The McCoy: Difference between revisions

[['''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]] 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]] 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|Red Oni}} in a [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]] combination.

* 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 ''[[Star Trek TOS|Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episodes wherein, had they listened to the Doctor instead of Spock, the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' would be a cloud of space dust. In fairness, that came with his position and area of responsibility, as well as his Hippocratic oath, and is why he was in charge of running the medical division and not the ship; but he often served as [[The Kirk|Kirk's]] [[The Conscience|conscience]].

== Web OriginalsOriginal ==

* Mudd from [[The Book of Stories OCT(Original Character Tournament)|''The Book of Stories'' (Original Character Tournament)]] was this.