Doctor Who: Davros – Why he’s one of the show’s most complex villains

While he’s had goals for universal dominance or even destruction, Davros actually stands out as one of the more complex and interesting villains in Doctor Who’s long history…

There have been a lot of villains in Doctor Who over the decades. And we mean a lot. To name just some of the more memorable ones, we’ve had the Master, Morbius, the Rani, Sutekh, and many more. We even had the Devil himself show up in one story!

But out of all of them, Davros just might be one of the most complex. Not sympathetic, of course. As the creator of one of the evilest races in the Doctor Who universe, he’s not exactly a pleasant individual. In fact, as someone whose goals include desiring the destruction of entire races, he’s pretty horrific.

But what keeps him from being two dimensional is one simple fact: he believes that, in the long run, he’s ultimately doing good. This is highlighted in his first-ever appearance, Genesis of the Daleks. During a discussion he shares with the Doctor, he makes it clear that his ultimate goal is to make the Daleks a force for good. He just believes that the only way to do that is for them to become the most dominant lifeform in the universe, and to achieve that, they have to be utterly ruthless and without pity. It’s almost a compelling argument – almost. And then you get to this (admittedly iconic) moment:

A scientific mind

There’s no question that Davros has ego and ambition. There’s also no question that both of these are so excessive to the point of being extremely dangerous. The fact that he sacrifices his own race to ensure the survival of the Daleks highlights this.

But at the same time, he also has a strangely scientific and objective view when looking at the universe. One of my favorite Davros moments is in Sixth Doctor story Revelation of the Daleks, which features him as the leader of a funeral home. Now, you’d think that converting dead humans into Daleks would be the most horrifying thing he could do. And it is…until you find out what he does with the rest of the bodies: solve the galaxy’s famine problem.

It’s a moment that’s both horrifying and darkly hilarious, especially the Doctor’s reaction to it. (“Did you bother to tell anyone that they might be eating their own relatives?” is still a fantastic line, as is Davros’s response that it might have caused “consumer resistance”.) But it also highlights Davros’s character: while he understands why some might be against the idea of eating processed humans, objectively speaking, he doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

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A natural ruler

There’s no question that Davros is still a megalomaniac, like many other villains in Doctor Who history. But he’s also one with a clear viewpoint. Yes, he wants power, but unlike the Master, he doesn’t want power for its own sake. He simply believes that to achieve peace in the universe, it needs a single ruler, and he’s clearly the most qualified for that position. (Admittedly, he did try to destroy almost the whole of reality, but sometimes, you need to significantly downsize in order to make something more manageable.)

While my judgment on his complexity might be affected by his many audio stories (including I, Davros, a prequel series that looks at his early life and rise to power), there’s no question that this complexity has not only existed since his beginning but has been a key reason why he’s one of Doctor Who‘s greatest villains.

Do you agree that Davros is one of the more complex villains in Doctor Who? Or do you think he has rather basic goals? Let us know in the comments below.