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Published Aug 26, 2022

Everything You Need to Know About Nero

Who is the Romulan captain with an axe to grind towards Spock? Let’s explore the Kelvin timeline and find out!

StarTrek.com

Welcome back to the Star Trek Villain Showdown as it heads towards the ultimate final face-off between Khan and Gul Dukat !

Before we get to the epic battle between those two nefarious foes, we’re showcasing a few honorable mentions who kept our Federation crews on their toes. There’s the fanatical Kai Winn Adami who wreaked havoc on Deep Space 9 along with Gul Dukat. We also got Spock’s wayward half-brother Sybok . Now we’re diving into the Kelvin timeline to meet the Romulan miner turned vengeful captain, Nero , and his sole mission to destroy Spock’s home world and family.

Who Was Nero?

Nero , portrayed menacingly by the brilliant Eric Bana, opens Star Trek (2009) at the helm of the Romulan mining vessel turned warship the Narada as it emerges from a black hole and immediately launches a vicious assault on the Federation ship the U.S.S. Kelvin .

Upon learning the stardate—2233—and discovering Captain Robau ’s lack of knowledge of Ambassador Spock , Nero lashes out and kills Robau in anger. As the Narada continues its full-scale attack on the Kelvin , the now acting captain George Kirk sacrifices his life by plotting a collision course with the Narada in order to give the 800 survivors of the crew, including his wife Winona and newborn son James T. Kirk , a fighting chance at escape and survival.

Why Was Nero Searching for Spock?

Nero arrives in 2233 through the black hole from over 150 years in the future. Following his assault on the Kelvin , Nero and his vessel waited another 25 years before the arrival of Ambassador Spock, providing him ample time to sit with grief over the loss of his wife, unborn son, and home planet Romulus.

In the year 2387, Nero, off-world on a mining expedition, faced the destruction of his family and Romulus due to an adjacent supernova. Ambassador Spock, in his Vulcan Science Academy Jellyfish vessel, attempted to neutralize the supernova’s effects with a black hole created with red matter. However, Spock was unsuccessful in reaching Romulus before its annihilation.

Nero directs his all-consuming rage towards Spock, who had sought to mitigate disaster, and the Federation, who did not aid in the dying planet’s evacuations. Unbeknownst to Nero, former admiral Jean Luc Picard left the Federation to command a rescue armada to aid in the evacuation of 18 billion Romulans off their planet, as explained on Star Trek: Picard ’s “Remembrance .”

Nero’s Incursion Creates an Alternate Timeline — The Kelvin Timeline

The crew aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin were not familiar with the Romulans as first visual contact with the race would not occur until 2266, as seen in The Original Series ’ “ Balance of Terror ” episode.

The singularity event pulls Nero and his crew on the Narada , as well as Spock and his Jellyfish , into its red matter-created black hole, sending them into the past. While Nero arrives in 2233, Ambassador Spock finds himself in 2258, setting up a time paradox with the younger Commander Spock , first officer to Captain Christopher Pike , aboard the not yet christened U.S.S. Enterprise .

It’s Nero’s actions in 2233 that trigger the creation of an alternate reality, dubbed the "Kelvin" timeline, changing course and the history for the Federation and the last of the Romulan Empire’s present future in the Prime Universe.

The Assault on Earth and Vulcan

In order to inflict the same amount of pain onto his adversary Spock, Nero seeks to punish the half-Vulcan, half-human ambassador by having him witness the destruction of his two home worlds — Vulcan and Earth. Nero believes destroying Vulcan and the Federation will ensure a future for Romulus, one where they are the ultimate power in the universe.

When Ambassador Spock arrives in 2258, Nero and his crew are ready to intercept. Marooning the elder Spock to Delta Vega, Nero forces him to witness the destruction of Vulcan with Spock’s supply of red matter.

As the Federation dispatched several starships to aid the Vulcan planet, Nero spots the Enterprise and wants the younger Spock, of the Kelvin timeline, to witness Vulcan’s destruction and know it was brought by his hands as well.

The Enterprise is unsuccessful in thwarting Vulcan’s destruction, as the red matter created a black hole at the center of the planet. This caused the planet to implode on itself. Both the young and elder Spock face the mass genocide of their people, including the loss of their mother, Amanda Grayson .

It is Nero’s deep desire to attack Spock’s people and planet that ultimately cements his short-lived present. Now on the radar of both the Federation and the U.S.S. Enterprise , Pike, Spock, George Kirk’s son Jim , and the rest of the crew will stop at nothing to stop Nero from doing what he did to Vulcan to Earth and other Federation planets. It’s this narrow-minded pursuit to kill Spock that has Nero and the Narada engulfed by the red matter he sought to exploit when he attempts to destroy Earth. Refusing aid from Captain Kirk and the Enterprise after his ship is fatally damaged, Nero declares he’d rather witness Romulus suffer a thousand times and goes down with his ship.

Holding a Mirror to Spock

In Star Trek (2009), Nero and his actions present a treacherous mirror of the Romulans to Spock and Vulcans. In fact, Romulans and Vulcans descended from the same ancestry ; Romulans are distant cousins from Vulcans who rejected Surak and his teachings that led Vulcans to master their emotions via logic. Those who rebuked those teachings would become what we now know as Romulans. The Romulans were a very moral people with an absolutist view of what’s right or wrong. As such, they were incredibly xenophobic and isolationists, which was why and how they went unnoticed by the Federation for as long as they did.

In the film, both Nero and Spock grapple with the loss of their loved ones and witness the destruction of their entire home worlds. However, how they react to the all-consuming grief and despair sets them both on mirrored paths. While Nero pursues the road of narrow-minded revenge, both the young and elder Spock head down the path of hope and survival, ensuring their Vulcan history and the remaining surviving Vulcans can rebuild an enduring future.

Where does Nero rank for you on the never-ending list of nefarious Star Trek foes? Let us know @StarTrek on social! And come back to StarTrek.com next week as we had to the Star Trek Villain Showdown finals as Khan goes head-to-head with Gul Dukat!

Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

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Nero (Kelvin Timeline)

Nero is the main antagonist of the 2009 sci-fi action adventure film Star Trek , the first installment of the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek film series.

He was a Romulan miner in his childhood period and served as the captain of the Narada spaceship.

He was portrayed by Eric Bana , who also played Chaz in Back to the Outback .

• 1 Biography
• 4 Navigation
• 5 References

Biography [ ]

Nero was a Romulan miner originating from the late 24th century, and captain of the mining vessel Narada . Following the destruction of Romulus in 2387 caused by a star going supernova, he sought vengeance against those he felt were responsible, ultimately resulting in him being sucked in by a black hole and transported back in time to the year 2233. Nero's actions in the past resulted in the creation of an alternate reality. In this reality, his actions led to the destruction of the USS Kelvin as well as the deaths of its two senior officers, Captain Richard Robau and Lieutenant Commander George Kirk. George Kirk's death altered the upbringing of his son James T. Kirk who, in this timeline, did not join Starfleet until 2255.

In 2258, Nero was responsible for the destruction of the alternate reality's Vulcan, which resulted in the deaths of the majority of the Vulcan race, including Spock's mother Amanda Grayson. He also attempted to destroy this timeline's Earth, but his plot was foiled by Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise . Nero apparently died when Spock caused the Jellyfish , a small ship carrying red matter, to collide with the Narada , creating a black hole in the center of the Romulan ship. Kirk gave Nero and his crew the chance to be saved, but Nero viciously refused the offer. Kirk then ordered his crew to fire upon the ship as it was being sucked into the black hole. As Nero watched his ship being sucked into the black hole while being blasted by the Enterprise, he accepted his fate and closed his eyes as his ship was sucked in, killing him and his crew and avenging the deaths of Robau, George Kirk, Amanda Grayson, and the numerous Vulcans involved in the destruction of Vulcan.

Gallery [ ]

• Russell Crowe was considered for the role of Nero before Bana was cast. In fact, Crowe and Bana were director JJ Abrams' only two choices for the role. [1] [2]
• Eric Bana was a big fan of the original Star Trek series growing up. [3]
• Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci named Nero after the Roman emperor of the same name, as a nod to the Roman inspirations of the Romulans. [4]
• In the script of  Star Trek , Nero seemed significantly more compassionate to Humans than he is in the final version of the film, at one point commenting, "It's not the fault of the human race that Starfleet chose Earth as its center. You're a more noble race than my fallen cousins. I'll take no pleasure in your extinction." The script also had Nero kill Ayel prior to the Battle of Earth, and Nero's scripted last words were "Forgive me... Romulus..." [5]
• In a deleted scene, Nero is interrogated by a Klingon  on the prison planet Rura Penthe, and escapes. This sequence also contains Nero's line, "The wait is over.", as seen in trailers for the film. [6] [7]
• When writer Cameron Crowe saw a rough cut of the film, he kept asking who played the villain, being staggered to realize that this was Eric Bana.

Navigation [ ]

References [ ].

• ↑ Russell Crowe Beamed Up For Star Trek Movie
• ↑ Russell Crowe As ‘Star Trek’ Villian?
• ↑ EXCLUSIVE Eric Bana interviewed
• ↑ Orci and Kurtzman Reveal Star Trek Details In TrekMovie Fan Q&A
• ↑ STAR TREK
• ↑ STAR TREK Deleted Scene: Nero Vs. Klingons
• ↑ Star Trek (2009) - Klingon Prison Escape/"The Wait is Over" (Deleted Scene)
• 1 Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice)
• 2 The Boiled One
• 3 Jeremy Frazier

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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

• Memory Beta articles sourced from novels
• Romulan captains
• 2360s births
• 2258 deaths
• Alternate reality deaths
• Time travellers

Nero (Romulan)

Nero's formal Romulan name was Ŏ'ŗên , however he introduced himself as Nero (essentially reversing the name) as he found Humans tended to be unable to pronounce his proper name. ( TOS novelization : Star Trek )

• 1.1 Revenge
• 1.2 Imprisonment
• 1.4 The Return of Spock
• 2 Alternate timelines
• 3.1 Connections
• 3.2 External link

History [ ]

Nero in 2387 .

In 2387 , he and his crew were drilling for iridium and deuterium on a planet in the Hobus system . Shortly after discovering large quantities of decalithium , the crew observed the nearby star going supernova. Realizing that his crew was in imminent danger, Nero ordered the transporters to beam the drillers back to the ship, forcing them to leave the drill behind.

Upon returning to Romulus, Nero was present for an important Senate meeting regarding the condition of the Hobus star. Representing the Miner's Guild, Nero spoke out in support of Ambassador Spock 's plan to eliminate the supernova via the use of an artificial black hole created by Vulcan red matter. However, the Romulan senate refused to believe Spock's dire warnings, leaving Nero frustrated over their ineptitude. Realizing that he was risking his career over the decision, Nero spoke to his wife Mandana about the situation. Both agreed that Nero should rely on his loyalties and heart to approach the problem, and so Nero approached Spock and offered his services to aid him. Nero managed to persuade his crew into taking Spock to the neighboring Kimben system in search for decalithium. Upon reaching the system, Nero and his crew were attacked by Remans . The ship was nearly taken over, but at the last second, the USS Enterprise -E arrived with Captain Data in command, swiftly defeating the Remans. Though the Remans had damaged the Narada's drill, Data suggested the confiscation of the Reman contraband decalithium, giving the miners enough to create the red matter.

Accompanied by Spock, Nero and the Narada travelled to Vulcan, where Nero spent much of the journey as a guest aboard the Enterprise, taking the opportunity to learn about the history of the ship, including that of its first captain - James T. Kirk . However, the meeting with the Vulcans progressed disastrously, with the Vulcans unwilling to give the militaristic Romulans the Red matter. Enraged and feeling betrayed, Nero took the Narada back to Romulus, vowing vengeance upon the Vulcans should the worst happen. Though Spock was able to create the red matter from Nero's decalithium, the star unexpectedly went supernova early, and Nero arrived just in time to watch Romulus and its population destroyed.

Grief stricken by the loss of his wife and unborn child, Nero was contacted by three Federation medical frigates sent to offer assistance. Believing their appearance to be part of a ploy by the Federation to claim Romulan territory, Nero had all three destroyed through subterfuge. Nero was then contacted by the surviving members of the Romulan Senate, who had escaped the devastation. Enraged by their previous refusal to listen, Nero murdered them, though not before acquiring the codes to a secret Romulan installation called the Vault, as well as the Romulan Praetor 's sacred weapon, the Debrune Teral'n. Determined to have their revenge for Romulus, Nero and his crew permanently tattoed themselves with ancient symbols of grief to symbolize their pain. Arriving at the secret installation, Nero met with Commander D'spal , who unveiled the system that had been kept secret from all outside the Senate - a retrofitted Borg system capable of greatly improving all the capabilities of a ship, giving it advanced cloaking, weapons and sensor systems, as well as self-repairing nanotechnology. Wanting vengeance just like Nero, D'spal offered the system to be fitted to the Narada , turning it from a humble mining vessel into an incredibly formidable battleship.

In the days following Romulus' destruction, Nero and the Narada remorselessly attacked ships near the Romulan border to test their abilities, annihilating Federation, Klingon and Cardassian alike. However, preparing to assault Vulcan, the Narada was unexpectedly attacked by a fleet of Klingon birds of prey under the command of General Worf in retaliation for the attacks on Klingon ships (and at the instigation of Jean-Luc Picard ). Even the Klingon vessels were no match for the Narada, and Nero offered Worf the chance to surrender. Instead, Worf led a boarding party that cut their way through ther hull, seeking to kill Nero personally. However, Nero outsmarted the warrior, impaling him with a piece of the Narada 's bridge just as the Enterprise arrived. A gloating Nero offered the Enterprise the chance to beam Worf aboard to save his life, in doing so dropping their shields. With no real option, Data complied, but was able to get his shields up fast enough to avoid serious damage. Nero then left to intercept Spock, leaving the Enterprise with no Warp capability in its wake. Spock's mission had been a success. Piloting the Jellyfish, his release of the Red Matter had swallowed the supernova within the black hole as Nero arrived. Raging at Spock's actions, the Narada was caught in the black hole and sucked in, seemingly destroyed for good. ( ST comic : " Star Trek: Countdown ")

Revenge [ ]

Though in his timeline he was seemingly killed, Nero and his crew were actually transported back in time to the year 2233 where the Narada emerged back into realspace and discovered a Federation starship called the USS Kelvin . Immediately attacking it, the Federation ship was badly damaged. However, the Romulans desired to learn more about their situation, and Nero, through Ayel , ordered the Kelvin 's captain to come aboard. Realizing that they had been thrown back in time, and that no-one had heard of Spock, Nero savagely killed the Federation starship captain and continued the attack on the USS Kelvin . To allow the ship's crew to escape, the Kelvin's acting captain, George Samuel Kirk , rammed his ship into the Narada , engaging warp at the moment of impact and almost destroying the Narada .

Imprisonment [ ]

The Narada was badly damaged but not destroyed, with its weapons, shields and engines offline. As the Romulans tried frantically to repair their ship, they pondered that they could now see Romulus again. However, Nero had now grown obsessed with vengeance, and destroyed the few crew members who tried to leave. Shortly after, the Narada was attacked by Klingon Battlecruisers led by Kor , who had picked up the ship's emergence. Without functioning systems, the Romulans were overpowered by boarding parties after a bitter struggle. Nero and his crew were imprisoned on Rura Penthe , as the Klingons eagerly desired the secrets of the Narada .

Over the next twenty-five years Nero and his crew toiled in the mines, making numerous escape attempts but being kept alive as their mining skills had made the planet profitable for the first time in its history. During this time Nero lost part of his ear in a fight against a pet beast of the guards which he killed with his bare hands. Though Nero kept strong though the use of smuggled drugs and his still-obsessive desire for revenge, he secretly despaired of ever being able to avenge his wife - until he met Clavell , an imprisoned human mapmaker who was able to divine that Spock had not yet emerged from the black hole. Nero's cell was raided, and his documents on Spock finally recovered, and he was set to be interrogated by Centaurian slug . However, he killed his captors and escaped, triggering a bloody escape with his crew. At the same time, the Narada had mysteriously come back online in response to an unknown signal. The crew reclaimed it, but it took them to the Delta Quadrant of its own volition.

With his psychic abilities honed by the drugs he had received in Rura Penthe, Nero pieced together what was happening - the ship, enhanced by Borg technology had taken on the characteristics of a sentient machine. The Narada's arrival in the timeline had been sensed by another, similar entity - V'Ger , which had in turn summoned it. Nero could in turn sense the communications between the two, and was transported to the center of V'Ger. Realizing that Spock had communicated with it in his home reality, Nero was able to use the entity's immense abilities to reveal where Spock would emerge. Having resisted being assimilated by V'Ger, Nero left to carry out his revenge.

The Return of Spock [ ]

Returning to the place where the anomaly brought him back in time, he witnessed the arrival of the Jellyfish after which he captured Spock as well as confiscated his supply of red matter. Nero gloated about the irony; in the original universe Spock had saved Vulcan but failed to save Romulus. Here, Nero would use Spock's own red matter to destroy the Federation planet by planet - starting with Vulcan. Refusing to listen to the ambassador, the Narada was then attacked by a fleet of Klingon Warbirds led by his old captor Koth. Despite the strength of the Klingon fleet, the Narada annihilated every vessel, saving Nero's old tormentor for last. Nero now wished to make Spock suffer the same pain that Nero had faced with the destruction of his home world, and stranded him on Delta Vega with just enough supplies to ensure he would live long enough to witness his planet's destruction. ( ST comic : " Star Trek: Nero ")

Nero then ordered the Narada to the planet Vulcan, drilling into the planet's core from the atmosphere. This action led to a distress signal being sent to Starfleet which deployed a fleet of starships to investigate the loss of communication with the Vulcans. As the ships emerged into the Vulcan system, they were all destroyed by the Narada . He later encountered the late-arriving USS Enterprise and stopped his crew destroying the ship, realizing that he could make Spock watch the annihilation of Vulcan twice . Opening communications with the ship where he spoke to Captain Christopher Pike , he demanded that Pike come aboard his ship in order to enter negotiations - a ploy to extract vital information. When Pike took a shuttle to board the Narada , a sabotage team led by James T. Kirk disabled the drill, but it was too late - the red matter was launched into Vulcan's core causing the planet to collapse into a singularity that destroyed the Vulcan home world and killed billions of Vulcans.

The Romulans proceeded to Earth , with Nero extracting the codes for Earth's defense grid from Pike, also explaining that he saw what he was doing as preventing the Romulan genocide of his home reality by ensuring it would never be threatened by Vulcan or the Federation. However, as they drilled into Earth's crust by San Francisco , Kirk and Spock beamed aboard via transwarp beaming, rescuing Pike and stealing the Jellyfish - along with the red matter. Though he nearly beat Kirk to death, Nero's obsession with Spock - now piloting the Jellyfish - consumed him and he pursued the Vulcan to open space, firing all the Narada's weapons at him even though it would ignite the red matter. The torpedoes were stopped by the Enterprise, and Spock's true plan became apparent - his suicide run crashed into the Narada , igniting the red matter and creating a black hole inside the ship. Kirk, logically noting that the offer may have preserved peace with the Romulans, offered to transport Nero and his crew to the Enterprise. A raging Nero proclaimed he would rather die in agony - and Kirk obliged, firing all weapons at the Romulan ship and ensuring its destruction. As the ship collapsed around him, Nero closed his eyes, resigned to his fate, as the ship was destroyed within the black hole. ( TOS movie : Star Trek (film) )

Though his actions were condemned by the Federation, the Romulan Empire praised Nero as a hero. ( TOS comic : " Vulcan's Vengeance, Part 2 ")

Members of the Romulan senate sought to finish Nero's work and recruited two of his crew members, Arix and Vella , to lead a suicide run on the Vulcan fleet only for Arix to commit suicide without bringing harm to anyone. ( TOS - Legacy of Spock comics : " Part 2 ", " Part 3 ", " Part 4 ")

These actions caused a group of Vulcans to seek vengeance on Romulus. ( TOS comic : " Vulcan's Vengeance, Part 2 ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

In another permutation of the timeline, Nero destroyed Earth before he set course for Andoria . He was routed in a battle however and fled back to Romulus where he shared the technology of the Narada with his people giving them an advantage in their war against the Federation. Nero eventually met and wed Valas before he led an attack on Vulcan . ( TOS - IDIC comic : " Part 3 ")

The Narada was boarded by Jane Tiberia Kirk , Leonard McCoy and Lieutenant-Unit NU-1701 but they were detected on internal sensors. The bridge crew waited for them with Nero personally stabbing NU-1701 in the back before he noted Jane's striking resemblance to James Kirk and sardonically asked if she was his twin sister before Valas gunned down the intruder. ( TOS - IDIC comic : " Part 4 ")

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], external link [ ].

• Nero (Romulan) article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 USS Dallas (NCC-2019)
• 3 Achilles class

Why Eric Bana's Nero Is The Most Dangerous Villain In Star Trek History

When J.J. Abrams rebooted the original characters of "Star Trek," it kicked off an interesting era for the brand. His trilogy of films came before Paramount+ streaming created a monopoly on content all things Trek and had a universe all its own. To use our favorite Vulcan's iconic quote, it was fascinating. Starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as the beloved duo of James T. Kirk and Spock, the films use an alternate timeline that created a series of movies all its own. This alteration allowed die-hard fans to not feel their legacy had been tarnished while also helping attract new fans.

Abrams also did this by introducing the Romulan villain, Nero (Eric Bana). After a supernova destroys his entire planet, a black hole created by Red Matter pulls Nero and his ship back in time to the day of Kirk's birth. This singular change creates a domino effect that permanently affects the course of events. Regardless if it was purposeful or not, Nero's actions do something almost unprecedented in "Star Trek" history, making him one of the most formidable villains.

Nero changed Star Trek canon forever

For almost 60 years, "Star Trek" has had some of the most legendary villains that will live on in infamy. The Borg Queen is one who never gets old because of the existential dread she inspires. As the leader of the Borg hive, her only interest is in simulating people into her extensive network and erasing all sense of identity. Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) temporary assimilation causes residual trauma that never leaves him. Khan reappears in "Star Trek: Into Darkness" and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," because of his relevance to the Eugenics Wars. But no matter how singular these villains are, Nero has done something they have not.

Nero traveling back in time and destroying Vulcan is so savage and permanent that other villains pale in comparison. Not only does he enact genocide against the Vulcans, but his damage to the "Star Trek" timeline can never be corrected. The timeline in the reboot has changed the course of Kirk and Spock forever. Kirk has to live with the death of his mentor Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), even though he lives on in the prime timeline. This change was so severe that in "Into Darkness," Kirk is the one who dies from radiation, and not Spock as portrayed in "The Wrath of Khan." This substantial change can only be compared to another antagonist in "Star Trek" history –  Q (John de Lancie) is a villain who returns time and again after being introduced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Only Q has had as much of an impact

John de Lancie has only appeared in "Star Trek" a dozen or so times as Q, but that is the beauty of his character. As an omnipotent god-like being, he can come and go as he pleases, and there is no way to defeat him. He is such a hallmark of the series, that he even returned for Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Picard" as a touchstone for the former captain. As soon as de Lancie heard the plan for his character, he was on board. "I asked how they were going to deal with the age and that type of stuff. And [showrunner Terry Matalas] said, 'We will [make it happen] and more importantly, we want you how you are now,'" de Lancie told The Hollywood Reporter . 

No one could doubt that Q is a more endearing villain than Nero. The actor has been a part of the "Star Trek" universe for decades and is as welcome as "The Next Generation" crew. And that is why Nero is that much more insidious. Though Q can rewrite realities and play the Enterprise crew like pieces on a chessboard, he is ultimately a trickster figure. He never does anything that cannot be undone — even if it's just by the grace of his power. Nero has no such aspirations. He has no redemption. He only wants to cause suffering, and in a universe that values its utopian society, there is nothing worse than that.

• 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)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• 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

• briancham1994
• Aug 8, 2020
• 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)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Star Trek: The Future Begins
• Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA (Vulcan)
• Paramount Pictures
• Spyglass Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $150,000,000 (estimated)
• $257,730,019
• $75,204,289
• May 10, 2009
• $385,681,768

Technical specs

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

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Begin Your Journey–Get a Free Unlock of an Epic Officer

By Bek 8 March 2024

Greetings, New Commanders!

Set your phasers to excitement because you’ve just embarked on an epic journey in Star Trek Fleet Command!

Starfleet is rolling out the red carpet for you with daily welcome gifts. Don’t forget to log in each day and snag those rewards before they vanish into deep space.

These gifts are carefully curated to give your early command journey a boost. We’re talking resources, tech, and more to help you boldly go where no one has gone before.

On Day 1, players can unlock Ship XP, Explorer Parts, Station Materials, Recruit Tokens, and Epic Nero Shards.

On Day 2, players can look forward to Officer XP, Battleship Parts, Recruit Tokens, an SNW Badge Avatar, and progress towards their Epic Nero unlock.

Logging into Day 3 will get you Build and Repair Speedups, Survey Parts, and Epic Nero shards.

Look forward to Build Speedups, Officer XP, Parsteel, and Epic Nero shards on Day 4.

On Day 5, the unlocks will be Premium Recruit tokens, Repair Speedups, Ship XP, and Epic Nero shards.

Making it to Day 6, players can look forward to Build Speedups, Survey Parts, Interceptor Parts, and Epic Nero shards.

And if you’re diligent, you’ll unlock your very own Epic Romulan Captain Nero in just 7 days. Miss a day, and you’ll be stuck in spacedock a bit longer.

Take the conn–the final frontier awaits!

-The Star Trek Team

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Spock waited 43 years for his greatest star trek arch enemy.

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Spock (Leonard Nimoy) had to wait 43 years before finally getting an arch-enemy in Star Trek (2009) . As a main character in Star Trek: The Original Series , Spock became one of the most iconic and recognizable Star Trek characters and has remained so to this day. Spock was the First Officer and right-hand man of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) on board the USS Enterprise and arguably became a more popular character than Kirk over the course of the series, going on to have quite a few cameo appearances in the franchise after TOS was canceled in 1969.

Despite Spock's popularity, there were still a few things that Kirk continued to have more of than he did. One of these things was enemies, something that Spock didn't often pick up during TOS or his other appearances in the franchise. While Kirk had multiple foes that could be considered arch-enemies, most famously Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), it took 43 years before Spock finally acquired someone who was a true arch-enemy. This took place during J.J. Abrams' reboot film Star Trek (2009), one of the last projects that Leonard Nimoy appeared in as Spock.

Spock’s Greatest Star Trek Enemy Is Nero From J.J. Abrams’ Movie

Nero (Eric Bana), the Romulan villain of Star Trek (2009) became Spock's first real arch-enemy in the franchise after the film's release. No character has ever hated Spock as much as Nero did. In fact, Nero's entire motivation during Star Trek (2009) revolved around getting revenge on Spock for his failure to stop the Romulan supernova of 2387. This led Nero to destroy Vulcan in 2258 after traveling back in time and creating the alternate reality that became Star Trek 's Kelvin Timeline. With this act, Nero became the arch-enemy of both the older Spock (Spock Prime) and Zachary Quinto's version of the character as well.

Although Nero's revenge plot revolved mostly around Spock Prime, it was the younger Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock who ended up stopping the villain for good. However, Spock Prime provided the information and aid that was crucial in preventing Nero from destroying Earth. Without Spock Prime to explain to Kirk where and when he and Nero were from and help Kirk get back to the Enterprise, the plan that ultimately brought Nero down would never have happened. In this way, Spock participated in stopping his greatest enemy, even if he wasn't the one who dealt the final blow.

Why Spock Doesn’t Have As Many Enemies As Kirk

Even with Nero in Star Trek (2009), Spock has never reached the same number of enemies as Kirk. This is in part because of the two characters' status in the franchise but ultimately comes out down to their differing personalities. In terms of status, Kirk was the main character of Star Trek: TOS , meaning that most of the series villains were focused on the Captain of the Enterprise. This was helped, however, by the fact that Kirk had a hotheaded personality and was good at provoking people. With his cool logic and generally reasonable temperament, Spock wasn't usually the one to rile up villains and only became involved in conflicts because of his proximity to Kirk.

However, it is important to note that J.J. Abrams did end up flipping the script on a classic Kirk villain, making Star Trek: Into Darkness ' Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) an enemy of Spock's , as well. During Into Darkness , Spock took the initiative to contact his older self and learn about Khan, and after Kirk sacrificed himself to save the ship, Spock was the one to fly into a rage and take Khan down. This marked the second time Abrams gave Spock someone that could be considered an arch-enemy after Star Trek (2009) . Clearly, the reboot films saw how overdue Spock was for a decent Star Trek enemy.

Nero, Number One

After the destruction of the USS Kelvin , the crew of the Narada realize they have been sent back through time. Nero sees this as an opportunity to strike at Spock, but the Klingons have other ideas...

• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Main characters
• 3.2 Minor characters
• 5.1 Background information
• 5.2 Cover gallery
• 5.3 References
• 5.4 External link

Summary [ ]

The Narada is drifting in the Neutral Zone , seconds after the destruction of the USS Kelvin . An argument has broken out aboard. Ayel , Nero 's trusted first officer , thinks they should go home to Romulus but Nero disagrees. " Romulus isn't safe. Not until the Federation lies in ruins and the red matter is under our control " he says. Turning to the dead body of Captain Robau , Nero is adamant they will find Spock and it's only a matter of time before his ship appears through the black hole as well. As crewman Xandr announces the life support systems are back online, Nero gives the command to assemble the crew in one hour, before retreating to his quarters.

Alone, Nero reflects on what Ayel said before. Romulus is safe in this time period and they could go back there. He could watch his grandparents grow up; he could maybe even see himself born again, see his love born again ... But " No. " he says, " Romulus is dead. And I died with it' ".

The Klingons attack the Narada

An hour later, Nero is summoned to the bridge. His crew has been assembled as per his earlier instructions. He tries to convince them that their mission remains the same, that Romulus is not safe and if they stop, they will endanger it again. As he pauses Baratt speaks out, saying the gods had granted them a miracle, a second chance. Nero argues that the gods allowed Romulus to be destroyed in the first place and it will happen again unless they do something about it. Some of his crew are not convinced so Nero allows them leave in a shuttlecraft . But it doesn't get far before Nero fires two torpedoes at it, destroying the craft. " Nothing will stop us from our goal ", he utters.

Back on the ship, Nero states their priority is to locate the time and place Spock will appear but before he can finish, several Klingon ships decloak and begin firing on the Narada . Captain Kor of the Klothos appears on the viewscreen, demanding to know who they are. Nero tells him they are a simple mining ship requiring assistance. Kor doesn't believe him and declares he is taking the Narada in the name of the Klingon Empire .

Nero, Ayal and the rest of the crew put up a valiant effort against the Klingons as more and more warriors beam aboard. But ultimately, they prove too much. Kor overshadows a beaten Nero, complimenting him on a courageous effort. Before the Romulan can respond, one of Kor's men finds Robau's body, holding up a piece of his torn Starfleet uniform. Kor now knows Nero lied to him. " Tell me, Romulan. " he growls, " How many simple mining ships have dead Starfleet captains in their cargo holds? ". " Burn in hell, Klingon ", Nero responds. That is not the answer Kor was looking for and with one swift swoop, he knocks Nero to the ground, " You first, Romulan. "

Some time later, Nero awakens in a darkened room, the only light source shining in his face. A one-eyed Klingon named Kloth appears, bragging his crew were not as durable as him. He tries to force Nero to talk, but the Romulan doesn't say a word. Kloth calls Nero by name and reveals he knows lots about the Narada thanks to the crew who were not so quiet. Nero still remains silent, but Kloth is patient. " Welcome to Rura Penthe! " he says, " Where you'll spend the rest of your miserable life' ".

TO BE CONTINUED...

Memorable quotes [ ]

" No surrender! "

" Welcome to Rura Penthe "

" Romulus isn't safe. Not until the Federation lies in ruins and the red matter is in our control. We will return to Romulus as saviors. Not before. "

" We are the only hope Romulus has. We have the power to destroy Vulcan and the Federation once and for all . To abandon our cause and seek a safe haven back on Romulus would be a betrayal of those we left behind. "

" We're outnumbered and outgunned. Perhaps we should... " " We fight . If this is how it ends, so be it . All of you get ready. No surrender!' "

" Tell me, Romulan. How many simple mining ships have dead Starfleet captains in their cargo holds? " " Burn in hell, Klingon. "

" You're a long way from Romulus, Nero. You're a long way from anywhere . Welcome to Rura Penthe . "

Characters [ ]

Main characters [ ]

Minor characters [ ], creators [ ].

• Based on Star Trek , created by Gene Roddenberry
• Tim Jones and Mike Johnson
• Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (story)
• David Messina (line art, cover art)
• Giovanna Niro (color art)
• Neil Uyetake (letter art)
• Scott Dunbier

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

• A preview of this issue was included in a 2009 San Diego Comic Con edition of " Countdown, Number One ".
• The issue sold an estimated 11,467 copies in comic specialty stores in August 2009 . [1] These figures do not cover copies sold in bookstores, etc.
• This issue states Xandr and Barrett as being two of the Narada crew.
• Three covers were produced for this issue – a standard cover by David Messina , a retailer incentive photo cover, and an exclusive photo cover released at the 2009 Fan Expo Canada, as seen below.
• Despite taking place 34 years before his smooth-headed appearance in TOS : " Errand of Mercy ", Kor is depicted with cranial ridges in the story.

Cover gallery [ ]

References [ ]

captain ; cargo hold ; cloaking device ; disruptor ; Federation ; Hell ; Human ; Kelvin , USS ; Klingon ; Klothos , IKS ; life support ; mek'leth ; mining vessel ; Narada ; Neutral zone ; red matter ; replicator ; Romulan ; Romulus ; Romulan shuttlecraft ; Rura Penthe ; shields ; Starfleet ; torpedo ; transporter ; uniform ; warp drive

External link [ ]

• " Nero, Number One " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)