Star Trek: 9 Times Mr. Spock Got A Power-Up

9. Spock’s Super Strength

When he first appeared Mr. Spock did not possess superhuman abilities. So, when his “uncanny strength” was written into a fight scene in first season episode “A Taste of Armageddon,” the show’s research firm (de Forest Research) noted that “really extraordinary strength has never before been attributed to Mr. Spock.” The scene was rewritten and the super strength was dropped.

That same season, however, the script for “This Side of Paradise” indicated that “Spock is stronger than most men.” Sensing a pattern, de Forest Research asked again:

In previous scripts, Mr. Spock’s agility has been emphasized. This, and an early version of “A Taste of Armageddon” are the first references to his extraordinary strength, which has never been dramatized. Is this meant to establish a new characteristic for Spock?

This time, the strength attribute stuck. In the aired episode, Kirk notes in his log that “Mister Spock is much stronger than the ordinary human being. Aroused, his great physical strength could kill.”

This is demonstrated when Spock literally punches his fingers through a new there-just-to-be-punctured-then-never-seen-again side piece on the transporter console, followed by a missed punch which damages a food synthesizer on the wall (ensuring no further “Tomorrow is Yesterday” chicken soup gags would occur in this room).

Then in the season two opener, “Amok Time,” Spock is shown to be so strong he can pulverize a computer monitor with his fist.