Characters / Star Trek: The Original Series - Spock

Spock

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

Played by: Leonard Nimoy

Dubbed in French by: Régis Dubos (TOS), Jacques Harden (Star Trek: the Motion Picture), Robert Party (Star Trek II, IV, V and VI), Michel Bardinet (Star Trek III), Marc Cassot (Kelvin Timeline films)

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: José Lavat (TNG)

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Márcio Seixas (TOS and TNG), Lauro Fabiano (TOS), Garcia Neto (Star Trek I to III), Luiz Motta (Star Trek IV and V)

Appearances: Star Trek: The Original Series | Star Trek: The Animated Series | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ^note Archive footage, "Trials and Tribble-ations" | Star Trek Beyond ^note Photograph

"'Fascinating' is a word I use for the unexpected. In this case, I should think 'interesting' would suffice."

— Spock, "The Squire of Gothos"

Kirk's Number One and Science Officer. Spock was half-Human, half-Vulcan, and chose to completely embrace the latter aspect of his heritage; this caused him to clash frequently with Dr. McCoy. Spock was supremely analytical and would describe many things as "fascinating;" he was the go-to man for unusual solutions...or ruthlessly pragmatic ones. He would, occasionally, let slip his more human feelings, but regarded any comparison with humanity to be insulting during the show's run.

Despite the stark contrast in their personalities, Spock and Jim were very good friends (so much so that they inspired Slash Fic in 60's and 70's fanzines). The character became so iconic that Nimoy put out an autobiography titled I Am Not Spock, although he later embraced the fanbase, writing another autobiography titled I Am Spock. He reprised the character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek (2009) and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.

Click here for his own take on himself.

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Original Timeline

The Original Series, The Animated Series, and Films

The chief science officer and executive officer aboard the Enterprise during the tenure of Captain James Kirk.

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• Affectionate Nickname: More like pronunciation. In close moments, and especially in the first movie where Kirk is like an excited puppy seeing Spock again, he draws out his name into something that sounds like “Spaawk”.
• Always Save The Boy: He always gets that little bit more emotional when Kirk is in danger. He tries to play off pushing Kirk out of the way in “The Apple” and getting hit himself as “clumsiness”, but nobody bought it.
• Ambadassador: He later became an ambadassor for Vulcan and he's pretty handy in a fight.
• Ambiguously Gay: He hasn't shown an interest in women except when he a) was drugged, b) adopted the habits of his wild antecessors, and he has some quite ... questionable interactions with Kirk.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Many fans think that Spock is Jewish on his human mother's side as Leonard Nimoy is Jewish, not to mention that Winona Ryder (who played Spock's mom, Amanda Grayson, in the 2009 reboot) is Jewish as well. (Jane Wyatt, who created the role back in '68, was Catholic.) On a related note, Nimoy adapted the famous Vulcan hand salute and its greetings "Peace and long life" and "Live long and prosper" from Jewish religious tradition. In addition, Celia Lovsky, who played the matriarch T'Pau in "Amok Time", was Jewish and had fled Nazi-occupied Austria with her husband, Peter Lorre. A running gag in some fan clubs was that Vulcans were Jewish. See Jewish Themes in Star Trek by Rabbi Gershom.
• Arranged Marriage: Betrothed by his family as a child. His intended bride had other ideas, and didn't mind sacrificing Kirk for them...
• Back from the Dead: In the third movie he is resurrected by an ancient Vulcan ritual.
• Badass Bookworm: Spock can (and does) use his vast knowledge in conjunction with fighting whatever enemy they're facing.
• Badass Pacifist: He tells the crew members during “The Galileo Seven” in no uncertain terms that he’s disgusted by human disregard for other life, but when anything has a chance of harming Kirk, he’ll show the same.
  Kirk: Well, there it is. War. We didn't want it, but we've got it.
  Spock: Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Spock is a vegetarian and a Technical Pacifist, but if you ever remove his emotional control or threaten Kirk, you're in trouble.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Principally his green blood and the fact that his heart is where a human's liver would be. The latter enables him to survive being shot in the back with a flintlock rifle in "A Private Little War."
• Bizarre Alien Senses: Vulcans are natural telepaths, and they can use their mental powers to read minds, share thoughts, sense the emotions of and communicate with any alien being with a mind. Assuming they find a suitable receptacle, they can even preserve their consciousness after death.
• Blue Blood: No, has nothing to do with his Alien Blood. It's not explicitly stated, but his father, Sarek, is a prestigious astrophysicist and Federation Ambassador (whose reputation among his notoriously xenophobic people was able to withstand his marriage to an "out-worlder"), and T'Pau, one of the most powerful people on Vulcan, officiates at (what should have been) his wedding. He also notes that the large estate where the ceremony takes place has been in his family for over two thousand years.
• Blue Is Heroic: Spock's blue uniform represents his coolness and rationality.
• Boomerang Bigot: Spock is half-human, but most of the time, he solely embraces his Vulcan heritage and is scornful of human ways. This was later explained via D.C. Fontana's Backstory due to his rocky relationship with his father and the Fantastic Racism he experienced whilst growing up on Vulcan. He mellowed in his later years.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Has the most used catchphrases, so of course, he gets the most borrowed. Bones and Michael both use “fascinating”, and Kirk lampshades that he hates to use the word “logically”.
• Brutal Honesty: Asking Spock for his analysis can be a hazard. Vulcans obviously don't see any logic in tact or sugarcoating, so if asked Spock will give his opinion, regardless of how it may unsettle everyone else. Case in point, Gary Mitchell, who he points out is rapidly becoming a problem, a fact Gary soon agrees with. However, it can also be played for laughs, too.
  Kirk: Didn't think I had it in me, did you?
  Spock: (without missing a beat) No.
• But Not Too Foreign: He's half-human; while he usually acts fully Vulcan, his human side surfaces fairly often.
• Captain Ersatz: Spock's personality is an exaggeration of Roddenberry's former boss, LAPD Chief William H. Parker.
• Catchphrase: "Fascinating," accompanied, of course, by a Fascinating Eyebrow.
  "Fascinating" got started because Nimoy asked director Joseph Sargent to help him in playing a non-emotional character while filming "The Corbomite Maneuver". Sargent told him "Be different. Be the scientist. Be detached. See it as something that’s a curiosity rather than a threat." Nimoy half-whispered the line as a reaction to the first sight of Balok's huge ship, and "a big chunk of the character was born right there."
• Character Development: During the series proper, Spock utterly refuses to show emotion, and makes no secret of his dislike for humans. During The Motion Picture, his mind-meld with V'Ger causes a profound shift in his viewpoint - logic alone is cold and barren. By the time of Wrath of Khan, he's mellowed out considerably, even going as far to wish Kirk "happy birthday", and in The Undiscovered Country, he no longer sees logic as the be-all-and-end-all. By the events of Star Trek (2009), he's mellowed to the point where he tells his alternate younger self to sometimes "put aside logic" and "do what feels right".
• Characterization Marches On: In early episodes, he wasn't quite yet the emotionless Vulcan we all know him as and was even seen to smile a few times. In a scene from "The Cage" where the aliens snatch two female crew members, Spock shouts, "The women!" in a very emotional manner. The end of "The Enemy Within", where after Kirk's Evil Twin attempts to rape Yeoman Rand and Spock leeringly teases Rand about the duplicate's "interesting qualities," is surely the most misogynistic moment in the entire Trek canon. Spock hadn't been given his emotionless personality because that was meant to be part of Number One's character. The network was not comfortable with the idea of a cold, unemotional woman (let alone one with a measure of command authority), so the character was scrapped and the trait transferred to Spock. Leonard Nimoy has admitted that in early episodes he was mainly playing Spock as a military officer. In " The Corbomite Maneuver", there's a scene where the Enterprise is seized by a gigantic and apparently hostile vessel and Spock merely says "fascinating" (for the first time). Nimoy has cited this as the moment the character really "clicked" for him, although it still took a few more episodes for Spock to fully settle into his stoic characterization. Also, a line "Where No Man Has Gone Before" has Spock refer (with amusement) to irritation as "one of your Earth emotions," indicating he's biologically incapable of emotion, at least as humans understand it. This is most decidedly not the case.
• Character Overlap: Spock is the most popular character in the Star Trek franchise and — as you can see from this document — has had quite a life beyond the show where he originated. Besides appearing in those 79 episodes and 6 movies, he also appears in:
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation (two-episode guest appearance) and J. J. Abrams' "Kelvinverse" films (Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond) (played by Nimoy).
  • The same three "Kelvinverse" movies, which take place in an Alternate Universe where Everyone Went to School Together and a younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) appears opposite a younger Kirk (Chris Pine).
  • Star Trek: Discovery and its Spin-Off Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which are prequels to TOS and feature a younger Spock (played by Ethan Peck). The older Nimoy version (from the TNG guest spot) also appears briefly via archive footage.
• Character Tics: When he’s in a state, like crying in “The Naked Time” or dying in “Wrath Of Khan”, he’ll pull his shirt down, trying to affect some dignity.
• Chick Magnet: Kirk may be the one who goes down in history as a lady's man, but that doesn't mean Spock didn't get several gals looking his way, hoping to crack that icy Vulcan exterior. Pretty much all of them are doomed to failure.
• Constantly Curious: As his usual Catchphrase would suggest, he has an amused if detached interest towards almost anything, and is the only one not making fun of the space hippies in “The Way To Eden”.
• The Comically Serious: Given his lack of emotions and frequent misunderstandings, he's usually assigned with some funny scenes.
• Court-martialed: In "The Menagerie," Spock gets put on trial for commandeering the Enterprise and taking it to a forbidden planet.
• The Creon: Spock is this, almost to the letter. He only takes command of the Enterprise once Kirk has been Kicked Upstairs, and gives it back almost immediately when the opportunity arises. And, being already a captain and in command of the Enterprise, Spock never gets his own commission; he keeps his position as first officer under Kirk for several more movies! He said many times, "I do not wish to command." Surprisingly, Spock's mirror-universe counterpart is exactly the same on this and even explicitly states his reasons (in "Mirror, Mirror")^note Namely that he preferred being "a lesser target" for Klingon Promotions.
• Cultural Posturing: Spock seldom lets pass an opportunity to condescendingly pontificate about the superiority of the Vulcan philosophy. In-series, this is largely why Bones (who, as his foil, is a passionate defender of humanism) "picks on" him so much and is able to get away with remaining sympathetic to audiences; wouldn't you get fed up with a co-worker constantly shoe-horning his political views into every conversation?
• Dark and Troubled Past: During "Journey to Babel", his mother mentions Spock was frequently bullied as a child, something "Yesteryear" expands upon.
• Deadpan Snarker: Apparently, there is nothing illogical about scathing sarcasm. Despite his claims to be above human pettiness, Spock frequently makes sarcastic quips or the "Really?" face.
• Defrosting Ice King: Even with the crew's massive Power of Friendship skills, it took Spock years to decide that emotions were not such a bad thing.
• Death Seeker: Like Kirk, he cares less about his own life than others (in his case, mostly… Kirk) in a way that nobody believes is solely based on logic, and Bones calls him out for it in “Bread and Circuses”.
• Deuteragonist: A natural result of his popularity with fans; originally, the show was intended as having plots about "Kirk and X," where "X" would be a different character each week; many of the early first-season episodes follow this formula, but gradually "X = Spock" became more common.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He hates doing mind melds because it reveals too much about his own emotions.
• Emotion Suppression: He spends most of the original series trying to suppress emotions that he does in fact have. When he can’t, he tends to take it very hard.
• Fantastic Racism: A victim of this trope, as well as a perpertor towards anyone with emotions. He starts getting better about it after interacting with V'Ger.
• Forbidden Love: Even taking it completely platonically, when he feels friendship or love for Kirk he feels ashamed, and tries to purge all emotions partly because of him.
• Forgets to Eat: Occasionally.
  • While never shown, in "Amok Time," McCoy uses the fact that Spock hasn't eaten for three days in an attempt to convince Kirk that something is wrong, and Kirk dismisses it as simply being Spock in one of his contemplative phases.
  • Another example is "The Paradise Syndrome," where Spock hardly eats for weeks while studying the obelisk.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Spock is the Melancholic. As a Vulcan (and the Enterprise's Science Officer), it's practically his job to be as detached, blunt and analytical as he can be.

• Friendless Background: As demonstrated in the animated series, Spock never had any friends growing up because of the Half-Breed Discrimination on his planet.
• The Gadfly: Despite being overly serious and aloof most of the time, he does have a mischievous streak.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: While most definitely a scholar (being highly knowledegable on the cultures of other species), the gentleman portion varies and is often downplayed.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's rude, tactless, and cold-hearted (though he gets better later on), but he always has the best interests of the ship and crew in mind.
• Grandfather Paradox: In "Yesteryear", Child-Spock only survives to adulthood because Adult-Spock travelled back in time using the Guardian of Forever to pose as a distant cousin and follow Child-Spock out on a Rite of Passage. Which Adult-Spock only knew to do because of the Delayed Ripple Effect caused by him not having (yet) gone back at the appointed time.^note "I hate temporal mechanics."
• Half-Breed Angst: When Spock was a boy, he was teased for being half-human and half-Vulcan (an alien species that suppresses emotions) and didn't know which species to live the lifestyle of. Even though he chose the Vulcan way, his own father rejected him for choosing Starfleet over the Vulcan Science Academy and Vulcan society continues to ostracize him.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Spock completely embraces the non-human side of himself. As a child, the local children rejected him because of his human heritage.
• Heroic Seductress: Less touching and kissing, more dazzle them with logic and repressed yearning, but acts like one with a few women in season three. Kirk is a bad influence on him.
• Heroic Willpower: The Platonians try to have him crush Kirk’s skull in “Plato’s Stepchildren”, and it takes every ounce of strength he has to refuse it. Even then, he’s horrified, angry and on the verge of tears, and Kirk has to reassure that he’s okay.
• Hidden Depths: He'll never let it show, but several times it's hinted he's sitting on the occasional mass of self-loathing. Just for example, the end of "This Side of Paradise".
  Spock: We all have our own purgatories. Mine can be no worse than any others.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Spock makes a point of keeping it hidden and gets very embarrassed when it's uncovered.
• Insult Backfire:
  McCoy: Spock, you are the most cold-blooded man I've ever known.
  Spock: Why, thank you, Doctor.
• Interclass Friendship: Kirk and Spock started their strong friendship when Kirk was captain and Spock still held a lieutenant commander's rank. This downplayed example disappears when Spock becomes first officer, but the second season replaces it with another, much more dramatic, gap — "Amok Time" and "Journey to Babel" state that Spock comes from an important clan and that his father serves as the Vulcan ambassador. Kirk comes from Iowa and had no apparent special status before coming to Starfleet.
• Jerkass to One: Poor Janice Rand, he passive aggressively makes fun of her when Kirk is seducing Miri, and the infamous accusation that she found “interesting qualities” in the version of Kirk that tried to rape her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Spock is cold, rude, and tactless, but always has the crew’s best interests at heart and is clearly far less emotionless and cold-hearted then he appears to be.
• Killed Off for Real: Dies offscreen of natural causes (and at the age of 162) in Star Trek Beyond, due to Leonard Nimoy's own death.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: He's very fond of cats.
  • And tribbles, in spite of claims to being immune to their charms.
• Lack of Empathy: Is accused of it more often than he actually shows it, but it’s still more often a feeling he reserves for Kirk alone. Later, Bones is included, and by the movies, original and reboot, he’s telling other Vulcans that they need empathy as well as logic.
• Leitmotif: Gerald Fried's score for "Amok Time" (which also introduced the famous "Star Trek fight music") featured a recurring motif for Spock, a quite expressive, sorrowful tune played adagio with the main melody line provided by a bass guitar^note played by Barney Kessel - to represent Spock's deeply felt, but repressed, emotional state. The show's frequent reuse of previously recorded music allowed this piece to become a de facto leitmotif for Spock as it was often used in his big "emotional" scenes (for lack of a better word) throughout the second and third seasons.
• Love Is a Weakness: Tells Kirk in “The Naked Time” that when he feels friendship for Jim he feels ashamed, with all the Ambiguously Gay metaphors that implies. Enemies will often use Kirk against him, or vice versa.
• Living Emotional Crutch: As early as “The Enemy Within”, Bones and other crew members are sending him to see if the captain is okay, and in the movies, Kirk is more wrecked at Spock dying than any possibility of his own death.
• Living Legend: Invoked in "Amok Time" when T'Pring informs Spock that he has become a legend among the Vulcans, and that she has no desire to become the consort of a legend. His status only grows through his efforts to achieve a lasting peace with the Klingons, and his subsequent ambassadorial career. In the later shows, he is depicted as Legendary in the Sequel even though he is technically still alive throughout the franchise (including into the reboot continuity).
• Ludicrous Precision: Will often give time estimates down to the second and can complete large exponential multiplications in his head.
• Lying by Omission: Used several times. The later instances are call-backs to the first, from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Spock informs Captain Kirk by communicator that "going by the book, like Lieutenant Saavik, hours would seem like days" before reporting that the Enterprise would need two days to have secondary power restored... "By the book, Admiral". After Kirk's away team gets stranded on Regula I by Khan:
  Kirk: (opening communicator) Kirk to Spock, it's two hours, are you ready?
  Spock: Right on schedule, Admiral.
  Saavik: (Soon after, on the Enterprise) I don't understand. We were immobilized. Captain Spock said it would be two days.
  Kirk: Come, come, Lieutenant. You of all people go by the book: "If communications are being monitored during battle..."
  Saavik: "...no uncoded messages on an open channel." (turns to Spock, astonished) You lied.
  Spock: I exaggerated.
• Mayfly–December Friendship: At two hundred years old, a Vulcan might still have a number of years left. Humans can live a few decades past one hundred, but it's clearly old for them, meaning Spock is doomed to outlive all his human friends.
• A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Spock's Touch Telepathy can be an unpleasant trip for him sometimes, especially if the other mind is in pain, or extremely powerful:
  • Trying to meld with the injured mother Horta in "The Devil in the Dark" reduced him to a screaming, agonized mess.
  • In hindsight, trying to mind meld with the vast, living computer of V'Ger was not Spock's most sensible move ever. He screams in pain from the sheer sensory overload, and comes out the other side seeing that logic is no longer the be-all and end-all.
• Minored In Ass Kicking: Especially when you realize that Vulcans are extremely strong compared to humans.
• Momma's Boy: Cries over never telling his mom he loved her, and has a far better relationship with her than his father, though his efforts to be more Vulcan do put the occasional strain on things.
• Mysterious Past: Downplayed, as there have been plenty of glimpses into his personal history, but Spock as a character has a reputation for reticence, especially when it comes to his family. It comes as a shock even to his best friend, Jim Kirk, that his father is Sarek, that he is betrothed to another Vulcan, or that he has a half-brother. (In Sybok's case, Spock doesn't even mention his relationship until after Sybok had hijacked the Enterprise and thrown them in the brig.) Discovery continues this tradition by giving him another sibling that he never talks about unless absolutely necessary. It's anyone's guess if there are still others.
• Not So Stoic: Being part human he's not always able to keep his emotions in check. Although in most of the cases when he show emotions, it is usually a result of either mind control, drugs, or side effects from strange phenomenons, but he does have some moments where it genuinely comes from himself.
  • The scene from "Amok Time" where he realizes that Kirk wasn't Killed Off for Real, and greets him with a loud and happy "JIM!"
  • He gets another moment in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country when Valeris, his protege, is revealed to be the conspiracy's mole aboard the Enterprise. She has a phaser drawn on him, and when she refuses to shoot, he slaps it out of her hand with a clear look of anger on his face. Then, in one of the most Squick-filled scenes of the entire franchise, he proceeds to Mind Rape her right on the bridge in front of God and everybody. Pushing this man's Berserk Button is nigh-impossible, but if you do, you're in for a world of hurt. (So is he — his expression as he invades her mind looks like he's being forced to eat razor blades.)
• Number Two: Spock is this as well as the science officer. Chronologically, all subsequent first officers in franchise history serve as First Officer without additional responsibilities; shows set chronologically prior to TOS usually have the First Officer pulling double duty, suggesting that this was a 22nd- and 23rd-century custom that fell out of fashion in the 24th century. Spock also starts a tradition of the Number Two having divided loyalties between their role as Starfleet officers and an outside influence - Kira to Bajor, Chakotay to the Maquis, and T'Pol to Vulcan (again)
• Old Master: In the reboot movies, and to Saavik and Valeris. The latter doesn’t work out so well.
• Only Friend: Uhura in “The Man Trap” calls Kirk the closest person Spock has to a friend (Kirk’s a lot more extroverted, but the feeling is more than mutual), and he’s either frequently emotional when Kirk is in danger, or goes Straw Vulcan to cope with it.
• Only One Name: Spock's full name was unrevealed for nearly 60 years real-time. As he stated to one of his girlfriends in the original series, "You couldn't pronounce it." Strange New Worlds finally reveals his full name to be S’Chn T’Gai Spock. Of course, this is just the closest approximation that can be given: the 100% correct intonation is truly unpronounceable for humans.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Towards the end of his bio, Spock, who has always tried to be logical even with emotional pain, permits himself one illusion in his life… refusing to admit that Kirk is dead.
• Parenthetical Swearing: Often when delivering a Stealth Insult.
• Poor Communication Kills: A few Spock-centered episodes deal with the man being unable (or unwilling) to convey what’s wrong: in “Amok Time”, Spock is unwilling to tell Kirk that he’s going through a process that requires him to go home to Vulcan or it’ll kill him while in “Journey to Babel”, his estrangement to Sarek nearly kills the man as he’s needed to save his life.
• Pragmatic Hero: Spock is willing to risk or even sacrifice his life and the lives of other crew members if it means getting the majority of the crew and the Enterprise to safety. He's also not above keeping secrets from his friends or deceiving them if it's for some logical greater good.
• Platonic Life-Partners: In Nichelle’s stories, and in multiple bios, he and Uhura become very good friends, as she too hides a messy mind under a professional exterior.
• Rank Up: At some point prior to the movies, he achieved the rank of Commander.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Spock is the stoic, logical Blue to McCoy's passionate emotional Red.
• Resurrection Sickness: He figured on being able to come back, but the actual process leaves him disconnected from his former friends, and with more than a few screws not properly tightened. It takes months for Spock-as-was to return, and in the mean time Kirk has to deal with his best friend acting like a total moon unit, to say nothing the hell about his grasp of swearing.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Though in his case, he is a rubber-eared alien and half human.
• Running Gag: His "inability to lie," despite repeatedly proving otherwise.
• Sarcastic Devotee: There are few people who are as loyal to Kirk as Spock is, but that doesn't protect the captain from his snarky wit.
• Science Hero: As the Enterprise's First Officer and Science Officer, Spock is this. He's regularly called on to fix communicators and other forms of technology. He's also studied light-sensitive parasitic aliens that induce pain and a galaxy eating amoeba. Not to mention that one time he woke up in the middle of his own operation and instructed McCoy on how to reconnect his brain to his body.
• Smart People Play Chess: Three-dimensional chess, that is.
• The Smart Guy: Genius-level intellect, impossibly knowledgable and scientific. Being half-Vulcan helps.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: An important factor in being Vulcan is not that you can’t feel emotion, but that you deeply repress all of it. Spock in particular has a lot of self-loathing and masks it by infuriating everyone with logic and snarkiness.
• The Spock: He's the Trope Namer, natch. In a crisis, the solutions he offers are usually rational in service to the overall mission, if a little cold-blooded at times.
• The Stoic: Most of the time he chooses to embrace his Vulcan heritage and do his best to restrain his emotion, relying on logic.
• Straw Vulcan: At times. It tends to come out the most (or its opposite, being overly emotional) when Kirk is in danger and he's trying to keep a level head.
• Stubborn Mule: Because he’s had to prove himself to both Vulcans and humans. Kirk and Amanda bond over Like Father, Like Son in “Journey To Babel”.
• Subordinate Excuse: Spock's friendship with Kirk may be an explanation for why Spock continues to serve as Kirk's first officer even after he is promoted to Captain himself.
• Super-Strength: His Vulcan heritage makes him three times stronger than a human. Roddenberry specified that Vulcan is a large planet with a heavier gravity. (Most Vulcans we see are played by tall, slim actors rather than Heavyworlder types, so there might be other factors.)
• Takes Ten to Hold: In Operation: Annihilate!, Spock goes ballistic. It takes three Enterprise crewmen to subdue him due to his Vulcan side's Super Strength.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Spock is one of the taller members of the cast, considered good-looking in and out of universe, and one of the series' greatest Deadpan Snarkers.
• Tantrum Throwing: His tendency to take out his overwhelming emotions out on the furniture was lampshaded in Star Trek: Ex Machina, as he’s struggling with feeling too much after V’ger, and takes a walk because he doesn’t want to smash up his room.
• Tranquil Fury: See Momma's Boy. In that scene his voice is relatively calm, but anyone can tell that he is outraged.
• True Companions: His friendship with James Kirk is the stuff of legend both in-universe and out; in another time he goes out of his way to make sure to foster that friendship.
• Token Non-Human: He's the only regular in the cast who is visibly nonhuman. (The animated series averted this since there was no make-up budget in the way.)
• Tragic Hero: Always caught between two worlds, his Vulcan heritage and humanity, and ultimately dies alone, long after Kirk is gone and all his other friends.
• Troll: Despite his outwardly serious demeanor, Spock often finds ways to subtly mock or annoy people who he has disdain for or wants to needle for whatever reason, often so carefully that they may not realize he's doing it.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • To Kirk, to the point where it’s more important than his father dying when the captain is stabbed, and Kirk has to convince him he’s alright.
  • It’s similar for Pike, as “The Menagerie” is the first time in thirteen years that Spock has ever disobeyed one of Pike’s orders for his own good, and manipulates both Kirk and Bones while doing it.
• Verbal Tic: His endless permutations of the word "logic," and his unfailing ability to fit them into sentences, border on this.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With McCoy. That Spock considers him a close friend is established beyond all doubt in "Amok Time," when he invites him, along with Kirk, down to Vulcan to witness a ceremony which is deeply private and personal to Vulcans. Tellingly, McCoy is deeply touched (and tells Spock in all sincerity that he would be honored), but not at all surprised.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Zig-zagged. Spock's angsty relationship with his distant father is one of his core, defining motivations - but he rarely lets it show in public. Deep down his father actually does care about him, but he disagreed with Spock's decision to join Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy (as part of his half-breed angst, Spock felt the Science Academy wasn't as tolerant of him as the multi-species Starfleet).
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Subtle, but the clipped tones and unusual vowel pronunciations ("sen-sores"^note sensors, "trahns-porter"^note transporter and "ahns-er"^note answer among others) are an affectation on Leonard Nimoy's part, meant to approximate how an alien in the future would speak English as a second language. As a result of Spock's outsize influence on the later franchise, many subsequent Vulcan portrayals have also borrowed these quirks, creating the impression of a Vulcan "accent" (for lack of a better word).
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Being a Vulcan, he outlives all of his friends. The novelisation of “Generations” has Bones getting upset about this on his behalf, saying there’s no katra for humans.
• The Worf Effect: Any enemy that can hold Spock in a fight is deemed a formidable adversary.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: He only calls Kirk "Jim" in two circumstances - when for some reason he's acting seriously out of character, or they're in absolutely dire straits.

The Next Generation

Ambassador Spock

"One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower."

Played by: Leonard Nimoy

Needs no introduction (if you're still here). Currently, Spock serves as the Vulcan Ambassador to Romulus, hoping to broker peace between the two worlds. His rebellious streak is still in full bloom.

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• Horrible Judge of Character: Trusting Senator Pardek proved to be rather illogical for Spock in hindsight.
• I Choose to Stay: Even knowing Romulus knows he's there and are not terribly receptive to his idea of peaceful reunification, Spock remains behind to help shepherd the process along anyway.
• I Regret Nothing: Asked by Data about the way his life has gone, he says he regrets nothing. Data points out this is a human expression.
• Not So Stoic: When he mind-melds with Picard, getting to see that part of his father Sarek that was shared with the captain during their previous meld, Spock almost bursts into tears. Even before this while Spock seems to react to the news of his father's death with indifference, it becomes clear that he's not as stoic about it as he makes it first look - expressing his regret at never mind melding with his father.
• Older and Wiser: Approaching his mid-100s, but still Spock, and with the benefit of several decades more wisdom. Mostly.
• Revenge by Proxy: Things start off tense between him and Picard anyway, but after some arguing Spock realizes he's just treating Picard as a substitute for finishing the arguments with his father.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After how badly negotiating peace with the Klingons almost went, Spock is unwilling to risk anyone's life but his own when it comes to the unification of Vulcans and Romulans.
• The Spock: Trope Namer. Doesn't stop him from being out-Spocked by Data himself, though.

Discovery

Lieutenant Spock

"I am not being hyperbolic when I say the future of the galaxy is at stake."

Played by: Ethan Peck, Leonard Nimoy ^note Archive footage, "Unification III"

Appearances: Star Trek: Discovery

A science officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, the son of Sarek and Amanda Grayson, and the adoptive brother of Michael Burnham.

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• Berserk Button: It turns out that Spock despises Michael Burnham's attempts at trying to bear the weight of her varying traumas, seeing it as incredibly selfish of her.
• Child of Two Worlds: He is born of a Vulcan father and an Earth mother. From his father's side comes a sense of logic, and those famously pointy ears. From his mother's side comes an equally strong sense of emotion, and a case of dyslexia.
• Disability Superpower: Gabrielle Burnham believes that his dyslexia allowed him to comprehend her existence.
• Disowned Sibling: Spock refuses to acknowledge Burnham as his sister, and has rebuffed any attempts at reconciliation with her for years. While it seems to boil down to some very hurtful things she said to him as a child as part of a misguided attempt to protect his family, he makes it clear that argument was just one of many instances that led him to see her as a selfish human being, shouldering the blame for tragedies she went through just to make herself feel important. He only backs off when Burnham learns the truth about her parents' deaths, and admits that Spock was right about her flaw.
• Exact Words: When questioned by Admiral Cornwell about the details of his escape from Starbase 5, he points out that he did not escape; he voluntarily committed himself because he believed he was not in his right mind about the Red Angel. When the seven signals he drew appeared, he was convinced he was not insane, and thus saw no reason to stay committed when he could leave as he pleased.
• Famed In-Story:
  • By virtue of serving on the Enterprise, Spock is already a well-known name in the Federation, even if he has yet to fully become the iconic Vulcan. That said, it's Downplayed compared to Captain Pike, or the Enterprise herself.
  • By the 32nd Century, Spock is revered on Nivar (the reunited Vulcan and Romulan homeworld) for having accomplished the impossible and bringing two old enemies together.
• Forgiveness: He finally forgives Michael for the things she said to him as a child when she learns the truth about her parents, and admits Spock was right about her savior complex. After that, he's much nicer to her, if still a bit sarcastic.
• Frame-Up: Control, Section 31's rouge A.I., frames Spock for murdering his doctors at Starbase 5 as part of a plan to gain access to the Sphere Data Discovery has onboard, wanting to use it to evolve and wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy.
• The Ghost: Is not seen in person during the first half of Season 2, up to "Light and Shadows" — but pretty much all the regular (and several recurring) characters are looking for him.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: The knowledge he gained from mind-melding with the Red Angel caused this, along with a Heroic BSoD. It takes Burnham bringing him to Talos IV to sort him out.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Subjected to this by the Vulcans. Apart from the people trying to blow up the family, Spock was also given no support for his dyslexia (which he inherited from Amanda) and was not considered to be Vulcan enough for the Expeditionary Force to accept him and Michael. Calling him a half-breed is also how Michael decided to keep him away from her after her school was bombed.
• Hero of Another Story: Along with Captain Pike and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise.
• Important Haircut: He shaves off his beard and assumes his iconic look from the original series after making his peace with Michael.
• It's All My Fault: When he's ripping into Michael for her It's All My Fault attitude, one of his arguments is that their family was already a target for the extremists because of his existence, not her.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His continuous rebuffs of Burnham's attempts at reconciliation for years were rather "human" of him, to say the least; his scathing tear-down of his sister was even more so. Yet Burnham herself admits that Spock wasn't wrong about her savior complex being selfish, which she admits when she learns the truth about her parents. Many years later, Burnham tells Book that Spock called her out on this very flaw, and admits he wasn't wrong.
• Kick the Dog: During his "The Reason You Suck" Speech towards Burnham, he brutally picks apart the trauma of losing her parents, nearly dying at the hands of the Vulcan Logic Extremists, and blaming herself for causing the war with the Klingons, because he sees those actions as selfish attempts at making her feel more important. It leaves Burnham in tears when he storms out of the room...but she also comes to realize later that he had a point.
• "L" Is for "Dyslexia": Or L'tak Terai, as the Vulcans call it, which he inherited from Amanda. Sadly, the Vulcans didn't think he was worth their time in trying to help him overcome due to his half-human heritage, and he had to work with it on his own.
• Not So Stoic: Spock prides himself on being Vulcan, and TOS would make a point of him often disparaging his human shipmates for letting their emotions get in the way of their duties. But for all that stoicism, Spock has a very deep sense of loathing towards his adoptive sister for trying to shoulder burdens he feels is selfish of her to bear; when she tries to check in on the status of his mental health, he just tears into her for what he sees is Burnham yet again trying to make herself feel important.
• Pet the Dog: A small one, albeit buried under a very harsh "The Reason You Suck" Speech, but Spock implies to Burnham that he doesn't hold her at fault for starting the Klingon-Federation War.
• Rank Up: Specifically averted; he has yet to be promoted to become the Enterprise's first officer.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Spock, in one of his rare moments of losing emotional control, absolutely tears Burnham down for trying to shoulder the well-being of his mental health on herself, seeing this as yet another attempt at trying to make herself feel important after she lost her parents.
• Revision:
  • The series reveals Spock apparently enjoyed drawing as a child, and continued drawing as an adult, something not seen in previous portrayals.
  • More is revealed about Spock's relationship with his father with the added context of Michael Burnham. It wasn't simply a disagreement over Spock's choice to pursue a career in Starfleet that caused their long estrangement, as TOS implied. Sarek chose, without telling anyone, to give Spock an opportunity to join the Vulcan Science Academy instead of Michael. But Spock wasn't as interested and ultimately declined admission, whereas Michael was crushed at being rejected. Sarek couldn't bring himself to tell the truth and carried the guilt of this mistake for years, his relationship with both of his children suffering as a result.
• Saved by Canon: Spock faces little danger to his well being, since he has a long, storied career ahead of him until he winds up in the Kelvin Timeline.
• Seriously Scruffy: Has grown a beard, in contrast to his later portrayal in TOS; this is implied to likely be a result of his Sanity Slippage leading up to the Red Angel crisis. He shaves it off when he gets back on the Enterprise full-time.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Played by Ethan Peck, as he is younger than his initial portrayal by Leonard Nimoy in the Original Series.
• The Needs of the Many: Of course. He joins in Pike in trying to get Michael to open the airlock on Airiam, and in the next episode holds the away team at gunpoint to stop them from resucitating Michael before the Red Angel arrives because they're trying to prevent the destruction of all sentient life in the galaxy.
• This Is Unforgivable!: When Michael was nearly killed by Vulcan Logic Extremists and tried to run away from Sarek's home to protect his family, she told Spock (who was trying to run away with her) that he was a "weird little half-breed" and she didn't want him in her life. Spock acknowledges that this was a misguided attempt to protect him, but that he's not going to absolve her because it hurt him deeply. He later reveals that he finds her savior complex incredibly selfish, and has refused to reconcile with her on those grounds alone. Eventually, he does forgive her—both after she admits he was right about her self-burdening and after he acknowledges how much hurt she's been through since.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Spock responds to Michael's attempts to reconnect by saying incredibly hurtful things (eg, that he was wrong to have loved her, or that her unresolved guilt issues are actually an arrogant moral flaw), along with passive-aggressive remarks about The Reveal when they conclude she's the Red Angel. He finally eases off when she learns the truth about her parents.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At least towards Michael. After spending nearly 20 years refusing to forgive her for the things she said to him as a child (not in the least because he thought that she was just trying to make herself feel important), the revelation of what happened to her parents and Burnham's own admission that Spock's criticisms of her were correct led him to forgive her. From then on, he was far more sympathetic to her plights, much more supportive as a brother, and openly encouraging of her (although with that tinge of brotherly sarcasm).

Hologram Spock

Hologram Spock

Played by: Leonard Nimoy (archived audio, "Kobayashi")

A holographic representation of Spock appears as part of the Kobayashi Maru simulation on the holodeck of the U.S.S. Protostar.

For tropes relating to his appearance there, along with the other holograms, see, Star Trek: Prodigy.

Strange New Worlds

Spock

Played by: Ethan Peck

Appearances: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The chief science officer aboard the Enterprise during the tenure of Captain Christopher Pike.

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• Be Yourself: Spock tells T'Pring that this is the reason he enjoys his work at Starfleet so much - on Vulcan he had spent his time proving his Vulcan-ness, and any deviation was seen as proof he did not belong. In Starfleet, he's "quite simply, Spock" to everyone, who accepts him as he is and have no preconceived notions about him.
• Berserk Button:
  • While he himself has a mixed attitude to being half-Vulcan and half-human, he utterly loathes any insinuation that this is in any way a hindrance or even "disability" to being Vulcan. In particular because the not-so-veiled insults are all an insult against his mother.
  • On a more humorous note, he gets irked with Sam Kirk not cleaning up his messes during the science department's meetings. When Spock is temporarily turned human, he has to be physically restrained to keep him from beating the crap out of Sam.
• The Comically Serious: The show gets much humor out of Spock's constant stoic, deadpan reaction to everything.
• The Confidant: He's this to Captain Pike, with the captain telling Spock about his vision of the future and his fears over how it will affect him in the present.
• Doomed by Canon: Not him, but his romance to T'Pring, as the audience knows it will fall apart by "Amok Time". By the end of episode 5 of season 2, it's effectively over.
• Fantastic Racism: On Vulcan, there were very few who were accepting of him due to his human heritage, and had to constantly prove himself as one of them. Being in Starfleet has allowed him to relax.
• Fatal Flaw: Internally, he fears his two sides being at constant war with one another are this, as he has a nightmare of the two halves engaging in a traditional Vulcan duel that his Vulcan side handily wins.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: While trying to strengthen his relationship with T'Pring, the two somehow accidentally swap bodies during a Vulcan ritual—and the timing couldn't have been worse, as a group of ambassadors who are prospecting joining the Federation need to speak to him, while T'Pring needs to meet up with a client to discuss rehabilitation. M'Benga is able to undo it.
• Hidden Depths: Spock takes up cooking lessons from Captain Pike during his spare time.
• Humanity Ensues: His Vulcan half is removed during "Charades" when he's injured in a shuttlecraft accident, and a group of advanced aliens who have no idea about his mixed DNA make him fully human (since Nurse Chapel was in that same crash). It makes for terrible timing, since he has to put himself through a very grueling Vulcan marriage ceremony with his extremely racist future mother-in-law, and his emotional sensations are through the roof.
• I Owe You My Life: He deduces that Captain Pike's recent actions in "A Quality of Mercy" saved his life, though he's not sure how. With this debt of gratitude, Spock repays it by the time of "The Menagerie" by taking the crippled Pike to Talos IV to allow his old Captain to live out his days in peace.
• Major Injury Underreaction: When his genetic alterations fade in the pilot, he states in his usual flat tone "Captain I feel unbearable pain", to Pike's confusion. Subverted later as when his alterations finally vanish he curls over and lets out a loud scream.
• Made of Iron: After Hemmer's funeral, an angry Spock slams his fist into one of the Enterprise's hulls, yet his fist is none the worse for wear.
• Momma's Boy: Despite temporarily losing the Vulcan half of his biology, he is still willing to go through all of the condescending engagement practices performed by his fiance's mother, but when his human side (i.e. his mother's side) is called a "handicap", it is the absolute last straw for Spock.
• Mr. Fanservice: In his first appearance in this show, Spock is shown half-naked, ready to have sex with T'Pring when Pike interrupts him.
  Pike: Spock... are you naked?
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • In "Children of the Comet", Spock lets out a burst of laughter after he's able to communicate once he's able to move the asteroid off its planet-destroying path. This prompts Pike to ask him if he's okay.
  • In "Spock Amok", while in his betrothed's body, he decks a prospective client of hers because he hates humans, and was chewing into Spock!T'Pring for bringing Nurse Chapel along for support. Admittedly, T'Pring deems this logical.
  • When facing the Gorn hatchlings in All Those Who Wander, he is forced to release his emotional control for a moment, entering an Unstoppable Rage that leaves all those who witness it perturbed. Even hours later at Hemmer's funeral Spock's visibly not shaken off the rage, something Chapel picks up on, and follows him out of concern.
  • Being turned human in "Charades" actually starts to freak out his comrades. He nearly tears Sam Kirk to a pulp for not cleaning up his mess during the science staff meeting, the rest of the senior staff are visibly uncomfortable with him laughing out loud while they socialize in the bar, and Pike's a little disturbed to see Spock binging on bacon.
• Parental Issues: Not on speaking terms with his father, Sarek, due to his decision to join Starfleet rather than the Vulcan Science Academy.
• Persona Non Grata: His half-brother Sybok is currently serving a sentence in a rehabilitation colony for rejecting traditional Vulcan teachings, setting the stage for when he emerges in search of God himself. In true Spock tradition, he doesn't talk about him until the situation becomes relevant.
• Saved by Canon: In "A Quality of Mercy", Pike tries to warn the cadets of the fate that awaits them in the training accident when he meets one of the two he didn't save. A future version of Pike appears and shows his younger self that if he does that, the events of "Balance of Terror" play out with the Federation once again at war with the Romulans, and Spock being subjected to the same fate meant for Pike. As a consequence, Spock's work to reunify Vulcan and Romulus never happens, and millions die. Not wanting to trade Spock's life for his own, the Vulcan is spared from a gruesome future...largely because his death comes in another timeline, while his mission will succeed by the 32nd Century.
• Ship Sinking: Spock ends up attempting a relationship with Chapel, but the relationship barely gets off the ground before Chapel's hoped for fellowship trip and a musical reality attaching itself to the Enterprise crashes it.
• The Spock: He's slowly growing into the Trope Namer he will become by Kirk's time. Though he does have some trouble reining in his emotions, Spock is still the most logically minded of the Enterprise crew. An alternate version of him in "A Quality of Mercy" has fully embraced this, though he sadly doesn't get to experience things like his Prime self would. Ultimately, a combination of Boimler's big mouth and Chapel's very public dumping pushes him into this angle.
• Unstoppable Rage: Displays this when fighting the Gorn hatchling and letting go of his emotions. Unfortunately, Spock can't easily rein it back in once he's done, at least till Chapel gives him a Cooldown Hug.
• Rank Up: Spock, a Lieutenant in his last appearance in Star Trek Discovery, has been promoted to Lieutenant Commander as of the first episode of Strange New Worlds. He will hold this rank for the rest of the series, before being promoted to full Commander early in the first season of TOS.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Gives a speech to Pike about the knowledge of his death, telling him that such knowledge will allow him to be a better captain in the time he has left.

Novelverse Spock

Novelverse

• All the Other Reindeer: After he becomes more openly emotional in Ex Machina, other Vulcans start treating him like he's some sort of disgusting freak. One officer even requests a transfer rather than be on the same ship as him. Spock, meanwhile, points out how very emotional they're being.
• Character Development:
  • "Forgotten History" shows him in the transitory state between the original series and where he is during The Motion Picture, deciding it's maybe time to really get around to finishing the Kohlinar.
  • "Ex Machina" is all about Spock coming to terms with the events of The Motion Picture, and becoming who we see in Wrath of Khan, reconciling logic and emotion (and hopefully, without going off his nut like Sybok).
• Coitus Ensues: To solve the issue of him and an alternate T'Pring being connected to one another, which lasts for several days. Her commander, a Vulcan, recognizes what's going on and covers for them.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: An interesting way around in The Captain's Oath, with Kirk's previous XO, who is an Andorian, and every bit as boisterous as that suggests. Kirk starts to become the Kirk of the show thanks to contrasting against Spock's sheer Spockness. (Though funnily enough, the two actually get along perfectly fine, being very similar in a lot of ways.)
• Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Apparently the Vulcan psychic link applies even with alternate versions of a person, so Spock finds himself having to deal with a very baffled alternate T'Pring wondering why the hell she's suddenly going into pon-farr around him.
• Exact Words: Technically speaking, he and T'Pring are working on a way to facilitate communication and improve their efficiency. Together. Alone. For several days.
• It Runs in the Family: The Enterprise relaunch novels have appearances from Spock's Vulcan great-grandfather and great-grandmother, and he quite clearly gets several traits from them.
• Loophole Abuse: The Prime Directive applies to alternate universes too. Of course, Spock isn't interfering. He just happens to show the T'Pring of an alternate universe his copy of the Kishara, and just happens to tell her where Archer found it in his timeline. Hardly his fault if she goes looking for the one in her universe and happens to find it, is it?
• Moment Killer: "The Captain's Oath" shows the moment Kirk first sees the Enterprise bridge. Spock, ever the wet blanket, proceeds to ruin it. This is how they first meet.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: His reasoning for taking the Kohlinar? After all the times he lost control of his emotions during the last five years, he figured maybe it was best he do something about that, lest he hurt his friends (aww). Unfortunately, he chose to leave with the most perfunctory of goodbyes when Kirk had just been in an extremely public court martial and could've maybe used some support.
• Not So Above It All: As a sign of his development, at the climax of "Ex Machina" he zaps the Big Bad, and takes a moment to make a private in-reference while doing it, plainly for his own amusement (since the guy he's zapping won't get it).
• Psychic Link: At the start of "Ex Machina", he's still got a connection with V'Ger, which is beginning to fade as it goes higher up in the cosmos. But they're still connected enough for it to assist him at the climax.
• Saying Too Much: During a conversation with Bones, he comes within a hair's breadth of mentioning Sybok, but then clams up.
• Trauma Button: Of course, being a Vulcan, he won't let it show, but McCoy notes the antagonism from other Vulcans is going to hit close to home for someone who was bullied as a child.

Kelvin Timeline

Spock

Commander Spock

"Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed."

Played by: Zachary Quinto

Dubbed in French by: Adrien Antoine

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Guilherme Briggs

Appearances: Star Trek | Star Trek Into Darkness | Star Trek Beyond

A brilliant commander and science officer in Starfleet. He acted as Pike's second-in-command until he was ultimately promoted to be the Enterprise's "acting captain." It didn't last long once Kirk pushed his Berserk Button, but the two eventually reconciled and became close friends. He is "the brains" of Kirk's crew, offering purely logical advice.

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• Adaptational Personality Change: This Spock's emotions tend to be a bit closer to the surface than the original.
• Adorably Precocious Child: Justified. He was raised since birth to control his emotions, so he was surprisingly mature as a child.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Heavily implied given how he was verbally harassed by his classmates as a child and the Vulcan Council made insensitive comments about his human heritage.
• Badass Adorable/Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Lil' Spock. Beats up a teenager twice his size for calling his mother a "human whore".
• Badass Bookworm: The single biggest example after John Harrison and a brilliant science officer to boot.
• Badass Teacher: An instructor of Starfleet before joining the Enterprise.
• Battle Couple: Spock and Uhura when they're fighting Klingons on the war-world of Qo'noS, and when Spock battles Harrison in the climax, Uhura quickly beams in to help.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Zachary Quinto's trademark huge eyebrows are shaved down, but are still pretty big in comparison to Spock Prime.
• Bothering by the Book: Spock is always good for exposition, but his field tactics are too cautious and he lacks Kirk's instincts. He represents the new-style administrative Starfleet which Pike wants to smother in the crib.
• Brainy Brunette: One of the most intelligent beings in the franchise.
• Character Development:
  • The first movie has Spock learn to embrace his human and Vulcan heritage.
  • The second movie has him learn that while his duty and the rules that come with it are important, he shouldn't throw his life away because of them.
  • The third has him dwelling on his mortality given the death of Spock Prime, and balancing his friendship with his Enterprise crewmates with the needs of the Vulcan people.
• Child of Two Worlds: Of humans and Vuclans, which is lampshaded by his father.
• Commanding Coolness: His rank in Starfleet is Commander.
• Covert Pervert: Implied. These few scenes from the tie-in material shows Spock has very strong sexual feelings for Uhura. Something that wouldn't be expected from a stoic, emotionally reserved person.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Or at least that's what Bones thinks when Spock says he gave Uhura an easily-trackable Vokaya amulet.
  Spock: Lt. Uhura wears a Vokaya amulet which I presented to her as a token of my affection and respect.
  McCoy: ...You gave your girlfriend radioactive jewelry?
  Spock: Its emission is harmless, Doctor, but its unique signature makes it very easy to identify.
  McCoy: ...You gave your girlfriend a tracking device?
  [Beat, as everyone gives Spock an uncomfortable look]
  Spock: ...That was not my intention.
• Deadpan Snarker: Any humor he has is more of the subdued variety.
  McCoy: [after Spock has Kirk marooned] My God, man, you can at least act like it was a hard decision!
  Spock: If crew morale can be better served by my roaming the halls weeping, then I will gladly defer to your medical expertise.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Kirk out-gambits him into resigning his command of the Enterprise, the two begin to develop a friendship.
• Determinator: Star Trek Beyond showed that even with life-threatening injuries, he was not going to be on the sidelines. He beamed down to the camp because he knew Uhura was being held captive there and even volunteered to help fend off Krall's drones. McCoy is deeply annoyed because it means he's drafted into the action to ensure Spock's injuries don't get worse.
• Deuteragonist: The films not only focus on Kirk's maturity as a Captain, but also Spock's emotional development.
• Double Consciousness: He's constantly torn between his human and Vulcan sides. He usually adheres to the latter, only reverting to the former if he loses emotional control.
• Endearingly Dorky: Especially around Uhura. He has quite a few with Kirk and McCoy as well, the latter of whom bickers non-stop with Spock over Vulcan logic and the preferred irrationality of humans.
• Exact Words: Uses these to devastating effect against Khan.
• Fantastic Racism: A victim of this from his fellow Vulcans, owing to his human heritage.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Naturally, as this is a portrayal of the trope codifier.
• The Fettered: Like all Vulcans, Spock uses logic to keep tight control of his emotions, but he still has them, and his half-human parentage has perhaps made them stronger than those of his peers. Cause him to lose control of his emotions, such as by insulting his mother, causing the death of his best friend, or threatening his girlfriend, and you are in for a world of hurt.
• Fire-Forged Friends: He and Jim had to be this first, though.
• First-Name Basis: with both Kirk and Uhura. Once in Beyond with McCoy.
• Freudian Trio: The stoic, logical superego to Kirk's id and McCoy's ego.
• Forgot About His Powers: Notably averted, considering how often it has been forgotten by franchise writers that Vulcans are canonically only little less strong than Augments. Spock basically goes into Super Mode during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Harrison, breaking out everything in his arsenal including enhanced strength, the Vulcan nerve pinch and even telepathically attacking while they grapple!
• Geeky Turn-On: Tie-in material shows Spock practically gushing over Uhura's incredible intellect. It was her beating him in a 3D chess game that made him certain that she had won his heart.
• Genius Bruiser: A brilliant science officer, and he can quite easily beat the snot out of you if you manage to piss him off.
• Good Is Not Soft: Quite willing to kill every crewmember aboard Nero's ship by sucking them into a black hole to save Earth. Admittedly, they had destroyed Vulcan beforehand.
• Half-Human Hybrid: His mother was Amanda Grayson (human) and his father is Sarek (Vulcan).
• Headbutt of Love: With Uhura in the first movie, right after they kissed on that transport pad he tenderly leaned his forehead against hers and whispered 'I will be back', and it's the cutest thing ever.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kirk, to the point that Spock gets jealous when Kirk accepts Carol Marcus as a second science officer on-board the Enterprise. Spock Prime goes to incredibly risky lengths in order to preserve the natural development of the galaxy's greatest bromance.
• Implacable Man: While running down Khan in the finale of Into Darkness.
• Interspecies Romance: He (half-human, half-Vulcan) and Uhura (human). And he was a product of one.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Applies only in the first movie. While Spock can come across as aloof, cold, and insensitive, his heart is always in the right place. And he deeply values those closest to him.
• The Lancer: Shares this role with McCoy. While Spock is ruled by logic and following protocol, Kirk is ruled by doing what he thinks is rights even if it means breaking the rules.
• Lawful Stupid: On occasion, he'll go into this length. Subverted in the sequel (excluding the Cold Open) where he constantly cites various regulations in contradiction to Kirk and is totally right most of the time; for example, reminding Kirk that they shouldn't just execute Harrison with missiles as everyone has a right to a trial.
• Manly Tears: When he finds Kirk dying from the radiation, though he got better.
• Military Maverick: He joined Starfleet after learning that the Vulcan elders of the Vulcan Science Academy thought his mixed parentage a disability.
• Minored in Ass-Kicking: He usually finds physical conflict beneath him. However, his Vulcan physiology also means he can kick the crap out of just about anything unfortunate (or unwise) enough to be in his path.
• Momma's Boy: He had a close relationship with his mother. Making her death even harder.
• My Future Self and Me: When interacting with Spock Prime, his Older and Wiser counterpart from the Prime timeline.
• Nerd Action Hero: Has the smarts and the brawn.
• Nice Guy: In the sequels. While he's usually aloof and stoic, Spock is still an amicable fellow.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • When Spock was a child, one bully got the taste of his anger. The other bullies are so scared of Spock they can't do anything but watch even if they are more in number and bigger than him.
  • Kirk provokes him into one in the first to reveal that he has been "emotionally compromised" by witnessing the destruction of his homeworld and death of his mother and is thus not fit for command.
  • To Khan at the end of the sequel, though he needs a phaser-wielding Uhura to slow Khan down first.
• Not So Stoic: Spock makes it clear to Kirk and Uhura early on that he does feel; it is a conscious effort of his to not feel fear, doubt, etc. His control of his emotions wears down over the course of the film, culminating with him not being able to contain himself when he and Kirk are having (what he thinks is) their last conversation then completely losing it when Kirk dies and Khan is still alive.
  • This is only the second time in the character's screen history where unprovoked emotion has ever overcome his logic.
• Number Two: Second in command on the Enterprise.
• One Head Taller: Uhura needs to stand on her tiptoes or wear tall boots in order for her and Spock to kiss. (Zachary Quinto is 6'3" and Zoe Saldana is 5'7".)
• Parenthetical Swearing: After learning that the Vulcan elders consider his parentage a disability, he uses the phrase "Live long and prosper" in a manner that the script actually refers to as being a "Thinly concealed 'Fuck You'".
  • The novelization mentioned that his tone suggested a distinctly human digital gesture the Vulcans wouldn't recognize.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The logical, task-orientated Blue Oni to Kirk's brash, rule-breaking Red Oni.
• Relative Button: Do not accuse Spock of never loving his mother. He nearly murdered Kirk when the latter said as such. Hell, just don't say anything about his mother. The bully from early in the movie learns this the hard way and the head of the science academy who called her a "disadvantage" was lucky to escape with all his limbs intact. To be fair, Kirk was intentionally trying to push the button to show that Spock was emotionally compromised and thus unsuited to be the ship captain, and he succeeded.
• Revenge Before Reason: When he and Khan are fighting and he eventually gets the upper hand, Spock starts to kick the crap out of Khan, almost beating him to death. This almost stops Kirk being revived, and only Uhura's influence calms him down.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: The only things "alien" about him are his pointy ears. The distinct shape of his eyebrows may also count since they seem to be the norm for Vulcans, though strictly speaking, odd eyebrows aren't impossible to find in humans.
• Sarcastic Devotee: Loyal to Kirk, though also quite willing to snark at him at every turn.
  Spock: I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it.
• Say My Name: Spock gets his moment in Into Darkness, as a loving Shout-Out to a certain other movie.
  "KHAAAAAAAAAAN!"
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Kirk is completely right about him being "emotionally compromised" by the destruction of Vulcan. From that point forward, Spock has exhibited much less emotional control than Spock Prime did; in this sense, Nero completely succeeded in making Vulcans no different from Romulans.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Gender-flipped. In the tie-in book, "The Assassination Game", Spock states that the quality he admires most in Uhura has is her heart.
• The Smart Guy: He offers logical choices to Kirk and has been known to be very brilliant, as well as being a nerd and speaking Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness. This makes him stand out as the smart guy on a team of doctors, engineers, and other highly intelligent officers.
• The Spock: Well, he is the Trope Namer in a way, as the reboot continuity and the original exist in the same universe.
• The Stoic: Adheres to logic and the suppression of emotions.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Stoic to all but his mother, Uhura and, later, Kirk.
• Super-Strength: As a Vulcan, he's considerably stronger than most humans and can even match a genetically enhanced superhuman if he needs to. Enough so that he can fight toe-to-toe with a Super-Soldier.
• Student/Teacher Romance: He was Uhura's Advanced Phonology instructor before they became an item.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Has black hair, is tall, and known to be handsome by his fanbase.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Plus, he has the snark that comes up from time to time.
• Troll: The Kobayashi Maru is a rescue simulation exam designed by him to be absolutely unwinnable by design. He claims its purpose is for potential captains to experience and understand fear, but Kirk and McCoy don't really buy into that explanation, especially considering that you can't even pass the class without passing the exam.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Kirk goes as far as to defy the Prime Directive to save Spock's life. Spock repays him by having him demoted. Although, in Spock's defense, he assumed that Kirk would be honest in his account of the incident.
• Unstoppable Rage: Once his breaking point is reached, not even a complete Badass capable of taking down an entire platoon of Klingons can stand up to him for long. Looking at you, Khan.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender-flipped. This subtle moment showcases that Spock really started to beat the crap out of Khan when the superhuman was advancing on Uhura.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Just like the Prime timeline, him and McCoy. In Beyond he's honestly baffled that McCoy ever thought they weren't friends.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: This is how Spock behaves towards his father.

Spock Prime (Spoilers)

Spock Prime

"Live long and prosper."

Played by: Leonard Nimoy

Dubbed in French by: Marc Cassot

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Jomeri Pozzoli

Appearances: Star Trek | Star Trek Into Darkness

Spock from the original, "Prime" timeline. Attempting to save the galaxy from a supernova using a red matter-induced blackhole, he was whisked away over a hundred years into the past together with Nero, creating an alternate timelime with vastly different destinies as a result. He wanted to avoid having his presence known at first, but upon realizing that Vulcans were an endangered species in the new universe, he resolved to work together with Sarek to help rebuild their race. He refuses to allow his own personal experiences to influence this timeline; that said, he does make the one rare exception.

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• Ambadassador: Still referred to as "Ambassador Spock" by the ship he designed.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: That one rare exception mentioned? Telling the younger Spock about Khan, the man who in the Prime Timeline was responsible for his original death.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saving Kirk from an enormous monster that was seconds away from devouring him.
• Character Death: Passes away of old age shortly prior to Star Trek Beyond. He was 161.
• Cool Old Guy: He flew a starship into a supernova and managed to ensure that the young Kirk and Spock would become friends.
• Dare to Be Badass: He pushes Kirk into taking command of the Enterprise so that he can stop Nero's rampage.
• Fantastic Racism: In the Countdown tie-in comic, he is shown to suffer some of this from more conservative Vulcans both for being a Half-Human Hybrid and for his embrace of emotion and support of Vulcan-Romulan reunification, or at least improved Vulcan-Romulan relations.
• Forced to Watch: Nero exacts revenge upon Spock by leaving him marooned on Delta Vega helpless to prevent the destruction of Vulcan, just as Nero was helpless to save Romulus.
• Godzilla Threshold: While normally he wouldn't reveal information about the Prime Timeline to his Alternate Self, having sworn a vow not to do so, Khan is so dangerous that he makes an exception.
• Hypocrisy Nod: He acknowledges that his ordinary farewell, "live long and prosper", would be rather self-serving when told to his younger counterpart.
• Insistent Terminology: In the Countdown comic, whenever he is referred to as the Vulcan Ambassador to Romulus, he is quick to make the correction: He is the Federation Ambassador to Romulus. There is also a Vulcan Ambassador, who generally declines to involve himself much with Romulan society.
• The Mentor: He acts as a wise old mentor to both Kirk and the younger Spock.
• Metaphorically True: He implies to Kirk that "universe-ending paradoxes would ensue" if the younger Spock became aware of his existence, motivating Kirk to form the lasting friendship that they shared in the prime timeline.
  Spock: You lied.
  Spock Prime: Oooh, I... I implied.
• My Future Self and Me: When interacting with his younger counterpart.
• My Greatest Failure: It's subtle, but Spock clearly considers the destruction of Romulus in the Prime Timeline to be this. He also blames himself for Nero destroying Vulcan in the new timeline, as vengeance for what he perceived as Spock's "betrayal".
  Spock Prime: Billions of lives lost, because of me, Jim. Because I failed.
• Nice Guy: All those years of embracing emotion have really done him well.
• Older and Wiser: Spock is 157 years old by the time he arrives in the altered timeline, and shares his wisdom with Kirk and the young Spock.
• Personal Effects Reveal: In Star Trek Beyond, it's revealed that among his few possessions in the Kelvin universe was a picture with his TOS crewmates (circa Star Trek V).
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Moreso than Pike in a couple aspects. See Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Leonard Nimoy passed away in 2015 due to a pulmonary disease related to chronic smoking. Spock Prime was thus Killed Offscreen, and news of his death drive much of his alternate universe counterpart's story in Beyond since the Vulcans need someone to replace him, and young Spock is a pretty obvious choice to fill his shoes.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!:
  • When he is contacted in Into Darkness, he says that he does not wish to share too much information in order to preserve the timeline, but when he hears that Khan is involved in a war with the Enterprise, he promptly gives Spock the advice they need to win.
  • This is also his reasoning in supplementary material as to why he helped the Romulans out in the first place, as Vulcan was uninterested in aiding them, and why he promptly (to the best of his abilities, sadly) left to help Romulus of his own accord instead.
• The Stoic: Oddly enough, to a much lesser degree than most other Vulcans, as he admits to being quite saddened by the destruction of his homeworld, not that anybody could blame him for that. He also tells younger Spock to loosen up a little. He's also visibly sad in Into Darkness when Kelvin!Spock asked him what he was supposed to do with Khan, as he's remembering the fact he had to die.
• Subverted Catchphrase: Invoked when saying farewell to his younger counterpart, complete with lampshade hanging.
  Spock Prime: Since my customary farewell would appear oddly self-serving, I shall simply say...good luck.

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