commander charles 'trip' tucker iii

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• 2121 births
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Charles Tucker III

• View history
• 1.1 Early life
• 1.2 Early career
• 1.3 Enterprise
• 1.4 "Death" and Subsequent Activity
• 1.5 In service to the Federation
• 1.6 Later life
• 2.1 Connections
• 2.2 Appearances
• 2.3 External links

History [ ]

Early life [ ].

He was born in 2121 to Charles and Elaine Tucker and grew up in Panama City , Florida . He had a younger sister, Elizabeth , who was killed in the Xindi attack of 2153 and a brother, Albert . ( ENT episodes : " The Expanse ", " The Xindi ")

When Trip was a teenager, he and his friends had often dared each other to open a hatch door on a grain silo. Trip was the one who eventually accepted the dare and opened the hatch, only to have the contents spill out. When the contents of the silo threatened to bury Trip alive, his brother Albert and a friend dug Trip out. ( ENT novel : The Good That Men Do )

Early career [ ]

Tucker's early career in Starfleet saw him working on several projects whose aim was to produce high-warp capability drives. In 2140 , Trip served on the Daedalus project under Doctor Victor Brodesser . The Daedalus project was an attempt at creating a Warp-5 engine using a cascading ion drive . On the eve of Daedalus 's launch, Trip discovered a flaw in the engine design that he feared would result in a fatal overload. He confronted the doctor about his concerns, but Brodesser calmed Trip's fears and the ship launched on schedule. In the mission control room, Trip could only watch in horror as his worst fears were realized and the ship exploded in an ion -cascading reaction with all hands lost. ( ENT novel : Daedalus )

By 2143 Tucker had been assigned to the Warp 5 Program, as part of Captain W.M. Jefferies ' engineering detail. During this time he was involved in the theft of the NX-Beta craft along with Jonathan Archer and A.G. Robinson , which resulted in the craft breaking the Warp 2.5 Barrier for the first time.

Tucker met Jonathan Archer in the year 2143 and the two quickly became friends. When Archer was given command of the first Warp-5 vessel, the Enterprise , he requested that Trip be assigned as his engineer . ( ENT episode : " First Flight ")

Enterprise [ ]

In 2151 Tucker was assigned to Enterprise as First Officer and Chief Engineer . After T'Pol was permanently assigned to the ship and assumed the position of First Officer, Tucker became the Second Officer . Tucker remained with the ship until March of 2155 , however his tenure aboard Enterprise was not continuous as he briefly served as chief engineer of the Columbia under Captain Erika Hernandez in 2154 .

Shortly after their mission to Qo'noS was concluded, Enterprise encountered a vessel adrift, the ship having been attacked and the crew killed. Tucker wanted to board the vessel with Archer, but was passed over for the mission in favor of Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Hoshi Sato . Years later, Tucker would learn the identity of the attackers. ( ENT episode : " Fight or Flight "; ENT - Rise of the Federation novel : A Choice of Futures )

On a landing party to an unknown Minshara class planet , Tucker was affected by pollen that made him believe Subcommander T'Pol was denying the presence of non-existent rock creatures. ( ENT episode : " Strange New World ") Tucker was inadvertently impregnated by Ah'len , a Xyrillian engineer, while effecting repairs on her ship. When Enterprise caught up with the Xyrillians again, Ah'len was able to have the child, who was not genetically Tucker's, removed from him to be carried by another host. ( ENT episode : " Unexpected ")

On a visit with Archer and T'Pol to the Vulcan monastery of P'Jem , Tucker took part in the first human contact with the Andorians . This first contact was the first of several dealings Tucker would have with the Andorian Imperial Guard Officer Shran . It also lead to a breakdown in relations between the Vulcans and Andorians. The following year, when Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol were attempting to mediate a dispute, Tucker was left in command of Enterprise . ( ENT episode : " The Andorian Incident "; ENT episode : " Shadows of P'Jem ")

Tucker was embarrassed when he read an encrypted message relayed to T'Pol by the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur , only to discover that it was a letter breaking off T'Pol's engagement to her fiancé, Koss . ( ENT episode : " Breaking the Ice ") Tucker was part of the away team that made first contact with the Akaali . ( ENT episode : " Civilization ") Tucker and Reed clashed over the task of installing phase cannons on Enterprise , but Tucker ultimately agreed with Reed's viewpoint about taking acceptable risks. ( ENT episode : " Silent Enemy ") During Enterprise 's visit to a stellar nursery , Tucker discovered that the ship had been saved from destruction by an unknown person disconnecting an antimatter conduit; this proved to be the Suliban , Silik , who had been ordered to save Enterprise for unknown reasons. ( ENT episode : " Cold Front ") Left in command of Enterprise when Archer and T'Pol were taken hostage by Coridan III terrorists , Tucker mounted a rescue mission with Reed against the advice of Captain Sopek of the Vulcan ship Ni'Var . ( ENT episode : " Shadows of P'Jem ") Tucker spent days adrift with Reed in Shuttlepod 1 , believing for much of that time that Enterprise had been destroyed and they were the only two survivors. This experience forged a closer friendship between the two men. ( ENT episode : " Shuttlepod One ") Tucker successfully encouraged Kov , a Vulcan engineer and one of the V'tosh ka'tur ("Vulcans without logic "), to contact his ailing father, from whom he had become estranged. ( ENT episode : " Fusion ")

In 2152 , Tucker and Sato were the only two Enterprise crew members to escape imprisonment when the vessel was taken by the Denari of an alternate universe.

Tucker allied himself with the Miners Guild and the alternate universe's version of Victor Brodesser to combat the forces of Denari General Sadir and to liberate the Enterprise 's crew from the Rava One prison colony, re-take Enterprise , and return safely to their own dimension. During this time, Tucker began a relationship with the Denari Trant Neesa and was greatly affected by her death. ( ENT novel : Daedalus's Children )

In 2153 , he became romantically involved with Commander T'Pol. ( ENT episode : " The Expanse " et al.)

"Death" and Subsequent Activity [ ]

Charles Tucker III in 2154 .

For reasons that remained classified for (approximately) 250 years, Tucker was forced to fake his own death in 2155 , days before the foundation of the Coalition of Planets , precursor to the United Federation of Planets .

In files de-classified in the early 25th century , it was revealed that Tucker had been recruited by the rogue spy agency known to some as Section 31 to infiltrate the space of the Romulan Star Empire and sabotage the Romulans ' research into developing a Warp-7 stardrive.

In order to facilitate this, Tucker underwent reconstructive surgery on Adigeon Prime , a world whose natives were familiar with Romulan appearance, in order to fit in behind enemy lines. Tucker and Section 31 agent Tinh Hoc Phuong were the first humans to see the true appearance of the Romulan people and realize their kinship to the Vulcans . Section 31 kept this information under wraps, fearing that if the link between the Vulcan and Romulan people were to be discovered, it would shatter the still-fragile Coalition.

Tucker returned to Romulan space shortly after the formation of the Coalition of Planets in order to gather intelligence on the Romulans before the inevitable war with the Empire broke out. At some point the historical record was altered, changing the date of Tucker's "death" from 2155 to 2161 . The reasons for this remain a mystery. ( ENT episode : " These Are the Voyages... "; ENT novel : The Good That Men Do )

Later in 2155, Tucker ended up escaping from Romulan space and was rescued by the Kiri-kin-tha . Aboard ship, he met Ych'a who recruited him into the V'Shar , Vulcan 's security bureau. While working with Ych'a, Trip saw her use mind melds to control Terix and make him believe he was a Vulcan. Trip was then placed undercover with the Vulcan name Sodok .

As Sodok, Tucker helped Ych'a and Terix destroy Aeihk'aeleir Shipyard , a Romulan facility building a warp seven drive. From there, the three clandestine agents traveled to Vulcan. There, they became involved in T'Pol 's investigation into corruption within T'Pau 's government. Tucker had planned on returning to the Enterprise with T'Pol, but he remained on Vulcan to ensure that Terix didn't return to his Romulan state. Tucker was then asked by T'Pau to assist Vulcan. ( ENT - The Romulan War novel : Beneath the Raptor's Wing )

After the destruction of Surak's katra in the bombing of Mount Seleya Security Minister Silok ordered the arrest of Tucker's Vulcan associates, and tasked him with tracking down Terix how left Vulcan shortly after the bombing.

After nine months of searching Tucker's vessel, the Romulan scout ship Kilhra'en was badly damaged in a pirate raid. While he was assessing the ship's status a Romulan warship picked him up with Terix onboard. After days of interrogation Admiral Valdore arrived and instead of an execution he got yet another mission. This time to locate a Ejhoi Ormiin facility where the dissidents were building warp seven capable ships.

So another months long search begun, this time with Colonel T'Luadh of the Tal Shiar at his side. Eventually the Tal Shiar learned that the facility was on Carraya IV so Tucker and T'Luadh set a course there. On the way however an attack knocked out their warp drive and comm systems. They decided that their best chance for survival was near light speed journey to Carraya IV. For them it only lasted for a few weeks but because of the time dilation effect two years have passed for the outside world.

He played a vital role in the Battle of Cheron . Before the battle, he was brought aboard Admiral Valdore's flagship. When the admiral ordered Tucker's execution, T'Luadh took it upon herself to carry it out, only to reveal to him that she is an undercover Vulcan agent. Tucker sent a secret message to Archer, to warn him about the location of the Romulan staging area. During the battle, T'Luadh put Tucker in an escape pod which exploded before Enterprise could reach it. ( ENT - The Romulan War novel : To Brave the Storm )

Before launching the pod, T'Luadh gave him a beacon to contact her people and beam him out. After years of espionage, uncertainty and mortal danger, Tucker became so paranoid, that when he turned the beacon on, he thought it was a bomb, and when he was transported out of the pod, he felt like he blew up. This is when he realized how much he had changed and that he could never go back to his old life. ( ENT - Rise of the Federation novel : A Choice of Futures )

In service to the Federation [ ]

Following the war, Tucker returned to Federation space, and the surgical alterations that made him appear Romulan were reversed. Shortly after the Romulan war, Tucker assisted Section 31 by infiltrating a Terra Prime cell and stopping it from carrying out terrorist activities.

In 2162 , Section 31 uncovered evidence, that the Malurian Raldul alignment started carrying out raids on Tandaran targets posing as members of the defunct Suliban Cabal . Tucker passed alonge some information about this to his old friend, the recently promoted Admiral Archer, but kept out some details in order to hide their sources.

Tucker would later assist Archer in stopping the Orion Syndicate from sabotaging the efforts to build the Federation during the Vertian crisis in 2163 , when Navaar intended to provoke a war between the Federation and the "Mutes' . Tucker and Archer interrogated the Xarantine pimp Orav Penap , who revealed that his girls were manipulating Federation officials on the orders of the Three Sisters. He later went on to question one such girl, Devna , who was an intelligence agent herself in a way. They had a long discussion about freedom, and Devna found him interesting and enlightened enough that she gave him intel on the Orion-Malurian plot to keep Starfleet occupied enough not to pay much attention to their activities, particuarly the planned raid on a medical convoy in the Deneb system . While knowing it wasn't the whole truth, Tucker let her go.

Archer became increasingly uncomfortable with Tucker's activities in Section 31, and more than once tried to convince his friend to leave Section 31 behind and let his family and friends know that he was alive. However Trip felt that he changed so much in the wrong direction that he didn't want his loved ones to see him like that. ( ENT novel : A Choice of Futures )

In 2164 , during one of their rare personal visits, Tucker and T'Pol had a fallout about the nature and the future of their relationship with Trip thinking that they should focus on the present, while T'Pol would like to think long-term. To get away from her for a while, Tucker accepted a mission to Sauria , where a mysterious plague started to spread and the only cure was controlled and distributed by Maltuvis , the dictator of M'Tezir .

Tucker arrived on the planet using the alias Albert Sims . He quickly learned that Maltuvis was using the cure to essentially conquer countries without firing a shot, because he only gave the cure to countries that secede from the Global League , expelled all off-worlders and let a contingent of M'Tezir troops in their country to "administer the medicines". While working at a clinic in Veranith to gather information, Tucker met a mining engineer named Antonio Ruiz and the two soon grew to like each other.

After Veranith also submitted to Maltuvis, Tucker stayed behind to break into the hospital he worked in to steal a sample of the cure, hoping to get it into the hands of Federation doctors. During his infiltration, he was suprised to meet Ruiz, who was trying to do the same. Without revealing his true identity, Tucker let Ruiz to come along, and the two managed to obtain a vial of the medicine. After this they endeavoured to sneak into Narpa to take recordings in the country that has been occupied by M'Tezir for some time now to show all of Sauria what Maltuvis does in the name of help.

After succeding, Tucker contacted his supervisor, Agent Matthew Harris for support in liberating Sauria and putting an end to Maltuvis's rule. However Harris refused, stating that their number one priority is to protect the Federation and its interests, in this case not to jeopardize the trade agreement for a non-Federation world's sake. Harris ordered him to return and warned him, that should he decide to refuse and start a campaign of his own, Section 31 would be obligated to stop him at all costs.

Tucker resolved to leave, but visited his friend Ruiz one last time. Ruiz informed Tucker that he intended to stay behind and start a revolution if he has to in order the end Sauria's suffering. Tucker tried to deter the drunken Ruiz, who took this as a threat and punched him in the face. He left the bar, feeling that he no longer deserved to call himself Ruiz's friend.

He left the planet on the freighter ECS Harryhausen , and on the way home he telepathically contacted T'Pol for the confort of her company. He told her that there is no point in defending the Federation without defending what it stands for, and Section 31 doesn't do that. When T'Pol encouraged him to quit, Tucker countered that if he stayed, he could make a difference and change the agency, but became more skeptical himself. ( ENT novel : Tower of Babel )

In 2165 , Tucker used the alias Philip Collier during the Ware crisis. Abramson Industries provided him with a cover of a civilian engineer working for the company, and a team including Doctor Olivia Akomo . As the head of the team "Collier" served as temporary chief engineer on the USS Pioneer during her mission into Ware territory. Trip Tucker disguised as temporary Chief Engineer Philip Collier argued with Malcolm that the Ware's medical technology could repair the damage the transporter had done to his reproductive system. Malcolm refused stating that he would not take advantage of a system for his own benefit which had cost too many lives of so many species throughout the quadrant. ( ENT novel : Uncertain Logic )

Learning that Section 31 had engineered the destruction of the Partnership of Civilizations by providing the Klingons with the Ware shutdown code Starfleet had developed, Tucker decided that he could no longer be part of Section 31. Tucker tracked down the immortal being Flint in the Alpha Centauri system, living now under the identity Antonius Taranullus after the death of the Willem Abramson identity. As Flint had many centuries of experience in faking his own death and establishing new identities for himself Tucker requested assistance in faking his own death in order to leave the agency behind once and for all, with a determination to destroy it. ( ENT novel : Live by the Code )

Later life [ ]

By 2186 , Tucker assumed the name Michael Kenmore , and had several cosmetic alterations done to his face to ensure his anonymity. He moved with T'Pol to Vulcan, and eventually became the father of her two children: T'Mir and Lorian , named after his son from an alternate reality. This was not common knowledge, however, and most people believed they were the result of her reconciliation with Koss years later. He lived with them in T'Pol's ancestral home. ( ENT novel : To Brave the Storm )

In least August of the year 2238 , when he visited the Starfleet War Memorial , although the silent reflection he had hoped for was made impossible by young Sam and Jimmy Kirk .

Tucker apparently played a role in the raising of the daughter of MACO 's Nelson Kemper and Selma Guitierrez . He also unofficially contributed to the development of the Constitution -class starship, in the form of notes placed in margins on the plans when the class was still in the design phase. ( ENT novel : Last Full Measure )

Tucker was the namesake of the Tucker Memorial Building on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters , which housed the offices of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers Command Liaison in the 24th century . His picture was displayed prominently in the building's lobby. ( SCE eBook : The Future Begins )

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], appearances [ ], external links [ ].

• Charles Tucker III article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 The Chase
• 3 Preserver (race)

Charles Tucker III

• Edit source
• View history

Charles Tucker III, known commonly as "Trip" , was a  Starfleet officer. He best known for serving for four years as chief engineer of United Earth's  first warp 5-capable starship, UES Enterprise , as a commander, under the command of his best friend, Captain Jonathan Archer  and his marriage to T'Pol , the first Human - Vulcan marriage.

• 1 Childhood
• 2.1 Early career
• 2.2 Enterprise' Mission
• 2.3 Xindi Conflict
• 2.4 Later Life
• 4 Service Record

Childhood [ ]

Born in 2121, Charles Tucker III grew up in Panama City , Florida , the youngest son and second child of Charles Tucker II and Elaine Tucker . He had one older brother, Albert Tucker and a younger sister, Elizabeth Tucker . Tucker acquired the nickname "Trip" due to the fact that he was the third (the "triple") Tucker to be named "Charles," after his father and grandfather . 

As a child, Tucker read The War of the Worlds with his mother.  Growing up, he always wanted to be a starship captain, but his father thought he should be an engineer while his mother thought he should be an architect. At the age of 7, Tucker's mother bought him a copy of Emory Erickson: Father of the Transporter , and he made her read it to him every night for a month. It was his childhood admiration for Emory Erickson that made him finally decide that he wanted to be an engineer. Tucker would recall that he was extremely skilled at taking things apart, but not so good at putting them back together. 

Tucker used to take his younger sister, Elizabeth , to a movie theater near their house. He later remembered that she would "scream like a banshee" if he didn't take her. Tucker once put a garden snake in his sister's doll house, and his family once had a large dog named Bedford. 

On several occasions, Tucker went on camping trips with his friends. They would spend half the night looking up at the stars and wondering what Earth 's sun would look like from a distant planet.

During his early childhood, Tucker attended Bayshore Elementary , where he attended his first dance. He knew before the event that Melissa Lyles , a girl who he had a crush on, would be there, and spent weeks practicing dance steps with his brother in preparation for the event. On the night of the dance, Melissa wore a red dress, and Tucker believed she was the prettiest girl there. He desperately wanted to ask her to dance with him, but he was not courageous enough to approach her. Tucker caught the girl looking at him a few times, but he eventually ended up standing in a corner with his friends. Twenty years later, he still regretted not asking the girl to dance. 

In Tucker's tenth grade biology class, a Vulcan scientist who the children referred to as Mr. Velik came to teach the class about life on other worlds. Tucker, who had never seen a Vulcan up close before, was terrified of the teacher. Velik would often remind his students of the advice "Challenge your preconceptions or they'll challenge you," of which Tucker would associate with his memory of Velik. 

During the late 2130s , Tucker used to drive his car out to Chatkin Point , park along the shoreline and stare at the moon with his girlfriend. 

According to Tucker, his grandmother taught him to never judge a species by their eating habits. His personal favorite food was pan-fried catfish with hushpuppies.

Early career [ ]

Trip was self-taught, having learned engineering from working on boat engines. Tucker first joined the United Earth Starfleet in 2139 , at which time he lived in Sausalito , a few blocks from the Vulcan Compound . He recalled that he "got into a lot of trouble" at Starfleet Training Command .

In 2140, Trip served on the Daedalus-project under Doctor Victor Brodesser . The Daedalus project was an attempt at creating a warp engine using a cascading ion drive. On the eve of Daedalus's launch, Trip discovered a flaw in the engine design that he feared would result in a fatal overload. He confronted the doctor about his concerns, but Brodesser calmed Trip's fears and the ship launched on schedule. In the mission control room, Trip could only watch in horror as his worst fears were realized and the ship exploded in an ion-cascading reaction with all hands lost including Brodesser.

Tucker met Jonathan Archer in the year 2143 and the two quickly became friends. When Archer was given command of the first Warp-5 vessel, the Enterprise, he requested that Trip be assigned as his engineer.

After the destruction of the warp-2 prototype vessel NX-Alpha in 2143, Tucker met Commander Jonathan Archer . He later assisted Archer and A.G. Robinson in stealing the backup warp-2 prototype vessel, the NX-Beta , in an attempt to prove to Starfleet Command that the engine design was sound. During this time, Tucker was a member of Captain Percival Jefferies ' engineering team with the rank of Lieutenant.

In 2147, Tucker was on Titan as part of the Omega Training Mission together with Archer. When a malfunction with Tucker's environmental suit occurred, Archer saved his life by preventing Tucker from taking off his helmet on Titan's surface.

Enterprise' Mission [ ]

By 2151, Tucker held the rank of Commander. Renowned as a gifted orbital engineer, he first served aboard the starship UES Enterprise as chief engineer.

Tucker served as Enterprise's chief engineer for most of the vessel's early active duty days from her launch in 2151 until March of 2155.

Tucker was inadvertently impregnated by Ah'len , a Xyrillian engineer, while effecting repairs on her ship. When Enterprise caught up with the Xyrillians again, Ah'len was able to have the child, who was not genetically Tucker's, removed from him to be carried by another host. This act made him very prone to protecting children in his later life, especially his two daughters and son.

On a visit with Archer and T'Pol to the Vulcan monastery of P'Jem , Tucker took part in a hostage situation with the Andorians .

Tucker was embarrassed when he read an encrypted message relayed to T'Pol by the Vulcan ship VCS Ti'Mur , only to discover that it was a letter breaking off T'Pol's engagement to her fiancé, Koss .

Tucker and Reed clashed over the task of installing plasma cannons on Enterprise, but Tucker ultimately agreed with Reed's viewpoint about taking acceptable risks.

Left in command of Enterprise when Archer and T'Pol were taken hostage by Coridan III terrorists, Tucker mounted a rescue mission with Reed against the advice of Captain Sopek of the VCS Ni'Var .

Tucker spent days adrift with Reed in Shuttlepod 1 , believing for much of that time that Enterprise had been destroyed and they were the only two survivors. This experience forged a closer friendship between the two men.

Xindi Conflict [ ]

Read More : Xindi Conflict

Tucker was devastated to learn that his sister, Elizabeth , was killed in the Xindi attack on Earth , being in San Francisco at the time of the August Wave .

In 2153, he became romantically involved with Commander T'Pol .

In March 2155 was promoted to captain and accepted command of the ICS Tal'Kir . Less than a month later he held joint command of the Emergency Zero Fleet during the Liberation of Betazed . Tucker managed to evacuate with most of his crew before the Tal'Kir suffered a warp core breach and was destroyed during combat over Betazed .

Tucker and T'Pol married just prior to the Operation Seven Deadly Sins , the first Human - Vulcan marriage.

Later Life [ ]

In 2158 eventually became the father of daughter T'Mir Tucker , in 2160 to Jonathan Tucker and in 2165 to Elizabeth Tucker .

He was promoted to Admiral in 2166 and returned to Earth to become dean of engineering department for Coalition Fleet Academy   Earth Campus  and vice-chair for the orbital Earhart Propulsion Lab on Fleet Statoin Lee Kuan Yew .

Following the election of T'Pol to First Councillor of the Interstellar Coalition in 2184, Tucker became First Mister to the Interstellar Coalition . T'Pol served two terms before retiring in 2192, allowing Gralless of Tellar to win the position.

Tucker retired to Vulcan with his family in 2192 where he remained for the rest of his life.

Tucker was the namesake of the Tucker Memorial Building on the grounds of Coalition Fleet Headquarters , which housed the offices of the Coalition Corps of Engineers Command . His picture was displayed prominently in the building's lobby.

At least seven fleet tenders or construction ships bore the name ICS Charles Tucker , though all were lost after varying years in service, all in combat. Ironically the only vessel not be lost in combat to bear his name was the ICS Trip Tucker , a battleship launched in 2259 and continued in service through the First and Second Coalition-Klignon War before being retired in 2301.

Service Record [ ]

• Ensign, 2139-2140 CE
• Lieutenant (Junior Grade), 2141-2142 CE
• Lieutenant, 2141-2144 CE
• Lieutenant Commander, 2145-2152 CE
• Commander, 2152-2154 CE
• Captain, 2155-2156 CE
• Fleet Captain, 2157 CE
• Commodore, 2158-2165
• Rear Admiral (RDML), 2166-2192 CE

Posting [ ]

• UES Volodarskiy , gamma shift engineering midshipmen (2139)
• Daedalus-project , assistant propulsion calibrator, (2140)
• UES Seadragon , alpha shift propulsion analyst (2141-2142)
• Fleet Station Lee Kuan Yew , beta shift chief engineer (2143-2149)
• Lunar Warp Five complex , NX-program (2149-2152)
• UES Enterprise , chief engineer (2153-2155)
• ICS ICS Tal'Kir , commanding officer (2155)
• ICS Poseidon , commanding officer (2155-2156)
• ICS Carmit , commanding officer (2157-2166)
• Coalition Fleet Academy Earth Campus , dean of engineering (2166-2192)
• Earhart Propulsion Lab , vice-chairperson (2166-2192)
• 3 Denobulan

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Published Sep 25, 2021

John Billingsley Explores the Ethics of Similitude

The actor talks about the classic episode of Enterprise, and the moral quandaries that follow viewers from Trek into the real world.

StarTrek.com | Getty Images

This article was originally published on November 19, 2019

Star Trek: Enterprise 's third season focused on Captain Jonathan Archer's pursuit of the Xindi and their devastating weapon designed to destroy Earth. Archer strayed from his ideals more than usual on that perilous mission, but the events of "Similitude" presented an incredibly unique dilemma. With Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III severely injured and in a comatose state, Archer authorized Doctor Phlox to create a mimetic symbiont of Tucker so that the physician could harvest neural tissue and save the original chief engineer.

However, the discovery that the symbiont known as Sim could potentially lead a full human life, so long as his neural tissue remained unharvested, further complicated the already precarious ethical situation.

Today marks sixteen years since "Similitude" premiered, and StarTrek.com managed to catch up with John Billingsley, whose character Dr. Phlox played such a vital role in the episode. The actor and activist talked about the classic episode of Enterprise , and the moral quandaries that follow viewers from Trek into the real world.

StarTrek.com

StarTrek.com: Enterprise 's third season established that Archer and his crew might have to sacrifice some of their ideals in order to save Earth from the Xindi. What was your reaction to the "Similitude" script when you finished reading it?

John Billingsley: As I recall, “Similitude” was one of the scripts that I took an immediate shine to. I thought it did what Star Trek does best: it wrestled with a moral issue using contemporary scientific concerns that are relevant to the world we’re living in; it explored issues that we’re going to be facing more and more often in the years ahead. It also did something else that Star Trek does when it is at its best. It gave everybody on the show something rich and interesting to play, which I think is always exciting about the best episodes of Star Trek . Everyone dug into the challenge, and did a great job, because they were animated by the central question, but also because the episode itself had a great arc.

I also thought it didn’t put its thumb down on the scale too heavily on either side of the question, as I think some episodes do. It had a lot of tenderness, and it was extremely well cast. If I’m remembering correctly, the various actors who played Sim did a terrific job until the handoff was made back to Connor.

The initial expectation was that Sim’s neural tissue could be harvested without any complications so that he would live out a symbiont's normal 15-day lifespan. How would you have responded to the idea if it had been presented as the only option to save a loved one?

JB: Well to begin with, I’m old (laughs). One’s relationship to death and mortality is different than when one is young. When you’re twenty and it seems as if a loved one or a peer is dying, you might perceive it as a tragedy and do anything to save them. At a certain age, you begin to think differently about the inevitability of death, at least I do. So I’d be much less inclined to seek a radical contravention of an inevitability. I suppose if the loved one is killed prematurely by a lightning strike… and there’s the possibility of taking tissue, cloning somebody, harvesting that tissue, saving the real person’s life, and the clone dies… oh I don’t know, how much does it cost?

It’s Star Trek , so let’s assume it’s free...

JB: You know, these moral quandary questions... there’s never any price tag [laughs]! In real life, you can’t even get a tooth extracted without having to get a second mortgage on your house. I’m just saying, I probably couldn’t afford the cloning procedure… so that solves that problem! This is how one sidles around moral quandaries in life. Just call me "The Sidler!"

Dr. Phlox quickly becomes Sim's primary caregiver. Did you approach that relationship as one derived from Phlox's previous experience with raising children or the fact that Phlox created him?

JB: I think... probably both. In terms of the acting challenge, it’s pretty easy to relate to a kid, to have real emotional availability. Those scenes play themselves — you don’t have to do a lot of soul searching to make the scene function. But yes, I think if you were to analyze what the character’s motivations were, Phlox probably has a gajillion kids; I suspect he was a boffo pop, and he is obviously an extremely empathetic person. Witness his affection for a bevy of plants and animals, as well as his generally humanistic bedside manner. In essence, he did create - albeit in a Frankensteinian way - this clone, so he had to assume parental responsibility for it, and he did so gladly.

Phlox eventually discovered that the transplant procedure would kill Sim. Did Archer’s authorization of Sim's creation shield your character from any of the guilt over that tragic revelation?

JB: There was certainly a deep sense of loss, but I think the overriding importance of saving Trip to complete the mission won out over guilt, yada yada yada. I suppose that Dr. Phlox was, as he often was when he had to make one of these horrible medical decisions — like killing off an entire fucking species [in “Dear Doctor”] — forced to pay for his decisions with some sleepless nights.

Oh, wait, he only slept once every 16 years, or something like that. Well, maybe he denied himself dessert for a couple of weeks as a form of 'hair-shirt-ism.’

Your character always maintained an open mind about medical issues and procedures. Regardless of the episode's outcome, do you believe Phlox would have personally sanctioned Sim's creation?

JB: While putting myself back in the brainpan of Dr. Phlox is tough at this point, I think on balance Dr. Phlox would probably have gone along with it. He was a tricky cat though, because sometimes he would take a moral stance that would run opposite to what somebody who is more pragmatic might have argued for. When the fellow who was his racial enemy came on board [the Antaran named Hudak in “The Breach”], Phlox was bound and determined not to treat the guy because that’s what the guy said he wanted. That was an instance where I’d say that Phlox was perhaps less “Phloxian” than he normally is, but Phlox generally weighed both sides of an equation and tried to balance virtue and pragmatism as best he could.

Although, the episode — again — in which he did destroy a whole race [“Dear Doctor”] is where I might question some of his thinking. In “Similitude,” I think the need to save Earth tipped the scale against him not cloning Trip. Then again, there’s the episode where the captain is going to push someone out of the airlock [“The Anomaly”], where we seem to be suggesting that torture is acceptable in circumstances where the world is at stake. Me no likey. Don't think Phlox was asked to weigh in on that one, thank God. Maybe he was in the little alien's room when that issue was being bandied about.

Anyway, that's one of the things I liked about “Similitude.” It neatly balanced all of the various quandaries. “Balanced quandaries” would make a good memoir title. Or a bad memoir title. Not sure. Another quandary.

How did the father/son relationship between the doctor and Sim affect Phlox's medical impartiality?

JB: Well, he was certainly distraught to have to follow through on what amounted to a form of murder… but it didn’t stop him from doing it either!

Many fans consider "Similitude" to be one of Enterprise 's best episodes. Did you anticipate that sort of reaction before the episode aired?

JB: Yes. When anybody asks, I always say that this was my favorite episode. I think it combines the characteristics of the very best of Star Trek in a single episode. I thought it was poignant, I thought it was moving, I thought everybody was given a lot to do, I thought everybody had an emotional investment in the outcome of the story and was utilized well. It was a compelling issue… it gets at the heart of what challenges us all today. How much power should we arrogate to ourselves over the creation or prolongation of life? So often there’s a case to be made for technology as a lifesaver, and an equally strong case to be made against tech as a 'values' eroder.

With all of these technological fixes in our world… the imbroglio around privacy versus ease of communications, for instance. There’s no easy answer, there just isn’t.

If you could change one of Phlox's choices in the episode, what would it be? Why?

JB: Looking at the key decisions, from bringing the idea to the captain in the first place— I don’t know if I can look at Phlox's decisions, in the context of the story, and in the context of what the stakes were, and say that I would have made different choices than Phlox. I’m sure each of those decisions was extremely hard for him. Fortunately, I'm an ignoramus, and nobody would ever ask me my opinion in an instance such as this, nor could I clone a soul, not if my life depended on it. I can barely get the toilet paper on the spindle. The spindle shoots out and then the toilet paper unrolls, and there's a big mess... but I digress.

Were any of the episode’s scenes more challenging to film than the rest?

JB: No, not really. It’s fairly easy as an actor to drop into scenes where things are fraught, scenes where you realize that somebody you love is going to die or you have to make a decision that’s going to cause a lot of people pain. Those scenes kind of act themselves.

Candidly, the hardest scenes in Star Trek are usually the ones where you have to convey a lot of information and much of it is ‘gobbledygook-y technobabble’. Where you’re talking about enzymes in the endocrine system and nanobots in the warp drive and blah, blah, blah. I don’t remember this episode having too much of that, and that’s one of the things I really liked about it. It presented a scientific solution to a problem, but it didn't make a huge meal of the science, most of the episode was about the problems that stem from the execution of the solution.

What about the scenes where Phlox was holding baby Sim?

Those are easy (laughs). The only thing you’re worried about is whether you’re going to drop the baby, because the mother is just off camera and you know she’s sweating it, plus one also hopes that the baby’s not going to puke on you.

LeVar Burton directed “Similitude.” As I recall, LeVar happened to see my wife shortly after that, perhaps on set or at an event, and told her that I must have a lot of experience with babies. My wife burst out laughing and told him I’ve spent my whole life avoiding the little buggers. As soon as somebody shows off a baby, or even pulls out baby pictures, I yell out, “I think I hear the soup boiling over, gotta go!” [laughs]

Have you ever encountered a challenge in your own life that conflicted with your morals to this extent?

JB: All the time, these days. Honestly, the thing that always gets me is trying to balance civility against personal integrity. You meet somebody at a party who says something outrageous, like "Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization," and the internal wrestling match begins. To what extent do you bite your tongue, or just turn away? Do you pick a fight and potentially disrupt an event? There are words that can, and perhaps should, be applied to certain behaviors we are seeing in this country — and I'll leave those words to your imagination — but those words are so fucking loaded, so destined to escalate a situation if/when employed, that one is loathe to use them, publicly. I understand that one man's meat is another man’s poison, but there are lines that get crossed in conversations, and if we don't speak up… oy.

I think that’s probably the biggest challenge we face as a country right now. The question of determining which of these two values needs to be accorded more respect, civility or forthrightness? There’s no easy answer, and it depends upon the individual situation. And again, it gets back to the technology. We all have the capacity to just blurt and bleet and blast on our various chat platforms now, and it has encouraged people to say things, to be 'uncensored'  —- and then we feel that much more liberated to do things, too — buried impulses ain't staying buried, shitty impulses that weren't acted upon even a few years ago get acted upon now.

It brings up the question of how do we respond to that? Do we respond in kind? Do we kick people who we feel promote violence through their language, for instance, out of our restaurants, do we try to deny them a place in the public square? Do we then practice a kind of authoritarianism of our own that is just as problematic as the authoritarianism, or at the least the intolerance, that we wish to speak up against? How do we tolerate the intolerant without becoming overly intolerant? Fuck if I know.

I find that to be the great moral quandary of the age.

Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance science fiction writer who contributes articles to the official Star Trek website and Star Trek Magazine. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @StobiesGalaxy.

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Charles “Trip” Tucker III A Star Trek personnel file report

Commander Charles Tucker III, known by his crew and friends as "Trip”, served as chief engineer and then the Second officer of Earth's first warp 5-capable starship, the Enterprise NX-01 , under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer .

As a child, he read many books with his mother including "The War of the Worlds". Early on his ambition was to be a starship captain. His parents had other hopes for him as his father thought he should be an engineer, while his mother thought he should be an architect.

When he was seven, Tucker's mother bought him a copy of Emory Erickson's "The Father of the Transporter". He had her read it to him every night for a month. His childhood admiration for Emory Erickson is what caused him to drop his ambition to be a Captain and instead want to become an engineer. He was apt at the deconstruction of things, but not so good at putting it all back together again. Tucker enjoyed tormenting his younger sister, Elizabeth. He once put a garden snake in her dollhouse. When he would go to the movies, she would "scream like a banshee" if he didn't take her.

Tucker often went on camping trips with his friends. They would spend most of the night looking up at the stars, imagining what Earth's sun would look like from a distant planet.

Tucker attended Bayshore Elementary. He made a regrettable mistake regarding the first dance he ever attended. Melissa Lyles, a girl whom he had a crush on, would be there. Tucker spent weeks practicing dance steps with his brother in preparation for the event. On the night of the dance, she wore a red dress, and in his opinion, she was the prettiest girl there. He wanted badly to dance with her but could not bring up the courage to do so. Tucker caught the girl looking at him a few times, but still did nothing, and ended up standing in a corner with his friends. Twenty years later, he still regretted not asking Melissa to dance.

In tenth grade, Tucker received instruction by a Vulcan teacher who was a scientist sent to teach Earth children about life on other planets. Mr. Velik intimidated Tucker as the first Vulcan or non-human he had ever met. Velik often reminded his students, "Challenge your preconceptions or they'll challenge you."

Tucker was a natural engineer, working on boat engines, teaching himself the trade.

Joining Starfleet

Tucker joined Starfleet in 2139, living in Sausalito, a few blocks from the Vulcan Compound. He reminisced later in life that he "got into a lot of trouble" at Starfleet Training Command during his time there.

In the 2140s he had joined Captain Jefferies' engineering team, achieving the rank of lieutenant. After the failure and destruction of the warp-2 prototype vessel NX-Alpha in 2143, Tucker met Commander Jonathan Archer. He later helped Archer and A.G. Robinson in burgling a backup warp-2 prototype vessel, the NX-Beta, to help prove to Starfleet Command that the engine design was now sound. Tucker bonded a stronger friendship with Archer by teaching him how to scuba dive off the coast of Florida.

They continued training and missions together. Their survival training in Australia stretched over two weeks together. In 2147 they were on Titan as part of the Omega training mission.  A malfunction with Tucker's environmental suit occurred and during his panic and confusion, Tucker attempted to remove his helmet. Archer saved his life by preventing him from doing so.

By 2151, Tucker was well known for his gifts in orbital engineering and as the chief engineer for the Enterprise NX-01. Life aboard such a new and experimental ship was filled with firsts. In a ship with artificial gravity, Tucker was shown a zero-g spot by Ensign Mayweather. His part in morale for the crew was a regular movie night.

Tucker helped return the Klingon Klaang to his homeworld and helped retrieve information that prevented a civil war.

On a deserted planet, he was infected with pollen that caused paranoia and it left him delusionally thinking the crew was attempting to kill him.

The Enterprise made first contact with a species known as the Xyrillians. Tucker boarded their ship to assist them with their engines and had extreme difficulties adapting to their physical environment aboard. During his work, he formed a relationship with Ah’len, their engineer. After he left, Tucker found he was pregnant, or rather a host, for the Xyrillians.  He became the first Human male to become pregnant, as well as the first known Human to participate, albeit unknowingly, with interspecies reproduction. The ship was tracked down and the Xyrillians transferred the embryo to another host.

When the Enterprise visited the Vulcan monastery at P’Jem, Tucker, Archer, and the Vulcan officer T’Pol became entangled in a dispute between the Vulcans and Andorians. They were held hostage during the dispute until they were rescued by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and the Enterprise.

An Andorian named Shran, freed Tucker and Reed after they were taken attempting a rescue of Archer and T’Pol from rebel forces on Coridan.

Tucker and Reed became stranded in a shuttlepod after they found debris at their rendezvous coordinates and believed the Enterprise had been destroyed. The Enterprise had instead rescued a damaged ship and taken it back to its planet. With their air supply running out, Tucker devised a plan to use the impulse engines as a “flare” to signal a ship. The Enterprise detected it and arrived, saving them.

A symbiotic creature that had stowed away on the Enterprise managed to capture Tucker and attach to his nervous system. It infected others too. After its peaceful intent to return home and reunite with its host was discovered, the creature released the crew, including Tucker, and the Enterprise returned it to it's host

During the many encounters with the Suliban and the Cabal, the Enterprise became entangled in the Temporal War . Archer was taken into the future by Temporal Agent Daniels and Tucker was the one to pull Archer back restoring the timeline. Daniels also forced Tucker to expand past his current understanding to learn quantum engineering and build quantum beacons.

He used Suliban technology to rescue Archer and Reed from a death sentence. He used a cloaking device which resulted in him accidentally cloaking his right arm.

The Xindi were six sentient species who evolved on the same planet in the Delphic Expanse. In 2153, the Xindi Council launched an attack on Earth that killed 7 million people in Florida, one being Tucker’s sister, Elizabeth. Tucker was never the same after this event, growing bitter with fits of rage and sleepless nights. T’Pol helped alleviate the sleep issues with Vulcan neuro pressure. This closeness helped deepen the bond between them eventually leading to a romantic relationship.

Tucker finally came face to face with a Xindi at a mining camp. An away team attempted to rescue the Xindi Kessick. He was killed in the attempt but gave the coordinates of the Xindi homeworld in the "Expanse" before he passed.

The Delphic Expanse was a region of space approximately fifty light-years away from Earth. It was composed of a type of  thermobaric gas clouds which were highly hazardous to starships and their navigation.

According to the Triannons, a native species that regarded the Expanse as the "Chosen Realm," was an area that had been created by beings they referred to as "the Makers," in preparation for their eventual return. With the destruction of the Sphere network, the clouds dissipated in 2154, leaving navigation to be freely undertaken in this sector.

Tucker and T'Pol attempted to replicate trellium-D, a substance that would protect the Enterprise from the deadly anomalies in the Expanse. Their experiment ended in failure when it exploded.

Tucker then shifted to “rewriting the book on warp theory” as he realized the Cochrane equation wasn't constant in the Expanse, with spatial gradients destabilizing the warp field. Finally, he did succeed though, with some rerouting of system taps and compressing the antimatter stream before it entered the injectors, he was able to stabilize the warp field.

Tucker was nearly killed by a primary injector flare when he encountered a polaric field. Dr. Phlox grew a clone to harvest brain tissue from. The clone, Sim, attempted to escape the Enterprise to save his life as the transplant would kill him. Sim heroically changed his mind though and allowed Dr. Phlox to go ahead with the procedure even knowing he would not survive it.

The Enterprise recovered a small craft in the Expanse with an unknown type of alien inside. Tucker, examining the craft, determined it was a test subject with atmospheric testing to see the effects of exposure to space. It was the first indication of an outside alien force behind the Xindi.

After the battle of Azati Prime and the losses incurred, Tucker was given the task of communicating with the families of the deceased. Doing so helped Tucker process his own loss, reconcile what had happened, and work through it. Complicating this healing process was the presence of Degra, one of the council members of the Xindi, and the one that designed the weapon that had killed his sister. Trip had several tense encounters with Degra, as Archer worked to gain his trust, but consoling the families is what finally brought Tucker closure.

The Enterprise's warp coil had been damaged during a Battle with the Xindi and had to be replaced. Tucker was part of the effort to steal a new one from an Illyrian ship.

In the final battle with the Xindi, Tucker played a key role by destroying one of the spheres, disrupting its energy field,which allowed Archer and his team to board the Xindi weapon and destroy it.

Time Travel, Loss, and the Federation

On Earth, the Enterprise and her crew found themselves in 1944, again dealing with the Temporal War. Making matters worse, the Suliban Silik secretly boarded the Enterprise while Archer was in the hands of the Nazi Germans on Earth. The crew found it was Daniels who transported them to this altered past with Temporal War factions managing to destroy the time conduit moments before the Leader named Vosk could enter. This had the effect of eliminating the timeline changes he had made, unraveling the alternate timeline, and bringing the Temporal Cold War to an end.

With the Enterprise returned to its correct time, Tucker was shocked and upset that T’Pol ended their relationship and married the Vulcan who had been betrothed to her as a child. It left Trip feeling despondent and heartbroken.

Eventually, unable to put his feelings behind him, he transferred to the Columbia NX-02 but returned during the Augment crisis with the Klingons. He transferred permanently back to the Enterprise shortly after he found his psychic bond with T’Pol made him immune to the Orion women who used their pheromone effect on human males to take over the Enterprise.

In the early days of the Conference that would lead to the Federation, a xenophobic terrorist group called Terra Prime, lead by a man called Paxton,  used a clone of a combination of stolen DNA from T’Pol and Tucker to disrupt the conference. T’Pol named her Elizabeth, after Tucker’s deceased sister. After infiltrating, being captured, and then disabling a weapon that the group was threatening to use unless all aliens left Sol sector, the couple faced heartbreak as Elizabeth, suffering from defects in her cloning, died.

Later Career and Death

In 2161, the Federation charter was about to be signed. Tucker remained on board the Enterprise as its chief engineer. En route to Earth to attend the ceremony and alliance that would begin the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise made a detour to Rigel X to rescue Shran's daughter. They were successful, almost losing Archer during the away mission, but her abductors managed to sneak aboard the Enterprise.

The alien trespassers threatened Archer and Tucker, Tucker quickly created a plan to lure the aliens away from Archer, despite orders from Archer to remain quiet an cooperate. Tucker continued and persuaded one of the aliens to render Archer unconscious. With his captain safe and no longer in the way, Tucker lured the aliens to a nearby plasma junction, which he claimed was a communications system to contact Shran. Knowing they believed him, Tucker rigged the junction to explode, killing the alien trespassers. It also critically injured Trip, and he died for his Captain. Tucker's death however, assured the founding of the future Federation, as Archer was instrumental in its founding.

The End or was it?

Rumors that Tucker’s death was faked by a mysterious organization called Section 31 surfaced 250 years after Tucker's death. It was rumored Tucker was sent on a mission to Romulus after he underwent surgery, to make him look like a Romulan, in order to infiltrate the Romulan government and its military to help Earth in the inevitable war between the two species. Tucker later carried out more missions for 31 before learning that Section 31 had engineered the destruction of the Partnership of Civilizations by providing the Klingons with the Ware shutdown code that Starfleet had developed. He concluded that he could no longer be part of Section 31 and retired to Vulcan after changing his appearance and name again to be with T’Pol where he became a father of two.

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Charles Tucker III (mirror)

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Commander Charles Tucker III was the chief engineer on ISS Enterprise . Due to the hazardous nature of warp reactor technology, the right side of Commander Tucker's face was deformed, as a result of delta radiation exposure. The deformity was so extreme that it would make sure his "grandchildren glow in the dark."

Tucker was very attracted to T'Pol and even did her an enjoyable "favor" while she was enduring the pon farr . While under the influence of a mind meld with T'Pol, Tucker unknowingly sabotaged the Suliban cloaking device that he had previously installed on Enterprise . It turned out that T'Pol was using him to help Captain Forrest regain command of the starship . As a result, he spent four hours in the agony booth . He was incensed when T'Pol told him what she had done.

Unlike his prime universe counterpart , Tucker was not friendly or easy going. He was mean spirited, short tempered with his subordinates, cynical and highly suspicious of others to the point of paranoia at times. He and Major Malcolm Reed also hated each other. Tucker was infuriated when Commander Archer had Reed and his MACO detachment investigate the sabotage of the Suliban cloaking device , instead of allowing the engineering department to investigate. When Tucker was later thrown in the agony booth by Archer, Reed took great pleasure in overseeing Tucker's torture , and taunted him over his predicament.

Tucker was a member of the assault team that boarded the USS Defiant NCC-1764 . When the Enterprise was destroyed by the Tholians , Tucker worked together with T'Pol, Reed and Archer to power up the Defiant, escape the Tholian base and destroy the Tholian ships.

Archer assigned Tucker as chief engineer on board Defiant , but ran into problems almost immediately. The Defiant was not fully operational in that warp drive was off-line. To make matters worse, Tucker had no idea how to get the warp drive operational, as Defiant was from one hundred years in the future and Tucker was in no way familiar with this futuristic technology. Archer was less than sympathetic when Tucker explained this to him, ordering him to get the ship fully operational soon or he would find another chief engineer. T'Pol suggested that Tucker use the alien workers found on board to help him, as they might be more familiar with the Defiant 's technology.

Tucker's dilemma was further compounded when it was determined that Slar , a Gorn foreman that the Tholians used to work on the ship, was stealing key engine components and was killing members of the engineering department. Eventually, Archer hunted down and killed Slar. Subsequently, the components were found and Tucker was able to get the warp drive online so the Defiant could rendezvous with the other Starfleet vessels that were battling the rebel forces.

Later, Tucker was instrumental in saving the Defiant from being destroyed by the ISS Avenger . Tucker had found Phlox sabotaging key ship components such as shields and weapons systems in order to give Avenger a significant advantage. Tucker managed to overpower Phlox and restore shields and weapons systems. His actions were paramount in allowing the Defiant to eventually overtake and destroy Avenger . ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

External link [ ]

• Charles Tucker III (mirror) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Charles Tucker III

Charles Tucker III is a main character in Star Trek: Enterprise , the fifth series in the Star Trek franchise. He was portrayed by actor Connor Trinneer.

Tucker was a Starfleet commander and the chief engineer of the starship Enterprise NX-01. By his friends, he was often referred to by his nickname, "Trip", which was short for "Triple" as he was the third generation of his family to be named Charles Tucker.

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Quotes 

[last lines] 

Zho'Kaan : Trip... when I fired at your vessel... I'm grateful I didn't destroy it.

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : That makes two of us.

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : [from his log entry]  For the record - I have learned one thing about him: his name's Zho'Kaan.

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : [to Zho'Kaan]  Anything you want to say to the folks back home?

Zho'Kaan : Nohkto.

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : Yeah... That means 'bad'.

[Tucker gets hit by a discharge] 

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : Damn it!

Zho'Kaan : "Damn it".

Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III : Well, looks like we've made some headway in our first contact between Humans and, um... whatever you are. Unfortunately your first word is somethin' you wouldn't wanna use in polite company.

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Every star trek chief engineer ranked.

Star Trek has featured some brilliant engineers over its long, storied history, from undersized Tellarites to science fiction’s most famous Scotsman.

Star Trek has featured a plethora of great engineers over its long, storied history, including undersized Tellarites and science fiction's most famous Scotsman. A Starfleet vessel's Chief Engineer is usually its primary problem solver, figuring out how to make the impractical orders of their captains into reality. They also tend to be the primary outlet for technobabble, the partially fictitious technical jargon that is often utilized to explain away a problem with yet-to-be-created science and technology.

Nearly every iteration of Star Trek has featured either a Chief Engineer or an extremely similar position for its primary Federation ship or setting. The personality of Star Trek 's engineers aren't exactly uniform, but they do tend to feature some similar traits, like the mercurial brilliance of Star Trek: The Original Series ' Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), or the charmingly nerdy enthusiasm of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Whatever their personality quirks, a starship's chief engineer is an essential part of not only the ship's day-to-day operations but more often than not they're also a crucial member of the core cast.

Related: Every Enterprise Number One In Star Trek

10 B’Elanna Torres

A half-Klingon, half-human former Maquis officer, B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) was thrust into the role of Chief Engineer on Star Trek: Voyager . A more than competent engineer, B'Elanna was notoriously grumpy and difficult to get along with, especially in the show's early seasons. While she had a grudging respect for Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the pair often butted heads. Voyager relied heavily on B'Elanna's issues with her mixed heritage, territory the franchise explored in more impressive fashion through TOS ' Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and TNG 's Klingon warrior Worf (Michael Dorn) . Her relationship with Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) softened her a bit, but B'Elanna remained a tough character to love.

9 Jankom Pog

An eccentric teenage Tellarite, Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) became the engineer of the USS Protostar when he and a group of fellow young prisoners on the Tars Lamora prison colony stole the top secret ship to find refuge in the Federation. Star Trek: Prodigy 's resident mechanic was an undersized, cantankerous contrarian who hid a big heart underneath all of his abrasive affectations. His improvisational engineering wizardry was key to the Protostar's success on their way to Federation space, aided by the multipurpose cybernetic implant that replaced his right hand. Jankom's just getting started, but he's already a very fun character.

8 Jett Reno

Star Trek: Discovery season 1 didn't really feature a chief engineer, though Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) played a fairly similar role. After being rescued from the wreckage of the USS Hiawatha in Discovery season 2, Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) eventually took on the responsibilities of the ship's Chief Engineer. The quirky, reserved Reno sparred often with the easily provoked Stamets, with the pair often disagreeing with the technical approaches needed in dire situations. Reno is one of Discovery 's best characters and would rank higher if she were a regular cast member and not just a recurring guest star.

7 Andy Billups

The Chief Engineer of the USS Cerritos , Lieutenant Commander Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) came across as a competent, fairly run-of-the-mill Starfleet officer in the early days of Star Trek: Lower Decks . It was eventually revealed that Billups was from Hysperia, a medieval fantasy sort of planet. He was the son and heir to the planet's monarch, Queen Paolana (June Diane Raphael). Much to his mother's dismay, Billups rejected his native heritage and monarchical destiny to pursue a career in Starfleet. Paolana is still determined to see her son on the throne eventually, but Billups is much happier dealing with plasma conduits and warp cores, and inspiring Ensign Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero).

Related: How Star Trek Reintroduced Caitians (& What It Means)

6 Charles “Trip” Tucker III

Commander Charles Tucker III (Connor Trineer), generally referred to as "Trip," was the Chief Engineer and second officer of the NX-01 Enterprise. He was the closest friend of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) on the ship, with the two often sharing meals and attempting to comfort each other when things got dire. Gifted with an inherent likability and Southern charm, Trip had an intense chemistry with Enterprise's Vulcan Science Officer, T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), and the pair would engaged in a romantic entanglement in the back half of the series. While Star Trek: Enterprise was often criticized for its underdeveloped supporting cast, Trip was a notable exception.

5 Montgomery Scott (Kelvin timeline)

A consistent highlight of the rebooted Kelvin timeline Star Trek films, Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Simon Pegg) was a manic, undisciplined young engineer who also happened to be a genius. Usually accompanied by his small alien friend Keenser (Deep Roy), this version of Scotty was far less seasoned than his TOS counterpart, and eventually became a trusted confidante to Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) . Scotty formed a strong bond with the abandoned alien Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) when the Enterprise crash-landed on the planet Altamid in Star Trek Beyond , eventually securing her admission into Starfleet Academy.

Taking place roughly a decade before the events of TOS , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds chronicles life on the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). A few other major legacy characters are around in SNW , like Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), but these were the days before Scotty joined the ship's crew. In his place was Lieutenant Hemmer (Bruce Horak), an Aenar with an incredibly high opinion of himself. He became an important mentor to Uhura, and Hemmer's demise at the hands of the Gorn is one of SNW 's most emotionally devastating moments.

3 Miles O’Brien

Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) got his start as the transporter chief on Star Trek: The Next Generation . It was decided that a recognizable face was needed for the spinoff Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and the popular O'Brien was chosen to be the station's Chief of Operations, essentially a space station's version of a Chief Engineer. O'Brien came into his own as a character on DS9 ; he grew his family with his wife Keiko (Rosalind Chao) and became bosom chums with Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) . O'Brien was a somewhat cranky but always reliable resource for Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) during the Dominion War.

Related: Star Trek: What Happened To O'Brien After The Next Generation

2 Montgomery Scott

Arguably the most iconic engineer in Starfleet history, Montgomery Scott, known as "Scotty," was the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise and its immediate successor the USS Enterprise-A for three decades. A self-professed "miracle worker," Scotty managed to get the Enterprise out of virtually any jam Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) got mixed up in. Scotty was suspended in a transporter buffer for decades until he was discovered by the crew of the Enterprise-D in the TNG episode "Relics." Scotty saved a ship called Enterprise one last time with the assistance of Geordi La Forge before departing for new adventures in a loaned shuttlecraft.

1 Geordi La Forge

TNG season 1 actually featured several different chief engineers, all of them very minor characters who were routinely upstaged by boy genius Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). The show figured out that problem in season 2 when Lieutenant Geordi La Forge was promoted to Chief Engineer. His enthusiasm for technology and science was infectious, and Geordi's friendship with Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) was one of the defining relationships in all of Star Trek . Nobody could spout technobabble quite like Geordi, who could make a warp core coolant leak sound like poetry. Geordi La Forge is quite simply the best kind of officer Star Trek has to offer.

More: Geordi's Daughters Are Picard Season 3's Real Next Generation