Leonard Nimoy created much of the classic Vulcan lore.
Everyone knows that Leonard Nimoy was a huge part of the early days of Star Trek. His run as Spock in the original series and then the first crop of six films saw much of Nimoy’s influences guide Spock and the Vulcan race as a whole. In this TrekCulture video, the host breaks down some of the most iconic moments in Star Trek history that were improvised either right before or during shooting, some of which contained Nimoy’s expertise.
Needless to say, Nimoy popped up a few times on the list.
Leonard Nimoy added so much to the world of Star Trek
By now, you might have figured out that Nimoy created two of the original series most iconic pieces of Vulcan lore. The first being the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, which started out as an idea to showcase Spock’s strength in a fight without ever actually having him fight. Originally scripted to knock someone out with a punch, Nimoy thought that his character would be too intelligent to resort to brute force, which allowed for the creation of a more elegant way of disarming foes; the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.
The other major piece that Nimoy created was the Vulcan Salute; which was originally taken from a Jewish hand gesture that makes the Hebrew word “Shin”. This Jewish gesture really resonated with Nimoy. So when he was set to do a scene with T’Pau in Amok Time, Nimoy added the hand gesture to give the moment more significance.
Not only did Nimoy help create much of the Vulcan customs that fans know and love today but he was also responsible for adding a line at the end of the 2009 Star Trek film. While James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is getting a promotion to Captain, Spock utters an improvised line, “Thrusters on full” which serves as not only his last lines of the film but also a way of sending off the new crew with his blessing.