William Riker

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:This article is about Template:Star Trek character

William Thomas Riker is a fictitious character in the Star Trek universe played by Jonathan Frakes, who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and all the movies focusing on the TNG characters. Riker is called "Will" by those who know him; "Bill" only by the unfamiliar (such as Dr. Beverly Crusher in Encounter at Farpoint, although inexplicably Deanna Troi refers to him in this way in Haven Template:Fn). He held the Starfleet rank of Commander and served as the second-in-command of the USS Enterprise-D during the series and of the USS Enterprise-E beginning in Star Trek: First Contact, but was promoted to Captain and transferred to the USS Titan as its commanding officer in the film Star Trek: Nemesis.

[edit]

Biography

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

William Riker was born to Kyle Riker and Betty Riker in Valdez, Alaska, Earth in 2335. In 2350, the elder Riker abandoned his son; his wife had died some years before. William resented his father for this and the two did not speak again until 2365, fifteen years later.

Riker entered Starfleet Academy c. 2353 and graduated in 2357, finishing eighth in his class. He acquired a lifelong reputation for using unorthodox solutions, as Enterprise Second Officer Data estimated he used traditional tactics only 21% of the time. Among the earliest assignments of his career were on the Excelsior-class USS Potemkin, on the planet Betazed, where he met Deanna Troi. He then served as a lieutenant and then a lieutenant commander on the USS Hood. Riker had two cruises on the Hood, his second (2361 – 4) as XO. During his time on the Potemkin, Riker was involved in a transporter accident while beaming up from a planet; that accident created an exact copy of him – later going by the name Thomas Riker – who remained on the planet. Seven years after graduation, 2364, he requested and received a transfer to the USS Enterprise-D, the Starfleet flagship of that time, where he served as XO under Captain Jean-Luc Picard. During the Borg invasion of 2366-7, Riker was field promoted to Captain of the Enterprise after Captain Picard was abducted and transformed into the drone/spokesperson Locutus; after Picard's rescue, Riker returned to his previous position and rank. After his assignment to the Enterprise, the fast-tracking young commander's career came to rest, and he remained on the Enterprise for nearly a decade and a half. Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Riker was reassigned to the USS Enterprise-E, where he again was Picard's first officer.

On the Enterprise, Riker was a popular officer with many close friends among the crew, acting as the visible extension and "softer face" of the somewhat aristocratic Captain Picard's authority. He also served as a diplomat to alien races, becoming romantically involved with a number of alien women before finally marrying long-time friend and companion Deanna Troi, now the ship's counselor.

In 2379, having previously turned down several promotions in order to continue serving with Picard, Riker finally accepted promotion to Captain and assignment to command of the USS Titan. In the same year, he also married Deanna Troi.

Frakes reprised the role of William Riker in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, aired in May 2005. In it, Riker consults holographic simulations of the final voyage of the NX-01 Enterprise in an attempt to help him deal with the situation concerning the USS Pegasus and its illegal cloaking device. Riker, with the help of Counselor Troi, cast himself in several roles within the holodeck program, such as the ship's chef and a MACO soldier. Eventually Riker, after learning all he can from the holodeck program, decides to come clean and explain to Captain Picard exactly what the situation with the Pegasus is.

[edit]

Notes

Template:Fnb According to Diane Carey's novel Ghost Ship, Troi calls Riker "Bill" because the word "Will" means "shaving cream" in the Betazed language. However, this is not established in canon. (It also contradicts her later behavior in the series...) In actuality, "Bill" was a hold over from initial concepts of Troi and Riker when TNG began.
Riker's middle name was erroneously said to be Thelonius-perhaps after Jazz musician Thelonius Monk, to reflect Riker's love of that type of music-in Peter David's novel Imzadi.
The character was named in honor of democracy theorist William H. Riker

[edit]