Give Number One a Name Already

[FalTorPan]

Earlier this week I flipped through John Byrne's latest Trek comic, which featured "Number One" from TOS' "The Cage" from a time before the events of that episode.

The comic seemed decent enough, but it also seemed like they danced around the issue of Number One having no established name. That's cute, but tiring.

Give the woman a name already! At least D.C. Fontana, in Vulcan's Glory, hinteded that Number One's "appellation" might actually be her name, since in that novel she was the best of her genetically engineered breed on her homeworld of Illyria (or whatever it was -- I can no longer quite remember).

So what's her name already?

 

[Thrawn]

It's funny, how many different reasons have been given for this. In The Rift, everyone knew her name but it was unpronounceable. In Vulcan's Glory, Number One was her name. In Where Sea Meets Sky, he apparently took PAD's cue from his later NF books, and called her "Lieutenant Commander Lefler". Seems like every book I read about Pike's time has something different going on there.

Does Legacy have anything to say on the subject?

 

[FalTorPan]

Guinan's people, the "species of listeners," wound up with the formal name El Aurians. Perhaps Number One's actual name is Numero Uno.

 

[Christopher]

In the Marvel Early Voyages comics, Number One is called Commander Robbins, and her first name is "Eure-" something, probably "Eureka."

Calling her Cmdr. Lefler doesn't make much sense, since NF clearly established that Morgan Primus adopted the Lefler name when she married the man who was Robin's father, nearly a century after the Pike era.

 

[Thrawn]

No kidding. I thought that was pretty amusing, really.

 

[milo bloom]

I always wondered if Majel had her own name for her from back in the day and wondered why nobody ever asked her before it was too late

I have to think Gene had *something* in mind, though I realize what his intent was in the original story. It's hard to imagine he could have made the series keep going without giving her a name without getting into the "tapdancing around the subject" issues mentioned in this thread.

 

[Stevil2001]

Given we watched seventy-nine episodes of TOS without learning Sulu or Uhura's first names, I think it would be pretty easy to avoid ever giving Number One a name on screen. TOS rarely dove into characters or backstories in a way that would require it. It's a lot harder to pull off in prose.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I always wondered if Majel had her own name for her from back in the day and wondered why nobody ever asked her before it was too late .

Majel's take on it - she made up her own "biographical notes" when preparing for the role, but this was independent of the Writers' Bible - was that Number One came from an Earth colony where the populace toyed with genetic engineering, cloning, etc, and "Number One" was her only designation/name. DC Fontana's "Vulcan's Glory" took some of this into account when she was writing that novel.

 

[Stevil2001]

No one in this thread's mentioned "Fracture" in Constellations yet, which has Number One changing her designation based on her position in the hierarchy. When she comes aboard the Enterprise, she's Number Five, and she works her way up.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I think it's better left unsaid or unexplained, adds to the mystery much like Spock's unpronounceable name or the Doctor's true name (Doctor Who that is, not the VOY Doc). And, also, whatever is given will never be as good as what we make up in our heads.

 

[Christopher]

I have to think Gene had *something* in mind, though I realize what his intent was in the original story. It's hard to imagine he could have made the series keep going without giving her a name without getting into the "tapdancing around the subject" issues mentioned in this thread.

TOS was much more of a loose, collaborative process than that. The rough basics were laid out, but any specifics were left for individual scriptwriters, most of whom were freelancers, to work out. It was the '60s, and TV shows didn't have the kind of advance planning and arcs and stuff that they have today. They just made stuff up as they went. Heck, ST didn't establish the name of the Enterprise's organization for the better part of a season, didn't lock down that Spock's human "ancestor" was his mother for quite a while, didn't settle on whether he was Vulcan or Vulcanian for quite a while, and didn't even establish the century until the second movie.

If some freelance or staff writer had decided to give Number One a name, then she would've gained a name. Otherwise, she'd just stay Number One. I doubt GR had anything more in mind than that.

No one in this thread's mentioned "Fracture" in Constellations yet, which has Number One changing her designation based on her position in the hierarchy. When she comes aboard the Enterprise, she's Number Five, and she works her way up.

Which didn't really make sense to me. "Number One" as a designation for an executive officer is a title that has military precedent, I believe. But extending it to others in the chain of command is not something I've ever heard of in Trek or elsewhere.

 

[Therin of Andor]

When she comes aboard the Enterprise, she's Number Five, and she works her way up.

No one liked her when she was Number Two.

 

[Rat Boy]

Spock's unpronounceable name

I think we both know the answer to that one.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Spock's unpronounceable name

I think we both know the answer to that one.

Shhh.... secret.

 

[shanejayell]

I wonder if they should officially name her 'Majel' as a tribute?

 

[Stevil2001]

Which didn't really make sense to me. "Number One" as a designation for an executive officer is a title that has military precedent, I believe. But extending it to others in the chain of command is not something I've ever heard of in Trek or elsewhere.

The story didn't depict it as a general practice, though, just her practice.

I think it's better left unsaid or unexplained, adds to the mystery much like Spock's unpronounceable name or the Doctor's true name (Doctor Who that is, not the VOY Doc). And, also, whatever is given will never be as good as what we make up in our heads.

Yes. Every choice I've ever read was just lame. When I ran a Pike fansite, I didn't use any of the choices.

 

[EmperorKalan]

I wonder if they should officially name her 'Majel' as a tribute?

Or perhaps the pseudonym she used for the role, "Grace Hudec".

 

[Christopher]

Or perhaps the pseudonym she used for the role, "Grace Hudec".

She didn't use a pseudonym as Number One. She was billed as "M. Leigh Hudec," which was her real name, the M. standing for Majel. If anything, "Barrett" is the pseudonym.

 

[NickInABox]

Maybe she's a Cylon

 

[Dark Gilligan]

I'm happy with DC Fontana's backstory for Number One, which built upon Majel's own ideas. You can't get much closer to the source than that. Works just fine for me.