sulu star trek rank

Star Trek Ranks, Explained

Though primarily peaceful, Starfleet follows a quasi-military protocol, which means a chain of command that ensures all runs smoothly.

Starting with the original series, Star Trek has adopted a quasi-military series of ranks and protocols for its characters. Starfleet is ostensibly a peaceful organization dedicated to exploration and diplomacy, but things can get dangerous on the final frontier. A functioning chain of command is necessary in the event of trouble to ensure that everyone operates at peak efficiency.

It's a bit of a paradox, since Starfleet officers also tend to be rugged individualists, but it makes a good deal of sense and over time has become an indispensable part of the franchise. A given character's rank speaks volumes about their comparative age, their position onboard, and their relationship with the other members of the crew. As with most things Star Trek, rank insignia has evolved over time. Here's a breakdown of Starfleet's ranking system in descending order from the lowliest cadets to the most powerful admirals.

Updated January 18, 2024 by Robert Vaux: Star Trek's ranking system is very stable at this point, and very little tends to change. The article has been updated to include a brief list of prominent members of each rank, along with the series and seasons they held it. It has also been updated to conform to current CBR guidelines.

9 Cadets Are Officers in Training at Starfleet Academy

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Cadets are typically students at Starfleet Academy , spending time onboard a starship as part of their training. They hold no rank and must obey the orders of any crewmen. They're often issued temporary badges or communicators and usually have a supervisory officer to watch over them. Cadets in the 23rd century wear badges with a distinctive black backing. Cadets in the 24th century wear distinctive uniforms denoting their status.

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise is used as a training vessel, with the crew consisting almost entirely of cadets. Wesley Crusher formally joins Starfleet Academy starting in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 9, "Final Mission," and spends most of his subsequent appearances at that rank. Similarly, Nyota Uhura joins the Enterprise as a cadet in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as does Sylvia Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery.

8 Enlisted Personnel/NCO Are Starfleet's Worker Bees

While officers attend Starfleet Academy, the rank-and-file personnel attend the 24th-century equivalent of boot camp. They become the anonymous crew working in the background, performing the countless tiny tasks required to keep a starship running. Their ranks include both enlisted crewmen and petty officers (the equivalent of sergeants) who often play supervisory roles. They typically lack any insignia on their uniforms, though chief petty officers in the Next Generation era sometimes have a black pip or similar marking.

Enlisted personnel often serve as The Original Series ' infamous red shirts : doomed to die in the name of plot exposition. The Next Generation introduces perhaps Starfleet's best-known enlisted man. Miles O'Brien runs the transporters on the Enterprise-D, and later becomes Chief of Operations on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

7 Ensigns Hold The Lowest Rank

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Ensigns are the lowest-ranking officers on Starfleet vessels. Cadets typically receive the rank of ensign immediately upon graduation from Starfleet Academy. While they technically have command authority, they're usually assigned menial tasks beneath the attention of the senior officers. Like NCOs, they lack insignia on their uniforms in The Original Series era. With The Next Generation and later series, ensigns receive a single gold pip on their collar. They're often lumped into the red shirt category.

Harry Kim is probably the franchise's most famous (or infamous) ensign, failing to receive a single promotion through Star Trek: Voyager's seven seasons , despite serving with distinction on the bridge. The Original Series' Pavel Chekov also begins his Starfleet career as an ensign, though he advances at a faster rate. Of course, the four main characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks are ensigns, though they all receive a promotion to lieutenant, junior grade at the beginning of Season 4.

6 Lieutenant, Junior Grade Have More Responsibility Than Ensigns

The next step up the ladder is lieutenant, junior grade. These are officers with more authority and responsibility than ensigns, but who still require seasoning before taking higher command positions. Medical personnel typically receive the lieutenant, junior grade rank after graduating, which reflects their extended training time. The Original Series uses a single dashed bar on the uniform sleeves to denote them, though Strange New Worlds has retconned that with a connected colored bar. T he Next Generation and later series note the rank with a second black pip in addition to the ensign's colored pip.

Both Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax hold the rank of lieutenant, junior grade when they begin their duties on Deep Space 9, though Ezri receives hers as a field promotion in Season 7, Episode 3, "Afterimage." Geordi La Forge starts as a lieutenant, junior grade too, as does Mr. Worf. B'Elanna Torres receives the rank on a provisional basis when she joins the crew of the Voyager, and the Lower Decks crew are all promoted to lieutenant, junior grade in Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix."

5 Lieutenants Lead the Away Teams and More

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Lieutenants have advanced to the point where they can take on considerable responsibilities. They may lead away teams or control key systems, and they often appear among the bridge crew or even as department heads. The Original Series notes them with a single bar on the uniform sleeve, while Strange New Worlds adds a second thinner bar above the lieutenant, junior grade's insignia. The Next Generation uses two colored pips on the collar — a method emulated by subsequent series.

Worf spends most of The Next Generation's later seasons as a lieutenant (he's promoted to lieutenant commander during the events of Star Trek Generations ) while Ro Laren is promoted to lieutenant shortly before her defection to the Maquis in The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 24, "Preemptive Strike." Lieutenants often occupy the helm position, including Hikaru Sulu in The Original Series, Keyla Detmer in Star Trek: Discovery , and Erica Ortegas in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

4 Lieutenant Commanders Head up Departments

Lieutenant commanders hold positions of senior responsibility onboard a starship, even serving as executive officers or de facto captains on small ships. One larger ships, they often serve as the head of specific departments such as science and engineering. In The Original Series , the rank is designated with two stripes on the sleeve — one thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds adjusts to two thick colored bands. The Next Generation and subsequent shows note lieutenant commanders with two colored pips and one black one.

Montgomery Scott holds the rank of lieutenant commander in The Original Series , acting as Chief Engineer and even commanding the Enterprise when Kirk and Spock are away on missions. Similarly, Geordi La Forge rises to the rank of lieutenant commander in The Next Generation , joining Data and Deanna Troi at the position, though the latter eventually advances to commander. Worf and Jadzia Dax are both lieutenant commanders when they begin their romance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Lastly, the original Number One — Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — is a lieutenant commander.

3 Commanders Aid and Can Take Over the Captain's Dutires

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Commanders are usually the ship's executive officers, "Number Ones," who assist the captain in their duties and step up in the event the captain is incapacitated. Commanders are often viewed as captains in training, and ultimately destined for a ship of their own in the future. In some cases, commanders are the head authority on smaller ships or space stations. Chief medical officers often hold this position as well. They're delineated by two thick bands on their sleeves in The Original Series era and three colored pips on the collar in The Next Generation and later.

Mr. Spock holds the rank of commander during the events of The Original Series , serving double duty as chief science officer as well. He's been followed by the likes of William Riker on The Next Generation and Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Picard . In addition, Beverly Crusher and Leonard McCoy both hold the rank of commander, while Deanna Tori is promoted to commander in Season 7, Episode 16, "Thine Own Self." Ben Sisko also begins his tenure on Deep Space 9 as a commander before being promoted to full captain at the end of Season 3.

2 Captains Command Starfleet's Various Starships

The captain serves as the commander of a starship, with the entire crew ranked beneath them. This affords them a great deal of autonomy, but also equal amounts of responsibility. Starships must often face dangers alone in the far depths of space. It falls to the captain to make the final call when lives are at stake. Occasionally, captains can be found in other duties, such as commanding a star base or holds an administrative position on Earth. Captains are delineated by three stripes on their sleeves in the Original Series era — two thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds slightly alters to a single thin band sandwiched between two thicker ones. The Next Generation era uses four full pips on the collar.

Most Star Trek series use a captain as the main character, starting with James T. Kirk in The Original Series . Their ranks include Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, Christopher Pike, and Carol Freeman. In addition, many lower-ranking characters eventually attain the captain's chair, such as Will Riker, Tuvok, and Mr. Spock. Both Ben Sisko and Michael Burnham become captain after several seasons of climbing the ranks, a change from most Star Trek series which tend to begin with their captains in place.

1 Admirals Possess The Greatest Rank and Come to Represent Starfleet Itself

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Admirals are Starfleet's major movers and shakers, placed in charge of entire fleets or overseeing vital operations. As flag officers, they no longer serve onboard starships, though they can claim command of one if circumstances dictate. James T. Kirk takes control of the Enterprise as an Admiral in both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , while both Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy and Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard are the authority on their respective vessels.

In addition to giving successful captains a cushy desk job, Star Trek often uses admirals as stand-ins for Starfleet itself: either aiding the crew in their endeavors or standing in their way when they go against protocol. They're delineated by a wide variety of methods, and hold varying ranks within the admiralty, such as Vice Admiral and Commodore, that shift from project to project.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

• Starfleet officers
• Starfleet personnel (23rd century)

Hikaru Sulu

• View history

Hikaru Sulu was a legendary Starfleet officer, best remembered for his assignments to the USS Enterprise as helmsman and commanding the USS Excelsior in the 23rd and 24th centuries .

• 1 Early life
• 2 Starfleet career
• 3 Assignment on the Enterprise
• 4 Commanding USS Excelsior
• 5 Later life and death
• 6 External links

Early life [ ]

Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco on April 20th, 2237 to Hosato and Yoshiko Sulu . Sulu became fascinated by space and the stars at an early age, beginning when he took a tour on Enterprise (NX-01) , the first warp 5 Starfleet vessel. Sulu decided to enter Starfleet Academy in 2255 , against the wishes of his parents, who felt Sulu would be better served working at the family's restaurant in Berkeley. Sulu refused and entered his application to Starfleet. He was accepted and began his classes the following September. Sulu had a difficult time adjusting to the rigid schedule and workload of Starfleet Academy classes, but soon gained confidence after attending a seminar on piloting a starship. Sulu graduated from the Academy in 2259 and was assigned to Starbase 47 as a physicist.

Starfleet career [ ]

Sulu arrived on Starbase 47 with the rank of Ensign . He stayed at this post for four and a half years, until he accepted a request to become a senior physicist on the USS Enterprise in 2265 . Sulu officially joined the ship a month later. He was on board the ship when it entered the galactic barrier and Enterprise helm officer Gary Mitchell was transformed into a God-like being and became evil and cruel. Fortunately, the Enterprise' s commanding officer, Captain James T. Kirk was able to defeat Mitchell and the Enterprise continued on. Six months into Sulu's assignment on the Enterprise , Kirk, looking for a replacement helmsman, asked Sulu of he would be interested in filling the position. Sulu jumped at the chance and was promoted to Lieutenant . He was officially made helmsman in 2266 .

Assignment on the Enterprise [ ]

Sulu's first few months as helmsman saw him pilot the ship when it made first contact with the First Federation and Balok, when the Enterprise nearly entered the atmosphere of Psi 2000 and when the Romulans crossed the Neutral Zone and attacked Federation starbases. Sulu later was captured along with Captain Kirk by the childlike, but powerful being Trelane in 2267 . Commander Spock was able to locate them and they were able to return to Enterprise . Sulu spent five years on the Enterprise , until its five year mission concluded and Captain Kirk ordered Sulu to take the Enterprise back to Earth.

The Enterprise underwent a major refit in 2270 . By late 2272 , the refit was complete and the ship was ready for launch. Sulu had spent his shore leave visiting his parents on Earth. He returned to the ship when it was quickly called out to address the V'Ger threat. The strange cloud had destroyed three Klingon vessels and the space station Epsilon XI. After defeating V'Ger, the Enterprise was called out for another five year mission, with Sulu at the helm. After the new five year mission was nearing completion, Sulu decided to accept a promotion to Commander and begin teaching at Starfleet Academy. He left the Enterprise in 2275 and was replaced by Lieutenant Commander Alexander DeSalle . In 2278 , the Enterprise returned to Earth. Starfleet, seeing the age of the Enterprise , decided to make it a training vessel for Cadets. In 2284 , Sulu was asked to help train the Cadets on piloting the ship. Beginning in 2285 , Sulu, along with original Enterprise officers, Spock, Dr. Leonard McCoy , Commander Uhura , Commander Scott and now Admiral Kirk, were to train the Cadets. However, the Enterprise was attacked by Khan Noonien Singh, who wanted revenge from Kirk for marooning him on Ceti Alpha V. The Enterprise was heavily damaged, but Sulu was able to maneuver the ship into a good firing position and Khan had to retreat.

The Enterprise finally faced Khan in the Mutara Nebula, where Sulu skillfully moved the ship near Khan's ship, the Reliant . The Reliant was destroyed and Sulu warped the Enterprise away. However, Captain Spock died saving the ship. Sulu attended his funeral in the Enterprise' s torpedo bay. Sulu later participated in Spock's rebirth by illegally stealing the Enterprise from spacedock and helped to retrieve his body, along with the Enterprise crew. This act did not come without a price, as the Enterprise was destroyed by Admiral Kirk. Sulu, along with the Enterprise crew returned to Earth in a stolen Klingon Bird of Prey to face the consequences of their actions. During the voyage home, Earth was attacked by a strange probe looking for the extinct Humpback whales. Kirk ordered the ship time travel to the year 1986 to get them. The mission was a success. Sulu was later cleared of all charges and was assigned to the newly commissioned USS Enterprise -A as helmsman, once again. After serving on the Enterprise -A for four years, Sulu was promoted to Captain and given command of the USS Excelsior in 2290 .

Commanding USS Excelsior [ ]

Sulu's mission as Captain was to catalog gaseous anomalies in the Beta Quadrant. Three years into the mission, the Excelsior was violently hit by a shockwave, resulting from the destruction of the Klingon moon, Praxis. The Excelsior sent a message to Starfleet about the catastrophe. Starfleet began drafting a peace treaty with the Klingons. When Klingon chancellor Gorkon was assassinated by members of the Enterprise -A crew, Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy were sent to Rura Penthe, a Klingon prison. Sulu was determined to free Kirk and McCoy, but the Excelsior was intercepted by Kang. Sulu was forced to retreat. The Excelsior later came to the rescue of the Enterprise and helped destroy a Klingon Bird of Prey which had the capability to fire while cloaked. Sulu later said goodbye to his former crewmates and continued on commanding the Excelsior for numerous years.

In 2344 , Sulu, a Captain at age 107, was still commanding the Excelsior . The ship was patrolling the Federation colonies near the Cardassian border. After beaming down to Solosos IV , Sulu came across a young fifteen year old boy named Chakotay . He and Chakotay talked about Starfleet and space exploration for a few hours. Sulu saw something in the boy he had in himself when he was Chakotay's age. He decided to help Chakotay enter Starfleet Academy with his sponsorship. Chakotay gratefully agreed. In 2351 , Sulu retired from Starfleet after serving for ninety-six years.

Later life and death [ ]

Sulu settled down with his wife and moved to Tokyo in 2355 . Sulu spent his later years tending to his garden and caring for his husband, Ben who had contracted Sakuro's disease. He died in 2369 . Sulu later passed away in 2372 from natural causes. Starfleet Command organized a massive funeral for Sulu. Many famous Starfleet officers attended, including Jean-Luc Picard , Benjamin Sisko , Grady Howard and Sulu's daughter, Captain Demora Sulu .

External links [ ]

• Hikaru Sulu article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Hikaru Sulu article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• Hikaru Sulu article at Star Trek Expanded Universe .
• 1 Invincible class
• 2 George VII of the United Kingdom
• 3 William V of the United Kingdom

Hikaru Sulu

In 2290, Sulu assumed command of the starship Excelsior and began a three-year mission charting gaseous anomalies in the Beta Quadrant. Because of this proximity to the Klingon Empire he was instrumental in saving the U.S.S. Enterprise from destruction by dissidents who were out to destroy the Khitomer peace conference.

After a full career he was still on active patrol on the Cardassian border as a captain at age 113 in 2350, where he agreed to sponsor young Chakotay from Dorvan V for Starfleet Academy after befriending the youth.

Sulu was an active hobbyist with interests including fencing, botany, and the martial arts of his native culture; in fact, when the helmsman was infected with the Psi 3000 virus in 2366 he threatened the bridge with his foil. Another of Sulu's hobbies was old-style hand guns, although he had never managed to find a "Police Special" for his collection. He is also an accomplished pilot of craft from many eras and cultures, piloting with little warm-up both an antique 20th century Earth helicopter and a Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

He has a daughter, Demora, who attended Starfleet Academy and served as the first helm officer of the Excelsior-class U.S.S. Enterprise under Capt. John Harriman, when Kirk met his untimely death due to the Nexus Ribbon in 2293.

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Hikaru Sulu

Character analysis.

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Living... on the USS Enterprise in the midst of a five-year mission exploring the final frontier and “boldly going where no man has gone before.”

Profession... Chief Helmsman of the Enterprise , in charge of speed, altitude, shields, and weapons. It’s an important position for a ship that is constantly under attack or flying away as quickly as possible from an adventure gone nearly-wrong.

Interests… botany, fencing, and martial arts. Unlike many of his fellow crew members, Sulu takes the time to explore a wide range of hobbies. Sulu collects plants from the planets he visits and studies intergalactic botany to tend to them. He also fences, collects firearms, and practices judo. Kirk even asks him to teach him some moves.

Relationship Status... single. Sulu has not explored any romantic relationships, but does have an extremely close friendship with Pavel Chekov, the ship’s navigator. They joke around and share their deepest secrets with one another. It’s good to have a friend by your side when you’re bouncing around galaxies.

Challenge... navigating the Enterprise through dangerous territory to safety. Sulu knew the risks of the job when he became Helmsman, but that doesn’t make his five-year journey any easier. He deals with being mind-controlled, facial burns, nearly freezing to death, and an assortment of other injuries. But with a doctor like Bones on board, he feels like he can get thrown from the bridge by a Klingon and bounce back in time to keep on exploring.

Personality... smart, brave, and incredibly trustworthy. Sulu is an ideal Helmsman, able to keep his cool and multi-task when tested. When Kirk has to leave the ship, he often leaves Sulu to sit in his chair. It’s a big seat to fill but Sulu’s calm, confident demeanor makes him a great candidate to lead a Starfleet ship one day.

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Capt. Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's half brother who kidnaps three diplomats and hijacks the Enterprise in his obsessive search for God.

The crews of the Enterprise and the Excelsior must stop a plot to prevent a peace treaty between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

When a destructive space entity is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral Kirk resumes command of the Starship Enterprise in order to intercept, examine, and hopefully stop it.

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Published Apr 20, 2023

Hikaru Sulu's Top Moments

For George Takei's birthday, let's look back at his barrier-breaking role!

StarTrek.com

One of the first significant casting and depiction on Star Trek was that of Hikaru Sulu , the Starfleet officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise , as portrayed by Japanese-American actor George Takei . His presence on the Bridge, alongside the likes of Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Uhura, " helped to positively shape Western views of Asian Americans ."

In honor of Takei's birthday, we're shining a light on the captivating swordsman, helmsman, and eventual commanding officer!

The Swashbuckling Musketeer

In " The Naked Time ," as the Enterprise descends into mayhem following a contagion ravishing the crew and affecting their inhibitions, Sulu shows off the virtues of fencing as well as his skills as a swordsman as he stalks around the ship shirtless.

Mirror Sulu

While this isn't our Prime Sulu, we get to set George Takei show his range in " Mirror, Mirror ," when we see the Mirror Universe's Sulu, who chews up the scenes as the leering, cutthroat, evil version of himself.

Officer "Don't Call Me Tiny" Sulu

When you serve alongside the likes of Kirk, you often find yourself in some sort of scrap. In Star Trek: The Search for Spock , Kirk and Sulu attempt to spring McCoy from a Starfleet holding cell. While Kirk grabs the doctor, Sulu dispatches two guards, while letting them know name-calling is not appropriate here.

Captain Sulu, the U.S.S. Excelsior , and Loyalty to the Crew vs. Loyalty to Starfleet

In Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country , while commanding the U.S.S. Excelsior , Captain Sulu proves himself to be loyal to both his new crew and old. Violating Starfleet orders, Sulu mounted a rescue of Kirk and McCoy.

Despite this, the Excelsior was vital at the Khitomer Conference, the peace negotiations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, where the Excelsior along with the Enterprise -A battled General Chang's prototype Bird-of-Prey, prevented an assassination attempt on the Federation President and exposed the Khitomer conspiracy.

In Star Trek: Voyager 's " Flashback ," Tuvok ends up taking Captain Janeway back to his experience aboard the Excelsior 80 years prior, where he was serving as a junior officer under Sulu's command, revisiting the moment Sulu ordered his crew to violate orders, which Tuvok opposes. With only two months of active duty, Sulu explains to the young Tuvok why he violated Starfleet officers, stressing the strong bond and sense of family that comes from serving with your crewmates long enough. After all, there's more that happens on a ship than just "carrying out orders and observing regulations."

HONORABLE MENTION: Captain Sulu and the Horsey

In Star Trek: Lower Decks ' "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus," after learning his double, William Boimler, died suddenly, Ensign Brad Boimler spirals and embarks on a spiritual quest that brings him face to face the "even better" Captain Sulu in a hallucinatory dream.

On the randomness of death, Sulu offered the sagely perspective to his fellow Starfleet officer, "I've lost many friends. Some heroically, some tragically. The randomness of death is merely a reflection of the unexpected joys we find in life."

Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively in the United States and Latin America on Paramount+, on Amazon Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, India and more, and in Canada on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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The Off-Screen Drama That Changed Sulu From Star Trek Forever

Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" franchise is set in a more enlightened futuristic universe, where the Vulcan philosophy of infinite diversity in infinite combinations is the order of the day (per StarTrek.com ). And while that doesn't mean everyone gets along all the time, it does mean that the series as a whole champions tolerance, faith in humanity, and hope for progress. 

Unfortunately, "Star Trek" actors live in the present day, instead of the future, which means that the drama that happens behind-the-scenes can be a bit pettier than the conflicts that the characters experience on the screen.

In particular, there's one off-screen drama that affected George Takei, known to fans not only as Lt. Sulu (and as Captain Hikaru Sulu in later movies), but as a prolific performer, author, viral social media star, political activist and more. The 84-year-old Japanese actor has led an incredibly full life, which included time in a U.S. internment camp as a child and the receipt of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Yet he did experienced drama on the set of the original "Star Trek" that influenced his life to such a degree he still talks about it today in front of audiences today.

Takei fanned the flames in his autobiography from 1994

The drama comes in the form of what the media calls a long-running feud between Captain Kirk actor William Shatner and George Takei, two actors whom have spent plenty of time in the same spaces ever since the original "Star Trek" went off the air in 1969 because of its enduring popularity, including press events and conventions. 

Their public statements about one another appear to have started with Takei's 1994 autobiography, "To the Stars," in which he described Shatner on his the first day on the set as having "radiated energy and a boundless joy in his position." Takei wrote, "He beamed out an infectious, expansively joyous life force." However, he wasn't as kind to the star of the show after that, noting that Shatner ended up with many of the good lines intended for other cast members, and this expression of ego and insecurity continued even when the series was resurrected for Paramount's first "Star Trek" film. 

For the second film, Takei began negotiating with producers to advance Sulu in rank. A scene in "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan" was to have Kirk informing Sulu that he was now commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior. However, Takei says in the book, Shatner played the scene so disinterestedly that it was cut from the film as unusable. As a result, Sulu did not become captain of his own vessel until "Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country."

The feud heats up with Shatner minimizing Takei's role in Star Trek

In 2008, Shatner was asked if he felt snubbed by not being invited to Takei's September wedding to Brad Altman. "Well, the whole thing makes me feel badly," the actor said, via The Official William Shatner Page . "Poor man. There's such a sickness there. It's so patently obvious that there's a psychosis there." However, Takei responded to the situation in  People Magazine , saying he did in fact invite Shatner to the wedding but did not hear back. "But it wasn't surprising because it's true to his history. He's never responded to an invitation. Every time there was something happy to celebrate amongst us ... he never showed up," Takei said.

In 2020, Shatner posted this tweet in response to a Twitter inquiry pointing out that the other actor was not much more than a "day player," on set one or two days a week. Shatner posted, "Do the math. That's why I don't know him. He was on set maybe 3 weeks total per year. That's why I say he has all of these fake stories from the set; when did he have time to act?" 

Shatner reportedly covered the feud in his own memoir, "Shatner Rules," from 2011, in which he said Takei's dislike of him came from an unwillingness to play second fiddle (per The Los Angeles Times ). A set of handwritten notes that went for auction in 2016 also indicated that Shatner did not make an effort to pay much attention to his co-star ( via Express ).

Despite the negativity, both remain cultural icons to Star Trek fans

Takei has addressed Shatner's minimization of his role in "Star Trek." In 2021, he told Howard Stern , "It is so patently unbelievable ... That is purely fiction of his mind. Or, maybe it is his truth."

Whatever the truth, both actors continue to rehash the situation with fans at conventions, over social media and at events and interviews. In October 2021, Shatner went to the edge of space in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin capsule. This event led Takei to remark as he spoke at the New York opening of "Thoughts of a Colored Man" ( per Page Six ), "He's boldly going where other people have gone before." Takei called Shatner a "guinea pig" who is "not the fittest specimen of 90 years old."

At Star Trek: Mission Chicago, a new convention in which both appeared on April 8-10, 2022, Takei brought the topic up again, saying that he felt Shatner always purposefully butchered his name. He referenced a Comedy Central roast of the actor, in which he reminded Shatner that "Takei" rhymes with "toupee" — something Shatner is rumored to have worn for years. Some have taken sides in the battle, with Shatner's supporters saying all the negativity comes from Takei. 

However, it is clear that many fans believe that both are worthy of their titles as "cultural icons," as one commenter on YouTube called them, and that it's a shame that the relationship has badly affected both their lives.

Hikaru Sulu

Character » Hikaru Sulu appears in 637 issues .

Born in 2237 in San Francisco, Hikaru Sulu was the helmsman of the USS Enterprise under Captain James T Kirk and later became the commanding officer of the USS Excelsior.

Summary short summary describing this character..

Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection

Hikaru Sulu last edited by downinthesewer on 06/22/23 03:11AM View full history

Star Trek Canon Special Note

Not everything listed in the origin is Canon. That is because only television shows and movies are considered canon. This being a comic website there are many things here that are not canon. So unless it is contradicted in film it should be listed as part of the character biography.

Lieutenant Sulu was assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise in 2265 where he was the head of the astro-science department. On ship he was known for his skills in mathematics, fencing, and botany. He was later promoted to helmsman. In 2266, the Enterprise was sent back in time after a near-collision with a black hole, this lead to the Enterprise being photographed by the United States Air Force, not wanting to disrupt Earth history, Captain James Kirk and Sulu transported to the military base to retrieve any evidence of the Enterprise being detected.

During the Enterprise refit in 2270, Sulu was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served aboard the Enterprise under the command of Captain Willard Decker. It is at some point during this time that Sulu fathered a daughter named Demora Sulu who was born in 2271, she would later hold the same position as her father in 2293, as the helmsman of the Enterprise-B. Also at this point Between between 2270 and 2285, Sulu was promoted again to the rank of Commander and assigned to teaching at Starfleet Academy .

Sulu was later penned for promotion to Captain and given command of the USS Excelsior, but due to the Genesis incident and the subsequent stealing of the Enterprise, command was given Captain Styles instead. In 2286, Sulu was the pilot of the HMS Bounty, the Klingon ship which was stolen after the Enterprise was destroyed. After taking the Bounty back in time to the year 1986, Sulu also piloted a Huey 204, which carried the container for two humpback whales. On returning to the year 2286, Sulu along with the rest of the crew are given their new ship, the U.S.S. Enterprise A. In 2287 the then newly commissioned Enterprise A is called to Nimbus III to defend the inhabitants against a group of raiders led by Spock's brother, Sybok. Once again, Sulu is at the helm of the ship and pilots it to the edge of the galaxy.

In 2290, Sulu was finally promoted to the rank of Captain and given command of the USS Excelsior, taking with him Lieutenant Commander Janice Rand who was assigned the position of ship's communications officer. Three years later, the Excelsior was assigned to the Beta Quadrant to catalog gaseous anomalies, it is there that the ship detects a shock wave created by the explosion of Praxis, one of the moons of Qo'noS, this lead eventually led to the battle between with the USS Enterprise and the prototype Klingon Bird of Prey, in which the Excelsior warps in later to assist.

Sulu was created for the television show Star Trek by Gene Robbenberry. The character was played by George Takei . In the new film he is played by John Cho.

Character Evolution

In a small run of comics by Power Records the character of Sulu was depicted as a black man but in comics and film after this he was still depicted as he originally was. It is unknown why this transformation was made. Uhura in the same series was depicted as being a blonde blue eyed woman and lesser know character M'Ress was depicted as a blue alien.

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Star Trek: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Sulu

Despite Sulu's rich history in multiple forms of media, there are still some things about him that even the biggest Star Trek fans might not know.

Even though the main focus in the original series of Star Trek was on the trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei, is just as important. As the ship's helmsman, Sulu helped save the Enterprise and its crew on more than one occasion. He's highly proficient at his job, but also friendly and kind toward others, making him one of the more popular crew members.

RELATED: Things You Didn’t Know About Scotty From Star Trek

The series never gave much space to Sulu's private life, but a few episodes did place him in a more important position. Sulu didn't just appear in the original series either, but also in the renewed Star Trek movie series, in which John Cho plays him. Despite Sulu's rich history in multiple forms of media, there are still some things about him that even the biggest Star Trek fans might not know.

5 Sulu Almost Didn't Appear In The Original Star Trek Movies

After his initial appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), George Takei was hesitant about appearing in the sequel, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). In the end, he changed his mind when William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk , called George Takei and persuaded him to join the cast.

Takei did, and he appeared in the rest of the original movies as well. Fans of the original crew will no doubt agree that the movies just wouldn't have been the same without Hikaru Sulu!

4 His Date Of Birth

Unlike other Star Trek characters, Sulu doesn't have a set date of birth. What is known is that he studied piloting at the Starfleet Academy. Sulu then went on to join the starship Enterprise under Captain Kirk's command in 2265.

RELATED: Things You Didn't Know About Droids From Star Wars

When he joined the crew, he was 29, which means he was most likely born in 2236, making him three years younger than Captain Kirk, six years younger than Spock, and a whole nine years younger than Doctor McCoy. Interestingly enough, having been born in 1937, George Takei is also the youngest actor of the original main crew, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy being both born in 1931 .

3 Sulu's Various Hobbies

Even though his work as the ship's helmsman took up a lot of his time, Sulu also had interesting hobbies. He was fond of antique firearms and loved fencing. He proved this when he chased the crewmen around with his sword in the episode The Naked Time ! This episode is also George Takei's favorite Star Trek episode .

In his spare time, Sulu enjoyed exercising and practicing martial arts. He was also an accomplished botanist and had his own botanic garden on the ship, taking careful care of all the plants. One particular hobby that both Sulu and Captain Picard had was enjoying a good hot cup of tea. While Sulu's hobbies rarely ever had a significant impact on the plot of the series, they presented ample opportunities to learn even more about his character.

2 His Romantic Relationships And Family

Captain Kirk was the one who had the most romances in the original series. The series hinted at the fact that Sulu was attracted to Uhura several times, both in the original and in the evil mirror universe, but nothing seemed to have happened between them. In one of the Star Trek novels, Sulu had a long-term relationship with a fellow officer Mai Duyen Trinh, but she later died during an accident, something Sulu had a hard time coming to terms with. His other interest in the lesser-known characters in the series and movies didn't lead anywhere either.

However, unlike other members of the crew, Sulu did become a father when his daughter Demora was born sometime in the 2270s. Demora followed in her father's footsteps and also became a helmsman. It hasn't been specified who Demora's mother is in the movies, but other Star Trek stories call the mother Susan Ling or Yoshika Sulu. As for Demora, not only did she work as a helmsman on the Enterprise, but she eventually went on to become a captain of the ship Enterprise-B!

RELATED: Things You Didn’t Know About Ewoks From Star Wars

Sulu doesn't just have a daughter in the original movies either, but also in the Abrams universe where John Cho portrays him . In Star Trek Beyond (2016), Sulu briefly appears accompanied by his husband and their young daughter. Considering the daughter's age, it looks like Sulu and his husband have been together for years and in the brief scene the three characters share, they come across as a happy family. This version of Sulu is also supposed to have a sister named Yuki, at least according to a Star Trek comic book storyline. Yuki is also serving on the Enterprise, but as an engineering officer.

1 His Life Before Starfleet

The movies never provided as many details about Sulu as subsequent novels and other Star Trek forms of media did. As such, there are plenty of small details about Sulu that those who only watched the show and the movies might not be familiar with. In one novel, for example, it's stated that Sulu's full name is Hikaru Kato Sulu.

Interestingly enough, Sulu's first name didn't appear in Star Trek movies until 1991 and the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country even though the original series first aired in the 1960s! Another source material claims that Sulu's middle name wasn't Kato, but instead, Walter. Sulu's place of birth is similarly contested. He could have been born in Los Angeles, in Hawaii, or even on Alpha Mensa V. In the end, it's up to each fan to decide which name they like most for Sulu.

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Sulu (Captain)

• View history

In 2344 , he was among the officers patrolling the Cardassian border that became acquainted with a young Chakotay . When Chakotay requested a sponsorship to get into Starfleet Academy , he told the captain that Kolopak approved, then kept Sulu as far away from Kolopak as he could so his lie wouldn't be found out. Chakotay admitted this to Kolopak when he informed his father of his intentions to leave the tribe and attend the Academy. ( VOY : " Tattoo ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

This character was only mentioned in dialogue.

The Star Trek: Voyager Companion  (p. 76), " It is assumed that the Captain Sulu who sponsored Chakotay at the Academy is either Hikaru Sulu who served under Captain Kirk on the Enterprise or Demora Sulu who served on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B . " This reference, however, does not take into account the fact that Chakotay used the male pronoun "he" when referring to Captain Sulu.

As such, the Star Trek Encyclopedia  (2nd ed., p. 70) suggested that this was probably intended to be a reference to Captain Hikaru Sulu, who would have been 107 in 2344. (Given Doctor McCoy 's tour of the USS Enterprise -D as an admiral at age 137 ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "), this would not be as implausible as it might seem.)

Apocrypha [ ]

According to the novel Pathways , Captain Sulu is actually Hiromi Sulu ( β ), the grandson of Hikaru Sulu and son of Demora Sulu.

The anthology, Tales from the Captain's Table , states that it was in fact Sulu's daughter Captain Demora Sulu who sponsored him (She would have been 76). The story also suggests an explanation for why Chakotay specifically referred to the Captain Sulu who sponsored him as "he" in "Tattoo".

• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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• Starfleet personnel
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• Starfleet helmsmen and flight controllers
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Hikaru Sulu

• View history
• 1.1 Early life and career
• 1.2 Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 1.3 Trexelian sector
• 1.4 The Courageous
• 1.5 Return to the Enterprise
• 1.6 The Excelsior
• 1.7 President Sulu
• 2 Starfleet service record
• 3.1 Connections
• 3.2.1 Appearances
• 3.2.2 References
• 3.3 External link

Biography [ ]

Early life and career [ ].

Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco , Earth in 2237 . ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : The Voyage Home )

His parents named him after the protagonist of the Japanese novel The Tale of Genji . ( TOS novel : The Entropy Effect )

In 2248 , Sulu and his family moved from Earth to Ishikawa , on the planet Ganjitsu , located along the Federation - Klingon border. An unexpected Klingon force attacked the colony they lived at. This resulted in the death of a girl Sulu was close friends with. Only many years later, did he finally release this consuming guilt he had harbored. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

By 2251 , Sulu was living on Hafjian , a high-gravity planet where the inhabitants were forced to wear Lieber exoskeletons . Years later, Dr. McCoy was concerned that this might cause problems for Sulu after he turned 70. By 2252 , Sulu was once again living on Ganjitsu, when he snuck aboard the USS Aerfen to meet Captain Hunter . Sulu was discovered and given a guided tour of the starship. ( TOS novel : Enterprise: The First Adventure )

Sulu entered Starfleet Academy in 2255 , and quickly developed an aptitude for Spatial Navigation, as well as fencing , in which he became champion for three years running. Hikaru also took up an extracurricular in botany , finally graduating in 2259 . This aspect of his hobbies earned him the nickname, " D'Artagnan " six years later. ( TOS episodes : " The Man Trap ", " The Naked Time ")

Sulu's first shipboard deep-space assignment as a Starfleet ensign following his graduation was aboard the USS Arjuna , where the starship encountered the nomadic Betelgeusian species, whose entire civilization were carried aboard massive fleets of interstellar argosies after fleeing the impending supernova of their home star. On his very first day as an ensign aboard the ship, Sulu accidentally spilled coffee all over the helm controls, a mortifying experience that did not endear him to the ship's captain. ( TOS novel : The Face of the Unknown ; TOS - The Modala Imperative comic : " A Little Seasoning ")

In 2259 , Sulu entered Starfleet Command School at the Academy. He entered for the fall semester of that year. He had flown a simulation helicopter , much like the Huey 204 series, while training there for his pilot certificate . ( TOS novel : The Kobayashi Maru , TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701) [ ]

In 2264 , Sulu was expecting to be assigned to the USS Aerfen when he received orders to board the USS Enterprise as the ship's helmsman. Although he requested a transfer, this was refused by Captain James T. Kirk , and following the voyage around the Federation Phalanx Sulu decided to remain aboard anyway. ( TOS novel : Enterprise: The First Adventure )

Later that year Sulu transferred to the Astrophysics department and was replaced at the helm by Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell . However, Sulu was temporarily thrown back into helm duties by the crisis at Mestiko , as the pulsar ravaging that world threatened to destroy the Enterprise. Following Mitchell's death in 2265 , Sulu requested to be transferred to another Constitution -class starship, as he was bored in astrophysics. Rather than losing a much valued officer Captain Kirk offered him the position of helmsman, and Sulu accepted. His mathematics skills carried over into this new field. ( TOS episode : " Where No Man Has Gone Before "; TOS - Mere Anarchy eBook : Things Fall Apart ; TOS - My Brother's Keeper novel : Constitution ; WizKids module : Attack Wing )

Soon after, Sulu led his first landing party on an uncharted world that held archaeological ruins. A member of Sulu's team accidentally triggered an ancient security system and geologist Vanani Manprasad was killed. Sulu confided with friend and shipmate Janice Rand about his self-doubt as to whether or not he was truly bridge officer material. Sulu got over his doubts after the Captain cleared him of all wrongdoing in the matter and assured him that the helm was still his if he wanted it. ( TOS short story : " The Landing Party ")

In 2266 , Sulu and Commander Spock were assigned to escort Prince Vikram back to his homeworld of Angira , and helped defend the prince from those who tried to overthrow him. ( TOS novel : Shadow Lord )

At some point during the Enterprise 's five-year mission, Sulu was transported via an unknown phenomena to the USS Valiant in the Trexelian Expanse . Sulu temporarily assisted the Valiant crew. ( TOS video game : Trexels )

In 2269 , Sulu considered applying for a transfer off the Enterprise because he felt like more of a challenge. Kirk realized this and put through a request that Sulu be promoted to Lieutenant Commander . This promotion went into effect the same year. ( TOS novel : The Entropy Effect , ST website  : StarTrek.com , TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

In 2270 , while piloting the Enterprise as it worked to save the mining colony on Klondike VI from its decaying rings, Sulu had a unique opportunity to meet and work with old Earth astronaut Shaun Geoffrey Christopher , who had briefly been transferred into Kirk's body via an alien probe. Realising that he had been 'programmed' with the energy pattern the probe used to stabilise an ancient program to preserve the planet's rings, Christopher was allowed to sit at the helm of the Enterprise alongside Sulu to fire the ship's phasers to duplicate the effect, saving the colony, Sulu noting to Christopher that he had always been a fan of early cosmonauts ( TOS novel : The Rings of Time ).

Trexelian sector [ ]

In a region of the Trexelian Expanse , Sulu's shuttle was retrieved by the USS Trexelprise during the course of that area of space being involved in a weakening of the time continuum. ( ST video game : Trexels )

The Courageous [ ]

In early 2270 , Sulu actually did request a transfer off Enterprise as he blamed Kirk for the fatal wounding of his girlfriend, the ship's A-and-A officer Ensign Mai Duyen Trinh , during an away mission. Kirk regretfully approved the request and Sulu was transferred to the USS Courageous as its second officer . Despite his promotion, Sulu was not happy and deliberately didn't integrate with the crew of the Miranda -class vessel.

A few months later, the Courageous and the Enterprise defended a Bajoran colony from an attack by the Ascendants . The Courageous was badly damaged and Sulu took command after Captain Caulder was killed and Commander Costley was injured. This command experience caused Sulu to reevaluate his blame towards Kirk and he requested to rejoin the Enterprise crew. ( TOS novel : Allegiance in Exile )

Return to the Enterprise [ ]

Sulu returned to the Enterprise for the end of Kirk's first five-year mission . ( TOS novel : Allegiance in Exile )

During the refit Sulu and Pavel Chekov took shore leave on Earth, Chekov convincing Sulu to visit the holiday resort of Demora in the middle of the Sahara desert. At first Sulu was against the idea, but once there he met a mysterious woman calling herself Ling Sui . Sulu wound up getting sucked into Ling's nefarious activities, resulting in the pair of them getting stranded in the middle of the Sahara desert. They spent the night together in an oasis, but after falling asleep, Sulu woke to find Ling had gone. Chekov was able to rescue Sulu in a shuttle, but they found no sign of Ling. ( TOS novel : The Captain's Daughter )

Shortly after the encounter with V'Ger , Kirk decided to name Sulu as his second officer , feeling that it would be good command level experience for Sulu. When Spock took personal leave on Vulcan , Sulu stood in as first officer . ( TOS novel : Ex Machina ) Sulu took the opportunity to tell the story of his Kobayashi Maru test to Kirk, McCoy , Scotty and Chekov while they were stranded aboard a drifting shuttlecraft following an accident. ( TOS novel : The Kobayashi Maru ) When a child was killed by a plasma grenade during a fight between Klingons and an Enterprise landing party on Cragon V , Weyland , the omnipotent ruler of the planet, punished Kirk by sending Sulu, Scotty and Chekov back in time . Sulu found himself in Japan in 1600 , where he swore allegiance to Torii Mototada , the lord of Fushimi Castle , and fell in love with Mototada's concubine, Lady Oneko . Oneko pleaded with Sulu to take her into the mountains and live there with her as a farmer, but Sulu was unwilling to live in hiding and without honor. He brought her to safety in Edo, Japan and returned to Fushimi Castle, knowing that the forthcoming siege would result in the deaths of every person there. As the inevitable end of the siege approached, Sulu rode out into the enemy but was returned to the 23rd century by Weyland. ( TOS novel : Home Is the Hunter )

In 2278 the Enterprise put in for another refit, and during her downtime Sulu was approached by Captain Morgan Bateson and offered the posting of First Officer aboard the USS Bozeman . Sulu accepted the position, but was instead called to Starfleet Medical by Dr. Leonard McCoy, who informed Sulu that Ling Sui, whose real name was Susan Ling, had died and left him a daughter, Demora Ling . At first Sulu planned to send Demora to a boarding school and take the Bozeman posting, but as he grew to know her, he decided to take up fatherhood, accepting a posting at Starfleet Academy with Captain Kirk, so he could remain in San Francisco and care for her. ( TOS novel : The Captain's Daughter )

When the Cetacean Probe began damaging Earth's atmosphere in its search for humpback whales , Hikaru Sulu and the senior crew of the late starship Enterprise traveled back in time from 2286 to 1986 to retrieve a pair of humpbacks. While in San Francisco of 1986, Sulu met and spoke in Japanese with a young child - the child believed Sulu to be his uncle. When McCoy asked who the child was, Sulu replied that the child was a distant ancestor of his. Sulu and his colleagues were able to successfully retrieve George and Gracie , and helped bring them back to the 23rd century , saving Earth in the process. His skills at firing the braking thrusters (twice) to escape Sol 's gravity proved successful. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Upon the successful resolution of the Whalesong Crisis, a brand-new starship, the USS Enterprise -A , was launched and placed under the command of the newly-demoted Captain Kirk, in early 2286. Hikaru Sulu was once again assigned to the command staff of the Starship Enterprise , this time in the dual role of First Officer as well as Helmsman (Captain Spock remained on-board in his traditional role of Science Officer ). Sulu would serve as executive officer aboard the Enterprise -A for approximately four years, from 2286, until November 2289 , when he would be reassigned to the USS Excelsior . ( TOS comic : " Choices! "; TOS novel : Excelsior: Forged in Fire )

During this time Sulu at some point also served as the head of the Starfleet Command School at the academy, reporting to Commandant Aex Rotherot . ( SA video game : Starfleet Academy )

The Excelsior [ ]

In late 2289 Commander Sulu was assigned to the USS Excelsior as Executive Officer under Captain Lawrence Styles . Captain Styles treated Commander Sulu coldly, due to his involvement with stealing the USS Enterprise from Spacedock and for the public embarrassment that he and his command crew took. Commander Sulu also was commonly at odds with Lieutenant Commander Meredith Cutler , the Excelsior 's Chief of security who had been tapped to be XO before Sulu arrived.

In one of his first missions as Captain, he attended a summit held at the Korvat colony at which Ambassador Curzon Dax used the tactic of angering Klingon delegate Kang in order to get him to move beyond posturing rhetoric. The tactic was successful, but Sulu considered Dax to be a loose cannon. ( TLE novel : The Sundered )

This would, however, prove to be futile as the Federation / Klingon Peace Talks broke down due to a terrorist attack by the Klingon pirate , the Albino . In the attacks, Captain Styles was killed and Commander Sulu was made acting Captain of Excelsior by Starfleet. ( TOS novel : Excelsior: Forged in Fire )

In 2290 , Sulu and his crew then assisted the Enterprise as they helped the Tabukans disarm their warheads, maintain their peace between their worlds and prevent Romulan interference. ( TOS - Tests of Courage comics : " Divide...and Conquer ", " Showdown! ")

In 2293 , Captain Hikaru Sulu expressed his convictions to a young Ensign junior grade Tuvok for rushing to aid Kirk and the Enterprise at Rura Penthe and Camp Khitomer . Sulu's life was saved numerous times ( TOS episodes : " The Enemy Within ", " The Naked Time ", " The Squire of Gothos ", " The City on the Edge of Forever ", " The Return of the Archons ", " Catspaw ", " That Which Survives ", TAS episode : " The Infinite Vulcan ") by Kirk and McCoy — who had just escaped Rura Penthe — and Sulu felt he owed them, even if it risked his career. ( VOY episode : " Flashback ")

In the same year, Sulu was running an exercise drill when Pavel Chekov called to tell Sulu about the assumed death of Captain James T. Kirk . ( TNG novel : Generations )

Also in the same year, Sulu took the Excelsior to rescue the USS Ranger and Enterprise-A that had been caught in the Janus Vortex . During the event, he and his crew were transported into the mirror universe , where they exchanged places with their counterparts in that reality and found themselves on board their ISS Excelsior . After fighting off an attempt to destroy his vessel by Pavel Chekov , Sulu took his vessel and crew on a journey to Janus Ultima in order to return to their own universe . To accomplish this, he had to take the ship through Terran Empire space. Whilst on the journey, his ship came under attack from Klingon fighters and a battlecruiser , but the arrival of the ISS Renegade — under the command of Captain Kael — forced the Klingons to retreat. Kael then escorted Excelsior to Starbase 9 , but was unaware of the fact that the ship has been replaced by counterparts from the primary universe. Arriving at the starbase , Sulu used an aggressive posture to convince the local CO into repairing his ships until they received a communication revealing Sulu to be an enemy. The starbase launched fighters to attack the Excelsior , but the crew's own complement of fighters managed to repel the attack. After the repairs were complete, the fighters of the Excelsior disabled the ISS Renegade ; allowing Sulu to escape from the Terran base.

Attempting to reach the Klingon border, Sulu's crew crossed into an old weapon -testing range, where they encountered the M5 Unit , which had taken over four derelict vessels. The M-5 began attacking the Excelsior in an attempt to protect itself. Controlling four Constitution class starships and a number of drone fighters, the M5 Unit began its attack, and was suspected to be installed on the ISS Hood . After the annihilation of the Hood , the fighters self-destructed. Before the weakened Excelsior could continue its journey, an Orion scavenger ship attempted to pick it off, but thanks to its fighter squadron, the Orion ship was destroyed. Sulu then took the Excelsior to the border of Klingon space and found a Terran starbase, where he attempted to gain dilithium crystals to power his vessel, only to be ambushed by Chekov with a small fleet of ships. After a pitched battle between the two sides, Sulu managed to defeat Chekov, who was once again forced to flee. Taking the crystals, Sulu managed to re-energize the warp drive of his ship.

After entering into Klingon space, Sulu began to feel uneasy after traveling into a system that was supposed to be a primary industrial center in the Klingon Empire but only found small planetoids and asteroids in its place. Once there, they fought several Klingon fighters and were later attacked by Orion raiders, but managed to repel these assaults. Traveling deeper into Klingon space, he encountered more devastation and answered the distress calls of a nearby Klingon outpost , which was threatened with destruction by two damaged battlecruiers whose warp cores were about to explode. Despite trying to help, the Excelsior was attacked by the Klingons; who thought the ship was a Terran Empire vessel that was attacking the outpost. He later assisted the Klingons in destroying the Doomsday Machine which the Terran Empire had tricked into Klingon space, and which had been ravaging their territory. By saving the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS , he earned their gratitude, and they helped escort him to the Romulan border. Once there, he was ambushed by Chekov's forces, who tried to destroy his Klingon escorts only to be repelled by the Excelsior 's crew. While continuing his journey, he encountered the Mirror counterparts of Balok and the First Federation , who attempted to destroy him through the use of radiation emitting space buoys . Sulu and the crew managed to defeat Balok, and continue on their journey to Janus Ultima.

After entering the Romulan Neutral Zone , Sulu had to contend with a remote Romulan patrol, and destroyed them to prevent them from informing their military of the incursion into their space. Entering into Romulan space, he encountered a warning in the form of the dead hulks of numerous starships in their space, but continued his course. He eventually learned that the Romulan Republic of this reality had its space being ravaged by the Space amoeba entity, and Sulu helped them destroy the organism. In gratitude, the Romulans escorted him to Tholian space, where he was once again ambushed by Chekov. Despite the attack, he repelled Chekov's offensive, allowing Sulu to enter Tholian territory. In an attempt to avoid a large fleet from the Imperial Starfleet, Sulu had the Excelsior engage its warp drives, which had been damaged earlier. This action created a wormhole and deposited the ship into Tholian space. Before he could go to Janus Ultima, he received a distress call from the I.S.S. Enterprise -A, which had been attacked by Tholian ships, and was doomed without any help. Despite his reservation, Sulu helped Chekov, and in gratitude, the Imperial Starfleet Commander formed an alliance with Sulu, and helped him in fending off attacks from other ships.

Reaching the Vortex, they encountered a large, Terran Imperial fleet that attempted to stop them, but the assistance of the I.S.S. Enterprise -A allowed the Excelsior to enter the Janus Vortex, where they attempted to recreate the incident that allowed them to cross realities. In-between dimensions, he encountered his Mirror counterparts, and a battle erupted between the two until Sulu deployed the dilithium warhead , which catapulted both crews back to their own realities. Once back to his home universe, Sulu was informed by Chekov that the Klingons and Romulans were eager for him to lead them into a war against the Federation , but he declined the offer, and plotted a course to the nearest starbase. ( TOS video game : Shattered Universe )

Sulu, along with his new First Officer , Cipriano , were then sent by Admiral Renshaw on diplomatic mission to meet with the Tholians in the Vyell system , to find about their recent disagreement/offense with the Federation colony on Mirabi 5 near their border. On the way the meeting with the Tholian, Sulu and the crew of the Excelsior responded to a distress call from the USS Shepherd , which had suffered heavy damage from a supernova. Fortunately they were able to rescue the Shepherd 's crew, but were 37 minutes late to the meeting with the Tholians. ( TOS - Captain's Log comic : " Sulu ")

In 2298 , Sulu made contact with the sundered branch of Earth humanity known as the Neyel when the Excelsior followed an interspace corridor into the Lesser Magellanic Cloud . Sulu's efforts were crucial in preventing war between the Neyel and the Tholian Assembly . ( TLE novel : The Sundered )

At some point in the early 24th century, Sulu takes shore leave time from Excelsior on an unnamed jungle-planet, when he is mistakenly attacked by Kang (now governor of a Klingon colony world), believing him to be the deceased James T. Kirk . Kang, investigating the alleged reappearance of Kirk there (following his disappearance in 2293 ), agrees to team up with Sulu in order to verify the rumor. Along the way, the pair are assaulted by an automated defense system, followed by a battle against S'alath , the Gorn captain defeated by Kirk decades earlier during the Cestus III incident . Although stunned by Sulu's phaser blast, the Gorn captain dies, apparently due to extreme age and physiological infirmity. It is discovered that the rumors surrounding Captain Kirk's "reappearance" were due to a holographic projector installed by the Gorn captain, causing visitors to see images of Kirk. Sulu and Kang bury the Gorn, shake hands, and part ways amicably, returning to their respective commands. ( TOS comic : " The Veteran ")

In 2308 , Sulu went missing for eleven years when the Excelsior was pulled into another universe and subsequently destroyed. He and over five hundred survivors of the Excelsior crew were eventually rescued by the Enterprise -B. ( ST - The Lost Era novel : One Constant Star )

Sulu remained captain of a vessel named Excelsior until at least the year 2320 . Both he and his daughter — carriers of the prestigious rank — sponsored a young Chakotay 's entrance to Starfleet Academy . ( TOS novel : Burning Dreams , VOY episode : " Tattoo ", ST novel : Tales from the Captain's Table )

Sulu eventually gained the rank of Commodore . ( TNG novel : Q-Squared )

In 2372 , the USS Defiant was assigned to rescue the shipwrecked crew of the science vessel Victoria Adams — in particular, an unidentified Federation VIP observer who "must not fall into the hands of the Klingon High Council at any cost." During the mission, Julian Bashir encountered among the survivors an elderly Asian man calling himself " George ," whom the doctor suspected to be that figure. Their conversations strongly implied that "George" was actually an incognito Hikaru Sulu. ( DS9 novel : Armageddon Sky )

President Sulu [ ]

After retiring from Starfleet in the first half of the 24th century , Sulu ran for public office, and eventually was elected as President of the United Federation of Planets , serving three terms. ( ST novel : The Return )

When Nero and Ambassador Spock were sent back to the 23rd century , causing what was called the Kelvin timeline after Nero's assault of the USS Kelvin , a photo of Sulu and Spock's crewmates aboard the USS Enterprise -A was among the personal effects bequeathed to the alternate Spock after Ambassador Spock passed away in the year 2263 . ( TOS movie : Beyond )

Starfleet service record [ ]

Appendices [ ], connections [ ], appearances and references [ ], appearances [ ], references [ ].

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 TOS comic : " Who's Who in Star Trek 2 "

External link [ ]

• Hikaru Sulu article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 Odyssey class
• 3 Akira class

Star Trek Glossary: Every Starfleet Rank And Job Explained

"Star Trek" is, first and foremost, a workplace drama . It just so happens that the workplace is a high-tech, faster-than-light space vessel exploring distant regions of the galaxy. Working on a starship is a fine job indeed. Many classic "Star Trek" episodes deal with rank, the chain of command, and how certain captains employ their unique managerial styles to inspire the officers beneath them. The main characters in "Star Trek" mostly all belong to Starfleet, a military-like organization that uses naval ranks and nautical vocabulary to describe a starship's operations. 

To give the shows a touch of realism, the makers of "Star Trek" have (mostly) been careful to point out that a starship is a massively complex machine that requires hundreds of people to operate correctly. Additionally, the day-to-day logistics of running a starship require departments within departments, each one run by its own miniature team of officers, and with each team making sure that every small piece of equipment is operating at peak efficiency. Ideally, a starship can't be flown by a single person or even a scant bridge crew (I will happily ignore, however, the times that it was; those times don't count). 

Trekkies take a great deal of delight in tracing and detailing the various ranks and departments on board an average Starfleet vessel, mostly because it makes it easier to imagine actually working there someday. Yes, we know it's fictional, but so much detail had gone into rank, operation, and propriety on "Star Trek" that many viewers can picture where they might be able to practically work, what their rank might be, and whom they would answer to. 

For the laypeople reading, however, here is a brief rundown on the ranks, jobs, and positions one might encounter in "Star Trek."

The Starfleet ranks calling the shots

Here is the central chain of command withing Starfleet, listed from top to bottom.

At the top of Starfleet are the admirals. Admirals typically serve in official positions and don't usually command starships. They are essentially the management that starship captains have to report back to. The head of Starfleet — Commander in Chief — bears the top rank of Fleet Admiral . 

Below Fleet Admirals are just regular Admirals , which are plentiful in "Star Trek." 

Vice Admirals serve below them (the officer picture above bears the rank pips of a Vice Admiral), followed by Rear Admirals . 

A lesson: don't trust Admirals .

We don't see too many Commodores on "Star Trek," but they are the rank in between Captain and Admiral. 

Below the Commodores are Captains , who, as we all know, tend to command starships. The Captains can give orders to any officers on their ship. Captains tend to be the central characters of "Star Trek" shows, so we already know James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), and, most recently Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) on "Strange New Worlds."

Directly below the Captains are Commanders . A ship's first officer is a Commander, as are a few other key figures on a ship like a Chief Medical Officer or a Counselor. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are Commanders.

Immediately below the Commanders are Lieutenant Commanders , who also tend to serve notable executive functions on a starship. People of lower ranks can indeed become members of a ship's senior staff (the "main" officers on a ship that spend the most amount of time on the bridge), but Lieutenant Commanders tend to be the lowest-ranking officers who still command their own departments on a ship.

The Starfleet ranks taking the orders

One might note that Starfleet officers wear color-coded uniforms. The colors represent the general departments in which they work. In the original series, officers on the command track wore gold uniforms, medical officers and science officers wore blue, and red was reserved for those who worked in engineering, security, or operations. In the era of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," red and gold uniforms switched .

There must, of course, be grunt workers and mid-managers below the department heads listed above, and that's where the lower-ranking, junior officers come in. 

Mere Lieutenants are immediately below Lieutenant Commanders. They may lead special projects or work on the bridge, but they take more orders than they give. 

Below them are officers ranked Lieutenant (Junior Grade) , followed by  Ensigns . To become a Starfleet officer, one must spend at least four years at Starfleet Academy. Graduates are typically promoted to the rank of Ensign and given their first assignments immediately. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is all about Ensigns and Junior Grade Lieutenants like Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome).

Not every officer on a ship graduates from the Academy, however. One can enlist in Starfleet and become a Petty Officer. These people have their own subset of operational concerns, usually zeroed in on specific areas of the ship like the transporters, food services, or basic security. 

The Petty Officers have their own ranking system, starting — highest first — with Master Chief , then Senior Chief , followed by Chief , then Petty Officer First Class , and finally Petty Officer Second Class . Yeomans are petty officers who take care of paperwork for officers. Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meany) was a transporter expert. 

Other specialists — historians, botanists, etc. — can be Petty Officers. 

Back at Starfleet Academy, meanwhile, Cadets have their own ranking by year. Freshmen are 4th Class , sophomores are 3rd Class , juniors are 2nd Class , and seniors are 1st Class . For a large portion of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) was a cadet. This was after he already held a position as Acting Ensign , a provisional rank given in the field.

Starfleet Command and Bridge positions

One might have noticed watching the original "Star Trek" that Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) always sits at the same station on the bridge of the Enterprise, as does Sulu (George Takei), Chekov (Walter Koenig) , and Spock (Leonard Nimoy). This is because they have been assigned one of the many official bridge positions on a Starfleet vessel. The positions must be filled, regardless of an officer's rank. 

The Commanding Officer on a starship is usually the captain. The (non-capitalist) buck stops with them. 

Answering directly to the captain, and communicating most directly with the crew is the Executive Officer or the First Officer, usually bearing the rank of commander. 

Third in command is the Second Officer , who can also hold other operational positions; on "Star Trek: Voyager," for instance, Tuvok (Tim Russ) serves as both Second Officer and Security Chief. 

Sitting in front of the captain and piloting the ship are the Helmsman at conn to the captain's right and the Operations Officer at Ops to the captain's left. 

The Helmsman may also be officially the ship's Navigation Officer , an expert in spatial physics and stellar cartography. Expert pilots likely sit at the conn, but also may be selected to pilot smaller, supporting crafts like shuttles or runabouts. These officers are sometimes appointed the Chief of Flight Control . Example: Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) on "Voyager."

In charge of hailing vessels, translating, and sending coded messages is the Communications Officer . On the original series, Uhura was a dedicated Communications Officer, while on "Next Generation" and beyond, other officers took on communications as part of their jobs. Worf (Michael Dorn) served as both Communications Officer and Security Chief.

Starfleet Science and Medical positions

Most Starfleet vessels are devoted to research and explorations, and there are multiple departments — and corresponding commanding officers — tasked with overseeing the details. 

A ship's Science Officer is in charge of research and serves as coordinator of all the ship's specialized science fields. Science Officers must have a head for numbers and objective detail. On the original "Star Trek," Spock served as the Science Officer and the Executive Officer. On "Voyager," Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) served as a Science Officer, and she only held the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. 

A ship's Chief Operations Officer is like the Science Officer but oversees the technical aspects of the ship, including engineering, the engines, the life support, and other vital systems. Like the Science Officer, it helps that the Chief Ops Officer has a mind for technical details. On "Next Generation," Data served as Chief of Ops and worked closely with the Chief Engineer (which we'll get to in a minute).

Also, because a ship is full of biological organisms, it's important that their health be maintained. Every ship has a medical department overseen by an indispensable Chief Medical Officer , the only officer on the ship who can give orders to the Captain. Each medical department also has a network of experts and nurses, including the Head Nurse like Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) on "Strange New Worlds" or Nurse Ogawa (Patti Yasutake) on "Next Generation." There may sometimes be a Head of Surgery , or perhaps a dedicated pathologist or epidemiologist. For the most part, though, the Chief Medical Officer takes care of many of these things themselves.

Starfleet Security and Combat Positions

Starfleet vessels are dedicated to peace, diplomacy, and study, but there are still violent, antagonistic species in the galaxy, and Starfleet isn't always on the best terms with them. As such, each Starfleet vessel requires experts in on-ship security, ship-to-ship tactics, and weapons operations. 

Every ship will have a Chief of Security , responsible for confronting intruders, enforcing the on-ship laws, and perhaps throwing ruffians into the ship's brig. The Chief Security Officer often also serves as the Strategic Operations Officer , who sits at the tactical position and fires weapons at the captain's command. Worf and Tuvok were in charge of these positions on their respective shows. They tend to go on the most away missions, keeping the other officers safe. They are the only officers on the ship who are always armed. Odo (René Auberjonois) served as chief of security on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," but he wasn't a Starfleet officer. He worked for the Bajoran government, and they implemented a different military system altogether.

As mentioned above, basic security officers are not Starfleet Academy graduates, and typically serve as Petty Officers, answering only to the Chief of Security. 

Starfleet Engineering and Technology Positions

As mentioned above, the Chief Operations Officer coordinates the technical aspects of the ship, but the hands-on officer in charge of a starship's massive engine room is the Chief Engineer , the one who actually makes repairs and oversees all of the other repairmen. No ship can function without a Chief Engineer overseeing all of the other engineers on the ship, busily readjusting and calibrating the physical machinery used to make the Enterprise go. 

The Chief Engineer might oversee technical experts, such as Warp Engineers (who oversee the faster-than-light engines), Impulse Engineers (who oversee the sub-light engines), those who oversee shields, transporters, electrics, life support, food replicators, lighting, gravity, or just about anything with a technical component. Thanks to "Next Generation," Trekkies know all about a dedicated Transporter Chief . There will also be an officer dedicated to Environmental Controls (especially important if your ship hosts species from hotter or colder worlds than Earth), and one devoted to Computer Operations , which might be the "Star Trek" equivalent of the I.T. repair guy. Heck, one might even find an engineer devoted to Holography systems, an expert in repairing holodecks. 

"Star Trek" doesn't feature a lot of tool belts, but if it did, the Engineering department would wear them. 

Kudos to LeVar Burton, who played Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on "Next Generation." More than any other actor, he needed to memorize Trek's well-worn, multisyllabic techno-jargon. He talked a lot about warp fields, phase coils, plasma inducers, dilithium crystals, and every other high-tech widget on the Enterprise. And of course, everyone loved Scotty (James Doohan) from the original series.

Other Starfleet Positions

All the above departments are devoted to the vital function of a Starfleet vessel and the health of a vessel's crew. There are also various ancillary positions on a ship devoted to either comfort or just basic organization.

In the days before replicators , Starfleet vessels required  Quartermasters or Supply Operations Officers to distribute physical objects to the crew. The Quartermasters would distribute emergency rations, spare uniforms, tricorders, and medical widgets. These would be the ones holding the stock clipboards. Despite "Star Trek" taking place in a technical utopia free of want, there are still only so many scanners and tricorders that can go around. Starships also require dedicated officers to oversee the cargo bays where shuttles and extra supplies are stored, hence a head of  Cargo Operations . 

Being the Waste Management Officer on a starship isn't too terrible, although one does have to clean out the poop filters occasionally. The poop is then salvaged, broken down, and converted into energy. That energy is used in a ship's food replicators. Yes, Starfleet officers eat their own poop . On "Lower Decks," Mariner is seen cleaning the waste filters out of the holodeck on the U.S.S. Cerritos. It's a gross job.

Not every ship has a specialized department for every situation, so other specialists may be called in as needed. During times of war or combat, for instance, a ship may be assigned an Intelligence Officer . This depends on the ship's current mission, of course. For diplomatic envoys, a ship may also be assigned a general Special Services officer to make sure negotiators and treaty signers are comfortable.

And, perhaps most importantly, many ships have a Counselor . On "Next Generation," Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) sits right on the bridge. On other ships, they have their own offices. They take care of a crew's overall mental health, serve as para-diplomats, and work with the Chief Medical Officer.

Which job would you want?

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TrekInk: Review of Star Trek Captain’s Log: Sulu

| January 13, 2010 | By: Alex Fletcher 34 comments so far

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SULU REVIEW

Set shortly after Sulu’s ascendancy to the captaincy of the Excelsior (around 2288-2290), the first issue of the new Captain’s Log anthology series is out and presents a story about a captain that fans keep clamoring for more stories about. Previous stories focusing on Sulu’s adventures have included the novel Forged in Fire and the Captain Sulu Adventures from Simon and Schuster Audioworks, but this is the first comic story to focus on Sulu’s time aboard the Excelsior since "Tests of Courage" back in the DC days.

Written by Scott and David Tipton, the story focuses on a carefully scheduled diplomatic encounter with the Tholians. As per usual, any time any schedule is made with the Tholians, something inevitably throws something of a wrench into the works. The story begins with Sulu and his new first officer, Cirpiano, fencing before a message from Admiral Renshaw interrupts them to inform them of the pending meeting with the Tholians about a Federation colony on Mirabi 5.

Like John Byrne in one of his recent Romulan stories, the Tiptons take this opportunity to (quickly) revisit an old episode from the Original Series television show, giving a brief summary of the entire episode in a single page of three panels (who knew that Star Trek could be summed up so easily?), quickly reminding the reader of Sulu’s prior encounter with the Tholians in "The Tholian Web". Between the opening fencing match and the recap, the stage is set for the events of the rest of the story as Sulu is forced to use his diplomatic wiles to avoid another disastrous encounter with the Tholians.

Federica Manfredi (from David Messina’s studio) provides the artwork for this issue, and her art is similar in style to Messina’s, but has enough differences to distinguish her. The likenesses of characters we know well (Sulu and Rand) look very close to the actors that portrayed them, the uniforms fit the era perfectly, and the display graphics in the background bring out a strong feel for what the bridge looked and felt like in both "The Undiscovered Country" and "Flashback". Her imagery of starships at warp looks and feels exactly like the style seen in the early movies, and does not attempt to retcon the more "modern" style onto the older era.

The colors, provided by 2B Studios, are vibrant and jump off the page, suiting the timeframe of the story. Most of the exteriors look like they came from the sixth movie, while the interiors have a comfortable combination of the movie era with the warmth from the Voyager era. Some of the most striking colored panels are those set in open space, as the star fields almost look like images from the Hubble telescope. One shot even shows a Tholian web, complete with the strands glowing in space, casting an eerie glow on the page.

David Messina presents the cover art, showing a static shot of Sulu in front of traditional Samurai gear, while the retailer’s image is a photograph of Sulu sitting in his command chair. The cover art has little to do with the story, but is a nice image of Sulu all the same.

This is a decent story to start off the "Captain’s Log" series, showing a day in the life of Hikaru Sulu. This issue shows the potential for the rest of the series. If the series can keep this level, then the anthology should be a decent one. This series will run like the previous "Alien Spotlight" series, with a different focus in each issue and a different writer. Also like that series, the issues will be periodic. Hopefully there will not be too much of a delay between issues. Look for an update from TrekMovie on the next planned issues of "Star Trek: Captain’s Log."

Captain’s Log: Sulu arrives in comic shops today, Wednesday January 13th, and you can also pick it up at TFAW.com .

Can’t wait to read it.

I have always been a Sulu Fan!

Not having read the comic I could be wrong here, but Constitution Class Schematic behind Sulu in the Turbolift…yeah Im one of THOSE ST fans lol. Looks great, the artwork especially!

Danno-good spot on that one.

@3: it’s not that you’re one of THOSE fans, it’s just that we all know the iconic images of the Enterprise and Excelsior. it’s an oversight to be sure.

Cover art doesn’t really look like him. The drawing one, not the photo, obviously.

@3 Maybe Capt Sulu had those installed because he secretly coveted the Enterprise.

Nicely done. Part of me wishes they’d gone with a Captain Sulu series. Another is just glad that George got a few choice scenes along that way. Again…nicely done.

AND… George comes back from the dead next week on Heroes!

What? Trekweb isn’t covering the Jay Leno debacle?

Seriously, I love these comic book columns. I don’t have the time or money to keep up with these myself anymore so I appreciate the rundowns.

George Take is still handsome guy, whew i finally got that out of my chest. BTW is Takei returning to Heroes?

Yeah the art’s ok but obviously the artist needs to study the subject matter more, mainly what Sulu actually looked like. And yeah #3, that’s a rather epic fail putting a connie class in the turbolift. If it had been just a blob in the background I could have over looked it but they put some detail into it. Also the corridors look like they did in the Enterprise from ST II and III, not anything like the excelsior. They do look good, though. And of course I’m being picky, but I think if youre going to spend the time to do a comic you should learn enough about the subject to draw it at least accurately. It was like the other comic where Spock’s blood is red. To some that’s a minor oversight, but the whole Vulcans-have-green-blood thing is pretty important to us Trekkies, who are probably the only ones that will read these. Still looks like this could be a good story, though.

…looks like he’s chewing his lip on the cover….(the drawing)

…looks like he’s chewing his lip on the cover….(

Or eating a lemon.

First thing I noticed too. Ha.

Good read, looking forward to the next issue

In Wrath of Khan they had the wrong schematic panels in the background a few times. THIS COMIC IS NOW CANON.

I think the Warp effect looks really, really strange. Just utterly bizzarre.

But other than that, it all looks pretty darn good. Might head over and see if I can get this. :D

I know it’s not him, but the character behind Sulu in the left-hand comic photo has a strong resemblance to Darth Vader.

I was dissappointed with the art in this issue. Most of the time, Sulu didn’t even resemble GT. And the aforemention of the Constitution Class ship in the backround. There is a scene where they meet up with a ship that is similar to The Grissom. In a later scene that ship has become a TOS Constution class! And finally, when the Excelsior goes to warp, the artist inserted the word ZOOM! behind the ship! There are other little things too, but that’d be nitpicking!

on the penciled cover it looks like Sulu is wearing gold instead of white…like in the photo cover. also the rank looks like it’s captain, but it looks like it was drawn the same way DC Comics drew the ranks in their first Star Trek volume of comic books (the second volume by DC had some great artwork and paid attention to the details like the rank).

Haha I noticed the Constitution 1701-A diagrams in the background. Not a big deal (though IDW always seems to make tiny little errors like that) and the comic was great. One question I had was on page 11, the Excelsior flies by an old Constitution TOS type ship. That part confused me since they are trying to rescue an Oberth class ship. Can anyone tell me why there’s just a Constitution ship just “there”? Did I miss something?

18. Thats not a character behind Sulu it is Japanese yoroi (samurai armor) shown presumably to tie Sulu to his samurai roots. Whats always intrigued me is that ‘Sulu’ is not a Japanese name as there is no ‘L’ in Japanese. I do believe though its actually Philipino IINM as in the Sulu Sea. In Japanese it would be Tsuru (Crane) so Ive always fancied that Sulu is either of Philipino/Japanese ancestry or his name is a 23d century anglicized version of the bird. The crane has a lot of significance in Japanese culture. That being said Im looking forward to this….”Ohhhhhhh my….”

George Takei recalled Gene Roddenberry wanted the character to represent all of Asia, which symbolized the peace of the Trek universe in spite of the numerous wars in the continent. Roddenberry did not want a nationally specific surname, so he looked at a map and saw the Sulu Sea. “He thought, ‘Ah, the waters of that sea touch all shores’,” the actor recalled, “and that’s how my character came to have the name Sulu.” In the book Inside Star Trek The Real Story, the character’s name is noted as a pun on the name of vice president of Desilu Studios, Herb Solow.

Thank you, WIkipedia.

I didnt like the “Easter Eggs” type shots of the Enterprise in various spots. It might be cool if they put the Enterprise in once or done a NCC1701 on the com link like when Shatner was on SeaQuest but to have 3 or 4 obvious Enterprise shots where they are not supposed to be is taking you out of the story.

@18: Ah, don’t you mean that Darth Vader has a strong resemblance to a samurai? ;)

#23 Yeah, what about Han Solo? :-)

When it comes to errors involving wrong ship graphics, dont forget “Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan”. The bridge of the Reliant features graphics of the refit Constitution class on a side console. It shows the saucer, nacelles, and secondary hull all separate from each other. The Reliant has no secondary hull and its saucer is different as well.

I hope they give Rand more than a cameo. The Excelsior command crew was woefully devoid of women. I’ll be miffed if the only one they’ve got is reduced to saying ‘Hailing Frequencies open.’ It’ll be like the bad old days.

#26 Maybe they’ll fix the graphics in a future Blu-Ray edition.

@20: I noticed this immediately.

Just adds that the cover art (not the photo, which is spot on) SUCKS.

The golden overstrap on the shirt, and the undershirt and collar color is clearly the yellow-gold of operations, and not the white of command. You can tell this by comparison with the Starfleet Delta of that era, which in the cover art is correctly white in the background. That shade of white should match the undershirt and overstrap, and it doesn’t.

It wouldn’t cost them all that much to have eagle-eyed Trek fans preview their works. They don’t give a damn, clearly.

@26: The “retcon” that only works when the Reliant under Khan is facing Enterprise, is that they’ve brought up the Enterprise’s specs… but that doesn’t explain away the Reliant under Terrell… unless we can retcon it as a prank being played by Kyle and Chekov?

I was a good issue over all, but they need to switch out the Enterprise A for the Excelsior on the MSD Displays. That was my only complaint.

The comic world has has had trouble in the past getting the right look on some of our favorite characters, remember Marvels DS9 “Super Wooooorf!”

The cover art for Sulu makes him look like the lead singer from X Japan

The Oberth becoming a Constitution and the 1701 graphics in the Excelsior really stuck out. Besides that I thought it was a good Sulu story.

I’m confused, is Sulu serving on the Enterprise? How does he hold two ranks at the same time? If you look at the pages before the flashback page, Sulu has the Captain’s rank on the shoulder strap, and an Admiral’s rank on his sleeve. I have one of these uniforms (which is the best by the way) and a smaller version of the shoulder rank is what is worn on the sleeve. It is refreshing to have a single story issue for a change, I wish they would do more like DC did.

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Hikaru Sulu

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Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu is a Human Starfleet officer assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise .

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• Hikaru Sulu at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Hikaru Sulu at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
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Sulu in Wrath Of Khan

Discussion in ' Star Trek Movies I-X ' started by captainjellico , Dec 10, 2022 .

captainjellico Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

Here's something that's always puzzled me about The Wrath Of Khan... why is Sulu never left in charge of the Enterprise bridge when Kirk/Spock aren't around? He holds the rank of Commander and is clearly a very experienced officer, yet Lieutenant Saavik has the Conn and even an unnamed Navigator sits in the Captain's chair whilst Sulu is at the helm. Does anyone know the reason why?  

Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

They didn’t have a qualified helmsman other than him?  

fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

captainjellico said: ↑ Here's something that's always puzzled me about The Wrath Of Khan... why is Sulu never left in charge of the Enterprise bridge when Kirk/Spock aren't around? He holds the rank of Commander and is clearly a very experienced officer, yet Lieutenant Saavik has the Conn and even an unnamed Navigator sits in the Captain's chair whilst Sulu is at the helm. Does anyone know the reason why? Click to expand...

Ithekro Vice Admiral Admiral

He wanted some non-command time before becoming captain of his own ship? Presumably he was in line to get USS Excelsior after her trail runs, and commissioning into the fleet. I imagine that for the training cruise, it was Captain Spock, than Lt. Saavik as XO.  

Vger23 Vice Admiral Admiral

He was already in line to take command of the Excelsior. The Enterprise was on a training cruise prior to the diversion to Regula I, and Saavik was the “command school candidate” assigned to the ship as a lieutenant, so it would make sense to give her the con in most situations. Obviously she didn’t take the con during the crisis, but before and after the arrival of Khan on the scene, it fits right in with the Enterprise’s mission profile for that movie.  

Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

captainjellico said: ↑ why is Sulu never left in charge of the Enterprise bridge when Kirk/Spock aren't around? He holds the rank of Commander and is clearly a very experienced officer, yet Lieutenant Saavik has the Conn and even an unnamed Navigator sits in the Captain's chair whilst Sulu is at the helm. Does anyone know the reason why? Click to expand...

Ensign Dunsel Ensign Red Shirt

I agree with the responses above. I think the plot reasoning was that Sulu already had experience and since it was a training cruise, Saavik was placed in command to give her more time in the chair. I think the out-of-universe explanation is Nicholas Meyer wanted to give Kirstie Alley (RIP) more screen time and she was billed as "introducing" in the opening credits. This verbiage, if I understand it correctly, indicates the producers felt they had a potential up and coming star in the cast and wanted to draw your attention to this actor (she's even on the movie poster alongside Shatner and Nimoy while George Takei is not). Possibly a plot hole for the in-universe explanation though is that it flipped from a training cruise to a live operation prior to her being given command for them to briefly view the Genesis recording (prior to Khan's attack) so it would've been more appropriate for Sulu to be in command. However, as suggested above it's also possible the training crew had no qualified cadets that could pilot the Enterprise.  

Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

Ensign Dunsel said: ↑ I think the plot reasoning was that Sulu already had experience and since it was a training cruise, Saavik was placed in command to give her more time in the chair. Click to expand...

Dee1891 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

There are other possibilities like bad writing or the screenwriters' racism. Sulu should have been in command as the highest-ranking officer after Kirk and Spock. Even during the show, Sulu was never left in command of the Bridge when Kirk and Spock were on an Away mission. Instead, Scotty was left in charge. Although a higher rank than Sulu, he was not a Bridge officer.  

Bridge officer or not, he was established to command the Enterprise, and would be a line officer, eligible for moving up the chain of command.  

Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

Dee1891 said: ↑ There are other possibilities like bad writing or the screenwriters' racism. Sulu should have been in command as the highest-ranking officer after Kirk and Spock. Even during the show, Sulu was never left in command of the Bridge when Kirk and Spock were on an Away mission. Instead, Scotty was left in charge. Although a higher rank than Sulu, he was not a Bridge officer. Click to expand...

ananta Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

All I know is that George Takei, having the ego we all know he has, must have been hoping mad that Chekov got promoted to first officer (albeit of another ship) while he was still stuck at the helm doing exactly what he did back in the 60’s!  

Kor said: ↑ Sulu was left in command a number of times in TOS. He can be seen sitting in the captain's chair in "Errand of Mercy," "The Savage Curtain, " and "Spock's Brain." In "Arena" he is evidently in command but from the helm station instead of the captain's chair. Kor Click to expand...

valkyrie013 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

I'd go with the training cruise explanation, he was there as an instructor/helmsman maybe marking time for another assignment.Give Savik or other command division cadets training in command of a starship. Why Spock asked Savik to take her out of spacedock as well as Kirk leaving her in command. But Sulu was ON the bridge, so if anything did go tits up, he'd be there and take over. If Kirk AND Spock beamed down to Regula, then Sulu would be in command, but Spock didn't go, ergo, he was in the seat.  

DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

I would imagine when Our Heroes encountered Reliant Sulu might have taken command if both Kirk and Spock had been indisposed. To that point, while the ship was no longer on a training mission once Kirk assumed command, there wasn't much to do other than travel to Regula One either. And as noted, Sulu was right there if needed.  

Tallguy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

captainjellico said: ↑ and even an unnamed Navigator sits in the Captain's chair whilst Sulu is at the helm. Click to expand...

That does seem like the type of claim for which some evidence should be provided.  

Vger23 said: ↑ I think it’s rather irresponsible to accuse Nicholas Meyer of TeH RaCiSTiZms !!!1!1! when he was the one who wrote Sulu in as the captain of the Excelsior as the writer/director of Star Trek VI, and the entire plot of that film was challenging prejudice and racism. They also had Paul Winfield playing Clark Terrell as a black starship captain in TWOK, which was a franchise first. Give me a frigging break. Click to expand...

Dee1891 said: ↑ Then having someone other than Sulu in command of the Enterprise while Kirk and Spock were gone was a sign of momentary bad writing. That's the only other conclusion I can think of. Click to expand...

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George Takei Had A Casting Idea Of His Own For Sulu In J.J. Abrams' Star Trek

D irector J.J. Abrams' philosophy toward making his 2009 reboot of "Star Trek" likely involved a lot of uses of the words "high octane" and "kicked into overdrive." The characters in Abrams' "Star Trek" resemble the ones we all remember from the 1966 TV series, but electrified for a modern, action-hungry audience. Kirk (Chris Pine) is not just a captain who rules by instinct and occasionally snogs alien women (as William Shatner did), but a rash, skirt-chasing, destructive young punk who gets into bar brawls. Spock (Zachary Quinto) is not merely a logical scientist who, under rare circumstances, lets his human emotions slip through his stony visage (as Leonard Nimoy was), but a perpetually annoyed pill who, more regularly, is given to flights of rage and/or romance.

In the case of Sulu (John Cho), he is not merely a capable pilot with unusual hobbies, a great sense of humor, and a weaponized side-eye (like George Takei), but a master swordsman and affable action hero with a streak of commanding sternness. John Cho was something of an unusual choice to play a "young" Sulu, as Cho was about 37 during the filming of Abrams' film while Takei made the original "Star Trek" when he was 29.

In 2007, IGN interviewed Takei about the new "Star Trek,"  back when the new film was still in the early stages of its production. Audiences and journalists already knew that the new film was to feature younger versions of the classic "Star Trek" characters, and there was, at the time, a lot of speculation as to who should play which role. Back then, Takei had a very clear idea as to who he wanted to play a young Sulu: John Lim, one of the stars of "Star Trek: New Voyages."

Read more: Celebrities You Didn't Know Were In Star Trek

Takei Wanted John Lim For Young Sulu

Those unfamiliar with "Star Trek: New Voyages" have a very interesting road of discovery ahead. In January of 2004, enterprising Trekkies James Cawley and Jack Marshall decided to make a high-quality, full-length, wholly unauthorized continuation of the original "Star Trek" using the same characters and starring themselves. Cawley, through his connection to various "Star Trek" collectors, was able to assemble the few surviving pieces of the original "Star Trek" set (which was dismantled in 1969) and recreate the most accurate version of the U.S.S. Enterprise in existence; one can still tour Cawley's reconstructed set to this day .

Cawley played Captain Kirk in "New Voyages," a series that ran 10 episodes from 2004 to 2016. Many in the "Star Trek" community were impressed with the production values and quality of the show's pilot, "Come What May," and it wasn't long before Jack Marshall left the fan project to work on the new "Battlestar Galactica."

Meanwhile, several "Star Trek" veterans were moved by Cawley's gumption and decided to help. "Star Trek" writers D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, and Marc Scott Zicree wrote episodes of "New Voyages," while "Star Trek" actors like Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney, and Denise Crosby appeared periodically.

Takei played the "older" Sulu in the episode "World Enough and Time." While filming, he met John Lim, the fan actor -- formerly a lawyer -- who played the younger Sulu. Lim, Takei thought, would do nicely in Abrams' film:

"I saw the man who plays me, as Sulu, as a young man, and he's a wonderful actor, a powerful actor. There's one scene where he breaks down in anguish and it's very moving. John Lim is his name, and despite his success as an attorney, after having done this he wants to be an actor." 

Lim is quite good.

Paramount Gave Star Trek: New Voyages The Thumbs-Up

How could "New Voyages" possibly be legal? Takei explained the background and the loopholes of "New Voyages," as well as the pained state of "Star Trek"-lessness that Trekkies experienced in the mid-2000s:

"I did 'Star Trek: New Voyages.' That was made up of a number of 'Star Trek' fans, all of who had become very successful in their respective careers. Look at Paul Allen, the Microsoft billionaire, he's a 'Star Trek' fan. [...]. And when the last 'Star Trek' spin-off, 'Star Trek: Enterprise' went off the air, they were going cold turkey. But they have the resources, the savvy and the connections to do something about it. So they organized, and they organized globally with the Internet [...]."

It seems that Paramount was very kind to the makers of "New Voyages," understanding the importance of Trekkies to the franchise; after all, few other fan groups devote as much time, energy, and money to the object of their worship. Paramount gave an unlicensed thumbs-up:

"They got together, negotiated with Paramount, who said they could make their own series with the understanding that they will not make any money off of it. They said that's all right, because this is a labor of love, it's their passion and they want to do it.The interesting thing is, the actor who plays Dr. McCoy is a real doctor. The man who plays Captain Kirk is a very successful Elvis impersonator. And the guy who plays Sulu is a hotshot Washington, D.C. attorney. All very successful, and ' Star Trek' fans." 

Takei added that Lim was pondering leaving his law practice to become an actor in Hollywood. So far, however, he's only played an uncredited role on "The Wire."  

Three new episodes of "New Voyages" are still in the works.

Read the original article on SlashFilm

Screen Rant

I’m glad william shatner didn't appear in j.j. abrams’ star trek movie.

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Star Trek 2009 Cast & Character Guide

William shatner says star trek’s new kirk actors chris pine & paul wesley are "wonderful”, star trek ranks higher than 3 star wars movies on rotten tomatoes’ 300 best movies list.

• J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot benefited from not including William Shatner as Captain Kirk, allowing for a fresh take on the series.
• The decision to cut Shatner's scene improved the 2009 Star Trek ending by allowing the new cast to shine without overshadowing them.
• Shatner's cameo would have taken away from Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, robbing them of their own agency and deepening their characters.

It's for the best that William Shatner didn't appear as Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie. 15 years ago, J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot rejuvenated the Star Trek movie franchise after the poor performance of both Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis . Boldly deciding to recast the Star Trek: The Original Series characters and set the movie in an alternate timeline, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie was able to have the best of both worlds; 40-year-old cultural icons placed in a modern action-packed blockbuster.

To pass the torch between the Star Trek: The Original Series crew and their modern counterparts, Leonard Nimoy was cast as an older Ambassador Spock, a mentor figure to both the young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto). However, early versions of the Star Trek script also featured a cameo by William Shatner as Captain Kirk , appearing as a recording in the movie's closing scenes. J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman eventually decided to cut the scene, which may be disappointing to fans, but it also improved the ending of Star Trek (2009) as a result.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek relaunched the movie franchise and reintroduced audiences to Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.

William Shatner’s Scene In J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Explained

"i miss you, old friend.".

A few months after the release of Star Trek in 2009, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci revealed that they had written a scene for William Shatner (via TrekMovie ). In the scene, Prime Spock presents his Kelvin Timeline counterpart with a pendant that turns out to be a holo-emitter, containing a message from William Shatner's Kirk . It's revealed that the pendant was a birthday message from Kirk to Spock in which he reflects on their friendship, and reveals his desire to live out his retirement with his best friend.

I suppose I’d always imagined us…outgrowing Starfleet together. Watching life swing us into our Emeritus years…

William Shatner's voice-over would then continue over the scenes of Chris Pine's Kirk being honored by Starfleet Command for defeating Nero (Eric Bana). As Prime Kirk reflects on when he and Spock " stepped onto the Enterprise as boys ", Kelvin Kirk accepts command of the Kelvin Timeline's version of the starship Enterprise . Touchingly, Prime Kirk acknowledges the Kelvin Timeline crew, by saying that " it's their time now " . However, it's also clear that the spirit of adventure is still alive in this older Captain Kirk, who closes the scene by saying:

You once said being a starship captain was my first, best destiny… if that’s true, then yours is to be by my side. If there’s any true logic to the universe… we’ll end up on that bridge again someday.

Shatner’s Kirk Cameo Would Have Undermined Chris Pine And Zachary Quinto

While the scene as written is a touching little coda, acting as a melancholy farewell between the prime timeline's Kirk and Spock, it does undermine Star Trek 's new leads. When handing his Kelvin timeline counterpart the pendant, Prime Spock says that it's a " dream " that the young Kirk and Spock can now fulfill. The implication being that the Kelvin timeline's Kirk and Spock are only friends because of an obligation to mirror their prime timeline counterparts. This robs Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto's Star Trek characters of their agency, reducing them to performing hollow William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy tribute acts .

Star Trek director J.J. Abrams famously told Chris Pine to do " less Shatner " when playing Captain Kirk.

The end of the movie is about this new crew stepping out of the shadow of the Star Trek: The Original Series cast and embracing their own future , something that would have been undercut by a surprise appearance by Star Trek 's William Shatner . Reminding theater audiences of the original, iconic, Captain James T. Kirk at the exact moment that Chris Pine's version takes command of the USS Enterprise would have been a serious misstep. It's good, therefore, that the scene was cut from the finished Star Trek script, though it's also worth noting that notoriously cameo-averse actor William Shatner may have declined to return anyway.

Exclusive: William Shatner is Star Trek's original Captain Kirk and he has high praise for the actors who now play Kirk, Chris Pine and Paul Wesley.

Star Trek’s Old Kirk Could Never Be As Good As Spock

Star trek generations limited kirk's potential return in star trek 2009..

More than undermining Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, William Shatner's Star Trek scene doesn't work because it can't develop the character in the same way it did with Ambassador Spock. By the end of Star Trek , Spock has a new life in the Kelvin Timeline, helping the Vulcans to rebuild after the destruction of their home world. It's an appropriate last act for Spock, and one that helps him reconcile his lifelong struggle between his Vulcan and human sides. Due to the events of Star Trek Generations , Kirk could never have had such an arc in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie .

Having died on Veridian III, Kirk could only appear in Star Trek as a hologram, or perhaps via archive footage from the earlier movies. Kirk's death in Generations meant that William Shatner's cameo could only ever be a sentimental piece of lip service to the past, rather than anything that would drive the plot forward. The proposed William Shatner cameo in Star Trek could never have had the impact of Leonard Nimoy's appearance, which is why it was the right decision to drop it from the finished script.

Star Trek (2009) is streaming now on Paramount+.

Star Trek (2009)

*Availability in US

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J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie Star Trek rebooted the iconic sci-fi franchise in a totally new timeline. When a Romulan ship travels back in time and alters the past, the lives of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the future crew of the USS Enterprise are drastically changed. In this new timeline, the Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) sets out for revenge on Spock, setting off a chain of events that reshape the entire universe.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.