Dalek variants

Although the general appearance of the Daleks has remained the same, the colours and some details of the model have evolved over time. The following entries make mention of both television and non-television portrayals of the Daleks. It should be noted that the canonicity of these non-television portrayals is uncertain.

Standard Dalek
When they first appeared in the 1963 serial, The Daleks, the standard Dalek models sported a silver band along their chest areas, but their mobility was limited to metal walkways in the Dalek City on Skaro, being powered by static electricity and governed by a ruling council. A popular myth is that a "glass Dalek" also appeared in Terry Nation's original story for The Daleks, but due to budgetary considerations did not appear in the serial. The concept of a "glass Dalek" first appeared in David Whitaker's novelisation, and was eventually seen in Revelation of the Daleks.

In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the size of the base of the Dalek was expanded, and radio dishes were mounted on their backs. These Daleks were more mobile, but still relied on external transmitted power, and were disabled when those transmitters were destroyed. In The Chase, the Daleks were further modified by including what was termed a solar panel array, consisting of wiring and metal slats. The Daleks of the 1960s serials were mainly silver coloured with blue Dalek "bumps". In The Evil of the Daleks (1967), certain Daleks had black domes. Also, the dishes on their backs had vanished, so presumably they now had independent motive power systems. In the movies based on the first two Dalek serials, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, the Daleks had larger bases as well as larger, jam-jar shaped ear-bulbs, and were painted in a variety of bright colours.

When the Daleks returned to the series in Day of the Daleks, the Daleks adopted a grey colour scheme, with the Dalek commander being painted gold. By the time of Death to the Daleks, the Daleks returned to a silver colour scheme with black bumps, but once again reverted to greys in Genesis of the Daleks. In Remembrance of the Daleks the standard grey-black Daleks were part of the Renegade Dalek faction, with the dominant Imperial Daleks sporting a white-gold colour scheme.

The Daleks returned to the series in Dalek, with a lone Dalek that had somehow survived the Time War which had resulted in the mutual annihilation of both the Daleks and the Time Lords. There were no major alterations to the general Dalek design, except for an expanded base and an overall heavier, more solid look. The Dalek also had an all over metallic brass finish, similar to the gold Dalek commander of Day of the Daleks. The ear-bulbs also resembled the movie versions, and the eye stalk glowed blue. This Dalek design exhibited abilities not seen before, including a swivelling mid-section that allowed the Dalek a 360-degree field of fire, and a force field that disintegrated bullets before they struck it. In addition to the ability to fly, it was also able to regenerate itself by means of absorbing electrical power and the DNA of a time-traveller. The "plunger" manipulator arm was also able to crush a man's skull in addition to the technology interfacing abilities shown by earlier models.

Dalek Emperor
See main article

Dalek Supreme
Also sometimes referred to as the Supreme Dalek, the type of Dalek originally simply designated as a Black Dalek and later identified with the Dalek Supreme served in the role of an elite or commander Dalek. It first appeared in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where a Black Dalek (called a Supreme Controller) is seen directing the Bedfordshire operation. It had a terrifying pet called the Slyther which it used to let roam free around the mines at night killing those it found. A black and silver coloured Dalek referred to as the Saucer Commander is also seen in this serial. A Dalek Supreme also led the Daleks in The Daleks' Master Plan, as well as dispatching the Dalek execution squad at the beginning of The Chase.

The Black Dalek was replaced by the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks, which used black-domed Daleks as lieutenants. During the Third Doctor's era, the Black Dalek appeared to have been replaced by a Gold Dalek (in Day of the Daleks), but the field commander-type Dalek returned and was now positively identified as the Dalek Supreme in Planet of the Daleks). In that serial, a movie-style Dalek in black and gold trim was used to represent a member of the Supreme Council of Daleks (which had apparently supplanted the need for an Emperor), with an eye-stalk that lit up when it was speaking. In Destiny of the Daleks, the Dalek Supreme was briefly mentioned as the supreme commander of the Daleks. A Dalek lieutenant, a Dalek of a darker shade of grey than the rest, is also seen as an intermediate rank in that serial.

The Dalek Supreme, as a Black Dalek, made further appearances as the leader of the Daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as being mentioned in Revelation of the Daleks. In Resurrection of the Daleks, the Supreme Dalek was a fully black Dalek, with white bumps instead of the usual grey ones, and the voice a lot more hollow. In the former, a schism developed between the Daleks led by the Dalek Supreme and those still loyal to their creator Davros. In the latter serial, it was the leader of the Renegade Daleks that opposed the Imperial Daleks commanded by Davros, now calling himself the Dalek Emperor. The Dalek Supreme ended up as the last surviving Dalek on Earth and destroyed itself.

Command-level Daleks appear in the Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who". In Dr. Who and the Daleks it is a Black Dalek with gold trimming and alternating black and gold bumps. In Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, a dark gold Dalek with silver trimmings and black globes leads the invasion force.

In the TV 21 comic strips the Black Dalek acts as overall second-in-command of the Daleks, ranking below only the Dalek Emperor. John Peel's BBC Books Doctor Who novel War of the Daleks the Daleks are led by the "Dalek Prime", whose description matches that of the TV 21 Dalek Emperor. In the novel, the Dalek Prime is the judge at Davros's trial on Skaro and is stated to be the last survivor of the original Daleks created by Davros. As this was how Peel referred to the Dalek Emperor in his novelisation of The Evil of the Daleks, this suggests that they are the same Dalek at different points in its history. The novel also mentions Black Daleks as being high in the Dalek chain-of-command and being in charge of all lower ranks, being subordinate only to Gold Daleks and the Dalek Prime. The Dalek Prime is also mentioned in Peel's Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Legacy of the Daleks.

In the Big Finish Productions series of Dalek Empire audio plays, the rank of Supreme Dalek is equivalent to an Army General, subordinate to the Emperor Dalek on Skaro, and eventually rises to command the Daleks in the Emperor's absence, with a different Dalek Supreme taking over in the third series.

Four black-domed Daleks appear briefly in The Parting of the Ways, flanking the Emperor Dalek. These are very similar to the black-domed Emperor's guards seen in The Evil of the Daleks.

Imperial Dalek
The Imperial Daleks are a faction of Daleks loyal to their creator, Davros, rather than the Dalek Supreme. They first appeared in Revelation of the Daleks. The Imperial Daleks had white livery with gold bumps, and high-pitched voices. These Daleks were not descended from the original Kaled mutants, being instead made from the modified heads of human corpses infused with the Dalek factor. They were destroyed along with Davros' laboratory in the Tranquil Repose funeral home on Necros by the original Daleks. The glass Dalek also finally made an appearance in Revelation — a prototype Dalek with a transparent casing that revealed the mutated head inside.

In Remembrance of The Daleks, Davros had somehow escaped whatever fate the Daleks had in store for him and had gained control of Skaro, becoming the Emperor. He recreated the Imperial Daleks by grafting bionic appendages onto the bodies of Kaled mutants. Their casings now had golden eye-stalks and a lozenge shape on the front of their casings, and their gold plungers were slotted to fit into machinery. Imperial Daleks could also hover up a flight of stairs.

A civil war, ostensibly over racial purity, broke out between the original, now Renegade Daleks, and the Imperial Daleks. Although their firepower was weak, Imperial Daleks augmented their battle tactics with the Special Weapons Dalek. It is not clear if any Imperial Daleks survived the conclusion of the serial, as both Skaro and the main Imperial Dalek warfleet were apparently destroyed by the Hand of Omega.

In the Big Finish Productions audio play Terror Firma, Davros survived the destruction of Skaro and created a new army of Imperial Daleks from Earth's population by releasing a virus that turned humans into Dalek mutants. Davros' mind was taken over by a completely Dalek personality, and this new Emperor assumed control of the Imperial Dalek army. It was not stated if the Imperial or Renegade factions were dominant at this point or after.

Special Weapons Dalek
The Special Weapons Dalek is a heavily-armoured Imperial Dalek first seen in Remembrance of the Daleks. Unlike a conventional Dalek, the Special Weapons Dalek has no manipulator arm or eye-stalk. Instead, it has an enormous energy cannon mounted on the front of the armoured casing in place of the usual small gunstalk and several red squares around the dome in place of the usual eyestalk. Special Weapons Daleks do not appear to be able to speak, but do have massive firepower, said in the BBC Dalek Survival Guide to be up to 50 times more powerful than a blast from a regular Dalek gun.

In Remembrance of the Daleks the Special Weapons Dalek's firepower was so great that one shot completely vaporised two conventional Renegade Daleks, leaving only a pair of burn marks, and the armour was sufficient to deflect conventional Dalek energy weapons without suffering any apparent damage. Like the other Imperial Daleks, its livery was white with gold bumps, but with sections of metallic grey armour covering most of the upper portion with much battle scoring. The Special Weapons Dalek was also mentioned in the novel War of the Daleks, and the Big Finish audio The Genocide Machine.

In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks it was stated that the enormous power source required for its weapon resulted in high levels of radiation being released and altering the structure of the Dalek's brain, resulting in insanity. It was only used in extreme situations and was unofficially known among the Daleks as the "Abomination."

Special Weapons Daleks would have been featured in the aborted 30th anniversary film The Dark Dimension. According to the BBC Dalek Survival Guide, Special Weapons Daleks also come in both Marine and Airborne forms.

Non-television Daleks
The following Daleks have never featured in any television appearances:

Spider Dalek
Spider Daleks were a proposed design by John Leekey for an early version of the Doctor Who television movie to be produced by Amblin Entertainment in 1994. The script was rejected and it was the Matthew Jacobs scripted television movie that saw production in 1996. The Spider Daleks ultimately appeared in John Peel's novel War of the Daleks, depicted as creations of Davros. Spider Daleks are slightly larger than normal, but with eight legs. They are more manoeuvrable than standard Daleks, but more vulnerable at their joints. In the novel, the Thals believed that this design had been abandoned for centuries. Giant-sized versions, known as Striders, are ten times larger than the standard Spider Dalek.

In the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story Fire and Brimstone (DWM #251-#255), a faction of Daleks from a parallel universe resembled Spider Daleks, and were viewed as abominations by the Daleks of the "main" universe. The comic strip Spider Daleks had a square font in their speech-bubbles, rather than the regular angular Dalek font.

Marsh Dalek
Only featured in the 1964 Dalek annual written by Terry Nation and David Whittaker, these were large, bipedal Daleks that were used to control the Horrokon Monsters on the Planet Gurnian. They appear to be a forerunner of the Striders referred to in John Peel's books.

Marine Dalek
Marine Daleks, also introduced in War of the Daleks, are torpedo-shaped with their eyes at the front, and have their gunstalk and a grappling arm parallel to their bodies. They are also larger than the standard Daleks.

Scout Dalek
In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks the Imperial Dalek faction use a type of scout Dalek which is more streamlined than standard Daleks, with overpowered motors.