Jonathan Archer

Star Trek character|if=|Title = Jonathan Archer
bgcolor = #ccccff


Caption = Captain Jonathan Archer in 2153.
Size = 300px
Species = Human
Gender = Male
Planet = Earth
Affiliation = Starfleet
Posting = "Enterprise" commanding officer
Starfleet Chief of Staff
Ambassador to Andoria
Federation Councilman
Federation President
Rank = Commander
Captain
Admiral
Portrayed = Scott BakulaCaptain Jonathan Archer is a fictional character in the "Star Trek" franchise. He is the protagonist of the television series "", and played by Scott Bakula.

Archer is commanding officer of the starship "Enterprise" (NX-01) from 2151 to 2161, and is later President of the United Federation of Planets from 2184 to 2192.

According to a computer display in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", historian John Gill considered Archer "the greatest explorer of the 22nd century." The same display states that two planets were named after Archer: Archer IV and .

Archer's favorite sport is water polo. He has a pet dog named Porthos.

Biography

Early life

Archer, the son of famed warp engineer Henry Archer and his wife Sally, was born in 2112 in Upstate New York, where he spent most of his formative years; he later claimed to have spent the majority of his life in San Francisco. His dreams of exploring started as a boy. As a youth, Archer earned the Eagle Scout Award, along with 26 Merit Badges, from the Boy Scouts of America.

Archer grew up with a distrust of Vulcans, since he perceived them as having held back Humanity's progress, particularly with regard to his father's warp five engine. It is strongly suggested in several episodes ("The Seventh", among others) that prior to joining Starfleet, he studied at and played water polo for Stanford University just south of San Francisco. (Starfleet Academy would not be founded until 2161.)

In Starfleet, Archer served as a pilot in the NX warp trials with A.G. Robinson, Duvall, and Gardner (all mentioned in the episode "First Flight"; it is assumed it is this Gardner who becomes Admiral when Admiral Maxwell Forrest dies in "The Forge"). Robinson pushed the limits of a test ship, the NX-Alpha, resulting in its destruction. The Vulcans recommended the warp trials end, which Starfleet agreed to until Charles Tucker III (who would serve as chief engineer under Archer) fixed the intermix ratios, and Archer and Robinson stole the NX-Beta, the second test ship, to prove its readiness. Although Archer was suspended for the act, it is believed his risk (and the fact it paid off) eventually secured his role as Captain of "Enterprise", Earth's first warp five starship.

easons 1 and 2: The explorer

As a man who loves to travel amongst the stars, Archer realizes being captain is a larger duty than manager and astronomer. He runs into species from all over the quadrant trying to kill him and his crew. Encounters with the Mazarites, Tholians, Suliban, and Klingons cause Archer to become more of a military commander.

In addition, Archer learns the duties of captain include being a diplomat. During Seasons 1 and 2, he is somewhat uncomfortable with the role, especially in the episode "A Night in Sickbay" when his pet beagle, Porthos, contracts a deadly illness on an alien world.

While exploring, Archer becomes an enemy of the Klingons. In a dispute with the Klingon Empire in 2152, he is convicted and sentenced to exile on Rura Penthe, even though he is innocent of the charges and despite the Klingons having acknowledged his previous service to the Empire. With his escape, a bounty is put on Archer's head and tensions with the Klingon Empire increase.

Also during this period, Archer has the distinction of making Earth's official first contact with dozens of alien races, including the Andorians, Axanar, Suliban, Tandarans, Tellarites, Tholians, Xindi, and Romulans (although this is not a face-to-face contact).

Temporal Cold War

Although initially optimistic, Archer becomes involved in his first mission as captain of "Enterprise" in the middle of the Temporal Cold War. The Temporal Cold War begins at the beginning of the pilot episode, "Broken Bow." In that episode, the audience is introduced to the Suliban and a mysterious being from the future (informally referred to as "Future Guy") who is guiding them.

As the Temporal Cold War continues, we also meet Daniels, a character whose purpose seemingly is to safeguard Archer in particular and "Enterprise" in general. Daniels' comments are that Archer will be the man who helps to form the United Federation of Planets, and it becomes apparent by the third season that Daniels is representing the Federation throughout the Temporal Cold War.

eason 3: Military commander in the Expanse

Following the Xindi attack on Earth in 2153, Archer becomes a changed man. No longer a congenial captain, he is now driven and determined to seek out and confront the perpetrators. Archer commits desperate, controversial acts of questionable morality to ensure a future for Earth, including torturing a prisoner, cloning Tucker to harvest body parts in order to save the chief engineer and thus killing the clone, and stealing a vital warp coil and leaving a ship of aliens stranded in space.

While on his mission to locate the Xindi, Archer is briefly transformed into a member of the extinct Loque'eque by a mutagenic virus. Later, he is infected by subspace parasites, creating an alternate timeline in which the "Enterprise"'s mission fails and Earth is destroyed. With the help of Daniels, Archer, along with T'Pol, travels back in time to 2004 Detroit to prevent the release of a Xindi-Reptilian bio-weapon.

By the end of the season, Archer is presumed dead when the Xindi superweapon is destroyed. However, in reality, he is transported back to the early 1940s during World War II, as is "Enterprise".

eason 4: The diplomat

After returning home in 2154, Archer helps a faction of Vulcans fight an oppressive government on their planet. During this incident, he is the recipient of the "katra", or living spirit, of the great Vulcan philosopher Surak. The katra is later transferred to a Vulcan priest, and Archer is left unharmed. This leads to the reformation of Vulcan society, and explains why the Vulcans of Archer's time were so different from the Vulcans of Kirk's time. In the process, Archer becomes the first known Human participant in a Vulcan mind meld. Since that experience, he has used that knowledge at least once: to assist T'Pol with conducting her first mind meld in order to gain information about who kidnapped Dr. Phlox (as seen in the episode "Affliction").

Archer is also involved in one of the first, and possibly most significant, treaties yet, being asked to escort Gral, the Tellarite ambassador, to the Tellarite-Andorian negotiations. En route, he and his crew run into the Andorian Shran, a long-time friend/enemy/ally. During his stay, Romulans attack and cause the fragile alliance to crash to a halt. In the mix-up, a Tellarite kills Shran's lover Talas, and Shran avenges her death by asking the Tellarite who killed her to fight to the death. In an attempt to protect the fragile peace treaty, Archer takes the challenge instead and Shran is incapacitated (but not seriously hurt). The alliance remains intact, and soon after, evolves into the United Federation of Planets. ("Demons", "Terra Prime", "These Are the Voyages...")

Relationship with T'Pol

Although initially distrustful of his Vulcan science officer T'Pol, Archer grew to trust her implicitly and supported her when she chose to resign her commission with the Vulcan High Command in order to stay aboard "Enterprise" for its mission to locate and destroy the Xindi superweapon.

Episodes in the first and second seasons seemed to suggest that Archer and T'Pol had the potential to become more than just close friends. Archer is openly jealous when a Vulcan suitor pursues T'Pol in the episode "", and insists the Vulcans won't take something away from him that's important ("Shadows of P'Jem") — meaning T'Pol. He assists her in finding help with her Pa'nar Syndrome, and indicates he is happy she will be staying aboard in the episode "Stigma", and many other instances. However, it appears Archer's drive to complete the Xindi mission and save Earth diminished this possibility.

There has also been evidence of extreme sexual tension between T'Pol and Captain Archer, as seen in the episode "Shadows of P'Jem" where T'Pol and Archer are tied up together and end up in embarrassing and sexually stimulating positions as they try to escape the bonds. This was all accompanied by intense staring, slight moaning and heavy breathing.

In the alternate timeline of "Twilight", T'Pol becomes Archer's caretaker for more than a decade after subspace parasites rob him of his ability to form long-term memories after the point of the incident; the question of how far their relationship had progressed in this timeline goes unanswered, but it is made clear that some bond of love existed by that point, albeit somewhat one-sided as this alternate future Archer is unable to retain memory of it. It remains to be seen whether anything close to this occurs in the "real" timeline, even though the writer of "Twilight" indicated in "Star Trek Communicator" that eventually Archer and T'Pol would marry in the real timeline, a point some think was in jest. The series finale gives no clue as to whether this outcome actually occurs, but certainly implies a much closer relationship than previously seen and leaves it open for the possibility.

Place in history

The time traveler Daniels revealed that Archer would eventually have a major role in the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161. He briefly took Archer ahead in time to the point where Archer is about to sign the Federation accords on Earth.

Archer's fate is revealed in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" when a computer information screen aboard the 23rd century Starfleet vessel USS "Defiant" is briefly visible. According to the computer profile, Archer was an Admiral and Chief of Staff at Starfleet Command at the time of his retirement. He later went on to serve as ambassador to Andoria from 2165 to 2175. From 2175 to 2183, Archer served as a member of the Federation Council, followed by eight years as Federation President (2184-2192). He was also an honorary member of the Andorian Imperial Guard.

Unused artwork shows that Archer dies peacefully in his sleep at his home in Upstate New York in 2245, exactly one day after he attends the commissioning ceremony of the USS "Enterprise" (NCC-1701). (This is the first canonical confirmation of the date the NCC-1701 was launched.) However, this computer display gives 2160 as the year Archer's captaincy of "Enterprise" came to an end, which is contradicted by the 2161 date given in "These Are the Voyages..." A reason for this inconsistency could be the fact that the scenes depicted in "These Are the Voyages..." were a holographic recreation experienced by William Riker in the 24th Century. [ [http://web.mac.com/mike.sussman/iWeb/mikesussman/IAMDArcherbio2.html This link redirects to Mike Sussman's website, and no longer supports the material.] Dead link|date=September 2008]

Porthos

Porthos is Archer's pet dog. One of four males born in a litter of English Beagles, Porthos and his brothers, Athos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan, were named after characters from "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, père. He has been Archer's faithful companion since the age of six weeks, and has remained so for the duration of his 10-year assignment as captain of "Enterprise".

Porthos was portrayed by a male beagle named Prada in Season 1. Afterwards, he was played by two female beagles, Breezy and Windy, although the character of Porthos remained male. Prada also portrayed the character Lou in the film "Cats & Dogs".

Archer usually leaves Porthos in the care of Hoshi Sato when he leaves the ship for long periods of time, although Phlox also takes care of the dog on occasion.

Archer cares very much for Porthos. In the pilot episode, Travis Mayweather says Archer won't use the transporter for himself and certainly not for his dog. In "A Night in Sickbay", Porthos nearly dies when he contracts a deadly pathogen on the Kreetassan homeworld, but is saved when Phlox transplants a gland from a chameleon-like creature.

Although Porthos isn't the first domesticated pet to be featured in a "Star Trek" series (Data owned a cat, Spot, in ""), Porthos has the distinction of being the first pet to maintain an ongoing presence in the series, and even - as illustrated above - become the focus of an episode.

In the Mirror Universe depicted in "In a Mirror, Darkly", Porthos is a Rottweiler. According to the episode's podcast on Startrek.com, the dog that portrayed the mirror Porthos was known on set as an even bigger "baby" than the dogs which have played the regular Porthos. Episode writer Mike Sussman noted that the animal was "The sweetest dog I have ever met."

In the episode "", Porthos was interrogated by a group of Ferengi pirates while the rest of the crew were incapacitated, but the aliens' universal translator could not decipher his barking. The pirates didn't know what to make of the dog, even speculating that he was perhaps food.

The Mirror Archer

In the Mirror Universe, Archer was first officer of the ISS "Enterprise" with the rank of Commander. In this universe, he served under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest, the alternate version of Admiral Maxwell Forrest. Unlike in the normal "Trek" universe, where Forrest and Archer are close friends, the mirror versions of the characters did not get along well at all.

The mirror Archer, like most characters in the Terran Empire, was treacherous, cunning, and scheming. He led a mutiny against Forrest and took over "Enterprise". However, with the help of T'Pol and other Vulcans, Forrest was freed and retook the ship. Archer surrendered, but had locked the ship's navigation controls so its heading could not be altered. His reason for the mutiny was brought to light as he had been informed about a ship that seemed to be from another dimension. With the ship's course unable to be changed and Starfleet now intrigued by what Archer had become aware of, Forrest was ordered to investigate. On arrival, they discovered the USS "Defiant", a Starfleet ship from the normal universe.

Archer led a team to take control of the "Defiant" while "Enterprise" was destroyed by the Tholians. He and his team, plus survivors from "Enterprise", discovered "Defiant" is not only from another dimension, but the future and that the alternate dimension never had a Terran Empire. After successfully crushing a rebellion against the Empire, Archer attempted to take the futuristic vessel to Earth where he would proclaim himself Emperor. However, before he could do so, he was killed by his universe's Hoshi Sato, who poisoned him and took the ship and (we are led to believe) the Terran throne as well for herself.

ee also

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References

External links

* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/character/1122628.html STARTREK.COM: Jonathan Archer]
* [http://web.mac.com/mike.sussman/iWeb/mikesussman/IAMDArcherbio1.html Production artwork showing Archer's biography] , from "In A Mirror, Darkly"