Vulcan nerve pinch
In the
Star Trek fictional universe, the
Vulcan nerve pinch is a technique used by
Vulcans to render another lifeform unconscious by pinching the base of the victim's
neck with all four fingers opposing the thumb. Normally this is done with other humanoids, but there is at least one instance of Spock using a nerve pinch on a
horse like creature - which was seen in
Star Trek V:The Final Frontier.
Leonard Nimoy conceived the maneuver in the early days of
Star Trek: The Original Series. At least one early script called for
Mr. Spock to
pistol whip another character, but Nimoy felt that such an action would be undignified for a Vulcan - he therefore invented an alternative.
As the series progressed, the technique was seen to be widely-known among Vulcans. It appears to be less known among non-Vulcans: in the episode "
The Omega Glory", Spock comments that he has tried and failed to teach it to
James T. Kirk.
It has never been explained in on-screen
canon exactly how the pinch works. Over the years fans, as well as writers in the
Star Trek Expanded Universe have made a number of suggestions as to how it works.
One
conjecture is that, due to the
telepathic nature of Vulcans, as well as their incredible control over their own bodies, they are able to send a burst of neural energy into another being and overload its
nervous system, rendering it unconscious, although the pinch does not work on all species. This explanation was rendered moot by the fact that
Commander Data, an
android, as well as
humans
Jean-Luc Picard and
Jonathan Archer have also been shown doing the neck pinch. Apparently
Changelings can do it as well since
Odo has been seen using it.
An alternate conjecture is that it can be done by applying pressure over
baroreceptors of the
carotid sinus at the base of the humanoid neck.
The book
The Making of Star Trek by
Stephen E. Whitfield and
Gene Roddenberry offers a simpler explanation: the pinch simply blocks
blood and
nerve responses from reaching the
brain. In this earliest of
Star Trek reference books, the pinch is referred to as the
Spock Pinch.
The
Star Trek: The Original Series episode "
The Enterprise Incident" makes reference to a Vulcan "Death" Grip, which is supposedly a more powerful, and usually lethal version of the nerve pinch. Spock pretends to use it on
Captain Kirk in order to complete a mission, but it is later stated that the Death Grip is a myth, and this is confirmed by Kirk. Spock did, however, do something to Kirk that simulated death to such a degree that Romulan doctors certified him dead. It is unlikely that this was simply a more powerful version of the Nerve Pinch as Spock was seen grabbing Kirk's face and not his neck. Kirk stated that Spock used a nerve pinch to simulate his death, but what Spock did exactly is not explained.
In the stage direction in
Star Trek scripts, this action is referred to as
FSNP, for
Famous Spock Nerve Pinch.
It is not known if this has been used on other Vulcans.
In the song "Intergalactic," first appearing on their 1998 album "Hello Nasty," the hip-hop group
Beastie Boys makes reference to this, but gets it wrong by singing "like a pinch on the neck ON [instead of FROM] Mr. Spock."
*
Xena on the series
Xena Warrior Princess had somewhat lethal version known as the Death Pinch.
*On an episode of "
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues",
Kwai Chang Caine (
David Carradine) uses the Vulcan Nerve Punch to defeat several enemies, once reaching out of a large truck to administer it.
*In the
Mel Brooks comedy,
Spaceballs, Lone Starr (
Bill Pullman) attempts to knock-out a Spaceball guard using the technique, prompting the following dialogue:
Guard: What the hell are you doing?
Lone Starr: The "Vulcan Neck Pinch"...
Guard: No, no, stupid. You've got it much too high. It's down here were the shoulder meets the neck.
Lone Starr: Like THIS?
Guard: YEAH! (Faints)
*
Vulcan nerve pinch is also
hacker slang for a
keyboard combination used to
reboot or otherwise interrupt a
computer. A common example of this is
Control-Alt-Delete for
IBM PC compatible computers (see also
three-finger salute).
*Whitfield, Steven E., and Gene Roddenberry.
The Making of Star Trek. Ballantine Books,
1968.
**Reprint:
1970. ISBN 0345216210
