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Published Nov 30, 2017

"Friday's Child" 50 Years Later

“ Friday’s Child ," the 40th aired episode of Star Trek: The Original Series , concerned the Enterprise ’s mission on Capella IV, a planet inhabited by nomadic tribes, to secure mining rights to an important mineral. That mission is greatly complicated, however, by two Kirk realizations: the Klingons also want the mineral rights and the pregnant widow of the murdered tribal High Leader with whom he started negotiating needs protecting.

It’s hard to believe, but “Friday’s Child” was born on network television 50 years ago today. Here’s a brief look at some of the events that led to its gestation and birth.

“Friday’s Child” was written by story editor Dorothy (D.C.) Fontana. She penned it because she wanted to tell a story involving a strong female character who wasn’t necessarily interested in children. The episode's title comes from an old child’s nursery rhyme that can be traced back to at least 1838. Although there are several variations of this rhyme, Fontana’s episode outline, dated January 11, 1967, opens with the version from Harper’s Weekly magazine published in 1887:

Monday's child is fair of face. Tuesday's child is full of grace. Wednesday's child is living and giving. Thursday's child works hard for a living. Friday's child is full of woe. Saturday's child has far to go. But the child that is born on the Sabbath day is grave and bonny and good and gay.

Fontana, like all writers for TOS , pitched this episode to the producers via a story outline, and the 17-page document that she wrote was fundamentally the same as what was finalized and filmed. There were some notable differences, however, including:

• Scotty accompanied Kirk, McCoy and Spock to the planet Ceres in the outline.
• A redshirt (Lieutenant Grant, Bob Bralver) was not killed in the teaser; rather, two of High Leader Akaar’s (Ben Gage’s) personal bodyguards were.
• The Enterprise was kept busy shuttling emergency medical supplies from the planet Eridani to the planet Dierdre.
• The Klingons were not present in the outline. Maab (Michael Dante) sought Akaar’s tribe and power, so he and his men were the villains.
• Akaar was killed by Maab’s assassins.
• It was Scotty, rather than Spock, who rigged the communicator “sound bomb” in the rocky defile
• Scotty assisted McCoy in delivering Eleen’s (Julie Newmar’s) baby son.
• McCoy and Scotty carried Eleen and her baby on a litter, across the countryside, to hide with Eleen’s tribe. Kirk and Spock created a diversion for them by fighting Maab’s men, who were in pursuit.
• Kirk killed Maab by handing him a phaser on overload.
• Eleen named the baby “Leonard Montgomery Akaar” to show gratitude to McCoy and Scotty for helping with her son's delivery.

Principal photography for “Friday’s Child” was done from May 19 to May 29, 1967, under the direction of Joseph Pevney. Interior scenes were shot at Desilu Studios in Hollywood, while exteriors were filmed at the Vasquez Rocks Natural Park Area in California.

One faux exterior scene that was not lensed at Vasquez was the sequence showing Kras the Klingon (Tige Andrews) attempting to convince Maab the Capellan to return his weapon. If you recall, this scene, scene 41 in the shooting script, played out at night, around a Capellan campfire, and it was filmed on the Desilu soundstage instead of at the Vasquez exterior location. The reason for this can be found in an April 20, 1967 production memo that associate producer Robert Justman wrote to producer Gene Coon:

“It is extremely important that all the scenes around the encampment at the beginning of the show be set up and played on Stage 10. Otherwise we are in for several full nights of night-for-night exteriors, which we cannot afford at all.”

The following four pictures, obtained from frames of production footage sold by Star Trek Enterprises back in the 1970s, show some aspects of how scene 41 was filmed.

Above: This image is from footage of the unused master shot of the scene filmed on the Desilu soundstage. One way you can tell this was the master is that there’s no letter following the scene number (41) on the lower left of the clapperboard held by the second assistant cameraman. A master shot of a scene is usually filmed before any of the other shots and it keeps all the actors visible once they enter the view of the camera. This type of shot is also called an establishing shot because it establishes where we are and, sometimes, when we are.

Above: This photo is from film that came from a “two-shot” – so named because it shows just two actors together - of Tige Andrews (left) and Michael Dante (right). In general, any letter following the scene number - “A” in this case - meant (and usually still means today) that the footage was acquired with the camera moved to a different position from the master shot. By the way, the number in the lower right of the clapperboard, 3 in this case, is the take number.

Above: These two frames are from film that was shot as close-ups for scene 41. The close-up footage for Michael Dante was designated “B” on the clapperboard (left picture) and that for Tige Andrews was designated as “C” (right picture).  Interestingly, when this scene was assembled for the aired version, only the two-shot and the close-up of Michael Dante was used.

The Birth Announcement

“Friday’s Child was first broadcast on December 1, 1967, and it was promoted in newspapers and other media starting on the preceding week.

Above: Newspapers around the country made heavy use of the publicity photos furnished by the advertising company hired by Desilu (McFadden, Strauss, Eddy, and Irwin, MSEI). The captions these newspapers used for the photos, however, deviated significantly from what MSEI supplied. Here’s a sampling of ads, two from the December 1, 1967 Los Angeles Times (upper and lower left), one from the November 26, 1967 Seattle Times (upper right) and an additional caption used with the picture shown in the Seattle Times ad.

And with that, we’re done. We hope you’ve enjoyed our nascent look back. Until next time.

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Star Trek: The Original Series

“Friday's Child”

Air date: 12/1/1967 Written by D.C. Fontana Directed by Joseph Pevney

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

Just how much treachery and deception can fit into a single hour of Trek ? That seems to be the most useful question to ask of "Friday's Child," an episode full of double-crosses and marginally clever traps and tricks.

The plot involves Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (and a soon-to-be-dead red-shirt) beaming down to Capella IV to negotiate a deal for minerals with the warlike tribes living there. The Klingons, however, are also there to negotiate, and the treachery between the Klingons and the Capellas—and even a struggle within the Cappella tribes' own hierarchy—quickly becomes a free-for-all. The landing party escapes imprisonment, but not before the show begins suffering from the fact it seems D.C. Fontana kept randomly inserting "[FIGHT SCENE]" into the script. Meanwhile on the Enterprise , Scotty chases a distress signal from a freighter. The signal turns out to be a Klingon forgery intended to lure the Enterprise away from Capella so the Klingons can thwart the landing party and plunder the minerals, but Scotty discovers the trick in time.

The editing technique with the cross-cutting storylines is rather annoying, switching back and forth so frequently that it's hard to care much about either storyline. The episode benefits from some great lines and sarcastic looks from Mr. Spock, and also some chemistry between McCoy and the pregnant Eleen (Julie Newmar), but it's not enough to save an hour so lacking in direction that it becomes a disjointed sum of its parts. What a shame to waste such effective outdoor photography.

Previous episode: Journey to Babel Next episode: The Deadly Years

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Comment Section

63 comments on this post.

Am I crazy? Friday's Child is one of my favorite episodes. First of all, this is McCoy at his "take no b.s." best and I agree that McCoy and the chief's wife have chemistry. I also found the customs of the clan to be really interesting. Also, why only 3 stars for "Amok Time"? I've never met anybody who didn't love that episode.

I think you're too hard on this one, Jammer. The fight scenes are over the top, but I actually enjoyed Scotty's part of the plot very much. And the Big Three chemistry is good. The episode is hokey (and suffers from some continuity mistakes) but it's not boring. To rate this the same as "The Apple" -- which is really boring and lame -- is overly harsh.

One of the things that gets me in general is the occasional lack of discipline among the Enterprise crew. They land on the plant, Redshirt sees a Klingon, and he just steps out and fires? Doesn't wait for an order or anything? It doesn't seem very Kirklike to allow that sort of thing.

Strange that the Prime Directive doesn't seem to exist in this episode. The Capellans clearly don't seem warp capable. That wouldn't prevent the Klingons from being there, of course.

I had the same reaction as Strider. The redshirt's reaction was completely indefensible, but Kirk acts as if it was totally reasonable.

You can see how much reinterpretation the Klingon species receives later on in the Star Trek Universe by looking at this episode. The concept of honor is wholly absent from the Klingon parts of the script and there were several instances where the character is fearful, irrational and impotent. If TOS didn't need villains so badly, we may never have seen the Klingon species develop. Two stars for the chaos.

This episode did not make one iota of sense to me. Where was the prime directive? And why would the Klingons even bother to negotiate with a primitive species like that? Weak, as most episodes that deal with "primitive cultures" are.

@Moonie: Presumably, the Klingons would have had to deal with the Capellans, who were quite formidable even if they were backward. Remember, this is before Klingons lived for battle. TOS Klingons were more like TNG Romulans or Cardassians. But the Prime Directive issue is certainly hard to figure, though this is far from the only example of TOS forgetting it existed.

There are some good things to this episode -- I agree that there is chemistry between McCoy and Eleen, for instance. The reappearance of the Klingons here is what actually establishes them as recurring villains -- and while that strictly speaking could have happened in "any" episode, I think that it's important that it happens in a semi-serious context again before the Klingon threat gets threaded into the comedy in "Tribbles." The Scotty story is too long and protracted (especially so soon after a similar "Scotty investigates, very slowly" subplot in "Metamorphosis") but basically decent, with a good use of the "fool me once..." adage by Scott. So that's good. The episode really is *so* all over the place. Jammer's statement that it's as if FIGHT SCENE was randomly inserted all over the script is right on. In general, this episode feels like a filmed first draft -- with huge sections of the plot either unexplained (dropping us in the middle of a Capella uprising somewhere in the first act, why the new Tier decides to let Eleen live when it's against the rules and she's just lied, why Eleen lied about killing the Earthmen, why Kirk starts shooting at the Capellans at all at the end) or halfheartedly described in a log entry (such as Kirk's saying that Eleen hates her unborn child in a log). The editing is frequently terrible, with unusually bad continuity and some shots with odd, washed-out colours. Behaviour is all over the place -- what's up with Kirk's defeatist revenge at the end, or, as discussed, the crewman's randomly getting ready to shoot a Klingon and Kirk et al.'s non-reaction to it? And there are other things that might not, strictly speaking, be errors, but are just so *weird*, like the suggestion that McCoy has spent three months with these people before this episode (...like, between last episode and this one? or pre-series? or, what?) which quickly becomes irrelevant to the plot, or the way in which Scotty's log entry is filmed with Scotty standing up, delivering the log entry, and signing a pad in the middle of it, instead of the usual voice-over (the style which is still used for Kirk's voice overs). More generally, the episode has one of the least cohesive narratives up to this point in TOS (obviously, season three this problem more and more); the initial goal, to sign a trade treaty, gets ditched very early on and then the plot becomes merely a halfhearted "Kirk et al. must escape" scenario, wherein it's actually really unclear what the Capellan's emotional reason for pursuing Kirk is anyway, besides "they like rules," and the Klingon keeps stirring up trouble. Even this overarching desire -- get back to the ship -- sort of dissipates once Scotty arrives with a landing party, and the Capellans suddenly drop their desire to kill the humans, presumably because they're outnumbered now?, and they inexplicably sign a mining treaty at the end after all that. The Enterprise plotline seems to be building, eventually, to a fight with the Klingon cruiser, which gets resolved offscreen with the Klingons apparently backing down. The pregnancy at least gives some mild sense of focus to the proceedings, even if it leads to some annoying moments and some particularly unconvincing labour pains from Newmarr. Anyway, I guess I'd say that it's not boring -- I *enjoyed* watching it more than "Catspaw," even to take recent episodes. But it's *such* a mess. 1.5 stars, I think.

I love Jammer's reviews. Often so spot on. But I do agree with Paul that you were too hard on this one. I find I enjoy watching this episode again and again. I'm not sure why. Maybe for one thing, like Grant said, the chemistry between McCoy and the chief's wife. Mac-coy, the child is yours. I love that. And the colorful visuals of the Cappelan village and clothing. And the unremitting evil of the early Klingons. And I gotta say, the Cappelans are not boring. A very different brutal culture. Lots of great humor and writing here too. Overall, one of my favorite TOS episodes.

So many unanswered questions. First, why would they beam down armed with phasers? They were there to negotiate, not fight. And just how many people did the Tier rule? How big was his territory? Was it the only territory on the planet with access to the minerals? If Maab was one of the Tier's highest ranking subordinates, wouldn't he be off somewhere else in what must have been a huge domain, acting as a kind of governor? And what did McCoy do on that planet for three months - spend the entire time trying to change their minds about medicine and hospitals? And though he knew the culture, how come McCoy didn't seem to actually know any individuals on the planet? Scotty was lured away by a false distress signal, only later realizing that the enterprise was mentioned by name, when there was no reason a freighter would have known the enterprise was in that sector. So basically, Scotty screwed up. And when they reached the place the ship was supposed to be, there was absolutely no physical evidence to support that a vessel had been there, much less been under attack. And STILL, Uhura wondered if the distress call could have been legit. By the way, it was never explained why, when a federation freighter would not have known that the enterprise was in the area, how the Klingons got this information. The Klingon ship was so far away, checkov couldn't even be sure they WERE Klingon ships, much less read the name on the ship! But the most inexplicable aspects of this episode came near the end. Why didn't the Klingon have any backup? His ship was nearby. And why did Maab commit suicide? He acted as though the only way to defeat the Klingon was to lure him into the open so that one of the warriors could get him with that thrown weapon. But the Klingon was barely under any cover at all, and was already wounded. And he wasn't even that far away. And he was just one guy. And when the Klingon was killed, everyone seemed to relax, as if there was no reason to fight anymore. The natives seem to have forgotten that Kirk and Spock shot, and presumably killed, a couple of the natives by then. Now, recall at the beginning of the episode, a redshirt who drew his weapon was instantly executed. So how come when Scotty shows up with a weapon drawn, he is not similarly killed? And why did Scotty beam down in the first place? Wouldn't it have been easier to simply beam the landing party up?

I didn't understand why the parrot-tops were beefing with other. Fight seemingly happen with no motive and there doesnt seem to be a moral side to root for in this whole mess. The Klingon is so "un-Klingon". There's nothing menancing or sinister about him. The only thing worth watching is the very pregnant Eliene and very take no BS McCoy slap each other into mutual respect. There's a little something about a fake distress call with our crew on the Enterprise but it's hardly worth mentioning.

This episode is one big eye roll. Cliches piled upon cliches abound, along with poor editing, poor pacing, poor acting by the "natives," terrible costume design (is this where Bob Mackie got his inspiration for Carol Burnett's "Went With the Wind" drapery-still-on-the-curtain-rod dress?)... And on and on. Two stars is way too generous for such a big pile of something unmentionable in polite company. Nothing anyone said or did made any sense. Shatner was pretty wooden throughtout, especially in his reaction to the death of the redshirt. And how did that guy, "young and inexperienced" (and apparently mentally incapacitated) as he was, make it out of Star Fleet Academy, much less onto the Federation's flagship?? PS, trust Kirk to bring fists to a knife fight, yet not receive so much as a scratch. I give this mess two smelly toes down.

I dunno guys, I enjoyed this one a lot. Frankly, a lot of the complaints seem quite unearned. Why is that redshirt putting his gun out so bothersome? Militaries and police put huge emphasis on avoiding this. Doesn't change the fact that it still happens. And I don't remember Kirk overly defending him either, he simply didn't think he deserved to die over it. This is Kirk we are talking about here, he takes these things very personally. Why beam down with phasers? Because negotiating or not, these locals have been establsihed as being easy to turn hostile. Klingons probably knew about them, because they were in contact with the locals and they knew they were already coming ect. I do think locals looked absolutely ridiculous, even by TOS standarts.

Red shirt attempts to attack Klingon with possibly lethal force, without the slightest provocation. Kirk says it was self defence, not sure how that would stand up in court !!

Sometimes you just have to forget about what the Klingons should be or look like., forget the prime directive for all we know this world was contacted before the prime directive. Then this is very entertaining with the lovely julie newmar as an added treat. As for the red shirt his phaser was on stun its not like anybody was going to die through his mistake - except him unfortunately! Finally will anybody read this? 2009 - 2017 and still more comments! Maybe they'll continue until 2050 and the first warp drive according to metamorphesis :)

Of course people will still read the comments, Why. Isn't that the entire point of being a Star Trek fan, to obsess over a show that ended 50 years ago? There's always more things you could say about these shows... In any case, glad I wasn't the only one utterly confused by everyone's motivations in this episode. Well, actually, I'll give them some credit. Eleen did have something of a character arc... maybe. I'm assuming that her hitting Bones over the head and then lying about everyone being dead was just her trying to save their lives. She was nobly sacrificing herself for her baby and for her new respect for Bones. Beforehand, she was caught up in her people's ways - ways of rigid, inflexible rules that must be followed with complete honesty. Now, even though she knows she should die and that the Enterprise crew should die, she saw enough of an alternate way to want something different. Again, I'm assuming those were her thoughts. The episode certainly didn't make it clear, and everyone else's motivations are so suspect that it's hard to think of any subtlety in this episode. Why did Maab decide that this was the right time to start an insurrection against the boss? We saw some disagreements between them at first, but why did it suddenly boil over when Kirk arrived? It didn't even seem linked to the mining negotiations. And why did Maab suddenly decide to let Eleen live? After all, she lied, right in front of him. If she needed a character arc to learn that the rules could be bent sometime, why did Maab suddenly decide he could bend the rules too? Doesn't that go against their entire culture? And why did they suddenly decide they were ok with Kirk and company? Shouldn't they be killing Scotty fo pulling a gun on him? Shouldn't they still be inflexibly trying to kill Kirk and Spock? Why the sudden change of heart, other than the fact that the episode needed to wrap up in 3 minutes? But perhaps most bizarrely of all, why did Kirk decide, out of the blue, to get revenge on the Klingon? He and Spock were sitting there, their lives threatened, their mission in tatters, a baby to protect, and Kirk just decides on some revenge killing for fun? Does that sound like the calm, collected Starfleet captain we all know? And why did Spock seem to just go with it? Wouldn't that be illogical? Also, just how deadly could these ninja throwing stars be if Kirk and Spock could beat them with homemade bows and arrows? And last but not least, why did they make the Klingon so annoying? OK, fine, I take back what I said earlier. I can see why Kirk would drop the mission to kill this guy, and I can see why Maab would break the rules to kill this guy. He was just that unpleasant of a character. And I don't mean that in a good way, of making a villain villainous enough to root against him. He was just a whiny moron who you wanted to shut up every time he appeared.

Hard to believe, but I don't think I've ever seen this episode before. I loved it--like "Spock's Brain", it's so bad that it's good--just cheesy, campy fun. "I'm a doctor, Man, not an escalator!" Hahahahahahahaha. And the Capellans uniforms--OMG--lavander, orange, blue fake fur--hilarious. Especially the leader, whose uniform was trimmed with what looked like gold drapery fringe. Spock, Kirk, Mack-Coy, Scotty...all great. Uhuru, Sulu, Chekhov--professional and fun to watch as usual, through all the ridiculous plot nonsense. Julie Newmar as Eleen--wow--what a pretty woman. And a sleazy, rotten Klingon for us to hate. What more could one want? This one is a keeper for me.

ChristineNotChapel

The Klingon reminded me more of a Ferengi, opportunistic but foolish. I'm enjoying rewatching the entire series, glad I found this blog to help clear some stuff up.

RandomThoughts

Hello Everyone! @ChristineNotChapel Welcome aboard! :D And... I'd not thought of that. Lying like a Ferengi, scheming like a Romulan. Yes, not very Klingon-like at all. Have a great day... RT

I rewatched this ep the other day. The last time I saw it, I must have been eight - all I remembered was the blade-disk thingy killing the guard at the beginning (who didn't even make it past the opening credits!) and Kirk using his communicator to set off a rockslide - very clever idea, that last one - I hope we see this again in Star Trek Discovery. Now that I'm an adult, I see this ep a lot differently. Still a fun way to pass the time, with some hilarious lines and interactions between the characters but not very noteworthy overall. -Scotty: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Chekov: "I know that saying. It was invented in Russia." -McCoy: "I'm a doctor, not an escalator!" -Spock: "Fortunately, this bark has suitable tensile cohesion." Kirk: "You mean it makes a good bowstring?" Spock: "I believe I said that." -Spock: [sarcastically] "I think you're both going to be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month. Sir!"

I think "Friday's Child" is all about action for the purpose of action but one good thing about it is the good moments with the Big 3 on the planet as well as having the rest of the important Enterprise crew (minus Chapel) all involved in the plot on the ship -- Chekov, Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty all had parts to play/enough lines to say. McCoy and Eleen's interaction was pretty good. Kirk/Spock had some good lines re. the baby -- that was all the kind of stuff that makes 60s Trek so enjoyable for me. As for the plot, @Skeptical raises a lot of valid questions/speculations. So many twists and turns in this one -- I was surprised Eleen said the baby/Big 3 are all dead at her hands (presumably to protect them from the warriors/Klingon). Then I assume Maab sacrifices himself so another one of his men can kill the Klingon (I don't get that at all). As for Kirk and the revenge comment, no idea where that came from. The Klingon (did he even have a name?) was treacherous as could be -- but that was well portrayed. The viewer surely would like to see him killed and I think this is entirely consistent with how a Klingon would act under the circumstances. They are supposed to be evil and masquerade under a facade of honour. Just not sure why he didn't have any cavalry of his own. I'd rate "Friday's Child" 2.5 stars. A fun, unpredictable episode that made good use of the outdoor environment, some interesting characters but some flaws in continuity and plot cohesion. Nothing too profound here.

I loved this episode. It's hilariously straight faced, with Bones slapping a pregnant woman, the absurd aliens, the cowardly Klingon, and of course those scenes in which Kirk gets to re-enact Rambo First Blood. It felt like a swashbuckling, colonial, nautical adventure written in the 1800s.

Interesting how some of the series regulars (Uhura and Sulu, at least) are heard pronouncing Klingons as Klin-gon (sounding almost like Klee-gone). Whenever an extra of the week says it that way, I just assumed they weren’t familiar with the show and had only read the script and never heard the dialog. It happened enough in this episode that I wondered if someone like the director or some other crew person (maybe Roddenberry’s ever-present and meddlesome lawyer) decided it should be pronounced that way and was giving notes about it.

Ah, "Friday's Child," a classic TOS military adventure show in the mold that later became popular on DS9. Much like "A Private Little War" later this season, but perhaps not as good, we find the Federation and Klingons fighting their Cold War by proxy here as they compete for influence over strategic planets. This one is memorable for the colorfully violent Capellan giants and their boomerang weapons, some great dialogue, and a good showcase for McCoy in his relationship with the queen played by the legendary Julie Newmar. I give it 3 or 3 1/2 stars, not quite 4 since the Klingon agent makes a weak foil, but it's still entertainingly alien. I also like the shipboard scenes in this one: Rather than repetitive cuts to the ship searching for the landing party, as often happens on these two-tiered TOS stories, we get Scotty leading the ship (good bits for Chekov, Sulu, and Uhura here as well) against a Klingon battle cruiser making threatening maneuvers to bait them. The whole Klingon thing seems a bit underwritten here, as a reference back to the Organian peace treaty (see "Tribbles" for that) would have been a helpful reminder that the two sides cannot engage in open warfare. And the unnamed Klingon agent isn't a strong villain in the mold of the classic Kor, Koloth, and Kang trinity who set the mold for great TOS Klingons. But the military posturing of the two sides works here and the Klingon is clearly a spy-provocateur in the mold of Soviet KGB agents, whichmakes sense to me as I'm sure even the Klingons (at least on TOS) have their version of a secret police. And I have to say the McCoy stuff with the equally irascible/stubborn queen and her baby is fun. Newmar and Kelley create a believable chemistry in the picturesque (and rare for Trek) outdoor location scenes; when McCoy slaps her back, Kelley manages the delicate balance of playing the scene humorously (with a self-satisfied little smirk to match her own) rather than abusively, giving it a tough love feeling. The reaction of Spock and Kirk to this budding relationship is priceless. Finally, I love the Western-style adventure pursuit through the canyons (neat bit with the communicator avalanche) and the final fight scene where the Capellan leader shouts defiantly at the Klingon to meet him in battle manfully right after he gives the queen her life back. This Klingon agent is particularly devious and sneaky, perhaps even "dishonorable" to a later Trek sensibility, but he does serve his "boo hiss" function well and we are happy to see him go at the end. Again, I don't mind him one bit, as I think the stereotypes on Trek (every person we see from an alien species must act the same from TNG onward) get too rigid at times. There's also a certain inconsistency or even hypocrisy to the Klingon honor thing: They like to claim great ideals (i.e. "Klingons don't take prisoners") that we constantly see Klingons breaking when convenient to serve their thirst for glory and victory. This inconsistency in the half-baked Trek ideology for the Klingon ethos, exposed in this episode, isn't so much inappropriate as jarringly honest.

They chucked out the story in favour of fight scenes and not very well directed fight scenes. There was times the actors just stood there looking like they didn't know what to do. But i did like the costumes and the scenery.

That poor redshirt didn't even make it past the teaser. That "communicators trigger landslide" function would have come in handy in future episodes. Too bad we never saw it in TNG

Wow. This episode didn't age very well, did it!? I mean, the doctor repeatedly taking the alien pregnant woman's multiple clear statements of "no" as "yes" to him touching her, and him angrily responding that he'll damn well touch her any way he wants... and then doing so even after she finally slaps him two times in response to him forcibly touching her against her will, and then....the doctor slaps her in the face right back...!!! Whiiich actually totally wins her love, though, because, the 60s. Bones even doubles down on his assaulting-pregnant-ladies bit later, telling Kirk that he'll keep it in his permanent repertoire. That's not chemistry you guys...that's Stockholm syndrome! First for the old Tier, then for McCoy. This poor chick. No wonder she's bonkers. All that said, I totally agree with lizzzi. This episode is so bad it's good. I mean you can't get this many episodes deep without knowing a certain sexist idiocy will be constantly afoot in this show. It was the 60s after all. Those parts are...deeply cringey, yes. But truly, in a less horrific way, so is the hideous costume design, and the goofy fight scenes, and the absolutely perplexing character writing, it's all just so delightfully terrible and campy that this episode is a must-watch. ...Just please, for the love of God, don't take any sort of life lessons from this particular episode (unless it's about what NOT to do). 5/5 entertainment value, 1/5 for quality (1 star was well and truly earned by OUTDOOR scenery!)

What "chemistry" is totally depends on the user. It's not always lovey-dovey romance stuff that gets people off. I've personally encountered women who would get off of being slapped. I don't see that as necessarily pathological. This episode is arguably ahead of its time. Note: This is not to say anything about McCoy's conduct, which is of course non-consensual.

"Note: This is not to say anything about McCoy's conduct, which is of course non-consensual." You people have got to get over yourselves and understand context a little better.

@Yams, Luthor, Peter G. -- McCoy is the expert on the Capellans -- it was established at the start of the episode that he had spent some time among them and was briefing the senior officers on their customs, warlike behavior etc. As for his interaction with Eleen - as I said before their interaction was one of the better points of this episode. One should assume he knows how to deal with a pregnant Capellan female and doing what is best for the baby's survival. Above all else he puts his hippocratic oath. The Capellans are a more primitive society and Eleen feels very duty bound but McCoy is, I believe, toeing the line between treating her as she might be treated by a Capellan male and trying to save the baby. Specific to Yams' comments re. "hideous costume design, and the goofy fight scenes, and the absolutely perplexing character writing, it's all just so delightfully terrible and campy" -- you miss the point completely about TOS, though you're entitled to your opinions. TOS didn't have the budgets other Treks did -- the costumes for an alien warrior tribe, I thought, were appropriate. The fight scenes were excessive in this episode, but reasonably enacted for the 60s - and I'm not disappointed in them today. The important thing is that the viewer understands what is going on. And I certainly don't think this episode is "delightfully terrible and campy". It isn't a very strong episode for sure but it's definitely not terrible ("Spock's Brain" is terrible) and it's not campy like so many VOY episodes are, for example. I think "Friday's Child" does a better-than-mediocre job of portraying tribal warfare/treachery and not to mention the theme of a superior power (Klingons/Federation) trying to win their allegiance/mining rights through different tactics. It's an entertaining hour of Trek but not a particularly profound one.

Great review Jammer, and yes, this is so bad, it's good, almost like a spoof. Editing is quite terrible; some of the scenes work well when considered alone, but sequences are sloppy. Red-shirt is on the right side of the four standing, and in the next shot, half a second later, he is second from the left trying to aim at the Klingon. The stunt man for the Klingon looks nothing like him (see when the Capellan's kleegat hits him, did they really need stunt men by the way just for that scene, he is standing and screaming essentially, facing the camera). Julie Newmar's acting is off too. If you read Star trek books, Akaar (the newborn baby) turns out to be a quite important and well-developed character, appearing in multiple DS9 relaunch novels. The red shirt is Robert Bralver who has quite impressive resume as actor, stunt man, and director. He represents the emblematic red-shirt in this one, no doubt :)))

No, did not like this one. McCoy and the pregnant lady added some fun and amusement, but it was otherwise totally boring and ineffective.

Sarjenka's Brother

Goofy costumes aside, the Capellans made for one of the more interesting one-time-visited alien races in all of Trekdom. I think they could make a compelling villains-you-respect race in the Prime Universe set in the decades after DS9 and Voyager. At that point, they've had a couple of centuries of being exploited for their minerals and they've decided to give up their tents and head for the stars. As a space-faring race with technology equal to the Federation, they could easily emerge as worthy rivals to the Federation, Klingons and Romulans.

@ Sarjenka's Brother I also liked the portrayal of the Capellans -- a fearsome tribe with strict customs. Didn't think their costumes were goofy though. But the Capellans are not inherently villains. Only because the Klingon was interfering was there dissension in the tribe and toward the Federation. But, presumably if there are different tribes of Capellans, maybe their analogues in the 24th century could be the Kazon. On the topic of TOS S2 villains, I think what would be more interesting and plausible (since the Capellans are a tribe and are probably between 1 and 2 millenia of being a space-faring race) is if the modern-day Romans from "Bread and Circuses" or the Nazis from "Patterns of Force" (in a few centuries) developed into space-faring races -- basically bringing fascism into the 23rd and 24th centuries. But then again, this has already largely been done with the Romulans/Klingons/Cardassians.

I understand many of the critical comments made here, but I enjoyed this episode very much. There are some segments which are truly classic, especially involving Bones and Scotty. 'A few involving Spock, too.

Bobbington Mc Bob

Crappy episode but loved Spock's line at the end

Harry's Swollen Throat

- unnecessary dying - behaviours and attitudes constantly changing and shifting - klingon not klingon like at all. Didn't fight honourable and quite a coward. - what's an inexperienced officer doing on an away mission. Bruh. - no continuity of characters. Just no sense at all. I would give 2 stars because it HAD potential.

I generally enjoyed this episode. I also really like Capella, which is now nicely visible in the evening sky. Spring is coming. Anyway: Right after Babel, we are back to the "Earth Federation" trying to secure those minerals for their colonies. I don't know about the Prime Directive though. The Capellans might well be warp capable or at least aware of their planet's position in interstellar relations, and still choose to live on simple soundstages with a couple of drapes and employ edged weapons as part of their culture. For what it's worth, materialising aliens are not a big deal to them; they greet them with a simple "So you're the earth vessel?" The wide-spread notion that redshirt deaths are generally shrugged off might be a bit unfair after all. This far in the series, Kirk routinely mourns and "demands an explanation" for his crewman's death; he even does so in this case, where his party is clearly the one at fault. He promptly gets his explanation from McCoy, who dryly points out that this idiot just needlessly caused an interplanetary incident. Well, to the young guy, a Klingon might be a terrifying alien, maybe like a Borg (you do tend to kill those on sight). But I can't say that they have done much to earn that reputation; the one here certainly doesn't. The Klingons are still sneaky and dishonorable here, eventually backing away from the fight in space as well. That's interesting given that in the beginning, the Klingons seem to be at an advantage precisely because they are cultually closer to the Capellans. - However, it is believable that a single Bird of Prey or "small scout ship"/glowing paperclip would be seriously outgunned by the Enterprise. Still in STIII, a fully armed Constitution class vessel coming at you is a thing to be very nervous about. (Obviously, by that time, the Klingons would choose to die in the fight.) DC Fontana's script has another one of those remarkably hard cuts that she already employed twice in Babel, and that most of you were put off by. I call it some refreshingly dynamic pacing, maybe even somewhat ahead of its time. It also works in this case: we can all figure out that there's a coup by Maab's people, no need to spell it out. I also rather enjoyed Julie Newmar's display of regal arrogance, putting a good measure of Catwoman in her always-sexy voice when she declares that "it is my right to see him die". Her exact motivations remain unclear throughout though, like pretty much everyone's. Yeah, and Scotty is probably a tad too smug when he explains to everyone on the bridge how *he* just fell for a ruse, abandoning his captain in the process; the story sounds accordingly different in his report to said captain when he finally returns. And finally, their very cavalry-like appearance, while okay as a joke, felt rather unneccessary to me. Kirk had almost got it there. Just one three-minute Kirk speech about how honoring proper succession demands Junior is now in charge, everyone voluntarily drops their weapons and bows to the baby, boom, you're done.

You can boil what is fun in Friday's Child down to a 30 second clip https://youtu.be/9rscHQIPGKY Now that I've saved you 50 minutes of your life, you are free to spend that time searching for Julie Newmar's Playboy spread on the interwebs.

Wait a minute-how can the red shirt reach for his weapon when the organians made that impossible? I'm so confused.

Was this one of the first trek episodes that starts with a meeting of the senior staff?

Shoot Out At The OK Capella. (Yawn). Potentially this could have been a good episode - the Bedouin type sets were pleasing and the cultural politics of the initial scenes interesting, especially the way McCoy interprets every situation. But once I’d seen this: REDSHIRT (chosen for a diplomatic mission, and yet, against all prior warnings) “A Klingon!” (draws weapon despite no threat whatsoever... dies), I just knew it was going to turn out bad. This was essentially the ‘Wild West’ episode and there’s even a reference to “the cavalry coming over the hill to rescue....”. Just a series of random fight scenes interspersed with Scotty realising unbelievably slowly that they have been tricked by a false distress signal. The episode is partly redeemed by “MAKK-oi”’s scenes with the girl. A doctor who is not an escalator, huh? If not for those scenes it would not even deserve the 1.5 stars I’ll give it.

The original red shirt on the planet did not immediately draw his weapon to fire on the Klingon. Capt. Kirk clarified that he only drew it defensively. It was the Klingon who attacked first.

Only 2 stars for Friday’s Child and 3 stars for the awful “I Mudd”? Jammer, you’re losing it...

Considering I wrote this in 1998, if I was losing it then, I must be in real trouble now. :)

Daniel Beardsmore

One other tiny nit (besides how two starship crew members turned out to be spectacular bowmen despite their wobbly arrows) — where exactly did that distress call come from? The crew went to where the alleged freighter said it was, but did the signal originate from that general direction and range? Surely it would be a giveaway if the signal came from the somewhere close to the Klingon ship, and I doubt it came from elsewhere in the Empire considering that the poor Klingon fellow was down there all alone! (The Enterprise only made warp 5 or 6 going to and from that location — I don’t think the writers ever agreed on what top speed was considering so many urgent journeys were made well below it.) Also useful that Starfleet personnel keep copious earplugs on their person at all times … and that McCoy kept all his medical gear despite handing in their communicators.

I like this episode, but my one complaint out of the entire thing is, why did Mr Scott have to be so disrespectful on Sulu, saying he knew the speed of a freighter. Well la di da. If I were Sulu, I'd never offer information again.

I don't think I ever before happened to notice the knowing smile on Chekov's face after he has claimed credit for his homeland for a common saying. Sulu and Scott at first scowl, then realize he is joking. They are all in the joke together. Chekov isn't the russo-centric jingoist that his "invented in Russia" shtick often suggests. It's a running gag that he's in on.

EventualZen

@Rahul >...and it's not campy like so many VOY episodes are I'm curious to here which Voyager episodes you think are campy? I never felt any Trek made after TOS/TAS felt campy, except may be “Threshold”.

I was bored by this episode as a boy, was bored as a teenager, and was bored as a near-60 man.

Sorry, but no teenaged boy could be bored watching Julie Newmar.

This is an excellent adventurous episode. One of my favorites when i watched this on television as a boy, seen in re-runs after school. There seems to be a lot of incorrect assertions being made in these comments. Imo the prime directive isn't necessarily violated- Kirk has proof the Klingons are interfering with the Capellans. A coup is taking place as the younger Maab dethrones the old king Akaar, who has a history of working with the Federation. The Klingons are obviously sewing seeds of discontent with Maab, so the Federation may be obligated in some capacity to protect its interests and the people of CapellaIV. It is shown in the script that Maab's mindset is evolving: "MAAB: Perhaps to be a teer is to see in new ways. I begin to like you, Earthman, and I saw fear in the Klingon's eye. KRAS: We had an agreement. MAAB: That too may change, Klingon. " So, changing his mind about Eleen isn't exactly wishy-washy, Maab has simply expanded his viewpoint in the new role of high teer. He sees himself as a dutiful leader, of all his people, rather than a faction and also sees he's been duped by the Klingon. This episode is a good one, maybe top 10 good, and it's held up well for many, many viewings for me. Here is one of the greatest exchanges of any you will ever see: "AKAAR: I am the teer Akaar. I lead the Ten Tribes of Capella. (A heavily pregnant woman enters and sits.) AKAAR: And this is Eleen, a young wife to give an old man a son to rule these tribes. KIRK: I'm Captain Kirk. First of all, I must protest the killing of my crewman. AKAAR: If it was your man, wasn't it his privilege to die for you? I do not understand. MAAB: Their customs are different, Teer. KRAS: And different from those of my people, too, Teer. The sight of death frightens them. MCCOY: Let me take this, Jim. What Maab has said is true. Our customs are different. What the Klingon has said is unimportant, and we do not hear his words. I just called the Klingon a liar. MAAB: Laughter, Teer? Is not the Klingon an honoured guest also? AKAAR: It was the Earth people who first bargained for our rocks. MAAB: Is it not best to have two who bargain for the same goods? AKAAR: It is I who speak for the tribe, Maab. MAAB: I speak for many, Teer. Hear the words of the Klingon. KRAS: What do Earth men offer you? What have you obtained from them in the past? Powders and liquids for the sick? We Klingons believe as you do. The sick should die. Only the strong should live. Earthmen have promised to teach the youth of your tribes many things. What? What things? Cleverness against enemies? The use of weapons? ELEEN: The Klingon speaks the truth, Akaar. KIRK: The Earth Federation offers one other thing, Akaar. Our laws. And the highest of all our laws states that your world is yours and will always remain yours. This differs us from the Klingons. Their empire is made up of conquered worlds. They take what they want by arms and force. MAAB: Good, good. Let the Klingons and the Earthmen offer us amusement. Capellans welcome this. AKAAR: The Earth men have different customs, but never have they lied to our people. MAAB: There are those of us who won't bargain with Earthmen, Akaar. AKAAR: Do you say you will fight me, Maab? MAAB: Let that be your choice, Teer. (Maab, Kras and the Orange man leave.) KIRK: We need our communicators, those devices on our belts. If there's a Klingon ship somewhere AKAAR: The sky does not interest me. I must consider the words I have heard. ELEEN: Leave him. " Why the redshirt immediately draws is hinted at in the scene directly before that, where Kirk lectures Scotty about Klingon's being sighted in this sector. The implication is that just the sight of a Klingon means you may face incident. McCoy reaffirms the redshirts actions by noting the Klingons are our sworn enemies. So although Kirk half-heartedly explains that he was young, the insinuation is that the redshirt was spot on. However i have always found that scene a bit odd. It mainly serves to give us a first taste of the usage of the Capellan kligat, a deadly weapon. Which is again used in the death scene of Maab, which I found to be most excellent. Friday's Child offers adventure, drama, intrigue, and a bit of comedy. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are great together in this one. The Capellan culture is one of the most awesome the Enterprise crew encounter, with their unique customs, dress, and names with double vowels. Friday's Child S2 E11- 01DEC1967, is similar to another of my favorites , Private Little War S2 E19- 02FEB1968. The former starring the sexy Julie Newmar and the latter starring Nancy Kovack in the role of Nona which has to be one of the most sexually erotic characters ever created...woww

Lyle said: "Nancy Kovack in the role of Nona which has to be one of the most sexually erotic characters ever created" Here's some Nona cheesecake for you, Lyle: https://imgur.com/ylcVvlv

Proud Capitalist Pig

My question is a lot like Jammer’s, but nastier -- Just how much treachery and deception can be packed into a single hour and yet still be completely uninteresting and meaningless? I couldn’t have cared less about anything I was watching here. “Friday’s Child” (probably named after the far superior W.H. Auden poem) was literally painful to sit through, just like a root canal, an airline delay or a Nancy Pelosi lecture. Those Capellan men with their silly JoJo Sliwa hairdos and frou-frou frocks amount to nothing more than your typical warring thugs fighting over dick size and street cred. If they didn’t have such a valuable mineral no one would give a shit about their stupid backward planet, except perhaps for the slight entertainment value to be had from their constant brawling (I could see it being on some futuristic version of Pay-Per-View). "Are you children?" Eileen shouts at them. Yeah, pretty much. And while The Klingon does make use of a delightful sneer, he doesn’t have an ounce of the charisma that John Colicos’ Kor from “Errand of Mercy” had. What a letdown. Of course, one great attribute of “Friday’s Child” (or maybe it’s two attributes) is that it features the venerable sexy smokeshow Julie Newmar as aforementioned Eileen. Her presence alone basically nets the episode ten bonus points -- five points per tit. Speak Freely: McCoy -- “Captain, I’m going to fix that woman’s arm. They can only kill me once for touching her.” My Grade: D-

Fun fact, that is what Jammer had to say about this family pig, when he gave him money. "Thanks for your support and your contributions in the comment threads!" So true. Five coffees per tit!

Yes @ProudCapitalistPig, this is one of the many TOS episodes with a stunningly beautiful woman -- gotta hand it to TOS for having more hotties in its 79 episodes than any other live action classic Trek series did even with far more episodes. Julie Newmar... But I'd take watching this episode any day over a Nancy Pelosi lecture -- it's not even close!

--@ Rahul --"I'd take watching this episode any day over a Nancy Pelosi lecture" Point taken! I suppose that was a bit unfair even to "Friday's Child." --"this is one of the many TOS episodes with a stunningly beautiful woman" Looking forward to more hotties!

It was neat to see Sulu's targeting scanner display deploy out of the helm console.

I'm uncertain exactly why, but this one has grown on me as I've grown. As a kid, Friday's Child seemed boring, but later I found the clash of cultures interesting. and the Capellan traditions more believable. The screenplay creatively differs from TOS standards, for example, here McCoy opens the episode, the Capellans though relatively primitive seem formidable, especially when armed with their inventive kligat weapon, then there's a faked distress signal, a pregnancy, and some memorable dialogue. The all-too-rare outdoor filming lends a touch of authenticity. 3 of 4 stars is much higher than I'd have given this one decades ago.

It's the pace of this episode that makes it work. In that context, it works brilliantly... That is the entire point... D.C. Fontana does not mince words nor too many notes... This is easily a 3-star episode despite the goofy-ass costumes. You MUST look at the context.

Friday’s Child is an odd episode. In many ways it’s sort of a continuation of Errand of Mercy, with the federation and Klingon empire competing over another small planet with precious resources, but where Errand had a ton to say about imperialism and arrogance this episode seems to have other ideas on its mind that never fully come to the surface. The possible Cold War allegories are somewhat pushed to the side and instead I think we’re supposed to be focused more on eleen and her baby. What, if anything, the episode is trying to say however sort of stumbles across the finish line. The heart of the episode feels like the relationship between McCoy and eleen, and the good doctor’s efforts to get her to accept help that she claims to not want. It’s a bit of a confused muddle of competing elements. On the one hand we have an alien culture with very different values that eleen is committed to. McCoy is the most familiar with where she’s coming from, but he’s also very committed to his own values as a medical professional and is walking a bit of a fence between the two. He wants her to see herself and her baby through his own moral prism, but he’s using her own capellan cultural tropes to get there, including smacking her around. It’s a weird combo of respect for another culture being used to undermine that culture. Technically the ethical thing to do would be to accept eleen’s disdain for her child and desire to be left alone, but doing so would almost certainly mean infanticide and eleen’s possible murder. So what’s a doctor to do? Unfortunately this all takes care of itself when eleen pops out her kid and does an about face on her whole situation, which I found to be an abandonment of the more interesting culture clash dilemma in favor of a more family friendly wrap up. Speaking of that capellan culture, it’s also a bit problematic. These people are all about honesty, honor, and integrity, well, except when it suits them not to be. Treachery and backstabbing seem to be totes cool if you can get away with it, which leaves me feeling like the best federation strategy here might be to get them some dictionaries so they can look up the definition of these words their supposed to be super about. Then again, maab does sacrifice himself to lure out our Klingon baddie, so perhaps he was engaging in one last act of redemption to make up for his conniving and throwing his lot in with the demonstrably dishonorable Klingon? I’m not really sure, it’s all a bit tough to figure. Some other thoughts: - It was a scripting error to have that redshirt die right out of the gate. I mean, it’s cool to establish just out serious and dangerous the capellans are, maybe have redshirt hurl an insult at Mr. Klingon and get knocked out or sent back to the ship in disgrace, but that dude whipping out his phaser like that when everyone else seemed to be pretty relaxed just felt stupid. Like, dude, read the room. I imagine McCoy probably gave the whole team a PowerPoint rundown on the do’s and don’t’s of dealing with seven foot tall super warriors, so the scene just plays out like that security officer was a complete idiot. - You have to wonder why the Klingon was running solo, no Klingon henchmen in sight. That, coupled with the fact that the Klingons were resorting to fake distress calls and subterfuge implies that maybe he was going a bit rogue here? Maybe his superiors didn’t know about or approve of his actions? - I’m torn on Kirk’s whole vengeance thing. I guess he hates Klingons *that* much, which I suppose is an acceptable character flaw, but it also seems unprofessional. - Outdoor locations are nice. - Capellan outfits are, um, interesting… Anyway, 2/4 kleegats to the chest.

Don't really like this episode. The big three having now been credited in the show's opening sequence, now need excuses to take most of the screen time. Beaming down to a planet and then being deprived of their communicators and therefore losing contact with the ship, thus requires the 3 to improvise a solution to their dilemma. This time, the Enterprise actually leaves the planet despite losing contact with command crew 3 and receiving an obviously faked call for assistance, which Scotty would normally have detected but for the plot device. It's too bad the conflict with the Klingon ship could not have been developed a bit with Scott in charge (instead of just dropping it midstream) ...... because.... then we would have had to endure less of the ridiculous inhabitants of the planet acting bewildered as though they were shooting a Western and had lost their horses. Obviously, the outdoor shooting location costs a lot so there is no budget for sci-fi or (even more expensive) horses. These planets with primitive societies always talk with strange utterances, leaving out prepositions to seem naive and ignorant, and act like knuckledraggers limited by their life perspective on the planet. As opposed to the superpowerful aliens whom when in human form appear as frail benevolent Thespians because they don't need to be brutes. So the, um, Capellians, are sword and knife tossing primitives, yet appear to have a fine draperies manufacturing plant nearby despite having no windows. The baby stuff was meant to be cute because what else was a doctor going to do on the planet without his medical kit, which magically appears later. You can't expect him to make his own bow and arrow out of twigs and leaves then deploy the weapon with tactical proficiency. And who wouldn't want to get their hands on Julie Newmar, at least this time it's not Kirk getting the privilege. This episode just tries to cram too much stuff into a lackluster story, no wonder they needed a half dozen fight scenes to keep the audience from dozing off.

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Friday's Child

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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.)

• 1.1 Origins
• 1.2 Childhood
• 2.1 Academy years
• 2.2.1 Service aboard the Republic
• 2.2.2 Academy instructor
• 2.3.1 Mission to Neural
• 2.3.2 First encounter with the cloud creature
• 2.3.3 Pike's interest
• 2.3.4 Contact by La'an Noonien-Singh
• 2.3.5 First officer Kirk
• 2.4.1 Year One
• 2.4.2 Year Two
• 2.4.3 Year Three
• 2.4.4 Year Four
• 2.4.5 Year Five
• 2.5 Chief of Starfleet operations
• 2.6 The V'ger crisis
• 2.7 First retirement
• 2.8.1 Inspection tour
• 2.8.2 Stealing the Enterprise
• 2.8.3 Saving Earth
• 2.9.1 Sybok and Sha Ka Ree
• 2.9.2 Final mission
• 2.10.1 Maiden voyage of the Enterprise -B
• 2.10.2 The Nexus and death
• 4.1 Skills and hobbies
• 4.2 Personal combat
• 5.1.1 Baby Kirok
• 5.1.2 George Kirk, Sr.
• 5.1.3 Sam Kirk
• 5.1.4 David Marcus
• 5.2.1 Nyota Uhura
• 5.2.2 Spock
• 5.2.3 Leonard McCoy
• 5.2.4 Montgomery Scott
• 5.2.5 Hikaru Sulu
• 5.2.6 Janice Rand
• 5.2.7 Ben Finney
• 5.2.8 Jean-Luc Picard
• 5.3.2 Janice Lester
• 5.3.3 La'an Noonien-Singh
• 5.3.4 Carol Marcus
• 5.3.5 Janet Wallace
• 5.3.6 Areel Shaw
• 5.3.7 Helen Noel
• 5.3.8 Janice Rand
• 5.3.10 Lenore Karidian
• 5.3.11 Edith Keeler
• 5.3.12 Sylvia
• 5.3.13 Marlena Moreau
• 5.3.14 Drusilla
• 5.3.15 Kelinda
• 5.3.16 Elaan
• 5.3.17 Miramanee
• 5.3.18 Shahna
• 5.3.19 Deela
• 5.3.20 Marta
• 5.3.21 Odona
• 5.3.22 Rayna Kapec
• 5.3.23 Antonia
• 5.3.24 Martia
• 5.4.1 Khan Noonien Singh
• 6.1 Earth's 20th century
• 6.2 Other temporal events
• 7.1 Captain of the UEF Enterprise
• 7.2 Captain of the USS Farragut
• 7.3 Thelin's commanding officer
• 8 Awards and honors
• 9 Key dates
• 10.1 Existential Kirk
• 10.2 Kirk on death
• 10.3 In Harm's Way
• 10.4 Kirk on women
• 10.5 Kirk and Spock
• 10.6 Opinions of Kirk
• 11.1 Appearances
• 11.2.1 Casting Kirk
• 11.2.2 Naming Kirk
• 11.2.3 Character development
• 11.2.4 Kirk's demise
• 11.3 Ambiguities
• 11.4 Reiteration
• 11.5 Apocrypha
• 11.6 External links

Early history

Kirk (lower right) appearing as he did as a toddler

James Tiberius Kirk was born on March 22nd , 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 . ( Star Trek ; TOS : " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ", " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

His parents named him after his maternal grandfather , James , and his paternal grandfather, Tiberius . ( TAS : " Bem "; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; Star Trek ) Furthermore, Kirk was a descendant of late 19th century American frontier pioneers . ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ") Kirk embraced the culture and history of his homeland , especially western lore and the life of his hero Abraham Lincoln , and later even recognized the document mirrored on the planet Omega IV , he could recite the preamble of the United States Constitution from memory. ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ", " The Savage Curtain ", " The Omega Glory ")

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 ")

Governor Kodos in 2246

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 ")

In the first draft story outline of "The Conscience of the King", Kirk was instead to have witnessed his father being murdered by Kodos and an army of marauders led by him. Even in the episode's final revised draft script, Kirk was established as having had more of a connection to those he saw being killed than in the final version of the episode, as they were said to have included friends of his, though no family. Also in ultimately omitted dialogue from the final revised draft script, the incident was said to have taken place when Kirk was a young, inexperienced midshipman , fresh out of the Academy . The notion of Kirk being a midshipman with no family on Tarsus IV at the time of the massacre was also included in a deleted scene from "The Conscience of the King". ("Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor", Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features) As for Kirk having survived the incident, the aforementioned script had him say, " I was one of those Kodos spared! He ordered me left alive! I was one of the fittest! "

Starfleet career

Academy years.

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 )

Finnegan as he appeared in 2252

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 )

In a line from the script of The Wrath of Khan but not in the theatrical or director's cut of the film , Kirk mentioned that what he had done nearly got him tossed out of the Academy. [1] In Star Trek , the alternate James T. Kirk faced this situation after he defeated the scenario.

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 ")

Early postings and assignments

The personnel file for James T. Kirk, 2259

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

Kirk's graduation and "first star cruise" were mentioned in passing in an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the final draft script of " Shore Leave ". In the scripted line, a robotic facsimile of his former lover Ruth reminded Kirk that, following these events, he had thought he'd lost her. Given that the last encounter between Kirk and Ruth was said to have taken place fifteen years prior, the scripted line would have placed Kirk's graduation and initial "star cruise" in 2252 or thereabouts.

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

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 ")

Academy instructor

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 ")

In a line of dialogue that was written into the script of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" but was not included in the episode's final edit, Gary Mitchell implied a recollection that Kirk nearly washed him out of the Academy.

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 ")

They spoke of their "year together at Starfleet", which vaguely suggested "Starfleet Academy", more so that any sort of starship service together.

Service aboard the Farragut

Kirk served aboard the USS Farragut in the late 2250s.

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 ")

Mission to Neural

Lt. Kirk visited Neural in 2255 on his first planetary survey.

In 2255 , the young lieutenant visited Neural on his first planetary survey mission. He befriended one of the planet's natives, the Hill man Tyree . Kirk's report described a primitive but promising culture , and Starfleet endorsed him recommending a policy of non-interference . ( TOS : " A Private Little War ")

First encounter with the cloud creature

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 ")

Pike's interest

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 ")

Contact by La'an Noonien-Singh

Lieutenant Kirk, 2259

Later that year, Lieutenant Kirk was contacted by La'an Noonien-Singh , 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 ")

First officer Kirk

Lt. Kirk meeting Fleet Captain Christopher Pike

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 ")

Lt. Kirk spent some time on the Enterprise shadowing Lt. Cmdr. Chin-Riley prior to him assuming his position as first officer about the Farragut

Kirk later returned to the Enterprise on a short-term posting; his commanding officer felt Kirk would benefit from shadowing Enterprise 's first officer, Una Chin-Riley before he assumed the same position on the Farragut . During this time, La'an revealed her history with his alternate self, but Kirk revealed to her he was in a relationship with Carol Marcus who was pregnant with their son . ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

Commanding the USS Enterprise

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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 ")

According to The Making of Star Trek [ page number? • edit ] stated that " Kirk rose rapidly through the ranks and received his first command (the equivalent of a destroyer-class space ship) while still quite young. " However, it has never been indicated onscreen or otherwise that Kirk had any command prior to the Enterprise herself.

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

Kirk and Spock graffiti

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 ")

USS Enterprise in 2265

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 ")

Kirk faces the unknown

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 ")

Following the tragedy, Kirk shuffled the Enterprise 's command crew. Lieutenant Commander Spock remained science officer and Kirk acknowledged him as first officer. A new chief medical officer , Dr. Leonard McCoy , replaced Dr. Mark Piper . Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott remained chief engineer . Lieutenant Nyota Uhura became communications officer and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu was transferred from astrosciences to the helm . Kirk did not settle on a regular navigator for another two years. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Catspaw ", " Amok Time ", " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")

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 ")

The darker half of Kirk rages in frustration, 2266

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 ")

In ultimately unused dialogue from the final draft and the revised final draft of the script for "The Enemy Within", Kirk admitted that, at the outcome of this experience, he felt "just the opposite" of "sadder but wiser."

McCoy curing Kirk of polywater intoxication

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 ")

The Romulan commander

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 ")

Kirk encountering Miri

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 end of the episode, it is implied that Kirk decided not to log this incident, for he tells Spock, " Dr. Korby... was never here."

Kirk is tortured in 2266

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 ")

In a cut line from the final draft script of " Dagger of the Mind ", Kirk mentioned he was proud to be Human and that the penal colonies that Tristan Adams had inspired made him feel that way. However, he ultimately concluded (in another ultimately omitted line from the same script), " Doctor Adams and I agreed on one thing. Vengeance is wrong. I'm sorry for him. "

On stardate 2817.6, Kirk responded to a call from Dr. Thomas Leighton , a fellow survivor and witness to the horror of Tarsus IV. Leighton suspected the leader of a traveling theater troupe , actor Anton Karidian , of being Kodos "the Executioner," a man long thought dead. After Leighton was murdered and other witnesses's deaths were revealed, Kirk convinced Anton Karidian's daughter, Lenore , to bring the acting troupe aboard the Enterprise. Attempted murders of Kirk and Enterprise crewmember Kevin Riley (another survivor) led Kirk to confront Karidian (who was indeed Kodos), discovering the recent killings were the acts of his mad daughter, trying to protect her tormented aging father. ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King ")

Kirk's court martial proceedings

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 ")

In ultimately unused dialogue from the final draft script of "Court Martial", Kirk was referred to as having been on one particular mission, in command of the Enterprise , for the past nineteen months, prior to that episode. In another unused line of dialogue from later in the same script, Cogley said of Kirk (during his trial), " Captain Kirk is a strong man, a good man, an heroic man, who has served us all long, and well. " Shortly thereafter, more excised dialogue involved Kirk himself commenting, " Like you,... I'm trained to one thing. My life has been, one thing. Command. It's what I know. It's what I do. And it's a way of life that doesn't sharpen a man's verbal skills... only his sense of duty... and confidence in himself to discharge that duty. "

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 fighting the Gorn captain

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 ")

In the first draft script of VOY : " Flashback ", Kathryn Janeway told Harry Kim of Kirk's time as a captive of the Eminians . Kim was amazed to learn that Kirk had ordered the Enterprise to destroy Eminiar VII unless he was released, Kim found it hard to believe that Kirk would be allowed to do that without Starfleet punishing him.

Khan in 2267

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 ")

Making repairs in 2267

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 ")

After beaming down to the planet Gamma Hydra IV , Kirk, along with Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scott were all exposed to a rare form of radiation poisoning from a rogue comet . The radiation caused the party to age very rapidly. Kirk's accelerated dotage forced Commodore Stocker , who was visiting the Enterprise , to relieve Kirk from command of the ship until Dr. McCoy discovered a cure. Standard hyronalin therapy, alone, was ineffective. It was not until Spock, Nurse Chapel , and Dr. Janet Wallace were able to concoct a new type of treatment based on an old-style adrenaline radiation therapy that Kirk and his party could receive an antidote for the poisonous radiation, and just in time for the captain to regain his ability to command and save the Enterprise from a heavy Romulan attack into which Stocker, whom Kirk had earlier dismissed as a "chair-bound paper pusher" but who had relieved him after an extra-ordinary competency hearing, had unwisely led the ship. After Kirk was cured, he managed to maneuver the Enterprise out of the Neutral Zone and away from Romulan ships via a bluff . ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

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 ")

An Orion spy stabbing Kirk

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 ")

On Neural in 2268

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 ")

Kirk holding John Gill as he dies

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 ")

Kirk being threatened by Kara with a phaser on Sigma Draconis VI

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 ")

In Romulan disguise in 2268

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 ")

Spock attempting to differentiate between two almost identical Kirks in 2269

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 ")

At the end of that year, the governing council of the planet Gideon attempted to use the Vegan choriomeningitis organisms in Kirk's blood to control their planet's extreme over-population. ( TOS : " The Mark of Gideon ")

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 ")

Kirk, with the Excalbian recreation of Abraham Lincoln, and Spock on Excalbia

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 ")

James Kirk's mind, trapped inside Janice Lester's body

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 restrained by a Swooper on Phylos

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 ")

Kirk wearing a polarized conductor headband

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 ")

Sord and Kirk working together

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, shrunken down, assists an injured Sulu, along with Spock, Arex, and Kyle

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 attempting to be beamed up from Lactra VII

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 ")

Kirk calling Scott after the gravity on the bridge cuts out

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 ")

Kirk in a briefing with Commodore Robert April

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 ")

Reaching the end of its five-year deployment in 2270, Kirk ordered the Enterprise set on a course returning the ship to Earth. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Chief of Starfleet operations

As a rear admiral in the mid-2270s

The USS Enterprise returned to Earth in 2270. Kirk's successful mission resulted in his promotion to rear admiral and a posting as Chief of Starfleet Operations at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco for the following two and a half years. With Spock leaving Starfleet to return to Vulcan to purge all emotion, Kirk recommended Will Decker to replace him as Enterprise captain while the ship underwent an extensive refit at the San Francisco Fleet Yards , but he told Decker how envious he was and how much he hoped to find a way to get a starship command again. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

The V'ger crisis

Kirk commanded the Enterprise during the V'ger crisis and its official shakedown cruise

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.

According to StarTrek.com , Kirk's second five year mission ran from 2271 to 2276. [2] (X)

See also: Ambiguities

First retirement

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 )

Return to Starfleet

Inspection tour.

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.

After arriving at Regula I, Kirk met his estranged son, David Marcus , whom he rescued along with Carol Marcus , and the Enterprise escaped into the Mutara Nebula . A difficult battle with Khan ensued , however, Kirk prevailed after he used his long starship experience and Khan's own egomaniacal psychology to level the playing field and prevail, though it came at a great personal cost, the resulting death of his friend of twenty years, Spock. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Stealing the Enterprise

Kirk in 2285, stealing the Enterprise

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.

At the Genesis planet, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey 's attack left the Enterprise disabled. After setting an auto-destruct sequence, Kirk and his crew abandoned the ship for the surface. The Enterprise was destroyed, taking a Klingon boarding party along with it. Finding Spock's body reanimated by Genesis, Kirk took the Bird-of-Prey to Mount Seleya on Vulcan, where Spock's katra and body were reunited. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Saving Earth

Kirk and Spock walking the streets of San Francisco in 1986

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.

With the help of cetacean biologist Dr. Gillian Taylor , Kirk successfully obtained the humpback whales George and Gracie and returned with them to 2286 . By providing the whales that could answer the probe's query, Kirk redeemed Humanity's extermination of a sentient species and saved Earth from an environmental catastrophe. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Commanding the USS Enterprise -A

Kirk and crew on the bridge of the Enterprise -A

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

Kirk and the Enterprise -A were hijacked by Sybok and traveled to Sha Ka Ree

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!!! "

Later, the entity they encountered proved to be a malevolent force, imprisoned and looking for release. Sybok joined the entity in combat, sacrificing himself and permitting the Enterprise -A to escape. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

Final mission

Kirk and McCoy on trial

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.

After commanding two Starships named Enterprise , Kirk's tenure as captain of the Enterprise ended in 2293.

Kirk, Spock, Scott, Uhura, Chekov, and McCoy see the rest of Sulu's crew onboard the Excelsior -class USS Excelsior on the view screen one last time before parting ways. Kirk ordered Chekov to set the course "second star to the right, and straight on till morning," as the last flight of the Enterprise -A. After that, she was decommissioned, and Kirk retired permanently from Starfleet. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Second Retirement

Maiden voyage of the enterprise -b.

Kirk briefly taking command of the Enterprise -B

Shortly after retirement, Kirk joined his friends Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov as the honored guests of Captain John Harriman on the maiden voyage of the Excelsior -class starship USS Enterprise -B . The event, featuring a media frenzy surrounding Kirk, was little more than a ceremonial cruise, as the Enterprise -B was not yet fully crewed or equipped for regular duty. Soon after departure, the ship received a distress signal from two Whorfin -class ships transporting El Aurian refugees trapped in an energy distortion called the Nexus .

With the advice of Kirk, and the help of Scott and Chekov, the rescue mission was a partial success, but the Enterprise -B succumbed to the Nexus' gravimetric field. Declining Harriman's offer to take command, Kirk volunteered to modify the ship's deflector relays and successfully enabled the ship's escape, but not before a burst of energy from the Nexus breached the secondary hull . Kirk was lost and presumed dead. ( Star Trek Generations )

The Nexus and death

Kirk, just before jumping over a chasm

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.

" It was... fun. Oh my.... "

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 )

Soran originally killed Kirk by shooting him in the back. This ending was changed because it was thought that Kirk needed a more "heroic" death. ("Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray )

Scan of Kirk's remains at Daystrom Station

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 .

As of 2401 , the remains were stored on Daystrom Station . ( PIC : " The Bounty " okudagram )

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 ")

In 2384 , Hologram Janeway noted that both Captains Kirk and Sulu were "Starfleet legends". To the Enderprizians , Kirk was known as " James'T the Warrior ", and he had at least one namesake on Planet 0042692 , James'T . ( PRO : " All the World's a Stage ") Kirk also had at least two others named in his honor during his lifetime, Jame Finney and Leonard James Akaar . ( TOS : " Court Martial ", " Friday's Child ")

Personal interests

Skills and hobbies.

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 )

Beckett Mariner once described herself as a "Kirk-style free spirit ", though her mother, Captain Carol Freeman , retorted that Kirk was confident, whereas Mariner was unwilling to risk dropping her defenses to make allies. ( LD : " First First Contact ")

Personal combat

Kirk's unique fighting style

Kirk incorporated techniques from Judo into his personal combat style

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 ")

Kirk was constantly looking to improve his arsenal of combat techniques. Upon witnessing Hikaru Sulu perform a body throw on Agmar on Phylos in 2269, he asked Sulu to teach him the technique sometime, since it might come in handy. ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")

Relationships

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! ")

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 ")

George Kirk, Sr.

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 )

Sam and Jim reuniting in an alternate 2266

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! ")

According to an alternate timeline version of Sam Kirk, he described Jim as a " huge pain in the ass but he's a fine a captain as Starfleet has." ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

David Marcus

David Marcus in 2285

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 )

Kirk with David's body on Genesis

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 )

Kirk kept David's memory close, with a picture of his son in his quarters aboard the Enterprise -A. Kirk's opinion of Klingons, once enemies he could occasionally respect and even share a laugh with, grew into hatred. In 2293 , during the diplomatic mission to the Klingon Empire instigated by the destruction of Praxis , he logged, "I have never trusted Klingons, and I never will. I've never been able to forgive them for the death of my boy." Acknowledging that he wanted to believe Spock's statements that the mission was historic, he added, "(H)ow on Earth can history get past people like me?" The partial log entry, surreptitiously and illegally recorded by the evil Lieutenant Valeris , was used against him during the trial for the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon, and the incident forced him to come to terms with his hatred for Klingons; Gorkon's daughter and acting successor, Azetbur , realized and admitted just as the Khitomer Conference was getting under way that Kirk had restored her father's faith, to which Kirk responded that Azetbur had in turn restored his son's faith. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Friendships

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

Lt. Kirk introducing himself to Ensign Uhura

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 ")

After Kirk replaced Pike as captain of the Enterprise , Kirk kept Uhura on as communications officer. The two would work closely together for the next thirty years. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver "; Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Kirk and Spock meeting for the first time

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 ")

Kirk's first ever scene with Spock, in " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", was not included in that episode's first draft script. In ultimately unused dialogue from that scene in the final revised draft of the teleplay, (dated 8 July 1965 ), Kirk began a sentence that was concluded by Spock and later predicted Spock might someday learn to enjoy his "bad blood."

The inseparable trio (l to r) McCoy, Kirk, and Spock in 2267

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 )

Kirk with Spock on Earth in 1969

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 ")

Kirk holding Spock after he is attacked by a parasite on Deneva

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 ")

Kirk with Spock again in the 2270s

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 )

Kirk and Spock, together on Kirk's birthday

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 )

Spock in an attempt to save Kirk's life at Yosemite National Park

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 )

A scripted but ultimately unused conversation between Kirk and Spock was included in the final revised draft teleplay of TOS : " The Conscience of the King ". In that discussion, Kirk remarked that he was "touched" by Spock being concerned about the efficiency of the Enterprise .

According to the script for The Wrath of Khan , after taking the Kobayashi Maru test for the third time, Spock said to Kirk that his solution would not have occurred to a Vulcan mentality. This would have implied that Kirk and Spock knew each other since the late 2250s, and that Spock was at the Academy. [3] As it was, this information was not in the theatrical or director's cut of the film. In the film Star Trek , the alternate Spock programmed the scenario and leveled charges of cheating against Kirk.

Another scripted but never executed moment was when, in the first draft script of Star Trek Generations , Kirk learned from Picard that Spock was an ambassador in the 24th century. His response to Picard was, " Spock's an Ambassador ? What have things come to? " He then paused before concluding, " I can see I'm needed in your century. "

In an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the script of the aforementioned film Star Trek , Spock made reference to Kirk Prime upon reacting to the Kirk of the alternate reality clearly looking confused by a particular regulation . In reply, Spock said, " Yes. I forget what little regard you had for such things. " [4]

Leonard McCoy

Sharing a drink in 2266

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 ")

In an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the final draft script of TOS : " Dagger of the Mind ", Kirk complained to McCoy, " I wish you'd make up your mind. One minute a bleeding humanitarian, the next a cynic... "

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 ")

Kirk implores McCoy to rejoin the crew of the Enterprise

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 )

McCoy advises Kirk on the bridge

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 holds McCoy in Spock's quarters

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 )

Kirk and McCoy in 2287

After the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon , Kirk and McCoy were imprisoned together on Rura Penthe . With the "help" of a shapeshifter named Martia, they were able to escape together and return to the Enterprise . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Montgomery Scott

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 ")

" Aye, captain. " (2267)

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 with Scott during a power drain crisis in 2269

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 )

" …she'll be ready. " (2270s)

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 )

Upon being rematerialized in 2369 after spending 75 years in the USS Jenolan 's transporter buffer , by the Enterprise -D, to Scott's surprise that he was found by the Enterprise , Scott's immediate response was, " The Enterprise! I should have known! I bet Jim Kirk himself hauled the old girl out of mothballs to come looking for me. " ( TNG : " Relics ")

Hikaru Sulu

Sulu, together with Kirk on the Shore Leave Planet

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 with Kirk in the 2270s

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 )

In a deleted scene from "The Corbomite Maneuver", Kirk asked Sulu, " Has it ever occurred to you you're not a very inscrutable Oriental, Mr. Sulu? " ("Inside the Roddenberry Vault, Part I", Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features)

Janice Rand

Kirk holds Janice close (2266)

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 ")

In a deleted scene from " The Conscience of the King ", Kirk told Lenore Karidian that his relationship with Yeoman Rand was "strictly business," but Lenore thought otherwise, believing that Kirk was naive about women and was unaware of Rand's true feelings for him. ("Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor," Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features) In the version of the scene from the episode's final revised draft script, Kirk accepted Lenore saying Rand was "quite lovely," adding "and very efficient."

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.

Though their friendship was effectively over, Lieutenant Commander Finney served aboard the Enterprise in 2267, as records officer. Kirk was unaware that Finney's old grudge had been growing larger over the years, and Finney had passed into madness. To take his revenge, he staged his own death and manufactured evidence of Kirk's negligence. Finney was successful to a point, and Kirk became the first Federation Starfleet starship commander brought before a court martial . With the help of the eccentric lawyer Samuel T. Cogley and Spock, Finney's deception was revealed and charges against Kirk were lifted. Finney was arrested and faced trial, represented by Cogley. ( TOS : " Court Martial ")

Jean-Luc Picard

Kirk's body buried by Picard

Although their association was brief, James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard had profound personal effects on one another. Very much like Spock and Leonard McCoy, Picard was instrumental in helping Kirk find meaning in his life after his greatest adventures were essentially over. In fact, it could be argued that Picard was one of the most significant persons in Kirk's entire life, as he embarked on his final adventure with him and passed away knowing that he had "made a difference." Picard laid Kirk to rest on that obscure planet and was his lone mourner. ( Star Trek Generations )

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.

Ruth, as she appeared in 2252

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 ")

In an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the script of "Shore Leave", the details of how Kirk's relationship with Ruth ended were specified, as the replica of her reminded him that, after his graduation and "first star cruise," he thought he'd "lost" her.

Janice Lester

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 ")

In the late 2250s , as an instructor at the Academy, Lieutenant Kirk was romantically involved with a " blonde lab technician " whom Gary Mitchell had introduced him to. His relationship with her grew serious, as he almost married her. ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ")

La'an Noonien-Singh

Kirk and La'an in 2259

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 ")

After they worked together trying to eliminate the subspace fold, La'an confessed to Kirk that she had fallen in love with an alternate version of him. She told him that she also liked the way Kirk looked at her now, but he said that while he felt a connection with her as well, he was presently in a relationship with Carol Marcus. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

Carol Marcus

Carol Marcus in 2285

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 ;)

It has been suggested (such as in the Star Trek Chronology , 1st ed., p. 151 & 2nd ed., p. 268) that the " little blonde lab technician " mentioned in " Where No Man Has Gone Before " may, in fact, have been Carol Marcus.

Janet Wallace

janet Wallace

Kirk was involved with the future Janet Wallace in 2261 ; this relationship was also called off due to their difference in careers. ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

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 ")

In an ultimately excised scene extension from the script of "Court Martial", Kirk retorted to Shaw wishing him "good luck" in finding Benjamin Finney that her comment "[wasn't] very professional" and that he had been under the impression that she "wanted [his] neck." When Shaw replied, " In one piece. Be careful, " Kirk merely smiled.

Noel's falsely implanted recollection

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 ")

The final draft script of "Dagger of the Mind" made it clear that, at the party, Kirk presumed Noel was one of the ship's passengers, which led to "something" between them "that night." Specifically, Kirk was interested in her but, because so many of his crewmembers were present, he couldn't act on those feelings.

The "evil" Captain Kirk and Yeoman Rand

In 2266, the evil side of Kirk tried to assault and seduce Yeoman Rand. ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

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 ")

In ultimately unused dialogue from the final draft script of "Miri", Kirk concluded that Miri was " a very nice kid... even if she was old enough to be my great-grandmother ten times removed. "

Lenore Karidian

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 ")

Kirk was featured with Lenore in a deleted scene from "The Conscience of the King". At one point, he complimented her on being "a very unusual woman." Later in the same scene, they shared a small kiss. Kirk responded by asking Lenore if that had been "a rehearsal," to which she called it "a performance, dear captain," and they then embraced in a more passionate kiss. ("Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor", Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features) In the final version of the episode, only the second of the two kisses is shown. Kirk's interaction with Lenore in this scene was much the same in the version of the scene from the final revised draft script of "The Conscience of the King", though that version featured slightly more dialogue between them. In the script, when Lenore asked Kirk if he was like the Enterprise (containing a lot of power, surging and throbbing, yet under control), he replied, " I hope I impress you more as a man than a machine, " to which Lenore concluded he was an "intriguing combination of both."

Edith Keeler

Edith Keeler in 1930

In 2267 , Kirk and Spock traveled back to the 1930s to repair damage to the timeline Leonard McCoy accidentally caused. While searching for McCoy, Kirk met and fell in love with the compassionate and far-seeing social worker Edith Keeler . Keeler's death was found to be the focal point in history needing repair. As she crossed a street to meet Kirk, he was forced to hold McCoy back while an automobile struck and killed her, thus restoring the timeline. ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

In 2267, the alien Sylvia tried to seduce Kirk into giving her the transmuter . ( TOS : " Catspaw ")

Marlena Moreau

After 2267, Kirk had a near romance with Marlena Moreau . ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

In 2268, while Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were held captive in a 20th century Roman Empire , a slave woman named Drusilla "seduced" Kirk. ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ") In The Autobiography of James T. Kirk , Drusilla had a son named Eugenio ( β ), whom McCoy believed to be Kirk's son from their intimate time together.}}

In the line of duty, to recover the Enterprise hijacked by Kelvans in 2268 , Kirk seduced Kelinda , in order to arouse jealously in her commander, Rojan . Kelinda recognized Kirk's attempt at seduction, but welcomed his continued efforts. ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")

Kirk kissing Elaan

On a peace mission to the war-torn Tellun system in 2268, the Enterprise transported Elaan , Dohlman of Elas , to her diplomatically-arranged wedding on Troyius . Kirk's antagonistic relationship with the arrogant and spoiled Dohlman changed sharply after her Elasian tears infected him. Under their powerful biochemical influence, Kirk became instantly and deeply infatuated with Elaan. He ultimately resisted the more compelling effects of the tears and fulfilled his duties, but both Elaan and Kirk experienced a tangible sense of loss at their melancholy final parting. ( TOS : " Elaan of Troyius ")

Miramanee in 2268

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 ")

Kirk "helps" Shahna

In 2268, when captured for the gladiatorial combats of Triskelion , Kirk was assigned to the tutelage of the drill-thrall Shahna . Kirk introduced Shahna to the wider universe around her, and the Human concept of love. ( TOS : " The Gamesters of Triskelion ")

Queen Deela

Deela was queen of the (infertile) male Scalosians who hijacked the Enterprise in 2268. They planned to use the male members of the ship's crew as a gene pool so her species could continue. Deela choose Kirk as her consort, who, along with the help of Spock, was able to stop her plan. ( TOS : " Wink of an Eye ")

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 ")

Kirk and Odona kissing

Prime Minister Hodin of Gideon , a world greatly suffering from overpopulation, abducted Kirk and forced him to spend time isolated with his daughter, Odona , in 2269. As a carrier of Vegan choriomeningitis , it was hoped Kirk would infect Odona, and the rest of the population. The couple became quite affectionate in their time spent together, though Odona said Kirk "behaved like a perfect gentleman." ( TOS : " The Mark of Gideon ")

Rayna Kapec

Rayna Kapec in 2269

In 2269, Kirk's encounter with the near-immortal Flint led to their competition for the love of the android Rayna Kapec , and resulted in her destruction. Kirk was heartbroken. Spock took an extraordinary liberty with his grieving friend, melding with Kirk without his consent, whispering the word "forget". ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ")

Kirk fell in love with Antonia after his first retirement from Starfleet in 2281 . The two lived together for some time before Kirk decided to rejoin Starfleet. Later in life, he regretted not having proposed to her. He would later be reunited with a life like illusion of Antonia during his 75 years in the Nexus, which was, from a chronological standpoint, his longest-lasting romance. ( Star Trek Generations )

Kirk kissing Martia on Rura Penthe

In 2293 , Martia had a brief romance with Kirk to put him off his guard so he and McCoy could be killed trying to escape. When he expressed his disgust over having kissed her, she, while in his form, quipped, " Must have been your lifelong ambition! " (However, it turned out to be Martia who was ultimately double-crossed and killed.) ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Khan Noonien Singh

Khan and Kirk on the Enterprise in 2267

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 ")

Khan later sought revenge against Kirk after McGivers had died in exile. By that time, Ceti Alpha V had lost its ability to support much of the life it had once sustained. To exact his revenge, Khan hijacked the USS Reliant and stole the Genesis terraformation torpedo, whose research and development team included Kirk's old flame Carol Marcus and his bitter, resentful son by Carol, David Marcus. The torpedo's detonation aboard the Reliant, while it was inside the Mutara Nebula , killed Khan and those who were left of his people. But the Enterprise, and Kirk, barely managed to escape the torpedo's blast radius. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

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 ")

They would meet again in 2269, when Kor's ship the IKS Klothos exchanged fire with the Enterprise in the Delta Triangle shortly before both ships were pulled into the alternate dimension known as Elysia . Again, their battle was halted by an outside agency, this time by the ruling council who had forbidden violence in the area. Kirk convinced Kor that their two ships should work together in an attempt to escape the region but Kor planned to destroy the Enterprise afterwards, planting a bomb to detonate when the Enterprise went to warp eight. The attempt failed and Kor quickly left the scene, taking credit for the escape with the Klingons. ( TAS : " The Time Trap ")

Time travel

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

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

The Guardian of Forever

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 ")

Kirk, with Spock in 1968

In 2268 , Kirk was ordered to repeat the recently proven slingshot maneuver, taking the Enterprise back to 1968 on a mission of historical observation. Intercepting enigmatic agent Gary Seven , Kirk attempted to stop his interference but eventually cooperated with Seven's effort to avert a nuclear exchange between the United States of America and the Soviet Union . ( TOS : " Assignment: Earth ") After arriving in 2024 , using the slingshot maneuver, Picard recalled Kirk's encounter with Seven after learning of Tallinns similar credentials as a watcher . ( PIC : " Fly Me to the Moon ")

Other temporal events

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 ")

Alternate timelines

Captain of the uef enterprise.

United Earth Fleet Captain James T. Kirk in an alternate 2259

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 .

Kirk dying of a gunshot wound in 2022

He joined the United Earth Fleet and by 2259, was captain of the UEF Enterprise . After La'an Noonien-Singh was transported aboard his ship from the prime timeline, Kirk was inadvertently brought back in time with her to 2022 Toronto , the point of divergence between their two timelines. Although initially skeptical of her intention to restore her timeline, he was persuaded to help her when he learned that not only was Earth a paradise, but that Sam was still alive. As they attempted to prevent history from being changed, Kirk was killed by the Romulan temporal agent Sera, before La'an succeeded in restoring the original timeline. ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

Captain of the USS Farragut

Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Farragut in an alternate 2266

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 .

James T. Kirk in an alternate 2266.

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.

When the Romulans attacked the Enterprise , Kirk used his drone fleet to cover the Enterprise until its engines could be repaired, beaming back aboard moments before the Enterprise jumped to warp. Pike was impressed by Kirk and told the young captain that he would make a good captain for the Enterprise . Pike got to know Kirk briefly before using a time crystal to return to his own time where he changed the events that led to this timeline. However, the encounter led to Pike taking an interest in Kirk in his own timeline. ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

Thelin's commanding officer

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 ")

Awards and honors

Kirk in dress uniform 2267

• 2233 : Born to George and Winona Kirk in Riverside , Iowa on March 22nd.
• 2246 : On Tarsus IV , he was one of nine witnesses to a massacre ordered by Governor Kodos .
• 2250 : Began a fifteen-year friendship with Gary Mitchell .
• 2252 : Entered Starfleet Academy as a cadet . Was romantically involved with Ruth and bullied by Finnegan . During his time at the Academy, participated in the Axanar Peace Mission .
• 2252 to 2255 : Befriends Lieutenant Benjamin Finney . Promoted to ensign and was assigned aboard USS Republic , along with 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 . Assigned to the USS Farragut under the command of Captain Garrovick
• 2257 : Encounters dikironium cloud creature while serving aboard the Farragut .
• 2259 : Appointed First officer of the Farragut
• Late 2250s/Early 2260s: An instructor at the Academy. Gary Mitchell was one of his students. Relationship with Carol Marcus ends; their son, David Marcus , is born.
• 2261 : Breaks off relationship with Janet Wallace .
• 2263 : Breaks off relationship with Areel Shaw .
• 2265 – 2270 : He assumed command of the USS Enterprise for a historic five-year mission . Specific accomplishments include:
• 2265 : Takes the USS Enterprise to the galactic barrier , the first Earth ship to do so in two hundred years. During the mission, is forced to kill close friend Gary Mitchell .
• 2266 : Achieved first contact with the First Federation . Later that year, repels a Romulan incursion and destroys a Romulan Bird-of-Prey.
• 2267 : Became the first Starfleet captain ever to stand court martial, charged with negligent homicide in the death of Benjamin Finney ; charges dismissed.
• 2268 : Responsible for stealing a Romulan cloaking device during a covert Starfleet intelligence mission. Experiences amnesia and lived among the American Indians on Amerind where he wedded Miramanee .
• 2269 : 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. Trapped in a planet's past along with Spock and McCoy on a planet about to go supernova
• 2270 : Promoted to Rear Admiral and assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations .
• Mid- 2270s : Accepted temporary grade reduction to Captain and assumed command of USS Enterprise to intercept V'ger .
• 2281 : Retires from Starfleet.
• 2282 : 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.
• 2284 : Returns to Starfleet as an instructor at Starfleet Academy.
• 2285 : Assumes temporary command of the Enterprise during a routine training mission, engages Khan Noonien Singh in the Battle of the Mutara Nebula . Deserts from Starfleet later that year to retrieve body of Captain Spock 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 Morrow and assigned to command the USS Enterprise -A.
• 2287 : Takes the Enterprise -A to the center of the galaxy after Vulcan renegade Sybok hijacked the ship.
• 2293 : Along with Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Excelsior , was responsible for saving the Khitomer Conference : retired from Starfleet and was presumed killed later that year during the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise -B.
• 2371 : Jean-Luc Picard finds Kirk alive inside the Nexus . Killed while defeating Tolian Soran 's plans and saving planet Veridian IV .

Memorable quotes

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

Existential Kirk

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

"Above all else, a god needs COMPASSION!"

" I wanna live! I wanna live! "

" This vessel... I give, she takes. She won't permit me my life, I've got to live hers. "

" No beach to walk on. "

"Don't tell me that again, Science Officer! It's a theory; it's possible! We may go up in the biggest ball of fire since the last sun in these parts exploded, but we've got to take that one-in-ten-thousand chance!"

" Why me? I look around that bridge, and I see the men waiting for me to make the next move. And Bones...what if I'm wrong? "

" ...Nothing is more important than my ship. "

" You said you wanted freedom. It's time you learned that freedom is never a gift; it has to be earned."

"Death, destruction, disease, horror--that's what war is all about! That's what makes it a thing to be avoided. You've made it neat and painless. So neat and painless you've had no reason to stop it. And you've had it for over five hundred years. Since it seems to be the only way I can save my crew and my ship, I'm gonna end it for you, one way or another."

" All right. [War is] instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're Human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill... today! "

"It's a true Eden, Jim. There's belonging and love. " "No wants...no needs...we weren't meant for that. None of us. Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is. "

" Well, that's the second time man's been thrown out of paradise. " "No, no, Bones. This time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren't meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through...struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can't stroll to the music of the lute--we must march to the sound of drums."

" Excuse me, Gentlemen... I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell you the truth. "

" Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate. "

" Human flesh against Human flesh. We're the same. We share the same history, the same heritage, the same lives. We're tied together beyond any untying. Man or woman, it makes no difference... We're Human. We couldn't escape from each other even if we wanted to. That's how you do it, lieutenant. By remembering who and what you are. A bit of flesh and blood afloat in a universe without end. The only thing that's truly yours is the rest of Humanity. That's where our duty lies. "

" In every revolution, there's one man with a vision... "

"What is a man but that lofty spirit, that sense of-- enterprise? That devotion to something that cannot be sensed, cannot be realized, but only dreamed, the highest reality?"

" War isn't a good life, but it's life. "

" Do you know the one, 'all I ask is a tall ship...?' " " It's very old. " " 20th century Earth. 'All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by.' You could feel the wind at your back in those days, the sound of the sea beneath you. And even if you take away the wind and the water, it's still the same... The ship is yours, you can feel her. And the stars are still there, Bones."

" I... am... KIROK! " ( TOS : " The Paradise Syndrome ")

" You could serve as Human sacrifice. " " No I wouldn't enjoy that at all. Besides you seem to need me alive. "

" I don't believe in the no-win scenario. "

" We learn by doing. "

" The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. "

" Double dumbass on you! "

"Don't tell me--you're from outer space." "No, I'm from Iowa; I only work in outer space."

"Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor! You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with the wave of a magic wand! They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are! If we lose them, we lose ourselves! "I don't WANT my pain taken away--I NEED my pain!!!"

" You have restored my father's faith. " " And you have restored my son's. "

"I was out saving the galaxy while your grandfather was in diapers!"

" Don't let them promote you, don't let them transfer you, don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship. Because while you're there, you can make a difference. "

Kirk on death

" Look, I could tell you some comforting fairy tale, but we both know the truth. Our job puts us up against death more than is fair. And we might not like it, but we do have to face it. And right now, death is winning. It claimed your family, it claimed your friend. It convinced you to forget them, because it's less painful than holding on to their memories. Now, you can let death win...or you can fight back. Hold on to them. "

" I'm used to the idea of dying. But I have no desire to die for the likes of you. "

" Poor Matt... He gave his life in an attempt to save others... Not the worst way to go "

" What a terrible way to die. " " There are no good ways, Sulu. "

" How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life... "

" Lieutenant Saavik was right... You never have faced death. " " No, not like this. I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I tricked my way out of death... and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing. "

" My God, Bones... What have I done? " " What you had to do. What you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live. "

" I've always known... I'll die alone. "

In Harm's Way

" This is the captain of the Enterprise . Our respect for other lifeforms requires that we give you this... warning. There is one critical item of information that has never been incorporated into the memory banks of any Earth ship. Since the early years of space exploration, Earth vessels have had incorporated into them, a substance known as... corbomite. It is a material and a device which prevents... attack... on us. If any destructive energy touches our vessel, a reverse reaction of equal strength is created, destroying... " " You now have two minutes. " " ...DESTROYING the attacker. It may interest you to know... that since the initial use of corbomite more than two of our centuries ago, no attacking vessel has survived the attempt. Death has... little meaning to us. If it has none to you... then attack us now. We grow annoyed at your foolishness. "

" They used to say if man could fly, he'd have wings... but he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon, or that we hadn't gone on to Mars or the nearest star? That's like saying you wish that you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut like your great-great-great-great-grandfather used to. I'm in command. I could order this. But I'm not... because... Dr. McCoy is right in pointing out the enormous danger potential in any contact with life and intelligence as fantastically advanced as this. But I must point out that the possibilities, the potential for knowledge and advancement is equally great. Risk... risk is our business! That's what this starship is all about... that's why we're aboard her! "

" Khan. How do we know you'll keep your word? " " Oh, I've given you no word to keep, admiral. In my judgment you simply have no alternative. " " I see your point... stand by to receive our transmission... (whispers) Mr. Sulu, lock phasers on target... " " Time's up admiral! " " Here it comes. Now, Mr. Spock. "

" Sir, you did it! " " I did nothing! Except get caught with my britches down. I must be getting senile. "

" Kirk... you're still alive, my old friend. " " Still. Old. Friend! You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you KEEP MISSING the TARGET! "

" KHAAAAAAN!!! " ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

" We tried it once your way Khan, now are you game for a rematch? Khan... I'm LAUGHING at the superior... intellect. "

" Sorry about your crew, but as we say on, Earth, c'est la vie . "

" I... have had... enough of you! "

" SHOOT HIM!!! "

" Excuse me... but what does God need with a starship? "

" Don't believe them! Don't trust them! " " They are dying... " " Let them die. "

" Risk is part of the game, if you want to sit in that chair. "

Kirk on women

" When I get my hands on the headquarters genius who gave me a female yeoman... " " What's the matter Jim, don't you trust yourself? "

" You're too beautiful to ignore. Too much woman. "

" Uh, there are things you can do with a lady, uh, Charlie, that you... Uh, there's no right way to hit a woman. I mean, man to man is one thing, but, um, man and woman, uh, it's, ah... is, uh... Well, it's, ah, another thing. Do you understand? "

" Worlds may change, galaxies disintegrate, but a woman... always remains a woman. "

" You'll learn something about men and women... the way they're supposed to be. Caring for each other, being happy with each other, being good to each other. That's what we call... love. You'll like that too. A lot. "

" Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That is the only planet in this galaxy that can make that claim. "

" You sleep lightly, captain. " " Yes, duty is a good teacher. I see you've changed your dress-maker. " " Release me! " " So you could attack me again? That would be foolish. " " Call the guards if you're afraid, captain. " " I'm not afraid. In fact... I find this rather enjoyable. "

Kirk and Spock

" Will you try for one moment to feel? At least act like you've got a heart? "

" Spock, I think I'm in love with Edith Keeler. " " Jim, Edith Keeler, must die."

" Alright, you mutinous, disloyal, computerized half-breed, we'll see about you deserting my ship... You're an overgrown jackrabbit. An elf with a hyperactive thyroid... What else would you expect from a simpering devil eared freak whose father was a computer and whose mother was an encyclopedia... Your father was a computer, like his son... from a planet of traitors. A Vulcan never lived who had an ounce of integrity... You're a traitor from a race of traitors. Disloyal to the core; rotten like the rest of your sub-Human race, and you've got the GALL to make love to that girl. Does she know what she's getting, Spock? A carcass full of memory banks who should be squatting on a mushroom, instead of passing himself off as a man. You belong in a circus, Spock, not a starship. RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOG-FACED BOY!

" Mind your own business, Mr. Spock! I'm sick of your half-breed interference, do you hear me? "

" Analysis, Mr. Spock? " " Very bad poetry, captain. "

" No, it was a calculated risk. Still, the Eminians keep a very orderly society and actual war is very messy business. Very, very messy business. I had a feeling they would do anything to avoid it, even talk peace. " " Feeling is not much to go on. " " Sometimes a feeling, Mr. Spock, is all we Humans have to go on. " " Captain, you almost make me believe in luck. " " Why, Mr. Spock, you almost make me believe in miracles. "

" Kill Spock? That's not what we came to Vulcan for. "

" Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... Human. "

" Oh him? He's harmless. Back in the sixties, he was part of the free speech movement at Berkeley. I think he did a little too much LDS. "

" ... either you're with me or you're not! " " I am here, captain. " " That's a little vague, Spock... "

" I lost a brother once... I was lucky... I got him back. "

" You're a great one for logic. I'm a great one for rushing in where angels fear to tread. We're both extremists. Reality is probably somewhere in between. "

" You know, if Spock were here, he'd say I was an irrational, illogical Human being for taking on a mission like that... Sounds like fun! "

Opinions of Kirk

" This officer's record shows him to be an insubordinate, unprincipled, career-minded opportunist with a history of violating the chain of command whenever it suited him. "

Appearances

• " 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 "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " 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 "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " 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 "
• " Turnabout Intruder "
• " 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 Jihad "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• 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
• Star Trek Beyond (picture only)
• DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " (archive footage)
• ENT : " These Are the Voyages... " (archive audio)
• ST : " Ephraim and Dot " (archive audio)
• PIC : " The Bounty " (scan of remains)
• " No Small Parts " (picture only)
• " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers " (picture only)
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Lost in Translation "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• VST : " Walk, Don't Run " (archive footage)

Background information

Casting kirk.

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. [5] [6] (X) [7] (X) 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 )

Naming Kirk

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.

Gary Mitchell's tombstone for "James R. Kirk"

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. ( [8] Maximum PC , November 2010, p. 94; Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series , 129) 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. [9] 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 , 1st ed., p. 40; The Encyclopedia Shatnerica , p. 90; Star Trek Magazine Special 2016 , pp. 23-24)

Character development

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.

Kirk's demise

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. [11]

Ambiguities

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. " [12] 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.

Reiteration

In 2022 , Paul Wesley appeared in the role of James T. Kirk during the first season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , serving as the captain of the USS Farragut in an alternate timeline. His casting was announced on 15 March 2022 . He reprised the role in Season 2 of Strange New Worlds . [13]

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.

Kirk's gravestone

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.

Kirk and The Doctor

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.

In Star Trek Cats , Kirk is depicted as an orange tabby cat .

External links

• James T. Kirk at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• James T. Kirk at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• James T. Kirk at Wikipedia
• 2 Bell Riots
• 3 Daniels (Crewman)

DS9s Star Trek: TOS Crossover Pointed Out 2 Weird Things About Klingons

• DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" episode pokes fun at Klingon differences in a lighthearted and humorous manner.
• Worf's comical explanation of the Klingon-Tribble War adds levity to tackling Star Trek lore within the crossover.
• Deep Space Nine skillfully addresses Klingon oddities through witty dialogue, honoring TOS history with a comedic touch.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's crossover episode with Star Trek: The Original Series pointed out 2 weird things about Klingons. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 6, "Trials and Tribble-ations", the Bajoran Orb of Time unexpectedly sends Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and the USS Defiant crew back to 105 years earlier in the Star Trek timeline . Against the backdrop of Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 15, "The Trouble With Tribbles", Sisko's crew must prevent Klingon spy Arne Darvin (Charlie Brill) from assassinating Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) , while dealing with the USS Enterprise's historical Tribble infestation.

"Trials and Tribble-ations" is a lighter entry among the weighty episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5. Winking at the audience, characters make humorous references to Star Trek history as if it's a precursor to Star Trek: Lower Decks . Of note are Captain Kirk's 17 temporal violations, the swap between gold and red for Starfleet uniform division colors, and the way that DS9 's characters revere the crew of the original USS Enterprise as historical heroes. Deep Space Nine preserves TOS ' visual style, with brightly colored 23rd-century Starfleet uniforms, uncomplicated fight choreography, and basic makeup for aliens — especially the Klingons.

DS9 Brought Back (& Changed) 3 Classic TOS Klingons

Three of the Klingon captains who faced Kirk's Enterprise were united for a revenge mission in a classic Jadzia Dax episode of Star Trek: DS9.

DS9s Star Trek: TOS Crossover Made 2 Different Kinds Of Klingons A Joke

"we do not discuss it with outsiders".

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's crossover with Star Trek: The Original Series makes a joke out of the different kinds of Klingons in Star Trek . While Captain Sisko and Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) keep an eye on Captain Kirk, Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) monitor the Klingons, who are also taking leave at Space Station K-7. Their waitress (Leslie Ackerman) confirms that the swarthy, smooth-headed visitors carousing across the room are Klingons , and all 24th-century eyes turn to Worf, demanding an explanation. Bristling, a visibly uncomfortable Worf only says, "We do not discuss it with outsiders!"

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 19, "Blood Oath", Klingons Kor (John Colicos), Kang (Michael Ansara), and Koloth (William Campbell) appear with cranial ridges, despite having smooth heads when they were introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series .

At the time of Star Trek: The Original Series , the Klingon makeup was minimal, consisting of little more than face paint and distinctive facial hair. By the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , prosthetic makeup technology had advanced enough to give the Klingons a more alien look. According to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Klingons were always meant to have ridged foreheads, and viewers should imagine the new look when watching TOS reruns. Since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine preserves TOS ' visual style, however, it falls on Worf to dodge explaining the difference, which he does in the most amusingly Klingon way possible.

Klingons Went To War With Tribbles According To Worf

"tell me, do they still sing songs of the great tribble hunt".

According to Worf, the Klingon Empire went to war with their arch enemies, the Tribbles, after Scotty (James Doohan) beamed the remaining Tribbles aboard the Klingon cruiser in Star Trek: The Original Series' "The Trouble With Tribbles". Odo finds it hard to believe that the most feared warrior race in the galaxy would vow vengeance upon the cute, cuddly creatures and mocks Worf's claim, but there's a good reason that Klingons hate Tribbles . In Star Trek: The Animated Series ' "More Tribbles, More Troubles", Klingon Captain Koloth says Tribbles are responsible for "ecological sabotage" , which tracks with the Tribbles' propensity to consume and multiply.

The Klingon-Tribble War is noted again in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, episode 13, "A Tribble Called Quest", with Klingon scientist Dr. K'ruvang (Jorge Gutirrez) stranded on a planet ravaged by Tribbles.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine could have ignored the Klingon in the room, as it were, but chose to go a different route with its Star Trek: The Original Series crossover episode. In "Trials and Tribble-ations", the explanations of Klingon lore fall to Worf. Worf's confirmation that Tribbles are an out-of-control invasive species is filled with vitriol, and Worf's embarrassment over the cosmetic differences in old and new Klingons are both memorable moments. Michael Dorn's delivery in each instance only adds to the episode's levity, so Star Trek: Deep Space Nine makes addressing these 2 weird things about Klingons funny instead of heavy-handed.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Release Date January 3, 1993

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Writers Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller, Ronald D. Moore

Showrunner Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Future Alumni Baby Bodysuit

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Any future alumni of Starfleet Academy will love this new Star Trek Starfleet Academy Future Alumni Baby Bodysuit. Available in light blue, pink and grey this is the perfect first of many gifts for future Starfleet cadets!

PRODUCT DETAILS:

• The perfect onesie for your little one to wear!
• Made of: 100% Combed Ringspun Cotton
• Care:Machine wash cold inside out with like colors and tumble dry low.
• Additional information: Lap shoulder and envelope neck makes it easier to put on and take off. Reinforced 3-snap closure positioned on the bottom of the body suit to allow for easy diaper changes

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Star Trek: Picard I'm No. 1 Baby Bodysuit

Let the universe know who is really No. 1 with the Star Trek: Picard I'm No.1 Baby Bodysuit. Pair it with the Star Trek: Picard No.1 Dad Adult Short Sleeve T-Shirt and the Star Trek: Picard No.1 Mom Women's Short Sleeve T-Shirt to gear up the whole crew!

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain Picard Day Infant Snap Tee

It’s never too early to become a fan of Captain Picard! Start your littlest Star Trek fan off on the right foot by dressing them in this Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain Picard Day Baby Bodysuit.

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• Made of: 100% Pre-Shrunk Cotton
• Care: Machine wash cold inside out with like colors and tumble dry low.
• Additional Information: Taped neck and shoulder seams for durability

AG-10180212-ST-TNG-CPD

Star Trek: The Original Series Merry Trekmas Baby Bodysuit

Celebrate baby's first Trekmas with the Star Trek: The Original Series Merry Trekmas Bodysuit. Your little one is sure to help spread holiday cheer with this popular design of the festive crew of the Starship Enterprise!

STTOS-100370-0019-ST-Merry

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Star Trek: TOS - All 79 Episodes Ranked

1. Star Trek

Who mourns for adonais.

2. Star Trek

The city on the edge of forever.

3. Star Trek

The trouble with tribbles.

4. Star Trek

All our yesterdays.

5. Star Trek

6. Star Trek

Journey to babel.

7. Star Trek

Return to tomorrow.

8. Star Trek

The cloud minders.

9. Star Trek

The corbomite maneuver.

10. Star Trek

Where no man has gone before.

11. Star Trek

12. Star Trek

The devil in the dark.

13. Star Trek

Balance of terror.

14. Star Trek

15. Star Trek

Assignment: earth.

16. Star Trek

The galileo seven.

17. Star Trek

Plato's stepchildren.

18. Star Trek

This side of paradise.

19. Star Trek

The tholian web.

20. Star Trek

The immunity syndrome.

21. Star Trek

Wolf in the fold.

22. Star Trek

23. Star Trek

Mirror, mirror.

24. Star Trek

Elaan of troyius.

25. Star Trek

The menagerie: part i, more to explore, recently viewed.

Star Trek's Most Popular Show Is About To Rebuild TOS Canon

Will we see Bones and Sulu again very soon?

With a possible reboot “origin story” feature film in the works and a new future-tense Starfleet Academy series focused on brand-new characters, the original 1960s continuity of Star Trek might seem very distant from the current franchise offerings. And yet, in Star Trek’s most popular show — Strange New Worlds — the canon and vibes of TOS are suddenly more prominent than ever. Going into Season 3 and beyond, it seems that Strange New Worlds is readying to redefine the backstory not just of Spock, Uhura, and Kirk, but the rest of the classic gang, too.

Speaking to multiple outlets, and as reported by TrekMovie , following San Diego Comic-Con, Strange New Worlds showrunners, cast, and crew have laid down quite a bit of information about what’s to come in Season 3 and, hypothetically, the already-greenlit Season 4. For serious Trekkies, the biggest development isn’t that Strange New Worlds will hint at or reference TOS a bit more. Instead, this prequel show is basically going to “drive right into” the start of the first Trek ever.

Scotty becomes a regular — Bones and Sulu next?

Martin Quinn as Scotty in the finale of Strange New Worlds Season 2.

While many Strange New Worlds fans were probably aware that Martin Quinn’s take on Scotty would return for SNW Season 3, it was recently confirmed that Quinn would be part of the regular cast, not just a recurring character. (I.E. Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk is not a regular cast member of SNW , despite appearing in three episodes of Season 2.) Scotty’s appearance at the end of Season 2 in the cliffhanger “Hegemony” was a well-kept secret in the Star Trek camp, which makes fans and pundits wonder if new versions of Hikaru Sulu and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy are next.

While not confirming Bones and Sulu appearances in Strange New Worlds Season 3, co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers told Variety :

“These characters are not the people that they will become when we get to The Original Series . They are still younger. They are going through things. They have a lot of life and lessons to go through. They have some growth to do so you don’t see them exactly the way that you would see them later on.”

While the Prime Universe version of Pavel Chekov will be canonically far too young to appear in Strange New Worlds , Bones, and Sulu are very good bets. In two episodes of TOS , Bones works side-by-side with Dr. M'Benga, who in SNW is the current chief medical officer of the Enterprise . M’Benga was a guest character played by Booker Bradshaw in TOS , but Babs Olusanmokun’s performance has utterly redefined the character. So looking at the way SNW handles the rest of the legacy characters (like Paul Wesley’s Kirk and Celia Rose Gooding’s Uhura) is probably a good indication as to how a young Sulu and Bones could appear.

One fun canon note on Bones in Strange New Worlds : If he does appear, it could create a Deep Space Nine crossover. In the 1996 DS9 episode “Trials and Tribble-ations,” Jadzia Dax(Terry Farrell) insinuated one of her previous Trill hosts, Emony Dax, was romantically involved with Bones when he was a younger man. So via Bones, could we get a retro version of Dax?

How Strange New Worlds Could Become the new TOS

Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) strike a very classic pose in Season 2.

The biggest takeaway from the various post-San Diego Comic-Con interviews with Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman is that Strange New Worlds is not shying away from its fidelity to The Original Series . Nurse Chapel’s former fiance turned-robot in TOS, Roger Korby, will appear in SNW Season 3, now played by Cillian O’Sullivan. Both Goldsman and Myers noted that his relationship with Chapel (Jess Bush) will be complicated in Season 3, and that “[he] is going to travel a long path before he gets to be the Roger Korby that you see in The Original Series .”

With Season 4 already in the planning stages, Myers and Goldsman know that they’re getting closer and closer to the timeline of The Original Series, around the year 2265. Season 2 of Strange New Worlds was firmly in 2260, which suddenly feels much closer to the classic era than Discovery Season 2 did when it introduced Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck), Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and the Enterprise in the year 2258. So as SNW keeps going, even if fictional years don’t pass every single season, the showrunners are very aware that they’re inching closer and closer to that classic era.

Speaking to Collider , Goldsman said, “Left to our own devices, which really means if Paramount will, we’ll keep going into the TOS era.”

This notion that Strange New Worlds could overlap with TOS has a massive canon precedent. Chronologically, the very first regular episode of The Original Series (not counting the unaired pilot “The Cage”) is “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which takes place in 2265. But the funny thing is, all the other Season 1 TOS episodes mostly take place in 2266, meaning that not only do we not know what happened in the years leading up to Kirk taking command of the Enterprise , but we also know almost nothing about what happened during Kirks’ first year, other than that one episode.

Outside of providing great standalone episodes of Star Trek, this detail is perhaps the most interesting for longtime Trekkies. Because at some point, Strange New Worlds could turn into The Original Series Year 1.

Or, as Goldsman told Variety, “We will continue on for as long as Paramount lets us. We will drive right into The Original Series .”

Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds both stream on Paramount+.

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