Brian the Ood

Brian was an Ood assassin and an ally of the Tenth Doctor during his exploits in the Dark Times.

Early life
Before the time where his hindbrain would typically be removed, Brian was bought by the Lesser Order of Oberon. They then cut his hindbrain themselves in a dark basement, quickly and roughly, which made Brian obedient, but not docile. (AUDIO: The Minds of Magnox) However, he developed a split personality as his delusions imbued his translation sphere with all the malevolent aspects of his psyche under the name of "Mr Ball". (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not)

Unlike the typical Ood, where the translation sphere was a direct replacement for the hindbrain, Brian's hindbrain was stored within his. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Although Brian did not lose the inbuilt Ood instinct to be helpful and obey human commands, he became, in addition to this persona, a "ruthless" murderer. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

Encounter with the Eighth Doctor
Brian was contracted to retrieve Felicity and kill her wife Sophie, by Felicity’s father. He pursued the couple to Atharna, shooting down their ship in the desert. Wounded from the crash, Felicity shot Brian whilst Sophie fled, leaving him and Felicity stuck in the desert. The Eighth Doctor arrived and agreed to help them reach the nearest town, Moslin, after they lied that they’d been victims of a bandit attack. (AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not) During their journey to Moslin, the trio rested in a cave. Whilst Felicity slept, the Doctor told Brian a story about a tailor's daughter and how she tried to cheat Death. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

In Moslin, the Doctor arranged the town’s doctor to treat Brian and Felicity, where they kept the pretence of being together. The Doctor encountered Sophie, seeking shelter with the sheriff in the tavern, and learnt the truth. He devised a situation to trick Brian, managing to rescue Felicity. He reached an agreement with Brian to take him off-world in return for him abandoning his contract. However as they were boarding his TARDIS it was captured by the Daleks, with Brian being flung into the Time Vortex. (AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not) The Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS spotted him and gave him “a little nudge”, believing he could be useful to the Doctor. (PROSE: What the TARDIS thought of “Time Lord Victorious”) Brian ended up in the Dark Times. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Association with the Tenth Doctor
In the Dark Times, Brian was hired by High Ambassador Chalskal to test the efficacy of Professor Fallomax’s Lifeshroud technology. He travelled to Andalia where he encountered the Tenth Doctor, who did not recall the encounter they had shared in his eighth incarnation and tried to stop Brian attacking Estinee to test the Lifeshroud she was wearing. After witnessing Estinee being kidnapped by the Kotturuh during their judgement of Andalia, Brian formed an alliance with the Doctor to find her. Together they travelled to the Kotturuh’s planet, Mordeela, where they were attacked by revenants and witnessed Estinee being rescued by Fallomax. As the Doctor worked on the Lifeshrouds, Brian discovered Chalskal wasn’t the official he presented himself as and was actually sponsoring the project to use as armour for his mercenary forces. Once the Doctor decided that the Lifeshrouds couldn’t work and focused instead on reverse engineering the Kotturuh‘s power, Brian took control of Chalskal’s mercenary fleet, believing the Doctor was effectively going to war with the Kotturuh. He made the Doctor the fleet’s admiral, to his discomfort.

Brian greeted the Doctor when he returned to the fleet after sentencing the Kotturuh to a lifespan of fifteen minutes on Andalia. The Doctor ordered the fleet to attack Mordeela to seal the Kotuturh’s power source, with Brian by his side on the command deck. Brian witnessed the arrival of the Doctor's Eighth and Ninth incarnations over Mordeela aboard a Dalek saucer and coffin ship and their pleas with their future self to stop. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Brian followed the Doctor to a desert planet, where he saved the Doctor from the parasitic ghosts of a long dead ancient species. He admitted that he thought of the Doctor as the closest person he had to a friend. (COMIC: Tales of the Dark Times)

Legacy
River Song included a brief article about Brian in The Dark Times Times, noting that she found him "interesting". (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

Personality
Brian had "something of a split personality" as River Song described it. Brian had the natural instinct of the Ood and could be very helpful. However, he could also be a "ruthless killer". (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

Appearance
Brian was an Ood with a translation sphere and wore a tuxedo. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times, The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)