Explain To Me "Captain" Nero

[The Wormhole]

Why is Nero's rank captain? There has never before been a Romulan holding the rank of captain. Previously, any Romulan who commanded a ship held the rank of Commander. Therefore, we should be calling Nero Commander Nero as opposed to Captain Nero.

Worse yet, the Countdown comics even have Nero referred to as Captain Nero even before Romulus was destroyed, implying that this is supposed to be his official rank.

I suppose one could argue that Commander is only used for one who commands a military ship, and since Nero wasn't military, he wouldn't be Commander. I don't like this, in the real world, and indeed even in the Federation, a ship's commanding officer is captain regardless of if they're civilian or military/Starfleet. Therefore, the same should be applied to Romulans, all ship commanding officers are Commander.

So what gives? Why didn't Abrams and his cohorts do their research and have Nero hold the proper rank Commander, as opposed to the canon violating, childhood raping rank Captain?

Thoughts?

 

[friedebarth]

Easy answer:

Because they give a crap about Star Trek and like to torture trekkers

Seriously, the answer is just that the new Trek film is the darnest sh*t that ever existed in the entire universe anyway and that we should all try to boycot Paramount, get hold of the new producers and burn them all at the stake.

 

[Cky]

Why should it still be applied to Romulus? The Federation are peaceful, should this also be the way of Romulus? No.

We don't know why he was called Captain instead of Commander, it MIGHT have been because they were trying to branch out to non-trek fans, and the non-trek fans would have been confused as to why a Commander was in command of a ship. Plus for all we know, in the Prime future, a Captain could hold the same command as an Admiral in the Federation, or something even higher.

I'm also pretty sure Robau asks "Who is your Commander, is it him?" and he is corrected by Ariel when he said "CAPTAIN Nero blah blah blah".

Also quick edit, I'm expecting (and there already has been) posts about childhood rapings and how Abrams "doesn't give a shit". Just hang yourselves already, I'm getting tired of all this "I hate this crap, Abrams doesn't care about Trek" nonsence. If you don't like it, don't watch it, and you can watch your re-runs of TNG and TOS, while the people who do like it, and don't care about the small little things can enjoy NuTrek.

 

[Kpnuts]

It's a mining ship.

He's the captain.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Have we ever seen a Romulan civilian ship commander's title addressed onscreen before? If not, the cry of canon violation is a bit premature. I'd just assume captain was a civilian rank and commander is a military rank.

Or it could have simply been the way the universal translator referred to his title.

The Romulan commander in TNG 'The Chase' was referred to as "Romulan Captain" in the script, though it was never said onscreen.

Plus, it's not like Romulan ranks are always consistent. There are Roman ranks, and then all of a sudden a Polish cavalry rank ("uhlan") gets used in TNG 'Unification.'

 

[Silent_Bob]

Someone spilled coffee on the Federation Linguistic Database Computer Core. The Romulans are all actually saying Commander, but the damn Universal Translators now insist its Captain.

 

[JustKate]

Yeah, Nero's wasn't a military rank - I think he says something about how early in his life, he'd decided on "honest labor" to make a living, and that made it fairly clear that he was a miner, not a military officer. "Captain" is a rank, or in a way a job title, based on his position as the one who captains the mining ship. That he insisted on being called "Captain" sounds plausible to me. We've all known humans who want every title that's coming to them, so why not a Romulan?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The Romulan military is imperial whereas simple mining vessels are not. Therefore imperial military personnel are ranked as commander and those outside are ranked as Captain.

 

[Jeri]

It's a mining ship.

He's the captain.

Yeah, not military.

 

[blaXXer]

CANON VIOLATION!!!!!

 

[Franklin]

It's a mining ship.

He's the captain.

Yeah, not military.

Seconded. The right answer. Civilian ship. It isn't a rank. It's just customary to call the person in his position captain. That Robau said "commander" may have been because he thought it was a military ship.

Too bad he didn't want to be called "skipper," though. Ayel could've been his "little buddy."

 

[iguana_tonante]

Why is Nero's rank captain? There has never before been a Romulan holding the rank of captain. Previously, any Romulan who commanded a ship held the rank of Commander. Therefore, we should be calling Nero Commander Nero as opposed to Captain Nero.

Worse yet, the Countdown comics even have Nero referred to as Captain Nero even before Romulus was destroyed, implying that this is supposed to be his official rank.

I suppose one could argue that Commander is only used for one who commands a military ship, and since Nero wasn't military, he wouldn't be Commander. I don't like this, in the real world, and indeed even in the Federation, a ship's commanding officer is captain regardless of if they're civilian or military/Starfleet. Therefore, the same should be applied to Romulans, all ship commanding officers are Commander.

So what gives? Why didn't Abrams and his cohorts do their research and have Nero hold the proper rank Commander, as opposed to the canon violating, childhood raping rank Captain?

Thoughts?

Sarcasm aside, I don't think captain is his "rank" but his "position" in ship operational hierarchy. Civilian crew don't have ranks, but they need positions to operate the ship. The person in charge of a fishing boat is the captain, but he don't have any official rank (Commander, Lieutenant, or even Captain). Nero is captain of the civilian ship Narada, and he is called as such.

At the same time, Commander seems to be a specific rank of the Romulan Navy, independent of actual "capitancy" of the ship. Some captains of Romulan military vessels hold the military ranks of Commander, and they are called as such. In Starfleet, seems to be customary to call "captain" the commanding officer of a vessel regardless of rank, but there is no reason for a similar custom on Romulan ship (using "captain", "Commander" or anything else). Actually, after a quick search, I found a Subcommander Taris who is the commanding officer of the warbird Haakona in TNG Contagion, and I don't think she is ever called Commander or captain.

Easy answer:

Because they give a crap about Star Trek and like to torture trekkers

Seriously, the answer is just that the new Trek film is the darnest sh*t that ever existed in the entire universe anyway and that we should all try to boycot Paramount, get hold of the new producers and burn them all at the stake.

Yeah, right. Not overreacting at all.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

They were totally being sarcastic every time they said it.

 

[Jeri]

Too bad he didn't want to be called "skipper," though. Ayel could've been his "little buddy."

"Hi, Christopher. I'm The Skipper."

(BTW, in the novelization, this strange, friendly greeting makes more sense; it turns out Nero doesn't have anything against Humans in particular.

He regrets that he has to torture Pike and destroy Earth. Nero just thinks it's unlucky for us that the Federation decided to put its headquarters on our planet.)

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Too bad he didn't want to be called "skipper," though. Ayel could've been his "little buddy."

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a vengeful trip,
That started in another universe, aboard a pointy ship.
The mate was a tattoed minin' man, the Skipper's rage was pure,
Some Romulans set sail that day for a 25 year tour.
A 25 year tour.

Space lightning started getting rough, the giant ship was tossed.
If not for a deus ex machina, the Narada would be lost.
The Narada would be lost.

The ship came through and created an uncharted new timeline.
With Ayel, and Nero too, the black Romulan, and his knife,
A British guy, the torpedo dude, and a guy named S'am, here on Vulcan's pyre.

 

[Jeri]

I watched that show first run, and even I don't remember the lyrics.

 

[blaXXer]

What's with Nero inviting any Captain he comes across over to his ship, anyway? Creepy fetish?

 

[Jeri]

Their internet is broken; they have to get info the old-fashioned way.

 

[TheArsenal]

It's a mining ship.

He's the captain.

Ding!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

What's with Nero inviting any Captain he comes across over to his ship, anyway? Creepy fetish?

He invites them over to put on temporary tattoos and to pierce each other's ears.