Perry Cox is a major character in Scrubs. He is an arrogant, cynical and self-loathing man who is deeply comitted to his own ethical code which prioritises helping patients over the rules and who acts as a mentor to J.D.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
- He's usually kind to kids.
- On J.D.'s first day Cox gives him encouragement, allowing him to regain his composure and save the patient.
- Broke the law to save a patient without health insurance.
- Tried to stop Kelso from discharging his mentor before he was ready.
- Despite having feelings for Carla and disliking Turk he doesn't interfere in their relationship out of respect.
- When he realises Kelso needs to be feared in order to do his job Cox delibereatley provokes him in order to regain the fear for him from others.
- He tries to go 24 hours without losing a patient and nearly suceeds, saving all but one and consoles an upset Elliott afterwards.
- When his feud with Kelso ends up getting an innocent nurse fired Cox feels guilty and publicly humiliates himself by apologising to Kelso in order to get the job back for her.
- When J.D. is struggling with his father issues Cox (kind of) comforts him by telling him to quit whining as he turned okay so his father can't have been that bad then turns up to watch J.D. giving a talk his father was unable to.
- Supports his brother-in-law Ben through his Lukemia.
- Helps J.D. to get help for Mr. Boemer despite his lack of health insurance.
- Supports his ex wife Jordan through her pregnancy and was willing to raise her son Jack even though he believed Jack wasn't biologically his at the time.
- Forgives Jordan for lying about the identity of Jack's father.
- When he and J.D. compete to see who can solve it first while treating identical patients Cox saves his and assures J.D. after his patient dies that he did nothing wrong and it was just bad luck.
- After J.D.'s brother Dan calls him out on how his toxic behaviour has been corrupting J.D. Cox course corrects and tries to set J.D. on a better path.
- After Kelso shuts down a large wing of the hospital to save money Cox causes trouble for him until he's forced to reopen it so the patients won't suffer.
- Supports Jordan after Ben's death.
- Comforts Carla when Turk doesn't make it to the wedding in time to marry her.
- Stops Kelso's attempt to trick Harvey Corman into getting an unnecessary full body scan at the cost of publicly humiliating himself and giving Corman free medical care for the rest of his life.
- Helps J.D. after his father's death by first taking all his patients off his hands and then giving him emotional support.
- Helps convince Murray Marks to donate a kidney to his father in order to save his life.
- Brought Jack to the hospital to cheer Denise up after he realised the son she had annoyed him by constantly mentioning was dead.
- Diagnosed his friend Ron's son with Autism and then puts him in touch with someone who can help despite Ron' initial skepticism and attempt to push him away.
- Tries to save the life of a young girl by convincing her to take the medication for her seizures again. When his tough life approach fails he swallows his pride and enlists Elliott who successfully saves the girl.
- Encourages Elliott to pursue a romantic relationship with Jake after being moved by the man's selflessness when he returned to the hospital to help a woman even though the patient's brother had threatened her with a lawsuit.
- Has the Interns deliberately let a patient get worse so he will be bumped up on the transplant list and his life will be saved.
- Comforts Carla over her fear of being a mother.
- Tried to convince Kelso to put John Morrison into a drug trial that could prolong his life.
- Attempted to save three transplant patients and fell into an alcoholic depression when he failed to do so.
- Took J.D. out for dinner when he was blaming himself for Jill Tracy's death and pulled him out of it.
- When J.D. is struggling with his fear he'll be a bad father since he doesn't love Kim Cox gives him a pep talk, telling him he turned out fine despite his parents' divorced and convinces him to return to the room and give Kim support as she gives birth.
- Gives J.D. advice when he is struggling with his students.
- When Dr. Maddox takes over the hospital he profit- driven and authoritarian nature makes it nearly impossible to help patients so Cox swallows his pride and convinces Kelso to get rid of her by complimenting him, allowing Cox and his friends to help countless people they wouldn't have otherwise been able to.
- He ultimately agrees to hide Mr. Vaughn at the hospital despite his lack of health insurance even though he initially refused due to fear it could get him in trouble after he became Chief of Medicine.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is arrogant, sarcastic, blunt and condescending in nearly every interaction.
- Cheated on his girlfriend Kristen with Jordan.
- Broke Lonnie's sunglasses when he asked for a break.
- Played a very mean-spirited prank on Kelso by using a portrait he made of himself to convince everyone he was dead then mocked Kelso over how nobody cared.
- Kidnapped a doctor's puppet because they wouldn't see Jack when he had the flu.
- After winning the Janitor's van from him in a bet Cox takes great joy in destroying it and forcing him to watch.
- Harassed Laverne about her Christianity to prove her faith was stupid though to his credit he did apologise.
- Teamed up with Kelso to crush Mollie's spirit as they found her optimism annoying.