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| Jonathan Archer | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek character | |
.jpg) Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer | |
| First appearance | "Broken Bow" (2001) |
| Last appearance | "These Are the Voyages..." (2005) |
| Created by | |
| Portrayed by | Scott Bakula |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Captain Admiral |
| Occupation | Commanding Officer,Enterprise (NX-01) Chief of Staff,Starfleet Command Ambassador toAndoria Federation Councilman President of theUnited Federation of Planets |
| Family | Henry Archer (father) Sally Archer (mother) |
| Nationality | American |
| Origin | Earth |
| Born | August 4, 2112 upstate New York |
Jonathan Archer is a fictional character in theStar Trek franchise. He is one of theprotagonists of the television seriesStar Trek: Enterprise, where he was portrayed byScott Bakula.
Archer was the commanding officer of the firststarshipEnterprise (NX-01) from 2151 to 2161. Archer also played a major role in the formation ofStarfleet and theUnited Federation of Planets, and was laterPresident of theUnited Federation of Planets from 2184 to 2192. According to a computer display in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", historianJohn Gill considered Archer "the greatest explorer of the 22nd century."
Archer, the son of famedwarp engineer Henry Archer and his wife Sally, was born on August 4, 2112, inUpstate New York, where he spent most of his formative years; he later claimed to have spent the majority of his life in San Francisco.[1][2] The second-season episode "First Flight" depicts in flashback that he spent many years as a test pilot in the nascent Starfleet's NX program, based in San Francisco. His dreams of exploring started as a boy. As a youth, Archer earned theEagle Scout Award, along with 26Merit Badges, from theBoy Scouts of America. (Mentioned in the episode "Rogue Planet".[3]) He is an avidwater polo fan, and often relaxes by watching water polo games.
Archer grew up with a distrust ofVulcans, perceiving them as having held back humanity's progress, particularly with regard to his father's warp five project. As acommander, Archer served as a test-pilot in the NX warp trials with A.G. Robinson, Duvall and Gardner. (All mentioned in the episode "First Flight".[4] It is assumed it is this Gardner who becomesAdmiral whenMaxwell Forrest dies in "The Forge".[5]) Robinson pushed the limits of a test ship, the NX-Alpha, resulting in its destruction. The Vulcans recommended terminating the warp trials, which Starfleet agreed to, untilCharles Tucker III[6] (who would later serve as chief engineer under Archer) fixed the intermix ratios, and Archer and Robinson took the NX-Beta, the second test ship, without clearance to prove its readiness. The suspension of Archer did not completely stop the progress of theEnterprise's construction, as the program eventually resumed after a six-month halt.
As a man who loves to travel amongst the stars, Archer learns that being captain is a larger duty than manager andastronomer. He ran into species from all over thequadrant trying to kill him and his crew. Encounters with the Mazarites,Xindi,Tholians,Suliban andKlingons caused Archer to become more of a military commander.
In addition, Archer learns that the duties of captain include being a diplomat. During Seasons 1 and 2, he is somewhat uncomfortable with this 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 theKlingon Empire in 2152, he is convicted and sentenced to exile onRura Penthe, even though he is innocent of the charges and despite the Klingons having acknowledged his previous service to the Empire. With his escape, abounty is put on Archer's head and tensions with the Klingon Empire increase.
Also during this period, Archer has the distinction of makingEarth's officialfirst contact with dozens ofalien races, including the Akaali, theAndorians,Axanar, Suliban,Tandarans,Tellarites, Tholians,Xindi andRomulans.
Although initially optimistic, Archer becomes involved in his first mission as captain ofEnterprise in the middle of theTemporal Cold War. The Temporal Cold War begins at the beginning of the pilot episode, "Broken Bow". In that episode, the audience is introduced to theSuliban and a mysterious being from the future (informally referred to as "Future Guy") who is guiding them.
As the Temporal Cold War continues, Archer also meetsDaniels, whose purpose seemingly is to safeguard Archer in particular andEnterprise in general. Daniels' comments are that Archer will be the man who helps form theUnited Federation of Planets, and it becomes apparent by the third season that Daniels is representing the Federation throughout the Temporal Cold War.
In Season 3, he was the military commander in the Expanse. Following theXindi attack onEarth 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, includingtorturing a prisoner,cloning Tucker to harvest body parts to save the chief engineer and thus killing the clone, andstealing a vital warp coil and leaving a ship of aliens stranded in space.[7]
While on his mission to locate the Xindi, Archer is brieflytransformed into a member of the extinct Loque'eque by a mutagenic virus. Later, he is infected bysubspaceparasites, creating analternate timeline in which theEnterprise's mission fails and the Xindi succeed in destroying Earth (although the nature of these parasites mean that this timeline is erased when Phlox's cure for Archer erases the parasites themselves from history). With the help ofDaniels, Archer, along withT'Pol,travels back in time to the year 2004 to prevent the release of a Xindi-Reptilianbio-weapon.
By the end of the season, Archer ispresumed dead when the Xindi superweapon is destroyed, after having convinced three of the five Xindi races that reports of humanity's future conflict with them are wrong. However, in reality, he is transported back to the early 1940s during World War II, as is theEnterprise.
After returning home in 2154, Archer helps a faction ofVulcans fight an oppressive government on their planet. During this incident, he is the recipient of thekatra, or living spirit, of the great Vulcan philosopherSurak. Thekatra is later transferred to a Vulcan priest, and Archer is left unharmed. This leads to the reformation of Vulcan society, and explains[citation needed] why the Vulcans of Archer's time were so different from the Vulcans ofKirk's time. In the process, Archer becomes the first known Human participant in a Vulcanmind meld. Since that experience, he has used that knowledge at least once: To assistT'Pol with conducting her first mind meld to gain information about who kidnappedDr. Phlox (the episode "Affliction").
Archer is also involved in one of the first, and possibly most significant, treaties yet, being asked to escort Gral, theTellarite ambassador, to the Tellarite-Andorian negotiations. En route, he and his crew run into the AndorianShran, a long-time friend/enemy/ally. During Shran's stay,Romulans attack and cause the fragile alliance to crash to a halt. In the mix-up, a Tellarite kills Shran's loverTalas, and Shran avenges her death by demanding 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. The alliance remains intact, and soon evolves into theUnited Federation of Planets. ("Babel One", "United", "The Aenar", "Demons", "Terra Prime", "These Are the Voyages...").
The time travelerDaniels revealed that Archer would eventually have a major role in the founding of theUnited Federation of Planets in 2161. He briefly took Archer ahead in time to the point where Archer is about to sign the Federation accords onEarth, expanded further in the series finale.
Archer's fate is revealed in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" when a computer information screen aboard the 23rd centuryStarfleet vessel USSDefiant is briefly visible. According to the computer profile, Archer was anAdmiral and Chief of Staff atStarfleet Command at the time of his retirement. He later went on to serve as ambassador toAndoria from 2165 to 2175. From 2175 to 2183, Archer served as a member of the Federation Council, followed by eight years as FederationPresident (2184–2192). He was also an honorary member of the Andorian Imperial Guard. HistorianJohn Gill considered Archer "the greatest explorer of the 22nd century." The same computer display states that Archer's Planet and Archer IV (mentioned in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Strange New World" respectively) were named after him.
Unused production artwork would have shown[8] that Archer dies peacefully in his sleep at his home inUpstate New York in 2245, exactly one day after he attends the commissioning ceremony of theUSS Enterprise. However, this biographical computer display contained a number of discrepancies, including listing 2160 as the year that Archer's captaincy ofEnterprise came to an end. The series later established that Archer's command ended in 2161, as seen in the series finale, "These Are the Voyages...".
At least three starships were named after him: theArcher-class scout ship featured in the tie-in novel seriesStar Trek: Vanguard and its follow-upStar Trek: Seekers, an unspecified ship alluded to inStar Trek: Nemesis and the USS Archer NCC-627 in the pilot episode ofStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. Archer Spacedock fromStar Trek: Discovery is also named for Jonathan Archer.
The 2009Star Trek film briefly references Archer, asMontgomery Scott receives punishment stemming from an incident involving atransporter and "Admiral Archer's prized beagle." There was some confusion as to if this actually referred to Jonathan Archer himself as this would make him 141 years old.Star Trek writer Bob Orci went on record to clear up the issue, "Admiral Archer is a reference to the Archer we all know and love, and yes he would be over 100, which is a likely life expectancy in a futuristic space faring race of humans (as depicted by McCoy's (DeForest Kelley, playing the 137 year old Admiral) appearance inThe Next Generation.)"[9]
In theStar Trek: Discovery episode "Choose Your Pain", Archer is shown listed on the Starfleet Database as one of Starfleet's most decorated Captains as of 2256. Also included in the list are: Robert April, Matthew Decker, Philippa Georgiou, andChristopher Pike.
Porthos is Archer's dog. One of four males born in a litter of EnglishBeagles, Porthos and his brothers, Athos, Aramis and d'Artagnan, were named after characters fromThe Three Musketeers byAlexandre Dumas, père. He has been Archer's faithful companion since the age of six weeks, and has remained so for the duration of Archer's 10-year assignment ascaptain ofEnterprise.
Porthos was portrayed by a male beagle named Prada in Season 1. Afterwards, he was played by a further two female beagles, Breezy and Windy, although the character of Porthos remained male.
Archer would occasionally leave Porthos in the care ofDr. Phlox when he was away or otherwise unavailable.
Archer cares very much for Porthos. In thepilot episode,Travis Mayweather says Archer won't use thetransporter for himself and certainly not for his dog. In "A Night in Sickbay", Porthos nearly dies when he contracts a deadlypathogen on theKreetassan homeworld, but is saved when Phloxtransplants a gland from achameleon-like creature.
In "Similitude", Archer explains in answer to the question "Can he do any tricks?" that "I haven't taught him any, mostly what he does is eat, sleep and not fetch." He also commented "there's nothing Porthos likes more than dinner time".
Although Porthos is not the first domesticated pet to be featured in aStar Trek series (Data owned a cat,Spot, inStar Trek: The Next Generation and Captain Jean-Luc Picard owned alionfish named Livingston), 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 theMirror Universe depicted in "In a Mirror, Darkly", Porthos is aRottweiler. According to the episode'spodcast onStartrek.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 writerMike Sussman noted that the animal was "The sweetest dog I have ever met."[citation needed]
In the episode "Acquisition", Porthos was interrogated by a group ofFerengi 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. They then decided they could sell him to a zoo.
Brannon Braga's nephew had a dog named Porthos, which he thought was good name for a dog and took as inspiration for Archer's dog.[10]
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In theMirror Universe,Jonathan Archer wasfirst officer of theISSEnterprise with the rank ofCommander. In this universe, he served under the command ofCaptainMaximilian Forrest, the alternate version ofAdmiralMaxwell 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.
Like most characters in theTerran Empire, the mirror Archer was treacherous, cunning and scheming. He led amutiny against Forrest and took overEnterprise. However, with the help ofT'Pol and otherVulcans, 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 andStarfleet now intrigued by what Archer had become aware of, Forrest was ordered to investigate, he also had Archer punished in the Agony Booth for a then record of ten hours, giving the Commander only one hour to clean up and get ready for a staff meeting after his release. On arrival, they discovered the USSDefiant, aStarfleet ship from 100 years into the future of the "normal" universe.
Archer led an away team to take control of theDefiant while theEnterprise was destroyed by theTholians. He and his team, plus survivors from theEnterprise, discoveredtheDefiant was 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 toEarth where he would proclaim himself Emperor. However, before he could do so, he was killed by his universe'sHoshi Sato, who poisoned him, took the ship and claimed the Terran throne for herself.
In 2019,Vulture ranked Captain Archer as the 8thStar Trek captain by their selection criterion, a combination of competency and managerial style.[11] They note Archer as being interested in exploration, but also having a relaxed attitude and that he also enjoys spending times with friends and his pet dog.[11] Space.com rated Archer as the sixth best captain ofStar Trek.[12]The Washington Post ranked Archer as the seventh best Captain ofStar Trek.[13][14]
Screen Rant rated Archer as the fourth best captain, noting that he had to pioneer space without the benefit of the institutions he helped to create, and noted his ability to take on challenges.[15] CBR ranked Archer as the 5th best member ofStarfleet 2018, in betweenSpock (#6) andCaptain Janeway (#4) in their ranking.[16]
In 2018,The Wrap ranked Archer as the 29th best main cast character ofStar Trek overall.[17] In 2016, Captain Archer was ranked as the 9th most important character ofStarfleet within theStar Trek science fiction universe byWired.[18]
Along the way, the easygoing Archer has been forced to make difficult and sometimes-questionable decisions, all of which have taken their toll.
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| National | |
