Your Name: Claire
Contact: slanndalous
Are you at least 16 years of age or older?: Yes
Current Characters(s): N/A
Reserve Link: LINK


Is this a re-app?: No
Character Name: Leonard McCoy
Journal: cortexual
Canon: Star Trek AOS
Canon Point: Star Trek Beyond, when Spock and McCoy are aboard the enemy's cruiser just before they save Kirk in the ventilation shaft in Yorktown.
Species: Human
Age: roughly 36

History: HISTORY LINK

Personality: Leonard McCoy can be described as the heart of the Enterprise. Whereas Spock is controlled and logical, McCoy is passionate and emotional. A friend to Jim Kirk and Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise, he makes it a point to conjecture whenever he can to support or challenge Kirk and play devil's advocate to Spock. This leads to some heated and colorful debates between the three of them; though, each has a role that tempers the others as seen in the three Star Trek movies.

For his part, the doctor's humanly compassion comes from that of a medical physician with a southern disposition. He projects the thoughts and feelings of humanity (aka the general audience), lathered in all their emotional, passionate, hypocritical, and morally ambiguous glory. As he shows in the Reboot movies, his friendship and loyalty can overshadow Starfleet protocols when he decides to bring Kirk aboard the Enterprise even with his academic suspension. He feels it is wrong to leave his friend behind despite the rules and regulations. Again, he disagrees with Kirk’s decision to set Sulu in the position of acting Captain with little leverage to threaten Khan. It is not an emotionally comfortable decision to make, and thus it leaves McCoy arguing whether it is truly a morally right decision, not simply a logical one. As these examples show, emotion, instinct, and human morality are what drive McCoy to make his decisions or question those of others.

The emotional spectrum is a necessary part of his job as a healer and a useful identifier for physical or mental deficiencies. Because of this, he sees the strength and importance of emotion. As a psychologist, he uses the emotions of others to assess their physical and mental well-being on a daily basis, whether he is on the clock or not. This can be seen several times in the movies when McCoy regularly trails after Kirk with some medical instrument, even when the Captain is resistant to the CMO's advances. It is also apparent during Spock and McCoy's crash-landing on an unknown planet facing unknown dangers. He tends to his wounded CO and ignores Spock's protests to leave him behind in order to escape. Good or bad, McCoy heals those that are injured.

But just as Spock draws power from logic, McCoy draws power from the evocation of emotion and feeling. It is what provokes much of the seeming antagonism between them. This is best portrayed when McCoy speaks his mind after Spock strands Kirk on Delta Vega after Kirk's outburst on the bridge. While he concedes to the reasoning behind Spock's decision, what irritates McCoy is the fact that while it may have been the logical decision, he didn't feel that it was the right one. Displaying his feelings regularly, he seems to expect it from others because it is a normal and healthy function of the body. Because Spock does not express his emotions, and thus what he is thinking, it causes distrust and suspicion in McCoy at first, as seen in the first movie. Spock quickly dissects his argument and explains the ignorance in his opinion: his expression of emotion would serve no purpose to the aforementioned situation and would thus be illogical.

And though Spock and McCoy do continue their battle of wits and logic, it is no longer born from animosity, but has evolved into something like a game. It challenges them both and creates a competitive but respectful relationship between them. In Star Trek Beyond, when Spock and McCoy are surrounded by the enemy, it is Spock who succinctly summarizes their relationship within the last two years of their five-year mission. He tells McCoy that he cares and that, despite their heated banter, he has nothing respect for him. McCoy tells him he doesn't need to go one, because he understands. They both understand how this relationship works.

While it is true that because McCoy often speaks his mind based on intuition or impulse, he does not always take into consideration the big picture (as shown in a couple the examples above), this does not make him optimistic or naïve. In the movies he generally comes off as disgruntled or malcontent. Much of his bristly nature likely comes from his life experiences and his profession. Already at 34, he has been married and divorced before enrolling into Starfleet, on top of dealing with the death of loved ones and his patients. That shit would make anyone jaded.

And, as a doctor, he has a very intimate relationship with life and death. He has seen what horrors the human race is capable of, has seen pain, suffering, fear, weakness. Yet despite these debilitating traumas, he understands his responsibilities as a doctor, some of which need to be decided without emotion. In a crisis, he must coolly organize those who need the most immediate help against those who must wait. Sometimes it means that there will be sacrifices, and those casualties are McCoy’s responsibility and his decision to make. While not shown in detail, the attack on the Enterprise during their mission to assist Vulcan left the former CMO dead and several officers critically wounded. Taking responsibility for the well-being of his fellow officers, he assumed the position as Chief Medical Officer and no doubt had to make the same difficult choices. This is also seen when the Enterprise is hijacked by the enemy and the Red Alert is sounded, requiring everyone to battle stations. While he may not be a combatant, he proceeds collected and calm with Spock to find survivors. These examples show that, while he may wear his heart on his sleeve, he is still realistic and capable in his life as CMO of the starship Enterprise. Although his bedside manner is called in to question many times, he is a very compassionate man under all that gruff southern sass. He enjoys his career and responsibility as a doctor and treats all of his patients equally.

Powers & Abilities: Obviously he has a Doctorate in Medicine, but canon doesn't specify in what areas he specializes; however, based on TOS and AOS, I'd say Human Physiology (obviously, since most of Star Fleet is human), Comparative Physiology (emphasizing common alien species like Vulcan, Andorian, etc.), Pharmacology (since he's always pulling some new antidote or drug out of his ass to save the day), and general Psychology (Again, since he's claimed to be responsible for the physical and mental health of the officers on the Enterprise).

Aside from his medical credentials, he has training in hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, shuttle craft piloting, and basic survival. All the things a Starfleet officer should know in case of emergencies.

Misc: N/A

Sample: THREAD LINK

PROSE SAMPLE (based on the latest TDM):

[ Doctors aren't made for this kind of work. He's starting to turn red in the face as he strains against a damaged pod container. And this suit he's in? It's doing nothing to help! If he had a phaser on him he could melt the damn hinges off, but heaven forbid a foray into the unknown ever be made easy. With one more shove, though, the door gives way and takes McCoy down with it after an undignified yelp comes out of him.

All that expended energy better be worth the haul he finds in these poor bastards' tombs, because sweating in the dry heat of this planet isn’t the best way survive. There's still packets of rations in the pod, but he can't tell just what they are. Maybe there’s hope it’s simply dehydrated supplies and not mummified; otherwise, it's going to be a rough night once he finishes his own. Hell, it may not even be rations for humans. The packaging is unrecognizable, and so is the material it’s made from. ]

Great... [ He blows out a frustrated puff of air as he gathers what he can for a long trip through uncharted, likely dangerous terrain without a tricorder at the very least.

Hopefully, though, it won't come to scraping together morsels of food by the fourth day. His crew will come for him (Jim must know they didn’t resurface in Yorktown by now), or maybe there will be shelter somewhere in this excessive expanse of sand and nothingness. All he's got right now is that fleeting hope and the training to remain realistic in the face of this—What’s the word he's looking for?—bullshit. That's right. ]