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- Staff Writer
- Star Trek: Picard. This one may be a bit of a stretch, as James Kirk does not actually appear in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but his body does. Sort of.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Introduced in the final episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, Paul Wesley plays the newest iteration of Captain James T. Kirk.
- J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Movies. Set in the alternate Kelvin timeline, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies follow a different version of Captain James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Though Captain Kirk never set foot on the titular space station, he did make an appearance in one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) Rotten Tomatoes® 100%
- Out of the Past (1947) Rotten Tomatoes® 93%
- Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) Rotten Tomatoes® 67%
- I Walk Alone (1948)
Jul 14, 2016 · While the rebooted Star Trek franchise has been experiencing one of the most hotly-debated cultural resurgences in recent memory, James T. Kirk, the beloved captain of the USS Enterprise, remains among the most iconic figures in the history of ever.
Kirk has also been portrayed in numerous films, books, comics, webisodes, and video games. Kirk first appears in the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap", broadcast on September 8, 1966, although the first episode recorded featuring Shatner was "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
- Overview
- Early history
- Starfleet career
- Legacy
- Personal interests
- Relationships
- Time travel
- Alternate timelines
- Awards and honors
"Don't let them promote you, don't let them transfer you, don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship. Because while you're there, you can make a difference."
– James T. Kirk to Jean-Luc Picard, 2371 (Star Trek Generations)
Origins
James Tiberius Kirk was born on March 22nd, 2233 in Riverside, Iowa on Earth. (TOS: "The Deadly Years"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" production resource; SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow") He was the son of George and Winona Kirk; their other son, his brother, was George Samuel. (Star Trek; TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Operation -- Annihilate!") His parents named him after his maternal grandfather, James, and his paternal grandfather, Tiberius. (TAS: "Bem"; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; Star Trek) Furthermore, Kirk was a descendant of late 19th century American frontier pioneers. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun") Kirk embraced the culture and history of his homeland, especially western lore and the life of his hero Abraham Lincoln, and later even recognized the document mirrored on the planet Omega IV, he could recite the preamble of the United States Constitution from memory. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun", "The Savage Curtain", "The Omega Glory")
Childhood
Kirk, along with Winona and Sam, spent the majority of Kirk's childhood chasing George Kirk, Sr. from one posting to another, to the point that Kirk barely saw the man. When Kirk asked Winona why they never saw George Sr., she told James that "he's helping people who really need it." (SNW: "Lost in Translation") Kirk sang around a campfire sometimes was when he was a boy in Iowa, something he would later recall not having done since that time, as of 2287. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) At some point early in his life, Kirk contracted and nearly died from Vegan choriomeningitis. Although he was cured, the organisms of the disease continued to be carried in his blood. (TOS: "The Mark of Gideon") By 2246, he was living on Tarsus IV, as his father George moved there. During his time on Tarsus IV, the planet was undergoing a food crisis that was starving the colony, which consisted of eight thousand people. Governor Kodos, sympathetic to old eugenics philosophies and unaware that supply ships were imminent, tried to save a portion of the colony by killing four thousand colonists he deemed least desirable or able to survive. The thirteen-year-old Jim Kirk was one of only nine eyewitnesses to the massacre. (TOS: "The Conscience of the King"; SNW: "A Quality of Mercy") Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features) As for Kirk having survived the incident, the aforementioned script had him say, "I was one of those Kodos spared! He ordered me left alive! I was one of the fittest!
Academy years
"The Federation has invested a great deal of money in our training. They're about due for a small return." – James T. Kirk, 2267 ("Errand of Mercy") In 2252, Kirk entered Starfleet Academy, with help of Mallory, whose son later served under Kirk. (TOS: "Shore Leave", "The Apple") He also often spoke of his father as being his inspiration for joining Starfleet. (Star Trek) As a plebe, Kirk soon caught the attention of a boisterous and bullying Irishman named Finnegan. The upperclassman evidently hazed "Jimmy-boy" mercilessly throughout their shared time at the Academy. Fifteen years later, the Shore Leave Planet sensed Kirk's antipathy for Finnegan and produced a simulacrum that Kirk could pummel for satisfaction. (TOS: "Shore Leave") As a cadet, Kirk participated in a successful peace mission to Axanar, for which Starfleet Command awarded him with the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission. (TOS: "Court Martial", "Whom Gods Destroy") When he was a midshipman, Kirk began a friendship with his instructor, Lieutenant Benjamin Finney. Their relationship was so important to the two men that Finney named his daughter, Jame, after Kirk. (TOS: "Court Martial") Kirk's physical training included tests he had to pass for working in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, as well as hand-to-hand combat. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday"; TAS: "The Pirates of Orion") He was also trained in hyper-power circuits. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind") His academic studies introduced him to several men that he encountered later in his career. Among them was John Gill, a noted history professor and cultural observer. (TOS: "Patterns of Force") Kirk studied the exploits of Garth of Izar, a famous captain who joined Kirk's pantheon of heroes. (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy") The "Pasteur of archaeological medicine", Dr. Roger Korby, became a man Kirk wanted to meet. (TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") Kirk also studied the military strategies of Klingon General Korrd. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) He also attended lectures at the Academy on the Nomad space probe. (TOS: "The Changeling") During his time in the Command Training Program, Kirk confronted the Kobayashi Maru scenario. He refused to accept his first two defeats. Before making a third attempt, he secretly reprogrammed the simulation computer, consequently becoming the only cadet in Academy history to beat the "no-win" scenario and earning a commendation for original thinking. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) The Wrath of Khan but not in the theatrical or director's cut of the film, Kirk mentioned that what he had done nearly got him tossed out of the Academy. Kirk's graduating class was represented with such future officers as Corrigan, Mike, Teller, and Timothy. (TOS: "Court Martial") One of his former classmates, R.M. Merik, was dropped in his fifth year for failing the psychosimulator test. (TOS: "Bread and Circuses")
Early postings and assignments
Kirk was commissioned as a Starfleet officer with the rank of ensign and the serial number SC937-0176CEC. (TOS: "Court Martial") Among his early missions was the Vulcanian expedition, along with former classmate Timothy. (TOS: "Court Martial") He had also, at one point, visited Alpha Majoris I, where he had personally witnessed the native mellitus. (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold") Also early in Kirk's career, he became quite familiar with the work of Doctor Tristan Adams. He even had the opportunity to visit penal colonies that had been revolutionized by Adams, later describing what he saw as "clean, decent hospitals for sick minds," even describing them as "resort colonies", as opposed to "cages". (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind")
Service aboard the Farragut
"Dad has a very old-fashioned idea of what a successful career looks like, what a fulfilling life looks like, and it just so happens it looks a lot like you." – Sam Kirk to his brother Jimmy, 2259 ("Lost in Translation") Upon graduating from Starfleet Academy, Kirk began his service under Captain Garrovick. His first deep space assignment was as a lieutenant aboard Garrovick's USS Farragut, as a member of the phaser gun crew, where he was assigned to a phaser station. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", "Obsession") After joining the crew of the Farragut, Kirk quickly made a name for himself and "put in some legwork to beat" the record of becoming both the youngest active and all-time first officer in all of Starfleet; a record previously held by his father. (SNW: "Lost in Translation")
"Kirk may have been a lowly Human, but at least he had pizzazz."
– Q, 2378 ("Q2")
Sometime after 2285, Kirk made a brief appearance in a film called The Tardigrade in Space, which was about the adventures of a female tardigrade and a DOT-7 robot called Dot. His appearance in the film depicted his first encounter with Khan Noonien Singh in sickbay, when he was first awakened from cryosleep in the year 2267. (ST: "Ephraim and Dot")
His missions were read by grade school students and Starfleet Academy cadets alike. (Star Trek Generations; VOY: "Q2") As a child in grade school, future Enterprise-B Captain Harriman read about Kirk's missions. (Star Trek Generations) While nearly a century later, in 2377, as Icheb began his cadet training aboard Voyager, he recited a report for Early Starfleet History, that described when Kirk concluded his "historic five year mission", that "one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close." (VOY: "Q2")
Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager nostalgically recalled Captain Kirk (and his contemporaries) as belonging "to a different breed of Starfleet officer." She went on to note that, given "the era they lived in, [...] It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive, and a little quicker to pull their phasers." She opined, "Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that." (VOY: "Flashback")
Along with Kirk's seventeen separate temporal violations, which gave him the distinction of having the biggest file on record with the Department of Temporal Investigations, Kirk also had a long standing first contact record to his name. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations") It remained untouched until 2378, when Captain Janeway concluded her seven-year trip across the Delta Quadrant aboard the USS Voyager. (VOY: "Friendship One")
Skills and hobbies
Kirk spent a huge portion of his life aboard starships, and consequently relished the times he could spend outdoors. He was an accomplished equestrian, and kept a horse at a mountain cabin that he owned during his first retirement. Another companion at his mountain cabin was Butler, his Great Dane. He sold the cabin sometime after his return to Starfleet. (Star Trek Generations) A personal challenge that nearly cost him his life was free-solo climbing the face of El Capitan mountain in Yosemite National Park on Earth. After Spock rescued Kirk from an accidental free fall, Kirk told the Vulcan and McCoy that while falling he knew he would not die because he had always known that he would die alone, and since he, McCoy, and Spock were present during the incident, he could not die. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) However, Kirk's prediction eventually proved apparently wrong when he died on Veridian III in the company of Jean-Luc Picard, who was, evidently, an ultimately poor surrogate for Spock and/or McCoy in that particular situation. (Star Trek Generations) Beckett Mariner once described herself as a "Kirk-style free spirit", though her mother, Captain Carol Freeman, retorted that Kirk was confident, whereas Mariner was unwilling to risk dropping her defenses to make allies. (LD: "First First Contact")
Personal combat
Kirk's command style frequently brought him in close proximity to his enemies, often resulting in hand-to-hand combat. His idiosyncratic martial-arts style used hand chops to the neck, wrestling and judo throws, roundhouse punches, two-fisted swings and open-hand slaps in varying combinations, and even drop kicks. One or two of Kirk's blows overwhelmed a variety of enemy guards and henchmen. In addition, Kirk regularly performed dives and rolls, either to evade phaser fire or to attack an opponent, thereby often jumping off walls and other fixed elements. A typical example of Kirk's fighting style in a more extended bout occurred in 2265 on the surface of Delta Vega, in the attempt to kill his friend Gary Mitchell. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") While typical examples of his wrestling and Judo abilities were seen when the Orion spy Thelev assaulted him, and when he used a judo throw to disarm the Redjac entity which had taken the form of Hengist. (TOS: "Journey to Babel", "Wolf in the Fold") At times, a larger, more powerful opponent clearly out-classed Kirk, leaving him to his wits, the aid of his crew, or pure luck to see him through. Pitted against the Gorn captain in 2267, he held his own for a time, until his injuries forced withdrawal and a search for a more efficient weapon. (TOS: "Arena") In 2255 and again in 2268, he wrestled a ferocious Mugato of Neural. When the massive ancient android Ruk attacked Kirk on Exo III in 2266, Kirk could do little but hold on for the ride. (TOS: "A Private Little War", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") On the Shore Leave Planet in 2267, Kirk was shocked by the appearance of Finnegan, his Academy nemesis, who had not seemed to age. The two proceeded to slug each other until both were bleeding and exhausted. Perhaps the longest fist-fight of his life, it was clearly the most satisfying. (TOS: "Shore Leave") Kirk fought his friend and first officer Spock on three occasions when the half-Vulcan lost his normal emotional control. A series of slaps delivered to Spock in 2266 resulted in a blow that sent Kirk over a table. In 2267, after necessarily cruel taunts, Spock tossed Kirk back and forth across the transporter room, regaining control just before he crushed his captain's skull. Spock's blood fever during his pon farr of 2267 made him so dangerous in the koon-ut-kal-if-fee ritual fight that Dr. McCoy was forced to falsify Kirk's death before Spock could kill him. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "This Side of Paradise", "Amok Time") Kirk was constantly looking to improve his arsenal of combat techniques. Upon witnessing Hikaru Sulu perform a body throw on Agmar on Phylos in 2269, he asked Sulu to teach him the technique sometime, since it might come in handy. (TAS: "The Infinite Vulcan")
Family
The Kirk family ancestry included settlers who pioneered the American frontier in the 19th century, and the Kirks of the early 23rd century rediscovered the impulse for untamed spaces. After his early childhood on Earth, Kirk lived on Tarsus IV by the age of thirteen, and his brother's family later lived on colonies as well. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun", "The Conscience of the King", "Operation -- Annihilate!")
Friendships
An approachable, gregarious individual, Kirk made many friends across a range of worlds and status, from the Hill dweller Tyree to Starfleet Fleet Admiral Morrow. Those that shared his closest, personal confidence appear to be limited to a few, including Spock, Leonard McCoy, and Gary Mitchell. The core group of talented officers that he assembled in his first years aboard the Enterprise followed his call throughout their own careers, and were integral factors to his long success and lasting reputation. Kirk recognized the impact his life in Starfleet had on his family life. In 2287, while camping with his friends in Yosemite, he referred to himself, Spock, and McCoy as the only family that men like themselves were likely to have. Presumably, his prediction that he would die alone meant that he would die with neither of them also present at his death. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Romances
Often described as a ladies' man, Kirk was notably successful in attracting women, and enthusiastic in their pursuit, yet notoriously unsuccessful in establishing any lasting relationships with women – a fact his brother Sam tended to warn women about. (SNW: "Lost in Translation") By design or coincidence, his most significant affairs were with women fundamentally incompatible with his life in Starfleet. In weighing the balance of starship versus a settled home life, the gross tonnage of the Enterprise usually tipped the scale. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "Elaan of Troyius") As Kirk became more and more well-known, these exploits became the stuff of legend; when Jadzia Dax, upon seeing Kirk while aboard the Enterprise during the Defiant crew's trip over a hundred years into their past, mentioned how much more handsome "he" was in person, Captain Sisko responded that Kirk had "quite the reputation" in terms of his dealing with women – though Dax then admitted that the "he" to whom she had referred was actually Spock. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations") While attending the Academy, Kirk was romantically involved with at least two women.
Several of Kirk's voyages involved travel through time, either personally through time portals or along with the entire starship Enterprise via acceleration through gravity wells. According to the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations, Kirk, who sometimes ignored regulations when he felt it was for the greater good, amassed seventeen separate temporal violations during his career, more than any other person on file as of 2373.
His time-travel exploits were well-known enough that, when Sisko, after he and his crew returned to the 24th century, told Dulmur and Lucsly that the vessel they had encountered in the past was the first Enterprise, the two DTI investigators shrugged at the realization that it was "his" ship, which Sisko proudly confirmed. Kirk was regarded by DTI as a "menace". (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")
Captain of the UEF Enterprise
In the alternate timeline created where Khan Noonien Singh was killed by the Romulan Sera, Kirk was born on the USS Iowa, and was (still) the brother of George Samuel Kirk, who had died sometime prior to 2259. Kirk once claimed he spent six months in a Denobulan prison with a Vulcan cellmate. He learned the Vulcan neck pinch from this person, as well as how to make Plomeek soup in a toilet. He joined the United Earth Fleet and by 2259, was captain of the UEF Enterprise. After La'an Noonien-Singh was transported aboard his ship from the prime timeline, Kirk was inadvertently brought back in time with her to 2022 Toronto, the point of divergence between their two timelines. Although initially skeptical of her intention to restore her timeline, he was persuaded to help her when he learned that not only was Earth a paradise, but that Sam was still alive. As they attempted to prevent history from being changed, Kirk was killed by the Romulan temporal agent Sera, before La'an succeeded in restoring the original timeline. (SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow")
Captain of the USS Farragut
In an alternate timeline where Captain Christopher Pike remained in command of the Enterprise and avoided the accident that exposed him to delta radiation, Kirk became the captain of the Farragut. In 2266, he responded to the distress call sent by Outpost 4 as it came under Romulan attack. At Kirk's suggestion, the Farragut and the Enterprise shadowed the Romulan Bird-of-Prey responsible, preparing to engage it in a pincer move once it entered the tail of the comet Icarus IV and became temporarily visible through its cloaking device. However, the Romulan Commander had anticipated their plan and positioned his vessel behind the Farragut. Kirk ordered his ship to turn and engage the Bird-of-Prey, but the Farragut was hit by a plasma torpedo at close range and sustained catastrophic damage to its saucer section. With life support failing, the surviving crew were evacuated to the Enterprise, including Kirk. After Pike negotiated a ceasefire, Kirk piloted a shuttlecraft for reinforcements, returning with a fleet of drone ships to bluff the Romulan armada that had appeared. When the Romulans attacked the Enterprise, Kirk used his drone fleet to cover the Enterprise until its engines could be repaired, beaming back aboard moments before the Enterprise jumped to warp. Pike was impressed by Kirk and told the young captain that he would make a good captain for the Enterprise. Pike got to know Kirk briefly before using a time crystal to return to his own time where he changed the events that led to this timeline. However, the encounter led to Pike taking an interest in Kirk in his own timeline. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")
Thelin's commanding officer
In an alternate timeline created where Spock was killed in 2237 when he was seven years old, Kirk had assumed command of the USS Enterprise by 2265 and chosen the Andorian Thelin as his first officer. (TAS: "Yesteryear")
Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission
Grankite Order of Tactics Preantares Ribbon of Commendation Starfleet Medal of Honor
Silver Palm with Cluster
Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry
Karagite Order of Heroism (TOS: "Court Martial")
Leonard James Akaar – The Teer of Capella IV bears the first names of Leonard McCoy and James T. Kirk. (TOS: "Friday's Child")
In 1996, after suffering a severe stroke at age 79 which impaired his ability to speak, Douglas still wanted to make movies. He underwent years of voice therapy and made Diamonds in 1999, in which he played an old professional boxer who was recovering from a stroke.
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The following is the filmography of American actor Kirk Douglas (1916–2020). His popular films include Out of the Past (1947), Champion (1949), Ace in the Hole (1951), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Lust for Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Vikings (1958 ...
