Headcanon - Non-canon!AOS characters: Dr. M’Benga
Series of headcanons about characters from the classic timeline that were never introduced in the Kelvin Timeline movies, characters just mentioned that are a blank state, or created after the movies release. And one OC.
Post-Into Darkness canon complaint.
1. Philippa Georgiou | 2. Number One | 3. Michael Burnham |
4. Crew members ( Chapel, M’Benga, Mitchell, Rand) | 5. human!Enterprise
Posted also at Dreamwidth, Tumblr, AO3, Ad Astra and SquidgeWorld.
Joseph M’Benga, a Vulcan in the body of a human doctor
Rank: Lieutenant
Occupation: Senior medical officer
Ship: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
After graduating from Starfleet Medical School, as one of the first human doctors to specialize in Vulcan medicine M’Benga is assigned to Vulcan to further increase his knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology.
He's in his seventh year of a medical internship at a Vulcan ward when the Narada appears in the system and he's one of the survivors beamed on the Enterprise during the dramatic evacuation of the planet.
As soon as he’s aboard, M’Benga asks where to find a senior medical officer to report and offers his assistance with the refugees.
His Vulcan-like reserve and manners prove crucial in a sickbay full of Vulcans who are experiencing the mental backlash of the genocide of their race, and this catches the attention of the freshly promoted CMO: M’Benga’s presence helps McCoy to better handle the crisis happening under his watch.
After he has (grudgingly) accepted to stay on the Enterprise as the CMO, McCoy approaches M’Benga with the offer of a full-time position aboard the flagship, claiming that it's only logical for someone who interned for seven years on Vulcan to serve on the ship with the only human-Vulcan hybrid of the whole ‘fleet. Even though the presence of Spock is still unconfirmed, McCoy likes to be prepared.
M’Benga, who was already looking around to further his career when the Narada happened, is tempted by an offer that he cannot really refuse: to be able to become the doctor of human-Vulcan hybrid would be both an honor and the chance to become a pioneer of interspecies medicine. But. But the part of him that feels like member of the Vulcan society feels it’s his duty to follow the surviving Vulcans to where they will establish a new colony, even though he got the feeling that they might want to keep strangers out - and M’Benga, for as much as he behaves like a Vulcan, still isn’t one of them. He tells McCoy to please give him time to consider the offer.
For few days he ponders but still he’s unable to make up his mind. Knowing that he won’t be able to choose on his own, he does what a Vulcan would do in his place: search the counsel of an older, wiser Vulcan, and he finds the right person in Ambassador Sarek, to whom he asks for a meeting. Sarek, as Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, understands human nature but also knows about Vulcan society, and M’Benga trusts his judgment, knowing that Sarek will be able to help him make the right choice. To Sarek, M’Benga offers his willingness to commit his expertise to help the Vulcans but, knowing Vulcans appreciate frankness above all, he also explains he was offered a place on the Enterprise and be Spock’s doctor, and he needs Sarek’s advice on which future to choose.
Sarek tells him that the choice is his and his alone, but he feels that the Vulcan race won’t need him as much as his son might need him on the Enterprise: a human doctor specialized in Vulcan medicine will be a logical addition for a starship employing a Vulcan-human hybrid.
M’Benga mulls on this for few further days, but in the end he takes Sarek’s advice and officially applies for transfer to ship duty and then fills in a request for an assignment to the Enterprise, for McCoy to almost immediately get it accepted.
M’Benga is instated as Spock’s primary physician and his extensive knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology saves the first officer’s life multiple times, proving that McCoy’s choice to hire him was a wise one.
In less than a year he’s promoted to senior medical officer and McCoy's trustworthy second, the doctor in charge of sickbay and acting CMO should McCoy be incapacitated.
Notes: There’s little known about M’Benga from both TOS and non-canon TOS material, so it was mostly an exercise of trying to put together what little I found and offer a decent Kelvin-washed interpretation of it.
Final notes: I don’t plan to keep this headcanon up-to-date with Strange New Worlds, although I might decide to change M’Benga’s Jabilo here and at the crew edit should the series establish a different canon name for him.
08 April 2022. Official Strange New Worlds poster released has made "Jabilo" canon as M'Benga first name.
November 2023. "Joseph" was made the canon name in the series.
Fancasting: Michael Early.
Post-Into Darkness canon complaint.
1. Philippa Georgiou | 2. Number One | 3. Michael Burnham |
4. Crew members ( Chapel, M’Benga, Mitchell, Rand) | 5. human!Enterprise
Posted also at Dreamwidth, Tumblr, AO3, Ad Astra and SquidgeWorld.
Joseph M’Benga, a Vulcan in the body of a human doctor
Rank: Lieutenant
Occupation: Senior medical officer
Ship: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
After graduating from Starfleet Medical School, as one of the first human doctors to specialize in Vulcan medicine M’Benga is assigned to Vulcan to further increase his knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology.
He's in his seventh year of a medical internship at a Vulcan ward when the Narada appears in the system and he's one of the survivors beamed on the Enterprise during the dramatic evacuation of the planet.
As soon as he’s aboard, M’Benga asks where to find a senior medical officer to report and offers his assistance with the refugees.
His Vulcan-like reserve and manners prove crucial in a sickbay full of Vulcans who are experiencing the mental backlash of the genocide of their race, and this catches the attention of the freshly promoted CMO: M’Benga’s presence helps McCoy to better handle the crisis happening under his watch.
After he has (grudgingly) accepted to stay on the Enterprise as the CMO, McCoy approaches M’Benga with the offer of a full-time position aboard the flagship, claiming that it's only logical for someone who interned for seven years on Vulcan to serve on the ship with the only human-Vulcan hybrid of the whole ‘fleet. Even though the presence of Spock is still unconfirmed, McCoy likes to be prepared.
M’Benga, who was already looking around to further his career when the Narada happened, is tempted by an offer that he cannot really refuse: to be able to become the doctor of human-Vulcan hybrid would be both an honor and the chance to become a pioneer of interspecies medicine. But. But the part of him that feels like member of the Vulcan society feels it’s his duty to follow the surviving Vulcans to where they will establish a new colony, even though he got the feeling that they might want to keep strangers out - and M’Benga, for as much as he behaves like a Vulcan, still isn’t one of them. He tells McCoy to please give him time to consider the offer.
For few days he ponders but still he’s unable to make up his mind. Knowing that he won’t be able to choose on his own, he does what a Vulcan would do in his place: search the counsel of an older, wiser Vulcan, and he finds the right person in Ambassador Sarek, to whom he asks for a meeting. Sarek, as Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, understands human nature but also knows about Vulcan society, and M’Benga trusts his judgment, knowing that Sarek will be able to help him make the right choice. To Sarek, M’Benga offers his willingness to commit his expertise to help the Vulcans but, knowing Vulcans appreciate frankness above all, he also explains he was offered a place on the Enterprise and be Spock’s doctor, and he needs Sarek’s advice on which future to choose.
Sarek tells him that the choice is his and his alone, but he feels that the Vulcan race won’t need him as much as his son might need him on the Enterprise: a human doctor specialized in Vulcan medicine will be a logical addition for a starship employing a Vulcan-human hybrid.
M’Benga mulls on this for few further days, but in the end he takes Sarek’s advice and officially applies for transfer to ship duty and then fills in a request for an assignment to the Enterprise, for McCoy to almost immediately get it accepted.
M’Benga is instated as Spock’s primary physician and his extensive knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology saves the first officer’s life multiple times, proving that McCoy’s choice to hire him was a wise one.
In less than a year he’s promoted to senior medical officer and McCoy's trustworthy second, the doctor in charge of sickbay and acting CMO should McCoy be incapacitated.
Notes: There’s little known about M’Benga from both TOS and non-canon TOS material, so it was mostly an exercise of trying to put together what little I found and offer a decent Kelvin-washed interpretation of it.
Final notes: I don’t plan to keep this headcanon up-to-date with Strange New Worlds, although I might decide to change M’Benga’s Jabilo here and at the crew edit should the series establish a different canon name for him.
08 April 2022. Official Strange New Worlds poster released has made "Jabilo" canon as M'Benga first name.
November 2023. "Joseph" was made the canon name in the series.
Fancasting: Michael Early.