Eternal The Eternals were elemental beings of immense power but limited creativity , who used the thoughts and emotions of so - called " Ephemeral s " for their own ends as their own minds were used up . Characteristics . According to some legends , when a child of the Age of Reason died , her guilty spirit could become lost in Null - Space where its phobias and anxieties fed on less vindictive spirits . These spirits may have eventually grown into the Eternals . ( PROSE : " Christmas on a Rational Planet " ) The amoral Eternals made it their principal aim in life to amuse themselves , using Ephemerals as their toys . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) In the course of their games , the Eternals would sometimes pose as god s and doom whole worlds in the process . ( COMIC : " Uninvited Guest " ) These games were started by the Guardians of Time , whom the Eternals greatly respected as leaders and called " Enlighteners . " Though they were related to the Chronovore s , they looked down on them as vicious predators . The Ancient Covenant prohibited a union between the two races . However , the great Kronos arose from one such union . ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " ) Through somewhat obscure means , as a punishment , the Seventh Doctor used the force of the Time Vortex itself to bring the particularly callous Prospero and his social circle into the domain of Time , which would indicate that under some circumstances they could transition from Eternal to Ephemeral . ( COMIC : " Uninvited Guest " ) Powers . The Fifth Doctor called Eternals parasites for using Ephemerals for their creativity . Eternals could pull any being from any planet in any time , and use them . The Eternals dwelt in the domain of Eternity , rather than the smaller one of Time . This meant they were unaffected by Time and thus unaging . They could even freeze Ephemerals in time . Eternals could also use telepathy and create objects from the memories of Ephemerals . Their powers were not limitless , however , as they could not read minds from great distance or from strong minds . Eternals could also concentrate and channel great power ( in one case , power from the Black Guardian ) , but only if there was a focal point . Eternals could not be destroyed , merely transferred , ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) due to their existence as disembodied energy matrices . ( PROSE : " Goth Opera " ) Eternals were time sensitives , ( PROSE : " The Crystal Bucephalus " ) trans - dimensional beings that could move through time and space at will , from planet to planet . They could cloud people ' s minds and make people accept them , influence their behaviour , and make them forget they were ever there . In any direct confrontation they could draw power from the strength of their opponent . Some of the weaker Eternals could only move things , like a poltergeist . ( PROSE : " Blood Harvest " ) They could also appear in dream s and control them , ( PROSE : " Love and War " , " Set Piece " ) usually assuming the form of humanoid s , but could change their shape into different individuals . They were able to control time and such claimed to control fate and destiny . ( AUDIO : " Master " ) History . The Eternals were , as their name suggests , eternal , therefore a history of their race would be hard to find . However , the first event that they are known to have been involved in was to banish the Carrionite s and Hervoken into the Deep Darkness during the Dark Times of the Universe . ( TV : " The Shakespeare Code " , PROSE : " Forever Autumn " ) On Earth , they could be recognised as gods , angels , earth spirits , devil s , demon s , ghouls , and poltergeist s . ( PROSE : " Blood Harvest " ) Some of the Eternals passed themselves off as the Gallifreyan deities such as Time , Pain and , a development which Lady President Romana II found distressing . ( PROSE : " Happy Endings " ) Not all Eternals did this , and until he met the Fifth Doctor and probed his mind , the Eternal known as Striker professed that he had never heard of the Time Lord s . At some point , the Guardians of Time set up a race for a group of Eternals , with Enlightenment being the prize . Groups of Eternals copied ships from various points in Earth ' s history , fitted them with ion drive s and sails to catch solar wind s and kidnapped human s to run the ships . Though Captain Wrack almost won the race by destroying the ships of her enemies , the Fifth Doctor managed to push her off her ship and bring it to the Guardians of Time . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) The Eternals were aware of the legends of the Highest Science . ( PROSE : " The Highest Science " ) The Monk used the blood of the Eternal Vain Beauty he had met in Paris to trap Artemis the Chronovore . ( PROSE : " No Future " ) The Tenth Doctor warned the Hervoken to beware of attracting the Eternals ' attention . ( PROSE : " Forever Autumn " ) In 2604 , Bernice Summerfield became caught up in the conflict between the Eternals Raymond Hardy and Barron . ( AUDIO : " The Heart ' s Desire " ) During the Last Great Time War , the Eternals finally forsook the universe . ( PROSE : " A Brief History of Time Lords " ) Other information . The Eternals referred to the Void as " the Howling " . ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " ) Sebastiene claimed to have hunted down an Eternal . ( PROSE : " The Doctor Trap " ) Adam , an alien who infiltrated Torchwood Three , showed powers similar to those of an Eternal , and also said that he had escaped from the Void . ( TV : " Adam " )