History[]
The materialistic founding father of the Time Lords of Gallifrey, whose many possessions included the Sash of Rassilon, the Rod of Rassilon, the Great Key of Rassilon, the Coronet of Rassilon, the Harp of Rassilon, the Black Scrolls of Rassilon, the Game of Rassilon and in all probability the Fluffy Dice of Rassilon. This mysterious figure supposedly died millennia ago, but in fact attained a form of immortality and was a member of the fantastically powerful and rather shifty Council of High Evolutionaries, which also included Merlyn the Wise. He was not above manipulating The Doctor into carrying out his plans, and also apparently had a hand in the creation of the shadow man Shayde.
Later, an apparently regenerated Rassilon who looked a bit like James Bond led the Time Lords in a catastrophic war against the Daleks, and subsequently almost destroyed Earth, having apparently gone completely mad and decided to end time itself. He failed, and was apparently trapped in another universe, frozen in time. He has since returned, in yet another new form, only to be banished from Gallifrey by the Doctor. He later entered into an ill thought out alliance with the Cybermen.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers
Incalculable.
Abilities
Leadership skills; shouting at underlings.
Weaknesses
Bit of a nutter.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment
Anything and everything available on Gallifrey, including the Rod of Rassilon, the Great Key of Rassilon, the Sash of Rassilon, the Coronet of Rassilon, the Harp of Rassilon, the Game of Rassilon, the Seal of Rassilon and quite possibly the Probiotic Yogurt of Rassilon (he loves to name things after himself, so he's probably the kind of bloke who labels stuff in the communal fridge as well).
Notes[]
Rassilon is notable for being a fairly significant figure in the Doctor Who universe who, while he was first mentioned on TV in 1976, was actually first seen in comics, courtesy of writers Alan Moore and later Steve Parkhouse in Marvel UK's Doctor Who Monthly, beginning in 1980. Unfortunately, when Rassilon did eventually turn up on TV (in the Five Doctors in 1983, and much later in The End of Time in 2009) he bore little resemblance to his original comics incarnation. Still, that's regeneration for you...
Trivia[]
Rassilon used to be Timothy Dalton but is now Donald Sumpter (a.k.a. Maester Luwin from Game of Thrones or the creepy bloke from Being Human). He has also been played by Richard Mathews, and in audio stories by Don Warrington.
Links[]
- Appearances of Rassilon
- Character Gallery: Rassilon
- Images that feature Rassilon
- Fan-Art Gallery: Rassilon
- Rassilon quotations