Monster: Judoon
Game/Product: Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space/Aliens and Creatures
Origin: First appearing opposite the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones in "Smith and Jones" (NuWho Series 3, episode 1, written by Russell T Davies), the Judoon as dense space cops who seem to have evolved (or been uplifted) from rhinos. They have a cool look and animatronic heads, which is why a "hero" Judoon can take his helmet off, and the rest usually stay hidden under them. Of course, your role-playing game has no such budget concerns.
Fear Level: They are very serious and look like fascists, but they're also a little silly. The phrase "Judoon platoon on the Moon" runs through your head, and then you hear their language, and it's pretty hard not to laugh, or at least smirk. Nevertheless, the game gives them Fear Factor 2 (out of 3).
Danger Level: That said, they aren't very imaginative and tend to follow the letter of the law, so you end up failing to reason with them and get disintegrated for your trouble. I would run the other way, but that could get you shot, too.
Famous examples: They're all pretty much the same, but the captain in Fugitive of the Judoon was notably female, and apparently, you could tell because she had hair and males are bald. Good to know, but it doesn't really make a difference. On television, the Judoon have appeared in 11 episodes (9 of Doctor Who, across three showrunners, and 2 of Sarah Jane Adventures). They've also appeared pretty extensively in other media. The RPG offered an early adventure where you had to ally with one.
I wonder if: I could have convinced a potential player to play that Judoon and join our TARDIS crew if I'd tried hard enough, but the downstairs neighbor I targeted never accepted the offer. To Bo Fo Ho.
Where do the Judoon fall in your Doctor Who monster top lists?
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