First Star Fleet officer of German descent?

[Jackson_Roykirk]

...Names can be deceiving (says Captain Georgiou, and smiles sagely).

That's what you get when it is so easy for a Malaysian woman to use the transporter to date a guy who lives in Athens.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Yep, that's gotta be Detmer. Glad to see our eyes proved reasonably keen, after all. Interesting that she's all done-up like that. As has been said, it's probably due to injuries sustained during battle.

 

[Michael]

Ah, that's Emily Coutts' character, or – as @Serveaux fittingly dubbed her – “the redhead who reacted with concern to everything”.

Interesting to learn that @David Mack makes her German. Germany has a big Trek Lit fanbase, so I guess that's a nod to them. Or that's actually from the series bible and she will have a bigger role on the Discovery.

“Leyla” doesn't sound the least bit German, though. Not that that poses any kind of problem.

 

[Michael]

Sorry for the double post, but I just saw that IMDB gives her character name as “Keyla Detmer”, which sounds even less German.

 

[David Mack]

Sorry for the double post, but I just saw that IMDB gives her character name as “Keyla Detmer”, which sounds even less German.

Chalk that up to cultures intermingling on future Earth.

I named the character as a partial tribute to Dr. Kayla Iacavino (I changed the spelling of her first name just for kicks), and the surname is a tribute to a branch of my wife's extended family.

Although I wrote in the bio that Detmer was a native of Dusseldorf, we'll have to chalk up her Federation-standard accent to growing up somewhere else, or just to the assimilation process of Starfleet Academy.

 

[Timo]

Or perhaps to her accent being so thick that she is required to use the UT at all times?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Michael]

Chalk that up to cultures intermingling on future Earth.

I named the character as a partial tribute to Dr. Kayla Iacavino (I changed the spelling of her first name just for kicks), and the surname is a tribute to a branch of my wife's extended family.

Although I wrote in the bio that Detmer was a native of Dusseldorf, we'll have to chalk up her Federation-standard accent to growing up somewhere else, or just to the assimilation process of Starfleet Academy.

Many thanks for chiming in with this background information! I'm still waiting impatiently for “Desperate Hours” to arrive at my door. Looking forward to it!

 

[Tim Thomason]

That's what you get when it is so easy for a Malaysian woman to use the transporter to date a guy who lives in Athens.

And with the universal translator as well, dating between cultures will be the norm, rather than an exception.

 

[dahj]

And with the universal translator as well, dating between cultures will be the norm

That's sitcom material right there... "Blame it on the UT!"

 

[Ithekro]

I seem to recall a Kirk movie era comic were the junior officers intentionally disabled the bridge UT to screw with invading aliens that really were not much of a threat. Everyone was talking in a different language.

 

[Longinus]

Although I wrote in the bio that Detmer was a native of Dusseldorf, we'll have to chalk up her Federation-standard accent to growing up somewhere else, or just to the assimilation process of Starfleet Academy.

Well, it is not unusual to non-native speaker achieve pretty much perfect native speaker level accent, particularly in Star Trek where Federation presumably has super high level of education (and most characters who are supposed to be be non-native English speakers are played by actors who are.)

 

[{ Emilia }]

For someone from Düsseldorf, this would be treason! And why would anyone drink such thing as Koelsch?

Because in the future Düsseldorf is a suburb of Cologne.

Not much has changed I guess. This is also the only way I can digest the first on-Screen German character to be from Düsseldorf... of all places. I'm kinda assuming she was born there and then saw the light at some point.

Just think of the possibilities for the dialogue if she were from Cologne instead:
Saru: "Warp Core breach imminent!!!"
Detmer: "Et hätt noch immer jot jejange."

Clearly a missed opportunity.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Clearly a missed opportunity.

It's still possible that when they need really loud music to destroy the swarming drones, she'll pick BAP.