Pavel Chekov

For the mirror universe counterpart, please see Pavel Chekov (mirror).

File:PavelChekov2293.jpg
Captain Pavel Chekov in 2293
Gender:	Male
Species:	Human
Born:	2245
Rank:	Commander
Played by:	Walter Koenig
File:PavelChekov2267.jpg
Chekov in 2267

Pavel Andreievich Chekov was a 23rd century Starfleet officer who served as navigator and security chief aboard the USS Enterprise, as the executive officer aboard the USS Reliant, and again as the navigator aboard the USS Enterprise-A.

Early Life

Pavel Chekov, son of Andrei Chekov, was born in Russia on Earth in 2245. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?") Pavel was an only child, however he once believed, while under the influence of the Beta XII-A entity, that he had a brother named Piotr who was killed by the Klingons. (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

A proud Russian

As a proud Russian, Pavel often noted (sometimes erroneously) that most great inventions and events ever noted in history came from his homeland:

He claimed that the old Earth saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," was also invented in Russia. (TOS: "Friday's Child")

He claimed that the English story about the Cheshire Cat was a Russian story about a disappearing cat from Minsk. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?")

He was also known to have made references to Peter the Great, and once referred to himself as the tsar of all the Russians when he met Apollo. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Who Mourns for Adonais?")

He claimed that the Garden of Eden was located just outside Moscow. He claimed that it was "a very nice place" and that "it must've made Adam and Eve very sad to leave." (TOS: "The Apple")

He claimed that the region surrounding Sherman's Planet was first mapped by the famous Russian astronomer Ivan Burkoff, when in fact, it was discovered by John Burke, of the Royal Academy. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")

He claimed that quadrotriticale was a Russian invention, when, in fact, it was invented in Canada. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")

He claimed that scotch was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")

He claimed that Cinderella was a Russian tale, when, in fact, it originated in China. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

Captain Kirk once stopped Lieutenant Sulu mid-sentence, while Sulu was referencing an incident in Siberia, and told Sulu, "If I wanted a Russian history lesson, I would have brought Mr. Chekov." (TOS: "That Which Survives")

Chekov was also fond of the Russian beverage vodka and referring to the Klingons, among other individuals, as Cossacks. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Spectre of the Gun", "Day of the Dove")

In the novel Prime Directive, Chekov claimed that karate was invented in Russia before being stolen by the Chinese.

Career

Starfleet Academy

Around 2263 Chekov entered Starfleet Academy, from which he graduated with the rank of ensign. His Starfleet serial number was 656-5827D. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

During the early-2260s, Pavel was romantically involved with Irina Galliulin, while they both attended the Academy together. The two had several disagreements before they parted ways: Pavel believed Irina to always be too free-spirited, Irina believed Pavel to have always been rigid. When Irina dropped out of the Academy, each accused the one of leaving the other. Pavel left, but came back to look for Irina, who was at the time staying in the city with friends. Irina would eventually join the counterculture movement of Dr. Sevrin, and his search for the mythical planet Eden. (TOS: "The Way to Eden")

The Five-Year Mission

His first assignment, at the age of 22, was on the USS Enterprise under command of Captain James T. Kirk. Chekov served a standard junior officer rotation, eventually earning the post of navigator, although he was also proficient with the science officer station, often serving at the post in Spock's absence. While acting the role of science advisor, Chekov made every attempt to be as thorough as possible.

Chekov joined the crew of Enterprise sometime prior to their discovery of Khan Noonien Singh and his group of augment followers in 2267. Khan met Chekov sometime during the former's stay aboard Enterprise. When Chekov encountered Khan on Ceti Alpha V over 15 years later, Khan recognized him, stating he never forgot a face. (TOS: "Space Seed"; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Chekov must have been assigned to the Enterprise in some capacity as early as Khan's assault in "Space Seed", since Khan remembered meeting him in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It must have occurred off-screen, as Walter Koenig hadn't yet joined the series when that episode was filmed.

While investigating a humanoid that could generate and control energy, who referred to himself as Apollo, in 2267, Chekov began to spout off information on similar creatures. After naming the electric eel and giant dryworm, he was stopped by Dr. McCoy, who told him "not the whole encyclopedia, Chekov," later quipping on Chekov's dedicated thoroughness by stating: "Spock's contaminating this boy, Jim." (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?")

When Kirk was transported to the mirror universe, Chekov's counterpart believed him to be the mirror universe Kirk, and tried to assassinate him in order to seize control of the Enterprise. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

After landing on a planet, the Enterprise’s crew discovered Harcourt Fenton Mudd who had crashed on the planet. The planet was populated by androids who wished to use the Enterprise to visit other planets. The androids tempted Chekov with a planet full of beautiful women to serve him. In the end, the crew would band together and escape the planet, leaving Mudd with an android replica of his own wife. (TOS: "I, Mudd")

During an away mission to deliver supplies to an Earth colony on planet Gamma Hydra, the crew finds most of the colonists dead from rapid aging. On return to Enterprise the entire crew is infected with the disease—except Chekov, who was part of the away team. McCoy determines that the cure is adrenaline. Chekov was so afraid of finding the dead bodies on the planet that his adrenaline provided an immunity to the disease. (TOS: "The Deadly Years")

During the Tribble incident, Chekov, along with Uhura, would bring one tribble back to the Enterprise, which reproduced so fast that the ship become overrun with them. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")

Chekov, Kirk, and Uhura were captured by alien beings who used them in gladiatorial combat, which the beings wagered on. Such captured beings were known as "thralls." One of the thralls, Tamoon, who was assigned to train Chekov in gladiatorial combat, developed romantic feelings toward him, leading to many unwelcome advances. (TOS: "The Gamesters of Triskelion")

Chekov was left in charge of the Enterprise when Kirk, Spock and McCoy visited a primative planet. While they are on the surface, a Klingon ship appears, and Chekov is able to hide the Enterprise from the Klingon ship. This not only protected the Enterpirse, but also the away team. (TOS: "A Private Little War")

In 2268, Chekov was killed during a mission to make contact with the Melkotians. The Melkotians consider the humans as a disease that must be destroyed, and place them in a frontier setting during the time of Wyatt Earp. The away team fills the role of the Clantons, one of the two major groups involved at the OK Corral gunfight. Chekov is killed by one of the Earps over a girl. Spock realized that this simulation was not real, and thus the away team could not be hurt as long as they did not believe in the illusion. After successfully escaping the illusionary Wild West setting, the crew was transported back to the Enterprise, along with Chekov who was alive once again. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")

Chekov was part of an away team that beamed aboard the starship USS Defiant, which was adrift in space. They discovered that the ship was dissolving. After beaming back to the Enterprise, Chekov attacked Spock in a fit of madness. The illness then spread throughout the ship. The dissolving of space was causing mental breakdowns in the crew. After rescuing Kirk, and escaping the Tholians, order is restored. (TOS: "Tholian Web")

File:IrinaGalliulin.jpg

Irina Galliulin in 2269

In 2269, Chekov would once again encounter his lost love, Irina. Initially happy to see one another, Chekov adamantly disapproved of her new lifestyle and attempted to cast her off. She visits Chekov, who is working in Auxiliary Control assigned to help Spock locate Eden, to apologize for upsetting Pavel. Her ulterior motive, however, was to subtly use him to gain his knowledge of the systems of the ship, which were later used by Sevrin for hijacking control of the Enterprise. The two would leave each other once again, this time while saying "good-bye" to one another, as well as each with a better understanding of the other. (TOS: "The Way to Eden")

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Lieutenant Chekov in the 2270s.

By the early 2270s he had been promoted to lieutenant and served as the security chief of the refit Enterprise under the command of Willard Decker.

Chekov's hands were severely burned when the ship was probed during its encounter with V'Ger. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Many fans and reference books speculate that there was another mission under Admiral Kirk after this movie.

Later Career

Chekov was later promoted to commander and assigned as first officer to USS Reliant under Captain Terrell.

In 2285, Reliant was on a mission to find a suitable planet to conduct trials with the Genesis Device. When they explored Ceti Alpha V, Chekov and Captain Terrell encountered Khan Noonien Singh and his augments. By putting Ceti eels inside their heads, Khan made them susceptible to his suggestions, his motive being to seek revenge on Admiral Kirk. Using Chekov and Terrell, Khan was able to seize the Reliant and subsequently steal the Genesis Device. After Captain Terrell's death, and the departure of the Ceti eel from his head, Chekov recovered in time to help defeat Khan in the battle of the Mutara Nebula. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

In 2286, Chekov and his shipmates Kirk, Scotty, Sulu, and McCoy stole the Enterprise from Spacedock (with Uhura's help) in an attempt to recover a regenerated Spock from the Genesis Planet. The Enterprise was disabled by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey in orbit around the Genesis Planet, and was then self-destructed by Kirk (with help from Scotty and Chekov) to prevent its capture. Kirk and his crew later seized command of the Klingon ship, which they named the HMS Bounty. The crew then transported the regenerated body of Spock to Vulcan, where the body would be reunited with his katra, which had been placed in McCoy. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Using the slingshot effect, the Bounty went back in time to 1986, to transport two Humpback whales back to the 23rd century. While on Earth, Chekov and Uhura where part of "Team 2," assigned to locating and acquiring photons for recrystallizing the dilithium crystals aboard the Bounty. Although the mission was a success in acquiring the necessary photons from the nuclear vessel, USS Enterprise, Chekov was captured by the ships security. Accused of being a "Russkie," Chekov made a failed escape attempt from the aircraft carrier, only to become critically injured when he fell over fifty feet from the ship's hangar deck, running through an open hatch that led out to one of the ship's massive aircraft elevators.

Chekov was taken into emergency surgery at Mercy Hospital where he was diagnosed with a tearing of the middle meningeal artery—narrowly escaping a funduscopic examination. He would successfully be healed and subsequently evacuated from the hospital by McCoy, Kirk and Gillian Taylor.

Upon returning to the 23rd century, Chekov and his shipmates faced court martial for their actions. However, they were eventually cleared of all charges, and Chekov was reassigned as the new navigator and security chief on the Enterprise-A. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

In 2293, Chekov ascended to the position of Captain. Captain Chekov was a guest of honor on board the new Enterprise-B under the command of John Harriman. During the maiden voyage, Captain Kirk apparently died when a part of the Nexus energy ribbon collided with the Enterprise-B. (Star Trek Generations)

He was briefly referred to as "Captain Chekov" by one of the reporters on the Enterprise-B. Chekov was still wearing a commanders pin, suggesting that he might have been a "junior captain." Another possibility is that he had simply received news of his promotion, and had not actually undergone his promotion ceremony yet.

Biographical timeline

• 2245 : Born in Russia, on Earth
• circa 2263 : Enrolls at Starfleet Academy, later graduates with the rank of ensign
• circa 2266 : Assigned to USS Enterprise as helmsman and relief science officer
• 2270 : The Enterprise's five-year mission ends.
• Early 2270s : Joins the refit Enterprise crew as lieutenant, assigned as security chief
• 2285 : Assigned to USS Reliant as commander, first officer. Assignment ends when the vessel is destroyed by Khan Noonien Singh. Chekov participates in the theft and destruction of Enterprise, and flees with Admiral Kirk's party to Vulcan
• 2286 : Charges against the crew and Chekov are dropped, Chekov becomes security chief of USS Enterprise-A
• 2287 : Temporarily in command of the Enterprise-A, acts as captain to negotiate with Sybok at Nimbus III
• 2293 : After helping to solve the Khitomer Conspiracy, Chekov's assignment to the Enterprise-A ends when the vessel is scheduled for retirement. He is promoted to Captain. Chekov is a guest on board the new Enterprise-B.

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Appendices

Background

Chekov was played by Walter Koenig, who joined the cast of Star Trek at the beginning of TOS Season 2. Fandom placed Chekov's birthplace in Saint Petersburg.

According to Gene L. Coon in his The Making of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry wanted to add in a young, British character to appeal to younger demographics. However, he received a written complaint from Russian sources, who complained that Star Trek—though trying to fashion a future where the world was united—was ignoring the USSR, which, at the time, was the leader in the Space Race. Roddenberry soon after altered his British youth into Pavel.

On the video release of "William Shatner's Star Trek Memories," Walter Koenig himself said that the Russians didn't say anything about there being no Russians on Enterprise and the Pravda article that Roddenberry and Coon referred to likely didn't exist because at the height of the Cold War, no American programming was airing in Russia. According to Koenig, the character was added to add Davy Jones-like appeal to the show and that the Russian heritage was added by Roddenberry indeed because he wanted to honor the fact that the Russians were the first people in space. In his first couple of episodes, Koenig indeed wore a Monkees style wig to look more like Davy Jones.

Apocrypha

In the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy game, Chekov claims he was stationed on planet Benderi IV prior to joining the Enterprise where he had a commanding officer who believed getting angry was unprofessional and bottled up her rage until it exploded. After Chekov's final appearance in Generations (circa 2293), and the reference that a starship would be named after him by 2367, no canon information exists on how he lived out the rest of his days, or what fate he met. According to "The Sundered," the first book in the Star Trek: The Lost Era series, Chekov serves as executive officer of the USS Excelsior from 2293 through at least part of 2298. Chekov is mentioned in TNG-era novels from Pocket Books, such as Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens's "Federation." That novel mentioned him becoming an admiral after commanding both the USS Potemkin and USS Cydonia. The Reeves-Stevenses collaborated with William Shatner on "The Return," which goes so far as to indicate that Chekov became Fleet Admiral. In "Exodus," a novel in the Star Trek: Vulcan's Soul series by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz, there is a plot thread that indicates Chekov may still be alive by the time of the Dominion War, as well as Admiral Uhura. In fan fiction, Walter Koenig reprised his role as Chekov in the, fan produced series, Star Trek New Voyages episode that premiered November 23 2006 and subsequently died, defying the canonical progresion of all the star trek movies.