’s flagship vessel the USS Enterprise has featured plenty of physicians over the years, some of them more gifted doctors and appealing characters than others. From the very first pilot episode of , the ship's doctor was positioned as a crucial presence on the Enterprise, often serving as a personal friend and counselor to the ship's captain. They also tended to be one of the few characters with the authority to overrule the captain's orders if they felt it was medically justified.

In , the dynamic that Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) shared with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was that series' defining relationship, a somewhat volatile but deeply loyal trio of close friends.

got plenty of narrative mileage out of the romantic tension between and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). While not every Enterprise doctor was as crucial as those two, virtually all of them brought something to the table.

9. Dr. Mark Piper - Star Trek: The Original Series - "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Dr. Mark Piper (Paul Fix) only appeared in one episode of , the show's second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Piper was primarily seen tending to Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood), a close friend of Captain Kirk who began exhibiting strange, dangerous powers after encountering a mysterious energy field.

Piper was something of a prototype version of Dr. McCoy, an old country doctor who was something of an anachronism in the 23rd century. Fix was ultimately deemed too old for the role by creator Gene Roddenberry, and he was replaced by Kelley's McCoy without explanation for the remainder of .

8. Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) - Star Trek: First Contact

In an attempt to escape an impending attack by , Dr. Crusher reluctantly activates the Enterprise-E's Emergency Medical Hologram (Robert Picardo) to serve as a distraction while she evacuates patients and staff from sickbay.

The EMH is only present for one brief scene, but it's a fun one, as the holographic doctor offers the Borg drones some analgesic cream as he assumes their skin is irritated from all their cybernetic implants. Picardo more famously played a different version of the EMH program on , where he became one of the most beloved doctors in all of .

7. Dr. Phil Boyce - Star Trek: The Original Series - "The Cage"

Dr. Phil Boyce (John Hoyt) only appeared in one episode of , the show's original pilot "The Cage.

" An older, somewhat blunt man, he served as a close advisor and friend to (Jeffrey Hunter). His most memorable moment is likely when he breaks out a martini from his medical kit for a distressed Pike. Roddenberry was talked into hiring Hoyt as the ship's doctor, preferring DeForest Kelley even at that early stage of the show's existence. Hoyt was not asked to return for 's second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before," much to the actor's disappointment.

6. Dr. Katherine Pulaski - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2

Beverly Crusher actress Gates McFadden departed after season 1 due to clashes with head writer Maurice Hurley. She was replaced in season 2 by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur). Envisioned as a sort of female version of McCoy, Pulaski never quite worked as a character. She lacked , only sharing his irascibility. Her treatment of the android Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) often came across as cruel and reductive. Muldaur notably did not enjoy her time on the show, and after Beverly Crusher returned to in season 3, Pulaski was dropped and never heard from again.

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5. Dr. Phlox - Star Trek: Enterprise

Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) was a Denobulan physician who served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise NX-01 for the entire four-season run of . Phlox was something of an eccentric, a lover of Earth culture and animals, and often used unorthodox medical treatments. He was a close friend and advisor to (Scott Bakula), and was one of the few crew members with extensive prior space travel. was infamous for the thin characterization it offered its supporting players, but Phlox was an exception, aided in no small part by Billingsley's warm, charming performance.

4. Dr. Leonard McCoy - Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond (Kelvin Timeline)

No other actor in the Kelvin Timeline movies evoked the spirit of the original version of their character quite like Karl Urban's take on Dr. Leonard McCoy. Urban and Deforest Kelley don't actually look much alike, but Urban managed a pitch-perfect version of Kelley's southern accent, and channeled the gruff but endearing energy of the original version with seeming ease. Bones' scenes with an injured

in are some of his best, reestablishing the classic contentious friendship between the two characters. Urban's version of McCoy is arguably the reboot films' greatest achievement.

3. Dr. M'Benga - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Initially played by actor Booker Bradshaw in two episodes of , Dr. Joseph M'Benga is the Starship Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer under Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in the prequel series . Now played by Babs Olusanmokun, M'Benga is one of Pike's oldest friends on the ship.

His relaxed demeanor and expert bedside manner make him an easy character to like, and his mentorship of is one of the most rewarding relationships in . M'Benga harbored a secret in season 1 where he hid his terminally ill daughter in a transporter buffer until he could find a cure.

2. Dr. Beverly Crusher - Star Trek: The Next Generation

Dr. Beverly Crusher was the brilliant, determined Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise-D and E. She had been close to Captain Picard, as she was married to his late best friend Jack Crusher (Doug Wert).

Beverly and Jean-Luc had an on-again, off-again romantic tension in the years they served together, always choosing not to pursue a relationship to maintain their professionalism. Beverly had a son with Jack, the boy genius Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who also became an important member of . Beverly was a force in her own right, often caught up in high-concept sci-i plots like the episodes "Remember Me" and "Cause And Effect."

1. Dr. Leonard McCoy - Star Trek: The Original Series

Introduced in the episode "The Man Trap," Deforest Kelley's Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy would serve as Captain Kirk's Chief Medical Officer on the USS Enterprise for over 25 years. A passionate, emotional man by nature, McCoy often clashed with his friend Spock, who was driven by logic and reason. With the possible exception of Spock, McCoy was Captain Kirk's closest friend and confidante. His stern but compassionate demeanor established the template for Starfleet doctors. There's been no shortage of great in , but Leonard McCoy is the greatest of them all.