Jonathan Archer

Jonathan Archer, played by Scott Bakula, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.

Archer is captain of the starship Enterprise from 2151 to 2161, and later president of the United Federation of Planets from 2184 to 2192.

According to a computer display in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", fictional 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 Planet.

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

Biography

Early life

Born to famed warp engineer Henry Archer and his wife Sally, Jonathan Archer was born in 2112, in Upstate New York, where he spent most of his formative years. His dream of exploring started as a boy. It is strongly suggested in several episodes (The Seventh, among others) that Archer studied at and played water polo for Stanford University just south of San Francisco, the headquarters of Starfleet (Starfleet Academy would not be founded until 2161). He later claimed to have spent the majority of his life in San Francisco, and at some point Archer joined Starfleet. He 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. As a youth, Archer earned the Eagle Scout award, along with 26 Merit Badges, from the Boy Scouts of America.

At Starfleet, Archer served as a pilot on the NX warp tests with people like A.G. Robinson, Duvall, and Gardner (all mentioned in the episode "First Flight"; it is assumed it is this Gardner who eventually becomes Admiral when Admiral 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 Lt. Charles "Trip" Tucker (who later became Commander under Archer) fixed the intermix ratios, and Robinson and Archer 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 the Enterprise, the first warp five starship.

Seasons 1 and 2: The explorer

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

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

While exploring, Archer makes quick enemies of the Klingons on his first mission. 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 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.

During this era, Archer has the distinction of making Earth's official first contact with dozens of alien races, including the Andorians, the Axanar, the Suliban, the Romulans, the Tandarans, the Tellarites, the Tholians, and, eventually the Xindi.

Temporal Cold War

Although initially optimistic, Archer becomes involved in his first mission as Captain of the Enterprise in the middle of the Temporal Cold War. The Temporal Cold War begins at the beginning of "Broken Bow," the first episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. In that episode, the audience is introduced to the Suliban and a man referred to as "Future Guy," a being from the future who is guiding the Suliban.

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

Season 3: Military commander in the Expanse

File:The Xindi (ENT episode).jpg

Archer in the Expanse.

With the Xindi attack on Earth in 2153, Archer becomes a changed man. No longer a congenial captain, he is now driven, secluded, and determined to seek out and confront the perpetrators. Archer also commits desperate, controversial acts of questionable morality to ensure a future for Earth, including torturing a prisoner in the episode "Anomaly," stranding 86 aliens to steal their needed warp coil in "Damage", and cloning Trip to harvest body parts in order to save the chief engineer in the episode "Similitude."

While on his mission to locate the Xindi, Archer is briefly transformed into a member of the extinct Loque'eque by a mutagenic virus in "Extinction." He later is afflicted by subspace parasites, creating an alternate timeline in which the Enterprise's mission fails and Earth is destroyed. ("Twilight")

With the help of Crewman Daniels, Archer and T'Pol travel back in time to 2004 Detroit to prevent the release of a Xindi-Reptilian bioweapon. ("Carpenter Street") By the end of the season, Archer is presumed dead when the Xindi superweapon is destroyed. However, he is transported back to the early 1940s, as is the Enterprise herself.

Season 4: The diplomat

File:Babel One (ENT episode).jpg

Archer with the Tellarite ambassador, Gral.

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 reforming 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 mind meld. Since that experience, he has used that knowledge at least once: to assist T'Pol with conducting her first mind meld, gaining information about who captured Dr. Phlox (as seen in the episode "Affliction").

The captain 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, Archer and his crew run into the Andorian Shran, a long-time friend/enemy/ally. During his stay, Romulans attack in disguise and cause the fragile alliance to crash to a halt. In the mix-up, a Tellarite kills Shran's mate Talas. Shran avenges her death by asking the Tellarite who killed her to fight to the death. Archer takes that challenge instead, and before the captain is about to (as his colleagues presume) meet his doom, T'Pol comes to reason with him, whispering, "If anything were to happen to you..." ("United") The fight proceeds; Shran is incapacitated but not hurt, and the alliance remains. What fans call the "Andorian Arc" is just another stepping stone to the Enterprise, and specifically Archer, gaining the credibility they need to help the universe form a coalition that eventually leads to the United Federation of Planets. ("Demons", "Terra Prime", "These Are the Voyages...")

Relationship with T'Pol

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

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 "Fusion"; he 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's happy she'll be staying aboard ("Stigma") and many other instances. However, it appears Archer's drive to complete the Xindi mission and save Earth diminished this possibility.

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 leaves it open for the possibility.

Place in history

File:Archer biographical.jpg

Archer's biography from "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II."

The time traveler Daniels had 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. We see this same ceremony (from the 'real' Archer's perspective) in the final episode of the series.

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 Defiant is briefly visible. According to the computer profile, Archer was an admiral and the 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 President of the United Federation of Planets (2184-2192).

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 Constitution class starship 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 "These Are the Voyages..." is meant to be a holographic recreation; this would also explain the other inconsistencies with the episode. [1]

The Mirror Archer

In the Mirror Universe, Archer held the rank of Commander and was the first officer of the mirror Enterprise. In this universe, he served under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest, the alternate version of Admiral Forrest. Unlike in the normal Trek universe, where Forrest and Archer are close friends and comrades, 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 even led a mutiny against Forrest and took over the ISS Enterprise. However, with the help of T'Pol and other Vulcans, Forrest was freed and the ship was retaken.

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 has become aware of, Forrest was ordered to investigate. On arrival, they discovered the ship, the USS Defiant, a Starfleet ship from the normal Trek 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 the Enterprise, discovered the Defiant is not only from another dimension, but the future and that the alternate dimension never had an 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, Archer was killed by his universe's Hoshi Sato, who poisoned him and took the ship for herself.

Trivia

• Some fans have nicknamed Archer "Captain Quantum", because of Scott Bakula's previous role of Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. Bakula himself once suggested that Archer's middle name is Beckett.
• In early stages of writing, Jonathan Archer was called Jeffrey Archer. This was reportedly changed to avoid clashing with the notorious UK politician/author Jeffrey Archer. Another name considered for the character was Jackson Archer, until it was discovered that only one person in the country was named Jackson Archer.

External links

• Jonathan Archer at Memory Alpha
• STARTREK.COM: Jonathan Archer
• Production artwork showing Archer's biography, from In A Mirror, Darkly