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James T. Kirk

James [1] Tiberius [2] Kirk was born in Iowa on Earth [3] [4] on Stardate 1277.1 [1] ( 22 March [4] 2233 [5] ) to Lieutenant Commander George Kirk and Lieutenant Winona Kirk , [6] [4] and named for both his maternal grandfather, James Davis , and his paternal grandfather, Tiberius Kirk . [6] Kirk was raised with his brother in Iowa , [3] though he also accompanied his parents to other planets, such as Tarsus IV , where he was one of only nine eyewitnesses to survive the massacre of half the colony's population by Governor Kodos in 2247 , and he would never forget what he saw. [7] Kirk was a skillful tactician, and was able to beat Spock , a master player himself, at chess, utilizing illogical but successful strategies to win the game. [1]

• 1 Academy Years
• 2 Junior Officer
• 3 Starship Command
• 4 Admiralty
• 5 A New Enterprise
• 6 Notes and References

Academy Years

Kirk entered Starfleet Academy in 2250 , at the age of 17. He was a brilliant and dedicated cadet , though some people, including an upperclassman named Finnegan , thought he was too serious and bookish. [8] Kirk was particularly impressed by one of his instructors, a history professor named John Gill , whom he considered one of the kindest and gentlest men he had ever met. [9] Kirk proved himself to be more than just an academic when he was the first cadet to beat the Kobayashi Maru scenario , a test designed to confront aspiring starship captains with a no-win situation. Refusing to accept that there was such a thing, Kirk broke into the Academy’s computer and reprogrammed the scenario so that he could achieve all his goals. Far from being criticized for his behavior, he was commended for original thinking. [10]

Assigned to the U.S.S. Republic NCC-1371 for his cadet cruise in 2254 , Kirk befriended one of his instructors, Lieutenant Ben Finney . The two were close enough that Finney named his daughter Jamie in his honor, but that friendship didn't prevent Kirk from doing his duty. One day, Kirk relieved Finney on watch and discovered that he had left a circuit to the ship’s atomic matter piles open, seriously endangering the ship and the lives of everyone aboard. Kirk closed the circuit and logged the incident. As a result, Finney was reprimanded and moved to the bottom of the promotions list. He failed to accept responsibility for the incident and blamed Kirk, resulting in more than a decade of enmity from the older man. [11] While assigned to the Republic, Kirk was part of a mission to the planet Axanar , where one of his heroes, Captain Garth of Izar , had won a famous victory. Kirk was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axanar for his part in the Republic's mission. [12]

Gary Mitchell ( TOS 02 )

After his tour on the Republic ended, Kirk returned to the Academy, where he became a student tutor. The class he taught earned quite a reputation among other cadets, who knew that in Kirk’s class it was "think or sink." Kirk became friends with one of his students, Gary Mitchell , whom Kirk would later request on his first command. [1] Kirk left a lasting impression on many of his other contemporaries, including R.M. Merrick , who was expelled after failing a psychosimulator test. Years later, Merrick still remembered Kirk as an example of all that was best about Starfleet officers. [13] During his time at Starfleet Academy, Kirk had at least three serious relationships: one with a blonde lab technician, [1] one with Janice Lester , which lasted a year, [14] and one with a beautiful young woman named Ruth . [8] Kirk's relationship with the unnamed lab technician was engineered by Mitchell to distract Kirk, a tough taskmaster whom Mitchell would later describe as "a stack of books with legs," and became so serious that Kirk nearly married her. [1]

Junior Officer

Upon his graduation in 2254 , Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant , and his first posting was the U.S.S. Farragut NCC-1647 under Captain Garrovick . [15] The young Lieutenant Kirk first experienced command when he led a planetary survey party; during this mission he befriended the leader of the local hill people, a man called Tyree . [16] Kirk served aboard the Farragut during the Klingon War , and his experiences caused him to develop an intense dislike for the Klingons . He was horrified by the way the Klingons maintained "order" on occupied planets, by organizing them into vast labor camps, taking and killing hostages and confining the people's leaders. He became convinced that the Klingons were a brutal people who could not be trusted. [17]

In 2257 , Kirk was involved in a serious incident that left him deeply troubled for many years. Near Tycho IV , the Farragut encountered a mysterious and dangerous gaseous entity . Kirk hesitated for a brief moment before firing the ship’s phasers and, when the creature attacked, a third of the crew, including Captain Garrovick, were killed. Although Starfleet found nothing wrong with his actions, Kirk blamed himself for the disaster. [15]

By 2258 , Kirk met Carol Marcus . Their relationship became serious, and in 2259 , Carol became pregnant. [18] Their relationship ultimately came to an end [10] after he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and first officer of the Farragut. [19] Marcus asked him not to become involved in their child's upbringing, and Kirk respected her wishes. [10] Following his promotion, he briefly shadowed Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley , the first officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 , who offered advice on how to be an effective first officer. [18] He also met the Enterprise's commanding officer , Christopher Pike at this time, following the latter's temporary [19] promotion to Fleet Captain . [20]

Not long afterward, Kirk became involved with Janet Wallace , an endocrinologist, but their differing career goals pulled them apart. [5] During this period, he was also involved with Areel Shaw , an impressive young lawyer with the Judge Advocate General 's office. The two parted on good terms but didn't see one another for several years. [11] In fact, it seems that Kirk’s dedication to his career made it almost impossible for him to form lasting relationships.

Starship Command

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 ( TOS 04 )

In 2265 , [21] Kirk assumed command of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 from Captain Christopher Pike , [20] becoming the third commanding officer of that vessel, [22] and began what would become an historic Five Year Mission. [1] Kirk excelled as a captain, and his exploits became requred reading at the Academy. [21] Kirk had a relaxed command style and enjoyed a close relationship with his crew. Although Kirk and Finney had never reconciled their differences, Kirk did not object when Finney was assigned to his ship as records officer. [11] Kirk also brought along Gary Mitchell, whom he had requested on his first command. [1]

Kirk was on very good personal terms with many of his officers, who respected and admired him. Occasionally, these relationships verged on romance—Kirk evidently became close with Doctor Helen Noel at a science lab Christmas party — but on the whole he felt it was inappropriate to become romantically involved with another member of his crew. [23] Although Kirk didn’t establish any lasting romances, he did form some of the most important friendships of his life while he was aboard the Enterprise. His first officer, the half- Vulcan Spock , and the ship’s Chief Medical Officer , Doctor Leonard McCoy , became his lifelong friends. [10]

Tactically, Kirk was one of the finest officers who ever served in Starfleet, and he consistently proved himself the equal of many adversaries. Kirk’s many exploits included the discovery of replicable means of time travel , [24] [25] several important conflicts with the Klingon [17] and Romulan Empires [26] (including a mission where he stole a Romulan cloaking device ), [27] the first successful journey across the galactic barrier, [28] and an incident involving the Mirror Universe . [29]

Ben Finney ( TOS 15 )

Kirk and his crew also repelled several attempts to invade Federation space. In 2268 , the Enterprise encountered an automated weapon that had destroyed several planets and crippled the U.S.S. Constellation NCC-1017 . Kirk finally managed to defeat the weapon by setting the Constellation to self-destruct and flying it inside the planet-destroying device. [30] In the same year, Kirk and his crew defeated a massive spaceborne "amoeba" cosmozoan that had destroyed the U.S.S. Intrepid NCC-1631 and threatened Federation space. [31] Kirk also convinced the Kelvans to stop their intergalactic invasion plans. [28] Despite all his achievements, in 2266 Kirk stood trial in a court-martial when he was accused of the murder of Ben Finney. During the trial, it emerged that Finney, who was still obsessed with Kirk, had faked his own death, and Kirk was exonerated. [11]

Kirk endured other hard times during his command. On Stardate 1313.8 , he was forced to kill Gary Mitchell when his friend gained extremely potent psionic powers after passing through the Galactic Barrier , becoming a serious danger to the rest of the crew and the Federation at large. [1] In 2267 , the Enterprise visited Deneva , where Kirk’s older brother, George Samuel Kirk , was working as a research biologist. When the planet was attacked by a race of neural parasites , Sam (as Kirk called him) and his wife Aurelan were killed, and their son Peter barely survived. [32] Fortunately, Sam’s two other sons [33] were not on the planet at the time. [32]

Edith Keeler ( TOS 28 )

Kirk also had a difficult time romantically. In 2267 , he traveled back in time to 1930 and fell in love with Edith Keeler , but was forced to let her die in order to preserve history. [34] In 2268 , Kirk spent several months living among a Native American community when he was stranded on a planetoid with amnesia and went by the name "Kirok." During this time he married a woman named Miramanee , who became pregnant. Shortly after the Enterprise returned to rescue Kirk, she and her unborn child were stoned to death by an angry mob. [35] Later that year, Kirk fell deeply in love with the android Rayna Kapec . He awakened similar feelings in her, but she was unable to cope when asked to choose between Kirk and her creator, the immortal Mr. Flint ; her programming failed, and she died. Kirk was so distressed by her death that Spock took the extreme step of mind-melding with him to remove the painful memories. [36]

If Kirk had a weakness, it was his obsessive devotion to duty. He was extremely hard on himself and felt personally responsible whenever one of the people under his command was killed. He rarely took shore leave, [8] and Dr. McCoy was forced to order him to relax on more than one occasion. He was extremely devoted to his ship, which he looked on as "a lady" who needed his love. [37] Kirk was just as dedicated to the members of his crew, and he disobeyed direct orders on several occasions in order to help officers under his command. For example, in 2266 , he refused to obey Galactic High Commissioner Ferris ' order to abandon the search for a shuttlecraft which had been lost while investigating the Murasaki 312 quasar -like phenomenon. [38] The following year, Kirk disobeyed direct orders from Starfleet Command to attend the inaguration of the president of Altair VI . Instead, he ordered the Enterprise to Vulcan because his science officer, Spock, needed to return there in order to deal with his pon farr . Spock held his captain in such high regard that he asked him to be present at the koon-ut-kal-if-fee ceremony. As a result, Kirk and McCoy (who was also present) became part of a select group of Humans who have had first-hand experience of this aspect of Vulcan culture. [39] In general, Kirk was intolerant of bureaucracy and often described himself as a soldier rather than a diplomat. However, he played an important part in resolving several conflicts, including the conflict between Vendikar and Eminiar VII . [40] He also forced the inhabitants of Ardana to reconsider the divisive social system that forced one group of people to work in the zenite mines while others lived in luxury in the floating city of Stratos . [41]

Fortunately for Kirk, he managed to lay some of his demons to rest during his time aboard the Enterprise. In 2266 , his friend Thomas Leighton , another survivor from Tarsus IV, told him that he believed he had found Kodos , who had assumed the identity of Anton Karidian, a Shakespearean actor. Leighton was murdered shortly after he revealed his suspicions to his friend, but Kirk’s investigations proved that he had been right about Kodos. The fugitive governor died in an accident when his daughter, Lenore , attempted to kill Kirk. [7] Kirk also again encountered the cloud creature that had attacked the Farragut years earlier. The events that followed proved that Kirk’s hesitation in firing on the creature during its attack on the Farragut had made no difference. Kirk eventually managed to destroy the creature with an antimatter bomb. [15]

When the Enterprise's five-year mission ended in 2270 , [21] Kirk was promoted to admiral . [42] He accepted the promotion against the advice of Dr. McCoy, who warned him that he would never be happy unless he was in command of a starship. [10] Kirk recommended that the young Will Decker replace him as captain of the Enterprise, which had just begun a major refit shortly after its return to Earth. [42]

As an admiral, Kirk became Chief of Starfleet Operations . McCoy's prediction about Kirk's happiness proved right; everyone could see that the admiral was frustrated and unhappy with his desk job. When the Federation was threatened by V'Ger in 2273 , Kirk grabbed the opportunity to return to the field. In his obsession to regain command of a starship and save the Federation, Kirk was less than sensitive to the needs of the people around him: in order to resume command of the newly refitted Enterprise, Kirk demoted Decker and assumed personal control of the mission. He also forcibly reactivated Dr. McCoy's commission. Although Kirk's actions may suggest that he was insensitive and egotistical, he was proved right. Under his command, the crew of the Enterprise persuaded V'Ger to abandon its attack on Earth. Decker and the ship’s navigator, Ilia, were lost in the mission. [42]

After the V'Ger threat had passed, Kirk remained in command of the Enterprise and began a new five-year mission of deep space exploration. This mission ended in 2278 , and Kirk decided to retire from Starfleet five years later in 2282 . During his retirement, Kirk fell in love with a woman named Antonia , whom he met at his uncle’s farm in Idaho . They lived together in a beautiful mountain cabin, but Kirk was clearly not satisfied. In 2284 , he returned to Starfleet against her wishes and their relationship ended. [43] On his return to active duty, Kirk took up a post as the Commandant of Starfleet Academy, moving into an apartment in San Francisco so that he could be near his work. By this time, his closest friend, Spock, who had been promoted to captain, was also working as an instructor at the Academy and as Captain of the Enterprise, which was now a cadet training vessel. [10]

David Marcus ( ST02 )

By 2285 , Kirk was beginning to feel his age. Even though he had chosen to return to Starfleet, he did not feel that he was young enough to return to the bridge of a starship and, despite Dr. McCoy's advice, he refused to request a command of his own, telling his friend that "galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young." Kirk took the Enterprise on a cadet training mission. At the same time, the genetically engineered Human Augment , Khan Noonien Singh , took control of the U.S.S. Reliant NCC-1864 , determined to wreak revenge on Kirk, who had left him on Ceti Alpha V in 2267 . The Reliant had been assigned to the Genesis Project , led by Dr. Carol Marcus and Dr. David Marcus, the son she had with Kirk. Khan learned about the project and used it to lure Kirk into a battle near Regula 1 , where the Marcuses were based. Although Khan inflicted serious damage on the Enterprise, Kirk's greater experience triumphed and he outfought the Reliant in a tense battle in the Mutara Nebula . At the end of the battle, the Genesis Device was activated, creating a new planet. The mission had a great personal cost for Kirk: Spock was killed by radiation exposure when he repaired the Enterprise's warp engines . The Vulcan was given a burial in space, with Kirk providing the eulogy. Spock’s body came to rest on the newly-formed Genesis Planet . [10]

When the Enterprise returned to Spacedock, Admiral Morrow informed Kirk that the decision had been made to retire the badly damaged ship. Still grieving for his friend, Kirk found it extremely difficult to accept that his ship and crew could be treated in such a way. The same day, Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek , visited Kirk and asked him to recover Spock’s body from the Genesis Planet and return it to Vulcan. Although Kirk and Spock were extremely close, the Vulcan had not told his friend many details about life on Vulcan. Sarek explained that before they die, Vulcans mind meld with one of their most trusted companions and entrust them with their katra , or soul, which is then taken back to Vulcan with their body. Kirk learned that although Spock had been unable to mind meld with him, he did manage to place his katra in Dr. McCoy’s mind. Demonstrating typical loyalty to his crew, Kirk asked Morrow for permission to return to the Genesis Planet to retrieve Spock’s body, but the admiral refused. Genesis had become the focus of a diplomatic furor, and Starfleet Command had placed the planet off-limits to everyone except essential personnel. Effectively, this meant that the only people allowed to visit the planet were the crew of the U.S.S. Grissom NCC-623 , which included David Marcus. This prompted Kirk to make a momentous decision: he disobeyed orders and, with the aid of the Enterprise's senior staff, stole his old ship and went to Genesis. When the Enterprise arrived, the crew discovered that the Grissom had been destroyed by a group of Klingons, and that only Lieutenant Saavik and Dr. Marcus had been left alive on the planet's surface. The damaged and undermanned Enterprise was no match for the Klingon ship, and Kirk was powerless when David was killed by the Klingons. Once again Kirk was faced with apparently insurmountable odds. In a desperate move, he tricked most of the Klingons into boarding the Enterprise, which he destroyed, killing them. Kirk and his staff narrowly escaped the destruction of the Genesis Planet after it became unstable; they managed to retrieve Spock’s body, which had been rejuvenated by the Genesis effect, and took control of the nearly-deserted Klingon Bird of Prey . They then took Spock to Vulcan, where his katra and body were reunited. [44] The death of Kirk's son had a profound effect on him and further hardened his attitude toward the Klingons. He had never had much respect for the Klingon Empire , but he was now convinced that the Klingons, as a whole, were little better than animals. [45]

Kirk returned to Earth to face the consequences of his actions. However, before he could arrive, Earth was "attacked" by a mysterious probe . Kirk saved Earth by traveling back in time and retrieving two humpback whales from the 20th century . When he returned, nearly all charges were dropped, and he was reduced in rank for disobeying orders. A captain once again, he was placed in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A . Kirk was delighted to be back on the bridge of a starship and gratefully accepted the position. [3]

A New Enterprise

After a shakedown and refit, this new Enterprise entered service and was sent to deal with a disturbance on Nimbus III on 8454.1 . When they arrived, Spock’s renegade half-brother Sybok took control of the ship and headed for the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy . The Enterprise was the first Federation vessel to pass through the barrier, and on the other side, the crew met a malevolent entity who claimed to be God . Sybok was killed, but Kirk defeated the entity and returned to normal space. [46]

In 2293 , Kirk, now sixty years old, was nearing retirement once again when he and the Enterprise were assigned to escort the Klingon Chancellor , Gorkon , to vital peace talks with the Federation. Initially, Kirk, who blamed the Klingons for his son’s death, was unwilling to accept the assignment. The Klingon Empire was on the verge of collapse and he felt it would be better to let it die. However, Starfleet Command wanted to send someone who had been known as an enemy of the Klingons to show how serious they were about peace. Despite Kirk’s feelings, he and Dr. McCoy beamed over to Gorkon’s ship to offer assistance when it was attacked, seemingly by the Enterprise, but the chancellor was assassinated. They were arrested for Gorkon’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on Rura Penthe , but they escaped, and Kirk was instrumental in exposing a plot to disrupt peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire. Kirk was deeply impressed by Azetbur , Gorkon’s daughter and the newly-named chancellor, who insisted on pursuing peace negotiations with the Federation even after her father’s death. He realized that his attitude regarding the Klingons was not entirely fair, and recognized that he had been guilty of prejudice. [45]

The following year, Kirk was an honored guest at the launch of the newly commissioned U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B . When the ship responded to a distress call from two transports loaded with El-Aurian refugees he made essential modifications to the ship’s deflector, but was lost and presumed dead. Kirk was actually transported to an unusual region outside normal space-time known as the Nexus . While there, he lived an idyllic existence unaffected by the passage of time. The Nexus provided Kirk with an "ideal" reality. In it, he "returned" to the period in the 2280s when he left Starfleet. He was once again living in his mountain cabin and had the opportunity to stay with Antonia rather than return to Starfleet. Kirk left the Nexus when Captain Jean-Luc Picard from 2371 persuaded him to help fight Dr. Tolian Soran , who in one timeline had caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of lives in order to return to the Nexus himself. Kirk was more than willing to leave because he realized that, although the Nexus appeared idyllic, nothing in it mattered and his life there lacked the passion and the sense of adventure that had been so important to him throughout his life. Kirk was killed on Veridian III , foiling Soran’s scheme and altering the timeline so that hundreds of millions of lives on Veridian IV were saved. However, because of the unusual properties of the Nexus, it is not entirely clear whether or not Kirk is still there, outside the passage of normal time. [43]

James T. Kirk ( TOS 02 )

James T. Kirk ( TOS 03 )

James T. Kirk ( TOS 04 )

Transporter duplicate of James T. Kirk ( TOS 05 )

James T. Kirk ( TOS 06 )

Notes and References

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "Where No Man Has Gone Before" . Star Trek , season 1, episode 3 (Production number 02). Directed by James Goldstone . Written by Samuel A. Peeples . Desilu Productions . 22 September 1966 .
• ↑ Scheimer, Lou & Norm Prescott (Producers). "Albatross" . Star Trek: The Animated Series , season 2, episode 4 (Production number 18). Directed by Bill Reed . Written by Dario Finelli . Filmation Associates . 28 September 1974 .
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bannett, Harve (Producer). Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Directed by Leonard Nimoy . Story by Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett . Screenplay by Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer . Paramount Pictures . 26 November 1986 .
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 " A Quality of Mercy ." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Season 1, Episode 10 (Production 10). 7 Jul 2022 .
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Deadly Years." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 11. Directed by Joseph Pevney . Written by David P. Harmon . Desilu Productions , 8 December 1967.
• ↑ 6.0 6.1 Abrams, J.J. & Damon Lindelof (Producers). Star Trek . Directed by J.J. Abrams . Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman . Paramount Pictures . 8 May 2009 .
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Conscience of the King." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 13 (Production 13). Directed by Gerd Oswald . Written by Barry Trivers . Desilu Productions , 8 December 1966 .
• ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Shore Leave." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 15 (Production 17). Directed by Robert Sparr . Written by Theodore Sturgeon . Desilu Productions , 29 December 1966 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Patterns of Force." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 23. Directed by Vincent McEveety . Written by John Meredyth Lucas . Desilu Productions , 16 February 1968.
• ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Salin, Robert (Producer). Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Directed by Nicholas Meyer . Story by Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards . Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer (Uncredited). Paramount Pictures . 4 June 1982 .
• ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Court Martial." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 20 (Production 15). Directed by Marc Daniels . Story by Don M. Mankiewicz . Teleplay by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos (Teleplay). Desilu Productions , 2 February 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "Whom Gods Destroy." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 16. Directed by Herb Wallerstein . Story by Jerry Sohl & Lee Erwin . Teleplay by Lee Erwin . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 3 January 1969.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Bread and Circuses." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 14. Directed by Ralph Senensky . Written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon . Desilu Productions , 15 March 1968.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer / Story ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "Turnabout Intruder." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 24. Directed by Herb Wallerstein . Teleplay by Arthur Singer . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 3 June 1969.
• ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Obsession." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 18. Directed by Ralph Senensky . Written by Art Wallace . Desilu Productions , 15 December 1967.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer / Teleplay ). "A Private Little War." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 16. Directed by Marc Daniels . Story by Jud Crucis . Desilu Productions , 2 February 1968.
• ↑ 17.0 17.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Errand of Mercy." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 26 (Production 27). Directed by John Newland . Written by Gene L. Coon . Desilu Productions , 23 March 1967 .
• ↑ 18.0 18.1 " Subspace Rhapsody ." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , season 2, episode 9 (Production 19). CBS Entertainment . 3 August 2023 .
• ↑ 19.0 19.1 " Lost in Translation ." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Season 2, Episode 6 (Production 16). CBS Entertainment . 20 July 2023 .
• ↑ 20.0 20.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Menagerie, Part I." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 11 (Production 16). Directed by Marc Daniels and Robert Butler . Written by Gene Roddenberry . Desilu Productions , 17 November 1966 .
• ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Berman, Rick & Biller, Kenneth ( Executive Producers ). " Q2 ." Star Trek: Voyager , Season 7, Episode 19. Directed by LeVar Burton . Story by Kenneth Biller . Teleplay by Robert Doherty . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 11 April 2001.
• ↑ Scheimer, Lou & Norm Prescott (Producers). "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" . Star Trek: The Animated Series , season 2, episode 5 (Production number 21). Directed by Bill Reed . Written by Russell Bates & David Wise . Filmation Associates . 5 October 1974 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "Dagger of the Mind" . Star Trek , season 1, episode 9 (Production number 11). Directed by Vincent McEveety . Written by S. Bar-David . Desilu Productions . 3 November 1966 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "The Naked Time" . Star Trek , season 1, episode 4 (Production number 07). Directed by Marc Daniels . Written by John D.F. Black . Desilu Productions . 29 September 1966 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Tomorrow is Yesterday." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 19 (Production 21). Directed by Michael O'Herlihy . Written by D.C. Fontana . Desilu Productions , 26 January 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "Balance of Terror" . Star Trek , season 1, episode 14 (Production number 09). Directed by Vincent McEveety . Written by Paul Schneider . Desilu Productions . 15 December 1966 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "The Enterprise Incident." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 4. Directed by John Meredyth Lucas . Written by D.C. Fontana . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 27 September 1968.
• ↑ 28.0 28.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "By Any Other Name." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 21. Directed by Marc Daniels . Story by Jerome Bixby Teleplay by Jerome Bixby & D.C. Fontana . Desilu Productions , 23 February 1968.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Mirror, Mirror." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 10. Directed by Marc Daniels . Written by Jerome Bixby . Desilu Productions , 6 October 1967.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Doomsday Machine." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 6. Directed by Marc Daniels . Written by Norman Spinrad . Desilu Productions , 20 October 1967.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Immunity Syndrome." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 19. Directed by Joseph Pevney . Written by Robert Sabaroff . Desilu Productions , 19 January 1968.
• ↑ 32.0 32.1 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Operation -- Annihilate!." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 29 (Production 29). Directed by Herschel Daugherty . Written by Steven W. Carabatsos . Desilu Productions , 13 April 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" . Star Trek , season 1, episode 7 (Production number 10). Directed by James Goldstone . Written by Robert Bloch . Desilu Productions . 20 October 1966 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The City on the Edge of Forever." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 28 (Production 28). Directed by Joseph Pevney . Written by Harlan Ellison . Desilu Productions , 6 April 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "The Paradise Syndrome." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 3. Directed by Jud Taylor . Written by Margaret Armen . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 4 October 1968.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "Requiem for Methuselah." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 21. Directed by Murray Golden . Written by Jerome Bixby . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 14 February 1969.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "This Side of Paradise." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 24 (Production 25). Directed by Ralph Senensky . Story by Nathan Butler . Teleplay by Nathan Butler & D.C. Fontana . Desilu Productions , 2 March 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Galileo Seven." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 16 (Production 14). Directed by Robert Gist . Story by Oliver Crawford Teleplay by Oliver Crawford & S. Bar-David . Desilu Productions , 5 January 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Amok Time." Star Trek , Season 2, Episode 5. Directed by Joseph Pevney . Written by Theodore Sturgeon . Desilu Productions , 15 September 1967.
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "A Taste of Armageddon." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 23 (Production 23). Directed by Joseph Pevney . Written by Robert Hamner (Story and Teleplay) and Gene L. Coon (Teleplay). Desilu Productions , 23 February 1967 .
• ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ) and Freiberger, Fred ( Producer ). "The Cloud Minders." Star Trek , Season 3, Episode 19. Directed by Jud Taylor . Story by David Gerrold and Oliver Crawford . Teleplay by Margaret Armen . Paramount Pictures Corporation , 28 February 1969.
• ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 Roddenberry, Gene (Producer). Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Directed by Robert Wise . Story by Alan Dean Foster . Screenplay by Harold Livingston . Paramount Pictures . 7 December 1979 .
• ↑ 43.0 43.1 Berman, Rick (Producer). Star Trek: Generations . Directed by David Carson . Story by Rick Berman & Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga . Screenplay by Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga . Paramount Pictures . 18 November 1994 .
• ↑ Bennett, Harve (Producer). Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Directed by Leonard Nimoy . Written by Harve Bennett . Paramount Pictures . 1 June 1984 .
• ↑ 45.0 45.1 Jaffe, Steven-Charles & Ralph Winter (Producers). Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . Directed by Nicholas Meyer . Story by Leonard Nimoy and Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal . Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn . Paramount Pictures . 6 December 1991 .
• ↑ Bennett, Harve (Producer). Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . Directed by William Shatner . Story by William Shatner & Harve Bennett & David Loughery . Screenplay by David Loughery . Paramount Pictures . 9 June 1989 .
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How Chris Hemsworth Landed The Role Of Captain Kirk's Father In J.J. Abrams' Star Trek

J.J. Abrams' " Star Trek " reboot has one of the best opening sequences of all time. As the Federation starship USS Kelvin is investigating a mysterious lightning storm in space, they're suddenly bombarded by a Romulan ship emerging from the storm, and a massive space battle begins. Kelvin's Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) attempts to negotiate a truce in order to avoid the demise of his ship and its crew, but during the tense discussion with Romulan leader Nero (Eric Bana), a new wrinkle emerges in this confrontation: Nero and his ship are from another place in time. Frustrated by the discussion going nowhere, Nero kills Captain Robau, leaving the USS Kelvin in the hands of Chris Hemsworth as first officer George Kirk, who will become the father of future USS Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk, a newborn baby about to arrive in the middle of the chaos.

Back in 2009, almost no one knew Chris Hemsworth was. He was an up-and-coming Australian actor who hadn't yet picked up Mjolnir as Marvel's Thor. But in this opening sequence, which packs as much emotional punch and action as the conclusion of a feature film, Hemsworth showed impressive command, not just of the USS Kelvin but of the big screen. This guy was clearly going to be a star. But funnily enough, Hemsworth only got this role at the last minute, and this was after he failed to land the role of James T. Kirk.

'I didn't know how big this production was going to be'

For Vanity Fair , Chris Hemsworth broke down some of the key roles in his career so far, which included this breakthrough turn in "Star Trek." The actor revealed that he'd been called back into J.J. Abrams' office at Bad Robot after he auditioned to play James T. Kirk, a role he obviously missed out on and ended up going to Chris Pine. Hemsworth recalled how he was surprisingly and suddenly brought back into the "Star Trek" fold while speaking with TrekMovie.com :

"[J.J. Abrams] tracked me down and asked me to come in and read the scene. I came in and he hands me the pages and says, 'I loved your audition from six months ago. I just re-watched it. Can you read this scene for me?' This was right at his desk. So I did the scene. I was reading, and he was reading, and he said, 'OK, stop. You got the part. See you on Monday." And I was like "What?' I was excited, but I had no idea what it was going to be. I hadn't grown up on 'Star Trek.' I didn't know how big this production was going to be. And that was a good thing, because when I got on set I was kind of pretty casual and loose with it. If I'd have known it was this $150 million thing, and J.J. Abrams was who he was, it probably would have scared the hell out of me."

Hemsworth read for the role on a Friday and was shooting on set the following Monday, cementing him in the history of one of the biggest sci-fi franchises of all time. However, that job didn't exactly make him a star overnight, and "Star Trek" wouldn't be the last time an audition didn't get him a big lead role (at least at first).

'I had about eight or nine months where I couldn't get a job'

Hemsworth may have landed a pivotal role as George Kirk, but as the actor recalled, "I shot 'Star Trek,' and then I had about eight or nine months where I couldn't get a job." Thankfully, that changed when the film came out, and if you've seen "Star Trek," then you know exactly why. Hemsworth has such confidence and subtle swagger as George Kirk, giving us the perfect basis for the cocky yet charismatic character that would be Chris Pine's interpretation of James T. Kirk. With an assist from Michael Giacchino's incredible score and a brief supporting turn by Jennifer Morrison, Hemsworth makes you care for this character in a surprisingly short amount of time.

However, even though "Star Trek" gave him some momentum, Hemsworth's original audition to take the lead in Marvel's "Thor" didn't go very well. The actor even went so far to say that his audition "sucked." In fact, his brother Liam Hemsworth actually went further in the audition process before Marvel went back to the drawing board for the casting of the God of Thunder. But just as J.J. Abrams came back to cast Hemsworth as George Kirk, Marvel Studios and director Kenneth Branagh circled back around and found the Asgardian they were looking for. 

It's a shame we only got to see Hemsworth as George Kirk in those opening moments of "Star Trek," especially knowing that a time traveling sequel was once in the works that would have found Chris Pine's James T. Kirk meeting his father and embarking on a mission alongside him. Sadly, that project has fallen by the wayside. Reports pegged salary negotiations as the crux of the hold-up, but Hemsworth also thought the script wasn't in the best shape at the time . So for now, it sounds like that "Star Trek" story may never see the light of day, even though the cast of Abrams' franchise may still return . But we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth get a chance to revisit the final frontier.

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'Star Trek' to bring back Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's father for next film

The voyages of the starship Enterprise will continue for another film, now with a crew member from the series' past.

A new " Star Trek " film, the fourth in the current franchise, is set to launch with Chris Hemsworth returning to play George Kirk, the father of Chris Pine's Captain James Kirk. The news was announced by the film's studio, Paramount Pictures, on Monday.

In one of his first film roles, Hemsworth played George Kirk in 2009's "Star Trek," which rebooted the brand with a new cast. Hemsworth wasn't on screen long, though -- he was killed in the first minutes of the film.

Hemsworth, who went on to fame playing another intergalactic character as Marvel's Thor, will somehow return to meet his son, the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, according to the studio.

"In the next installment of the epic space adventure, Chris Pine's Captain Kirk will cross paths with a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since the day he was born: his father," Paramount said in a statement.

Related: 'Star Trek' CBS series to be beamed internationally on Netflix

It's not exactly clear how Hemsworth's Kirk will return, but the series has used time travel throughout its run, so it could use the plot device to bring him back.

Paramount did not say when the film would hit theaters or who would be directing. However, the studio did say that it expects the current cast to return.

The latest film in the franchise, "Star Trek Beyond" which is directed by Justin Lin, lands in theaters on Friday. The film is currently getting great reviews with a 90% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes .

The new series has brought in more than $850 million worldwide with 2009's "Star Trek" and 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness." Those two films were directed by J.J. Abrams, who is a producer on "Beyond" and will produce the fourth installment as well.

The franchise experienced tragedy last month when Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, unexpectedly died at the age of 27 .

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James T. Kirk

• Edit source

James Tiberius Kirk was a Starfleet officer and likely one of the most famous in Federation history. Kirk's most recognized years were as the captain of two different Enterprises , the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) . ( Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

• 2 Awards and honors
• 3 Key dates
• 4.1 Previous assignments
• 5.1 Absolute Horizon/Cloak and Dagger
• 5.2 "As if Rain for Resurrection"
• 5.3 Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions
• 5.4 Expanding the Oecumene
• 5.5 "A Moment on Tarsus IV"
• 5.6 Orion Press
• 5.7 The Starfleet Museum
• 5.8 Bait and Switch
• 6.1 Shatnerverse
• 7 External links

Summary [ ]

James Kirk was born to George and Winona Kirk in 2233 . His first name was the same as his maternal grandfather, and his middle name was adopted from his paternal grandfather's name. ( Star Trek )

As a young teenager, Kirk lived on Tarsus IV during an agricultural crisis. He was one of nine witnesses to the depredations of the colony's governor , Kodos. ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King ")

Kirk's class at Starfleet Academy (class of 2254 ) was the first group of cadets to be selected on the basis of their "limited intellectual agility". ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture novelization) Among the Starfleet officers who recommended him were Admiral Jay Mallory ( TOS : " The Apple ") and Admiral George La Forge . ( TOS novel: The Galactic Whirlpool )

While assigned to the USS Farragut , initially under the command of Captain Garrovick , Kirk rose quickly through the ranks. In late 2259 , at the age of 26, Kirk became the youngest first officer in Starfleet history, beating his own father's record. ( Star Trek: Strange New Worlds : "Lost in Translation")

Prior to command of the Enterprise , Kirk commanded a "destroyer-class" ship. ( The Making of Star Trek )

Kirk rose to become the youngest captain in Starfleet history when he received command of the USS Enterprise in 2264 . Over the next three decades, the names Kirk and Enterprise were synonymous. With the retirement of the USS Enterprise -A in 2293 , that historic partnership ended.

That same year , Kirk participated in the commissioning of the ship that replaced his famous vessel, the USS Enterprise -B . During the shakedown cruise , the Enterprise became trapped in the Nexus after attempting to rescue the crew and passengers of two other vessels. Kirk was instrumental in freeing the vessel; however, he was believed killed after the section he was in was destroyed and opened to space by an energy discharge from the Nexus. ( Star Trek Generations )

In 2371 , Jean-Luc Picard , after entering the Nexus, discovered that Kirk had not died as history had thought and was alive inside the Nexus. Picard convinced Kirk to leave the false paradise of the Nexus to assist him in saving the Veridian system by stopping Tolian Soran from destroying the system's sun . Thanks to Kirk's help, Picard's mission was successful, though at the cost of Kirk's life in earnest. ( Star Trek Generations )

Awards and honors [ ]

Key dates [ ].

• 2233 : Born in Riverside, Iowa on Earth .
• 2246 : One of nine witnesses to the massacre ordered by Governor Kodos on Tarsus IV .
• 2250 : Enters Starfleet Academy as a cadet (conjecture) . Meets Gary Mitchell and Ben Finney during Academy years.
• 2252 : Romantically involved with Ruth .
• Early to mid- 2250s : Still at the Academy, is introduced to a "blonde lab tech" by Gary. Later, as an ensign , is assigned aboard USS Republic with Lieutenant Ben Finney . Kirk also participates in the Axanar Peace Mission .
• 2254 : Graduates from Academy after beating the "no-win" Kobayashi Maru scenario . Assigned to command of Captain Garrovick (conjecture) .
• 2255 : Commands his first planet survey mission on Neural .
• 2257 : Encounters dikironium cloud creature while serving abouard USS Farragut .
• 2259 : Promoted and reposted as first officer of the Farragut ; at 26, he is the youngest XO of any Federation starship ever, beating his father's record in the 2230s .
• 2261 : Relationship with Carol Marcus ends; their son, David Marcus , is born. ( TOS novel: Inception ) Kirk breaks off relationship with Janet Wallace .
• 2263 : Breaks off relationship with Areel Shaw .
• 2265 - 2270 : As captain, commands a five-year mission of USS Enterprise . Specific accomplishments include: 2265 : Takes the Enterprise to the galactic barrier , the first Earth ship to do so in 200 years. During the mission, is forced to kill close friend Gary Mitchell . 2266 : Achieves first contact with the First Federation . Later that year, repels Romulan incursion into the Neutral Zone and destroys a Romulan Bird-of-Prey . 2267 : Becomes the first Starfleet captain ever to stand court-martial, charged with negligent homicide in the death of Ben Finney . Charges dismissed. 2268 : Responsible for stealing a Romulan cloaking device during a covert Starfleet intelligence mission. Experiences amnesia and lives among the American Indians on Amerind where he weds Miramanee . 2269 : Diverts the asteroid-ship Yonada from destroying Daran V .
• 2270 : Promoted to rear admiral and assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations .
• Early 2270s : Accepts temporary grade reduction to captain and assumes command of USS Enterprise to intercept V'Ger .
• 2273 - 78 : In many continuities, including that of Pocket Books and Orion Press , Kirk commanded a second five-year mission aboard Enterprise.
• 2281 : Retires from Starfleet.
• 2284 : Returns to Starfleet as an instructor at Starfleet Academy.
• 2285 : Assumes temporary command of Enterprise during a routine training mission; engages Khan Singh in the Battle of the Mutara Nebula . Deserts from Starfleet later that year to retrieve Captain Spock 's body from the Genesis planet.
• 2286 : Returns to Earth to face court-martial charges. Subsequently saves the planet in the whale probe incident. Demoted to captain for disobeying orders of Starfleet Commander Harry Morrow and assigned to command the USS Enterprise -A.
• 2287 : Takes Enterprise -A to the center of the galaxy after a hijack attempt by Vulcan renegade Sybok .
• 2293 : Along with Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Excelsior , is responsible for saving the Khitomer Conference . Retires from Starfleet and is believed killed later that year during the maiden voyage of the Enterprise -B .
• 2371 : Found alive inside the Nexus by Jean-Luc Picard . Killed by Tolian Soran while defeating Soran's plans and saving Veridian system .

Service jacket [ ]

Previous assignments [ ], history [ ], absolute horizon / cloak and dagger [ ].

James Kirk's father, George, died when Jim was 13. After his father's death, Kirk ran away to live with relatives on Tarsus IV , where his great-aunt Marina was one of those killed by Governor Kodos 's forces. Those deemed unworthy of life were given a red scarf to wear, while those deemed worthy according to Kodos's eugenic theories were given a blue scarf.

Jim joined a resistance cell against Governor Kodos; as punishment, after they were caught, all of the other members of the cell were executed in front of him.

Kirk was imprisoned for nearly a month during that time and was freed by a female Starfleet officer whose name he did not remember.

The depredations the young Kirk suffered on Tarsus IV were what motivated him to seek the command-track at Starfleet Academy . He wanted to keep all of the people under his command safe. ( Absolute Horizon )

Kirk's mother's name was Winona Keeble. Sam and Jim had a sister, Carolina, born (two years before Jim) too prematurely to survive. Jim himself had been born five weeks early, on a colony world called Melosia .

Jim always idolized his brother Sam and was overprotective of him, even though Sam was the older one. When Sam was killed by the neural parasites on Deneva , Winona blamed Jim for not getting there fast enough. She compared him to his late father: "Always better at saving others than saving your own family." ( Cloak and Dagger )

" As if Rain for Resurrection " [ ]

Kirk's great-grandfather, Crewman James Robelius Kirk, was a cook on the Columbia and was killed in an accident in 2179 .

Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions [ ]

After Kirk's presumed death, Captain Thekla Lawless , a close friend for at least two decades, spoke at Kirk's memorial service. One statement she made was, "Jim was a close friend who always seemed to be a knight in shining armor when a young woman needed one." ( Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions : " The Fire In Which We Burn ")

Expanding the Oecumene [ ]

Kirk and Spock first met in San Francisco . Spock was then three years ahead of Kirk at the Academy.

" A Moment on Tarsus IV " [ ]

On Tarsus IV, the 13-year-old Jim Kirk helped a young Vulcan boy that he discovered beside his mother's body. He helped the Vulcan by keeping him fed and protecting him from human predators. An older Vulcan took over responsibility from Kirk. He would not learn either of the Vulcans' names until many years later.

Orion Press [ ]

James Tiberius Kirk was born in 2232 in Riverside, Iowa to George Samuel Kirk, Sr. and Marjorie Kirk. ( Lexicon K-L, 2010 revision)

Kirk and Carol Marcus became parents to a son, David Alexander Marcus , the year that Kirk graduated from the Academy, 2254 . ( The Dianasian Gift )

By 2263 , Kirk had achieved the rank of lieutenant commander and was both second officer and chief of security on the Farragut . The following year, he received a promotion to full commander and was given command of the USS Shenandoah .

In addition to Peter Kirk , one of the few survivors of the Denevan blastoneuron invasion in 2267 , Kirk had two other nephews, George Samuel Kirk III, aka "Georgie", and Marc Kirk. ("Sam")

In 2285 , during the Kelvan War , Kirk was assigned as Commander, Task Force Six and, later, Commander of the Kelvan Theater of Operations. ( In Harm's Way )

The Starfleet Museum [ ]

Kirk served under Captain Matthew Decker as executive officer of the Pyotr Velikiy -class USS Tav for a time in the late 2250s . ( The Starfleet Museum )

Bait and Switch [ ]

As captain of USS Enterprise , James Kirk led first contact between the Federation and the Bajoran species in 2270 , following an encounter with Bajoran ships headed for their colony Pillagra . Kirk contracted banta fever by sleeping with a Bajoran during the incident, but was cured by Leonard McCoy . ( TOS novel: Allegiance in Exile ; Bait and Switch : " A Changed World ")

Alternate continuities [ ]

Shatnerverse [ ].

In this continuity, James Kirk's father was named George Joseph Kirk.

In 2372 , Kirk was revived after his death on Veridian III . He played a key role in foiling an alliance between rogue Romulans and the Borg Collective . Subsequently, married Teilani , aided the Federation during the virogen crisis, and prevented an incursion from the mirror universe led by his counterpart . ( TOS novels : The Return , Avenger , Spectre , Dark Victory , Preserver )

Kirk and Teilani had a son, Joseph Kirk. ( Preserver )

External links [ ]

• James T. Kirk article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• James T. Kirk article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• 2 Daniels (Agent)
• 3 Levex Ixen

• Cast & crew
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The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one pl... Read all The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time. The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

• J.J. Abrams
• Roberto Orci
• Alex Kurtzman
• Gene Roddenberry
• Zachary Quinto
• 1.6K User reviews
• 534 Critic reviews
• 82 Metascore
• 27 wins & 95 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• Spock Prime

• (as Zoë Saldana)

• Amanda Grayson

• George Kirk

• Winona Kirk

• Captain Robau

• Officer Pitts
• (as Antonio Elias)
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• Trivia In the scene where Kirk is taking the Kobayashi Maru test, he is eating an apple, which is also what he is eating while recounting his tale of taking the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) . (According to director J.J. Abrams in the Blu-ray audio commentary, this was not intended to be a reference to The Wrath of Khan. At one point, he was simply told that lead actors seem cocky eating apples.)
• Goofs After Spock boards the Vulcan ship on board the mining vessel, Kirk is seen walking through some pipes. His Starfleet phaser has switched to a Romulan gun (longer barrel and no lights), before switching back to the Starfleet one again in the next scene. He actually acquires the Romulan gun a few scenes later.

Spock Prime : James T. Kirk!

James T. Kirk : Excuse me?

Spock Prime : How did you find me?

James T. Kirk : Whoa... how do you know my name?

Spock Prime : I have been and always shall be your friend.

James T. Kirk : Wha...

[shakes head]

James T. Kirk : Uh... look... I-I don't know you.

Spock Prime : I am Spock.

James T. Kirk : Bullshit.

• Crazy credits The first part of the closing credits is styled after the opening credits of Star Trek (1966) , where the starship Enterprise blasts off into space as a monologue describes its mission, and then the cast names appear as the famous "Star Trek" theme music plays.
• Connections Edited into De wereld draait door: Episode #4.157 (2009)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 1.6K

• Mar 21, 2015
• If this premise is that an alternate timeline created when Nero traveled back in time, then what happened to James Kirk's older brother, Sam, aka George Samuel Kirk Jr.?
• How can Spock's mother still be alive years later (original series) when she dies earlier on in this movie ?
• What is Star Trek about?
• May 8, 2009 (United States)
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• $150,000,000 (estimated)
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• May 10, 2009
• $385,681,768

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 7 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• 2.39 : 1 (original ratio)

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

Kirk family

The Kirk family farm in 2372 .

The Kirk family ancestry included settlers who pioneered the American frontier in the 19th century , and the Kirks of the early 23rd century rediscovered the impulse for untamed spaces. After his early childhood on Earth , James T. Kirk the son of George Samuel Kirk, Sr. and Winona Kirk was living on Tarsus IV by the age of 13, his brother's family later lived on colonies as well. ( TOS episodes : " Spectre of the Gun ", " The Conscience of the King ", " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

George and Winona's other son George Samuel Kirk, Jr. (called "Sam" only by his brother) was a researcher, hoping to transfer to the Earth Colony 2 research station in 2265 . Sam, along with his wife Aurelan and three sons, joined his younger brother for a farewell visit before the USS Enterprise departed for her five-year mission . It was the last time Jim saw Sam alive. Sam ended up on Deneva , with his wife and son Peter by 2267 . The neural parasites invaded Deneva that year and killed the couple, but Peter survived the attack. ( TOS novel : Enterprise: The First Adventure ; TOS episodes : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ", " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

Jim Kirk recognized the impact his life in Starfleet had on his family life. In 2287 , while camping with his friends in Yosemite National Park , he referred to himself, Spock , and McCoy , as the only family that men like themselves were likely to have. ( TOS movie : The Final Frontier )

• 1.1 Mirror Universe Family Members
• 1.2 Kelvin timeline Family Members
• 2 Kirk Family Genealogy: Tree
• 3 Kirk Family Genealogy: Gallery

Kirk Family Genealogy: List [ ]

• Abernathy Kirk , a 17th century English politician
• John Claudius Kirk , a 20th century pilot and lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II .
• Lieutenant Samuel Abraham Kirk (Federation Starfleet), father of Tiberius.
• Tiberius Kirk , father of James and George Samuel Sr.
• James Kirk , son of Tiberius and Brunhilde.
• George Samuel Kirk, Sr. , father of George Samuel Jr. and James T.
• George Samuel Kirk, Jr. , eldest son of George Samuel Sr. and Winona.
• Alexander Kirk , son of George and Aurelan.
• Julius Kirk , son of George and Aurelan.
• Peter Kirk , son of George and Aurelan.
• Sinjin Kirk , son of Craig.
• Unnamed daughter (possibly Jamie Samantha Kirk )
• David Marcus , son with Carol Marcus .
• unnamed boy, with Miramanee .
• Joseph Kirk , with Teilani .

Mirror Universe Family Members [ ]

• David Marcus (mirror) , son of James and Carol Marcus (mirror) .
• James T. Keeler , son of a time displaced James and Edith Keeler (mirror) .
• George Samuel Kirk, Jr. (mirror) , George Kirk, Jr.'s mirror universe counterpart.

Kelvin timeline Family Members [ ]

• George Samuel Kirk, Sr. , alternate version of George Samuel Kirk Sr., died fighting Nero .
• James T. Kirk , captain of the USS Enterprise (Kelvin timeline NCC-1701) , with a different past and destiny.
• George Samuel Kirk, Jr. , alternate version of George Samuel Kirk Jr.
• Peter Kirk , son of George Jr. and Aurelan Kirk .
• Frank Davis , alternate version of Frank Davis, brother of Winona.

Kirk Family Genealogy: Tree [ ]

Kirk family genealogy: gallery [ ].

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Star Trek: The Next Generation's Crew Did Something That Would've Baffled Captain Kirk

The crew of the USS Enterprise-D on Star Trek: The Next Generation did something that would have baffled Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). As Captain of the USS Enterprise, Kirk devoted his life to Starfleet, going above and beyond to look out for his ship and his crew. Although Kirk had a son with Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), she chose to raise their son David (Merritt Butrick) alone, as Kirk was always off traveling the galaxy. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), too, chose to focus on his Starfleet career rather than starting a family.

Both Kirk and Picard came to see their USS Enterprise crews as their family, but Jean-Luc later got a chance that Kirk never did. In Star Trek: Picard season 3, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) crashed back into Jean-Luc's life, revealing that she had given birth to their son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), twenty years before. After the shock wore off, Jean-Luc took the time to get to know his son, something that Kirk never really had the chance to do. Tragically, Kirk's son, David, was killed by the Klingons in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .

Captain Kirk Would Be Baffled Star Trek: TNGs Crew Had Children

Kirk couldn't understand how starfleet officers found time to have children.

In Star Trek Generations, Captain Kirk visits the bridge of the USS Enterprise-A to send the ship off for its shake-down cruise. While there, he's introduced to helmsman Ensign Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), the daughter of Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). Kirk says it "absolutely amazes" him that Sulu ever found time to have a family, but Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) points out that "if something's important, you'll make the time." Unlike most of the crew from Star Trek: The Original Series, many of the USS Enterprise-D crew members found time to become parents.

Every Star Trek Captains Son Or Daughter Explained

Starfleet is a family business, and many Star Trek Captains have seen their sons and daughters pursue similar career paths across Star Trek history.

Dr. Beverly Crusher was already a mother to Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) when Star Trek: The Next Generation began, and she was still a skilled doctor and intelligent scientist. Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) became a father to Alexander (Brian Bonsall) on TNG, although he will not be winning any father-of-the-year awards. Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) became parents after Riker took over command of the USS Titan. Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) had two daughters by the time of Star Trek: Picard, and even Data (Brent Spiner) spawned newly upgraded androids, including Soji Asha (Isa Briones).

Why Captain Kirk Didnt Raise A Family Of His Own

Kirk never came across as a family man anyway.

Captain Kirk was relatively early in his Starfleet career when Carol Marcus gave birth to David, and she did not want to follow him across the galaxy. Carol felt like David would be better off with her, and he eventually followed in his mother's footsteps to become a scientist. David was already a young adult when Kirk met him in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and both returned to their work after the events of the film. There were other times when Kirk attempted to settle down, but something always brought Jim back to Starfleet.

In Star Trek Generations, Kirk found himself in the Heaven-like Nexus realm , where he had the chance to live a life with his lost love, Antonia (Lynn Salvatori). Although Kirk once considered sharing his life with Antonia, he instead chose to return to Starfleet. Even in the Nexus realm, Kirk could not settle into a domestic life, choosing instead to return to the real world with Captain Picard. Although Star Trek: The Next Generation's Picard got the chance to have a family late in life, Kirk was killed in the fight to stop Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), robbing him of any opportunity to settle down.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore

Directors David Carson

Showrunner Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Where To Watch Paramount+

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel
• Starfleet Headquarters personnel
• Starfleet Academy personnel
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel
• Starfleet command personnel
• Starfleet flag officers

James T. Kirk

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk was a male Human Starfleet officer who lived during the 23rd century . His time in Starfleet made Kirk arguably one of the most famous and sometimes infamous starship captains in Starfleet history . The highly decorated Kirk served as the commanding officer of the Constitution -class starship USS Enterprise and the Constitution II -class starship USS Enterprise -A , where he served Federation interests as an explorer , soldier , diplomat , and time traveler . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " Court Martial ", " Errand of Mercy "; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; Star Trek Generations ; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " ; VOY : " Q2 ", " Friendship One ", et al.)

• Early history
• Starfleet career
• Personal interests
• Relationships
• Time travel
• Alternate timelines
• Awards and honors
• Memorable Quotes

James Tiberius Kirk was born on March 22 , 2233 , in Riverside , Iowa , on Earth . ( TOS : " The Deadly Years "; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ; ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II " production resource ; SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ") He was the son of George and Winona Kirk ; their other son, his brother, was George Samuel Kirk . ( Star Trek ; TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ", " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

Kirk, along with Winona and Sam, spent the majority of Kirk's childhood chasing George Kirk, Sr. from one posting to another, to the point that Kirk barely saw the man. When Kirk asked Winona why they never saw George Sr., she told James that "he's helping people who really need it." ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Kirk sang around a campfire sometimes was when he was a boy in Iowa, something he would later recall not having done since that time, as of 2287 . ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

At some point early in his life, Kirk contracted and nearly died from Vegan choriomeningitis . Although he was cured, the organisms of the disease continued to be carried in his blood. ( TOS : " The Mark of Gideon ")

By 2246 , he was living on Tarsus IV , as his father George moved there. During his time on Tarsus IV, the planet was undergoing a food crisis that was starving the colony , which consisted of eight thousand people. Governor Kodos , sympathetic to old eugenics philosophies and unaware that supply ships were imminent, tried to save a portion of the colony by killing four thousand colonists he deemed least desirable or able to survive. The thirteen-year-old Jim Kirk was one of only nine eyewitnesses to the massacre. ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King "; SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

• Postings & Assignments
• USS Enterprise
• V'ger crisis
• First retirement
• USS Enterprise-A
• Second retirement

In 2252 , Kirk entered Starfleet Academy, with help of Mallory , whose son later served under Kirk. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ", " The Apple ") He also often spoke of his father as being his inspiration for joining Starfleet. ( Star Trek )

As a plebe , Kirk soon caught the attention of a boisterous and bullying Irishman named Finnegan . The upperclassman evidently hazed "Jimmy-boy" mercilessly throughout their shared time at the Academy. Fifteen years later , the Shore Leave Planet sensed Kirk's antipathy for Finnegan and produced a simulacrum that Kirk could pummel for satisfaction. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

As a cadet , Kirk participated in a successful peace mission to Axanar , for which Starfleet Command awarded him with the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission . ( TOS : " Court Martial ", " Whom Gods Destroy ")

When he was a midshipman , Kirk began a friendship with his instructor , Lieutenant Benjamin Finney . Their relationship was so important to the two men that Finney named his daughter , Jame , after Kirk. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

Kirk's physical training included tests he had to pass for working in an oxygen -deficient atmosphere , as well as hand-to-hand combat . ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday "; TAS : " The Pirates of Orion ") He was also trained in hyper-power circuits . ( TOS : " Dagger of the Mind ")

His academic studies introduced him to several men that he encountered later in his career. Among them was John Gill , a noted history professor and cultural observer . ( TOS : " Patterns of Force ") Kirk studied the exploits of Garth of Izar , a famous captain who joined Kirk's pantheon of heroes. ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ") The " Pasteur of archaeological medicine ", Dr. Roger Korby , became a man Kirk wanted to meet. ( TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ") Kirk also studied the military strategies of Klingon General Korrd . ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) He also attended lectures at the Academy on the Nomad space probe. ( TOS : " The Changeling ")

During his time in the Command Training Program , Kirk confronted the Kobayashi Maru scenario . He refused to accept his first two defeats. Before making a third attempt, he secretly reprogrammed the simulation computer , consequently becoming the only cadet in Academy history to beat the "no-win" scenario and earning a commendation for original thinking. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Kirk's graduating class was represented with such future officers as Corrigan , Mike , Teller , and Timothy . ( TOS : " Court Martial ") One of his former classmates, R.M. Merik , was dropped in his fifth year for failing the psychosimulator test . ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")

• ↑ Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan scripts

Kirk was commissioned as a Starfleet officer with the rank of ensign and the serial number SC937-0176CEC. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

Among his early missions was the Vulcanian expedition , along with former classmate Timothy. ( TOS : " Court Martial ") He had also, at one point, visited Alpha Majoris I , where he had personally witnessed the native mellitus . ( TOS : " Wolf in the Fold ")

Also early in Kirk's career, he became quite familiar with the work of Doctor Tristan Adams . He even had the opportunity to visit penal colonies that had been revolutionized by Adams, later describing what he saw as " clean, decent hospitals for sick minds , " even describing them as " resort colonies ", as opposed to " cages ". ( TOS : " Dagger of the Mind ")

• Service aboard the Republic
• Academy instructor

During the 2250s , "some years" after being a midshipman, Ensign Kirk rejoined his friend and former instructor, Lieutenant Finney, aboard the USS Republic . After Finney made a mistake nearly catastrophic to the ship, Kirk logged the incident, which resulted in his friend being reprimanded and put to the bottom of the promotion list . ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

During the same period, Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant and worked as an instructor at the Academy. It was around this time he first met Cadet Gary Mitchell , who was a student in his class where, according to an upperclassman , "you either think or sink". Mitchell later remembered Kirk as "a stack of books with legs ." In an attempt to divert his friend's attention and make the class easier to get through, Mitchell set Kirk up with a " little blonde lab technician " whom Kirk almost married . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

Kirk's early career included a year alongside Janice Lester , during which time the two became romantically involved. The perceived lack of opportunities for a woman to command a starship struck them both as unfair, but she became embittered by the supposed career barrier. Their relationship soured to a point where Kirk felt she punished and tortured him for her circumstances. Years later, Kirk said that he never stopped her from going on with her "space work", but ultimately felt that "we'd have killed each other" if they had stayed together. Lester recalled that Kirk walked out on her "when it became serious." ( TOS : " Turnabout Intruder ")

Upon graduating from Starfleet Academy, Kirk began his service under Captain Garrovick . His first deep space assignment was as a lieutenant aboard Garrovick's USS Farragut , as a member of the phaser gun crew , where he was assigned to a phaser station . ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Obsession ")

After joining the crew of the Farragut , Kirk quickly made a name for himself and "put in some legwork to beat" the record of becoming both the youngest active and all-time first officer in all of Starfleet; a record previously held by his father. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

• Cloud creature
• La'an Noonien-Singh
• First officer

In 2257 , the Farragut engaged the dikironium cloud creature at Tycho IV . The creature killed Garrovick and two hundred of the ship's crew . Farragut 's record tapes of the event included Kirk insisting upon blaming himself for the disaster, citing his delay in firing the ship's phaser banks at the creature as he lost consciousness. The ship's executive officer disagreed, stating, " Lieutenant Kirk is a fine young officer who performed with uncommon bravery. " ( TOS : " Obsession ")

In 2259 , Captain Christopher Pike took an interest in Kirk and looked up his file after witnessing Kirk in action as the captain of the Farragut in an alternate timeline , recognizing that Kirk had the potential to make a good captain for the USS Enterprise and sensing that Kirk was meant to be in command during the coming Neutral Zone Incursion in 2266 . ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

Shortly after, Kirk was promoted to first officer of the Farragut , breaking his father's record as the youngest first officer in Starfleet history. However, Kirk had a few months before he would actually assume the post as Kirk needed to train his replacement for his current duties first. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

During this time, under Fleet Captain Pike, the Enterprise and the Farragut were assigned to bring a deuterium mining station online. During the mission, clashed with his brother Sam, the ship's xenoanthropologist , several times over his promotion.

Kirk helped Nyota Uhura to figure out the signals that she was receiving from aliens in the Bannon's Nebula . During his time with Uhura, he suffered a broken nose inflicted by her during one of her hallucinations , initially believed to be associated with lack of sleep and deuterium poisoning . He admitted to her that he had previously gone days without sleep and experienced a case of deuterium poisoning himself, but that he had never punched a superior officer before.

Nonetheless, Kirk continued to believe in Uhura, and helped her find the true cause of the hallucinations. With help of his brother Sam, they focused on the possibility that she was being contacted by an extradimensional lifeform that was located in the nebula. After figuring out what the lifeform was trying to communicate, Pike had the Enterprise destroy the mining station. Following the mission, Kirk attended a celebration on the Enterprise where he met his future first officer and best friend Spock for the first time. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

By 2265 , at the age of thirty-two, Kirk assumed command of the Constitution -class USS Enterprise from Fleet Captain Pike. ( TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I ") Kirk's father lived long enough to see his son earn his first captaincy. ( Star Trek )

Along with the Enterprise , Kirk also acquired a number of Pike's old crewmates as well as science officer Spock, as his first officer. For his first command, he also requested to have Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell along with him. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ") Also under his command was his former instructor, Ben Finney. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

Kirk was initially quartered on Deck 12 in 2266 , before moving to Deck 5, room "3F 121". ( TOS : " Mudd's Women ", " Journey to Babel ")

At some point during the 2260s, Kirk and "his pointy-eared pal" attempted to "crash" the Command Conference afterparty on Starbase 25 , but struck out and settled to end the night in a nearby dive bar . Over a century later , two other Starfleet officers – Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler – also struck out, before ending up in the same bar.

In recollecting the incident, the alien bartender , who coincidentally was the same who served Kirk and Spock years before, added to her story that " [t]he blonde one did most of the drinking. " Before they left, "Kirk + Spock" was left behind, scrawled into the bar's countertop. Likewise, before Mariner and Boimler left, they too scrawled their names alongside those of their heroes. ( LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

For five years , Kirk commanded the Enterprise , which made him a legend in space exploration. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; VOY : " Q2 ") In addition to his primary mission statement – "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations" – Kirk received standing orders to investigate all quasars and quasar-like phenomena. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Galileo Seven ", " Return to Tomorrow ")

On more than one occasion, Kirk and Mitchell took part in missions together, including one on Dimorus , where they encountered rodent-like creatures that shot poisonous darts . Mitchell took one of the darts meant for Kirk, saving Kirk's life but nearly dying himself. The two later visited Deneb IV where, in at least three cases, Mitchell was capable of carrying long telepathic conversations with the natives , scoring 80% or higher on comprehension. One night, a telepathic conversation with a female native had a deleterious effect on Mitchell. Kirk later stated that he'd been worried about Mitchell ever since that night. As a pun, Mitchell referred to the girl as a nova . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

Following a stopover at the Aldebaron colony , the Enterprise attempted to determine the whereabouts of the missing SS Valiant . After discovering the Valiant 's disaster recorder which described a catastrophic disaster following that early vessel's visit to the galaxy 's edge, Kirk pushed on and encountered the galactic barrier for his first time. The Enterprise failed to breach the barrier and barely escaped destruction. With its warp engines badly damaged, the Enterprise limped under impulse power towards the Delta Vega lithium cracking station .

The barrier triggered a transformation in Mitchell who began developing psychic powers that progressed rapidly, with a commensurate loss of his humanity. Ignoring Spock advising him to destroy Mitchell immediately, Kirk hesitated until after Mitchell killed navigator Lee Kelso . On the surface of Delta Vega, he hunted Mitchell and managed to kill him only with the help of another officer undergoing the same transformation as Mitchell, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

On stardate 1512.2, Kirk made first contact with the First Federation , when the Enterprise was detained by Captain Balok and a massive spaceship under Balok's command, the Fesarius . Both captains bluffed ferociously, but Kirk's poker face held. Balok proved to be quite friendly, eager to begin a cultural exchange. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")

Kirk learned something about his own nature after a transporter malfunction in 2266. Kirk was split into two physical duplicates, one intuitive and passive, the other violent and passionate. While separated, the survival of both personalities were threatened, and a way was eventually found to recombine the two.

After his personality was split due to a transporter accident in 2266 , Kirk was forcibly introduced to the competing elements in his personality, described most roughly as passive and aggressive. ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

Succumbing to the effects of polywater intoxication in 2266, Kirk contemplated aloud the heavy responsibility of command, and the price the Enterprise exacted from his personal life: " this vessel... I give, she takes... She won't permit me my life; I've got to live hers." Ultimately, he gathered himself, speaking directly to the Enterprise, " Never lose you... never. " ( TOS : " The Naked Time ")

On stardate 1533.6, Kirk and his crew made a brief first contact with the Thasians , an uncanny group of aliens . While interacting with Charlie Evans , a temporary visitor to the Enterprise , Kirk demonstrated prowess with judo , and deep-rooted compassion when Charlie's "teachers" wanted to return him to an isolated existence. ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

Kirk repelled the first Romulan incursion into Federation space in over a century, on stardate 1709.2. A Romulan Bird-of-Prey equipped with a cloak and a powerful plasma torpedo system destroyed four Earth Outpost Stations along the Romulan Neutral Zone . Kirk engaged and pursued the Romulan ship in a drawn-out cat-and-mouse chase against a Romulan commander in whom Kirk found an instinctual rapport. Both captains used ruses that simulated more damage than actually received. Kirk was able to briefly track the Romulan, by mirroring its movements to simulate a sensor ghost. Finally, emerging from the camouflage of a comet 's tail, Kirk was able to disable the Romulan vessel. Before ordering his vessel's self-destruction , the Romulan captain remarked that under different circumstances he and Kirk might have been allies. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

The Enterprise reached Exo III on stardate 2712.4, where Dr. Roger Korby was found after years of silence, exploring and exploiting a sophisticated android manufacturing technology – the legacy of a long- dead civilization . Korby had replaced his own damaged body, transplanting his personality into an android replica, and built himself a beautiful companion, Andrea . Against Kirk's wishes, an android duplicate of Kirk was created too. However, the android Korby, after exhibiting madness , destroyed himself. ( TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ")

At the Tantalus Penal Colony in 2266, Doctor Tristan Adams used his neural neutralizer device as an instrument torture on Kirk. The device emptied a victims mind of thought, leaving it vulnerable to suggestion. Adams included conditioning that made him feel love for Dr. Helen Noel , including deep pain at the idea of her loss. Kirk was able to resist long-term damage from the device. ( TOS : " Dagger of the Mind ")

Kirk became the first Federation starship captain to ever face a court martial , after he was accused of causing the death of Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney, the Enterprise records officer . Kirk employed Defense Attorney Samuel T. Cogley , and Kirk's former flame Areel Shaw acted as prosecutor at his trial , which was held on Starbase 11 , convened by Commodore Stone . Kirk was exonerated after Finney was discovered alive, having faked his death and the evidence implicating Kirk. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

When Spock kidnapped his former commander, Fleet Captain Christopher Pike, who had been horribly crippled, and commandeered the Enterprise in 2267, he inadvertently jeopardized Kirk's command. After Spock locked the ship on course to Talos IV , Kirk was a member of a tribunal that tried Spock, the other members being Pike himself, and an illusion of Commodore Mendez . Spock's crimes were in violation of General Order 7 and were punishable by death . Once it was revealed that Spock's ultimate goal was to allow Pike, a Starfleet hero, to live a semblance of normality under Talosian illusion, Starfleet declined to prosecute the matter. ( TOS : " The Menagerie, Part I ", " The Menagerie, Part II ")

When the Enterprise passed through the Omicron Delta region , Kirk hoped to arrange for his crew (and himself) to take some badly needed shore leave . While Kirk and his landing party investigated a candidate planet to determine its suitability for that purpose, they were beset with manifestations of hidden desires they had. In fact, they had discovered the Shore Leave Planet, and advanced technologies which an ancient, enigmatic species had left behind. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

On stardate 2124.5, a being calling himself " General Trelane ( retired ), the Squire of Gothos " waylaid the Enterprise . Though immensely powerful and troublesome, Trelane was revealed to be nothing more than a child of his species , and a badly behaved one at that. Kirk was put on trial, albeit this time in an illusory court , by Trelane. ( TOS : " The Squire of Gothos ")

Kirk made contact with the Gorn Hegemony and the Metrons on stardate 3045.6. Finding a Federation base on Cestus III destroyed and Gorn forces lying in wait, Kirk ordered the Enterprise to give chase to a Gorn starship that had been responsible for the attack, intending to destroy it. The pursuit took the two belligerents through Metron space. The Metrons, pacifistic but powerful, interrupted the engagement and declared both sides were savages.

Kirk and the Gorn captain were removed from their respective ships by the Metrons and deposited on a desolate planetoid , where the Metrons forced the two captains to fight each other, threatening to destroy the loser's vessel. Kirk was victorious, but refused to kill the Gorn. Kirk's act of mercy impressed the Metrons, who allowed both ships to go free. ( TOS : " Arena ")

On stardate 3192.1, the Enterprise was caught up in a "civilized" interplanetary war between Eminiar VII and Vendikar , whose engagements were fought only by computers, and marked "casualties" among the citizenry dutifully reported to death chambers . After the Enterprise was declared a target and the crew ordered to die, Kirk destroyed the Eminiar computers, forcing them to finally treat with their enemy – or face a war that would destroy their civilization. ( TOS : " A Taste of Armageddon ")

The Enterprise discovered the SS Botany Bay , an ancient sleeper ship , on stardate 3141.9. The vessel carried a group of eighty-four genetically-engineered Augments from Earth's Eugenics Wars , kept alive in cryogenic freeze ; twelve of these had died when their stasis capsules failed. Their leader, Khan Noonien Singh , seduced Enterprise historian Lieutenant Marla McGivers , revived his seventy-one surviving comrades, and attempted to steal the starship – before Kirk stopped him. Somewhat respectful of Khan's integrity and abilities, Kirk exiled Khan and his people on planet Ceti Alpha V , where the former tyrant would have a chance to "tame a world" without threatening others. ( TOS : " Space Seed ")

Under the euphoric , enervating influence of pod plants , the entire Enterprise crew mutinied, abandoning the ship for the planet Omicron Ceti III in 2267. Kirk was the last to fall under the influence, but his subconscious anger at the idea of leaving the ship rose to the surface, and broke the pod plant's effect. ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")

Accompanied by Spock and McCoy, Kirk discovered the first known silicon-based lifeform , a sentient Horta matriarch, on the mining colony Janus VI on stardate 3196.1. ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")

At the start of another war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire , Kirk and Spock met with the Organian Council of Elders personally and attempted to convince the Organians , who were apparently primitive, to accept Federation protection. Shortly after the planet Organia was subsequently occupied by Klingons, Kirk and Spock began conducting a guerrilla war against the Klingon occupation, but Organians abandoned their false humanoid forms and intervened, forcing an end to the interstellar war and imposing the Treaty of Organia . Organians predicted that, in time, the antagonistic powers would eventually become friends. In the end, Kor, frustrated by Organian interference that made battle against Kirk impossible, wistfully surmised, "it would have been glorious". ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")

Responding to the Deneva colony having recently gone silent, Kirk found that a hive-mind of marauding flying parasites had killed his brother , George Samuel Kirk, and that the colony's remaining population was under their influence, causing mass insanity . McCoy and Spock were able to develop a method of killing the exotic creatures. ( TOS : " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

By this time in 2267, Kirk had finally settled on Ensign Pavel Chekov as the Enterprise 's regular navigator. ( TOS : " Catspaw ")

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discovered Zefram Cochrane , the inventor of the warp drive , missing for 150 years, on a planetoid . An energy being Cochrane called "the Companion " had kept him alive and young all those years. At Cochrane's request, Kirk did not log the encounter. ( TOS : " Metamorphosis ")

Kirk diverted the Enterprise from an assigned ceremonial mission on Altair IV to Vulcan on stardate 3372.7, in order to save his first officer from the dangerous effects of his pon farr mating cycle. In the presence of the Vulcan matriarch, T'Pau , Kirk was forced to participate in Spock's marriage ceremony. ( TOS : " Amok Time ")

A distress call led the Enterprise to the crippled USS Constellation after an ancient machine, deemed a " planet killer ", had nearly destroyed that starship. While stranded aboard the nearly crippled Constellation , he and Chief Engineer Scott worked together to recover enough power and control functions to partially restore ship's functions. After Matt Decker , a Starfleet commodore who was now mentally unbalanced, made a suicide run with a stolen shuttlecraft , Kirk piloted the Constellation inside the machine, detonating the engines and destroying the device. ( TOS : " The Doomsday Machine ")

On the planet Halkan , a transporter malfunction swapped the Enterprise landing party with a corresponding landing party from a parallel " mirror universe " where a savage, oppressive, Terran Empire had replaced the United Federation of Planets. A sadistic alternate version of Captain Kirk captained the ISS Enterprise , whose first officer was a ruthless, bearded Spock . ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

On stardate 4523.6, the Enterprise was dispatched to Deep Space Station K-7 , Koroth , Federation bureaucrats , and myriads of cuddly but prodigious tribbles tested Kirk's patience. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " ) Unknown to Kirk, Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the USS Defiant observed and facilitated his actions after a Bajoran Orb : the Orb of Time brought them from the 24th century ; Sisko even got Kirk's autograph (although Kirk thought he was signing a shipping order ) and told Kirk that it had been an honor to serve with him. During the same mission, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax expressed her knowledge that Koloth always regretted not getting the chance to face Kirk in battle. ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " )

While the Enterprise was transporting ambassadors to the Babel Conference of 2268, an Orion agent , Thelev , disguised as an Andorian , stabbed Kirk, puncturing his left lung. ( TOS : " Journey to Babel ")

Kirk returned to Neural, the site of his first Starfleet assignment, on stardate 4211.4. Klingons had begun supplying the primitive native villagers with firearms , leading them to war on the neighboring Hill People . Kirk decided to supply the Hill People with similar weaponry , escalating the conflict, but putting both sides on equal footing. ( TOS : " A Private Little War ")

Upon his second encounter with the dikironium cloud creature in 2267, Kirk re-experienced the feelings of guilt over his actions in a previous disastrous incident, aboard the USS Farragut . Exhibiting a single-minded fixation on the destruction of the creature, McCoy and Spock questioned Kirk's emotional condition. But as it proved, phasers were ineffective against the cloud creature; thus, Kirk learned that he could not have stopped it in their previous encounter, and hence that he had nothing to regret. With the help of his former captain's son, Ensign Garrovick , Kirk lured the creature to the planet Tycho IV , destroying it with an antimatter bomb. ( TOS : " Obsession ")

Kirk found the contaminated society of Sigma Iotia II , based on 1920s Chicago gang culture, puzzling at first, but he quickly warmed to it. Uniting the world's "gangs" under one "boss", the Iotians became a Federation protectorate . ( TOS : " A Piece of the Action ")

Scouts from the Kelvan Empire in the Andromeda Galaxy hijacked the Enterprise for their return voyage on stardate 4657.5. The Enterprise , modified with Kelvan technology , became the first Federation starship known to cross the galactic barrier, briefly leaving the boundary of the Milky Way Galaxy before Kirk and his senior officers overwhelmed the Kelvans and returned to Federation space. ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")

Kirk later had his mind displaced into a receptacle in 2268, briefly allowing the ancient being Sargon to live as a corporeal being. ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ")

After John Gill failed to report in from a cultural observation mission to Ekos , the Enterprise was assigned to investigate. Kirk found his old professor had developed an idealization of Utopian fascism and had abandoned observation for intervention, creating a Nazi -like world government that overwhelmed Gill's best intentions. Kirk aroused the subverted Gill in time to avert Ekos' impending war with neighboring Zeon , and heard Gill recant his philosophies before he died. ( TOS : " Patterns of Force ")

On stardate 4842.6, the Enterprise discovered the Amerind planet, where an ancient race, the " Preservers ", had transplanted elements of Native American cultures that had been endangered in centuries past. When an accident separated Kirk from the landing party and caused him to suffer amnesia , Spock was forced to abandon the search and command the Enterprise in its mission, that of the interception of an asteroid on course to hit the planet. For several months, the inhabitants worshiped Kirk as a god called " Kirok ". During that time, Kirk took a wife . Upon the Enterprise 's return and the restoration of his memories, Kirk was able to activate an ancient planetary defense mechanism the Preservers had left behind, and thereby divert the approaching asteroid. ( TOS : " The Paradise Syndrome ")

Inexplicably to his crew, Kirk began exhibiting bizarre behavior on stardate 5027.3, and ordered the Enterprise across the Romulan Neutral Zone. Three Romulan starships detained the Enterprise , and Kirk and Spock met the Romulan commander aboard her ship, where Kirk's death was faked. The ruse allowed Kirk, surgically altered to look Romulan, to infiltrate the Romulan vessel and steal its cloaking device. Using the device, the Enterprise cloaked and escaped to Federation space, taking along the captured Romulan commander. The entire operation had been designed to give the Federation plausible deniability in case of the mission's failure, and place the culpability on Kirk in that case. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

Near Tholian space , on stardate 5693.2, the Enterprise discovered the USS Defiant adrift, its crew dead, trapped in a spatial interphase . Tholian commander Loskene responded to the trespass of "recently annexed" Tholian space. Kirk was lost in the interphase and presumed dead. The Enterprise exchanged fire with the Tholians, and the unstable region incited madness among the crew. A second Tholian ship joined the engagement, producing a web to ensnare the Enterprise . After various crew members witnessed Kirk's spectral image, he was retrieved from interphase, and the Enterprise used the rift to escape Tholian entrapment. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ") Many years later, in 2381, a framed photograph of Kirk in an environmental suit during this mission was hanging on the wall of an old bar at Starbase 25 . ( LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

The Enterprise visited a Federation asylum on Elba II on stardate 5718.3. Kirk's longtime hero, Fleet Captain Garth of Izar , was committed as a patient. Garth, capable of cellular metamorphosis , assumed Kirk's form in an attempt to escape and commandeer the Enterprise . Spock was able to determine which man was truly his captain, and Garth was returned to rehabilitation . ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

A deadly plague struck the crew of the Enterprise before stardate 5843.7. Seeking a cure on Holberg 917G , Kirk encountered Flint , a near- immortal Human. Born as Akharin , during Earth's 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamia , Flint had later been known as Solomon , Alexander the Great , and Leonardo da Vinci , among other famous identities. Kirk fell in love with Rayna Kapec , an android Flint had built to give him company in his final days of seclusion. ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ") A century later, Captain Janeway of the USS Voyager expressed some doubt about this encounter. ( VOY : " Concerning Flight ")

An incredibly realistic simulacrum of Kirk's hero, the American President Abraham Lincoln , greeted the Enterprise on stardate 5906.4. Following an invitation to the surface of the planet Excalbia , the silicon-based Excalbians re-created the historical figures Surak , Genghis Khan , Phillip Green , Kahless , and Zora . Kirk, Spock, Lincoln, and Surak were pitted against the others as means for the Excalbians to understand the nature and strength of good versus evil . During the battle, Kirk received perhaps on of his most meaningful compliments from the form of Lincoln, who was struck by Kirk's propensity to take the offensive when required, when his he asked of Kirk, " Do you drink whiskey ? " After Kirk responded, " Occasionally; why? " Lincoln answered, " Because you have qualities very much like those of another man I admire greatly, General Grant . " ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")

After responding to a distress call from his former lover, Janice Lester, on Camus II , Kirk arrived at her bedside, where she appeared to be near death. Not expecting danger, Kirk was easily ensnared. Lester activated the life-entity transfer device and was immediately thrilled by her possession of Kirk's body. The transfer would eventually return the exchanged persona to its original body, as long as both remained alive. Drugged and disoriented within Lester's body, Kirk was easy prey, but Lester's spontaneous gloating monologue prevented her from strangling Kirk before Dr. Leonard McCoy arrived.

Kirk was still a liability as long as he remained alive in sickbay , but the exclusive care of Dr. Coleman kept Kirk isolated from the crew , however, Spock discovered the truth of the situation through a brief mind meld with the imprisoned Kirk in Lester's body, but their attempted escape was halted by security officers ignorant of the captain's strange new behavior.

During Lester's final attempt to kill Kirk, the two touched in a brief struggle, and the misplaced personalities returned to their proper bodies. Broken, incoherent, and sobbing in her complete failure, Kirk couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor, mentally unstable, twisted-minded woman, who was driven mad not only by her ambition of craving the power to command a starship, but also her hatred and jealousy of the captain she once loved, then wanted dead. Kirk felt her life could have been as rich as any woman's, "if only…" ( TOS : " Turnabout Intruder ")

In 2269, Kirk encountered Cyrano Jones and Koloth once again, saving Jones when his vessel, a Federation scout ship , was destroyed by the IKS Devisor . Koloth demanded that Kirk hand Jones over and Kirk defiantly told him that the first Klingon to board the Enterprise would be the last Klingon. ( TAS : " More Tribbles, More Troubles ")

Kirk, along with Spock, Sulu, and McCoy visited the planet Phylos , where he encountered a clone of Stavos Keniclius , a scientist from the Eugenics Wars. Spock was abducted by Swoopers and cloned, which became known as Spock Two . Kirk later lead a rescue mission to get Spock back, which was successful. Before leaving Phylos, Kirk told Stavos Keniclius 5 that Spock Two could stay with him and together they could attempt to bring the Phylosian civilization back from the dead. ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")

Late the same year, the Enterprise returned to the time planet to once again visit the Guardian of Forever, when he, Spock, and historian Erickson observe the dawn of the Orion civilization . ( TAS : " Yesteryear ")

Kirk and his crew were instrumental in stopping a massive matter-energy cloud from consuming the planet Mantilles . Kirk wrestled with the ethical implications of destroying the cloud once it was determined to be a living creature but fortunately, Spock was able to mind meld with it and convinced it to cease its movement toward Mantilles. ( TAS : " One of Our Planets Is Missing ")

Kirk lead a landing party that beamed down to inspect Planet Two of the Taurean system . There, he became affected by the glandular secretion of the female members of Theela's species who inhabited there, who were known for controlling the male mind. This drained Kirk of his "life force," causing him to age at a rate of ten years per day. After an all-female security detachment led by Lieutenant Uhura recovered him and the landing party. By using their molecular pattern stored in the transporter system, Kirk and the others were returned to their previous ages. ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")

Kirk, together with Spock, were tasked by the Vedala to recover the Soul of the Skorr , which had been stolen and had triggered a racial fury among the Skorr . As a result, they had prepared for war against the known galaxy. Kirk was specifically chosen for the mission for his leadership and adaptability skills. Together with a team consisting of Spock, Lara , Em/3/Green , Sord , and Tchar , they were transported to a world simply named " mad planet " to recover the Soul of the Skorr. Kirk later determined that the thief was Tchar, and together with Spock, he was able to defeat him and get the Soul of the Skorr back using null-gravity combat exercises . ( TAS : " The Jihad ")

Kirk and the Enterprise crew later discovered the long-lost Earth colony Terratin after they had sent out a distress signal. However, the only way the colony believed they could get Kirk's attention was to shrink the crew of the Enterprise down to their size. Upon requesting that the colony's inhabitants be saved, Kirk, after being restored to full-size when he transported down to Terra 10 's surface, had the miniature colony beamed aboard the Enterprise and later had it relocated to the planet Verdanis . ( TAS : " The Terratin Incident ")

Kirk, together with Spock and McCoy, beamed down to Lactra VII to locate Lieutenant Commander Tom Markel and other missing officers from the starship USS Ariel after they had been missing for approximately six weeks . While there, Kirk located the missing Ariel officers and encountered the Lactrans . While being held in their " zoo ", Kirk faked being ill in order to regain his confiscated communicator and escape with his crewmembers. Unfortunately, it was taken away by a young Lactran and it was beamed up to the Enterprise instead. Upon witnessing this, the Lactrans tried to destroy Kirk's mind after their "child" had disappeared. After it returned to the surface with Montgomery Scott, it told its fellow Lactrans all it had learned about the Federation and the races it encompassed while on the Enterprise , which led them to free Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the Ariel crew. The Lactrans later requested that Starfleet visit their planet again in about twenty or thirty centuries in their time. When Spock told Kirk that it would take some time to figure out long that would actually be, Kirk responded that, regardless, it would not be their problem. ( TAS : " The Eye of the Beholder ")

In 2270 , Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise fell victim to several practical jokes after the ship passed through an energy field near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Passing through the field caused the Enterprise 's main computer to malfunction and it began erratically playing jokes on the crew. Among the jokes that Kirk had played on him were the computer printing that he was a jerk on the back of his uniform, making him and Spock slip on ice in a corridor, and causing the artificial gravity on the bridge to cut out, making Kirk float to the top of the bridge. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Later that year, Kirk welcomed aboard Commodore and Federation Ambassador-at-large , as well as former commanding officer of the Enterprise , Robert April , along with his wife Sarah , on its journey back to Babel, where April was due to be honored before his mandatory retirement . While on the way there, the Enterprise encountered Karla Five and her vessel while it was apparently headed for its destruction at the heart of Beta Niobe supernova. While attempting to save her and her ship, Kirk and his crew were drawn into a reverse universe , where Karla Five was actually from and was intending to return to through the supernova remnant. Kirk, along with his entire crew, began to turn into children while in this universe. Thankfully, due to the efforts of a younger Commodore April taking command of the Enterprise from its captain, Kirk, along with his crew, were all restored to their normal ages when they returned to their own universe. ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ")

Further exploits of this time included saving the Pelosians from extinction , despite it being a violation of the Prime Directive , such as he had with the Baezians and Chenari years earlier. ( VOY : " Q2 ")

In the mid- 2270s , V'ger , an energy cloud assimilating information from (and destroying) objects in its path, threatened Earth. The only starship positioned to intercept it was the Enterprise , her refit nearly complete but still awaiting trial runs. After convincing Admiral Nogura that he was the best man to meet the threat, Kirk rushed the Enterprise into service, assuming the rank of captain for the duration of the mission. Decker regarded Kirk's command as an insult and a mistake and pointed to his recent desk service and unfamiliarity with the ship's new systems, but the younger man fulfilled his duty as first officer.

The entity proved to be the late 20th century NASA space probe Voyager 6 , having amassed great power and self-awareness in its travels. When Kirk and his party discovered the true nature of V'ger and negotiated a visit to the actual probe itself, located at the heart of the 'V'ger' vessel, Decker used the opportunity, with V'ger 's protection, to fulfill his wish to merge with the V'ger entity through the simulacrum of his lover Ilia , thereby uniting V'ger 's mechanical nature with its Human origins. The union resulted in the birth of a radically new, and benign, lifeform. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Following the success of this mission, Kirk commanded the Enterprise in the mid-to-late 2270s. His quarters were on deck 5.

Kirk briefly retired from Starfleet sometime before 2284 to pursue a number of personal goals and affairs, namely his relationship with a woman named Antonia . ( Star Trek Generations )

• Inspection tour
• Stealing the Enterprise
• Saving Earth

Kirk returned to Starfleet in 2284 and took a position in the admiralty , supervising command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy among his duties. The lack of a center seat gnawed at him until he began to express discontent in his latest posting. Kirk celebrated his fifty-second birthday alone, barring a visit from his friend Dr. McCoy, who gifts him a bottle of 2283 Romulan ale and, as Kirk was allergic to Retinax V , a pair of glasses to adjust for his increasing farsightedness.

The following day, Kirk visited the Enterprise , now commanded by Captain Spock, for an inspection tour and as an observer to a cadet training cruise. Unknown to Kirk at the time, his nemesis, han Noonien Singh had been accidentally released from his exile on Ceti Alpha V , which had lost the inhabitability it had possessed when he and his people were originally left there, by hijacking the USS Reliant , leading to the hunt for the Genesis Device from the Regula I space station . A call from Dr. Carol Marcus alerted the Enterprise , which changed course to investigate even though its crew was largely "a boatload of--children," in Kirk's phrasing. Despite Kirk's (somewhat half-hearted) protests, Spock insisted on deferring his command to Admiral Kirk, quipping that as a Vulcan "he had no ego to bruise."

The subsequent engagement with his old enemy was tumultuous for Kirk, including a near-disastrous blunder disregarding Starfleet regulations quoted by Saavik that nearly doomed his ship and crew. In a textbook example of Kirk's ability to wield the Enterprise against a well-matched opponent was in the encounter with the USS Reliant , where he saved the Enterprise by tricking Khan into believing he was receiving data on Genesis but instead having his shields lowered via the Reliant 's prefix code , allowing the ship to make several retaliatory phaser hits on the Reliant , leading to a temporary withdrawl. Following the immediate success, Kirk admitted, in frustration and fury, to having gotten "caught with my britches down," at first, namely ignoring General Order 12 , which allowed the Enterprise to be crippled by the non-communicative ship's sudden attack.

Kirk's return to Earth in 2285 was solemn. The loss of Spock affected Kirk deeply, and McCoy began to show signs of mental illness. Planning to return to the Genesis Planet after his battle-damaged starship was fully repaired, Kirk's hopes were dashed when Commander, Starfleet Fleet Admiral Morrow announced that the Enterprise would soon be decommissioned.

Ambassador Sarek approached Kirk, leading to the discovery of Spock's katra surviving in McCoy. Kirk's senior officers rallied to him, conspiring to rescue McCoy and steal the Enterprise from Spacedock One in order to recover Spock's body from the Genesis Planet and to bring it, and his katra , to Mount Seleya on Vulcan.

After three months of exile on Vulcan, Kirk and his crew departed (aboard the Bird-of-Prey renamed HMS Bounty ) for Earth, to face their charges of violating nine Starfleet regulations . During the voyage, a mysterious probe besieged Earth and communicated only in whale song . After answering the planetary distress signal and determining the probe's objective, Kirk used the slingshot effect to take the Bounty back in time to 1986 San Francisco , 300 years ago.

Following the Whale Probe incident, the Federation president declared to Kirk, "we are forever in your debt." In light of their recent heroics, all charges facing his crew were dismissed, but one remained against Admiral Kirk: disobeying the orders of a superior officer. Kirk's punishment was a reduction in rank to captain and a return to the duty that had served the Federation so well, starship command. He was assigned to the Constitution II -class starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) , in 2286. He commanded the Enterprise -A for the next seven years. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

• Sybok and Sha Ka Ree
• Final mission

In 2287 , after a brief shakedown cruise proved the Enterprise -A not quite to be as fully spaceworthy as it had initially seemed to be, Kirk vacationed in Yosemite National Park with Spock and McCoy, while Montgomery Scott attended to the technical problems. The respite was interrupted after Spock's half-brother, Sybok , raised a small force called the Galactic Army of Light to take over the planet Nimbus III and captured the Federation, Klingon and Romulan representatives.

Kirk and the Enterprise -A responded, as did a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by Klaa , who took on the rescue mission as an opportunity to take on Kirk, as he believed defeating Kirk would make him the greatest warrior in the galaxy.

Following a failed assault on Paradise City , Sybok captured the crew of the Enterprise -A and took over the ship. After most of Kirk's crew fell under Sybok's influence and joined in his quest to meet " God " by taking the starship through the Great Barrier to the legendary Sha Ka Ree . En route, Sybok offered Kirk the chance to "ease his pain," as he had seemingly demonstrated on Spock and McCoy. But Kirk rejected the offer angrily, insisting, " I don't want my pain taken away; I NEED my pain!!! "

Kirk's career culminated in 2293 , when the Enterprise -A was assigned to escort Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to Earth for a peace conference. Kirk opposed the peace initiative Spock covertly negotiated. He especially resented that Starfleet had chosen him to be the Federation's olive branch. A cabal of Federation and Klingon officials instigated an attack on Kronos One that appeared to come from the Enterprise -A, and assassinated Gorkon.

The Klingons arrested Kirk and McCoy, then tried and convicted them for the murder of Gorkon, sentencing them to the Rura Penthe penal asteroid. In violation of orders and treaties, Spock took the Enterprise -A into Klingon space, eluded detection and rescued Kirk and McCoy. Following his victory over General Chang at the Battle of Khitomer , Kirk saved the Federation president from assassination, and the historic Khitomer Conference continued; this led to the successful negotiation, signatures, and ratifications of "The First Khitomer Accords" between the UFP and the Klingon Empire.

• Enterprise-B
• The Nexus and death

Shortly after retiring, Kirk, along with his friends Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov, were honored guests of Captain John Harriman on the maiden voyage of the Excelsior-class starship USS Enterprise -B . The event, which sparked a media frenzy around Kirk, was essentially a ceremonial cruise, as the Enterprise -B was not fully crewed or equipped for standard service. Shortly after setting off, the ship picked up a distress signal from two Whorfin -class vessels carrying El Aurian refugees, who were caught in an energy distortion known as the Nexus .

Events of 2371 revealed Kirk had entered the Nexus, yet unaware of the passing of 78 years due to the non-linear nature of time in the Nexus. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise -D discovered Kirk within the Nexus. Kirk agreed to leave his idyllic but unsatisfying existence to help Picard defeat the deranged scientist Tolian Soran , who was going to destroy the Veridian system .

As Kirk explained to Picard, the main reason he always returned to the command chair of the Enterprise was that it was only there that Kirk could truly make a difference. He advised Picard to refuse anything Starfleet offered him that would take him away from the current Enterprise , because he would lose the ability to make a difference in the universe.

Kirk sacrificed his life to save the inhabitants of Veridian IV , as well as the crew of the Enterprise -D, climbing along a precariously-balanced metal bridge in order to grab the control panel necessary to disable the missile that Soran would have used, the bridge subsequently falling down a steep cliff when its support beams broke. His last words, spoken to Picard after being assured that he had made a difference, were to comment that his help was the least he could do for the captain of the Enterprise , as well as to assure Picard that " It was... fun. Oh my.... " ( Star Trek Generations )

Captain Picard buried Kirk in a simple stone cairn on a Veridian III mountain top. ( Star Trek Generations )

After Kirk's death, Section 31 retrieved his body for Project Phoenix .

Sometime after 2285 , Kirk made a brief appearance in a film called The Tardigrade in Space , which was about the adventures of a female tardigrade and a DOT-7 robot called Dot . His appearance in the film depicted his first encounter with Khan Noonien Singh in sickbay , when he was first awakened from cryosleep in the year 2267 . ( ST :" Ephraim and Dot ")

His missions were read by grade school students and Starfleet Academy cadets alike. ( Star Trek Generations ; VOY : " Q2 ") As a child in grade school , future Enterprise -B Captain Harriman read about Kirk's missions. ( Star Trek Generations ) While nearly a century later, in 2377 , as Icheb began his cadet training aboard Voyager , he recited a report for Early Starfleet History , that described when Kirk concluded his " historic five year mission", that "one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close. " ( VOY : " Q2 ")

Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager nostalgically recalled Captain Kirk (and his contemporaries) as belonging " to a different breed of Starfleet officer. " She went on to note that, given " the era they lived in, [...] It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive, and a little quicker to pull their phasers. " She opined, "Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that." ( VOY : " Flashback ")

Along with Kirk's seventeen separate temporal violations, which gave him the distinction of having the biggest file on record with the Department of Temporal Investigations, Kirk also had a long standing first contact record to his name. ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " ) It remained untouched until 2378 , when Captain Janeway concluded her seven-year trip across the Delta Quadrant aboard the USS Voyager . ( VOY : " Friendship One ")

During a visit to the 23rd century from 2373 , Lieutenant Commander Worf remarked that it would be an honor to meet Kirk. ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " )

The defensive pattern Kirk Epsilon was a battle tactic that was still in use during the late 2370s . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

In 2380 and 2381 , Kirk was mentioned multiple times by various crew members of the USS Cerritos , including Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner . ( LD : " Second Contact ", " Veritas ", " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

Kirk's old bar on Starbase 25 still had his and Spock's names scratched into the counter top as of 2381 . ( LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

In 2383 , Kirk was an option for a crewmember in the Kobayashi Maru scenario . Jankom Pog suggested that he and Dal R'El use "this JT Kirk guy," but Dal was uninterested as they already had a captain: himself. ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")

• Skills and hobbies
• Personal combat

Kirk spent a huge portion of his life aboard starships, and consequently relished the times he could spend outdoors. He was an accomplished equestrian, and kept a horse at a mountain cabin that he owned during his first retirement. Another companion at his mountain cabin was Butler , his Great Dane . He sold the cabin sometime after his return to Starfleet. ( Star Trek Generations )

A personal challenge that nearly cost him his life was free-solo climbing the face of El Capitan mountain in Yosemite National Park on Earth. After Spock rescued Kirk from an accidental free fall, Kirk told the Vulcan and McCoy that while falling he knew he would not die because he had always known that he would die alone, and since he, McCoy, and Spock were present during the incident, he could not die. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) However, Kirk's prediction eventually proved apparently wrong when he died on Veridian III in the company of Jean-Luc Picard, who was, evidently, an ultimately poor surrogate for Spock and/or McCoy in that particular situation. ( Star Trek Generations )

Kirk's command style frequently brought him in close proximity to his enemies, often resulting in hand-to-hand combat. His idiosyncratic martial-arts style used hand chops to the neck, wrestling and judo throws, roundhouse punches, two-fisted swings and open-hand slaps in varying combinations, and even drop kicks. One or two of Kirk's blows overwhelmed a variety of enemy guards and henchmen. In addition, Kirk regularly performed dives and rolls, either to evade phaser fire or to attack an opponent, thereby often jumping off walls and other fixed elements.

A typical example of Kirk's fighting style in a more extended bout occurred in 2265 on the surface of Delta Vega , in the attempt to kill his friend Gary Mitchell. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

While typical examples of his wrestling and Judo abilities were seen when the Orion spy Thelev assaulted him, and when he used a judo throw to disarm the Redjac entity which had taken the form of Hengist . ( TOS : " Journey to Babel ", " Wolf in the Fold ")

At times, a larger, more powerful opponent clearly out-classed Kirk, leaving him to his wits, the aid of his crew, or pure luck to see him through. Pitted against the Gorn captain in 2267, he held his own for a time, until his injuries forced withdrawal and a search for a more efficient weapon. ( TOS : " Arena ")

In 2255 and again in 2268, he wrestled a ferocious Mugato of Neural. When the massive ancient android Ruk attacked Kirk on Exo III in 2266, Kirk could do little but hold on for the ride. ( TOS : " A Private Little War ", " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ")

On the Shore Leave Planet in 2267, Kirk was shocked by the appearance of Finnegan, his Academy nemesis, who had not seemed to age. The two proceeded to slug each other until both were bleeding and exhausted. Perhaps the longest fist-fight of his life, it was clearly the most satisfying. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

Kirk fought his friend and first officer Spock on three occasions when the half-Vulcan lost his normal emotional control. A series of slaps delivered to Spock in 2266 resulted in a blow that sent Kirk over a table. In 2267, after necessarily cruel taunts, Spock tossed Kirk back and forth across the transporter room , regaining control just before he crushed his captain's skull. Spock's blood fever during his pon farr of 2267 made him so dangerous in the koon-ut-kal-if-fee ritual fight that Dr. McCoy was forced to falsify Kirk's death before Spock could kill him. ( TOS : " The Naked Time ", " This Side of Paradise ", " Amok Time ")

• Friendships

The Kirk family ancestry included settlers who pioneered the American frontier in the 19th century , and the Kirks of the early 23rd century rediscovered the impulse for untamed spaces. After his early childhood on Earth, Kirk lived on Tarsus IV by the age of thirteen, and his brother's family later lived on colonies as well. ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ", " The Conscience of the King ", " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

• George Kirk, Sr.
• David Marcus

Kirk's brief 2268 marriage to Miramanee produced a child. Though she and the baby died while she was still in the early days of her pregnancy, " Kirok " had welcomed her news of the child. ( TOS : " The Paradise Syndrome ")

Kirk's father, Lieutenant Commander George Kirk was serving as first officer of the USS Kelvin during the time of Kirk's birth. Kirk often credited his father with inspiring him to join Starfleet. His father proudly lived long enough to see his son achieve command. ( Star Trek )

George Samuel Kirk (called "Sam" only by his brother) was also, for a time, a Starfleet officer. ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ", " A Quality of Mercy ")

Their relationship did experience signs of strain at times; Sam expressed feelings of jealousy towards James' quick rise. In 2259 , James had become the first officer on the Farragut , the youngest in Starfleet history, a record previously held by their father. Sam felt James' ambition and brash attitude reflected badly on him. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Sam later described Una Chin-Riley to James as "the first officer that James thought he should be like." Someone who kept a necessary distance from her crew because she knows she has to make hard decisions. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

Sam, along with his wife Aurelan and three sons, joined his younger brother for a farewell visit before the Enterprise departed for her five-year mission. It was the last time Jim saw Sam alive. ( TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ") Sam ended up on Deneva, with his wife and son Peter by 2267 . James was too late to save his brother and sister-in-law from the neural parasites that had invaded Deneva that year, and killed the couple, but Peter survived the attack. ( TOS : " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

Kirk's romance with Carol Marcus produced a son, David Marcus. At Carol's request, Kirk stayed out of David's early life. David knew something of Kirk, referring to him as "the over-grown Boy Scout " his mother used to know, but not that Kirk was his father. Carol kept David's father's identity a secret, fearing that Kirk's adventurous life would draw David away from her. In spite of the separation, Carol told Kirk that David was "a lot like you, in many ways."

In 2285 , David was working with his mother at the Federation research station Regula I as part of a team developing Project Genesis when Khan Noonien Singh attacked the station. After fleeing to the Regula planetoid , Kirk rescued David and Carol. Kirk did not immediately recognize his son at their awkward meeting, and later became melancholy when considering an alternate life as a father. He observed David's dislike of him, complaining to Carol, "There's a man out there whom I haven't seen in fifteen years, who's trying to kill me. You show me a son who'd be happy to help him." After witnessing Kirk's victory at the Battle of the Mutara Nebula and the funeral for Spock, David consoled his father and admitted he was "proud, very proud, to be [his] son." ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Later in 2285, David was an advisor on the starship USS Grissom , researching the Genesis planet he had helped to create. Taken hostage by Klingons , David interrupted an attempted execution of Lieutenant Saavik , wrestling a Klingon warrior briefly before being killed with a stab to the chest. The news of David's death led Kirk to stumble to the deck in grief, spitting at Commander Kruge in his rage, "You Klingon bastard, you've--killed my son!" Kirk subsequently killed Kruge and all but one ( Maltz ) of his crew. As Kirk and his crew made their escape from the collapsing Genesis planet, he somberly and mournfully said goodbye to his son. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

An approachable, gregarious individual, Kirk made many friends across a range of worlds and status, from the Hill dweller Tyree to Starfleet Fleet Admiral Morrow. Those that shared his closest, personal confidence appear to be limited to a few, including Spock, Leonard McCoy, and Gary Mitchell. The core group of talented officers that he assembled in his first years aboard the Enterprise followed his call throughout their own careers, and were integral factors to his long success and lasting reputation.

Kirk recognized the impact his life in Starfleet had on his family life. In 2287 , while camping with his friends in Yosemite, he referred to himself, Spock, and McCoy as the only family that men like themselves were likely to have. Presumably, his prediction that he would die alone meant that he would die with neither of them also present at his death. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

• Nyota Uhura
• Leonard McCoy
• Montgomery Scott
• Hikaru Sulu
• Janice Rand
• Jean-Luc Picard

Kirk first met Nyota Uhura at a bar on the Enterprise in 2259. He introduced himself to her and she responded with hostility as she believed he was flirting with her. Over time, the two began to trust to one another and after dealing with the deuterium creatures within Bannon's Nebula , the two shared a drink and Uhura introduced Kirk to Spock. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Kirk and Spock officially met in 2259 after Kirk visited the Enterprise for the first time after being tentatively promoted to first officer aboard the Farragut . ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

By 2265, Kirk and Spock were serving together aboard the Enterprise and were familiar enough with each other for Spock to address Kirk as "Jim". After the death of Gary Mitchell, Kirk came to depend on Spock's detached, logical analysis as a supplement to his own intuitive and impulsive nature. Their official relationship deepened into a friendship of mutual respect and love that was without a doubt the most important relationship of both Kirk and Spock's life. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

As Edith Keeler observed of Spock's place in the world, " You? At his side. As if you've always been there and always will. " ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ") He once described his Vulcan friend as " the noblest part of myself " and declared that Spock's immortal soul " is my responsibility, as surely as if it were my very own. " Kirk even told Spock's father that he would never realize how important Spock was to him, and declared that, despite losing the Enterprise and his son, had he not tried to rescue his friend, " ...the cost would have been my soul . " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

The polywater intoxication that affected the Enterprise crew in 2266 led to a difficult encounter between Kirk and his first officer. Needing Spock at a critical moment, Kirk found him in anguished reflection, regretting his inability to express love even for his mother. Trying to bring the first officer around to the moment, Kirk slapped him. Spock's reaction was flat and revelatory, " Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I'm ashamed. " Struck again, Spock responded in kind, sending Kirk backwards over a table. ( TOS : " The Naked Time ")

Spock was sympathetic to Kirk's plight after the transporter divided the captain's personality into opposite aspects. He referred to his own halves, "submerged...constantly at war with each other," explaining that he survived it because his intelligence won out over both and forced them to coexist. Spock believed that Kirk's own intelligence would also enable him to survive such a contest intact, and urged him to embrace the part of himself that, seemingly ugly, was crucial to his personality and captaincy. ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

After Kirk discovered emotional rage was the key to nullifying the effect of the pod plants, his first step in retrieving his crew was to taunt Spock into anger. Anticipating the result of a Vulcan's higher strength level pitted against his own, Kirk wielded a pipe for protection. After being called an "elf with a hyperactive thyroid" and told that he belonged "in the circus, right next to the dog-faced boy," Spock indeed lost control, nearly killing Kirk before resuming command of himself. ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")

In 2267, Spock began his pon farr mating cycle, and behaved bizarrely aboard the Enterprise . Kirk called to Spock " the best first officer in the fleet " and " an enormous asset to me " as he pled with Spock to explain his actions. When told that by taking Spock to Vulcan, against Starfleet orders, Kirk fired back, " I owe him [Spock] my life a dozen times over! Isn't that worth a career? "

Joining him on Vulcan for his marriage ceremony, Kirk was drawn into T'Pring 's scheme to marry another, and forced to fight Spock to the death. McCoy, knowing Kirk was endangered, faked Kirk's death, and the marriage was not consummated. Spock, despondent that he had murdered his captain, thrilled at the sight of Kirk alive, exclaiming, " JIM! ", which McCoy delighted in needling Spock about once he gained his composure. ( TOS : " Amok Time ")

Kirk's understanding of Spock had an enormous impact on the parallel mirror universe, visited after a transporter accident in 2267. As Kirk's party prepared to return to their proper universe, Kirk implored the mirror-Spock to re-examine his role in the fascistic Terran Empire , insisting, "One man can make a difference." Mirror-Spock's consideration of those words led to his rise to dominance and reform of the Empire, with drastic consequences. ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror "; DS9 : " Crossover " )

When Kirk was trapped in spatial interphase during a rescue operation in Tholian space, Spock ordered the Enterprise to maintain her position in an effort to retrieve him, in spite of the danger the Tholians presented and the disruptive nature of the local space. After Kirk's assumed death, Spock and McCoy viewed the "last orders" Kirk had prepared. He urged Spock to use all the Vulcan disciplines at his disposal, tempered with intuitive insight. Kirk believed Spock had the latter qualities, but should they elude him, he was urged to seek out McCoy. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

Kirk once commented to Captain Garth that the dream of the Axanar Peace Mission participants made him and Spock "brothers." Spock only said, " Captain Kirk speaks somewhat figuratively, and with undue emotion, but what he says is logical and I do, in fact, agree with it. " ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

When Dr. Janice Lester, a former lover of Kirk's, took over Kirk's body, Spock performed a mind meld on Kirk while he was trapped in Lester's body. Spock believed Kirk was Lester before anyone else, and when Lester as Kirk ordered his execution, he continued to stand by his friend. ( TOS : " Turnabout Intruder ")

At the end of the Enterprise 's five-year mission, a period marked by his frequent loss of his emotional control, Spock chose to leave Starfleet and his friends, to pursue the Kolinahr discipline of logic on Vulcan . His return to Enterprise during the V'ger threat was a cold event, without acknowledgment of his past friendships. In V'ger 's aftermath, Spock finally achieved equilibrium, able to express his friendship for Kirk without the influence of aliens or illness, and notably lacking any threat of physical violence. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture ) In 2285, Spock was calmly able to tell Kirk, " You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been and always shall be yours. " ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Spock's sacrifice of his own life, to save the Enterprise from Khan's detonation of the Genesis Device, deeply affected Kirk. At his funeral, Kirk could only bring himself to say of Spock, " Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... Human... " but he broke off and broke down without being able to continue. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

The revelation that Spock's katra, his "living spirit" (actually his complete brain patterns), survived in the tormented mind of McCoy, led Kirk to risk his career, and in turn, his crew's. He first asked Admiral Morrow for permission to retrieve Spock's body from the Genesis Planet, to bring it, and McCoy, to Vulcan. Kirk insisted that any chance to save Spock's soul was his responsibility, "as surely as if it were my very own." His request declined, he told his crew, "The word...is 'No.' I am therefore going anyway."

With the help of Uhura, Scott, Sulu, and Chekov, Kirk rescued McCoy from confinement and commandeered the Enterprise from Spacedock One . The renegade mission saw the destruction of Kirk's ship and the death of his son. Finding Spock's body re-animated by Genesis, Kirk brought him and McCoy to Vulcan for the fal-tor-pan (re-fusion) ritual. The first person Spock recognized was Kirk: "Jim. Your name...is Jim." ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

During their homecoming from Vulcan, and eventually their trip to 1986 , Kirk tried to remind the resurrected Spock, suffering from memory loss, to their friendship and past adventures together. After Kirk's and the command crew's trial, Spock told his father, Sarek, that his "associates" were his friends. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

In 2287, the trio enjoyed a camping trip together at Yosemite National Park , which abruptly ended when Spock, half-brother Sybok diverted the Enterprise to Nimbus III . After their adventure on Sha Ka Ree and Sybok's death, Kirk referred to Spock once again as his "brother," and told him and McCoy that they were his real family. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

When Spock later entered the alternate reality , he told the James T. Kirk of that reality of their deep friendship, despite the fact that the alternate Spock had marooned Kirk on Delta Vega . During this meeting, Spock called the alternate Kirk "old friend" several times and felt it was good to see a version of James Kirk despite the terrible events of that day . Kirk, who had been accused of cheating on the Kobayashi Maru by the alternate Spock, told Spock Prime that his actions in changing history could be construed as cheating. Spock nostalgically admitted that it was "a trick I learned from an old friend," referencing the prime Kirk.

When meeting with his alternate reality counterpart, Spock Prime admitted to deceiving the alternate Kirk to force him and the alternate Spock to work together to defeat Nero rather than intervening in the situation himself to make both men see the potential of their friendship. Spock Prime explained it as " I could not deprive you of the revelation of all that you could accomplish together, of a friendship that will define you both in ways you cannot yet realize. " He then encouraged the alternate Spock to stay in Starfleet and foster that friendship, something Spock ultimately chose to do. ( Star Trek )

In 2263 of the alternate reality, the alternate Spock discovered that even so long after Kirk's death, Spock Prime kept a picture of him and the bridge crew of the Enterprise -A amongst his personal things. ( Star Trek Beyond )

• ↑ Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan script
• ↑ Star Trek film script

Doctor Leonard McCoy became chief medical officer of the Enterprise after the departure of Dr. Mark Piper in 2265 . Kirk formed an easy rapport with his new doctor, giving him the moniker "Bones" (as in the old-fashioned colloquialism "sawbones" for a doctor or a surgeon). Even after McCoy began a program of exhaustive (and exhausting) quarterly physicals and interfered with Kirk's usual diet, their friendship grew rapidly. McCoy was probably Kirk's closest friend, aside, of course, from Spock. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")

The demands of Kirk's career required his best possible health, which Dr. McCoy closely oversaw. Kirk sparred with his crew in the Enterprise gymnasium for exercise. Quarterly physical checks tested his physical fitness as well as general health. In spite of his evident strength and conditioning, Kirk did tend to put on extra weight from time to time. Whenever Dr. McCoy noticed such a gain, he was unafraid to adjust Kirk's diet card , at least once annoying his captain with a plate of dietary salad . ( TOS : " Charlie X ", " The Corbomite Maneuver ")

Kirk could count on McCoy to express exactly what he thought, whenever he thought it, frequently without the courtesy of a question, and the doctor was often the sharpest observer of Kirk's actions and character. An early act of constructive insubordination occurred when the Enterprise faced the ominous spacecraft Fesarius and Kirk seemed to be pushing young Lieutenant Dave Bailey past his breaking point. McCoy let his opinion loose from beside the captain's chair, and Kirk barked an angry reply--but this led Kirk to realize that poker, not chess as Spock had postulated, was the game he and Commander Balok were really playing. Unintimidated by that angered reply to his unrestrained expression of opinion, McCoy continued that behavior throughout their service together, earning a wide latitude with Kirk. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")

The first time McCoy saved Kirk's life, however, was not in surgery, but instead when McCoy fired a phaser (which itself was unusual for McCoy) in 2266. When the M-113 creature of planet M-113 attacked Kirk, it appeared to McCoy as Nancy Crater , a past love and a particularly powerful impediment to inflict harm. With Spock's help, McCoy was able to see past the creature's camouflage, killing it before it killed Kirk. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

During the original five-year mission, Kirk recorded a tape of last orders Commander Spock and Chief Medical Officer McCoy were to play upon his death. He urged Spock and McCoy to give each other the same trust and loyalty they had each shown him. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

McCoy's retirement from Starfleet in 2270 ended abruptly when Kirk, through Admiral Nogura , reactivated McCoy's commission for the Enterprise 's emergency deployment for the V'Ger crisis. Kirk's plea," "Damn it, Bones, I need you-- BADLY," ended McCoy's objection to the unwelcome "draft" and he returned to his frequent duty station, hovering just behind the captain's chair. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

In 2285 , McCoy advised a melancholic Kirk, while both were surrounded by Kirk's collection of genuine and simulated antiques, on his (Kirk's) birthday, "Get back your command. Get it back before you turn into part of this collection." He gestured to the collection and finished, "Before you really do grow old." ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Kirk's drastic action taken to save Spock's katra was also an effort to save McCoy from the anguishing burden of bearing Spock's "marbles". After his moonlight requisition of the Enterprise resulted in the ship's destruction, burning through the Genesis planet's atmosphere, Kirk asked, " My God, Bones... what have I done? " McCoy replied, " What you had to do, what you always do: turn death into a fighting chance to live. " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Montgomery Scott , the oldest of the Enterprise senior officers, was also the most consistently deferential to Kirk. While not included in Kirk's innermost circle with Spock and McCoy, Kirk had evident faith in Scotty's capabilities as an engineer. Kirk pushed the Enterprise past her known limits many times, and the technical genius of his devoutly loyal "miracle worker" was regularly the key to success.

He later admitted that a big part of his reputation was his exaggeration of repair estimates, so that Kirk could be pleasantly surprised when Scott has them done quicker than he had expected. It became a running joke of sorts between the two later on. Scott and Kirk shared a passion for the Enterprise , but Scotty's was a simpler, less complicated love for his " bairns ". ( TNG : " Relics "; TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Naked Time ", " The Changeling ", " The Paradise Syndrome ", " Elaan of Troyius "; Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

As the ship's second officer , commanding the Enterprise while Kirk led a landing party, Scott's personal loyalty to Kirk served as a bulwark against various ambassadors or potentates who threatened mission success. Usually, Scott refrained from taking the captain's chair and hovered around the conn when left in command, as he always felt more comfortable in engineering than on the bridge in command of the ship. He took the center seat only when the situation was critical: scaring a Klingon ship away from Capella IV , or defiantly facing down three Romulan battle cruisers and demanding his captain's return. ( TOS : " A Taste of Armageddon ", " Bread and Circuses ", " Friday's Child ", " The Enterprise Incident ")

When escape from the mirror universe via the transporter meant one of the Enterprise party had to stay behind to operate the controls, Scott stoically volunteered. After Kirk overrode him, Scott's one-word plea " Jim! " was one of the few times he familiarly addressed Kirk. ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

Scott kept his temper throughout Korax 's barrage of taunts and insults thrown at Kirk, but a cross word about the Enterprise led Scott to throw the first punch in the K-7 bar-fight of 2267. When Kirk, a little incredulous that his engineer had failed to defend his honor, confined Scott to quarters as punishment, the engineer beamed at the chance to catch up on technical manuals. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles ")

Kirk observed Scott's infatuation with two young and attractive lieutenants, Carolyn Palamas and Mira Romaine , with bemused detachment at first, until the "stiff-necked thistle-head" abandoned his usual solid professionalism and required Kirk's stern, but affectionate, scolding. ( TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ", " The Lights of Zetar ")

Kirk's socialization with Scott outside of the call of duty was rare. One exception, a visit to the flesh-pots of Argelius II , was a morale-boosting effort by Kirk on Scott's behalf. If Scott noticed the motivation, he didn't seem to care. Even after the horrific encounter with the Redjac entity, the "old Aberdeen pub-crawler" was eager to join Kirk on a second expedition to the planet. By 2285, Kirk knew enough about Scott's off-duty habits to detect the residue of a "wee bout" of shore leave at first glance. ( TOS : " Wolf in the Fold "; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

When the V'Ger threat forced the newly refitted Enterprise into duty, Scott protested with a litany of complaints about the rush and unready state of the starship. After Kirk revealed he had convinced Admiral Nogura to return his command, Scott responded, " Any man, who could manage such a feat... I would'na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time, sir, and she'll be ready. " ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

In 2293 , Scott accompanied Kirk, along with Chekov, to the christening ceremony of the Enterprise -B. Kirk expressed to Scott his surprise over Sulu finding the time to make a family after encountering his daughter Demora . Scott reminded Kirk of a saying he always said, " If something's important, you make the time. " Scott also commented on Kirk's seeming restlessness, asking him if he found retirement to be a little lonely. " You know, I'm glad you're an engineer . With tact like that, you'd make a lousy psychiatrist ", Kirk replied to him. Later, Kirk was believed to be lost in a hull breach in deflector control caused by an energy tendril from the Nexus . Making his way to the heavily damaged area, Scott mourned the loss of his former commanding officer. ( Star Trek Generations )

Though Hikaru Sulu was briefly an Enterprise physicist , he was transferred to the command division under Kirk's command, where Sulu became the ship's senior helmsman throughout the historic five-year mission. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Corbomite Maneuver ") Kirk relied on Sulu as a capable officer he could trust with the Enterprise conn in battle situations ( TOS : " Arena ", " Errand of Mercy ", " The Savage Curtain ") and on away missions as delicate as the timeline-risky visit to the US 498th Airbase Group in Omaha , Nebraska , on Earth in 1969 . ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ")

Sulu risked his career for Kirk on two occasions. Conspiring with his friends, he assaulted a security guard to liberate Dr. McCoy, and piloted the stolen Enterprise out of Earth Spacedock to the Genesis planet in 2285. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ) As captain of the Excelsior in 2293, he penetrated the Azure Nebula in Klingon territory in an effort to rescue his former captain before he was forced to turn back, ( VOY : " Flashback ") and he later joined Kirk in halting the Khitomer conspiracy . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Outside of their careers, however, the friendship between Kirk and Sulu was not especially close. Kirk was surprised to discover Sulu had a daughter, Demora , on the maiden voyage of the Enterprise -B. Chekov had to remind him that he had actually met her before, twelve years prior. ( Star Trek Generations )

Starfleet assigned Janice Rand as Kirk's personal yeoman in 2266. Initially, he complained about the idea of a female yeoman, leading McCoy to ask flatly, "What's the matter, Jim? Don't you trust yourself?" Kirk said he already had a female to worry about, and that the Enterprise was that female. Kirk warmed to Rand, but an undercurrent of sexual attraction between the two became obvious in stressful situations. Suffering from polywater intoxication in 2266, Kirk confided his attraction for Rand to Spock, shouting that he had "a beautiful yeoman!" Kirk later reached out to her hesitantly, longing for her, but he could not approach her on account of his duty. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Naked Time ")

A transporter malfunction created a duplicate of the captain that contained his negative qualities, such as hostility, lust, and violence. That version of Kirk was consumed with lust and desire for Rand and went "on the prowl" to find her. Eventually, when they both were alone in her quarters, he slowly approached her. Besides being a little startled by his presence, it looked and felt normal for her, until she noticed the captain drinking from a bottle of Saurian brandy.

Obviously drunk, he started telling her that she was "too beautiful to ignore" and "too much woman." As he stalked closer to her, he claimed that they'd both been "pretending too long." Then, he suddenly grabbed her and began kissing her fiercely. The Kirk duplicate tried to pin her to the floor to rape her. But Rand defended herself, leaving a large scratch on her attacker's face, which helped the crew differentiate between the two Kirk "halves." After the situation was resolved, Rand continued as Kirk's yeoman until a reassignment in 2267. She returned to the Enterprise as transporter chief in the 2270s . ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ", " The Conscience of the King "; Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Kirk and Rand repeatedly felt an attraction for one another, but resisted discussing or acting on their feelings openly. During one mission, Rand, Kirk and other members of a landing party were trapped on a planet where only children survived; adults quickly developed a deadly virus which had been accidentally created by a life prolongation project on the planet. When Rand became upset, Kirk held her close in his arms and comforted her. Miri , a teenage girl whom the team had befriended, witnessed this and became jealous.

She felt that Rand was her "competition" and briefly betrayed the landing party by letting the other children abduct Rand. The captain's love for Rand became obvious when he was under stress from the disease, as he became distraught and obsessed in finding "his Janice," even grabbing Miri and shouting, "Where is she, Miri? Where is she, Miri? Where's Janice? Has something happened to her? Where is she? I've got to find Janice!"

Back aboard the Main Bridge, Kirk admitted, acknowledging that Miri's true age was far older than it appeared to be, " I never get involved with older women, Yeoman. " Rand threw him an "Oh, really?" look in response. ( TOS : " Miri ")

When Kirk was a midshipman , he befriended Academy instructor Lieutenant Ben Finney. Some time later, Ensign Kirk and Finney served together aboard the USS Republic . The two became so close that Finney named his daughter, Jame , after Kirk.

A rift developed between the two friends while aboard the Republic when Kirk logged a mistake that Finney had made which could have caused the destruction of the ship. Because of this, Finney was put on reprimand and his name was sent to the bottom of the promotion list. Finney blamed Kirk for his subsequent inability to gain a command of his own.

Often described as a ladies' man , Kirk was notably successful in attracting women, and enthusiastic in their pursuit, yet notoriously unsuccessful in establishing any lasting relationships with women – a fact his brother Sam tended to warn women about. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ") By design or coincidence, his most significant affairs were with women fundamentally incompatible with his life in Starfleet. In weighing the balance of starship versus a settled home life, the gross tonnage of the Enterprise usually tipped the scale. ( TOS : " The Naked Time ", " Elaan of Troyius ")

As Kirk became more and more well-known, these exploits became the stuff of legend; when Jadzia Dax , upon seeing Kirk while aboard the Enterprise during the Defiant crew's trip over a hundred years into their past, mentioned how much more handsome "he" was in person, Captain Sisko responded that Kirk had "quite the reputation" in terms of his dealing with women – though Dax then admitted that the "he" to whom she had referred was actually Spock. ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " )

While attending the Academy, Kirk was romantically involved with at least two women.

• Janice Lester
• La'an Noonien Singh
• Carol Marcus

In 2252 , another lover was a woman named Ruth . In 2267, he was greeted by a replica of Ruth that the Shore Leave Planet, in the Omicron Delta region, created. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

Kirk had a year-long relationship with Janice Lester while she also was at the Academy. He professed loving her, but the romance ended badly after " the intense hatred of her own womanhood made life with her impossible. " The two were reunited in a truly bizarre manner in 2269, when Lester, extremely jealous of Kirk's successful career, traded her consciousness with that of Kirk's to take his place as captain of the Enterprise and then exact a double revenge by killing both Kirk and her womanhood. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ", " Turnabout Intruder ")

Kirk first met La'an Noonien-Singh in 2259 when Singh contacted Kirk on the pretense of confirming his brother's place of birth, after her adventures with another alternate timeline version of Kirk. He later invited her for drinks if they were ever to meet at starbase. ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

They officially met later on when Kirk transported aboard the Enterprise . Kirk revealed to her details of his childhood and reminded La'an that she still owed him a drink. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Kirk was involved with Dr. Carol Marcus in the late 2250s . She was stationed at Starbase 1 in 2259 and was pregnant at the time. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ") She bore his son, David Marcus , but the relationship dissolved as their careers drove them apart. In 2285, the fractured family unit was briefly reunited. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ;)

• Janet Wallace

In 2263 , Kirk broke off a relationship with Areel Shaw . Kirk was reunited with Shaw four years later, when she was assigned as the prosecutor in his court martial, though Shaw was pleased when she lost the case and Kirk was exonerated of any wrongdoing. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

During an Enterprise lab's Christmas party in 2265, Kirk met Dr. Helen Noel and danced with her. He used her first name to address her and engaged in brief flirtation with Noel that ended unsatisfactorily for Kirk. He later exhibited irritation when McCoy assigned her to help Kirk investigate Tantalus Penal Colony , and Kirk insisted on using her surname while working with her. Testing the neural neutralizer , Noel conditioned Kirk to believe that their previous encounter had been a sweeping romance. The colony's mad doctor, Tristan Adams , used the suggestion of love and loss of Noel to torture Kirk. ( TOS : " Dagger of the Mind ")

• Lenore Karidian

Also in 2266, Kirk met a girl called Miri , who was soon about to enter puberty , despite being about 300 years old chronologically speaking. Kirk piqued her interest by calling her "pretty" when they first met, and they went on to develop a close friendship. When the Enterprise left Miri (where Miri lived) shortly thereafter, Janice Rand told Kirk that Miri had really loved him. He accepted that, but said that he never got involved with older women. ( TOS : " Miri ")

Later the same year, while on Planet Q , Kirk met Lenore Karidian at a party and entered into a brief romance with the then-nineteen-year-old blonde girl. As with many of Kirk's love affairs, the two fell in "love at first sight." Kirk was clearly enamored with Lenore, but the true depth of his feelings – and the importance of those feelings relative to his duties as a captain – were conveyed only through insinuation.

When Leonard McCoy directly asked Kirk whether he really cared for the hopelessly insane Lenore, the captain paused pensively, then evaded the question with a navigational order: " Ahead warp factor one, Mr. Leslie . " McCoy's reply, " That's an answer, " presumably indicated that he understood Kirk's unstated position: as captain, Kirk's priority was always the ship, despite his personal feelings for women such as Lenore. ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King ")

• Edith Keeler
• Marlena Moreau

In 2268, on the surface of the Amerind planet, an accident induced amnesia in Kirk and separated him from the Enterprise landing party.

For several months, Kirk lived among the Native American inhabitants, worshiped as a god called " Kirok ". His mind at ease from the pressures of command, he took a wife, Miramanee , who became pregnant with his child.

When the tribal worship of Kirok was dispelled, he and Miramanee were stoned – fatally injuring both the young woman and their unborn child. ( TOS : " The Paradise Syndrome ")

• Rayna Kapec

In 2269, the criminally-insane, pathologically-lying Orion inmate of the Elba II penal colony , Marta , became infatuated with Kirk while tending to him after torture . The fact that she loved him meant she had to kill him, but she failed in the attempt. Garth of Izar's jealousy led him to use Marta as a demonstration of a new explosive, killing her. ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

• Khan Noonien Singh

One of the most violent rivalries of his life was the bitter feud between himself and 20th century Augment dictator Khan Noonien Singh .

In 2267 , the Enterprise discovered Singh and his followers aboard the SS Botany Bay and awakened them. Unaware of Khan's true identity, Khan took advantage of Kirk's hospitality to familiarize himself with the ship and its systems. After identifying Khan, Kirk had him restricted to quarters, prompting Khan to implement his plan to seize control of the Enterprise .

With the help of Lieutenant Marla McGivers , Khan assumed control of the Enterprise . The augments were eventually subdued with anesthetic gas, causing Kirk and Khan to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Realizing he was no match for Khan's augment strength, Kirk subdued him with a heavy flow-control rod. After defeating Khan and his followers, Kirk exiled them to the then habitable world of Ceti Alpha V . ( TOS : " Space Seed ")

Kirk would more than once cross paths with the Klingon officer Kor. They first encountered each other on Organia during the 2267 Federation-Klingon War. Kirk was posing as a native of the planet when Kor declared himself its military governor. Kor was immediately drawn to Kirk, admiring his spirit compared to the passive Organians, and appointed him as his liaison. He would not learn Kirk's real identity until after Kirk and Spock had destroyed his supply depot. Kor noted he would have liked to face Kirk in battle and, even though he planned to have him executed and to use the mind scanner on him, joined him for a drink, where he noted his admiration for Starfleet and claimed they were alike despite their ideological differences.

After Kirk had been freed by the Organians, he again confronted Kor in his office. Kor managed to surreptitiously summon his guards but it was at that point that the Organians intervened, preventing combat between both the troops on the surface and the fleets in orbit. Kirk and Kor found themselves temporarily united in protest against the Organians' interference but Kirk accepted the situation quicker than Kor, restraining him from attempting to attack the non-corporeal beings. ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")

Several of Kirk's voyages involved travel through time, either personally through time portals or along with the entire starship Enterprise via acceleration through gravity wells . According to the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations , Kirk, who sometimes ignored regulations when he felt it was for the greater good, amassed seventeen separate temporal violations during his career, more than any other person on file as of 2373 .

His time-travel exploits were well-known enough that, when Sisko, after he and his crew returned to the 24th century, told Dulmur and Lucsly that the vessel they had encountered in the past was the first Enterprise , the two DTI investigators shrugged at the realization that it was "his" ship, which Sisko proudly confirmed. Kirk was regarded by DTI as a "menace". ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " )

• Earth's 20th century
• Other temporal events

Kirk and crew visited 20th century Earth on multiple occasions during his captaincy.

In 2267, after experiencing violent time distortions, the Enterprise discovered the source, the Guardian of Forever . McCoy, delusional from an accidental cordrazine overdose, entered the time portal, altering history to the extent that the Federation and the Enterprise no longer existed. Kirk and Spock followed McCoy, appearing in 1930 New York City on Earth . Kirk found himself and Spock shelter in exchange for work, falling in love with a beautiful, idealistic benefactor, Edith Keeler . After Spock discovered that McCoy had prevented history's recorded death of Keeler, he was forced to restrain the doctor from saving her life again while Kirk watched Keeler die and himself avoid doing anything to save her life, the price for restoring the timeline. ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

When the Enterprise traveled back in time from 2267 to Earth of 1969 but was accidentally observed by the United States Air Force , Kirk, with Sulu, beamed down to a military base in Omaha , Nebraska , to destroy photographic evidence of the Enterprise 's appearance. By warping around the sun 's gravity well in a slingshot maneuver , Kirk and his crew managed to rectify the situation, cause the incident to "unhappen," and return to their own time aboard the Enterprise . ( TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ") While formulating a means of escaping an alternate timeline created by Q 's manipulations of the past, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard referenced Kirk's intentional time travels, using this maneuver, prior to attempting it themselves aboard the CSS La Sirena in visiting the past from 2401 . ( PIC : " Penance ")

A visit to the planet Sarpeidon , doomed by its sun's impending nova , revealed that the Sarpeidans had escaped en masse into their own planet's past via their Atavachron time portal . The harried and ubiquitous Atoz mistook Kirk, Spock, and McCoy for tardy natives, and he thrust them into the planet's past. ( TOS : " All Our Yesterdays ") In 2269 , Kirk and Spock used the Guardian of Forever a second time, on a mission of historical observation to the dawn of Orion civilization. Upon their return, no-one but Kirk recognized Spock as the Enterprise first officer. Supposedly killed in his childhood, Spock returned to the Vulcan of his youth, playing the role of a nearly forgotten cousin who had saved his life during the kahs-wan , a Vulcan coming-of-age ordeal. ( TAS : " Yesteryear ")

• UEF Enterprise
• USS Farragut

In the alternate timeline created where Khan Noonien Singh was killed by the Romulan Sera , Kirk was born on the USS Iowa , and was (still) the brother of George Samuel Kirk, who had died sometime prior to 2259.

Kirk once claimed he spent six months in a Denobulan prison with a Vulcan cellmate. He learned the Vulcan neck pinch from this person, as well as how to make Plomeek soup in a toilet .

In an alternate timeline where Captain Christopher Pike remained in command of the Enterprise and avoided the accident that exposed him to delta radiation , Kirk became the captain of the Farragut . In 2266 , he responded to the distress call sent by Outpost 4 as it came under Romulan attack. At Kirk's suggestion, the Farragut and the Enterprise shadowed the Romulan Bird-of-Prey responsible, preparing to engage it in a pincer move once it entered the tail of the comet Icarus IV and became temporarily visible through its cloaking device .

However, the Romulan Commander had anticipated their plan and positioned his vessel behind the Farragut . Kirk ordered his ship to turn and engage the Bird-of-Prey, but the Farragut was hit by a plasma torpedo at close range and sustained catastrophic damage to its saucer section . With life support failing, the surviving crew were evacuated to the Enterprise , including Kirk. After Pike negotiated a ceasefire, Kirk piloted a shuttlecraft for reinforcements, returning with a fleet of drone ships to bluff the Romulan armada that had appeared.

In an alternate timeline created where Spock was killed in 2237 when he was seven years old, Kirk had assumed command of the USS Enterprise by 2265 and chosen the Andorian Thelin as his first officer. ( TAS : " Yesteryear ")

• Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission
• Grankite Order of Tactics Class of Excellence
• Preantares Ribbon of Commendation Classes First and Second
• Starfleet Medal of Honor
• Silver Palm with Cluster
• Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry
• Karagite Order of Heroism TOS : " Court Martial "
• The Teer of Capella IV bears the first names of Leonard McCoy and James T. Kirk. TOS : " Friday's Child "
• Late 2250s/Early 2260s

Born to George and Winona Kirk in Riverside , Iowa on March 22nd.

On Tarsus IV , he was one of the nine witnesses to a massacre ordered by Governor Kodos .

Began a fifteen-year friendship with Gary Mitchell

• Entered Starfleet Academy as a cadet .
• Was romantically involved with Ruth and bullied by Finnegan .
• Befriends Lieutenant Benjamin Finney .
• Promoted to lieutenant.
• Was on his first planetary survey mission at Neural .
• Graduated from Academy after defeating the "no-win" Kobayashi Maru scenario .

Encounters dikironium cloud creature while serving aboard the Farragut .

Appointed First officer of the Farragut .

• Gary Mitchel was one of his students.

Breaks off relationship with Janet Wallace .

Breaks off relationship with Areel Shaw .

• Takes the USS Enterprise to the galactic barrier , the first Earth ship to do so in two hundred years.
• Achieved first contact with the First Federation .
• Responsible for stealing a Romulan cloaking device during a covert Starfleet intelligence mission.
• Diverts the asteroid-ship Yonada from destroying Daran V .
• Nearly killed by Dr. Janice Lester with whom he'd had a year-long relationship years before.

Promoted to Rear Admiral and assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations .

Accepted temporary grade reduction to Captain and assumed command of USS Enterprise to intercept V'ger .

Retires from Starfleet.

Meets Antonia and enjoys a romantic relationship with her until choosing to resume his Starfleet career instead of marrying her — a decision he later regrets.

Returns to Starfleet as an instructor at Starfleet Academy.

• Assumes temporary command of the Enterprise during a routine training mission, engages [[Kahn Noonien Singh] in the Battle of the Mutara Nebula .
• Returns to Earth to face court martial charges.
• Subsequently, saves the planet in the Whale Probe incident.

Takes the Enterprise -A to the center of the galaxy after Vulcan renegade Sybok hijacked the ship.

• Along with Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Excelsior , was responsible for saving the Khitomer Conference .
• Jean-Luc Picard finds Kirk alive inside the Nexus .

The wit and wisdom of Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk.

• Existential Kirk
• Kirk on death
• In Harm's Way
• Kirk on women
• Kirk and Spock
• Opinions of Kirk
• Strange New Worlds
• Original series
• Appearances
• Background information
• Ambiguities
• Reiteration
• External links
• Animated series
• Deep Space Nine
• Short Treks
• Lower Decks
• very Short Treks
• " Where No Man Has Gone Before "
• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " What Are Little Girls Made Of? "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " The Menagerie, Part II "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " Errand of Mercy "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Paradise Syndrome "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " The Way to Eden "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " All Our Yesterdays "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " Yesteryear "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Survivor "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Ambergris Element "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Generations
• " No Small Parts " picture only
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Lost in Translation "
• Casting Kirk
• Naming Kirk
• Character development
• Kirk's demise

Kirk was played by William Shatner .

Don Eitner served as body double for Shatner as the pair of Kirks in " The Enemy Within ". Actress Sandra Smith also "played" Captain Kirk in Janice Lester 's body in " Turnabout Intruder ", while Shatner "played" Lester in Kirk's body.

Following his introduction in the second pilot, the only non-appearance of Kirk was in the animated episode " The Slaver Weapon ". Archive footage of Shatner was used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Trials and Tribble-ations ", and archive audio of his voice was used in the Star Trek: Enterprise finale, " These Are the Voyages... " and the Star Trek: Short Treks episode " Ephraim and Dot ".

William Shatner was not the first choice to play Kirk. The producers first approached actors Lloyd Bridges and Jack Lord for the role; both turned it down. [1] Both Bridges and Lord have since passed away.

In order to play Kirk, William Shatner attempted to stay physically fit. " I've tried to stay limber, and I've tried to keep myself in shape, " he related. " Not for a little reason. For a great reason, because I'm playing Captain Kirk, and I wanted to be ready for each movie and not act my age. " ("Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray )

• ↑ "Star Trek": View from the Bridge as the torch is passed to the next generation, the captains of the Enterprise shoot down rumors of feud.

The name for Kirk wasn't decided until 1965 . In a memo written by Gene Roddenberry to researcher Kellam de Forest on 18 May 1965 , sixteen names were under consideration. These names were:

• Christopher

This memo was reprinted in The Making of Star Trek [ page number? • edit ] and Inside Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] .

"James Tiberius Kirk" was the final choice of name chosen to adorn the new TV show's hero.

Originally, according to Gene Roddenberry 's novel Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Kirk was named "James" after his mother's "first love instructor" as well as "an uncle" (his "father's beloved brother"), and "Tiberius" because the Roman emperor fascinated his grandfather Samuel.

Kirk's middle name came later, as can be ascertained by the "James R. Kirk" tombstone, created by Gary Mitchell in " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", Kirk's middle initial was R, not T. According to D.C. Fontana in the introduction for Star Trek: The Classic Episodes 1 , when the mistake over the middle initial was discovered, Gene Roddenberry decided that if pressed for an answer on the discrepancy, the response was to be " Gary Mitchell had godlike powers, but at base he was Human. He made a mistake. "

The origin of Kirk's established middle name has several possible, if not potentially conflicting, origins, including the "official" claim that David Gerrold spontaneously blurted out the name in response to a question regarding what Kirk's middle initial stood for at a 1973 Star Trek convention , and subsequently conferred with D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry , who approved the name, and it became forever part of Star Trek lore. [1] In another instance, the name was referenced by Fontana in a Q&A with her and Majel Barrett , in an audio recording dated from a 1972 convention, which suggests that Fontana may have been the first to mention the name to the public. [2] Whereas a third case can be made, and consequently has been by various reference works, that Roddenberry himself was responsible for the name, as his "fondness" for "Tiberius" predates Star Trek , having had already used it in his prior series, The Lieutenant , for that lead character: "Willam Tiberius Rice". ( Star Trek Chronology  (p. 40) ; The Encyclopedia Shatnerica , p. 90; Star Trek Magazine Special 2016 , pp. 23-24)

• ↑ David Gerrold recalls "More Tribbles" and "Bem"
• ↑ Majel Barret and DC Fontana 1972

Gene Roddenberry , in his original pitch to television producers, described the character (originally named Robert April , then Christopher Pike) that later came to be known, eventually, as Captain Kirk:

The 'skipper' , about thirty-four, Academy graduate, rank of Captain... a shorthand sketch of Robert April might be 'A space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower ', lean and capable both mentally and physically. A colorfully complex personality, he is capable of action and decision that can verge on the heroic – and at the same time lives a continual battle with self-doubt and the loneliness of command. As with similar men in the past (Drake, Cook, Bougainville, and Scott), his primary weakness is a predilection to action over administration, a temptation to take the greatest risks onto himself. But, unlike most early explorers, he has an almost compulsive compassion for the plight of others, alien as well as human, [and] must continually fight the temptation to risk many to save one.

NBC 's early- 1966 sales brochure (reprinted in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story ) described Kirk thus:

A Space Academy graduate, Captain James Kirk has learned to accept the loneliness of command as he has rapidly climbed the ladder of promotion, although he never will learn to like the loneliness his post brings. Starship command is the most important position a man in the Space Service can hold, since he alone can and must make decisions in his contact with the other worlds that can affect the future course of civilization throughout the Universe. So far, James Kirk has proven himself equal to this awesome responsibility. A strong, capable, highly intelligent man in his mid-thirties, Kirk is a born leader, who has trained himself to walk the tightrope between friendship and authority without losing his sense of humor or compassion for others.

William Shatner was to have reprised his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek: Phase II . The writers/directors guide for that series, written, among others, by Gene Roddenberry and Jon Povill between May and August 1977 , described Kirk as follows:

A shorthand sketch of Kirk might be 'a space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower,' constantly on trial with himself, a strong, complex personality. With the Starship out of communication with Earth and Starfleet bases for long periods of time, a Starship captain has unusual broad powers over both the lives and welfare of his crew, as well as over Earth people and activities encountered during these voyages. He also has broad power as an Earth Ambassador may discover. Kirk feels these responsibilities strongly and is fully capable of letting the worry and frustration lead him into error. He is also capable of fatigue and inclined to push himself beyond Human limits, then condemn himself because he is not superhuman. The crew respects him, some almost to the point of adoration. At the same time, no senior officer aboard is fearful of using his own intelligence in questioning Kirk's orders and can themselves be strongly articulate up to the point where Kirk signifies his decision has been made. Kirk is a veteran of hundreds of planet landings and space emergencies. He has a broad and highly mature perspective on command, fellow crewmen, and even on alien life customs, however strange or repugnant they seem when reassessed against Earth standards. On the other hand, don't play Kirk like the captain of an 1812 frigate in which nothing or no one moves without his command. The Enterprise crew is a finely-trained team, well able to anticipate information and action Kirk needs. Aboard ship, Captain Kirk has only a few opportunities for anything approaching friendship. One exception is with ship's surgeon Dr. McCoy, who has a legitimate professional need to constantly be aware of the state of the Captain's mind and emotions. But on a 'shore leave' away from the confines of self-imposed discipline, Jim Kirk is likely to play pretty hard, almost compulsively so. It is not impossible he will let this drag him at one time or another into an unwise romantic liaison which he will have great difficulty disentangling. He is, in short, a strong man forced by the requirements of his ship and career into the often lonely role of command, even lonelier because Starship command is the most difficult and demanding task of his century.

Regarding the death of Kirk, Ronald D. Moore , co-writer of the script in which Kirk died, wrote:

Years later, Moore added:

William Shatner personally found portraying the final appearance of Kirk, in Star Trek Generations , was "kind of strange and sad." ("Uniting Two Legends", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray )

Star Trek ' s writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman , intended the alternate reality Spock to be given a hologram of Kirk Prime by Spock Prime to convince him of their friendship. His message would have bookended the young Kirk's promotion to captain and explained Spock's offer to become his first officer. However, the filmmakers opted to drop the idea without proposing it to Shatner, as the actor was vocal about having a substantial role in the film and not a cameo. Kirk's lines were as follows:

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... (stops, grins) I know I know, it's illogical to celebrate something you had nothing to do with, but I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on your appointment to the ambassadorship so I thought I'd seize the occasion... Bravo, Spock – they tell me your first mission may take you away for awhile, so I'll be the first to wish you luck... and to say... I miss you, old friend. I suppose I'd always imagined us... outgrowing Starfleet together. Watching life swing us into our Emeritus years... I look around at the new cadets now and can't help thinking... has it really been so long? Wasn't it only yesterday we stepped onto the Enterprise as boys? That I had to prove to the crew I deserved command... and their respect? I know what you'd say – 'It's their turn now, Jim...' And of course you're right... but it got me thinking: Who's to say we can't go one more round? By the last tally, only twenty five percent of the galaxy's been chartered... I'd call that negligent. Criminal even – an invitation. You once said being a starship captain was my first, best destiny... if that's true, then yours is to be by my side. If there's any true logic to the universe... we'll end up on that bridge again someday. Admit it, Spock. For people like us, the journey itself... is home. [2]

• ↑ Moore talks Trek past, Galactica future.
• ↑ Exclusive: Red the Star Trek 2009 Scene Written for William Shatner

Accepted canon regarding Kirk's early life before the Enterprise , and gaps between events portrayed in films, are scarce and ambiguous. The following notes attempt to reconcile the "mysteries" of Kirk and canon, but these questions may never be satisfactorily answered.

One of the ambiguities was when Lieutenant Kirk was an instructor at the Academy. According to " Coming of Age ", there was an age requirement of 16 years for cadets. Assuming that Gary Mitchell was born in 2242 , the earliest that he could have entered the Academy was in 2258 . Of course, this raised the probability that the blonde lab technician might be Carol Marcus. Speaking of his time at the Academy as an instructor, he said in a line of dialogue from the script of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that, " I sort of leaned on cadets I liked. "

The producers of Star Trek have stated – including on the audio commentary – that many of the events of the alternate reality could have taken place in the original timeline. Some possible events include:

• a rebellious youth in Iowa
• disciplinary actions for cheating on the Kobayashi Maru
• meeting Spock for the first time because he cheated on his test

Roberto Orci , co-writer of Star Trek , had said that in an early draft of that film, dialogue confirmed that in the prime reality, Kirk was born in Iowa and not aboard the USS Kelvin : " If not for the attack from the Narada , the Kelvin would've reached Earth and Kirk would've been born in Iowa. The attack made Winona Kirk go into labor early. " [1] The dialogue in question was likely Prime Spock's line in which he tells the alternate James T. Kirk that he was born on a farm in Iowa, to which Kirk corrected him, stating he (the alternate Kirk) was born on a starship. This line appears in the novelization of the film , which used an early draft of the screenplay as a basis.

In March 1985, when the town was looking for a theme for its annual town festival, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council who had read The Making of Star Trek – a book that lists Kirk's year of birth as 2228 rather than the more firmly established 2233 – suggested to the council that Riverside should proclaim itself to be the future birthplace of Kirk. Miller's motion passed unanimously. The council later wrote to Roddenberry for his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and with Roddenberry's consent, the town developed a tourist industry around the idea. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home then established on screen that Kirk was from Iowa.

• ↑ Orci & Kurtzman to answer fan question at TrekMovie + Transcript of last week's 'Impomptu' Q&A

In 2022 , Paul Wesley was cast as James T. Kirk in the season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , portraying the captain of the USS Farragut in an alternate timeline. The announcement of his casting was made on 15 March 2022 . He returned to the role in the second season of Strange New Worlds . [1]

• ↑ 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Finds its James T. Kirk with Paul Wesley

Outside of filmed canon productions, the character of Kirk had appeared in many novels , comics , games , and collectibles . While Kirk was the hero of nearly every TOS novel, he was notably the star of a series of novels by William Shatner (with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ) which starred Kirk, reborn after his 24th century death when the Borg -Romulan alliance resurrected and brainwashed him, intending to use Kirk to kill Picard.

However, surgery performed by Doctor Julian Bashir , aided by Admiral McCoy, removed the implant controlling Kirk's actions, and the residual 'programming' was removed thanks to a mind meld with Spock. After his condition was stabilized and the Borg-Romulan alliance was destroyed, as well as a fatal blow delivered to the Borg Collective , Kirk went on to form a close, albeit sometimes strained, friendship with Picard, as well as once again encounter the mirror universe as his other self returned to kill him. He even goes on to have a child with Teilani, a genetically-engineered Romulan/Klingon hybrid.

According to Star Trek II: Biographies , Kirk was born on July 28th, 2182 on Farside Base, Luna to parents Eugene Claudius Kirk and Marjorie Wimpole. He had a sister named Michele Suzanne Kirk.

According to several novels (such as Final Frontier and Best Destiny , both by Diane Carey ) Kirk's father "George Samuel Kirk, Senior" was a Starfleet commander who was a close friend of Robert April and briefly the Enterprise 's executive officer on its first mission. The novel Collision Course by William Shatner gave James Kirk's father's name as "George Joseph Kirk". The name of Kirk's mother was said to be "Winona Kirk". Crisis on Centaurus stated George died on the planet Hellspawn in 2250, but this was overruled canonically in the 2009 film with Spock stating George Kirk saw James taking command of the Enterprise .

The DS9 novel Original Sin features an Akira -class starship named the USS James T. Kirk (NCC-63719) in honor of Kirk. It had an illustrious service history which included exploration and defensive missions.

In the third and fourth issues of the IDW Publishing comic Star Trek: Spock: Reflections , Picard sent a message to Spock after the events of Star Trek Generations explaining how Kirk did not die on the Enterprise -B, but was pulled into the Nexus and how he left it to help Picard defeat Soran from killing 200 million people in order to re-enter the Nexus and in the process, Kirk was killed while saving Picard and millions of others. Since Kirk was already thought dead, and explaining the nature of the Nexus to Starfleet would be difficult, Picard decided to bury Kirk on Veridian III where he gave his life to save millions. Nonetheless, Picard felt Spock should know of Kirk's fate. Eventually, Spock traveled to Veridian III and retrieved Kirk's body where he brought him back home to Earth to be reburied at the Kirk family farm in Iowa. Spock explains to Picard how Kirk did the same for him, at a terrible cost , and says he needed to be equal to Kirk's sacrifice.

In the third issue of the Doctor Who crossover comic Assimilation² , Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scott investigate a Federation archaeological team on the planet Aprilia III on Stardate 3368.5, which had lost contact with Starfleet. Upon landing in the shuttlecraft Galileo , they are greeted by project manager Jefferson Whitmore, who assures them that all is well and gives them a tour of the facility, but Kirk finds the staff suspiciously calm. His team later return to the facility after dark where they meet the Fourth Doctor , assuming he's a member of the research team and he helps them break the electronic lock and together, they infiltrated the facility. There, they find the researchers standing catatonically, with small cybernetic devices in their ears. It is discovered they were under the control of the Doctor's enemies, the Cybermen . A battle ensues and Kirk fights the Cyber-Controller , but is proved no match for the cybernetic being. The Doctor then asks Kirk if he has any gold on him as he's had experience with the Cybermen and Kirk hands him his communicator. Kirk distracts the Cyber-Controller while the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to disintegrate the communicator's gold cover into dust and use it to clog up the Controller's respiration and allowing Spock to destroy it with his phaser. After the Cybermen are defeated and the Doctor slips quietly away, Kirk arranges for a permanent garrison of Starfleet Security personnel to protect the researchers against further Cyberman incursions.

• James T. Kirk at StarTrek.com
• James T. Kirk at Memory Alpha , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works.
• James T. Kirk at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works.
• James T. Kirk at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 1 Star Trek Into Darkness/Summary
• 2 James T. Kirk
• 3 James T. Kirk/Relationships/Romances

​​Star Trek: The Vulcan Nerve Pinch, Explained

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Star trek: how discovery changed the way we see spock, 15 spock memes only true star trek fans will understand, quick links, what is the vulcan nerve pinch, notable uses of the vulcan nerve pinch in star trek, is anyone immune to a vulcan nerve pinch, is the vulcan nerve pinch based on a real-life technique, key takeaways.

• Spock first introduced the Vulcan nerve pinch in Star Trek: The Original Series and it's been used over 60 times since.
• While Spock's originator Leonard Nimoy invented the ability, there's no set in-universe explanation about how it works so effectively.
• The nerve pinch is not exclusive to Vulcans but is difficult to learn and not effective against every opponent.

Star Trek has served up many distinctive races, but the definitive alien character will always be Spock. Leonard Nimoy established a relatable non-human character on TV like never before, setting many characteristics that have pushed the Vulcan species into pop culture. Everyone knows the traits that mark Vulcans out — pointy ears, eyebrows, logic, and mind melds. But there’s also a particularly effective technique to subdue enemies.

It didn’t take long for Spock to introduce the Vulcan nerve pinch to the show — a skill that arguably became more ubiquitous in the broader franchise than the race that created it. While Spock has popped up more iterations of Star Trek than any other character, the technique he first demonstrated has appeared in every series and most films.

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Simply put, the nerve pinch is a technique by which Vulcans and some non-Vulcans can induce unconsciousness by pinching a pressure point at the base of the neck. It’s a highly effective stealth technique — while not guaranteed, a nerve pinch will often render a victim unconscious before they can cry out, without causing them any serious harm.

Spock first demonstrated the nerve pinch in the first season of the Original Series . “The Enemy Within” saw a transporter accident create an evil ‘negative’ Kirk, who at one point is subdued with a nerve pinch by the Enterprise’s first officer. It quickly became a staple and has subsequently appeared in the franchise over 60 times.

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The technique is not exclusive to Vulcans. Characters like Borg Seven of Nine and Changeling Odo have successfully used the nerve pinch. However, it's notoriously difficult to teach. Spock couldn’t pass the skill on to James T. Kirk, and Dr McCoy was terrible at it when possessed by Spock’s katra In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Captain Jonathan Archer proved to be inexplicably proficient at it in the Enterprise episode “Kir'Shara,” while Jean-Luc Picard seemed to learn it following his intense mind meld with Spock’s father Sarek.

In Star Trek lore the technique is regarded as a quintessential part of being a Vulcan. Outside the franchise, it’s quickly spread into pop culture, earning references in Spaceballs , The O.C. , and a playful Audi advert called ' Leonard Nimoy vs. Zachary Quinto .’

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Even Star Trek’s most rational minds like Spock must grapple with the inherent chaos imperfection.

While mostly reserved for humanoids, the nerve pinch was effective on non-humanoids. In The Animated Series episode “Yesteryear,” Spock successfully nerve-pinched a horse. In Star Trek: Voyager , Tuvok could also use the technique on a member of Species 8472, albeit in the guise of a human.

Spock is clearly a master of the technique, even employing a two-handed version to knock out an Andorian and a Tellarite in “Whom Gods Destroy.” Probably the most famous use of the nerve pinch came in 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when Spock used it to knock out a punk playing loud music on a San Francisco bus, earning a round of applause from his fellow passengers.

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The Vulcan nerve pinch has proved widely effective against humanoid life forms across the galaxy, although there were exceptions. The Vians of Minara were notably immune, as evidenced during the Original Series . While Cardassians and Ferengi have shown resistance to Vulcan mind melds, both species were susceptible to the nerve pinch.

Humans were highly susceptible, although highly-tuned individuals have proved immune. During “Assignment: Earth” the flawlessly conditioned human Gary Seven resisted the Vulcan nerve pinch. Similarly, Khan Noonien Singh felt severe pain but could withstand the technique when subjected to Spock’s attempt in Star Trek Into Darkness .

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The nerve pinch is entirely fictional. Behind the scenes, it was Nimoy who invented the move. While the script suggested that Spock knock out the Kirk duplicate in “The Enemy Within” the actor, with his quick and brilliant grasp of the character, sought a more dignified maneuver that befitted the Vulcan. In the 1992 VHS documentary 25 Year Mission Tour , Nimoy credited William Shatner with finally persuading the episode’s director, Leo Penn, that the nerve pinch was the right move.

Despite inventing it, Nimoy’s preferred explanation for the technique hasn’t held up in Star Trek Lore. Despite the creator suggesting it connects to Vulcan telepathy, it has been successfully deployed by artificial lifeforms like The Next Generation ’s Data and Voyager ’s holographic Doctor.

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Another authoritative source offered a simple solution in The Making of Star Trek . Published in 1968, when the Original Series was still on air, Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry’s book suggested that the ‘Spock pinch’ temporarily blocked blood and nerve responses heading to the brain. For a more scientific explanation, the EMH is on hand — the holographic Doctor described the pinch as rupturing nerve fibers in the trapezius neck bundle during the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Cathexis."

Part of the nerve pinch’s appeal lies in the lack of a full in-universe explanation. But despite being as impossible to learn in reality as it is challenging to master in-universe, it remains a perfect gift for young Star Trek fans nearly six decades after it first appeared. It’s a distinctive character trait, non-fatal, and ideal for roleplaying without any props. It’s no wonder the timeless technique has remained such a recognizable part of Star Trek .

Star Trek: The Original Series

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Spock’s Original Parents Didn't Appear Together After 1960s Star Trek

Patrick stewart & star trek legends bring discovery’s sonequa martin-green to tears with touching tributes, star trek: discovery’s captain burnham opening starfleet academy is ironic.

Amanda Grayson's recurring role in Star Trek: Discovery redeemed everything that JJ Abrams' Star Trek (2009) got wrong about her character. Amanda began as a motherly and loving character who was written to provide warmth to Spock's steely exterior. In the Star Trek: The Original Series season 2 episode "Journey to Babel," human teacher Amanda Grayson was introduced to audiences for the first time as Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) mother, alongside Spock's father, her Vulcan husband Sarek (Mark Lenard). In all of her appearances in the Star Trek timeline , Amanda has demonstrated the connection Spock has to his human side.

In the decades after Star Trek: The Original Series , Amanda Grayson became just that: the origin of Spock's human side, which provided many opportunities for fascinating narratives and emotional plot twists. Her character seemingly lacked nuance and complexity , not unlike other female characters of the time. In Star Trek (2009) , Amanda, portrayed by Winona Ryder, returned to the screen and provided Spock's mother with more screen time. However, it wasn't until Mia Kirshner took over the role of Amanda Grayson alongside the cast of Star Trek: Discovery that the character finally got the treatment she deserved.

What J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Got Wrong About Spock's Mom Amanda Grayson

Amanda grayson was just spock's mom in star trek's first reboot film.

JJ Abrams' Star Trek (2009) ended a 7-year hiatus from Star Trek films after Star Trek: Nemesis premiered in 2002. The movie ushered in a new era of Star Trek and introduced new actors playing beloved characters such as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) . Among these characters was Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson , who played a crucial role in the film as Spock's human mother. Since the film is a precursor to the Star Trek: The Original Series era, Spock's human origin is an important aspect of the narrative.

Spock's parents, Sarek and Amanda Grayson, debuted in Star Trek: The Original Series but didn't appear together again until Star Trek: Discovery.

However, Amanda Grayson only appears in a few scenes in Star Trek (2009) , and she never appears without either Sarek (Ben Cross) or Spock. Despite being kind and loving, Amanda is not seen as much other than Spock's mother , who gives him a distinctly human upbringing while being raised on Vulcan. Even a deleted scene featuring Amanda and Sarek only depicts the birth of Spock on Vulcan. The controversial decision to destroy Vulcan and Romulus ended in the death of Amanda Grayson, leaving Spock to mourn and thus further his character development in the film.

Star Trek: Discovery Gave Amanda Grayson Her Own Story

Mia kirshner's amanda grayson became more than just sarek's human wife.

The introduction of a new age of Star Trek TV in 2017 proved to be the chance for Amanda Grayson to be more than a loving mother. In Star Trek: Discovery season 2 , Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) searches for her brother Spock (Ethan Peck) and reunites with their mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner) . While the plot that brings Amanda onto the show concerns her children, her character develops further than previous iterations . Mia Kirshner returned to her role as Amanda in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Charades," in which she provides a comedic factor to her character.

When considering screen time, Star Trek: Discovery comes out on top regarding Amanda's character. More time on screen allowed Kirshner to develop a nuanced, complex, and interesting character rather than a simple plot device to further Spock's narrative . Amanda is tenacious, headstrong, and stubborn. Instead of only being motherly, warm, and empathetic, Star Trek: Discovery 's Amanda fights for her children. While still connected to her family, Amanda breaks away from the motherly stereotype that she earned in the 1960s. Arguably, Star Trek: Discovery made the franchise better , and its treatment of Amanda Grayson is a big part of that claim.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Published Sep 3, 2024

Remembering James Darren, 1936-2024

StarTrek.com honors the late actor and his contributions to the Star Trek universe.

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StarTrek.com is saddened to report the passing of James Darren, who played the charismatic lounge singer, Vic Fontaine, across seven episodes for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's last two seasons. He passed away on September 2, 2024, at the age of 88.

Born June 8, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as James William Ercolani, Darren knew early on he wanted a career in show business. His father would take him to local bars and nightclubs in Philly where he would get up on stage and sing a song or two.

Darren would go on to have a multifaceted career spanning film, television, and recording music. His teen heartthrob image landed him the breakout role as the leading man, the surfer/singer Moondoggie, in Gidget (1959) alongside Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson. Following his crooner role in Gidget , which included the film's theme song, Darren would go on to record several pop hits for Colpix Records, garnering a gold record for his "Goodbye Cruel World." He would reprise the role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). Other noteworthy theatrical films during this time included All the Young Men (1960), Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Diamond Head (1962).

"It's Only A Paper Moon"

StarTrek.com

Darren would soon pivot to the small screen, starring as the leading actor in the sci-fi, time-traveling series The Time Tunnel . He would continue to book guest star roles in a number of popular series such as S.W.A.T. , Police Woman , Charlie's Angeles , Police Story , Hawaii Five-O , The Love Boat , Fantasy Island , and Melrose Place , while he pursued his love of live musical performances. Darren would then try a hand at directing television episodes for series such as The A-Team , Walker, Texas Ranger , Silk Stalkings , Beverly Hills, 90210 , Savannah , and Melrose Place .

Darren would secure a regular role on the police drama T.J. Hooker , from 1983 to 1986, playing the role as Officer James Corrigan, alongside William Shatner, who shared a tribute on X (formerly Twitter) , "What a wonderful man – so talented; so loving. I had the best time with him. The world is less because of his loss."

Fans of Star Trek knew Darren best as the fan-favorite Vic Fontaine, an entertainer who ran the popular holoprogram at Quark's, Vic's Last Vegas Lounge , in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . His warm, self-aware, and sophisticated programming made him a favorite among the crew of Deep Space 9, most notably providing Dr. Julian Bashir dating advice, and helping Nog cope with PTSD following his service in the Dominion War.

In a 2019 interview with StarTrek.com , Darren expressed, "Vic Fontaine was like – what can I say? – it was a dream come true for me. It was one of the most enjoyable roles for me to have played."

On recording the series finale with the cast, he shared, "The finale was hard to do. The cast had been there forever, so it was hard for them, and it was hard for me, too, because my relationship with everyone had grown instantly. I loved that entire cast. When it was ending, it was so sad, sad for them and extremely sad for me, too. I’d sing that song ("The Way You Look Tonight") to Nana Visitor... and she'd start crying. And when she'd start crying, I'd start crying. It was tough getting through it."

Darren is survived by his wife Evy; sons Jim Moret, Christian Darren, and Tony Darren; five grandchildren, and one goddaughter.

The entire Star Trek family sends their condolences to Darren's family, friends, loved ones, and fans around the world.

Vic Fontaine - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Most Famous Hologram

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• Starfleet command personnel
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel (alternate reality)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel (alternate reality)

James T. Kirk (alternate reality)

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk was a 23rd century Human Starfleet officer . As a Starfleet cadet , he was instrumental in the defeat and death of Nero , a Romulan bent on the obliteration of the entire United Federation of Planets . As a result, he was commissioned directly to the rank of captain and appointed as commanding officer of the service's flagship , the USS Enterprise . ( Star Trek )

A year later in 2259 , Kirk faced Khan , an enhanced Human from the late 20th century with superior strength and intellect. However, the crew of the Enterprise managed to stop him, following the sacrifice of Kirk. Spock managed to capture Khan with the help of Uhura and Dr. McCoy managed to revive Kirk. Afterwards in 2260 , the Enterprise set out on the first five-year mission . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

In 2263 , during its five-year mission, the Enterprise was destroyed by Swarm ships , led by Krall , stranding the crew on Altamid . The crew and Jaylah , who was also stranded by Krall, later managed to leave the planet after repairing the USS Franklin , a ship commanded by Balthazar M. Edison that went missing in 2164 . Kirk and his crew traveled to Starbase Yorktown and stopped revenge plans put into motion by Krall, who was revealed to be Edison. Afterwards, Kirk was given command of the USS Enterprise -A and continued his five-year mission. ( Star Trek Beyond )

• 1 Early history
• 2.1.1 Stowaway
• 2.1.2 First officer
• 2.1.3 Marooned on Delta Vega
• 2.1.4 Acting captain
• 2.2.1 Year One
• 2.2.2.1 Demotion
• 2.2.2.2 Pursuing "John Harrison"
• 2.2.2.3 Qo'noS
• 2.2.2.4 Uncovering a conspiracy
• 2.2.2.5 Death and resurrection
• 2.2.3.1 In the vastness of space
• 2.2.3.2 Loss of the Enterprise
• 2.2.3.3 Altamid
• 2.2.3.4 Saving Yorktown
• 2.3.1 Continuing the five-year mission
• 3.1.1 Spock
• 3.1.2 Leonard McCoy
• 3.1.3 Nyota Uhura
• 3.1.4 Christopher Pike
• 3.1.5 Montgomery Scott
• 3.1.6 Hikaru Sulu
• 3.1.7 Pavel Chekov
• 3.2.2 Khan Noonien Singh
• 3.2.3 Alexander Marcus
• 3.2.4 Krall
• 3.3.1 Gaila
• 3.3.2 Christine Chapel
• 3.3.3 Caitian twins
• 3.3.4 Carol Marcus
• 4 Awards and honors
• 5 Key dates
• 6.1 Catch phrases
• 7.1 Appearances
• 7.2 Background information
• 7.3 Apocrypha
• 7.4 External links

Early history [ ]

Kirk moments after his birth

James Tiberius ("Jim") Kirk was the descendant of pioneers of the American frontier during the late 19th century . ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ") He was also the youngest brother of George Samuel Kirk . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

The second son of Starfleet officer George Kirk – first officer of the USS Kelvin – and his wife Winona Kirk , he was born on January 4th , 2233 aboard the Kelvin 's medical shuttle no. 37 , in the midst of an unprovoked attack on the Kelvin by the Narada , a 24th century Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero .

As his prime universe counterpart was born on March 22nd, this means the attack may have caused him to be born more than 2 1/2 months premature.

Winona had been evacuated from the severely crippled Kelvin , along with the rest of the crew, and gave birth to James while George Kirk died piloting the Kelvin into the Narada in a kamikaze attack . The young Kirk was named James Tiberius after Winona's father and George's father , respectively.

James T. Kirk as a child

Jim was raised in Iowa , in Midwestern North America , on Earth . His mother remarried. As a young boy, Jim had a somewhat rebellious streak in him as he once, for example, stole his stepfather 's 1965 Chevy Corvette convertible, drove it recklessly, got into a high speed chase with local police, then nearly died when he barely managed to jump out, as he drove the car into a quarry . As he grew up, he had little sense of purpose and by 2255 , he was an aimless rebel who had found himself on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion. ( Star Trek )

When Kirk was a boy, Winona told James that George had owned a PX70 motorcycle . According to Winona, George often put Winona on the back of the vehicle and it drove her nuts. ( Star Trek Beyond )

In a scene that was cut from the film Star Trek , rather than Winona Kirk remarrying, James T. Kirk and his brother, George Kirk, Jr. , were depicted as having been left to be cared for by her brother (or brother-in-law) Frank , who was verbally abusive to them whenever she was off-world. Jim always did as he was told but was saddened when his brother, due to the abuse, ran away from home. Jim was likewise angered by the abuse and, in the deleted scene, that was why he stole the antique car, which his brother revealed had belonged to their father even though Frank treated it as if it was his own. ( Star Trek  (Special Edition) DVD / Star Trek  (Three disc Blu-ray) / Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray special features)

Uhura actress Zoë Saldana once noted, " Kirk didn't really have a father figure around him, and always felt that he was meant for better, but went through so much neglect when he was growing up. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 37)

In the film's script, Kirk was referred to as being eleven years old at the time of his joyride, suggesting it took place in 2244 , and a scene description at the end of that scene stated, " Damn if that kid doesn't have a swagger. It's like the first time he's ever stood in his life. " [1]

Kirk after the bar fight

While visiting a bar near the Riverside Shipyard in 2255 , an inebriated Jim met and began flirting with a Starfleet cadet named Nyota Uhura . Although annoyed by Jim's advances, Uhura was surprised that Jim knew what was involved in the study of xenolinguistics . Moments later, the twenty-two year-old Jim Kirk engaged in a bar fight with three male cadets, including Hendorff , who were irritated at his cocky attitude and the attention he was giving Uhura.

He was ultimately overwhelmed by the cadets until Captain Christopher Pike broke up the fight. Pike, who had written his dissertation on the USS Kelvin and was familiar with Jim's story, pushed the young man to challenge himself and reach the greater potential he was capable of achieving, calling him "the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest".

Pike tried to persuade him to join Starfleet , firmly believing he could do more with himself than get into bar fights and break all the laws in the state of Iowa. Kirk laughed at the idea of joining Starfleet, but Pike reassured him that, with his "off-the-chart" aptitude, he could make captain and have his own ship in only eight years. He reminded him that his father had saved eight-hundred lives, including Jim's and his mother's, and dared young Kirk to do better.

Kirk on his bike – just before enlisting in Starfleet

Soon after their conversation, and to the surprise of Pike, Jim decided to enlist with the intent of completing the Academy training in three years. He rode onto the shipyard, gave his bike to a construction worker , and boarded a shuttle for new recruits heading to Starfleet Academy . It was on his trip to the Academy where he first met and befriended Doctor Leonard McCoy .

Regarding Kirk's personality, the screenplay of Star Trek commented, " At 22, he's charming, witty, dangerous, rebellious. " The script also characterized the twenty-two year-old Kirk as "unformed, raw". In ultimately omitted dialogue from the same script, Kirk responded to Pike's appeal for him to join Starfleet by admitting Pike was right: he did want to feel special. However, he sarcastically added he therefore planned to start a book club . [2]

Starfleet career [ ]

Starfleet academy [ ].

During his time at the academy, Kirk would learn of Captain Balthazar Edison and the USS Franklin , the first ship capable of Warp 4. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Kirk in Cadet's dress uniform in 2258

Kirk and McCoy became close friends at the Academy, though Kirk frequently exasperated McCoy with his maverick nature. Kirk had an eye for attractive female cadets and he once ended up in the dormitory of an Orion female cadet named Gaila . He was caught and hid under the bed when her roommate, Cadet Uhura, arrived unexpectedly. On discovering him, she angrily threw him out.

It was at the Academy that Kirk also met Commander Spock . Kirk had failed the Kobayashi Maru examination twice but decided to take it a third time, being sure that he would succeed. He eventually managed to cheat the test and won. Spock, who programmed the "no-win scenario", later investigated the matter.

While discussing his cheating ways with head of the Starfleet Academy Board Admiral Richard Barnett , Kirk argued that the test itself was a cheat, and stated that he didn't believe in the no-win scenario. Kirk asked to face his accuser, and Spock stepped up. This was the first time the two met, and they clashed over their differences.

James T. Kirk at the Academy board inquiry regarding his recent conduct

Kirk and Spock continued to engage in a heated argument (the accused becoming particularly agitated when Spock suggested that, "of all people", George Kirk's son should recognize the no-win scenario), until the hearing was suddenly interrupted after Starfleet received a distress call from Vulcan .

According to his dossier at the official Star Trek movie website, as a Starfleet Academy cadet, Kirk was top of his class in survival strategies and tactical analysis and the assistant instructor in advanced hand-to-hand combat. He was also Treasurer of Starfleet Academy's xenolinguistics club.

Writer Roberto Orci felt Kirk served a semester on the USS Farragut , which his prime counterpart also did between 2255 and 2258. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 171 )

According to the films' iTunes app, Kirk spent two academic quarters onboard the Farragut under Captain Stephen Garrovick ( β ), and was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission of valor in 2256, just like his prime reality counterpart.

Stowaway [ ]

Kirk warns Pike and Spock of what awaits the Enterprise

Many of the cadets were called into action after the news but Kirk – who had been suspended because of his recent academic dishonesty charges – was not allowed to join. McCoy, however, was able to get him aboard the Enterprise by injecting him with a vaccine that temporarily rendered him sick so he could be transferred to the ship on medical grounds.

Kirk tried telling Captain Pike and Spock about Nero's attack and his trap, and with the help of McCoy and Uhura, he was able to convince Pike about the trap. Pike raised the Enterprise 's shields as they entered the Vulcan system, only to find a massive debris field of destroyed Federation starships having been attacked by Nero.

As Pike was en route to a shuttlecraft to negotiate with Nero, he appointed Kirk as acting first officer under acting captain Spock and volunteered Kirk to disable the Narada 's drill platform .

First officer [ ]

Kirk space-jumps onto the Narada 's drill platform

Along with Chief Engineer Olson and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu , Kirk skydived onto the platform. Olson was vaporized by the drill, leaving only Kirk and Sulu to disable it. Facing off against two of Nero's crew, Kirk and Sulu eventually killed both of their adversaries before destroying the platform, but not in time to prevent Nero from successfully completing his plan to destroy the planet Vulcan.

Before returning to the Enterprise , Sulu fell off the drill platform and began plummeting toward the surface of Vulcan. Kirk jumped off the platform to save him. After intercepting Sulu, Kirk had the helmsman pull his parachute, but it was knocked off, leaving them both in freefall. However, Ensign Pavel Chekov managed to compensate for Vulcan's gravitational pull and beamed both of them on board.

Kirk attempted to dissuade Commander Spock from a rendezvous with the rest of Starfleet at the Laurentian system . He urged him to go after the Narada as the ship left for Earth, rather than waste time trying to gather additional forces in the opposite direction, but Spock was relentless. When Kirk became more and more heated in his objections, Spock finally ordered Kirk's removal from the bridge , knocked him out and threw him off the ship in an escape pod .

In the script of Star Trek , Kirk tackled not only Spock but also Sulu and Chekov in that same scene. However, they were evidently replaced by a pair of unnamed redshirts for the final edit of the film. [3]

Kirk's rank

Marooned on Delta Vega [ ]

Kirk marooned on Delta Vega

Kirk landed on Delta Vega , some fourteen kilometers away from a Starfleet outpost. Despite an inhospitable environment, he left his escape pod and soon was chased by an indigenous animal which was dispatched by an even larger predatory creature . When Kirk fled into a nearby cave, the creature was scared away by an elderly Vulcan man, who revealed himself to be Spock from a future timeline .

Though Kirk initially dismissed this as "bullshit", he changed his mind when the old man demonstrated his knowledge of Nero. The elderly Spock revealed to Kirk through a mind meld Nero's intentions, also telling him that in his timeline, Kirk was the captain of the USS Enterprise . Understanding that their only hope was to have the Enterprise pursue the Narada instead of returning to the fleet, they realized that they had to get the other Spock to step down from command.

Spock mind-melds with Kirk

Fortunately, while the Enterprise had long since left the system, Spock was aware that one of the officers at the nearby outpost was Montgomery Scott , who, in his universe , had devised a way to beam onto a ship at warp speeds . After Spock gave Scott his own equations a century ahead of schedule, Kirk was advised by Spock, before Kirk and Scott were beamed onto the Enterprise , that he needed to elicit an emotional reaction from the young Spock so that everyone could see that he was emotionally compromised and unfit for command; according to the elderly Spock, the only way to defeat Nero was for Jim to take command of the ship himself.

Acting captain [ ]

Kirk takes command of the Enterprise

Following the advice of Ambassador Spock, Kirk goaded Spock with assertions that Spock cared nothing for what had happened to Vulcan or the death of his mother , whom he accused Spock of never having loved. The last remark did the job and Spock violently attacked Kirk, nearly to the point of killing him, before Sarek stepped in and stopped him. Following Spock immediately relinquishing command. Kirk, as acting first officer, took command and ordered pursuit course of the Narada to Earth.

Kirk later beamed onto the Narada with Spock, who deferred to Kirk as captain. After an intense firefight in which they killed several Romulans, they made it to the elder Spock's ship . Upon being identified as its pilot, Spock quickly realized exactly who Kirk's unknown benefactor had been. Leaving Spock to secure the ship, Kirk went to retrieve Captain Pike.

Kirk leaps away from Romulans aboard the Narada

In searching for the captain, he encountered Nero and his first officer, Ayel . Kirk was quickly overpowered by the pair of Romulans, but when Nero, after boasting that he would kill Kirk just like he had with his father, discovered that Spock had destroyed the drill, he furiously returned to the bridge.

Initially, Kirk was no match for Ayel either, but the Romulan was overconfident and was too busy mocking his "weak" victim to notice the theft of his disruptor . Offered the chance to speak, Kirk's "last words" were " I got your gun! " and Kirk shot the Romulan Ayel point-blank in the chest. Kirk then retrieved Pike, who repaid his savior by grabbing the stolen disruptor and gunning down two Romulans walking in on the escape.

In the script of Star Trek (as of 5 November 2007 ), Kirk encountered neither Nero nor Ayel (who was already dead) aboard the Narada and his rescue of Pike was comparatively straightforward. In fact, whereas Kirk shoots numerous Romulans in the final version of the sequence, he instead managed to knock only one Romulan unconscious in the script, with Spock defeating the others. However, he did, at one stage thereafter, order Spock to brutalize an already defeated Romulan using Suus Mahna , a Vulcan martial art, in order to gain information from the Romulan, even though Spock was reluctant to do so, as the Romulan had already been beaten. [5]

Against Spock's advice once again, Kirk decided to give Nero and his remaining crew a chance to beam to the Enterprise and surrender. After Nero strongly declined, Kirk decided to fire all weapons, and the Narada was finally destroyed in a massive black hole created by red matter it was carrying. The Enterprise was nearly destroyed as well, but Kirk had Scott eject the ship's multiple warp cores and detonate them, creating a blast wave strong enough to push the Enterprise out of danger.

Commanding the USS Enterprise [ ]

Year one [ ].

Kirk takes the Enterprise out as her new captain

Upon his return to Earth, Kirk was commissioned as an officer in the United Federation of Planets Starfleet with the serial number SC937-0176CEC . ( Star Trek Beyond ) He was commended and officially appointed as captain of the Enterprise by Admiral Barnett for his actions, which demonstrated his ability as an extremely able commanding officer fully capable of leading a Federation starship crew in the most dire of situations.

In the script of Star Trek , Kirk, during this ceremony, was described as "composed, focused, a man ." It was also made clear in the script that a medal Kirk is awarded at the ceremony was intended to be a "commendation for original thinking," specifically for his "unique solution to the Kobayashi Maru ." [6] In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Kirk's prime-universe counterpart talks about having received such an award. However, the on-screen dialogue in the film Star Trek is edited in such a way as to make it seem as though the award is for the younger Kirk's "inspirational valour and supreme dedication to [his] comrades."

Dressed in his new captain's uniform, Kirk took command of the Enterprise . Commander Spock arrived and requested the permanent post as Kirk's first officer, which Kirk was honored to accept. He sat down in his chair and, officially as captain of the Enterprise , led his crew and ship to another adventure. ( Star Trek )

The script of Star Trek commented that seeing Kirk in his "iconic" gold-colored captain's uniform would be "to every fan's delight." [7]

Year Two [ ]

Demotion [ ].

" Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass you are? "

A year later , Kirk violated the Prime Directive on Nibiru , saving Spock's life from a cold fusion device detonation inside a volcano . During the rescue, the Enterprise was exposed to the primitive Nibirans , who began worshiping the ship as a god. Returning to Earth, Pike informed Kirk the Admiralty headed by Alexander Marcus would be sending him back to the Academy, and that perhaps he had been promoted too soon. That night, Kirk drowned his sorrows in a bar, when Pike appeared to reveal he had convinced Marcus to let him appoint Kirk his first officer, because he still had faith in the young man. As a result, however, Kirk was demoted to the rank of commander rather than captain.

Pursuing "John Harrison" [ ]

The two then attended a summit, in the Daystrom Conference Room at Starfleet Headquarters , regarding the bombing of the Kelvin Memorial Archive in London . Marcus ordered a manhunt for the perpetrator, a rogue commander named John Harrison . Kirk analyzed surveillance of Harrison at the debris site, and questioned why Harrison bombed an archive for the information he needed. Kirk then realized Harrison would be aware protocol dictated such an attack would precipitate meetings like these: Harrison then showed up in a jumpship and opened fire.

Kirk firing a phaser rifle

Kirk wrapped a fire hose around a rifle and threw it into the jumpship 's engine, causing it to crash. Before it did, Kirk saw Harrison glaring at him and then beaming himself away. Kirk returned to the conference room to find Spock with Pike, who had died of a chest wound, and mourned his friend's death.

The next morning, Kirk was notified by Scott that Harrison had used a portable transwarp beaming device to escape to Qo'noS , the homeworld of the Klingon Empire . Kirk informed Marcus, who explained the Archive had actually been a Section 31 facility, which Harrison had needed to steal the beaming device from. Marcus reinstated Kirk's command and rank as captain, giving him permission to hunt down and execute Harrison, and allowed him to reinstate Spock as his first officer.

To execute Harrison, Marcus gave the Enterprise seventy-two advanced long-range torpedoes to bombard Harrison's location from orbit, and assigned weapons expert Carol Wallace to the Enterprise . At a hangar, McCoy expressed his belief that Harrison was out of Kirk's league, while Spock protested executing Harrison without trial was immoral. Aboard the Enterprise , Scott protested about not being allowed to examine the torpedoes, and not having time to examine the ship's warp core, which was new but faulty. Kirk accepted Scott and Keenser's resignation, and appointed Chekov to replace Scott. Dejected, Kirk decided to listen to Spock and Scott's advice, and announced they would find Harrison and bring him back for a tribunal.

Kirk pilots the confiscated K'normian ship at Kronos

Before reaching Qo'noS, the Enterprise 's warp core broke down, so Kirk took an away team with Spock, Uhura, and Hendorff, disguised as K'normian arms dealers, to find Harrison in a K'normian trading ship .

Shortly after acting captain Sulu sent a targeted comm burst from the Enterprise to Harrison's location, Kirk's ship was attacked by a Klingon patrol, and despite maneuvering it through a narrowing gate, the away team found themselves surrounded. Kirk allowed Uhura to exit the ship and negotiate with the Klingons in their native language , but they refused to listen and tried to kill her. Before Kirk and Spock could come out firing phasers, Harrison appeared and single-handedly killed all the Klingons. Kirk accepted Harrison's surrender, but spitefully punched him, only to find his continuous blows had no effect on him.

Uncovering a conspiracy [ ]

Kirk and Spock confront a captured John Harrison in 2259

In the ship's brig , Kirk and Spock interrogated Harrison while Bones took a blood sample, which he studied by injecting into a dead tribble . Harrison only responded by giving Kirk a set of coordinates, and advised the captain to open one of the torpedoes. Spock informed Kirk that Wallace could examine the torpedoes, and also told the captain that he had learned she was actually Admiral Marcus' daughter, a fact Spock had chosen to reveal at that precise point because he felt the information had just become relevant. Kirk also called Scott via a communicator and asked him to investigate the coordinates.

McCoy and Carol Marcus took a shuttle to a meteor to examine a torpedo, but McCoy accidentally activated the countdown and trapped his hand in the device. Kirk ordered to beam them up, but was warned by Spock that beaming up McCoy would also beam up an exploding torpedo. Fortunately, Kirk avoided losing his friend when Carol deactivated the device with less than three seconds to spare. The torpedo finally opened up, and the two officers found it contained a man in cryogenic stasis .

Admiral Marcus dresses down Kirk over the viewscreen

Kirk interrogated Harrison again, who explained he had placed people in torpedoes to smuggle them before he was caught. He revealed he was actually the infamous Khan Noonien Singh, recruited by Admiral Marcus under a new identity to design weaponry and ships for war against the Klingons, and that the frozen people were his fellow Augments , whom the admiral had held hostage. Marcus suddenly showed up in a Dreadnought -class ship, the USS Vengeance , demanding Kirk hand over Harrison. Kirk revealed he knew the truth, and defied the admiral by having Sulu warp the Enterprise back to Earth, where Khan would stand trial and expose the conspiracy. However, the Vengeance was capable of catching up with the Enterprise in subspace and fired on the ship, halting it as it arrived near Earth and the planet's moon .

After Carol tried to bargain with her father but was simply beamed by him over to his ship, Kirk tried to hand himself over to protect his own crew, but Marcus explained he had no intention of letting anyone in on the plot survive. Before the Vengeance could finish off the Enterprise , its weaponry suddenly deactivated. Scott called Kirk, explaining he had stowed away aboard the Vengeance at the coordinates given by Khan, buying them some time. Kirk, realizing Khan had designed the ship, allied himself with him, and the two donned thruster suits to fly over and commandeer the vessel. Khan's formidable strength was an asset in dispatching any guards they encountered, but Kirk was suspicious of Khan's motives and ordered Scott to shoot him unconscious later.

Kirk, Scotty, and Khan run through the corridors of the Vengeance

When they reached the bridge, Kirk confronted Marcus over his betrayal of Starfleet's ideals. However, Scott's attempt to stun Khan did not affect him, and the Augment tackled Scott and Kirk before proceeding to kill Marcus and take the command chair . Khan ordered Spock to hand over the torpedoes, which he complied with, and in return he beamed Kirk, Scott, and Carol into the Enterprise brig .

Khan then turned on Spock, bombarding the Enterprise once more. Spock, who had the cryopods removed from the torpedoes, ordered them to be detonated, severely crippling the Vengeance ; the shockwave caused both ships to be pulled by Earth's gravity. Kirk and Scott ran to the warp core, trying to avoid falling to their deaths due to the Enterprise 's failing artificial gravity .

Death and resurrection [ ]

The death of James Kirk

Once they reached the Enterprise 's warp core, Scott warned entering it would flood the chamber with radiation, but as there was no time to put on a containment suit, Kirk knocked out Scott and secured him with a seat belt before entering the warp core. Kirk knocked the central component back in place, restoring power to the engines and preventing the Enterprise from crashing.

Meanwhile, Khan crashed the Vengeance into Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco . Scott woke up and called Spock to come to the area outside the warp core chamber, where Spock saw Jim dying from radiation poisoning . Jim bid goodbye to his friend, displaying the Vulcan salute with his hand on a glass door, then died. He heard the voices of his father, mother and Pike as he neared death.

Following decontamination, Kirk was taken to the Enterprise 's medbay, where McCoy and others silently mourned the loss of their captain. McCoy noticed the tribble he had injected with Khan's blood had come back to life, and realizing how to save Kirk's life, ordered his body be placed in a cryotube to preserve his brain functions. Spock and Uhura beamed down and apprehended Khan, enabling McCoy to create a serum from Khan's blood, which resurrected Kirk. However, the effects of the serum left Kirk unconscious for two weeks, after which he awoke in Starfleet Medical and was greeted by McCoy and Spock.

The five-year mission [ ]

Kirk giving his speech

Nearly a year after his death and resurrection, Kirk presided over the rechristening ceremony of the Enterprise and a memorial service to those who lost their lives in terrorist acts committed by Khan, before setting off on Starfleet's first five-year mission . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

In the vastness of space [ ]

Three years later , Kirk was helping to negotiate peace between the Teenaxi Delegation and the Fibonan Republic , working as a neutral representative by presenting the Teenaxi with a dismantled weapon as a token of peace. Suspicious of the Fibonans, the Teenaxi attacked Kirk – though due to their diminutive stature, Kirk was mostly unharmed and was quickly beamed back to the Enterprise by Scotty.

Kirk and McCoy remember George Kirk in 2263

In his captain's log following the mission, Kirk expressed his frustrations with life aboard the Enterprise this far into its mission, stating he felt as though life had become "episodic." Near his thirtieth birthday , Kirk confided in McCoy over a drink, divulging that he now questioned his own motives for having joined Starfleet, as he had done so on Pike's dare, rather than because of a strong belief in the organization on his own behalf. Kirk was further upset by the fact that he would be turning one year older than George had been at the time of his death.

Due to these frustrations, Kirk applied for a promotion , seeking the position of vice admiral at Starbase Yorktown , when the Enterprise docked there for resupply.

Loss of the Enterprise [ ]

Kirk commands the Enterprise in battle at Altamid

After Kalara arrived at Yorktown and claimed her ship had crashed on planet Altamid in the Necro Cloud , Kirk volunteered the Enterprise for a mission to rescue the survivors. Once the craft traversed the unstable nebula, a massive cluster of unidentified ships was detected, approaching the Enterprise . Kirk quickly realized something was amiss and raised the shields before the oncoming Swarm ships began to dismantle the Enterprise , causing multiple hull breaches and severing the nacelles.

Kirk discovered the enemy was seeking the weapon he had tried to present to the Teenaxi, so he gave the artifact to Ensign Syl before the leader of the Swarm , Krall , could steal it. Realizing the ship's destruction was imminent, Kirk ordered the Enterprise crew to abandon ship. Kirk then attempted to execute a saucer separation , so the saucer section could safely land on the surface of Altamid. Kirk, however, ran into Krall and the two fought, but Uhura finally managed to sever the saucer section, sending Kirk to the surface of the nearby planet.

Altamid [ ]

Witnessing the crash of the Enterprise on Altamid

On the planet's surface, Kirk landed near where Chekov and Kalara also landed. Furious, Kirk confronted Kalara, realizing she had known the Enterprise would be attacked. She revealed Krall had kidnapped her crew and threatened to kill those personnel, unless she helped. Realizing they needed to locate the rest of the survivors from the Enterprise , the three went to the site where the vessel's saucer section had crashed, and they scanned for crewmembers there.

Kirk went to where he claimed to have left the weapon but was attacked by Kalara, who revealed she had been working for Krall all along and proceeded to contact him to let him know she had the weapon. Kirk, however, deceived her, having Chekov trace her communication to Krall. They were both attacked by his troops but escaped by activating the Enterprise thrusters, causing an explosion which in turn killed Kalara and thrust Kirk and Chekov through the air as they made their getaway.

Kirk actor Chris Pine was thrilled by the filming of the Enterprise 's saucer section exploding – for which he and Chekov actor Anton Yelchin were fastened to a harness and a rig, then hauled about twenty-five feet in the air. " That was pretty cool. It was like being on a rollercoaster, " said Pine. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

The next morning, Kirk and Chekov walked into one of multiple traps prepared by Jaylah , a scavenger who was living on the planet, but they were freed after Scotty told her they were friends of his. Jaylah revealed she had made the wreckage of a 22nd century Federation starship – the USS Franklin – her home and, using the scanners, Kirk was able to locate Spock and McCoy, and beam them to the ship before Krall's drones were able to kill them.

Kirk helped treat an injured Spock, while he revealed that the weapon had come from Altamid. Using the trace from Kalara's communication and pinpointing it with a Vulcan amulet Spock had given Uhura, Kirk's team was able to learn the exact location of their former shipmates and formulate a plan to not only rescue them but also stop Krall before he attacked Yorktown.

Kirk saves the Enterprise crew on one of the Franklin 's motorcycles

Using a motorcycle from the Franklin and holographic technology from Jaylah, Kirk managed to distract Krall so that Spock and Jaylah were able to escape with the rest of the surviving Starfleet officers. Once they were all aboard the Franklin , Kirk, at the last second, managed to rescue Jaylah and get her back to the ship. While Krall left for Yorktown, Kirk and the crew followed on the Franklin .

Chris Pine found that filming Kirk's motorbike scene in Star Trek Beyond was difficult. " There were definitely [scary] moments, riding over scree and gravel, going pretty fast on a bike that I didn't know all that well, without a helmet, " he related. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Saving Yorktown [ ]

Kirk and the rest of the senior staff from the Enterprise , onboard the Franklin

When they arrived at Yorktown, Krall had nearly penetrated the base's defenses. Spock and Scotty realized they had to disrupt the communications between the drones in order to prevent the attack. As a result, Kirk ordered McCoy and Spock to transport onto one of the ships, in order to hack into the Swarm's frequency using a music player from the Franklin . They sent out a classical song over the frequency, rendering the drones unable to cooperate with each other and causing the destruction of all but three of the ships, one of which was being flown by Krall.

The Franklin pursued his ship into the base and was able to block Krall's attack, causing him to crash into the Franklin , presumably killing him. Kirk searched the ship with Uhura, for confirmation, but during the search, Uhura discovered a recording of the original Franklin crew and deduced from the footage that the captain of the ship, Balthazar Edison, was Krall. By looking at his file, they discovered he had been a soldier who fought during the Xindi and the Romulan Wars , after which he had been given command of the Franklin . He had slowly started to despise the Federation's views and had slowly gone insane in the century after the ship went missing.

" I think you're underestimating Humanity. "

Scotty and Jaylah realized that Edison was going to release the weapon in the base's ventilation system, killing the base's inhabitants. Confronting the now-disfigured Edison in the ventilation hub, Kirk revealed to him that he knew who he was. Kirk also tried to persuade Edison that he was underestimating Humanity and that the Federation was a cause of good.

While the hub lost gravity, Kirk fought Edison, seized the bioweapon from him, and attempted to eject it into space by opening an airlock . Kirk was attempting to open it when Edison regained his strength; he continued to fight Kirk but was ultimately ejected into space with the weapon, which then killed him. Kirk was nearly sucked out as well but was spared by the timely rescue of Spock and McCoy. Kirk and Commodore Paris then closed files on the Franklin 's late crew.

Commanding the USS Enterprise -A [ ]

Continuing the five-year mission [ ].

Kirk, McCoy and Spock watch the Enterprise -A under construction

Having gained a new insight into himself and his motives in the confrontation with Krall, Kirk declined the promotion to vice admiral and decided to remain the commanding officer of the Enterprise . Some time later, while the crew was on shore leave at Yorktown, the crew surprised Kirk with a birthday celebration at which he and his crew looked out onto the construction of the brand new USS Enterprise -A . After its completion, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise -A resumed their five-year mission. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Relationships [ ]

Friendships [ ].

Kirk and Spock on the bridge of the Enterprise

Kirk initially had a largely antagonistic relationship with Spock , mainly due to their vastly different philosophies and approaches to command. The frictions began first at Starfleet Academy, when Kirk cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test Spock had designed.

In the script of Star Trek , the moment when Kirk and Spock meet eyes for the first time was described as "clock-stopping". Kirk also initially got Spock's name wrong in the script, calling him "Spork", though this doesn't happen in the final version of the film. [8]

The discord between Kirk and Spock continued when the disparate pair worked side by side on the USS Enterprise and Kirk was put in charge as second in command by Captain Pike. Tensions between the two culminated in Spock throwing Kirk off the ship altogether.

In another ultimately unused but scripted line of dialogue, Kirk – shortly following his dismissal from the Enterprise – said Spock's "only form of expression's apparently limited to his left damn eyebrow ." [9]

However, their attitudes towards each other softened after Kirk had an encounter with an older version of Spock from an alternate future, who revealed that in fact the two had shared a great friendship in his timeline. Upon returning to the Enterprise , Kirk goaded Spock into revealing his emotional instability. Kirk, as a result, was nearly killed by a raging Spock before the latter did exactly as Kirk wanted and stepped down, putting Kirk in charge of the ship. Once Spock had regained emotional equilibrium, Kirk insisted on teaming up with Spock on an away mission to the Narada and Spock deferred to Kirk's command.

After Kirk and Spock arrange to collaborate on the away mission, the script referred to their relationship as "a burgeoning friendship." The script later described them standing side-by-side on the Enterprise 's transporter platform, ready for the mission, as the first time they had faced the same direction as each other and "an iconic image." [10]

Kirk and Spock in the cockpit of the Jellyfish

From then on, the two worked as a team to stop Nero and rescue Pike, with Spock trusting Kirk to watch his back and even calling him "Jim" at one point. After Spock learned how important their friendship was from Spock Prime, Kirk happily accepted an offer from Spock to serve as the Enterprise 's first officer. ( Star Trek )

In the script of Star Trek , Kirk nearly laughed at Spock offering to provide "character references." The screenplay stated about the moment Kirk welcomes Spock onto the ship, " Something passes between them... it carries acceptance, and trust... " [11]

Kirk and Spock share a moment of friendship before Kirk's apparent death

A year later , Kirk fell out with Spock because Spock filed the mission report that caused Kirk's demotion, although Kirk's actions leading to this decision had been done to save Spock's life; Spock was more concerned with fulfilling Starfleet regulations than with sentimental notions, though he was relieved that Kirk was just demoted and not more severely punished. When split up, Kirk told Spock he'd miss him but this left Spock speechless, which somewhat annoyed Kirk.

However, Kirk wanted Spock reinstated as his first officer after Pike's death. Kirk later explained to Spock that the reason he had saved Spock's life was that he had come to see Spock as a friend (The real reason Kirk covered up his violation was most likely to protect Spock from the consequences). By this point, Spock had come to return the sentiment and was so upset by Kirk's impending death that he lost his temper and nearly killed Khan in revenge, until he learned that Khan's blood would save Kirk. Kirk and Spock also realized they each had handled the situation in the way the other would: Kirk sacrificed himself for the greater good, whereas Spock used unorthodox tactics to defeat the enemy. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

One influence on which screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman based Kirk and Spock's relationship was the friendship between Paul McCartney and John Lennon , two very different musicians who bonded early in life, partly because they both suffered through the loss of a parent (in Kirk's case, his father, and in Spock's, his mother). [12]

Nine hundred and sixty-six days into their five-year mission, both Kirk and Spock wished to leave the Enterprise – Kirk because he believed he needed stability to figure out who he truly was, and Spock because he wanted to leave Starfleet altogether and move to New Vulcan to help his species. After Spock saved Kirk's life, though, Kirk questioned what he himself would do without Spock as an ally, Kirk coming to the realization that he needed Spock.

Whereas Spock chose to remain in Starfleet, Kirk took back his application to vice admiral on Starbase Yorktown in order to remain on the Enterprise . The two were also shown to retain an amicable relationship and understanding of each other. Notably, while Kirk didn't want Spock on the away team to rescue the Enterprise crewmembers as he was injured, Spock requested to go as Uhura was amongst those trapped. While telling Kirk this, Spock once more called him "Jim" and Kirk agreed to let him go. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Leonard McCoy [ ]

Bones and Kirk as Starfleet cadets

Kirk and McCoy met on the transport shuttle Bardeen , which was headed to Starfleet Academy. The pair found themselves in adjacent seats where a slightly neurotic McCoy instantly opened up to the rebellious and somewhat incredulous Kirk. The two remained good friends throughout their time together at the Academy. Kirk began calling McCoy the nickname of " Bones " as the doctor had informed him when they first met that his ex-wife took everything in their divorce ; all he had left was his bones.

When the time came, McCoy always had Kirk's back, such as helping him get aboard the Enterprise after his suspension and berating Spock for throwing Kirk off the ship and marooning him on Delta Vega . Despite this, McCoy berated him for forcing Spock to resign command and responded with "you gotta be kidding me!" when he learned Kirk was first officer and thus the one to take command. ( Star Trek )

A year later, McCoy accompanied Kirk to Nibiru and they both ran away from the planet's angry natives when Kirk stole their sacred scroll. They both jumped off of a cliff into the ocean during the pursuit and swam to the Enterprise , much to McCoy's chagrin. Later, after Kirk was caught in John's Harrison's attack on Starfleet Headquarters, McCoy tried many times to scan Kirk for injuries, but Kirk ignored him, even when McCoy told him his vital signs were way off.

When the Enterprise arrived at Qo'noS to apprehend Harrison, McCoy inundated Kirk with metaphors – when the Enterprise 's warp core malfunctioned, " you don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tire ", or when Sulu took command, " you just sat that man down at a high-stakes poker game with no cards and told him to bluff. " Kirk asked McCoy to dispense with the metaphors, calling it an order. Following this, Kirk was killed while sacrificing himself repairing the warp core to save his crew. McCoy was saddened at the death of his friend but noticed that the dead tribble he injected with Khan's blood was alive again. McCoy had Kirk put in stasis and later performed a blood transfusion, which saved Kirk's life. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Three years into the five-year mission, McCoy and Kirk shared a drink to commemorate Kirk's birthday. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Kirk's friendship with McCoy delighted Leonard Nimoy , who commented, " The two of them work so well together: they were just so wonderful to watch. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 57)

The scene between Kirk and McCoy in Star Trek Beyond was inspired by the interaction between Captain Pike and Dr. Boyce in a particular scene from TOS : " The Cage ", one of Beyond Director Justin Lin 's three favorite installments of TOS. ( SFX , issue 276, p. 47)

Nyota Uhura [ ]

Kirk vents his frustrations for Spock to Uhura

Kirk first met Nyota Uhura at a bar in Iowa in 2255 , audaciously flirting with her while intoxicated, angering some other Starfleet cadet patrons of the bar, resulting in a fight. He met her again when the two studied at Starfleet Academy, although she preferred to keep a distance from him – not even ever telling him her first name – as she saw him as brash and uncouth. Trying to learn Uhura's first name became almost a mission for him.

The pair ended up serving together aboard the Enterprise , but she continued to maintain her distance from him. It was Kirk and his need for a xenolinguist that got her stationed on the bridge. Over the course of the mission, she gained some respect for him though was not pleased with his tactic of forcing Spock to relinquish command. Uhura was the first to call Kirk Captain, though it was sarcastically done. When Kirk was granted permanent command of the Enterprise , he chose Uhura as one of his senior officers. He also appeared stunned that her first name was Nyota. ( Star Trek )

Over time, her discomfort vanished and she began to show unwavering loyalty to her new captain. The two developed a friendship to the point that Uhura confided in him her relationship troubles with Spock. When Pike was killed, Uhura sincerely offered her condolences and concern for the captain. When Kirk died, Uhura cried and helped Spock bring Khan down while preventing him from killing him so they could save Kirk. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Over the next few years, the two maintained a close friendship and Uhura was shown to have a great loyalty to Kirk. During the Battle of Altamid , Uhura rushed to Kirk's aid when she realized he was in danger, risking her life to aid him in performing a saucer separation . In the face of Krall , Uhura showed absolute confidence Kirk would come for them and wouldn't leave his crew behind. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Christopher Pike [ ]

Kirk and Pike share a drink at a San Francisco dive

Christopher Pike and James T. Kirk developed a father-son relationship. Pike was the one who convinced Kirk to enlist in Starfleet and to make something of himself. He had once written a dissertation on the loss of the USS Kelvin , which Kirk had read at some point. ( Star Trek )

Even after Pike had to demote Kirk for contravening regulations, Pike wanted Kirk as his own first officer and did his best to encourage Kirk despite this setback. Kirk was later informed that Pike had done a lot to speak in Kirk's favor during the aforementioned disciplinary hearing.

When Khan Noonien Singh attacked the meeting of Starfleet brass in San Francisco , Pike was killed, and Kirk was distraught, weeping at the loss of his mentor and becoming consumed with vengeance. However, Kirk later recalled Pike having made him swear to the Captain's Oath , and how it called him to be an explorer, not an executioner. He later let go of his vengeance and arrested Khan instead in honor of Pike. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Nearly four years after Pike's death, Kirk reflected on his decision to join Starfleet on Pike's "dare" and considered giving up his command for a position at Starbase Yorktown , though he ultimately chose to remain and command the USS Enterprise -A . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Montgomery Scott [ ]

Kirk's relationship with Montgomery Scott began after he met the future Enterprise chief engineer on the planet Delta Vega . While marooned on Delta Vega, Kirk unwittingly sought, with the help of the future Spock , the Scotsman's help to return to the USS Enterprise while it was still warping to rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian system . He quickly learned that Scott was wiser than he lead on, after first impressions belied the fact that he had begun to postulate the theory of transwarp beaming while still on active duty (misplacing Admiral Archer 's beagle Porthos in the process, earning his isolation to Delta Vega).

Kirk and Scotty in the engine room of the Enterprise in 2259

With the aid of his transwarp beaming theory (and the future Spock) Kirk, along with Scott, managed to beam aboard the Enterprise , which was mid warp flight. Once on board the Enterprise , Scott had been inadvertently beamed straight into the ship's internal water recycling system. Following quick work by Kirk, Scott was freed, and they both tried to make their way out of engineering, only to be captured by security officers, sent by Spock, who was on the bridge.

Once on the bridge of the Enterprise , Scott was witness to Kirk's field promotion to captain, and was then instrumental in the efforts to sneak up on the war criminal Nero's ship, by helping to increase warp speed to factor 4 and to beam both Kirk and the newly-reinstated Spock onto the Narada while in the moon Titan's upper atmosphere. ( Star Trek )

A year later , Scott and Kirk had somewhat of a falling out over what to do with the torpedoes that were given to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus . But following the defeat of Khan and the death of Admiral Marcus, Scott returned to his post as chief engineer on the Enterprise . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Hikaru Sulu [ ]

Kirk and Sulu safe after free falling on Vulcan

Kirk seemed to have been surprised at Hikaru Sulu 's special training in close-hand combat, specializing in fencing . Kirk committed a selfless act when he dove off the drill platform to save Hikaru Sulu from death on Vulcan. When Kirk appointed himself as acting captain, Sulu reminded everyone that he was already first officer and therefore was able to take over the Captain's position on the Enterprise . Following the defeat of Nero, Sulu was assigned to the Enterprise as Helmsman under Kirk's command. ( Star Trek )

A year later , Kirk showed confidence in Sulu's leadership skills and left him in command of the Enterprise while Kirk led an away team to apprehend John Harrison. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Three years into the five-year mission, Kirk once again put Sulu briefly in command when the Enterprise engaged in battle with Krall's forces. Kirk and Sulu were among the last officers to leave the bridge when the destruction of the Enterprise was imminent. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Pavel Chekov [ ]

Kirk first met Pavel Chekov in 2258 when he smuggled on board the USS Enterprise . When Kirk took command of the ship after Spock stepped down due to his being emotionally compromised, he took young Chekov's suggestion that the Enterprise beam crewmembers aboard the Narada from the ship, using the magnetic distortion from Saturn 's rings to hide it from the enemy's sensors. ( Star Trek )

A year later , after Scott to resigned his duties over objections to the John Harrison manhunt, Kirk had enough confidence in Chekov to make him acting chief engineer . When the Enterprise was severely damaged, Chekov saved Kirk and Scott from falling to their deaths. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Kirk and Chekov on Altamid

Several years later, following the destruction of the Enterprise at Atlamid, Kirk and Chekov banded together on the planet's surface. Suspicious of the alien called Kalara, Kirk had Chekov track her transmission, ultimately leading to the discovery of Krall's base of operations. Barely escaping the wreck of the Enterprise , Kirk and Chekov made their way through the forests of Altamid together before becoming caught in Jaylah's booby traps set outside the wreck of the USS Franklin . ( Star Trek Beyond )

During production on Star Trek Beyond , Kirk actor Chris Pine thoroughly enjoyed filming Kirk's scenes with Chekov, in collaboration with Chekov actor Anton Yelchin . " I hadn't really gotten a chance in the previous two films to do that much with him, " Pine said, " and the energies of the two guys are definitely good fodder for comedy. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Enemies [ ]

Chris Pine once observed that Nero, Khan and Krall were all angry characters whose anger was a reflection of Kirk's own anger. Pine was additionally of the belief that Kirk saw "a lot of his own anger" in both Khan and Krall. ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55)

Nero killed Kirk's father George in 2233 . Despite this, Kirk was willing to offer assistance to his father's killer when his ship was caught in between a black hole created by the remaining red matter. However, the Romulan refused his assistance and stated that he'd "rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times" and "die in agony". Kirk obliged him by completing the destruction of the Narada as it was consumed by the black hole. ( Star Trek )

Khan Noonien Singh [ ]

"The enemy of my enemy" - Kirk strikes a deal with Khan

Under the identity of John Harrison, Khan killed Christopher Pike and other members of Starfleet in 2259 , causing Kirk to seek revenge. Eventually capturing Khan, Kirk soon learned of his true identity and the fact that he had aided Admiral Marcus in the building of Starfleet weapons.

Kirk decided to team up with Khan to stop Marcus, though Khan eventually betrayed Kirk to overtake the USS Vengeance . After Khan killed Marcus and attacked the Enterprise , Kirk sacrificed himself to save the crew. Khan was eventually captured, due to efforts by Spock and Uhura, and put back into suspended animation. Kirk was soon revived using Khan's blood, which was administered to Kirk by McCoy. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

In an interview, Chris Pine once contemplated how Kirk was deeply affected by Khan. Primarily referring to the former character, Pine said, " This arrogant man at the beginning of the film, who thinks he can do anything, quickly realizes that he can't. He realizes he's not the smartest, not the fastest, not the ballsiest, not the strongest, and he finds himself on his knees, very, very scared. I think Harrison's ability to laser in on Kirk's insecurities, and magnify them, and then mirror them back at him, is terribly frightening for Kirk, as he finds himself in the middle of this storm. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 23)

Alexander Marcus [ ]

Despite Marcus's demotion of Kirk, in their early meetings the two had what could have been described as grandfather-grandson relationship. However, after Khan confessed his role in the Admiral's plot to wage war with the Klingons, Kirk began to doubt the Admiral and viewed him as a war criminal. Marcus himself did not have an antagonistic relationship with Kirk until the Captain lied and tried to warp Khan and the Enterprise to Earth, though he later outright admitted that he was going to kill him and the Enterprise's crew from the start of the mission he assigned them to.

To cover up the conspiracy, Marcus branded Kirk as "having gone rogue" when he attempted to warn Starfleet. Their last meeting occurred when Kirk tried to arrest him for high treason, with the Admiral openly mocking Kirk's naivete. The relationship ended when Khan crushed Marcus' skull in revenge for treating him like a slave. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Kirk fights Krall at Yorktown

In 2263 , Balthazar M. Edison , once the commanding officer of the USS Franklin and later known as Krall, attacked the Enterprise , destroying it with the help of his Swarm ships and stranding the crew on Altamid . Krall had been stranded on the planet after his ship went missing in the 2160s and had planned revenge by attacking Starbase Yorktown . Kirk and his crew, with the help of Jaylah , managed to find and repair the Franklin , traveling to Starbase Yorktown and putting a stop to Krall's plans to destroy it. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Romances [ ]

Kirk seduces fellow cadet Gaila

Kirk had a relationship with Gaila , Uhura's Orion roommate at the Academy. However, when she professed her love for him in bed, he responded it was "weird". ( Star Trek )

Christine Chapel [ ]

Kirk also had a relationship with Christine Chapel , a Human nurse. After it ended, she moved from the Enterprise to nurse on the outer frontier. When Carol Marcus brought her up in a conversation, he did not seem to remember her. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Caitian twins [ ]

On his return to Earth in 2259 , Kirk slept with Caitian twin sisters in his apartment . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Carol Marcus [ ]

Kirk talking to Carol Marcus

Kirk had an obvious and mutual attraction to Carol Marcus upon their first meeting and personally, and somewhat awkwardly, welcomed her aboard when she was permanently assigned to the Enterprise for the first five-year mission a year later . ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) However, she was no longer serving onboard the ship three years later . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Awards and honors [ ]

For his role in saving Earth from Nero's attack, Kirk was awarded a medal and assigned to the USS Enterprise as Pike's relief. ( Star Trek )

Key dates [ ]

• 2233 : Born on Medical shuttle 37 that was attached to the late USS Kelvin
• 2233 – 2255 : Raised in Iowa
• 2255– 2258 : Cadet / lieutenant at Starfleet Academy
• Appointed acting first officer of the USS Enterprise
• Elevated to acting captain of the USS Enterprise
• Appointed captain of the USS Enterprise
• Demoted to first officer of the Enterprise
• Demoted to commander
• Reinstated to captain to hunt John Harrison, revealed to be Khan Noonien Singh
• Poisoned saving the Enterprise and crew, but revived with Khan's blood
• Attends the re- christening ceremony of the Enterprise
• Sets off on first five-year mission
• Applies for promotion as vice admiral
• Attacked by Krall and the Swarm, leaving the Enterprise destroyed
• Takes command of the USS Franklin and defeats the Swarm
• Fights Krall on Starbase Yorktown and manages to defeat him
• Declines promotion to vice admiral and decides to continue five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise -A

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Citizen, what is your name? " " My name is James Tiberius Kirk! "

" If you don't give me a name, I'm gonna have to make one up. " " It's Uhura. " " Uhura? No way! That's the name I was gonna make up for you! "

" I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals. " " Well, not only... "

" Do you like being the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest? " " Maybe I love it. "

" Four years ? I'll do it in three . "

" Two Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are locking weapons on us. " " That's ok. " " That's ok?! " " Yeah, don't worry about it."

" I don't believe in no-win scenarios . "

" Who was that pointy-eared bastard anyway? " " I don't know. But I like him. "

" I am Spock. " (Pause) " Bullshit. "

" You gotta be kidding! " " Thanks for the support. "

" Attention crew of the Enterprise , this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to acting captain . I know you are all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down... or they are. Kirk out. "

" Your species is even weaker than I expected... You can't even speak ... What? " " I got your gun! "

" What're you doin' here? " " Just following orders. "

" I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony, than accept assistance from you. " " You got it. Arm phasers, fire everything we've got. "

" Bones... buckle up! "

" If Spock were here, and I were there, what would he do? " " He'd let you die. "

" I gave you my ship because I saw a greatness in you. And now, I see you haven't got an ounce of humility. "

" That's your problem, you think you're infallible! You think you can't make a mistake. It's a pattern with you! The rules are for other people! " " Some should be. " " And what's worse is you using blind luck to justify your playing god! "

" I said if anyone deserves a second chance, it's Jim Kirk. " " I don't know what to say. " " That is a first.... It's gonna be okay, son. "

" Where I come from, if someone saves your life, you don't stab them in the back."

" CLEAR THE ROOM! "

" On behalf of Christopher Pike – my friend – I accept your surrender. "

" Let me explain what's happening here. You are a criminal . I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you...and the only reason why you are still alive, is because I am allowing it. So SHUT... YOUR... MOUTH! "

" Sir, My crew was just... was just following my orders. I take... I take full responsibility for my actions. But they were mine and they were mine alone. If I transmit Khan's location to you now, all that I ask is that you spare them. Please, sir. I'll do anything you want. Just let them live. "

" I'm sorry. "

" You're right! What I'm about to do, it doesn't make sense, it's not logical, it is a gut feeling! I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I can do. The Enterprise and her crew needs someone in that chair who knows what he's doing. And it's not me. It's you, Spock. "

" I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be. "

" There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves. Our first instinct is to seek revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that's not who we are. We are here today to rechristen to USS Enterprise, and to honor those who lost their lives... nearly one year ago. When Christopher Pike first gave me his ship, he had me recite the Captain's Oath. Words I didn't appreciate at the time. But now I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were and who we must be again. And those words... "

" Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Her five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. "

" Where shall we go? " " As a mission of this duration has never been attempted – I defer to your good judgment, captain. "

" Just another day in the 'Fleet. "

" Do you believe every sad story you hear? " " Not every. "

" What did Krall want with this thing? " " To save you...from yourselves. "

" Mr. Sulu. You can... you know... fly this thing, right? " " You kidding me, sir? "

" Let's make some noise "

" That's a good choice "

" I think you underestimate Humanity. " " I fought for Humanity! Lost millions to the Xindi and Romulan wars. And for what? For the Federation?! To sit me in a Captain's chair and break bread with the enemy! " " We change. We have to. Or we spend the rest of our lives fighting the same battles. ".

" You lost. There's no way for you to make it back there! Give up! " " What, like you did? I read your ship's log Captain James T. Kirk. At least I know what I am! I'm a soldier! " " You won the war, Edison. You gave us peace! " " Peace...is not what I was born into. "

" You...can't stop it. You will die. " " Better to die saving lives, than to live with taking them. That's what I was born into. "

" Vice Admirals don't fly, do they? " " No. They don't. " " Well, no offense, ma'am, but where's the fun in that? "

" To the Enterprise ... and to absent friends. "

Catch phrases [ ]

" Take us out."

" Attention, crew of the Enterprise . "

" You have the conn. "

" My name is James Tiberius Kirk. "

" Lieutenant Uhura, open a ship-wide channel. "

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• Star Trek (First appearance)
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Background information [ ]

Joshua Greene as Kirk

James T. Kirk was portrayed by Chris Pine . Young Kirk was portrayed by Jimmy Bennett . Newborn Kirk was portrayed by a silicone puppet. [13] For the scene in which Kirk runs into a cave on Delta Vega, child actor Joshua Greene served as body double for Pine, with the producers arranging for Greene to momentarily play Kirk so the entrance of the cave would look bigger.

Chris Pine repeatedly auditioned for the role of the alternate reality Kirk, not caring much if he got the assignment to play him. " I auditioned for it in spring 2007 , just bombed the audition, and didn't think twice about it, " Pine remembered. " I knew it was for Star Trek , but I didn't have much interest in it [....] Just like many auditions, you go in, you bomb it, you move on and that's life. Then about five months later, I come back from doing a couple of small movies back to back, and my agent asked me if I wanted to come in. Again I didn't have much interest in doing it, [...] [but] I went in and auditioned. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Pine, after describing himself as "just not a sci-fi guy," continued, " I didn't want to talk about phasers and thrusters and all that kind of stuff! " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 54)

Before making his on-screen debut as Kirk, Pine consulted the originator of the part, William Shatner . " I wrote him a letter when I originally got the role, in which I just basically said that I wasn't trying to take over his role , " Pine explained. " I understood the big shoes I was stepping into, and that I would never want to offend him by doing the character an injustice [....] I just wanted to do as good a job as he'd done. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Shatner replied, hopeful Pine would be successful in the forthcoming movie. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ; Star Trek Magazine  issue 140 )

Pine has said in the past that he was influenced in part by Harrison Ford's acting in " Star Wars " and " Indiana Jones ", as well as Tom Cruise's acting in "Top Gun" . [14] [15]

While Chris Pine was beginning to play Kirk, J.J. Abrams helped him with the part, allowing Pine a great deal of free reign in portraying the character. " It made me feel a little bit safer, " admitted the actor, " that I wasn't originating the role; I was merely taking it over for a little bit to see what I could do with it. Ironically, there is some safety in that. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) On the other hand, Pine also related that he actually never felt as though he was borrowing the role, but that he always felt he owned it. ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55) " Whatever issues I might have had about stepping into such an iconic role, into a piece that has already been done, and done well, by many others, " he went on, " was laid to rest by this man [Abrams], who at the get go told me that he wanted to create something new [....] I was not to worry about trying to mimic Mr. Shatner, but to create something new and different and unique. That was really exciting and really fun to be around. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Indeed, being permitted such a degree of freedom with the character prevented Pine from ever feeling an overbearing sense of responsibility. " I hope I brought everything that I could to the role [....] I certainly felt a responsibility to do justice to what Mr. Shatner did, but I never felt like I had to in some way impersonate the Kirk that he embodied. Really, at the end of the day, I think I would have been doing an injustice to the story, and to my fellow actors, if I was trying to figure out some genius way of impersonating William Shatner, because then it would become an impersonation, not an original incarnation, " Pine reckoned. " My version of the character people would have been taking apart to see how I was trying to achieve that perfect mimicry, whereas it shouldn't be like that. It should be about the story, so I had to throw caution to the wind and say, 'Screw it, here it is, here's my version of it.' I understand that it's a lose-lose situation in many ways, because I know some people are going to want to see a younger version of Mr. Shatner. I am not that, because I am simply not William Shatner. I'm my own person. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 11) Despite decidedly not impersonating Shatner's take on Kirk, Pine noted, " I thought it was necessary to pay tribute to that. " As such, he actually infused his own version of the character with some of Shatner's performance attributes, especially his humor from Star Trek: The Original Series . ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 20) " It was fun in the first one to throw in little peppers of Shatner, " Pine reminisced, " because he's so fun. That makes people smile. But J.J. never wanted that. He told me specifically not to do that. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55)

What Pine has based his portrayal of Kirk on more are the scripted depictions of him. Thus, the actor explained, " I think of Kirk as less of an iconic character and more as a character given to me on the written page. I used my script as my 'bible', and tried to make sense from that. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 20) He later recalled about how he was able to adopt such a well-established role, " I just had to look at the script and say, 'If this script was attached to no other iconography or mythology, how would I do it?' I'd just have to create the character that I was given. The guy that I was given was a real maverick, kind of a pain in the ass, a lot of fun… He's the classic rogue. He had no attachment in my mind to any other character named Jim Kirk. He was just the guy in that particular script – which gave me a lot of freedom to do whatever I wanted. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55)

When adopting the part, it was important to Pine that Kirk be depicted as a relatable Human. " Kirk's interesting because he is the Everyman presented with an unbelievably epic, daunting task, an opportunity, a challenge, and he has a very difficult choice to make. It just happens it's one of the big ones, like 'try to save planet Earth' kind of thing. I think what's great about it is he's insecure, he's damaged, he's cocky, he is brash. He is all these things at once, and he's a hero, but a very Human hero, " the actor commented. " Anyone looking at it can see themselves in James T. Kirk. That's what was great about it. It wasn't far from myself, and I don't think the character is far from anybody. When presented with a great challenge, it's your choice to either step up to it, and try to take it on head first, or not. You try to do the best you can. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 )

Regarding how Kirk is presented in the film Star Trek , Chris Pine believed that, rather than be suddenly given a direction for his life, Kirk changes gradually. " I think there are stages in the progression of his becoming that mature leader. We're not reinventing the wheel here. It's Joseph Campbell 's reluctant hero's journey. It's a version of a story that's been told since the beginning of time in every single culture on the planet. " One motivation Kirk has, at least in Pine's opinion, is the challenge to improve himself that Pike gives him. " Kirk takes it head on. That doesn't mean that right at the get-go, right when he accepts that challenge, he becomes a reasoned, mature leader. There's an arc to that journey. " Pine also "certainly" found that, by the end of the film, Kirk is "getting there." The actor continued, " What it shows is all that passion, that drive, that impulsiveness and arrogance can be molded and shaped into something a little bit more functional in a team setting. But it's exactly those qualities that make James Kirk a great man. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 10)

Chris Pine approved of the many different emotions he was able to play while portraying Kirk in the initial movie. " I think what was great about Kirk is that I get to really run the gamut of emotions, and I get to run the gamut of every single genre within this character. I get to be a comedian, an action hero, a take-charge leader. I get to be my own version of Jason Bourne – I have all these different qualities that I get to bring to life. I don't think I'd be doing anyone any favors by saying which was the most satisfying [....] It's like any boy's dream. Playing pretend on that multimillion dollar Bridge was like playing cops and robbers with real horses and real robbers! " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 11)

There were, however, particular moments in the initial depiction of the alternate reality Kirk which appealed to Chris Pine. " There was a lot of humour and a lot of action [to] it, but what really got me about the role were two pivotal scenes at the beginning of the movie that lays out James T. Kirk to a T. Those were the most exciting scenes, and the ones I was most looking forward to taking on. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) The two scenes Pine was drawn to were the scene in which Kirk tries to flirt with Uhura upon first meeting her but gets into a bar fight with a group of Starfleet cadets, and the next scene, in which he talks with Christopher Pike while still in the bar. A year after making the previous statement, Pine elaborated about that pair of scenes, " Not that it's 'Kirk to a T,' but it certainly explains much of who he is and I guess why he has so much anger and such a passionate dislike of Starfleet before he changes his mind. I also think in those two scenes you get a chance to see [...] Kirk's sense of humor. J.J. really wanted to make sure [...] that Kirk is that wisecracking, smart but kind of directionless young man. " Pine additionally remarked that he " loved the bar scene because I get to be that kind of bad ass hero that I grew up watching. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 10 & 11)

In the stage directions for his bar fight, the script characterized Kirk as a "spirited" fighter. [16] His fighting style was purposely designed to suit the character's personality. Regarding how this is shown in the film Star Trek , Pine observed, " The kind of baser, more brutal instincts of Kirk [compared to Spock] are seen in that bar fight at the beginning... And the fight with Ayel, and the fight with Nero! " Sulu actor John Cho agreed, " Chris Pine had more of a barroom brawler type of training. " For the same film, Pine trained for three or four hours a day, over a stretch of two months. He found the training was "intense" but "a lot of fun." ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 12, 41 & 13)

Screenwriter Roberto Orci joked, in a message board post, that the radiation from Kirk's premature birth in space caused his eyes to go blue, considering that the prime Kirk has hazel eyes. [17]

Chris Pine approved of the maverick, wildcard side of Kirk's personality being shown. " I think it was very important, especially for the first film, to have that version of the character, " the actor remarked. " There were fans that were dismayed that he had so much bravado – but there's no place for the character to go if you don't start somewhere. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 54) As such, inspired by the portrayal of an evil Kirk in TOS : " The Enemy Within ", Pine proposed to J.J. Abrams that, in Star Trek Into Darkness , the alternate reality Kirk might undergo a similar transformation. " I wanted [him] to go dark and rogue, " noted Pine, though his request wasn't granted. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20; SFX , issue 276, p. 54)

Kirk's demotion at the start of Star Trek Into Darkness was prompted by fan criticism that the character had been promoted too quickly at the end of Star Trek . [18] Orci and Kurtzman described the second film as being about Kirk earning the captain's chair, and proving that by sacrificing himself. [19]

After J.J. Abrams gave the script for Star Trek Into Darkness to the cast members, Kirk's character arc made sense to Chris Pine, as did Abrams' advice. " Really, what he kept stressing in the second one was the fact that Kirk might have gotten the Captain's chair in the first one, but in the second one he has to earn the Captain's chair, " Pine recollected. " What does it mean to be a leader? In the first one, he became one very quickly and accidentally. In the second one, he finds himself growing up very fast, becoming an adult very fast. The bravado he does so well in the first film, in the second maybe isn't the best quality or color with which to lead these men and women into battle. It's really about humility, and maturity, and growing up in a couple of hours [....] The fact that Kirk is the Captain of this ship, and is going through a major existential crisis, does not bode well for where the crew and the Enterprise find themselves in the middle of this picture [....] This Kirk is still trying to figure the best way to lead, and who his consigliores are, and who it's wisest to trust [....] I think it makes for an interesting story. " Pine found returning to play Kirk, however, was more nerve-wracking than when he introduced the character in the previous film. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , pp. 21 & 23)

The script of Star Trek , upon describing Kirk's reaction to the death of Amanda Grayson , stated, " There's no cheating death, " though that is precisely what Kirk himself does in Star Trek Into Darkness . [20]

Chris Pine appreciated the reasons behind Kirk's actions in the movies Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness . " [Those films] were, for Kirk, a lot about dealing with the loss of his father, looking up to his second father [ Bruce Greenwood 's Captain Pike], and taking guidance from him while living in the shadow of the legacy of this father that he never got to meet; the anger he feels at having not met him and known him, " Pine mused. " Those are all wonderful motivators for Kirk – to try to get noticed, to do a good job, to be the best. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 18)

Chris Pine working with Star Trek Beyond Director Justin Lin

During the development of Star Trek Beyond , the film's writing team were somewhat uncertain how to forward the character of Kirk, but did decide to set the film a couple of years after the previous movie. The director of Star Trek Beyond , Justin Lin , stated, " Especially coming after Into Darkness , where Kirk actually sacrificed himself for everybody already, how do you go on? The time jump was important, because what happens after that? When Kirk thinks about life, what does that mean? How does that reflect on him, and those more subtle, existential issues? With the time we were allowed to have, it helps Kirk in this instance. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 8) Simon Pegg , as he was co-writing the film, consulted Chris Pine about any character requests he had, to which Pine asked for the humor from earlier in the series to be preserved and protected in the forthcoming movie, a desire which influenced the writing of Kirk's scenes with Chekov in the film. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Chris Pine's portrayal of Kirk inspired the costumes which were designed for Pine to wear in the film. " Because he's such a gorgeous guy, I saw him as almost like a space cowboy, " admitted Costume Designer Sanja Hays . " So, for me personally, I just wanted to do justice to him, and make him look as good as possible, because he's such a charismatic man. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 42)

The notion of presenting a maturer Kirk in Star Trek Beyond was welcomed by Chris Pine, who said, " What I really enjoy about this part of Kirk's arc is that he's relieved of all the onus of trying to live up to his father and the anger of never having met his father, all the stuff that drove the first couple of films. " Pine was aware too that, in Beyond , Kirk is nonetheless still partly as he was in the film Star Trek , retaining a sense of being an "iconoclast that is beholden to his own sense of morality and not anybody else's rules and regulations." Pine also pointed out that his hairstyle in Star Trek Beyond is one of several stylistic "nods" to TOS in the movie, commenting, " My haircut in the film is a bit '60s Kirkian! " Conversely, Pine thought it was still important that he not impersonate Shatner's Kirk in the film, adding, " My role is to disappear, [...] so I've got to blend into the background enough to let [Krall actor] Idris [Elba] do his stuff. " ( SFX , issue 276, pp. 54 & 55) While working on Star Trek Beyond , Pine felt an increased sense of personal ownership regarding the role of Kirk. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Chris Pine has admitted that his portrayal of Kirk has been influenced by his own real life experiences, and speculated about how Kirk would cope with a promotional tour, the likes of which he and his castmates undertook to promote Star Trek Beyond . " I think he'd probably be a big fan of the hanging out with friends, and not so big a fan of answering questions, " Pine reckoned. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

When asked (shortly after the making of Star Trek Beyond ) if he could imagine playing an older and retiring Kirk in a few decades, Chris Pine answered, " That's too far in the future for me to say, but at this point, I'd be very interested, sure. " Pine also acknowledged that he loves the character of Kirk and expressed an interest in continuing to return in the role, despite being unsure of precisely how his version of Kirk will develop in the future. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 22)

McCoy actor Karl Urban once stated about his co-star Chris Pine, " He is absolutely spot on as Kirk. " With a laugh, Zoë Saldana agreed, " His approach to the character, the kind of Kirk that he and J.J. created, is so much fun. He's so sexy, so entertaining, and at the same time such a leader. This Kirk is no different than the original one: definitely a flirt, and the cockiness is overbearing at times, but it makes him who he is [....] And there's an intriguing sensitivity about him. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 22 & 35) Khan actor Benedict Cumberbatch raved, " I think Chris [Pine] is one of the best leading men there is. He's extraordinary in the performance he gives. He's really smart, he varies his game, he's constantly grinding away at the script, the story arcs. He's always paying attention to where his character is, and Kirk's story in the overall scheme of things. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 27) Jonathan Frakes concurred, " Pine is perfect as Kirk. " ( SFX , issue 270, p. 63)

The 2013 virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals uses screenshots for card #36, Recruit James T. Kirk, card #56, Cadet James T. Kirk, card #84, Acting First Officer James T. Kirk, and card #101, Captain James T. Kirk.

Pine's Kirk was considered for an appearance on Star Trek: Prodigy . Aaron Waltke recalled, " At one point, I think we had discussed the possibility of what other universes can we explore? And I think at one point, we talked about trying to bring in even the Kelvin universe, but we just simply didn't have time in the “Cracked Mirror” episode, where they're going into all the different universes. And we were like, ‘Oh, what if we brought in that Captain Kirk, and he had to help them for a couple of episodes?’ It was a cool idea, but it was just a little bit too many sauces in the stew kind of a thing. I think it would have been fun. But I think it would have diverted from the story we were telling. It would have been the Captain Kirk show for a couple of episodes. Maybe that's season three, we'll find out. " [21]

Apocrypha [ ]

His female counterpart

The novelization of Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster states that Winona Kirk was given an inhibitor that would help slow the birth of James until the Kelvin 's return to Earth. However, the impacts to the ship by the Narada 's attack cause her to go into early labor. The novelization also merges the conflicting abusive-adult characters, making "Frank" the boys' step-father, and revealing that he wanted the car washed because he planned to sell it behind Winona's back, which is what truly drives Jim to steal it.

Kirk is one of the playable characters in the 2013 Star Trek video game. Prior to leaving the bridge for his trip to Helios Station ( β ), Sulu and Kirk briefly discuss friendly sparring matches they'd had in the past. According to Sulu, Kirk was improving, as he almost made contact the last time.

According to the comic book I, Enterprise! Part 2 (Issue #32 of the Star Trek: Ongoing comic series), Kirk's identification number is 0001.

In comic book two-parter " Parallel Lives, Part 1 and 2 ", Kirk has an equally reckless female counterpart named Jane Tiberia Kirk.

In the first issue of Star Trek: Boldly Go , Kirk, along with Dr. Leonard McCoy and Pavel Chekov were assigned to the USS Endeavour .

External links [ ]

• James T. Kirk (Kelvin timeline) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• James T. Kirk at Wikipedia
• 1 Bell Riots
• 2 Obi Ndefo
• 3 Gabriel Bell