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[captaincocksure]

Name: Lisa
DW username: N/A
E-Mail: quartermaster@starfleet.com
IM: N/A
Plurk: eyeofthetiger

Other Characters: N/A

Character Name: James T. Kirk
Series: Star Trek (AOS)
Timeline: Just after the events of Star Trek: Into Darkness

Canon Resource Link: James T. Kirk at Memory Alpha

Character History: James Tiberius Kirk was born in 2233, on a medical shuttle in deep space, as a battle raged outside. His father, George Kirk, was the first officer on the USS Kelvin, promoted by way of the murder of his captain to command the ship minutes before his son was born. The Kelvin had been attacked by (Jim would learn years later) an advanced Romulan ship that had fallen through a wormhole from the future, decimating the smaller, weaker Federation ship.

George Kirk had ordered a general evacuation; the ship's auto-destruct sequence was damaged by enemy fire. He chose to remain on board to steer the Kelvin into the attacking ship to damage it and help buy the shuttlecraft time to escape with the rest of the ship's personnel. He lived just long enough to hear his son's first cries, and to help choose his name, before sacrificing his life to save over 800 other people.

Jim grew up without his father. This turned him into a rebellious kid without a lot of respect for authority. After a fight with his stepfather, he stole his stepfather's classic car, sped away from police pursuit, and ditched the car into a rock quarry, just managing to leap to safety before the car plummeted and was completely destroyed. It was a huge risk that could have ended badly for him, but rather than being scared or rattled, he came out of it defiant. When asked for his identity by the police officer, he defiantly gave his entire name: James Tiberious Kirk, with a decided air of challenging the officer.

By the time he was twenty-two, he was aimless, a repeat offender with a minor criminal record, a guy who spent his time drinking, chasing girls, and getting into fights. He's a smart guy, as demonstrated by the conversation he strikes up with Cadet Uhura about xenolinguistics, and he's tough and more than capable of handling a fight, though eventually the three cadets he takes on in a fistfight get the better of him. But he's fearless, jumping into that fight without hesitation and not backing down, still seeking huge risks to hurl himself at.z

He may have grown up without his father, but he certainly lived with George's legacy. His father was held up as a hero, his sacrifice as a noble act. So much so that it was worthy of study years later--Christoper Pike wrote his Academy thesis about George Kirk and the USS Kelvin. Pike seemed surprised that Jim hadn't enlisted in Starfleet like his father; Jim's test scores demonstrated a high aptitude and intelligence, and Pike recognized similar qualities in the son that he had admired in studying the father. Jim had resisted so far, but when Pike turned it into a challenge, he couldn't let it go. He marched onto the shuttlecraft the next morning announcing he would graduate early, which was mostly bravado, but also determination born of knowing that he really was smart and capable and could probably pull it off.

Meeting Pike formed the first significant relationship of his adult life, one that would grow into something akin to the father-son bond he had been lacking all his life. The morning he enlisted and boarded the shuttlecraft to leave Riverside, Jim formed another important relationship, one that would lead to lifelong friendship and counsel: he met Leonard McCoy, a down-on-his-luck doctor who was enlisting because there was nowhere else for him to go. The older, cantankerous doctor with a heart of gold and the brash younger pain in the ass who just wanted to save the day took to each other at once. McCoy would become to soul (compassionate, grounded) to Jim's heart (leaping into action, not turning away) and, later, Spock's mind (logic, restraint)

Three years later they were still in Starfleet Academy, still the best of (squabbling) friends. Jim had scheduled a third attempt at the Kobayashi Maru simulator, the Academy's "unbeatable test", because it bothered him that no one had ever won the simulation; McCoy joined the test as part of Jim's "crew" at Jim's request. Jim was able to beat the test after a mysterious glitch in the simulator. This was later shown to be a hack of the system, one Jim had initiated in order to reset the parameters. Called before Academy leadership to explain, Jim argued that the test itself was unfair, because it was unwinnable. He didn't believe in no-win situations and was willing to think and act entirely outside the parameters of the situation to win, even going so far as to break the rules to avoid an outcome he didn't agree with.

The simulator's programmer, Spock, accused Jim of failing to understand the test, that the no-win design was meant to inspire fear and teach a commander how to act in the face of certain defeat. Spock would also be present on the Enterprise as Pike's First Officer, and later as Acting Captain in Pike's absence, and he and Jim would carry on their combative initial relationship. They would eventually become close friends, just as Jim is with McCoy, but they had to work through their initial dislike and distrust of one another to find their bond. Jim at first didn't like everything Spock was and stood for. In time he would come to appreciate their differences.

Jim got onto the ship when all cadets were assigned to Vulcan despite being suspended for his hacking; McCoy was assigned to the Enterprise and his faith in and loyalty to his friend was so great that he got him on board by inducing illness and bringing him aboard as a patient. Already, Jim was inspiring the confidence and loyalty of his future Chief Medical Officer.

On board the Enterprise, Jim was able to swiftly make the connection between the attack on his father's ship the day he was born, and the reports of a massive ship of unknown origin attacking Vulcan. His keen grasp of tactics let him predict what the ships scrambling for Vulcan were up against: a trap. He took his case to Pike, supported with evidence from a transmission Uhura had intercepted and Spock's agreement that his analysis of the situation was sound. This let the Enterprise be saved when every other ship had been destroyed upon dropping out of warp. He knew he was right at every step of the way, and his own confidence in himself and his decisions saved his ship and her crew.

Over the next few days, that self-confidence and belief in his own convictions let Jim grow into the leader that both the Enterprise and Starfleet as a whole needed. He took on a dangerous mission by diving through Vulcan's atmosphere to land on and disable the Narada's drill platform, which sadly wasn't enough to save Vulcan. He was not only willing to take the fight to Nero and his crew rather than retreat and try to regroup with what remained of the fleet, he took his commitment to the idea directly to Spock, challenging his command decisions to the point of getting himself ejected from the ship for mutiny. After meeting Spock Prime and learning about not only Nero and the Narada, but his own destiny as captain of the Enterprise and Spock's lifelong friend, he returned to the ship with Scotty in tow on a single-minded mission to get command and go after Nero. He demonstrated his keen grasp of tactics both on a large scale with the plan to ambush the Narada and get on board, and on a personal scale by pushing the right buttons to get Spock to lose emotional control and have to relinquish command. He knew what he had to do, and he let nothing stand in his way. Along the way he inspired the same confidence in and loyalty to him that McCoy already had, with the rest of the crew.

Jim saved Earth. He saved his ship and brought a motley crew of cadets together as a cohesive and high-performing group, ready to follow him anywhere. He was given command of the Enterprise, annointed the Federation's new hero. Smooth sailing from here and the beginnings of an illustrious career living up to his father's legacy, yes?

...No. No, because over the next year that he had command of the Enterprise, instead of maturing into the focused, responsible leader who could think outside the box that Pike originally saw in him, Jim backslid. The self-confidence devolved into cockiness; the determination sank into a misguided sense that he was infallible. He ignored rules and regulations he didn't like because he didn't think they should apply to him. He falsely believed that because no one had died under his command yet, all the decisions he'd made and actions he'd taken were above question. He took unnecessary risks with his ship and his crew. He even tested his relationships with those he was closest to.

All of this was demonstrated in the ship's mission to Nibiru. They were sent there to observe the culture, and not to interfere or expose them to technology that was more advanced than what the culture currently had attained--the tenets of the Federation's Prime Directive. Instead the crew initiated a mission to save the inhabitants from a volcanic eruption using a cold-fusion device inside the volcano's crater. During deployment of the device, Spock became trapped in the crater. Rather than let him die, Jim undertook a rescue; in order to save Spock the Enterprise had to come out of hiding and fly toward the crater. The inhabitants saw it, and began worshipping the ship as some sort of godly entity.

In order to cover up what he'd done, Jim falsified his reports, assuming Spock would do the same. When Spock told the truth and got them both called on the carpet, Jim attacked him for not lying for him, then argued with Pike. He wouldn't admit he was wrong, that he'd made bad choices. He was removed as captain of the Enterprise and demoted back to the Academy. This gutted Jim, which was the reaction Pike wanted him to have so that he would understand the severity of what he'd done. But even in this, Pike wasn't willing to give up on what he saw in Jim; when Pike was given the Enterprise he successfully lobbied to have Jim installed as his first officer.

It would never come to pass. Pike was killed the same night in an attack on Starfleet Headquarters by Khan. Devastated by the loss of his father figure and champion, Jim was blinded by rage and set out to avenge Pike's death. All he wanted was to go after Khan and make him pay for killing Pike, but the singlemindedness that had served him well the first time he'd commanded the Enterprise failed him here, clouding his judgment. He made a lot of poor choices: he took on missiles from Section 13, a top secret Starfleet weapons division, without question; he dismissed Scotty for questioning his orders and decisions; and he flew the Enterprise to the edge of Klingon space and pursued Khan on Qu'onos itself, acts that could have led to all-out war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

But in the end, Kirk's humanity and sense of fair play reasserted itself after counsel from his two most trusted friends, Spock and McCoy. His rage still burned white-hot--when confronting Khan in the brig, he tore into him furiously--but he captured Khan for return to Earth to stand trial, rather than assassinate him as Admiral Marcus wanted. This decision, this ability to set aside what he wanted and thought was right personally in favor of what served the best interests of the entire situation, marked the beginning of his growth into the captain Pike had always known him capable of being.

Khan turned out to be a mere pawn in Admiral Marcus' larger game, to provoke a war with the Klingon Empire. That was why Marcus had wanted him killed, not captured. By taking Khan prisoner and investigating the torpedoes they had taken on board, Jim and his crew stumbled onto Marcus' plan. Jim realized what this meant for his crew, and pleaded with Marcus to spare them, taking full responsibility onto himself for what had happened. When Marcus chose to try to kill them all anyway, Jim assumed responsibility for that, too, apologizing to his crew. There was a furious race to Earth, to get back, deliver Khan, and expose Marcus, but Marcus' ship overtook the Enterprise and heavily damaged it before being sabotaged, leaving both ships falling into Earth's gravity.

He joined forces with Khan to board Marcus' ship, knowing it was a huge gamble but understanding that letting Marcus get away with his plan was a far bigger and more dangerous problem. When Khan killed Marcus and took his ship, he transported Jim back to the heavily damaged Enterprise. Rather than go directly to the bridge and re-assert command, Jim crawled through the disintegrating ship with Scotty to get to Engineering and do what he could to help the Enterprise regain power and escape Earth's gravity. He had left Spock in command of the ship and didn't go relieve him now; where in early days he would have actively fought for command, now, he trusted Spock implicitly to make the right, rational decisions for the best of the ship.

It turned out that power could be restored to the ship, but only if someone crawled into the reactor chamber and realigned the warp core, meaning certain death. Rather than either give up and condemn his entire crew, or send someone else to their death by letting them into the chamber, Jim did it himself, sacrificing his life to save his ship and his crew. He finally understood what Pike and Spock had already grasped and had tried to make him understand: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. His own father had understood that, too, the day Jim was born, and Jim's sacrifice echoed his father's. He was finally able to put the well-being of others above his own ego and need for risk.

After his death, his crew was able to capture Khan in San Francisco, where the war criminal had devastated part of the city by crashing Marcus' ship into it. They took him into custody, and McCoy used some of Khan's blood to bring Jim back from death. It took a year to rebuild both San Francisco and the Enterprise; at a ceremony marking the ship's rechristening and the anniversary of the attack on the city, Jim gave an inspirational speech about what Pike meant to him, and about the sacrifices so many people made on that day. He's shown as a more sure-footed, mature leader, tapped to give an address on such an important day, and then given his ship back for the Federation's first five-year mission into deep space, with Spock at his side and his crew around him.

Abilities/Special Powers: N/A

Third-Person Sample:

Jim pauses, command tunic bunched at his shoulders, glancing at himself in the mirror above his dresser.

...No. No, he won't go inspecting his reflection for graying hairs.

He spares himself a rueful reflected glance as he gets his arms through the sleeves and gives the hem a good tug to make sure the tunic has settled properly over his undershirt. It's... almost stupid, really.

It's just that he never thought he'd look forward to a mundane assignment.

He lets the thought linger as he strides through the corridors, nodding at crew members who catch his eye. Alone in the turbolift, he examines it a little more deeply. Sure, he still loves a good adventure. Loves the adrenaline rush of a risk taken, loves the swift mental games of tactics and on-the-fly diplomacy. Loves fighting the good fight, saving the day.

But today they're orbiting above a Federation agricultural colony, ready to deliver supplies and turn McCoy's team loose on the colonists for health screenings. And he's just as pleased about that as he was about the treaty negotiation last week and the hot pursuit of an alien vessel through an interstellar debris field the week before that.

He knows what Pike would say. He can almost see the smile on Pike's face. Maturity, he'd say. Growing into the job, finally understanding what being a captain is all about.

(He still misses Pike fiercely. There's still a shadow over a small corner of his heart for the man who was like a father to him. But it's better, these days. Easier. He can think and talk about the man without tears, can call his face to mind and not see his final moments. The sense of loss will never leave him entirely. But it's getting better.)

The transporter room doors part before him with a soft pneumatic hiss. The rest of the initial landing party is already there: Spock waiting serenely up on the transporter pad, McCoy lingering by the control console, casting Jim an appraising glance as he enters. "The hell are you so chipper about, kid?" the doctor asks, falling into step with him, moving to join Spock on the pad.

"Do you think I'm getting old?" Maturing. It's a better word but Jim's always been one for mild theatrics, humor over accuracy. "I think I'm getting old."

McCoy glares at him in a way that makes him grateful all over again the idea of if looks could kill is merely metaphor, and he has to press his lips together to try to hold back his mirth. It doesn't really work, it merely mutes his laugh into a chuckle and his grin into a faint smirk. He looks over at Spock, who merely raises an eyebrow.

Jim lets out his breath in a sigh, a bit of a smile still lingering on his lips as he looks up at the waiting technician. "Energize," he commands, and the familiar bright swirl of the transporter beam fills his vision.

First-Person Sample:

[Jim knows something's gone wrong the moment the whizzing incandescent sparks of the transporter beam fade from his vision.

Since when does a farming community have an ornate library?

He turns to his right to demand a report from Spock... but Spock's not there. To his left, to find McCoy's not there either.

He reaches for his communicator but its heft is unfamiliar in his hand. It's not his. But it's obviously a communication device of some sort. He fiddles with it, manages to turn on the voice broadcasting.]

Kirk to Enterprise, come in. Enterprise, are you receiving me?

[A pause as he waits for an answer and gets none. He tries a different tack.]

Cassiopeia 3 Colony, this is Captain Kirk, do you copy?

[That clearly doesn't get him what he wants, either. There's a faint sigh, the sort that comes when someone's preparing themselves to speak, and then the video comes on. Jim is perfectly in frame, looking directly into the device, shoulders straight, and he speaks with confidence and authority that almost don't seem to fit with his obvious youth. Clearly he's done this before.]

This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise. I respectfully request an audience, whether via this communication device or in person, with a member of the governing body, ruler, or other authority of this location, or their designated representative.

This place was not my intended destination. If I've arrived here in error, I will need some information to help me figure out how to correct it. If I was purposefully brought here, please accept my gratitude for arriving unharmed, but I obviously have questions about the conditions surrounding my transport and I would like to negotiate the terms of my return.

[He pauses again, and his expression softens. This is clearly less Official Command Officer Business, and more a casual, polite request.]

...I appear to be in a library. If someone could tell me how to get out, and where to find the people I need to talk to, I'd greatly appreciate it.