James Tiberius Kirk, played by William Shatner, is the main character in the original Star Trek television series and the films based on it. In 2007, J. J. Abrams announced that Kirk would be a character in the upcoming Star Trek film, although he did not say who will play the character.[1]
Kirk has commanded two starships named Enterprise: the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A).
[edit] Overview
The non-canon Star Trek novel "Final Frontier" establishes that Kirk's father is named George Samuel Kirk. Several other novels, published by Pocket Books, list Kirk's mother's name as Winona. George Samuel, Jr. and Aurelan Kirk, Kirk's older brother and sister-in-law, died during the invasion of neural parasites on Deneva in 2267. Kirk's nephew, Peter Kirk, survived. According to dialog in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", Samuel "Sam" Kirk, Jr. has two other children.
Kirk is known to have fathered at least one child: David Marcus. He also fathered a child by the native woman Miramanee during a mission in which he lost his memory in the episode "The Paradise Syndrome," but Miramanee suffered injuries from her own people, resulting in a miscarriage and her own death.
Virtually nothing regarding Kirk's birth has been established in on-screen canon. Riverside, Iowa is listed on the official Star Trek web site as Kirk's birthplace.[2] His birth date has never been officially established, but both the official web site and fanon speculation suggest March 22, 2233, based upon the real-life birth date and age of actor William Shatner.
Although born on Earth, Kirk apparently lived, at least for a time, on Tarsus IV, where he was one of only nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists because of utilitarian extermination by Kodos the Executioner.
Gary Mitchell, in fabricating a gravestone for Kirk in the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," prints Kirk's name as "James R. Kirk." However, the middle initial is not again attributed to Kirk.[3]
Career
Kirk had a distinguished career in Starfleet Academy, becoming the first person to defeat the Kobayashi Maru test that stymied cadets for many decades. Whereas any situation would be met by the simulator's overriding dictate that the cadet lose, Kirk won by rewriting the program to allow him to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew. For this, he received a commendation for original thinking.
However, Kirk was constantly taunted and tormented by an obnoxious upperclassman named Finnegan, described by Kirk as the kind of person who would put cold soup in a person's bed or a bucket of water over a half-open door. Kirk despised the cackling, maniacal Finnegan, and wanted nothing more than to give his arrogant tormentor a thorough beating. Years later, while on a fantasy planet in the episode "Shore Leave," Kirk gained a certain degree of satisfaction when he was given the chance to beat a replica of Finnegan.
Kirk began his Starfleet career as a cadet in 2250. While still a student at the Academy, he was granted a field commission as an Ensign and posted to advanced training aboard the USS Republic in 2251. While there, young Ensign Kirk accused Ensign Ben Finney of carelessly leaving a switch to the atomic matter piles open which would have blown the ship up in a matter of minutes. This later would come back to haunt Kirk in the episode "Court Martial." Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant junior grade in 2253 and returned to Starfleet Academy as a student instructor.
Upon his graduation from Starfleet Academy in 2254, Kirk was promoted to a full Lieutenant and served aboard the USS Farragut. He gained a tremendous amount of experience aboard the Farragut, commanding his first planet survey and also surviving a deadly attack by a gas cloud alien, in which a large portion of the Farragut's crew, including Captain Garrovick, were killed. According to the episode "Obsession," Kirk later felt that he had been negligent by hesitating when facing the hostile alien life-form, which later killed Garrovick.
According to the official Star Trek website, Kirk was the third captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), following in the footsteps of Robert April, who predated Christopher Pike as captain of the vessel. Kirk commanded the Enterprise's historic five-year mission from 2265 until 2270. Alongside Kirk was his equally legendary first officer, the Human/Vulcan Spock, who also doubled as the Enterprise's science officer. Filling out the crew were chief medical officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, chief engineer Montgomery Scott, communications officer Uhura, helmsman Hikaru Sulu, and later navigator Pavel Chekov. The crew's dedication to Kirk mirrored his own relentless loyalty to his ship.
Upon completion of the Enterprise's mission, Kirk achieved the rank of Rear Admiral, and was assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations. In the Star Trek novel Star Trek: The Lost Years by J.M. Dillard, it is stated that during this time period, Kirk was a diplomatic trouble-shooter for Starfleet who was sent on various missions, including a mission to counter-terrorist activity on the planet Djana. However, Kirk was unfulfilled in this administrative role. Spock later told his friend, "Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny...anything else is a waste of material."
Kirk commanding the Enterprise-A in 2293.In 2272, to combat V'Ger, Admiral Kirk took temporary command of the Enterprise over Captain Willard Decker, who oversaw the ship's refit while in drydock. He retired from Starfleet sometime around 2282, but returned to active duty in 2284, where he was in command of Starfleet Academy training.
In 2285, Admiral Kirk briefly took command of the Enterprise in order to pursue his old enemy, Khan Noonien Singh. He was later demoted back to Captain after stealing and scuttling the Enterprise, and sabotaging the USS Excelsior that same year in order to revive Spock, who died in the mission to stop Khan. Kirk was given command of the USS Enterprise-A, and commanded the ship for several years until the vessel was decommissioned in 2293.
With Dr. Carol Marcus, Kirk had a son, David, who was killed by Klingons in 2285. The death of his son enraged Kirk for years to come. While he had always been distrustful and wary of the Klingons, after David's death, he held them collectively responsible for the death of his son. When Spock, on behalf of his father Sarek, opened negotiations with the Klingon Empire after the Praxis incident and 'volunteered' Kirk to lead the mission, Kirk was enraged. When Spock pointed out that they were dying, his sharp response was "Let them die!" It was only when the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, on his deathbed, pleaded, "Don't let it end this way," that Kirk started to realize not all Klingons were responsible for his son's death, and finally started to let go of his hate of the Klingon people.
Kirk had recorded in his log during the start of this mission that he could never forgive them for the death of his son. It was this recording that was used as evidence against him when a Klingon court convicted him of murdering Gorkon in 2293; he was sentenced to a life term in the prison mines of Rura Penthe, but was subsequently rescued and cleared of guilt.
[edit] Death
In the film Star Trek: Generations, Kirk was lost and presumed dead when the USS Enterprise-B was damaged by The Nexus, which he entered. In this alternate existence, he was persuaded by Jean-Luc Picard from the year 2371 to return to Veridian III and stop Tolian Soran from sacrificing 230 million lives in order for him to re-enter the Nexus. During the climax, Kirk was able to retrieve and activate a cloaking control device from a damaged construction span, enabling Picard to sabotage Soran's plans. However, the span collapsed, causing Kirk to fall. Picard manages to get to Kirk as he lay dying underneath the wreckage, and subsequently buried his predecessor on the plateau.
Kirk dying on Veridian III, in 2371In the original script of Generations, Soran killed Kirk by shooting him in the back. This filmed ending was changed after negative reactions from test audiences. The revised death in the film was still not well received by many fans. Fan edits from fans were later made to prove that the movie could have worked as an independent TNG story and did not need Kirk involved at all.
In books written by William Shatner, beginning with Star Trek: The Return, Kirk is brought back to life by a combined alliance between the Romulans and the Borg, hoping to use him as a weapon with which to assassinate Picard, a nemesis shared by both factions. Kirk eventually sees through the effort, and assists the Federation in shutting down the Borg homeworld, with himself pulling the plug. He survives the ordeal and goes on to have further adventures in the modern Trek universe.
Pocket Books does not acknowledge the events of the "Shatnerverse" storylines in their canon, and thus Kirk has not appeared outside of the books written by Shatner. All of the Trek novels however, have an uncertain canocity.
Kirk has commanded two starships named Enterprise: the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A).
[edit] Overview
The non-canon Star Trek novel "Final Frontier" establishes that Kirk's father is named George Samuel Kirk. Several other novels, published by Pocket Books, list Kirk's mother's name as Winona. George Samuel, Jr. and Aurelan Kirk, Kirk's older brother and sister-in-law, died during the invasion of neural parasites on Deneva in 2267. Kirk's nephew, Peter Kirk, survived. According to dialog in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", Samuel "Sam" Kirk, Jr. has two other children.
Kirk is known to have fathered at least one child: David Marcus. He also fathered a child by the native woman Miramanee during a mission in which he lost his memory in the episode "The Paradise Syndrome," but Miramanee suffered injuries from her own people, resulting in a miscarriage and her own death.
Virtually nothing regarding Kirk's birth has been established in on-screen canon. Riverside, Iowa is listed on the official Star Trek web site as Kirk's birthplace.[2] His birth date has never been officially established, but both the official web site and fanon speculation suggest March 22, 2233, based upon the real-life birth date and age of actor William Shatner.
Although born on Earth, Kirk apparently lived, at least for a time, on Tarsus IV, where he was one of only nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists because of utilitarian extermination by Kodos the Executioner.
Gary Mitchell, in fabricating a gravestone for Kirk in the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," prints Kirk's name as "James R. Kirk." However, the middle initial is not again attributed to Kirk.[3]
Career
Kirk had a distinguished career in Starfleet Academy, becoming the first person to defeat the Kobayashi Maru test that stymied cadets for many decades. Whereas any situation would be met by the simulator's overriding dictate that the cadet lose, Kirk won by rewriting the program to allow him to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew. For this, he received a commendation for original thinking.
However, Kirk was constantly taunted and tormented by an obnoxious upperclassman named Finnegan, described by Kirk as the kind of person who would put cold soup in a person's bed or a bucket of water over a half-open door. Kirk despised the cackling, maniacal Finnegan, and wanted nothing more than to give his arrogant tormentor a thorough beating. Years later, while on a fantasy planet in the episode "Shore Leave," Kirk gained a certain degree of satisfaction when he was given the chance to beat a replica of Finnegan.
Kirk began his Starfleet career as a cadet in 2250. While still a student at the Academy, he was granted a field commission as an Ensign and posted to advanced training aboard the USS Republic in 2251. While there, young Ensign Kirk accused Ensign Ben Finney of carelessly leaving a switch to the atomic matter piles open which would have blown the ship up in a matter of minutes. This later would come back to haunt Kirk in the episode "Court Martial." Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant junior grade in 2253 and returned to Starfleet Academy as a student instructor.
Upon his graduation from Starfleet Academy in 2254, Kirk was promoted to a full Lieutenant and served aboard the USS Farragut. He gained a tremendous amount of experience aboard the Farragut, commanding his first planet survey and also surviving a deadly attack by a gas cloud alien, in which a large portion of the Farragut's crew, including Captain Garrovick, were killed. According to the episode "Obsession," Kirk later felt that he had been negligent by hesitating when facing the hostile alien life-form, which later killed Garrovick.
According to the official Star Trek website, Kirk was the third captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), following in the footsteps of Robert April, who predated Christopher Pike as captain of the vessel. Kirk commanded the Enterprise's historic five-year mission from 2265 until 2270. Alongside Kirk was his equally legendary first officer, the Human/Vulcan Spock, who also doubled as the Enterprise's science officer. Filling out the crew were chief medical officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, chief engineer Montgomery Scott, communications officer Uhura, helmsman Hikaru Sulu, and later navigator Pavel Chekov. The crew's dedication to Kirk mirrored his own relentless loyalty to his ship.
Upon completion of the Enterprise's mission, Kirk achieved the rank of Rear Admiral, and was assigned as Chief of Starfleet Operations. In the Star Trek novel Star Trek: The Lost Years by J.M. Dillard, it is stated that during this time period, Kirk was a diplomatic trouble-shooter for Starfleet who was sent on various missions, including a mission to counter-terrorist activity on the planet Djana. However, Kirk was unfulfilled in this administrative role. Spock later told his friend, "Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny...anything else is a waste of material."
Kirk commanding the Enterprise-A in 2293.In 2272, to combat V'Ger, Admiral Kirk took temporary command of the Enterprise over Captain Willard Decker, who oversaw the ship's refit while in drydock. He retired from Starfleet sometime around 2282, but returned to active duty in 2284, where he was in command of Starfleet Academy training.
In 2285, Admiral Kirk briefly took command of the Enterprise in order to pursue his old enemy, Khan Noonien Singh. He was later demoted back to Captain after stealing and scuttling the Enterprise, and sabotaging the USS Excelsior that same year in order to revive Spock, who died in the mission to stop Khan. Kirk was given command of the USS Enterprise-A, and commanded the ship for several years until the vessel was decommissioned in 2293.
With Dr. Carol Marcus, Kirk had a son, David, who was killed by Klingons in 2285. The death of his son enraged Kirk for years to come. While he had always been distrustful and wary of the Klingons, after David's death, he held them collectively responsible for the death of his son. When Spock, on behalf of his father Sarek, opened negotiations with the Klingon Empire after the Praxis incident and 'volunteered' Kirk to lead the mission, Kirk was enraged. When Spock pointed out that they were dying, his sharp response was "Let them die!" It was only when the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, on his deathbed, pleaded, "Don't let it end this way," that Kirk started to realize not all Klingons were responsible for his son's death, and finally started to let go of his hate of the Klingon people.
Kirk had recorded in his log during the start of this mission that he could never forgive them for the death of his son. It was this recording that was used as evidence against him when a Klingon court convicted him of murdering Gorkon in 2293; he was sentenced to a life term in the prison mines of Rura Penthe, but was subsequently rescued and cleared of guilt.
[edit] Death
In the film Star Trek: Generations, Kirk was lost and presumed dead when the USS Enterprise-B was damaged by The Nexus, which he entered. In this alternate existence, he was persuaded by Jean-Luc Picard from the year 2371 to return to Veridian III and stop Tolian Soran from sacrificing 230 million lives in order for him to re-enter the Nexus. During the climax, Kirk was able to retrieve and activate a cloaking control device from a damaged construction span, enabling Picard to sabotage Soran's plans. However, the span collapsed, causing Kirk to fall. Picard manages to get to Kirk as he lay dying underneath the wreckage, and subsequently buried his predecessor on the plateau.
Kirk dying on Veridian III, in 2371In the original script of Generations, Soran killed Kirk by shooting him in the back. This filmed ending was changed after negative reactions from test audiences. The revised death in the film was still not well received by many fans. Fan edits from fans were later made to prove that the movie could have worked as an independent TNG story and did not need Kirk involved at all.
In books written by William Shatner, beginning with Star Trek: The Return, Kirk is brought back to life by a combined alliance between the Romulans and the Borg, hoping to use him as a weapon with which to assassinate Picard, a nemesis shared by both factions. Kirk eventually sees through the effort, and assists the Federation in shutting down the Borg homeworld, with himself pulling the plug. He survives the ordeal and goes on to have further adventures in the modern Trek universe.
Pocket Books does not acknowledge the events of the "Shatnerverse" storylines in their canon, and thus Kirk has not appeared outside of the books written by Shatner. All of the Trek novels however, have an uncertain canocity.