James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) was the commander of the original Starship Enterprise during its historic five-year mission of exploration in 2264-2269 ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" [TOS]). His Starfleet serial number was SC 937-0176 CEC ("Court Martial" [TOS]).

Childhood and family:

Kirk was born in 2233 ("The Deadly Years" [TOS]) in Iowa on planet Earth (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). In 2246, Kirk – at age 13 – was one of the nine surviving eyewitnesses to the massacre of some 4,000 colonist at planet Tarsus IV by Kodos the Executioner ("The Conscience of the King" [TOS]). James Kirk lost his older brother, George Samuel Kirk (whom only James called Sam), and sister-in-law, Aurelan Kirk, on planet Deneva due to the invasion of the Denevan neural parasites in 2267. Kirk’s nephew, Peter Kirk survived ("Operation – Annihilate!" [TOS]). Sam Kirk had two other sonss who were no on Deneva at the time of tragedy ("What Are Little Girls Made Of?" [TOS]).

Kirk at the academy:

During his academy days, Kirk was tormented by an upperclassman named Finnegan, who frequently chose Kirk as a target for practical jokes. Kirk found a measure od satisfaction years later, in 2267, when he had a chance to wallop a replica of Finnegan created on the amusement park planet in the Omicron Delta region ("Shore Leave" [TOS]). Kirk served as an instructor at the academy, and Gary Mitchell was one of his students. The two were good friends, and once Mitchell took a poisonous dart on Dimorus meant for Kirk, saving Kirk’s life. Mitchell set Kirk up with a "little blonde lab technician" whom Kirk almost married ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" [TOS]). Another of Kirk’s friends from his academy days was Ben Finney, who names his daughter, Jamie, after Kirk. A rift developed between Finney and Kirk around 2250 when the two were serving together on the U.S.S. Republic. Kirk logged a mistake that Finney had made, and Finney blamed Kirk for his subsequent failure to earn command of a starship. Kirk’s service aboard the Republic was apparently while he was still attending the academy, since he was an ensign on the Republic, but he was a lieutenant on the Farragut, which was described as his first posting after the academy ("Court Martial" [TOS]). One of Kirk’s hearoes at the academy was the legendary Captain Garth of Izar, whose exploits are required reading. Years later, Kirk helped save his hero when Garth had become criminally insane and was being treated at the Elba II penal colony ("Whom Gods Destroy" [TOS]). Another of Kirk’s personal heroes was Abraham Lincoln, 16^th president of the United States of America on Earth ("The Savage Curtain" [TOS]). At the academy, James Kirk earned something of reputation for himself as having been the only cadet ever have beaten the "no-win" Kobayashi Maru scenario. He did it by secretly reprogramming the simulation computer to make it possible to win, earning a commendation for original thinking in the process ("Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan").

Early days in Starfleet:

Kirk's first assignment after graduating from the academy was aboard the U.S.S. Farragut ("Obsession" [TOS]). One of his first missions as a young lieutenant was to command a survey mission to Tyree's planet in 2254 ("A Private Little War" [TOS]). This incident presumably took place while Kirk was assigned to the Farragut. While serving aboard the Farragut in 2257, Lieutenant Kirk blamed himself for the deaths of 200 Farragut personnel, including Captain Garrovick, by the dikironium cloud creature at planet Tycho IV. Kirk felt he could have acted faster in firing on the creature, but learned years later that nothing could have prevented the deaths ("Obsession" [TOS]). Sometime in the past Kirk almost died from Vegan choriomeningitis ("The Mark of Gideon" [TOS]).

Aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise:

Kirk's greatest renown came from his command of a historic five-year mission of the original Starship Enterprise from 2264 to 2269 that made him a legend in space exploration (Star Trek Generations). By 2267, Kirk had earned an impressive list of commendations from Starfleet, including the Palm leaf of Axanar Peace Mission, the Grankite Order of Tactics (Class of Excellence), and the Preantares Ribbon of Commendation (Classes First and Second). Kirk's awards for valor included the Medal of Honor, the Silver Palm with Cluster, the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry, and the Knight Order of Heroism ("Court Martial" [TOS]). In 2267, Kirk became the first starship captain ever to stand trial when he was accused of causing the death of Ben Finney. Kirk's trial, held at Starbase 11, proved Kirk innocent of wrong doing, and was exonerated ("Court Martial" [TOS]).

During that original five-year mission, Kirk recorded a tape of last orders to be played by Commander Spock and Chiefl Medical Oficer McCoy upon his death. While trapped in a spatial interphase near Tholian Space, Kirk vanished with the U.S.S. Defiant and was declared dead. His last orders conveyed the hope that his two friends would work together,   despite the differences ("The Enemy Within" [TOS]). Several of Kirk's voyages involved travel through time. According to the Federationn Department of Temporal Investigations, Kirk , who sometimes ignored regulations when he felt it was for the greater good, amassed 17 separate temporal violation during his career, more than any person on file ("Trials and Tribble-ations" [DS9]). Kirk went back in time six times that we know of : "The Naked Time" [TOS], "Assignment: Earth" [TOS], "Tommorow is Yesterday" [TOS], "City on the Edge of Forever" [TOS], "All Our Yesterday" [TOS], and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He also went forward in time in Star Trek Generations. Kirk's living quaters aboard the original Enterprise were on Deck 5 ("Journey to Babel" [TOS]). It was during this five-year mission that Kirk's friendship with officers Spock and McCoy developed, friendships that would last the rest of their lives.

Relationship with women:

Kirk was notably unsuccessful in maintaining a long-term relationship woth any woman. Although he was involved with many different women during his life, his intense passion for ship and his career always seemed to interfere. A few years prior to his command of the first Enterprise, Kirk became involved with Dr. Carol Marcus. The two had a child, David Marcus, but Kirk and Carol did not remain together, because their respective career took them in separate directions. Other significant romances in Kirk's life include Ruth, with whom he was involved when he attended Starfleet Academy ("Shore Leave" [TOS]); Janice Lester, with whom he spent a year, also during his academy days ("Turnabout Intruder" [TOS]); Janet Wallace, a scientist who later saved his life ("The Deadly Years" [TOS]); Areel Shaw, who, ironically, years later prosecuted Kirk in the case of Ben Finney's apparent death ("Court Martial" [TOS]); and Miramanee, a woman whom Kirk married in 2268 when he suffered from amnesia on a landing party mission. Miramanee became pregnant with Kirk's child, but both mother and unborn child were killed in a local power struggle ("The Paradise Syndrome" [TOS]). Kirk fell in love with Antonia after his first retirement from Starfleet, and for the rest of his life regretted not having proposed to her (Star Trek Generations). Perhaps Kirk's most tragic romantic involvement was with American social worker Edith Keeler, whom Kirk met in Earth's past when he traveled into 1930s through the Guardian of Forever. Keeler was a focal point in order to prevent a terrible change in the flow of history ("The City on the Edge of Forever [TOS]).

David Marcus:

Kirk was not involved with the upbringing of his son, David Marcus, at the request of the boy's mother, Carol Marcus. Kirk had no contactwith his son until 2285, when Carol and David were both working on Project Genesis, and Kirk helped rescue the two from Khan's vengeance. Later, Kirk and his son were able to achieve a degree of reapprochement (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). Tragically, David was murdered shortly thereafter on the Genesis Planet, by a Klingon officer who sought to steal the secret of Genesis (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).

After the five-year mission: Following the return of the Enterprise from the five-year mission in 2270, Kirk accepted a promotion to admiral and became chief of Starfleet operation, while the Enterprise underwent an extensive refit. At the time, Kirk recommended Will Decker to replace him as Enterprise captain, although Kirk accepted a grade reduction back to captain when he regained command of the ship to meet the V'Ger threat in 2271 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Kirk's first retirement from Starfleet happened some time thereafter, at which he became romantically involved with Antonia (Star Trek Generations). (The significant time gap between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan suggets the possibility that Kirk commanded another five-year mission of the Enterprise following the events in the first Star Trek movie, although this is pure conjecture. If Kirk and the Enterprise did embark on another five-year mission on 2271, they probably returned in 2276. Star Trek Generations could be interpreted to suggest that  Kirk's first retirement was some time between 2276 and 2282, when he met Antonia. On the other hand, the 2271 date for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is itself somewhat conjectural in that it is based purely on the 18-month refit time for the Enterprise. It is not impossible that Kirk and the Enterprise had another assignments after the television series, but before the major refit of the ship. Such assignments would push back the date for the first Star Trek film, but would not significantly invalidated the timeline.)

Kirk returned to Starfleet in 2284 (Star Trek Generations) and became a staff instructor with the rank of admiral at Starfleet Academy. Kirk was dissatisfied with ground assignment, and returned to active duty in 2285 when Khan Noonien Singh hijacked the Starship Reliant and stole the Genesis Device. Kirk's close friend, Spock, was killed in that incident (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). Upon learning that Spock's katra had survived, Kirk hijacked the Enterprise to the Genesis Planet to return Spock's body to Vulcan, where Spock was brought back to life when body and katra were reunited. Kirk ordered the Enterprise destroyed in the incident to prevent its capture by Klingons (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). Kirk was charged with nine violations of Starfleet regulations in connection with the revival of Spock in 2285. All but one charge was later dropped, and Kirk was found guilty of the one remaining charge, that of disobeying a superior officer. The Federation Council was nonetheless so grateful that it granted Kirk the captaincy of the second Starship Enterprise (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home).

Kirk was an intensely driven individual who loved the outdoors. A personal challenge that nearly cost him his life was free-climbing the sheer El Capitan mountain face in Yosemite National Park on Earth (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). He was an acccomplished equestrian, and kept a horse at a mountain cabin that he owned during his first retirement. Another companion at his mountain cabin was Butler, his Great Dane. He sold the cabin some time after his return to Starfleet (Star Trek Generations). Kirk carried the bitterness for his son's murder for years, and opposed the peace initiative of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in 2293. He especially resented the fact that he was chosen as the Federation's olive branch and assigned the duty of escorting Gorkon to Earth. During that mission, Kirk (along with McCoy) was arrested and wrongly convicted for the murder of Gorkon by Federation and Klingon forces conspiring to block Gorkon's initiatives. Kirk nevertheless played a pivotal role in saving the historic Khitomer peace conference from further attacks. Kirk retired from Starfleet a second time about three months after the Khitomer Accords were signed (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).

Shortly after his second retirement, Kirk was an honored guest at the launch of the Excelsior-class Starship Enterprise - B in 2293. Kirk was believed killed on that ship's maiden voyage, although it was later learned that he actually dissappeared into a temporal anomaly called the nexus. He remained in the nexus until 2371, when he emerged to help save the inhabitants of the Veridian system. Kirk, working with fellow Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard, was successful in saving the Veridians, but the heroic efforts cost his life at the hand of the deranged scientist, Tolian Soran. James T. Kirk is buried on a mountain top on planet Veridian III. He went boldly, where none had gone before (Star Trek Generations). Kirk first appearance was in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (TOS).

STAR TREK TM AND © 1997 Paramount Pictures All Rights Reserved STAR TREK and related properties are trademarks of Paramount