Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: Personnel File

Bones McCoy is the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 as well as several of its successor vessels and lived well into the late 24th century. He is notable for being one of the few main characters who never attended Starfleet Academy but that is only the beginning of his story.

This lore video contains condensed information drawn from both canon and apocryphal sources so may be subject to change in later depictions.

Star Trek Online developed by Cryptic Studios and Perfect World.
Star Trek Picard/Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks/Enterprise/Voyager/Deep Space Nine/Discovery and The Next Generation are all owned by Paramount Pictures/CBS and distributed by CBS.
This Video is for critical purposes with commentary.

[michaelmacleod]

Deforrest was the heart of that cast. He had the sternness of Shatner and the sarcasm and wit of Nichelle, with the stocism of Leonard. He was a great character actor to boot. Kelly is one of the main reasons why The Original Series cast is my absolute favourite.

[golgarisoul]

Honestly, Bones is my favorite of the TOS crew. He's always a joy to watch being so sour and has a more down to earth quality to him that is different from Kirk and Spock's legendary personalities.

[barrybend]

The man cured Kidney failure with a pill.

[KingofKarnies]

McCoy is the role model for Combat Medics.

[whirledpeaz]

I found the events of the episode" The Empath" cemented my respect for his courage.

[safebox]

I don't know why I never realised this till SNW, but Bones isn't the ship's doctor technically; he's the ship's chief surgeon.
You go to Mbenga for a general medical issues and go to Bones for operations and life-saving treatment.

Edit: this isn't a retcon either, it's backed up by a few TOS episodes by McCoy, Mbenga, and Kirk

[lanternsown]

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy is one of my Favorite Star Trek Characters, fun fact his actor Deforest Kelley was offered his pick of any main character he wanted Kelley chose Bones because the character's sense of humor and down to earth nature.

Kelley also gave the character some of his background as he and Bones come from Georgia and both their fathers were named David; McCoy was the archetypal Frontier Doctor from the tv and movie westerns of that time period, reimagined in a sci fi setting with a wonderful sense of depth and humanity add by Kelley himself and Star Trek's creative team.

[Elnont]

Bones will always be my favourite, he’s an underratedly complex character whom was always played to perfection - not to mention what a widely agreed gem of a man DeForest Kelley was.

I think the biggest issue the kelvin timeline has is the underuse of McCoy. They forget that TOS isn’t about just Spock and Kirk - it’s the iconic trio of McCoy, Kirk and Spock that makes up the perfect human.

[johnlewis]

I just drove past Emory and crossed the Chattahoochee river driving home in my commute! I had no idea he was from Georgia. It explains why he is a good Southern gentleman!

[Zeithri]

Spock, the logical mind.
McCoy, the emotional heart.
Fantastic characters.

" _SHUT UP SPOCK, WE'RE SAVING YOU!_ "
" _Why thank you... CAPTAIN McCoy._ "

And

" _Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!_ "

[johnmoore]

Kirk was the warrior. Spock was the intellect. McCoy was the heart. Scotty was the fixer.

[jehhhGames]

NGL Kinda surprised there wasnt a mention or a poke fun at his "Damn it Jim I'm a doctor not a...." line he used alot.

[LoneTiger]

Kirk: _"You're suffering from a Vulcan mind meld, Doctor."_
McCoy: _"That green-blooded son of a bitch! It's his revenge for all the arguments he lost."_

[gem.dionisio]

I wasnt born during the TOS run, but seen the films. But my favorite is the TNG ep. Encounter at Farpoint. I was touched by his quote about the Enterprise D "Treat her like a lady, and she’ll always bring you home".

I think Geordi mentioned that line (the last line) on pickard.

[MadcapMachinations]

I always love characters like Bones simply because of I have trouble communicating to the people I care about myself.

[liljenborg]

I am glad you did not go with the Kelvinverse silly explanation of his nickname being the result of a bitter comment about his divorce. Ship's doctors have been given the nickname "bones" since the days of sailing ships when they were known as "sawbones" because one of their most frequent surgeries was amputating limbs mangled by cannonballs or (more likely) shards of oak hull timbers. It would be like saying the "Skipper" from Gilligans Island was nicknamed "Skipper" because he liked to skip rocks from the beach.

[chunkychuck]

By the accounts I've read / heard, "Dee" DeForest Kelley was a nice guy too. That always makes me happy to hear.

[jamesabernethy]

I haven't caught many of these personnel files but wanted to watch this one. McCoy was my favourite of the original Characters and there was much more in his timeline than I thought there would be so thank you. Although Kirk and Spock had a lot to do too, Fridays Child was one of my favourite episodes because it was McCoy heavy. DeForest was a very private man, but when it was himself he seemed a really warm and genuine man. Great video.

[Lazarus]

It's strange how so many of the people that made the original series memorable were veterans of World War Two.

[robstein]

My headcanon is that his famous quote is quite literal: he only has expertise in the medical field. Had he become a doctor through starfleet, he would have training in multiple skills outside of medicine.

It seems like most people in this era are encouraged to learn multiple skills and interests, and Bones is strictly “just a Doctor”