A Cyber-Leader was the most commonly assumed rank in the leadership hierarchy of the Cybermen.
Profile
Within the Major Phalanx of the rigid Cyberman hierarchy, basic Cyber-Leaders were assisted by Junior Leaders who oversaw the Cyber-Army, and themselves assisted the Senior Leader, who answered only to the Cyber-Controller. (PROSE: Attack of the Cybermen)
A Cyber-Leader served as the supreme leader of the Cybermen when the Cyber-Controller was not present. When a Cyber-Controller or Cyber-Planner was present, Leaders sometimes served as second-in-commands instead. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen, COMIC: The Flood, PROSE: Alit in Underland) Cyber-Leaders were sometimes accompanied and assisted by a Cyber-Lieutenant. (TV: The Five Doctors, Silver Nemesis, PROSE: Alit in Underland)
Cyber-Leaders commanded the Cyber-Flagships which led Cyber-Fleets. (COMIC: The Bidding War)
Cyber-Leaders were of sufficient value to warrant a personal guard of Cybermen. (TV: Earthshock)
Several Cyber-Leaders had names such as Maxel, (COMIC: Black Legacy) Wirgun and Tork. The position of Junior Cyber-Leader also existed, and was held by Kroton. (COMIC: Throwback: The Soul of a Cyberman) and Loktar. (COMIC: Black Legacy) Cyberleaders such as Zogron were designated as Cybernauts, pioneers of the Cyber-Empire. (COMIC: Junk-Yard Demon)
Another Cyber-Leader was converted into a human and became Subject One. (AUDIO: The Harvest)
Although Cyber-Leaders shared the same basic vulnerabilities as their subordinates, they were stronger than normal Cybermen. When attacked with gold or electricity, they were more resistant. (TV: Silver Nemesis, PROSE: Alit in Underland)
Most Cyber-Leaders were recognisable as leader by either a black helmet (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen, AUDIO: Sword of Orion), or black side handles on their helmet (TV: Earthshock, The Five Doctors, Attack of the Cybermen, Silver Nemesis, AUDIO: The Reaping, PROSE: Alit in Underland). However, early Mondasian Cyber-Leaders, such as Krail, had no markings to indicate their rank. (TV: The Tenth Planet/PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet, AUDIO: The Five Companions)
Ashad, who was addressed as "Leader" by his Cyberguards, had mostly silver side handles with black corners, (TV: Ascension of the Cybermen) similar to the converted Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. (TV: Death in Heaven)
History
The Mondasian colony ship
A Cyber-Leader, evolved from one of the hundreds of Mondasian Cybermen created on Floor 1056 of a Mondasian colony ship (TV: The Doctor Falls), led a patrol of Cybermen from said floor to Floor 0508 of the ship. Under orders from a Cyber-Planner, they attempted to prime a group of Cybermats to attack Floor 0507, and to capture the Saxon Master and Missy to interrogate them as to how and why the Cybermen’s definition of humanity had been altered, and who had done so. The Cyber-Leader knocked out the Master after he destroyed the Cyber-Lieutenant, and kept him prisoner by the floor’s lifts. After the patrol destroyed Topknot, it was destroyed, along with the other Cybermen, by a powerful electric shock resulting from the Master firing his laser screwdriver at the steel ground of Floor 0508, after Missy hacked the floor’s weather system to force it to rain; the Cyber-Leader resisted for a few more seconds before dying. (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
Isos
At least one Cyber-Leader took part in the invasion of Earth in 1975. This Leader escaped the destruction of the invasion fleet and returned to Isos II, where it re-activated the Cyber-Controller and attempted to cyber-convert Ison reinforcements. It was destroyed before the plan could be executed. (AUDIO: The Isos Network)
Mondas
Krail. (TV: The Tenth Planet)
Krail acted as leader and spokesman of the Mondasian Cybermen who invaded the Snowcap Base in Antarctica in December 1986. (TV: The Tenth Planet) He was accompanied by three fellow Cyber-Leaders, Regos Krang, Jarl and Gern. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet)
Though not physically distinguished as leader unlike later models, Krail was remembered as a Cyber-Leader by the Fifth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Five Companions)
Invasion from another universe
In 2007, a group of Cybermen from a parallel universe invaded the Earth of the Doctor's universe. Their Cyber-Leader was identified by black handlebars on its helmet. When the Leader was destroyed, the information it had was downloaded into another Cyberman, who was then upgraded to Cyber-Leader. The first leader during the meeting with the Doctor was destroyed by the Preachers, whilst the second was slain by Yvonne Hartman in her converted form. (TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
A Cyberman that was part of surviving Cybermen made from humans converted during the Battle of Canary Wharf (meaning they had not crossed the Void so they were not contaminated with Void stuff, thus not being sucked back in) became a Cyber-Leader after the battle. The Cybermen planned to open the Void and free the Cybermen trapped inside, but their plans were thwarted by the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. The Cyber-Leader was electrocuted by their own force field. (PROSE: Made of Steel)
When files from the Torchwood Archive were stolen by an info-thief, he used the information to create an army of Cybermen. However, the Cybermen turned on him and they attempted to take over the world of Centuria. (COMIC: The Power of the Cybermen) A Cyber-Leader led the Cybermen during the attempt but the Tenth Doctor was able to get into their headquarters and destroy them. However, there was evidence that the Cyber threat was not totally ended. (COMIC: Time of the Cybermen)
Another Cyber-Leader turned up in 1851 after the Cybermen escaped the Void, although this design of Leader was actually known as a Cyber-Lord. This leader had black handlebars and a redesigned black faceplate with a transparent "window" in the forehead through which its brain could be seen. This Cyber-Lord was destroyed by the CyberKing which had been installed inside Mercy Hartigan. (TV: The Next Doctor)
There were other Cybermen which managed to escape the Void. A Cyber-Leader led one group and they were able to develop an early stage of their space travel. Their ship was destroyed by a "rogue artefact" that was really a Dalek Time Axis. The Cyber-Leader was able to take over the systems of the SS Lucy Grey, but the Eleventh Doctor was able to overload the ship's systems and destroyed the Cybermen. (GAME: Return to Earth)
The Cybermen joined the Alliance formed to imprison the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica in order to save the universe. A Cyber-Leader was present in Stonehenge, 102 A.D., along with the rest of the Alliance, and locked the Doctor in the Pandorica. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) After the Alliance's plan failed, several species - including the Cybermen themselves - were wiped from existence, leaving only stone "after-images" behind. The Doctor ultimately reset the universe. (TV: The Big Bang)
Ninth Cyber Legion
A Cyber-Leader was second-in-command to the Cyber-Planner who led the Ninth Cyber Legion to invade the Earth in London in 2012. It had black handle bars on its helmet, but also had a black face. This Cyber-Leader was destroyed by the Eleventh Doctor and River Song by shutting down the Cyberfactory's thermionic core. (GAME: The Eternity Clock)
Aprilia III
A Cyber-Leader led a force of Cybermen which infiltrated a Federation facility on the planet Aprilia III in a parallel universe during the late 2260s. They mind-controlled the researchers, making them unemotional and docile. The USS Enterprise was sent to investigate on stardate 3368.5. Captain James T. Kirk, Mister Spock, Doctor Leonard McCoy and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott travelled to the planet's surface in the shuttlecraft Galileo, they were later interrupted by the Fourth Doctor, who was visiting the planet in his TARDIS. He helped them break the lock and together they infiltrated the facility. There, they discovered the archaeologists under the control of the Cybermen and tried to free them. A battle ensued and the Cybermen were destroyed with the Doctor's aid, while the researchers were liberated. (COMIC: Assimilation²)
Karen Brett
After installing her as President of Earth, (AUDIO: Scorpius) the Cybermen converted Karen Brett into a Cyber-Leader and tasked her with reactivating the Master Hibernation Vault in the debris of Telos (AUDIO: Conversion). Ultimately, the vault was destroyed by an Android forces with the help of her former friend, Liam Barnaby. As she lay dying, she declared that the Cybermen would ultimately triumph. (AUDIO: Telos)
As she had remained President of Earth after her conversion, her death caused instability on Earth, and resulted in the Cybrid Paul Hunt taking power as emergency executive-in-chief. (AUDIO: Outsiders)
Start of the Cyber-Wars
The Fifth Doctor uses Adric's gold badge to destroy the Cyber-Leader. (TV: Earthshock)
A Cyber-Leader planned to destroy Earth with Cyber-bombs to stop a conference leading to an alliance against the Cybermen. When its androids were destroyed and the bomb had failed, it sent the Cybermen to attack Briggs' freighter. Its cargo, unknown to the crew, was an army of Cybermen. They awoke and took over the ship. The Cyber-Leader planned to destroy life on Earth by hitting it with the craft they had reprogrammed. The craft was taken back in time by the Fifth Doctor. It hit the Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. The Cyber-Leader attacked the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka in the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor ground Adric's gold star badge into the Cyber-Leader's chest. It shot at the TARDIS console and died when the Doctor shot it several times. (TV: Earthshock)
Saving Mondas
A Cyber-Leader was second in command to the Cyber-Controller in its attempt to time travel and destroy Earth in the year 1985 so Mondas would not be destroyed the next year. He and the Cyber-Controller were shot dead by the Sixth Doctor. (TV: Attack of the Cybermen)
The Nemesis
A Cyber-Leader led a shuttle to Earth in 1988 to find the Nemesis and, upon arrival, they massacred the Neo-Nazis whom they encountered at their landing site. The Cyber-Leader was wounded by a gold coin shot by Ace, but he survived and shot De Flores dead when he held the bow. The Cyber-Leader was killed by Richard Maynarde, who stabbed him with Lady Peinforte's gold arrow. (TV: Silver Nemesis)
Voga
A Cyber-Leader and troops. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)
A Cyber-Leader was in command of an ancient Cybership which attempted to destroy the planet of gold, Voga, to stop the production of glitterguns. It was killed when its ship was destroyed by the Vogan rocket Skystriker. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)
Twelfth Cyber Legion
A Cyber-Leader was seen commanding at least part of the Twelfth Cyber Legion. This Cyber-Leader had a similar appearance to the 1851 Cyber-Lord. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
54th century
A Cyber-Leader commanded the Cyber-Flagship of a Cyber-Fleet which attacked the planet Nomicae. It was destroyed when the Flagship was destroyed by the Harrigain. (COMIC: The Bidding War)
Cyberium
In the immediate aftermath of the Cyber-Wars, Ashad was flanked by Cyberguards whom addressed him as "Leader". (TV: Ascension of the Cybermen)
Attempting to change history
In the far future, one of the last surviving Cyber-Leaders found a TARDIS "abandoned on a planet ruined by fire". It tried to pilot the ship to prehistoric Earth and cyberconvert the early ancestors of humanity, but it was unable to fully control the TARDIS. The Cyber-Leader was severely damaged by exposure to the Time Vortex and it crashed near Baltimore in late 1982. After Anthony Chambers discovered a conversion pod the Leader had brought with him, the injured Cyber-Leader planted an ear piece on him to control him.
Using its access to the entire history of the cyber-race, the Cyber-Leader concocted a plan to lure the Doctor to Baltimore by killing Anthony, as he was a family friend of Peri Brown, in September 1984. The Cyber Leader even created a climate of fear for the Doctor, by tricking him into believing his planned to convert dead humans into Cybermen by using a nonexistent virus by converting Anthony, and brainwashing the Baltimore police.
The plan worked and the Cyber-Leader captured the Sixth Doctor and forced him to pilot the TARDIS to prehistoric Earth, to convert humanity's ancestors. The Doctor tricked the Cyber-Leader into thinking that history had been changed and instead of piloting the ship to a new version of 1984 where Cyberman had been the dominant life form on Earth for millennia, the Doctor took the Cyber-Leader to Mondas in 1984. The Cyber-Leader was considered faulty by its ancestors and taken to be reprocessed. (AUDIO: The Reaping) The Cyber-Leader, now an ordinary, primitive Cyberman, was presumably killed when Mondas was destroyed (TV: The Tenth Planet)
Gallifrey
The Cybermen once allied with Rassilon and converted him into a Cyber-President. He returned to Gallifrey and conquered the planet with the aid of his new allies. A Cyber-Leader was planning Gallifrey's invasion with Rassilon. This Cyber-Leader had a suit similar to standard Cybermen who survived the Cyber-Wars. Its helmet had black handles and a black faceplate and a transparent "window" through which its brain could be seen, similar to the Cyber-Lord in 1851. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen)
During the Cyberman attack on history, a Cyber-Leader pursued the Fourth Doctor. (COMIC: Prologue: The Fourth Doctor) Another Cyber-Leader attacked the Fifth Doctor and Peri Brown on Skaro. (COMIC: Prologue: The Fifth Doctor)
Undated events
Zogron
Cybernaut Zogron. (COMIC: Junk-Yard Demon)
Cybernaut Zogron was a Cyberleader who commanded a mighty Cyber-Fleet that crashed on the remote planet AS4. A reactivated Cyberman, who considered Zogron to be one of the pioneers of their interstellar empire, kidnapped Jetsam and took him in the Doctor's TARDIS to reactivate Zogron so that he may once again "rule time and space." Like other Cybermen, Jetsam had reprogrammed Zogron as a butler and he infuriated the Cyberman by offering him a before-dinner sherry. Tracked by the Fourth Doctor, Flotsam and Dutch on the Drifter, they landed on AS4 and Dutch destroyed the Cyberman by coating it in quick-setting polymer paint. Zogron presumably remained programmed as a butler. (COMIC: Junk-Yard Demon)
In the Death Zone
A Cyber-Leader commanded a squad Time Scooped by Borusa to the Death Zone. It found the Doctor and the Tremas Master and fired at them. The Doctor escaped with the Master's homing beacon while the Master tricked the Cybermen into working with him to destroy the Time Lords. They went to a giant chessboard in the Dark Tower. When the Cybermen attempted to cross, they were all electrocuted. The Cyber-Leader asked why the Master had betrayed them. He told him the safe path changed with every journey. When the Master showed the Cyber-Leader the safe path under threat of death, he turned around and killed the Cyber-Leader. (TV: The Five Doctors)
Alternate timeline
During the war between the Cybermen and the Preachers in their own universe, a Cyber-Leader was selected by the Cybermen to lead them and replace the Cyber Controller. The Cyber-Leader coordinated the Cyber battle plans and the Cybermen proceeded to clear all the Preacher bases from the planet. The Cybermen, victorious, viewed the Cyber-Leader as obsolete and deleted it. (GAME: Cyber Assault)
Other references
In the video game Happy Deathday, played by Izzy Sinclair on the Time-Space Visualiser, a Neomorph Cyber-Leader was among a host of "every single enemy" that the Doctor had ever defeated, who were assembled by the Beige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eight incarnations. (COMIC: Happy Deathday)
Behind the scenes
- Paul Kasey was credited as Cyber-Leader in Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, despite no Cybermen with black handlebars being seen to appear, the Cybermen having been led by Cyber-Controller John Lumic in their initial appearance. While such a Cyberman was featured on the cover in the fourth issue of Doctor Who Adventures which accompanied the Cybus Cybermen's two-part debut, and a Cyber-Leader did appear in the online game Cyber Assault which followed the two-parter, the Cybermen of Pete's World would not be represented on-screen by a Cyber-Leader until Army of Ghosts.
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