I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"Dammit, I'm a doctor not a...''[[Buffy-Speak|normal]]'' doctor!"|'''Dr. Gordon Freeman,''' ''[[Freemans Mind|Freeman's Mind]]''}}

The most famous example, and thus the [[Trope Namer]], is [[Star Trek]]'s Dr McCoy -- butMcCoy—but the earliest example we have so far is from 1863, making it not only [[Older Than They Think|older than Star Trek]] but [[Older Than Radio]].<ref>It was in [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]].</ref> Note that DeForest Kelley, [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|contrary to popular belief]], never prefaced his statement with "[[Precision F-Strike|Damn it]], Jim" or some variant thereof; he [[Gosh Darn It to Heck|never swore]] on the show, given that it aired in [[The Sixties]]. He ''did'' swear up a storm in most of the movies, however, so parodists naturally combined his potty mouth with his catch phrase, to great effect. (He never actually used his [[Catch Phrase]] in a movie until [[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|the reboot]]).<ref>Wherein he ''did'' swear, but he wasn't talking to Kirk, so the complete memetic phrase still has yet to be uttered.</ref>

Compare to [[Not That Kind of Doctor]], [[I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One Onon TV]], [[Trust Me I'm a Doctor|Trust Me, I'm A Doctor]], [[Even Evil Has Standards]], [[Refusal of the Call]]. Contrast [[God Mode Sue]], [[Jumped At the Call]].

== ComicbooksComic Books ==

{{quote| ''"Enough talk! I'm a shark, not a... [[Buffy-Speak|talking guy.]]}}

* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Filmfilm)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', Dorian Grey exclaims at one point "I'm an immortal, not a gazelle!"

* ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' has the protagonist insist "I'm an actor, not a spy!"

* In ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', R. K. Maroon protests: "You got it all wrong, Valiant! I'm a cartoon maker, not a murderer!" Valiant: "Everybody's gotta have a hobby."

* Naturally, as an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'' includes an example of this, in one of the film's most famous lines: "We're actors, not astronauts!"

{{quote| '''Billy Fish:''' [On being offered a horse to escape the lost battle] ''Gurkha is foot soldier, not cavalry.'' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Then he runs to confront the entire army and dies a warrior death]]. }}

* ''[[A Hard DaysDay's Night]]'': Ringo is a drummer, not a wet-nurse.

{{quote| ''"Well, sir," replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had somewhat calmed; "it is a terrible spectacle, certainly.'' '''But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter,''' ''[[The Butcher|and I call this a butchery]]."''}}

* [[Trope Namer]] is Dr. McCoy from ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]''.

** And proudly continued by the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) from ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' who was in fact an actual placeholder.

{{quote| Kirk: "You're a healer, there's a patient. That's an order." (The patient in question was mostly made of rock, and what McCoy wasn't was a bricklayer.)<br />}}

{{quote|Scott: "''Now'', you're an engineer." }}

*:** The novelization of "Mirror, Mirror" from ''The Star Trek Reader'' averts this with [[Mc CoyMcCoy]] simply saying, "I'm not an engineer," and Scott quipping "You soon will be." (Though Scott is proud of [[Mc CoyMcCoy]]'s help later.)

** The EMH from ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'' ''almost'' gives the trope title with "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop."

** Even Bashir gave it a shot in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'''s anniversary episode "Trials and Tribble-ations".

** A 'morally repugnant' example in [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|"Broken Link"]], when [[Token Evil Teammate|Garak]] tries to convince [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Worf]] to stand by and let him commit genocide. Worf responds with "I'm a warrior, not a murderer!"[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hZqOdsRoKU\]

** It was such a trope of McCoy's that it ''had'' to be in the [[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|2009 revival]]. "I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" (Well, his understanding of the physics Spock suggested seemed okay....)

** An episode of ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel -Air]]'' had [[It Makes Sense in Context|Will, Carlton and WilliamShatner get high off of a leaking laughing gas tank at the dentist's]] and start acting like ''[[Star Trek]]'' characters; after Shatner addresses Will as "Bones", he responds "Dammit Jim, I'm a black boy from Philly, not a doctor!"

* ''[[Monk (TV)|Monk]]'' has a few good ones. This one from "Mr. Monk and the Critic":

{{quote| '''Captain Leland Stottlemeyer:''' Where the hell is Randy?<br />

'''Natalie Teeger:''' Oh, I sent him out to get a newspaper.<br />

'''Captain Leland Stottlemeyer:''' ''[looks at her incredulously]'' You? You, you sent Randy out? Well, who are you, the new police commissioner?<br />

'''Natalie Teeger:''' The morning edition comes out at midnight! They're gonna review Julie's play!<br />

* ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'' provided a variation of this trope in "Deadman Switch" where {{spoiler|Aris Boch demands that Daniel Jackson treat his wound after capturing them}}: "I'm an archeologist" - "But you're also a doctor." - "... [[Not That Kind of Doctor|of Archeology]]."

{{quote| '''Tom''': Shephard says he's a spinal surgeon, not an anesthesiologist..}}

* ''[[3rd Rock Fromfrom the Sun]]'' had Officer Don say in one episode "I'm a cop, not a goat" when meeting Sally on a Hill at night.

{{quote| '''Tutweiler''': I'm an educator, not a warden.}}

* Joked about in ''[[Criminal Minds]]''.

{{quote| Morgan: Can you do it?<br />

Garcia: Remember on ''Star Trek'', when Dr. McCoy always said, "I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker?"<br />

Morgan: So you're saying you can't?<br />

* The ''[[Smallville]]'' episode ''Rush'' has Clark say, "I'm an alien, not a cartoon!" when Chloe asks him if he can fly.

{{quote| '''Kirk:''' Bones, this man is dying!<br />

{{quote| '''Sheldon:''' Leonard, I'm a physicist, not a hippie.}}

{{quote| '''Joey:''' Dammit, I'm a doctor, not a mathematician.}}

* This line is said using "miracle-worker" in ''[[Final Fantasy IX]].'' As seen in [https://web.archive.org/web/20101231070558/http://www.ffcompendium.com/misc/startrekspoof9.jpg this screenshot.]

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'':

{{quote| "Expletive: Damn it, Master, I am an assassination droid, not a dictionary!"}}

* In ''[[Starcraft II (Video Game)|StarcraftStarCraft II]]'', one of the medic quotes is "Dammit, I'm a medic, not a doctor! Oh."

** Technically speaking this is correct. [[Combat Medic|Combat Medics]]s don't need doctorates to be a medic but have nurse/orderly training instead.

* In ''[[Duke Nukem Forever (Video Game)|Duke Nukem Forever]]'', a dying Alien Queen blasts Duke so hard, he begins to lose consciousness. An EDF soldier comes to his help, but he turns out to be an engineer, not a doctor, and desperately calls for [[The Medic]], as Duke blacks out. Of course, this being Duke, he gets better real soon.

* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', an NCR ranger hiding out in a bunker owned by {{spoiler|the Brotherhood of Steel}} states in his journal that he is a scout, not an electrician, and that he can't quite get his radio to work.

* [[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Durkon]] would like to point out he's a healer, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0260.html not a foot stool.]

* Likewise, [[Last Res 0 rtRes0rt|Scout Arael]] cheerfully reminds you that [http://www.lastres0rt.com/2009/06/goes-great-with-eggs/ she's a medic, not a messiah.]

* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', Tailor has to [[Closest Thing We Got|perform brain surgery]] on Tagon, which leads him to say, "I'm a clothier, not a doctor."

* The ''[[Ranma ½: The Abridged Chronicles]]'' version of Doctor Tofu can heal your wounds, unless they're costume-related.

{{quote| '''Dr. Tofu:''' Ranma, I'm a doctor, not a tailor.}}

* In the [[RifftraxRiff Trax]] of the 2009 ''[[Star Trek]]'' film, they come down on the usage of this for not being deep and raspy enough, asking to hear "those throat nodes and smoker's hack."

* Dr. Delbert Doppler from ''[[Treasure Planet (Disney)|Treasure Planet]]'' says this as a [[Shout -Out]] to ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]''.

{{quote| '''Doppler:''' [[Shout -Out|Dangit, Jim]], I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I ''am'' a doctor, but [[Not That Kind of Doctor|not]] ''[[Not That Kind of Doctor|that]]'' [[Not That Kind of Doctor|kind of doctor]], I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing, you can't ''help'' people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you're useless!}}

* In the ''Adventures of [[Super Mario Bros.]] 3'' episode "Oh Brother", King Koopa's pipes burst, leading to the following conversation:

{{quote| '''Koopa:''' Well, don't just stand there, Kooky. Fix it!<br />

* A particularly brilliant example in ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' when the Warner Siblings are backed into a corner in Hades:

{{quote| '''Yakko:''' ([[William Shatner]] voice) Wakko...anything in your...Gag Bag that will help us..?<br />

'''Wakko:''' Nothing, Yakko.<br />

'''Yakko:''' Dot...comments...analysis...?<br />

'''Dot:''' Nothing, Yakko.<br />

'''Yakko:''' Bones..?<br />

* ''[[Roughnecks Starship Troopers Chronicles (Animation)|Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles]]'', the animated series, has a conversation while defusing a bomb that goes something like this:

{{quote| '''A''' OK, what color of wire do I cut?<br />

'''B''' Why do ask me, I'm a doctor not a electrician!<br />

'''A''' What's your favorite color? <br />

'''B''' Blue.<br />

'''A''' < cuts red ><br />

'''B''' Why did you cut the red one? I said blue.<br />

* ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force (Animation)|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' episode "Paradox" with--whowith—who else--Paradoxelse—Paradox. After he managed to restore Kevin's age after he'd be

* ''[[Beavis and Butthead (Animation)|Beavis and Butthead]]'', similar to ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'''s example:

{{quote| '''Captain Kirk''': Bones, I've got an injured crewman here and you've got to do something! You've ''got'' to do ''something''!<br />

'''Dr. McCoy''': Captain, there is a limit to what one man can do. Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a doc-... Oh, yeah, I'll get right on it.<br />

'''Butt-head''': Hey Beavis.<br />

'''Beavis''': What?<br />

'''Butt-head''': Beavis.<br />

'''Beavis''': ''What''?<br />

* The [[USU.S. Acres]] episode "Swine Trek" from [[Garfield and Friends]] parodied this as well. When Orson Pig, playing [[The Kirk]] in a dream, asks Wade Duck, playing [[The McCoy]], about a distress call that didn't sound right, Wade went, "How Should I Know?!? I'm a duck, not the Wichita Lineman!!"

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