Star Trek: Spock's Vulcan Nerve Pinch Explained

Since it came to fruition back in the 1960s, the "Star Trek" franchise has endured as a staple of science fiction. In fact, some parts of the program have transcended the fandom itself, with the late Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock contributing quite a few. Alongside his legendary "Live long and prosper" line and his Vulcan salute hand gesture, the Vulcan nerve pinch is one of the character's most recognizable elements.

The Vulcan nerve pinch is a simple maneuver that entails applying pressure to someone where their neck meets their shoulder. In most cases, the move is capable of rendering the individual on the receiving end temporarily unconscious almost as soon as it is applied. It has been a part of Spock's repertoire since the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "The Enemy Within," where he uses it to incapacitate a duplicate of his fellow USS Enterprise crew member Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). 

Following this use of the move, it returns for various "Star Trek" franchise entries, with other characters using it in tense situations. Naturally, its iconic nature has led it to be parodied in various movies and TV shows as well. As if the Vulcan nerve pinch isn't notable enough on its own as a piece of "Star Trek" history, the story behind its creation is pretty fascinating, too.

The creation of the Vulcan nerve pinch stems from none other than Leonard Nimoy himself. He came up with the concept for the move during the filming of "The Enemy Within" when he reached a point in the script he didn't quite agree with. "There was a scene where I was supposed to sneak up behind somebody, a villain in this case, and pull my phaser and ... hit him on the head with the butt of it to render him unconscious," Nimoy recalled while speaking to CBC-TV's Barbara Frum in 1969. While this may seem like a rather tame sequence of events, he disagreed.

Nimoy explained that he found the written scene archaic and a bit much to put on TV, so, using the fact that Spock is an alien, he began brainstorming an alternative. Eventually, he came up with the nerve pinch. "The man could have very special knowledge of the human anatomy that hasn't even been discovered yet, or he may have some special power that only Vulcans have," Nimoy recalled as his rationale for the move. All involved in the production loved the nerve pinch idea, so it stuck around for the long haul.

It's fair to say that Leonard Nimoy's idea to make a simple yet effective nerve pinch Spock's signature move was nothing short of brilliant. Not only did it ensure he didn't have to present a brutish scene to viewers, but the move complements Spock's stoic, dutiful personality perfectly.