78
votes
Accepted
Which Star Trek character appeared on screen with the most different ranks?
According to the Memory Alpha wiki, it would be Geordi LaForge.
Geordi has held more ranks on screen than any other Star Trek character: he was an ensign in a flashback in TNG: "Identity Crisis", ...
- 19.5k
65
votes
Which Star Trek character appeared on screen with the most different ranks?
I'm going to go with Q.
He appears as a Starfleet Lieutenant, a Starfleet Commander, a Starfleet Captain, a Starfleet Admiral as well as an RN Captain, a US Marine Colonel, a WWIII 'Drug Soldier', A ...
- 667k
63
votes
Accepted
Why wasn't Harry Kim promoted beyond ensign, when others like Tom Paris were multiple times?
Out-of-universe, the answer is pretty much Janeway's. Garret Wang, the actor who played Kim, gets asked this in interviews a lot, as you might imagine. In a 2011 interview with StarTrek.com, for ...
- 162k
52
votes
Accepted
In Star Trek (2009), was Chekov actually wrong for calling Spock "Commander" instead of "Captain"?
Commander and Captain are (in current Naval practice) both ranks, but "Captain" is also a job. One can be "the Captain" (commanding officer) without holding the rank of Captain (...
- 32.9k
50
votes
Why are all Starfleet ships commanded by Captains?
The Memory Alpha article on Starfleet Captains makes several references to Junior Captains, those who've commanded a Starfleet vessel but don't yet hold the rank of 'Captain'.
Commander Riker, ...
- 667k
48
votes
Which Star Trek character appeared on screen with the most different ranks?
Nog seems to hold an unfeasible number of ranks; On DS9 he holds the ranks of Cadet, Ensign and Lt Jg as well as a temporary promotion to Lt Cmdr on board the Valiant. He also holds the rank of full ...
- 667k
44
votes
Why wasn't Harry Kim promoted beyond ensign, when others like Tom Paris were multiple times?
There's a few things going on in-universe;
Janeway is very stingy with her promotions.
Over the course of the show, we only really see her promoting a couple of characters; Tuvok to Commander in Voy:...
- 667k
44
votes
In the TNG episode "Disaster", could Worf have given an order to a higher ranking officer?
There was a similar situation in the episode The Arsenal Of Freedom.
This was a first season episode. In the first season Geordi was usually on the Bridge, and there was a series of temporary Chief ...
- 16.6k
33
votes
Which Star Trek character appeared on screen with the most different ranks?
WORF
11 to 14 ranks
Starfleet:
Ensign (DS9/TOS Crossover: "Trials and Tribulations")
Lieutenant (TNG episode: "Encounter at Farpoint")
Lieutenant Jr Grade (TNG episode: "Evolution")
...
- 14.8k
32
votes
Accepted
In Star Trek, what's the rank progression from cadet to captain?
While there are plenty of exceptions in the Star Trek universe, due to exceptional valor or need in dire circumstances, typically a cadet needs to graduate from the Academy before he or she can hold a ...
- 110k
32
votes
Accepted
Why is O'Brien who operates the transporter called Chief in Star Trek?
The reason O'Brien is identified as "chief" actually depends on which episode you're watching. His military rank history is a bit unclear throughout the show, but at any given point, one of two ...
- 103k
32
votes
Accepted
In the TNG episode "Disaster", could Worf have given an order to a higher ranking officer?
There are effectively two distinct questions here.
Can Worf order higher-ranked officers around?
Worf has been given a direct order by the ship's First Officer; to remain in place and support injured ...
- 667k
31
votes
Accepted
What's the origin of referring to female superior officers as "sir"?
Professor De Witt Douglas Kilgore, a specialist in English literature and cultural representation at Indiana University, has done significant research on race, gender, and equality in speculative ...
- 110k
31
votes
Accepted
Why would Worf be First Officer of the Enterprise?
There's a few things going on here;
The position of First Officer is at the gift of the captain and doesn't necessarily go to either the next highest ranking person on the ship, nor the person who ...
- 667k
29
votes
Accepted
How does command get transferred on a Starfleet vessel as officers come onto or leave the bridge?
The "officer on deck" or "officer of the deck" (commonly "OOD") has "the conn" or operational control of the vessel. The conn is passed explicitly to an ...
- 115k
27
votes
Why is Tuvok so accepting of others calling him by his first name?
As far as I'm aware, Vulcans only have one name, or at least one commonly used name. Spock, for instance, was simply Commander Spock. T'Pol was simply (Sub-)Commander T'Pol.
Generally speaking, it ...
- 12.9k
24
votes
Accepted
In Star Trek, are there any (named) low-ranking older officers?
Lt Jg Reg Barclay was (approx) 42 years of age when we meet him in TNG: Hollow Pursuits. That seems rather old for such a low rank.
Lt Jg Janice Rand was (approx) 51 years of age when she was ...
- 667k
24
votes
Accepted
How did Starfleet have an admiralty if it didn't have a fleet?
The "Starfleet" that we see in Enterprise was evolving out of the United Earth Space Probe Agency, which was an international agency set up after Earth's Third World War. It served the same role that ...
- 110k
24
votes
Accepted
On a Starfleet vessel, what happens if there are no officers available to take the command?
In the episode DS9: Valiant, we encounter a ship that was on a training cruise. The senior staff all died and the remaining officer gave command to the highest ranked cadet.
WATTERS: (tolerant) "...
- 667k
23
votes
Geordi's authority in Arsenal of Freedom
Geordi didn't assume command, he was given command by his superior officer.
PICARD: Yes. Doctor Crusher, this is the Captain. Meet me in Transporter room three. Mister La Forge, you have command ...
- 667k
22
votes
Besides the famous captains, do we actually know anything any Admiral did to earn that rank?
You are confusing "actions" and "skill" with rank. A common mistake, but in a military organization, a person's rank is often dependent upon the position they hold, and not always based on their ...
- 3,220
21
votes
Accepted
Why did DS9 need a Science Officer (pre-wormhole!)?
The position of Science Officer is alive and well in the 24th century.
You're implying several things. So I'm going to try and answer the question with some framing.
The question is "Why did DS9 ...
- 14.8k
19
votes
Accepted
How did Worf's adoptive father know O'Brien's rank?
TL;DR: O'Brien's visible rank in "Family" is a continuity error, but he is assumed to have been wearing the proper rank insignia despite what we see on-screen.
Your confusion is understandable. Up to ...
- 62.7k
19
votes
How did Starfleet have an admiralty if it didn't have a fleet?
It had a fleet. A small one. NX-01 was special not because it was their first ship, but because it was the fastest, first to get to Warp 5.0, thus it was the first capable of speed high enough to ...
- 10.2k
19
votes
Accepted
Why did they film a scene for Nemesis with Lt. Wesley Crusher?
This is explained in the film's official novelisation. In short, like the Traveler before him, he's evidently decided to help Starfleet explore the galaxy. One would assume that his god-like powers to ...
- 667k
18
votes
Accepted
How come there are no middle-aged senior officers on the Enterprise D other than Picard?
It seems the answer may simply be that Picard hand-picked his senior officers (as mentioned here, based on quotes from TNG episodes: "The Next Phase", "Legacy", "The Pegasus") - and he picked younger ...
- 9,726
17
votes
Why are all Starfleet ships commanded by Captains?
The ranks in Star Trek are taken from the Navy ranks. In the Navy a Captain is not only a rank but also a title. Someone does not have to be a Captain to command a naval ship. But any officer ...
- 171
15
votes
What's the origin of referring to female superior officers as "sir"?
Star Trek: The Next Generation seems to be the earliest case (that I can find) of a female superior officer being formally addressed as "Sir". However, it's not the first case of a female ...
- 103k
15
votes
In Star Trek, what's the rank progression from cadet to captain?
You have to be in the Command division to work your way to the big chair.
Unless you are commanding a science vessel (like alternate future Crusher) you aren't going to captain a ship wearing ...
- 114k
14
votes
Accepted
Why was Dr. Bashir a lieutenant instead of an ensign?
Bashir (like his classmate Elizabeth Lense) was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant junior grade upon graduation from StarFleet in recognition for his medical training.
This is the same as in real-...
- 114k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible