I COME FROM A PLACE WHERE GODS ROAM A-MONGST THE STARS, WHERE THERE ARE BEINGS THAT COULD E-RASE ALL OF RE-AL-ITY WITH BUT A MERE THOUGHT, THAT COULD BEND TIME TO THEIR WILL AND FREE YOU FROM HAVING EVER BEING BORN!! YET, NO MAT-TER HOW PO-WER-FUL THEY ARE, THEY ALL FEAR THE SAME THING. NOT ME. A WORD; IT IS A WORD THAT CAU-SES SUCH FEAR, THAT E-VEN THE LORDS OF TIME ARE SENT TO THEIR KNEES!

What is this word?

EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!!

The Daleks are a species of cephalopoid aliens from the planet Skaro, and are among the oldest and most dangerous races in the galaxy.

The Dalek creature is pallid, with many tentacles and the vestiges of eyes and a mouth. It has a large brain which shows through its skin, and supposedly has a very high processing ability and intelligence level. It is almost helpless without its shell, though it could kill using its appendages to strangle the victim.

Daleks have a very durable shell made from dalekanium, an alloy and bonded polycarbide. They have a rotatable midsection, (usually) bearing the gunstick and a plunger-like extendable manipulator arm capable of mimicking the motions of a natural arm. The head dome is also capable of rotating 360 degrees, and the eyestalk can move up and down. This eye provides wide-angle vision, with zoom and presumably accuracy assistance. The Dalek's eyepiece is its most vulnerable spot, and impairing its vision often leads to it desperately firing its main weapon in the hope of hitting its unseen target. The Dalek casing also functions as a fully-sealed environment suit, allowing travel through the vacuum of space or underwater without the need for additional life-support equipment.

The lower half of the Dalek shell (colloquially known as the "skirt") is studded with several fist-sized globes that act as sensory substitutes or, if need be, can also become components of the Dalek's self-destruct mechanism. Within all this, the Dalek creature is housed, surrounded by screens and machines, and attached to the life-support system.

Daleks also have force fields that make them very difficult to kill, melting incoming bullets, even though bullets can't penetrate the armor any way. They also have very powerful weaponry, most famously the 'gunstick', with various levels of power ranging from 'stun' to a level which can destroy a large house. There are other attachments seen being used too- these include:

◾Claw arm - Equipped with a blow torch, used to cut through materials too durable for their death rays to penetrate.

◾Sensor-gunstick arm - A powerful weapon used on Daleks guarding the Emperor.

◾Syringe - This is used to inject chemicals.

◾Dalek claw - Used to operate Dalek machinery.

In their early years Daleks were notoriously baffled by stairs (lacking any legs or other apparati to traverse them.) However, as they advanced, they developed a system that allowed them to hover (or, as they put it, elevate) to solve this problem.

The voice of a Dalek is electronic, as the Dalek creature has no vocal apparatus as such. Their most infamous exclamation is "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!", with each syllable individually screeched in a frantic-sounding electronic scream. Other common utterances include "I (or WE) OBEY!" to any command given by a superior. Daleks also have a radio communicator built into their shells, which emits an alarm to summon other nearby Daleks if the casing is opened from outside.

Ultimately, the most fundamental feature of Dalek culture and psychology is an unquestioned belief in the superiority of the Daleks. Before several wars wiped out the most aggressive individuals, other species were either to be exterminated immediately, or enslaved and then exterminated later once they are no longer necessary. This changed, and the "New Daleks", while still having a superiority complex, are not nearly as genocidal.

Another result of this superiority complex is their complete ruthlessness, meaning it is nearly impossible to negotiate or reason with a Dalek and is one of many things that make them so dangerous and not to be underestimated.

Daleks have little to no individual personality and a strict hierarchy, conditioned to obey a superior's orders without question.

Daleks have a very strict caste system

3876811 The Daleks also have one particularly hated enemy... An enemy they know as.... The Oncoming Storm in the ancient Dalek legends, but in modern days he is known as.... The Predator

3882706 Please notice the Gallifreyan entry

3882790 (Psst... It's me... Lunar Metal!)