Leonard "Bones" McCoy

Leonard "Bones" McCoy

271
    Star Trek
Photo Credit: Everett Collection

Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Living... through the most stressful residence in medical history aboard the USS Enterprise. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and the rest of his crew, Dr. McCoy, otherwise known as “Bones”, is in the midst of a five-year mission exploring the final frontier and “boldly going where no man has gone before.”

Profession... chief medical officer aboard the USS Enterprise. As McCoy often tells Kirk, “Damn it, man, I’m a doctor not a physicist!” And yet, he’s on the Enterprise, so along with healing his fellow crew members, he’s thrust into roles he has no experience with. No wonder he’s so cranky.

Interests… picking on Kirk’s first officer, Spock. Aside from his deep compassion for humanity and his never-ending interest in helping the sick, McCoy likes to throw back some brandy with Kirk and insult Spock relentlessly. Spock’s reluctance to display emotions drives Bones crazy, even leading him to yell, “I’m trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin!” 

Relationship Status... single. Like the rest of the Enterprise, McCoy has devoted five years of his life to exploration rather than romance. But back on Earth he was in love with a woman named Nancy Crater. He ran into her on a distant planet only to find she’s married. But unlike Kirk, he sees her as she looked ten years earlier. What’s going on there? 

Challenge... saving everyone’s hides on the ship. McCoy just wants to be a doctor, but unfortunately he has to be a doctor in space. That means beaming down to planets and fighting Romulans and all sort of activities way out of his wheelhouse. As he tells Kirk, “ I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget.”

Personality... cranky and hot-headed but loyal. Bones is caring and hard-working, despite his temper and foul mouth. He treats the sick because he cares deeply about people and their well-being. It’s just that people (and Vulcans, too) happen to get on his nerves a whole lot.

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