Questions tagged [captain-kirk]

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise, appearing in numerous television episodes, films, books, comics, and video games. As the captain of the starship USS Enterprise, Kirk leads his crew as they explore "where no man has gone before". Use this tag for questions about the character, not those that merely mention him. Use this with the [star-trek] tag.

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32 votes
2 answers
6k views

What were the 17 instances of Kirk traveling through time?

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations," we meet the agency of Temporal Investigations. They mention that Captain Kirk has traveled through time on at least seventeen ...
23 votes
3 answers
8k views

What is the information on Captain Kirk's tombstone?

In episode 3 ("Where No Man has Gone Before"), Gary Mitchell attempts to kill Captain Kirk. Before doing so he uses his powers to create a grave and conjures a tombstone, shown here: The ...
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the real-world timeline of the revelation of facts around Kirk's relationship to David Marcus?

Possible spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Picard follow: I always, perhaps wrongly, thought that David Marcus was completely a retcon invented for The Wrath of Khan. And I ...
28 votes
3 answers
6k views

Why did Kirk decide to maroon Khan and his people instead of turning them over to Starfleet?

I just watched the Star Trek: the Original Series episode Space Seed. Kirk's decision to drop the charges against Kahn and just maroon Khan on Ceti Alpha V instead of turning him over to the ...
18 votes
7 answers
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How did Kirk regularly beat Spock in 4-Dimensional chess?

As I'm re-watching TOS, I notice 2 cases within the first few episodes where Kirk defeats Spock in chess. At least 1 of the 2 times, if not both, Spock failed to see a checkmate that was only 1 move ...
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

Origin of name James T. Kirk

How the name 'James T. Kirk' originate. I heard it might have come from the fact that Gene Roddenberry once lived in NJ and the name of a mayor from Elizabeth, NJ was James T. Kirk.
6 votes
1 answer
294 views

What is the sculpture in Kirk’s Quarters — Star Trek VI

Does anyone know anything about this sculpture? Artist? Name of sculpture?
-1 votes
1 answer
200 views

What is the earliest source for Kirk's year of birth?

By now his year and place of birth (as well as names of family members) are canonical, but I think these come from later movies and books, and the use of stardates has been discussed before. What is ...
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Did Captain Kirk underact when he found his brother dead?

In the episode Operation: Annihilate! Kirk finds his brother dead. He didn't seem very upset (definitely no tears, was able to continue with work immediately). Was there any reason in particular for ...
57 votes
9 answers
15k views

How did Kirk manage to get Captaincy of the Enterprise despite just graduating from Academy?

Unless I completely misunderstood the timeline, Star Trek (2009) has the following happen to Kirk: He goes to the Academy At the end of the Academy, he cheats on the Kobayashi Maru test He faces an ...
32 votes
4 answers
6k views

Does James Kirk have any named superiors in Star Trek: The Original Series?

In Star Trek: The Original Series, does James Kirk have any named superior officers, officers who would deliver orders to him and who would expect them to be obeyed? I seem to remember the presence of ...
10 votes
3 answers
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How many computers has James Kirk defeated?

James Kirk defeated the M5 and Vaal computers. He even defeated the zenith of all computers, V-GER. How many computers has he defeated?
24 votes
1 answer
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What was in this missing scene from The Wrath of Khan?

According to this article on Geek Nerdom, there was oringally a 12 page scene in The Wrath of Khan with a personal confrontation between Kirk and Khan. Personally, I always felt the biggest weakness ...
23 votes
6 answers
4k views

Why didn't James Kirk destroy the Reliant instead of (or while) trying to escape?

Khan set off the Genesis device during the battle against the Reliant. Kirk's first choice was to beam over and turn it off. When his son said that was a non-option, Kirk's second choice was to escape....
11 votes
2 answers
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Why didn't Khan beam Kirk up from the planet when he beamed up the Genesis Device?

When Kirk was speaking to Khan from inside the Genesis Cave in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan beamed out the Genesis Device. He then said he would leave Kirk marooned inside the barren planet, ...
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Who's flying the Enterprise when Kirk and his crew are sleeping?

I assume Kirk (and his crew) have got to get some rest after a long day of investigating new planets and hassling other ships in space, so who is flying the Enterprise when Kirk and his crew are ...
7 votes
2 answers
871 views

Do starship captains typically recite mission-specific oaths, as at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness?

At the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, Captian Kirk is speaking to a large group of people (perhaps a service for the recently-deceased Captain Pike?). He says the following: When Christopher Pike ...
14 votes
4 answers
2k views

Was Kirk born prematurely in the alternate timeline?

There are two reasons the presence of Winona Kirk (James T. Kirk's mother) on the USS Kelvin in 2233 might not make sense: (1) Family members of officers and enlisted crew generally weren't housed on ...
13 votes
5 answers
14k views

Does James T Kirk know about Jonathan Archer?

I recall that Jim Kirk and Spock and the original Star Trek crew were sent on a three year mission to explore new worlds using the new warp technology, as if they were the first ones. But the ...
15 votes
4 answers
1k views

Did Kirk's captaincy of the Enterprise have a canon starting date in TOS?

Among the 79 episodes of the original series, is there ever mention of the specific date on which James T. Kirk was given command of the Enterprise? I'm quite sure a date has been retcon'd through ...
16 votes
2 answers
10k views

Does General Order 24 really exist?

This question mentions General Order 24, which supposedly allows a Starfleet Captain to order the destruction of all life on a planet. Looking at the linked Memory Alpha page, that appears to be ...
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is James T. Kirk's ethnic background?

Many of the main human characters in Star Trek have clear ethnic backgrounds or identities. For example, Picard is French, Chekov is Russian, Sisko is Creole, Scotty is Scottish, Sulu is Japanese (...
0 votes
1 answer
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Why didn't Khan's abilities transfer into Kirk?

When Kirk dies near the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, he comes back to life when Bones administers Khan's blood. Khan is genetically enhanced to be a superior life form, so why didn't Kirk recieve ...
15 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why was Kirk promoted to Admiral?

Captain Kirk is a man of action, a bona fide space cowboy who famously made his career pushing the limits of the unknown. He is almost literally in love with his starship, the Enterprise. He has a ...
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

What happened to Peter Kirk?

In the Star Trek TOS episode "Operation - Annihilate" we find out that James T. Kirk's nephew, Peter is one of the survivors of the Deneva Colony. Both his parents were killed by the parasite ...
10 votes
2 answers
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How do we know Kirk was the youngest captain of a starship?

Before the Star Trek reboot movie came out, one of the producers (and I think more than just one) said that it was known that Kirk was the youngest person ever to become Captain of a starship and they ...
13 votes
1 answer
467 views

What consequences were there for Kirk in the TOS episode "A Private Little War"?

Did Kirk ever have to deal with the consequences of his actions in this episode? He starts a civil war that will most likely get a friend of his killed, along with a lot of other people, using a ...
2 votes
1 answer
301 views

Do commodores have the authority to relieve officers of duty?

In "The Deadly Years," much of the crew is afflicted with a strange sort of radiation that causes them to age rapidly. Commodore Stocker is aboard and concerned about the dwindling capacity of Captain ...
10 votes
1 answer
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According to canon, what is the primary style of hand to hand combat utilized by Kirk in Star Trek TOS?

The hand to hand combat prowess of STNG Starfleet's security personnel is lauded by Tasha Yar in the accepted answer to this question. Tasha: I think you should know that there is no physical ...
23 votes
1 answer
3k views

Do we know exactly where Kirk will be born?

I'm an amateur Star Trek fan--I've watched some of TOS and a few movies, but I know enough to remember that Captain Kirk is from Iowa. I don't know where in Iowa, just Iowa. Recently I came across a ...
4 votes
2 answers
946 views

Why would Captain Kirk even think a bluff like the Corbomite manuever would work?

When Balok threatens to destroy the Enterprise, Captain Kirk tries to bluff his way out by saying the Enterprise contains Corbomite, a protective substance that automatically destroys any attacker. I ...
10 votes
1 answer
984 views

Why didn't Kirk simply tell Nomad that its mission was being changed?

In "The Changeling," why didn't Captain Kirk, as the "creator," simply tell Nomad that it was being reassigned? Tell the probe that its new job was going to be counting space particles (outside of the ...
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was Carol Marcus the "little blonde lab technician"?

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Gary Mitchell admits to Kirk that he steered a "little blonde lab technician" at him when Kirk was an instructor at Starfleet Academy. Kirk replied, "You planned ...
23 votes
2 answers
9k views

Why was the character of Captain Kirk given the middle name "Tiberius"?

There is a question about why Kirk's middle name was Tiberius from an in-universe perspective. The answers explain that Kirk was given the name after his grandfather (Tiberius Kirk) and that his ...
31 votes
1 answer
5k views

What is Captain Kirk's secret pain?

In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Spock's half-brother Sybok exposes the "secret pain" of people he encounters. Sybok forces McCoy to reveal that he had hastened his own dying father's death, only ...
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Did Kirk really show how to make gunpowder in the episode "Arena"?

I remember seeing this episode when it was first aired. I was 13 and always wanted to get the charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter.
-4 votes
3 answers
716 views

Can the Chief Medical Officer use the Captain's first name?

I have this question: since the CMO on board a starship is generally the captain's own private physician, is there anything in the regulations that says a CMO can't call the captain by his real first ...
3 votes
2 answers
572 views

Why didn't the mirror universe Major Kira and Doctor Bashir crossover at the same time?

In the Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, episode "Crossover" two members of the DS9 crew crossover to an alternate universe. It is the same universe that Kirk went to many years earlier in the TOS Episode: "...
26 votes
2 answers
2k views

Was Star Trek's original Captain Kirk always fond of antiques?

In The Wrath of Kahn (TWOK), there are at least 2 references to Kirk's fondness for antiques. Spock states that he's aware of this fondness when he gives him an old edition of A Tale of Two Cities; ...
8 votes
2 answers
923 views

Are bridge activities always recorded, or only during certain missions?

In the episode "Court Martial," apparent video of bridge proceedings is shown, in order to try and determine Kirk's guilt or innocence. My question is whether this is actual video footage of bridge ...
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does the flagship captain necessarily have the most seniority?

During the time when the Enterprise-D (later E) was the flagship of the fleet, was Captain Picard necessarily the officer with the most seniority (of those officers that served regularly aboard ships)?...
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Did Captain Kirk ever lose a fight when his shirt ripped?

Apparently, James Kirk's fighting skills increased after his shirt ripped, or maybe it was a coincidence that he never seemed to lose when this occurred. Am I just remembering incorrectly, or did Kirk ...
-2 votes
1 answer
18k views

Who was more of a Casanova , Kirk or Riker (based on count of bedmates)? [closed]

"Common knowledge" is that on Star Trek, James T. Kirk and William T. Riker are both the Casanovas of their corresponding series. We know that in Kirk's case, the reputation is somewhat undeserved (...