Scotty

Montgomery Scott, affectionately known as 'Scotty,' has also earned a title as 'the miracle worker' because of his engineering brilliance. Firmly devoted to the USS Enterprise and it's smooth operation, Scotty has gotten the ship out of many tight situations with his skill and resourcefulness. Even in his spare time, Scotty can think of little but the Enterprise. In "The Trouble with Tribbles," he spends his shore leave reading technical manuals.

Scotty's not afraid to take the hands-on approach. Scotty is indeed a Scot in every sense. He bursts with pride for his ship and crew, and he'll fight to defend the honour of both, as seen in The Trouble with Tribbles, in which he takes on a Klingon who insulted the Enterprise. With his dress uniform he wears a kilt, and his quarters are sparsely decorated with Scottish artifacts of personal or historical significance. He has a fondness for scotch, and keeps a few old bottles hidden around the room for special occasions. To top it off, he plays the bagpipes. He plays "Amazing Grace" during Spock's funeral in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

As passionate and loving as Scotty is, romances often end unfortunately for him. In "The Lights of Zetar," he loves and loses Lieutenant Mira Romaine, who experiences the outer-space version of demon possession, then decides to stay at Memory Alpha after she regains control. In "Who Mourns for Adonis?", Scotty must fight with none other than a Greek god for the affections of Carolyn, a fellow Enterprise officer. He valiantly defends her from Apollo's wrath, but any signs that this relationship developing further are not shown. Scotty's unlucky streak with women haunts him in "Wolf in the Fold," in which he is accused of the violent murder of several women. Scotty's brief but obviously never-pursued flirtation with Lt. Uhura is seen in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

In engineering, Scotty is well respected by his officers for his technical knowledge and skill. Scotty gets along well with most crewmembers of the Enterprise. Spock admires his efficiency, and McCoy can appreciate his humanity and love of life. Scotty seems to take the young Chekov under his wing in several episodes. Kirk is there to rein him in should Scotty begin to act too impulsively.

The Scot's impulsiveness might get the crew into a few tough scrapes, but it gets them out of many more. Scotty is a well-rounded character who brings further humanity to the show and skill, pride, and passion to his work.