Howling:Why the Doctor has different personalities per regeneration

Hasn't anyone wondered why the different incarnations of the Doctor have, well, different personalities? I've been giving it a bit of thought and this is what I've come up with: The Doctor's "regenerations" are all different aspects of his psyche and all are still present inside the Doctor's min, and every time he regenerates, a different part of himself takes power. I think this is why Time Lords only get thirteen lives, since theoretically there can only be a finite number of personalities and only one can take control at a time (and only once at that). I also think that this is what that Tom Baker-curator meant when he told the Eleventh Doctor that he was likely going to regenerate back into familiar faces at the end of "Day of the Doctor," although I don't really think that the "War Doctor" from that same movie fits into this pattern of regeneration since he was "created" by someone other than the Doctor. My guess is that's why he isn't technically counted when one lists off the Doctors numerically. Anyone want to pose a different explanation? Skull Boze ☎  22:37, December 29, 2013 (UTC)


 * Regeneration mixes up a Time Lord's physiology, and their psyche probably follows suit due to biochemical changes or something. —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 21:25, December 30, 2013 (UTC)


 * It's not just the physiology. As the Doctor has said a few times, to various people, every cell is reconstructed. In humans, cellular changes in the brain -- during adolescence, for example -- can make drastic changes to expressed personality. ("My sweet little son/daughter has turned into a monster!" is not unknown as a parental lament.) Since a Time Lord's regenerations rebuild the whole body, brain included, it'd be quite surprising -- & implausible -- if there weren't major personality changes. Regeneration trauma, from which the Doctor tends to suffer most times, is hardly surprising if you consider that his brain is being rejigged completely in a matter of a few hours, rather than partly & over the course of several years, as our brains are in adolescence. --89.243.204.145talk to me 21:30, January 24, 2014 (UTC)