Guardians of Time The Guardians of Time , usually simply referred to as Guardians and also known as the Council of Guardians or the Six - Fold - God , were masters of reality , elemental forces embodying several aspects of the universe . They were the upper echelons of the Great Old One s , a pantheon within a pantheon . Despite being at the pinnacle of reality , they would defer to " Greater Old Ones " in some matters . ( PROSE : " Divided Loyalties " , " The Quantum Archangel " ) Although numbering six in total , the only Guardians ever visibly active were the Celestial Toymaker , and the Black and White Guardian s who claimed to each be responsible for 50 % of the universe . ( AUDIO : " The Destroyer of Delights " ) Guardians . A fictional Beige Guardian once appeared to force the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to defeat all their past enemies at once , but it was actually just a video game Izzy Sinclair was playing on the Time - Space Visualiser aboard the Doctor ' s TARDIS . ( COMIC : " Happy Deathday " ) Nature . Physically , the Council of Guardians existed in Calabi - Yau Space . When together , they were the Six - Fold - God of the Six - Fold - Realm and were able to fashion space and time anyway they wanted . ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " ) The Guardians were considered to be immortal , but were capable of being destroyed . When Turlough believed the Black Guardian destroyed , the White Guardian explained that they would always exist until the universe no longer needed them . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) The Guardians ' natural form , like the other Old Ones , was a collective consciousness possessing neither form nor substance and existing between dimension s . ( PROSE : " Divided Loyalties " ) They could assume a form for a brief period as an " interface " with the universe , though they found it " cramped " existing in five dimensions . ( AUDIO : " The Destroyer of Delights " ) According to one account , the Black and White Guardians were initially one being , created by another Guardian before splitting upon physically entering the universe . ( PROSE : " Power to the People " ) Powers . The Seventh Doctor said they were one of the powers of the Omniverse that could do anything , hinting they could pull the arms off spiral galaxies , ( PROSE : " No Future " ) and stating that they were capable of altering time on a grand scale ; the power they represented could not exist on something as small as a planet . ( PROSE : " Blood Heat " , COMIC : " Time & Time Again " ) In relation to their omnipotence , specific powers of the Guardians included : In terms of weaknesses , the Guardians could not reach into closed super - dimensional spaces . Because their being was linked to the Key to Time , if the Key decayed they would become affected , susceptible to energy weapon s and age . ( AUDIO : " The Destroyer of Delights " ) However , while they were able to use the Key to Time , they were not left with an imprint of it as was the case with others . ( PROSE : " Power to the People " ) Additionally , for their seemingly omnipotent power , the Eighth Doctor claimed even they couldn ' t stop the universe from expanding . ( PROSE : " Dominion " ) The Black Guardian was affected when the TARDIS ' s defensive systems were fully activated , reshaping into his negative form for unexplained reasons . He was also dispersed by releases of energy such as the breaking of the Key to Time , ( TV : " The Armageddon Factor " ) the shorting - out of time differential , ( TV : " Mawdryn Undead " ) and contact with Enlightenment . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) Both he and the White Guardian were also sent back to their struggle in the " echoing void " by the Grace . ( AUDIO : " The Chaos Pool " ) Technology . Though the Guardians seemed to be above traditional technology , the Fourth Doctor mentioned " Guardian technology " in reference to the first Key to Time , ( TV : " The Armageddon Factor " ) which existed at every point in time . ( PROSE : " The Well - Mannered War " ) Apart from maintaining the equilibrium of time itself , the Key respresented the totality the Guardians ' power , and was also used to erase the memory of the Millennium War and to trap Kronos in his crystal . ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " ) Additionally , the core to the Key to Time was used to track the segments , which were tied to the Guardians who could draw energy from them . Should the segments start to decay , the Guardians could feel the effects of entropy . ( AUDIO : " The Destroyer of Delights " , " The Chaos Pool " ) The Black Guardian made use of a crystal that represented a contract with his agents . ( TV : " Mawdryn Undead " , PROSE : " The Well - Mannered War " ) Interactions with other beings . The Black and White Guardians drew strength from their respective elements , becoming stronger or weaker depending on the state of their elements in the universe . The Black Guardian was most powerful in the far future , at the end of the universe where his counterpart could not interfere . ( TV : " Enlightenment " , AUDIO : " The Destroyer of Delights " , PROSE : " The Well - Mannered War " ) He created wars to justify his existence , while the Guardian of Justice created conflict . The Toymaker explained that he was in this universe because everyone in the multiverse had dreams and that he shaped them lest they become stale . ( PROSE : " Divided Loyalties " ) Like the other Old Ones , the Guardians originated in another universe , and Rassilon himself considered the Old Ones " sub - Guardians . " He asked questions of the " Guardians of the Universe , " but they refused to answer him , saying the Time Lord s were superior to the rest of the universe , but there were creatures far superior to them . This taught him humility and made him respect all life . ( PROSE : " Divided Loyalties " ) The Seventh Doctor implied that the Time Lords might have made a deal with them because of this power . ( PROSE : " No Future " ) The Eternal s knew of the Guardians and respected them greatly , calling them " Enlighteners " as they set up the games that kept the Eternals amused . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) The Guardians could act together to directly bend reality and alter space and time , as when they retroactively un - did the very existence of Prometheus for violating the Ancient Covenant s . They essentially were the universe , and so they would not dare interfere ; they could never be seen to act in things or be involved so as to preserve the structure of reality , ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " , TV : " Mawdryn Undead " ) bound not by physical laws but rather codes of conduct as were the Chronovore s and possibly other transcendental beings . ( PROSE : " No Future " ) They considered the Eternals and Chronovores to be their " own children . " ( PROSE : " The Quantum Archangel " ) Since they could not be seen to act directly , and because they were evenly matched and needed someone to give them an edge , the Black and White Guardians operated through agents . However , while the agents had to make their own decisions and agree to help , the Guardians created a web of choices to influence their decisions . ( PROSE : " The Well - Mannered War " ) When the White Guardian told the Black Guardian he would never destroy the light , the Black Guardian responded that others would do it for him . When he retorted that the White Guardian ' s powers were fading , the other responded that others would recharge them for him . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) The Guardians themselves were used as agents by the Grace . ( AUDIO : " The Judgement of Isskar " , " The Chaos Pool " ) The White Guardian sent the Fourth Doctor and his companions on two quests for the Key to Time ( TV : " The Ribos Operation " , COMIC : " Time & Time Again " ) , while the Black Guardian assigned the Shadow to stop him ( TV : " The Armageddon Factor " ) . He later employed another agent , Turlough , ( TV : " Mawdryn Undead " ) to kill the Fifth Doctor . Later , with the White Guardian , he sponsored a contest for a group of Eternal s to win Enlightenment , transferring his power into Wrack to help her win . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) The Crystal Guardian , however , simply pursued private games . ( PROSE : " Divided Loyalties " )