User Guide II: The Wrath of Canon Characters (Still fighting to be brief!)
In the last resource post we covered the basics of the Star Trek universe. In this one we're going to talk about the life and histories of other TOS characters, except for Spock, who is getting his own post because I am way too bloody chatty about the dude to make it fit into this one.
We're going to start with Uhura, because she's been on my mind lately. Things to keep in mind as you read this and all subsequent resource posts on Star Trek at this journal: there is a lot of information, almost five decades worth, and a lot of it is contradictory. The majority of it does not conform to Paramount's canon guidelines, but if I include it here it's because either it's generally known among the fandom pre-Trek XI, it could be useful for the fanworks people put together, or it's just that damned cool.
Nyota Upenda Uhura [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Nyota Upenda Uhura, born in 2239 in Kitua Province, Kenya, United States of Africa, United Earth. Parents Alhamisi and M'Umbha Mahia Uhura. She grew up learning Swahili--the word "uhuru" means "freedom" in Swahili. (Nichelle Nichols was involved with the incorporation of Uhura's first name, but there is conflicting apocrypha as to how. I just go with the idea that she named her own character.) At the age of sixteen she ritually speared an automated lion; how effing awesome is that?
She attended the Institute for Advanced Mathmatics in 2249 at the age of ten; she went on to enter the Starfleet College of Communications in 2257. Her father disappeared on a deep space mission around this time. After completing her course of study in 2261, she joined the USS Ahriman as a junior communications officer. After earning the commission of Lt., junior grade, she transferred to the USS Potempkin. In 2262 she transferred again to the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike; like most of the crew at that time, she was wary of Kirk's command in 2264 after Pike's promotion. The five year mission began in 2265. Initially Uhura was on the command track (gold tunic), but switched to engineering and services (red tunic) after the events of Mudd's Women over Kirk's protests. In 2267 she was briefly transferred to the USS Lexington to deal with some alien nonsense, but returned to the Enterprise within that year. She has been in command of the Enterprise twice, when other members of the bridge command were incapacitated.
After the conclusion of the five-year mission in 2270, she was promoted to the rank of Lt Commander in 2273, and remained serving on the Enterprise as Communications Officer after Kirk promoted out to Admiral. In 2284 she was reassigned to Starfleet Communications and concurrently served as an Academy instructor. She remained with the Enterprise crew throughout the events of Star Trek II-VI, and after the Khitomer Accords were signed in 2293 she had retaken a position at Starfleet Academy as an instructor. She was approached in 2293 by Stafleet Intelligence and worked as an information operative during the remainder of her career with Starfleet. In 2295, Uhura re-entered the command track as Spock's first officer on the USS Intrepid II, and was commissioned as captain of the USS Hermes in 2300. She remained the captain of that vessel for the next forty years (ish). By 2260 she is in command of Starfleet Intelligence, and has been commissioned as an Admiral. She continued to work with SFI throughout the Dominon War (2377); in the most contemporary record we have of the Star Trek Universe Uhura is still alive, making her one bad-ass lady.
A couple notes about the character of Uhura; first, Nichelle Nichols specifically requested a black skirt despite all the other SF officers in Star Trek III wearing pants. So it's worth keeping in mind that Uhura, as played by Nichols and Saldana, chooses to employ the uniform style she does. ETA:: This is now my favorite commentary on the matter: Matched Set.
Second, Uhura was in the command track and chose to move to the engineerg track. This is important for two reasons: one, it underscores the character's own agency in her choices, and two, she is a trained engineer with all the skills and abilities associated with that role. She is not a switchboard operator; she is the head of Communications, which as telesilla explains with great alacrity, is a very important position. sineala also goes into more detail as to what a xenolinguist is. It's possible that one of the effects of AOS is to refocus Uhura from being a command-track bridge officer for the Communications department and making her concentrate more on translation and theoretical linguistics, because while the two roles are compatible they are not the same thing.
In AOS, she presumably has entered the Academy in 2255, the same year as AOS Kirk, two years before the TOS entrance year. This would make her sixteen in AOS, which seems unlikely, so I don't fucking know what to do with that except apply handwavium. Either way, in AOS Uhura is effectively promoted to a bridge officer for Communications from some other function, presumably in translation/linguistics, so that is potentially the universe trying to fix itself. But it's food for thought, anyway, as you write about Uhura.
Also, as she's the only main title character who is female, there are inevitably pairings-up with the other dudes on the ship. There's allusions to Uhura and Spock's relationship in TOS (though it seems primarily to be a profound respect and mutual love of music); the NON-CONSENSUAL aliens made them do it kiss between Uhura and Kirk; and an absolutely adorable flirtation between Uhura and Scotty in Star Trek V. I'd like to see that, people. Write some Uhura/Scotty set a couple decades in AOS's future!
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Oooh, Scotty. Let's talk about Scotty and his awesomeness.
Montgomery Scott [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born in Scotland, probably in or around Aberdeen, in 2222 to Arlyne Jorgensen Scott. Younger brother Robert, younger sister Clara. He was a smart and undoubtedly mouthy kid who disproved the Perera Theory in favor of his Aberdeen Solution in 2238. (Um. Look it up.) As a teenager he started working for private freighter space ships, until 2238 when he decided to enter the Starfleet Academy. (Perhaps because of his initial experience as a private engineer, matters of rank have never been integral to the man.) He initially was on the command track in the Academy, but after being a bit clever with the Kobayashi Maru he switched to Engineering. He graduated in either 2241 or 2242 depending on what source material you read. In his early career with Starfleet, Scotty worked at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, and served short terms on the USS Gagarin and the USS Kumari.
He was commissed as a Lietenant on the USS Enterprise in 2253. He served there for ten years under Chief Engineer Lt Commander Caitlin Barry; during the Enterprise refit at Utopia Planitia in 2264, he went on a mission with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers on the USS Lovell. On his return he was made Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, prior to her five year mission beginning 2265. He was commissioned as a Lt commander; he was also the Second Officer of the Enterprise (meaning that when Kirk and Spock went on one of their fool away missions, he was in command). He was fiercely loyal to Pike and not too keen on Kirk, but clearly they won each other over.
Five year mission, movies, etc etc. In 2285 Scotty was promoted to the rank of captain, though he never took command of a vessel. He retired in 2293 following the events of Star Trek: Generations and Kirk's "death." He lived with his sister and her husband in Cromarty until 2294. With his new friend Ensign Matt Franklin, Scotty boarded to the USS Jenolen en route to Norpin IV, where he intended to spend his retirement. When the Jenolen encountered a Dyson Sphere and was destroyed, Scotty preserved his own life and attempted to preserve Franklin's by encoding their patterns in a transporter. They remained there until 2369, when the signal was discovered by the Enterprise-D and Scotty was recovered. (Watch TNG episode "Relics." It is awesome.)
After some ridiculousness that doesn't bear recounting, Scotty re-enlisted in Starfleet in 2371 to assist in the construction of the Sovereign-class starship USS Honorious on Starbase 12. It was later renamed the Enterprise-E (seen in Star Trek: Insurrection et al). In 2372 he was commissioned as chief engineer on the USS Sovereign, and after that tour of duty he took on the role of head of Starfleet Corps of Engineers in 2375. He wasn't really keen on the administrivia, and tendered his resignation not long after the events of The Future Begins (Corps novel). Eventually he was convinced to come back, and was around for the events at Watraii and the Dominion War; definitely contemporaneous to Uhura and Chekov at the time, though significantly younger due to the years spend as a transporter pattern.
In 2280, Scott married his childhood sweetheart Glynnis Campbell--on a five year contract agreed between the pair of them. Unfortunately she died in 2286 in a shuttlecraft accident; Scotty was unaware of this until after the events of Star Trek IV, as he was exiled on Vulcan pending disciplinary hearing. They had decided not to renew their marriage contract prior to her death, probably because he was gallivanting around the galaxy hither and yon. His sister Clara had two children, Dannan Stuart and Peter Preston. Peter was killed during the events of Star Trek II; Scotty and Peter had been close, and Scotty had a difficult relationship with his niece Dannan (who was also a Starfleet officer).
The main difference in Scotty's life between TOS and AOS is that Scotty served under Captain Pike on the Enterprise for a decade before Kirk took command for the five-year mission in 2265. Now, if Pike was recruiting and instructing at the Academy rather than commanding on the Enterprise, that changes the way things go a bit; but arguably, Scotty's life only notceably changed in AOS at some point after his graduation from the Academy in 2241/2 but before he took a role in engineering on the Enterprise in 2253 (TOS timeline). The events of Trek XI take place in 2258, so I would extrapolate Scotty's timeline changed after 2242, but not noticeably before. Use that as you will.
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Pavel Chekov [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born to Andrei Dimitrievich Chekov and Larisa Irinova Chekov in Leningrad, Russia, United Earth, on 19 September 2245. No siblings. For some time as a child his family resided on Luna (the colony on the moon). He entered the Academy around 2263, and was initially assigned to the Enterprise for navigational training in 2264 for three months prior to its five year mission. Upon graduation of the Academy in 2266 he was reassigned to the Enterprise as a command track ensign for Navigation, though he studied in several departments including Engineering and Science.
Chekov's continuing self-education lead to an interest in security, for which he began training in 2269. At the conclusion of the five-year mission in 2270 he entered the Starfleet Security Academy in Anapolis. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2271 and commissioned as Chief of Security on the Enterprise. After the second five-year mission, he was promoted to Commander in 2278, and in 2280 he took a position as first officer of the USS Reliant under Captain Clark Terrel. The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan took place in 2285. The movies &etc happened. In 2288, he is offered a commission as Sulu's first officer aboard the USS Excelsior because they are just that bromantic, but some stuff happened and he instead returned to the Enterprise as Chief of Security. When the Enterprise is decommissioned in 2293, he becomes an instructor at the Academy for a time. Then Star Trek: Generations happens, and Chekov goes through a black period. He's nearly court martialed for assaulting the captain of the Enterprise-B, Captain Harriman, which ruined his chances for a starship command of his own. After several years teaching at the Academy, the position as Sulu's first officer on the Excelsior opens up again and Chekov accepts in 2298.
He serves on the Excelsior with Sulu for several years, and is subsequently given the command of the USS Potemkin and the USS Cydonia. By the time of the Dominion War and the events with the Watraii in 2377, he has been promoted to Admiral, and a year later after the Watraii capture he chooses to retire from Starfleet. There is some indication from an unspecific source in the future that Chekov will become Federation President, but no confirmation of that.
So it's pretty clear from the dates here that Chekov's timeline is absolutely FUBAR. If AOS Chekov is 17 in 2258, when the events in Trek XI occur, he must have been born in 2241, four years before Chekov's birth in TOS. But allow me to submit this notion: perhaps in an effort to reassert the timeline, Chekov's parents have a child whom they name Pavel Adreivich (as that is what they had or would always have named their male child) but is quantifiably a different person, with a different DNA complex, than Chekov Prime? It actually circumvents the problem of the four year birth year difference nicely, while still postulating that Chekov has a viable future with the crew of the Enterprise and that his boy genius status gets utilized. It can also explain why Chekov in Trek XI had blonde, curly hair instead of straight brown. Whatever, it's just a thought.
Aside from the massive dude-love he has for Sulu and Sulu has for him, Chekov Prime also has a brief relationship with Lt. Julia Crandall during the first five-year mission (TOS Comic "No Compromise"). They had met in their last year at the Academy and broke up because they were posted to different places; Crandall is assigned aboard the Enterprise in 2267; some alien wankery happens and they get into a relationship again. Crandall decides to stick around and do some research, Chekov proposes, they part ways and hope to meet up again. Unfortunately Crandall dies in 2289. Other than her (and Sulu, obvs), Chekov has no canonical relationships.
For the record: it is CHEKOV, not CHEKHOV. There is no H. Live it, learn it, love it.
bravecows wrote a wonderful story called The First Time, and in the comments of that story there's some interesting discussion about the English language, particularly how it evolves and what it means if English is the basis for Standard that the UFP uses. It's particularly relevant given the scene in XI where Chekov has trouble speaking into the computer, which is supposed to read as funny but comes off rather silly. Anyway, good stuff there, food for thought.
Let's go to Sulu, or as I call him, HI JOHN CHO HOW ARE YOU SO HOT.
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Hikaru Sato Sulu [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born in 2237 in San Francisco, United Earth, to Saraoni Hatoyama-Sulu and Shimizu Hana a.k.a. Kalea Graef Hatoyama-Sulu. In 2248 the Sulu family moved to Ishikawa on the planet Ganjitsu.
He entered Starfleet Academy in 2255, graduating in 2259, having taken up spatial navigation, fencing, and botany. (He's a well-rounded motherfucker.) Rather than taking a shipboard commission, he enrolled in the Starfleet Command School where he completed his pilot certification as well as publishing an article titled "Experimental Subparticle Physics and Their Application to Warp Drive," the publication of which earned his Lt junior grade commission. In 2264, having concluded Command School, Sulu was given orders to serve the USS Aerfen; at the last minute he was transferred to the USS Enterprise, and though he requested a transfer this was denied by Kirk. After the first year of the five-year mission, he chose to remain on board. He switched from navigation to astrophysics, and was offered the position of Helmsman by Kirk in 2265 to prevent him from transferring elsewhere.
In 2269, continuing the pattern, Sulu wished for more of a challenge and requested a transfer; Kirk again diverted the transfer by promoting Sulu to Lt Commander, which was in effect in 2273 during the events of Star Trek: TMP. After 2273 Kirk made Sulu his second officer, relieving Scotty of the position.
After blah blah the movies, Sulu was assigned to be first officer under Captain Lawrence Styles on the USS Excelsior. The captaincy was originally authorized for Sulu, but following the events of the Genesis Planet it was given to Styles, and Sulu was given first officer status. When Styles dies on a mission, Sulu is made Acting Captain and then commissioned as Captain in 2290. In 2293 the events of Star Trek VI take place, which the Excelsior and Sulu are involved in. Sulu remains the captain of the Excelsior 2320, at which point he retires from Starfleet.
Following this, Sulu runs for Federation President and governs for three consecutive terms. Accounts suggest he is alive at least by 2372, and was likely alive during the Dominion War. He has one daughter with Ling Sui (died 2311); Demora Sulu was born in 2271. She served as navigator aboard the USS Enterprise-B. Chekov is her second father godfather.
Sulu's timeline actually stands up pretty well to the AOS shift; I think there's an argument to be made here that Sulu's life was essentially the same until he was activated as a cadet on the Enterprise in 2258 prior to the Battle of Vulcan, rather than graduating in 2259. There's no reason to think that Sulu and Chekov aren't still massive lovers, I mean bros, nor that his daughter might not come to be. Either way, I love this character, and you should too.
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Hoo boy. McCoy's next. Here's a corker for you. Leonard Horatio 'Bones' McCoy [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born to David and Eleanora McCoy on 20 January 2227, Atlanta, Georgia, United Earth. The family moved elsewhere in the South in 2236. McCoy's cousin David died in a river raft accident in 2234, and McCoy himself was thrown from a horse in Texas in 2243.
McCoy met his future wife Jocelyn Darnell in high school in 2244, possibly in Texas, though it is unclear where his family was living for the latter part of his young life. Their relationship began around this time, though McCoy would go on to study at the University of Mississippi in 2245 at the age of 17. His encounter with the Trill Emony Dax pushed him towards a career in medicine. He enrolled in medical school shortly thereafter, graduating in 2249 as well as marrying Jocelyn and welcoming their daughter, Joanna.
In 2253, Jocelyn became involved in an affair with her other high school boyfriend, Clay Treadway (the one McCoy stole her away from, so to speak). Upon discovery of this, Jocelyn left or McCoy left (though he and Jocelyn both characterize it as her "driving him away") and joined Starfleet on a whim. He underwent a short course in Starfleet and was commissioned as a junior medical officer on the USS Republic. Following this successful tour, he was promoted to Chief Medical Officer on the USS Richard Feynman, but was demoted after a falling out with the Feynman captain as a junior medical officer on the USS Koop in 2254.
In 2255, McCoy became CMO of Starbase 7, where his first encounter with a young Lt Kirk happened; in 2257 McCoy was transferred aboard the USS Constitution, where Lt Commander Kirk also served. In 2262 he returned to Terra to work at Starfleet Teaching Hospital, and in 2264 Kirk commissioned him as CMO for the Enterprise prior to the five-year mission. However, before he could accept his father was diagnosed with pyrrhoneuritis and McCoy returned to care for him until his death that same year. In 2265, the Enterprise had returned to Terra for the funeral of Gary Mitchell, and Kirk brought him back on as CMO commissioned as a Lt Commander.
Jocelyn served him divorce papers in 2266, which he signed without contest; Jocelyn went on to marry Clay Treadway. Five year mission, movies, blah blah; McCoy was a Commander by 2270 at the conclusion of the first five-year mission. He retires, Jim brings him back in TMP, Spock gives McCoy care of his Katra, Star Trek III happened, etc. Enterprise-A was decommissioned in 2293; Kirk disappeared into the Nexus that same year. McCoy fell gravely ill in 2294, but recovered with the application of cloned organs. At some point in here he is ranked Captain, though he was never on a command track and never commanded a vessel. In 2296 he served under Spock on the USS Intrepid II as CMO; by the early 24th century he had become an instructor at Starfleet Medical Academy, where he remained until his retirement in 2353. He was an Admiral upon his retirement. By 2375 his health had deteriorated to the point that he wore an exoskeleton to assist him, though eventually another course of treatment was devised. In 2381, he assisted Médecins Sans Frontières in their relief operations, indicating he was alive and contemporaneous to rest of the TOS Enterprise crew during the Dominion War and the events at Wartraii.
So, two things happened to McCoy in AOS. First, he must have stayed with Jocelyn for at least two years longer in AOS than he did in TOS, because it's not until 2255 (AOS) that McCoy and Jocelyn have divorced and McCoy signs up for Starfleet. My personal theory is that he found out about Jocelyn and Clay, but refused to leave his daughter Joanna until Jocelyn and Clay's relationship became truly intolerable. Until that point there's not a whole lot of difference in the events of his life. Second, he must have had something of a medical practice before he entered Starfleet, because he's already a doctor upon recruitment, and there's no reason to think that part of the timeline has changed. Between 2249, when he graduated, and 2255, when he joined Starfleet, I postulate that actually was the "old country doctor" he claims to be.
I guess McCoy got custody of Joanna, or something, because Jocelyn and Clay Treadway both joined the UFP Diplomatic Corps, and Joanna was sent by her father to live with her maternal aunt Donna Withers and her husband Fred on Centaurus. During McCoy's time on Starbase 7, he also had a home kept on Centaurus where he spent time with Joanna when he was on leave. Joanna and McCoy drifted apart, though they still write to each other and Joanna pursued a career as a nurse.
McCoy had a brief relationship in 2254 with Nancy Crater on Starbase 7, but it didn't last; they parted in 2256. Jadzia Dax strongly implied that Emony Dax and McCoy had a brief relationship when they met at a gymnastics tournament in 2245. Other than that it's all Kirk fun to play in for us.
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So that's the main characters from The Original Series. There's a handful of minor characters that are helpful to know, since they do or probably do exist in the alternate reality of Trek XI, and since we weren't given their stories it would be awesome if people made them up themselves.
Christopher Richard McKinnies Prescott Pike [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2219 in Mojave, California, United Earth, to Charles Josh Pike and Willa McKinnies; stepfather Heston Prescott; stepmother Hobelia Pike.
Pike was born to his mother without knowledge of his biological father. Willa McKinnies was an architect; she married Heston Prescott, who was a father to Chris Pike at the age of 9. The family moved to the colony world Elysium; there he met his biological father, Charlie Pike (who was enlisted as a non-commissioned Petty Officer in Starfleet). After Chris' parents died, Charlie and his wife Hobelia adopted Chris and moved back to Mojave when Chris was 13. (The TOS "Early Voyages" comic contradicts this, but whatever.) Pike attended Starfleet Academy, graduating in 2241, made Lt Commander by 2246 on the USS Aldrin, and Commander on the USS York following that.
Pike's first experience on the USS Enterprise was under the command of the Constitution-class ship's first captain, Robert April. [Note: Robert April is the awesome.] He met Spock on this tour of duty. Then he was commander of the USS Yorktown, presumably having been promoted to Captain; and in 2251, when Captain April announced his leave from command of the Enterprise, the job was given to Pike. Pike commanded the USS Enterprise for two five-year missions and a total of thirteen years. A bunch of stuff happened.
In 2264, Pike was promoted to Fleet Captain, resulting in Jim Kirk's command of the Enterprise. In 2266, Pike was in a dramatic radiation accident that destroyed his body, and the TOS episode "The Menagerie" happened. He began a relationship with the Talosian Vina; they had a son, Phillip Joshua Pike, in 2276. Pike was offered a way to return to life outside Talos IV by Spock in 2289 but refused; Chris Pike died some time before 2320.
Chris Pike was a shining example in Starfleet until the events of Talos IV; his legacy remains in the TNG shuttlecraft "Pike," the "Christopher Pike Medal of Valor," and Pike City on the colony on Cestus III.
The obvious timeline difference here is that, instead of taking the Enterprise out on over a decade's worth of missions, Chris Pike in AOS was a Starfleet Academy instructor and recruiter. This could possibly be reconciled by my theory that: after April stepped down in command of the USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) in 2251, Pike was given command of the vessel, and took it on some initial missions until a refit was ordered on Starbase 1. Pike took the instructor position in the interim and his crew was repurposed across the fleet until the Enterprise was fit for duty again. However, this becomes problematic because in the film, we see something being built in the Riverside, Iowa shipyards that looks suspiciously like the Enterprise, and when Pike takes command of the Enterprise in 2258 with the group of cadets, the ship is referred to as the "new" flagship of the fleet. So...I don't know. Maybe someone else can retcon it better than I can.
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Christine Lauren Chapel [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2237 to Patterson and Lauren Chapel in New Orleans, Louisiana, United Earth. Played by the inimitable Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Chapel was a biological researcher whose partner, Dr Roger Korby (also a scientist) had disappeared on his expedition to Exo III in 2261. She joined Starfleet in the irrational hope that she might locate her lost partner during the deep space mission. In 2264 she worked alongside McCoy at Starfleet Teaching Hospital
She was ranked Lt junior grade by 2266 and assigned to the Enterprise. Her husband, Korby, was found, but he had made himself into a crazy andriod (TOS episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") and was destroyed. Despite this course of events, Chapel chose to remain on the Enterprise as a practicing nurse. Chapel fell in love with Commander Spock, but it was generally unrequited, and despite sharing a (non-consensual, seriously, TOS was worse than SGA) kiss with Spock the relationship never worked.
In 2269, Chapel promoted to Lietenant, and upon the conclusion of the Enterprise's five-year mission she elected to enter medical school in 2270 in pursuit of her MD, specializing in xenophysiology. Following her course of study she was commissioned as Chief Medical Officer aboard the newly refitted Enterprise, but after McCoy was reactivated she happily ceded the role back to him (Star Trek: TMP). Following the V'Ger expedition, Dr. Chapel worked for Starfleet Medical. In 2289, she served on Ambassador Sarek's diplomatic team, and in 2298, she was the CMO on the USS Excelsior under Captain Hikaru Sulu, holding the rank of Commander.
There's no reason why any of her storyline should be any different, given that she was only referenced in the film, not shown; but to be honest, the whole Korby story is kind of stupid so my suggestion is: make it better.
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Gary Mitchell [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2234 to Thomas and Dana Mitchell, in the sub-city of Eldman, New York City, United Earth.
Mitchell entered the Starfleet Academy in 2251, where he met his beffie, Jim Kirk (a second-year cadet at the time). Mitchell focused on stellar navigation and warp engine design. Kirk and Mitchell were buddies, and were assigned as cadets aboard the USS Republic together. In 2255, Ensign Mitchell was assigned to USS Constitution; two years later Lt Kirk was commissioned on the same vessel. When Kirk was made Captain and given command of the USS Lydia Sutherland, Mitchell was Kirk's choice for first officer and promoted to Lt Commander.
When Kirk was given command of the Enterprise, he wanted Mitchell as his first officer; but Admiral Noguchi intervened, saying the frat brothers, I mean officers, were too alike; Noguchi commissioned Spock instead. Mitchell became second officer, relieving Scotty of the role, and took the helmsman position as Sulu transferred to astrophysics. In 2265 the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" occurred, and Mitchell was killed following the demi-god business at the galactic barrier.
Kirk and Mitchell were BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. Of course, given that AOS Kirk didn't enter Starfleet until 2255, Mitchell (if his timeline remained intact) probably was either already with the Fleet in the Laurentian Sector, or killed as part of the cadet fleet in the Battle of Vulcan. He and Kirk might never even have met, and lo, that would be sad.
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Yeomen Barbara Smith and Janice Rand [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. A yeoman is enlisted (not an officer) non-commissioned personnel within Starfleet. A yeoman's duties are primarily administrative; at the end of the day Starfleet is a bureaucracy, and someone has to do the paperwork. If you're Jim Kirk's yeoman, this means you got the suckiest assignment ever. Whether it's Kirk Prime or AOS Kirk, it has to suck to be that guy's right hand assistant.
In TOS, Barbara Smith was Kirk's yeoman in 2265 at the beginning of the first five-year mission; she transferred out as soon as the Enterprise was back at Terra. Smith had replaced Janice Rand, who had sought further training at Starfleet Academy, and Kirk never quite took to Smith. When Smith left, Rand accepted her previous position onboard the Enterprise, and was very close to Kirk professionally. In 2267 Rand took a leave of absence to give birth to her daughter, Annie, who passed away two years later from an illness of some kind. Rand returned to Starfleet in 2270, worked for Starfleet Intelligence and Starfleet Communications before returning to the Enterprise in 2272 as Chief Petty Officer. In 2278, after the second five-year mission, she chose to undergo Officer Training and was commissioned as an ensign in 2281. By 2285 she made Lt junior grade on Starbase 1 in Communications, and in 2286 she was assigned to Starfleet Command. In 2288 she was Lt Commander, and Captain Sulu requested her as his Communications Officer onboard the Excelsior, where she remained for the rest of her career.
There were many yeomen on TOS (it seemed to be an easy catch-all role for females on the show) but Rand is the most important one. A) She worked side by side with Kirk and probably knew him better than just about anyone else; B) She had a long, interesting career with Starfleet. Rand is fucking awesome. Seriously.
Okay. I think that's everyone. Spock gets his own post, which might be next because I need to talk about the Romulans some more, and if I talk about the Romulans I need to talk about the Vulcans. That seems a pretty good point to go into detail about Spock, since he was embroiled with both races to the point we see him in Trek XI.
As before, I welcome discussion in the comments. Let me know if I missed something or someone! This is a lot of information and it's easy to muddle something up.
We're going to start with Uhura, because she's been on my mind lately. Things to keep in mind as you read this and all subsequent resource posts on Star Trek at this journal: there is a lot of information, almost five decades worth, and a lot of it is contradictory. The majority of it does not conform to Paramount's canon guidelines, but if I include it here it's because either it's generally known among the fandom pre-Trek XI, it could be useful for the fanworks people put together, or it's just that damned cool.
Nyota Upenda Uhura [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Nyota Upenda Uhura, born in 2239 in Kitua Province, Kenya, United States of Africa, United Earth. Parents Alhamisi and M'Umbha Mahia Uhura. She grew up learning Swahili--the word "uhuru" means "freedom" in Swahili. (Nichelle Nichols was involved with the incorporation of Uhura's first name, but there is conflicting apocrypha as to how. I just go with the idea that she named her own character.) At the age of sixteen she ritually speared an automated lion; how effing awesome is that?
She attended the Institute for Advanced Mathmatics in 2249 at the age of ten; she went on to enter the Starfleet College of Communications in 2257. Her father disappeared on a deep space mission around this time. After completing her course of study in 2261, she joined the USS Ahriman as a junior communications officer. After earning the commission of Lt., junior grade, she transferred to the USS Potempkin. In 2262 she transferred again to the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike; like most of the crew at that time, she was wary of Kirk's command in 2264 after Pike's promotion. The five year mission began in 2265. Initially Uhura was on the command track (gold tunic), but switched to engineering and services (red tunic) after the events of Mudd's Women over Kirk's protests. In 2267 she was briefly transferred to the USS Lexington to deal with some alien nonsense, but returned to the Enterprise within that year. She has been in command of the Enterprise twice, when other members of the bridge command were incapacitated.
After the conclusion of the five-year mission in 2270, she was promoted to the rank of Lt Commander in 2273, and remained serving on the Enterprise as Communications Officer after Kirk promoted out to Admiral. In 2284 she was reassigned to Starfleet Communications and concurrently served as an Academy instructor. She remained with the Enterprise crew throughout the events of Star Trek II-VI, and after the Khitomer Accords were signed in 2293 she had retaken a position at Starfleet Academy as an instructor. She was approached in 2293 by Stafleet Intelligence and worked as an information operative during the remainder of her career with Starfleet. In 2295, Uhura re-entered the command track as Spock's first officer on the USS Intrepid II, and was commissioned as captain of the USS Hermes in 2300. She remained the captain of that vessel for the next forty years (ish). By 2260 she is in command of Starfleet Intelligence, and has been commissioned as an Admiral. She continued to work with SFI throughout the Dominon War (2377); in the most contemporary record we have of the Star Trek Universe Uhura is still alive, making her one bad-ass lady.
A couple notes about the character of Uhura; first, Nichelle Nichols specifically requested a black skirt despite all the other SF officers in Star Trek III wearing pants. So it's worth keeping in mind that Uhura, as played by Nichols and Saldana, chooses to employ the uniform style she does. ETA:: This is now my favorite commentary on the matter: Matched Set.
Second, Uhura was in the command track and chose to move to the engineerg track. This is important for two reasons: one, it underscores the character's own agency in her choices, and two, she is a trained engineer with all the skills and abilities associated with that role. She is not a switchboard operator; she is the head of Communications, which as telesilla explains with great alacrity, is a very important position. sineala also goes into more detail as to what a xenolinguist is. It's possible that one of the effects of AOS is to refocus Uhura from being a command-track bridge officer for the Communications department and making her concentrate more on translation and theoretical linguistics, because while the two roles are compatible they are not the same thing.
In AOS, she presumably has entered the Academy in 2255, the same year as AOS Kirk, two years before the TOS entrance year. This would make her sixteen in AOS, which seems unlikely, so I don't fucking know what to do with that except apply handwavium. Either way, in AOS Uhura is effectively promoted to a bridge officer for Communications from some other function, presumably in translation/linguistics, so that is potentially the universe trying to fix itself. But it's food for thought, anyway, as you write about Uhura.
Also, as she's the only main title character who is female, there are inevitably pairings-up with the other dudes on the ship. There's allusions to Uhura and Spock's relationship in TOS (though it seems primarily to be a profound respect and mutual love of music); the NON-CONSENSUAL aliens made them do it kiss between Uhura and Kirk; and an absolutely adorable flirtation between Uhura and Scotty in Star Trek V. I'd like to see that, people. Write some Uhura/Scotty set a couple decades in AOS's future!
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Oooh, Scotty. Let's talk about Scotty and his awesomeness.
Montgomery Scott [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born in Scotland, probably in or around Aberdeen, in 2222 to Arlyne Jorgensen Scott. Younger brother Robert, younger sister Clara. He was a smart and undoubtedly mouthy kid who disproved the Perera Theory in favor of his Aberdeen Solution in 2238. (Um. Look it up.) As a teenager he started working for private freighter space ships, until 2238 when he decided to enter the Starfleet Academy. (Perhaps because of his initial experience as a private engineer, matters of rank have never been integral to the man.) He initially was on the command track in the Academy, but after being a bit clever with the Kobayashi Maru he switched to Engineering. He graduated in either 2241 or 2242 depending on what source material you read. In his early career with Starfleet, Scotty worked at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, and served short terms on the USS Gagarin and the USS Kumari.
He was commissed as a Lietenant on the USS Enterprise in 2253. He served there for ten years under Chief Engineer Lt Commander Caitlin Barry; during the Enterprise refit at Utopia Planitia in 2264, he went on a mission with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers on the USS Lovell. On his return he was made Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, prior to her five year mission beginning 2265. He was commissioned as a Lt commander; he was also the Second Officer of the Enterprise (meaning that when Kirk and Spock went on one of their fool away missions, he was in command). He was fiercely loyal to Pike and not too keen on Kirk, but clearly they won each other over.
Five year mission, movies, etc etc. In 2285 Scotty was promoted to the rank of captain, though he never took command of a vessel. He retired in 2293 following the events of Star Trek: Generations and Kirk's "death." He lived with his sister and her husband in Cromarty until 2294. With his new friend Ensign Matt Franklin, Scotty boarded to the USS Jenolen en route to Norpin IV, where he intended to spend his retirement. When the Jenolen encountered a Dyson Sphere and was destroyed, Scotty preserved his own life and attempted to preserve Franklin's by encoding their patterns in a transporter. They remained there until 2369, when the signal was discovered by the Enterprise-D and Scotty was recovered. (Watch TNG episode "Relics." It is awesome.)
After some ridiculousness that doesn't bear recounting, Scotty re-enlisted in Starfleet in 2371 to assist in the construction of the Sovereign-class starship USS Honorious on Starbase 12. It was later renamed the Enterprise-E (seen in Star Trek: Insurrection et al). In 2372 he was commissioned as chief engineer on the USS Sovereign, and after that tour of duty he took on the role of head of Starfleet Corps of Engineers in 2375. He wasn't really keen on the administrivia, and tendered his resignation not long after the events of The Future Begins (Corps novel). Eventually he was convinced to come back, and was around for the events at Watraii and the Dominion War; definitely contemporaneous to Uhura and Chekov at the time, though significantly younger due to the years spend as a transporter pattern.
In 2280, Scott married his childhood sweetheart Glynnis Campbell--on a five year contract agreed between the pair of them. Unfortunately she died in 2286 in a shuttlecraft accident; Scotty was unaware of this until after the events of Star Trek IV, as he was exiled on Vulcan pending disciplinary hearing. They had decided not to renew their marriage contract prior to her death, probably because he was gallivanting around the galaxy hither and yon. His sister Clara had two children, Dannan Stuart and Peter Preston. Peter was killed during the events of Star Trek II; Scotty and Peter had been close, and Scotty had a difficult relationship with his niece Dannan (who was also a Starfleet officer).
The main difference in Scotty's life between TOS and AOS is that Scotty served under Captain Pike on the Enterprise for a decade before Kirk took command for the five-year mission in 2265. Now, if Pike was recruiting and instructing at the Academy rather than commanding on the Enterprise, that changes the way things go a bit; but arguably, Scotty's life only notceably changed in AOS at some point after his graduation from the Academy in 2241/2 but before he took a role in engineering on the Enterprise in 2253 (TOS timeline). The events of Trek XI take place in 2258, so I would extrapolate Scotty's timeline changed after 2242, but not noticeably before. Use that as you will.
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Pavel Chekov [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born to Andrei Dimitrievich Chekov and Larisa Irinova Chekov in Leningrad, Russia, United Earth, on 19 September 2245. No siblings. For some time as a child his family resided on Luna (the colony on the moon). He entered the Academy around 2263, and was initially assigned to the Enterprise for navigational training in 2264 for three months prior to its five year mission. Upon graduation of the Academy in 2266 he was reassigned to the Enterprise as a command track ensign for Navigation, though he studied in several departments including Engineering and Science.
Chekov's continuing self-education lead to an interest in security, for which he began training in 2269. At the conclusion of the five-year mission in 2270 he entered the Starfleet Security Academy in Anapolis. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2271 and commissioned as Chief of Security on the Enterprise. After the second five-year mission, he was promoted to Commander in 2278, and in 2280 he took a position as first officer of the USS Reliant under Captain Clark Terrel. The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan took place in 2285. The movies &etc happened. In 2288, he is offered a commission as Sulu's first officer aboard the USS Excelsior because they are just that bromantic, but some stuff happened and he instead returned to the Enterprise as Chief of Security. When the Enterprise is decommissioned in 2293, he becomes an instructor at the Academy for a time. Then Star Trek: Generations happens, and Chekov goes through a black period. He's nearly court martialed for assaulting the captain of the Enterprise-B, Captain Harriman, which ruined his chances for a starship command of his own. After several years teaching at the Academy, the position as Sulu's first officer on the Excelsior opens up again and Chekov accepts in 2298.
He serves on the Excelsior with Sulu for several years, and is subsequently given the command of the USS Potemkin and the USS Cydonia. By the time of the Dominion War and the events with the Watraii in 2377, he has been promoted to Admiral, and a year later after the Watraii capture he chooses to retire from Starfleet. There is some indication from an unspecific source in the future that Chekov will become Federation President, but no confirmation of that.
So it's pretty clear from the dates here that Chekov's timeline is absolutely FUBAR. If AOS Chekov is 17 in 2258, when the events in Trek XI occur, he must have been born in 2241, four years before Chekov's birth in TOS. But allow me to submit this notion: perhaps in an effort to reassert the timeline, Chekov's parents have a child whom they name Pavel Adreivich (as that is what they had or would always have named their male child) but is quantifiably a different person, with a different DNA complex, than Chekov Prime? It actually circumvents the problem of the four year birth year difference nicely, while still postulating that Chekov has a viable future with the crew of the Enterprise and that his boy genius status gets utilized. It can also explain why Chekov in Trek XI had blonde, curly hair instead of straight brown. Whatever, it's just a thought.
Aside from the massive dude-love he has for Sulu and Sulu has for him, Chekov Prime also has a brief relationship with Lt. Julia Crandall during the first five-year mission (TOS Comic "No Compromise"). They had met in their last year at the Academy and broke up because they were posted to different places; Crandall is assigned aboard the Enterprise in 2267; some alien wankery happens and they get into a relationship again. Crandall decides to stick around and do some research, Chekov proposes, they part ways and hope to meet up again. Unfortunately Crandall dies in 2289. Other than her (and Sulu, obvs), Chekov has no canonical relationships.
For the record: it is CHEKOV, not CHEKHOV. There is no H. Live it, learn it, love it.
bravecows wrote a wonderful story called The First Time, and in the comments of that story there's some interesting discussion about the English language, particularly how it evolves and what it means if English is the basis for Standard that the UFP uses. It's particularly relevant given the scene in XI where Chekov has trouble speaking into the computer, which is supposed to read as funny but comes off rather silly. Anyway, good stuff there, food for thought.
Let's go to Sulu, or as I call him, HI JOHN CHO HOW ARE YOU SO HOT.
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Hikaru Sato Sulu [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born in 2237 in San Francisco, United Earth, to Saraoni Hatoyama-Sulu and Shimizu Hana a.k.a. Kalea Graef Hatoyama-Sulu. In 2248 the Sulu family moved to Ishikawa on the planet Ganjitsu.
He entered Starfleet Academy in 2255, graduating in 2259, having taken up spatial navigation, fencing, and botany. (He's a well-rounded motherfucker.) Rather than taking a shipboard commission, he enrolled in the Starfleet Command School where he completed his pilot certification as well as publishing an article titled "Experimental Subparticle Physics and Their Application to Warp Drive," the publication of which earned his Lt junior grade commission. In 2264, having concluded Command School, Sulu was given orders to serve the USS Aerfen; at the last minute he was transferred to the USS Enterprise, and though he requested a transfer this was denied by Kirk. After the first year of the five-year mission, he chose to remain on board. He switched from navigation to astrophysics, and was offered the position of Helmsman by Kirk in 2265 to prevent him from transferring elsewhere.
In 2269, continuing the pattern, Sulu wished for more of a challenge and requested a transfer; Kirk again diverted the transfer by promoting Sulu to Lt Commander, which was in effect in 2273 during the events of Star Trek: TMP. After 2273 Kirk made Sulu his second officer, relieving Scotty of the position.
After blah blah the movies, Sulu was assigned to be first officer under Captain Lawrence Styles on the USS Excelsior. The captaincy was originally authorized for Sulu, but following the events of the Genesis Planet it was given to Styles, and Sulu was given first officer status. When Styles dies on a mission, Sulu is made Acting Captain and then commissioned as Captain in 2290. In 2293 the events of Star Trek VI take place, which the Excelsior and Sulu are involved in. Sulu remains the captain of the Excelsior 2320, at which point he retires from Starfleet.
Following this, Sulu runs for Federation President and governs for three consecutive terms. Accounts suggest he is alive at least by 2372, and was likely alive during the Dominion War. He has one daughter with Ling Sui (died 2311); Demora Sulu was born in 2271. She served as navigator aboard the USS Enterprise-B. Chekov is her second father godfather.
Sulu's timeline actually stands up pretty well to the AOS shift; I think there's an argument to be made here that Sulu's life was essentially the same until he was activated as a cadet on the Enterprise in 2258 prior to the Battle of Vulcan, rather than graduating in 2259. There's no reason to think that Sulu and Chekov aren't still massive lovers, I mean bros, nor that his daughter might not come to be. Either way, I love this character, and you should too.
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Hoo boy. McCoy's next. Here's a corker for you. Leonard Horatio 'Bones' McCoy [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born to David and Eleanora McCoy on 20 January 2227, Atlanta, Georgia, United Earth. The family moved elsewhere in the South in 2236. McCoy's cousin David died in a river raft accident in 2234, and McCoy himself was thrown from a horse in Texas in 2243.
McCoy met his future wife Jocelyn Darnell in high school in 2244, possibly in Texas, though it is unclear where his family was living for the latter part of his young life. Their relationship began around this time, though McCoy would go on to study at the University of Mississippi in 2245 at the age of 17. His encounter with the Trill Emony Dax pushed him towards a career in medicine. He enrolled in medical school shortly thereafter, graduating in 2249 as well as marrying Jocelyn and welcoming their daughter, Joanna.
In 2253, Jocelyn became involved in an affair with her other high school boyfriend, Clay Treadway (the one McCoy stole her away from, so to speak). Upon discovery of this, Jocelyn left or McCoy left (though he and Jocelyn both characterize it as her "driving him away") and joined Starfleet on a whim. He underwent a short course in Starfleet and was commissioned as a junior medical officer on the USS Republic. Following this successful tour, he was promoted to Chief Medical Officer on the USS Richard Feynman, but was demoted after a falling out with the Feynman captain as a junior medical officer on the USS Koop in 2254.
In 2255, McCoy became CMO of Starbase 7, where his first encounter with a young Lt Kirk happened; in 2257 McCoy was transferred aboard the USS Constitution, where Lt Commander Kirk also served. In 2262 he returned to Terra to work at Starfleet Teaching Hospital, and in 2264 Kirk commissioned him as CMO for the Enterprise prior to the five-year mission. However, before he could accept his father was diagnosed with pyrrhoneuritis and McCoy returned to care for him until his death that same year. In 2265, the Enterprise had returned to Terra for the funeral of Gary Mitchell, and Kirk brought him back on as CMO commissioned as a Lt Commander.
Jocelyn served him divorce papers in 2266, which he signed without contest; Jocelyn went on to marry Clay Treadway. Five year mission, movies, blah blah; McCoy was a Commander by 2270 at the conclusion of the first five-year mission. He retires, Jim brings him back in TMP, Spock gives McCoy care of his Katra, Star Trek III happened, etc. Enterprise-A was decommissioned in 2293; Kirk disappeared into the Nexus that same year. McCoy fell gravely ill in 2294, but recovered with the application of cloned organs. At some point in here he is ranked Captain, though he was never on a command track and never commanded a vessel. In 2296 he served under Spock on the USS Intrepid II as CMO; by the early 24th century he had become an instructor at Starfleet Medical Academy, where he remained until his retirement in 2353. He was an Admiral upon his retirement. By 2375 his health had deteriorated to the point that he wore an exoskeleton to assist him, though eventually another course of treatment was devised. In 2381, he assisted Médecins Sans Frontières in their relief operations, indicating he was alive and contemporaneous to rest of the TOS Enterprise crew during the Dominion War and the events at Wartraii.
So, two things happened to McCoy in AOS. First, he must have stayed with Jocelyn for at least two years longer in AOS than he did in TOS, because it's not until 2255 (AOS) that McCoy and Jocelyn have divorced and McCoy signs up for Starfleet. My personal theory is that he found out about Jocelyn and Clay, but refused to leave his daughter Joanna until Jocelyn and Clay's relationship became truly intolerable. Until that point there's not a whole lot of difference in the events of his life. Second, he must have had something of a medical practice before he entered Starfleet, because he's already a doctor upon recruitment, and there's no reason to think that part of the timeline has changed. Between 2249, when he graduated, and 2255, when he joined Starfleet, I postulate that actually was the "old country doctor" he claims to be.
I guess McCoy got custody of Joanna, or something, because Jocelyn and Clay Treadway both joined the UFP Diplomatic Corps, and Joanna was sent by her father to live with her maternal aunt Donna Withers and her husband Fred on Centaurus. During McCoy's time on Starbase 7, he also had a home kept on Centaurus where he spent time with Joanna when he was on leave. Joanna and McCoy drifted apart, though they still write to each other and Joanna pursued a career as a nurse.
McCoy had a brief relationship in 2254 with Nancy Crater on Starbase 7, but it didn't last; they parted in 2256. Jadzia Dax strongly implied that Emony Dax and McCoy had a brief relationship when they met at a gymnastics tournament in 2245. Other than that it's all Kirk fun to play in for us.
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So that's the main characters from The Original Series. There's a handful of minor characters that are helpful to know, since they do or probably do exist in the alternate reality of Trek XI, and since we weren't given their stories it would be awesome if people made them up themselves.
Christopher Richard McKinnies Prescott Pike [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2219 in Mojave, California, United Earth, to Charles Josh Pike and Willa McKinnies; stepfather Heston Prescott; stepmother Hobelia Pike.
Pike was born to his mother without knowledge of his biological father. Willa McKinnies was an architect; she married Heston Prescott, who was a father to Chris Pike at the age of 9. The family moved to the colony world Elysium; there he met his biological father, Charlie Pike (who was enlisted as a non-commissioned Petty Officer in Starfleet). After Chris' parents died, Charlie and his wife Hobelia adopted Chris and moved back to Mojave when Chris was 13. (The TOS "Early Voyages" comic contradicts this, but whatever.) Pike attended Starfleet Academy, graduating in 2241, made Lt Commander by 2246 on the USS Aldrin, and Commander on the USS York following that.
Pike's first experience on the USS Enterprise was under the command of the Constitution-class ship's first captain, Robert April. [Note: Robert April is the awesome.] He met Spock on this tour of duty. Then he was commander of the USS Yorktown, presumably having been promoted to Captain; and in 2251, when Captain April announced his leave from command of the Enterprise, the job was given to Pike. Pike commanded the USS Enterprise for two five-year missions and a total of thirteen years. A bunch of stuff happened.
In 2264, Pike was promoted to Fleet Captain, resulting in Jim Kirk's command of the Enterprise. In 2266, Pike was in a dramatic radiation accident that destroyed his body, and the TOS episode "The Menagerie" happened. He began a relationship with the Talosian Vina; they had a son, Phillip Joshua Pike, in 2276. Pike was offered a way to return to life outside Talos IV by Spock in 2289 but refused; Chris Pike died some time before 2320.
Chris Pike was a shining example in Starfleet until the events of Talos IV; his legacy remains in the TNG shuttlecraft "Pike," the "Christopher Pike Medal of Valor," and Pike City on the colony on Cestus III.
The obvious timeline difference here is that, instead of taking the Enterprise out on over a decade's worth of missions, Chris Pike in AOS was a Starfleet Academy instructor and recruiter. This could possibly be reconciled by my theory that: after April stepped down in command of the USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) in 2251, Pike was given command of the vessel, and took it on some initial missions until a refit was ordered on Starbase 1. Pike took the instructor position in the interim and his crew was repurposed across the fleet until the Enterprise was fit for duty again. However, this becomes problematic because in the film, we see something being built in the Riverside, Iowa shipyards that looks suspiciously like the Enterprise, and when Pike takes command of the Enterprise in 2258 with the group of cadets, the ship is referred to as the "new" flagship of the fleet. So...I don't know. Maybe someone else can retcon it better than I can.
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Christine Lauren Chapel [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2237 to Patterson and Lauren Chapel in New Orleans, Louisiana, United Earth. Played by the inimitable Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Chapel was a biological researcher whose partner, Dr Roger Korby (also a scientist) had disappeared on his expedition to Exo III in 2261. She joined Starfleet in the irrational hope that she might locate her lost partner during the deep space mission. In 2264 she worked alongside McCoy at Starfleet Teaching Hospital
She was ranked Lt junior grade by 2266 and assigned to the Enterprise. Her husband, Korby, was found, but he had made himself into a crazy andriod (TOS episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") and was destroyed. Despite this course of events, Chapel chose to remain on the Enterprise as a practicing nurse. Chapel fell in love with Commander Spock, but it was generally unrequited, and despite sharing a (non-consensual, seriously, TOS was worse than SGA) kiss with Spock the relationship never worked.
In 2269, Chapel promoted to Lietenant, and upon the conclusion of the Enterprise's five-year mission she elected to enter medical school in 2270 in pursuit of her MD, specializing in xenophysiology. Following her course of study she was commissioned as Chief Medical Officer aboard the newly refitted Enterprise, but after McCoy was reactivated she happily ceded the role back to him (Star Trek: TMP). Following the V'Ger expedition, Dr. Chapel worked for Starfleet Medical. In 2289, she served on Ambassador Sarek's diplomatic team, and in 2298, she was the CMO on the USS Excelsior under Captain Hikaru Sulu, holding the rank of Commander.
There's no reason why any of her storyline should be any different, given that she was only referenced in the film, not shown; but to be honest, the whole Korby story is kind of stupid so my suggestion is: make it better.
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Gary Mitchell [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. Born 2234 to Thomas and Dana Mitchell, in the sub-city of Eldman, New York City, United Earth.
Mitchell entered the Starfleet Academy in 2251, where he met his beffie, Jim Kirk (a second-year cadet at the time). Mitchell focused on stellar navigation and warp engine design. Kirk and Mitchell were buddies, and were assigned as cadets aboard the USS Republic together. In 2255, Ensign Mitchell was assigned to USS Constitution; two years later Lt Kirk was commissioned on the same vessel. When Kirk was made Captain and given command of the USS Lydia Sutherland, Mitchell was Kirk's choice for first officer and promoted to Lt Commander.
When Kirk was given command of the Enterprise, he wanted Mitchell as his first officer; but Admiral Noguchi intervened, saying the frat brothers, I mean officers, were too alike; Noguchi commissioned Spock instead. Mitchell became second officer, relieving Scotty of the role, and took the helmsman position as Sulu transferred to astrophysics. In 2265 the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" occurred, and Mitchell was killed following the demi-god business at the galactic barrier.
Kirk and Mitchell were BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. Of course, given that AOS Kirk didn't enter Starfleet until 2255, Mitchell (if his timeline remained intact) probably was either already with the Fleet in the Laurentian Sector, or killed as part of the cadet fleet in the Battle of Vulcan. He and Kirk might never even have met, and lo, that would be sad.
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Yeomen Barbara Smith and Janice Rand [Memory Alpha; Memory Beta]. A yeoman is enlisted (not an officer) non-commissioned personnel within Starfleet. A yeoman's duties are primarily administrative; at the end of the day Starfleet is a bureaucracy, and someone has to do the paperwork. If you're Jim Kirk's yeoman, this means you got the suckiest assignment ever. Whether it's Kirk Prime or AOS Kirk, it has to suck to be that guy's right hand assistant.
In TOS, Barbara Smith was Kirk's yeoman in 2265 at the beginning of the first five-year mission; she transferred out as soon as the Enterprise was back at Terra. Smith had replaced Janice Rand, who had sought further training at Starfleet Academy, and Kirk never quite took to Smith. When Smith left, Rand accepted her previous position onboard the Enterprise, and was very close to Kirk professionally. In 2267 Rand took a leave of absence to give birth to her daughter, Annie, who passed away two years later from an illness of some kind. Rand returned to Starfleet in 2270, worked for Starfleet Intelligence and Starfleet Communications before returning to the Enterprise in 2272 as Chief Petty Officer. In 2278, after the second five-year mission, she chose to undergo Officer Training and was commissioned as an ensign in 2281. By 2285 she made Lt junior grade on Starbase 1 in Communications, and in 2286 she was assigned to Starfleet Command. In 2288 she was Lt Commander, and Captain Sulu requested her as his Communications Officer onboard the Excelsior, where she remained for the rest of her career.
There were many yeomen on TOS (it seemed to be an easy catch-all role for females on the show) but Rand is the most important one. A) She worked side by side with Kirk and probably knew him better than just about anyone else; B) She had a long, interesting career with Starfleet. Rand is fucking awesome. Seriously.
Okay. I think that's everyone. Spock gets his own post, which might be next because I need to talk about the Romulans some more, and if I talk about the Romulans I need to talk about the Vulcans. That seems a pretty good point to go into detail about Spock, since he was embroiled with both races to the point we see him in Trek XI.
As before, I welcome discussion in the comments. Let me know if I missed something or someone! This is a lot of information and it's easy to muddle something up.