OOC: Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? 6'1", with an athletically muscular (but not aggressively so) build.
2. How old is he? 31 (even though he clearly is NOT)
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? He has a very slightly slumped posture, not extreme but definitely giving him the appearance of someone who's spent a lot of time hunched over something.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? He's cleared for service aboard Starfleet's flagship, and a doctor in his own right. His health is very good and he appears to be in perfectly acceptable physical condition.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? He moves calmly and with purpose.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? He's attractive in an 'I frown a lot' sort of way, not playboyish like Kirk but he has strong attractive features.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Light complexion, tending toward scruffiness if he isn't abiding by what are probably Starfleet regulations concerning personal grooming.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Dark, short and neatly combed.
9. What color are his eyes? Brown (although they look awfully hazel to me in some of his pics)
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Not really, no.
11. What are his chief tension centers? Shoulders and arms, face.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? Starfleet uniform probably most of the time, maybe comfortable jeans on the rare occasions he's out of uniform.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? Yes.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? See the answer to #12.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? briefs until proven otherwise
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Deepish I guess, a little bit rough, with a slight southern-ish accent. Listen for yourself
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? Fast-ish and animatedly, not at all hesitant, and with conviction.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? He has something of a southern accent (canon says he attended U Miss, so maybe that's where his accent is supposed to be from?) He has vocabulicular quirks (that's a word, ask my brother) but no particular verbal ones.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? English. I'd assume the Academy would include languages in their curriculum but there's no indication given.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Nope.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? He doesn't just blurt out what he has to say, but he doesn't seem to require a long period of thought before speaking.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Eloquent, but in a down-to-earth and sometimes folksy way. McCoy has a colorful manner of speak, uses occasional mild curses, and has a richly descriptive saying for most any situation. He will withhold his opinion if the situation requires it, but once given the chance to speak he doesn't pull any punches.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? Mostly book-smart -- he was a licensed physician before joining Starfleet. But he also displays excellent problem-solving skills in situations that aren't related to medicine.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? Both. Given the choice, he'd prefer to deliberate but he's in a situation where he's often required to think quickly and react to emergencies. And the incident with smuggling Kirk onto the Enterprise shows that he's capable of thinking on his feet.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Highly practical, and although he disparages Spock's penchant for logic above all, he's a fairly logical thinker himself. However, he's also inclined to make decisions based on emotion, knowing those decisions are not the most practical.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Graduated University of Mississippi with a medical degree, graduated Starfleet Academy
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Anatomical and forensic pathology, surgery, trauma response, infectious diseases, xenobiology. He's currently interested in learning more about alien pathology.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Mostly an introvert. He makes his opinions known but he isn't really letting people get close to him. Kirk is the only close friend he has at the moment, and even Kirk doesn't get to see that much of the inner McCoy.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? Not mood swings so much as he's generally irascible and opinionated. He's not a grouch all the time, but he's a worrier. Very definitely driven.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? Aggressively suspicious and immediately ready to point out all possible ways this could go Very Wrong, but that also hides an innate curiosity.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? React. But around the Enterprise, there's a lot to react to.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? Fight, but not necessarily in the conventional fisticuffs kind of way. He's a problem solver, and rather than run from a problem he'll fight to find a way to solve it or get around it.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? Bones has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. He definitely likes a good joke and definitely appreciates gallows humor.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? Astrophobia, which he deals with by...getting assigned to a spaceship. And complaining a lot about the many ways in which they'll all soon be ded from space.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? Gaining his medical degree, his divorce, meeting Jim Kirk, being assigned to the Enterprise.
14. What does he fear? SPACE. And all the many horrible ways it will kill you.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? He just wants to practice medicine and do something with his life, not be a useless bum.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? That he's maybe not as gruff and unmoved as he lets on, and that he misses his daughter.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. Unknown, but probably relatively normal.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? Unknown, my personal canon says he may have siblings but I haven't yet worked out the details.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? None that are mentioned, and he joins up with Starfleet because his wife took everything he had in the divorce, so I'd say it's unlikely he's close to anyone in his family. As mentioned above, he misses his daughter, but probably doesn't communicate with her much.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? Not really.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? James Kirk. They met aboard the shuttle when both were enlisting, and through a shared sort of situation bonded pretty quickly. McCoy acts like Kirk drives him nuts, but really he injects a sense of adventure and risk-taking into McCoy's life that he needs and enjoys. Despite numerous instances where he expresses dismay or disagreement over Kirk's actions/decisions, Bones will always have his back. Kirk is the most important person in his life at the moment.
6. Does he have other close friends? Nope.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? I imagine he gets along well enough with people on a superficial level, but he doesn't get close to people very easily.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? At the moment it would definitely be friends.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Divorced, and not at all amicably.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? No.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? I'd guess his ex-wife? Currently he doesn't have any crushes, as he has nothing remotely resembling a social life.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? He's been burned once, he's pretty cynical about romance at the moment.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? Yes, he has a daughter. He hasn't spoken to her in quite some time as his ex-wife has custody.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? No personal enemies. He likes to insult Spock but it's mostly just McCoy's personality.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? I don't think Bones would necessarily discount the idea of relations with the opposite sex, but I'd put him as essentially straight. Maybe a 1.5?
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? He feels that it's been a pretty damn long time, but he's not interested in emotional entanglements at the moment, and he's not the type to indulge in a lot of casual sex.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? He's a little mistrustful, so he'd be pretty turned off by anyone who came on too strong or too "sweet". I suspect he has a protective streak.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? If I'm figuring it properly, he'd be born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon (no idea on western zodiac and I'm not even going to try and make something up right now). "Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, zealous, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, ambitious, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, eccentric, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash."
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? No, he's not religious at all, and probably somewhat anti-religion in that he'd regard it as superstitious nonsense and therefore detrimental to rational thinking.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? Yes, although it's somewhat flexible in that he's willing to disobey the letter of the law to uphold the spirit. In other words, he'll break the rules in a heartbeat if he thinks it's important, because he's not there to treat rules, he's there to treat people.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? He's a little intolerant, but it's less because he doesn't respect others' beliefs and more a personality quirk. He doesn't hold back on expressing his dislike of beliefs that run counter to his own moral/ethical code, however.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? He dislikes what he sees as Spock's "coldness", and probably has a slight prejudice against Vulcans in general. Considering recent events there's probably more than a superficial prejudice against Romulans.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? Finances aren't relevant within the Federation, so he's as comfortable as anyone else.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? He probably had to deal with a blow to his pride over going from being a practicing doctor to a Starfleet cadet, but it's been worth it. CMO of the USS Enterprise is a pretty damn prestigious position.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others? His quarters aboard the Enterprise, and probably whatever housing is provided for Starfleet members when not aboard ship.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? No money, no spending, see above.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else? He's a doctor! Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise! Yes, he's very good at it, and despite the constant bitching, he really does enjoy it.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? I don't imagine he has a whole lot of free time. Probably hanging out with Kirk, or reading.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? I suspect he does a lot of grabbing meals on the go, but he maintains a healthy diet. He does like a drink now and then, although definitely less frequently than a few years ago. He probably eats most any kind of Earth food, but may shy away -- rather vocally -- from "alien" dishes.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? red
2. Smell? the outdoors
3. Time of day? evening
4. Season? summer
5. Book? no idea, maybe mysteries?
6. Music? I don't think Bones is deeply into music, maybe southern rock or rockabilly
7. Place? he doesn't really have one at the moment
8. Substance? ...
9. Plant? Anything that grows well with intermittent watering and a lot of threatening
10. Animal? Probably more dog than cat, but I actually kind of see him as a fish person
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