Wesley Crusher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wesley Crusher | |
|---|---|
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| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | Male |
| Home planet: | Earth |
| Affiliation: | Starfleet |
| Posting: | USS Enterprise-D civilian, helmsman, tactical officer (alternate universe) Starfleet Academy cadet (resigns) |
| Rank: | Acting ensign Ensign (resigned to attend Academy) Cadet (resigns) Lieutenant junior grade (alternate universe) Lieutenant junior grade (Star Trek: Nemesis) |
| Portrayed by: | Wil Wheaton |
Wesley Robert Crusher is a character on the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was played by actor Wil Wheaton, and was a regular for the first three seasons, leaving partway through the fourth season. He made sporadic guest appearances after this.
The son of Jack and Beverly Crusher, he was a bright young man who was almost too intelligent for his own good. He first arrived on the USS Enterprise-D with his mother right after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command. Picard realized that Wesley understood many things beyond his age, and appointed the youth as acting ensign. He matured over the years and eventually entered Starfleet Academy. The first time Wesley took the Academy's entrance exam, however, his test score fell behind that of one other applicant (there were four in all). As a result, Wesley stayed on the Enterprise instead of proceeding to the Academy (see "Coming of Age").
Starfleet was not to be his destiny. While flying as part of the Academy's elite Nova Squadron, he helped them practice a forbidden maneuver known as the "Kolvoord Starburst," in which fellow student Joshua Albert was killed. Because of this accident, and because of an attempted cover-up by Nova Squadron's four surviving members, Starfleet expelled senior cadet Nicholas Locarno (for masterminding both the stunt and the resulting scandal) and issued a formal reprimand to the other three cadets (including Wesley): their academic credits for the entire previous year were declared null and void; their flight privileges were revoked; and their permanent service records were irreparably tainted (see "The First Duty"). Wesley, reeling from the tragedy, became restless and bored with his studies; within a year, he had effectively become a stranger to all his old shipmates, and even to his own mother. Wesley's deep-rooted problems were compounded when he learned that Starfleet had plans to force a colony of Native Americans from a planet near the Cardassian Union, which, decades ago, Starfleet itself had given the Native Americans as a kind of reservation. Now the Cardassians intended to annex this Native American world. It didn't help that the Enterprise had been assigned the distasteful task of evacuating the colony; nor did it help that Wesley happened to be on board at the time.
Finding he could no longer deal with any of his old friends (a sentiment which proved to be quite mutual), Wesley sought solace with the Native Americans and became familiar with their culture (a la Dances With Wolves). Wes even participated in a vision quest, during which he saw and heard his late father Jack telling him...not to follow the same path he (Jack) had taken through life. Upon his emergence, Wesley found the Enterprise crew preparing to beam the colonists away from their home. When he warned the colonists of what was about to happen and why, the Native Americans rebelled, and the crew was forced to leave. Picard furiously chewed Wesley out for what had happened; the Captain grew even more outraged when Wes began applying elements of Picard's own "Truth Before Loyalty" lecture (from "The First Duty") against both him and Starfleet. Picard testily informed Wesley that said lecture did not apply under the present circumstances; Wes responded by turning in his Starfleet comm-badge as a sign of his resignation.
Having severed all his ties to the United Federation of Planets, Wesley rejoined the Native American colonists on their planet. When a fight broke out between colonists and Cardassians surveying the planet, Wesley tried to stop the fight...and succeeded, by literally stopping time itself. One of the "Native Americans" revealed himself to actually be The Traveler, who confirmed that Wes had actually transcended the relative dimensions of space. And so, home at last, Wesley left with the Traveler to explore his true potential (see "Journey's End").
Wesley's activities and adventures over the next few years have yet to be chronicled officially.
Wesley has a birthmark in the buttocks or groin area. [1]
A scene with Wesley was filmed for Star Trek: Nemesis, most of which was cut from the movie (view scene [2]). In the movie, several years after his departure with the Traveler, Wesley attends the wedding of Commander William T. Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. Sitting at the head table, he is seen wearing a Starfleet dress uniform and rank insignia of a Lieutenant Junior Grade. In the scene that was cut, he states that he is part of the engineering staff of the USS Titan, indicating that he rejoins Starfleet at some point and either completes his time at the Academy or had been granted a field commission.
Wesley is often referred to as "the boy" by many fans and Enterprise crew members, especially Worf, Picard, and Riker.
[edit] Fan reception
The character of Wesley Crusher is one of significant conflict among fans of Star Trek TNG, drawing both negative and positive responses. Many of the negative commentary and fan hatred stems from the number of times Wesley Crusher has saved the ship from one disaster or another, where most trained and experienced officers were unable to come up with a solution to whatever crisis was faced. Other fans complain that the character is rude and belligerent to adults when he cannot get his way, such as the episode "Datalore". Fans and commentators also criticize the character's actions as an effective "Deus ex machina", since he would invariably "use his genius" to come up with outlandish solutions to problems faced by the Enterprise crew. In addition, his prodigious nature made it difficult for many fans to identify with the character and reduced his popularity. Many regard the character to be a "Mary Sue".
More positive reactions from fans however are mainly from parents who believe that Wesley Crusher is the "ideal" child, one who is respectful of their parents as well as intelligent and willing to learn.
[edit] External links
- Official biography of Wesley Crusher
- Wesley Crusher article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Regular characters on Star Trek | |||
| The Original Series | Kirk | Spock | McCoy | Scott | Uhura | Sulu | Chekov | Chapel | Rand | ||
| Animated Series | Arex | M'Ress | ||
| The Next Generation | Picard | Riker | Data | La Forge | Worf | B. Crusher | Troi | W. Crusher | Yar | Pulaski | ||
| Deep Space Nine | B. Sisko | Kira | J. Dax | Odo | Bashir | O'Brien | Worf | J. Sisko | Quark | Rom | Nog | E. Dax | Garak | Martok | Damar | Dukat | Weyoun | Winn | ||
| Voyager | Janeway | Chakotay | Tuvok | Paris | Torres | Kim | Doctor | Neelix | Seven | Kes | ||
| Enterprise | Archer | T'Pol | Tucker | Reed | Phlox | Sato | Mayweather | ||
