Highlights
- Spock managed to make close friends despite his stoic demeanor and Vulcan heritage, including Christine Chapel, Nyota Uhura, and his adopted sister Michael Burnham.
- Spock’s relationship with his mother Amanda Grayson was significant, as she provided emotional support and practical advice, compensating for the lack of contact with his father.
- James T. Kirk is Spock’s best friend, and Spock would go to great lengths, even sacrificing his own life, for Kirk’s sake. Their bond is profound and unbreakable.
In Star Trek, Vulcans are a stoic and logical species, especially compared to humans, so it seems their demeanor would prevent them from making close friends. That’s true for Spock to some degree, but despite his cool facade and Vulcan heritage, he has managed to make a few close friends throughout his life.
The saga of the Star Trek universe is fascinating from a science-fiction point of view, but it’s beloved characters like Spock that drive the show. There are a few other familiar faces that he would consider his close friends even though he might not like to admit it.
7 Christine Chapel
A Friend In Need
- Played by: Majel Barrett
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1, Episode 4: The Naked Time)
Christine Chapel was the head nurse of the Enterprise infirmary, and she had a similar scientific background to Spock, so they had a professional bond from the start. Her deeper feelings for the Science Officer were rather obvious, so much so that Bones teased her about them.
Spock wasn’t entirely unresponsive to her charms. If it wasn’t for his Vulcan cultural background that valued suppressing and controlling emotions, Spock might have become closer to Christine. He still trusted her with certain personal secrets and paid her a certain amount of professional respect, so they were always friends despite his coolness.
6 Nyota Uhura
More Than Friends In Another Timeline
- Played by: Nichelle Nichols
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1, Episode 1: The Man Trap)
While they were working together on the bridge of the Enterprise, the Head of Communications constantly interacted with the Science Officer, and they had some interesting discussions. Uhura was one of the few characters that could joke and even tease Spock because they weren’t just work colleagues, they were friends.
Uhura sings a funny song about Spock’s ears in “Charlie X”, something a person would have to be more than just an acquaintance to get away with, and often banters with him on the bridge or in the recreation room in other episodes. In the Kelvin timeline (J.J. Abrams reboot), Spock and Uhura are in an intimate relationship, which is a believable evolution of the work-and-friend relationship in The Original Series.
5 Michael Burnham
The Blood Of The Covenant
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- Played by: Sonequa Martin-Green
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1, Episode 1: The Vulcan Hello)
Michael Burnham was adopted by Spock’s father, Sarek, and raised with Spock. She had a career as distinguished as her brother’s but has remained classified. Spock had a close relationship with his adopted sister but due to the nature of her work with Section 31, nobody talked about her much.
There was some real sibling rivalry between the two of them, but that seemed to strengthen their bond instead of weakening it. Burnham’s involvement in younger Spock’s life contributed to some of his choices as an adult, and she’s partly responsible for making him the Starfleet officer that he eventually became.
4 Amanda Grayson
A Boy’s Best Friend Is His Mother
- Played by: Jane Wyatt
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1, Episode 4: The Naked Time)
The more recent incarnations of Star Trek, especially those from the Kelvin universe, have focused more on the close relationship that Spock has with his mother. It was also apparent in the classic show and some of the older movies even though the character didn’t appear very much.
Logic and reason aren’t lost on Amanda despite her human ancestry. It’s through her family line that Spock is related to famous author and investigator Arthur Conan Doyle, and he appreciates her ability to balance the emotional burden of love along with the sting of practical, realistic advice. His relationship with her compensated for the lack of family contact when he was estranged from his father in response to refusing admission to the Vulcan Science Academy.
3 Christopher Pike
The First Captain Is Always Special
- Played by: Jeffrey Hunter
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Original Pilot Episode: The Cage)
Spock only deceived his friend Captain Kirk once, and he did it on behalf of Christopher Pike. His first Captain of the Enterprise was featured in the original pilot of the vintage show and many of the original cast were shuffled out or replaced completely. Pike returned in both parts of “The Menagerie” in The Original Series, but then faded into obscurity before appearing again in the reboot Star Trek (2009) and then leading his own series with Spock, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
After some amazing adventures that viewers can see in Discovery or Strange New Worlds, Christopher Pike came to a tragic and painful fate while saving the lives of many young cadets. Thanks to Spock’s intervention he was able to enjoy the ideal retirement, but it almost led to the end of the Vulcan’s career, which goes to show how much Spock really cared.
2 Leonard McCoy
Because Intelligence Also Needs Wisdom
- Played by: DeForest Kelley
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1, Episode 1: The Man Trap)
The emotionally intelligent and sensitive ship’s doctor has a serious personality clash with Spock, but they’re bonded by a deep mutual respect and another common friend, James T. Kirk. Most of the time, Spock and Bones are at odds because they’re opposites, but this is why they’re also great friends.
Kirk often consults one or both of these characters for advice or help, putting them in fierce or friendly competition with each other. This conflict often drives the plot. The best Star Trek: The Original Series episodes include a situation in which Spock and Bones have to solve a problem without James running interference between them.
1 James T. Kirk
Best Friends For Deathless Ever
- Played by: William Shatner
- Introduction Episode: Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1, Episode 1: The Man Trap)
James T. Kirk is famous for the concern he has for his crew, and this stays the same for every incarnation of the character. The relationship he has with Spock, however, is more profound, and the Vulcan would certainly consider James T. Kirk to be his best friend. Spock would even die for Kirk, as shown in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, where his dying words to Kirk are “I have been, and always shall be, your friend.“
Spock has a facade that is trained not to betray emotions, but when it comes to his feelings about Jim he comes very close to cracking. He’s visibly ecstatic at the end of “Amok Time” when he finds out he hasn’t killed his friend after all, and he only trusted Kirk with the deeply personal information about Pon Farr in the same episode.
