Trickster's Brigade

* Cowled figures
* Black Beetle

 Outside of the Eyoho Verse: Various official Doctor Who and Torchwood media.

The Trickster's Brigade were a group of beings lead by a creature from beyond the universe known as The Trickster (not to be confused with A Trickster which is a Supernatural being) that sought to change the course of history by altering small details in individuals' lives or, more recently, making deals with people and promising them something better than their victim's current situation however if the victim accepts, their life is put into the Brigade's hands as part of the contract (eg: The Molanye known as Ral was manipulated by the Brigade following the alien making a deal with them.)

Whilst their leader is in fact an alien, members of The Trickster's Brigade usually aren't however there are exceptions to this at times.

## Characteristics

Not much is known about The Trickster's Brigade as they tend to work "behind the scenes" and are hardly ever seen by their victims or anyone else for that matter, it is due to their secretive behaviour that they are quite a big threat according to the Torchwood Archives and should be treated with great caution and care when encountered.

## Powers and abilities

* Manipulation - The Trickster's Brigade can manipulate people into doing their own bidding with ease by creating deals with their victims in which they promise to give their victim their deepest desire in return.
* Time bending - The Trickster's Brigade can bend time and create alternate timelines simply by altering a single small detail in the target person's life - this detail would be small on purpose so the victim doesn't notice anything strange (eg: Turning right at a junction instead of turning left) it is with this that The Brigade takes advantage of "The Butterfly Effect."

## Vulnerabilities

* Breaking a deal - Breaking a deal made between The Brigade and their victim or defying The Trickster's Brigade will usually cause them to terminate the deal, deeming whoever they made the deal with a failure whilst leaving quickly so they don't get seen or killed.
* Sightings - Laying eyes on a member of The Trickster's Brigade (eg: a cowled figure or a Time Beetle) will cause them to disappear, once again out of fear of being seen however this only goes for certain members of the Brigade.

## Episodes

### 3.03: The Middle Men

Whilst on the run from the Live Control Agency, Shane checks into a hotel and Portugal and has a strange dream - the dream finds himself on the estate of a former friend who can be seen standing alone in the middle of a park field, she beckons Shane over in the dream only to reveal a strange beetle creature attached to her back, its legs visible to him over her shoulders, Shane recognizes it as part of The Trickster's Brigade, he suddenly wakes up from the dream, he quickly grabs a notepad from reception and quickly start writing down what he knows about The Trickster's Brigade thinking that the dream he had meant something.

### 3.04: Dead of Night

Towards the end of the episode, the mysterious figure known only as The Contact is believed to be in affiliation or is part of The Brigade when a black beetle flashes on the screen following The Contact's video to Live Control about how "they" will finish what Live Control started and warned the agency to not trace The Contact.

### 3.05: Turning Point

The Brigade proceeds to leave a strange chest for Live Control Agency leader, Ral, to find at a service station however this chest causes Ral to have flashbacks, visions and even spasm as The Brigade speak to him almost telepathically in his head, this causes Ral to pass out after promising The Brigade that he wont fail them.

During this, The Brigade seemingly take over Alexa by smuggling a black beetle into the hospital she currently recovers in and it takes control over her following a Mazkil attack, this causes Alexa to turn on her Torchwood co-workers and even kill Colin, who was leading the resistance against Live Control.

### 3.06: End of the Line

The Trickster's Brigade finally appear as three cowled figures standing in a multi-story car park on the Brayford Waterfront in Lincoln City, from there they seemingly observe the events, Shane and Dan finally confront them, after seeing an advertising board flash a picture of a black beetle, however they get nothing out of it other than silence - when they encounter Ral and Alexa however, Ral is familiar with them however Shane arrives again and claims that The Brigade normally work "behind the scenes" and never show themselves and queries to them why Live Control is so important to them.

The Trickster's Brigade claim that this was all done simply to create "eternal chaos" on Earth so their leader can walk free again once Live Control is fully established having used Ral and the other members as nothing but pawns through manipulation whilst The Brigade merely observed all their actions through people like The Contact - this causes Ral to get in the face of The Brigade, the control over him snaps as he shouts at them for promising him a better life and the chance for Live Control to be supreme under his own leadership however The Brigade dismiss him saying that the chaos inside him is admirable however Ral lambasts them for Live Control being almost dead and for Torchwood still existing, he then asks The Brigade if their deal is worth continuing however The Brigade declare the last Molanye a failure and disappear, the deal now broken.

## In Official media

Not counting audio dramas: The Trickster's Brigade are the only enemies to be faced in all three main Whoniverse shows: Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Brigade were originally credited by the TARDIS wikia as the main villain for the Torchwood: Miracle Day episode, Immortal Sins, however this has since been revoked even though it is canon that they were responsible for the episodes events.