55
votes
Does James Kirk have any named superiors in Star Trek: The Original Series?
During TOS, James Kirk holds the rank of Captain and therefore anyone who holds a higher rank is his superior. In later installments the rank of Admiral (and its various sub-ranks, such as Vice ...
- 17.3k
40
votes
Accepted
What were the 17 instances of Kirk traveling through time?
The actual line from the episode is:
LUCSLY: Seventeen separate temporal violations. The biggest file on record.
Importantly, a "violation" does not necessarily refer to an "instance ...
- 17.3k
35
votes
What is the information on Captain Kirk's tombstone?
The episode begins on 1312.4 with the receipt of the distress signal from the SS Valiant. At 1312.9 Kirk makes another log entry after the disastrous encounter with the galactic barrier. At 1313.1 ...
- 143k
32
votes
Accepted
Do we know exactly where Kirk will be born?
Real World
According to the Humboldt Travel Journal, the decision to commemorate Riverside, Iowa as the birthplace of James Kirk was originally intended to act as a tourist attractor. After the ...
- 718k
29
votes
Accepted
Why did Kirk decide to maroon Khan and his people instead of turning them over to Starfleet?
Star Trek: Khan - Ruling in Hell
IDW Publishing
October 2010 – January 2011
From issue 1
Kirk states his concerns that Khan could easily escape a re-education facility or Starbase. His preference was ...
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27
votes
Why didn't James Kirk destroy the Reliant instead of (or while) trying to escape?
I think there's something you missed in David's dialog:
James Kirk: We'll beam aboard and stop it.
David Marcus: You can't.
Note that Kirk doesn't say "deactivate it" or "abort the ...
- 17.3k
22
votes
Accepted
What is the real-world timeline of the revelation of facts around Kirk's relationship to David Marcus?
The pertinent line from the transcript for Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is:
KIRK: I did what you wanted. ...I stayed away. ...Why didn't you tell him?
The implication is strongly that Kirk was, at ...
- 718k
19
votes
Why did Kirk decide to maroon Khan and his people instead of turning them over to Starfleet?
According to Memory Alpha:
Later, at a formal hearing, Kirk drops all charges against Khan and his people, considering it a "waste" to put Khan in a penal colony, and gives him the offer of ...
- 6,998
18
votes
Accepted
Does General Order 24 really exist?
According to memory and the Star Trek Transcripts site: in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" Kirk gives a similar order.
After Mitchell escapes from the facility on Delta Vega, Dr. Piper revives Kirk.
...
- 43k
18
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Khan beam Kirk up from the planet when he beamed up the Genesis Device?
Basically, Khan let his desire for revenge overcome his better judgment. He felt there was a certain poetic justice in leaving Kirk to die on an abandoned planet, just as Kirk had done to McGivers ...
- 119k
18
votes
How did Kirk regularly beat Spock in 4-Dimensional chess?
We can also look to Troi beating Data at 3D chess: (note: 3D, not 4D)
(a 3D chess game is in progress)
DATA: The characteristic response to the Kriskov Gambit is to counter with the el-Mitra Exchange,...
- 40.2k
17
votes
Why didn't Khan's abilities transfer into Kirk after transfusion?
Kirk was never actually injected with Khan's blood. Bones was able to isolate its regenerative activity and develop a serum that produced that same effects:
MCCOY: Oh, don't be so melodramatic. You ...
- 17.3k
16
votes
How many computers has James Kirk defeated?
I'm counting androids/robots in with this. Some minor spoilers if you've not watched TOS
The Return of the Archons
A Taste of Armageddon
The Doomsday Machine
The Apple (Vaal)
The Ultimate Computer (M-...
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15
votes
What consequences were there for Kirk in the TOS episode "A Private Little War"?
In canon, not directly.
As you say, TNG "Too Short a Season" (Season 1, Episode 16) was meant to be a sequel to this episode — or at least it has long been rumoured to be, with the idea that, ...
- 112k
14
votes
Accepted
How did Kirk regularly beat Spock in 4-Dimensional chess?
Canonically we do not have an answer to this.
In universe though Vulcans are logical but they are still biological, a computer can calculate and keep track of all possible moves a biological brain has ...
- 1,317
12
votes
Accepted
What is James T. Kirk's ethnic background?
The "Autobiography of James T. Kirk", told in-universe by Kirk himself and licensed by Paramount has some additional information to offer about Kirk's ethnicity. In short, his primary ethnic makeup ...
- 718k
12
votes
Accepted
Why didn't James Kirk destroy the Reliant instead of (or while) trying to escape?
The countdown on the Genesis device is not like the timer on a bomb, where if the countdown is stopped before is reaches zero, nothing happens because the bomb has not been triggered. The Genesis ...
- 102k
11
votes
Why was Kirk promoted to Admiral?
Why would Kirk accept a promotion?
Kirk gives us an answer in Star Trek II, the Wrath of Khan. He seems to be feeling his age and recognises that he no longer has the same vitality he had when he was ...
- 718k
11
votes
Did Kirk's captaincy of the Enterprise have a canon starting date in TOS?
Short Answer, no definite statements. Long answer, a few possible hints or clues
In "Shore Leave", sometime after stardate 3025.8, Kirk meets Finnegan from when Kirk was at the Academy:
FINNEGAN: ...
- 43k
10
votes
Accepted
Do starship captains typically recite mission-specific oaths, as at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness?
The entire thing doesn't seem to be the oath, just specific parts of it. And most of it isn't unique to the Enterprise, it's part of the Federation charter and Starfleet's general orders.
Seeking out ...
- 718k
10
votes
Why did Kirk decide to maroon Khan and his people instead of turning them over to Starfleet?
Risks of returning Khan to Earth:
Before the trip is over, Khan might find another way to take over the Enterprise and cause all sorts of mischief. Remember, in TOS the Enterprise carries ...
- 454
9
votes
Did Kirk's captaincy of the Enterprise have a canon starting date in TOS?
2264, according to the official Star Trek web site and the Star Trek Encyclopedia
According to James T. Kirk's file on StarTrek.com (the official site of the franchise), he was promoted to captain ...
- 112k
9
votes
Why didn't James Kirk destroy the Reliant instead of (or while) trying to escape?
The Genesis device was designed to release an enormous amount of unstable energy in a focused, controlled manner to generate a new living environment based on the specification of the design team.
The ...
- 822
9
votes
What is the information on Captain Kirk's tombstone?
The middle initial is a well known anomaly that can also be ascribed to the episode being a pilot. It is answered by this SFF question.
As for the dates, you failed to see the decimal points in the ...
- 16.4k
8
votes
How did Kirk manage to get Captaincy of the Enterprise despite just graduating from Academy?
I know I'm late to the party but;
There's a screenshot from the movie that shows Jim's rank as LT. You catch a glimpse of it when Chekov is beaming him and Sulu up from Vulcan.
Where the movie ...
- 89
8
votes
Accepted
Why was Kirk promoted to Admiral?
The Star Trek I novelization sheds some light here (Roddenberry wrote this himself so it is canon)
Kirk speaks via 'holocom' to his former year-long spouse, Starfleet flag officer Vice Admiral Lori ...
- 53.7k
7
votes
What happened to Peter Kirk?
Within canon, the answer is that we don't know his fate. The boy isn't mentioned again.
We do learn from a deleted portion of the script that he returned to the planet to live with an adoptive family ...
- 718k
7
votes
How did Kirk regularly beat Spock in 4-Dimensional chess?
In the book Star Trek - Enterprise: The First Adventure, while Spock was practicing a solo game Kirk spots a mate in 3 that he couldn't see. Spock says it was illogical because Kirk risked his queen ...
- 71
6
votes
What is the sculpture in Kirk’s Quarters — Star Trek VI
It's a statue of a child (probably a boy) riding a dolphin. Young people riding on dolphins are a common motif in statuary—although probably more commonly outdoor statuary, where they are often part ...
- 102k
5
votes
Why didn't James Kirk destroy the Reliant instead of (or while) trying to escape?
The Enterprise was deliberately in the Mutara Nebula without warp capabilities or shields to trap the Reliant.
But while doing that allowed the Enterprise crew to leverage their real-world battle ...
- 17.2k
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