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Slitheen
Slitheen
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In a respectable tenth place, it’s the Slitheen. 

These extraterrestrial invaders are a ruthless criminal family of aliens from
the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius, whose main concern seems to be crooked
business deals and the maximization of profit. The Slitheen are essentially
business tycoons, they are business orientated with an eye for profit
(nothing wrong with a bit of that - the Editor). Standing at around eight 
feet tall, with green skin, long arms, vicious claws and large over-hanging
beer-bellies, the Slitheen are extremely ugly creatures. 

The Slitheen have developed shape-shifting technology. This means they can
disguise themselves by taking the form of other beings. They do this by using
a compression field created by a collar worn around their necks. The method
though, has its limits. Because they are large aliens, they can only shape-shift
into over-sized people. But once they have identified there prey, death inevitably follows, allowing the
Slitheen to turn their victim into a skin suit. Once inside, the Slitheen copy looks completely real; 
unfortunately, though, the compression technology is crap and leads to the build up of gasses causing a 
condition similar to flatulence in humans. 

So, with their over-sized bodies and tendency to break wind, these baby-faced creatures appear to be rather
clumsy and awkward. But looks can be deceptive. They are in fact a lot worse than this. They are ruthless 
profiteerers, and will stop at nothing in their pursuit of the green stuff. No-one stands in their way... 
Check-out the ending to Aliens of London. This is the best clifhanger since episode three of the Deadly
Assasin (a Tom Baker classic from 1976 - the Editor). What we have here is in effect not one but three
seperate cliff-hangers; we just don't see one Slitheen unmasking, but three, and each one involving the 
three main characters. Anyway... 

You could argue the Slitheen are not really villains at all. They are bad, yes, but evil, well that really is a
matter of opinion. Certainly, they are not in the same league as the Daleks and Cybermen; their motivation
for visiting earth was neither conquest nor colonization, they wished only to make a fast buck. So what if
that meant turning the planet into nuclear fuel. The galactic economy was knackered and required a new 
source of energy. The Slitheen were merely servicing a gap in the market. Nothing wrong with that. 
Business is business! So really, the Slitheen are just good old-fashioned entrepreneurs looking to expand 
their money-making opportunities. Therefore, they cannot be classed as super-villains as such; nevertheless
their dodgy Arthur Daley-like dealings have them sneaking just inside the top ten. So all hail the Slytheen. 
That’s what I say!   


View the Villain in 9th place >>