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William T. Riker

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William T. Riker is a central character featured in the Star Trek film and television franchise. Played by actor Jonathan Frakes , he was a regular cast member on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and appeared in all 176 episodes of the series as well as four of the Star Trek feature films including, Star Trek: Generations , Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis . The character has also made guest appearances on the spin-off shows Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise (a variation of Riker's character named Thomas Riker appeared in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Outside of films and television, William T. Riker has been prominently featured in a multitude of books, comics and video games.

• 2 Biography
• 3 Notes & Trivia
• 4 Body Count
• 6 External links
• 7 References

Overview [ ]

Biography [ ], notes & trivia [ ].

• The character of William T. Riker was created by Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana .
• Actor William O. Campbell originally auditioned for the role of Will Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation . He was the second choice for the part, but the role ultimately went to Jonathan Frakes . Campbell was not completely cut off from the Star Trek mythos however. He popped up in 1988 in the season two episode "The Outrageous Okona" playing the titular character Captain Thadiun Okona.

Body Count [ ]

The following is a list of characters whose deaths William T. Riker is responsible for, either directly or accidentally.

• Yuta - Disintegrated with a phaser weapon. ( TNG: The Vengeance Factor )

See also [ ]

External links [ ].

• William T. Riker at IMDB
• William T. Riker at Memory Beta
• William T. Riker at Memory Alpha
• William T. Riker at the Star Trek DB

References [ ]

• 1 Denise Cloyd
• 2 Edwin Jenner

William T. Riker

As an ensign on his first assignment, Riker had served with now-Admiral Pressman on the test ship U.S.S. Pegasus as and proved pivotal in defending his captain against a rare Starfleet mutiny before they and only a handful of others escaped, shortly after the ship's destruction during a test project. Only in 2370 was Pressman's renegade cloaking experiment unmasked, and Riker was detained briefly for complicity but cleared.

Later stationed on Betazed, his mission there ended in 2362 with a posting that would launch a rapid rise in his career. Sent to the U.S.S. Potemkin in 2362 as a lieutenant, he proved unorthodox again in avoiding a confrontation by hanging over a planet's magnetic pole to confuse an opposing ship's sensors. Only six weeks after coming aboard, though, he barely escaped from Nervala IV, where his rescue of crewmates led to a promotion and a switch from operations to command division, where he eventually became first officer of the U.S.S. Hood under Captain Robert DeSoto. During this stay he was offered his first command on the light cruiser U.S.S. Drake, but turned it down.

From there, he was promoted to commander and picked sight unseen from among 50 candidates by Jean-Luc Picard as his first officer on the new Galaxy-class U.S.S. Enterprise; in fact, the two had not met until he signed aboard at Farpoint Station, after he was dropped off by the U.S.S. Hood.

Riker grew so satisfied with his assignment under Picard, who quickly dubbed him "Number One" according to old Terran naval parlance, that he twice turned down two more commands of his own: once to the frontier scout ship U.S.S. Aries in 2365, and again to the ill-fated U.S.S. Melbourne a year later, although he temporarily had a field promotion to captain during the Borg crisis of 2366-67 during Picard's abduction. Ironically, he likely would have died on the Melbourne during the Borg massacre at Wolf 359 and would not have been present to play a major role during the Enterprise's last-ditch attack.

Knowledgeable on legal issues, he was pressed into presenting Starfleet's case against Data's independence at Starbase 173 in 2365 and, two years later, defended first Crewman Tarses and then even Picard before Admiral Satie's inquiry in 2367. He was the first human to serve aboard a Federation-Klingon exchange program in 2365, where he showed a keen knowlledge of their culture and became one of the few to obtain Picard's "surrender."

He had been given temporary command of the U.S.S. Excalibur in Picard's blockading fleet against Romulan involvement in the Klingon civil war of 2367-68, but Admiral Nechayev passed over him by placing Captain Jellico in command during Picard's abduction by the Cardassians in 2369. Their budding disagreements led to Riker being temporarily relieved of duty until he was called back by Jellico for Cardassian negotiations.

Riker's latter tour years on the Galaxy-class Enterprise were filled with more surprises. Aside from being drugged and made nearly insane by the Tilonians, captured and nearly killed by the xenophobic Malcorians on a first contact recon gone bad, abducted by solanagen-based aliens, and revealed for his role in the Pegasus incident, he discovered [*] a duplicate of himself created as a transporter fluke from the Nervala IV mission.

[*] Ironically, the two clashed in temperament, with the "found" Riker finding his own restless career on the Gandhi before resigning to join the Maquis rebels and his subsequent capture by Cardassians in a useless theft of the U.S.S. Defiant from DS-9.

Riker, meanwhile, again gave no thought to his own command and joined Picard and the other senior staff aboard the new Sovereign-class Enterprise namesake. Though the incident has been classified, Riker also has the satisfaction of having joined Chief Engineer LaForge in the cockpit of Zefram Cochrane's warp test vehicle Phoenix during efforts to repair temporal damage caused by Borg invaders in 2373.

Although Riker has displayed a well-rounded personality and temperament throughout his rising command career, his mother's death when he was only 2 helped foster an acrimonious 15-year separation from his father at age 15, when he left home. He had deeply missed his mother, but came to loathe the distance his father erected between them as his own means of grief. Their relationship resorted to an ongoing competition in activities such as fishing trips, and formally manifested itself in the martial art of anbo-jyutsu as way to work out their problems. The two began a tentative rapprochement in 2365 during a surprise encounter, where Riker discovered his father had nearly died in a Tholian attack in 2253. The family history includes a veteran of the Terran American Civil War, Col. Thaddeus "Iron Boots" Riker, who was wounded as commander of the 102nd New York at the Battle of Pine Mountain, serving in Gen. W.T. Sherman's march to Atlanta in 1864; he was carried for two miles from the front lines or would not have survived.

Riker's knack for improvisation runs throughout his hobbies and interests as well. A master poker player and bluffer, he had learned the game during his brief stint on the U.S.S. Potemkin; his reputation won him the role as replacement Federation negotiator during the short-lived Barzan wormhole talks. He has also visited Quark's bar and casino on DS9, where in its first year of operation under Starfleet-Bajoran administration he was the only person to win a triple-down dabo.

He can play keyboards, but his favorite musical instrument is the trombone. He especially loves jazz and has played for numerous shipboard functions and concerts; he displays it in his quarters - having loaned his old boyhood instrument to Thomas Riker - and also displays a Risian horga'hn Picard once brought him, as well as a fishing reel. Under Dr. Crusher's direction, his acting talents have increased greatly since "Something for Breakfast" in 2369 until his riveting "Frame of Mind" performance only weeks later. Cooking is another hobby, thanks to the necessity of a father who hated to do it, and his language skills include basic Ferengi as well as Klingon. Generally, he claims to be inept at organizing his time off and - predictably - prefers to let events happen unplanned.

Riker has a strong libido and - aside from encounters made in the line of duty, such as on Angel I and Tilonia IV - has fostered several romantic relationships, including the enhanced holo-woman Minuet, the doomed assassin Yuta and colonizer Carmen Davila, and Soren of the normally androgynous J'naii, for whom he risked court-martial over Prime Directive charges. His encounters nearly cost him a murder sentence on Tanuga IV and, after a Risian resort visit, the Ktarian takeover of Starfleet through a mind-control device. Additionally, he and Ensign Ro engaged in a love/hate working relationship, especially exposed during a memory blanking incident in 2368, and he offered to speak in her behalf when she was presumed dead later that year. (See addendum below).

Despite his nominally robust outlook, Riker has been prone to short bouts of self-doubt regarding his perceived complacency toward ambition each time he debated and turned down his own ship command. His imposing physical presence has been an unintended impediment to effective communication with some in his command, especially junior officers, and he has taken steps to deal with it.

Riker generally enjoys good health; an infectious plant on Surata IV proved nearly fatal but for a precise and direct neural-cortical therapy. Athletically, he still enjoys Parrises Squares, despite medical warnings; he also trains for the Klingon bat'tleh with sticks and studies in Worf's mok'bara classes. While he does not care for equine events he does indulge mountain climbing and fishing holo-programs, having grown up in the great outdoors of Earth's Alaska.

(Due to the conflict of interest, this entry is being entered by the chief medical officer rather than ship's counselor, who has been personally involved with the subject of the report.)

Aside from his string of incomplete female relationships, Riker's major romance last involved Counselor Deanna Troi, who began calling him "imzadi," the native word for "beloved," after they met during his Betazed mission. He had last seen her there the day before he shipped out on the U.S.S. Potemkin in 2362, but it would be two years before they were reunited again as fellow officers on the U.S.S. Enterprise, unbeknownst to Picard. They had planned to get together six months after his departure, but the Nervala IV incident changed that; his early feelings for her at that time can still be seen in his twin "Thomas." Riker professed a warm friendship for Troi in later years that occasionally blossomed into romance, but they generally stayed platonic - although Worf's surprising courtship of her in 2370 seemed never to have settled well with him.

On a personal level, I was heartened to find Riker commanding the refit Enterprise as captain in 20 years, but disturbed to discover that he and my chief security officer Worf had clashed over their affections for Deanna Troi along the future timeline shown to me by the Q entity in late 2370. Owing to the tentative nature of this "future," I chose to share these developments among the officers involved with the conviction that this future was not immovable, in the hope they can avoid the problem.

Star Trek: Why The Actor Originally Cast As Riker Was Replaced By Jonathan Frakes

Of the many standout characters on "Star Trek: The Next Generation,"  Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is among the most popular. The dutiful righthand man of Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Sir Patrick Stewart ) is a vital member of the USS Enterprise crew and a major component of the overall success of "The Next Generation." Thus, Riker has gone on to appear in a variety of other "Star Trek" projects, with the most recent being "Star Trek: Picard" and "Star Trek: Lower Decks." Frakes has brought him to life to perfection time and time again, though his incredible franchise run nearly didn't come to fruition.

When "The Next Generation" was coming together, the minds behind it cast Billy Campbell in the role. However, per producer Rick Berman's recollection in the "Star Trek" oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams" by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Paramount executive John Pike wasn't sold on him. "Pike didn't like him. He didn't feel he had a sense of command. He wouldn't follow this guy into battle. I think it was really more that he didn't audition that well for the part," Berman said. Thus, Campbell was quickly swapped out for Frakes, and the rest is history.

Still, that's not to say that Campbell was barred from the "Star Trek" franchise entirely.

Billy Campbell made it into Star Trek, just not as Commander Riker

Even though he missed out on the role of Commander Riker and, therefore, a spot at the forefront of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Billy Campbell was still able to leave his mark on the "Star Trek" franchise in the end. Campbell took on the character Thadiun Okona — the arrogant yet charming captain of the cargo carrier known as the Erstwhile — for the "Next Generation" Season 2 episode titled "The Outrageous Okona." That installment marks his only appearance on the program, but it's not his only one in the wider "Star Trek" canon.

Decades after his "The Next Generation" debut, Campbell's Okona returned to "Star Trek" on "Star Trek: Prodigy." He pops up in two episodes, Season 1's "Crossroads" and "Masquerade," helping out the USS Protostar crew. On the animated program, he's a bit older than he was on "The Next Generation," and he's sporting an eyepatch for unspecified reasons, but his penchant for winding up in sticky situations remains unchanged. Campbell turns in some great voice work to boot, making Okona's surprise return even more noteworthy.

All in all, it's too bad for Campbell that he didn't get to keep the role of Commander Riker. At least he landed Thadiun Okona — a character he has only played in a couple of projects yet has become and remained synonymous with.

Star Trek: William Riker's 12 Best Quotes, Ranked

With his charismatic presence, William Riker is an iconic figure in the Star Trek universe. Here are some of his best quotes.

Star Trek is a groundbreaking science fiction franchise that has captivated audiences for more than five decades. The series typically centers around a famous starship, the USS Enterprise, as it travels through space and encounters new civilizations. Their characters have also inspired a devoted fan base, leading to the release of Star Trek: Picard in 2020, 22 years after the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation . William Riker is, no doubt, one of these notable characters.

William Riker, portrayed by actor Jonathan Frakes , is one of the most beloved characters in the Star Trek franchise. Serving as the first officer aboard the USS Enterprise. Riker is smart, bold, and very confident. He can also sometimes be very arrogant, disregarding the enterprise chain of command.

Riker's character changes over the course of the series, as he has to deal with a lot of problems, from meetings with aliens to moral issues that test his beliefs. As he went from being a young, ambitious officer to a well-recognized leader, he became one of the most important people in Star Trek . His famous lines are also what make him stand out. Here are some of his best quotes.

12 “What's a knockout like you doing in a computer generated gin joint like this?”

One of Riker's best pick-up lines. He said this to Minuet on the holodeck, expressing how someone as beautiful and sophisticated as she is, would be in such a mundane setting. The line is also ironic, given that Minuet is a holograph. She is not a real person, but rather a figment of Riker's imagination. She is intelligent, witty, and beautiful, and Riker quickly falls in love with her. They spend some time together in the holodeck, talking, dancing, and playing music. However, their relationship was doomed from the start. Because Minuet is a computer program, and Riker cannot truly have a real relationship with her. Although, Minuet is arguably his greatest love in the show .

11 “Without trust, there's no friendship, no closeness, none of the emotional bonds that make us who we are.”

This is one of the most emotional scenes between Commander William Riker and Lieutenant Commander Data. They discuss the concept of trust and its potential for betrayal. Especially on this journey, as they travel through space, facing friends and foes. Riker explains that trust is essential for building and maintaining close relationships. Without trust, they cannot truly open up to friends and share their thoughts and feelings.

This was thought-provoking for Data, as he reflects on the absence of emotional consequences, since he lacks human emotions, while Riker acknowledges that he willingly takes that risk every time trust is involved.

10 “Fate. It protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise.”

No doubt, the Starship Enterprise has a long and storied history of survival in the Star Trek universe. The ship has survived several dangerous encounters and battles. The Enterprise probably has some sort of supernatural protection. This quote from Riker is one of the best in Star Trek . On this occasion, the crew and ship barely escaped annihilation from a strange enemy ship. He said it to remind his crew that the Enterprise is a powerful ship with a skilled and lucky crew.

9 "The more difficult the task, the sweeter the victory"

Commander Riker says this to Deanna Troi in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Captain's Holiday." In this episode, Captain Picard served as a negotiator for a trade dispute between the Gemarians and the Dachlyds. The Gemarians and the Dachlyds are two neighboring species with a long history of conflict. Troi tells him the negotiation would prove to be a difficult one.

However, Riker does not doubt the confidence he has in his captain's skills as a diplomat. In the end, Picard negotiated a mutually beneficial agreement between the two species. The agreement was based on a compromise, and both sides were satisfied with the outcomes.

8 “Maybe if we felt any loss as keenly as we felt the death of one close to us, Human history would be a lot less bloody.”

This quote is from one of the most emotional moments in Star Trek . The USS Enterprise had lost Lieutenant Aster to an explosion during an away mission in 2366. Data, unable to comprehend human nature, had asked Riker why he didn't feel the same feelings of absence as with Lieutenant Yar .

Riker explains to Data that the death of a close one is one of the most painful experiences that a human can go through. It can also lead to violence and hatred. Riker also suggests that human history would be much less bloody if humans felt the same pain and loss for every loss they experienced. Humans would be less likely to go to war and commit violence.

7 “Is this a rescue mission or a continuation of the torture?”

Riker and Deanna Troi share a complicated romantic history. Still, Riker loves her and can be jealous when it comes to her. This is seen when Worf's expression of feelings and sensitivity toward Troi makes Riker uneasy. This happens when Worf rescues Troi and Commander Riker from Captain Vadic's (Amanda Plummer) ship, the Shrike. Worf expresses his deep feelings for Troi, counting the days since he last saw her and mentioning how her empathic gifts have helped him during his self-reflection. Troi responds delightfully, while Commander Riker is visibly disgusted. He interrupts the conversation between his wife and her ex-boyfriend, finding Worf's comments inappropriate.

Worf continues, stating that his personal growth has been influenced by Troi in various ways, leading Riker to question whether the conversation was a rescue mission or torture.

6 “Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.”

You rarely see Picard run away from a battle or confrontation before. However, after discovering that T'Pel was a Romulan spy who had infiltrated the Federation as a Vulcan ambassador, he had to run away with his tail between his legs. This moment is definitely not one of Patrick Stewart's best moments as Jean-Luc Picard .

T'Pel was a spy working to sabotage peace talks between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. The Enterprise crew eventually discovered T'Pel's true identity, but it was already too late, and she was able to escape back to Romulus with the help of a Romulan warship.

Riker's quote was a way of acknowledging that the Enterprise had been beaten. He saw that the captain was angry and felt betrayed, and he said it to help the captain stay calm. Stating that the Romulans had gotten away with their plan, but that the Enterprise crew had done their best to stop them.

Related : Star Trek: Captain Picard's 15 Best Quotes, Ranked.

5 “The name of my ship is the Lollipop. It's a good ship”

There have been moments when Riker makes humorous statements in extreme situations. Riker uses the name "USS Lollipop" as a ruse to fool the holographic duplicate of Captain Paul Rice. It's a clever and humorous way to expose the hologram, and it's one of the fan-favorite Riker quotes.

This was a very serious scene that still had fans laughing. It’s funny how Commander Riker and other crew members kept straight faces as he made this remark. Well, it worked out well, since it startled the holograph, making Riker realize it was a fake sent to extract information from him.

4 “I don't want to die, but if I have to, I'd like to do it with a little pride.”

William Riker is very courageous. He has demonstrated courage on numerous occasions throughout the Star Trek series. He has led daring rescue missions to save the crew, even when he knows the odds are stacked against him.

His courage is very admirable. Even displaying it when he is on his deathbed. Riker had been infected by an alien parasite while on an away mission. Dr. Katherine Pulaski estimated that the infection will reach Riker's brain and kill him within hours. To survive, Riker would have to relive his memories. He tells Deanna Troi that he didn't want to die, but he'd love to do it with a little pride if he had to. In the end, Riker's body was able to fight off the virus, and he is cured.

3 “Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur wholeheartedly.”

Commander Riker's humorous response when the computer asks if he concurs with aborting the auto-destruct sequence. The Enterprise had been trapped in a black void with no way to leave, and a Romulan vessel had appeared. Captain Picard and the crew decided to destroy the ship, killing everyone on board in the explosion, rather than being taken prisoners of Nagilum. Even worse, they could be killed instantly by the Nagilum.

However, the Enterprise survived, since the Nagilum relented and allowed the ship to leave, just before the self-destruct sequence activated. Riker’s response is a memorable and iconic moment in Star Trek, since a simple “Yes” would have sufficed.

2 “A blind man teaching an android how to paint? That's got to be worth a couple of pages in somebody's book.”

There is no doubt that Riker is a master of sarcasm. His sarcasm is one of his defining characteristics. Sometimes, he uses it to poke fun at his friends or enemies. He can use it to make a point, defuse a tense situation, or simply get a laugh.

Riker said this quote to Lieutenant Geordi La Forge to reflect the irony and complexity of their situation. In a previous scene, Geordi, who is blind, was teaching Data, a robot with superior abilities, about the arts, causing Riker to joke about the strange situation. The joke was quite funny, and the snarly grin on Jonathan Frakes’ face truly sold the scene. You can tell that he is irreplaceable as the actor for the role .

Related : Star Trek: Geordi La Forge's 10 Best Quotes, Ranked.

1 “Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy.”

Riker can be very good at convincing people or aliens with words. In season one, episode five, titled "The Last Outpost," on a mission to a planet that emits an energy-draining force field that threatens the Enterprise and Ferengi ships, Commander Riker leads a small team to the surface to find a way to save the Enterprise. There, he encounters Portal, the guardian.

Portal tests Riker’s wisdom as a single chance to save his life, despite his desire to destroy the Enterprise and the Ferengi spacecraft. "He will triumph who knows when to fight and when not to fight." He asks this question and attacks Riker. Riker, keeping his cool as Portal’s attack nearly hit his shoulder, answered," Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy."

It's a memorable quote from the episode that shows how confident Riker is, and how well he can handle tough situations. This answer impresses the guardian to the point that he lets Riker decide whether to annihilate the Ferengi.

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Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Living... on the USS Enterprise one hundred years after Captain James Kirk’s original five-year mission to explore the unknown. Riker was raised in Alaska by a single father, Kyle Riker, who abandoned him at 15, at which point he entered the Starfleet Academy. He journeyed into deep space away from everyone on Earth, especially his father.

Profession... first officer under Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Picard chose Riker to be his right-hand man after learning the brash young officer was known for standing up to authority. Though their relationship began with the friction Picard was hoping for, they eventually become great friends.

Interests… jazz music and the futuristic martial arts practice known as Anbo-jyutsu. Riker is an accomplished pianist and trombone player, but he excels most in the Anbo-jyustu arena, where he even settled a decades-long feud with his father. 

Relationship Status... deeply in love with the ship’s half-Betazoid counselor, Deanna Troi. Alas, the timing is never quite right. They get together, break up and find other romances, but always come back to each other. And even when they’re apart, they remain great friends who can’t quite get over the romantic tension simmering under the surface. They even call each other “imzadi,” meaning “beloved” in her home language. 

Challenge... dealing with violent alien species like the Borg, the Q and the Klingons. Grappling with those evil forces takes up most of his time and energy. But he does have daddy issues that have given him a chip on his shoulder, and he won’t get past them until he meets back up with the elusive Kyle Riker.      

Personality... intelligent, friendly, and affable. Everyone on the ship is close with Riker. But they are friends with him with the understanding that he always wants what’s best for his crew. When he pushes back against them, or expects more from them, he does so because he cares.

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Jean-Luc Picard commands his ship USS Enterterprise as he and his crew explore the final frontier, "boldly going where no one has gone before." Perhaps the biggest threat to the ship's peaceful exploration of the cosmos is Q, an omnipotent being who is hell-bent on destroying humans because he considers them savages. Picard is determined to show Q just how evolved humans can be.

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Star Trek: Every Time William Riker Commanded the Enterprise

Though he never stayed in it very long, William Riker frequently sat in the Enterprise's captain's chair throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Commander William Riker remains the most beloved first officer in  Star Trek , if only because he clearly remained so intent on being the first officer. Unlike the dynamic between Kirk and Spock in The Original Series , which was more akin to a partnership, Riker took command only as a last resort in Star Trek: The Next Generation . It even became a point on the show, with Starfleet periodically offering him his own ship, only for him to remain on the Enterprise.

In spite of that, he still managed his share of stints in the captain’s chair, including the Enterprise-D's final mission in Star Trek: Generations . A list follows, organized chronologically by season. However, these don’t apply to situations where Picard is off the bridge but still in command of the Enterprise: only when he is either incapacitated or off the ship entirely. The list also omits incidents where Riker’s command is presumed but not stated or where no relatable incident occurs.

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Episode 3, “Code of Honor." Riker’s first stint in command made a point of how irregular the practice was. With Lt. Yar abducted by the ruler of an alien planet, Picard must beam down to the surface and negotiate for her release. Riker doesn’t like it, but Picard overrules him: leaving Number One in the captain’s chair for a largely uneventful stint.

Episode 6, “Lonely Among Us.”  An energy-based lifeform infiltrates the Enterprise and takes over Picard . Dr. Crusher uncovers the truth and -- when she relieves him of command -- he vanishes from the ship, along with the creature possessing him. Riker leads the search for his captain until Picard is restored.

Episode 8, “The Battle.” An old enemy of Picard’s uses a thought-influencing machine to lure the captain onto his former vessel the Stargazer. Riker takes command as the older ship moves off, then turns against the Enterprise: first confronting the vengeful Ferengi controlling Picard and then evading the Stargazer’s attack.

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Episode 11, “The Big Goodbye.”  This episode introduced the concept of Dixon Hill: a hard-boiled PI who serves as the protagonist for a series of holodeck novels. Picard indulges in the program as a means to relax before a vital diplomatic task and ends up trapped there, leaving Riker in command to figure out a way to get him out.

Episode 15, “Too Short a Season.”  The Enterprise learns that a Starfleet admiral caused a 40-year civil war in a botched breach of the Prime Directive, and Picard leads an away-team mission to rescue a group of hostages seized by terrorists. Riker does little more than tending to the ship.

Episode 25, “The Neutral Zone.”  “The Neutral Zone” begins with Riker in the captain’s chair, making the opening log entry for the episode. Picard was summoned to a nearby starbase to discuss increased activity in the Romulan Neutral Zone . While in command, Riker oversees the revival of a trio of humans who have been in cryogenic stasis aboard an ancient ship.

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Episode 11, “Contagion.”  Picard takes charge of an away team over his first officer’s objections in an attempt to gain information on an Iconian probe. While he and Data seek answers on the planet’s surface, Riker has to fend off a Romulan warbird from the bridge of the Enterprise.

Episode 16, “Q Who”   Q abducts Picard and holds him on a shuttle far from the Enterprise. Riker takes command and orders the ship to begin looking for its wayward captain. Q returns Picard to the bridge soon enough, shortly before launching the ship into its fateful first encounter with the Borg.

Episode 17, “Samaritan Snare.”  Picard travels to a distant starbase for a medical procedure with Wesley Crusher. While he’s gone, Riker faces off against the Pakleds, who abduct Geordi in order to “make their ship go.” Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 10, “No Small Parts,” echoes the encounter with Riker -- now captaining the Titan -- thwarting a Pakled attack.

Episode 19, “Manhunt.”  Lwaxana Troi arrives and begins romantically pursuing Captain Picard. When informed that she’s undergoing the Betazed equivalent of menopause, which elevates her libido considerably, Picard retreats to the holodeck, leaving Riker in command of the bridge.

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Episode 6, “Booby Trap.” Citing “captain’s prerogative,” Picard leads the away team to a derelict vessel rediscovered after 1,000 years. Riker oversees some scientific sleuthing onboard the Enterprise while his captain explores the ship.

Episode 9, “The Vengeance Factor.” Picard departs to negotiate peace with a group of raiders. Riker stays behind on the Enterprise and oversees the crew’s examination of a related “microvirus.” He later beams down to stop the terrorist their analysis has uncovered and is forced to vaporize her rather than let her carry out an attack.

Episode 12, “The High Ground.” First Dr. Crusher, and then   Picard, are abducted by political agitators eager to drag the Federation into the conflict with their planet’s government. Riker first pinpoints the terrorists’ location, then leads the raiding party to get Picard and Crusher back.

Episode 18, “Allegiance.”  Picard is a prisoner while an imposter takes his place on board the Enterprise. The crew spends most of the episode slowly deducing the ruse: climaxing when Riker takes command of the ship. The entire affair was caused by aliens who wished to test the crew’s loyalty to their captain as part of a study of “leadership.”

Episode 19, “Captain’s Holiday.”  Picard takes a vacation on Risa, which is interrupted by time-traveling art thieves and a scheming Ferengi. Riker conducts repairs on the ship while his captain is away, then returns to help him wrap the caper up by destroying a dangerous piece of technology with the transporter.

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Season 3, Episode 26 and Season 4, Episode 1, “The Best of Both Worlds.”  The Borg return, abducting Picard and turning him into their mouthpiece Locutus in the Season 3 finale. Riker becomes captain of the Enterprise, and in the Season 4 opener, must thwart the Borg’s attack on Earth and rescue Picard from their clutches.

Episode 2, “Family.”  Picard spends the bulk of the follow-up episode recovering from his abduction at his family’s winery in France. Riker oversees repairs on the Enterprise in the interim, leaving him in command. The episode was notable for depicting Picard’s trauma after being assimilated: such developments were rare for the era.

Episode 9, “Final Mission.”  Picard and Wesley crash land in a shuttle on the way to arbitrate a peace treaty. While in command of the Enterprise, Riker has to tow a barge leaking radioactive energy through an asteroid belt and into a nearby sun before conducting a search for the ship’s two missing crew members.

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Episode 2, “Darmok.”  The Enterprise contacts a species whose language consists solely of metaphors. The alien captain abducts Picard and transports them both to a nearby planet, where they achieve a communications breakthrough in the face of various threats from the local ecology. Riker must face the alien ship in a stymied effort to retrieve Picard from the planet’s surface.

Episodes 7 and 8, “Unification.”  Ambassador Spock is spotted on Romulus, and Riker takes command of the Enterprise while Picard and Data travel incognito to reach the wayward Vulcan. Riker stays in the chair for the remainder of the two-part episode, assisting Picard’s efforts by investigating the theft of a Vulcan surplus ship involved in the affair.

Episode 15, “Power Play.”  Alien entities take over the bodies of Data, Troi and O’Brien and attempt to take over the ship, When that fails, they take hostages but agree to release the injured prisoners in exchange for Picard. While he tries to rationalize with them, Riker first attempts a rescue, then surreptitiously aids Picard in leveraging the aliens to surrender.

Episode 25, “The Inner Light.”  An alien probe fires a beam at Picard: causing him to relive the life of an “iron weaver” on a long-dead planet. Though he lives that life for decades, he is unconscious for only 25 minutes, during which time Riker is in charge.

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Episode 1, “Time’s Arrow, Part 2.”  After leading an away team into 19 th  century San Francisco Picard finds himself trapped there. Riker returns to the 24 th  century, along with a stowaway Samuel Clemens, then turns the ship’s resources toward retrieving the captain and returning the famous author to his proper place in history.

Episode 7, “Rascals.”  A transporter accident turns Picard and three other crew members back into twelve-year-olds. Riker is placed in command, but the Enterprise is soon taken over by marauding Ferengi, who intend to sell the crew into slavery. The youthful Picard and his de-aged cohorts are able to surreptitiously reclaim the ship from the invaders.

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Episode 9, “The Quality of Life.”  With Captain Picard trapped in a deteriorating space station and unable to beam back to the ship, Riker attempts to beam a series of robots called exocomps over and trigger an explosion to disrupt the energy stream threatening the station. Data defies him, eventually proving that the exocomps possess will and intellect.

Episode 12, “Ship in a Bottle.” The sentient program of Professor Moriarty captures Picard, Data and Lt. Barclay and imprisons them in a holograph replica of the Enterprise. Meanwhile, the real Riker negotiates with Moriarty for Picard’s release, achieved by tricking the holographic personality into a program depicting what he believes to be the “real” world.

Episode 25, “Timescape.” With Picard, Geordi, Data and Troi returning from a conference via shuttle. Riker responds to a distress call from a Romulan warbird, conducting temporal experiments that end up engulfing both ships. Riker is frozen in time, while Picard and the shuttle occupants have to restore the normal flow of time.

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Episode 2, “Liaisons.”  Captain Picard departs as part of a cultural exchange mission, then crashes on an alien world and attempts repairs while Number One struggles to meet the sometimes strange demands of their guests. Both his experiences and Riker’s are part of the same “test” from the ambassadors, who are interested in seeing how humans respond to emotional situations.

Episode 4, “Gambit, Part 1."  “Gambit” begins with Picard apparently being killed while off-ship. Riker, now in command, pursues what he believes to be his former captain’s killers until he too is captured. Data continues to lead the Enterprise in pursuit throughout the remainder of the first half of the two-part episode and the entirety of the second.

Episode 8, “Attached.” Picard and Dr. Crusher are captured by a paranoid race calling themselves the Pyrtt, who share half of a planet while the other half have applied for membership to the Federation. Riker is left to seek out their missing officers and engage in the delicate diplomacy required to keep the situation from unraveling.

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Episode 11, “Parallels.”  Worf finds himself skipping across parallel universe after returning to the Enterprise from a Bat’leth tournament. That includes an alternate history in which Picard died at the Battle of Wolf 359 and Riker continued on as captain.

Episode 19, “Genesis.”  Picard and Data depart the Enterprise in a shuttle in search of a wayward torpedo, leaving Riker in command. The crew soon begins to display bizarre behavior and strange physiological changes. Picard and Data return to find them de-evolving into various more primal life forms, including Riker transformed into a Neanderthal.

Episode 25, “All Good Things…”  The Next Generation  finale features Picard transported to a hypothetical future in which Admiral William T. Riker continues to command the Enterprise. That future hasn’t come to pass: Riker took command of the Titan after  Star Trek: Nemesis  and captained the Zheng He during Star Trek: Picard Season 1.

Star Trek: Generations.  Generations climaxes with the destruction of the Enterprise-D, and Riker is in the captain’s chair at the time. The ship destroys a Klingon bird-of-prey , but a warp core breach immediately afterward disables the still-separating saucer section. Riker and the rest of the crew survive the crash landing.

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William Thomas Riker is a 24th century Starfleet officer known for serving as first officer on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Enterprise-E under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard . In 2361, a transporter accident resulted in the creation of his duplicate, Lt. Thomas Riker .

The addition of Jazz Musician Riker on December 28, 2016 made Riker the first crew member to have a unique character available at each rarity level.

The presence of Riker in Star Trek Timelines was first revealed in a dev blog .

Related Dev Blogs

External links.

• William T. Riker at Memory Alpha
• Thomas Riker at Memory Alpha
• Pages using DynamicPageList parser function
• Complete Rarity Set
• Appears in The Next Generation
• Appears in Deep Space Nine
• Appears in Voyager
• Appears in Enterprise
• Appears in Picard

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Star Trek: What Happened to Thomas Riker?

William Riker was Captain Picard's well-known Number One, but he wasn't the only William Riker in Star Trek.

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Who is thomas riker on star trek: the next generation, what happened to thomas riker, does thomas riker appear in other star trek series.

Clones and evil doppelgängers of main characters are a common trope in science fiction. They're typically the focus of an episode within a series, with their story tying up by the end of the episode. That's not the case in Star Trek . This science fiction franchise can always use a good doppelgänger story, and it did so when it created the duplicate of Commander William Riker. The existence of Thomas Riker went a different route, subverting the "evil" clone trope because they were nearly identical in every way.

Thomas Riker served as an introspective piece for Commander William Riker , giving him a glimpse at the kind of person he was, especially at the time of the transporter accident that created Thomas. William evolved into a duty-driven officer with integrity, while Thomas was the same arrogant, reckless person that William was eight years prior. Unlike other stories that feature clones, Thomas didn't go away at the end of his episode. He made several appearances throughout the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best Riker Episodes

When William Riker was a Lieutenant in 2361, stationed aboard the USS Potemkin, he led an away mission on Nervala IV. When it came time to return to the Potemkin, William was the last to beam out. However, atmospheric distortions threatened the transfer from the surface to the ship, forcing the transporter chief to do what they could to complete the beam. Unbeknownst to most, this created an exact duplicate of William, who remained on the planet's surface for eight years. The one who would eventually call himself Thomas had just as much claim to be the original Riker as William did since, at the time of the event, they were carbon copies of each other on a molecular level.

It wasn't until 2369, when the Enterprise retrieved scientific research data, that anyone learned about Thomas's existence. Enterprise brought him aboard, where the two Rikers learned about each other for the first time. They didn't get along at first, because it was difficult to reconcile the thought that one of them was a clone while the other was the original, but it was impossible to ascertain which. Thomas had the same personality and demeanor that William had eight years prior, causing more tension between the two.

After spending some time together, William was able to accept that there was another Riker in the universe and that they were like brothers. Thomas went by their middle name, and continued pursuing a career with Starfleet, thanks to Captain Picard getting him a posting on the USS Gandhi.

Thomas Riker had been stranded on the planet Nervala IV for eight years, not giving him much opportunity to evolve as a person like William did. However, after his discovery and interaction with his clone and the rest of the Enterprise crew, Thomas begins to form a number of beliefs and ideals that deviate from William's. While the two had a tense relationship at first, they parted on good terms, with William giving Thomas their prized trombone as a parting gift.

During Deep Space Nine's tenure, a new faction known as the Maquis formed . The Maquis consisted of Federation citizens who refused to give up their territory in the demilitarized zone to the Cardassians, which the Federation ceded. While the Maquis were a less organized resistance force than the organizations they challenged, they received support from many Starfleet officers, including Thomas Riker. This put him at odds not only with the ideals of William, but also in direct contention with Commander Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine.

Thomas used William's identity to board Deep Space Nine and commandeer the advanced starship USS Defiant. With Major Kira as a prisoner, Thomas and his crew plotted a course for the Orias system where they believed the Cardassians were constructing a new fleet of warships. Gul Dukat, whom Commander Sisko was working with to locate and intercept the Defiant, claimed he had no knowledge of Cardassia building any ships in the Orias system. However, Thomas's intelligence proved accurate. The Obsidian Order , Cardassia's top secret intelligence organization, was indeed building a new generation of warships.

However, Dukat was also telling the truth. He knew nothing about the Obsidian Order's operations in the system, which were against Cardassian law. Dukat managed to intercept Thomas, and Commander Sisko successfully negotiated a lighter sentence for Thomas as long as he handed over the Defiant's sensor logs of the Orias system. This compromise landed Thomas in Cardassia's labor camp on Lazon II for the remainder of his life.

After being imprisioned in a Cardassian labor camp in Deep Space 9 , nobody, including William, heard from Thomas Riker again. There were a couple of stories in novels and comics that featured Thomas, including one where Thomas's involvement with the Maquis is expanded on. In this story, it was shown to be Voyager's Chakotay who formulated the plan to steal DS9's Defiant. Another novel showed Thomas being freed from the labor camp and becoming entwined in an assassination plot.

However, none of his appearances in novels or comics are considered canon. The only other canonical appearance by Thomas was a brief mention in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "The Inner Fight," in which the crew of the USS Cerritos are tracking down former Starfleet officers at risk of being recruited by a mystery villain. On the list of former officers is Thomas Riker. Since he was last known to be imprisoned in a Cardassian labor camp, this appearance suggests his story is progressing and fans might get to see him in the near future.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star trek: the next generation - why was wesley crusher allowed on the bridge.

Kestra Troi-Riker

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Kestra Troi-Riker was a female Human – Betazoid hybrid who lived during the late 24th century . She was the daughter of Starfleet officers William T. Riker and Deanna Troi , and was the younger sister of Thaddeus Troi-Riker . She identified as a pacifist .

During the late 2390s , she lived with her family on Nepenthe , where she was friends with a man named Rupert Crandall . She had also been told many stories about the life of the Soong-type android Data , a friend and fellow officer of her parents .

In 2399 , she developed a fast friendship with Soji Asha when Soji and Jean-Luc Picard were seeking help from her parents. ( PIC : " Nepenthe ")

In 2401 , Riker told Picard that he believed that some time away from Kestra and Deanna would benefit them. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

• 3 Ancient humanoid

You'll soon be able to watch Commander Riker play D&D alongside other Star Trek actors, and it's all for charity

T odd Stashwick and other celebrities are teaming up to play D&D in a charity livestream, which will be on Twitch, so even if you weren't lucky enough to snag a seat at the table, you'll still be able to enjoy all the hilarious hijinks from afar. 

The crew taking part in the D&D campaign Legends of Eleanora includes Todd Stashwick, who played Captain Liam Shaw from Star Trek: Picard as the Dungeon Master for the session. There's also Jonathan Frakes, who portrayed Captain William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation; Deborah Ann Woll, who starred in Daredevil as Karen Page; Michelle Burd, who played Raffi Masiker in Star Trek: Picard; and Wil Wheaton, best known for portraying Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

This livestream is in support of The Pablove Foundation , a charitable organization that invests in underfunded pediatric cancer research and tries to improve the lives of children living with cancer. All of the Net proceeds from the D&D livestream will go to this charity. 

As part of raising money for The Pablove Foundation, there was a chance to snag a seat at the table, with one seat going in a virtual big on Charitybuzz . Before the sale ended, the highest bid was $7,600 (via Wargamer ), so you would've needed to donate a pretty substantial wad of cash to have a chance at winning.

Even though the opportunity to play with the crew is over,  you can still watch the session via Twitch—it's not the same thing as sitting down with all the stars, but it's a close second and as good as it gets for the rest of us, unfortunately. The livestream will take place on Wednesday, April 20, at 5 pm PDT/ 8 pm ET / 1 am BST (on Thursday, April 21). All you have to do is check out the Mini Terrain Domain Twitch channel and search for Legends of Eleanora: Zephyr Against the Mist. 

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Every riker love interest in star trek: tng (including troi).

Captain Kirk may have been Star Trek's original ladies' man, but Commander Riker might be even more deserving of that title in Star Trek: TNG.

• Commander Riker had numerous romantic relationships throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, but his true love was always his Imzadi, Counselor Deanna Troi.
• Riker experienced various romantic encounters, including a planet leader, a holographic character, and a colonist's daughter, among others.
• Despite several flings and crushes, Riker and Troi eventually rekindled their romance, got married, and had two children, solidifying their beautiful love story.

Over the course of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) justifiably earned the reputation of being a ladies' man. Taking over the moniker from Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) of Star Trek: The Original Series , Riker had several episode-long romances throughout his time on the Enterprise. As First Officer of the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Riker had plenty of opportunities to encounter potential romantic partners both on and off the ship. Whether he romanced one of the locals on an away mission or charmed a visitor to the Enterprise, Riker proved to be popular with women from many cultures and planets.

While Will Riker's true love was always destined to be his Imzadi, or beloved, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), he would go through several relationships before Will and Deanna finally married in Star Trek: Nemesis . A few other young women had crushes on Riker that he did not reciprocate, including the Starfleet cadet eventually revealed to be a Q, Amanda Rogers (Olivia d'Abo), and Data's created daughter, Lal (Hallie Todd). Deanna Troi's mother, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), even made an advance on Riker when she went through her "Betazoid phase." Here are 10 more substantial relationships Will Riker had throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Related: Star Trek: The Next Generation Cast & Character Guide

10 Beata in TNG's "Angel One"

TNG season 1, episode 14, "Angel One," is generally considered to be one of TNG's worst episodes, and it includes Riker's first romantic liaison on TNG . When the Enterprise visits a planet governed entirely by women, the planet's leader, Beata (Karen Montgomery), becomes intrigued by Riker's strength, a quality the men of her planet apparently lack. Beata and the other women of the planet discriminate against the men, and several fugitive men who spoke out against the discrimination are due to be executed. Riker is able to stop the execution and goes back to the Enterprise, leaving Beata to care for her people.

Related: Star Trek: Will Riker's Entire Character Timeline Explained

9 Minuet in TNG's "11001001" & "Future Imperfect"

After the cybernetically enhanced Bynars update the holodeck in TNG season 1, episode 15, "11001001," they create the holographic Minuet (Carolyn McCormick) to distract Riker from their plot to take control of the Enterprise . Minuet proves to be incredibly captivating for Riker as she is more realistic than any other holodeck character he has ever encountered. He even begins to develop real feelings for her, so much so that an alien later believes Minuet to be real after seeing her in Riker's mind in TNG season 4, episode 8, "Future Imperfect."

8 Brenna Odell in TNG's "Up The Long Ladder"

In TNG season 2, episode 18, "Up the Long Ladder," the Enterprise rescues the Bringloidi, a group of colonists descended from the crew members of the Earth ship SS Mariposa that had been launched several hundred years before. Riker and the Bringloidi leader's daughter, Brenna Odell (Rosalyn Landor), immediately take a liking to one another. The two spend time together while Brenna and her people are on board the Enterprise, but she leaves when her colony later merges with the Mariposa colony. With her fiery personality and passion for her people, Brenna was destined to become the true leader of the Bringloidi and she could not abandon her people.

7 Yuta in TNG's "The Vengeance Factor

When the Enterprise hosts the leader of the planet Acamar III, Commander Riker tries to get to know the leader's assistant, Yuta (Lisa Wilcox). Yuta struggles to open up to Riker, speaking cryptically about her past and her plans for the future. As Captain Picard attempts to facilitate negotiations between the Acamarians and the raiders known as the Gatherers, one of the Gatherers winds up murdered. The ensuing investigation eventually reveals that Yuta is the last surviving member of a clan that was massacred decades ago, and she has been tasked with wiping out the members of the clan that killed her people. When Yuta attempts to kill the Gatherers' leader, Riker is forced to fire his phaser at her, eventually killing her.

6 Lanel in TNG's "First Contact"

After Commander Riker is injured while on an undercover mission, the people of the planet Malcor III see through his disguise and notice that his biology is different from theirs. In the meantime, Picard and Deanna Troi work to initiate official first contact with the Malcorian leaders and inquire about the missing Number One. While Riker is being held in a Malcorian hospital, one of the nurses, Lanel (Bebe Neuwirth), develops a particular fascination for him. Lanel tells Riker that she will help him escape if he sleeps with her, claiming that she has "always wanted to make love with an alien." In the next scene, Lanel does help him attempt to escape, but he is caught again soon after.

5 Carmen Davila in TNG's "Silicon Avatar"

Carmen Devila (Susan Diol) only appears briefly at the beginning of TNG season 5, episode 4, "Silicon Avatar," before she and her colony are attacked by the same Crystalline Entity that destroyed the colony where Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) was found. As Riker and the away team speak with the colonists on the planet Melona IV, Riker makes plans for a dinner date with Carmen. Tragically, the Crystalline Entity attacks soon after, and Carmen is killed while trying to help the other colonists escape. In the end, the Crystalline Entity is destroyed by a xenobiologist who wants to avenge her son, just after the entity showed signs of intelligence.

4 Etana Jol in TNG's "The Game"

While on Shore Leave on the planet Risa, Riker meets a Ktarian woman named Etana Jol (Katherine Moffat). Etana introduces Riker to a game with a device that fits over his head and projects images in front of his eyes. Riker brings the game back to the Enterprise and eventually, the entire crew becomes addicted to playing it. After Captain Picard and most of the crew succumb to the game, Etana contacts the Enterprise, revealing the game had been part of the Ktarian's plan to take over the Enterprise and eventually the Federation. Thanks to the visiting Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) , Data is able to free the rest of the crew from the mind-control of the game.

3 Ro Laren in TNG's "Conundrum"

In TNG season 5, episode 14, "Conundrum," the crew of the USS Enterprise discover that their memories and much of the information from the ship's computer has been erased. The crew eventually restore the computer memory and learn their names and positions on the ship. Despite this, they still do not have any memory of their lives or their relationships with one another. In this state, Riker and Ensign Ro Lauren (Michelle Forbes) realize they share a mutual attraction and begin a relationship. Soon, it's revealed that an alien species had erased the crew's memories so that they could hijack the Enterprise for use in their war. Thankfully, the crew's memories are restored before too much damage has been done, although Riker does have an awkward interaction with Ro.

2 Soren in TNG's "The Outcast"

In one of Commander Riker's best episodes , TNG season 5, episode 17, "The Outcast," the Enterprise encounters an androgynous alien species called the J'naii. As Riker works closely with one of the J'naii named Soren (Melinda Culea), he begins to develop feelings for her. Soren, who identifies as female in spite of her people's beliefs, reciprocates his feelings and the two begin a relationship. However, their romance ends in tragedy when the J'naii discover Soren's "sickness." Despite Riker's attempts to rescue her, Soren is forced to undergo psychotectic treatment to "cure" her, after which she no longer has feelings for Riker.

1 Deanna Troi

Commander Riker and Counselor Troi began their romantic relationship while Riker was stationed on Troi's home planet of Betazed . For much of his life, Will prioritized his career over any serious romantic attachments, which led to the dissolution of his relationship with Deanna. Riker and Troi worked together for many years on the Enterprise and occasionally flirted with one another, but they did not officially rekindle their romance until Star Trek: Insurrection .

Riker and Troi married at the beginning of Star Trek: Nemesis , and Troi served alongside Riker when he took over command of the USS Titan. Riker and Troi remained together by the time of Star Trek: Picard and had two children together. Tragically, their son, Thaddeus, passed away from a rare silicon-based virus. When Admiral Picard visited them in Picard season 1, Will and Deanna were living on the planet Nepenthe with their daughter, Kestra Troi-Riker (Lulu Wilson).

Although Riker and Troi had some difficulties in their marriage after Thad's death, they are happy again by the end of Picard season 3, as they plan a vacation together. Will and Deanna refer to each other as Imzadi throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard , making it clear that they are meant for each other and firmly establishing their romance as one of Star Trek's most beautiful love stories.