Editing Sontaran (section)

==Characteristics==
===Culture===
[[File:Sontaran.jpg|thumb|left|Kevin Lindsay as Commander Linx, the first Sontaran shown, in ''[[The Time Warrior]]'']]

The Sontarans are a race of humanoids with a stocky build, a distinctive dome-shaped head, and they have only three fingers on each hand, though some members of their species do have five fingers. Their musculature is designed for load-bearing rather than leverage, because of the high gravity on their home planet. Ross Jenkins in "[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]" describes the main Sontaran villain, General Staal, as resembling "a talking baked potato", whilst in sequel episode "[[The Poison Sky]]", Colonel Alan Mace likens the Sontarans to "trolls". Sontarans come from a large, dense planet named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy" which has a very strong gravitational field, which explains their compact stocky form.<ref name="ScienceDW">{{citation |author=Paul Parsons |title=The Unofficial Guide: The Science of Doctor Who |publisher=Icon Books |year=2006}}</ref> They are far stronger than humans and, in the recent series, are shorter than the average human male.

The Sontarans have an extremely militaristic culture which prizes discipline and honour as its highest virtues; every aspect of their [[Draco (lawgiver)|draconian]] society is geared toward warfare, and every experience is viewed in terms of its martial relevance. In ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', the Fourth Doctor comments that "Sontarans never do anything without a military reason." In fact, to die heroically in battle is their ultimate goal. Aside from a ritualistic chant ("Son-tar-ha!") in "The Sontaran Strategem"/"[[The Poison Sky]]", they are never seen to engage in any activity that would be considered recreation, though a few offhand comments by Commander Skorr in "The Poison Sky" suggest they do consider hunting a sport. According to their creator Robert Holmes, Sontarans do have a highly developed artistic culture, but have put it on hold for the duration of the war, while the opening chapter of the novelisation of ''[[The Time Warrior]]'', based on Holmes' incomplete draft, refers to Linx listening to the Sontaran anthem while his spaceship is in flight.

The Sontarans depicted in the series have detached, smug personalities, and a highly developed sense of honour; on multiple occasions, the Doctor has used his knowledge of their pride in their species to manipulate them. In "The Sontaran Stratagem", the Doctor nevertheless referred to them as "the finest soldiers in the galaxy".<ref name=Experiment/><ref name=Poison/>

Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the "probic vent" at the back of their neck, through which they draw nutrition.<ref>described as "pure energy" in ''Sontaran Experiment'' </ref> It is also part of their cloning process. In Earthlike atmospheres, the Sontaran armour suit requires a change of gases every 27 hours, also conducted through the probic vent. The vent also provides an incentive to continue moving forward in battle since retreat would expose this area to their enemies. They have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (''[[The Invasion of Time]]''), a screwdriver ("[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]]"), and an arrow (''[[The Time Warrior]]''). Even something as simple as a squash ball aimed at that point ("[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]"), contact by the heel of a shoe ("[[The Last Sontaran]]"), or a blow from a [[hammer]] or a [[wok]] ("[[War of the Sontarans]]") is capable of incapacitating them temporarily. They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (''[[The Two Doctors]]''). While the Sontarans wear protective helmets in battle, to fight without their helmets, or to be "open-skinned," is an honour for the Sontarans.

In the episode "The Poison Sky", it is revealed that the Sontaran Empire have been at war with the [[Rutan Host]] for more than 50,000 years,<ref>{{cite episode |title= [[The Poison Sky]] |series= [[Doctor Who]] |credits= Writer [[Helen Raynor]], Director [[Douglas Mackinnon]], Producer [[Susie Liggat]] |network= [[BBC]] |station= [[BBC One]] |location= London |airdate= 2008-05-03}}</ref> and which, at a time around 2008, they are losing. The war is still raging at least 20,000 years later, in the serial ''The Sontaran Experiment''. It was joked that the two species have been at war for so long, they had almost forgotten the reason why. (''[[The Two Doctors]]'')

Most of the Sontarans depicted in the television series have had short names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound. Examples include Styre (''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]''), Stor (''[[The Invasion of Time]]''), Stike (''[[The Two Doctors]]''), Staal ("[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]" / "[[The Poison Sky]]"), Stark ("[[The Pandorica Opens]]"), [[Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax|Strax]] and Stenck ("[[The Vanquishers]]"); others are Skorr ("The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky"), Ritskaw and Kragar ("[[The Halloween Apocalypse]]"), Skaak ("[[War of the Sontarans]]"), Linx (''[[The Time Warrior]]''), Varl (''[[The Two Doctors]]''), Jask ("[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]") and Kaagh (''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''). Elements of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the "Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey" and the "Grand Strategic Council",<ref name=Experiment>''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', Writers [[Bob Baker (scriptwriter)|Bob Baker]] and [[Dave Martin (screenwriter)|Dave Martin]], Director [[Rodney Bennett]], Producer [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]. ''Doctor Who''. [[BBC One]], London. 22 February – 1 March 1975.</ref> the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group,<ref name=Two>''[[The Two Doctors]]'', Writer [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]], Director [[Peter Moffatt]], Producer [[John Nathan-Turner]]. ''Doctor Who''. [[BBC One]], London. 16 February – 2 March 1985.</ref> the "Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps",<ref name=Warrior>''[[The Time Warrior]]'', Writer [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]], Director [[Alan Bromly]], Producer [[Barry Letts]]. ''Doctor Who''. [[BBC One]], London. 15 December 1973 – 5 January 1974.</ref> and the "Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet".<ref name=Stratagem>"[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]", Writer [[Helen Raynor]], Director [[Douglas Mackinnon]], Producer [[Susie Liggat]], Executive Producers [[Russell T Davies]], [[Julie Gardner]], [[Phil Collinson]]. ''Doctor Who''. [[BBC One]], Cardiff. 26 April 2008.</ref> Military titles include Commander,<ref name=Warrior/><ref name=Stratagem/> Group Marshal,<ref name=Two/> Field Major,<ref name=Experiment/> and General.<ref name=Stratagem/> [[Agnomen]]s include "the Undefeated", "the Bloodbringer", "the Avenger", and "the Slayer".<ref name=Stratagem/>

===Reproduction and gender identity===
The Sontarans are a [[agender|monogender]]-[[asexuality|asexual]] (a "male gender-only" species); they reproduce by means of [[cloning]] rather than [[sexual reproduction]], and thus for the most part are extremely similar in appearance. Human characters in both ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'' and "[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]" comment on how closely individual Sontarans resemble one another; however, their height, skin tone, facial features, vocal timbre and accent, hair, spacing of teeth and even number of fingers have varied from story to story, and sometimes within stories. When [[List of Doctor Who villains#Luke Rattigan|Luke Rattigan]] asks how they can tell each other apart in "The Sontaran Stratagem", General Staal remarks that they say the same of humans.

In ''[[The Time Warrior]]'', Linx states that "at the Sontaran Military Academy we have hatchings of a million cadets at each muster parade." The Doctor also comments in ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' that Sontarans can mass-clone themselves at rates up to a million embryos every four minutes. Thereafter the clones take just ten minutes to grow to adulthood.<ref name="ScienceDW"/> When the Sontaran reach adulthood, under the charge of the Sontaran High Command, each warrior is immediately given a rank and dispatched on a battle mission. From day one, the Sontarans are sent to battle. The audio ''[[The King of Sontar]]'' introduces a unique occasion where one Sontaran is the only result of a clone batch, the resulting Sontaran being essentially a million Sontarans in one, making him far taller than the average for his species and lacking a probic vent.

Sontarans reproduce asexually and all the Sontarans depicted in the television series are of one gender; referred to with masculine pronouns, however it is not known if they possess distinctly male physiologies. General Staal comments that "words are the weapons of womenfolk"<ref name=Stratagem/> and that the clone of Martha Jones performed well "for a female"<ref name=Poison>"[[The Poison Sky]]", Writer [[Helen Raynor]], Director [[Douglas Mackinnon]], Producer [[Susie Liggat]], Executive Producers [[Russell T Davies]], [[Julie Gardner]], [[Phil Collinson]]. ''Doctor Who''. [[BBC One]], Cardiff. 3 May 2008.</ref> as commentary on the gender inequalities of other species. This typifies a Sontaran trait: interested only in the strongest fighters in any group or race. Despite this, Strax appeared perfectly comfortable with the prospect of wearing dresses in "[[The Snowmen#Prequels|The Battle of Demon's Run - Two Days Later]]";<ref>After Vastra lists "some spectacular dresses" among aspects of their lives, Strax asks if they need a "man one". "No," they both reply. "Am ''I'' the man one?" "No!" "So, dresses then," he confidently declares as he joins them to leave.</ref> he ultimately dressed in human gentleman's attire, nevertheless.<ref group=note>"[[The Snowmen#Prequels|The Great Detective]]", "[[The Snowmen#Prequels|Vastra Investigates]]", "[[The Snowmen]]", "[[The Crimson Horror]]", and "[[The Name of the Doctor]]".</ref> In ''[[The Time Warrior]]'', when Linx examines Sarah Jane, he comments on how the human reproduction system is 'inefficient' and that humans 'should change it'. As multiple genders are foreign to them, Sontarans are known to confuse the human [[male]] and [[female]] sexes; Strax routinely addresses young women as "Boy"<ref>Strax calls Jenny Flint "Boy" in both "[[A Good Man Goes to War]]" and "[[The Snowmen#Prequels|The Battle of Demon's Run - Two Days Later]]", as he does Victorian-era [[Clara Oswald]] in "[[The Snowmen]]" and 20th-21st century Clara Oswald in "[[The Crimson Horror]]"</ref> and vice versa,<ref>Strax addresses a Glaswegian telegram boy as "Girl" in "[[The Name of the Doctor]]",</ref> and claims not to have known that [[River Song (Doctor Who)|River Song]] was a woman.<ref>"[[The Name of the Doctor]]"</ref>

In "The Sontaran Stratagem", the Sontarans are seen to create human clones by growing them in tubs of green fluid. ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]'' confirms that Sontarans are cloned in the same way. In a human clone, the umbilical corresponds to the probic vent on the back of a Sontaran's neck, suggesting that the vent is not unlike the human [[navel]], albeit clearly more complex.

===Technology===
The Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet in the new series consists of a Command Ship and a number of capsules that can be moved into position when Battle Status is enjoined. Sontaran ships are impervious to nuclear missiles, however in [[War of the Sontarans]] they are vulnerable to both ramming by another Sontaran ship and also to explosions of barrels of gunpowder. In both the classic and new series, Sontarans are depicted using spherical or semi-spherical single-occupant spacecraft known as capsules. Each capsule is small enough to avoid detection by radar and is piloted by an individual Sontaran. ''The Sontaran Stratagem'' also saw the introduction of a large mothership from which the small Sontaran capsules could be seen to originate. The Doctor notes that the one ship by itself is enough to completely wipe out Earth.

The Sontarans have a variety of weapons. Their distinctive weapon is a small rod with two handles and a plunger at one end, giving it a syringe style. This is so it can be held and fired using three fingers. This weapon fires a disabling beam that can temporarily render a person useless and emits an energy pulse that can repair systems like the teleport, and has appeared in every Sontaran story except ''The Sontaran Experiment''. When first used by Commander Linx in ''The Time Warrior'', it shows the ability to fire a beam which can disarm by knocking the weapon out of the wielder's hand, hypnotise, as well as cutting through wood, disabling limbs and killing.

In ''The Sontaran Experiment'', Field Major Styre instead used a small red laser pistol which only killed (although it did not kill the Doctor, because of a small metal plate the Doctor had been keeping in his inside pocket). ''The Invasion of Time'' saw Commander Stor using the small rod again, but also in episode six, a Sontaran trooper uses a short black rifle-like laser to try to burn through a lock on a door inside the TARDIS. ''The Two Doctors'' introduced a weapon called the Meson Gun (as named in the ''[[Jim'll Fix It]]'' sketch, "[[A Fix with Sontarans]]"), a large silver rifle with a red fuel tank in the centre which was used by Group Marshal Stike and Varl in the third episode. It seemed to be some kind of flamethrower as it fired a jet of flames very briefly. Group Marshal Stike was also seen carrying a baton.

It would not be until ''The Sontaran Stratagem'' that General Staal would show that the baton can fire an orange beam that could stun the target. In ''The Poison Sky'', Commander Skorr and his troops carry large laser rifles into battle. These rifles are the Sontaran gun of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet. Each rifle has a laser beam that kills instantly and is designed for a three-fingered grip. In ''The Invasion of Time'', their armour is shown to be resistant to Time Lord stasers and K-9's blaster. However, their armour is vulnerable to standard human firearms in "The Poison Sky", but the Sontarans in that episode used a 'cordolane signal' which caused the copper-lined bullets to expand, jamming most firearms instantly. UNIT troops overcame this by switching to steel-lined bullets.

''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' story ''[[The Last Sontaran]]'' showed further technological advancements of the modern Sontarans. Commander Kaagh, a surviving pilot from the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet, had slightly different armour due to being from the special forces. His suit featured no gloves, so his bare hands were visible, and on his left arm was a control panel for his suit and ship. His helmet could fold up and retract and both his suit and ship featured cloaking devices, turning them both invisible. While the soldiers of the Tenth Fleet were armed with large laser rifles, Kaagh has a smaller laser carbine. Rather than hypnotising humans (as Sarah pointed out they usually do), instead, Kaagh fixed neural control devices to the back of the necks of his human agents. A red light flashes when it is operational, and Kaagh can activate and deactivate them when he wants with his control panel.

A pair of Sontarans that tried to invade Trenzalore in "Time of the Doctor" used a two-man craft with an invisibility field.