Post by Vashta Nerada on Nov 10, 2010 0:45:39 GMT -5
Canon
Not to be confused with Elemental Shades, The Vashta Nerada are swarming, carnivorous beings. Their name means "Shadows that melt the flesh".
The Vashta Nerada are microscopic beings that lived in swarms, thousands strong. On their own, Vashta Nerada are not a threat. They are very small; the Doctor once claimed that the dust specks visible in bright sunlight are single Vashta Nerada or a small swarm not yet large enough to be a threat to most life. Once they are in sufficient numbers, they are able to strip a creature to its bare bones in milliseconds and the Doctor once described them as "piranhas of the air". Vashta Nerada swarms are sentient and two spacesuit-inhabiting swarms developed the ability to communicate to the Doctor through the spacesuits' Data Chips. They are also able to coordinate their efforts and make the spacesuits walk, though only with some difficulty, and can walk slowly in a 'zombie-like' fashion.
The Vashta Nerada live in the darkness and cast shadows when they enter the light - even to the extent of stopping the reach of light from fission lamps. On its own, outside of the darkness, a Vashta Nerada swarm looks like a shadow cast by nothing. They mimic the shadows of their prey in order to get close, which means staying in the light is the only option for escape. If someone has an extra shadow, it is already too late for them.
Both the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness believe they have no weaknesses and that the only thing to do is run.
The Vashta Nerada live on almost every planet which has organisms with meat, including Earth. They are born as microscopic spores in trees and live their lives in forests. It is said that they are able to hatch and form into a swarm in minutes. Spores are resilient enough to hatch even if the tree was processed, including if the wood was converted into paper and into books, which explains why so many were present on the Library.
Vashta Nerada have existed since the early Universe, and have spread to many planets across the Universe. While these swarms are not common, they inspire a fear of the dark in most species across the Universe, since any shadow can be made of Vashta Nerada. They were rare, and on some planets, such as Earth, they survive by scavenging meat from road kill.
How the spores originally got to different planets is unknown, although it is possible that, like the Krynoids their homeworld was seismically active, and surface explosions occur with sufficient force to propel the spores out of the planet's gravity, or possibly the same way they were taken to The Library.
((They will have... evolved when they come into the story though, being able to posess humans, and they will have a Hive Mind, like the Ood, but it will control them all, so prepare for smarter Vashta Nerada this time around....))
Not to be confused with Elemental Shades, The Vashta Nerada are swarming, carnivorous beings. Their name means "Shadows that melt the flesh".
The Vashta Nerada are microscopic beings that lived in swarms, thousands strong. On their own, Vashta Nerada are not a threat. They are very small; the Doctor once claimed that the dust specks visible in bright sunlight are single Vashta Nerada or a small swarm not yet large enough to be a threat to most life. Once they are in sufficient numbers, they are able to strip a creature to its bare bones in milliseconds and the Doctor once described them as "piranhas of the air". Vashta Nerada swarms are sentient and two spacesuit-inhabiting swarms developed the ability to communicate to the Doctor through the spacesuits' Data Chips. They are also able to coordinate their efforts and make the spacesuits walk, though only with some difficulty, and can walk slowly in a 'zombie-like' fashion.
The Vashta Nerada live in the darkness and cast shadows when they enter the light - even to the extent of stopping the reach of light from fission lamps. On its own, outside of the darkness, a Vashta Nerada swarm looks like a shadow cast by nothing. They mimic the shadows of their prey in order to get close, which means staying in the light is the only option for escape. If someone has an extra shadow, it is already too late for them.
Both the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness believe they have no weaknesses and that the only thing to do is run.
The Vashta Nerada live on almost every planet which has organisms with meat, including Earth. They are born as microscopic spores in trees and live their lives in forests. It is said that they are able to hatch and form into a swarm in minutes. Spores are resilient enough to hatch even if the tree was processed, including if the wood was converted into paper and into books, which explains why so many were present on the Library.
Vashta Nerada have existed since the early Universe, and have spread to many planets across the Universe. While these swarms are not common, they inspire a fear of the dark in most species across the Universe, since any shadow can be made of Vashta Nerada. They were rare, and on some planets, such as Earth, they survive by scavenging meat from road kill.
How the spores originally got to different planets is unknown, although it is possible that, like the Krynoids their homeworld was seismically active, and surface explosions occur with sufficient force to propel the spores out of the planet's gravity, or possibly the same way they were taken to The Library.
((They will have... evolved when they come into the story though, being able to posess humans, and they will have a Hive Mind, like the Ood, but it will control them all, so prepare for smarter Vashta Nerada this time around....))
