4 Doctor Who Monsters So Much More Dangerous Than the Daleks
Doctor Who is one of the most beloved sci-fi series of all time, and its titular Time Lord has few enemies as iconic as the Daleks. Since Doctor Who first started airing in 1963, it has grown into one of the most expansive and successful sci-fi stories ever to grace the small screen. 2005 saw the show revived for a new generation, and the Doctor once again graced the screens of sci-fi fans around the world, once again facing off against a number of incredibly dangerous foes. The Doctor’s ongoing battle with the Daleks has made for some of the best Doctor Who episodes in the show’s history, but the iconic robotic villains aren’t the Time Lord’s only dangerous adversary.
No one can deny that the Daleks are among the most feared and instantly recognizable of the Doctor’s many foes. However, there are both historical and modern Doctor Who villains that stand out as being even more dangerous than the Daleks. Of course, the Daleks themselves are an incredibly lethal force, but the methods and nature of other villains actually sometimes make them slightly more threatening than the Doctor’s long-standing nemesis.
4) The Cybermen
The Cybermen made their first Doctor Who appearance way back in 1966’s The Tenth Planet, and have since become a staple of the show and one of the Doctor’s most common recurring villains. A race of cyborgs who forcefully convert humans and other humanoid species in order to consistently boost their ranks, the Cybermen have featured in some of the Doctor’s most memorable stories. Next to the Daleks, they are one of the most iconic Doctor Who villains in the show’s history.
As one of the most long-running Doctor Who villains, there’s plenty of evidence regarding how dangerous the Cybermen truly are. Where the Daleks favor raw destructive power, the Cybermen instead have the potential to constantly grow and expand, and seek to assimilate alien life rather than destroy it. In many situations, this actually makes the Cybermen more dangerous than the Daleks, because their ability to exponentially grow their ranks and their more versatile design allows them to conquer and oppress rather than simply destroy.
3) The Weeping Angels
There may have been many great Dalek episodes of Doctor Who, but there have also been some unforgettable stories featuring the Weeping Angels. First introduced in the 2007 episode “Blink”, the Weeping Angels are statues that move when not being observed and who feed off the time energy generated by touching victims and sending them back through time. In the years since their introduction, the Weeping Angels have been consistently named as one of the best additions to the franchise made during the modern era.
The Weeping Angels might not be as violent as the Daleks, but they are undeniably much scarier. There are few sci-fi villains as deeply terrifying as the Weeping Angels, as the way their movement and abilities are presented invokes a deep existential horror. Their ability to send victims back through time makes for many tragic stories, but really it’s the way they move silently and unseen that makes them absolutely horrifying. While they might not be a match for the Daleks in terms of destructive power, in terms of existential threat, they’re far more dangerous.
2) The Silence
The aliens known as the Silent were first introduced in 2011’s “The Impossible Astronaut”, though Doctor Who had teased their arrival throughout the show’s previous 2010 season. An alien species who are instantly forgotten once out of sight, the splinter group of the Silent known as the Silence were revealed to have been manipulating history on Earth for some time, effectively operating unseen and using post-hypnotic suggestion to control humanity. Their appearance and memory-bending nature established them as one of the most terrifying Doctor Who monsters introduced in the show’s modern era.
Like many others, they might not match the Daleks in terms of raw power, but the way they are able to operate actually makes them far more insidious. Their ability to control and manipulate events to their will without their victims ever knowing is horrifying, and allows them to operate effectively unchecked. This gives them the potential to be far more devastating than even the Daleks, as they’d be able to wipe out entire civilizations without anyone ever knowing they were to blame.
1) The Vashta Nerada
There are a handful of incredible Doctor Who villains that only appeared once, and the Vashta Nerada are by far the most iconic. Having been featured in the two-part episode “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead”, the Vashta Nerada are microscopic beings that live in swarms, essentially making them living shadows that feast on flesh. The Doctor explains that small amounts of the Vashta Nerada live on most planets, but it’s only in large swarms that they prove incredibly dangerous.
The aspect that makes the Vashta Nerada more dangerous than the Daleks is that they aren’t noticeable until it’s too late. Where the Daleks are overt in their approach to death and destruction, the Vashta Nerada are subtle and all but impossible to stop. The Doctor has managed to thwart the Daleks many times, but he was only able to run from the Vashta Nerada when he encountered them in force. In the right circumstances, it’s hard to deny that the Vashta Nerada are one of the most deadly Doctor Who monsters of all time.
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