joanna mccoy star trek

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Star trek: who is dr. mccoy's daughter (is she canon).

Star Trek's canon exists in a constant state of flux, and characters like Dr. McCoy's daughter, Joanna, have gotten lost in the shuffle.

The canon of Star Trek has existed in a constant state of flux since the beginning of the franchise, and characters like Dr. Leonard McCoy's daughter have gotten lost in the shuffle. The USS Enterprise's resident physician was known for his folksy, old country doctor routine, but much of his personal life was left off the table. Even as he continued on through the feature films, McCoy's life outside Starfleet remained largely a mystery as opposed to those of his companions like James Kirk and Spock. The existence of any McCoy rarely came into play, and he kept his work and personal life separate.

Excluding a few one-off lines about his family in episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series , the only other McCoy seen on screen came when Spock's Vulcan brother Sybok forced the doctor to relive his father's traumatic death in 1989's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. While characters like Kirk, Sulu, and even Spock had encounters with their relatives on screen, McCoy did not. Despite that, McCoy did have a daughter according to some Star Trek sources, though she never did appear in an episode of The Original Series or any of the feature films.

RELATED: Why 1 Star Trek TOS Episode From Season 2 Shouldn't Be Canon

Dr. McCoy's Daughter Is Named Joanna McCoy

Joanna McCoy's place in the Star Trek universe was always tenuous, and though she was the focus of a novel called Crisis on Centaurus by Brad Ferguson in 1986, that book was never canonized. She had previously been mentioned in Star Trek: The Animated Series , season 1, episode 6, "The Survivor," when Dr. McCoy thanked Carter Winston for saving her life. Star Trek 's animated shows were always controversial from the start, and debate raged on for decades about whether anything that happened within The Animated Series could be admitted into canon.

Joanna McCoy had life outside apocryphal sources, and she almost made a full-fledged appearance on The Original Series. As mentioned in the TOS season 2 DVD special feature Writer's Notebook , longtime Star Trek writer D.C. Fontana revealed Joanna was added as part of Dr. McCoy's character bible from the early conception of the show, though she was never actually written into an episode. Her presence in the character bible seemed to suggest she was more than simply a non-canonical side character, and it would have been possible for her to appear had the show not been canceled after season 3.

Joanna McCoy Is Canon

While she has yet to be officially christened into the franchise's canon, Joanna McCoy likely entered thanks to her inclusion in Star Trek: The Animated Series . Though some argue that Star Trek: The Animated Series is not canon , details from the show have been adopted as fact. Captain Kirk's middle name was established to be Tiberius in TAS , season 2, episode 2, "Bem," and canonized in 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . The Caitian race from TAS became canon when Dr. T'Ana was introduced in Star Trek: Lower Decks. With Star Trek delving further into its own history, Joanna McCoy will most likely officially arrive in the canon eventually.

MORE: Every Star Trek TOS Character Who Appeared In TNG

Dorothy Catherine Fontana wrote many episodes of The Original Series , including “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, “Journey to Babel”, “This Side of Paradise” and “The Enterprise Incident”. She was typically credited as “D.C. Fontana” to hide her sex.

One of the episodes she wrote (in August-September 1968) that never made it was “Joanna”, in which McCoy’s daughter is introduced. Fontana suggested Bobbie Gentry or Nancy Sinatra for the role.

Although the episode wasn’t produced, the character of Joanna has been mentioned in several Star Trek novels, including Brad Ferguson’s Crisis on Centaurus (1986) and the Star Trek: Untold Voyages comic Past Imperfect (1998).

Uhura receives a distress call from a small group of travelers who are stranded on a planet. The Enterprise diverts there and beams aboard a young Dr Sevrin and his “twenty-third-century flower children,” all of whom belong to a movement known as “The Artists”.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy are in the transporter room. A lovely young woman steps forward and stops in front of a frowning McCoy.

“Hello, dad,” she says.

McCoy is visibly angry and does not reply. Spock asks if “Hello, dad” is some archaic form of Earth greeting. McCoy finally speaks tartly. “This is my daughter, Joanna.”

We learn more about the Artists and their peaceful ways. Kirk is furious that they have been in space in a rinky-dink little ship, upsetting shipping lanes by crossing without flight plans. Sevrin apologizes and states that they are desperate to find the planet Nirvana.

Nirvana, a paradise world of peace-loving inhabitants, is a legend, Kirk says. We learn that a century ago, an old “space prospector” claimed to have found it in uncharted space. When he was finally able to return to the Federation, he could never quite recall where Nirvana was located, causing many to dismiss him as a fantasist. Sevrin assures Kirk that he has pieced together old records and logs of the prospector and believes he was speaking the truth. Kirk insists he will drop off the Artists at the nearest starbase.

Joanna attempts to talk to her father, but he is cold because she has lied to him. For the past three years, she said she was studying to become a nurse. Now he finds out she has been running all over the galaxy with a bunch of gypsies. Joanna tells him she doesn’t want to become a nurse. Besides, this stranger called “daddy”, whom she has seen exactly three times in her life after he left her and her mother, does not have any right to tell her what to do. If he cannot forgive her for being what she is, she cannot forgive him for being what he is — “a coward.” She walks out, leaving McCoy shaking with anger.

Spock takes what information Sevrin has on Nirvana and sets the library computer to work on locating it.

Joanna comes to Kirk for advice. She wants to rebuild her relationship with her father, but he is shutting her out. Kirk refuses to intervene. Instead, he tries to talk her out of the futile search for Nirvana.

Sevrin and a couple of his men make their way to the auxiliary control room, overpower the crew there and begin working on the equipment.

Joanna has an invitation to dine with Kirk in his quarters. When he is not looking, she plants a listening device in the room.

Sevrin and men throw their final switches. Subspace radio goes dead, navigation and helm controls are overridden. Sevrin tells Kirk they have rigged the matter/antimatter mass to blow if Kirk tries anything. Sevrin wants to go to Nirvana and there is nothing Kirk can do to stop him.

Joanna acts as liaison between Sevrin and Kirk. Kirk takes a liking to her and McCoy notices. He tells Kirk that Joanna is a witch like her mother and that is why he left. “She’ll cut your heart out,” McCoy warns, “and carry it around in a jar. She’s no good!”

Kirk, Spock and Scotty try everything but cannot regain control of the ship. Kirk then decides to separate the saucer, but Sevrin already knows. He has heard everything via the bug Joanna planted in the captain’s quarters.

The ship arrives at Nirvana intact. Sevrin and his Artists steal a shuttlecraft and head down. Kirk goes to the shuttlebay with guards. They will follow in a shuttlecraft while Spock and Scotty attempt to regain control of the ship. McCoy insists on going with Kirk.

Kirk and McCoy follow the stolen shuttlecraft down, land and find that Nirvana is a dead planet.

Sevrin sees a great opportunity. He and his group can start over, tame this world and make it a paradise. Kirk points out that none of them have any practical experience in even staying alive on a wilderness planet. Sevrin says Kirk will teach them. Kirk shows them simple things like starting a fire. But Sevrin becomes annoyed when his followers begin to look to Kirk, not him, as their leader.

McCoy wants to know why Joanna follows this clown. “Because he doesn’t condemn me for being something I’m not,” she answers.

McCoy reacts angrily, but when she is gone we can see that he is in terrible anguish.

A recording device found in a ruined building tells the history of Nirvana. The inhabitants were once a beautiful, peace-loving people who allowed their baser emotions to take over. They destroyed themselves.

Sevrin gets madder and madder at Kirk’s effortless leadership while Spock and Scotty work to regain control of the Enterprise . They succeed and the ship returns to Nirvana.

Sevrin tries to kill Kirk, but he is beaten and surrenders.

McCoy and Joanna talk openly. She explains she was thrown out by her mother for being too much like her father. McCoy smiles. They are not truly father and daughter yet, but they have taken their first steps toward reconciliation. Joanna says that after they have served their sentences for hijacking the Enterprise , perhaps she will reconsider nursing as a career.

McCoy finally tells her she should do what she wants to do, whatever that may be.

Joanna McCoy

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Joanna McCoy was the daughter of Leonard McCoy and Jocelyn McCoy .

As a student, Joanna was on Cerberus II , c. 2260 , when the crops failed. Carter Winston was instrumental in saving the colony and Leonard McCoy would express his gratitude to Winston personally (or so McCoy thought) in 2269 . ( TAS : " The Survivor ")

• 1.1 Absolute Horizon
• 1.2 Gold Key Comics
• 1.3 Orion Press
• 1.4 Pocket Books
• 1.5 Star Trek: Pendragon
• 1.6 A Tale of Silence
• 2 External links

Alternate continuities [ ]

Absolute horizon [ ].

Joanna was born five months into the marriage of her parents, Leonard and Jocelyn (née Leland) McCoy. At the time of her birth, her father was still working on his doctoral thesis as well as an internship, which would make the date c. 2252 .

Her parents were ill-suited to each other from the start of their marriage. Even so, Joanna rarely saw her father when she was a young child. Her parents' initial separation was when she was about five years old.

By 2270 , Joanna had two younger half-siblings by her mother and her mother's second husband.

Gold Key Comics [ ]

There was no mention of Joanna in this continuity, but a Barbara McCoy existed. She was a xenozoologist at Urey University on Earth . ( Gold Key Comics Star Trek #40 and #43: "Furlough to Fury" and "World Beneath the Waves")

Orion Press [ ]

Joanna's mother's name was Heather "Honey" McCoy and she was born in 2249 .

Both Joanna and her daughter Leah were dead by 2369 . Katherine Pulaski was apparently a daughter of Leah. ( "Eulogy" )

Pocket Books [ ]

Joanna's mother was Jocelyn (née Darnell) McCoy, and Joanna was born in 2249. Her parents' initial separation was when she was about four or five. ( TOS novel: Shadows on the Sun )

Star Trek: Pendragon [ ]

One of Joanna's great-grandchildren was Horatio McCoy , a 24th century Starfleet engineer . ( Star Trek: Pendragon : "The Argonaut Syndrome")

A Tale of Silence [ ]

Her full name was Joanna Rebecca McCoy , after Leonard's mother and Jocelyn's mother, respectively. She was born while Leonard was still a doctor on Earth.

As of 2267 , she and her father had not spent a Christmas together in 15 years. ( A Tale of Silence : "A Tale of a Doctor")

External links [ ]

• Joanna McCoy article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Joanna McCoy article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• 1 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-H) (Endurance class)
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G) (Excalibur class)
• 3 USS Phoenix (NCC-65420-X)

One Star Trek Episode Almost Featured An Unthinkable Kirk & McCoy Romance

One of the franchise's campiest offerings, the Season 3 "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "The Way to Eden" has aged pretty terribly — at least aesthetically speaking. The story finds the Enterprise crew with their hands full after rescuing a group of space hippies that includes one of Chekov's old flames from his Starfleet days. But before Chekov got his girl, the originally Bones-centric story was drastically changed to omit a questionable romance between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the daughter of his friend and ship's doctor, Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley).

Like all good iconic franchises, the Star Trek universe is loaded with romances of varying quality from Imzadis William Riker and Deanna Troi  to the cringe-inducing Keslex (Kes and Neelix). There are epic canon romances like the heartbreaking unrequited love Chapel feels for Spock in "Star Trek: The Original Series." There are those romances that might have been but never were — at least in the Prime universe — like Worf and Troi and the many love pretzels that emerge in the unquenchably thirsty mirror universe. And that's to say nothing of the fanfic ships Trekkies have dreamed up over the decades like Garashir (Bashir and Garak) or the ship to end all ships: Spirk (Spock and Kirk).

Because the creativity of Trekkies seems to know no bounds, even the briny Enterprise doctor Bones (DeForest Kelley) has his share of fanfiction pairings — most notably, Spones (Spock and McCoy), Sybones (Sybok and McCoy), and McKirk (Bones and Kirk). While the good doctor never had the chance to play doctor with his good buddy and boss Jim in the franchise, an alternate version of McKirk very nearly came to fruition between Captain Kirk and McCoy's daughter, Joanna, in the episode "The Way to Eden."

Joanna was McCoy's estranged space hippie daughter

According to D.C. Fontana's account in Paula M. Block's "Star Trek: The Original Series 365," "The Way to Eden" underwent a handful of changes during development. Instead of Chekov's girlfriend, the young lady was meant to be Bones' 21-year-old daughter, Joanna, whom the writer envisioned as played by Nancy Sinatra or Bobbie Gentry. In the original plot, Dr. McCoy would have learned the hard way that instead of studying at nursing school, she's bumming around with the space Mansons. Far from a happy reunion, Joanna would harbor serious resentment over the fact that her father had abandoned her and her mother, only seeing his daughter thrice in her lifetime. 

As if that wasn't enough to overload her dad's tricorder, Joanna would have been pretty taken with Kirk, who everyone knows rarely turns down an intergalactic booty call. Things get even more toxic when Bones tells Kirk his daughter is a witch, just like her old lady. Despite their problems, father and daughter would have eventually come to an understanding by the end of the episode.

Joanna came from Bones' canonical back story

D.C. Fontana didn't pull the story out of nowhere. Originally conceived as part of a conversation between the writer and DeForest Kelley after the show's first season, the character was soon added to the first official Star Trek book, written by Stephen E. Whitfield and published in 1968 — a year before "The Way to Eden" aired. Incorporated throughout the book are quotations from Gene Roddenberry, denoted with all caps. As the show's first fan guide, it includes many additional details that Roddenberry considered canon but had not yet made it into episodes.

Included in the chapter titled "Chief Medical Officer" is a lengthy discussion of Dr. "Bones" McCoy. Describing Bones as a 45-year-old Georgia native and a Southern gentleman, Whitfield explains that Bones' single status is partly because he never completely got over a bad breakup.

In a Roddenberry-penned paragraph, the Star Trek creator clearly states that he plans to include a future episode dedicated to McCoy's daughter, Joanna. The passage reads, "She will be a lovely girl, and Captain Kirk, of course, is going to be involved with her." The original plans imagined Bones discovering he is a father during the series, and that revelation was meant to profoundly change the nature of his relationship with Kirk, leading to a more paternal — and occasionally angry — dynamic.

How McKirk got canceled

Despite D.C. Fontana's faithful adherence to Gene Roddenberry's plan and much to the writer's chagrin, poor Joanna would get retconned — at least partially — because a producer knew less about Star Trek than she did. When the writer turned in her script, the producer nixed the Joanna story, arguing that as Kirk's contemporary, Bones would not be old enough to have a 21-year-old daughter (even though DeForest Kelley was in his late 40s at the time). Although incensed that the producer didn't even know the canon, Fontana complied with the suggested changes, replacing Joanna with Chekov's old Starfleet girlfriend, Irina.

Fortunately, this wouldn't be the end of Joanna, who was eventually recognized throughout the franchise. In the 1983 Pocket TOS novel "Star Trek II: Biographies," the character's full name is listed as Joanna Lee McCoy, with her story further developed throughout other novelizations. The junior McCoy finishes her education, ultimately working as a nurse on the Verillian homeworld and in Centaurus' capital city. She has a son named Conner, later becoming a grandmother and great-grandmother. Unlike Fontana's original story, Joanna has a healthier relationship with her father, with "The Star Trek Concordance" confirming that they maintain regular correspondence despite their busy work schedules. 

Since this version of Joanna McCoy never joins a troupe of space Burning Man rejects, we can only hope this means she stays away from the 23rd century's most notorious, and lovable, gigolo, Captain James T. Kirk.

Joanna McCoy

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Past Imperfect

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• 1 Description
• 2.1 Log entries
• 3.1 Characters
• 3.2 Starships and vehicles
• 3.3 Locations
• 3.4 Races and cultures
• 3.5 States and organizations
• 3.6 Science and technology
• 3.7 Ranks and titles
• 3.8 Other references
• 4.1 Chronology
• 4.2 Production history
• 5.1 Background
• 5.2 Related stories
• 5.4 Connections
• 5.5 External links

Description [ ]

Summary [ ].

The USS Enterprise puts in at Starbase 11 for shore leave . McCoy beams down to see his daughter Joanna , whom he last saw prior to the V’Ger incident . Unexpectedly, instead of waiting alone, he sees her chatting with James T. Kirk . The three go to dinner, then Kirk takes her to the Enterprise for a tour of the ship. But the elder McCoy is nervous about her being around Kirk, and confronts her when she returns late to her hotel. She recoils at his fatherly protectiveness and storms out. Leonard also asks Kirk to stay away from her.

Joanna had been engaged to a man called Paul at medical school, but it didn't work out, and she dropped out. Leonard and Jocelyn McCoy divorced when Joanna was five years old, and the two women then went to Alpha Centauri .

Jahn , the prominent Only of Miri's homeworld , stole a shuttle from the Federation teams on Miri's homeworld . At gunpoint he’d forced one of the Federation workers to fly him to Starbase 11, where he’d intended to kill McCoy as revenge for the death of Miri . But after having spied McCoy and Kirk with Joanna, Jahn changes his plans and abducts her, taking them both to his homeworld . Jahn reveals that Leonard’s cure in 2266 for the Onlies wasn’t as effective as he thought. Now, the Onlies were sick again, and dying.

Sleuthing by Spock reveals an unauthorized arrival and departure by a shuttle assigned to Miri's homeworld. Having deduced that Jahn might have taken Joanna, USS Enterprise warps ahead of the shuttle. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and two security officers confronts Jahn when the shuttle lands, but Jahn holds Joanna at gunpoint. When Jahn threatens to kill her, Leonard can tell that Jahn was starting to press the trigger and dives into the Only, punching him, as the phaser fires harmlessly into the air. Jahn passes out, weak from an illness. Leonard and Joanna hug.

Later, McCoy reviews all the data left by the Federation teams who had been killed in frustration by the Onlies. McCoy considered that his original vaccine might have mutated, and he modified the serum to at least stabilize the Onlies. Whether it would work would not be known, as the Onlies want all the adults to leave the planet. Joanna had become sympathetic to Jahn’s situation, and he says it will be all right if Joanna returns.

Joanna says she will go back to medical school . The two McCoys reconciled, and Kirk visits Miri’s grave.

Log entries [ ]

References [ ], characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], states and organizations [ ], science and technology [ ], ranks and titles [ ], other references [ ], timeline [ ], chronology [ ], production history [ ], appendices [ ], background [ ].

• The credits included a notation, "inspired by a concept by D.C. Fontana ," which refers to the origins of the Joanna McCoy character as outlined in TOS reference: These Are the Voyages, Season 3 , pages 545-549. Fontana’s concept included a suggestion that Leonard would become overly-protective after seeing Kirk with Joanna, and that Joanna would respond by saying he had no right to act like a father. (See also: Past Imperfect article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .)
• Joanna also reunited with her father in the 2270s in an alternate series of events. In that story, Joanna was also held at gunpoint. That time, however, she was attacked by Klingon commander Kagg and rescued by her Vulcan fiancé Suvak , who died saving her. In that version of events, Leonard hadn’t seen Joanna since the family’s divorce, and she had become a nurse . ( TOS comic : " All the Infinite Ways ")
• The uniforms of the security officers in this story were all colored bright pink.

Related stories [ ]

• TOS episode & Star Trek 1 novelization : Miri
• TOS novel : The Cry of the Onlies – Miri's death revealed.
• TOS comic : " All the Infinite Ways " – Alternate events describing Joanna's reunion with her father in 2274 .

Connections [ ]

External links [ ].

• Past Imperfect article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Past Imperfect article at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery .
• 1 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 3 Odyssey class

Joanna McCoy

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Joanna McCoy was a human female living in the 23rd century . The daughter of Leonard McCoy , she was born in 2249 .

As a child, she lived on Centaurus with her aunt and uncle while her father was stationed at Starbase 7 . In 2269 , at the age of 21, she was a first-year student at the New Athens Medical Complex . ( TOS novel : Crisis on Centaurus )

By 2364 , Joanna was 115 years old, and had several great-grandchildren. One of them was Horatio McCoy . ( TNG novel : Encounter at Farpoint ; Star Trek: Pendragon )

External links [ ]

• Joanna McCoy article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Joanna McCoy article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.

Strange New Worlds rumors: 5 old Star Trek characters that could return

Pike. Spock. Number One. But who else?

When Strange New Worlds debuts, it has the potential to be the most-over-the-top Star Trek project in decades. In the halcyon days of the sixties Star Trek , goofy aliens colored orange, blue and green were a product of budgetary restrictions. But now, the zany aliens of the 2260s are part of the aesthetic sandbox, and inexorably linked to what this pre-Kirk USS Enterprise show is all about. It’s right there in the title: Strange New Worlds is almost certainly going back to what made The Original Series charming — kooky aliens that stretch credulity for the purposes of telling great stories.

But, within all that, there’s also a potential for Strange New Worlds to reboot some forgotten characters from the 1970s Star Trek: The Animated Series and beyond. Recently, rumors have run wild that specific characters from TAS will indeed reappear in Strange New Worlds . Whether or not these rumors are true is unclear, and kind of beside the point. The larger point is because of the timeline and the aesthetic of Strange New Worlds , several forgotten Trek characters could totally be re-canonized, including a few of those zany aliens from The Animated Series .

So, with that in mind, here are five overlooked characters from the TOS -era of Trek who could make a triumphant return to the Final Frontier in Strange New Worlds .

Bones’ daughter, Joanna McCoy

Joanna McCoy, as depicted on the cover of the 1986 Star Trek novel, Crisis on Centaurus, by Brad Ferguson.

Okay, so Dr. McCoy’s daughter isn’t exactly a strange alien, but, this character has existed at the very edge of Trek canon for a long time.

During the production of TOS , script editor Dorothy Fontana and Deforest Kelley, cooked-up a backstory for Bones that would have involved an estranged adult daughter. She’s even mentioned outright in The Animated Series episode “The Survivor.” This single reference to Joanna makes her existence in the Trek canon legit, but we’ve never seen her. How old would she be in the timeframe of Strange New Worlds ? Well, Memory Alpha and other fandom sources put her birthday roughly in 2249, which would make her barely 10-years-old at the start of Strange New Worlds . Then again, because Joanna has never really been fully developed as a character, we have no idea how old a newly rebooted version of her might be. Her birthday is not canon!

Why would we see Bones’ daughter and not Bones in Strange New Worlds ? Well, although there’s no way to know this, one benefit of doing Strange New Worlds is that it also serves as a direct prequel to TOS , which means, we might get low-key origin stories for TOS characters, albeit from slightly different perspectives. Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 did this with the character of Harry Mudd and his wife Stella in the episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” a sideways prequel to the TOS episode “I, Mudd.”

Spock’s other sibling, Sybok

Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

When Michael Burnham was introduced as Spock’s previously unknown human sister in Star Trek: Discovery , some fans freaked out. Other fans accepted it, partially because something like it had happened before.

In The Final Frontier , Spock revealed to Kirk and Bones that he had had an older brother, who was the offspring of Sarek and an un-named Vulcan Princess. (We don’t know if Sarek was married to this person or not, but we do know she died when Spock was pretty young.) What we don’t know is how the hell Sybok fits into the newer DISCO timeline in which Spock and Michael Burnham basically grew-up together. Presumably, Sybok was a lot older than Spock and Michael, so it’s possible he was already off becoming a Vulcan teenage drop-out by the time Sarek adopted Michael.

The point is, it’s never been made clear. Because Ethan Peck’s Spock is one of the lead characters on Discovery it seems possible that the origin of Sybok’s estrangement with Spock could be depicted in this series. Sure, Captain Kirk didn’t know Spock had a half-brother (or half-sister) but did Captain Pike know about Sybok?

Sarah April

Sarah April in 2270 in “The Counter-Clock Incident.”

In real-deal canon, the first chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise was Sarah April, wife of Captain Robert April. In the TAS episode, “The Counter-Clock Incident,” we were introduced to older versions of Robert April and Sarah April in roughly 2270.

Since then, references to Robert April have been made somewhat overtly in Star Trek: Discovery . In Season 1, Saru read his name off of a list of decorated Starfleet captains. In Season 2, Pike’s service record indicates that he took over command of the Enterprise from Robert April in 2250. But what about Sarah? Other than “The Counter-Clock Incident” there have been zero in-canon references to Sarah April. In theory, around the time of Strange New Worlds , the Chief Medical Officer on the Enterprise should be Dr. Boyce, and at some point before 2265, Dr. Piper. (And then, eventually Dr. “Bones” McCoy.)

That said, there’s a tradition in Trek for revolving doctors on starships. In TNG , Dr. Crusher left the Enterprise -D for one full year and was replaced by Dr. Pulaksi, a character who was considerably older than her. Could something similar happen on Strange New Worlds ? Could Dr. Sarah April reappear as a more experienced ship’s doctor, who bosses everyone around? Of all forgotten Enterprise crew members, Sarah April could be one of the coolest wild-cards Strange New Worlds could play.

Arex, the navigator of the Enterprise in The Animated Series.

He’s got three legs and three arms and he belongs to a species called Edosians, or sometimes, Triexians. Confused? It’s not your fault.

Early in the development of Arex, his species was made kind of confusing by a combination of promotional material and later, novelizations by Alan Dean Foster. Later, non-canon books by Peter David attempted to say that Edosians and Triexians were closely related, and don’t worry about it so much. (In early TOS , Spock is even called a “Vulcanian,” so factor that in!)

Anyway, the only other Edosian (or Triexian) we’ve ever seen was in the Lower Decks episode, “Much Ado About Boimler.” We have never seen a live-action version of one of these aliens. Could Strange New Worlds change all of that? Could we finally get a live-action Arex? Maybe. But, then again, Arex seems pretty young in The Animated Series , which would mean he’s even younger in Strange New Worlds.

M’Ress in Star Trek: The Animated Series

Uhura’s relief communications officer in The Animated Series as the cat-person alien known as M’ress. Yes, she had a tail, and she purred when she opened hailing frequencies. Her species was designated as Caitian, which is not to be confused with the other cat-aliens from The Animated Series, the Kzinti. (Who Riker also name-checked in Picard .)

Now, we have seen live-action Catians in Trek canon before, but mostly as background characters. In Star Trek IV , for example, we see a couple of Catians on the Federation council, in Starfleet uniforms. That said, we’ve never actually seen a live-action M’Ress before, and we have no idea really how old she is. All we know is that she served on the Enterprise in 2270. Could she have been on the ship for much longer and we just never saw her in The Original Series ?

When you consider that Spock had served on the Enterprise 13 years prior to The Original Series even starting, it’s possible there are actually a ton of crew members who have also been around for the long-haul. Part of the whole point of Strange New Worlds is to highlight the long and interesting history of the classic USS Enterprise . And in filing out that history, it seems likely that Spock can’t be the only familiar face with pointed ears.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will eventually stream on Paramount+.

This article was originally published on March 10, 2021

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Joanna McCoy

Discussion in ' Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series ' started by CaptainBearclaw , Sep 19, 2013 .

CaptainBearclaw Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

New post at my blog: an analysis of McCoy's long lost daughter. http://startrekrarities.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-sour-luck-of-joanna-mccoy.html  

Harvey Admiral Admiral

One point of correction -- D.C. Fontana didn't "only help out on two Season 3 episodes," and without credit. She wrote the story and teleplay for 'The Enterprise Incident.' She received story credit for 'That Which Survives' (from her outline, "Survival') and 'The Way to Eden' (from her outline and teleplay, 'Joanna'). In both of those cases, though, she was unhappy with how she was rewritten, and she opted to use her pseudonym, Michael Richards (I've read that she wanted to use her pseudonym on 'The Enterprise Incident,' too, but Roddenberry talked her out of it).  

GSchnitzer Co-Executive Producer In Memoriam

Harvey said: ↑ One point of correction -- D.C. Fontana didn't "only help out on two Season 3 episodes," and without credit. She wrote the story and teleplay for 'The Enterprise Incident.' She received story credit for 'That Which Survives' (from her outline, "Survival') and 'The Way to Eden' (from her outline and teleplay, 'Joanna'). In both of those cases, though, she was unhappy with how she was rewritten, and she opted to use her pseudonym, Arthur Richards (I've read that she wanted to use her pseudonym on 'The Enterprise Incident,' too, but Roddenberry talked her out of it). Click to expand...

Kinokima Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

Well I am certainly glad that they didn't go with the storyline of Spock accidentally kills McCoy's daughter that would have been awful. And honestly I dislike stories where a family member is introduced and then subsequently killed, it's cheap drama in my opinion. Not sure how I would have felt about Kirk falling for McCoy's daughter either. That could have been very good or very bad depending on how it was handled. But as a McCoy fan I am disappointed Joanna never worked out in the story. I think if given the right story it could have given Kelley an interesting storyline to work with. From what I understand Joanna was originally envisioned to be a son, but it was De Kelley who suggested a daughter for McCoy instead. Too bad it never came to fruition. And yes I know Joanna was mentioned in one of the animated episodes, but a couple lines hardly counts to me. Finally I did get a good laugh when someone mentioned something at a convention in the 80's and De Kelley made a joke that they took so long, Joanna is now a grandmother.  

GSchnitzer said: ↑ Harvey said: ↑ One point of correction -- D.C. Fontana didn't "only help out on two Season 3 episodes," and without credit. She wrote the story and teleplay for 'The Enterprise Incident.' She received story credit for 'That Which Survives' (from her outline, "Survival') and 'The Way to Eden' (from her outline and teleplay, 'Joanna'). In both of those cases, though, she was unhappy with how she was rewritten, and she opted to use her pseudonym, Arthur Richards (I've read that she wanted to use her pseudonym on 'The Enterprise Incident,' too, but Roddenberry talked her out of it). Click to expand...

Harvey said: ↑ One point of correction -- D.C. Fontana didn't "only help out on two Season 3 episodes," and without credit. She wrote the story and teleplay for 'The Enterprise Incident.' She received story credit for 'That Which Survives' (from her outline, "Survival') and 'The Way to Eden' (from her outline and teleplay, 'Joanna'). In both of those cases, though, she was unhappy with how she was rewritten, and she opted to use her pseudonym, Michael Richards (I've read that she wanted to use her pseudonym on 'The Enterprise Incident,' too, but Roddenberry talked her out of it). Click to expand...

Warped9 Admiral Admiral

Kirk getting involved with McCoy's daughter---I always thought that would be Eeeeww!!!  

Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

^ Indeed. Where's Chris Hansen when you need him?  

Push The Button Commodore Commodore

Joanna is in "Crucible: Provenance of Shadows", which if you aren't familiar with it, is a McCoy-centric novel that takes place during the timeframe of TOS. I was about half-way through it, then life intervened and I set it aside.  

mythme Commodore Commodore

Although not mentioned by name, McCoy does say he has a daughter in "The Survivor" episode of the Animated Series.  

Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

Warped9 said: ↑ Kirk getting involved with McCoy's daughter---I always thought that would be Eeeeww!!! Click to expand...

Then again, to me Kirk was a bit TOO "friendly" with Miri  

Kirk was in his early to mid 30's and Joanna was a nursing student, either 19 or 20. This is not like we are taking pedophilia. She was young but still an adult. And their age difference was not that severe. People get married with a larger age difference than that. McCoy was about 10 years older then Kirk. The point of the storyline was Mccoy was supposed to see Kirk in the eyes of a father. It could have been potentially interesting. My worry would have been I really like the Kirk/McCoy relationship & friendship in TOS and I wouldn't want anything to ruin that.  

Christopher Writer Admiral

Nerys Myk said: ↑ Was it Eeeewww when Kirk was involved with the 19 year old Lenore Karidian? Click to expand...

Nerys Myk said: ↑ Warped9 said: ↑ Kirk getting involved with McCoy's daughter---I always thought that would be Eeeeww!!! Click to expand...

F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

IIRC, McCoy has a grown daughter in the Abramsverse comics, although she has a different name. (EDIT: Or was it his wife that had the different name?) And I guess Kirk was the cliche womanizer after all...  

Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

Christopher said: ↑ Nerys Myk said: ↑ Was it Eeeewww when Kirk was involved with the 19 year old Lenore Karidian? Click to expand...

Mr. Laser Beam said: ↑ I suppose it would work - in TOS. Not yet in the Abramsverse though! As of the end of STID, Joanna - assuming she exists - is probably about 11 or 12 at most. Click to expand...

Greg Cox said: ↑ Christopher said: ↑ Nerys Myk said: ↑ Was it Eeeewww when Kirk was involved with the 19 year old Lenore Karidian? Click to expand...

KIRK: Stop. Information on Anton Karidian. COMPUTER: Director and star of travelling company of actors sponsored by Galactic Cultural Exchange Project, touring official installations last nine years. Has daughter, Lenore, nineteen years old.... KIRK: Stop. Give comparative identification between actor Karidian and Governor Kodos. Nerys Myk said: ↑ Greg Cox said: ↑ Christopher said: ↑ Whoa, I didn't realize that. And Barbara Anderson was not quite 21 when the episode was filmed. Click to expand...

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A lost episode of Star Trek: The Original Series paints Dr. McCoy in a bad light

T hough she was never introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series, Dr. McCoy's daughter, Joanna, was mentioned in several Star Trek novels. And had D.C. Fontana's script, "Joanna," been produced, we would have met her onscreen, but the episode showed a darker side of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy as revealed by Forgottentrek .

In the episode, which is much like "The Way to Eden," Dr. McCoy is shocked to discover that his daughter has been traveling with Dr. Sevrin and his group of "flower children." He was under the impression that she had been studying to be a nurse for the past three years. A furious conversation ensuies, and it's revealed that not only did Dr. McCoy walk out on his wife and daughter, but he and Joanna have only seen each other three times in her entire life.

The script later reveals why Dr. McCoy left his wife, and, as a result, Joanna's mother threw her out for being too much like her father. This is obviously meant to be a bonding moment with the two characters, but it doesn't read that way on paper.

When Dr. McCoy discovers that Captain Kirk has taken an interest in his daughter, he warns him off but not because she's his daughter. Instead he says that Joanna is a witch like her mother and that's why he left. He added that she was no good and would cut his heart out and carry it around in a jar. Pretty harsh words from a father who had only seen his daughter three times in her life.

Though at the end of the script, Dr. McCoy and his daughter partially reconcile, it's a relief that this script wasn't produced. Though Dr. McCoy could be gruff and curmudgeonly, he was never cruel. And there would have been no way to create this episode without him appearing to be that.

Den of Geek

The Weird History of Marvel’s Star Trek Comics

Marvel's Star Trek comics featured the crew of the Enterprise meeting Dracula, Frankenstein, and a whole lot of gnomes...

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The relationship between Star Trek and comic books goes back almost to the beginning of the franchise. The first Trek comics were published by Gold Key from 1967-1978. These books, often featuring photographic covers taken from The Original Series , are highly collectable and still prized by Trekkers. But that is an article for another time…

Today, we combine Star Trek with Marvel Comics, a team up that would break fandom if it happened on the big screen today (why, yes, we do want to see Rocket Raccoon on the bridge of the Enterprise, thank you very much). In 1979, the House of Ideas and the House That Roddenberry Built crashed together in an 18-issue series that is, truly, as Spock would say, fascinating. This Marvel series holds a special place in Star Trek history because it came out on the heels of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and was the first crack Marvel Comics got at producing new tales based on the famed sci-fi franchise.

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In the halcyon days of 1979, a big part of Marvel’s business model was licensed series. Star Wars saved Marvel from bankruptcy, Planet of the Apes was a pretty big dea l when it came out, Godzilla stomped around the Marvel Universe for a number of years, and Logan’s Run and Battlestar Galactica spent time at Marvel as well. But, with Star Trek , Marvel had the granddaddy of all sci-fi licenses. 

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Marvel started its run at a bit of a disadvantage as it didn’t have the rights to use any concepts from The Original Series . So Marvel was beholden only to The Motion Picture and any original ideas the talented creators of Marvel dreamt up. Also, this series we are about to warp into took place on the Enterprise’s second five year mission, a period of time that the stillborn Star Trek: Phase II TV series was supposed to take place in.

Well, TV fans never witnessed this second five year mission but comic fans did, so set a course with me my fellow Trek junkies as slingshot around the sun and warp to 1979-1981 in order to break down Marvel’s first foray into the Star Trek Universe…

Star Trek #1-3

Writer: marv wolfman; artists: dave cockrum and klaus janson; consulting editors: jim shooter and richard marschall.

I would like to say that Marvel started its Star Trek run with a bang, but, alas, Marvel started out its Star Trek run with a three issue adaptation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

Marvel’s Star Trek #1-3 reprinted the oversized Marvel Super Special #15, an adaptation of the first Trek film. Now, long time Trek fans will tell you that The Motion Picture is not the most action-packed Trek adventure. While it is maligned unfairly today (there are some truly wonderful scenes buried within the 46 hour run time), even the biggest fan of The Motion Picture will admit that it’s not exactly Warp 1-engaged. Right away, the first three issues of the comic have an ironic disadvantage because emblazoned on the is the title Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Well, guys, it’s not a motion picture — it’s a comic. So, yeah.

Despite all this, there is some serious talent aboard this book. First, we have the legendary writer of DC’s New Teen Titans and the creator of Blade , Marv Wolfman. On art, we have the immortal Dave Cockrum — he who designed and created Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and a crapton of the Legion of Super-Heroes — and we have Klaus Janson, inker of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns . Those three names alone make this film adaptation worth checking out.

At least the comic looks classy and is paced by a true master of the medium in Wolfman. And, believe me, for these comics not to clock in at 700 pages took a true master of sequential storytelling. For real, erosion occurs faster than the second act of this film, but Wolfman kept everything moving nicely. Issue #1 in Marvel’s run is uninspiringly entitled “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (again guys, it’s a comic — it doesn’t move unless you throw it across the room).

The second issue is entitled “V’Ger,” and the third, “Evolutions.” The first issue sports a cover featuring gorgeous head shots of Kirk and Spock with good old bald Ilia and her ill-fated beau, Decker, on the cover. In truth, Wolfman does a great job introducing a ton of characters and concepts into the first issue. He has to deal with Spock, Kirk and McCoy returning to the Enterprise, the re-introduction of the Enterprise’s classic crew, and the introduction to newcomers Ilia and Decker. The art is downright gorgeous, with Cockrum proving that he was born to draw space sagas.

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Sadly, there is little by way of oddball aliens in the first Trek film, so Cockrum doesn’t get to flex those muscles like he did on his classic run on Legion of Super-Heroes. Issue one ends with Spock boarding the Enterprise, not exactly the most riveting cliffhanger. The second issue deals with the Enterprise’s contact with V’ger and the possession and death of poor Ilia.

Cockrum is at his best here as he renders the Enterprise’s voyage inside the wormhole with images bursting with unique imaginative energy. There is one splash of the Enterprise entering the wormhole that is right out of an issue of Doctor Strange — all angles and fractals and awesome.

Wolfman also juggles the six million plot threads of the film as we continue into the third and final issue of the adaptation. The third issue’s cover sports a blurb that reads, “The deadly V’Ger is about to destroy the Earth… and only the Enterprise stands in its way.” The cover also gifts fans with a stunning image of the Enterprise bursting off the cover. Good stuff.

The adaptation probably could have used a fourth issue as things get plenty rushed in part three. Cockrum brings his A game once again, but poor Wolfman has to stuff all the of the film’s bloated plot into just over twenty pages. To Wolfman’s credit, the writer does manage to never lose the humanity of Kirk and Bones during the V’Ger adventure, but, sadly, Spock’s arc of embracing his humanity is kind of an afterthought.

But who the heck can fit the entirety of the space whale that is Star Trek: The Motion Picture into three issues of a comic? Wolfman sure tried and it’s kind of fun experiencing a Readers’ Digest version of the first Trek film. Without all the wistful staring out of windows, the V’Ger story is kind of one sitting digestible. Man, I would have loved to see Wolfman and Cockrum tackle Wrath of Khan but, alas, Marvel lost the Trek license before the second film came out.

Star Trek #4

“the haunting of thallus”, writer and editor: marv wolfman; artists: dave cockrum and klaus janson; consulting editor: jim shooter.

With issue four of Marvel’s Trek series, we enter the era of original material. Wolfman, Cockrum, and Janson are still the creative team, with Wolfman taking the position of full editor and Shooter relegated to consulting editor (whatever the heck that means). So, it looks like, at this point, Star Trek was Wolfman’s baby as he guides the Enterprise into that fabled second five-year mission…

The cover of the fourth issue has Kirk and a generic Starfleet officer firing at a giant skeleton with red eyes and a red hood. Spock is tapping Kirk on the shoulder as a bug eyed monstrosity approaches form the rear. It’s interesting that Marvel took a humorous approach to the first of the Enterprise’s new adventures. The splash page features the Enterprise flying towards a floating space haunted house complete with a wrought iron gate and cat and bat space ghosties. Do you really need a fence in space?

Anyway, this issue is pretty freakin’ insane so strap in: Kirk and his crew must deliver a red, eyeless alien named Raytag M’Gora back to Thallus, the prison M’Gora escape from. M’Gora is stark raving mad and begs Kirk not to take him back to Thallus, warning the captain that, if he approaches Thallus, his entire crew will become prisoners of the evil place. Kirk heads to Thallus and encounters that nutso space haunted house that we mentioned.

So this is where things really get insane. Kirk, Spock, Bones and some red shirts (including an Andorian), beam to the haunted house and encounter…Dracula! And not just any Dracula, the crew of the Enterprise do battle with a Dracula that looks exactly like Marvel’s vampire lord from Tomb of Dracula . And who wrote Tomb of Dracula ? Why that would be Marv Wolfman, of course. So I guess we have sort of unofficial Star Trek/Marvel crossover here.

But, oh, the goodness doesn’t end there as, after the Dracula encounter, Kirk and company come face to face with Marvel’s version of the Frankenstein Monster. After that, a bunch more monsters appear and one of them looks exactly like Man-Thing. The hell? So, if you ever wanted to see Marvel’s Legion of Monsters against the crew of the Enterprise, here you go. The whole thing ends with Klingons taking Kirk, Spock, and the rest hostage. Wow, so after the slow moving, meditative Star Trek: The Motion Picture , you have the Enterprise versus Dracula.

God, I love the Bronze Age.

Star Trek  #5

“the haunting of the enterprise”, writers: denny o’neil and mike w. barr; artists: dave cockrum and klaus janson; editors: louise jones and denny o’neil.

Hell yeah, that’s a Frank Miller cover featuring Dr. McCoy shooting a buxom blond. The heck is going on here? Let’s find out in this tale of a haunted Enterprise… Marv Wolfman steps off the Enterprise for this adventure and concluding his haunted sci-fi tale is the great Denny O’Neil and Mike W. Barr. The two writers have a tall order as they most explain how the heck there is a haunted house in space and also suss out how the heck Dracula attacked the Enterprise.

Sadly, there is no Dracula, Frankenstein, or Man-Thing in this issue, but O’Neil and Barr provide a satisfying if convoluted reason for all the space ghoulies and ghosties: You see, the Klingons invented a machine that sucks out dream images from a victim and makes them a reality. The Klingons kidnap a horror film archivists (and it’s kind of cool that this exists in the 23rd century) and strap him into the machine. From his Lugosi/Karloff/Romero-loving brain, those classic horror legends arose. And I guess he was a big Bronze Age Marvel Comics fan.

Kirk and McCoy free themselves from the house, while Spock is taken prisoner by the Klingons. Meanwhile, that mysterious buxom woman from the cover is rescued and taken to safety aboard the Enterprise. Spock quickly discovers the truth about the machine and realizes that the woman is a construct of the horror archivist’s dead wife. Spock mind melds with the poor guy in the machine and sends his own image to the Enterprise, instructing his crew to destroy the woman. McCoy obliges and the threat is over.

So, basically, McCoy just shoots an innocent woman on ghost Spock’s say so. Now that’s trust. And the haunted house? It was a converted space station to help the Klingons sell the illusion. You have to give it to the Klingons, they committed to this plan. Anyway, the explanation was rather clever if a bit overly complex, but I really dug how Spock saved the day — even if I wish more Marvel monsters showed up. I guess that was the price for Wolfman’s exit. But, there were some cleverly designed space beasties in this issue as Cockrum really got to go to town.

Star Trek #6

“the enterprise murder case”, writer: mike w. barr; artists: dave cockrum and klaus janson; editor: louise jones.

Louise Jones came aboard as co-editor last issue with Denny O’Neil, but with issue number six, Jones has the solo editorial reins of Marvel’s Trek. Hmm… three editors in three months, things seem a little chaotic behind the scenes in Marvel’s 23rd century. But the writer and artist have stayed consistent from last issue, so let’s dive in.

The cover features a gaudily-dressed, purple-skinned alien with quite an impressive mustache and purple tail. In one image, the ‘stache is standing there in his jaunty clothes and thigh high boots, and in the next, he has a knife in his back. So we’re in for a sci-fi murder mystery, then.

The story revolves around the planet Yannid IV, an embattled world that has finally agreed to join the Federation — until its ambassador is murdered while he is being beamed onto the Enterprise. Spock delights in a chance to solve such a mystery.

This tale also is a rare opportunity to look into Kirk’s past, as it was revealed that during his first deep space mission, during a rebel attack, a young James T. Kirk accidently shot the very ambassador who was murdered on the Enterprise years later. A complex story of alien politics and betrayal follows as Barr delivers a winner.

This issue is classic Trek as things get personal for the crew. Barr finally finds some story space for Sulu and Chekov, even if it is just Chekov reminding everyone that he’s Russian while Sulu fences with a few aggressive Yannid IV residents. I guess Barr wants people to believe that Sulu takes his fencing sword everywhere. You know, that’s okay with me. The aliens of Yannid IV all kind of look like Rip Taylor and I’m kind of okay with that, as well.

 Star Trek #7

“tomorrow or yesterday”, writer: tom defalco; artists: mike nassar and klaus janson; editor: louise jones.

Sadly, this issue does not feature Cockrum art. Instead, we are treated to the art of Mike Nassar, an artist who may have had a great deal of influence on Frank Miller.

DeFalco is best known for his super hero work, but, honestly, he pens a heck of a classic Trek tale in this here comic. Kirk and his crew are trying to evacuate a primitive people out of the Andrea system before a radioactive Vega cloud engulfs the sector, killing all life. When Kirk, Spock, and Bones beam down to the planet with two no-name ensigns in tow (the ensigns actually survive — shock of shocks), the crew of the Enterprise is flabbergasted to find millennia-old statues of James, T., the Vulcan, and everyone’s favorite country doctor.

It turns out the Andreans can evolve into life forms that experience all time at once, so, to this odd race, tomorrow and yesterday happen simultaneously. The Andreans of tens of thousands of years ago knew that the crew of the Enterprise would be their saviors and erected statues to honor the deed. That’s a pretty heady concept that DeFalco comes up with and certainly raises the stakes from a space haunted house as far as hard sci-fi is concerned.

The Andreans themselves are some strange-looking aliens as Nassar goes to town, creating a race with a truly extraterrestrial anatomy and appearance. This is the type of race that can only be pulled off in comics as a TV effects budget would never allow for such an anatomically impossible group of aliens. This issue is probably the most pure Trek of the Marvel run so far and is well worth checking out for a true Rodenberry like experience.

Star Trek #8

“the expansionist syndrome”, writer: martin pasko; artists: dave cockrum and ricardo villamonte; editor: louise jones.

Speaking of odd-looking aliens, issue number eight of Marvel’s Trek sports a classic Cockrum cover with some really cool-looking floating bug aliens disassembling a yellow Uniformed Mister Spock. For real, these aliens are right out of Cockrum’s X-Men run and would be right at home fighting the Starjammers. This issue also sees the arrival of famed Superman scribe (among so much more) Martin Pasko. Pasko has written about every great character in comics, but this was his first crack at Trek, so let’s see how he does.

A few characters that usually aren’t in the spotlight get a chance to shine in this issue. First off, we have Doctor Chapel who plays a pivotal role in this issue and even provides some first person narration through her medical logs. That’s a first for old Chapel. Secondly, the Marvel Trek run has consistently featured a female navigator named Chief DiFalco. Fans of Trek minutia will remember that DiFalco took over for Ilia after the bald woman’s death at the hands of V’ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . DiFalco was played by William Shatner’s then wife Marcy Lafferty and it’s kind of cool that Marvel kept the character around as a kind of throwback to the first Trek film.

Anyway, this issue features a civil war between two alien races: the blue-skinned Org and the insectoid Mox. After the Mox abduct Spock, the crew of the Enterprise beam down to rescue their crewmate. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy is endeavoring to save the life of Lenore Fowler, a woman who desperately needs a heart transplant. When McCoy joins the Spock rescue party, it’s up to Chapel to keep Fowler alive.

Pasko has some surprises in store for readers as the Mox and the Org are both connected to the famed Eugenics War of the late 20th century. He also skillfully combines the conflict of the two races with Fowler’s medical drama while delivering a pretty action packed Trek adventure. There was more physical action in this issue than any other so far and it was also nice to see the story connect back to Trek lore. It was a bit paint by numbers, but Pasko plate spins many plot threads to come up with an exciting adventure while Cockrum is his usual awesome self, particularly with the design of the Mox.

Star Trek #9

“experiment in vengeance”, writer: martin pasko; artists: dave cockrum and frank springer; editor: louise jones.

I’ve been singing the praises of Cockrum all over this Marvel Trek comic recap, but, man, the cover of issue nine is not so good. It features a male Starfleet officer that I think is supposed to be Kirk? And a generic female officer floating in space surrounded by angry-looking bald heads. It’s supposed to be all dramatic and stuff, but it is rendered in a way that makes it look like some dude and some chick are standing on the Enterprise while being leered at by floating baldies. Oh well, they can’t all be winners.

The most memorable thing about this issue is that it portrays Kirk’s romantic skills as…ummmm…second to none. Lemme explain: This issue introduces zoologist Karen Hester-Jones as she reports for duty abord the Enterprise. Pasko makes it very clear that Kirk and Hester were once an item and, when the two find themselves alone together, the space soap opera begins.

The formerly married Hester tells Kirk, “You’ll never know how many times I’ve bitten my tongue in middle of the night to keep from crying out your name instead of his!” Wow! Space machismo, thy name is James T. Anyway, this drama follows Kirk throughout the mission. I was kind of distracted by that racy bit of Trek business, but the rest of the book dealt with a wave of insanity that overtook the Enterprise.

Lieutenant Uhura is the biggest name that goes crazy and sadly, going nuts in this issue is really the only blessed thing Uhura does in the entire series. Think about it, at this time in comic book history, how many Marvel books featured a woman of color as a regular character? There was Misty Knight and that’s about it. So it would have been nice to see Uhura get some meaty roles in Trek, but alas, it was not to be.

Speaking of meaty, Kirk and Hester continue their star-crossed romance until it was revealed that the insanity wave is somehow connected to Hester’s grandmother and a mission she went on years earlier. The entire insanity wave and the floaty baldie heads are all explained in a giant exposition dump and Kirk and Hester agree to go their separate ways.

But the takeaway here is: once you go Kirk, you can’t go back. You’ll be screaming his name during sex for the rest of your natural life.

Star Trek #10

“domain of the dragon god”, writer: michael fleisher; artists: leo duranona and klaus janson editor: louise jones; back up feature: “from the files of starfleet command headquarters” artist: dave cockrum.

Here we are in the double digits. The awesome Frank Miller cover features Spock holding a spear and bringing the pain to a bunch of muscular aliens as the cover proclaims “Spock the Barbarian.” I guess Conan was doing some nice bank for Marvel back in 1981, so why not?

Sadly, Spock and the Enterprise do not go up against Thulsa Doom in this issue nor does Kirk try to bed down with Red Sonja. But, we do get an exciting away mission from Michael Fleisher, a writer whose Spectre tales for DC have become the stuff of legend. Joining Fleisher, is artist Leo Duranona. Sadly, Duranona’s figures are very stiff and has background very sparse making this Trek adventure appear somewhat unfinished, but, if you read it, you get to see Dr. McCoy shatter the Prime Directive into a billion pieces.

How, you may ask? Well, Spock and McCoy take a shuttlecraft down to the primitive planet Barak-7 for a survey mission. Almost as soon as they arrive, Bones and Spock spy a woman being sacrificed by Barak-7’s primitive natives to their dragon god. McCoy intervenes and Spock is taken captive by the tribe. McCoy escapes and is taken by the woman to her tribe.

McCoy and his new pals prepare a rescue mission to free Spock and McCoy shows them how to use a bow and arrow because prime directive shrime directive. McCoy’s crew indeed free Spock and slay the chieftain of the rival tribe. All of a sudden, McCoy’s chief friend starts sacrificing women to the dragon god in thanks for his new weapons and victory. Captain Kirk meanwhile flies a shuttle to the surface and saves Spock and McCoy and just kind of lets everything remain the way it is.

So the chieftain of the tribe McCoy aligns with is just kind of killing all his enemies and slaughtering people with arrow. Kirk, Spock, and Bones have a light-hearted philosophical discussion about the whole thing in the shuttle as a genocide is no doubt taking place on Barak-7. Oohh-kay, that pretty much went against every ideological foundation of Star Trek .

Star Trek #11

“…like a woman scorned”, writer: martin pasko; artists: joe brozowski and tom palmer; editor: louise jones.

Martin Pasko returns for the eleventh issue and hopefully won’t have Kirk and his crew shatter every moral underpinning of the Star Trek  universe like the previous one did. At this point, it’s becoming clear that they deeper Marvel goes in this series, the less of a priority it becomes as every issue features a reshuffled creative team.

This time around, we have Joe Brozowski and Tom Palmer on art as the two present a much crisper Trek tale. The cover features a space serpent dragon monster thing coiled around the Enterprise. Well, no TV budget is bringing that to life in 1981, so go comics! Ah, but when one reads the issue, one finds out that the beast on the cover is not a dragon at all, but the Loch Ness Monster. And you know, if there’s a Scottish beastie around, that this will be a Scotty story. It’s about time. After eleven issues, Scotty has barely left engineering.

The Enterprise’s mission in this issue is to transport a controversial new age (I guess it’s the future so that would be new new new age) guru Doctor Wentworth and his assistant Andrea Manning away from a planet overrun by radiation. Drexler is a total megalomaniac and spouts touchy-feely nonsense to the crew, encouraging them to embrace their desires and shirk their duties. As for Manning, she used to be a lover of Montgomery Scott, but Scotty spurned her for a life of service to the Federation.

Manning just kind of hangs out in the sick bay and drinks while strange apparitions taken from Scottish lore begin appearing around the ship. First, there is a witch named Black Annis (stop snickering), then a giant bird of prey, and finally, a space-faring Loch Ness monster. It seems that these Scottish legends were all mentally created by Manning who was taught the technique by Drexler.

Drexler compels the crew to mutiny so Uhura and Sulu make the mind-controlled heel turn because they want to go on vacation. Scotty goes all comatose in sick bay and Bones is able to stop the solid apparitions by sedating Manning. It’s all fun if anti-climactic, but, hey, it features a Scottish witch using her powers to make a phaser grow to incredible size and crush a no-named Federation jobber. In truth, the whole thing was pretty much the exact story in issues four and five and the book ends without a catharsis with Scotty and Manning.

As far as we know, Scotty is still in sick bay, twitching hysterically because of Scottish monsters. Oh well. At least we got a look at Scotty’s past love life. You know what, though? There hasn’t been a single, healthy romantic relationship in this series so far. But the Enterprise fought the Loch Ness Monster, so we’ll put this one in the win file.

Star Trek #12

“eclipse of reason”, writers: alan brennert and martin pasko; artists: luke mcdonnell and tom palmer; editor: louise jones.

Another issue, another creative shift. Pasko returns as writer, but is joined by Alan Brennert while famed Suicide Squad artist Luke McDonnell comes aboard. Again, this many creative shifts is always a sign of a title’s eventual decline, but we still have a ways to go before the Enterprise leaves the Marvel docking station.

This one features a pretty cool Joe Brozowski cover that sports a strange alien with a crystalline head and energy brain blasting the minds of Kirk, Spock, and a female officer that I think is supposed to be Janice Rand because, believe it or not, this is a Rand-focused issue. Yeah, we haven’t had a Sulu, Chekov, or Uhura issue yet, but here is your Rand spotlight! I’ve always kind of dug Rand though, so this should be a unique opportunity.

The issue starts with Rand introducing Kirk to her new husband while, in his log narration, the captain laments losing Rand as she joins the crew of the USS Icarus.  Rand’s husband just so happens to be a blast of energy locked in a glass pyramid so yeah, this issue starts very Grant Morrison-y. (What have I said about zero healthy romantic relationships in Marvel’s first Trek run?) 

Of course, the whole thing devolves into Rand lamenting to Kirk how he never met her physical needs back when she was first stationed on the Enterprise and mooning over the lost chance at romance with her captain. She puts forth that she has married a disembodied bundle of psychic energy because Kirk didn’t hook up with her years ago. Well, damn. Kirk asks: “But what about your body, Janice? He doesn’t even have one… so what can he feel for you? What kind of husband can he be?” Basically, right there, Kirk admits that he thinks meaningful love can only be accompanied by dry humping. Wow, this comic.

These beings, the Phaetonians, need Rand aboard to help them be their hands, eyes, and ears as they navigate the Icarus through extra-dimensional space. As soon as the Icarus embarks on its mission with the Phaetonians and Rand on board, the Phaetonians go mad and take over the ship’s systems. They grow increasingly paranoid and desperately want to go home. So the Phaetonians plot a course to their home world, forgetting about the fact that a starship doesn’t land, it docks with a space station. Now, there’s a danger that the starship will crash into the Phaetonians home world causing billions of deaths. Well, that went pear shaped quickly.

Because Kirk is king of all testosterone, Rand desperately reaches out mentally to him and her thoughts are intercepted by Spock. The Enterprise races to help the Icarus as Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu beam aboard the ship gone insane. Instantly, the Enterprise away team is attacked by Phaetonian-possessed exercise equipment as Kirk fights barbells and Spock takes on an elliptical machine in a titanic struggle. I am not kidding!

Sulu gets slapped by a sparring robot and one Vulcan mind meld with Rand’s Phaetonian husband, and things are restored to what passes for normal in this bugnuts issue. Rand is taken to sickbay and is all like, “Oh well, my husband made of thought energy went batshit insane so I guess I’ll have to get my marriage annulled.” And Kirk is all like, “It’s OK, you can go back to being transporter chief again.” What the fuck did I just read?

There is a great scene where Scotty realizes that the Enterprise will have to ram the Icarus to keep it from crashing on the Phaetonian home world and prepares the entire crew of the Enterprise for their deaths. That was pretty intense. And it all was happening while Kirk, Spock, and Sulu fought gym equipment.

Star Trek #13

“all the infinite ways”, writer: martin pasko; artists: joe brozowski, tom palmer, marie severin, and diverse hands.

Ah, Diverse Hands. That was a creator credit that appeared when a large group of artists had to each ink a page to keep a book on schedule. So, the creative chaos continues for Marvel. At least Martin Pasko is back to keep the book’s voice consistent. We also get a pretty attention-grabbing cover featuring a Klingon holding a gun to a nurse’s head while Kirk cries: “Hold your fire, Spock. We’re playing by Klingon rules now!” The Klingon proclaims: “Take one more step and McCoy’s daughter dies!”

Yup, McCoy’s daughter. For you veteran Trekkers, you know that McCoy’s daughter has been an accepted part of Trek lore since almost the beginning of the series. McCoy’s daughter almost appeared in a few episodes during The Original Series , but was written out at the zero hour. Roddenberry himself has said that he wanted McCoy’s daughter to have a love affair with Kirk (because of course) but Bones’ little girl never made a canon appearance. She has been a favorite fanfiction subject and has quite the cult following throughout Trek fandom ever since. So let’s see what Marvel did with her in her comic book debut.

The crew of the Enterprise beams down to Hephaestus, a planet of intelligent simians (because why not do a sort of Star Trek/ Planet of the Apes crossover?) to negotiate a treaty that would lead to the Federation gaining mining rights on the mineral rich planet. Unfortunately, the Klingons are there as well to try and secure the mining rights for themselves.

When Kirk and his crew arrive, McCoy is shocked to find his daughter, Joanna, already on the planet caring for her ill fiancé, a Vulcan named Suvak. Bones reverts back to his old prejudicial ways and a whole lot of drama between father and daughter ensues, including Bones questioning how Joanna can stand only mating once every seven years and Joanna questioning her father’s virility. Yipes! As I said over and over, no healthy romantic relationships in this comic.

Meanwhile, the Klingons start murdering Hephaestians and Chekov is framed for one of the killings. With Suvak dying, Bones must try to solve the murders and care for a son-in-law he does not approve of. There’s a whole bit about the Hephaestains gaining intelligence through symbiotic implants and the Klingons trying to destroy the symbiotes in order to render the Hephaestians animalistic nature so they can take the planet from a non-intelligent species.

As all this is going on, the battle of the McCoys gets worse with Bones even slapping Joanna at one point while her fiancé lies at death’s door. Yeah, Bones not coming across as a real nice guy in this one. The whole thing ends with Suvak sacrificing himself to save his fiancé and the Hephaestians from the Klingons and Bones admitting that, deep down, he’s glad the Vulcan is dead because it will save his daughter future heartache. Spock tells Bones he’s only being human and everything wraps up.

Well, that was depressing. In truth, the issue was pretty darn dramatic and honest even if it made Bones come across as kind of a dick. It would have been nice to Joanna explored a bit more but this issue was still a  deep mediation in Dr. McCoy’s past and, hey, it even found an important role for Chekov. Introducing McCoy’s daughter was a bold move for Marvel and, even though the appearance became non-canonical, it made this issue seem important.

Star Trek #14

“we are dying, egypt, dying”, writer: martin pasko; artists: luke mcdonnell and gene day; editor: louise jones.

This issue is emblazoned with an Ed Hannigan cover featuring Captain Kirk dressed as a pharaoh using his scepter to bring a stone sphinx to life in order to attack his crew. Well. This should be fun. 

Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura beam down to the planet Zeta Reticuli II (worst planet name ever) to warn the inhabitants of an impending extinction level meteor storm. The crew finds a culture that mirrors ancient Egypt with mummies, pyramids, Egyptian gods and everything else you expect in this sort of thing — but no people.

Suddenly, the crew is attacked by a rampaging sphinx statue. Kirk is possessed by the spirit of Menteptah II because of course he is. (Hey, Marvel kept Kirk’s shirt on until issue fourteen so give them some credit.) Man, would I give my eye teeth to see Shatner chew the scenery in a live action version of this story. Imagine Shatner wearing a pharaoh headdress, shirtless, bombastically spouting over-the-top dialogue about being a god and sacrificing people to Anubis and all that jazz?

Meanwhile, Spock and Scotty stage a rescue mission, with Spock beaming to the planet and fighting Kirk. Somehow, Kirk as Menteptah is able to shrink the Enterprise. As Scotty and the crew are getting trash compactered, Spock takes down the possessed Kirk and saves the day. And yes, Menteptah was able to use drugs to control the rest of the landing party and even made Uhura his Nubian queen. Hey, at least she was in the issue.

McCoy un-Nubian queens Uhura and cures the rest of the crew as everything just kind of wraps up with the Enterprise shooting the meteors that threaten the planet. So, why didn’t they just do that in first place? The issue was action-oriented and breezy, but not one of Marvel’s finest Trek moments, especially after the introduction of Joanna McCoy in the previous issue.

Star Trek #15

“the quality of mercy”, writer: martin pasko; artists: gil kane, dan adkins, and al milgrom; editor: al milgrom.

An issue of Star Trek drawn by Gil Kane, the co-creator of Green Lantern Hal Jordan? Yes, please. While Martin Pasko provides stability on the writing side with this fifteenth issue, we have an editorial shake up as Al Milgrom takes over from Louise Jones. Milgrom would only be on the book for four issues, overseeing the end of the Marvel Trek era, and while Milgrom is a very capable and accomplished editor, Jones was one of the best in the business, especially on licensed properties.

The Milgrom Trek era begins with a cover of a strange alien appearing in the foreground with McCoy questioning, “That-that can’t be… Captain Kirk?” Let’s find out what Bones is so worked up about. I hope he doesn’t get too stressed, he might smack his daughter (again). Jeez, Bones. Anyway, with Kirk transforming into a pharaoh last issue, it seems that this will be two issues in a row where James T. is somehow polymorphed, but, alas, the cover is a bit of a bait-and-switch as Kirk and company are simply wearing disguises throughout the issue.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and Uhura must beam down to a giant prison fortress to rescue the shape shifting son of an alien ambassador. The Federation is not allowed to see foot on this planet, Miaplacidus II, so the crew must be extra careful. And in one of the more violent turns Marvel’s Trek takes, this prison fortress is one giant death row as the Miaplacidans revel in torturous methods of execution.

Pasko and Kane treat us to people being bisected, de-limbed, pulled apart, burned, and more fun stuff. Kirk’s team is disguised as Miaplacidans. They volunteer to help retrieve an escaped female prisoner. When they venture outside, they find the girl killed by a beast. They all find out the ambassador’s son had disguised himself as Spock and this is when things take a very odd and melodramatic turn.

It turns out the shapeshifting kid recently got high off his alien gourd and was involved in an accident. This mishap killed his girlfriend; he was breaking into the Miaplacidan prison in order to punish himself. He planned to help a prisoner escape and take her place so he could be executed. Well, that’s convoluted.

Kirk and company bust back into the prison, kick some butt, replace the cruel warden with a kinder, gentler torturer, and beam off, rescuing the twitchy, shapeshifting, guilt-ridden stoner. In truth, the idea of a city-sized death row is kind of cool, but this issue was diluted a bit with melodrama. I kind of wanted to see the dumb kid executed. But we did get to see Kirk and his pals fight a truly reprehensible enemy, so there’s that. Sulu even got to kick a little ass.

Star Trek #16

“there’s no space like gnomes”, writer: martin pasko; artist: luke mcdonnell, gene day, and sal trapani; editor: al milgrom.

This is the issue where the crew of the Enterprise meets a race of garden gnomes. Three issues left and Marvel pulls this one out of its fanny? The artistic instability continues as, sadly, we are only treated to one Gil Kane issue. But McDonnell is always an artist’s artist and does a nice job on this bit of schlock.

To kick off the issue, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, and a female Andorian officer named Themon beam down to the planet Valerian to resupply the Andorian colonists that are building a settlement on the verdant world. The crew is quickly attacked by a group of hairy trolls that kidnap Themon, much to Chekov’s horror. Because, you see, Chekov and Themon are an item. And they aren’t damaged or arguing about Chekov’s virility, they aren’t estranged or embittered, they are just young lovers who care about each other. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the first healthy romantic relationship in a Marvel Star Trek comic and it belongs to a brave Andorian and the underutilized Pavel Chekov!

The crew are rescued by a group of gnomes that call themselves the Kuwalden. At first, the Kuwalden help the Enterprise, but, later, a group of Kuwalden riding bats attack the ship. Wait, what? It turns out the Kuwalden’s have great powers of matter transmutation, thanks to their little gnome hats. They wish to protect their planet from colonization. The Kumwalden transformed the colonists into trolls which is why the troll kidnapped Themon, because the trolls are actually Andorians.

Kirk gets his hands on a little gnome god cap and turns the gnomish power against them. It turns out the Kuwalden once visited Earth, which is where the gnome legend came from. Think about that next time you notice your little garden gnome peering at you. Kirk agrees to relocate the colonists and everyone — gnome, human, Vulcan, and Andorian — lives happily ever after… except for the fact there is now a planet of nigh omnipotent gnomes who ride bats somewhere in the galaxy.

Scotty ends the issue with the pun: “Where gnome men have gone before,” because of course he does. So, yeah, space gnomes. To think, just one issue ago we were dealing with a death row planet and a drug addict desperately wishing for violent execution. Oh, Bronze Age, thy name is variety.

Star Trek #17

“the long night’s dawn”, writer: mike w. barr; artists: ed hannigan, tom palmer and dave simons; editor: al milgrom.

With only two issues to go, we have a major creative shake up as Martin Pasko bows out, replaced by Mike W. Barr, and yeoman artist Ed Hannigan pops on as penciller. One thing that jumps out at you is that the issue sports a gorgeous Walt Simonson cover with the heads of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy framing an immaculately-rendered Simonson Enterprise. Truly, a thing of beauty. And the story under the cover was pretty darn good too.

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Goran IV because of a big fat Federation screw up. A Starfleet probe fell to Goran IV and the satellite’s fuel poisoned the planet’s atmosphere. Whoops. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have to beam down to the primitive planet in order to ascertain the atmosphere and figure out if the Enterprise needs to deliver a countermeasure to the damage the Starfleet machine may have done.

It turns out that, yeah, the Federation almost inadvertently committed genocide as the elderly and infants on Goran IV are succumbing to the atmospheric poisons, but there is more drama planet-side. Goran IV is in an age equivalent to Earth’s Middle Ages. Science is shunned in favor of religious superstition and, when Spock’s ears are accidently revealed to the inhabitants, he is almost burned as a witch. Poor Bones is taken prisoner and tried for witchcraft and almost drowned as the whole thing becomes the Trek version of The Crucible .

Barr keeps the action taut and McDonnell’s art is downright gorgeous as Kirk and company take on the Clerics of the Cathedral, a bunch of super creepy hooded inquisitors. This is probably the most intense issue of the series as Barr draws some pretty spot on parallels from Earth’s history. Good stuff.

Leonard McCoy

• View history

Admiral Leonard H. McCoy , MD was a male Human Starfleet officer of the 23rd and 24th centuries . He was an accomplished surgeon , physician , psychologist , and exobiologist , and was also considered an expert in space psychology . As chief medical officer , he served aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise -A for a combined twenty-seven years. ( Star Trek: The Original Series ; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "; VOY : " Lifesigns ", " Message in a Bottle ")

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 The five-year mission
• 2.2 As an "old country doctor" in the 23rd century
• 2.3 Return to Starfleet
• 2.4 Training cruise aboard the Enterprise
• 2.5 Hosting Spock's "soul"
• 2.6 Saving Earth
• 2.7 Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A
• 2.8 Later career
• 2.9 Fictional or exaggerated stories about McCoy
• 4.1 Friendship
• 5.1 About McCoy
• 5.2 By McCoy
• 5.3 See also
• 6 Chronology
• 7.1 Appearances
• 7.2 Background information
• 7.3 Apocrypha
• 7.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Dr. Leonard McCoy was born in Georgia , USA , Earth , in 2227 . He was the son of David McCoy . ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; TAS : " Once Upon a Planet "; TOS : " This Side of Paradise "; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy was attending the University of Mississippi during the mid- 2240s when he met the joined Trill Emony Dax , who was visiting Earth to judge a gymnastics competition. According to Jadzia Dax , " he had the hands of a surgeon ". ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

McCoy began studying medicine in or before 2245 . ( TAS : " The Pirates of Orion ") While in medical school, McCoy and his friends used to play practical jokes on each other all the time. For example, they would substitute real drinking glasses with trick drinking glasses, causing the target drinker to spill on their shirt. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Starfleet career [ ]

In 2251 , McCoy led a massive inoculation program on planet Dramia II , where he saved a Dramen colonist , named Kol-Tai , from a strain of the Saurian virus . Shortly after McCoy departed, a plague struck Dramia II, killing most of the colonists. ( TAS : " Albatross ")

In 2253 , McCoy developed a surgical procedure for the humanoid brain; grafting neural tissue to the cerebral cortex, followed by the creation of an axonal pathway between the tissue graft and the basal ganglia. ( VOY : " Lifesigns ")

First visit to Capella IV

In 2266 , Lieutenant Commander McCoy was a sciences division officer . He was stationed on Capella IV where Capellan lack of interest in medical aid or hospitals ensured a short visit, lasting only a few months, before eventually joining the USS Enterprise 's five-year mission . The knowledge of Capellan customs he acquired on this mission would prove valuable in a later mission to the planet. ( TOS : " Friday's Child "; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

The five-year mission [ ]

In 2266, McCoy was the Life Sciences department head and the chief medical officer of the Enterprise . His assigned quarters were "3F 127" on Deck 9 , section 2. His predecessor was Dr. Mark Piper . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Man Trap ")

Kirk liberally used the nickname " Bones " for his doctor from this point on. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ") During a 2267 away mission on Pyris VII , Kirk made a special point to avoid calling McCoy "Bones", instead using the nickname "Doc", after finding themselves in shackles hanging alongside a skeleton . ( TOS : " Catspaw ")

Kirk's evil persona threatening McCoy

McCoy provided Kirk with advice when the Enterprise 's transporter duplicated him in 2266. Kirk was split into two people – one good and one bad. Kirk needed his evil side to live as well as to command the Enterprise . McCoy told his captain that all Humans have their darker side; it is literally half of what they are and they need it to live. Later, Kirk had the choice of going through the transporter again to reintegrate into one being. The procedure was dangerous and McCoy told him, " Jim, you can't risk your life on a theory! " However, McCoy decided that the decision was Kirk's alone after he refused to relinquish command. Later, Kirk was successfully reintegrated as one being. ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

Three friends in 2267

On stardate 1513.1, while conducting a routine medical examination of outpost personnel at the archaeological dig on planet M-113 , McCoy became reacquainted with an old flame, Nancy Crater . Unbeknownst to McCoy, what became known as the " M-113 creature " had murdered and replaced Nancy years before.

The last survivor of M-113's long-dead civilization was a telepathic shapeshifter who digested the salt content from its prey. Drawing from a potential food source's mental imagery, it appeared as sympathetic or attractive, and further hypnotized its victim before feeding; hence McCoy saw a vision of Nancy exactly as he had known her years earlier.

McCoy curing Kirk of polywater intoxication on the bridge of the Enterprise

When the creature began taking the lives of Enterprise crew members on the surface and aboard the ship itself, McCoy's past feelings for Nancy tainted his judgment. It was only when Spock was assaulted and Captain Kirk's life was in imminent jeopardy that Dr. McCoy saw past the illusion of Nancy, forcing him to fire a phaser at a sentient being, the last of its kind. Just before firing, he said quietly, " Lord forgive me. " ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

McCoy with Tonia Barrows in 2267

In early 2267 the Enterprise visited the Shore Leave Planet located in the Omicron Delta region . During the initial survey, McCoy reported seeing a giant white rabbit followed by a little girl .

Further investigation revealed that a vast underground factory recorded their thoughts and brought them to life. While walking through the glade with Yeoman Tonia Barrows , they discovered the dress of a princess, conceived from the thoughts of Barrows.

McCoy encouraged Barrows to try on the dress, and afterward begin to romance the yeoman, later stating that she should not be afraid "with a brave knight to protect her". Moments later a Black Knight appeared on horseback, bearing a lance.

The apparent death of McCoy

Convinced it was illusion and could not harm him, McCoy stood his ground against a charge – impaled in the chest, he died instantly. McCoy was brought underground, healed , and returned to the surface with two cabaret chorus girls he had once met on Rigel II . Barrow's obvious jealousy prompted McCoy to extricate himself from his fantasy girls, taking the yeoman's arm instead. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

On stardate 2713.5, the Enterprise discovered an Earth-like planet inhabited only by children. They soon discovered that all of the adults had died from a virus that caused the victim to age rapidly. The landing party contracted the disease and only had one week to live. McCoy and Spock developed a cure, but were unable to verify the formula with the Enterprise 's computers, because the children had stolen their communicators. Desperate, McCoy decided to test the serum on himself when Spock stepped out. Spock and Kirk returned to find an unconscious McCoy, but also that the serum worked. ( TOS : " Miri ")

Khan choking McCoy from his biobed in sickbay

On stardate 3141, McCoy accompanied Captain Kirk, Scott , and historian Marla McGivers to the SS Botany Bay , where the landing party encountered Khan Noonien Singh in stasis . McCoy had Khan removed from his enclosure when it began to malfunction while waking him and caused Khan to have a heart flutter . McCoy later stabilized Khan and brought him back to health aboard the Enterprise . Khan awoke shortly thereafter in sickbay and threatened McCoy with a scalpel when the doctor came to check up on him. Khan removed the scalpel from McCoy's neck when the doctor told him to cut his carotid artery , remarking, " I like a brave man. " Later on, Khan commandeered the Enterprise and forced McCoy and several other Enterprise crewmembers to watch as Kirk was put into a decompression chamber to die slowly. Khan asked the crew to join him and his brethren but McCoy and the crew refused and were later knocked out by anesthesia gas sent out by Kirk and Spock, intending to knock out Khan and his followers. After the defeat of Khan and his augments, McCoy, in dress uniform , attended Khan and McGivers' sentencing. McCoy expressed incredulity when Kirk announced that he was dropping all charges in exchange for marooning Khan, his followers, and McGivers on Ceti Alpha V . ( TOS : " Space Seed ")

On stardate 3417, McCoy's tonsils , which had been removed some years earlier, regrew when he was briefly under the influence of the Omicron spores . He mentioned that he had broken three ribs once. Although he took part in the subsequent mutiny, he returned with the rest of the crew after the spore's influence was eradicated. ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")

During an investigation of temporal disturbances over an ancient planet, McCoy accidentally injected himself with an overdose of cordrazine , resulting in psychosis and paranoid delusions, and he escaped to the planet's surface. Kirk, Spock, and a landing party followed him into the ruins of an ancient civilization, where they discovered the Guardian of Forever , an ancient time portal device.

Still psychotic, McCoy entered the device, transporting himself into Earth's past, and somehow created a history without a Federation or the Enterprise . Kirk and Spock, stranded and alone on the planet's surface, had no choice but to follow McCoy into the portal to try to undo whatever he had done to change the course of history.

They found themselves back in 1930 New York , where they met social worker Edith Keeler but had trouble locating McCoy. Using an improvised tricorder device, Spock determined that Keeler's death was the focal point of the altered timeline – she died in the original history, but somehow McCoy's going back in time prevented this from happening. Eventually, Kirk and Spock spotted McCoy walking down a city sidewalk. McCoy was happy to see them, but then he noticed that Keeler was crossing the street nearby in front of a speeding car. McCoy tried to rush forward to save her life, but Kirk, realizing that this was the critical moment, tearfully grabbed his friend and prevented him from intervening, allowing Keeler to die and restoring their own historical timeline. ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

After the first discovery of a silicon-based lifeform on Janus VI , the Horta matriarch, McCoy was the first exobiologist to actually treat one of the creatures, healing the wounded mother with a bandage of thermal concrete . Considering he successfully medically treated a type of lifeform that he previously did not even believe could exist, McCoy could not help but comment, " By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day! " ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")

He was also the first to describe the deadly habits and help find the cure for the flying parasites , a plague of one-celled flying creatures linked in a collective mind that had been sweeping across whole star systems and destroying all humanoid life. ( TOS : " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

McCoy examining an in shock Matt Decker on the USS Constellation

On a return to Capella IV, McCoy helped lead Kirk through tentative negotiations over dilithium mining rights with the Capellan Teer , talks which fell apart due to Klingon interference.

After the death of the Teer, the Enterprise landing party fled with the Teer's pregnant wife, Eleen . McCoy's truculent patient required an atypical bedside manner (i.e. "a right cross"), but he delivered the newborn High Teer, the rightful leader of the Capellan tribes .

Eleen, having grown fond of McCoy, named the child Leonard James Akaar , much to the annoyance of Spock, who commented that the name would cause Kirk and McCoy to become insufferably pleased with themselves for at least a month. ( TOS : " Friday's Child ")

McCoy happy at finally getting the last word

Although possessing limited surgical experience in Vulcan anatomy and physiology , McCoy successfully operated on Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan , when Sarek suffered from a faulty heart valve and subsequently near-fatal heart attacks. With blood donations from Spock, McCoy performed open heart surgery on Sarek while the Enterprise shuddered under the attack of hostile Orions .

Despite the distractions of his captain being knifed in the back, phaser attacks on the ship, and his blood donor attempting to get up and report to duty during the procedure, McCoy successfully completed the operation and Sarek fully recovered. ( TOS : " Journey to Babel ")

While mapping near the Sigma Draconis system , the Enterprise encountered an Eymorg starship , whose occupant, Kara rendered the crew unconscious. Upon waking, they discovered that Spock's brain had been stolen.

It fell to McCoy to find a way to keep Spock's body alive; McCoy not only managed this, but also fitted him with a control system to move Spock's body remotely. When Spock's brain was located on Sigma Draconis VI , wired to the planet's environmental control system to care for its inhabitants, it fell to McCoy to use an advanced Great Teacher machine to learn how to place the brain back within his body.

The effects of the teaching machine quickly wore off, but not before McCoy had reconnected Spock's autonomic and speech centers, enough for the Vulcan to verbally assist the doctor with the rest of the procedure and reconnect the rest of his voluntary functions. ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")

McCoy near death on Minara II

On stardate 5121.5, while investigating the disappearance of a science team sent to study an impending nova, the Enterprise encountered a mute alien with empathic abilities on Minara II . McCoy named her " Gem ." They discovered that the Vians were holding her captive. McCoy nearly died after volunteering himself to satisfy the Vians' demands for an experimental subject to teach Gem the value of self-sacrifice. ( TOS : " The Empath ")

McCoy with Sulu on the Kalandan outpost in 2268

In 2268, the Enterprise found the USS Defiant floating in and out of interphase space, its crew having apparently killed each other from space madness. When the Enterprise crew soon exhibited the same symptoms, McCoy discovered that prolonged exposure to the effects of interphase were causing the episodes. The symptoms were alleviated after McCoy created and administered a radical derivative of theragen (a Klingon nerve gas) mixed with drinking alcohol. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

The joining of McCoy and Natira

In 2268 , McCoy was diagnosed with a terminal disease known as xenopolycythemia ; he was given one year to live. Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise encountered the Fabrini asteroid -ship Yonada where he met their high priestess, Natira .

McCoy joined Natira and the Fabrini by having an instrument of obedience subdermally implanted into his body. He later changed his mind about staying with the Fabrini, choosing instead to search the galaxy to discover a cure for his disease.

Kirk and Spock discovered that the Fabrini, in fact, had the cure for xenopolycythemia in their databanks, curing McCoy and allowing him to continue his life aboard the Enterprise . ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")

In 2269 , McCoy was promoted; from that point on, he wore the insignia of a commander on his uniform. He held this rank for over 25 years. ( TAS : " Beyond the Farthest Star ")

Around stardate 5371.3, Captain Kirk consulted McCoy to get his expert psychological opinion on whether the inhabitants of the planet Mantilles should be warned of the impending danger of an unidentified cosmic cloud that was approaching and preparing to consume the planet.

McCoy figured that with only four hours and ten minutes until the cloud reached the planet, there would be planet-wide panic, which Kirk clarified as "blind panic." Spock, however, recommended otherwise and noted that if they told the inhabitants of the situation, they might be able to save a small fraction of the population. McCoy then agreed with Spock, after learning that Bob Wesley was governor of the planet, and urged Kirk to contact the governor. ( TAS : " One of Our Planets Is Missing ")

McCoy rapidly aged on the planet

Later that year, McCoy was among the landing party that beamed down to inspect the second planet of the Taurean system . He was among those affected by the glandular secretion of the planet's female inhabitants , known for controlling the male mind.

This caused McCoy to be drained of his "life force", making him age at a rate of ten years per day. Unable to counteract the effects of rapid aging, McCoy employed a hypospray of cortropine on himself and the landing party to help alleviate their conditions. An all female Enterprise security detachment led by Uhura eventually recovered McCoy and the landing party. Using their molecular pattern stored in the transporter system, they were returned to their previous ages. ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")

In 2270 , following a delivery of medical supplies to Dramia , McCoy was arrested for the wanton mass murder of the colonists of Dramia II some nineteen years earlier. McCoy feared that he might have accidentally been responsible for the plague that killed the Dramens and that he might be found guilty.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise visited Dramia II and discovered a survivor named Kol-Tai, who wished to help acquit McCoy of the charges. On the journey back to Dramia they passed through an aurora , which was later discovered to be the source of the plague.

Spock helped McCoy break out of the Dramian prison in order for the doctor to help find the cure for the plague that was now unleashed aboard the Enterprise . McCoy discovered the cure in Saurian virus antibodies and was able to save the crew. Later, in a series of ceremonies, the Dramians honored McCoy for his significant achievements in the field of interstellar medicine. ( TAS : " Albatross ")

On stardate 5499.9, while exploring the ocean planet Argo to study the regular seismic disturbances there, Kirk and Spock were separated from the rest of the landing party during an attack by an aquatic predator.

They were found later adapted for water-breathing, even possessing gills and webbed hands. Dr. McCoy was able to stabilize their condition aboard the Enterprise , but could not find a reversal for their condition. He endorsed their going back to Argo to investigate the mystery.

Kirk and Spock were able to locate the underwater city of the Aquans , and discovered a medical treatment within the city's records which could reverse their condition (utilizing the venom of another dangerous predator, the sur-snake ). After obtaining a sample of venom, McCoy was able to synthesize a vaccine. The vaccine was nearly fatal for Kirk, but the treatment was successful, and Kirk and Spock were fully cured of their condition. ( TAS : " The Ambergris Element ")

On stardate 5591.2, McCoy returned with the others to the Shore Leave Planet for shore leave once again. They soon discovered, however, that the Keeper had died and the planet's central computer was rebelling against its programming, assaulting the landing party with dangerous manifestations.

McCoy tricked the planet into taking Spock beneath the surface by injecting him with melenex , an anesthetic which induced unconsciousness and odd skin discoloration in the Vulcan. McCoy and Sulu were later in danger of being incinerated by another of the planet's manifestations, a fire-breathing dragon, but were rescued when Uhura and the others were able to "talk down" the planet's computer. ( TAS : " Once Upon a Planet ")

As an "old country doctor" in the 23rd century [ ]

McCoy frequently displayed a love/hate attitude towards technology. Although he was a great believer in the body's own natural ability to heal and felt that a little suffering was good for the soul, he also held 23rd century medicine in high esteem and frequently lamented how barbarous medicine used to be in the past – when on Earth in 1986 , he angrily dismissed the medical technology of San Francisco 's Mercy Hospital , state-of-the-art for the time, as "medieval" compared to what he knew. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The City on the Edge of Forever "; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

He also distrusted other highly technological devices, especially the transporter . ( TOS : " Space Seed ", " Obsession ", " Spectre of the Gun "; Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

While technically only lieutenant commander in rank, McCoy was still the only person on the Enterprise besides Spock who could talk back to the captain and get away with it. Although not without apology when wrong, he displayed a unique individuality and plain-spoken character which certainly clashed with the service, considering himself a doctor first and an officer second. This pugnacious attitude surfaced on a number of missions. Despite his sardonic wit and curmudgeonly personality, McCoy was very compassionate and cared deeply about all living things.

While on Miri 's planet, McCoy discovered a vaccine for the deadly life prolongation project virus which had killed all the adults on the planet and left the children with impossibly long life spans. Although completely unsure of the dose, McCoy "shot from the hip," as it were, injecting himself with the vaccine and successfully providing the landing party with a cure. ( TOS : " Miri ")

McCoy and the beard he grew during his off time

Upon the conclusion of the historic five-year mission in 2270, then-Commander McCoy, always modestly proclaiming himself to be "just a good ol' country doctor," retired his commission and proceeded to grow a beard . He was heard saying he would never return to Starfleet. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Return to Starfleet [ ]

" Damn it, Bones. I need you. Badly!"

In the mid- 2270s , Fleet Admiral Nogura , using a "little-known, seldom-used, reserve activation clause " at the request of now Admiral James T. Kirk, reactivated McCoy's commission. True to form, he refused to use the transporter until the other five crewmembers passed through safely. Though initially indignant about his re-activation, McCoy calmed down and served as chief medical officer during the V'ger encounter, and afterward continued to serve with his shipmates in this capacity aboard the newly-refitted Enterprise . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Training cruise aboard the Enterprise [ ]

In March 2285 , McCoy was a participant in Saavik 's Kobayashi Maru scenario at Starfleet Training Command . After the scenario, he served aboard the Enterprise under the command of Captain Spock. He was the ship's chief medical officer for a three week training cruise. Upon receiving a call for help from Regula I , Starfleet Command ordered the Enterprise to investigate. With Rear Admiral Kirk assuming command, the cruise was cut short. The Enterprise became involved with Project Genesis and Khan Noonien Singh's attempt to steal the Genesis Device . McCoy accompanied Kirk in a landing party to rescue the surviving scientists of Project Genesis , and was able to witness the results of Carol Marcus ' work on the project beneath the Regula planetoid. Back aboard Enterprise , he continued to treat casualties during the Battle of the Mutara Nebula . He was present in main engineering when Captain Spock arrived with the intention of entering the highly radioactive dilithium chamber to reactivate the ship's warp drive , so that Enterprise could escape Khan's suicidal ploy to kill them all with the Genesis Device . McCoy objected, but Spock felled him with a Vulcan nerve pinch and (almost as an afterthought) deposited his katra within McCoy's mind. Following their escape and Spock's death, McCoy grieved with Kirk and the rest of the crew as Spock was laid to rest on the newly formed Genesis Planet . ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Hosting Spock's "soul" [ ]

On their return to Earth, as the rest of the crew found that Enterprise was to be decommissioned, McCoy began to suffer increasingly erratic behavior, making odd requests of Kirk to return to Vulcan, and even sounding like Spock at times. Although at first it was thought he was only under too much stress, McCoy soon found himself placed under protective custody after making several inquiries into securing transportation to the newly restricted Genesis Planet. Spock's father Sarek explained the significance of the Vulcan katra to Kirk. With their careers at stake, Kirk and his crew took it upon themselves to rescue McCoy, steal the Enterprise and take both to Genesis to recover Spock's body for return to Mount Seleya on Vulcan.

A melancholy McCoy looks down at an unconscious Spock, while carrying his katra

Although Enterprise was disabled then later destroyed, and rogue Klingons had killed Kirk's son, the crew managed to commandeer the attacking Klingon vessel and take McCoy and the rejuvenated Spock to Mount Seleya on Vulcan. En route to Vulcan, in the Klingon ship's infirmary, a melancholy McCoy admitted to his old rival, the unconscious Spock, that he missed him, and couldn't stand the thought of losing Spock again.

Spock's katra was restored via the fal-tor-pan , an ancient, legendary Vulcan technique. Although it was not generally known whether another species could serve as a "keeper of the Vulcan katra ", McCoy appeared to suffer no lasting ill effects from the incident. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Saving Earth [ ]

While returning to Earth with his shipmates to stand trial for the many violations in Starfleet regulations committed in saving Spock, McCoy discovered with the others that an unknown probe was intent on sterilizing the planet after replies to its broadcasts went unanswered. Spock deduced that the intended recipients of the probe's transmissions were extinct Humpback whales , and McCoy soon found himself a somewhat reluctant participant in Kirk's plan to time travel back to 20th century San Francisco to recover a pair of whales and save their future. McCoy was included in Sulu 's and Captain Scott 's team to recover supplies for the construction of a whale tank aboard their ship.

McCoy finds himself in the "Dark Ages"

He later led a rescue team into a San Francisco hospital to save the critically-injured Chekov , pausing just enough to also provide an elderly lady suffering from kidney failure with some 23rd century medicine, and berate several 20th century physicians on their methods of practice. Accompanying his shipmates and the whales back through time to successfully save Earth from the Whale Probe , McCoy was acquitted with the rest of the crew for their offenses, and returned to duty aboard the newly commissioned USS Enterprise -A . ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A [ ]

Afterward, while enjoying a well-deserved leave with his close friends Kirk and Spock, McCoy also berated both the others (Kirk for taking unnecessary risks, Spock for apparently not completely becoming his old self after the re-fusion with his katra ). Underneath, McCoy's real lament was for lacking a true family, and always being "stuck", as it were, with the crew of the Enterprise . During the rescue mission that immediately followed to save the ambassadors of Nimbus III , the renegade Vulcan Sybok hijacked the Enterprise. Sybok later forced McCoy to reveal his secret pain, the loss of his father, to Kirk and Spock (see " Family and relationships " below). In the events that followed and their return to Earth, McCoy finally came to terms with his loss and accepted the love and camaraderie of his two friends, who remain his enduring family, as they began singing songs around a campfire. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy in 2293, after failing to save Gorkon's life

Shortly after stardate 9522 in 2293 , the Enterprise was sent on a diplomatic mission to escort a Klingon envoy to Federation space for peace talks. When the Enterprise mysteriously appeared to fire on the ship of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon , Dr. McCoy beamed aboard with Captain Kirk to assist with casualties. McCoy attempted to save the life of the critically wounded Gorkon, the victim of an assassin's phaser. McCoy's limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy and physiology hindered his efforts and the chancellor died. The Klingons arrested McCoy and Kirk and charged them with his assassination.

The Klingon Empire put Kirk and McCoy through a show trial, and although McCoy was able to draw a laugh from the assembled Klingons with an off-the-cuff quip, neither had much of a chance of defending their case. Handed a life sentence of hard labor they were then taken to the penal asteroid Rura Penthe to live it out. Luckily Spock rescued McCoy and Kirk in time to discover the roots of the Khitomer conspiracy and disrupt a second assassination attempt at the peace talks at Khitomer . It was McCoy who assisted Spock in modifying a photon torpedo with a plasma sensor, so that it would home in on Klingon General Chang 's attacking cloaked ship. McCoy then helped prevent the assassination of the Federation president, safeguarding a conference that fostered in an eighty-year era of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Later career [ ]

Admiral McCoy touring the USS Enterprise -D with Data in 2364

On stardate 41153.7 , 71 years after the decommissioning of the Enterprise -A, the 137-year old Admiral Leonard McCoy inspected the medical layout of the USS Enterprise -D during its first mission; still refusing to use the transporter, he was ferried to the ship by shuttlecraft before he was escorted to the USS Hood by Lieutenant Commander Data . He commented on the great significance of the ship's name to Data, telling him, " You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home. " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

Fictional or exaggerated stories about McCoy [ ]

McCoy's big open-mouth grin

While in an argument with Montgomery Scott , Arex and M'Ress about the holodeck , D'Vana Tendi told Scotty that the rec room was a far cry from the holodeck . She references back to the time that McCoy, Sulu and Uhura were in the rec room experiencing a "boring snowstorm ," as she called it. ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

During a song that was sung by a Post Mainframe Acid-Cardassian Ten Forwardcore band on the bridge of the USS Enterprise , Leonard McCoy could be seen in a variety of clips on the main viewer that were played .

The first clip showed Doctor McCoy beaming with a landing party consisting of himself, James T. Kirk , Montgomery Scott and Spock . They were all shown wearing life support belts , as they apparently beamed down to a location where it was impossible for them to breathe . The next clip shows McCoy with a big open- mouth grin on his face . ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

• Commendations: Legion of Honor
• Awards of Valor: Decorated by Starfleet Surgeons
• Comparative Alien Physiology by Dr. McCoy was required reading at Starfleet Medical Academy through the 2370s
• Capellan Teer Leonard James Akaar was named after McCoy (and his captain), after McCoy delivered him in 2267
• Admiral McCoy was invited to tour the USS Enterprise -D , during her maiden voyage in 2364
• Holographic Doctors , under development in the late 24th century , included McCoy in their templates

Family and relationships [ ]

David McCoy

An early ancestor of McCoy's, his great-great-grandfather , was a noted gardener , having had one of the finest gardens in the South. He also was noted for having developed his own recipe for weed spray . ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")

A famous McCoy family recipe for Southern baked beans dated back several generations. McCoy prepared a batch for Kirk and Spock during their camping trip in 2287. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy suffered many family hardships early on in life, which helped mold him into the prominent individual he eventually became. It began when McCoy was forced to face the harsh reality of his father's bout with a painful, incurable disease.

His father pleaded with McCoy to release him from the pain, but McCoy could not, as he was adamant he could find a cure. Seeing his father suffer so painfully, however, moved McCoy to soon acquiesce and take his father off life support.

Only weeks later, a cure was discovered, and McCoy subsequently lived many years in regret for causing his father's apparently needless death. However, Spock's estranged half-brother Sybok was able to relieve McCoy of this regret by helping him realize that it wasn't his fault. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy eventually married and had a daughter named Joanna . Sadly, McCoy's marriage ended in a bitter divorce, separating him from his daughter and deepening his hardships. ( citation needed • edit ) His daughter eventually moved to the planet Cerberus to attend school, where she nearly died, in 2259 , when the planet experienced a crop failure. Fortunately, the kind actions of Carter Winston saved Cerberus. McCoy was grateful for this deed and expressed his most sincere thanks to Winston ten years later, when the Enterprise rescued him. ( TAS : " The Survivor ")

Natira McCoy

In 2254 , McCoy became romantically involved with the future Nancy Crater . Nancy nicknamed her beloved boyfriend " Plum ". They walked out of each other's lives in 2256 , and did not see each other again, although in 2266 , McCoy met a creature who mimicked Nancy. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

In 2268 (during his stay on the Yonada ), McCoy fell in love with and married Natira . Although the removal of his instrument of obedience technically annulled their marriage, McCoy and Natira still felt strongly for each other and he asked her to come with him when he left. She declined, indicating that her place was with her people.

The two planned to be reunited just over a year later, when Yonada reached the star system that was to be the new home for its people. ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")

Friendship [ ]

Sharing a drink in 2266

McCoy was not above kicking back with a good drink with the captain now and again, regularly keeping stashes of vintage saurian brandy and other libations with the controlled substances in sickbay. He was the only Enterprise crewmember who routinely addressed Kirk by his first name, (though Spock did occasionally as well). ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Enemy Within ")

McCoy displayed a fondness for alcoholic beverages of his region of Earth, such as Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey , his favorite drink was believed to be the mint julep . ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ") He also made a Finagle's Folly "known from here to Orion ." ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ") He was even known to put whiskey in baked beans. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) He also used his connections to procure quantities of prohibited alien drinks such as Romulan ale, which he says was used only for "medicinal purposes." ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

His closest friends aboard the Enterprise included Captain Kirk and, begrudgingly, Spock. McCoy's friendship with Kirk dated back well before Kirk took command of the Enterprise , and he often served as a sounding board and voice of conscience for the young captain.

His legendary feud with the half-Vulcan science officer (borne more from dispute over the merits of emotion versus logic rather than true prejudice) camouflaged the genuine mutual respect and friendship the two had. Over time, the three appeared to form nearly a single personality, with McCoy ever emotional and passionate, Spock ever objective and logical, and Kirk intuitive; the focus, direction and driving force combining the best of the other two.

While he and Kirk were observing Spock's marriage rites on Vulcan, McCoy suddenly found himself watching his two best friends in a fight to the death over the entranced Spock's betrothed. In a covert, underhandedly sneaky Human move, he tipped the scales of the fight and saved Kirk's life when he ostensibly injected Kirk with a tri-ox compound respiratory aid when he was actually injecting him with a neural paralyzer . When Kirk appeared dead, Spock snapped out of his trance and ended the marriage, only to gleefully find Kirk alive back on the Enterprise a short time later. ( TOS : " Amok Time ")

On Minara II, the Vians kidnapped Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and forced them to choose which one would die in their experiments. Sacrificing himself for the others against their will, McCoy submitted to a level of torture which nearly killed him. The empathic Gem, another of the Vian's prisoners, healed McCoy's injuries.

It was all a test, to determine if Gem's people were worthy of the Vian's salvation from Minara's own supernova. ( TOS : " The Empath ")

Memorable quotes [ ]

About mccoy [ ].

• "...the Admiral's a rather remarkable man." - Worf ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

By McCoy [ ]

• " I'm a doctor, not a... " (various episodes)
• " He/she's dead, Jim. " (various episodes)
• " My god, man! " (various episodes)
• " I never say that. " ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• " What's the matter, Jim, don't you trust yourself? " ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• " I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget. " ( TOS : " Space Seed ")
• " Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you! " ( TOS : " The Immunity Syndrome ")
• " Hey, Jim-boy, y'all ever have a real cold, Georgia-style mint julep, huh? " ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")
• " Do you want to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital? " ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")
• " By golly, Jim – I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day! " ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")
• " I'm trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin! " ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")
• " A child could do it... a child could do it... " ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")
• " Because I'm a doctor, that's how I know! " ( TOS : " Friday's Child ")
• " Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs - unless good is very, very careful. " ( TOS : " The Omega Glory ")
• " Just a moment, Captain, Sir, I'll explain what happened. Your revered Admiral Nogura invoked a little-known, seldom-used reserve activation clause. In simpler language, Captain, they drafted me! " ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• " Well, Jim, I hear Chapel's an MD now. Well, I'm gonna need a top nurse, not a doctor who'll argue every little diagnosis with me. And they probably redesigned the whole sickbay too! I know engineers, they love to change things! " ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• " Jim, I'm your doctor and I'm your friend. Get back your command. Get it back before you turn into part of this collection. Before you really do grow old. " ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )
• (Upon learning he was the recipient of Spock's katra via a mind-meld) " That green-blooded son-of-a-bitch. It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost. " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )
• (As Kirk watches the hulk of the Enterprise burn up and asks McCoy: " My God Bones what have I done "?) " What you had to do, what you always do; turn death into a fighting chance to live. " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )
• " Sounds like a Goddamn SPANISH INQUISITION to me! " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• (Arguing with a 20th century surgeon over treatment of Pavel Chekov) " My God man! Drilling holes in his head is not the answer! The artery must be repaired! Now put away your butcher knives and let me SAVE this patient! " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " My God, Jim, where are we? " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe . We'll get a freighter . " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " You really piss me off, Jim. " ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )
• " Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for His ID! " ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )
• " What's so damn troublesome about not having died?! " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")
• " You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home. " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

See also [ ]

• " I'm a doctor, not a... "
• " He's dead, Jim "

Chronology [ ]

• 2227 : Born on Earth .
• 2245 : Medical practice begins on or before this date
• 2249 : Daughter, Joanna , is born
• 2251 : Heads a massive inoculation program on Dramia II
• 2253 : Develops revolutionary surgical procedure, a cerebral-cortex/brain-tissue graft
• 2254 : Becomes romantically involved with Nancy Crater
• 2256 : Ends relationship with Nancy
• 2260s : As a lieutenant commander , visits Capella IV briefly before joining the Enterprise
• 2268 : Contracts xenopolycythemia ; briefly wed to Fabrini high priestess Natira
• 2269 : Promoted to commander
• 2270 : Retires from Starfleet at conclusion of Kirk 's five year mission
• 2270s : His commission is re-activated at Kirk's insistence, during V'ger crisis
• 2285 : On Enterprise , chief medical officer on a training cruise. Is a repository of Spock's katra.
• 2286 : Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A
• 2293 : Imprisoned on Rura Penthe and subsequent escape helps to uncover the Khitomer conspiracy
• 2364 : Tours newly commissioned USS Enterprise -D

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Paradise Syndrome "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " The Way to Eden "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " All Our Yesterdays "
• " Turnabout Intruder "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " Yesteryear "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Survivor "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Ambergris Element "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Beyond (photograph only)
• TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "
• DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " (archive footage)
• ST : " Ephraim and Dot "
• VST : " Walk, Don't Run " (archive footage)

Background information [ ]

Kelley in a screen test for his appearance in " Encounter at Farpoint "

Leonard McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley . In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , a couple of lines spoken by McCoy while he was possessed by and in possession of Spock's katra were voiced by Leonard Nimoy .

An ultimately unused stage direction from the final revised draft script of TOS : " The Conscience of the King " described McCoy thus; " McCoy is tart in manner and somewhat privileged in behavior. "

Although McCoy doesn't appear in " The Menagerie, Part II ", he did feature in the script for that episode. Initially, there were a couple of incidences where he was mentioned, without having any lines of dialogue, entering the Enterprise 's hearing room , such as at the end of the episode's teaser , when he accompanied Scott into the room, eager to help Captain Kirk but unable to. When Christopher Pike needed rest later in the script, McCoy alone arrived to maneuver him, in his wheelchair , out of the room. McCoy also appeared in a deleted scene from "The Menagerie, Part II". In it, after again accompanying Scott into the hearing room, he was credited, by Scott, as having thought of a way to determine which of the Enterprise 's computer tapes Spock had jammed in order to lock the ship on a course to Talos IV . The solution McCoy had devised involved using a spectrograph beam to detect traces of copper salt from Vulcan sweat on the tapes Spock had touched. However, McCoy wished he'd thought of the method earlier than he had, as he considered it "elementary body chemistry." [1]

The Star Trek Concordance established that his daughter Joanna was born around 2249 , and was in training to become a nurse. It also established that although they wrote each other often, Dr. McCoy's duties aboard the USS Enterprise kept the two apart. The Star Trek Chronology provided additional background information on his divorce and his daughter. This scenario established that as a result of the divorce McCoy left the private practice (which he apparently rejoined in 2270 ) to join Starfleet. " The Way to Eden " was originally written for and titled "Joanna", but was however rewritten and Joanna became Irina Galliulin .

The Star Trek Encyclopedia speculated that Emony Dax and McCoy met around 2245 , this based on the fact that McCoy appeared to have not yet entered (or at least not yet completed) medical school when they knew each other. Jadzia Dax strongly implied that Bones and Emony were physically intimate, if only for a short time.

The animation for Star Trek: The Animated Series depicted McCoy as a full commander in both promotional artwork and in episode photography, although more than a few erroneous sequences of him with lieutenant commander insignia cropped up during the course of the series.

He was one of at least five Starfleet officers (along with Spock, Scott, Sulu, and Uhura) who had at some point served under James T. Kirk to have attained a rank of captain or above, as he was a retired admiral during the events of " Encounter at Farpoint ".

Apocrypha [ ]

The novels Provenance of Shadows and The Assassination Game have identified McCoy's middle name as "Horatio", but this was never established on screen. The novels The Romulan Way and Spock's World claim that his middle name is "Edward".

In David Gerrold 's Encounter at Farpoint novelization, McCoy served on three vessels named Enterprise before being promoted to admiral and head of Starfleet Medical . He finally retired from this position in 2354 and moved to a farm in present-day Georgia to live his old days peacefully. By 2364 , he had at least one great-great-grandchild from his daughter, Joanna.

According to Star Trek II: Biographies , McCoy was born in 24 October 2119 in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Robert Edward Lee McCoy and Maureen Abney. He has two brothers named Henry Clay McCoy and Landor Abney McCoy, and two sisters named Melissa Jane McCoy and Elizabeth Ashley McCoy. His ex-wife was named Elinor Lee.

Other novels and comics have given different names for McCoy's parents: David Andrew McCoy ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier novelization) and Eleanora McCoy ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock novelization). McCoy's ex-wife has variously been called Gillian ( Who's Who in Star Trek 1 ), Joann Zauber ( The Real McCoy ), Jocelyn Treadway ( Shadows on the Sun ) and Pamela Branch ( Bones ).

In the novel Crisis on Centaurus , McCoy has a sister named Donna Withers.

Michael Jan Friedman 's novel Shadows on the Sun elaborated on much of McCoy's backstory, particularly his marriage to Joanna's mother, Jocelyn Treadway ( β ).

The novel Shadows on the Sun had, as one of its subplots, the story of his marriage and divorce, when his ex-wife arrived on the Enterprise -A to help them deal with a crisis on a world that McCoy visited fresh out of medical school, only to die in the course of the mission – killed, ironically, by someone whose life McCoy saved on his first visit.

According to the video game Star Trek: Starship Creator , McCoy's mother is named Louise and his ex-wife is named Miriam.

In David R. George III 's novel, Provenance of Shadows , McCoy was portrayed as passing away peacefully in 2366 , at home on Earth in present-day Georgia. In this story, he was married to Tonia Barrows , who was also still alive at advanced age during the story. Although they had been married for decades, when they married isn't exactly known.

In William Shatner 's novels, McCoy was alive and well in 2379 thanks to the use of artificial body parts, many of which he developed (he claims to be on his third heart, has a new set of lungs grown each month, and had around ten meters of cloned intestines inside him). He helped Julian Bashir remove a Borg implant from Kirk's brain, advising the young physician as to what to do due to his elderly condition, and was subsequently the first person Kirk saw upon regaining consciousness.

Leonard McCoy in the 2380s

In the IDW Publishing comic Star Trek Special: Flesh and Stone , McCoy is still alive in the 2380s , living at the Viirre-5 Agricultural Cultivation Facility, and using a wheelchair similar to that of Christopher Pike .

In Star Trek Cats , McCoy is depicted as a gray-and-white longhair cat .

External links [ ]

• Leonard McCoy at StarTrek.com
• Leonard McCoy at Wikipedia
• Leonard McCoy at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Leonard McCoy at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)