Dalek variants

Since their first appearance in 1963, there have been several variant models of the Daleks, a fictional alien race in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Daleks are not robots. The outward manifestation is a travel machine in which a hideous and malevolent mutant, the Dalek creature, resides. Although the general appearance of the Daleks has remained the same, the colours and some details of the model have evolved over time. The following entries make mention of both television and non-television portrayals of the Daleks.

Dalek Component Naming Conventions

Over the years fans of the Dr. Who programme have adopted naming conventions to identify the various components of the Dalek travel machine. These are listed below as an aid to tracking the various detail changes which have been made to the basic design to create variants. From the base up, the major components are:

Fender - The projecting base of the Dalek.

Skirt - The section with angled faces joining the Fender to the Shoulders.

Hemispheres - Also known as ‘hemis’ or ‘Dalek bumps’, there are usually fifty six of these fixed in four rows to the Skirt.

Shoulders - The section between the top of the Skirt and the Neck Bin.

Collars - Two horizontal bands (only one on a New Series Dalek) fitted around the Shoulders.

Slats - Oblong vertical panels fitted to the upper Collar.

Gun Boxes - Projecting boxes housing the ball joints for the Arm and Gun Stick.

Arm - A telescopic, arm usually having two or three sections.

Plunger - Fixed to the end of the Arm, this is a Dalek’s primary and most famous manipulating appendage.

Gun Stick - Usually a variable discharge energy weapon.

Neck Bin - The section between the Shoulders and the Dome.

Neck Rings - Three horizontal rings fitted around the Neck Bin.

Neck Struts - Thin, vertical struts on the outside of the Neck Bin, between the top of the Shoulders and the Dome. Dome - The rotatable top component of the travel machine.

Dome Lights - Lights (usually two) fixed on either side of the Dome.

Eye Stalk - A tube projecting from the Dome, which can pivot up and down.

Eye Disk - A series disks of varying diameter through which the Eye Stalk is threaded.

Eyeball - A roughly spherical component fitted to the end of the Eye Stalk, in which the Dalek’s visual detection equipment is fitted.

Dome Cowl - Making its first appearance with the New Series Dalek, this is a structure projecting from the front of the Dome and surrounds the Eye Stalk pivot.

General Design

Externally Daleks resemble salt or pepper shakers, approximately 5.5 feet tall, with a single mechanical eyestalk in a rotating dome, a gun stick containing a directed energy weapon (or "death ray"), and a telescoping arm. Usually the arm is fitted with a device for manipulation that, to the amusement of generations of viewers, resembles a sink plunger. Various episodes have shown Daleks with other appendages, including a tray, a mechanical claw, flamethrowers, blowtorches and a syringe. The gun is capable of producing a variable output and can paralyse, stun, kill virtually any life form, and even destroy a spaceship.

The outer shell is made from a bonded polycarbide material called "dalekanium". This casing offers complete protection against normal bullets and some energy weapons, although they are vulnerable to "bastic"-headed bullets (the precise nature of which has never been revealed). In the revived series from 2005 onward, Daleks are equipped with an invisible force shield which can resist projectiles and energy weapons with ease, the eye being the single weak point. Only overwhelming firepower or their own weapons can breach a Dalek’s defences. If this occurs, however, they tend to explode in spectacular fashion.

The lower shell is covered with many hemispherical protrusions, or "Dalek bumps". In the BBC-Licensed Dalek Book (1964), and again in The Doctor Who Technical Manual by Mark Harris (first published 1983), these items are described as being part of a sensory array. In the Comic Relief episode, a work of parody, the Master gains 'Dalek Bumps' which he states are 'Etheric Beam Locators'. In "Dalek" (2005) they are shown in use as a self-destruct system.

The Daleks 'see' through a single eye stalk on their dome heads. It is a long running series joke that a Dalek can be disabled by blinding it - from covering the eye with food or a hat, to shooting it. Blinded, the Daleks tend to panic and shoot wildly, while screaming, "My vision is impaired! I cannot see!" Another weakness of the Daleks is their inability to climb stairs, having to rely on smooth ground on which to travel. This weakness was rectified in "Remembrance of the Daleks" in which a Dalek was shown to ascend a staircase using a hover device on the bottom of its casing. In the 2005 series, the Daleks have the ability to fly through both atmospheric environments and the vacuum of space, while their eyestalks received better protection.

The creatures inside the "travel machines" are depicted as soft and repulsive in appearance, but still vicious even without their mechanical armour. Rarely glimpsed until 2005, they are usually shown as amorphous green blobs with strong tentacles capable of strangulation, or clawed hands. A squat Kaled-like skeleton with larger organs began to appear on a transmat in Remembrance of the Daleks. Tentacles seemed favoured over bone structure in their evolutionary process, developed as the result of radioactive fallout from a catastrophic war, genetic experimentation or radiation therapy in various stories. From 2005 onward the Dalek creature has been seen more frequently, in its latest incarnation resembling a squid-like being with a single viable eye.

The Mark I Dalek

The Daleks first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks. There are no visual cues to distinguish one Dalek from another, or suggestions in the story of any particular hierarchy. The MkI Dalek differs from later variants in having a small fender, no chest slats, nine eye disks (the greatest number of any version), a distinctly ‘toffee apple’ shaped eyeball and a gun design featuring three octagonal cross-members, or ‘mantles’. These Daleks sport a silver paint scheme with light blue/grey shoulders, blue hemis and eye disks, collars in natural aluminium and black fenders. Being powered by static electricity, their mobility is limited to the metal walkways in the Dalek City on their home planet, Skaro.

The Mark II Dalek

In the 1964 episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the travel machine sits on top of an enlarged 'all terrain' fender, and a radio/energy collector dish is mounted on its back. These Daleks aren’t confined to metal walkways, but still rely on externally transmitted power. The machines are disabled when those transmitters are destroyed. Some Daleks have silver eyeballs instead of the standard black colouring, and there are only five eye disks. For the first time a Dalek command structure is introduced, with rank being indicated by differing paint schemes. The Earth Taskforce Commander, or ‘Saucer Commander’ features a black dome and alternating silver and black skirt panels. The Supreme Controller or ‘Black Dalek’ is also seen, with a black dome, shoulders and skirt.

The Mark III Dalek

The Mark III Dalek is considered by many fans to embody the “classic” version. First seen in The Chase (1965), the major design changes are a reversion to the original fender style, removal of the radio/energy collector dish and gun mantles, and the addition of steel mesh around the upper collar, to which are mounted twenty three vertical, oblong slats forming a solar panel array.

For the following four serials in which they appeared, (Mission to the Unknown (1965), The Daleks' Masterplan (1965), Power of the Daleks (1966) and Evil of the Daleks (1967)) the Dalek appearance remained virtually unchanged. The Black Dalek is seen again, this time with grey shoulders. In Evil of the Daleks another element of the Dalek hierarchy is introduced, being Daleks with black domes who primarily appear to act as the Emperor's personal guard. (This motif was to appear again in "The Parting of the Ways" (2005), with black-domed Daleks fulfilling a similar function).

The disappearance of the dishes on their backs indicates that they now have independent motive power systems (later Daleks from the Time War are able to power themselves using material that has travelled through time -including themselves). In the movies based on the first two Dalek serials, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, the Daleks have larger bases as well as larger, jam-jar shaped ear-bulbs, and are painted in a variety of bright colours.

The Daleks returned to Britain's TV screens in the 1972 serial Day of the Daleks. 'Drone' Daleks were now finished in grey, with black hemis and fender. With the exception of Death to the Daleks (1974), and albeit with variations in the shade of grey and occasional adornment with black slats, this would stay as the standard Dalek colour scheme for the remaining eight serials in which they appeared during the next sixteen years. Their last appearance in the 'classic' Dr. Who series was Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), with the programme being put on permanent hiatus after November 1989.

During the 1972-1988 period several small changes to the standard Dalek design were made, five distinct new variants were introduced and their hierarchy was once again expanded.

In Day of the Daleks (1972) a Dalek Leader is seen painted overall in gold, with black hemis and fender. An oval disk between the gun boxes, a black 'pupil' for the eye and a higher fender also make there first appearance in all models. The gold Dalek Leader returned again in Frontier in Space (1973).

Planet of the Daleks (1973) featured a Dalek Supreme, apparently second in rank only to the Emperor. This Dalek was based on a prop from the second Doctor Who film, and is discussed separately in this article.

Death to the Daleks (1974) saw the travel machines in a striking overall silver livery, with black shoulders, hemis and fender. During the course of the serial, due to a plot element, the standard blasters are replaced by black-painted projectile weapons featuring a drilled barrel and six small fins at the business end.

in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) a Dalek Supreme appears, painted in gloss black with white hemis. It makes another appearance in the 1998 series Remembrance of the Daleks, this time sporting silver neck rings, neck struts and hemis, with natural aluminium collars, mesh and slats.

Two new variants appeared in Revelation of Daleks (1985); 'Necros Daleks' and a 'Glass Dalek'. These variants are discussed separately in this article.

The Daleks' final 'classic series' outing was in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). This featured another two new variants; 'Imperial Daleks' and a single Imperial sub-variant, the 'Special Weapons Dalek'. These variants are discussed separately in this article.

This serial also showed for the first time that Daleks can hover using a limited antigravity capability (first implied in earlier serials such as The Chase (1965) and Revelation of the Daleks. Despite this the Daleks' supposed inability to climb stairs is still frequently referred to for humorous effect by journalists covering the series, many of whom seem to consider that the revived 2005 series episode 'Dalek', was actually the first occasion that "finally showed Daleks climbing stairs". The new series has featured flying or hovering Daleks in almost all their appearances to date.

Gifting Daleks with the ability to fly increased their aura of menace. Previously, as already mentioned, they were limited to level surfaces. In Destiny of the Daleks (1979) the Doctor, escaping into a ceiling duct, taunts a Dalek for its inability to climb after him. In the 1960s Dalek comic strips, Daleks fly using flying platforms called transolar discs. These discs return in all three series of the Big Finish Dalek Empire audio dramas, though the final two episodes of Dalek Empire III feature Daleks able to fly unaided several months before the broadcast of the TV episode "Dalek".

The 'New Series' Dalek

The Daleks returned in the episode "Dalek", with a lone Dalek that has somehow survived a Time War resulting in the mutual annihilation of both the Daleks and the Time Lords. Whilst the New Series Dalek (or NSD) retains the same overall shape and dimensional proportions of its forebears, there are many detail changes which combine to give it a heavier, more solid look. The Dalek also had an all over metallic bronze finish, accompanied by subtle weathering. Its dome lights resembled the movie versions, and the eye lens glows blue.

This Dalek design exhibits abilities not seen before, including a swivelling mid-section that allows the Dalek a 360-degree field of fire, and a force field that disintegrates bullets before they strike it. In addition to the ability to fly, it is also able to regenerate itself by means of absorbing electrical power and the DNA of a time-traveller (later described in "Doomsday", 2006, as background radiation picked up during time travel). The "plunger" manipulator arm is also able to crush a man's skull in addition to the technology interfacing abilities shown by earlier models. In "Doomsday", a combination of three "plungers" is used to extract information from a person's mind, with lethal results (although it is implied that it can be done without killing the victim).

In the episode "Daleks in Manhattan", the "plunger" manipulator arms of the Cult of Skaro Daleks are also able to gauge the intelligence of human subjects, although (given their uniqueness) it is not revealed whether this ability is shared by Daleks in general.

The Daleks in "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" do not appear to possess shields.

Dalek Emperor

Three different incarnations of the Dalek Emperor are known, two seen on the television series, and one in the TV Century 21 comic strip (a squat, golden Dalek with an enlarged, spherical head-section). It is unclear whether any of these are the same Dalek, or up to four different Daleks.

The Dalek Emperor is first introduced in the TV 21 comic strip The Daleks, reproduced in collective format as the Dalek Chronicles. According to this comic strip version of events, the Emperor was originally a standard Dalek, one of the war machines created by the blue-skinned humanoid Dalek scientist Yarvelling. After the nuclear war that devastated Skaro, the mutants survive in the casings. The only humanoid Dalek survivors of the war, Yavelling and the warlord Zolfian, encounter a Dalek that persuades them to build more Dalek casings for their mutated descendants. Before the last two humanoid Daleks die, a special casing is built for the Emperor to reflect its new rank. It is slightly shorter than the other Daleks, with a disproportionately large spheroid head section and in gold rather than grey. This origin story is completely different from that portrayed on television in Genesis of the Daleks. The description of the Dalek Prime in John Peel's novel War of the Daleks matches the TV 21 Emperor closely.

The Emperor first appears on television in The Evil of the Daleks (by David Whitaker, who also wrote most of the comic strips) where it is an enormous immobile conical shell plugged into a corner of the control room in the Dalek City on Skaro. The novelisation of Evil (adapted 26 years later from Whitaker's scripts by John Peel) states that this Emperor had originally been the Dalek who had apparently exterminated their creator Davros at the end of Genesis of the Daleks (although Davros was later revealed to have survived). The book also states that the Emperor had previously been the Dalek Prime, who appeared in earlier novelisations by Peel. The Emperor is apparently destroyed as a civil war breaks out amongst the Daleks, although a light is seen still blinking on its casing at the end of the serial, indicating some kind of activity.

The Dalek Emperor should not be confused with the "Emperor Dalek" (note the word reversal) in Remembrance of the Daleks. This Emperor, of the Imperial Dalek faction is actually not a Dalek but the Kaled Davros, greatly deteriorated physically and reduced to a head and partial torso in a customised Dalek casing similar to the TV 21 comic version of the Emperor. He is last seen heading for an escape pod just before his ship is destroyed in the wake of the supernova that consumes Skaro.

A Dalek Emperor features in the finale of the 2005 series, "The Parting of the Ways", having been the Emperor during the Time War. "Parting" revealed its ship had barely survived and fallen through time; it then went into seclusion and started to build a new race of Daleks. This Emperor is a Dalek mutant floating in a transparent tank of liquid, topped by a giant-sized Dalek dome, complete with eyestalk and flanked by panels of armour dotted by Dalek "bumps". Attached to the bottom of the tank are two mechanical arms and the armour panels are connected to the central Dalek structure with articulated joints. Because this Emperor has recreated the Dalek race, it sees itself as a god, and has transformed its Daleks from fascists to religious fanatics centred around them worshipping it. This Emperor is apparently destroyed with the rest of the Daleks by Rose Tyler after she absorbs the energies of the time vortex. This Dalek Emperor seemed to be the most 'religious' of its incarnantions, referring to the Doctor as the heathen, and calling Rose the abomination after she absorbs the time vortex, while considering itself an immortal god. It also referred to the invasion of Earth as becoming its Temple and in its subsequent deformation called it Paradise.

A Dalek Emperor also appears in the Dalek Empire series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. In the Eighth Doctor audio adventure Terror Firma, taking place after Remembrance of the Daleks, Davros's increasingly unstable mind is obliterated by a totally Dalek personality, that of the Emperor. This new Emperor then takes command of Davros's Daleks and departs. Whether this is the Emperor seen in the rest of the Big Finish Dalek audios is unclear.

A Dalek Emperor, described similarly to the Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks, appears in the Telos novella The Dalek Factor by Simon Clark. It is referred to as "an" Emperor, implying there is more than one at that time.

In The Stolen Earth, Davros speaks of "puppet emperors" implying that they were mere figureheads. Whether this applies to any of the previous Emperors is unknown.

Dalek Supreme

The Dalek Supreme or Supreme Dalek (the usage varies) is a type of Dalek originally simply designated as a Black Dalek. It serves the role of an elite or commander Dalek. It first appears in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where a Black Dalek (called a Supreme Controller) is seen directing the Bedfordshire operation. It has a terrifying "pet" called the Slyther which it allows to roam free around the mines at night killing those it finds. A Dalek Supreme also leads the Daleks in The Daleks' Master Plan, as well as dispatching the Dalek execution squad at the beginning of The Chase.

The Black Dalek is replaced by the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks, which uses black-domed Daleks as lieutenants. During the Third Doctor's era, the Black Dalek appears to have been replaced by a Gold Dalek (in Day of the Daleks), but the field commander-type Dalek returns and is now positively identified as the Dalek Supreme in Planet of the Daleks (1973). In that serial, a movie-style Dalek in black and gold trim is used to represent a member of the Supreme Council of Daleks (which has apparently supplanted the need for an Emperor), with an eye-stalk that lights up when it is speaking. In Destiny of the Daleks, the Dalek Supreme is briefly mentioned as the supreme commander of the Daleks. A Dalek lieutenant, a Dalek of a darker shade of grey than the rest, is also seen as an intermediate rank in that serial.

The Dalek Supreme, as a Black Dalek, makes further appearances as the leader of the Daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as being mentioned in Revelation of the Daleks. In Resurrection of the Daleks, the Supreme Dalek is a fully black Dalek, with white bumps instead of the usual grey ones, and the voice a lot more hollow. In the former, a schism develops between the Daleks led by the Dalek Supreme and those still loyal to their creator Davros. In Remembrance of the Daleks, it is the leader of the Renegade Daleks that opposes the Imperial Daleks commanded by Davros, now calling himself the Dalek Emperor. The Dalek Supreme ends up as the last surviving Dalek on Earth and destroys itself.

Command-level Daleks appear in the Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who". In Dr. Who and the Daleks it is a Black Dalek with gold trimming and alternating black and gold bumps. In Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, a dark gold Dalek with silver trimmings and black globes leads the invasion force. The two Dalek films also include red Daleks, which officially debut in the television series in "The Stolen Earth".

In the TV 21 comic strips the Black Dalek acts as overall second-in-command of the Daleks, ranking below only the Dalek Emperor. John Peel's BBC Books Doctor Who novel War of the Daleks the Daleks are led by the "Dalek Prime", whose description matches that of the TV 21 Dalek Emperor. In the novel, the Dalek Prime is the judge at Davros's trial on Skaro and is stated to be the last survivor of the original Daleks created by Davros. As this was how Peel referred to the Dalek Emperor in his novelisation of The Evil of the Daleks, this suggests that they are the same Dalek at different points in its history. The novel also mentions Black Daleks as being high in the Dalek chain-of-command and being in charge of all lower ranks, being subordinate only to Gold Daleks and the Dalek Prime. The Dalek Prime is also mentioned in Peel's Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Legacy of the Daleks.

In the Big Finish Productions series of Dalek Empire audio plays, the rank of Supreme Dalek is equivalent to an Army General, subordinate to the Emperor Dalek on Skaro, and eventually rises to command the Daleks in the Emperor's absence, with a different Dalek Supreme taking over in the third series.

Four black-domed Daleks appear briefly in The Parting of the Ways, flanking the Dalek Emperor. These are very similar to the black-domed Emperor's guards seen in The Evil of the Daleks. Certain Dalek guards were also distinguished by an extra gunstick in place of their sucker arms.

In "Army of Ghosts" (2006), a completely black Dalek appears from within a void ship, leading three other bronze Daleks. This black Dalek was part of the Cult of Skaro, and was named Dalek Sec ("Doomsday"). Dalek Sec (as well as the rest of the Cult) returned in "Daleks in Manhattan" /"Evolution of the Daleks", in which they are the only four remaining Daleks and need new ways of surviving, so they try to turn themselves into "human Daleks". Dalek Sec is involved in the first experiment; by absorbing the character Mr. Diagoras, Dalek Sec becomes a 'Human Dalek'. With his transformation, Sec becomes more human and considers that the Dalek's failure to survive is because their philosophy of Dalek supremacy is flawed. However, the rest of the cult rejects these ideas, enslaving Sec and killing him when he sacrificed himself by taking a laser blast that was intended for the Doctor.

A Supreme Dalek appears in the series finale of the 2008 series, "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End", as leader of the Dalek forces above even Davros. This version is red instead of black, has three lights on its head and has golden clamps connecting its mid-section and grille. Its voice is also deeper than the other Daleks, resembling that of the 2005 series' Dalek Emperor. Nicholas Briggs adopted the grandiose voice for the Supreme Dalek to fit his perception of the character as egotistical. The Supreme Dalek is killed by Jack with his modified defabricator from Bad Wolf.

Imperial Dalek

The Imperial Daleks are a faction of Daleks loyal to their creator, Davros, rather than the Dalek Supreme. They first appeared in Revelation of the Daleks. The Imperial Daleks have white livery bodies with gold bumps, and high-pitched voices. These Daleks are not descended from the original Kaled mutants, being instead made from the modified heads of human corpses infused with the Dalek factor. They are destroyed along with Davros's laboratory in the Tranquil Repose funeral home on Necrosseries by the original Daleks. The glass DalekPreviously also finally makes an appearance in Revelation — a prototype Dalek with a transparent casing that reveals the mutated head inside.

In Remembrance Of The Daleks, Davros has somehow escaped whatever fate the Daleks had in store for him and has gained control of Skaro, becoming the Emperor. He recreates the Imperial Daleks by grafting bionic appendages onto the bodies of Kaled mutants. Their casings now have golden eye-stalks and a lozenge shape on the front of their casings, and their gold plungers are slotted to fit into machinery. Imperial Daleks can also hover up a flight of stairs.

A civil war, ostensibly over racial purity, breaks out between the original, now Renegade Daleks, and the Imperial Daleks. Davros further modifies the Imperial Daleks with the creation of a Special Weapons Dalek, a heavily armed and armoured Dalek. It is not clear if any Imperial Daleks survive the conclusion of the serial, as both Skaro and the main Imperial Dalek warfleet are apparently destroyed by the Hand of Omega.

In the Big Finish Productions audio play Terror Firma, Davros survives the destruction of Skaro and creates a new army of Imperial Daleks from Earth's population by releasing a virus that turned humans into Dalek mutants. Davros's mind is eventually taken over by a completely Dalek personality, and this new Emperor assumes control of the Imperial Dalek army. It is not stated if the Imperial faction or the Renegade faction is dominant at this point or after.

Although there are no other classes revealed in this serial [bar special weapons], a toy Imperial Dalek has green and gold ivory.

Special Weapons Dalek

The Special Weapons Dalek is a heavily-armoured Imperial Dalek seen in Remembrance of the Daleks. Unlike a conventional Dalek, the Special Weapons Dalek has no manipulator arm or eye-stalk. Instead, it has an enormous energy cannon mounted on the front of the armoured casing in place of the usual small gunstalk and several red squares around the dome in place of the usual eyestalk. Special Weapons Daleks do not appear to be able to speak, but do have massive firepower, said in the BBC Dalek Survival Guide to be up to 50 times more powerful than a blast from a regular Dalek blaster.

In Remembrance the Special Weapons Dalek's firepower is so great that one shot completely vaporises two conventional Renegade Daleks, leaving only a pair of burn marks, and the armour is sufficient to deflect conventional Dalek energy weapons without suffering any apparent damage. Like the other Imperial Daleks, its livery is white with gold bumps, but with sections of metallic grey armour covering most of the upper portion with much battle scoring. It also appears far dirtier than most other Daleks, which always appear to be pristine. The Special Weapons Dalek is also mentioned in the novel War of the Daleks, and the Big Finish audio The Genocide Machine.

In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance it is stated that the enormous power source required for its weapon results in high levels of radiation being released and altering the structure of the Dalek's brain, resulting in insanity, and in rejection by other Daleks for being a mutant. It is intimated that it is unique inasmuch as it has a name, and the name that it has is "Abomination". The Special Weapons Dalek is only used in extreme situations; indeed, the novelisation states that the Emperor is the only Dalek that can maintain complete control over the "Abomination". The BBC Dalek Survival Guide notes that they are almost always directly controlled by commander Daleks and rarely allowed autonomy, except in desperate situations, as they are as likely to fire on fellow Daleks as their enemies (they are homicidal maniacs, even by Dalek standards).

Special Weapons Daleks would have been featured in the aborted 30th anniversary film The Dark Dimension. According to the Dalek Survival Guide, Special Weapons Daleks also come in both Marine and Airborne forms.

Cult of Skaro

The Cult of Skaro, first introduced in "Army of Ghosts", are an elite order of Daleks specifically designed to think as the enemy thinks, and are the first recurring Daleks in the history of the show. Unlike other Daleks, the four members of the Cult possess individual names (no Dalek since Zeg from the 1960s Dalek Chronicles comic strip has had a name); Sec, Thay, Jast and Caan. While Daleks Thay, Jast and Caan appear identical to other Daleks, Dalek Sec is distinguished by an all black dalekanium casing.

The Cult differ from normal Daleks in a number of ways; they possess heightened intelligence, a sense of individuality, and the ability to initiate an "emergency temporal shift" in order to escape danger by travelling through time and space. It is not known whether other abilities demonstrated by the Cult, such as being able to drain memories through their manipulator arms ("Doomsday") or scan for intelligence levels ("Daleks in Manhattan"), are unique to them or common to all Daleks.

Daleks Sec, Jast and Thay were destroyed during "Evolution of the Daleks". Caan managed to escape and rescued Davros at the beginning of the Time War but went mad in the process, becoming a key character in the series finale of the 2008 series, "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End".

Vault Dalek

Vault Daleks appear in the episodes The Stolen Earth and Journey's End. They were charged by the Supreme Dalek to watch over Davros in the Vault of the Crucible, acting as both bodyguards and warders.''

Each Vault Dalek was genetically engineered from a single cell of Davros' body. Instead of the standard plunger appendage they are fitted with a claw-type device having eight pincers, enabling them to operate machinery.

The Vault Daleks are not named during the episodes in which they appear, but are referred to as such on the official BBC website. They have also become known as 'Crucible Daleks', primarily due to the toy manufacturer Character Options naming the variant in this manner as part of its range of Doctor Who action figures.

Dalek Hybrids

Dalek Sec Hybrid

The 2007 episode "Daleks in Manhattan" shows the creation of a Human Dalek through a genetic treatment and a mutagenic solution that allows a Dalek to absorb a human and merge with it.

Although the line between Humans and Daleks has been blurred before, most notably in the serials Evil of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks and mentioned in "The Parting of the Ways", this episode is the first to show this new form of hybrid.

The Dalek casing becomes a cocoon of sorts during the process, which takes approximately twenty minutes. While the hybridisation is taking place, the Dalek's eyestalk twitches erratically and smoke is emitted from the casing, before the eye is observed dimming and dropping once the fusion is complete. When this happens, the casing opens to reveal the new hybrid crouched in the bottom of the shell, the rest of it being completely empty. The hybrid itself clearly displays physical traits from both humans and the Dalek mutant. The basic physiology of the hybrid is primarily human, with four limbs and four fingers and one opposable thumb on each hand, though the skin is now leathery and predominantly beige. The head is where the alterations are most prominent. With exception of skin changes, the mouth and chin are more-or-less the same as a human's. The upper part of the head bears a mostly-exposed brain, a single large eye and stubby tentacles arranged in a broken circle around the human/Dalek's head. These tentacles twitch a little, very slowly when the creature is calm but more rapidly during periods of heightened emotion. Along the back of the neck are what may be exposed vertebrae. It seems that the voice of the hybrids maintain the characteristics of the human, however the speech of the hybrid also has Dalek characteristics such as talking at a slow pace.

The Sec hybrid was killed by Dalek Thay.

Human Dalek

In "Evolution of the Daleks", Dalek DNA was fed into blank human 'shells' (people who were captured and had had their minds erased) to create what was called a "Human Dalek". The humans originally thought that they were Daleks, and took weapons (which were a cross between Dalek standard weapons and tommy guns) to wage war upon the world. However, because of the Doctor's interfering with the process, the Human Daleks questioned Dalek ideology due to the Time Lord DNA becoming mixed into the Human Daleks. This led them to destroy Daleks Jast and Thay in rebellion, although several of them fell to the Daleks' own guns. The Human Daleks were labelled a failure and killed by Dalek Caan, in a manner similar to that of the headmaster in Remembrance of the Daleks.

Dalek Agents

Despite their penchant for racial purity, the Daleks are not averse to using other species in subordinate roles, or as ostensible allies, although they are usually exterminated once they have served their usefulness (like Mavic Chen in the 1965 serial The Daleks' Master Plan).

They routinely enslave planetary populations, putting them in labour camps and using them as operatives, willing or otherwise. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth they convert selected humans into Robomen overseers, using oversized mind-control helmets. However, these Robomen are mentally unstable and eventually go insane, then turn suicidal.

In The Evil of the Daleks, the mind control is accomplished by a necklace-mounted device powered by static electricity, which allows the subject to appear normal but prevents him from eating or drinking. Mental instability still occurred as the subject wrestled with the Dalek conditioning.

By the time of Remembrance of the Daleks, the control device has been refined and reduced to the size of a microchip implanted behind the subject's ear which can also shut the agent down when they are in danger of being compromised. More advanced versions of the Robomen based on this technology appear in the Dalek Empire series of Big Finish audios. In the alternate future of Day of the Daleks humans who willingly served the Daleks supervise slave labour.

The Daleks also use mercenaries. In Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space (1973), the Daleks use Ogrons to police their slaves and as foot soldiers. In 1984's Resurrection of the Daleks, the Daleks use human mercenaries as Dalek troopers (who wear helmets resembling the domed head and eye-stalk of a Dalek) as well as human duplicates known as Dalek Agents. In Remembrance of the Daleks they used mercenaries who communicated via a microchip located behind the ear, with the ability for Daleks to kill the human should they no longer serve a purpose.

Dalek battle computers are mentioned in 1979's Destiny of the Daleks. It is their completely logical nature that causes the centuries-long stalemate in the war with the android Movellans. As a result, the Daleks decide to harness human creativity by using them as part of their battle computers, as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks. In that serial, the battle computer is a brainwashed human child sitting in a Dalek-styled chair and wearing a helmet similar to that of the Dalek troopers. The child is also capable of attacking with bolts of energy emanating from her hands, although Dalek control over her (and presumably, her offensive capabilities) ends when the Dalek Supreme on Earth is destroyed.

In "Daleks in Manhattan", the Cult of Skaro have created slaves by genetically re-engineering humans with pig DNA and then brainwashing them, creating loyal and vicious "pig slaves". The pig-slaves had no will of their own, were not very clever and died after living only a few weeks.

Non-television Daleks

The following Daleks have never featured in any television appearances.

Spider Dalek

Spider Daleks were a proposed design by John Leekey for an early version of the Doctor Who television movie to be produced by Amblin Entertainment in 1994. The script was rejected and it was the Matthew Jacobs-scripted television movie that saw production in 1996. Spider Daleks ultimately appear in John Peel's novel War of the Daleks, depicted as creations of Davros. In the novel, Spider Daleks are described as resembling normal Daleks, slightly larger than normal, but with eight legs emerging from their lower half. They are more manoeuvrable than standard Daleks, but more vulnerable at their joints. In the novel, the Thals believe that this design has been abandoned for centuries. Giant-sized versions, known as Striders, are ten times larger than the standard Spider Dalek and are equipped with additional weapons. Spider Daleks directly based on the Amblin production concept sketches were featured in the comic strip Fire and Brimstone (Doctor Who Magazine #251-255), in which they are presented as a radically different form of Dalek from a parallel universe.

Marsh Dalek

Only featured in the 1964 Dalek annual written by Terry Nation and David Whittaker, these are large, bipedal Daleks that are used to control the Horrokon Monsters on the Planet Gurnian. They appear to be a forerunner of the Striders referred to in John Peel's books.

Marine Dalek

Marine Daleks, also introduced in War of the Daleks, are torpedo-shaped with their eyes at the front, and have their gunstalk and a grappling arm parallel to their bodies. They are also larger than the standard Daleks.

Psyche Dalek

Only appearing briefly in the comic strip Emperor of the Daleks (Doctor Who Magazine) , Psyche Daleks are equipped with a large mass of green brain tissue contained within a transparent sphere that sits on top of the shoulder section in place of the normal grill and dome. In the story, a Psyche Dalek is used to control a group of several partially robotised prisoners through a remote device mounted on its arm in place of the normal suction cup.

Scout Dalek

In Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks the Imperial Dalek faction uses a type of scout Dalek which is more streamlined than standard Daleks, with overpowered motors.

The Klade

The Klade are a people from the distant future in Lance Parkin's BBC Eighth Doctor novel Father Time and the Miranda spin-off comics. Although physically humanoid and genetically human, they share many cultural characteristics with the Daleks and appear to regard Dalek history as their own. Their name is both an anagram of "Dalek", as "Dalek" is itself of "Kaled" and a play on the biological term "clade", being a group of species sharing a common ancestor. The implication is that, like that of the Thals, their mutation has come "full circle" and returned them to a humanoid form. They may also (or alternatively) be the descendants of one of the various experiments in Dalek-human hybridisation seen in Evil of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Evolution of the Daleks.