocates" on the Homeworld. (PROSE:The Book of the War^[+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"])

The Toymaker, an infamous, ancient being, may have originated as a Renegade Time Lord, although many other accounts of his origin existed, such as anEternal,Guardian, orposthuman. (GAME:The Celestial Toymaker^[+]Loading...["The Celestial Toymaker (game)"])

The Doctor's time[[edit] |[edit source]]

According toThe Book of the War,1152years before the start of theGreat Houses'great time war againstthe Enemy, flaws were noticed in theirbreeding engines, though they were initially dismissed as "trivial". The generation ofHomeworlders which grew from these flaws in the genetic looms included dangerous individuals who would go on to form the Homeworld's first batch of renegades. These includedthe War King,the Imperator andGrandfather Paradox. (PROSE:The Book of the War)

According to theScrolls of Gallifrey, the first true Renegade Time Lord wasAzmael, who had beenRassilon's last confidant and the firstHigh Chancellor of the newly-formedHigh Council. Forced to fleeGallifrey to escape from the jealousLord PresidentHelron after he gained a greater understanding ofthe Matrix than any other Time Lord, Azmael hid out ona planet only for a mercenarywarrior race hired by Helron to destroy it trying to get to him. Outraged at the senseless and uncaring violence of this act, Azmael returned to Gallifrey and slaughtered Helron and his High Council. He was cautiously allowed to leave Gallifrey and continue his research at his leisure by the following High Council. (PROSE:The Legacy of Gallifrey)

Morbius was the cause of the Time Lords' greatCivil War as he attempted to set up a rival Presidency; (PROSE:The Legacy of Gallifrey) although the Scrolls of Gallifrey had the Civil War predate Azmael's betrayal by some margin, meaning Morbius would not be properly be a Renegade, (PROSE:The Legacy of Gallifrey) his trial was considered "theTrial of the First Renegade" by some historical records. (PROSE:Still Need a Title!) In the period between his exile from Gallifrey and his execution, he operated under the title of "the General" instead of his birth designation. (PROSE:Warmonger)

The Book of the War's account ofthe Imperator as a reformist, warmongering Time Lord president who was eventually executed via disintegration by the victorious Time Lords in an unprecedented move, which described the Imperator as one of the first generation of Renegades, (PROSE:The Book of the War) bore a startling resemblance to Morbius's campaign and downfall. The Doctor referred to Morbius as one of the very worst Time Lords, and knew his face on sight. (TV:The Brain of Morbius)

According toa Time Lordhistorian, the modern understanding of the term "Renegade Time Lord" referred to those who, for whatever reason, sought to leave Gallifrey following the passing of thenon-interference policy. By the same source, the majority of those who fancied themselves as this and stole aTARDIS had short careers. Following these would-be Renegades being towed back to Gallifrey, they were punished by, ironically, being exiled from Gallifrey. (PROSE:A Brief History of Time Lords)

The Doctor, whose classmatethe Master was later described as the worst of the Renegades Time Lord civilisation had produced, (TV:The Five Doctors) once encountered a version of Grandfather Paradox who was his own twisted future self. (PROSE:The Ancestor Cell) According to dreams theFifth Doctor experienced about his youth, he, the Master, and fellow future Renegadesthe Monk,the Rani andDrax originally belonged to a clique known asthe Deca at theTime Lord Academy, alongsideMillennia andRallon, the latter of whom became the incarnation ofthe Toymaker. (PROSE:Divided Loyalties)

TheScrolls of Gallifrey spoke of a generation of gifted but rebellious Time Academy students including the Doctor, the Master and the Rani, who engaged in anti-hierarchical behaviour due to a belief that no truer words had been spoken on the planet thanRassilon's last wisdom, about Time Lord society being set on a path of decay. (PROSE:The Legacy of Gallifrey)

Recalled to Gallifrey[[edit] |[edit source]]

The Doctor, despite being one of the more notorious Renegades, was used by theCelestial Intervention Agency (TV:The Two Doctors,PROSE:The Legacy of Gallifrey) andthe Division as an often unwilling agent. (TV:Fugitive of the Judoon) This, and occasional offers to the Doctor to rejoin Gallifrey's society as no less than its Lord President, which the Doctor would always end up passing up on, (TV:The Deadly Assassin,The Five Doctors,The Invasion of Time) refusing to give up the "buccaneering life" for "anyone", (AUDIO:Doctor Who and the Pirates) as well as a one-time offer from the High Council to grantthe Tremas Master a fullpardon and a renewedregeneration cycle, (TV:The Five Doctors) were nevertheless nothing in comparison to the reliance the Homeworld would come to have on Renegades as it abandoned peace and engaged once more in bloodytime warmongering.

Leading up to theWar in Heaven, Gallifrey's most infamous repeat-offender, (PROSE:The Book of the War) a distinction other accounts attributed tothe Master, (TV:The Five Doctors,The End of Time) returned to the Homeworld with prophecies of War and the Enemy, and cowed the Houses into making himthe War King of the Homeworld after the previousHead of the Presidency was killed by the Enemy while engaged onan ill-fated crusade to prove the Enemy didn't exist. (PROSE:The Book of the War) In the lead-up to the War,the Doctor negotiated with theCelestis; he was subsequently killed onDronid during the first full-on battle in the War. (PROSE:Alien Bodies)

Theruling Houses promised pardons, political power, and newregeneration cycles to renegades in an attempt to bring them back tothe Homeworld. (PROSE:The Book of the War) Some were reintegrated into society;Holsred'sbiology tutor andAllopta'scombat teacher were barely-reformed renegades. (PROSE:The Taking of Planet 5) Others were betrayed, overpowered, lobotomised bymilitarypsychosurgeons and fitted withneural links tobabels for theLethean Campaign. (PROSE:The Book of the War)

Near the start of theLast Great Time War, the Time Lordsresurrectedthe Master (TV:The Sound of Drums) in a fashion which injuredthe Doctor's TARDIS, (PROSE:Doctor Who and the Time War) knowing he would be "the perfect warrior for atime war". (TV:The Sound of Drums) They also granted the Master a newregeneration cycle. (TV:Utopia,The Doctor Falls) Though he was initially reluctant to fight, theSisterhood of Karn convinced theEighth Doctor to take part in the Great Time War on the Time Lords' side, prompting his regeneration into aWar Doctor (TV:The Night of the Doctor) who went on to have authority over Gallifreyan soldiers in conflicts such as theBattle of Skull Moon. (TV:Hell Bent)

Gallifrey's wisdom in relying on the Doctor in either War was called into question by theEighth Doctor destroyingGallifrey seeking to end the War in Heaven in one account, (PROSE:The Ancestor Cell) and in others, this same Doctor, (PROSE:Doctor Who and the Time War) or hisnext self (TV:The Day of the Doctor) destroying Gallifrey to put an end to the Time War between Time Lords and Daleks in others, wiping out the Time Lords in the process. (COMIC:Sky Jacks) The Doctor regretted this act, claiming he had had "no choice"; (TV:Dalek)the Moment later gave the Doctor the opportunity to rewrite that fateful day, changing events so that Gallifrey had onlyappeared to be gone, but actually been banished into apocket universe, a trick effected with the reluctant accord of theEleventh General but without the knowledge or approval of theHigh Council, (TV:The Day of the Doctor) whose own plans to avert the End had already failed due to the Doctor and the Master. (TV:The End of Time)

After the Wars[[edit] |[edit source]]

After the War in Heaven[[edit] |[edit source]]

In thepost-War universe of theWar in Heaven, thefour surviving Time Lords (PROSE:The Gallifrey Chronicles) who ruled Time as the "Imperial Family" (PROSE:Father Time) includedthe Emperor, who was a future version of theEighth Doctor who had destroyedGallifrey and survived, (PROSE:The Gallifrey Chronicles) and abearded man wearing a rosette who had once "fought the Doctor across Time and Space", (PROSE:The Adventuress of Henrietta Street) as well as aman with a bent nose and a beautiful young woman (PROSE:The Tomorrow Windows) who matched the descriptions of two more Renegades known to have survived the War one way or another:Iris Wildthyme in her "Jane Fonda" incarnation, (PROSE:Mad Dogs and Englishmen) andRomana IV. (PROSE:Tomb of Valdemar)

Post Time War[[edit] |[edit source]]

In addition to the Doctor, both the Master and the Monk emerged in the post-war universe ahead of Gallifrey. (AUDIO:Too Many Masters)

In accounts dealing with theLast Great Time War,the Doctor was frequently named as the "Last of the Time Lords", a title he claimed himself; (TV:Gridlock) however, he "was not alone", asthe War Master had escaped from the Time War by turning himself intoa human using aChameleon Arch, thus sparing him from the extinction of the Time Lords. (TV:Utopia)The Monk also remained active in the post-Time WarN-Space, even before (AUDIO:Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated)Gallifrey's not-so-triumphant return to the universe. (TV:Hell Bent)

While banished in theirpocket universe, the conventional Time Lords granted a newregeneration cycle to the dyingEleventh Doctor (TV:The Time of the Doctor) and also curedthe Saxon Master (sent back to the banished Gallifrey by the Doctor after his post-Time War escapades) of his "little condition" before exiling him again, (TV:The Doctor Falls) with him, soon to beher, soon "finding her way back" to the universe. (TV:Dark Water)