 ✓
| ||
| This villain was proposed but was rejected by the community for not being heinous enough or lacks what is necessary to be a Pure Evil villain. Therefore, this villain shall be added to our "Never Again List", where proposed villains rejected by the community shall be placed to prevent future proposals of the same evil-doer. They can be proposed again (with the permission of an administrator) if new elements appear in their series that can change their status as non-PE villains. Any act of adding this villain to the Pure Evil category without a proposal or creating a proposal for this villain without the permission of an administrator will result in a ban. | ||
| “ | Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy, but fooling you twice the same way? It's a privilege. | „ |
| ~ Kovarian revealing to the Doctor that the baby Melody was a flesh avatar. |
| “ | You never really escaped us, Melody Pond. We were always coming for you. I made you what you are: the woman who kills the Doctor. | „ |
| ~ Kovarian confronting River Song at the end of "Closing Time". |
Madame Kovarian is one of the two main antagonists (alongside the Supreme Dalek) of the Eleventh Doctor's tenure in the Doctor Who franchise, and the main antagonist of Series 3 of the Big Finish spin-off series, The Diary of River Song.
She is the leader and founder of the Kovarian splinter faction of the Silence who led them into a conflict with the 11th Doctor in an attempt to stop him from reaching Trenzalore, only to end up setting in motion the circumstances that would lead him there. She is the archenemy of Amy Pond and River Song due to taking both Rory and Amy’s child away into becoming a perfect assassin capable of killing the Doctor.
She was portrayed by Frances Barber who also played the Felis Sapien form of The Polymorph in Red Dwarf.
Biography[]
When the Eleventh Doctor arrived at Trenzalore, the events result in a siege by the Church of the Papal Mainframe when the threat of a new Time War by the Doctor answering a call from his people. While the main body of the Papal Mainframe continued the siege, Kovarian and her chapel broke off and decided to travel back in time to the Eleventh Doctor's beginnings to eliminate him before he could reach Trenzalore. However, the action would later be revealed to be a bootstrap paradox that would ensure the Doctor reaches his destination.
Some time after blowing up the TARDIS, Kovarian arranged for Amy Pond's abduction during her honeymoon and replacement by a Ganger. Amy's real, pregnant body was taken to Demon's Run in the 52nd century. Kovarian watched over her through a hatch above the room Amy was held in. Meanwhile, her linked Ganger lived out her life. This affected the Ganger's mind. She saw visions of Kovarian wherever she went, often hearing her comments on her health and her pregnancy.
The first time Ganger Amy saw Kovarian, she appeared at the little girl's bedroom door at Graystark Hall Orphanage in a hatch in the door. Amy was startled and asked who she was. Kovarian ignored her and said "No, I think she's just dreaming", then disappeared. The room was empty, with no evidence of Kovarian or the hatch.
While sleeping on a pirate ship, Amy woke to see Kovarian in a hatch that opened on the hull. She said, "It's fine. You're doing fine. Just stay calm," and vanished with the hatch.
She was seen twice by Ganger Amy at an acid mining factory, first whilst Amy searched for Rory, though she did not speak. The next time, Amy sensed her coming appearance and stared at the wall where the hatch would open. When she mentioned this to the Ganger Doctor, who was pretending to be the Eleventh Doctor at the time, he dismissed it as "time memory, like a mirage." After her Ganger form was destroyed, Amy awoke to find herself in an alien hospital and heavily pregnant, with Kovarian looking over her. She went into labor, with Kovarian cruelly instructing her to push.
Madame Kovarian and Colonel Manton visited Dorium Maldovar to ask him what he knows; they had been on Yellow Alert for a month and the Doctor hadn't done anything. Dorium explained that there were numerous people throughout time and space who owe the Doctor a debt for helping them; he's gathering an army. Dorium explained the stories about the Doctor were true and not myths. Seeing they were getting nowhere, Kovarian and Manton left.
At some point after Amy's baby was delivered, Kovarian took her away and had a Flesh duplicate created as a decoy for the Doctor. The duplicate and Amy were 'rescued' by Rory Williams. During the battle with the Headless monks, Kovarian told the Doctor she was "privileged" to have fooled him twice in the same manner and disconnected the Flesh signal, disintegrating the duplicate.
She appeared at the Luna University circa 5123 to River Song. Kovarian taunted her over her capture as a baby and her role in the Doctor's death. With Silence and soldiers from the Church, she took River and forced her into an astronaut suit with an upgraded weapons system which controlled her nervous system. River was taken to 22 April 2011 and submerged in Lake Silencio to lie in wait to kill the Doctor.
The Wedding of River Song[]
Kovarian was in the Area 52 pyramid in the alternate timeline created by River Song's refusal to kill the Doctor at Lake Silencio, having been captured by River and Amy Pond's military group and tied to a chair. They had created their own Eye Drives based on hers to remember the Silence, but as she told the Eleventh Doctor and his companions, the drives gave an advantage to the Silence; they could electrify them remotely, causing debilitating pain or death. The Silence began electrifying the Eye Drives, including Kovarian's. She pleaded with Amy to save her, but Amy took revenge on her for the abduction of her baby by forcibly reinserting her Eye Drive and leaving her to die. Amy remembered this after that reality disintegrated and was conflicted over her actions. It is unclear whether or not Madame Kovarian remains dead in the current timeline or was brought back to life by reality setting itself right.
Final Gambit and Punishment[]
It would later be revealed she cloned River a couple times. Not only this, but she put neural restrictors in their brains to keep them from killing her; knowing full well they were psychopaths, and that River would enjoy harming Kovarian for ruining her childhood.
By this point the Silents and the Church abandoned her, the Trenzalore threat ended with the Time Lords refusing to return. Kovarian continued her plans by sending a clone named Brooke to pose as a companion to the Fifth Doctor. When this resulted in his death, the universe began falling apart. Refusing to see she was wrong, Kovarian was eventually capturing by River and locked in an electric cage; while River undid the damage. The clones decided to watch over Kovarian' torment.
Personality[]
Kovarian was a cruel, manipulative and psychotic woman who deeply hated and feared the Doctor because she believed that he would bring about the end of the universe. She took terrible glee in his anguish and humiliation. She was willing to use the Doctor's friends against him, kidnap an innocent baby and mold the child into a psychopath.
She tortured Amy emotionally by kidnapping the real Melody Pond and leaving a Flesh duplicate in her place after instilling a false sense of safety when she purposefully allowed Rory to carry the fake back. Kovarian was callous, showing little concern for her allies.
Kovarian was cowardly and not above pleading for her life, as shown when the Silence turned on her. She begged Amy to save her life, even claiming that it was something the Doctor would do. Amy denied her any mercy, telling Kovarian that River Song had "gotten it" from her mother as well as from her. Kovarian's incredible sense of self-preservation was probably what motivated her hatred and fear of the Doctor. She occasionally showed a dry, cynical sense of humor as shown by her remark "Oh God, do I have to watch this?" during the Doctor and River Song's flirtation.
Gallery[]
