- 6 Talk
-
Jonathan Archer
- This page details Jonathan Archer in the primary universe; for the Jonathan Archer in the mirror universe see Jonathan Archer (mirror); for the Jonathan Archer in all other alternate universes see Jonathan Archer (alternates).
| BIOGRAPHY | |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Archer | |
 Jonathan Archer in 2161, at the signing of the Articles of the Federation | |
| Full Name: | Jonathan Beckett[1] Archer |
| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | male |
| Birthplace: | New York, United States of America, Earth |
| Born: | 2112 |
| Family | |
| Mother: | Sally Archer |
| Father: | Henry Archer |
| Career | |
| Previous Assignment: | Starfleet Chief of Staff |
| Rank: | admiral |
| Office Held: | President of the United Federation of Planets |
| In Office: | 2184–2192 |
| Preceded By: | Avaranthi sh'Rothress |
| Succeeded By: | Gralless |
| Home Member State: | United Earth |
| Previous Offices: | Federation Councillor from United Earth; Federation Ambassador to Andoria |
Jonathan Beckett[1] Archer was a Human male, and one of the most historically significant figures of the 22nd century. Archer commanded the starship Enterprise NX-01, where his captaincy earned him the description by 23rd century history John Gill as the "greatest explorer of the 22nd century". His career in Starfleet and later in a variety of other positions also allowed him a prominent position in political history; as a keen diplomat and one of the founding fathers of the United Federation of Planets. (ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing; ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
The son of famed warp specialist Henry Archer, Jonathan was appointed captain of Enterprise, Starfleet's first Warp 5 starship, in 2151; his leadership aboard Enterprise helped establish United Earth as a legitimate interstellar power and pave the way for a whole-scale revolution in Alpha Quadrant politics, leading to the establishment of the Coalition of Planets and later the United Federation of Planets. During his Starfleet career Archer rose to the rank of Admiral and position of Chief of Staff, before retiring from Starfleet to take on a string of political positions; Federation Ambassador to Andoria, a Federation Councillor, and as one of the Federation's earliest Presidents. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly"; ST - Destiny novel: Mere Mortals)
Contents |
History
Edit
Early lifeEdit
Jonathan Archer, the son of Henry and Sally Archer, was born in Upstate New York in 2112. From an early age, Jonathan had an interest in space flight and technology, such as the model starship he built with his father at the age of nine. (ENT episode & novelization: Broken Bow; ENT episode: "North Star")
Early Starfleet careerEdit
In the 2130s, Archer attended Earth Starfleet Flight School based in San Francisco. During his time there, he had a relationship with Margaret Mullin. The day before graduating from Flight School, Archer proposed to Mullin outside of her apartment on Westgate Avenue, but she turned him down, stating that she did not want to become a "Starfleet widow." (ENT episode: "Twilight")
By 2143, Archer was a Commander working on the NX Program, the legacy of his now-deceased father's work. There he met A.G. Robinson and Charles Tucker III, both of whom became close friends. The first prototype, the NX-Alpha, with a mission to break the Warp 2 barrier, was destroyed during flight. Robinson, piloting the flight, became the first person to eject in an escape pod while at warp. On the suggestion by Vulcan advisors that the engine design required further simulation and bench-testing, the NX Program was canceled after this incident. Convinced the design was already sound, the cancellation did not stop Archer and Robinson, with assistance from Tucker, from making an unauthorized test flight using the NX-Beta prototype. They successfully launched the Beta and used the ship to reach a speed of Warp 2.5. With this obvious success, the program was reconsidered and subsequently reinstated by Starfleet Command; however, as a result of their actions, Archer and Robinson were grounded for three months, pending an inquiry. (ENT episode: "First Flight")
Captain of EnterpriseEdit
By 2151 Archer was a Starfleet Captain and was poised to take command of the Enterprise NX-01, the first ship to utilize his father's warp five engine design. Archer persuaded his superiors to bring the launch of the Enterprise forward three weeks when a Klingon, Klaang, crash landed on Earth; Archer wished to return the injured Klingon home to Qo'noS. The mission resulted in Archer and the Enterprise becoming entangled in the Temporal Cold War, as Klaang had been shot down by the Suliban Cabal when he was trying to deliver evidence that the Suliban were manipulating the Klingons into Civil War. Archer successfully outmaneuvered the Suliban and delivered Klaang to Qo'noS, averting the civil war. With the Enterprise already out into space Starfleet granted Archer permission to commence the ship's mission of exploration. (ENT episode & novelization: Broken Bow)
The first M-Class planet discovered by Archer on the Enterprise's mission was in the 61 Ursae Majoris. While a toxic pollen in the atmosphere caused problems for the initial landing party from the Enterprise a cure was later discovered and the planet, named Archer IV in Jonathan's honor, was colonized. (ENT episodes: "Strange New World", "In a Mirror, Darkly")
The XindiEdit
On March 22, 2153, a prototype Xindi weapon appeared in Earth orbit, cutting a swath from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million people. Enterprise was recalled and outfitted with new weapons. With a tip-off from the Suliban and their temporal benefactor Archer then took the Enterprise into the mysterious Delphic Expanse to find the Xindi and stop them launching an even more powerful weapon which threatened to destroy Earth and Humanity. (ENT episode: "The Expanse")
In the Expanse the crew discovered that the Xindi had been manipulated into attacking Earth by the Sphere Builders, a faction from a possible future timeline who were attempting to alter their history so that Humanity was wiped out and unable to found the Federation; which had been responsible for repelling a Sphere Builder invasion in their version of the 26th century. (ENT episode: "Azati Prime")
Archer and his crew successfully destroyed the Sphere Builder artifacts responsible for the Expanse's existence, convince the majority of the Xindi Council that Earth posed no threat, and managed to destroy the Xindi superweapon before it could destroy Earth. (ENT episodes: "The Council", "Countdown", "Zero Hour")
The Romulan WarEdit
During the Earth-Romulan War, Archer led a task force to liberate Berengaria VII from the Romulan Star Empire. On July 22, 2156, Archer went to the Klingon Empire to ask them to aid United Earth against the Romulans. (ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing).
In May of 2159, Archer and Enterprise saved a Vulcan scientist named T'Uerell from the Romulans. After this, there were a series of missions that Archer was assigned to, and came to learn that T'Uerell was behind many disasters in the Alpha Quadrant, including infecting planets with toxins, destroying a Starfleet facility with crewmembers on board, and attempting to use toxins to annihilate Earth. This plan was thwarted by Archer and his task force. T'Uerell went into hiding and was not heard from until the late 23rd century, where she was intercepted by James T. Kirk and the USS Enterprise. (ST video game: Legacy)
Post-war careerEdit
Shortly after the war, in 2161, Archer returned to Earth where the Enterprise was to be decommissioned, and where he was to give a speech and serve as one of the signatories of the Articles of the Federation, which gave birth to the United Federation of Planets. (ENT episodes: "These Are the Voyages...", "Zero Hour")
Over the course of his career Archer earned many commendations, including the Medal of Valor, with clusters, the Star Cross, the Preantares Ribbon of Commendation, and the Federation Citation of Honor. For his service in the Romulan War he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, and by 2168, he had become Starfleet Chief of Staff. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
In 2164 he was appointed an honorary member of the Andorian Imperial Guard by General Shran. On January 1, 2169, Archer retired from Starfleet, continuing his work as a diplomat by taking on the position of Federation Ambassador to Andoria. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly"; ST - Destiny novel: Mere Mortals)
He served as Ambassador until 2175, when he was elected to the position of Federation Councillor from United Earth. He ascended to the presidency in 2185, serving two terms. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
- An additional screen of biography information created by Mike Sussman for the ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly", but not used in the final production, revealed that Archer "...died peacefully in his home in upstate New York in the year 2245, exactly one day after attending the christening ceremony of the first Federation Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701."[1]
LegacyEdit
Added by DarkKnightJohn Gill described Archer as the "greatest explorer of the 22nd century". A century later Elias Vaughn considered Archer to be one of Earth's most eminent explorers alongside the likes of Leif Eriksson, Ferdinand Magellan, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Neil Armstrong. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly"; DS9 novel: Twilight)
As of the mid-23rd century Archer was the only Human to have two planets named in his honor: Archer's Planet in the Gamma Trianguli sector, and Archer IV in 61 Ursae Majoris. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
Personal timelineEdit
| location | assignment/event | dates | rank or rate | assignment insignia | rank insignia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upstate New York | born | 2112 |  | ||
| Flight School | student | 2136 | 
| ||
| NX Program | test pilot | 2143 | Commander | 
| |
| Omega training mission | 2140s | ||||
| Enterprise (NX-01) | commanding officer[2] | 2150-2156 | Captain |  | 
|
| Commodore of the Fleet | 2156-2160 | Commodore | 
| ||
| Starfleet Command | ? | Admiral | | 
| |
| Appointed honorary member of the Andorian Imperial Guard | 2164 | ||||
| Starfleet Chief of Staff | ?-2168 | ||||
| Andoria | Federation Ambassador to Andoria | 2169-2175 | Ambassador |  | |
| Federation Council | Federation Councillor for United Earth | 2175-2183 | Councillor |
| |
| Palais de la Concorde | Federation President | 2184-2192[3] | President | 
|
Alternate versionsEdit
In an alternate timeline, while in the Delphic Expanse in 2153, Archer sustained injuries which crippled his brain's ability to form new long-term memories, leaving him unable to recall more than the last few hours (and the whole of his life up to the point of injury). In this condition, he was unable to continue in command. The Enterprise was unable to stop the Xindi plot against Earth in time, the planet was destroyed and the Xindi exterminated every human colony they could locate. Archer, under the care of T'Pol, was one of the survivors who relocated to a secret colony on Ceti Alpha V. (ENT episode: "Twilight")
In another alternate timeline, in which John Frederick Paxton destroyed Starfleet Command and ended the talks for the Coalition of Planets, Archer continued to work toward creating a political alliance between Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar and other worlds, with the belief Earth would eventually join as well. His actions were opposed by the Isolationist Party, who had him recalled to Earth after they took control of the Parliament and put before a court martial. In this same timeline, he performed the marriage between Trip Tucker and T'Pol, and himself married Erika Hernandez sometime prior to 2199. He died sometime after 2244. (Star Trek: Myriad Universes novel: A Less Perfect Union)
AppendicesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Archer's middle name of Beckett was established in the ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing, it is presumably a reference to Samuel Beckett, the protagonist in the series Quantum Leap, who was also played by Scott Bakula.
- ↑ Archer's command of the Enterprise is listed as ending in 2160 in his biography from ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly", however the later episode "These Are the Voyages..." contradicts this, showing Archer in command into 2161.
- ↑ The 2184 start year for Archer's presidency conflicts with the four-year term system established in Articles of the Federation. One possible explanation might be that the dates refer to the year of his election rather than the year he took office.
ConnectionsEdit
| Enterprise (NX-01) personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Earth Starfleet personnel | Almack • J. Anderson • Ansara • J.B. Archer • Billy • Bishop • K. Borovsky • M. Burch • Burrows • Carstairs • R. Chandra • Cole • Cook • Cravens • E. Cutler • Daniels • Diaz • Duel • J. Edwards • M. Fincke • Foster • Garver • A. Hart • Hess • J. Horn • Hutchison • Kelby • J. Kelly • Kimball • Ko • J. Lee • E. Leydon • T. Mayweather • M. McCall • Meir • E. Novakovich • D. O'Neill • Perkins • Phlox • Pointer • M. Reed • A. Rhodes • K.P. Ryan • A. al Saed • Santini • H. Sato • Stepanczyk • T'Pol • Tom • C. Tucker III • Williams • unnamed Enterprise (NX-01) personnel |
|
| MACO contingent | D. Chang • C. Eby • S. Guitierrez • J. Hayes • N. Kemper • D. McCammon • J. McKenzie • M. Peruzzi | 
|
| Chiefs of Staff for the Federation Starfleet | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| Jonathan Archer • Arthur Mason • Dai Mehkan • Marcus van Diemen • Harold Morrow • Robert Bennett • Les Landau • Gene Roddenberry | 
|
| Preceded by: unknown | Commanding Officers of the Starships Enterprise 2151-2161 | Succeeded by: Robert April |
| Preceded by: unspecified | Federation Ambassador to Andoria 2169-2175 | Succeeded by: unspecified |
| Preceded by: unspecified | Federation Councillor From United Earth 2175-2184 | Succeeded by: unspecified |
| Preceded by: Avaranthi sh'Rothress | President of the United Federation of Planets 2185-2192 | Succeeded by: Gralless |
External linksEdit
- Jonathan Archer article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Archer's biography pages from "In a Mirror, Darkly" (I, II), from Mike Sussman's website.
