Thal

Thals were one of the humanoid races which originally inhabited the planet Skaro.

Biology
Thals looked much like Kaleds and humans, though they could be distinguished from Kaleds by their blond hair and light eyes. (TV: The Daleks, Planet of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks)

Internally, Thals could also be distinguished from humans and Kaleds. They had thinner and longer lungs than the Kaleds (AUDIO: Corruption) and greater resistance to radiation. (TV: The Daleks)

The name of the Thal state was the Thal Republic. (AUDIO: Corruption)

Culture
During the Thousand Year War, Thals were just as brutal as the Kaleds. They had no qualms about using the slave labour of Kaled prisoners and Mutos to build the neutronic missile, even when they knew the radiation from the missile would kill the slaves. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks) There were seven males for every female. (AUDIO: Corruption)

After the war, the Thals committed themselves to pacifism. (TV: The Daleks)

Centuries later, they revered the Doctor and his companions as heroes and referred to the prior event as the First Dalek War. Turning full circle, they again adopted a militaristic way of life, though only, it seems, against the Daleks. (TV: Planet of the Daleks) "Sweet life" was a Thal oath. (PROSE: The Dalek Factor)

Technology
Thal technology advanced in parallel to that of the Kaleds for some time. The Kaled began researching means of survival while the Thals concentrated on ways to destroy their enemies. They developed the neutronic missile but lacked the power to break down the Kaled defences with it. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)

After the Thal-Dalek War, it was many generations until they developed interplanetary flight. Their ongoing conflict with the Daleks forced them to develop weaponry. They used compact firearms that were attached to their holsters by a cord. However, these weapons seemed to have no effect upon Daleks.

To combat Daleks, the Thals developed powerful explosives. These explosives could easily kill Daleks, blowing them wide open. (TV: Planet of the Daleks)

Early history
100 million years before the Thousand Year War, the Thals' evolution diverged from that of the Kaleds. (AUDIO: Corruption) One account stated the Thals and Kaleds were descended from humans transplanted from Earth to Skaro as an experiment by the Halldons. (PROSE: We are the Daleks!)


 * However, it should be noted that We are the Daleks! refer to the Dals, which was a separate tribe entirely. The Thals had mistaken the Kaleds for the Dals due to the fact that in the Book of Predictions, written in the extinct language of the Dals, which stated "...and on that day, men will become as gods." In the original language, the final word was pronounced "Dal-ek." (AUDIO: Guilt)

The Thals had written records going back nearly half a million years. Oral history and later records would describe the Thals as originally a warrior people, while the Kaleds (Who the Thals mistakenly confused with the "Dals") were more orientated towards philosophy and science. (TV: The Daleks)

Thousand Year War


Originally, the Thals and Kaleds lived together in peace. (AUDIO: Purity) Due to unknown circumstances, the Kaleds and Thals engaged in the Thousand Year War. Though they originally used advanced technology, towards the end of the war they became more primitive. By the end of the conflict, both Thals and Kaleds sheltered in domed cities overlooking a wasteland. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)

The war concluded when Davros, a Kaled leader, gave the means to destroy the Kaled Dome to the Thals. They used this compound in the missile they sent to the Kaled city and destroyed it. In "retaliation" for the destruction of the dome, Davros ordered the Daleks to destroy the Thals. Led by a Thal, Bettan, Thals and Mutos joined together to fight the Daleks, who were trapped in the Kaled bunker after an explosion, defeated but still alive. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)

Aftermath

 * An indeterminate length of time, longer than living memory, passed. One Thal suggested it was 500 years. (TV: The Daleks)

The Thals renounced violence and became pacifist farmers living in small bands on a less radiated plateau. They would not even engage in violence for self-preservation and showed no curiosity about the Dalek City or its inhabitants. The Thals believed that, following the war, radiation had mutated them into perfect beings, though after a stage of advanced mutations. (TV: The Daleks)



After a particularly bad year for crops, the Thals were forced to move to the Petrified Forest near the Dalek City to look for food. Ian Chesterton, a companion of the First Doctor, used moral blackmail to force the Thals, Alydon in particular, into putting together an expedition into the Dalek City to fight against the Daleks who intended genocide against the Thals. The Thals invaded the Dalek City, cut off the power and so deprived the Daleks of the static electricity they needed to live. (TV: The Daleks)

Spaceflight era
By the 26th century, the Doctor's visit was considered a legend. In 2540, the Third Doctor and Jo Grant met a taskforce of Thals on Spiridon where a small group, led by Taron, had landed to destroy a Dalek army massed on that planet. The Thals had, by then, reclaimed Skaro. They had only recently developed spaceflight. The mission to Spiridon was the furthest they had ever gone. Earth was unknown to them, believed to be simply part of the Doctor legend. (TV: Planet of the Daleks)

The Thals were said to have relocated to another homeworld New Davius (AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks) some time before the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War. (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks) In their absence, Skaro was believed to have been destroyed. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)

In reality, a decoy world named Antalin had been destroyed. The Thals survived past Antalin's destruction and fought the Daleks on Terakis and wiped out half of the Dalek Eighth Fleet. (PROSE: War of the Daleks)