Portrait of a Character – Phlox
Phlox is a great character.
Origins
This Star Trek: Enterprise canon character is one of two alien members of the NX-01‘s crew (the other is the Vulcan, T’Pol). The Denobulan species is a creation specifically for ENT.
Portrayal
As in canon, Phlox is played by John Billingsley.
The actor is well-cast and it’s hard to think of anyone else in the role. Much like Leonard Nimoy and Vulcans, Billingsley essential defines what it means to be a Denobulan.
Personality
Personable, cheerful, and kind, Phlox is also, at times, a bit baffled by humans. For starters, at the beginning of the series, he can’t quite figure out the idea behind pets.
Relationships
Feezal
Feezal
This canon relationship is with his second wife, of three. There are no canon names for other two. I’ve never written her except in the context of Phlox missing her after the Enterprise goes back in time, during E2.
Amanda Cole
Also canon, in the E2 episode, Phlox and Amanda get together, a scene that I show in both Entanglements and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.
Mirror Universe
This character exists in canon.
Mirror Phlox
At the end of the pair of canon ENT Mirror Universe episodes, his fate is unknown. But I figure his days are numbered. Hence, in Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, I have Empress Hoshi order his death. When Beth Cutler is given two syringes, one with the proven fast nerve toxin, tricoulamine, and the other with replicated orange juice, the Science technician knows that both shots will kill whoever receives them. But she hesitates until Hoshi tells her that she’ll be next if she takes any longer. The choice is to inject either Phlox, or Ian Reed, Malcolm‘s counterpart. With a small sympathy to her fellow Terran, Beth gives Ian the proven fast killing agent. Therefore Phlox, unfortunately, suffers at the end.
Quote
“Your mating rituals do fascinate me. Always a complicated minuet of sorts. Mind if I observe?”
Upshot
I don’t write Phlox that much, except in the context of E2 stories and Intolerance. Part of that is to pave the way for other physician characters, such as Blair Claymore, Pamela Hudson, and Cyril Morgan. It’s also because, until Reflections Down a Corridor, I wasn’t really all that comfortable writing him. He’s absent from a lot of my main timeline, and nearly all of my Mirror Universe timeline. Will he return? Yes, although many storylines shut him out completely.
A good look at Phlox, got to agree not an easy character to write but fun when it goes right.
[…] who, when asked if she can read Hebrew jokes, “I’ll muddle through”, Malcolm, Phlox, T’Pol and a Security Crewman, Azar Hamidi. Azar notes that Hebrew can’t be too far off […]
[…] still holding a teacup when she comes over to be introduced. She drops it twice – once, when Phlox grins at her too widely. The second time is when she and Malcolm are […]
[…] the choice that the Muslim bride Maryam Haroun made between two suitors, with the help of Doctor Phlox), Adam and Eve (used in Andrew and Shelby‘s wedding), and Ruth (to illustrate a point about […]
[…] he is also an inventor and an improviser. In the E2 stories, he creates an ultrasound machine for Doctor Phlox, making it possible to tell fetal gender without having to subject women in high-risk pregnancies […]
[…] I was looking for an evil Mirror Universe doctor, to be Phlox‘s successor. But then I decided to give the man a Prime Universe counterpart, and he got, to […]
[…] they can turn to if they are grieving, or unsure of things, thereby allowing Captain Archer and Doctor Phlox more breathing […]
[…] in Together. But he sees MACO Corporal Amanda Cole, and begins to flirt with her rather openly. Phlox is also present, and they talk about the […]
[…] to Sick Bay. And almost as quickly, he is temporarily relieved of command, by T’Pol and Phlox, with Hoshi as a […]
[…] and the ship turns generational. In canon, Hoshi marries and has two children, Toru and Yoshiko. Phlox marries MACO Corporal Amanda Cole and they have nine children. Jonathan weds an Ikaaran woman named […]
[…] in a competition). Ian (Malcolm‘s counterpart) and T’Pol had to still be alive. Phlox would still be the doctor; this would be before Cyril […]
[…] the first kick-back in time, he is the first hybrid child born, the eldest of Dr. Phlox and Amanda […]
[…] I first began writing Reversal, I did not perform too much research (oops). I knew that Dr. Phlox kept a bat, but I could not recall the real name of it (it’s the Pyrithian Bat, by the […]
[…] that she’ll choose the wrong man. Since she is expecting an arranged marriage, she works with Phlox to try to determine who will be the one. Azar is chosen not so much for his looks (although Maryam […]
[…] at Looking Glass Houses, she violently takes charge, beginning a bloody reign by first killing off Phlox and Ian (Malcolm‘s counterpart), and then moving onto the Emperor Philip IV (counterpart to […]
[…] and intelligent, Liz Cutler is alien-curious about Phlox. Even learning that he’s married to three Denobulan women does not faze her. But nothing […]
[…] Phlox […]
[…] characters such as Phlox and Amanda Cole sit through the picture, as do a number of my own original characters. And then […]
[…] Archer asks him to come along. Therefore, Hoshi fills in temporarily. Travis continues as pilot. Phlox has also departed, returning to his home world. Hence the role of Chief Medical Officer is filled […]
[…] are mainly shown in the context of Phlox. Caitians, on the other hand, are included as a part of the ramping up of the […]
[…] is a captain, Jonathan has never married, Malcolm is a father but isn’t married to Lili, and Phlox has three wives who each have three husbands. Lucy is another bit of a shock for him, that she is […]
[…] why Chip and Deb are alone in his quarters at all is because Aidan has been injured enough that Phlox keeps him in Sick Bay overnight. In Temper, the war is again interrupted as Malcolm, Jonathan and […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] The Three of Us and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, there need to be additional people who assist Doctor Phlox with medical matters. Andrew Miller becomes a medic and, eventually, can be called […]
[…] by Cox) is somewhat cautious, Esilia only starts out that way. This has to do quite a bit with Phlox‘s medical abilities. In the fourth of my four E2 stories, he manages to cure the genetic time […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] Watching at home are Malcolm’s elderly parents, Stuart and Mary. They jump to a conclusion, knowing that there is a Vulcan on the ship. They assume that it is Malcolm who is dating T’Pol, not realizing that it’s Tripp. There is also not thought whatsoever (like I have often seen with ‘shippers) that it could be the Denobulan, Phlox. […]
[…] begin cautiously circling the only female Jewish crew member, Karin Bernstein. Maryam Haroun asks Phlox‘s help in deciding between the two Muslim male crew members, Azar Hamidi and Ramih Azar. Lili […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] a part of the episode, she comes onto Phlox, who rebuffs her, and then tries for Malcolm, who is in a pressure suit, and he rejects her as […]
[…] new quarters – his brain. As Daniels works to remove the colonists and not kill them (or tell Phlox that they are there, for first contact is supposed to happen later), the effects on Archer’s […]
[…] Phlox is in attendance, of course, but so is MACO Frank Todd, as he’s sustained a minor injury. He talks to Lili about what it feels like to have done that, and how she can go on. That she will need to focus on being thankful for being alive. […]
[…] Portrait of a Character – Phlox […]
[…] left of the original seven senior officers on the NX-01. T’Pol has returned to Vulcan and Phlox is back on Denobula. Tucker is dead, and Archer is pursuing a political career, which dovetails […]
[…] an alien doctor, canon holds some nasty fates in the Enterprise time period. Phlox was earmarked for death anyone. So in Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, I show […]
[…] when she cuts her hand with a French knife. This gets her to Sick Bay, where she converses with Phlox about her experiences, and he conducts a physical examination that alerts everyone that what is […]
[…] a significant period of time, he makes sure to entrust the dog to someone. Usually this is Hoshi or Phlox. And while they care about Porthos, this seems to be simply more work for them. At least […]
[…] the events of Voracious and for Jonathan, Hoshi, T’Pol, Travis, Malcolm, Tripp, Jay, and Dr. Phlox in […]
[…] Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, where Hoshi kills off all rivals (including T’Pol, Ian, and Phlox) and the Emperor, and consolidates her power […]
[…] the help of scientific information from Jobiram and Jeris, Phlox is able to perfect human-Ikaaran interbreeding, and hybrid children are born, including […]
[…] damage which I intended to mimic the effects of a stroke. Hence, once he awakens from his coma, Dr. Phlox has Ethan try to walk. Because Jay Hayes can whittle and carve, he fashions a wooden cane for Ethan […]
[…] Travis I write is not interested in parenthood, although his Mirror Universe counterpart is. The Phlox that I write tells bad jokes that often […]
[…] Archer asks him to come along. Therefore, Hoshi fills in temporarily. Travis continues as pilot. Phlox has also departed, returning to his home world. Hence the role of Chief Medical Officer goes to […]
[…] greater shares of airtime. This was virtually always at the expense of Reed, Sato, Mayweather and Phlox. Frankly, by the time I started writing fanfiction, I’d gotten sick of […]
[…] Hamidi is chosen, in part because he is more of a risk-taker, but also because Phlox offers he and Ramih Azar a somewhat Solomonic choice, asking what will you do if you are not […]
[…] learn that Jonathan Archer wed Esilia, Travis Mayweather wed Julie McKenzie, Phlox married Amanda Cole, Tripp Tucker married T’Pol, and Malcolm Reed never wed. Major Jay […]
[…] Captain Archer) a bit faint. She gets him to Sick Bay, where he yells in alarm when he sees Dr. Phlox. It’s explained to him, eventually, that Archer was in the midst of early negotiations with […]