The Doctor Who Character Only Super Fans Know Existed

With "Doctor Who," we're pretty much guaranteed a grand adventure that stretches the imagination of time and space. But along with some "wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey" shenanigans, we can also expect the adventurer to never travel alone. The Doctor always has a companion because the character needs a sidekick to help out and keep them in check. 

Some fans are used to the Doctor's companions coming from Earth. That's understandable, as some of the Doctor's best and most well-known companions have come from our bright little blue planet. However, the Doctor hasn't just strictly relied on human companions. From the robot dog K9 to the alien werewolf Mags, Doctor Who has traveled with some strange friends, indeed. Honestly, that's refreshing to know, as ignoring a whole galaxy of alien buddies would be a dreadful waste. While some of these intriguing characters are known to most fans, there are still a few so obscure that only the most hardcore know of their existence. This is especially true of one character that has only existed outside the TV series.

In the '80s, the Doctor first encountered perhaps one of their weirdest companions ever in the form of a talking penguin named Frobisher. Via Doctor Who Reference Guide, the character first made their appearance in issue 88 of "Doctor Who Magazine" thanks to writer Steve Parkhouse and artist John Ridgway in the comic story "The Shape-Shifter." In the story, the Sixth Doctor encounters a Whifferdill shapeshifter named Avan Tarklu, who is originally after the Doctor thanks to a bounty. However, the character ultimately sides with the Doctor by the end of the story, changes into a penguin, and adopts the name Frobisher.

As seen in some Reddit fan threads, the character has primarily gone under most people's radars due to mostly appearing in adventures with the Sixth and Seventh Doctor through comics and audio stories such as "The Holy Terror." The character also had an appearance in the 50th Anniversary IDW comic mini-series "Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time" (via Tardis Fandom). Still, the character has never appeared onscreen, although a TV debut may be long overdue with today's special effects. Besides his decades-long history outside of TV, the character has an interesting enough backstory, especially his reason for turning into a penguin despite being able to shapeshift into anything else. As a retrospective article from Warped Factor revealed, although his initial form is of a yellow humanoid, Frobisher sticks to being a penguin thanks to the memory of his estranged shapeshifter wife, whose penguin form he really liked. Come on, that's got to be worthy of a least a TV show episode.