Dalek Emperor

"Dalek Emperor" — also "Emperor Dalek" or "Emperor of the Daleks" — was the title held by the supreme ruler of the Dalek Empire and, later in their history, the New Dalek Paradigm, commanding the Dalek race and the planet Skaro.

Nature
The title of Dalek Emperor was the highest possible in the hierarchy of the Dalek Empire. Although a given society of Daleks could have only one Emperor, it was not uncommon for several Emperors to coexist in the universe at any one time, provided they were in charge of distinct Dalek forces; while having little contact with one another in all cases, the Emperors would not necessarily be mutually hostile. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem)

At first, "Dalek Emperor" was nominally an elected position with a mandate of one year; every Skaro-year, all the Daleks on Skaro would convene and ceremonially elect their Emperor and Warlord. However, no Daleks ever dared to question the supremacy of the Golden Emperor, and thus he and the Black Dalek are reelected as Emperor and Warlord year after year. When one lone Dalek Commander finally spoke out against the Golden Emperor, he had the Black Dalek disintegrate the Commander and its entire squadron on sight. Thereafter, the Emperor ruled unquestioned. (COMIC: The Secret of the Emperor)

Emperor Daleks were typically the oldest and wisest living members of their race, and resided within unique casings. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem) Some Imperial-class casings were huge, static and lacked weapons, (PROSE: The Dalek Problem, TV: The Evil of the Daleks) while another, more mobile type was characterised by an inflated dome and some amount of gold colouring. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks, COMIC: Genesis of Evil, Defender of the Daleks)

When the Empire found itself devoid of an Emperor, the usual procedure was for a Supreme Dalek to rise to the rank of Emperor, upgrading to a new casing in the process, (PROSE: The Dalek Problem, The Restoration Empire, AUDIO: The Davros Mission) exterminating the rest of the Supreme Council if need be so as to assert dominance. (PROSE: The Restoration Empire) However, it was also possible for individuals to be made Emperor by popular acclaim of the Council, as was, according to one account, the case of Davros. (AUDIO: The Davros Mission) Alternatively, both Davros and the Dalek Prime were shown in some accounts to have become the Emperors of large Dalek factions whose very creation they had overseen, meaning the new Daleks were born loyal to the Emperor in question. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil, Emperor of the Daleks!; TV: The Parting of the Ways)

The Dalek Prime
The Dalek Prime, or "Golden Emperor", was the first Dalek mutant to have climbed into a Dalek War Machine, (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) or, in other accounts, was the Dalek who had fired on Davros and made a proclamation on behalf of the other entombed Daleks that they would "prepare, grow stronger, and, when the time is right, emerge as the supreme rulers of the Universe". (TV: Genesis of the Daleks) It proclaimed itself the Emperor of the newly-created Dalek race. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil)

The Prime would continue to hold the position throughout his life, occupying several different casings, (TV: The Evil of the Daleks, The Parting of the Ways) although during and immediately following the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War, it was referred to as simply "the Dalek Prime" by its side of the War — as the opposing side, the Imperial Daleks, referred to their leader Davros as "the Dalek Emperor". (PROSE: War of the Daleks) When they crossed paths with the Dalek Prime again, he was recognised as "the" Emperor of the Daleks by the Eighth Doctor (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks) and the Ninth Doctor. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)

Emperor Zeg
Zeg was an early Dalek scientist who serendipitously discovered the secret of metalert. Having been granted a casing that was invulnerable to all weaponry known to its race, Zeg was effectively invincible and declared himself the new Emperor, hoping to unseat the Golden Emperor. Recognising that both Daleks had a claim to the title, as Zeg lacked provable intelligence but the Golden Emperor lacked provable strength, the Brain Machine ordered that a duel be fought between them to demonstrate who was truly superior. Through guile, the Golden Emperor defeated and killed Zeg, cementing his status as Emperor once more. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks)

Emperor of the Exterminators
After the Golden Emperor left Skaro with the Dalek Fleet, so as to lead the Daleks' first planetary conquests, (COMIC: The Amaryll Challenge) some of the Daleks left on Skaro decided to create an independent Empire of their own. (PROSE: Alien Bodies) This faction, who called themselves the Exterminator Daleks, were planet-bound, believing that the Dalek should concentrate on finishing the complete annihilation of the Thals before they tried to conquer other worlds. The Exterminators gave themselves an Emperor, who resided in the Dalek City until it was overtaken by a Thal commando who wiped out the Exterminators. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem)

23rd century Emperor
One Dalek Emperor ruled Skaro in 2254. It possessed a bronze-coloured casing with a bulbous head and large cannon-like gunsticks. Allied with Davros rather than opposed to him, the Emperor presided over a short-lived Dalek invasion of Earth which was put to an end by the Seventh Doctor. Shortly after the failure of the invasion, the Doctor was sent to Skaro by the Time Lords to retrieve a sacred Time Ring stolen by Davros, and, facing the Emperor, caused its destruction with his screwdriver. (GAME: Dalek Attack)

Emperor before the Movellan War
According to the Celestial Intervention Agency's research, just before the Dalek-Movellan War, the Dalek Empire governed such a large part of the universe that it had to be divided in two portions ruled by two different Emperors, who had very little contact with one another. While the original Emperor remained on Skaro, another existed on the other side of what became the Movellan lines. This Emperor was destroyed by the Movellans when war was declared between them and the Daleks, leaving the Empire under the aegis of a single Emperor once again; however, the Skaro-based Emperor struggled to keep track of the Dalek forces formerly under its counterpart's dominion, which harmed the Daleks' strategies during the Movellan War. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem)

Davros
While dormant following his own Daleks' attempt to exterminate him, Davros, the Daleks' own creator, (TV: Genesis of the Daleks) began to reflect that the Daleks would need him as "their Emperor" to reach their full potential and destroy "all opposition". (WC: Risen) After awakening and meeting Daleks in the flesh shortly thereafter, however, it was the title of Supreme Commander which he claimed. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)

On Necros, the Sixth Doctor suggested that Davros intended to become Emperor of the new race of Daleks that he created in opposition to those who followed the Supreme Dalek (TV: Revelation of the Daleks) and its master, the Dalek Prime. (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!, PROSE: War of the Daleks) Indeed, Davros, after taking control of Skaro, became Emperor of what were now the Imperial Daleks, sparking the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War, although accounts differed as to the circumstances of this event. (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!, AUDIO: The Davros Mission) Either as a direct consequence of being elected to the rank of Emperor (AUDIO: The Davros Mission) or because he had been gravely wounded by Abslom Daak, (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!) he was encased in a customised Dalek casing with a round dome top which could open and close, his body below his head and shoulders covered in a mass of tubing and cables, suggesting he had greatly deteriorated physically. He was last seen heading for an escape pod just before his ship was destroyed in the wake of the supernova (set off by the Hand of Omega) that consumed Skaro. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)

Later, according to one account, Davros' increasingly unstable mind caused him to be overtaken by a totally Dalek personality, with him forgetting who he originally was and answering only to the name of Dalek Emperor. (AUDIO: Terror Firma) Still not remembering his name, the Dalek Emperor who had once been Davros began to occupy a casing strikingly similar to the Dalek Prime's, adding an eyestalk to the spherical dome section. (COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks)

By the outbreak of the Last Great Time War, Davros was back to his pre-Emperor persona and form as he joined the conflict for his "children", (PROSE: Father of the Daleks, TV: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) who were now led by a different Emperor (PROSE: Birth of a Legend, TV: The Parting of the Ways) whose own identity was in dispute, though some accounts claimed that he was the resurrected original Emperor. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks, PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)

During the Time War, an alternative Davros created by the Dalek Time Strategist as a substitute after the apparent death of the original, who had access to the memories of all versions of Davros across the multiverse, once mocked this Time War Emperor with the knowledge that although in this universe they were bitter rivals, there were possible timelines where the two of them were one and the same. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks)

The Emperor of the Restoration
According to some accounts, the Imperial-Renegade Dalek Civil War ended with the pyrrhic victory of the Imperial Daleks, despite the flight of their leader Davros, while the Renegade Daleks were completely exterminated. These accounts alleged that a new Emperor then took charge of the remaining Dalek forces, creating a new Empire on Skaro. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe, The Restoration Empire) Post-Time War historians believed Davros' successor had orchestrated the Etra Prime Incident, an attempted invasion of Gallifrey. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe)

The most aggressive Dalek Emperor on record (PROSE: Secrets of Time Lord Victorious) and originally a Supreme Dalek and member of Emperor Davros's Supreme Council, this Dalek was known as the Emperor of the Restoration. He adopted a casing similar to the original Golden Emperor's and overhauled Dalek hierarchy to bring it more in line with its glorious path, trying to turn the tide and make the Dalek Empire a universe-wide threat to the "lesser races" once again. (PROSE: The Restoration Empire) He later led the Daleks into the Last Great Time War, trying to fulfil Davros's old ambition for the Daleks to become "the Lords of Time" instead of the Gallifreyans. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe, The Restoration Empire)

According to other accounts, however, the Dalek Emperor who took control of Skaro at the close of the Civil War was instead the Dalek Prime, erstwhile leader of the Renegade Daleks, (PROSE: War of the Daleks) and it was also he (albeit after death and resurrection) who would later lead the Daleks in the Time War. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks)

The Restoration Empire, and its Emperor, was later brought back after the Time War (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks) by fluctuations in time caused when the Tenth Doctor poisoned the Kotturuh in the Dark Times. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times, The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) The Emperor learnt of the attack on history, and the Doctor‘s involvement, from a message sent by the only surviving Dalek of a Time Squad that had yet to be sent back in time. (PROSE: The Last Message) He ordered the invasion of Islos to seize the Archive, which resulted in the unleashing of the Entity against the Daleks. (WC: The Archive of Islos, The Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy) The Emperor later oversaw the war against the Hond (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks) and sent the Time Squad to rectify the temporal fluctuations to the Daleks’ benefit. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

The Dalek Prime Strategist
After the Evacuation of Skaro, an event in the temporally-altered reign of the Emperor of the Restoration, the Dalek Prime Strategist was dispatched to the Fifth Galaxy to reawaken an army of 10,000 dormant Red Daleks to fight the Entity. Upon arriving on the planet where the army was hidden in stasis, the Strategist activated the Sentinel android and told it to take him to "my army". The Sentinel immediately acknowledged the Dalek Prime Strategist as "Emperor", to the Strategist's shock.

Although the Strategist told the Sentinel that there must be a flaw in its programming, it persisted in addressing him as "Emperor". After successfully reviving the backup Dalek army, the Sentinel revealed that it had in fact been taken over by the Entity. The Sentinel told the Strategist that although its primary intent was to destroy the Daleks, finding a more reasonable leader for the species than the current Emperor would also be an acceptable solution. Thus, it had changed the programming of all the dormant Daleks, who indeed began addressing the Dalek Prime Strategist as their Emperor as they woke.

The Strategist wavered, but ultimately decided to sacrifice the army rather than rebel against the Emperor of the Restoration. The Entity thus fell back to controlling the reawakened army itself and leading in an ultimately-futile assault on the main Dalek forces. However, when asked by the Emperor if there was truly no way the disaster could have been avoided, the Strategist answered that there was a way, but it "would not have been acceptable… to you". (WC: The Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy)

By the time of the Restoration Empire Daleks' temporally-abnormal war with the Hond, the Strategist was still subservient to the Emperor of the Restoration. However, the Tenth Doctor, when conversing with the Strategist, correctly divined that he was upset that the Golden Emperor of the Restoration outranked him despite being younger and less experienced than he was. (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks)

After escaping the Dark Times, the Strategist was planning out a Dalek Time War against the Time Lords, and believed it may have to depose the current Emperor and take his place, if he proved unsuitable to the purpose of leading the Daleks in such a conflict. (PROSE: Exit Strategy)

In the Time War
The identity of the Dalek Emperor in the Last Great Time War was up to some debate: some accounts suggested that he was the Emperor of the Restoration, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) while others stated that he was a resurrected form of the original Dalek Emperor and erstwhile-instigator of the civil war against Davros. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks) One account acknowledged the existence of the Emperor of the Resurrection but suggested that the Dalek Prime Strategist intended to become the Emperor in time for the Daleks' war against the Time Lords to begin. (PROSE: Exit Strategy)

As recorded in the Dalek Combat Training Manual, the Time Lords identified the Emperor who oversaw Operation Human Factor as "The Emperor Type I". Whilst acknowledging Davros' stint as Emperor of the Imperial Daleks, it was the Emperor of the Time War who the Time Lords marked as "The Emperor Type II". Though the "Type I" was thought destroyed in the Dalek Civil War, the Time Lords acknowledged the possibility that, given the Daleks extraordinarily long lifespan, the organic part was retrieved and eventually "formed the basis" of the Emperor that took the Daleks into the Time War. The Time Lords were also aware of documents which suggested that the Emperor originally occupied a smaller casing which resembled that used by Davros, but considered them to be apocryphal; the Emperor of the Restoration was also acknowledged as a separate "anomaly" in Dalek history. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual)

However, there was widespread agreement that a Dalek Emperor other than Davros (TV: Journey's End) was the ultimate authority of the Dalek Empire throughout the better part of the Last Great Time War, up until the very last day. After falling through time (TV: The Parting of the Ways) and the Void, (PROSE: The Whoniverse) the Emperor, who had developed delusions of godhood and proclaimed himself "the God of All Daleks", attempted to recreate a new Dalek race from harvested humans on Satellite Five. This scheme was foiled by the Ninth Doctor, Jack Harkness and Rose Tyler, with Rose using the powers of the Bad Wolf entity to finally obliterate the Emperor, (TV: The Parting of the Ways) "[taking] the Time Vortex and pour[ing] it into his head, and turning him into dust". (TV: Doomsday)

The New Dalek Paradigm's Emperors and beyond
When the New Dalek Paradigm went back to the ruined Skaro, they created a new Emperor Dalek, reusing the shell of the old one, albeit with new paint. His blue colouring suggests he was a Strategist Dalek, had ties to that role or was the mastermind of all of the Daleks' plans for universal conquest. When the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond travelled back in time to when Skaro was devastated and before the new Daleks arrived with the Eye of Time, they erased the Daleks' alterations and Kaalann was left abandoned. The new Emperor was never created as a result. (GAME: City of the Daleks)

When the New Dalek Paradigm took control of Earth in 2106, they were led by a new Emperor Dalek. This Emperor was different from the Time War Emperor, as it was coloured purple, was able to form a sphere and its weaponry was much larger. This new Emperor wanted to completely change time by using a piece of the Eternity Clock, and remove Gallifrey from existence; the Daleks would then become the new Lords of Time. The Eleventh Doctor and River Song were able to remove the piece of the Eternity Clock from the Dalek's possession, foiling the Emperor's plans and undoing the Dalek invasion of Earth. (GAME: The Eternity Clock)

Under the reinvention of the Dalek Empire, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe) the Daleks established a Parliament which took decisions for the whole of Dalek-kind under the leadership of a Prime Minister. When the Eleventh Doctor and his companions were summoned to the Parliament's ship, no Emperor was in evidence; (TV: Asylum of the Daleks) indeed, the Time Lords were aware that the Prime Minister superseded the position of Emperor. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) After the fall of the Parliament, the New Dalek Paradigm's first Supreme Dalek took control of the Empire.

The Parliament was ultimately wiped out when their ship, the Nacrana Va Hateen, was destroyed by the Eleventh Doctor using the additional regeneration energy provided to him by the Time Lords, ending the Siege of Trenzalore. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe, TV: The Time of the Doctor) When Skaro was made the centre of the empire, a red Supreme Dalek, identical to that which led the New Dalek Empire, commanded operations. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar)

The Twelfth Doctor knew that a Dalek Emperor had again taken over leadership of the Daleks by the time he took over someone's phone to send them a message, displaying an image of an emperor using the same casing (WC: The Twelfth Doctor's been Timejacked!) as the ruler who led the Daleks through the Time War. (TV: The Parting of the Ways) According to him, the Daleks and their emperor had launched a plot to use the internet to convert the people of the 21st century into Dalek drones, which was something he needed to put a stop to sooner or later. (WC: The Twelfth Doctor's been Timejacked!) During the 1966 Dalek invasion of Earth, the Fourteenth Doctor pondered whether an Emperor or Supreme Dalek was commanding the operation. In truth, it was the latter. (COMIC: Liberation of the Daleks)

Undated Emperors
A Dalek Emperor tried, who was consequently exterminated by the Dalek Prelature. (PROSE: The Novel of the Film)

A "Dalek Puppet Emperor" was known to have declared his hostility to the High Council of the Time Lords at some point prior to the official beginning of the Last Great Time War. (PROSE: Meet the Doctor)

Other universes
In a possible reality that only existed because of anti-time, Imperiatrix Romana denied the Emperor Dalek's demand to remove its fleet from a temporal pocket in the Time Vortex, instead proclaiming she would to destroy it and the remaining Dalek battalions. Though the Emperor asked for mercy, Romana had the fleet annihilated, to the horror of the Eighth Doctor. (AUDIO: Neverland)

Other references
The Sixth Doctor objected to Jack Harkness marrying Callista while posing as him, likening the situation to a marriage with the Dalek Emperor. Jack countered by pointing out that the Doctor was still fighting the Daleks, and used a hypothetical romance with Davros to taunt him. (AUDIO: Piece of Mind) The Twelfth Doctor once joked that the Dalek Emperor was not as threatening as "your average mobile phone sales assistant" (PROSE: The Blood Cell) and later remarked that the internet had the same level of "wit, ego, and hatred" as the Emperor. (WC: The Twelfth Doctor's been Timejacked!)

The position of Dalek Puppet Emperor also existed. (PROSE: Meet the Doctor) By one account, if a Dalek Emperor died, a Supreme Dalek would normally take its place. (PROSE: The Dalek Problem)

Invalid sources
Long before the Sixth Doctor suggested that Davros could become Emperor of the Daleks in Revelation of the Daleks, the original second volume of The Doctor Who Programme Guide (1981) suggested that the Emperor seen in The Evil of the Daleks was not only the "last Emperor Dalek", indicating the existence of a predecessor, but also "the final incarnation" of Davros before his Daleks were usurped by the Humanised Daleks created by the Second Doctor.

The Terrestrial Index (1991), which stated that the Dalek Civil War was in fact the Final End of the Daleks, continued the claim that the Evil Emperor was the final form of Davros, achieved by self-inflicted mutations long following the so-called destruction of Skaro. Incidentally, Terror Firma would depict an Emperor Davros now with elements of The Evil of the Daleks casing.

A (identical in voice and appearance to the one in The Parting of the Ways, though it is not confirmed to be the same individual) acts as a secondary villain in LEGO Dimensions, where he is voiced by Nicholas Briggs. In the video game's story, he is unaware that some of his Daleks have been recruited by Lord Vortech to aid him in his conquest of the multiverse, but he is aware of mysterious happenings involving cross-dimensional travel, and has acquired one of the Keystones for himself (the Scale, which allows him to enlarge or shrink himself and other Daleks at will). Believing the goings-on to be the fault of the Twelfth Doctor, he captures the game's protagonists, Batman, Wyldstyle and Gandalf, to try and find out the Doctor's plans, but ends up getting shrunk to mouse-size by the Scale at the end of the ensuing boss battle. The iteration used by Davros in Remembrance of the Daleks appears in a DLC level, and the iteration seen in The Evil of the Daleks appears in a secret area in a level pack themed off The Goonies.

The Discontinuity Guide suggests that, whilst undergoing interrogation during his incursion into Dalek history, the Fourth Doctor had told Davros of the Human Factor Incident, which involved a Dalek Emperor, and so influenced the Dalek creator to later name himself Emperor of the Imperial Daleks.

Other matters

 * Similar to Dalek Supreme/Supreme Dalek, the terms "Dalek Emperor" and "Emperor Dalek" are used interchangably across media. "Dalek Emperor" is used in The Sound of Drums, while "Emperor Dalek" is used in The History of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, Nemesis of the Daleks, The Time of the Daleks, Neverland, City of the Daleks and Night Terrors. The Evil of the Daleks simply used the term "Emperor", while the Ninth Doctor identifies the "Emperor of the Daleks" in The Parting of the Ways.
 * Depending on the player's progress, "Dalek Emperor" is a potential rank for the Metaltron to attain in the video game NOTVALID: The Last Dalek.
 * The 2005 releases of the television story The Parting of the Ways, which introduced the Dalek Emperor in the Last Great Time War, and the audio story Terror Firma, in which Davros's original personality gave way to "the Emperor", gave rise to a theory which suggested that Davros was destined to become the Emperor seen in The Parting of the Ways. This was acknowledged by AHistory, which noted that this theory was officially denied by Big Finish. Davros's return in The Stolen Earth and subsequent stories firmly established that Davros and the War Emperor were separate individuals and that Davros had returned to his original personality by the Last Great Time War.