Current canon corroborates they did all become captains, although Scotty disappeared, McCoy went on to be admiral, Sulu was obviously captain, Uhura went on to become captain of the Leondegrance, and the only one we really don't know about is Chekov other than him starting a family with his son becoming Fed president
Sulu as Captain
- Thread starter suarezguy
- Start date
Repeatedly called by whom? Fans? The trailer for Star Trek VI? They were just another starship in the original series. 78 years later, Scotty was dissed by Geordi, Janeway offhandedly criticized Kirk's methods. Spock, though, did get some spotlight by Picard and was well respected as an ambassador.
Kirk was revered by his crew to the point where they feel their success chances doubled when he took over from Decker. But starfleet didn't seem to be in a great hurry to put him in the center seat since he had to talked the admiralty into it and they kept promoting him out of it.
They were all apparently doing whatever else when they did the training mission at the start of Star Trek II - then got the silent treatment after the Genesis affair. In fact, they seemed on the outs at that point: no new assignment for anyone but Scotty, the Enterprise decommissioned. Pretty low treatment for Space Legends.
Once they saved the world it was Kirk, more than anyone else, who got the glory. He got a new command and everyone got their old jobs back.
"I need Jim Kirk!"
"Oh, please," he responds with insincere modesty, dragging the rest along out of the kindness of his heart apparently.
Anything stated after the fact is not the responsibility of TOS or the first six films, but while they were doing films, the crew was the crew. "Oh my god, it's PAVEL CHEKOV!" said nobody ever. After that, fan films and ego stroking was all it was. Captain Uhura, President Chekov...come on...
What is this thing among fans that everyone has to be a captain? Or be in the command track? Maybe some of them aren't as career minded or want advancement like others. Promotions aren't all they're cracked up to be. Not everyone is suited for command - and if ALL of the OG cast are captain material, then Kirk, Picard and so on aren't all that special.
Anyways, by the time of Star Trek IV, they no doubt had their pick of assignments and apparently wanted to stay together until Sulu had enough of the BS.
As of 3, Spock was dead, McCoy needed medical help, as you said Scotty was reassigned, and Chekov probably was scheduled for a LOT more recuperation after his brainwashing by Khan. We can assume Uhura probably was scheduled for some linguistic post, possibly on a starbase or on Earth though and not on a ship. And we know now from Generations that Sulu had to have been raising Demora by this point.
So while it's true that most of that wasn't planned in 3, with the new revelations from future works it does seem like most of the crew as of 3 had some explainable reason to not be suddenly on a new ship.
I don't know but it is ridiculous .
Sulu and Chekov were on the "Command Track," so in theory they should have been. I would have like to have seen Chekov as Sulu's XO and not as the village idiot,
Eh, Chekov isn't command material. He was originally Spock's protegee but with the movies, they had to shunt him over to head of security because they had other people in that role. Sure, in Star Trek II he was first officer on a science mission, but it seemed more of an administrative position. But he never showed an aptitude for command and was severely dumbed down TUC. Attaining the rank? Fine, but not in charge of a starship. Just because he was in the command track doesn't mean he was successful at it in the end.
Uhura? Only in fan films. She had her area of expertise and it wasn't running a starship. This isn't a slight, it's just not what she was meant to be. Not everyone is a good manager (I'm great at managing people but not the best under heavy stress). Again, her attaining the rank is fine. Not every Captain runs a ship, but Of Gods and Men lost me immediately with the concept of someone who did nothing but communications for 25 years on screen suddenly commanding a starship. But you had to get Nichelle on board somehow.
Sulu made sense, he had demonstrated command combat experience in the original series and I could absolutely see him going that route. Scotty just wanted to be an engineer and his career was also sensible. Captain of Engineering and it didn't matter what ship he served on career wise. He was a lifer and preferred the Enterprise. Not necessarily Kirk - the Enterprise.
Uhura? Only in fan films. She had her area of expertise and it wasn't running a starship. This isn't a slight, it's just not what she was meant to be. Not everyone is a good manager (I'm great at managing people but not the best under heavy stress). Again, her attaining the rank is fine. Not every Captain runs a ship, but Of Gods and Men lost me immediately with the concept of someone who did nothing but communications for 25 years on screen suddenly commanding a starship. But you had to get Nichelle on board somehow.
Sulu made sense, he had demonstrated command combat experience in the original series and I could absolutely see him going that route. Scotty just wanted to be an engineer and his career was also sensible. Captain of Engineering and it didn't matter what ship he served on career wise. He was a lifer and preferred the Enterprise. Not necessarily Kirk - the Enterprise.
That's all in the writing. Chekov got to do science stuff in TOS because he was a featured player, not because was a Science Officer in training. In theory ( and practice?) all command officers do rotations in other areas. He was used a comic relief in TOS but that was built around him being young and green. No longer plays when he's a middle aged man.
He was Spock's go-to relief. We saw him run to the science station to cover a few times. McCoy even said "Spock's contaminating this boy." Of course they never said "he's Spock in training" but his two main duties on Star Trek were navigation and science until the films, when it became navigation and security. Naturally it's in the writing, and that's how they wrote him. He only took over command one time, in Journey to Babel, because otherwise Uhura (GASP! A WOMAN!) would have had to. But lots of rando guys sat in that chair while Kirk was off the bridge.
Well it worked okay in The Voyage Home, but mostly, no, he needed more than that. Sadly, they didn't bake in much for him, personality wise. Even with all that said, he still hardly ever demonstrated command ability. He did a fun stand in Captain bit in The Final Frontier and - weirdly - that was probably his best moment in the film series where he didn't have to scream or suffer as the butt of a joke. They just never laid the groundwork for Chekov to make his being captain work for me. But I would see him as advancing to a high level administrative position. In our own military, you don't have to be a battleship or squadron commander to move up and have a nice career. He has battlefield experience, though, with commendations and awards of valor, I'm sure, that would advance him high enough. All starship captains are officers but not all officers are starship captains.
Last edited:
Who says you have to be on the command track to become a captain? You can be a captain in engineering or in medical, and if they wanted to, they could probably even make Troi a captain of psychology or something similar. In fact, wasn’t she a captain in the holographic department or something like that in Star Trek Online, wearing blue? Admiral Toddman, wearing gold?
So I’ve never quite understood why “captain” is automatically assumed to mean someone on the command track or in charge of a starship.
Even outside of Star Trek, Harm Rabb reached the rank of captain in the JAG Corps. Thinking of that, Philippa Louvois did as well. So based on years of service—along with their accomplishments—it seems reasonable that they all could have been captains in rank by the time of The Undiscovered Country.
So I’ve never quite understood why “captain” is automatically assumed to mean someone on the command track or in charge of a starship.
Even outside of Star Trek, Harm Rabb reached the rank of captain in the JAG Corps. Thinking of that, Philippa Louvois did as well. So based on years of service—along with their accomplishments—it seems reasonable that they all could have been captains in rank by the time of The Undiscovered Country.
There is Captain a rank, open to anyone in any department and there is Captain a command position which is the top leadership position aboard a ship regardless of rank.
Because people are obsessed with starship captain as a position.
Of the officers under Kirk, only two achieved Captain of a Starship: Spock and Sulu. This is a rare accomplishment. Of course, many other officers can be Captain in rank and command lesser ships like science vessels, escorts and cargo carriers, or never command a ship at all (like Scott).
Captain (both in Rank and Command) of a Starship is the best of the best of any Captain posting in Starfleet because there are only a few of these great ships. As Commodore Stone said: "Not one man in a million could do what you and I have done."
<That is of course before they go crazy or become incompetent admirals or both.>
That didn't really answer my observation. Is captain of the ship the most desirable position and why?Of the officers under Kirk, only two achieved Captain of a Starship: Spock and Sulu. This is a rare accomplishment. Of course, many other officers can be Captain in rank and command lesser ships like science vessels, escorts and cargo carriers, or never command a ship at all (like Scott).
Captain (both in Rank and Command) of a Starship is the best of the best of any Captain posting in Starfleet because there are only a few of these great ships. As Commodore Stone said: "Not one man in a million could do what you and I have done."
<That is of course before they go crazy or become incompetent admirals or both.>
One of the plaques in Picard said Uhura made captain of the LeondegranceOf the officers under Kirk, only two achieved Captain of a Starship: Spock and Sulu. This is a rare accomplishment. Of course, many other officers can be Captain in rank and command lesser ships like science vessels, escorts and cargo carriers, or never command a ship at all (like Scott).
Captain (both in Rank and Command) of a Starship is the best of the best of any Captain posting in Starfleet because there are only a few of these great ships. As Commodore Stone said: "Not one man in a million could do what you and I have done."
<That is of course before they go crazy or become incompetent admirals or both.>
Depends on ones' goals.
As noted by others, Sulu was helming the Enterprise for a training cruise before taking command of Excelsior. I suspect Chekov would have made captain by the time of Star Trek V had the Gensis and Whalesong crises not got in the way. He should have been Sulu's XO and the two of them could have come aboard the Enterprise-A for its final cruise so that one final bridge shot could happen.
Eddington certainly thought so. He said exactly that to Sisko.
And Uhura.
USS Leondegrance
The USS Leondegrance (NCC-2176) was a Federation Lancelot-class starship operated by Starfleet from 2288 to 2336. From 2301 to 2305, the Leondegrance was commanded by Captain Nyota Uhura on an exploratory five-year mission to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, during which the ship participated in...
memory-alpha.fandom.com
That didn't happen. The Lesser Magellanic Cloud is over 200,000 light years away, this Picard plaque fanwank should be disregarded, it doesn't even make sense.And Uhura.
USS Leondegrance
The USS Leondegrance (NCC-2176) was a Federation Lancelot-class starship operated by Starfleet from 2288 to 2336. From 2301 to 2305, the Leondegrance was commanded by Captain Nyota Uhura on an exploratory five-year mission to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, during which the ship participated in...
Similar threads
