Atropos was the third of the Fates, the three sisters who ruled the destiny of mortals. Her function was to cut the cords of their lives. When she cut a thread, the soul was drawn back into the heavens and towards its home on Saturn.
Atropos told the Sixth Doctor that she had already cut the cords of his lives many times, and that she still had many remaining to cut.
When the universe was ravaged by a war between gods, such as the Olympians and the Osirans, Atropos and her sisters protected endangered worlds by removing them from the universe and storing them temporarily inside impermeable crystal spheres. (PROSE: The Spindle of Necessity)
The Temple of Atropos stood on the planet Time. (TV: War of the Sontarans)