Doctor Who: Top Ten Scary Awesome Enemies (modern)

EDIT:
So I needed to come back and do an update because (and I am really kicking myself here) I completely forgot one. After all that writing and editing and re-writing. At minimum they get honorable mention, but I really think they belong further down the list so I think a revised top ten would look like this:

Article proper:
What good is any fan blog without an old-fashioned countdown?! This is the first of many planned and hopefully I'll do all of them in time. As I've mentioned before, we're dealing with strictly Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat episodes here. As I become more of a Whovian, I will expand. Don't hate. Also, this is written assuming you are up to date on Who and let this serve as a spoiler warning to you if you are not.

So yes, the scariest enemies, meaning villains, monsters, or otherwise. Starting with:


10. The Monster From "Midnight"

Difficult to find a picture for this. We never actually see the monster from Midnight (or do we?). There's a lot of loud noises, the front of a tram ripped off, and some possession, but no actual monster. The Doctor and Donna visit a diamond planet called Midnight (fun fact), and while Donna soaks up the highly deadly sun, the Doctor hops on a tour bus for a quick eight hour trip. About half way through the journey out, the bus experiences some electrical difficulties followed by some minor possession of one Sky Silvestri (shown above). The begins repeating everything the other passengers say, eventually catching up to speak exactly at the same time and finally capturing the Doctor's voice.

What makes it scary: Well it's genius writing technique, playing on the basest of human fears - the unseen and the unknown. We have no idea what has happened except that something has attacked these people and that it has beaten the Doctor. Take that in for a minute, this monster literally wins. If not for that brave stewardess the Doctor would've been trapped in a state of repetition for who knows how long.

Why it's awesome: I love clever writing. And I love when you give a setting a confined, claustrophobic space and then add more tension. I also love the idea of throwing something completely new and unknown at the Doctor plus terrified uncontainable passengers and he just can't quite win. So simple, but gripping.

9. Rassilon

First of all, that's Timothy Dalton. Need I go on? No, but I will. Rassilon returns in the reboot near the end of Tennant's run as the Doctor in "The End of Time" Parts I and II. He's trying to break from the time lock the Doctor trapped them in and finish his plan to destroy the universe.

What's scary about him: For me, it's mainly the fact that he literally created the Master, or the Master's madness. But I mean, this is a super powerful Time Lord with a major hate-on for the Doctor. None of that is good news.

Why he's awesome: Timothy Dalton.


8. Melody Pond

Okay, so I had a bit of an internal debate on whether or not to include Melody since we haven't seen how this is playing out yet. I do want to draw attention to fact that I'm calling her Melody and not River. Take note of that.

What's scary about her: A trained psychopath, brainwashed to hunt and kill the Doctor, she's dangerous. Melody is also somebody the Doctor is very attached to and that makes her even more dangerous. On top of that, she's at least part Time Lord making her even more dangerous-er. She's at least as smart as the Doctor and at the moment quite a bit less sentimental.

Why she's awesome: Well, River Song is pretty amazing, as is Alex Kingston. So it stands to reason that Melody Pond is awesome, too.

7. The Dream Lord

In the episode, "Amy's Choice," a malevolent Dream Lord forces the Doctor, Amy, and Rory to choose between two given realities, each with a deadly and imminent peril.

What's scary about him: The end of the episode reveals that the Dream Lord is an alter ego of the Doctor, somehow brought to life by the energy of the TARDIS. So hold the phone. That right there is enough for me to go on to say this is freakin' terrifying! Some uncontrolled dark side of the Doctor (you know he's got at least one) walking about reaping havoc?! Come on!

Why he's awesome: Well Toby Jones is just a great actor. Plus the entire concept is great writing.


6. The Vashta Nerada

So I am incredibly upset with myself for going through my entire writing and editing process of this blog and FORGETTING one of the scariest enemies in the whole series. Floggings are in order.

What's scary about them: Well, they could be in ANY shadow anywhere in the universe. "Not every shadow, but any shadow." That's freakin' scary. And there's over a million, million of them that the Doctor is faced with in "Silence in the Library" and that's quite a bit if you ask me. Add to that the fact that they can maneuver and speak through our dead and you've got one terrifying little monster(s).

Why they're awesome: Well more than anything, this is why. But also genius, playing on our fears of the dark. I always knew that was justified.


5. The Flesh

Ah, yes! The Flesh! Part monster, part good guy, part victim! If you're like me and you go back and watch episodes over and over again, you'll notice that the term the Flesh first appears in series two! But they become real characters toward the middle of series six in "The Rebel Flesh" and "Almost People" where they run amok in an acid mine. Even the Doctor has his own Flesh Doctor, who could still be running about (dun dun dun).

What's scary about them: Not only are they silicon-y drones that become sentient in and of themselves, but it's then found that you can be a Flesh and not even know it! Amy for the whole first half of series six is revealed to be a Flesh Amy unbeknownst to us all, including Amy! And then Moffat gets us AGAIN with a FleshBaby! This creations ability to believe it's own lies, blend perfectly, make it totally scary.

Why they're awesome: Again, it comes down to excellent writing and acting. For one, it makes rewatching six totally fun. But the real beauty of the Flesh is the victimhood and its struggle for freedom. Plus, let's hold out hope that the Flesh Doctor can regenerate and that's what got killed on the beach in "The Impossible Astronaut."

4. The Master

The Master. Harry Saxon. One of the most prevalent enemies in Who lore, beautifully portrayed by John Simms in the rebooted series. He shows up time and time again, always going on about the drums going constantly in his head (we find out in "The End of Time" that Rassilon put that drum beat into his brain to instigate madness).

What makes him scary: Definitely one of the most formidable foes the Doctor has ever faced, the Master should strike fear into your heart! He's conquered the world. Twice. Beaten the Doctor a few times, and is a complete lunatic. He's kind of the Joker of the Doctor Who universe.

Why he's awesome: It's not often bad guys are given full circle development, but this character is given his space to roam. John Simms does an excellent job of balancing madness and rage with sympathetic longing for peace.

3. The Daleks

So these guys are not one of, they are the most infamous enemy the Doctor faces. Even his enemies are enemies with these guys. They have no friends. They exist to EXTERMINATE! They first appear in the reboot in the aptly named episode, "Dalek."

What's scary about them: How about the fact that their sole purpose is death and destruction of everything that is not Dalek? Which means everything. Or the fact that even the Doctor is frightened of them? Need I go on?

Why they're awesome: Did you not read what I just said? The Doctor is afraid of them.

2. The Weeping Angels

Steven Moffat introduced us to these bad ladies with "Blink" in series three and I've had one eye open ever since. These creatures exist in a quantum lock, which I don't understand either, but it means that they only exist when you aren't looking at them. Gaze upon them and they turn into stone, blink and they zap you into the past and feed on your unused time energy.

What's scary about them: Aside from the fact that you can't look away even for a split second, and they have gnarly evil faces beneath their pretty angel faces, I guess these guys are totally fine...if you're a moron. I mean, seriously?! The scariest part of these guys is that now whenever I see a statue of an angel, I have to stare at it for as long as possible.

Why they're awesome: Moffat created something that conceivably could already exist in this universe. I mean, I think there'd be stories, but like I said...I bet you stare at angel statues now, too.




And number one???





1. The Silence

I was originally going to place these guys a bit higher up on the list, but the concept just chills me to the bone, so here we are. The Silence. Hinted at for AGES, still not completely understood.

What's scary about them: Well, honestly, what isn't? They look like freaky alien g-men meet dementors, they have existed on our planet since the beginning of time, and they can control humanity through post-hypnotic suggestion. And we don't even know they've done it, because the moment you look away you forget about them. Can't even remember you've seen one. So they definitely could already exist and you'd just never ever know. Even the Doctor can't remember them once he's seen them. Moreover, we found out recently that The Silence is actually a religious order, unknown enemy of the Doctor, trying to kill him, and they believe that Silence will fall when the question is asked.
SCARY

Why they're awesome: In creating these creatures that you can't remember, Moffat has accomplished the terrifying effect of resonance. This is a creature that you put thought into after the show was over, no denying. It's such a genius concept I'm stunned it wasn't done before. Plus we got one of the best moments of Who when the Doctor tricks the Silence into ordering their own executions. Now that is scary awesome. You should be staying up late at night wondering how many of these creatures you've killed. Probably loads. But don't worry they deserved it.


and Honorable mention goes to....

House

Of course this is nearly impossible to find a picture of. This was the most interesting one I thought. Yes, it's House! Not to be confused with Hugh Laurie, from the recesses of Neil Gaiman's fantastic mind comes this sentient asteroid with a taste for TARDIS and mind games. In "The Doctor's Wife," House manages to transfer the soul of the TARDIS into a human woman and posses the TARDIS, with Rory and Amy trapped inside. 

What makes him scary: Well other than the fact that he's basically a really powerful disembodied voice, which is creepy enough, he's able to actually pull the wool over the Doctor's eyes for a bit. So much so the Doctor puts Rory and Amy in harm's way without realising it. 

Why it's awesome: Two reasons. Neil Gaiman. TARDIS becomes a woman. Nuff said.