Kamishi

The Kamishi were a primordial race that roamed the universe during its early times.

Culture
The Kamishi had a complex caste system. Some castes included the Sanukuma, the Tengobushi and Manberuda. (AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe, The Battle of the Tower) In Kamishi culture everyone knew their place and did not question the purpose determined by their caste or chapter. (AUDIO: Death in Geneva)

Members of a caste reported to their master, who, in turn, reported to Kamishi masters. A master of a lower caste could belong to a different, higher caste. (AUDIO: Death in Geneva, Ice Station Alpha)

Biology
Members of the higher castes, such as Sanukuma, did not have a permanent form and could change their appearance at will, adapting it to their surroundings. Members of the Tengobushi caste were humanoid. (AUDIO: Death in Geneva, The Rulers of the Universe)

Many Kamishi, including lower castes such as Tengobushi, could turn matter into energy and vice versa with the power of their will. (AUDIO: The Battle of the Tower)

History
Several billion years before the Eighth Doctor encountered them, in the early days of the universe, the Sanukuma caste guided the evolution of life.

However, after billions of years of non-intervention, they observed the evolution that had occurred, and deemed the life unworthy. With the advent of the Last Great Time War, the Sanukuma decided to take action into their own hands and set about destroying life on many of these worlds via SporeShips. They planned to destroy all life in their galaxy to start fresh, but they were stopped by the Eighth Doctor with the help of River Song. (AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe)

Tengobushi were expert warriors. When sent to Earth to retrieve a Kamishi power source, they used their skills at stealth and combat to fight the UNIT troops. (AUDIO: Death in Geneva, The Battle of the Tower)

The people of Kamshassa were known as "children of the Kamishi". Their world was built by a SporeShip. (AUDIO: Neon Reign)

Behind the scenes

 * Matt Fitton and Andrew Smith, the writers of the Shutdown box set and the audio story The Rulers of the Universe and creators of Kamishi, partially based them on Chinese and Japanese cultures. (BFX: Shutdown)
 * Although the first member of Kamishi appeared in I Went to a Marvellous Party, the second story of the first series of The Diary of River Song, initially he posed as the Doctor. Only in the third story of the box set, Signs, was it revealed that he belonged to an ancient species. The name of the species, Kamishi, was first revealed only in the last story of the box set, The Rulers of the Universe.