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Spock, or Mr. Spock, is a main character from the original Star Trek TV series. Mr. Spock is one of the most enduring characters from American 1960s television. He is part alien: half-Vulcan, half-Human. He held various ranks within Starfleet but his service with Captain James T. Kirk as First Officer of the Starship Enterprise is his legacy. The character's appeal derives from Spock's socially conscious but technically proficient nature. His personal struggle between the Vulcan logical self and his human emotional self is the centerpiece of the character and created some evocative drama. He was portrayed by actor Leonard Nimoy (except for brief scenes of a much younger Spock in two later movies).
Personal life Spock is the son of the Vulcan ambassador Sarek and his human wife Amanda Grayson. Although Spock identified himself as Vulcan, he had an ongoing internal conflict between the reason and logic of his Vulcan half and the emotion and intuition of his human half. By human standards, however, he was incredibly logical and utterly unflappable in the face of danger. Spock had an older half-brother, Sybok, who eschewed pure logic, and was banished from Vulcan for his heresy. Spock is generally considered to have married at some point, because Captain Jean-Luc Picard once observed that he had met Sarek at "his son's wedding". Seeing as Sybok died before Picard was even born, it is safe to assume that he was referring to Spock's marriage. The non-canon novel Vulcan's Heart features the marriage of Spock and Saavik. In the episode "This Side of Paradise," when asked by Leila Kalomi whether he has another name, Spock responds "you couldn't pronounce it." In the episode "Journey to Babel" Spock's mother Amanda is asked about her last name. She replies that she can pronounce it "after a fashion and with much practice." It seems likely that his family name is unpronounceable by those who speak Federation Standard and Spock is his familiar/personal name. In the 1985 non-canon novel Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, Spock's and Sarek's family name is given as S'chn T'gai. Jane Wyatt, who played Spock's human mother Amanda in TOS, once told fans at a convention that Spock's first name was "Harold." (Of course, this is not confirmed by canon, so she must have only been joking.) In the non-canon novel ''Yesterday's Son'', Spock is revealed to have fathered a son while trapped in the past on the subsequently destroyed planet Sarpeidon. In the sequel, Time for Yesterday, Zar returns to mindmeld once more with the Guardian of Forever. Early years According to the animated series, Spock was subject to considerable harassment by his peers as a "half-breed" in his youth (this is largely corroborated by Spock's mother, Amanda's, statements in the episode Journey to Babel), and he was even called that by Captain Kirk's android clone in What are Little Girls Made of? .He was deeply conflicted as to what path to follow. To prove himself, he prematurely underwent an important coming of age trial without his parents' knowledge, but his pet sehlat, I-Chaya insisted on accompanying him against his guardian's wishes. During the trial, a dangerous beast attacked the pair and I-Chaya was seriously wounded fighting it. Although they were saved by a relative who had followed them (actually the adult Spock himself who had gone back in time to save himself at this moment), I-Chaya needed immediate medical attention. Although Spock was able to bring a healer, the sehlat was beyond meaningful aid when he arrived. When presented with the options granting his pet a painful extended life or a merciful release, Spock logically chose to have I-Chaya euthanized. That decision marked his commitment to follow the philosophies of Surak and the Vulcan ideals of logic and strict emotional control. (See Star Trek: The Animated Series for an explanation as to why this material is not considered canon by Paramount Pictures.) In 2267, he earned the Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor and held an A7 computer expert classification. Non-canon novels suggest that Spock in fact held the only A7 classification in Starfleet. Starfleet Nearly Spock's entire Starfleet career — he joined Starfleet against his father's wishes, as Sarek wanted his son to attend the Vulcan Science Academy — was spent serving onboard a single ship, the famous starship USS ''Enterprise''. The non-canon young adult novel 'Crisis on Vulcan' depicts Spock's first experience with the ship. He accompanies his father on a diplomatic mission aboard the Enterprise, and while there meets his future captain, Christopher Pike, then serving as the first officer under Robert April, the first captain of the Enterprise. Spock becomes impressed with the humans, and particularly with the logical setup of the ship, which leads him to consider a career in Starfleet, which becomes a serious consideration when Pike invites him to do so. He served for nearly eleven years under Captain Christopher Pike. Publications from the producers of the Original Series indicate that Spock's "backstory" had him assigned to the Enterprise while still a Cadet, and that he was later commissioned an Ensign and subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. The first time the viewing audience saw Spock he was a full Lieutenant, serving as a junior science officer onboard the Enterprise ("The Cage"), although series creator Gene Roddenberry originally billed Spock as the ship's First Lieutenant. Some of Spock's experiences serving under Captain Pike were depicted in the non-canon comic book series Star Trek: Early Voyages. Spock's first temporary command was in 2254 when he ordered the evacuation of the Enterprise from Talos IV, after all of the senior officers had been kidnapped by the hostile inhabitants. In the early 2260s, Spock was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and assigned a dual posting as both the Executive Officer (or First Officer) and Senior Science Officer of the Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk (Star Trek: The Original Series), with whom he became good friends. Spock was constantly getting into arguments with the more passionate Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Chief medical officer. By 2267, Spock had risen in rank to a full Commander. He resigned his commission in 2270 in order to return to Vulcan and undergo training for the Kolinahr discipline. In 2271, Spock returned to active duty, reinstated as a Commander, and posted as the Senior Science Officer to the USS Enterprise. Following the V'ger crisis (chronicled in Star Trek: The Motion Picture), and the loss of Enterprise Executive Officer, Captain Willard Decker, Spock apparently resumed his dual post of First Officer and Senior Science Officer of the USS Enterprise. It is assumed that another mission of exploration followed this event, however this has yet to be established into canon. A number of years later, the Enterprise was assigned as a training vessel under Starfleet Academy. Spock was promoted to Captain and assigned as the Commanding Officer of the USS Enterprise as Kirk had reverted to his former rank of Admiral in Starfleet Command. In 2285, Spock was temporarily relieved of command during the Genesis Crisis (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), when Admiral James T. Kirk took command of the Enterprise as per Starfleet regulations in order to investigate an emergency situation surrounding the Regula I scientific research space station, but ultimately resulting in combat with the exiled tyrant Khan Noonien Singh. During the final battle, Spock entered a radioactive antimatter control chamber without a protective suit. He performed this heroic deed in order to return the ship's warp engines to service just barely in time to allow the Enterprise to escape the explosion of the Genesis Device. When Kirk asked why he had done it, he replied: "It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." While the planet Genesis was created, Spock died. Rebirth Spock's death at the end of The Wrath of Khan was not the end of his story. Just before entering the radioactive control room, Spock had performed a mind meld with Dr. Leonard McCoy, and had transferred his katra, or spiritual essence, into Dr. McCoy's brain at death. In an honorary space burial Spock's body was enclosed in a torpedo and fired over the rapidly forming Genesis planet (the work of the Genesis terraforming project). The non-canon novelization of the film had postulated that Kirk's reasons for giving Spock this space burial were that Spock had requested in his will not to be returned to Vulcan, and to have Spock cremated when the torpedo casing burned up upon entry into the Genesis planet atmosphere. As the planet's gravitational fields were still in flux, the torpedo soft-landed instead of disintegrating in the atmosphere or crashing into the planet. Spock's dead cells were "regenerated" by the Genesis Wave, his body was actually "re-born" on the planet. (The nature of the katra was further explored in Star Trek: Enterprise; see the main article on Vulcans for more about the katra.) The USS Grissom soon arrived to study the planet. Dr. David Marcus and Saavik beamed down upon discovering an animal life form on the surface - which turned out to be the regenerated Captain Spock. Grissom was soon destroyed by a Klingon vessel that had arrived in orbit over Genesis. Soon it became apparent that Spock's body and the Genesis planet were linked together - as the planet rapidly aged so did Spock. It became clear that the Genesis planet was unstable and would soon destroy itself. At about the same time that Spock's body was regenerated on Genesis, his father Ambassador Sarek had visited Kirk at his apartment. He revealed to Kirk the existence of the katra, and that Spock would have transferred it to someone else at death. Sarek had assumed that since Spock and Kirk were so close, Spock would have chosen Kirk to carry his katra. But Spock was not able to touch Kirk before dying. Kirk knew that Spock would have chosen someone else, and by reviewing engineering tapes they found that Spock had mind melded with Doctor McCoy. Sarek remarked, "One alive, one not. Yet both in pain." Sarek told Kirk to bring both McCoy and Spock's body back to Mount Selaya on Vulcan so that both could be helped, or "find peace". Kirk attempted to get official sanction to return to Genesis to recover Spock's body. This permission was refused, so Kirk decided to steal the Enterprise and go there himself. Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov stole the Enterprise and left for Genesis. Upon arriving they faced a Klingon bird of prey commanded by Commander Kruge - who was determined to turn Genesis into a weapon for the Empire. Kirk was forced to destroy the Enterprise to prevent its capture by the Klingons, and kill Kruge in hand to hand combat on the planet surface. Kirk then saved Spock's body - which had reached about the same age that Spock was before his death on Enterprise, and tricked the one remaining Klingon into beaming him aboard Kruge's vessel. Kirk and his fellow shipmates were able to take control of the bird of prey and set course for Vulcan. Once Kirk's party arrived at Vulcan with Spock's body, they climbed the steps to the Vulcan temple at Mount Selaya. The priestess there confirmed that Spock's body was alive, and asked Sarek what he wanted done. Sarek asked for fal-tor-pan - the refusion of the katra into Spock's body. The priestess told Sarek that particular rite had not been done in many centuries and that his request was not logical. Sarek inisisted, saying "my logic is uncertain where my son is concerned" and the priestess asked for the person holding the katra. When McCoy announced that he held the katra, she told him that this would be extremely dangerous to both Spock and McCoy and that he would have to choose whether to proceed. McCoy chose the danger, and the fal-tor-pan ceremony was begun. After several hours, the fal-tor-pan ceremony was complete. Spock was about to leave with the other Vulcan monks when he stopped. Spock walked over and said to Kirk that his father had told him that he had been his friend and that Kirk came back for him. He asked Kirk why he would do such a thing, Kirk told him that the "needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many". Following this rebirth, Spock completed an accelerated training program and was reinstated as a Captain in Starfleet. Following a period of disorientation and amnesia, Spock's original personality and memories from his katra reasserted themselves. This was shown when Spock was able to answer all the questions asked of him during a test except one, that being "How do you feel?" When he did not know how to answer, his mother reassured him that the answer would come to him in time. Later, on Earth, Sarek asked Spock if he had a message for his mother before Sarek left for Vulcan. Spock asked his father to tell her that he felt fine. McCoy once asked Spock what his experience of death and rebirth felt like, telling Spock that he really had "...gone where no man has gone before." Spock replied that it would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference, which would perhaps mean that Spock did not know how to explain what he had experienced to other people or in a more jocular reference, that McCoy would have to die and be reborn to understand the answer. Later life In 2286, after the "Whale Song Incident", he was assigned as the Executive Officer of the USS ''Enterprise'' (NCC-1701-A) (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), although he retained the rank of captain. Spock remained as the Enterprise Executive Officer for the next five years. During this time, he participated in a historic journey to the center of the galaxy (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) when the Enterprise and its crew were forcefully taken over by Spock's half-brother Sybok. The Undiscovered Country Shortly after the explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis in 2291, Sarek asked his son to assist with diplomatic efforts in the wake of the crisis. Spock began by entering into a dialog with the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, who would propose to Spock that negotiations between the Empire and the Federation begin at once. Spock approached Starfleet Command, and gave a briefing about the disaster that befell the Klingons, and outlined the diplomatic efforts that would occur between the two governments. Part of the diplomatic mission would include escorting Chancellor Gorkon to Earth; Spock volunteered the Enterprise and Captain Kirk for the mission. Kirk was displeased with the notion of doing so, because he had still not forgiven the Klingons for the death of his son. Spock, along with the rest of the senior staff boarded the Enterprise. He found that his protege Lt. Valeris was assigned to the ship. The Enterprise soon left Earth orbit and met the Klingon ship carrying the Chancellor. The Chancellor and his party beamed aboard the Enterprise for dinner. Valeris had suggested that Romulan Ale be served for dinner, it had the unfortunate effect of diminishing the inhibitions of the participants. As a result the dinner degenerated into an argument, to Spock's considerable embarrassment. After dinner Spock discovered a neutron source near the Enterprise. After telling Kirk of it, a torpedo suddenly hit the Klingon ship. He then told Kirk that they had "fired upon the Chancellor's ship." Kirk and Dr. McCoy beamed aboard to render assistance, and were arrested when Gorkon died. Spock took command of the ship, and when Kirk and McCoy were found guilty of murder, he had the crew search for evidence that the two men were innocent. He took the ship to rescue the two men from Rura Penthe once Kirk and McCoy escaped from the prison and got outside the prison's shield. Once Kirk was back onboard, they quickly figured out that Valeris had betrayed them and the Federation. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy arrested Valeris, and learned the details of the upcoming Khitomer Conference. The Enterprise sped toward the conference, and was soon attacked by the ship that had fired the torpedo - a Klingon Bird of Prey commanded by General Chang that could fire when cloaked. The Bird of Prey was able to inflict considerable damage on the Enterprise until Spock figured out that the Bird of Prey expended energy, and gas just like any other ship. He and Dr. McCoy were able to rig a torpedo to track this gas and destroy the Bird of Prey. The Enterprise crew beamed down just in time to prevent the assassination of the Federation President. Afterwards Spock became a key figure in forming the lasting alliance with the Klingon Empire (). He also formed a friendship with the Romulan Senator Pardek, which would last for over 90 years. After Starfleet
Abilities Various episodes of TOS revealed different facets of Spock's personality and abilities. For example, "The Omega Glory" revealed that Spock had the ability to exercise limited, short-range control over the minds of others — an ability never again exhibited by any Vulcan. This, combined with Spock's ability to transfer his katra, has led some to speculate that Spock possessed more advanced mental and psychic abilities than average Vulcans. TOS also revealed that Spock is an accomplished musician, adept at playing a form of Vulcan harp. He also (in "Requiem for Methuselah") displayed advanced knowledge of classical music. He also possessed enthusiasm for three-dimensional chess. Given his skills at science, math, chess, diplomacy, unarmed combat and his apparently limitless knowledge (best seen in The Trouble with Tribbles), Spock may properly be considered a polymath. Vulcan nerve pinch Mind meld Spock famously performed a mind meld on a number of occasions to communicate with a creature that did not speak the universal language, or to delve more deeply into another's subconscious so as to retrieve important information not otherwise accessible. This technique involved placing his fingers at key points on the face (or equivalent thereof) of the being in question. After a moment, his consciousness was merged with the consciousness of the being, thus leading to thoughts and emotions being shared by both. Mirror Universe
Cultural impact The Mirror Spock’s goatee entered folklore and has now become synonymous with evil twins and parallel universes. The progressive rock band Spock's Beard was named after this. An episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured a parallel universe counterpart of Mike Nelson that had a goatee. Several strips of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics are set in an alternate universe where evil versions of the main characters both sport goatees and make explicit reference to them.* In an episode of Voltron: The Third Dimension, the original Voltron crew find themselves in an alternate dimension in which their counterparts are degenerates. Lotor, the series villain, drives a reversed colored Voltron that sports a goatee. The goatee has also been used to poke fun at the moral ambiguity of characters in various series: in the animated television series Futurama, the recurring robotic character of Flexo was visibly distinguishable from his "evil" counterpart, Bender — a series regular of questionable morality — solely by his goatee, which Bender lacked. An episode of South Park featured Cartman's good twin wearing a goatee. Trivia | ||||||||||||
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