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And now you know why Black Jack lost his license.
Kerry: Did you even take the Hippocratic Oath?
Romano: I had my fingers crossed.
He's a very skilled doctor, so dedicated to his job he doesn't seem to have any other kind of life; but he has no compassion, rebuffs any friendly gesture, and speaks only in snide put-downs or irritable complaints about how stupid human beings generally are. He's an amusing subversion of the image of doctors as saintly humanitarians — but of course, he's so prevalent now that he's become a trope of his own. He is almost always a man.
His attitude is often explained by the notion that, in order to become such a good physician, he's had to make a habit of treating people as machines and "never letting his feelings get in the way". In his worldview, it would be unthinkable to cut another human being open and tinker with their insides, so he forces himself to view others as if they are not people. (Despite this he still admits It Never Gets Any Easier; he just suppresses it.) In many ways, he's often the ultimate Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, since he often demonstrates that he really does care about people deep down by doing whatever it takes to save their lives.
This character's attitude towards patient care can go two different ways: Either he will do anything within his power to heal the sick, or else he's in hospital administration and would shovel the patients into a furnace if it saved money. Either way, he's abnormally prone to Pet the Dog moments, so watch out.
Examples:
- House, let me count the ways...
- Dr. Romano in ER. Even though he died after a chopper crashed against him, nobody even seemed to notice his absence until they were told so by the authorities. Dr. Corday was the only person who seemed to get along with him, and she was the only one who attended his memorial service.
- It's almost as though they wanted him to become The Woobie though. The poor man had his arm cut off by a helicopter in an earlier episode, spent some time trying to rehabilitate said arm, only to seriously burn it and need to have it properly amputated. And then the bloody chopper killed him. Probably the same helicopter, too.
- Peter Benton was Cook County's resident jerk before Romano got there.
- Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in Chicago Hope
- Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere
- Dr. Becker in Becker
- Scrubs has two: Dr. Cox, of the un-social but good-hearted variety, and Dr. Kelso, the sadistic asshole administrator.
- Though not really the case, Turk does receive this exact nickname from his interns (mostly because it rhymes).
-
J.D. "That girl just called you Dr. Jerk!"
Dr. Turk: "That's nothing, you should hear their nickname for Dr. Mickhead.
J.D. "...What?"
- Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H used snobbery rather than snarkiness, but appropriate Pet The Dog moments show he was a good example of the first variety.
- Frank Burns is a rare example of an asshole doctor who is really incompetent, and has a fool's gold heart (he openly admits he was just in it for the money, and is one of the biggest bigots in the series).
- He was worse in the original book. Burns was at the last era in history where a practicing physician could get a license without going to medical school. In Frank's case, he served an apprenticeship under his father.
- In the film, he is extremely religious in public, hypocritical about it (see Ms O'Houlihan), and falsely blames a man's death on a very timid orderly...the TV version just is a snarky less-than-man who is about as obnoxious as the 'heroes' of the movie.
- This trope is a daytime soap staple: David Hayward on All My Children, Chris Ramsey on Port Charles, probably lots of them on General Hospital.
- The Doctor on Star Trek Voyager. Being the hologram interface to a computer program that wasn't much more than an emergency backup for a doctor, he had a very limited understanding of human emotion, at least in the early seasons of the show. In a later season, the Doctor meets his "father"/creator, Dr. Zimmerman, the original Dr Jerk whose personality the hologram was based on, and who also turns out to be a Well Done Son Guy for the holographic Doctor.
- It's also implied that he's angsty because of the Crew treating him like... well, a hologram. After the crew starts treating him better, he becomes more compassionate.
- Before the Doctor there was Dr. Pulaski on Star Trek The Next Generation. A one season Jonas Quinn / Replacement Scrappy for Dr. Crusher who was abrasive, argued with everyone including the captain and was about as fun as heart surgery. Basically take Voyager's doctor, and remove anything likeable about him, then crank up the rest to eleven.
- More a matter of "take Dr McCoy" as they were clearly trying to recreate that magic.
- Dr. Cottle from the 2004 Battle Star Galactica series; The man is a wisecracking sarcastic jerk who actually smokes on the job. His catankerous attitude seems to be mostly related to authority figures trying to tell him what to do, making him a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, as he feels obligated to heal the sick, period, human or Cylon, regardless of what Adama's steely blue eyes would seem to dictate. Of course, he gets that sort of slack because he's just so damn good, as he managed to save Commander Adama's life from a pretty brutal assassination attempt despite what most would consider fatal amounts of internal bleeding. Not to mention that with humanity reduced to under 50,000 people after the Cylon assault, he might well be one of the only doctors left alive.
- There's also Nurse Bedside Manner, who informs Chief that he can't give blood to his son because he's not the biological father, and gets irritated when Starbuck is talking to her unconscious husband because braindead people can't hear. I've heard she was originally a field medic and dosen't like being cooped up in Galactica's sickbay.
- Jack Shepherd from Lost has a terrible bed-side manner and often brutally honest with his patients about their chances, but otherwise is a miracle-worker. His father Christian, on the other hand, was a snarky, condescending drunk that got a patient killed.
- In one instance, Jack actually tells a paralyzed woman that she has absolutely no chance of regaining the use of her limbs. Then he attempts surgery and cures her anyway. She later becomes his wife. Who leaves him, I think, because of his "heroism addiction".
- Dr. Owen Harper in Torchwood, though he mainly works with the corpses of aliens, and of victims of the paranormal so he has few patients to distress. He appear
sed to be softening a little in S2. He's kind of run out of chances following the season finale. The penultimate s2 episode showed that he was originally much less jerkish and got into medicine to save people and make the world a better place.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin, a top Harley Street surgeon who, after developing a fear of blood, retrains as a local G.P and moves to Cornwall. He's a brilliant doctor, but he's also a sour, pompous and miserable git almost entirely lacking in charm and bedside manner.
- Dr. Jerome on Ed was one of the nastiest examples. In a way, he's a lesser-known precursor of both Cox and House, with none of their redeeming qualities. His cruelty to Dr. Burton was as over-the-top as anything on that show, which made over-the-top a regular feature.
- Heston Carter in Doctors is of the pompous and arrogant variety.
- Dr. Hahn in Grey's Anatomy.
- What? Nobody else feel that Dr. "Bones" McCoy's cantankerous reminders of his actual occupation qualify him for this trope?
- Dammit Jim, we're trope makers, not mind readers!
- He certainly qualifies in "Friday's Child," where he persuades an obstinate, haughty patient to let him ease her pain...by slapping her in the face.
Kirk: Never seen that in a medical book.
Bones: It's in mine from now on.
- And in "This Side of Paradise."
Sandoval: We don't need you, not as a doctor.
- Bones is an interesting example of simultaneous fulfillment and aversion, because his role in the Star Trek Power Trio generally is to be humanistic and compassionate to a fault, the very opposite of your standard Dr Jerk — his most abrasive moments often involve accusing Spock of being the unfeeling, coldly scientific Dr Jerk figure. And when we actually do see him with patients and not simply examining dead redshirts or snarking with his friends, he's usually sympathetic and professional (in the "Friday's Child" instance, the patient struck him twice first, and she ends up warming to him enough to name her child after him).
- Firefly: In Ariel Mal and Zoe met a Dr Jerk while looking for the "payment" for Simon's Burglary-with-good-intentions. Of course under the circumstances he had reason to be jerky. He just didn't know it.
- Sort of deconstructed on Golden Girls. One episode has Dorothy convinced there's something wrong with her. She goes to a doctor but he can't figure what's wrong with her specifically and brushes her off, writing her claims as "you're old and senile." After a visit to another doctor or two, it's revealed that she was right, something IS wrong and it's treatable. As they're out to dinner to celebrate she runs into the first doctor again, and tells him off about not having compassion for his patients. Thank goodness SOMEONE on television had the brains to realize "doctor jerks aren't helpful."
- Dr. Harry Harper of Casualty.
- Dr. Connie Beauchamp of Holby City is a rare female version.
- Dr. Lazarus in Outland (1981) is a rare female example.
- How Doctor Strange was presented in the 2007 animated movie, before he had his hands crippled and was forced to learn kung fu to heal them. And some magic. Maybe.
- He was a jerk in his origin in the comics, too. This came back to bite him after his hands were crippled in a drunk-driving accident - he was so hated that the only jobs he was offered were of the Kicked Upstairs variety, which he had too much pride to take.
- Dr. Hofschneider in The Oblongs.
- This troper is ashamed that someone some how forgot to metion Ratchet in almost every incarnation of the Transformers franchise.
- G1 Ratchet was portrayed, especially in fanon, as a talented doctor who was also grouchy, constantly threatening his patients with various punishments.
- Micron Legend (Armada) Ratchet, known to Western fans as Red Alert, was The Spock and thus seemed to be emotionally detached from his patients in the first episodes.
- Movie Ratchet was basically the same as G1 Ratchet, once even threatening to weld Jazz's vocal unit shut. Oddly, he fits definition one for this trope despite starting out as a politician in the UK comic.
- Animated Ratchet is a crotchety old man due to his Shellshocked Senior status. He's also the resident medic.
- Truth In Television - somewhat. Between growing up in a family full of doctors and becoming a nurse herself, this troper has known entirely too many of these people in real life. The good news is, they usually wind up either A) being hounded out of the hospital by their peers, B) getting their privileges yanked for flagrant jerkassery, or C) being sued into oblivion by irate patients.
- I was born with a fairly rare medical condition. There was one (1) doctor in the area who specialized in my condition. He made it pretty clear that dealing with actual, live people was an unfortunate downside of his scientific interests.
- Dr Allison Mann in Y The Last Man spends much of her time either belittling Yorick or threatening his pet monkey with dire fates. When they finally part ways Yorick's last request is to see her smile for the first time in four years – Mann's response is to break down in tears of frustration instead. She angrily denies that love is anything but a biological reaction, but is clearly desperate for love herself eventually finding it with Australian spy Rose Copen.
- In One Piece, Dr. Kureha, a tough, sarcastic old lady, is the only doctor on a small island where the inhabitants all call her a witch for her strange, violent, and greedy behavior. She won't just ask for a set amount of bills, but 50% of your income for the month. If you tip her, she may lower it to 49%. She's also willing to injure patients who don't follow her orders.
- Dr. Black Jack was probably one of the first, generally more of the Dr. Jerk With A Heart Of Gold variety.
- Probably the original trope namer, considering he purposely plays himself as a devil, but gets repeated Pet the Dog moments, including how much he beats himself up for his mistakes. (He treats his patients like crap, and manipulates them, but angsts over every single death.) Plus, the Diablous Ex Machinas that follow him...
- Parodied with Dr. Iwata in Excel Saga (complete with an x-shaped scar on his face, given to him by his cousin who he loves to exact horrible revenge on every opportunity he gets.) Though he doesn't show up enough in the anime for his jerkassery to really shine through, in the manga he's a money-grubbing, skirt-chasing, selfish bastard. At one point, he's shown prescribing medication to people because the pharmacutical company that makes it pays him for each patient he gets to take it, regardless of whether or not it will actually help them. Fortunately, he's usually accompanied by his nurse, who uses violence on him frequently to keep him in line. The sad part: he does actually show signs of competence — he just doesn't care.
- Bleach has an interesting variety of medical personnel characters, but Ishida Ryuuken hits both the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold and Obstructive Bureaucrat sides of this trope. An early scene in the manga suggests he does the right thing for his patients, but when it comes to the afterlife, he won't lift a finger without a damn good reason and proper compensation.
- Dr. Knox from Fullmetal Alchemist. He's quite a good man, though a bit grumpy.
- Tenma's boss in Monster is the heartless administrator variety, until he gets killed. Tenma himself inverts this trope, as he's one of the nicest people imaginable.
- Dr. Shamal from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Only towards men, though. And unfortunately for him (and them), 99% of the cast is comprised of Bishonen.
- Fruits Basket has Hatori, who's more of The Woobie, but he's still grumpy.
- Victor Niguel, of Atlus' Trauma Center series. He's genuinely dedicated to his medical research (his character description in the manual, his reactions during the Pempti operations), but he also apparently hates everybody, and is the only one to curse in written or spoken dialogue (in Second Opinion, at least). Consider his description of Paraskevi: "This one is fibrous... which basically means it's a pain in the ass."
- In Victor's defence, he's pretty much just vocalizing what the player is going to be thinking in a few minutes.
- Dr. Turner Grey from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All. One of his nurses is accused of malpractice, and dies in an auto accident a few weeks later. Upset that business at his clinic is bad, he wants to commission a spirit medium to call her back from the dead, so she can sign a note taking the blame for the incident. Oddly, neither Phoenix nor anyone at the medium's village sees anything wrong with this.
- It's suggested that he may have drugged said nurse, making her fall asleep at the wheel, but nothing is proven. In fairness, it was the killer who suggested that about him.
- The Medic class in Team Fortress 2. He may be the team healer, but he harbors a barely contained disdain for everyone else on the team. Not only that, but apparently the healing is an unintended side-effect of... whatever the Medigun is really doing to his teammates. To top it off, it's heavily implied that he got his medical degree in Nazi Germany.
- In Myst: The Book of Ti'ana, Jarl of the Guild of Healers actually tells Ti'ana that it would be better for Gehn, who is only half Ronay, to die.
- Dr. Kaufmann in Silent Hill.
- The possibly prejudiced Dr. Borville in The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- If it's about the injured Zora, it's far more likely that the Doctor refused to treat Ralis because he was a quack who didn't know anything about Zora physiology, not because he was prejudiced.
- He still doesn't really care about Ralis' condition. He also has a tendency to charge large sums for his services and was planning to sell an important statue he stole from Ilia, which was only so he could pay the huge bar tab that he hadn't bothered with until Telma started pressuring him.
Literature
- Ton Phanan of the X Wing Series is this, sort of, by the time we see him. He once wanted to do everything in his power as a doctor, but after an Emergency Transformation he found that his extensive cybernetics ate his future, so he dropped out of medicine and became a pilot hoping to get back at those who had hurt him. Assigned as squadron medic, he had no bedside manner and snarked a lot - once his commander told him to see himself after an injury, and Phanan said "Oh no, I'm far too lowly a person to see myself" - but he was a very sympathetic character, all told.
- Especially in The Reveal of his tragic past. And his subsequent death, which includes pushing Face off Phanan's path.
- Dr John "Mossy" Lawn of Discworld has elements of this, especially in his first appearance in Night Watch. His deep cynicism comes, paradoxically, from the fact he seems to be the only doctor in Ankh-Morpork who cares if his patients get better, since the fee gets covered either way. Living under the regime of Lord Winder doesn't help; he's had to treat people questioned by the Cable Street Particulars, and when Vimes takes a CSP officer to have a broken arm treated, Lawn offers instead to point out some sensitive places Vimes could kick him.
- According to Lawn, the Discworld version of Hippocrates is most famous for the quote "Am I going to get paid for this?"
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