# Doc Holliday — Tombstone character guide

> Doc Holliday in Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Holliday, Doc

**First appearance:** 0002-tombstone

## Snapshot

A slender, ash-blond gambler and dentist with a wit as quick as his trigger finger, riding into Tombstone beside Wyatt Earp from Dodge City.

## Who they are

Holliday is the fighting ace of the Earp faction, considered by connoisseurs in deadliness the coldest-blooded killer in Tombstone, a man who laughs with Morgan Earp in front of saloons and straps a sawed-off shotgun beneath his coat for state occasions. Immaculate in attire and fastidious in habit, he might fly into a temper if his breakfast eggs are not just so, yet no man is cooler when bullets start to fly. His loyalty to Wyatt Earp and his hair-trigger temperament make him both the faction's sharpest weapon and its most unpredictable one.

## Relationships

### [Ike Clanton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/ike_clanton)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_friendship_

Deep, loyal friendship and mutual protection, with Doc acting as Wyatt's deadly enforcer.

### [Warren Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/warren_earp)

_friendship_

Comrades in the Earp faction, with Doc mentoring and protecting the younger Warren.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_friendship_

Deep, loyal friendship and mutual protection, with Doc acting as Wyatt's deadly enforcer.

### [Ike Clanton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/ike_clanton)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Ike Clanton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/ike_clanton)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_friendship_

Deep, loyal friendship and mutual protection, with Doc acting as Wyatt's deadly enforcer.

### [Warren Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/warren_earp)

_friendship_

Comrades in the Earp faction, with Doc mentoring and protecting the younger Warren.

### [Warren Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/warren_earp)

_friendship_

Comrades in the Earp faction, with Doc mentoring and protecting the younger Warren.

## In the story

### [Tombstone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/tombstone)

Doc Holliday is present in Tombstone, associated with Wyatt Earp.

### [III: Glad Hand and Trigger Finger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/iii-glad-hand-and-trigger-finger)

Portrayed as the coldest-blooded killer in Tombstone, a consumptive with a deadly reputation, and Wyatt Earp's loyal friend.

### [IV: Wyatt Earp Plays a Lone Hand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/iv-wyatt-earp-plays-a-lone-hand)

Present at the scene; Wyatt Earp instructs him to arrange a spring wagon for transporting the prisoner.

### [IX: Ringo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/ix-ringo)

Accepts Ringo's handkerchief duel challenge, but is stopped by Mayor Thomas.

### [X: Russian Bill's Little Drama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/x-russian-bill-s-little-drama)

Observes Russian Bill on Allen Street and remarks on his reputation as an outlaw.

### [On the Benson Road](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xi-on-the-benson-road)

Suspected as the fourth highwayman; he dismissed the accusation with cynical humor.

### [Flashes of Storm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xii-flashes-of-storm)

Allegedly confessed guilt to Ike Clanton; his flaming resentment is cited as a contributory cause of the feud.

### [XIII: The Showdown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xiii-the-showdown)

Confronts Ike Clanton at the Alhambra, carries a sawed-off shotgun, and participates in the gunfight.

### [XIV: The Red Road of Vengeance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xiv-the-red-road-of-vengeance)

Rides alongside Wyatt Earp as they leave Tombstone; implicated in Stilwell's murder and the Benson stage affair.

### [The Out Trail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xv-the-out-trail)

Dies of tuberculosis in Colorado; known for his courage and cynical humor; briefly fled the Iron Springs fight but returned to offer support.

### [Sunshine and Peace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xxii-sunshine-and-peace)

Mentioned as having dealt faro in the old Oriental.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/doc_holliday
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters