Who is the most famous character?

[JoeZhang]

If a kid from the 26th century was studying the origins of the federation - which of the Captains or other characters would he read about? Who would have the most historical significance?*




* going off what we saw and heard from the shows rather than guessing about events *after* the time-periods we saw.

[King Daniel]

Up until 2001, it was James T. Kirk. Then they retconned Jonathan Archer and his Enterprise into the timeline. He saved Earth from the Xindi, he brought Vulcans, Andorians and others together to found the Coalition of Planets, and by Kirk's time has two planets named after him.

[T'Girl]

Especially when you factor in the movies, it has to be James Kirk. He was the man on the scene for multiple major events and even his (supposed) death in the begining of GEN show him to be a hero to the end, and his death (again supposed) at the end of GEN reinforces his hero status.

All the Captains had their moments, Kirk just had more of them.

[MacLeod]

To answer the question asked about the 'origins' of the Federation then it has to be Archer, if we are talking about the Federation, perhaps the pairing of Kirk and Spock.

[R. Star]

If you wanna factor in the number of "saved Earth from total annihilation" moments, I'd guess Picard has the high number there.

[Use of Time]

I think Archer wins easily as he credited with a lot of "firsts" for mankind. He truly was a pioneer and a trailblazer. Our own history is big on remembering a lot people who were the first as something.

[22 Stars]

Yeah, the positioning of Archer in the timeline skews his "historical" importance for sure.

Kirk is up there with the Khitomer stuff and the Klingons, that's a pretty big event.

Also, the Dominion war, a truly Galactic war, must hold a special significance, so I would imagine Ben Sisko takes up a few pages in that history text. If it weren't for him 1/2 of the galaxy (2 Quadrants) would have been ruled by the Founders, right?

[C.E. Evans]

If it's only about the origins of the Federation as suggested in the OP, then the only answer is Archer.

I think Kirk could be viewed as famous from a 26th-Century perspective by being the most well-known captain of the 23rd-Century. Ditto for Picard in the 24th-Century. Sisko's contributions to history is connected to the discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole and as a hero of the Dominion War. Janeway could also be considered historically important for bringing back slipstream drive from the Delta Quadrant and the unprecented number of first contacts she made there (which could be a big deal in the 26th-Century).

[Methos]

Well i think the first one they'd learn about would be Zefram Cochran...

It's said throughout pretty much all the series, that he has god knows how many schools and places named after him... the father of Warp Drive... Captain of The Phoenix.

I'd say he's the most famous figure that a kid in the 26th century would read about... without Warp, and the ensuing First Contact with the Vulcans, there would be no Federation or anything else, so I'd say he was more important than any captain that came after...

Also of note, if you're writing in the perspective from the 26th century, by that time in the Trek universe, they have time ships as well... so i'm guessing whoever perfected the Temporal Drive (not sure if it was ever actually named in any episode dealing with the future TimeShips or not), would be pretty heavily talked about in schools

M

[King Daniel]

Cochrane only invented warp drive for humans. All the other major races already had it for centuries. So although Cochrane would be a big celebrity on Earth, I'm not so sure he'd be more than a footnote about Earth finally catching up with the rest of the galaxy by the 26th century.

[REDrake]

I can't believe it. People arguing about Archer vs Kirk, but forgetting (completely) about Spock. He's also a captain at some point, but he also came back from the dead, saved worlds several times, became and ambassador and then worked to bring about a unification between Romulans and Vulcans. On top of that he's half-vulcan, so he lives twice as much as a normal human.
And if we're talking about mirror universes he actually became Emperor Spock.

[Satyrquaze]

Setting aside Roddenberry's idea that the citizens of the Federation and Starfleet Officiers were completely without fault. I think it'll be one of those situations where the deeds of the character get exagerated over time. Case in point, consider how many Americans perceive the near-mythic personalities of the 'Founding Fathers' vs. the personalities of even the civil war.

There's definately a level of hero-worship on the part of later generations. Nostalgia seems to increase the further in history the historical figure is.

Taking the canon at face value, I imagine that the feats of Archer will be almost god-like and Kirk's mythic by the time of the 26th century.

[C.E. Evans]

Kirk's exploits might already be considered mythical by the 24th-Century. Janeway seemed to have trouble believing some stuff Kirk did.

[Satyrquaze]

C.E. Evans wrote:

---

Kirk's exploits might already be considered mythical by the 24th-Century. Janeway seemed to have trouble believing some stuff Kirk did.

Agreed, imagine how she might have thought of Archer had she ever heard of him.

[Nerys Myk]

Archer's probably thought of along the same lines as George Washington. As explorers Picard and Kirk might be the Lewis and Clark of UFP history. Similarly Janeway might be the Admiral Byrd or Captain Cook of the 24th Century. Because of the Dominion War, Sisko would be noted for his military exploits. ( except on Bajor)