Who is 'Future Guy'?

[Therin of Andor]

The Suliban receive their orders from the future but I still don't quite understand who from. Who is that dark figure (popularly known as Future Guy) who stands in the portal talking to Sillik?

From the first episode, many people were speculating he'd be a Romulan. (My other theory was that it would be Archer's Dad!)

What's interesting is that, in tthe original draft of Season Four's "Kir'Shara", Major Talok was a native Vulcan and was not an undercover Romulan operative. Originally, the Romulan spy in the final scene was to have been a new, never-before-seen character, but there was no money left in the budget to pay for another speaking role. Writer Mike Sussman adjusted the scene, turning Talok into the Romulan spy, as the Major's role had already been budgeted for. The re-use of a 24th century Romulan uniform (from Star Trek Nemesis) helped trim the budget further, allowing the scene to be included in the finished episode. Had the scene been cut, as it very nearly was, the Romulans' role in the Vulcan Civil War would have remained completely hidden, even from the audience.

As it is, maybe Talok was Future Guy?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always thought Future Guy was Captain Braxton...

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

What's interesting is that, in tthe original draft of Season Four's "Kir'Shara", Major Talok was a native Vulcan and was not an undercover Romulan operative. Originally, the Romulan spy in the final scene was to have been a new, never-before-seen character, but there was no money left in the budget to pay for another speaking role. Writer Mike Sussman adjusted the scene, turning Talok into the Romulan spy, as the Major's role had already been budgeted for. The re-use of a 24th century Romulan uniform (from Star Trek Nemesis) helped trim the budget further, allowing the scene to be included in the finished episode. Had the scene been cut, as it very nearly was, the Romulans' role in the Vulcan Civil War would have remained completely hidden, even from the audience.

I love behind-the-scenes stories like this.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I like to think that future guy was a Romulan attempting to prevent the formation of the Federation and cripple Earth so that the Romulan Empire of the 22nd century would be able to expand without opposition from a meddling and powerful foe.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

It was Brannon Braga's older self from the year 2030!

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Future Guy is Dr. Sam Beckett

 

[DonIago]

I like to think that future guy was a Romulan attempting to prevent the formation of the Federation and cripple Earth so that the Romulan Empire of the 22nd century would be able to expand without opposition from a meddling and powerful foe.

Future Guy was Nero?

 

[thedude]

I always thought Future Guy was Captain Braxton...

You know, I totally agree with you. I always thought that would have been a really cool angle and a neat tribute to Voyager if that was Braxton finally trying to screw over Janeway by blowing up Earth... however, I believe that would mean he was never born either, which means his timeline would never have a chance to start and he'd cease to exist and then... oh no, my brain just blue screened...

 

[Karnbeln]

I STILL swear there was a rather obvious pointed ear in the silhouette when I watched Broken Bow on my TV screen in 2001... but the screencaps on TrekCore don't make it seem so obvious, to the point that I feel like I'm imagining the ear if I see it at all. At any rate, I've always believed Future Guy was a Romulan, and it seems I'm in good company.

But maybe it was Voyager's Borg baby. That seems plausible.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I STILL swear there was a rather obvious pointed ear in the silhouette when I watched Broken Bow on my TV screen in 2001... but the screencaps on TrekCore don't make it seem so obvious, to the point that I feel like I'm imagining the ear if I see it at all. At any rate, I've always believed Future Guy was a Romulan, and it seems I'm in good company.

Yes, I too saw that pointy ear. You're not imagining things.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Future Guy was Nero?

This has been my theory for a little while now.

Spoiler: the end of the latest Star Trek movie

The Narada ended up in a black hole again, and when the Narada and the Jellyfish went through before, they went back in time. The Narada was coming apart, but we don't know that Nero was killed. Maybe he got flung back again, and Future Guy is an older and somewhat wiser Nero?

If true, that would mean that Nero caused an alternate timeline in Archer's time that actually turned out to be what we call the Prime universe in the first place. (Since it was the past that Riker was looking at in the holodeck.) The universe we saw in the movie up until the Kelvin meets the Narada might be the "actual original" timeline!

 

[JB2005]

^ My mind...it can't grasp all these universes!

 

[Anthony Sabre]

^ My mind...it can't grasp all these universes!

As Chief O'Brien once said, "I hate temporal mechanics!"

 

[Anwar]

I assumed he was a Romulan as well. Though the Powers that Be openly stated that he wasn't meant to be anyone (or they hadn't thought of who he was).

Frankly, if you removed the Time War stuff you could easily have still used the Suliban being ordered around by the Shadow Man plot and just have him be a Romulan with the running plot be the Romulans trying to keep the region destabilized and thus non-threatening.

 

[Broccoli]

Probably Vosk, as his death is immediately followed by Daniels declaring that the timeline has been restored.

Can't be Vosk. FG never did anything to major to disrupt the timeline the way Vosk did. Vosk's interaction in the past is what caused the timeline to go to hell in the first place. When Vosk was defeated, his disruptions that caused the cold war to go into a full war were stopped and everything reverted to normal.

Also, FG couldn't be Vosk because the Suliban were sent to try to defeat Vosk (also, it was mentioned how Vosk (or another of his race) tried to prevent the Suliban from evolving or something like that).

 

[Captain MAJ]

future guy is probably Spock, manipulating the past and creating the post-ENT timeline so that the new Enterprise, 100 years later, would be powerful enough to take on the Narada.

Is this supposed to be a joke?? I actually kind of like this theory a lot!

However I think it much more likely that he was a Romulan.

 

[T'Cal]

I always thought FG's voice sounded like Dean Wormer's from Animal House.

 

[Karnbeln]

Frankly, if you removed the Time War stuff you could easily have still used the Suliban being ordered around by the Shadow Man plot and just have him be a Romulan with the running plot be the Romulans trying to keep the region destabilized and thus non-threatening.

True that.

I think the reason they incorporated the plot of the Time War, though, was to give us an in-universe reason as to why we were looking back to the twenty-second century. We were going back in time, so someone else was as well.

And it sounds cool.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^AND it gives a possible explanation for all the apparent "canon" violations....

 

[Anwar]

If they had just had the first major arc of ENT be about time-travelers going back and changing things and having it openly be stated that things have been changed, then hardly any of the complaints about ENT would be valid anymore because it would've been a reboot series that could do whatever it wanted.

Of course, I'm guessing people still would've hated it if they did that as the opening even if it was bold and exciting to reboot the timeline.