Rutans

**Rutans**, were a race of amorphous green blobs who waged a millennia-long war with the Sontarans.

## Characteristics

### Biology

In their natural forms, the Rutans were shaped somewhat like jellyfish, with a green glowing body and many light-green tendrils. They were amphibious and could cling to sheer, vertical surfaces. They had considerable mobility out of the water, despite their shape. Rutans could see, even without visible eyes, but their vision was limited. They could also speak with a harsh, tinny voice. (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*) Rutans reproduced by binary fission, with two identical Rutans being produced. (DW: *Shakedown*)

Rutans were formidable fighters, even when they did not have weapons. Rutans could generate lethal bioelectricalshocks to defend themselves and seemed to be able to absorb electrical energy directly for sustenance. (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*)  They could also use this energy to produce a force field to absorb energy from weapons, though this required great effort. (DW: *Plague of the Sontarans*)

Rutans could survive almost anywhere, including the vacuum of space. (DW: *Shakedown*)

### Culture

Rutans never referred to themselves as individuals, preferring the first person plurals "we", "us" and "our(s)". They also had no individual names. The Rutan hive mind was co-ordinated by a Queen who lived on Ruta III. Without her control the Host would fall apart. (DW: *Shakedown*)

### Military Tactics

Rutans were able to operate independently, but they did not see individuals as important and all individual desires were subsumed by the general desire to win the war with the "Sontaran rabble". (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*)

Rutans used shapeshifting technology to adapt to alien environments and infiltrate alien cultures; they were consummate spies. A Rutan usually killed specific individuals and then impersonated them. (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*)

### Technology

The Rutan Host had unknown types of technology, though they were apparently less advanced than the Sontarans. Rutan spaceships were crystalline in structure and looked like glowing balls of fire. These ships could control the weather to a degree. Individual Rutans could also shapeshift into other forms, but they needed to know the form very well, usually after careful study and dissection. (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*) Rutan spacecraft included the Rutan mothership, (TV: *Horror of Fang Rock*) and the Rutan fighter. (DW: *The Time Warrior*)

Rutan biotechnology was sufficiently advanced to "uplift" a species to sentience. By the 26th century, they had done this at least once, on the planet Sentarion, where they were worshipped by the insectoid Sentarii as "the Shining Ones". (DW: *Shakedown*)

## History

### Early History

At some point in their early history, the Rutans discovered a wormhole that linked Ruta III with Sentarion. The Rutans planned to use it as an escape route in emergencies and so modified the native species as guardians. The Rutans were considered to be "the Shining Ones" and the technology to open the wormhole was hidden in a temple and guarded by Harrubtii assassins. (DW: *Shakedown*)

### 13th Century

In the 13th century, (DW: *The Sontaran Experiment*) a squadron of Rutan fighters attacked the Sontaran commander Linx's ship while he was on a reconaissance mission, forcing him to perform an emergency landing on Earth. (DW: *The Time Warrior*)

### 20th Century

Though the Rutans originally controlled most of the Mutter's Spiral, by the 1900s, they were starting to lose the war and were forced to retreat to more fortified locations. During this time period, a Rutan scout landed on the coast of England and took over the Fang Rock lighthouse while attempting to assess the planet's usefulness as a base to fight the Sontarans. All their actions were to advance the war, such as scouting out new planets to use as bases. Both the scout and its mothership were destroyed by the Fourth Doctor and Leela. (DW: *Horror of Fang Rock*)

In the late 20th century, Group Marshal Stike said that the war going badly for the Sontarans was "on the contrary". The Sixth Doctor stated that his money was "still on the Rutans". (DW: *The Two Doctors*)

### 26th Century

During the 26th century, a Rutan known as Karne was working undercover as a Sontaran. When he learned that the Sontarans knew of the wormhole over Sentarion, he tried to return to the Rutans, but was wounded and stranded in space. Becoming known as "the Ripper", Karne started killing rich individuals, stealing their money and identity and using the cash to buy a flight to somewhere else. After being wounded on Megerra, Karne stowed away on the *Tiger Moth*. Commander Steg, who was tracking him down, was able to kill him on the *Tiger Moth*, but not before Karne was able to reproduce. The second Karne was able to get to Sentarion, where he intended to use the wormhole to escape to Ruta III. Unfortunately for him, the Doctor closed the wormhole to stop a Sontaran War-Wheel from reaching Ruta III. Karne was later killed by Steg. (DW: *Shakedown*)

### 28th Century

To Be Added. (DW: *Plague of the Sontarans*)

## Behind the Scenes

* The Third Doctor first mentioned the Rutans as the Sontarans' enemy during *The Time Warrior*, the first story to introduce the Sontarans.
* The Fourth Doctor story *Horror of Fang Rock* established what the Rutans actually looked like and introduced their shape-changing ability.