Vashta Nerada


 * For the inhabitants of the Howling Halls, see Elemental Shades.

"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark, but they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada."-The Doctor in Silence in the Library

Vashta Nerada were swarming, carnivorous beings. The name meant "the Shadows that melt the flesh".

Biology
The Vashta Nerada were microscopic beings that lived in swarms, thousands strong. These swarms were able to strip a creature to its bare bones in milliseconds and the Doctor once described them as "piranhas of the air". While these swarms were not common, they inspired a fear of the dark in most species across the Universe, since any shadow could be made of Vashta Nerada. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) Both the Doctor and Jack Harkness believed they had no weaknesses and that the only thing to do was to run. (DW: Silence in the Library, WEB: Captain Jack's Monster Files) A sapient swarm became fearful of the Doctor upon learning of his exploits, suggesting they may have some as of yet undiscovered weakness. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)

The Vashta Nerada lived in the darkness and cast shadows when they entered the light - even to the extent of stopping the reach of light from fission lamps. On its own, outside of the darkness, a Vashta Nerada swarm would look like a shadow cast by nothing. They would mimic the shadows of their prey in order to get close, which meant staying in the light was the only option for escape. If someone had an extra shadow, it was already too late for them. (DW: Silence in the Library)



Despite being microscopic as individuals, Vashta Nerada swarms were sentient and two spacesuit-inhabiting swarms developed the ability to communicate to the Doctor through the spacesuits' Data Chips. They were also able to coordinate their efforts and make the spacesuits walk, though only with some difficulty, and could walk slowly in a 'zombie-like' fashion. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)

Life Cycle
The Vashta Nerada lived on almost every planet which had organisms with meat, including Earth. They were born as microscopic spores in trees and live their lives in forests. It was said that they were able to hatch and form into a swarm in minutes. (WEB: Captain Jack's Monster Files) These spores were resilient enough to hatch even if the tree was processed, including if the wood was converted into paper and into books, which explains why so many were present on the planetary Library. (DW: Forest of the Dead)

History
Vashta Nerada had existed since the early Universe, and spread to many planets across the Universe. They were rare, and on some planets, such as Earth, they survived by scavenging meat from road kill.


 * How the spores originally got to different planets is unknown, although it is possible that, like the Krynoids their homeworld was seismically active, and surface explosions occur with sufficient force to propel the spores out of the planet's gravity.

In the 50th century one planet suffered a large infestation. The Library was attacked by over a "million million" (1,000,000,000,000) Vashta Nerada, due to the spores inside the books' paper hatching. The 4,022 people were unsuccessfully evacuated by the Library's computer and the planet was empty for 100 years until an archaeological expedition and the Doctor with Donna Noble landed on the planet.

Though much of the archaeological team was eaten by the Vashta Nerada, the Doctor was able to convince them to stop and give him a chance to return the people stored in the Library's computer. They agreed to give him a day, in which time the Humans were rescued and left the planet to the Vashta Nerada. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)