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:''For the comic book series on the character, see ''[[Star Trek: Nero]]''.''
 
:''For the comic book series on the character, see ''[[Star Trek: Nero]]''.''
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Nero was a [[24th century]] [[Romulan]] [[Mining|miner]] responsible for the creation of the [[alternate reality]]. He did this via an accidental incursion into the [[23rd century]]. A sworn enemy of the [[United Federation of Planets]], he intended to completely obliterate the Federation in the timeline his actions created. He succeeded in destroying the [[planet]] {{alt|Vulcan}}, and with it, most of the [[Vulcan|Vulcan people]], before he himself was defeated and destroyed by [[Federation Starfleet]] Captain {{alt|James T. Kirk}}
'''Nero''' was a [[Romulan]] [[mining|miner]] originating from the late [[24th century]], and [[commanding officer|captain]] of the [[mining vessel]] ''[[Narada]]''. Following the destruction of [[Romulus]] in [[2387]], Nero sought vengeance against those he felt were responsible, ultimately resulting in his being transported back in [[time]] to [[2233]].
 
   
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==Origins==
Nero's actions in the past resulted in the creation of an [[alternate reality]]. In this reality, he was directly responsible for the destruction of the {{USS|Kelvin}} as well as the deaths of its two senior officers, [[Captain]] [[Richard Robau]] and [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[George Kirk]]. Kirk's death altered the upbringing of his son, {{alt|James T. Kirk}}, who in this timeline did not join [[Starfleet]] until [[2255]].
 
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[[File:Romulus Destroyed in 2387.jpg|thumb|left|}The destruction of Romulus]]
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In [[2387]], the planet [[Romulus]], capital world of the [[Romulan Star Empire]], was destroyed by a [[supernova]]. Nero was at the time the [[captain]] of the Romulan [[mining vessel]] [[Narada]]. His life, in his words, was one of honest labor. He witnessed the destruction of Romulus.
   
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The supernova that destroyed Romulus had been discovered to be a threat to the entire [[Milky Way]]. The Vulcan [[Spock]], a Federation [[ambassador]], had developed a plan to avert this by use of [[red matter]], a substance capable of creating [[black hole]]s. He had intended to enact this plan to destroy the supernova before the explosion reached Romulus. However, he was to late, and Romulus was destroyed before he could arrive to implement it. Nero lost his wife and unborn child, along with nearly all of his people.
Nero was later responsible for the destruction of the alternate reality's {{alt|Vulcan}}, which resulted in the deaths of {{alt|Amanda Grayson}} and the majority of the [[Vulcan]] race. Nero also attempted to destroy this timeline's [[Earth]], but his plot was foiled by Jim Kirk and the crew of the {{USS|Enterprise|alternate reality}}.
 
   
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Nero did not believe that Spock had intended to save Romulus. On the contrary, he and his crew believed that Spock and the Federation had deliberately let Romulus be destroyed. Swearing revenge, they intercepted Spock’s vessel, the ''[[Jellyfish]]'', soon after he had used the red matter to create a black hole that swallowed the supernova, saving other worlds from becoming as Romulus. Spock attempted to escape, but both the ''Jellyfish'' and the ''Narada'' were pulled into the black hole, which had caused a temporal rift that shunted both ships back in [[time]], to the year [[2233]].
== 24th century origins ==
 
Nero was married and was about to become a father, but [[Unnamed Romulans (24th century)#Nero's wife|his wife]] and their unborn child were killed when Romulus was destroyed by a [[supernova]] in 2387. Nero was off-planet when the disaster occurred, but he witnessed the event firsthand.
 
   
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==Incursion==
{{bginfo|Nero briefly states that his wife was "expecting [his] child"; Nero also shows Pike the [[hologram|holographic]] image of her in which she is visibly pregnant. In ''[[Star Trek: Countdown]]'', her name is Mandana and she is specifically stated to be pregnant.|According to his dossier at the official ''Star Trek'' film website, it is stated that Nero was involved in discovering massive lithium deposits on Delta Vega which solved an energy crisis in the Romulan Star Empire. It is unspecified if this is the same [[Delta Vega (Vulcan system)|Delta Vega]] in the Vulcan system that he later marooned [[Spock]] on in the past, which may have violated treaties with [[Earth]] and the [[Federation]] if such treaties were not modified in the aftermath of the events of {{film|10}}. It may also refer to a second [[Delta Vega]] which is on the outskirts of the [[Milky Way]]. It was also used by the Federation in the prime timeline and mined for lithium ore, but may have been abandoned by the late 24th century. ({{TOS|Where No Man Has Gone Before}})}}
 
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[[File:Nero explodes when told he is in 2233.jpg|thumb|right|Nero charges at Robau to kill him]]The ''Narada'' arrived in 2233 near the [[Klingon-Federation border]]. At first, Nero and his crew did not realize what had occurred. Using the weaponry of the Narada, which, being a [[24th century]] vessel, was far more advanced than anything in the 23rd century, Nero and his crew attacked and severely damaged the Federation [[starship]] {{USS|Kelvin}}, and forced her captain, [[Richard Robau]], to come aboard the Narada. There he was questioned as to the whereabouts of Spock and the Jellyfish. Upon realizing from his answers that they were now 154 years in the past, Nero killed Robau in rage. Robau’s [[first officer]], [[Lieutenant]] [[George Kirk]], managed to save the rest of the ''Kelvin'' crew by piloting her into the ''Narada'' in a [[kamikaze]] run after the crew evacuated. This damaged the Narada somewhat, but did not disable it. Nero and his crew spent the next 25 years repairing the ''Narada'' and waiting for Spock to come through from their own time, as they had done.
   
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==Destruction of Vulcan==
Grief-stricken and madly seeking revenge, Nero placed the blame for Romulus' destruction on [[Ambassador]] [[Spock]], who had promised to prevent the disaster, and the Federation, which he believed did nothing while Romulus was destroyed. Spock, piloting the ''[[Jellyfish (ship)|Jellyfish]]'', was able to extinguish the supernova by using [[red matter]] to create a [[black hole]] which enveloped the [[star]], but before he could escape, he was intercepted by Nero, now in command of a technologically-advanced ''Narada''. Both ships were pulled into the black hole, with the ''Narada'' going in first.
 
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[[File:Vulcan Orbital (alternate reality).jpg|thumb|left|Vulcan's destruction]]
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Nero calculated the exact time and place of the arrival of the ''Jellyfish''. When it came through, he and his crew promptly captured it. However, Nero did not intend to kill Spock. Instead, he intended to visit upon Spock the same loss that he believed Spock had caused him and his crew: the loss of his [[homeworld]] while he watched, powerless to stop it.
   
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Nero took Spock to [[Delta Vega]], a planet near Vulcan, and marooned him there, where he could see Vulcan large and clearly. The Narada was then positioned over Vulcan, its [[drill platform]] was deployed and a hole was drilled to the planet’s core. While this was being done, the ''Narada'' was attacked by a fleet of Federation starships, as the drilling had caused severe seismic disturbances that had elicited a distress call, bringing a Federation fleet in response. The Narada decimated the fleet. The last ship to arrive was the {{alt|USS Enterprise}}, commanded by Captain {{alt|Christopher Pike}}. Also aboard were then-[[Cadet]] James T. Kirk and the {{alt|Spock}} of this timeline, who was the First Officer.
== Arrival in the 23rd century ==
 
[[File:Nero explodes when told he is in 2233.jpg|thumb|left|Nero kills Robau in frustration when informed of the current stardate]]
 
The ''Narada'' emerged 75,000 [[kilometer]]s on the [[Federation-Klingon border]] [[2233|154 years in the past]], on [[stardate]] "2233-zero-four". There, the ''Narada'' encountered, attacked, and severely damaged the Federation [[starship]] {{USS|Kelvin}}. Seeking information on the whereabouts of Spock, Nero had his second-in-command, [[Ayel]], contact the ''Kelvin'' and demand that the ship's commanding officer, [[Richard Robau]], board a [[shuttlecraft]] and come aboard the ''Narada''. Robau was unfamiliar with Spock, however, and when he informed Nero of the current stardate, Nero [[murder|killed]] Robau with his ''[[Teral'n]]''.
 
   
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Nero contacted the ''Enterprise'' and demanded that Pike come over to the ''Narada'' alone in a shuttle, threatening the ''Enterprise'' with the destruction he had inflicted on the fleet if Pike refused. Pike acceded, but also organized a mission in which Kirk, whom he had made Acting First Officer, and two other officers, [[orbital skydiving|orbital skydived]] onto the drill platform and disabled it. However, the three officers could not do so before it had reached Vulcan’s core. Nero had a torpedo containing red matter from the store still contained within the ''Jellyfish'' launched into the core. On detonation, the red matter created a black hole that consumed the planet. The only survivors were approximately ten thousand whom the Enterprise managed to beam up, including the [[Vulcan High Council]], whom this timeline’s Spock had personally rescued. Nearly six billion Vulcans, almost the entire people, perished. Nero’s quest for revenge against Vulcan was successfully completed.
Nero then proceeded to attack the ''Kelvin'', now under command of Robau's first officer, [[George Kirk]]. Kirk used the ''Kelvin''{{'}}s weapons to prevent Nero from destroying the [[shuttle]]s departing the ''Kelvin'', ultimately sacrificing himself by ramming the ''Kelvin'' into the ''Narada''. Kirk's actions saved eight hundred lives, including his wife, [[Winona Kirk]], and their newborn son, {{alt|James T. Kirk}}, but he was unable to destroy the ''Narada'' or Nero.
 
   
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==Attempted Destruction of Earth==
Nero spent the [[2258|next twenty-five years]] repairing the ship and awaiting the arrival of Ambassador Spock, plotting his vengeance against him and the Federation. Near the end of those twenty-five years, Nero was involved in an attack on a [[Klingon prison planet]] and, using the ''Narada'', destroyed [[47]] [[Klingon warbird|Warbirds]]. During his time on the prison planet, Nero sustained an injury to his right ear.
 
 
[[File:Nero interrogates Pike.jpg|thumb|right|Nero interrogates Pike]]
{{bginfo|A [[deleted scene]] from the film shows Klingons surrounded the ''Narada'' following George Kirk's attack, and Nero and his crew gave themselves up to be imprisoned on [[Rura Penthe]]. During his time on the planet, Nero kept quiet about his origins, and lost part of his ear, only escaping with Ayel after the Klingons discovered his calculations regarding Spock's arrival and threatened to interrogate him with a centaurian slug. It was his escape from Rura Penthe that {{alt|Nyota Uhura|Uhura}} heard about in the transmission she received regarding an attack on a Klingon prison planet.}}
 
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Nero’s next objective was the obliteration of the Federation itself. He intended to destroy all Federation planets, starting with the state’s capital world of [[Earth]], in a similar fashion to what he did to Vulcan. In doing so, he intended to create an existence for Romulus that was without the Federation. Having captured Captain Pike, he used the coercive effect of a [[Centaurian slug]] to force him to reveal the codes to Earth’s defense grid. The ''Narada'' then set course for Earth.
   
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==Downfall==
== Attack on Vulcan ==
 
 
[[File:Nero sucked into a black hole.jpg|thumb|left|Nero's final moments]]
:''Main article: [[Battle of Vulcan]]''
 
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However, aboard the ''Enterprise'', Kirk had become acting Captain. He ordered chase given to the ''Narada''. As the ''Narada'' settled over Earth’s and its drill platform deployed, he implemented a plan to [[transporter|beam]] himself and Spock aboard the Narada. Spock took control of the Jellyfish, exited the Narada with it and used it to destroy the drill platform. Meanwhile, Kirk rescued Pike. Consumed by rage at being thwarted by the Spock of this timeline, Nero lost all sense of reason and ordered all weapons fired on the ''Jellyfish'' in an attempt to kill Spock, despite the danger of activating the red matter aboard the Jellyfish. This failed, and Spock piloted the ''Jellyfish'' on a collision course into the ''Narada'', being beamed off before the collision. The explosion caused the store of red matter aboard the Jellyfish to form a black hole that began to tear the ''Narada'' apart. Having returned to the ''Enterprise'', Kirk offered Nero assistance in saving himself and his crew. Nero furiously refused, preferring, in his words, to suffer the destruction of Romulus a thousand times and then die in agony than accept help from Kirk. Kirk obliged, ordering all the Enterprise’s weapons fired on the ''Narada'', hastening the vessel’s destruction, and that of Nero and his crew. ({{film|11}})
Nero's goal was to ensure a future for Romulus that was completely free from the Federation. When Spock arrived through the black hole in [[2258]], Nero was waiting for him. He captured Spock's ship, which still had an entire compartment full of red matter. Rather than kill Spock, however, Nero marooned the elderly ambassador on [[Delta Vega (Vulcan system)|Delta Vega]] so he could witness the destruction of {{alt|Vulcan}} from the planet's surface.
 
[[File:Nero interrogates Pike.jpg|thumb|Nero justifies the genocide he committed to Captain Pike]]
 
With the red matter now in his possession, Nero attacked Vulcan, using the ''Narada''{{'}}s extending [[drill platform]] to burrow through to the planet's core. A fleet of seven Federation starships arrived to assist Vulcan, unaware the planet was under attack; they stood no chance against the advanced ''Narada'', however, and Nero easily destroyed them all. When another Starfleet vessel arrived, Nero ordered that it be destroyed, as well. However, after a brief attack, Nero recognized the vessel as the ''Enterprise''. Knowing that a younger {{alt|Spock}} served aboard the ''Enterprise'', he ceased his attack on the vessel, wanting this era's Spock to see the destruction of Vulcan, as well. He contacted the ''Enterprise'' and demanded that its captain, {{alt|Christopher Pike}}, come aboard the ''Narada'' via shuttlecraft – the ship's [[transporter]]s were inoperable as long as the drill was active. Pike complied, but only to allow a team consisting of James Kirk, {{alt|Hikaru Sulu}}, and [[Chief Engineer]] [[Olson]] to [[orbital skydiving|space-dive]] onto the drilling rig and disable it so the ''Enterprise'' could begin evacuating Vulcan.
 
 
Kirk and Sulu were successful in sabotaging the drill (Olson had been killed), but not before the drill reached Vulcan's core. Nero released a canister of red matter into the planet's core, creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan which devoured the planet and killed the vast majority of the Vulcan race as well as Spock's mother, {{alt|Amanda Grayson}}. Following the planet's destruction, the number of remaining Vulcans was estimated to be less than ten thousand (with an unknown number scattered throughout the Federation). Nero had turned the once-thriving Vulcans into an [[endangered species]].
 
 
== Attack on Earth ==
 
:''Main article: [[Battle of Earth]]''
 
Nero's next target was [[Earth]], the core of the United Federation of Planets. Before he could attack Earth, he required the Starfleet codes which would allow him to disable the planet's defenses. He had captured Captain Pike for this purpose, and although Pike refused to cooperate willingly, Nero forced him to talk with a [[Centaurian slug]].
 
 
With Starfleet's defenses no longer a problem, Nero set a course for Earth. The ''Enterprise'' exited warp into the atmosphere of [[Titan]] and was able to beam James T. Kirk and young Spock aboard the ''Narada'' as it entered Earth's orbit, using the [[magnetism|magnetic field]] of [[Saturn]]'s rings to remain invisible to the ''Narada''{{'}}s [[sensor]]s. Spock piloted the ''Jellyfish'' out of the ''Narada'' and destroyed the drill, which had already begun boring into Earth. Meanwhile, Nero encountered Kirk, who was searching for Captain Pike. Nero fought with Kirk, telling the young officer that he recognized him from Earth's history and that the Jim Kirk he read about "was said to be a great man... but that was another life."
 
 
Nero was preparing to kill Kirk when he received word that the ''Jellyfish'' had been taken and the drill destroyed. Furious that his plans to destroy the Federation faltered, Nero left Kirk to Ayel, who was ultimately killed by Kirk, and went to the bridge of the ''Narada'', desperately trying to kill Spock, despite the fact that the destruction of the ''Jellyfish'' would have ignited the red matter and created a massive black hole. Spock took the ''Jellyfish'' to [[warp]] to get out of the [[Sol system]], and Nero followed.
 
 
In an isolated area of space, Spock set the ''Jellyfish'' on a collision course with the ''Narada''. As soon as Nero caught on, he ordered all torpedoes launched, but those torpedoes were destroyed by the ''Enterprise'', ensuring that Spock complete his mission. After Spock, Kirk, and Pike were transported back to the ''Enterprise'', Nero watched in despair as the ''Jellyfish'' collided with the ''Narada'' and released the red matter across the ship.
 
[[File:Nero sucked into a black hole.jpg|thumb|Nero accepts his fate]]
 
The resulting black hole ripped through the ''Narada'', cutting it in half. Aboard the bridge, Nero answered the hails of Captain Kirk aboard the ''Enterprise'', who offered his assistance. An embittered, enraged Nero refused the offer, saying he would rather watch his homeworld be destroyed a thousand times and die in agony than to accept the assistance of the Federation. Kirk obliged and ordered the ''Enterprise'' to fire at the ''Narada''. Nero remained on the bridge as he observed the ship collapsing around him and closed his eyes as he resigned to his fate. Within seconds, the ''Narada'' soon vanished out of existence, taking Nero and every remaining Romulan aboard with it. ({{film|11}})
 
   
 
==Memorable quotes==
 
==Memorable quotes==

Revision as of 23:22, 10 December 2009

Template:Articletype Template:Sidebar character

For the comic book series on the character, see Star Trek: Nero.

Nero was a 24th century Romulan miner responsible for the creation of the alternate reality. He did this via an accidental incursion into the 23rd century. A sworn enemy of the United Federation of Planets, he intended to completely obliterate the Federation in the timeline his actions created. He succeeded in destroying the planet Vulcan, and with it, most of the Vulcan people, before he himself was defeated and destroyed by Federation Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk

Origins

Romulus Destroyed in 2387

}The destruction of Romulus

In 2387, the planet Romulus, capital world of the Romulan Star Empire, was destroyed by a supernova. Nero was at the time the captain of the Romulan mining vessel Narada. His life, in his words, was one of honest labor. He witnessed the destruction of Romulus.

The supernova that destroyed Romulus had been discovered to be a threat to the entire Milky Way. The Vulcan Spock, a Federation ambassador, had developed a plan to avert this by use of red matter, a substance capable of creating black holes. He had intended to enact this plan to destroy the supernova before the explosion reached Romulus. However, he was to late, and Romulus was destroyed before he could arrive to implement it. Nero lost his wife and unborn child, along with nearly all of his people.

Nero did not believe that Spock had intended to save Romulus. On the contrary, he and his crew believed that Spock and the Federation had deliberately let Romulus be destroyed. Swearing revenge, they intercepted Spock’s vessel, the Jellyfish, soon after he had used the red matter to create a black hole that swallowed the supernova, saving other worlds from becoming as Romulus. Spock attempted to escape, but both the Jellyfish and the Narada were pulled into the black hole, which had caused a temporal rift that shunted both ships back in time, to the year 2233.

Incursion

Nero explodes when told he is in 2233

Nero charges at Robau to kill him

The Narada arrived in 2233 near the Klingon-Federation border. At first, Nero and his crew did not realize what had occurred. Using the weaponry of the Narada, which, being a 24th century vessel, was far more advanced than anything in the 23rd century, Nero and his crew attacked and severely damaged the Federation starship USS Kelvin, and forced her captain, Richard Robau, to come aboard the Narada. There he was questioned as to the whereabouts of Spock and the Jellyfish. Upon realizing from his answers that they were now 154 years in the past, Nero killed Robau in rage. Robau’s first officer, Lieutenant George Kirk, managed to save the rest of the Kelvin crew by piloting her into the Narada in a kamikaze run after the crew evacuated. This damaged the Narada somewhat, but did not disable it. Nero and his crew spent the next 25 years repairing the Narada and waiting for Spock to come through from their own time, as they had done.

Destruction of Vulcan

File:Vulcan Orbital (alternate reality).jpg

Vulcan's destruction

Nero calculated the exact time and place of the arrival of the Jellyfish. When it came through, he and his crew promptly captured it. However, Nero did not intend to kill Spock. Instead, he intended to visit upon Spock the same loss that he believed Spock had caused him and his crew: the loss of his homeworld while he watched, powerless to stop it.

Nero took Spock to Delta Vega, a planet near Vulcan, and marooned him there, where he could see Vulcan large and clearly. The Narada was then positioned over Vulcan, its drill platform was deployed and a hole was drilled to the planet’s core. While this was being done, the Narada was attacked by a fleet of Federation starships, as the drilling had caused severe seismic disturbances that had elicited a distress call, bringing a Federation fleet in response. The Narada decimated the fleet. The last ship to arrive was the USS Enterprise[!], commanded by Captain Christopher Pike. Also aboard were then-Cadet James T. Kirk and the Spock of this timeline, who was the First Officer.

Nero contacted the Enterprise and demanded that Pike come over to the Narada alone in a shuttle, threatening the Enterprise with the destruction he had inflicted on the fleet if Pike refused. Pike acceded, but also organized a mission in which Kirk, whom he had made Acting First Officer, and two other officers, orbital skydived onto the drill platform and disabled it. However, the three officers could not do so before it had reached Vulcan’s core. Nero had a torpedo containing red matter from the store still contained within the Jellyfish launched into the core. On detonation, the red matter created a black hole that consumed the planet. The only survivors were approximately ten thousand whom the Enterprise managed to beam up, including the Vulcan High Council, whom this timeline’s Spock had personally rescued. Nearly six billion Vulcans, almost the entire people, perished. Nero’s quest for revenge against Vulcan was successfully completed.

Attempted Destruction of Earth

Nero interrogates Pike

Nero interrogates Pike

Nero’s next objective was the obliteration of the Federation itself. He intended to destroy all Federation planets, starting with the state’s capital world of Earth, in a similar fashion to what he did to Vulcan. In doing so, he intended to create an existence for Romulus that was without the Federation. Having captured Captain Pike, he used the coercive effect of a Centaurian slug to force him to reveal the codes to Earth’s defense grid. The Narada then set course for Earth.

Downfall

Nero sucked into a black hole

Nero's final moments

However, aboard the Enterprise, Kirk had become acting Captain. He ordered chase given to the Narada. As the Narada settled over Earth’s and its drill platform deployed, he implemented a plan to beam himself and Spock aboard the Narada. Spock took control of the Jellyfish, exited the Narada with it and used it to destroy the drill platform. Meanwhile, Kirk rescued Pike. Consumed by rage at being thwarted by the Spock of this timeline, Nero lost all sense of reason and ordered all weapons fired on the Jellyfish in an attempt to kill Spock, despite the danger of activating the red matter aboard the Jellyfish. This failed, and Spock piloted the Jellyfish on a collision course into the Narada, being beamed off before the collision. The explosion caused the store of red matter aboard the Jellyfish to form a black hole that began to tear the Narada apart. Having returned to the Enterprise, Kirk offered Nero assistance in saving himself and his crew. Nero furiously refused, preferring, in his words, to suffer the destruction of Romulus a thousand times and then die in agony than accept help from Kirk. Kirk obliged, ordering all the Enterprise’s weapons fired on the Narada, hastening the vessel’s destruction, and that of Nero and his crew. (Star Trek)

Memorable quotes

"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero." (Star Trek)


"James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man. He went on to captain the USS Enterprise...but that was another life. A life I will deprive you of, just like I did your father." (Star Trek)

- To James T. Kirk while strangling him.


"SPOOOOOCK!" (Star Trek)


"I want Spock dead now!" (Star Trek)


"Fire everything!" (Star Trek)


"I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you!"

- Nero's response to Kirk after suggesting Nero to surrender peacefully. (Star Trek)

Appendices

Background

Nero & Klingons

Deleted shot of Nero escaping his Klingon captors

Countdown Nero

Nero in Star Trek: Countdown

Nero was played by Eric Bana. Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci named Nero after the Roman emperor Nero, as a nod to the Roman inspirations of the Romulans.[1]

In the film, Ayel addresses Nero as "Prod". In a deleted scene in which the Narada is surrounded by a Klingon fleet, the subtitles created for the scene translate "prod" as "Commander." However, in the audio commentary for the film, the writers state that "Prod" was intended to mean "Praetor."

In the prequel comic Star Trek: Countdown, Nero's backstory is expanded upon. According to the series, Nero was initially in league with Spock, and attempted to help him stop the supernova. When Vulcan declined to assist Romulus by handing over the technology necessary to produce red matter, Nero blamed Spock and Vulcan after the supernova destroyed Romulus, believing it was a ploy to claim Romulan territory. He claimed his teral'n from the Romulan Praetor, whom he killed for ignoring Spock's warnings about the supernova. An explanation is also given for the tattoos on Nero and his crew:

"There was a tradition on Romulus that when a loved one died you would paint your grief upon your skin. Ancient symbols of love and loss. In time the paint would fade, and with it the period of mourning. Life would go on. We paint these symbols on our skin now. But we burn them deep. So that they will never fade. Because life does not go on. We died with our friends. We died with our families. We died with Romulus. And all that is left is revenge."

In the novelization of 2009's Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster, Nero states that his formal name resembles "Oren" ("Ŏ'ŗên"), but is difficult for Humans to pronounce. The novel reiterates that Nero believed the destruction of Romulus was part of a conspiracy perpetrated by the Federation, and that any attempt to warn of the supernova in the past would therefore be futile. It is also suggested that if Nero had succeeded in destroying the Federation, he would have used any remaining red matter to create a black hole and consume the star before it could go supernova. Additionally Nero states that the annihilation of the Federation would allow the Narada crew to return to Romulus as warriors rather than simple miners.

External links