Personality: Spock hails from a culture and species that (generally) base their lives on logic and rationality. This is partially due to the fact that their emotions run deeper than that of humans; their emotions run so deep that if they do not control them they become a great danger. It is said that once upon a time the Vulcan were vicious, enraged, and paranoid -- they were more tyrannical and brutish than humans ever had been. So to this philosophy he is - more or less - loyal. However, Spock has something that other Vulcan’s do not. He is not a full-blooded Vulcan. Rather, he is half and half human. This hybrid of Human/Vulcan leaves him vulnerable and troubled throughout life as he constantly grasps at remaining in control, but it also gives him something that no other Vulcan has: an ability to become intimately conscious of human emotion. Something, admittedly, he needs to work on. Something he may actually be trying to work on.
When you first consider Spock, you would see a man of high-intelligence. Spock’s intelligence is far above that of genius. He speaks clearly and articulates with a well-schooled vernacular. He is almost always very polite (even when he is being insulting), and possibly as a sign that he does not speak English as a first language, he is often using somewhat outdated terms and words. As many of his kind, Spock is professionally ambitious and he has a thirst for learning that is difficult to sate. Such a trait is useful for Starfleet and possibly one of many reasons why he excels as the first Vulcan to enlist. In many ways, Spock is an outside who is forging his own path through life his own way. Much like the captain he is slowly beginning to admire.
Spock is rational, logical, methodical, and has an intense moral code that demands he obey rule and law. He desires peace and justice for all living kind and works to actively advocate that method of living through logic. He respects the law and those above him but when his supreme logic and understanding of law crosses wires with those above him, he does make note of it. *Spock’s subtle attitude when he disagrees has been shown to have happened with Admiral Pike on many occasions - once leading in a request for him to leave the room - and he also disagreed with the moral of the mission given to them by Admiral Marcus.*
He is a voice of reason for those around him and has proven to be a brave and wise leader. While many crew members may butt heads with Spock at some point or another, they know that in the end he is faithful to them and will do all that is necessary to lead them appropriately. As a rule, Spock understands that not all beings place logic above all else as he and his people do. However, when all attempts to reason with someone who is displaying signs of irrationality fail, he finds himself greatly frustrated (or baffled depending on the severity and/or situation at hand).
Spock’s loyalty to law and order often infringes on potential friendships. In some parts, he does not care for such a thing but in other parts he desires (perhaps not even consciously) familial bonds. After losing his mother and his home planet - something he feels extremely helpless toward and still haunts him to this day - some inner part of him seeks to fill this hole that was left in him. He is not unloving nor as cold as his peers may believe him to be. He loved his mother deeply and he has an active relationship with Uhura. It is, again, the intensity in which he feels that he must control with logic before it overwhelms him.
Spock can be a little bit sassy, bull-headed, sarcastic, and sometimes downright mean, especially when he is arguing a point of which he is passionate toward (most likely, order, law, and logic). His superior sense of reasoning frequently leaves people with an urge to punch him in the face. The irritating part is that Spock is often right and therefore refrains people from this mode of action (usually).
So, let’s dive into the human side of Spock.
Beneath his veneer of logic, there is a wealth of humanity that we are only beginning to see in him. As a child, Spock was often conflicted. He was often put under scrutiny for being half-vulcan and therefore “impure, inferior, and disadvantaged.” Spock wanted nothing more but to be accepted into the world that he was born. He yearned for the respect of his parents, the respect of his peers, the respect of his elders. Yet even with his excellence acknowledged, Spock was scrutinized against unjustly because he was half human. In many ways, this desire has continued into his young adulthood.
When we first witness Spock at the Academy we see someone holding a strong armor over him that could almost be understood as arrogance. He has a quick tongue and a facade of superiority and perhaps this is a result of being looked down upon for what and who he is; a blanket to keep away the hurt that comes with years of being alone.
His inability to deal with the amount of emotion he feels every single day leaves him in the same position as many other Vulcan: turning toward cold reasoning. At the point of his work with Starfleet, it is almost as if the hope to connect more profoundly with others has been dissolved and his indulgence in academic excellence has taken it’s place. This can lead him to become protective of his academic success and even become jealous of those who may dare to do better, challenging them in his own way.
His wrath as a child when provoked incurs such deep emotion that he easily takes down a Vulcan almost twice his size, and his wrath as an adult is just as dangerous if not more. This is an emotion that Spock has the least amount of control over. *In the second film we also see his ability to feel great anguish to the point of brimming tears before anger takes control and his absolute helplessness toward it. He struggles to keep control of this and even fully admits that he is failing in his control. These are things that he will continue to struggle with in his young life as he is surrounded by those not his own kind. It is a struggle that had often created tense situations with those at Starfleet and will likely continue to anywhere he goes where the principle of living is not based on logic.
It is difficult to pierce the mask of rationality that he wears, sometimes as armor, but it is very possible and when it happens you find a maelstrom of emotions you may not have been ready to unleash.
All of these strengths and weaknesses aside, Spock is a good-hearted being with an intention to do what is ‘right, proper, and logical’. He is often eager to be on away teams and collect data and samples for study himself, and quick to take action. He is one of the first persons to sacrifice himself when all other options have been exhausted believing heavily that ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’.
PERSONALITY [2/4]
When you first consider Spock, you would see a man of high-intelligence. Spock’s intelligence is far above that of genius. He speaks clearly and articulates with a well-schooled vernacular. He is almost always very polite (even when he is being insulting), and possibly as a sign that he does not speak English as a first language, he is often using somewhat outdated terms and words. As many of his kind, Spock is professionally ambitious and he has a thirst for learning that is difficult to sate. Such a trait is useful for Starfleet and possibly one of many reasons why he excels as the first Vulcan to enlist. In many ways, Spock is an outside who is forging his own path through life his own way. Much like the captain he is slowly beginning to admire.
Spock is rational, logical, methodical, and has an intense moral code that demands he obey rule and law. He desires peace and justice for all living kind and works to actively advocate that method of living through logic. He respects the law and those above him but when his supreme logic and understanding of law crosses wires with those above him, he does make note of it. *Spock’s subtle attitude when he disagrees has been shown to have happened with Admiral Pike on many occasions - once leading in a request for him to leave the room - and he also disagreed with the moral of the mission given to them by Admiral Marcus.*
He is a voice of reason for those around him and has proven to be a brave and wise leader. While many crew members may butt heads with Spock at some point or another, they know that in the end he is faithful to them and will do all that is necessary to lead them appropriately. As a rule, Spock understands that not all beings place logic above all else as he and his people do. However, when all attempts to reason with someone who is displaying signs of irrationality fail, he finds himself greatly frustrated (or baffled depending on the severity and/or situation at hand).
Spock’s loyalty to law and order often infringes on potential friendships. In some parts, he does not care for such a thing but in other parts he desires (perhaps not even consciously) familial bonds. After losing his mother and his home planet - something he feels extremely helpless toward and still haunts him to this day - some inner part of him seeks to fill this hole that was left in him. He is not unloving nor as cold as his peers may believe him to be. He loved his mother deeply and he has an active relationship with Uhura. It is, again, the intensity in which he feels that he must control with logic before it overwhelms him.
Spock can be a little bit sassy, bull-headed, sarcastic, and sometimes downright mean, especially when he is arguing a point of which he is passionate toward (most likely, order, law, and logic). His superior sense of reasoning frequently leaves people with an urge to punch him in the face. The irritating part is that Spock is often right and therefore refrains people from this mode of action (usually).
So, let’s dive into the human side of Spock.
Beneath his veneer of logic, there is a wealth of humanity that we are only beginning to see in him. As a child, Spock was often conflicted. He was often put under scrutiny for being half-vulcan and therefore “impure, inferior, and disadvantaged.” Spock wanted nothing more but to be accepted into the world that he was born. He yearned for the respect of his parents, the respect of his peers, the respect of his elders. Yet even with his excellence acknowledged, Spock was scrutinized against unjustly because he was half human. In many ways, this desire has continued into his young adulthood.
When we first witness Spock at the Academy we see someone holding a strong armor over him that could almost be understood as arrogance. He has a quick tongue and a facade of superiority and perhaps this is a result of being looked down upon for what and who he is; a blanket to keep away the hurt that comes with years of being alone.
His inability to deal with the amount of emotion he feels every single day leaves him in the same position as many other Vulcan: turning toward cold reasoning. At the point of his work with Starfleet, it is almost as if the hope to connect more profoundly with others has been dissolved and his indulgence in academic excellence has taken it’s place. This can lead him to become protective of his academic success and even become jealous of those who may dare to do better, challenging them in his own way.
His wrath as a child when provoked incurs such deep emotion that he easily takes down a Vulcan almost twice his size, and his wrath as an adult is just as dangerous if not more. This is an emotion that Spock has the least amount of control over. *In the second film we also see his ability to feel great anguish to the point of brimming tears before anger takes control and his absolute helplessness toward it. He struggles to keep control of this and even fully admits that he is failing in his control. These are things that he will continue to struggle with in his young life as he is surrounded by those not his own kind. It is a struggle that had often created tense situations with those at Starfleet and will likely continue to anywhere he goes where the principle of living is not based on logic.
It is difficult to pierce the mask of rationality that he wears, sometimes as armor, but it is very possible and when it happens you find a maelstrom of emotions you may not have been ready to unleash.
All of these strengths and weaknesses aside, Spock is a good-hearted being with an intention to do what is ‘right, proper, and logical’. He is often eager to be on away teams and collect data and samples for study himself, and quick to take action. He is one of the first persons to sacrifice himself when all other options have been exhausted believing heavily that ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’.