Leonard H. McCoy
Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, in "Shore Leave" episode
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Date of birth:	2227
Home planet:	Earth
Affiliation:	Starfleet
Posting:	USS Enterprise & USS Enterprise-A chief surgeon/chief medical officer
Rank:	Lieutenant commander, Commander, Admiral
Portrayed by:	DeForest Kelley

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy (nicknamed "Bones"), played by DeForest Kelley, is a character in the original Star Trek series, and the first six Star Trek films. The character does not appear in the two pilots for the series, The Cage (TOS episode) and Where No Man Has Gone Before. (Mark Piper is the chief medical officer in Where No Man Has Gone Before.) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) in the family Hominidae (the great apes). ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... The shield and spear of the Roman god Mars, which is also the alchemical symbol for iron, represents the male sex. ... The 23rd century (Gregorian Calendar) comprises the years 2201-2300. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The USS Enterprise, (NCC-1701) is a fictional starship in the television series Star Trek, which chronicles the vessels most famous assignment, its Five-Year mission. ... The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) (or Enterprise-A), commissioned in 2286, is a Constitution class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned rank of the Starfleet in the fictional universe of Star Trek. ... Commander is a commissioned Starfleet officer rank in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... Admiral is the second highest commissioned Starfleet rank in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... DeForest redirects here. ... Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or MD, from the Latin Medicinae Doctor meaning Teacher of Medicine,) is an academic degree for medical doctors. ... DeForest redirects here. ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... The Cage is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise. ... Where no man has gone before is a saying used in the introductory sequence of all but one of the episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. ...

Overview

Leonard McCoy was born in 2227 according to Star Trek: The Next Generation episode: "Encounter at Farpoint". He attended the University of Mississippi, where he once met Emony Dax, a female Trill athlete with whom it is implied he had a "brief involvement" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode: "Trials and Tribble-ations")^[1]. The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... Encounter at Farpoint was the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. ... -1... Jadzia Dax is a Trill who carries the Dax symbiont. ... An intimate relationship is a interpersonal relationship where there is a great deal of physical or emotional intimacy. ... Space station Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or STDS9 or DS9 for short) is a science fiction television series produced by Paramount and set in the Star Trek universe. ... Trials and Tribble-ations is a fifth season episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that was written as a tribute to the original series of Star Trek. ...

By 2265, McCoy had been promoted to lieutenant commander and was assigned as a medical observer to the planet Capella. The assignment was unfruitful, as the Capellans found little need for medical arts and existed under a tribal society where only the strong survived ("Friday's Child"). Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned rank of the Starfleet in the fictional universe of Star Trek. ... Fridays Child is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...

He is suspicious of advanced technology, especially the transporter, which he regards with distrust and outright dismay (often expressing a suspicion that the device will irretrievably scatter his atoms), and occasionally is bigoted with regard to Spock's half-Vulcan ancestry. A divorceé, he often showed a flirtatious side to female members of the Enterprise crew ^[2]. He is the only American Southerner depicted among the racially and ethnically diverse crew of the USS Enterprise. By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own. ... It has been suggested that Tplana-hath be merged into this article or section. ... For the record label, see Divorce Records. ... The USS Enterprise, (NCC-1701) is a fictional starship in the television series Star Trek, which chronicles the vessels most famous assignment, its Five-Year mission. ...

McCoy is a physician of considerable skill, capable of successfully treating creatures whose physiologies he is unfamiliar with, such as the Horta ("The Devil in the Dark"), though he often hesitates at operating on Vulcans due to his relative unfamiliarity with their anatomy^[3] and has no practical knowledge of Klingon anatomy ^[4]. As a doctor, McCoy prefers old-fashioned, personalized or less-intrusive remedies to cutting-edge treatments and computerized medicine, once complaining that the refit Enterprise's sickbay was more a computer center than a medical office.^[5] He also is a great believer in the body's own recuperative powers, though he also realizes that medicine as it exists in the 23rd Century has to help along the process. Kirk faces off the Horta in The Devil in the Dark. In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Horta are a silicon-based species, introduced in the original series episode The Devil in the Dark. An intelligent species indigenous to the planet Janus IV, the Horta can comfortably live... The Devil in the Dark is a first season episode Star Trek: The Original Series which first aired on March 9, 1967. ...

In 2266, McCoy was posted as chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk, replacing Doctor Mark Piper.^[6] McCoy and Kirk became good friends, but the passionate, sometimes cantankerous McCoy frequently argued with Kirk's other close friend and confidante, Spock. In 2268, he was diagnosed with Xenopolycythemia, a normally incurable and fatal blood disease. After an encounter with the Fabrini civilization travelling inside the asteroid colony ship Yonada, McCoy was able to discover a cure for the disease.^[7] He served on board Enterprise until 2270, when the ship's five-year mission was completed. He resigned his commission or was placed on inactive reserve. Captain is a commissioned rank of the Starfleet in the fictional universe of Star Trek. ... James Tiberius Kirk, played by William Shatner, is the main character in the original Star Trek television series and the films based on it. ... For other uses, see Spock (disambiguation). ... For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...

During the 2271 V'Ger Crisis, Admiral Kirk requested McCoy specifically as a member of Enterprise's crew for the investigation of the V'ger entity. At Kirk's request, Nogura employed what McCoy described as a "little-known, seldom-used reserve activation clause," which McCoy likend to being drafted, to reactivate McCoy's commission as a commander and chief medical officer aboard the refit Enterprise (Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Vger (Vejur in the novelization by Gene Roddenberry) is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. ... “Conscript” redirects here. ... Commander is a commissioned Starfleet officer rank in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Paramount Pictures, 1979; see also 1979 in film) is the first feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series and is released on Friday, December 7. ...

By 2285, McCoy served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy. He was on board Enterprise when Admiral Kirk was required to take command during the events surrounding the escape of Khan and his subsequent seizure of the Genesis Device. During this action, Spock was killed in a successful attempt to repair the stricken ship's warp engines. Before attempting this, he nerve-pinched McCoy and performed a mind-meld on the unconscious doctor, placing his katra or mental essence into the doctor's psyche. This proved key to Spock's eventual return from death, although the process was traumatic for both. During the return from the Mutara Sector, McCoy began to exhibit erratic behaviors, and even began at times speaking and acting as if he were Spock. After trying to charter a ship to the by-then-embargoed Genesis Planet, McCoy was arrested by Federation Security and was to undergo psychological testing to determine his sanity. At the same time, Kirk finally realized (with the aid of Sarek) what had transpired. He rescued McCoy and with the aid of the other main officers of Enterprise, stole Enterprise in a bid to rescue Spock's body from the Genesis Planet and re-unite it with the katra within McCoy. Khan Noonien Singh is a villain in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Genesis Device was an experimental terraforming device. ... Spock performs the Vulcan nerve pinch on a Red Shirt during a fight from And the Children Shall Lead As used in the fictional Star Trek universe, the Vulcan nerve pinch is a technique used mainly by Vulcans to render another lifeform unconscious by pinching the base of the victim... In the fictional Star Trek universe, katra is the immortal, living spirit of a Vulcan. ... Sarek is a Vulcan character in the Star Trek fictional universe. ...

During the Enterprise crew's three-month stay on Vulcan, McCoy fully recovered. While in action on and over the Genesis Planet, the Enterprise crew had captured a Klingon Bird of Prey, which McCoy's "fine sense of historical irony" led to him to christen the HMS Bounty. After leaving Vulcan in Bounty, the crew returned to the year 1986 to retrieve a pair of humpback whales to placate an alien probe set to eradicate all life on Earth. While there, McCoy found himself in the position of aiding an elderly woman with kidney dialysis problems in regenerating her kidneys. McCoy, along with the rest of Kirk's crew, were prosecuted for their illegal actions regarding the theft of the Enterprise and travel to Genesis. The charges, however, were dropped, with the exception of one charge solely directed at Kirk, who was demoted to Captain. In gratitude for the crew's actions in saving Earth from the alien probe, Starfleet Command gave him command of a new starship, the USS Enterprise-A (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Klingon starships are fictional spacecraft that appear in the television and film installments of the fictional universe of Star Trek. ... for other meaning see Mutiny on the Bounty (disambiguation) The mutineers turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from HMAV Bounty, 29 April 1789 The Mutiny on the Bounty was a historical event in the late 18th century, most widely known through fiction, of an officer... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Binomial name Megaptera novaeangliae Borowski, 1781 Humpback Whale range The Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is a baleen whale. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... In medicine, dialysis is a type of renal replacement therapy which is used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function due to renal failure. ... The kidneys are organs that filter wastes (such as urea) from the blood and excrete them, along with water, as urine. ... The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) (or Enterprise-A), commissioned in 2286, is a Constitution class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Paramount Pictures, 1986; see also 1986 in film) is the fourth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ...

McCoy remained with Kirk and the rest of the crew of the old Enterprise,serving in his capacity as chief medical officer (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). During the Khitomer Crisis of 2293, McCoy was tried and convicted along with Kirk at a Klingon tribunal on the charges of aiding and abetting the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon. The charges were false, and the evidence that seemingly pointed to Enterprise had been engineered by both General Chang of the Klingons and Admiral Cartwright of Starfleet in an attempt to scrap a proposed peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. As part of the plot, the Federation was going to mount a large-scale military action to the Klingon penal asteroid Rura Penthe to rescue McCoy and Kirk. Instead, Enterprise (with the aid of Captain Sulu and Excelsior) were able to effect the rescue while still preventing a military breach between the two powers. McCoy was instrumental in exposing Chang and Cartwright's plot, as he and Spock rigged a photon torpedo to find Chang's cloaked ship. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Paramount Pictures, 1991; see also 1991 in film) is the sixth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... This article is about the fictional race. ... It has been suggested that Selective assassination be merged into this article or section. ... In the Star Trek universe, Gorkon (David Warner) was the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire and leader of its High Council in the late 23rd Century - from 2291 until his assassination in 2293. ... Chang is a Klingon character from the Star Trek fictional universe who was portrayed by Christopher Plummer in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. ... In Star Trek continuity, Rura Penthe is an ice-covered Klingon penal colony, whose primary activity is dilithium mining. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Between 2295 and 2363, McCoy's life and activities are not accounted for. In 2363, a now elderly Admiral McCoy was briefly aboard the recently-commissioned USS Enterprise-D, and compared Data's mannerisms and speech to that of Vulcans and was as cranky and cantankerous as ever (Star Trek: The Next Generation episode: "Encounter at Farpoint"). The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (or Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. ... Data[1] is a character, portrayed by Brent Spiner, in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... Encounter at Farpoint was the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. ...

McCoy appears in several non-canon novels, several of which revolve around him. In William Shatner's novels, McCoy is over 150 years old, thanks in large part to synthetic body parts (heart, lungs, digestive system, legs, etc.). DeForest Kelley's death in 1999 led to a DC Comics story chronicling McCoy's death, in which Spock and Scott visit McCoy on his death bed. William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ...

Catch phrases

McCoy is also known for using sayings which came to be considered catch phrases for the character, the most popular of which include the following. A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ...

"He's dead, Jim."

McCoy frequently declares someone or something deceased with the line, "He's dead", "He's dead, Jim", or something similar. He makes such pronouncements on several of his patients, including:

• Crewman Green ("The Man Trap")
• Doctor Adams ("Dagger of the Mind")
• Captain Kirk ("Amok Time", "Return to Tomorrow")
• Scotty ("The Changeling", "I, Mudd")
• Crewman Jackson ("Catspaw")
• Lieutenant Galway ("The Deadly Years")
• Lieutenant Tracey ("Wolf in the Fold")
• Commissioner Hengist ("Wolf in the Fold")
• Priestess Nona ("A Private Little War")
• Professor Starnes ("And the Children Shall Lead")
• Marvick ("Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
• Ensign Chekov ("Spectre of the Gun")
• Murdered scientist ("The Lights of Zetar")

The typical unlucky red shirt: Lt. ... The Man Trap was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air on NBC. It is episode #6, and was broadcast on Thursday, September 8, 1966 at 8:30pm. ... This is also the name of an episode of Columbo. ... Amok Time is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Return to Tomorrow is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast February 9, 1968 and repeated August 2, 1968. ... The Changeling is a season two episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on September 29, 1967 and repeated May 17, 1968. ... I, Mudd is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series first broadcast November 3, 1967 and repeated April 5, 1968. ... Catspaw is the first episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The Deadly Years is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast December 8, 1967 and repeated on August 16, 1968. ... Wolf in the Fold is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Wolf in the Fold is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... A Private Little War is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast February 2, 1968 and repeated on August 23, 1968. ... And the Children Shall Lead is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast October 11, 1968. ... Is There in Truth No Beauty? is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast October 18, 1968. ... Spectre of the Gun is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series from the third season, and was first broadcast on October 25, 1968. ... The Lights of Zetar is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast January 31, 1969 and repeated on August 26, 1969. ...

"I'm a doctor, not a(n)..."

When McCoy is pressed to perform or give an opinion as something other than a doctor, he often remarks "I'm a doctor, not a(n)...", concluding with whatever profession he's asked to perform. Popular culture often precedes the saying with "Dammit, Jim!"

Examples of this include:

• Moon shuttle conductor ("The Corbomite Maneuver")
• Bricklayer ("The Devil in the Dark")
• Mechanic ("The Doomsday Machine", "The Empath")
• Engineer ("Mirror, Mirror")
• Physicist ("Metamorphosis")
• Escalator ("Friday's Child")
• Miracle worker ("The Deadly Years")
• Coal miner ("The Empath")
• Psychiatrist ("The City on the Edge of Forever")

The Corbomite Maneuver is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first aired November 10, 1966, and repeated May 11, 1967. ... The Devil in the Dark is a first season episode Star Trek: The Original Series which first aired on March 9, 1967. ... The Doomsday Machine is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The Empath is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast December 6, 1968. ... Mirror, Mirror is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Metamorphosis is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series first broadcast November 10, 1967 and repeated July 19, 1968. ... Fridays Child is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The Deadly Years is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast December 8, 1967 and repeated on August 16, 1968. ... The Empath is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast December 6, 1968. ... The City on the Edge of Forever is the penultimate episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...

Popular culture

• In an episode on the Simpsons after Homer had temporarily become a hippie and faced off with SWAT officers telling them they should be peaceful while he put flowers in the barrels of their guns, Homer got shot in the head. Instead of being killed he was shown in the hospital with a flower sticking out of the front of his head, when Doctor Hibert was asked if he could take it out he replied "I'm a doctor, not a botanist."

• The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager sometimes uses the "I'm a Doctor..." phrase. Another model of the Emergency Medical Hologram, the EMH Mark 2, was also featured in one episode aboard a ship that had been taken over by Romulans. When the Doctor requested his help, he replied "I'm a doctor, not a commando!"

• In the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the hologram doctor says: "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop."

• In the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Ace says, "For God sake, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a pool man."

• In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which William Shatner guest stars, Will Smith parodies the line by saying, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a black boy from Philly, not a doctor!"

• In a late 1980s episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by William Shatner, a skit involving the Enterprise as a rotating restaurant has Kirk turning to McCoy for help after a patron starts to choke. McCoy (played by Phil Hartman) responds with "Dammit, I'm a Doctor, not a... Oh! Oh, sure!" and proceeds to administer the Heimlich maneuver.

• In an episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin, looking for someone to give him a prostate exam, comes across McCoy. McCoy then responds with, "Forget it. I'm a doctor, not a patsy."

• In a commercial for the game Trivial Pursuit, DeForest Kelley is asked a medical question. He responds, "How should I know? I'm an actor, not a doctor."

• A version of McCoy appears in the Futurama episode Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch, in which he responds to Zapp Branigann's question of whether he will make it with Leela by saying "Dammit, Zapp, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!".

• Swedish synth-pop band S.P.O.C.K released a song titled "Dr. McCoy" in 1998.

• In Final Fantasy IX, an NPC involved with the reconstruction with Lindblum uses the line 'damnit Jim, i'm a doctor, not a miracle worker'

• In the original Transformers cartoon series, the episode Return of Optimus Prime: Part 1 depicted Rodimus Prime going to Wreck-Gar, the leader of the Junkions, in hopes that he could repair him. Wreck-Gar replied "I'm a doctor, not a fork lift. His engines, they cannot take the strain! He's dead, Jim."

• In StarCraft: Brood War if you repeatedly click on a Terran Medic, the last comical line she says is "He's dead, Jim."

The Simpsons. ... The Doctor is a character on the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. ... The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ... In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Emergency Medical Hologram or EMH (full name: EMH Program AK-1 Diagnostic and Surgical Subroutine Omega-323) is a holographic program intended to support or replace medical personnel aboard a Starfleet vessel or installation in case of emergency. ... Romulans are a fictional alien species in the Star Trek universe related to Vulcans. ... Star Trek: First Contact (Paramount Pictures, 1996; see also 1996 in film), is the eighth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... Ace Ventura, Pet Detective is a 1994 wacky comedy movie, directed by Tom Shadyac. ... This section contains a list of trivia items. ... William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ... “W. S.” redirects here. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 90 minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ... William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ... Phil Hartman (born as Philip Edward Hartmann) (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American Emmy Award-winning actor, voice artist, comedian, graphic artist and writer. ... Henry J. Heimlich (b. ... Family Guy is an Emmy award winning American animated television series about a nuclear family in the fictional town of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... Peter Löwenbräu Griffin is the protagonist in the American animated television series Family Guy. ... Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, also the creator of The Simpsons, and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch is the first episode in season four of Futurama. ... Synthpop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ... S.P.O.C.K (Star Pilot On Channel K) is a Swedish synth pop band, known particularly for their science fiction references, especially Star Trek. ... Transformers are fictional alien robots and the titular characters of a popular[1] Hasbro toy line and its spin-offs. ... Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Convoy in Japan, Rodimus Primo in France, and Captain in Italy) is a fictional character from the Transformers universe. ... Wreck-Gar is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers universes. ... The planet of Junk was originally a refuse point in the middle of space for discarded materials from the Cybertronian society. ... StarCraft: Brood War is an expansion pack released in 1998 for StarCraft — an award winning real-time strategy computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ...

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Star Trek: The Original Series

• StarTrek.com: Leonard McCoy
• Leonard McCoy article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• I'm a doctor, not a... article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• Star Trek Parodies article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki