Introduced on Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) can render a man unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch, but the two Star Trek Captain can also perform the maneuver. First used in TOS Season 1, Episode 4, “The Enemy Within,” The Vulcan nerve (or neck) pinch involves applying pressure to a specific area at the base of the neck To make a person unconscious. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch was used in over sixty episodes of Star Trek Across the franchise and works on most humanoid species.
The idea for the Vulcan nerve pinch came from Leonard Nimoy himself. The original draft of “The Enemy Within” had Spock knock the evil duplicate of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) unconscious by hitting him in the head, but Nimoy felt that Spock would have a less violent way of rendering someone unconscious. Nimoy claimed that Spock had studied human anatomy and knew exactly how and where to apply pressure. Nimoy also said that volcanoes emitted a kind of energy from their fingertips that helped in the process. Although many Vulcans could perform the neck pinch, some non-Vulcans also utilized the technique.
Kirk & Burnham can do Spock’s Vulcan nerve pinch
Michael Burnham and an alternate universe James Kirk both learned the technique
A handful of humans have been shown performing a Vulcan nerve pinch, including Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and an alternate-universe version of Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). After Klingons killed Michael’s parents, she was raised by Ambassador Sarek (James Frain) and his human wife, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner), on Vulcan along with their biological son, Spock (Ethan Peck). Burnham embraced Vulcan logic, eventually becoming the first person to attend the Vulcan Study Center. Michael presumably learned how to perform a Vulcan nerve pinch while on Vulcan. in Star Trek: Discovery In season 1, Commander Burnham nerve pinched Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michaelle Yeoh), although Georgiou quickly recovered.
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in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 3, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) encountered an alternate-universe version of James Kirk as captain of the United Earth Fleet Enterprise. La’an and Kirk embark on a mission to 21st century Toronto, where the duo restore the proper version of star treks prime timeline. Kirk used a Vulcan nerve pinch on a civilian to steal a car. When La’n asked where he learned how to do this, Kirk said he learned it from his Vulcan celler in a Denabolin prison.
Should humans be able to pinch Spock’s Vulcan nerve?
After all, Vulcans and humans have many differences
Although fans have speculated how exactly the Vulcan Nerve Pinch works, it has never been fully explained on screen. Although it may look like someone is simply pinching the throat of their opponent, There is clearly a level of skill and technique required to perfect the nerve pinch. This raises the question of whether non-Vulcans should even be able to learn how to do this properly. Although a handful of humans have been seen performing a Vulcan Nerve Pinch, it is usually in situations where they have either mind-melded with a Vulcan or they are carrying a Vulcan’s Katra.
It appears that a person can learn how to perform a volcano nerve pinch, but can only do it effectively when connected to a volcano in some way. Vulcans are not only physically stronger than humans, but they are also telepathic. Both of these traits likely contribute to the effectiveness of the nerve pinch. Michael’s use of the technique on Georgiou only rendered the captain unconscious for a couple of minutes. This suggests that while humans can learn where and how to apply the correct pressure to perform Star Trek Vulcan Nerve Pinch, it will never be as effective as when a Vulcan does it.