James T. Kirk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the English soldier, see James Kirk; for the actor, see James Kirk (actor).
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| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | 5' 9½" (1.77 m) |
| Eye color: | Hazel,Brownish Green |
| Date of birth: | March 22, 2233 (Riverside, Iowa, USA, North America, Earth) |
| Date of death: | 2293 / 2371 (see below) |
| Home planet: | Earth |
| Affiliation: | Starfleet |
| Posting: | USS Republic USS Farragut phaser station operator USS Enterprise commanding officer Starfleet chief of operations Starfleet Academy USS Enterprise-A commanding officer |
| Rank: | Captain Admiral Demoted to Captain |
| Serial number: | SC 937-0176 CEC |
| Actor: | William Shatner |
Captain James Tiberius Kirk (2233 - 2293), played by William Shatner, is the main character in the original Star Trek and the films based on it.
Captain Kirk commanded the starship USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 and later, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A.
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[edit] Overview
The non-canon Star Trek novel "Final Frontier" establishes that Kirk's father is named George Samuel Kirk. Several other novels, published by Pocket Books, list Kirk's mother's name as "Winona." George Samuel Jr. and Aurelan Kirk, Kirk's older brother and sister-in-law, died during the invasion of neural parasites on Deneva in 2267. Kirk's nephew, Peter Kirk, survived.
James Kirk is known to have had at least one child: David Marcus.
Virtually nothing regarding Kirk's birth has been established in on-screen canon. Riverside, Iowa is listed on the official Star Trek web site as Kirk's birthplace [1]. His birthdate has never been officially established, but both the official web site and fanon speculation suggest March 22nd, 2233, based upon the real-life birthdate and age of actor William Shatner.
Although born on Earth, he apparently lived, at least for a time, on Tarsus IV, where he was one of only nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists because of utilitarian extermination by Kodos the Executioner.
[edit] Career
Kirk had a distinguished career in Starfleet Academy, becoming the first person to defeat the Kobayashi Maru test that stymied cadets for many decades. Whereas any situation would be met by the simulator's overriding dictate that the cadet lose, Kirk won by rewriting the program to allow him to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew. For this, he received a commendation for original thinking.
However, Kirk was constantly taunted and tormented by an obnoxious upper classman named Finnegan, described by Kirk as the kind of person who would put cold soup in a person's bed or a bucket of water over a half open door. Kirk despised the cackling, maniacal Finnegan and wanted nothing more than to give his arrogant tormenter a thorough beating - years later while on the fantasy planet (in the episode "Shore Leave"), Kirk gained a certain degree of satisfaction when he was given the chance to beat a replica of Finnegan.
Kirk began his Starfleet career as a Cadet in 2250. While still a student at the Academy, Kirk was granted a field commission as an Ensign and posted to advanced training aboard the USS Republic in the year 2251. He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade in 2253 and returned to Starfleet Academy as a student instructor.
Upon his graduation from Starfleet Academy in 2254, Kirk was promoted to a full Lieutenant and served aboard the USS Farragut. Kirk gained a tremendous amount of experience aboard the Farragut, commanding his first planet survey and also surviving a deadly attack by a gas cloud alien, in which a large portion of the Farragut's crew (including Captain Garrovick) were killed.
According to the official Star Trek website, James T. Kirk was the third captain of the USS Enterprise, following in the footsteps of Captain Robert April, who predated Pike as captain of the vessel. Kirk commanded the Enterprise's historic five year mission from 2265-2270. Alongside the Captain was his equally legendary First Officer Spock. His Human/Vulcan friend also doubled as the Enterprise's Science Officer. Filling out the crew were Chief Surgeon Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, communications officer Uhura, helmsman Hikaru Sulu and navigator Pavel Chekov. The crew's dedication to Captain Kirk mirrored his own relentless loyalty to his ship.
Upon completion of the Enterprise's mission, James Kirk achieved the rank of Rear Admiral and was assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations. However, Kirk was unfulfilled in this administrative role. Spock later told his friend, "Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny... anything else is a waste of material."
In 2272, to combat the V'Ger Crisis, Admiral Kirk took temporary command of the Enterprise over Captain Willard Decker who oversaw its refit while in dry dock.
Admiral Kirk retired from Starfleet sometime around 2282, but returned to active duty in 2284, where he was in command of Starfleet Academy training.
In 2285 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Kirk briefly took command of the Enterprise in order to pursue his old enemy, Khan Noonien Singh. He was later demoted back to Captain after stealing the Enterprise and sabotaging the USS Excelsior NX-2000 in 2285 in order to revive Spock, who died in the mission to stop Khan. Kirk was given control of a new USS Enterprise A. He commanded the ship for several years until the vessel was decommissioned in 2293.
With Dr. Carol Marcus, he had a son named David, who was killed by Klingons in 2285. The death of his son enraged Kirk for years to come. While he had always been distrustful and wary of the Klingon race, after David's death, them collectively responsible for the death of his son. When Spock, on behalf of his father Sarek, opened negotiations with the Klingon Empire after the Praxis incident and 'volunteered' Kirk to lead the mission, Kirk was enraged. When Spock pointed out that they were dying, his sharp response was "Let them die!".
It was only when the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, on his deathbed pleading "Don't let it end this way" that Kirk started to realize not all Klingons were responsible for his son's death. He finally started to let go of his hate of the Klingon people.
He recorded in his log during the start of this mission that he could never forgive them for the death of his son. This recording was used as evidence against him when a Klingon court convicted him of murdering Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in 2293; he was sentenced to a life term in the prison mines of Rura Penthe but was subsequently rescued and cleared of guilt.
[edit] Death
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation film Generations, Kirk was lost (and presumed dead) when the newest USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) was damaged by the Nexus, which he entered. In this alternate existence, he was persuaded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the year 2371 to return to planet Veridian III and stop Tolian Soran from sacrificing 230 million lives in order for him to reenter the Nexus. During the climax, Kirk was able to retrieve and activate a cloaking control device from a damaged construction span, enabling Picard to sabotage Soran's plans. However, the span collapsed, causing Kirk to fall. Picard manages to get to Kirk as he lay dying underneath the wreckage, and subsequently buried his predecessor on the plateau.
In the original script of Star Trek: Generations, Soran killed Kirk by shooting him in the back. This filmed ending was changed after negative reactions from test audiences. The revised death in the film was still not well received by fans.
[edit] Back-story
According to the episode "Obsession," Kirk served aboard the USS Farragut, where he later felt that he had been negligent by hestiating when facing a hostile alien life-form, which later killed his captain, Captain Garrovick. In Star Trek The New Voyages the episode In Harm's Way has Kirk as Captain of the USS Farragut in a strange time travel incident for the fan made show.
[edit] Mirror Universe
In the Mirror Universe, Captain Kirk was a loyal officer in the mirror Starfleet of the brutal Terran Empire. He commanded the ISS Enterprise after assassinating the ship's previous captain, the mirror Christopher Pike. Kirk's first action for the Empire was the execution of 5,000 colonists on Vega IX. His second action was the suppression of an alien uprising, by simply destroying the rebels' homeworld. After briefly exchanging places with the regular universe's Kirk ("Mirror, Mirror"), this Kirk is quickly locked up in the brig by Spock; Kirk attempts to bribe Spock with money, and his own command, but Spock refuses. This Kirk is once again returned to the Mirror Universe at the end of the episode.
[edit] Trivia
- In the "Shatnerverse", novels written by William Shatner, Kirk is subsequently supported by the mirror Spock in a bid to take control of the Terran Empire. He becomes the most brutal dictator in history as the Emperor "Tiberius." His Empire is eventually destroyed by a joint Klingon/Cardassian Alliance.
- In most other print sequels, such as The Sorrows of Empire by David Mack (part of the Glass Empires trade paperback), Kirk is assassinated by Spock who takes sole control of the Empire.
[edit] External links
- StarTrek.com: James T. Kirk
- James T. Kirk 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 | ||
| Captains of Star Trek vessels named Enterprise | ||||||||||
| Jonathan Archer | Robert April | Christopher Pike | James T. Kirk | Willard Decker | Spock | John Harriman | Rachel Garrett | Jean-Luc Picard | William Riker | Edward Jellico |
