Even though the biggest attention was on the trio of James T. Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy, other characters fromStar Trek: The Original Seriesas well as the subsequent movies and the rebooted movie universe were indispensable for the show. One of them was Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the ship’s chief engineer who took great care of the ship’s engine as well as other components.
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Without Scotty, there’s little doubt that Enterprise would have been destroyed much earlier. Despite the prominence Scotty played inStar Trek, there are still some things the viewers might not know about both versions of him, the one played by James Doohan and the oneportrayed by Simon Pegg.
5The Mystery Of Scotty’s Missing Finger
As James Doohan’s fans will most likely know, the actor fought in World War Two and participated in the battle for Normandy. During the battle, he was shot and lost a part of his middle finger on his right hand, among other injuries. Doohan naturally survived the battle but medics were unable to reattach his finger. InStar Trek: The Original Series, Scotty is missing a part of his finger as well, but this fact is often cleverly hidden and only becomes visible a few times.
One such time is whenScotty is carrying the tribbles in the episode “The Trouble with Tribbles,” and another one is in the episode “The Enemy Within"when Scotty and Spock are trying to inject the raging dog. As for the reason why Scotty himself lost a part of his finger, the series never specifies it, but one theory states that it was due to a warp core, or maybe a transporter accident. Doohan’s missing finger also makes for errors in continuity since the series used a hand double in some scenes, while in other scenes, the fact that Scotty is missing a finger is obvious.
4He Served In Starfleet For Decades
EveryStar Trekfan knows that Scotty served on the Enterprise for years. Even so, they might be surprised to learn the exact number of years Scotty spent in service. He started his career as a Starfleet engineer in 2241 when he was just 19 years old andwent on to serve on eleven different shipsin total, not just the original Enterprise.
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He only joined the Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk in 2265 as the ship’s chief engineer. Scotty retired after 51 years of service, making him one of the longest-serving Starfleet human members fromStar Trek: The Original Series.
3His Whole Name And Relationships
Unlike his captain or even the first officer/science officer Spock, Scotty didn’t have that many romantic entanglements in the series. And when he did, they didn’t end so well. He liked several women who served on the Enterprise but never formed a long-lasting romantic relationship with any of them.Some fans shipped Scotty with Uhura, especially after she showed her interest in him in the movie series. Unfortunately, Uhura wasn’t in her right mind at the time and the hint of a potential romance led to nowhere.
An interesting fact available in the comic book seriesStar Trek: Ongoingis that Scotty’s full name is Montgomery Christopher Jorgensen Scott. Despite that, most fans know him as Montgomery Scott, or simply Scotty. The names of his parents and siblings also differ based on the source material. In one book, Scotty’s parents are named Robert and Mary, while in another, his father is called Vaughn instead.
2His Nephew Died In A Tragic Way
Captain Kirk isn’t the only Enterprise crew member who experienced a tragic death of a close relative in the originalStar Trekmovies. But unlike in Kirk’s case, the scene in which Scotty reacts to the death of his nephew didn’t make it into the final cut of the movie. InStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Scotty watches as a young engineer dies after Khan’s attack.
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What makes this moment even sadder is that it’s his nephew who dies after his action had helped save the Enterprise. Peter Preston, as his name was, was the youngest son of Scotty’s sister. Scotty later went on to attend Peter’s funeral, and he had a hard time coming to terms with Peter’s death and the fact that he was unable to prevent it.
1Scotty’s Scottish Accent
Even though a lot of fans liked Scotty’s accent in the original series, not everybody was a fan. That goes for theLate Night Showhost Craig Ferguson, who’s from Scotland, and has called Scotty’s Scottish accent horrible. It’s ironic considering James Doohan was known for his accent work, and thanks to his ability to do various accents went on to voice multiple characters inStar Trek: The Animated Series, not just Scotty himself. Of course, as all Doohan’s fans will know, he grew up in Canada where his parents immigrated from Ireland.
Simon Pegg, who played Scotty most recently inStar Trek: Beyond(2016), isn’t Scottish either - instead, he comes from the English village of Brockworth. As such, Pegg had to work on his Scottish accent for the role and in the end, he used an accent similar to those of his wife and her family, who are from Scotland.
