| : James Tiberius Kirk |
|
| Starfleet Rank Captain |
| Species Human |
| Planet Earth |
| Affiliation Federation |
| Gender Male |
| Portrayed William Shatner |
Starfleet Career Summary[]
2250 — As a first-year Academy student with ensign rank, assigned to U.S.S. Republic NCC-1371
2254 — Upon graduation, promoted to lieutenant and posted to U.S.S. Farragut under Capt. Garrovick
2264 — Promoted to captain, in command of U.S.S. Enterprise for five-year mission
2266 — Exonerated in wrongful death charge of Ben Finney, first captain ever to stand trial
2269 — Returned from five-year mission; promoted to admiral in charge of fleet operations at Earth
2271 — Demanded to relieve Capt. Will Decker, his choice as successor for the refit Enterprise, and dealt with V'Ger crisis before beginning second five-year mission
2277 — Accepts appointment to Academy faculty, moves into San Francisco apartment
2286 — Charged, convicted and reduced permanently to captain's rank by the Federation Council for theft of Enterprise a year earlier, after saving Earth from alien onslaught by securing two extinct whales via time-traveling; given command of U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A
2287 — Explores center of the galaxy with Enterprise-A hijacked by Sybok
2293* — Spearheads initiatives leading to Khitomer Accords and exposes anti-peace conspiracy in Starfleet and Klingon Empire; dies while saving the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B from an energy anomaly just minutes after its commissioning ceremony
2371 — Reappears in Nexus long enough to help Captain Jean-Luc Picard save planet Veridian III from destruction in the Nexus
As much as any other figure in Starfleet history, the tall tales about James T. Kirk's exploits over a 40-year career are as numerous as the official record — and probably closer to the truth in some instances. Kirk's renown began by becoming the youngest captain in Starfleet to date at 34 and the first captain to bring his starship back relatively intact after a five-year mission, having also gained a reputation as an independent whose success couldn't be argued even though he often bucked the system. He also has the distinction of being involved in 17 different temporal violations, a career record which still stands.
Kirk's ancestors pioneered the American frontier, and his Midwest roots tied him closely to American history, a lifelong interest. He had an older brother, George Samuel Kirk, although "Sam" and his wife Aurelan died at Deneva in 2267; their one son and Kirk's nephew Peter survived them. As a child of 13, Kirk witnessed the massacre of 4,000 people during a famine by the governor of Tarsus IV, nicknamed Kodos the Executioner.
A romantic at heart, Kirk never formed a lasting, romantic relationship due to his devotion to career — especially during his captaincy of the [[U.S.S. Enterprise. He did father a son with Dr. Carol Marcus, David, but was asked to avoid his upbringing and did not know he had matured into a scientific genius until 2285-86, when the young man was killed by Klingons on the Genesis planet he'd help to create. Kirk long grieved for the boy's death, and that he had only a few months to know his progeny. He also regretted not having married a woman named Antonia whom he dated for about two years, from 2282 to 2284.