Weeping Angels

The **Weeping Angels** were an extremely powerful species of quantum-locked humanoids, so called because their unique nature necessitated that they often covered their faces with their hands to prevent trapping each other in petrified form for eternity by looking at one another.

This gave the Weeping Angels their distinct "weeping" appearance. They were known for being "kind" murderous psychopaths, eradicating their victims "mercifully" by dropping them into the past and letting them live out their full lives, just in a different time period. This, in turn, allowed them to live off the remaining time energy of the victim's life. However, when this potential energy paled in comparison to an alternative power source to feed on, the Angels were known to kill by other means, such as snapping their victims' necks.

## Biology

With an age almost as old as the universe itself, Weeping Angels that were converted from ordinary statues appeared as they did before being taken over. Other Angels resembled stone statues of winged, humanoid angels in chitons. Baby Angels resembled cherubs — naked, infant-sized versions of adult Angels. Baby angels possessed the same traits as adults, but when unseen, their footsteps and childlike giggles could be heard. Angels sometimes took the form of even bigger statues, such as the Statue of Liberty. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan) When showing ferocity, Weeping Angels would bare their fangs and claws. (TV: Blink)

Weeping Angels grew weaker from starvation without their usual energy supplies to keep them fed, with the stone wearing away over years. This wearing could become so severe that they might not look like their original forms anymore, losing their wings and becoming more like a typical statue of great age. Weak Angels did not have the same speed as their "healthy" counterparts. They could regain their appearance and restore themselves if re-energised. A single hour was all it would take for them to restore themselves. (TV: The Time of Angels) Weakness could hamper their ability to send people through time. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

### Powers and Abilities

#### Touch of an Angel

The Weeping Angels could displace their victims backwards in time with a single touch. They would then consume the potential energy from the lives the victims would otherwise have led. They could move people through space as well as time, as for instance Kathy was touched in London, but ended up in Hull in 1920. (TV: Blink)

In some cases, victims were transported over space but in the same time period. This was helpful for directing victims, such as Rory Williams, to quantum energy farms, like Winter Quay in New York. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan) Other times, victims were transported back in time in the same place, intentionally isolating them, as in the case of the quantum energy farm, (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

The Tenth Doctor theorised that getting touched by the same Angel as someone else would send you back to the same time as them when he, Martha Jones and Billy Shipton all got sent back to 1969. (TV: Blink) This theory would seem to hold as Rory Williams and Amy Pond both got sent to the 1930s. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

Different sources disagreed on the impact of being touched by a Weeping Angel twice. In Medderton, isolated by the Angels from both space and time, being touched a second time could cause a human to crumble to stone, destroying Gerald and Jean in 1901, rather than sending them back a second time. (TV: Village of the Angels) In New York City, however, Rory Williams was touched several times, being brought from Central Park to another street, then to Winter Quay, then further back in time in the same location, before time was changed by a younger Rory and Amy Williams, poisoning the stock by creating a paradox. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan) It's possible both are options, with the result being up to the angel in question to decide.

#### Quantum-Locking

The Weeping Angels had a unique and nearly perfect defence mechanism: quantum-locking, which caused an Angel to literally turn to stone when observed, (TV: Blink) even indirectly. (TV: Flesh and Stone) This meant they could not attack while being seen, but also ensured they would not come under attack themselves, as, when transformed into stone, a Weeping Angel could not be killed. (TV: Blink)

One of quantum-locking's drawbacks was that Weeping Angels had to cover their eyes, to ensure they would not engage each other's defences. If two or more Weeping Angels saw one another, they could be trapped forever. This caused the Tenth Doctor to think of them as the universe's loneliest assassins. (TV: Blink)

When unobserved, a Weeping Angel could move incredibly fast, travelling great distances in the blink of an eye. (TV: Blink)

Quantum-locking came into effect even when the Angel was observed through a medium like glass, or from another location entirely, viewed remotely on a monitor with CCTV footage. (TV: Flesh and Stone) An Angel could also engage their quantum-locking on instinct when they believed they were being observed. Amy Pond acted as though she could see the Weeping Angels, and they turned to stone all the same, though they cautiously began to re-engage as this false belief faltered. (TV: Flesh and Stone)

Victims could avoid the Angels by winking rather than forcing their eyes open and not blink. Amy Pond did this briefly, though visibly struggled with it. (TV: The Time of Angels)

#### Physical Strength

When an Angel was sufficiently fed, and had no need for further resources, it could kill by sneaking up behind their victim and breaking their neck. The Angels showed great physical strength, being able to break through steel doors, force magnetised wheels to turn, and snap necks without difficulty. (TV: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone)

#### Psychic Powers

When victims looked an Angel in the eyes, the Angel could infect their visual centres, creating an image in their mind. The victim could then be mentally influenced by the Angel until it became fully grown, at which point it could escape the person's body, killing them. This ability could only be stopped by shutting down the visual centre, that is, by closing one's eyes. If reopened, the Eleventh Doctor theorised this process would continue. (TV: The Time of Angels /Flesh and Stone)

Examples of mental influence included making the victim count down the minutes to their death, and making the victim hallucinate that a limb was petrified. They would also dissuade their hosts from closing their eyes, which would shut down their influence. (TV: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone)

#### Propagation

River Song once indicated that the Angels had an ability to transform ordinary statues into Weeping Angels, or at least to inhabit them. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

Anything with the image of a Weeping Angel, such as a photo or a video recording, also gained the abilities of an Angel, and would eventually become an Angel, provided the image wasn't broken. (TV: The Time of Angels) Though it took a lot of effort, when given a chance, a Weeping Angel could move out from its image, taking physical form as it advanced. (TV: The Time of Angels)

If a video recording of a Weeping Angel was made, then once the video became an Angel, it could exert significant power and influence over and through any system directly exposed to the recording the Angel came from - a projection of one Angel created from a looped recording displayed the ability to deadlock a vessel's entire system even when it had no deadlock seal, and protect the vessel's walls against penetration by methods such as thermal cutting. (TV: The Time of Angels)

#### Communication

The Weeping Angels did not naturally possess intelligible voices, (TV: The Time of Angels) although they could produce screeches as a form of laughter, (TV: Flesh and Stone) and the infants could produce childlike giggles. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

That said, a Weeping Angel could take the consciousness — and voice — of someone they had killed. (TV: The Time of Angels) As with Cleric Bob, an Angel could speak through their victim's consciousness to communicate with others. The Angel chose Bob in particular in order to infuriate the Eleventh Doctor, showing a capacity for understanding others' emotions. (TV: The Time of Angels)

They also possessed the ability to communicate with each other over long distances, even when frozen. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

#### Other Abilities

Weeping Angels also had excellent night vision. When their prey could not see them, allowing them to act, a Weeping Angel could navigate terrain in total darkness. (TV: *Blink* et al.)

#### Other Energy Sources

The Weeping Angels could also feed on other types of energy, such as radiation given off by a Galaxy class Star Liner, or the electrical energy from power grids or portable devices, such as torches. This would cause lights to flicker, making it easier for them to get around their quantum-locking. (TV: Blink, The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone)

A paradox could poison their food supply, killing most of the Weeping Angels involved. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

### Weaknesses

#### Killing an Angel

Because of their defence mechanism, Weeping Angels were very hard to kill, being immune to all kinds of weapons. However, they were capable of starving to death if left without time energy for too long. (TV: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone) It was also possible to defeat Weeping Angels by forcing two Angels to look directly at each other, which would cause them both to constantly see and quantum-lock each other. (TV: Blink) Another way of defeating them, and the only way of killing them apart from starvation, was to cause a paradox which would poison the time energy they used to feed. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)

Weeping Angels appeared to have the ability to reform themselves when destroyed in their stone form, however. An Angel reformed itself when it was destroyed by the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, despite missing its right arm. (TV: Good as Gold)