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Kirk, James T. (William Shatner)
Commander of the original Starship Enterprise during it's historic five year
mission of exploration in 2264-2269. Starfleet serial number: SC 937-0176
CEC ("Court Martial" TOS).
Childhood and Family:
Kirk was born in 2233 ("The Deadly Years" TOS) in Iowa on planet Earth ("Star
Trek IV: The Voyage Home"). In 2246,Kirk, at age 13, was one of nine
surviving eyewitnesses to the massacre of some 4,000 colonists at planet
Tarsus IV by Kodos The Executioner ("The Conscious of the King" TOS). James
Kirk lost his older brother George Samuel Kirk (whom only James called
Sam), and sister-in-law, Aurelan Kirk, on planet Deneva due to the invasion
of the Denevan neural parasites in 2267. Kirk's nephew Peter Kirk survived
("Operation Annihilate" TOS). Sam Kirk had two other sons who were not on
Deneva at the time of the tragedy ("What Are Little Girls Made Of" TOS).
Kirk at the Academy:
During his academy days, Kirk was tormented by an upperclassman named Finnegan,
who frequently chose Kirk as a target for practical jokes. Kirk found a measure
of satisfaction years later, in 2267, when he had a chance to wallop a replica
of Finnegan created on the amusement park planet in the Omicron Delta region
("Shore Leave" TOS). Kirk served as an instructor at the academy and Gary
Mitchell was one of his students. The two were good friends, and once Mitchell
took a poisonous dart on Dimorus meant for Kirk, saving Kirk's life. Mitchell
set Kirk up with a "little blonde lab tech" whom he almost married ("Where
No Man Has Gone Before" TOS).
Another of kirks friends from his academy days was Benjamin Finney, who named
his daughter, Jamie, after Kirk. A rift developed between Finney and Kirk
around 2250 when the two were serving aboard the U.S.S. Republic. Kirk logged
a mistake that Finney had made, and Finney blamed Kirk fir the subsequent
failure to earn command of a starship. Kirk's service aboard the Republic
was apparently while still attending the Academy, since he was an ensign
on the Republic, but was a lieutenant on the Farragut, which was described
as his first posting after the Academy ("Court Martial" TOS). One of Kirk's
heroes at the Academy was the legendary Captain Garth of Izar, whose exploits
are required reading. Years later, Kirk helped save his hero when Garth had
become criminally insane and was being treated at the Elba II penal colony
("Whom Gods Destroy" TOS). Another of Kirk's personal heroes was Abraham
Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America on Earth ("The Savage
Curtain" TOS). At the Academy, James Kirk earned something of a reputation
for himself as having been the only cadet ever to have beaten the "no-win"
Kobyayshi Maru scenario. He did it by secretly reprogramming the simulation
computer to make it possible to win, earning a commendation for original
thinking in the process (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).
Early Days in Starfleet:
Kirk's first assignment after graduating from the Academy was aboard the
U.S.S. Farragut ("Obsession" TOS). One of his first five year missions as
a young lieutenant was to command a survey mission to Tyree's planet in 2254
("A Private Little War" TOS). In 2257, Lieutenant Kirk blamed himself for
the deaths of 200 Farragut personnel, including Captain Garovick, by the
dikironium cloud creature at planet Tycho IV. Kirk felt he could have acted
faster in firing on the creature, but learned years later that nothing could
have prevented the deaths ("Obsession" TOS). Some time in the past Kirk almost
died from Vegan choriomeningitis ("The Mark of Gideon" TOS).
Aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise:
Kirk's greatest renown came from his command of a historic five year mission
of the original Starship Enterprise from 2264-2269. By 2267, Kirk had earned
an impressive list of commendations from Starfleet, including the Pal leaf
of Axanar Peace Mission, the Grankite Order of Tactics (Class of Excellence),
and the Preantares Ribbon of Commendation (Classes First and Second). Kirk's
awards for valor included the Medal of Honor, the Silver Palm with Cluster,
the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry, and the Kragite Order of
Heroism ("Court Martial" TOS). In 2267, Kirk became the first starship captain
ever to stand trial when he was accused of causing the death of Benjamin
Finney. Kirk's trial, held at Starbase 11, proved Kirk innocent of wrongdoing,
and he was exonerated ("Court Martial" TOS). During that original five year
mission, Kirk recorded a tape of last orders to be played by Commander Spock
and Chief Medical Officer McCoy upon his death. While trapped in a spatial
interphase near Tholian space, Kirk vanished with the U.S.S. Defiant and
was declared dead. His last orders conveyed the hope that his two friends
would work together, despite their differences ("The Tholian Web" TOS). Kirk
was once split into two personalities by a transporter malfunction ("The
Enemy Within" TOS). His living quarters aboard the original Enterprise were
on deck 5 ("Journey to Babel" TOS).
Relationships with women:
Kirk was notably unsuccessful in maintaining a long term relationship with
any woman Although he was involved with many different women during his life,
his intense passion for his career always seemed to interfere. A few years
prior to his command of the original Enterprise, Kirk became involved with
Dr. Carol Marcus. The two had a child, David Marcus, but Kirk and Carol did
not remain together, because of their respective careers took them in separate
directions. Other significant romances in Kirk's life included Ruth, with
whom he was involved when he attended Starfleet Academy ("Shore Leave"),
Janice Lester, with whom he spent a year, also during his Academy days
("Turnabout Intruder" TOS), Janet Wallace, a scientist who later saved his
life ("The Deadly Years" TOS), Areel Shaw, who, ironically, years later
prosecuted Kirk in the case of Ben Finney's apparent death ("Court Martial"
TOS), and Miramanee, a woman whom Kirk married in 2268 when he suffered from
amnesia on a landing party mission. Miramanee became pregnant with Kirk's
child, but both Mother and unborn child were killed in a local power struggle
("The Paradise Syndrome" TOS). Perhaps Kirk's most tragic romantic involvement
was with American social worker Edith Keeler, whom Kirk met in Earth's past
when he traveled into the 1930's through the "Guardian of Forever". Keeler
was a focal point in time, and Kirk was forced to allow her death in order
to prevent a terrible change in the flow of history ("The City on the Edge
of Forever" TOS).
Kirk's first appearance was in "Where no Man Has Gone Before" (TOS).
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