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And if the creators of Enterprise weren't certain whether the series would ever be revived, they would figure that if it was, the new episodes could happen in the half dozen or so years between the last episode where Trip or any other killed of character was alive and "These are the Voyages" where Trip or any other killed of character was killed. So they could have killed off any combination ...
Tucker was born in 2121. His nickname "Trip" is short for "Triple", as he is the third generation of his family to be named Charles Tucker. He joined the United Earth Starfleet in 2139 and first met Jonathan Archer around 2143, a decade prior to the launch of Enterprise, when the two worked together on an early warp 2 prototype vessel using the warp engine designed by Archer's father, Henry ...
List of episodes. " Affliction " is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on February 18, 2005. The script was written by Mike Sussman from a story by executive producer Manny Coto. It was the second episode of Enterprise to be directed by Michael ...
Aug 6, 2021 · And faithful viewers who had grown attached to all of the characters on Enterprise were livid at the death of Chief Engineer, Charles “Trip” Tucker, III. Trip had gotten out of a lot of situations in his time as the chief engineer, including almost dying from dehydration in the desert, almost dying aboard a shuttlepod in the freezing cold ...
- Rachel Carrington
- Overview
- Childhood
- Career
- Personal interests
- Personal relationships
- Alternate realities and timelines
- Memorable quotes
- Key dates
- Appendices
"I tell you, I wouldn't trade my time on Enterprise. Not for anything. I've seen things I could never imagine back home. I saw the Great Plume of Agosoria and I saw the ringed moons of M'talas Prime. And I stood on an asteroid crater twice as high as Everest, and went diving in the ice caves of Etheenia. Rode in a Suliban cell ship. Spent the night, I spent the night with a princess. Oh, and I even got pregnant once. Now there's a story. I'm sure you have stories, too. That's why we chose this life, right? See things we've never seen before. Hell of a ride, though. Hell of a ride."
– Trip Tucker, 2152 ("Dawn")
Born in 2121, Charles Tucker III grew up in Panama City, Florida. (ENT: "Strange New World", "Fusion") He was born with a birthmark on the right side of his body. (ENT: "Similitude") 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. (ENT: "First Flight")
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. (ENT: "Similitude")
At the age of seven, 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. (ENT: "Daedalus") As Tucker later recalled, he was extremely skilled at taking things apart, but not so good at putting them back together. (ENT: "Observer Effect")
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. (ENT: "The Expanse") Tucker once put a garden snake in his sister's doll house, and his family once had a large dog named Bedford. (ENT: "Similitude")
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. (ENT: "Strange New World")
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. (ENT: "Fusion")
Early career
Trip was self-taught, having learned engineering from working on boat engines. Tucker first joined Starfleet in 2139, at which time he lived in Sausalito, a few blocks from the Vulcan Compound. He subsequently recalled that he "got into a lot of trouble" at Starfleet Training Command. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...", "Broken Bow", "Unexpected", "Observer Effect") By 2143, Tucker was a member of Captain Jefferies' engineering team, with the rank of lieutenant. After the destruction of warp-2 prototype vessel NX-Alpha in that year, Tucker met Commander Jonathan Archer. He later assisted Archer and A.G. Robinson in stealing a backup warp-2 prototype vessel, the NX-Beta, in an attempt to prove to Starfleet Command that the engine design was sound. (ENT: "First Flight") Shortly thereafter, Tucker taught Archer how to scuba dive off the coast of Florida. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...") Tucker did his survival training during two weeks in the Australian Outback in a group that included Archer. (ENT: "Desert Crossing") Additional Starfleet training simulations familiarized Tucker with mind-altering agents. (ENT: "Strange New World") In 2147, Tucker was on Titan as part of the Omega training mission, together with Archer. A malfunction with Tucker's environmental suit occurred on Titan's surface, so Tucker desperately tried to take off his helmet, but Archer saved his life by preventing him from doing so. (ENT: "Strange New World", "Unexpected") Enterprise career, "Trip's never been to an alien world. Trip's never been to an alien civilization.
Assignment aboard Enterprise
By 2151, Tucker held the rank of commander. Renowned as a gifted orbital engineer, he first served aboard the starship Enterprise NX-01 as chief engineer. His quarters were on B Deck, in one of the starboard sections. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Shockwave, Part II", "Cogenitor", "Precious Cargo") He experienced existence in a weightless environment when Ensign Travis Mayweather showed him the "sweet spot" on Enterprise. Aboard the starship, one of Tucker's self-appointed responsibilities was overseeing movie night. Tucker took part in the efforts to return the Klingon Klaang to his homeworld with information that could avert a civil war, and he and the rest of the crew came into conflict with the Cabal, who were attempting to ignite a war on orders from a strange humanoid from the future. The mission was successful. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Tucker was part of the away team that became infected by the pollen of the plant life on a deserted planet Enterprise was exploring. The pollen caused paranoid and delusional behavior in the away team; Tucker thought that each member was trying to kill him. (ENT: "Strange New World") In the course of first contact with the Xyrillians, Tucker boarded their ship to fix their engines. The physical environment was considerably different to his usual and Tucker found acclimatisation difficult. During his stay on their ship he developed a relationship with Ah'len, an engineer. After the ship left, Tucker discovered he was pregnant. Although he had not knowingly had a sexual encounter, a game he and Ah'len played that enabled them to read each other's minds may have served as a medium to transfer genetic material. While Tucker was the first Human male to become pregnant, as well as the first known Human participant in interspecies reproduction, Doctor Phlox said the embryo was not techinically Tucker's child, but that he was simply serving as a host. When the ship was tracked down, the embryo was successfully transferred to another host. (ENT: "Unexpected") Star Trek chronology, Braga commenting, "That's the kind of stuff you would never see a Riker do, because they're just too seasoned. While visiting a Vulcan monastery at P'Jem, Tucker, along with Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol, became involved in a dispute between the Andorians and Vulcans. He was held hostage along with the others until they were rescued by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. It was discovered that the monastery was a front for a listening post operated by the Vulcans. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident") Tucker gave a tour of Enterprise to a group of Borothan pilgrims that included Silik, who was in disguise and tried to sabotage the ship. (ENT: "Cold Front") On a mission to Coridan, Tucker and Reed attempted to rescue Archer and T'Pol from rebel forces, but were captured themselves. They were freed by the Andorian Shran and his men, who helped Tucker and Reed rescue T'Pol and Archer. (ENT: "Shadows of P'Jem") Tucker and Reed became stranded in a shuttlepod after they mistakenly believed Enterprise was destroyed when they found debris at the coordinates where they were supposed to meet the ship. In reality, the debris was from another ship, the crew of which Enterprise had rescued and was transporting back to their planet. With their air running out, Tucker jettisoned the impulse engines as a flare, which Enterprise saw and thus was able to come to their rescue. (ENT: "Shuttlepod One") The Ferengi hijacked Enterprise after rendering the crew unconscious. Tucker, who was in a sealed compartment, was not affected. He woke T'Pol, and both worked to play the Ferengi against each other, trapping them and regaining control of the ship. (ENT: "Acquisition") Tucker was captured by a symbiotic creature which had stowed away on Enterprise. The creature integrated Tucker's nervous system along with other crewmembers it captured to its own system, but after the crew learned that the creature wished to return home to reunite with its main host, it released Tucker and the others. (ENT: "Vox Sola") Tucker, as part of an away team to salvage an abandoned ship on a planet, found that there was a settlement there. They were called the Kantare; after their ship crashed, they were stranded on the planet. Tucker became romantically involved with Liana, but it was discovered that the settlement was a hologram created by Liana's father, Ezral, to keep his daughter company. (ENT: "Oasis") Tucker and Archer, after helping to repair Zobral's ship, were invited to visit his village. Zobral was really a rebel fighting against an oppressive government, and when the village was attacked, Tucker and Archer became stranded in a vast desert until they were rescued with help from Zobral. (ENT: "Desert Crossing") While on shore leave on Risa, Tucker and Reed were robbed by two beautiful aliens who turned out to be morphs using their disguises to lure their victims. (ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights") When Enterprise was captured by Silik and the Suliban, and Archer was transported to the future by Daniels, Tucker helped retake engineering, restore the timeline, and return Archer to his own time. Required to build quantum beacons, Tucker was forced to learn quantum engineering at a level beyond his training. (ENT: "Shockwave", "Shockwave, Part II") While attempting to discover the powers of an automated repair station Enterprise had entered, Tucker was transported off the station back to Enterprise in an effort to stop the investigation. He later discovered that the station was using humanoid lifeforms to power its computer. (ENT: "Dead Stop") Tucker was affected by a black hole's radiation, and became obsessed with fixing Archer's captain's chair. (ENT: "Singularity") Tucker trained miners in self-defense on a planet the Klingons were pillaging. He befriended a young child on the planet, and gave him a tour of Enterprise. (ENT: "Marauders") Tucker rescued Archer and Reed from a planet that had given them a death sentence, and modified a Suliban cell ship with a cloaking device in order to save them. While doing so, however, he accidentally "cloaked" his right forearm. (ENT: "The Communicator") Tucker saved an alien princess, Kaitaama, from kidnappers, and had a brief romantic relationship with her during the rescue. (ENT: "Precious Cargo") Tucker became stranded on a barren moon with an Arkonian who had tried to shoot his shuttle down. At first, they tried to kill each other, but realized that the only way they could survive was to cooperate with each other. Zho'Kaan's dehydration was causing cellular breakdown, which made using the transporter not an option. Tucker refused to leave him, and cared for him until a modified Arkonian shuttle rescued them. (ENT: "Dawn") When three aliens who boarded Enterprise warned that a deadly neutronic wavefront was quickly approaching and the crew needed to take shelter to be protected from the storm's deadly radiation, Tucker suggested that the one heavily-shielded place on board that might suffice for the eight-day ordeal was the cramped quarters of the catwalk, the maintenance shaft that ran the length of each nacelle. While they were in the catwalk, alien intruders attempted to steal Enterprise, and Tucker helped drive them off. (ENT: "The Catwalk") During a stop at a medical conference, Tucker met Feezal, Phlox's wife. Feezal became attracted to him and tried to seduce him, and when Tucker told Phlox about this, he was told by Phlox that he should have taken advantage of Feezal's offer. While assembling a neutron microscope Feezal delivered, Tucker bragged he could put back together just about any equipment he had ever met. (ENT: "Stigma") Later, Tucker and Reed discovered that a derelict ship Enterprise salvaged was from the future. Even the few papers he read on spatial geometry could not explain the ship's dimensions. (ENT: "Future Tense") I'm a pretty quick study when it comes to these kinds of instruments… but this one's a doozy." While investigating an alien ship, Tucker's body was invaded by an alien wisp that began to control his actions. Their plan was to take over the bodies of the crew and steal Enterprise. (ENT: "The Crossing") The Vulcans and Andorians were again involved in a dispute over a planet, Weytahn. While Archer tried to mediate the dispute, Tucker, commanding Enterprise, stopped the ships of both sides from engaging in battle when he steered Enterprise between the two fleets, giving Archer time to settle the dispute. (ENT: "Cease Fire") Tucker and Archer were unjustly sentenced to the penal colony of Canamar. A prisoner, Kuroda, took over the ship and enlisted Tucker and Archer's help in escaping. His plan was to transport off the ship to another he was meeting, and crash the ship along with the other prisoners and guards. Tucker and Archer foiled his plan, and were rescued by Enterprise. (ENT: "Canamar") Tucker led an away team to rescue three Denobulan geologists from the planet Xantoras. The government had ordered all aliens to leave their world immediately, and Tucker had to persuade the geologists to leave. (ENT: "The Breach") Tucker's encounter with the Vissians proved costly. The Vissians used a cogenitor, a third gender, to reproduce; these cogenitors were treated as an inferior class with no rights. After meeting with a cogenitor, Tucker found that it had the same mental capabilities as the other Vissians, and took it upon himself to convince the cogenitor he met to fight for her rights. He also secretly taught the cogenitor how to read, play go, and educated it about its rights as an individual. The cogenitor chose the name "Charles" for itself, in honor of Tucker. Later, it asked for asylum on Enterprise, which, after several meetings, was denied. Archer finally decided that to grant asylum would ruin any chance of Starfleet making successful trade with the Vissians. Several days later, Tucker was informed that the cogenitor had killed itself, and blamed himself for the suicide. (ENT: "Cogenitor") Tucker was devastated to learn that his sister, Elizabeth, was killed in the Xindi attack on Earth. (ENT: "The Expanse")
The Xindi mission
Tucker became bitter after his sister's death, and was full of hatred and revenge. His mental state led to many sleepless nights. Phlox tricked Tucker into taking Vulcan neuro-pressure from T'Pol; this helped him sleep properly, and moved his relationship with T'Pol to another level. Tucker's first contact with the Xindi occurred at a mining camp where a Xindi, Kessick, was rescued. Kessick was killed in the escape, but gave the coordinates of the Xindi homeworld before he died. (ENT: "The Xindi") An away team consisting of Captain Archer, T'Pol, Lieutenant Reed, and Ensign Hoshi Sato was endangered on the homeworld of the extinct Loque'eque race when a virus left on the planet mutated Archer, Reed and Sato into the lost species. When another alien race landed on the planet, determined to exterminate any of these species, Tucker led a MACO team to stop the alien exterminators and rescue the away team. (ENT: "Extinction") Tucker and T'Pol tried to replicate trellium-D, a substance that would protect Enterprise from the Delphic Expanse's deadly anomalies. The attempt ended in an explosion. (ENT: "Rajiin") Tucker attempted to "rewrite the book on warp theory" once he realized the Cochrane equation wasn't constant in the Expanse, with spatial gradients destabilizing the warp field. Eventually, he succeeded, as he rerouted the system taps, compressing the antimatter stream before it entered the injectors, thus stabilizing the warp field. (ENT: "Anomaly (ENT)", "Similitude") Tucker was badly injured, ending up in a coma, due to a primary injector flare during an encounter with a polaric field. He was cloned using a mimetic simbiot in an attempt to harvest brain tissue from the clone in order to save his life. The clone, Sim, attempted to escape Enterprise to save his own life, but decided against it at the last minute and allowed Phlox to transplant the tissue even though it meant his death. (ENT: "Similitude") After recovering a small craft in the Expanse with an unknown alien in it, Tucker determined that the alien was a test subject to see what effects the atmosphere would have on it. This was the first indication that an alien force was behind the Xindi and their attack on Earth. (ENT: "Harbinger") After coming in contact with a Xindi-Insectoid ship, Tucker questioned Archer's ability to captain Enterprise after Archer had been infected with a toxin that made him believe he was the caretaker to the eggs of the Xindi-Insectoids, and was endangering the mission. Tucker led the crew in a mutiny to retake the ship from Archer before he could be cured. (ENT: "Hatchery") Tucker piloted a captured Xindi-Insectoid shuttle and discovered the location of the Xindi weapon. In the battle of Azati Prime, Enterprise took heavy damage and lost eighteen crewmen. Tucker was terribly affected, and it did not help when he had to compose letters to the families of the slain crewmembers, a task that reminded him of his sister's death. To make matters even worse for Tucker, he found it extremely difficult to forgive Degra, one of the Council members of the Xindi who had designed the Xindi weapon, and had a couple of tension-filled encounters with him, as Archer was trying to gain Degra's trust. Eventually, however, the experience of consoling others helped Tucker finally deal with Elizabeth's death. (ENT: "Azati Prime", "The Forgotten") Connor gives an amazing and emotional performance. Tucker helped steal the primary warp coil of an Illyrian ship to replace Enterprise's after it was damaged in the Battle of Azati Prime. (ENT: "Damage") After an accident using Xindi subspace corridors, Enterprise met its future counterpart. Enterprise's counterpart was captained by Lorian, the son of Tucker and T'Pol. The crew of the future Enterprise helped Enterprise keep an appointment with Degra, so peace could be discussed. (ENT: "E²") Tucker played a large role in the final battle with the Xindi. He destroyed one of the spheres that disrupted the energy field that the Sphere-Builders, who were behind the Xindi attack, were using to help the Xindi; this gave time for Archer and the MACOs to board the weapon, destroy it and save Earth. (ENT: "Countdown", "Zero Hour")
Tucker had many likes and interests, ranging from personal to professional, especially in the engineering field. He often enjoyed studying alien engines, or even certain Human ones. In 2151, Tucker was in awe of the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur and its ringed-engine drive. Unfortunately, Vulcan engine schematics were classified. Later that year, Tucker was interested in visiting the legendary Coridanite Fleet Yards, rumored to build starships capable of warp 7. Other alien species with engines he was particularly amazed by were those of Zobral's species and the Vissians. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice", "Shadows of P'Jem", "Desert Crossing", "Cogenitor")
Tucker was also interested in seeing the ECS Horizon's warp core in hopes that the rumors that Zefram Cochrane had personally signed the inside of the frame were true. (ENT: "Horizon")
Tucker's favorite dessert was pecan pie. After a long day of work, Tucker said it was all worthwhile to come to the mess hall for a slice of it. He even suggested that T'Pol might like it. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice") On a separate occasion, he noted that his favorite dessert was key lime pie. (ENT: "Similitude")
Tucker's favorite food was pan-fried catfish. His mother made it perfectly and if anyone asked his favorite food, Tucker would say that she would "give you the recipe for pan-fried catfish and not let you leave until you promised to cook it right." (ENT: "Silent Enemy", "Dead Stop", "These Are the Voyages...")
Another of Tucker's favorite foods were Georgia peaches. Before leaving for the Delphic Expanse in 2153, he made sure to take a crate of them aboard, and also suggested that T'Pol might enjoy them as well. (ENT: "Extinction")
Tucker occasionally watched water polo with Captain Archer, who seemed to have gotten him hooked on the sport as he didn't like it so much at first. (ENT: "Vox Sola", "The Seventh") He enjoyed playing the harmonica in his spare time as well. (ENT: "Precious Cargo")
Friendships
Tucker's initial job as first officer was to be the liaison between the captain and the crew. Even though the position was later given to Sub-Commander T'Pol, Tucker was still well-liked by most of his shipmates. On the first day of Enterprise's voyage, some friends in the mess hall invited him to sit with them for dinner, but he reminded them that he had plans: dinner with Captain Archer in the captain's mess. (ENT: "Broken Bow")
Family
Tucker was named after his father, Charles Tucker, Jr., and his grandfather, Charles Tucker, Sr. Both of his parents were alive as of 2161, living in Mississippi. (ENT: "Home", "These Are the Voyages...") His grandma was known for doling out at least one piece of advice to her grandson during his lifetime, specifically to "never to judge a species by their eating habits." (ENT: "Broken Bow") Tucker practiced the two-step with his brother for weeks in preparation for a school dance. (ENT: "Fusion") Tucker stated in 2151 that his grandfather saw the first transmissions from Terra Nova as a child, sometime around 2078. (ENT: "Terra Nova") Also in 2151, Tucker had a nephew in the fourth grade, whose class sent drawings to the Enterprise crew. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
Romance
Phlox/Trip/Trisexual", Tucker actor Connor Trinneer was extremely worried that Tucker would be depicted as having an affair with Phlox. Trinneer was meanwhile unaware Tucker was instead intended to have a relationship with a cogenitor in the episode "Cogenitor", which was what the note actually referred to. (Beyond the Final Frontier
In an alternate timeline where Jonathan Archer was relieved of command in 2153 due to an infection by interspatial parasites, T'Pol became the captain of Enterprise. She turned over command to Tucker in 2156, when the ship reached Ceti Alpha V with the last surviving Humans. He was killed in 2165, when a Xindi assault destroyed Enterprise's bridge. (ENT: "Twilight")
He's not the same easy-going officer we remember. He's been in command of Enterprise for almost a decade, and has the air of a seasoned and experienced Starfleet Captain.
"I assume you were watching the attack – calculating the blast yields. Boy, you must have been pretty damned excited. I mean, that beam cut one hell of a swath through Florida. That's the name of one of the places you destroyed, Florida. Did you actually see the cities burning, the houses, the people being vaporized? You know, I had a sister there…"
- Tucker, to Degra, before he is cut off by Captain Archer entering the room (ENT: "The Forgotten")
"Every time I start, I hear myself saying what a fine young woman she was – how smart and full of potential. And I realize, I'm not thinking about Taylor at all, I'm thinking about Elizabeth."
- Tucker, to T'Pol, finally realizing why he is having so much trouble writing a letter to Crewman Taylor's parents (ENT: "The Forgotten")
"You can all go straight to Hell!"
- Trip to the alien criminals before he blows them up (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")
•2121: Born in Panama City, Florida on Earth to Charles Tucker II and Mrs. Tucker
•2139: Enlisted in Starfleet
•2151–2161: Chief engineer of the Enterprise NX-01
•2154: Temporarily leaves Enterprise to become chief engineer of the Columbia NX-02
•2161: Dies by sacrificing himself to save Jonathan Archer
Chief engineers of the starships Enterprise NX-01: Tucker • Kelby
Appearances
•ENT: •"Broken Bow" •"Fight or Flight" •"Strange New World" •"Unexpected" •"Terra Nova" •"The Andorian Incident" •"Breaking the Ice" •"Civilization" •"Fortunate Son" •"Cold Front" •"Silent Enemy" •"Dear Doctor" •"Sleeping Dogs" •"Shadows of P'Jem" •"Shuttlepod One" •"Fusion" •"Rogue Planet" •"Acquisition" •"Oasis" •"Detained" •"Vox Sola" •"Fallen Hero" •"Desert Crossing" •"Two Days and Two Nights" •"Shockwave" •"Shockwave, Part II" •"Carbon Creek" •"Minefield" •"Dead Stop" •"A Night in Sickbay" •"Marauders" •"The Seventh" •"The Communicator" •"Singularity" •"Vanishing Point" •"Precious Cargo" •"The Catwalk" •"Dawn" •"Stigma" •"Cease Fire" •"Future Tense" •"Canamar" •"The Crossing" •"Judgment" •"Horizon" •"The Breach" •"Cogenitor" •"Regeneration" •"First Flight" •"Bounty" •"The Expanse" •"The Xindi" •"Anomaly (ENT)" •"Extinction" •"Rajiin" •"Impulse" •"Exile" •"The Shipment" •"Twilight" •"North Star" •"Similitude" •"Chosen Realm" •"Carpenter Street" •"Proving Ground" •"Stratagem" •"Harbinger" •"Doctor's Orders" •"Hatchery" •"Azati Prime" •"Damage" •"The Forgotten" •"E²" •"The Council" •"Countdown" •"Zero Hour" •"Storm Front" •"Storm Front, Part II" •"Home" •"Borderland" •"Cold Station 12" •"The Augments" •"The Forge" •"Awakening" •"Kir'Shara" •"Daedalus" •"Observer Effect" •"Babel One" •"United" •"The Aenar" •"Affliction" •"Divergence" •"Bound" •"Demons" •"Terra Prime" •"These Are the Voyages..." (hologram) •VST: "Holograms All the Way Down" (hologram)
Background information
Charles Tucker III was played by Connor Trinneer in all ninety-eight episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Adam Taylor Gordon played eight-year-old Tucker in a flashback scene in "The Xindi" (though that boyhood version of the character was scripted to be twelve years old, rather than eight) as well as Young Sim in "Similitude". The character of Tucker was invented by Star Trek: Enterprise creators and Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Regarding how the character was conceived, Berman noted, "We picked a young country boy." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, p. 20) Braga added, "We knew we wanted a southern guy who is a brilliant engineer but who doesn't have a clue as to how to handle himself with alien races." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9, p. 21) Tucker's nickname was initially planned to be "Spike". ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD) At one early stage, he was also intended to hold the rank of lieutenant. A character description of Tucker was meanwhile written into the series bible for Star Trek: Enterprise, referring to him as having the nickname "Spike" and the rank of lieutenant. The document elaborated by describing him thus; "Chief Engineer. Early 30's. A Southerner who enjoys using his 'country' persona to disarm people. He has an offbeat, often sarcastic sense of humor. Although Spike is a brilliant engineer and an outstanding officer, he has very little first-hand experience with alien cultures, and he's often a 'fish out of water' when dealing with new civilizations." While Tucker's nickname was still to have been "Spike" though his rank had changed to commander, a character breakdown sheet that Paramount sent to talent agents, upon seeking an actor to assume the role, largely matched this text from the series bible, apart from a couple of formatting tweaks. However, the series bible went further, elaborating, "As a young man, he spent time deep sea diving in the Florida Keys, working on an ocean reclamation project. Bold and fearless, this thrill-seeker didn't stop there. His skills at working in a hostile environment, with no gravity, dependant on artificial life-support, would eventually lead to a career in Orbital Engineering, building starships at Utopia Planetia, where he earned a reputation as a trouble-shooter who would take on challenges that most engineers think impossible […] Spike is a part of our 'troika' [along with Archer and T'Pol]." Since there was a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the name "Spike", this ENT character's nickname was altered before series pilot "Broken Bow" first aired. The change of nickname was just before "the very end" (in Brannon Braga's words) of the development process. ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray) The nickname was changed to "Charlie", and the alteration was listed as one of six revisions of character names in a one-page "script note" at the start of the final draft teleplay of "Broken Bow" (the page was dated 1 May 2001). In the revised final draft script of "Broken Bow" (dated 11 May 2001), the notion of this character's name being the third consecutive iteration of "Charles Tucker" was not yet established (he was still referred to as having the nickname "Charlie"). When introduced in the same teleplay, he was characterized as being in his "early 30's." The script went on to comment, "[He] is a Southerner who enjoys using his offbeat, often sarcastic sense of humor to disarm people […] He likes to get a rise out of people." Only later was the character given the full name "Charles Tucker III" and the nickname "Trip". Immediately upon seeing Connor Trinneer audition to play Charles Tucker III, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were impressed by him and believed he was right for the part. ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray) The role of Tucker ultimately came down to Trinneer and another actor, Eric Close. Close was the studio's preferred choice, due to his work on the short-lived CBS series Now and Again, but Braga preferred Trinneer, who ultimately won the role. (To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise) He found that an early challenge of portraying Tucker was dealing with all the technobabble the role required. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, p. 20) The way Tucker was depicted was obviously influenced by the casting of Connor Trinneer. Regarding how the actor made an impact on the character, Brannon Braga explained, shortly after ENT Season 1 began, "Connor Trinneer is so […] much funnier than we thought he would be. And he's funnier not when he's making a wisecrack, but when he's put in uncomfortable situations, which we didn't know until he got the role." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9, p. 22) Charles Tucker III was an early favorite ENT main character of the writing staff. Shortly following the start of the first season, Brannon Braga commented, "I think now we're finding, at least early on, that Trip is really a character that's popping out and with whom we're really having a lot of fun." (Broken Bow, paperback ed., p. 253) In fact, Brannon Braga continued to approve of how Tucker further developed. Following ENT Season 2, Braga stated, "It's fun to put Trip into awkward situations. You can't go wrong with him because Connor Trinneer's such a talented actor." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 145, p. 26) Concerning how the character is portrayed in ENT Season 3, Braga pointed out, "Trip embodies the idea of people who lost people back on Earth; he's a microcosm of that." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 33) Ultimately, Rick Berman was extremely pleased with Connor Trinneer's portrayal of Tucker. "As the years went by, he just got better and better," Berman enthused. ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray)
Apocrypha
Despite the events depicted in "These Are The Voyages…", Charles Tucker III continues – alive and well – in the Pocket Books "relaunch" of Star Trek: Enterprise. As teased at in Andy Mangels' and Michael A. Martin's Last Full Measure, the Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do (also by Mangels and Martin) reveals Tucker's "real" fate. In the novel, an imminent threat forces Tucker to ally himself with Section 31 in order to prevent a Romulan attack on the soon-to-be-formed Coalition of Planets. With the help of Archer, Malcolm Reed and Doctor Phlox, Tucker fakes his own death in a manner similar to what is shown in the Enterprise finale, only six years earlier. With his life on Enterprise behind him, Tucker infiltrates Romulan space to prevent interstellar war. This storyline continues in Mangels' and Martin's Kobayashi Maru. In addition to upgrading Tucker's status from dead to alive, the novels also expand upon the engineer's background. In The Good That Men Do, Tucker's family life is revealed, with scenes involving his parents Charles "Charlie" and Elaine "Gracie" Tucker. The book also mentions Tucker's brother Albert and Albert's husband, as well as provides him with a middle name: Anthony. The novel Last Full Measure depicts an aged Tucker, mentoring a young Larry Marvick, designer of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and, in the final chapter, making his first visit to the Starfleet War Memorial at the same time as 9-year-old Sam and 5-year-old Jimmy Kirk.
Aug 22, 2023 · Executive producer Brannon Braga admits that Trip Tucker didn't need to die in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. Braga addressed this issue in a recent podcast and acknowledged that Trip's death wasn't necessary and it didn't have the intended impact. Fans and cast members, including Scott Bakula, were disappointed with the finale ...
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While Enterprise visits Earth for the launch of Columbia, Phlox is kidnapped and forced to help the Klingons deal with a grave threat toward their species. (Part 1 of 2) A Klingon scientist works in a laboratory, watched by a Klingon general and a guard. A representation of a DNA helix is displayed behind the scientist. A door opens and a Klingon prisoner is led into the laboratory by two ...
