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alt title(s): Spock 
"I realize this is a hard choice, Captain, but the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few."
A character who has a supergenius-level intelligence, but from a culture, alien or otherwise unusual, of strict mental discipline based on pure logic, that prevents him from standard, normal emoting (contrasted with traditional emotionless aliens, who were either inferior or evil).
The Spock's relationship with his crewmates/ comrades is often tense, because this character type is willing and able to ruthlessly consider ethically troubling situations without batting an eye — especially situations where people might be ordered to die. The Spock maintains audience sympathy by being willing to Take A Third Option (sometimes with advice from The McCoy and The Kirk), and also by being as ruthless about his own life as the lives of his crewmates, if not more so. Even better, he is utterly unflappabile in the face of serious problems or danger; his friends know that no matter how terrifying or hopeless things get, he will never lose his cool and will not stop working on a solution to save everyone. When put in a Power Trio with The Kirk and The McCoy, he becomes what in psychology is called the superego.
The Spock will at times become a Tin Man, though this varies with the writing. When he has emotion, he may sometimes express it with a Fascinating Eyebrow and nothing more. Since Smart People Play Chess, if The Spock plays a game, it will invariably be an alien version of chess.
Closely related to Agent Scully, Emotionless Girl, Kuudere and Little Miss Snarker. Often becomes a Straw Vulcan, but ocasionally ends up on the winning side of Emotions Vs Stoicism. Well Intentioned Extremists often come across similarly when they believe they're working for the greater good. See also Spock Speak.
Named (obviously) for Spock from Star Trek. Compare with their eternal opposite, The McCoy.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- "D" from Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual.
- Hoshino Ruri from Martian Successor Nadesico is both The Spock and a Little Miss Snarker.
- Nagato Yuki from Suzumiya Haruhi.
- Keith Anyan from Toward The Terra.
- Lumiere from Kiddy Grade.
- All Contractors in Darker Than Black are said to be like this; part of their condition is that they always act rationally and with their own best interests in mind, dismissing emotional attachments. Throughout the series several counter-examples are shown, to the degree that whether the statement is actually true is up for discussion.
- Detective Runge from Monster.
- Exedore/Exsedol from the Macross and Robotech universes, though he has his emotional moments, too.
- Fate from Mahou Sensei Negima is a villainous version of this.
- Paul von Oberstein from Legend Of The Galactic Heroes is a good example of this trope.
- L from Death Note is a surprisingly good one, too. There's a minor deviation in that he sometimes informs people of his emotions, even though he doesn't display them unless the situation's truly dire.
- Ulqiorra from Bleach appears to be a villainous example of this trope- while his comrades generally act like children, he openly describes himself as an emotionless tool for the Big Bad to use as he likes. The closest he ever comes to showing emotion are several cases where his eyes slightly widen, and a single instance where he raises his voice. The subtle subversion comes when you stop focusing on his blank face, and pay attention to his actions- many of which are obviously irrational. In other words, he's a deeply emotional character who isn't aware of it.
Comic Books
- Brainiac 5 of DC's Legion Of Super Heroes.
- And Metron of the New Gods who was explicitly based on Spock.
- Dr. Manhattan of Watchmen.
- Taken to epic levels in Final Crisis Superman Beyond with the Composite Character Captain Allen Adam, A.K.A. The Quantum Superman of Earth 4 who is a meshing of the Good Doctor with the original Captain Atom. Even when on heavy drugs to keep his quantum senses in check he's capable of feats of extreme mental prowess and after his drugs fade off he attains a state of nigh-omniscience and arranges the activation of the Cosmic Armor that saves all of reality from an Eldritch Abomination that eats stories. Only The Spock can stay calm and babble about the organic nature of the multiverse while the Ultimate Evil emerges.
- Prowl in the original Transformers series, more so in the comic (which is why it's here)
Film
- Reservoir Dogs - Mr Pink is the most logical of all the crew, especially when he acts as the foil to Mr White. The first scene shows him refusing to throw in money to tip the waitress, giving his (logical) reason as to why. He is later distrustful of everyone, and disgusted that Mr White gave Mr Orange his real name and hometown, considering anybody, even the dying Mr Orange, could be the rat. Not only is he right about everything, but he is the only character to survive the film. Subverted in that Mr. Pink is anything but cool—he's both logical and wildly neurotic.
Literature
- Ivan of The Brothers Karamazov.
- Death in the Discworld series. Is attempting to understand the human race, but is finding it...difficult.
- At times he seems to know a bit more about human nature than he lets on though, so maybe it's just an act.
- Voort "Piggy" saBinring from Wraith Squadron. He's a Pig Man from a species more known for violent aggression and stupidity, but brain tampering made him into a Genius Bruiser, Good With Numbers and tending to be logical and calm. We see a bestial side exactly once, and it takes getting gut-shot to bring it out.
- Sort of similair to Vulcans, who practice emotional suppression precisely because their emotions are so violent and difficult to control compared with other species.
- The Mentats in the Dune series.
- Michael Valentine Smith from Robert Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land. He is capable of feeling overwhelming emotion, but when he does, he simply slips into a coma until he's found a way to logically respond to the situation. As a human raised on Mars, it takes him quite a while to understand laughter, grief, fear and loss - his only emotions at the start of the book are curiosity and love.
Live Action TV
- Spock from the original Star Trek. Trope Namer, obviously. Also every other Vulcan of Star Trek, including Tuvok from Star Trek Voyager and T'Pol from Star Trek Enterprise.
- Like The Kirk and The Mc Coy, there's some Generation Xerox between the different series. Consider:
- Data from Star Trek The Next Generation. A slight subversion, though, as Data is aspiring to become more human. Still, as Spock himself put it...
Spock: Fascinating. You have an efficient intellect, superior physical skills, no emotional impediments... there are Vulcans who aspire all their lives to achieve what you've been given, by design.
- Cristina Yang from Greys Anatomy.
- Temperance "Bones" Brennan from Bones.
- This becomes funny given that "Bones" from Star Trek is the original McCoy.
- Also, Zack Addy.
- Teal'c of Stargate SG-1 is sometimes The Spock, in that he has the same unflappability and (usually) rational thinking, though he's more The Stoic than a person who actually doesn't experience emotion.
- But then, Vulcans also do experience emotions, they're just damn good at hiding and ignoring them.
- Ficus in Quark is a parody of The Spock taken to extremes. He's a sentient plant and has absolutely no emotions, taking everything logically and speaking only in Spock Speak.
- Aeryn Sun of Far Scape is a minor tactical genius and never loses her cool...perhaps to her detriment, as the path of her relationship with Crichton is rocky and convoluted.
- Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory.
- Lampshaded, as Sheldon considers his circle of friends one doctor short of a landing party, and has proclaimed himself the Spock.
- Sheldon might not be a full-fledged example of this trope - he's too self-centered to be detached from the situation, so to speak - but Leonard's mother, Beverly, fits this trope very well.
- Doctor Larry Fleinhart from NUMB3RS. Surprisingly, Doctor Charlie Epps doesn't qualify, as he emotes just fine.
- Castiel the doubting angel from Supernatural.
- Rupert Giles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
- House in House.
- Cameron in the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
- Jor-El in Smallville. He often cooks up options for Clark to beat the bad guy that involve sacrificing his friends. He is however, prone to getting royally pissed at Clark for refusing to listen to him.
Video Games
Webcomics
- Chou Yaru in Unicorn Jelly.
- Vaarsuvius from Order of the Stick tries to be this in order to become more effective and overcome a great obstacle, but seeing as how the elf is anything but emotionless and is in fact haunted by the memory of a great failure, the result is disastrous.
- I think deep down, V is more likely A McCoy, though one who is fairly useless in any social situation.
- Theo from Shape Quest
 is like this...usually.
Western Animation
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