The 26-year-old man appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday with a bandaged hand.
Judge Nevin Dawson granted the defendant interim name suppression and ordered mental health reports be completed.
The defendant did not apply for bail so was remanded in custody to appear in the High Court next month.
On Saturday, police arrested the man after a person was injured with a weapon at a Heriot Row property.
A man living at the property said he was woken early that morning by the blaring of a smoke alarm going off due to a small fire at the property.
However, he was too scared to leave his room as he could hear screaming coming from the shared living space.
When he eventually walked into the space, he said he saw pools of blood on the ground and that his flatmate had been stabbed.
The victim was transported to Dunedin Hospital in a critical condition.
At the weekend, Detective Sergeant Matthew Harris said police were wanting more information from the public about the incident.
He asked for anyone who stopped to help the victim that morning, or for members of the public with CCTV or dashcam footage from the area, to get in touch with police.
