The Medic - Television Tropes & Idioms

"Mediiic!"

The main character, every war movie, ever

Funny thing about adventure: People tend to get hurt. Especially the heroes. And injuries are terribly inconvenient for questing, resulting in time lost recuperating (or making an out-of-the-way trip to the nearest Trauma Inn) at best, and a Total Party Kill at worst. So, it's terribly, terribly convenient to have someone in the party who can make the hurting stop.

Enter The Medic. In modern settings or futuristic settings, The Medic is often a trained physician or EMT (emergency medical technician), and relies on whatever medical technology is available in that era and on-hand — anything from miraculous herbs, injections and bandages to Nanomachines. In fantasy settings, The Medic is a often a cleric or Mysterious Waif of some kind, using the powers of White Magic to restore people with Healing Hands (or something similarly glowy). May wield the Healing Shiv.

Often caring and concerned, Medics tend to be The Chick (regardless of gender). Alternatively, they're less personable than rational, and are thus a Smart Guy, even if the team already has a Smart Guy. Regardless, team Medics will inevitably become the Team Mom — they simply leave the team if they can't.

Medics are typically Squishy Wizards, possessing little in the way of raw strength or offensive combat ability. If guns are standard, they'll usually have the smallest and weakest possible. In fantasy settings, they don't usually wear any armor, and tend to use staves as often as hammers or maces. They don't always get the flashiest abilities and their skillset tends towards Boring But Practical, although they will occasionally pick up a few offensive spells. Holy Hand Grenade is popular among the rare Medics who fight.

Still, The Medic is prone to be Actual Pacifist and hold to Thou Shalt Not Kill (except, possibly, Mercy Killing), although he may not stick to it when he is literally the only person who can attack — especially not if the Complete Monster is willing to attack him or worse, the wounded. In Real Life, this is required; medical personnel are non-combatants, and so are protected under The Laws And Customs Of War, but forbidden to fight themselves.

If there's only one team member capable of healing, that person is automatically the Medic, even if they have other abilities, even if healing is their least proficient ability. But if multiple teammates can heal, then The Medic is the one who is either the best at it or takes it most seriously. Even if the Medic should have awesome attack magic, or have the fortitude to handle melee combat, his role as healer, supporter, and protector is his top priority.

See the Five Man Band, The Squad and the Command Roster for Ensembles likely to have a team Medic. In particularly large or specialized teams, it is not uncommon for the Medic to do almost nothing except heal The Tank - in which case they are that fighter's "backpack" (this is standard practice for groups in World Of Warcraft). A backpack may also occur when one member has a specialized healing ability and another requires that specialized healing (typically robot/techie, undead/necromancer, or an inverted Revive Kills Zombie situation).

Staff Chick is a specific type that occurs with faithful regularity in videogame RPGs. Also in videogames, when the enemy has one, Shoot The Medic First. The Combat Medic is a variant which can heal and support while beating down the enemies, and a medic who specializes in both healing and defense is often a Barrier Warrior. The Deadly Doctor has gone rogue and decided to use those same healing abilities to take people apart.