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The Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial agendered race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and also seen in spin-off series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. A warrior race who live to kill, they are characterised by their ruthlessness and fearlessness of death. They were created by writer Robert Holmes. During rehearsals for their first appearance, actor Kevin Lindsay, who portrayed the original Sontaran, Linx, pronounced the race's name as "''son-TAR-an''." Alan Bromly, the director, tried to correct him by saying it should be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable. Lindsay declared "Well, I think it's ''"son-TAR-an"'', and since I'm from the place, I should know." His preferred pronunciation was retained. ==Culture== The Sontarans are a race of humanoids with a stocky build, greenish brown skin, a distinctive dome-shaped head, and they have only three fingers on each hand. Their musculature is designed for load-bearing rather than leverage, because of the significant amount of gravity on their home planet. Ross Jenkins in "The Sontaran Stratagem" describes a Sontaran as resembling "a talking baked potato". Sontarans come from a large, dense planet named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy" which has a very strong gravitational field, which explains their compact stocky form. They are far stronger than humans, and in the recent series are shorter than the average human male. The Sontarans have an extremely militaristic culture which prizes discipline and honor as its highest virtues; every aspect of their draconian society is geared toward warfare, and every experience is viewed in terms of its martial relevance. In ''The Sontaran Experiment'', the Fourth Doctor comments that "Sontarans never do anything without a military reason." In fact, to die heroically in battle is their ultimate goal. Aside from a ritualistic chant in "The Sontaran Strategem"/"The Poison Sky", they are never seen to engage in any activity that would be considered recreation, though a few offhand comments by Commander Skorr in "The Poison Sky" suggest they do consider hunting a sport. According to their creator Robert Holmes, Sontarans do have a highly developed artistic culture, but have put it on hold for the duration of the war, while the opening chapter of the novelisation of ''The Time Warrior'', based on Holmes' incomplete draft, refers to Linx listening to the Sontaran anthem while his spaceship is in flight. The Sontarans depicted in the series have detached, smug personalities, and a highly developed sense of honour; on multiple occasions, the Doctor has used his knowledge of their pride in their species to manipulate them. In "The Sontaran Stratagem", the Doctor nevertheless referred to them as "the finest soldiers in the galaxy".〔〔 Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the "probic vent" at the back of their neck, through which they draw nutrition. It is also part of their cloning process. It provides incentive to continue moving forward in battle since retreat would expose this area to their enemies. They have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (''The Invasion of Time''), a screwdriver ("Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans"), and an arrow (''The Time Warrior''). Even something as simple as a squash ball aimed at that point ("The Sontaran Stratagem") or contact by the heel of a shoe ("The Last Sontaran") is capable of incapacitating them temporarily. They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (''The Two Doctors''). While the Sontaran wear protective helmets in battle, to fight without their helmets, or to be "open-skinned," is an honour for the Sontaran. In the episode "The Poison Sky", it is revealed that the Sontaran Empire have been at war with the Rutan Host for more than 50,000 years, and which, at a time around 2008, they are losing. The war is still raging at least 20,000 years later, in the serial ''The Sontaran Experiment''. Most of the Sontarans depicted in the television series have had monosyllabic names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound (e.g. Styre (''The Sontaran Experiment''), Stor (''The Invasion of Time''), Stike (''The Two Doctors''), Staal ("The Sontaran Stratagem"), Skorr (''The Sontaran Stratagem''), Stark ("The Pandorica Opens"), and Strax ("A Good Man Goes To War"); exceptions are Linx (''The Time Warrior''), Varl (''The Two Doctors''), Jask (''The End of Time''), and Kaagh (''The Sarah Jane Adventures'')). Elements of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the "Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey" and the "Grand Strategic Council",〔''The Sontaran Experiment'', Writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Director Rodney Bennett, Producer Philip Hinchcliffe. ''Doctor Who''. BBC One, London. 22 February–1 March 1975.〕 the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group,〔''The Two Doctors'', Writer Robert Holmes, Director Peter Moffatt, Producer John Nathan-Turner. ''Doctor Who''. BBC One, London. 16 February–2 March 1985.〕 the "Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps",〔''The Time Warrior'', Writer Robert Holmes, Director Alan Bromly, Producer Barry Letts. ''Doctor Who''. BBC One, London. 15 December 1973 – 5 January 1974.〕 and the "Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet".〔"The Sontaran Stratagem", Writer Helen Raynor, Director Douglas Mackinnon, Producer Susie Liggat, Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson. ''Doctor Who''. BBC One, Cardiff. 26 April 2008.〕 Military titles include Commander,〔〔 Group Marshal,〔 Field Major,〔 and General.〔 Agnomens include "the Undefeated", "the Bloodbringer", "the Avenger" and "the Slayer".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sontaran」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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