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{{trope}}
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▲{{quote| ''"By God, [[The Kirk|Jim]]! You can't seriously be considering this! [[Screw the Rules I'm Doing What's Right|Screw the]] [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]], [[No Time to Explain|there's no time for debate!]] We have to act now to [[Save the Princess|rescue the]] [[High Priestess|high priestess]]; [[Friend or Idol Decision|forget]] the [[MacGuffin]] and think about doing what's'' right!}}
▲{{quote| ''"What's that, [[The Spock|Spock]]? '[[Straw Vulcan|Logic]]?' If we listened to your cold reasoning, you'd have us look for that stupid [[Cosmic Keystone]] while innocent people suffer! [[Emotions vs. Stoicism|The greater good]]? Better in the long run? [[Always Chaotic Evil|The Klingons]] will kill us in five minutes if we go to rescue the high priestess unprepared? Dammit man, dare we call ourselves [[What Measure Is a Non Human|human]] if we'' don't?! ''[[Insult Backfire|What do you mean 'Thank you?]]'''"}}
That said, they help keep the drama of a situation ''personal'' both for the characters and the viewer, reminding us just why the [[Littlest Cancer Patient]] deserves for [[The Hero]] to use the phlebotinum that [[It Only Works Once|only works once]] on him rather than to [[You Can't Go Home Again|get them home.]] To be fair,
▲[[The McCoy]] is part of a [[Freudian Trio]] along with [[The Kirk]] and [[The Spock]]. Where the former is rational and [[Take a Third Option|intuitive]], and the latter is [[The Stoic|cold]] and logical, [[The McCoy]] is [[Hot Blooded|emotional]] and [[The Heart|humanistic]]. He cares about others deeply; for him doing the right thing is not a question of convenience or moral relativity, but about the concrete reality ''right now''. Which is to say, someone like [[The Kirk]] cares about saving people; the McCoy cares about making things ''right''. This often leads the heroes into hot water as this concern for others blinds him to complications in the [[Moral Dilemma]] of the week and leads him to advocate (or take it upon himself to do) "the right thing", regardless of how disastrous it would be in the short or long run. In [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] psychology, this character represents the concept of [[The Id]].
▲That said, they help keep the drama of a situation ''personal'' both for the characters and the viewer, reminding us just why the [[Littlest Cancer Patient]] deserves for [[The Hero]] to use the phlebotinum that [[It Only Works Once|only works once]] on him rather than to [[You Can't Go Home Again|get them home.]] To be fair, the [[The Spock|Spock]] can be just as compassionate, but is tempered with detachment and enough forethought to realize that [[Emotions vs. Stoicism|the right answer might not be the correct one]], ([[Straw Vulcan|illogical as that sounds]]).
The McCoy still functions as an admirable character, however, due to his absolute devotion to his Moral beliefs and his refusal to give in to what others may tell him. For him, there is no such thing as acceptable losses. And if you start claiming that [[We Have Reserves|numbers can be lost]] or that [[A Million Is a Statistic]], you can expect a thorough [[What the Hell, Hero?|chewing out for your coldness]]. In the McCoy's mind, every life matters and everyone deserves to be saved. While [[The Spock]] sees people as numbers in the greater picture, The McCoy sees people with real lives and emotions.▼
▲[[The McCoy]] is frequently a target for reminders about the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]], and one or more episodes might focus on how having his heart on his sleeve can actually cause [[The Caretaker|quite a bit of damage to the people he "helps" with the best of intentions.]]
Also,
▲The McCoy still functions as an admirable character, however, due to his absolute devotion to his Moral beliefs and his refusal to give in to what others may tell him. For him, there is no such thing as acceptable losses. And if you start claiming that [[We Have Reserves|numbers can be lost]] or that [[A Million Is a Statistic]], you can expect a thorough [[What the Hell Hero|chewing out for your coldness]]. In the McCoy's mind, every life matters and everyone deserves to be saved. While [[The Spock]] sees people as numbers in the greater picture, The McCoy sees people with real lives and emotions.
▲Also, [[The McCoy]] exists as a counterpart to [[The Spock]]. If they are the moral center of the team in general too, then they are [[The Heart]] as well. Likely to be the {{color|red|R}} in a [[Red Oni Blue Oni]] combination.
The McCoy is the [[Honor Before Reason]] [[Trope]] personified, and may occasionally be a [[Strawman Emotional]].
If you're looking for a person or work named "McCoy", see [[McCoy|the disambiguation page]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* The main characters of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' fit directly into this [[Trope]]. Rather than simply listening to logic, they prefer to screw the (Physical and otherwise) rules and dive right into a situation.
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* [[The Captain|Murrue Ramius]] from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' is a more reasonable McCoy in a command position, with a [[Sergeant Rock]] as her Deputy Captain, and [[The Kirk]] as an [[Ace Pilot]] and both of their primary advisor.
* Kallen and Suzaku from ''[[Code Geass]]'' fill this role for their respective sides.
* This personality archetype is, with a few exceptions in certain characters (namely Usopp and Robin, and then only occasionally for either), a prerequisite for joining the [[One Piece|Straw Hat Pirates]]. It also seems to be the default personality for the majority of the characters aligned with good, period.
* Similarly to the above, many characters in [[Bleach]] are compassionate honor-before-reason-or-logic types. The Gotei 13 can actually be split up evenly based on how they reacted in the Rescuing Rukia saga: those who sided with Ichigo and co. are this, while those who fought against them in the end (counting out instances like Kyouraku fighting Chad before he sympathized with their goals) are [[The Spock|Spocks]], except for Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi, who are just loose cannons in this regard.
* In ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', Sayaka and Madoka are the
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* According to co-writer Roberto Orci, the 2009 [[Star Trek]] film maintains this [[Trope]], but swaps [[The Captain|Kirk]] and [[The Medic|McCoy]]:
{{quote|
** Though it comes off in a very similar manner to the show, and is very well played.
* [[Star Wars|Anakin Skywalker]] shows elements of this [[Trope]] in the [[Prequel]] Trilogy. Especially since this was the reason he turned to [[The Dark Side]].
* Mr White of ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', in comparison to the cold and logical Mr Pink and the psychopathic Mr Blonde. He tells the dying Mr Orange his name and defends him all through the movie from accusations that Orange is a rat, based purely on the fact that he likes the guy.
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== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'', the brothers form a [[Freudian Trio]]: Alyosha as an idealistic [[The Kirk|Kirk]], Ivan as the cold, rational [[The Spock|Spock]], and Dmitri is the emotional
* Marianne Dashwood in ''[[Sense and Sensibility (
* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books, Harry, Ron and Hermione start out as [[The Kirk]],
* Ned Land from ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'' is an emotional harpooner who isn't excited about going around the world on the ''Nautilus'' and simply wants to return to civilization, in contrast to Aronnax's [[The Kirk|Kirk]] and Conseil's [[The Spock|Spock]].
* In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' novel ''[[Star Trek:
* Anne Shirley in [[Anne of Green Gables]]
* Matteo in ''[[Someone
== Live-Action TV ==
* The [[Trope Namer|trope is named for]] [[The Medic|Doctor Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy]]. He not only stressed humanism, [[Strawman Emotional|he was all but dominated by his emotions]], to the point that he seemed to find ''no'' value in logic whatsoever, even in situations where it would fit... um, logically. There are many ''[[
** There's a clear ideological bent this way in Starfleet medical school in
*** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' had Kira Nerys, while Odo was usually the more logical one.
*** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' used [[The Captain|Captain Janeway]] in this role, while Tuvok and Chakotay would ''try'' to balance ''her'' out with logic.
**** Tom Paris also had his McCoy moments.
*** ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' had "Trip" Tucker (engineer).
* ''[[Firefly]]'': [[Genki Girl|Kaylee]] often was the one who was more about the right thing, like not abandoning [[Child Soldier|River]] and [[The Medic|Simon]].
** [[The Medic|Simon]] is a [[The Spock|Spock]] in most cases, but he turns into a
* Jack O'Neill in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' was more often than not
** Daniel himself is more often
*** Both Jack and Daniel could turn into
*** While Teal'c is usually the Spock, he has had his time as the [[
* ''[[Lost in Space]]'' had its own [[Freudian Trio]] with Will Robinson, the Robot and Doctor Smith. Ironically, the most logical of them all, the Robot, would frequently prove his great titanium alloy heart by performing a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] for the crew.
** Although Doctor Smith was closer to [[The Spock]] with his self-serving interests, he had quite a few [[Pet the Dog]] moments of humanistic behaviour himself.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Willow and [[The Heart|Xander]]
** When Willow was kidnapped, the Scoobies (especially Oz) were
*** Buffy herself was
* [[
* Ironically, Jack McCoy of ''[[Law and Order]]'' is not
* Sheldon, from ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'', insists that since he's [[The Spock|Spock]] and Leonard is [[The Kirk|Kirk]] then Leonard's girlfriend Stephanie must be
* Wilson from ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' is a prime example of this [[Trope]]. He is a stark contrast to House himself, who doesn't give a damn about anyone. In the words of his snarky counterpart, "You love everybody. That's your pathology.".
* Sam is very much
* Delenn in [[Babylon
* [[Power Rangers]]. In general, all the colors are this, although Reds tend to be the most McCoy-ish. (Cole, Casey, and Conner all get special mentions, though really any rookie Red counts.)
* Zhaan, Chiana, and to a lesser degree Jool served as
* "Doc" Soto in [[Alcatraz (TV series)|Alcatraz]] seems to be slipping into this role in opposition to Hauser's [[The Spock|Spock]].
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* Tidus practically embodies this [[Trope]] in [[Final Fantasy X]], frequently throwing all respect for the alien culture he finds himself washed up in to the winds in order to do what he perceives as the right thing, particularly when it involves stopping people from dying.
* The titular character from [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], in contrast to [[The Kirk|Tails]] and [[The Spock|Knuckles]].
* [[The Hero|Lloyd Irving]] in [[
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** Mostly Elan, as Durkon usually takes a more passive role. And has more common sense. Durkon is the [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|party Scotsman]], though...
** Miko Miyazaki was also sometimes like this, although she mostly expressed her concern by [[Knight Templar|slicing the cause of the problem to ribbons]].
* Conrad from [[Hanna Is Not a
* Arcturus Winrock from [[Suicide for Hire]] pulled a HUGE McCoy on Hunter when he killed a cancer patient.
* In [[Harkovast]] Scatterpod plays
== Web
* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe|Global Guardians]], both Arachne and Ultra-Man fill the roll of
* Mudd from [[The Book of Stories
== Western Animation ==
* Katara from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. She once detained the group for three days to help a village who lived on a polluted river, even destroying the factory that polluted it.
** This being significant because they are on the way to save the world from [[A Nazi
* Sam in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. She forces Vegan meals and steals frogs from being dissected in her school, displays her disguise on a [[Beauty Contest]] to bring individuality to the girls, and other humanitarian beliefs she has up her sleeves. When she's not doing that, then she makes sure Danny is going the right path.
* Mikey Blumberg from ''[[Recess]]''
== Real Life ==
* [[Winston Churchill]] was a
** [[The Spock|Spocks]] seem to end up as a [[Number Two]] in [[Real Life]] as much as Hollywood.
* Maria Theresa often seems to come off as a
* A number of political controversies seem to be about [[Emotions vs. Stoicism|McCoyness versus Spockness]]. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|No Examples Please!]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]]
[[Category:The Idealist]]
[[Category:Emotion Tropes]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, The}}
▲[[Category:The Mc Coy]]
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