Favorite Characters: Rory Williams (Doctor Who)

Rory is an interesting anomaly in New Who.  There’s of course the fact that he’s a full-time male companion, something the show hasn’t had since Turlough traveled with Five back in the ‘80s – the men in the new series have always had pretty short TARDIS tenures, little more than intervals.  But while Rory initially comes aboard as an ancillary to Amy, he ultimately becomes a full-fledged companion in his own right.

There’s a lot more to it than that, though.  After RTD’s general period of companion adoration, after Amy (who, following her childhood encounter with the Doctor, evidently bit four separate psychiatrists who claimed he wasn’t real,) Rory doesn’t tend to be hugely impressed.  Upon entering the TARDIS, he skips the usual gawking, goggling, and bigger-on-the-inside!-ing, flatly deducing that the interior is a different dimension; he’s read up on the latest scientific theories, dontcha know?  He’s not usually one to delight at the wonders of time and space, and he doesn’t find the Doctor as amazing as most new-series companions do.

Not to say that he’s a cynic or a killjoy, because he’s really not.  His first time out, once he has a chance to internalize the fact that he’s actually time-traveled, he’s pretty chuffed to be in 16^th-century Venice.  He gets excited, scared, or heroic (plenty heroic) as the situation requires.  It’s more that his typical response is a little more even-keeled.  It’s like he copes with his insane life by reacting as if it’s run-of-the-mill.  Whether he finds himself on a spaceship full of dinosaurs or inside a robot that looks like his wife, he sort of takes it in stride.  There’s something almost deceptive in his characterization, because at first glance, you might think he’s a pushover or a doormat when, in truth, he’s just very good at rolling with the punches.

Part of this is down to the fact that he tends to focus on the small picture.  If there’s a human element to concern himself with, Rory will find it.  As a nurse, he comes by it honestly, caring for injured people, Sontarans, and corporeal TARDIS matrices during his time as a companion.  Beyond that, he seems to be a fairly empathetic person.  He makes connections with people when they’re frightened (like Jen in the Flesh 2-parter,) vulnerable (like River in “The Impossible Astronaut,) or guarded (like old Amy in “The Girl Who Waited.”)  He tries to suss out what damaged Daleks need, for goodness sake!  While the Doctor and Amy are worrying about massive invasions and world-collapsing paradoxes, he’s frequently the one to think about the people caught in the crossfire.

He’s always at his most heroic when he’s protecting someone, and because he’s Rory, that someone is usually Amy.  More than anything, she’s the reason he’s there, and he never fails to make it clear where Amy ranks in his priorities.  (The one real glaring flaw in Rory’s characterization is his periodic insecurity about Amy’s regard for him and his jealousy of the Doctor on that front, and it’s only glaring because the show keeps resurrecting it.)  You get the sense that, while he certainly enjoys life with the Doctor, it’s not something he needs.  Rather, he’ll follow Amy anywhere and, being pretty adaptable, will learn to do well there.  That definitely sets him apart from most companions, but even though he doesn’t live for it as ardently as they do, he still does a tremendous amount of good and steps up in some remarkable ways throughout his time on the TARDIS.