Psychically gifted inhabitants of the planet Zanak. These abilities normally lay dormant until a seismic emotional event triggered them. Hollowed out, and fitted with massive engines controlled from a complex known as the Bridge, Zanak had been turned into a space-time machine by the piratical Captain and Queen Xanxia - enabling it to dematerialise and cross the galaxy to rematerialise around smaller worlds. All life on the victim planet was instantly extinguished, and these psychic shocks were what broke through the Mentiad's subconscious mind to activate their latent abilities.
Once the space-time jump had been made, the planets were then mined for their natural resources and the remains utilised to keep the ancient Xanxia alive.
The Captain feared the Mentiads and sought to capture each individual as he transformed. However, they always knew when a new member of their kind was about to be created and managed to get there first. They could use their minds to overpower anyone who tried to stop them. The new Mentiad would then be taken to safety in their subterranean temple base.
Just before a jump to Earth, the Captain discovered a means to suppress their powers using a combination of certain crystals. They had sufficient power to see through a door to sabotage the engines and prevent the jump, and the suppression device was destroyed.
After Xanxia and the Captain had been killed, the Mentiads then used their telekinesis to blow up the Bridge.
Played by: David Sibley (Pralix), Bernard Finch. Appearances: The Pirate Planet (1978).
- Douglas Adams originally called them the Mourners. His idea was that they would all be young people, mourning for the victim planets which were exploited by the ignorant older generation. This name was reinstated by James Goss when he novelised the story.
- A Mentiad costume was reused for one of the Dalek slaves in Destiny of the Daleks.
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