Okay, I'm putting together a crew for a "Star Trek" fanfiction that I'll be writing some time in 2018. It will be set after "Voyager," and basically be a series of short stories revolving around this new crew. I have all of the main characters figured out except for one; the doctor. Every time I think I have an idea, I realize it's too similar to either a canon doctor on "Star Trek," or one of my other characters for this story, or I just can't get invested in the idea. In short, I need suggestions for a doctor character. If it helps, the U.S.S. Oberon's mission is to chart the wormholes of the galaxy. So they'll be traveling to all four quadrants of the galaxy. I considered listing the characters I already have; but I'm afraid if I do that, this thread will just be filled with people discussing those characters, instead of helping with the one that's still missing. So to save time, here are ideas for a doctor that I have already scrapped, and why. The old wise one/grumpy one: The ship's counselor is a snarky, badass old lady. So whatever species or gender the doctor ends up being, I don't want their role in the story to be "the old wise one," or "the old grouch," because those roles have already been taken. Unless there's a radically different way for me to spin it. The... not-old...grumpy one: McCoy ripoff. Young, idealistic dweeb: Bashir ripoff. Joined Trill: I've already got a joined Trill in the main cast, and I don't want him as the ship's doctor for a few reasons. (His snarky personality would make him a McCoy/EMH/Cambridge/House ripoff; doctor doesn't fit with his character; there's already an improperly joined Trill doctor in the "Star Trek" books, etc). Andorian: The captain is Andorian. Of course there's no reason we can't have more than one Andorian on the senior staff, but if that's the case than the Andorian doctor would need some defining trait other than just being Andorian. Aenar: I love these guys. Problem is, I already have a few telepaths in the cast, and being so similar to the captain's species in addition to that wouldn't help. Cardassian: I already have one. (The pilot is a Cardassian war orphan raised by Bajorans.) Romulan: I already have a ship's counselor who is a Vulcan/Romulan hybrid, and a former spy. Counselor fits with her backstory and personality; doctor does not. I don't want another Romulan onboard, because I think it's pushing it just to have the (half of) one I have already. Vulcan: I considered a young Vulcan who secretly has a wild side, that he gets out with the excuse of needing to "familiarize" himself with "different cultures" (and their booze and boobies), but I scrapped that for two reasons. One, it's too similar to a different character I've already got (and I like that character better than this Vulcan one), and two, I don't want the ship's pervert to be the ship doctor. That would cross the line from funny to just plain creepy IMO. I'd still consider a Vulcan doctor, but I have no idea what else I could do with a Vulcan character. Vorta: One of the earliest concepts I had was a discarded Vorta clone, who'd been revived after dying, but found he'd already been replaced by a new clone in the Dominion, and wound up aboard this Starfleet ship when he had nowhere else to go. Problem is, a former bad guy cut off from his "gods" forced to discover his individuality seems....er.....just a tiny bit repetitive, for a Voyager fan anyway. Dr. Icheb: I like to imagine that when Icheb grew up, he went into medicine, to make up for all the crimes he committed as a drone, and later with the "Borgletts," and to rebel against the fact that his parents designed him to be a weapon. But, I already have a young, idealistic dweeb in the cast, and Icheb being an ex-Borg would be too similar to Seven of Nine's story arc. Unless there's a new way I could possibly spin this.... Betazoid: A Betaziod doctor might seem like a good idea, as he could sense his patients' pain and all that; but I already have several telepaths in the cast already. Ocampa/Talaxian/any Delta Quadrant species: I already have an Ocampa onboard, which is pushing it already. And I don't want her as the doctor, because I want her to be as unlike Kes as possible. A non-humanoid: There is a character who is not Humanoid--she's a sort of mollusk type creature from a gas giant--but I feel making her the doctor would be far too similar to Zoidberg from "Futurama," and wouldn't make much sense. Ideas that I'm still considering... Bajoran: So far, I feel this one has some potential. A Bajoran who was a doctor during the Occupation would have experience with all kinds of techniques the typical Starfleet doctor wouldn't think of in a pinch. He or she would also obviously have some kind of relationship with the Cardassian kid. But, I would NOT want to go the predictable, cliched route of the "Bajoran hates the Cardassian for stupid racist reasons," nor "One of them lost their faith in the Prophets, and the other must help them regain it!" Basically, I'm unsure about this one because all the possibilities seem very cliched. Human: Always a possibility. I just don't know what kind of personality or backstory to give them. I already have a former Maquis for the security officer, and time travel in the first officer's background. I guess with those two there, it might make sense for the doctor to be the one "normal" human, but I would still need a personality for them. For the record, I have a recurring character in mind who is an average human, from the Lunar colony on Earth's moon. She is transgendered, which is not a big deal in the 24th Century. Basically her character would serve as the average human foil to the other, not-so-average human characters. I'd consider making her the doctor. Being trans could possibly even fit with her backstory, if seeing doctors save lives in the hospital while she was transitioning is what inspired her to go into medicine. I'm just not sure if another human will be interesting enough to carry the story as a regular. And I fear a transgendered doctor could lead to readers making lots of tasteless jokes related to sex change operations, or something. Any suggestions for this ship's doctor are appreciated.
I think a trill doctor is the character you need, and he/she doesn't have to be the DS9 version of a Trill but TNG trill. I would have a doctor who was stripped of being a host, and is reflecting on it. Also, you can bring some back story to what happened to those versions of the Trill. Could be hierarchy or a territory of the races, but Trills are still Trills. Good characters have their own personal conflict, but I think a former host could help diagnose mysterious alien stuff which the crew never seen before but the Doctor has... in some way when he/she was a host. That's my two cents!!!
Thanks for the reply. I still don't think I want a Trill doctor, but I'll at least consider it. Thanks!
Ah, hell, make it a felinoid. A Caitian, or for even more wacky, a Kzinti. A member of a carnivorous predator race, in the role of a nurturing physician.
I'll consider that... something almost Humanoid but not quite. Maybe a Benzite or something. Thanks !
I'd say go for a canon species that we know little to nothing about, for this I'd say go back to the films as there are loads of aliens in the background that are blank slates you could play about with, such as: Aaamazzarite (TMP) Arcadian (TVH) Arcturian (TMP) Ariolo (TVH) Arkenite (TVH) Betelgeusian (TMP) Bzzit Khaht (TVH) Deltan (TMP) Efrosian (TVH) K'Normian (TMP) Kasheetan (TVH) Kazarite (TMP) Megarite (TMP) Rhaandarite (TMP) Rigellian-Chelon (TMP) Saurian (TMP) Xelatian (TVH) Zaranite (TMP) Not to mention all the species that were never named seen in the Council Chambers or Khitomer Conference. Some have a little information to them (though some of this is pretty ridiculous) but since it was never established on screen then you could overlook it if you so desired, whilst the rest just have a name to their species and nothing else. Making the character alien could give them odd quirks and habits, so even if they were an idealistic young physician (like Bashir) their very background would make them stand apart.
Thanks! I'm really leaning towards that idea, yeah; developing a canon species we don't know very well yet. I'm just paranoid it will come off like a Dr. Phlox knockoff, with the goofy jolly alien doctor. But maybe after reading about some of those species I'll come up with something. Thanks a billion!
Don't mention it. It's always hard trying to find new and interesting characters, but so long as you make them yours even if them seem like something that's come before then they'll still be new to readers. PS - Given the little tit-bits you mentioned from your first post I'm liking the sound of your crew, they sound like a very diverse bunch.
I've always had the idea of a doctor who is human but infected with a alien disease that is slowly changing him/her into a different species and we would see this man/woman try and find a cure throughout the run time of the series. Kind of think of Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly." Part of the reason they agree to sign aboard the ship is hopes that maybe a cure might be out their in space if he/she can't find one on their own. Each season you would see him/her develop new skills or changes to a point that at the end he/she is more alien than human. Jason
I could come up with some unusual Doctor ideas, but without an overview of the rest of the main cast, they would probably be of questionable dramatic use in your story. If you give me an idea of the rest of the crew, I would love to be of more help. Most of the shows, and good fanfics I have read have characters that play against one another's personalities in some way or another, and seemed to be placed in the series to showcase some aspect of sentient interaction in an exaggerated (or dissociated!) form of human variability, instead of being a motley collection of aliens for the sake of having a motley collection of aliens (like star wars...mostly just guys in suits. Sure they look funny, but don't when you get down to it, act or react all that differently than humans.) Of course the beauty of fanfic is that you get to put whatever crew together you want. Perhaps finding the personality role you want the doctor to fill in your series, and then fleshing that out with an appropriate species would make things easier. OR taking a known species and making the doctor an atypical member of that species, so that people are always caught by surprise in their assumptions when the doctor doesn't act like an X should. The doctor in my "series" is human, but her diversity comes from her having served in the Starfleet Marines (postulated, in my fan fiction group and other places, are a non cannon branch supposing at least the possibility of needing trained combat troops in the federation/starfleet) giving her a slightly different outlook than you would expect from Starfleet. OK, I've got to give you one! The doctor is an evolving colony of nanites of non federation (and non-borg!) origin, and apparently unique...but granted sentient being status by the council. The personality of the colony could be subject to a great deal of change over the course of the series, or maybe there is more to it that there seems. A hidden past that it's trying to atone for. A secret mission. Just a thought.
I can see a scene where the nanite Doctor innocently assumes the exact appearance of it's (their?) patient (except for the silvery metallic skin, or whatever) in order to pace and mirror them to develop rapport, and having it backfire. Or - in extreme circumstances the Doctor could heal by sending part of itself into the patient (what kind of trust would that take, and how would the Doctor build that trust?)
Thanks for the thought out response. I guess it would help to share the crew I do have. But like I said in the OP, I'm paranoid that people will just change the subject and start trying to convince me to change the characters I'm already attached to. I'll give a rundown of the characters, and traits that might be relevant to finding the new "cast" member. (I guess if I get off-topic comments I can just weed through them.) Captain Iopaz: Andorian female (well, zhen). Most of her life she was adventurous and wild, but her life changed forever when a ship from the future fell through a time portal, carrying onboard the dead body of an older, future Iopaz. The future that ship came from has been erased, and Io needn't fear it coming true; but attending her own funeral still scarred her. Right after that came the Dominion War, and now, Io has lost much of her natural spunk. She hopes this exploration mission will help her find her old, adventure loving self again. Commander Samaya Zaffar: A Human woman from an alternate future, that no longer exists. Zaffar was originally from a timeline where the Dominion war lasted almost a decade; in that timeline, Zaffar was captain of a Federation ship, and Iopaz was her first officer and best friend. Then they fell through a time portal, and the rest is history. Her Io was killed, and Zaffar herself is now stuck in this timeline. She has invaluble knowledge for Starfleet, having faced dangers they don't even know exist yet, and knows things about Io that Io herself doens't know, due to a close friendship that never happened. For the most part, Zaffar can accept this new life, except for one detail; she had two young children who were "erased" with that timeline, and is searching for a way to retrieve them. Lt. Rodi Diogo: Human, male. Security chief. Rodi is one of the few Maquis who survived the Dominion slaughter, and earned a pardon from Starfleet fighting for the Federation against the Dominion. Despite his militant background he's the most chillax person onboard. Possibly because virtually nothing can phase him. Ensign Ku Mopek: (Helmsman) A young Cardassian war orphan raised by Bajorans. He insists he doesn't hate his Cardassian heritage, but also doesn't want to know anything about it either. He has a cynical view of the Bajoran government, having grown up with multiple prejudices (in addition to himself being physically Cardassian, his adoptive Bajoran family practiced religions different than the one that currently controls the planet). He worships Starfleet for its inclusive ideals, and especially is a fan of James Kirk. Lt. Charleston: (Communications) A non-humanoid lifeform, similar to a crustacean, whose species doesn't practice names, and is "ruled" by the Klingon Empire. (Actually, these advanced lifeforms regard the Klingons much as you and I would regard a pet cat who thinks it rules the house.) Charleston took her name from the U.S.S. Charleston, the ship that inspired her to join Starfleet. Her friends call her Charlie. Lt. Nuvaro Auz: An illegally joined Trill, essentially dumped on Starfleet's doorstep. Auz was a very old symbiont ordered to retire to the pools of Mak'ala, but was very stubborn; so before his previous host died, he arranged to be illegally transfered to another host, who he was assured would be a eloquent and upstanding member of Trill society. Nuvaro was a petty criminal and slacker hoping to escape a rather crappy life, and was told he'd be getting a young, sane, agreeable symbiont. Basically, Nuvaro and Auz both got duped into becoming one person, and he doesn't get along with himself. His past hosts don't seem to care for him either, as they constantly murder him in his dreams. His confusion is matched only by his snarkiness, as he takes "bored with insanity" to new levels. Anyway, Auz happens to be a wormhole expert, having dealt with the things for several lifetimes aboard Trill and Starfleet ships. (Note: someone suggested making Auz the ship's doctor. But, I feel there is absolutely no possible way for this character to go near any medical field and not become Dr. House with spots. So.... he's not the doctor. He's just not.) Lt. Etannis: (Chief engineer) An Ocampa from Suspira's Array. While she enjoys using her mental powers for fun and convenience, she has no interest in expanding them beyond her comfort zone, and is terrified of "evolving" like some of her relatives did. She is spunky and sociable, but has very poor social skills and often breaks taboos, due to growing up so sheltered and having such a short, fast lifespan. (How she found her way to Starfleet is a story for another day.) Counselor T'Rell: And elderly Vulcan/Romulan hybrid, who was a spy in her youth; first for the Romulans, but later for the Federation after switching sides. (Yes, of course she slept with Kirk, but no, Kirk is not what caused her to switch sides.) She is caring in a stern, snippy way; think of M from "James Bond." 000 To be honest, with all these characters, I somewhat regret needing to have a doctor at all. I've considered just making the doctor a background character, and basically not even bothering. But I'm still opened to suggestions.
I like your cast. If you went with my suggestion I noticed a few ways she/he could be mixed into your stories. I noticed you got alot of aliens as series regulars. Perhaps you could have a human morphing into a alien drawl strength by dealing with so many non-humans. In fact he/she might even be something of a outcast to humans because Starfleet doesn't trust what he/she might change into. The other thing is I wonder if you have established a new main villian for your stories? Perhaps the alien race he/she is changing into is also part of the same race that is now a danger to the Federation. Jason
This puts me in mind of the SGA episode when Sheppard is bitten by the Iratus bug though on a much larger scale, definitely plenty of scope for some good character work. Love this idea, it's going down the artificial/cybernetic route without the tropes of a Data-like android or another liberated Borg. Wish I'd thought of it, would be something great to experiment with!
Here's one idea I came up with today, but I don't have much to it yet. The doctor is someone who wound up becoming some kind of major villain in the erased timeline Commander Zaffar comes from, so when she learns a version of this guy is the ship's doctor, she freaks out. It's uncertain if he'll turn out like he did in her timeline, or if she's unfairly judging him for crimes he hasn't committed "yet." But.... that's it. I have no idea what this guys' species or story would be.