Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager) - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

The character of the Doctor began his service on the USS Voyager as the standard Emergency Medical Hologram built into almost every newer Starfleet ship's sickbay. The EMH is for use should the ship's doctor be incapacitated. In the series' first episode, Voyager's Chief Medical Officer, along with his Vulcan nurse, were killed, necessitating extended use of the EMH. The EMH eventually developed his own personality, although he generally maintained his acerbic wit. Since he was originally intended as a temporary medical backup system, not as an artificial life form, considerable strains were placed on the Doctor's program during the early parts of the journey. He gained assistance from Kes and Paris, both of whom functioned as nurses.

Attempting to develop a realistic personality, the Doctor not only manufactured a holographic family, he had an increasing number of other "human" experiences. This resulted in the Doctor's program evolving to become more lifelike, with emotions and ambitions. He developed meaningful and complex relationships with many members of the ship's crew. The Doctor also developed talents as a playwright, artist, and photographer, and even became a connoisseur of opera.

A recurring theme was the ethical aspects of an artificial, yet apparently sentient, being. In Episode 511 "Latent Image" treating two patients with an equal chance of survival, with only enough time to treat one, the Doctor chose Harry Kim, a friend. The other patient, Ensign Jetal, died. The Doctor was overwhelmed with guilt, believing that his friendship influenced his choice. When the stress nearly led to his program breaking down, Captain Janeway had his memories of these events deleted. When the Doctor later discovered clues as to what had happened, Captain Janeway was convinced by him and others that he had a right to learn to come to grips with the guilt in the manner of any other sentient being rather than be treated merely as a defective piece of equipment.

The Doctor submitted a holonovel titled Photons Be Free to a publisher on Earth, detailing the manner in which holograms were sometimes treated by Starfleet. His characters were closely based on Voyager's crew, but exaggerated to appear more intense and vicious, creating fears among the crew their reputations would be ruined. Tom Paris convinced the Doctor to make adjustments without sacrificing his theme. The Doctor lacked legal rights as Federation law did not classify him as a "sentient being". Thus he was forbidden to make any subsequent holonovel changes. Captain Janeway's efforts resulted in the Doctor being accorded the status of 'artist', (though not a "person"). This permitted him to rewrite the novel. Four months later, it was known throughout the Alpha Quadrant as a very thought-provoking piece of work. Several other EMHs, now relegated to mining duty, experienced the novel.

The Doctor's standard greeting was "Please state the nature of the medical emergency" when activated, though later modified to say whatever he chose. He was later given the ability to activate and deactivate himself.

The Doctor later acquired a mobile holographic emitter from the 29th century. Although he had previously been confined to Sickbay or the Holodeck, the mobile emitter allowed the Doctor to move about freely, making him ideal for missions where the environment would be harmful or otherwise fatal to the crew. In one notable incident, when an away team was trapped on a radioactive planet, the Doctor was able to infiltrate the people and almost single-handedly rescue the team because, as he pointed out, being a hologram renders him immune to the radiation, stating that "being a hologram does have its advantages."

The Doctor's programming evolved to the point where he fell in love with Seven of Nine, though she did not reciprocate. In an alternate future episode, "Endgame", the Doctor adopts the name Joe, and marries a human female, named Lana (played by Amy Lindsay).