| “ | I hope nobody is in a big hurry to get home. Starfleet seems to think that we're ready to begin our mission. | „ |
| ~ Jonathan Archer |
Jonathan Archer was the main character of the Star Trek television series Star Trek: Enterprise. He is the commanding officer of Enterprise (NX-01), Earth's first warp 5 starship which would go on to make Earth and humanity a major player in interstellar politics.
He was portrayed by Scott Bakula, who also played Dr. Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap and currently stars as Dwayne Pride on NCIS: New Orleans.
History[]
Jonathan was born 2112 in upstate New York. His father, Henry, was a renowned scientist who worked on developing the first warp five engine which would allow humanity to travel faster and farther than they had ever been able to before. Sadly, Henry Archer died before the first warp 5 vessel, Enterprise (NX-01), took flight.
As an adult, Jonathan joined the Earth Starfleet. In the 2140s, as a Commander in the NX Program, he worked hard to become the first human to travel at warp two, only for that distinction to be given to his rival, A.G. Robinson. It was during this time Archer first met and befriended Charles Tucker III. After the NX-Alpha was destroyed during a flight test, Archer and Robinson clashed angrily, but resolved their differences and worked together to prove to the Vulcans that Starfleet's warp 2 engine was functional. The two men were grounded for three months for their unauthorized test, but they were successful in convincing Starfleet to continue working on the NX Program.
Several years later, Archer rose to the rank of Captain and was assigned command of Enterprise. After taking command Archer met his friend and fellow Captain A.G. Robinson for what would be the last time as Robinson would die a few couple years later in an accident.
In 2151, he led his crew on their first mission to return Klaang, a Klingon who crash-landed on Earth, to his homeworld, and had his first encounter with an alien race called the Suliban, who were a faction embroiled in the Temporal Cold War. After Klaang was successfully returned to the Klingon homeworld, Enterprise began its mission of exploring the galaxy.
As Captain of the Enterprise, he made first contact with the Andorian people, meeting the Andorian Commander Shran in 2151. Archer was responsible for helping the Andorians and Vulcans to set aside their differences and beginning to work together for the first time in history.
Archer was a key player in the Vulcan Reformation of the mid 22nd century when he took on the katra of Surak, and was able to find the Kir'shara - which contained Surak's original writings. Bringing the Kir'shara back to the capital, his actions enabled Minister Kuvak to force the Romulan backed Vulcan leader V'Las out of power. After the discovery the Vulcan people realized how far they had strayed from Surak's teachings, and worked to bring themselves back to Surak's original vision for Vulcan society.
In 2153, Earth was attacked by the Xindi, and Enterprise was called back to Earth, where it was refitted with weapons so Archer and his crew could find the Xindi and prevent them from launching a superweapon that would destroy the entire planet. After a dangerous, year-long mission in the Delphic Expanse, Enterprise destroyed the Xindi superweapon.
Archer on the bridge of the Enterprise.
The following year Archer's actions helped lay the ground work for the founding of the United Federation of Planets. Due to his diplomatic efforts local species such as Tellarites, Andorians, Vulcans, Cordianites, and Rigellians began working together. The attempts by the Romulans to destabilize the region failed, and thanks in large part to Archer diplomacy brought the species together in a Coalition of Planets.
Archer retained command of the Enterprise through 2160, when the ship was severely damaged in the closing battle of the war against the Romulans. In the days after the war, he was promoted to Commodore and was sent to an Earth Outpost with T'Pau to sign the peace treaty with the Romulans ending the war. He was later one of the human signatories to the Federation Charter, which established the United Federation of Planets.
After the founding of the Federation, Archer was promoted to Admiral and became chief of staff after the retirement of Samuel Gardner. Archer faced a number of challenges, including criminal organizations like the Orion Syndicate who were opposed to the law and order the Federation was bringing to the quadrant, the threat of the automated Ware, and Section 31.
During this time there were calls to name one of the new Starfleet vessels under construction Enterprise. Archer resisted these calls, feeling Starfleet should wait ideally until he was gone before naming a Federation ship Enterprise. After Captain Resthenar sh'Prenni and the crew of the USS Vol'Rala (the Andorian word for Enterprise) sacrificed themselves in a battle against the Klingons, Archer cancelled plans in progress for naming as the next USS Enterprise a ship currently under construction, feeling the name should be honorably retired for a while. As a result it would be over half a century in either the prime or Kelvin timelines before Starfleet launched a ship named Enterprise.
He later served on the Federation Council and, in the late 22nd century as President of the United Federation of Planets. Shran later named Archer as an honorary member of the Imperial Guard.
In the prime reality Archer died at his home in upstate New York on July 5, 2245, one day after attending the christening of the first Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701). In the alternate reality created by Nero's interference, Archer was still alive in 2258 when that reality's Enterprise had been launched.
Legacy[]
By 2256 Archer was listed as one of the most decorated Captains in Starfleet, along with Robert April, Philippa Georgiou, Christopher Pike, and Matthew Decker. Noted Federation historian John Gill called him the greatest explorer of the 22nd century.
At least two Starfleet vessels were named after Archer, the 23rd century Hermes-class USS Archer and a 24th century USS Archer that was assigned to Battle Group Omega in 2379.
It was due to Archer's experiences in carrying Surak's katra that Spock knew that it was possible for a human brain to temporarily house a katra. This gave Spock the confidence to transfer his katra to Leonard McCoy before sacrificing himself to save the USS Enterprise from the effects of the Genesis wave, and allowed for the eventual refusion of Spock's body and mind after Spock was retrieved from the Genesis Planet.
Archer was still remembered over 1,000 years after his mission on the Enterprise and his Presidency when the Federation commissioned the new Archer Spacedock to help rebuild Starfleet in 3190 as the Federation finally began to recover from the cataclysmic Burn of the 31st century.
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