Meredith Rodney McKay

Meredith Rodney McKay
Rodney on Destiny
Full name:	Meredith Rodney McKay
Species:	Human Wraith (briefly)
Gender:	Male
Homeworld:	Earth
Birthplace:	Canada, Earth
Born:	April 18, 2332
Affiliation:	United Federation of Planets, Atlantis Expedition, formerly Area 51 formerly Russia
Family
Mother:	Unnamed (deceased)
Father:	Unnamed (deceased)
Sibling(s):	Jean Miller (sister)
Marital Status:	Single
Other relatives:	Kaleb Miller (brother-in-law) Madison Miller (niece)
Career
Occupation:	Doctor
Assignment:	Chief science and research officer, Atlantis Expedition (2379-present)
Rank:	Doctor
Insignia:

"Hey, I'm Doctor Rodney McKay, all right? Difficult takes a few seconds; impossible a few minutes."

— Rodney McKay to Malcolm Tunney

Meredith Rodney McKay, better known as Rodney McKay, due to his dislike of his real first name (he is called 'Meredith' or 'Mer' by his sister and briefly 'Rod' by Dr. Daniel Jackson), is a male Human who is a brilliant astrophysicist, and one of the leading experts on Ancient and nanite technology.

Although he is able to formulate many ground-breaking ideas on a broad range of subjects, his phobias and arrogance continually serve as a hindrance to people acknowledging his abilities.

McKay was initially involved with the Earth Stargate Program and later became the leading scientist on the Atlantis Expedition. He is a self-important scientist with a great deal of knowledge but, according to Colonel Samantha Carter, has no feel for it.

He is the chief science officer for the Atlantis Expedition and also a member of the expedition's flagship team, the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team, having been involved with the Earth Stargate Program for many years prior to becoming a member of the Atlantis Expedition. When he joined the expedition to Starbase Atlantis, he was very eager to be part of the expedition and he continues to excel in many scientific aspects.

As such, he was later given the position of chief science officer for the expedition and later became a permanent member of the expedition's flagship team, the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team with McKay continuing to hold both positions to this day.

Despite his mannerisms and insecurities, he does occasionally show endearing moments of vulnerability and bravery. Together with Dr. Radek Zelenka, he works miracles with the tools at hand, but he has trouble acknowledging other people's work.

Personality and traits

Behavior

"I'm Dr. Rodney McKay, all right? Difficult takes a few seconds; impossible, a few minutes."

— McKay

Contrary to the 'Polite Canadian' stereotype, McKay is often one of the most arrogant and condescending people known to both the Stargate Program and the Atlantis expedition. He often verbally abuses his peers, particularly Dr. Radek Zelenka, for their perceived "lack of intellect" or imagination. His attitude is one of exasperation, wondering that they can hold down a job, and yet, he is occasionally forced to admit that his colleagues are useful. However, despite his irritating demeanor, almost everyone on the Atlantis expedition is either a friend, or on friendly terms with him.

Despite his shortcomings, McKay has performed extraordinary acts of heroism and bravery as early as the first few weeks on the expedition, evacuating entire populations from planets about to be attacked by the Xindi. In one mission, he was torn between staying with a dying Dr. Brendan Gall, or going to help the outmatched Major John Sheppard. The badly wounded Dr. Gall told McKay to aid Sheppard. He refused to leave until Gall, who was already near death, killed himself. McKay saved Sheppard from the Xindi and the combined efforts of the two were enough to save both of them and their ship.

Another example of this was when, despite hurt, he joined a rescue mission for Ronon Dex, claiming to be close friends with him, which Dr. Carson Beckett was skeptical of. During the rescue, he at least tried to go out of his way to help Ronon, fighting Beckett over a phaser rifle to go out and fight. He and Beckett then formed a plan that saved Ronon's life and allowed Beckett to kill the Xindi officer Ronon is fighting. After being assured Ronon won't hurt him for his part in that, McKay was and mollified by Ronon's reactions. He even pilots the Puddle Jumper home, even though he was not a good pilot, but that seemed to have improved over time.

John Sheppard and other members of the expedition has usually shown full trust in him. An alternate McKay, who went by "Rod" has admitted that he likes McKay for the simple fact that he is able to speak his mind so freely and simply. McKay however, didn't seem to realize that people didn't like him too much because of his arrogance because when Rod said he didn't care if people liked him or not. In one instance, Dr. Elizabeth Weir stated that she and the members of Rodney's team love him, which Sheppard, in his own way, seems to confirm, by saying "In a way a friend feels about another friend."

Mitchell threatening McKay with a lemon

He often provides comic relief in addition to his considerable technological expertise, and his ability to find solutions in situations of imminent death have been used against him several times to motivate him, which always works.

He is also known for repeatedly snapping his fingers several times at once. He often does this when he gets a sudden bright idea, is attempting to remember something or to attract someone's attention.

When McKay had a brush with Near ascension, his behavior changed somewhat. He spent what time he thought he had left as best he could. He used his knowledge to try to create technologies to help the expedition, did things to help others personally, such as writing a book about Weir from his perspective, asked Ronon about his scars and healed them, saved Zelenka's life when he was dying, and served the remembrance tea for Teyla Emmagan's father's death so she wouldn't have to do it alone.

Sometimes Mckay seems to hallucinate when under extreme emotional duress, such as seeing Samantha Carter while in a sinking jumper, and saying goodbye to Carson Beckett after his death.

When the Atlantis team met their Organic Asuran replicas, McKay was the only member who was not only pleased at the replica's existence, but actually enthused about spending time and working with it. He even demonstrates a certain "B team" inferiority complex when dealing with the members of SG-1, particularly Samantha Carter, Typhuss James Halliwell and Daniel Jackson.

Intelligence

"You're smarter than me.
I know."

— Malcolm Tunney and McKay

McKay berating Zelenka

He often claims on being the smartest person on Starbase Atlantis and has identified himself as a Mensa member, and implied an unofficial chapter in Atlantis, thus making him unique among his peers. He cannot stop himself from putting everyone "right" when they are "clearly wrong", usually on the spot, whoever they are and in whatever situation; including bosses, colleagues, and even invading alien captors.

McKay originally turned to science after studying the piano, intending to be a musician, until he was told by his piano teacher that he was a "great clinical player" but had no sense of the art. After turning to science, he discovered that it, too, is an art. Since both Colonel Samantha Carter and McKay often argue about solutions, she often wins. However, he once told a hallucination of her that while he considers himself as smart as Carter, he believes she is wiser.

McKay also occasionally displayed some acting skills; he successfully fooled Richard Woolsey, but not Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, mostly due to his recognizing something McKay was doing as being faked after years of working with Carter.

Hypochondria

"I'm no Ronon – I'm not gonna be on the cover of “Shape” magazine any time soon... but I can handle myself in combat; stand my ground when I need to."

— Rodney Mckay

McKay presenting his invented sun protection to his team

McKay is a renowned hypochondriac, claiming at various times to suffer from hypoglycemia, Restless legs syndrome, allergies to bee stings and citrus fruit, among other things. He once said that he had studied medical science at one time, but stopped, because the amount of information on the human body made him start to diagnose himself with many phantom diseases. He has an obsession with protecting his skin, which lead him to invent SPF 100 factor sun block while on a mission to P3M-736, a planet with no ozone layer.

Because of his hypoglycemia, he eats regularly. After three years, the rest of the team notices that eats too much. However, McKay claimed that he weighed exactly the same as he had three years earlier. He also enjoys eating Meals ready to eat, hospital food. While he and Sheppard were playing what they thought was an Ancient game, McKay inadvertently forced the people of Geldar to despise anything citrus and made them believe that "even the sunlight is dangerous".

Relationships

"Nope, that's pretty much it—petty, arrogant, bad with people."

— Samantha Carter

McKay is very awkward when it comes to relationships with women. However, he still claimed to have dated several women at least twice during his education years, in particular, someone named Teresa Geldar on two occasions and Jocelyn Rutger once. He also had a fondness for his neighbor, who hates him, but likes his cat, and claimed to have seen Dr. Kate Heightmeyer temporarily. He also has a predilection for women with short blonde hair, particularly Colonel Samantha Carter. He named the people of Geldar after Teresa; and went so far as advising their women to wear their hair in a manner similar to Carter's.

During his time with the SGC and the Expedition, he had three major relationships with women over recent years, as well as friendships within his team.

Samantha Carter

"This is why I could never have a relationship with you, Rodney. You don't listen to people—you don't trust them."
"I have every reason not to. You want something done right, do it yourself."

— Samantha Carter and McKay

McKay hallucinates Carter

Since McKay has a fondness for women with short blonde hair, he had fallen for Colonel Samantha Carter, and wasn't afraid to show it. However, Carter did not requite his feelings, due to his arrogance. However, since his attitude has improved over the years, but they only went as far as to become friends. In 2381, McKay learned that Carter would become the new Starbase Atlantis CO. McKay confronted her and warns her of "the unrequited lust that's been hanging over our heads for what seems like forever."

Katie Brown

McKay about to kiss Katie Brown

"You have a date, Rodney? With a woman?"

— Carson Beckett

One of his first solid relationships during his time in the Atlantis expedition was Dr. Katie Brown, a botanist who came to Starbase Atlantis in the expedition's second year of operation. Things started awkward between the two of them, particularly when Lt. Laura Cadman's mind went into McKay's body. After the situation where Cadman made McKay kiss her, he started to avoid her for the following year. However, McKay later found time to see her, and their relationship went into full swing. In 2381, he planned to marry her, but after a quarantine lockdown, he discovered that he was not ready for that. However, Brown took that as a sign of breaking up, and left for Earth.

Jennifer Keller

"I've loved you for some time now."

— Rodney McKay, later repeated by Keller

McKay with Keller

After learning that Brown broke up with him, he later revealed to have feelings for Dr. Jennifer Keller. She once invited him for a drink after he was stuck with Colonel Samantha Carter in an underground Genii mine on M5V-801. Later, six days since he was infected with Second Childhood, he told Keller that he loved her. Later, McKay discovered that Ronon Dex had also fallen for Keller. He told Ronon that he wouldn't fight for her, but wouldn't back down either. Instead, they both agreed on letting the best man win. After Ronon's repeated attempts and apparent success at winning over Keller, she told Ronon that she was interested in someone else, which turned out to be McKay. After she went on a date with him on their visit back to Earth, McKay and Keller shared a romantic moment when McKay saved her after she was trapped in a freezing, wet room, where he confessed that he wouldn't know what to do if she died. They spent their time flying back to Stargate Command kissing in a private ship. The two were shown holding each other both happy to have their health and each other.

Atlantis Team

"Because Colonel Sheppard would have already had hours to try to make it back through the portal in the time I wasted explaining the situation to Conan and Xena!"

— Rodney McKay

Despite his abrasive attitude, McKay has, on many occasions, demonstrated a close bond with his fellow teammates on the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team. Although he admitted that he never really bonded with Lieutenant Aiden Ford during his first year on Starbase Atlantis, he and Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard have shown on many occasions that they have a great esteem for the others' abilities. His relationships with Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex were not as close as his friendship with Sheppard, but McKay nevertheless clearly values his relationships with them.

John Sheppard

McKay and Sheppard race RC cars

McKay commonly attempted to help Sheppard when he suffered from personal problems despite his own poor abilities with relationships, such as when he attempted to express his sympathies following the death of Sheppard's father. The two have also been shown to spend a surprising amount of their leisure time together; both of them playing what they initially believed to be a ‘’Sims’’-like game before learning that it was an Ancient experiment with real people, and racing RC cars in the lower halls of Starbase Atlantis. After a game of virtual golf, Sheppard was the first person McKay notified of his intention to marry Dr. Katie Brown. In an alternate future, McKay spent 25 years working on a way to get Sheppard home from the future and succeeds.

Typhuss James Kira

Typhuss first meet McKay in 2365 while working in the Stargate Program. When they first meet on Starbase Atlantis they were not on friendly terms this lasted for three months. McKay had trouble acknowledging his work on Starbase Atlantis, they later worked out their problems and became friends. The two have also been shown to spend a surprising amount of their leisure time together.

Ronon Dex

"...he saved my life. He's like a brother to me."

— Rodney McKay

When Ronon was briefly recaptured by the Wraith Leader, McKay defended his strong desire to find Ronon by stating that they had a very close bond despite the lack of social time they spent together, claiming that he sees Ronon as a brother (Albeit a brother who got all the genes that he didn't). After McKay was dying after using the Ascension machine, he used his powers to remove all the scars from Ronon's back. Although less demonstrative about it, Ronon has indicated that he reciprocates this bond, stating that he was willing to take the risk of taking McKay to the Shrine of Talus when McKay suffered from Second Childhood just to give McKay one more day as himself saying that it was hard for him to see McKay like that. During the alliance with the Xindi, one of the Xindi attendants made an innocent act of leading McKay by the shoulder to which Ronon violently defended McKay and nearly killed the Xindi on the spot stating "Touch him again and you die!" He and Ronon also agreed to simply let the best man win when they both learned that the other was attracted to Dr. Jennifer Keller.

Teyla Emmagan

"No-no-no-no-no. I know exactly what to do. You are the one who's lost a loved one. I will serve you."

— Rodney McKay

While he has been less vocal about his relationship with Teyla Emmagan, McKay was the only person present when Teyla gave birth to her son, creating a particular bond between them (Although he was somewhat disappointed when she didn't name her son after him). She does however, on occasion, allow him to hold Torren for a while. After using the Ascension machine, he took time in learning the Athosian tradition where they have ceremonial tea for the anniversary of the death of her father. She, along with the rest of the team, risked their lives to go to the Shrine of Talus, in order to give McKay one last day as himself after he became infected with the Second Childhood.

Carson Beckett

"You were the closest thing to a best friend I ever had."

— Rodney McKay

McKay saying goodbye to Beckett

At first he had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Dr. Carson Beckett, but the two became friends over time, with McKay admitting at one point that Beckett was the closest thing he had to a best friend. The two planned to go fishing at one point, but McKay ditched Beckett. This was something he came to greatly regret as Beckett was killed later that day. He was extremely upset by his death and was later comforted by a vision of him. McKay was one of his pallbearers returning his coffin to Earth, and later told Beckett's mother of her son's death himself. When Beckett returned as a clone, McKay was willing to trust him immediately and was the one to inform him of the events. When he was placed into stasis, it was hard on him, and apparently spent a lot of time keeping Beckett's frozen figure updated on current events, although he always denied it. McKay and Beckett worked together to escape a Xindi warship and McKay was at first a bit hurt that Beckett couldn't spend a little time catching up with him, but Beckett ultimately made time for him despite having a busy schedule.

Jeannie Miller

"I really do wish you the best, you know, and I'm sorry we weren't closer."

— Rodney McKay

McKay had a bad relationship with his sister Jeannie Miller for many years. After she left college to start a family, he dropped out of contact with her for four years until he was brought in to try to convince her to help. Before that, however, when everyone thought they would die from a Xindi invasion, McKay recorded a personal message to her, saying he regretted how their relationship was and hoped that if he survived, they could be closer in the future. For some reason, Jeannie never got the message until she visited Starbase Atlantis in 2381. When the two finally worked together, McKay seemed to mostly ignore her. When an alternate version of himself showed up, McKay feared she liked him better and realized how bad of a brother he'd been to her with the help of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. Sheppard showed her the recording, which seemed to affect her opinion of him for the better, making her comment that now she'd seen three sides of McKay. The two seemed to semi-reconcile afterward with McKay promising to visit whenever he could.

When he was infected with the Second Childhood, Jeannie was brought in and was clearly moved by his condition. It was very hard for her to see him in the condition he was in and actually had to leave the room as she didn't want him to see her crying. Despite having lost a lot of memories and being regressed to a childlike state, McKay recognized her. Jeannie ended up risking her life along with the rest of his team to give him one more day as himself so he could die with honor.