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| gender = Male
 
| gender = Male
 
| species = [[Human]]
 
| species = [[Human]]
| affiliation = [[Federation]] [[Starfleet]]
+
| affiliation = [[United Federation of Planets]] <br /> [[Starfleet]]
 
| rank = [[Admiral]]
 
| rank = [[Admiral]]
 
| occupation = [[Chief medical officer]]<br />[[Science officer]] ([[2285]])
 
| occupation = [[Chief medical officer]]<br />[[Science officer]] ([[2285]])
 
| status = Retired
 
| status = Retired
 
| datestatus = 2364
 
| datestatus = 2364
| born = [[2227]]
+
| born = [[2227]],<br>[[Georgia]], [[United States of America]], [[Earth]]
 
| father = [[David McCoy]]
 
| father = [[David McCoy]]
 
| marital_status = Divorced, remarried and separated
 
| marital_status = Divorced, remarried and separated
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{{aquote|You're an old fashioned boy, McCoy.|James T. Kirk|2267|Space Seed}}
 
{{aquote|You're an old fashioned boy, McCoy.|James T. Kirk|2267|Space Seed}}
   
'''Leonard H. McCoy''', [[Doctor|MD]] was a noted [[physician]] and [[scientist]] of the [[23rd century|23rd]] and [[24th century|24th centuries]]. McCoy was an accomplished [[surgeon]], [[physician]], [[psychologist]], and [[exobiologist]], and was also considered an expert in [[space psychology]]. As ship's surgeon and [[chief medical officer]], he served aboard the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} and {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-A|-A}} for a combined twenty-seven years.
+
[[Admiral]] '''Leonard H. McCoy''', [[Doctor|MD]] was a male [[Human]] [[Starfleet]] [[officer]] of the [[23rd century|23rd]] and [[24th century|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|NCC-1701}} and {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-A|-A}} for a combined twenty-seven years. (''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]''; {{film|2}}; {{film|6}}; {{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}}; {{VOY|Lifesigns|Message in a Bottle}})
   
 
== Early life ==
 
== Early life ==
Dr. Leonard McCoy was born in the "Old South" region of [[United States of America|North America]] on [[Earth]] in [[2227]]. He was the son of [[David McCoy]]. ({{film|3}}; {{TAS|Once Upon a Planet}}; {{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}})
+
Dr. Leonard McCoy was born in [[Georgia]], [[United States of America|USA]], [[Earth]], in [[2227]]. He was the son of [[David McCoy]]. ({{film|3}}; {{TAS|Once Upon a Planet}}; {{TOS|This Side of Paradise}}; {{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}}; {{film|5}})
   
McCoy was attending the [[University of Mississippi]] during the mid-[[2240s]] when he met the joined [[Trill]] [[Emony Dax|Emony]] [[Dax (symbiont)|Dax]], who was visiting [[Earth]] to judge a gymnastics competition. While [[Jadzia Dax]] did not go into detail regarding the exact nature of their relationship, much may be inferred from her statement that "''he had the hands of a surgeon''". ({{DS9|Trials and Tribble-ations}})
+
McCoy was attending the [[University of Mississippi]] during the mid-[[2240s]] when he met the joined [[Trill]] [[Emony Dax|Emony]] {{dis|Dax|symbiont}}, who was visiting [[Earth]] to judge a [[gymnastics]] competition. While [[Jadzia Dax]] did not go into detail regarding the exact nature of their relationship, much may be inferred from her statement that "''he had the hands of a surgeon''". ({{DS9|Trials and Tribble-ations}})
   
  +
{{bginfo|While it was made clear that in the alternate reality McCoy attended and graduated [[Starfleet Academy]], this obviously was not true in the prime universe--although he did, of course, received a [[Starfleet]] [[Officer]]'s [[commission]]. [[DS9]]:"[[Trials and Tribble-ations]]" established McCoy's ''alma mater'' as the University of Mississippi--and, in [[TOS]]:"[[The Ultimate Computer]]", McCoy did not understand the reference to "[[dunsel]]" in [[Robert Wesley|Commodore Robert Wesley]] referring to Kirk as "Captain Dunsel". [[Spock]] had to explain to McCoy that the term was used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy--a reference McCoy would have understood had he attended the Academy.}}
He began studying medicine in or before [[2245]]. While in medical school, McCoy and his friends used to play [[practical joke]]s 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|The Pirates of Orion}})
 
   
 
He began studying medicine in or before [[2245]]. While in medical school, McCoy and his friends used to play [[practical joke]]s 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|The Pirates of Orion}})
{{bginfo|McCoy's graduation date from medical school is never confirmed in a ''Star Trek'' production, but with four years of pre-med followed by four years of medical school, McCoy would normally have received his medical degree in [[2253]], assuming he started college at the age of eighteen in 2245. Kirk's statement in 2270 that McCoy had spent "25 years in medicine" seems to support this.}}
 
  +
 
{{bginfo|McCoy's graduation date from medical school was never confirmed in a ''Star Trek'' production, but with four years of pre-med followed by four years of medical school, McCoy would normally have received his medical degree in [[2253]], assuming he started college at the age of eighteen in 2245. Kirk's statement in 2270 that McCoy had been a doctor for twenty-five years seemed to support this.}}
   
 
== Early career ==
 
== Early career ==
 
In [[2251]], McCoy led a massive inoculation program on [[planet]] [[Dramia II]], where he saved a [[Dramian]] [[colonist]], named [[Kol-Tai]], from a strain of the [[Saurian virus]]. Shortly after McCoy departed, Dramia II was struck by a plague which killed nearly all of the colonists. ({{TAS|Albatross}})
 
In [[2251]], McCoy led a massive inoculation program on [[planet]] [[Dramia II]], where he saved a [[Dramian]] [[colonist]], named [[Kol-Tai]], from a strain of the [[Saurian virus]]. Shortly after McCoy departed, Dramia II was struck by a plague which killed nearly all of the colonists. ({{TAS|Albatross}})
   
By [[2253]], McCoy had 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}})
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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}})
 
{{bginfo|McCoy [[#Family and relationships|divorced]] his wife and enrolled in [[Starfleet Academy]] in the [[alternate reality]] in [[2255]]. ({{film|11}}) The novel ''[[Shadows on the Sun]]'' states the prime reality McCoy separated from his wife and then enrolled in 2253.}}
 
   
 
{{bginfo|McCoy [[#Family and relationships|divorced]] his wife and enrolled in [[Starfleet Academy]] in the [[alternate reality]] in [[2255]]. ({{film|11}}) The novel ''[[Shadows on the Sun]]'' stated the prime reality McCoy separated from his wife and then enrolled in 2253.}}
[[File:McCoy's first visit to Capella IV.jpg|thumb|First visit to [[Capella IV]]]]
 
After promotion to [[lieutenant commander]], McCoy was stationed at [[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|NCC-1701}}'s [[five-year mission]] in [[2266]]. The knowledge of Capellan customs he acquired on this mission would prove valuable. ({{TOS|Friday's Child}}; {{film|6}})
 
   
 
[[File:McCoy's first visit to Capella IV.jpg|thumb|First visit to Capella IV]]
{{bginfo|McCoy is seen in a playback video wearing a late [[2260s]] uniform with ''Enterprise'' insignia rather than the [[Starfleet uniform (2250s-2260s)|pilot version]] [[Starfleet uniform]] which is what he should have historically been wearing.}}
 
 
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|NCC-1701}}'s [[five-year mission]]. The knowledge of Capellan customs he acquired on this mission would prove valuable. ({{TOS|Friday's Child}}; {{film|6}})
 
{{clear}}
 
{{clear}}
   
 
== The five-year mission ==
 
== The five-year mission ==
Joining the crew of the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}}, already underway in [[2266]], McCoy replaced Dr. [[Mark Piper]] as the starship's [[chief medical officer]] and ship's surgeon. His assigned [[quarters]] were "3F 127" on Deck 9, section 2. ({{TOS|Where No Man Has Gone Before|The Corbomite Maneuver|The Man Trap}})
+
In 2266, McCoy was the [[Biology|Life Sciences]] department head and the chief medical officer of the ''Enterprise''. His assigned [[quarters]] were "3F 127" on [[Constitution class decks|Deck 9]], section 2. His predecessor was [[Doctor|Dr.]] [[Mark Piper]]. ({{TOS|Where No Man Has Gone Before|The Corbomite Maneuver|The Man Trap}})
   
 
[[James T. Kirk|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}})
 
[[James T. Kirk|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}})
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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.
 
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.
   
When the creature began taking the lives of ''Enterprise'' crew members on the surface and aboard the ship itself, McCoy's judgment was tainted by his past feelings for Nancy. It was only when [[Spock]] was assaulted and Captain Kirk's life was in jeopardy that Dr. McCoy was able to see past the illusion of Nancy, forcing him to fire a phaser on a sentient being, the last of its kind. ({{TOS|The Man Trap}})
+
When the creature began taking the lives of ''Enterprise'' crew members on the surface and aboard the ship itself, McCoy's judgment was tainted by his past feelings for Nancy. It was only when [[Spock]] was assaulted and Captain Kirk's life was in jeopardy that Dr. McCoy was able to see past the illusion of Nancy, forcing him to fire a [[phaser]] at a sentient being, the last of its kind. ({{TOS|The Man Trap}})
   
[[File:McCoy Barrows flirt 2267.jpg|thumb|with [[Tonia Barrows]] in [[2267]]]]
+
[[File:McCoy Barrows flirt 2267.jpg|thumb|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|white rabbit]] followed by a [[Alice (character)|little girl]].
 
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|white rabbit]] followed by a [[Alice (character)|little girl]].
   
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[[File:McCoyDeath.jpg|thumb|left|The apparent death of McCoy]]
 
[[File:McCoyDeath.jpg|thumb|left|The apparent death of McCoy]]
Convinced it was illusion and could not harm him, McCoy stood his ground against a charge &ndash; impaled in the chest, he died instantly. McCoy was brought underground, healed, and returned to the surface with two cabaret chorus girls he 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}})
+
Convinced it was illusion and could not harm him, McCoy stood his ground against a charge &ndash; impaled in the chest, he died instantly. McCoy was brought underground, healed, and returned to the surface with two cabaret chorus girls he 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 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 their communicators were stolen by the children. 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}})
+
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 their communicators were stolen by the children. 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}})
   
 
On stardate 3417, McCoy's [[tonsil]]s, which had been removed some years earlier, re-grew when he was briefly under the influence of the [[Omicron spore]]s. 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}})
 
On stardate 3417, McCoy's [[tonsil]]s, which had been removed some years earlier, re-grew when he was briefly under the influence of the [[Omicron spore]]s. 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}})
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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.
 
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 meet social worker Edith Keeler but have trouble locating McCoy. Using an improvised [[tricorder]] device, Spock determined that Keeler's death is 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 Kirk noticed that Keeler was crossing the street nearby in front of a speeding car. Kirk tried to rush forward to save her life, but McCoy, realizing that this is 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}})
+
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 &ndash; 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 is the first xenophysician to actually treat one of the creatures, healing the wounded mother with a bandage of [[thermal concrete]]. "''By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!''" ({{TOS|The Devil in the Dark}})
+
After the first discovery of a [[silicon-based lifeform]] on [[Janus VI]], the [[Horta]] matriarch, McCoy was the first xenophysician to actually treat one of the creatures, healing the wounded mother with a bandage of [[thermal concrete]]. "''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 [[Neural parasite (23rd century)|neural parasites]], a plague of one-celled flying creatures linked in a collective mind that had been sweeping across whole [[star system]]s and destroying all humanoid life. ({{TOS|Operation -- Annihilate!}})
+
He was also the first to describe the deadly habits and help find the cure for the flying {{dis|neural parasite|23rd century}}s, a plague of one-celled flying creatures linked in a collective mind that had been sweeping across whole [[star system]]s and destroying all humanoid life. ({{TOS|Operation -- Annihilate!}})
   
 
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 from [[Klingon]] interference.
 
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 from [[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.
+
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 Spock's annoyance, 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}})
 
Eleen, having grown fond of McCoy, named the child [[Leonard James Akaar]], much to Spock's annoyance, 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}})
   
 
[[File:Last word.jpg|thumb|Dr. McCoy happy at finally getting the last word]]
 
[[File:Last word.jpg|thumb|Dr. McCoy happy at finally getting the last word]]
Although possessing limited surgical experience in [[Vulcan]] [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]], McCoy successfully operated on [[Ambassador]] [[Sarek]] of Vulcan, Spock's father, 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 [[Orion]]s.
+
Although possessing limited surgical experience in [[Vulcan]] [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]], McCoy successfully operated on [[Ambassador]] [[Sarek]] of {{dis|Vulcan|planet}}, Spock's father, 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 [[Orion]]s.
   
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}})
+
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]] star system, the USS ''Enterprise'' encountered an [[Eymorg starship]], whose occupant, [[Kara (Eymorg)|Kara]] rendered the crew unconscious. Upon waking, they discovered that Spock's brain had been stolen.
+
While mapping near the [[Sigma Draconis]] star system, the ''Enterprise'' encountered an [[Eymorg starship]], whose occupant, {{dis|Kara|Eymorg}} rendered the crew unconscious. Upon waking, they discovered that Spock's brain had been stolen.
   
 
It fell on 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 on McCoy to use an advanced [[Great Teacher]] machine to learn how to replace the brain back within his body.
 
It fell on 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 on McCoy to use an advanced [[Great Teacher]] machine to learn how to replace the brain back within his body.
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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}})
 
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}})
   
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 she was being held by the Vians. McCoy was nearly killed after volunteering himself to satisfy the Vians' demands for an experimental subject to teach Gem the value of self-sacrifice. ({{TOS|The Empath}})
+
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 she was being held by the [[Vian]]s. McCoy was nearly killed after volunteering himself to satisfy the Vians' demands for an experimental subject to teach Gem the value of self-sacrifice. ({{TOS|The Empath}})
   
In 2267, the USS ''Enterprise'' found the {{USS|Defiant|NCC-1764}} 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}})
+
In 2267, the USS ''Enterprise'' found the {{USS|Defiant|NCC-1764}} 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}})
   
 
[[File:McCoyNatira.jpg|thumb|left|The joining of McCoy and Natira]]
 
[[File:McCoyNatira.jpg|thumb|left|The joining of McCoy and Natira]]
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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}})
 
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}})
{{bginfo|McCoy's sleeve braid changes back and forth from lieutenant commander to commander throughout TAS, possibly due to the vagaries of Filmation's "limited animation" ''modus operandi''. The same happened to Scotty.}}
+
{{bginfo|McCoy's sleeve braid changes back and forth from lieutenant commander to commander throughout TAS, possibly due to the vagaries of Filmation's "limited animation" ''modus operandi''. The same happened to Scotty.}}
   
 
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.
 
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.
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Later that year, McCoy was among the landing party that beamed down to inspect the [[Unnamed Alpha and Beta Quadrant planets#Taurean system planets|second]] [[planet]] of the [[Taurean system]]. He was among those affected by the glandular secretion of the [[Taurean]] females, known for controlling the male mind.
 
Later that year, McCoy was among the landing party that beamed down to inspect the [[Unnamed Alpha and Beta Quadrant planets#Taurean system planets|second]] [[planet]] of the [[Taurean system]]. He was among those affected by the glandular secretion of the [[Taurean]] females, 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. He and the landing party were eventually recovered by an all female ''Enterprise'' security detachment lead by [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] and returned to their previous ages by use of their molecular pattern stored in the [[transporter]] system. ({{TAS|The Lorelei Signal}})
+
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. He and the landing party were eventually recovered by an all female ''Enterprise'' security detachment lead by [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] and returned to their previous ages by use of their molecular pattern stored in the [[transporter]] system. ({{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]] from some nineteen years earlier. McCoy feared that he might have accidentally been responsible for the plague that killed the [[Dramian]]s and that he might be found guilty.
 
In [[2270]], following a delivery of medical supplies to [[Dramia]], McCoy was arrested for the wanton mass murder of the colonists of [[Dramia II]] from some nineteen years earlier. McCoy feared that he might have accidentally been responsible for the plague that killed the [[Dramian]]s and that he might be found guilty.
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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 [[antibody|antibodies]] and was able to save the crew. McCoy was later honored by the Dramians in a series of ceremonies, for his significant achievements in the field of interstellar medicine. ({{TAS|Albatross}})
 
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 [[antibody|antibodies]] and was able to save the crew. McCoy was later honored by the Dramians in a series of ceremonies, 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 from an aquatic predator.
+
On stardate 5499.9, while exploring the ocean planet {{dis|Argo|planet}} to study the regular [[seismic]] disturbances there, Kirk and Spock were separated from the rest of the landing party during an attack from an aquatic predator.
   
 
They were found later, but 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.
 
They were found later, but 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.
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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}})
 
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 [[Caretaker (Shore Leave Planet)|Caretaker]] had died and the planet's central computer was rebelling against its programming, assaulting the landing party with dangerous manifestations.
+
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 {{dis|Caretaker|Shore Leave Planet}} had died and the planet's central computer was rebelling against its programming, assaulting the landing party with dangerous manifestations.
   
 
McCoy was able to trick 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}})
 
McCoy was able to trick 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 ===
 
=== As an "old country doctor" in the 23rd century ===
McCoy frequently displayed a very 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}}; {{film|4}})
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McCoy frequently displayed a very 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 &ndash; 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}}; {{film|4}})
   
 
He also distrusted other highly technological devices, especially the [[transporter]]. ({{TOS|Space Seed|Obsession}}; {{film|1}}; {{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}})
 
He also distrusted other highly technological devices, especially the [[transporter]]. ({{TOS|Space Seed|Obsession}}; {{film|1}}; {{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}})
   
While technically only [[lieutenant commander]] in rank, McCoy was still the only person on the ''Enterprise'' 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 is very compassionate, and cares deeply about all living things.
+
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 complex]] 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}})
 
While on [[Miri]]'s planet, McCoy discovered a vaccine for the deadly [[life prolongation complex]] 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}})
   
[[File:McCoy beard.jpg|thumb|left|McCoy and the [[beard]] he grew during his off time]]
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[[File:McCoy beard.jpg|thumb|left|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]]. ({{film|1}})
 
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]]. ({{film|1}})
   
{{bginfo|The ''[[Star Trek Chronology]]'' speculates that McCoy entered a private medical practice between 2270 and 2272. The [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture (novel)|novelization of ''The Motion Picture'']] indicates that McCoy spent two and a half years spreading the Fabrini's cure for xenopolycythemia.}}
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{{bginfo|The ''[[Star Trek Chronology]]'' speculated that McCoy entered a private medical practice between 2270 and 2272. The [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture (novel)|novelization of ''The Motion Picture'']] indicated that McCoy spent two and a half years spreading the Fabrini's cure for xenopolycythemia.}}
   
 
== Later career ==
 
== Later career ==
[[File:Leonard McCoy, 2270s.jpg|thumb|[[Commander]], circa [[2270s]]]]
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[[File:Kirk and McCoy, 2270s.jpg|thumb|"''Damn it, Bones. I need you.'' Badly!"]]
On stardate 7410, McCoy's commission was reactivated by [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Nogura]], using a "little-known, seldom-used, [[reserve activation clause]]" at the request of now [[Admiral]] James T. Kirk. McCoy 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''. ({{film|1}})
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In the mid-[[2270s]], McCoy's commission was reactivated by [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Nogura]], using a "little-known, seldom-used, [[reserve activation clause]]" at the request of now [[Admiral]] James T. Kirk. McCoy 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''. ({{film|1}})
   
Years later, on stardate [[2285|8130.3]], Dr. McCoy served as a [[Starfleet Academy]] instructor aboard the ''Enterprise'' under Captain Spock, helping to acclimate new Starfleet doctors and nurses to shipboard medicine, and evaluating cadets during intense psychological tests such as the [[Kobayashi Maru scenario|''Kobayashi Maru'' scenario]]. However, during what was supposed to be a three-week training cruise, the ''Enterprise'' was attacked by [[Khan Noonien Singh]], who sought revenge for his imposed exile by Kirk and the subsequent death of his wife. McCoy accompanied Kirk in the landing party to rescue the surviving [[scientist]]s of [[Project Genesis]], and was able to witness the results of [[Carol Marcus]]' work on the project beneath the [[Regula]] planetoid.
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In {{dis|March|month}} [[2285]], McCoy was a participant in [[Saavik]]'s ''[[Kobayashi Maru]]'' [[Kobayashi Maru scenario|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 an investigation by the ''Enterprise''. 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 [[scientist]]s 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)|Genesis Planet]]. ({{film|2}})
 
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)|Genesis Planet]]. ({{film|2}})
 
   
 
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. The significance of the Vulcan ''katra'' was explained to Kirk by Spock's father Sarek, and 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 Vulcan.
 
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. The significance of the Vulcan ''katra'' was explained to Kirk by Spock's father Sarek, and 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 Vulcan.
   
[[File:Spock and Leonard McCoy in Klingon sickbay.jpg|thumb|left|An exasperated McCoy looks down at an unconscious Spock, while carrying his ''[[katra]]'']]
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[[File:Spock and Leonard McCoy in Klingon sickbay.jpg|thumb|left|An exasperated McCoy looks down at an unconscious Spock, while carrying his ''katra'']]
 
Although ''Enterprise'' was disabled and Kirk's son killed by rogue Klingons, the crew managed to commandeer the attacking Klingon vessel and take McCoy and the rejuvenated Spock on to Vulcan. Spock's ''katra'' was restored via the ''[[fal-tor-pan]]'', an ancient, legendary [[Vulcan]] technique. ({{film|3}}) 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.
 
Although ''Enterprise'' was disabled and Kirk's son killed by rogue Klingons, the crew managed to commandeer the attacking Klingon vessel and take McCoy and the rejuvenated Spock on to Vulcan. Spock's ''katra'' was restored via the ''[[fal-tor-pan]]'', an ancient, legendary [[Vulcan]] technique. ({{film|3}}) 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.
   
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 [[whale]]s and save their future. McCoy was included in [[Hikaru Sulu|Sulu]]'s and Captain [[Montgomery Scott|Scott]]'s team to recover supplies for the construction of a whale tank aboard their ship.
+
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 whale]]s, 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 [[whale]]s and save their future. McCoy was included in [[Hikaru Sulu|Sulu]]'s and Captain [[Montgomery Scott|Scott]]'s team to recover supplies for the construction of a whale tank aboard their ship.
   
 
[[File:McCoy, 1986.jpg|thumb|McCoy finds himself in the "Dark Ages"]]
 
[[File:McCoy, 1986.jpg|thumb|McCoy finds himself in the "Dark Ages"]]
 
He later led a rescue team into a San Francisco hospital to save the critically-injured [[Pavel Chekov|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|NCC-1701-A|-A}}. ({{film|4}})
 
He later led a rescue team into a San Francisco hospital to save the critically-injured [[Pavel Chekov|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|NCC-1701-A|-A}}. ({{film|4}})
   
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 ''Enterprise'' was hijacked by the renegade Vulcan [[Sybok]], who forced McCoy to reveal his secret pain, the loss of his father, to Kirk and Spock (see "[[#Family and relationships|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. ({{film|5}})
+
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 ''Enterprise'' was hijacked by the renegade Vulcan [[Sybok]], who forced McCoy to reveal his secret pain, the loss of his father, to Kirk and Spock (see "[[#Family and relationships|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. ({{film|5}})
   
[[File:McCoy is arrested.jpg|thumb|left|McCoy in [[2293]], after failing to save Gorkon's life]]
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[[File:McCoy is arrested.jpg|thumb|left|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 Gorkon, who was critically wounded by an assassin's phaser, but was hindered by his limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy and physiology. The chancellor died, and McCoy was arrested with Kirk and charged with his assassination.
 
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 Gorkon, who was critically wounded by an assassin's phaser, but was hindered by his limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy and physiology. The chancellor died, and McCoy was arrested with Kirk and charged with his assassination.
   
Kirk and McCoy were put through a show trial by the [[Klingon Empire]], 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, McCoy and Kirk were rescued by Spock 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 (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]]. ({{film|6}})
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Kirk and McCoy were put through a show trial by the [[Klingon Empire]], 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, McCoy and Kirk were rescued by Spock 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]] {{dis|Chang|General}}'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]]. ({{film|6}})
   
[[File:Data and Leonard McCoy.jpg|thumb|[[Admiral]] McCoy touring the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} with [[Data]] in [[2364]]]]
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[[File:Data and Leonard McCoy.jpg|thumb|Admiral McCoy touring the USS ''Enterprise''-D with Data in 2364]]
On stardate [[2364|41153.7]], the 137-year old [[Admiral]] Leonard McCoy inspected the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} during its first mission. He commented on the great significance of the ship's name to Lieutenant Commander [[Data]], telling him "''You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home''." ({{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}})
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On stardate [[2364|41153.7]], the 137-year old Admiral Leonard McCoy inspected the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} during its first mission. He commented on the great significance of the ship's name to Lieutenant Commander [[Data]], telling him "''You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home''." ({{TNG|Encounter at Farpoint}})
   
{{bginfo|The reference manual ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual]]'' gives reference McCoy holding, in actuality, a special rank known as "branch admiral".}}
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{{bginfo|McCoy's promotion to Captain, while never seen on screen, has been stated in non-canon publications as having taken place sometime in the late 2290s. Several published works have also indicated that McCoy later served as the head of Starfleet Medical School and as the [[Starfleet Surgeon General]]. The reference manual ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual]]'' states that McCoy eventually became Chief of Starfleet Medical and held a special rank known as "branch admiral".}}
   
 
== Family and relationships ==
 
== Family and relationships ==
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In [[2268]] (during his stay on the ''Yonada''), McCoy fell in love with and married [[Natira]]. Though technically the marriage could be considered annulled by the removal of his [[instrument of obedience]], 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.
 
In [[2268]] (during his stay on the ''Yonada''), McCoy fell in love with and married [[Natira]]. Though technically the marriage could be considered annulled by the removal of his [[instrument of obedience]], 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}})
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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}})
   
{{bginfo|Though not shown on screen, Kirk indicated that he felt certain that he could arrange for the ''Enterprise'' to be on hand when the Yonadans disembarked on their new planet. In the [[TOS]] novel ''[[Ex Machina]]'', after a number of terrorist acts occured on Daran IV, Natira requested assistance from McCoy and the ''Enterprise''.}}
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{{bginfo|Though not shown on screen, Kirk indicated that he felt certain that he could arrange for the ''Enterprise'' to be on hand when the Yonadans disembarked on their new planet. In the [[TOS]] novel ''[[Ex Machina]]'', after a number of terrorist acts occurred on Daran IV, Natira requested assistance from McCoy and the ''Enterprise''.}}
   
 
=== Friendship ===
 
=== Friendship ===
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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 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}})
   
Displaying a fondness for the native 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 (planet)|Orion]]." ({{TOS|The Ultimate Computer}}) He was even known to put whiskey in baked beans. ({{film|5}})
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Displaying a fondness for the native 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 {{dis|Orion|planet}}." ({{TOS|The Ultimate Computer}}) He was even known to put whiskey in baked beans. ({{film|5}})
   
His closest friends aboard the ''Enterprise'' included [[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk|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 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.
+
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 by ostensibly injecting him 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}})
 
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 by ostensibly injecting him 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]], Kirk, Spock and McCoy were kidnapped by the [[Vian]]s, and forced to choose between themselves 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, only to be healed by the [[empath]]ic [[Gem]], another of the Vian's prisoners.
+
On Minara II, Kirk, Spock and McCoy were kidnapped by the Vians, and forced to choose between themselves 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, only to be healed by the [[empath]]ic Gem, another of the Vian's prisoners.
   
 
It was all a test, to see if Gem's people were worthy of salvation by the Vians from Minara's own supernova. ({{TOS|The Empath}})
 
It was all a test, to see if Gem's people were worthy of salvation by the Vians from Minara's own supernova. ({{TOS|The Empath}})
   
 
== Memorable quotes ==
 
== Memorable Quotes ==
 
 
*"''I'm a doctor, not a...''" (various episodes)
 
*"''I'm a doctor, not a...''" (various episodes)
   
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*"''Sounds like a Goddamn SPANISH INQUISITION to me!''" ({{film|4}})
 
*"''Sounds like a Goddamn SPANISH INQUISITION to me!''" ({{film|4}})
   
*(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!''" ({{film|4}})
+
*(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!''" ({{film|4}})
   
 
*"''My God Jim, where are we?''" ({{film|4}})
 
*"''My God Jim, where are we?''" ({{film|4}})
Line 266: Line 263:
 
*"''Because I'm a doctor, that's how I know!''" ({{TOS|Friday's Child}})
 
*"''Because I'm a doctor, that's how I know!''" ({{TOS|Friday's Child}})
   
*(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.''" ({{film|3}})
+
*(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.''" ({{film|3}})
   
 
*"''You really piss me off, Jim.''" ({{film|5}})
 
*"''You really piss me off, Jim.''" ({{film|5}})
Line 283: Line 280:
 
* [[Starfleet Legion of Honor]]
 
* [[Starfleet Legion of Honor]]
 
* [[Starfleet Surgeons Decoration]]
 
* [[Starfleet Surgeons Decoration]]
* ''[[Comparative Alien Physiology]]'' by Dr. McCoy is required reading at [[Starfleet Medical Academy]] through the [[2370s]].
+
* ''[[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]]
 
* [[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|NCC-1701-D|-D}}, during her maiden voyage in [[2364]].
+
* [[Admiral]] McCoy was invited to tour the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}, during her maiden voyage in [[2364]]
* [[EMH|Holographic Doctors]], under development in the [[24th century]], included McCoy in their templates.
+
* [[EMH|Holographic Doctors]], under development in the [[24th century]], included McCoy in their templates
   
 
== Chronology ==
 
== Chronology ==
 
* [[2227]]: Born on [[Earth]].
 
* [[2227]]: Born on [[Earth]].
* [[2240s]]: Attends the [[University of Mississippi]]; meets [[Emony Dax]].
+
* [[2240s]]: Attends the [[University of Mississippi]]; meets [[Emony Dax]]
**[[2245]]: Medical practice begins on or before this date.
+
**[[2245]]: Medical practice begins on or before this date
**[[2249]]: Daughter, [[Joanna McCoy|Joanna]], is born.
+
**[[2249]]: Daughter, [[Joanna McCoy|Joanna]], is born
*[[2250s]]: Commissioned to [[Starfleet]]
+
*[[2250s]]: Commissioned to [[Starfleet]]
** [[2251]]: Heads a massive inoculation program on [[Dramia II]].
+
** [[2251]]: Heads a massive inoculation program on [[Dramia II]]
** [[2253]]: Develops revolutionary surgical procedure, a cerebral-cortex/brain-tissue graft..
+
** [[2253]]: Develops revolutionary surgical procedure, a cerebral-cortex/brain-tissue graft
** [[2254]]: Becomes romantically involved with [[Nancy Crater]].
+
** [[2254]]: Becomes romantically involved with [[Nancy Crater]]
** [[2256]]: Ends relationship with Nancy.
+
** [[2256]]: Ends relationship with Nancy
*[[2260s]]: As a [[lieutenant commander]], visits [[Capella IV]] briefly before joining the ''Enterprise''.
+
*[[2260s]]: As a [[lieutenant commander]], visits [[Capella IV]] briefly before joining the ''Enterprise''
* [[2266]]-[[2270]]: Serves as ship's surgeon and [[chief medical officer]] aboard the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}}.
+
* [[2266]]-[[2270]]: Serves as ship's surgeon and [[chief medical officer]] aboard the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}}
** [[2268]]: Contracts ''[[xenopolycythemia]]''; briefly wed to [[Fabrini]] high priestess [[Natira]].
+
** [[2268]]: Contracts ''[[xenopolycythemia]]''; briefly wed to [[Fabrini]] high priestess [[Natira]]
** [[2269]]: Promoted to [[commander]].
+
** [[2269]]: Promoted to [[commander]]
* [[2270]]: Retires from [[Starfleet]] at conclusion of [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]'s five year mission.
+
* [[2270]]: Retires from [[Starfleet]] at conclusion of [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]'s five year mission
* [[2270s]]: His commission is re-activated at Kirk's insistence, during ''[[V'Ger]]'' incursion.
+
* [[2270s]]: His commission is re-activated at Kirk's insistence, during ''[[V'ger]]'' crisis
* [[2285]]: Instructor aboard USS ''Enterprise''.
+
* [[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|NCC-1701-A|-A}}.
+
* [[2286]]: Chief medical officer of the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-A|-A}}
* [[2293]]: Imprisoned on [[Rura Penthe]] and subsequent escape helps to uncover the [[Khitomer conspiracy]].
+
* [[2293]]: Imprisoned on [[Rura Penthe]] and subsequent escape helps to uncover the [[Khitomer conspiracy]]
* [[2364]]: Tours newly commissioned {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}.
+
* [[2364]]: Tours newly commissioned {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}
 
{{EnterpriseChiefMedicalOfficers}}
 
{{EnterpriseChiefMedicalOfficers}}
   
Line 315: Line 312:
 
Leonard McCoy was played by actor [[DeForest Kelley]]. Several novelizations of movies have identified McCoy's full middle name as "Horatio", but this was never established on screen.
 
Leonard McCoy was played by actor [[DeForest Kelley]]. Several novelizations of movies have identified McCoy's full middle name as "Horatio", but this was never established on screen.
   
The ''[[Star Trek Concordance]]'' establishes that his daughter Joanna was born around [[2249]], and was in training to become a nurse. It also establishes that although they write each other often, Dr. McCoy's duties aboard the USS ''Enterprise'' keep the two apart. The ''[[Star Trek Chronology]]'' provides additional background information on his divorce and his daughter. This scenario establishes that as a result of the divorce McCoy leaves the private practice (which he apparently rejoins in [[2270]]) to join Starfleet. {{e|The Way to Eden}} was originally written for and titled "Joanna", but was however rewritten and Joanna became [[Irina Galliulin]] The [[novels|novel]] ''[[Shadows on the Sun]]'' has as one of its subplots the story of his marriage and divorce, when his ex-wife arrives 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 &ndash; killed, ironically, by someone whose life McCoy saved on his first visit.
+
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. {{e|The Way to Eden}} was originally written for and titled "Joanna", but was however rewritten and Joanna became [[Irina Galliulin]]. The [[novels|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 &ndash; killed, ironically, by someone whose life McCoy saved on his first visit.
   
The ''[[Star Trek Encyclopedia]]'' speculates that [[Emony Dax]] and McCoy met around [[2245]], this based on the fact that McCoy appears 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 ''[[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.
 
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.
Line 324: Line 321:
   
 
=== Apocrypha ===
 
=== Apocrypha ===
In [[David Gerrold]]'s novelization of ''[[Encounter at Farpoint (novel)|Encounter at Farpoint]]'', 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.
+
In [[David Gerrold]]'s novelization of ''{{dis|Encounter at Farpoint|novel}}'', 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.
 
[[Michael Jan Friedman]]'s novel ''[[Shadows on the Sun]]'' elaborates on much of McCoy's backstory, particularly his marriage to Joanna's mother, {{Mbeta|Jocelyn Treadway|Jocelyn Darnell}}.
 
   
 
[[Michael Jan Friedman]]'s novel ''[[Shadows on the Sun]]'' elaborated on much of McCoy's backstory, particularly his marriage to Joanna's mother, {{mb|Jocelyn Treadway|Jocelyn Darnell}}.
In [[David R. George III]]'s novel, ''[[Provenance of Shadows]]'', McCoy is portrayed as passing away peacefully in [[2366]], at home on Earth in present-day Georgia. In this story, he is married to [[Tonia Barrows]], who is also still alive at advanced age during the story. Although they had been married for decades, when they married isn't exactly known.
 
   
 
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 is still 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 has around ten meters of cloned intestines inside him). He helps [[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 is subsequently the first person Kirk sees upon regaining consciousness.
 
   
 
In [[William Shatner]]'s novels, McCoy was still 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]] removed 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.
In the [[comics|comic book]] adaptation of the ''Star Wars'' novel ''Dark Force Rising'', McCoy (along with Kirk and Spock) makes a cameo on the planet Jomark.
 
   
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
* {{startrek.com|mccoy-leonard}}
 
* {{startrek.com|mccoy-leonard}}
* {{NCwiki}}
+
* {{mbeta}}
 
* {{Wikipedia}}
 
* {{Wikipedia}}
   
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[[ru:Леонард МакКой]]
 
[[ru:Леонард МакКой]]
 
[[sr:Leonard Mekoj]]
 
[[sr:Leonard Mekoj]]
[[Category:Humans|McCoy, Leonard]]
+
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Leonard}}
[[Category:Starfleet sciences personnel|McCoy, Leonard]]
+
[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel|McCoy, Leonard]]
+
[[Category:Starfleet sciences personnel]]
[[Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel|McCoy, Leonard]]
+
[[Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel]]
[[Category:Starfleet flag officers|McCoy, Leonard]]
+
[[Category:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel]]
[[Category:Medical practitioners|McCoy, Leonard]]
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[[Category:Starfleet flag officers]]
[[Category:Authors|McCoy, Leonard]]
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[[Category:Medical practitioners]]
  +
[[Category:Authors]]

Revision as of 17:11, 19 August 2015

For the alternate reality counterpart, please see Leonard McCoy (alternate reality).
For the mirror universe counterpart, please see Leonard McCoy (mirror).
"You're an old fashioned boy, McCoy."
– James T. Kirk, 2267 ("Space Seed")

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")

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. While Jadzia Dax did not go into detail regarding the exact nature of their relationship, much may be inferred from her statement that "he had the hands of a surgeon". (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")

While it was made clear that in the alternate reality McCoy attended and graduated Starfleet Academy, this obviously was not true in the prime universe--although he did, of course, received a Starfleet Officer's commission. DS9:"Trials and Tribble-ations" established McCoy's alma mater as the University of Mississippi--and, in TOS:"The Ultimate Computer", McCoy did not understand the reference to "dunsel" in Commodore Robert Wesley referring to Kirk as "Captain Dunsel". Spock had to explain to McCoy that the term was used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy--a reference McCoy would have understood had he attended the Academy.

He began studying medicine in or before 2245. 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", "The Pirates of Orion")

McCoy's graduation date from medical school was never confirmed in a Star Trek production, but with four years of pre-med followed by four years of medical school, McCoy would normally have received his medical degree in 2253, assuming he started college at the age of eighteen in 2245. Kirk's statement in 2270 that McCoy had been a doctor for twenty-five years seemed to support this.

Early career

In 2251, McCoy led a massive inoculation program on planet Dramia II, where he saved a Dramian colonist, named Kol-Tai, from a strain of the Saurian virus. Shortly after McCoy departed, Dramia II was struck by a plague which killed nearly all 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")

McCoy divorced his wife and enrolled in Starfleet Academy in the alternate reality in 2255. (Star Trek) The novel Shadows on the Sun stated the prime reality McCoy separated from his wife and then enrolled in 2253.
McCoy's first visit to Capella IV

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. (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")

File:Kirk Spock McCoy bridge 2267.jpg

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, Nancy had been murdered and replaced years before by what became known as the "M-113 creature".

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.

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

File:McCoy Barrows flirt 2267.jpg

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 the thoughts in their minds were being recorded and brought to life by a vast underground factory. 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.

File:McCoyDeath.jpg

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 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 their communicators were stolen by the children. 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")

On stardate 3417, McCoy's tonsils, which had been removed some years earlier, re-grew 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 xenophysician to actually treat one of the creatures, healing the wounded mother with a bandage of thermal concrete. "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 neural 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!")

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 from 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 Spock's annoyance, 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")

File:Last word.jpg

Dr. McCoy happy at finally getting the last word

Although possessing limited surgical experience in Vulcan anatomy and physiology, McCoy successfully operated on Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, Spock's father, 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 star 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 on 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 on McCoy to use an advanced Great Teacher machine to learn how to replace 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")

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 she was being held by the Vians. McCoy was nearly killed after volunteering himself to satisfy the Vians' demands for an experimental subject to teach Gem the value of self-sacrifice. (TOS: "The Empath")

In 2267, the USS 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")

File:McCoyNatira.jpg

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 would later change his mind about staying with the Fabrini, choosing rather 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")

McCoy's sleeve braid changes back and forth from lieutenant commander to commander throughout TAS, possibly due to the vagaries of Filmation's "limited animation" modus operandi. The same happened to Scotty.

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, he was certain that 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 may 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")

File:SpockMcCoyOld.jpg

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 Taurean females, 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. He and the landing party were eventually recovered by an all female Enterprise security detachment lead by Uhura and returned to their previous ages by use of their molecular pattern stored in the transporter system. (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 from some nineteen years earlier. McCoy feared that he might have accidentally been responsible for the plague that killed the Dramians 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. McCoy was later honored by the Dramians in a series of ceremonies, 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 from an aquatic predator.

They were found later, but 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 Caretaker had died and the planet's central computer was rebelling against its programming, assaulting the landing party with dangerous manifestations.

McCoy was able to trick 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 very 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"; 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 complex 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 beard

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. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The Star Trek Chronology speculated that McCoy entered a private medical practice between 2270 and 2272. The novelization of The Motion Picture indicated that McCoy spent two and a half years spreading the Fabrini's cure for xenopolycythemia.

Later career

Kirk and McCoy, 2270s

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

In the mid-2270s, McCoy's commission was reactivated by Fleet Admiral Nogura, using a "little-known, seldom-used, reserve activation clause" at the request of now Admiral James T. Kirk. McCoy 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)

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 an investigation by the Enterprise. 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)

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. The significance of the Vulcan katra was explained to Kirk by Spock's father Sarek, and 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 Vulcan.

Spock and Leonard McCoy in Klingon sickbay

An exasperated McCoy looks down at an unconscious Spock, while carrying his katra

Although Enterprise was disabled and Kirk's son killed by rogue Klingons, the crew managed to commandeer the attacking Klingon vessel and take McCoy and the rejuvenated Spock on to Vulcan. Spock's katra was restored via the fal-tor-pan, an ancient, legendary Vulcan technique. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) 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.

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, 1986

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)

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 Enterprise was hijacked by the renegade Vulcan Sybok, who 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 is arrested

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 Gorkon, who was critically wounded by an assassin's phaser, but was hindered by his limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy and physiology. The chancellor died, and McCoy was arrested with Kirk and charged with his assassination.

Kirk and McCoy were put through a show trial by the Klingon Empire, 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, McCoy and Kirk were rescued by Spock 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)

Data and Leonard McCoy

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

On stardate 41153.7, the 137-year old Admiral Leonard McCoy inspected the USS Enterprise-D during its first mission. He commented on the great significance of the ship's name to Lieutenant Commander Data, telling him "You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home." (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

McCoy's promotion to Captain, while never seen on screen, has been stated in non-canon publications as having taken place sometime in the late 2290s. Several published works have also indicated that McCoy later served as the head of Starfleet Medical School and as the Starfleet Surgeon General. The reference manual Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual states that McCoy eventually became Chief of Starfleet Medical and held a special rank known as "branch admiral".

Family and relationships

David McCoy

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 his own excellent weedkiller. (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 eventually 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 painfully incurable disease.

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

Soon after a cure was discovered, and McCoy subsequently lived many years in regret for causing his father's apparently needless death. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

McCoy eventually married and had a daughter named Joanna. Sadly, McCoy's marriage ended in a bitter divorce, and he was separated from his daughter, deepening his hardships. 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, Cerberus was saved by kind actions of Carter Winston. McCoy was quite grateful for this deed and expressed the most sincere thanks to Winston, ten years later, when he was rescued by the Enterprise. (TAS: "The Survivor")

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. Though technically the marriage could be considered annulled by the removal of his instrument of obedience, 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")

Though not shown on screen, Kirk indicated that he felt certain that he could arrange for the Enterprise to be on hand when the Yonadans disembarked on their new planet. In the TOS novel Ex Machina, after a number of terrorist acts occurred on Daran IV, Natira requested assistance from McCoy and the Enterprise.

Friendship

Kirk McCoy drink 2266

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")

Displaying a fondness for the native 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)

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 by ostensibly injecting him 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, Kirk, Spock and McCoy were kidnapped by the Vians, and forced to choose between themselves 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, only to be healed by the empathic Gem, another of the Vian's prisoners.

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

Memorable quotes

  • "I'm a doctor, not a..." (various episodes)
  • "He/she's dead, Jim." (various episodes)
  • "My god, man!" (various episodes)
  • "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")
  • "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)
  • (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)
  • (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)

See also

Honors

Chronology

Template:EnterpriseChiefMedicalOfficers

Appendices

Background information

File:Kelley TNG screen test.jpg

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

Leonard McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley. Several novelizations of movies have identified McCoy's full middle name as "Horatio", but this was never established on screen.

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 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.

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 four Starfleet officers (along with Spock, Scott, and Sulu) under James T. Kirk to have attained the rank of captain, as he was a retired admiral during the events of "Encounter at Farpoint".

Apocrypha

In David Gerrold's novelization of Encounter at Farpoint, 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.

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

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 still 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 removed 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.

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