Meredith Rodney McKay

"Well I've discovered you're pretty good under the threat of impending death!"

- John Sheppard

Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay is a brilliant Canadian astrophysicist, and one of the leading experts on not only the Stargate and wormhole physics, but also Ancient and nanite technology in both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. Although he is able to formulate many ground-breaking ideas on a broad range of subjects, his phobias and arrogance continually serve as a hinderance to his abilities.

McKay was initially involved with the Earth Stargate program, and later as the leading scientist on the Atlantis Expedition. He is a self-important scientist with a great deal of knowledge relevant to the Stargate, wormhole physics, and Ancient technology, but, according to Samantha Carter, has no feel for it.

When he joined the expedition to Atlantis he was very eager of being part of the expedition, and he continues to excel in many scientific aspects. He is also a member of Atlantis 1. Despite his mannerisms and insecurities he does occasionally show endearing moments of vulnerability and bravery. Together with Radek Zelenka, he works miracles with the tools at hand, but he has trouble acknowledging other people's work.

Biography
McKay was born in Canada sometime in 1968. . He said that when he was six years old, his father read him Moby-Dick and ever since then, has recurring nightmares that he was eaten by a Whale. During his education years, he earned two Ph.D's in Physics. He also once admitted to have "toked" Cannabis when he was in University and claimed he didn't feel any adverse affects, apart from itching and a desire to eat an entire loaf of white bread. He has a younger sister named Jeannie Miller, who is also a talented scientist, but when she decided to start a family, they had a massive argument and did not speak for four years before Rodney saw her again. He says he is allergic to citrus. He works for the Stargate program. Despite being Canadian, he worked for the United States Air Force and was on their payroll.

2002
When Teal'c failed to materialize through the Stargate back to Earth, Colonel Frank Simmons hires McKay to help, but they have a 48 hour deadline before they should resume gate activity. McKay was immediately infatuated with Carter and tried to talk to her, but the conversation quickly turned sour when Carter realizes that he was the one who suggested the 48 hour deadline because he thought Teal'c was already dead, believing that the Stargate's data storage program had already degraded Teal'c's pattern so much that the Jaffa could never be restored. This led to Carter calling him a "jerk" and told him to "suck on a lemon" which was no small remark considering McKay's fatal lemon allergy. McKay remarks, "I've always had a thing for dumb blondes". After the situation was resolved- with McKay's theories about Teal'c's pattern being proven incorrect-, McKay was ordered to go to Russia to help with their Naquadah generator technology. McKay initially protested, stating he's a civilian and doesn't follow orders, until Carter points out that he is still part of the USAF payroll.

A few months later, he returned to the states to help Carter with a solution to shut down the Stargate before Anubis uses it to destroy the Earth. He suggested they use an Electromagnetic pulse to shut down the gate, but that only made things worse. In the end, the solution to the problem was to use the X-302's hyperdrive to make a "short jump" (in relative terms which means still a really long way) with the Gate strapped to the underside of the 302. This sent the Gate far enough from Earth that it wasn't effected by the Gate's explosion. Carter later kisses McKay on the cheek, which he interpreted as meaning that Carter no longer hates him.

2004
When the Ancient outpost was discovered in Antarctica, Rodney McKay was one of the scientists involved in studying the technologies of the outpost, namely the outpost's control chair. Through numerous efforts, including trying the chair himself twice, and attempting to interface it with Human computers, he was able to determine (with reluctant assistance from Carson Beckett) that it could only be used by somebody with the Ancient Technology Activation Gene. Later, he assisted in setting up the outpost's Zero Point Module to connect to Earth's Stargate, which activated the connection to Atlantis. He joined the Expedition to the Pegasus Galaxy and was one of the key members to determine the various functions of the city. Along with that, he determined that the city's last working Zero Point Module was nearly depleted.

Wanting to work Ancient technologies, McKay acted as the guinea pig for Carson Beckett's first human trial of the Ancient Technology Activation gene therapy. The test proved successful and McKay attached an Ancient personal shield to himself, testing it out by having Sheppard shoot him and pushing him off a balcony. Although he was jubilant about surviving such occurrences with the shield on, he determined that he could not eat or drink with it. However, when Weir suggested that he could "trap" the "shadow" since he would be protected by the shield, it fell off. Sheppard was assigned in his place. When the creature fed off the energy off the Stargate, McKay puts the device on again, and threw a naquadah generator through the gate to M4X-337, sending the creature trapped.

When Sheppard and Teyla discovered a massive storm covering 20% of Lantea's surface that is also heading for Atlantis, McKay discovered a way to power Atlantis' shield by using lightning strikes from the same storm that seemed poised to destroy the city. When the city was temporarily evacuated, McKay, along with Weir, Sheppard and a couple of marines stayed behind to disable the grounding stations, when several Genii soldiers, led by Acastus Kolya stormed the city after the first contact with them went sour. They tried to retrieve supplies the Tau'ri promised (medical supplies and C4). However, McKay managed to have bought enough time so Sheppard could save the city and McKay managed to have activated the city shield before being wiped out by a massive tsunami.

One of his first acts of bravery during his time in Atlantis was on the Light Bugs' Planet where he stood up against a Wraith by distracting him before it killed Sheppard.

2005
When searching through the city after the Lantean storm, some of his team members indvertantly released a nanite virus, which kills its victims through terrorising their vision. McKay was infected with the disease, after he hallucinated a ghost attacking him. However, He did not die, since he had the ATA gene. He figured that an electromagnetic pulse would stop the attacks. After a machine didn't work, Sheppard used an overloaded naquadah generator detonated over the planet.

When Sheppard invited Chaya Sar to Atlantis, he originally regarded her with hostility, especially when he realised Sheppard had certain intentions of her. He later discovered that Chaya Sar was actually an Ancient.

He and the team went to Dagan to search for a ZPM, after an alternate Weir gave him five addresses with a guaranteed ZPM on them. Allina, one of the Daganians took a fondness for McKay, but was, at first oblivious to it, until the team told him. After Kolya returned to also acquire the ZPM, the team planned to stop them, and did. The team had acquired a ZPM, but since he told Allina, who was a member of the new Quindosium that the Expedition weren't the Atlanteans they hoped and took the ZPM until the Ancients came back to reward, despite the fact they all ascended. McKay tried his best to convince of the impending Wraith siege, but lost.

Before the siege McKay went with Dr. Grodin and Lt. Miller to the Ancient defense satellite to reactivate it and to take care of the three Hive Ships. One was destroyed before the satellite was. During the siege, the Daedalus arrived and beamed down the ZPM Altantis desperately needs to protect the city. In the process, he was cornered by Wraith guards. After a spontaneous show of courage, during which he accidentally ejected the magazine of his sidearm, Teyla managed to save him and the ZPM was installed and the shield activated before the Wraith Darts made a kamikaze run on the city. He was later working with Zelenka to cloak the city to make the Wraith believe the city is destroyed.

He was on a mission on Thenora to search for any survivors during the Wraith culling there. However, there was none. He was later scooped up by a Wraith beam with Laura Cadman, before the dart was shoot down. After discovering that there was only enough power to save one of them, they beamed out McKay, who fainted. After he regained consciousness, he discovered that Cadman's consciousness is inside his. He had to live with putting up after Cadman until Zelenka's team found a solution. During that time, they found it hard to co-exist. Cadman agreed to help McKay through his first date with Katie Brown, which ended up Cadman taking control of Rodney and left during it. He also found out that Beckett was quite fond of Cadman. Eventually, the strain of having two seperate minds in one has caused a near fatal seizure, and Zelenka's team wouldn't find a solution in time. However, McKay worked out how to save both of them, by using the Stargate's crystals. Before they went through the procedure, Cadman took control of McKay's body one last time, and used him to kiss Beckett, incase it wouldn't work, which it did.

He was in charge of Project Arcturus found on the Doranda outpost. He convinced Weir and Sheppard that after the first attempt resulted in the death of an expedition member, they should try again. However the second attempt resulted the destruction of 5/6th of its solar system.

By the end of the year, he and the team was taken by Ford's coalition, to formulate a plan to destroy a Wraith Hive ship. McKay worked in fixing the Wraith dart, but was left behind on the mission. McKay needed to escape to inform Weir of Ford's plan. However, in order to that, he had to inject a considerable amount of the Wraith enzyme to knock out two guards, and escaped. He went through withdrawal and managed to have completely recovered. Dr. Beckett thought that his own stubborness helped him through. He later found out where Sheppard and the team were and took part in the Battle of Edowin, where two Hive ships destroyed each other.

2006
He was test flying a newly-repaired Jumper after it was shot down on Olesia when one of its engines failed, causing it crash land into the Lantean Ocean. While trying to find a way out of the sinking craft, he had a hallucination of Samantha Carter, who told Rodney to use whatever power left for survival, because Zelenka and Shepperd were working on a way to rescue him. However, McKay ignored "Carter's" advice and attempted a different means to get out of the ocean. The hallucinatory "Carter" tried to delay McKay by being one of his fantasies, which in the end, didn't work. McKay then used up most of the Jumper's remaining power trying to raise it out of the water. However, the weak distress signal he was transmitting attracted the attention of a Flagisallus. The fish was the reason Zelenka and Shepperd managed to have found McKay and rescued him.

McKay once cited Atlantis' chain of command, stating that in the event that Weir and Sheppard are unavailable, McKay would be in charge. However, since Wier and Sheppard were taken over by the consciousnesses of Phoebus and Thalan, and trying to kill each other, Colonel Steven Caldwell stepped in, as it was a military operation. McKay regarded that with hostility and did not agree with some of Caldwell's action. Despite this, after the end of the crisis, he had said that he did a good job, though McKay never said it to him directly.

After a Wraith named Michael Kenmore escaped and made aware of the Iratus bug retrovirus, a Hive ship proposed an alliance to use the retrovirus against rivel Wraith, so they would turn Human and have an alternative fuel supply. McKay managed to have acquired vast amounts of Wraith technology to help against the war with the Wraith. After one of the first trials failed, McKay looked at the damage the Hive sustained and agreed to stay her with Ronon. However, by the time the Expedition realised they were double crossed, McKay and Ronon were taken prisoner. As the two hives went on its way to Earth, Ronon and McKay escaped and tried to overload several systems, resulting in the destruction of the ship. However, they were found and rescued in the Battle of the Void.

McKay's problems of attempting to resurrect Project Arcturus, eventually caused him to seek the help of his sister, Jeannie Miller, a fellow scientist whose intelligence matches his, but lacks the worst of his most aggravating personal qualities. She first thought of a way to bridge two universes, which would cause a benefit for the succession of the project. This ultimately failed as the other universe was threatened to be wiped out from existence, and in order to shut it down, meant the depletion of their ZPM. Although there is obvious friction in the relationship with Jeannie, McKay manages to reconcile his differences with her.

In the space of just a few months, he was shot twice. The first time was when one of Keturah's people fired an arrow into his Gluteus Maximus, and the second time was when Sheppard mistook him for a Taliban soldier and barely missed his chest. He did manage to have recovered from the two events, but is said to be prone to Sciatica since being hit in the arrow.

He, along with Carter had figured out a way to go back and forth to Earth and Atlantis without the use of a ZPM and waiting three weeks while sitting in the Daedalus, by building the McKay-Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge. The first trial worked, but found an Ancient ship named the Tria with Ancients, who later took back the city and told the Expedition to leave. McKay was transferred to Area 51 for an undisclosed amount of time, until he learned the Asurans took control of Atlantis. McKay worked with Beckett, Sheppard and Weir, as well as Teyla and Ronon to help take back control of the city.

2007
After the successful take back, he complained that two of the three ZPms were taken away for use of the Antarctic outpost and the Odyssey to defend against the Ori crusade in the Milky Way. He later discovered that a Flagisallus, presumably the same one who gave away Rodney's position under the ocean, visited Atlantis. McKay took a look through the binoculars, and called him Sam, after Samantha Carter. However, at the same time people started to hallucinate several worried Ancient scientists. He eventually learned that the Flagisallus used this to warn them of an impending coronal mass ejection. McKay reluctantly used Sheppard's plan to use a ZPM to strengthen the Daedalus' shield, to deflect the ejection, which worked.

He came across an ascension lab, which has augmented his body to a point, where he was eventually capable to ascend. He had developed several new-found powers including Telekinesis, Telepathy, Healing powers, mind reading, improved hearing and increased intelligence. However, the mind altering has made him more accessible to ascension, and if he didn't figure a way how to reverse the process, or ascend, he would've died. McKay used Shepperd's help to meditate, since he spent time with the People of the Cloister. When he wasn't trying hard enough, he decided to better use his time working out a new form of advanced mathematics, improving the Daedalus' shields and even plans on having a hyperdrive engine on a Puddle Jumper, which they used later on. McKay later found out that he can choose to de-ascend again; however, upon further meditation, he finds still can't reach the requirements for a human to ascend, and suffers a near fatal seizure. He eventually figured out a way to save him through using his telepathy to Beckett.

He managed to have found time to see more of Katie Brown since their encounter with Cadman the last time. He also discovered that the civilisation of M4D-058 was a real-life representation of an Ancient "computer game" McKay competed with Sheppard with. He also learned that the conflicts between Hallona and Geldar are real-life too. However, McKay found a way to fool them all to avert a war.

McKay was deeply affected by the death of Beckett, who was killed in an explosion. He felt somewhat responsible when he didn't go fishing with him. When he was hallucinating Beckett, Rodney tells him that he considers him a best friend.

Later, his sister was kidnapped by Henry Wallace, to perfect nanite coding. His efforts to rescue her has got him captured as well. However, he chose to escape, but that caused Jeannie to be infected by nanites. He was rescued by Sheppard, and had to shut down the nanites before curing her epilepsy, which would kill her in the process. He enlisted the help of "Todd" to shut them down.

2008
He planned to marry Katie Brown, since they've been together for two years. However, just as he was about to propose, the city went into a quarantine lockdown, since the tweaking from the events of the Kirsen fever last year. Later, he realised that he still wasn't ready, after Katie found out about his plans. She misconstrued this as a means of breaking up with her, and was transferred at her request back to Earth.

After Teyla was kidnapped by "Michael", he and his team worked hard in trying to find her. This included unwittingly rescuing Beckett, who turned out to be a clone. He was with cloned Beckett until his cells deteorated for his to be put into stasis, until a cure was found for it. He often talked to him about events that has happened, in secret. Eventually, Teyla was rescued, and McKay was responsible for delivering her baby, albeit very reluctantly.

During a mission on M44-5YN, he was infected with an ailment known as Second Childhood, a disease that was quick at reverting McKay into a child-like state. He decided to do a recording every day, to see how things progress. He starts with his name, his position, where he is and saying Pi in 12 decimal places. On the first day, he was able to do so. However, by day 6, he started to forget everything. By day 10, he could only remember his name and barely remember Atlantis. By day 15, he calls himself "mister" Rodney McKay. And by day 18, he couldn't remember anything. He only had a few days left until he dies. Ronon came up with a solution; the shrine of Talus. However, Keller was able to cure him, since the radiation shrunk the parasite enough to be removed. He fully recovered. It was also revealed that he loved Keller.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate timeline, McKay stayed behind on the newly discovered Atlantis to attempt and open the bay doors of the Puddle Jumper bay. He drowned as the control room of Atlantis became submerged. The alternate-timeline Weir called him "heroic" for giving his life on the chance that the city and the expedition might be saved.
 * In an alternate reality Dr. Rodney McKay was the lead astrophysicist working at Cheyenne Mountain. Unlike the McKay in our reality, he was not allergic to lemon and, in fact, considered lemon chicken his favorite food. However, like the McKay in our reality, he was infatuated with Samantha Carter and wished to name the Puddle Jumper a "Gateship."
 * An alternate reality Dr. Rodney "Rod" McKay came to our reality to prevent his from being destroyed by a power generating experiment. The project was shutdown, but the exotic particles were still being created in his reality. Rod, our McKay, and his sister found a way to disconnect their realities, stopping the creation of any more particles. The plan was successful and Rod was sent back to his reality, however this depleted the ZPM.
 * ''In an alternate reality the McKay wears glasses and is, according to Lorne a "dotcom millionaire smart-ass". He is a high-tech industrialist and was once married to Carter before getting a divorce. Carter wanted his help to bridge his universe with Carter's, something he has done was his sister back in her own reality.
 * In an alternate timeline when Sheppard travelled to 48,000 years in the future and Michael successfully took over the Galaxy, McKay eventually resigned when the IOA and the Earth military abandoned helping the humans of Pegasus. On the way back to Earth, he became romantically involved with Keller, until she died due to complications with the Hoffan drug. He then spent 25 years to figure out a way to leave a message for Sheppard in the future that would allow him to work out a way to return to the past and undo those events.
 * In one alternate reality, McKay designed and built the Alternate reality drive and fitted it on an alternate Daedalus. The drive later turned out to be flawed, as it went out of control and shifted to other universe with no way to stop it.
 * In an alternate reality, Sheppard's team went onboard the alternate Daedalus and starved to death onboard the runaway ship.

Behaviour
McKay is often one of the most arrogant and condescending people known to both the Stargate Programme and the Atlantis Expedition. He often verbally abuses his peers, particularly Radek Zelenka, for their perceived "lack of intellect" or imagination. His attitude is one of exasperation, wondering that they can hold down a job, and yet, he is occasionally forced to admit that his colleagues are useful. However, despite his irritating demeanour, almost everyone on the Atlantis Expedition is either a friend, or on friendly terms with him.

Despite his shortcomings, McKay has performed extraodrinary acts of heroism and bravery as early as the first few weeks on the expedition, ranging from taking the initiative to hand-carry, and then throw, a naquadah generator through the Stargate in order to lure a shadow creature out of the city, and evacuating entire populations from planets about to be culled by the Wraith. In one mission, he was torn between staying with a dying Brendan Gall, or going to help the outmatched Sheppard. The badly wounded Dr. Gall told McKay to aid Sheppard. He refused to leave until Gall, who was already near death killed himself. McKay saved Sheppard from the Wraith and the combined efforts of the two were enough to save both of them and their ship.

John Sheppard and other members of the Expedition has usually shown full trust in him. An alternate McKay, who went by "Rod" has admitted that he likes McKay for the simple fact that he is able to speak his mind so freely and simply. In one instance, Elizabeth Weir stated that she and the members of Rodney's team love him, which Sheppard, in his own way, seems to confirm, by saying "In a way a friend feels about another friend."

He often provides comic relief in addition to his considerable technological expertise, and his ability to find solutions in situations of imminent death have been used against him several times to motivate him, which always works.

He is also known for repeatedly snapping his fingers several times at once. He often does this when he gets a sudden bright idea, is attempting to remember something or to attract someone's attention.

Intelligence
He often claims on being the smartest person in Atlantis and has identified himself as a Mensa member, and implied an unofficial chapter in Atlantis, thus making him unique among his peers. He cannot stop himself from putting everyone "right" when they are "clearly wrong", usually on the spot, whoever they are and in whatever situation; including to bosses, colleagues, and even invading alien captors.

McKay originally turned to science after studying the piano, intending to be a musician, until he was told by his piano teacher that he was a "great clinical player" but had no sense of the art. After turning to science, he discovered that it, too, is an art. Since both Carter and McKay often argue about solutions, she often wins. However, he once told a hallucination of her that while he considers himself as smart as Carter, he believes she is wiser.

Relationships
McKay is very awkward when it comes to relationships with women. However, he still claimed to have dated several women at least once during his education years. He also had a fondness for his neighbour, who hates him, but likes his cat, and claimed to have seen Kate Heightmeyer temporarily. He also has a predilection for women with short blonde hair, particularly Col. Carter. He named the people of Geldar after a blonde girl he once dated; and went so far as advising their women to wear their hair in a manner similar to Col. Carter's.

During his time with the SGC and the Expedition, he had three major relationships;

Samantha Carter
Since McKay has a fondness for women with short blonde hair, he had fallen for Samantha Carter, and wasn't afraid to show it. However, Carter did not requite his feelings, due to his arrogance. However, since his attitude has improved over the years, but they only went as far as to become friends. In 2007, McKay learned that Carter would become the new Atlantis leader after Weir's MIA. McKay confronted her and warns her of "the unrequited lust that's been hanging over our heads for what seems like forever."

Katie Brown
One of his first solid relationships during his time in the Atlantis Expedition was Katie Brown, a botanist who came to Atlantis in the Expedition's second year of operation. Things started awkard between the two of them, particularly when Laura Cadman's mind went into McKay's body. After the situation where Cadman made McKay kiss her, he started to avoid her for the following year. However, McKay later found time to see her, and their relationship went into full swing. In 2008, he planned to marry her, but after a quarantine lockdown, he discovered that he was not ready for that. However, Brown took that a sign of breaking up, and left for Earth.

Jennifer Keller
After learning that Brown broke up with him, he later revealed to have feelings for Jennifer Keller. She once invited him for a drink after he was stuck with Carter in an underground Genii mine on M5V-801. Later, six days since he was infected with Second Childhood, he told Keller that he loves her. Later, McKay discovered that Ronon has also fallen for Keller. He told Ronon that he won't fight for her, but wouldn't back down either. Instead, they both agreed on letting the best man win. After Ronon's repeated attempts and apparent success at winning over doctor Keller she tells Ronon that she is interested in someone else. Presumably that person is McKay.

Hypochondria
McKay is a renound hypochondriac, claiming at various times to suffer from hypoglycemia, restless leg syndrome, allergies to bee stings and citrus fruit, among other things. He once said that he had studied medical science at one time, but stopped, because of too much information on the human body, this made him start to diagnose himself with many phantom diseases. He has an obsession with protecting his skin, which lead him to invent SPF 100 factor sunblock while on a mission to P3M-736, a planet with no ozone layer.

Because of his hypoglycemia, he eats regularly. After three years, the rest of the team notices that eats too much. However, McKay claimed that he weighed exactly the same as he had three years earlier. He also enjoys eating veal, Meals ready to eat, hospital food, and airline food (though his only complaint being that he can't get seconds). While he and Sheppard were playing what they thought was an Ancient game, McKay inadvertently forced the people of Geldar to despise anything citrus and made them believe that "even the sunlight is dangerous".

Behind the scenes

 * McKay was originally going to be replaced by a scientist named Dr. Ingram, until the Stargate Atlantis production team contacted David Hewlett to reprise his role as McKay.
 * Contrary to popular belief, according to an interview on the Second season DVD boxset, Hewlett is not allergic to citrus; he demonstrated by eating a lemon.