Family. Picard was born on Earth in 2305 to Maurice Picard and Yvette Gessard Picard. Maurice was a tradition-bound French vintner who discouraged young Jean-Luc’s ambitions of voyaging among the stars. (“Tapestry” [TNG], “Chain of Command, Part II” [TNG]). Jean-Luc was raised on a family farm in Labarre, France, along with his older brother, Robert Picard. (“Family” [TNG]). As a boy, young Jean-Luc enjoyed building ships in bottles; his collection included a legendary Promellian battle cruiser, a ship that he would one day discover in his voyages aboard the Enterprise -D. Those toy ships served as a springboard for the future captain’s imagination. (“Booby Trap” [TNG]). As a boy, Picard visited the Smithsonian Institution and viewed Zefram Cochrane's warp ship, the Phoenix, several times. (Star Trek: First Contact). Jean-Luc Picard was proud of his illustrious family history. One of his ancestors fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, a Picard won a Nobel Prize for chemistry, and Picards were among those who settled the first Martian Colonies. (Star Trek Generations). SEE: Picard’s photo album; Trafalgar, Battle of. On the other hand, Picard felt guilt over the role of another ancestor, Javier Maribona-Picard, in the infamous crushing of the Pueblo Revolt on Earth in 1692. (“Journey’s End” [TNG]).
Academy and early career. Picard failed in 2322 to gain entrance to Starfleet Academy at the age of 17, but was admitted a year later. (“Coming of Age” [TNG]). As a first-year cadet in 2323, Picard became the only freshman ever to win the Starfleet Academy marathon on Danula II. (“The Best of Both Worlds, Part II” [TNG]). Picard won top academic honors as well. (“Family” [TNG]). Cadet Picard committed a serious offense while at the academy. Years later, he credited academy groundskeeper Boothby with making it possible for him to graduate by helping him to do the right thing. (“The First Duty” [TNG]). Shortly after graduating from Starfleet Academy with the class of 2327, Picard was on leave with several classmates at Starbase Earhart, where he picked a fight with three Nausicaans at the Bonestell Recreation Facility. One of the Nausicaans stabbed Picard through the heart, necessitating a cardiac replacement procedure, leaving Picard with an artificial heart. (“Samaritan Snare” [TNG], “Tapestry” [TNG]). SEE: Batanides, Marta; Zweller, Cortin. (Q commented that the injury to Picard’s heart had occurred “30 years ago,” which would set the Nausicaan incident in 2338. Unfortunately, this was a mistake, since “The First Duty” [TNG] established that Picard graduated in 2327, but the oversight was not caught until after the episode was filmed. The young Ensign Picard was played by Marcus Nash.) As a young lieutenant, Picard met Ambassador Sarek at the wedding of the ambassador’s son. Picard recalled how in awe he was at meeting someone who had helped to shape the Federation. (“Sarek” [TNG]). (The episode does not make it clear which “son” Picard was referring to, although Gene Roddenberry said he thought it was Spock.) As a young officer, Picard was romantically involved with the future Jenice Manheim. Although the two had been strongly attracted to each other, Picard feared commitment, and eventually broke off the relationship in 2342. For many years, Picard regretted losing Jenice, and the two saw each other again in 2364 when the Enterprise -D saved her husband, Dr. Paul Manheim, after a serious laboratory accident on Vandor IV. (“We’ll Always Have Paris” [TNG]). In his early career, Picard distinguished himself when he led an away team to planet Milika III, to save an endangered ambassador. (“Tapestry” [TNG]).
On the Stargazer. Lieutenant Picard was a bridge officer on the U.S.S. Stargazer when the ship’s captain was killed. Picard took charge of the bridge, and for his service in the emergency was offered the command of the Stargazer. (“Tapestry” [TNG]). Picard commanded the Stargazer for some 20 years, until 2355, when the ship was nearly destroyed by an unprovoked sneak attack near the Maxia Zeta star system. The surviving Stargazer crew, including Picard, drifted for weeks in shuttlecraft before being rescued. The assailant in the incident was unknown, but was later found to be a Ferengi spacecraft. (“The Battle” [TNG]). SEE: Picard Maneuver. Following the loss of the Stargazer, Picard was court-martialed as required by standard Starfleet procedure, but he was exonerated. The prosecutor in the case was Phillipa Louvois, with whom Picard had been romantically involved. (“The Measure of a Man” [TNG]).
Aboard the Enterprise -D. Jean-Luc Picard was appointed captain of the fifth Starship Enterprise in 2363, shortly after the ship was commissioned. (“Encounter at Farpoint” [TNG]). Picard was offered a promotion to the admiralty in 2364 when Admiral Gregory Quinn was attempting to consolidate his power base to combat an unknown alien intelligence that was trying to take over Starfleet Command. Picard declined the offer, citing his belief that he could better serve the Federation as a starship commander. (“Coming of Age” [TNG]). An energy vortex near the Endicor system created a duplicate of Picard from six hours in the future, in 2365. Although the duplicate was identical to the “present” person, Picard had difficulty accepting the existence of his twin because he believed the twin might have been responsible for the destruction of his ship, a deeply repugnant thought. (“Time Squared” [TNG]). Picard’s artificial heart required routine replacement, most recently in 2365, when complications in the cardiac replacement procedure performed at Starbase 515 necessitated emergency assistance by Dr. Katherine Pulaski. (“Samaritan Snare” [TNG]). Picard met Ambassador Sarek again in 2366, when Sarek’s last mission was jeopardized by Bendii Syndrome, which caused the ambassador to lose emotional control. Picard mind-melded with Sarek to lend the ambassador the emotional stability needed to conclude the historic treaty with the Legarans. (“Sarek” [TNG]).
Picard was reduced to a child after passing through an energy field in 2369. (“Rascals” [TNG]). Jean-Luc Picard suffered profound emotional abuse in 2369 when he was captured by Gul Madred, a Cardassian officer who tortured Picard for Starfleet tactical information. Picard resisted, but later confessed that the experience so brutalized him that he would have told Madred anything had he not been rescued. (“Chain of Command, Parts I and II” [TNG]). Picard’s command of the Enterprise -D came to a premature end in 2371, when the ship was destroyed at planet Veridian III while trying to prevent Dr. Tolian Soran from destroying the Veridian system. Working with Picard to stop Soran was James T. Kirk, captain of the original Starship Enterprise. Kirk, who had been missing for some 78 years following the launch of the Enterprise -B, was killed while stopping Soran. SEE: nexus. (Star Trek Generations).
Aboard the Enterprise -E. Captain Picard assumed command of the Sovereign -class Enterprise -E upon its launch in 2372. When a Borg ship threatened Earth in 2373, Picard violated orders and responded in defense of his homeworld. Picard’s residual connection to the Borg collective made it possible for the Starfleet armada to destroy the Borg ship. (Star Trek: First Contact).
Picard and the Klingon Empire. Picard assumed an unprecedented role in Klingon politics when he served as Arbiter of Succession following the death of Klingon leader K’mpec in 2367. K’mpec took the highly unusual step of appointing an outsider as arbiter so as to ensure that the choice of K’mpec’s successor would not plunge the empire into civil war. Under Picard’s arbitration, council member Gowron emerged as the sole challenger for leadership of the High Council. (“Reunion” [TNG]).
Personal interests. Picard was something of a Renaissance man, whose areas of interest ranged from drama to astrophysics. He was an avid amateur archaeologist, occasionally publishing scientific papers on the subject, and even addressing the Federation Archaeology Council in 2367. (“QPid” [TNG]). SEE: Tagus III. Early in his career, at the urging of his teacher, noted archaeologist Richard Galen, Picard seriously considered pursuing archaeology on a professional level. Picard’s path later crossed Galen’s again just before Galen’s death in 2369. Picard helped complete Galen’s greatest discovery, the reconstruction of an ancient message from a humanoid species that lived some four billion years ago. (“The Chase” [TNG]). SEE: humanoid life. Picard studied the legendary ancient Iconians while at the academy. (“Contagion” [TNG]). Picard was also an accomplished equestrian, and one of his favorite holodeck programs was a woodland setting in which he enjoyed riding a computer-simulated Arabian mare. (“Pen Pals” [TNG]). Picard played the piano when he was young (“Lessons” [TNG]), but his deep love of music may have stemmed from an incident in 2368 when his mind received a lifetime of memories from the now-dead planet Kataan, and he experienced the life of a man named Kamin, who died a thousand years ago. Kamin had played a Ressikan flute, and Picard treasured that instrument because of having shared Kamin’s memories. (“The Inner Light” [TNG]).
~1:[2,#B],7:[1,#B],16:[1,#I],19:[2,#B],71:[20,#I],93:[3,#I]@1Picard, Maurice@2(Clive Church). Vinticulturist from Labarre, France, on planet Earth, and the father of Enterprise -D Captain Jean-Luc Picard. (“Chain of Command, Part II” [TNG]). The elder Picard did not approve of advanced technology and avoided it in his life whenever possible. It was understandable, then, that Maurice Picard was disappointed when his younger son joined Starfleet rather than remaining at home to tend the family vineyard. (“Tapestry” [TNG]). The name Maurice Picard was first seen on Jean-Luc’s biographical computer screen in “Conundrum” (TNG). The name was selected by Star Trek writer-producer Ron Moore.
~1:[3,#B],8:[1,#I],11:[2,#B],48:[1,#B],56:[20,#I]@1Picard, Yvette Gessard@2(Herta Ware). Mother to Enterprise -D Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Many years after her death, Picard once again met her son, Jean-Luc, in 2364 when a failed warp-drive experiment caused a bizarre intertwining of time, space, and thought caused by an individual known as the Traveler. (“Where No One Has Gone Before” [TNG]). Jean-Luc’s mother’s name was established in “Chain of Command, Part II” [TNG]). She was named after Yvette Mimieux, star of The Time Machine.
~1:[4,#B],14:[2,#B],27:[2,#B]@1Picnic on Rymus Major@2Holosuite program; an outdoor setting shared by Quark and Natima Lang in 2363. It was the first holosuite program installed on station Terok Nor. (“Profit and Loss” [DS9]).
~1:[3,#B],12:[2,#I],19:[1,#I],26:[4,#B],36:[2,#B],76:[1,#I],78:[1,#B],110:[2,#B]@1Pierce, Walter J.@2(Mark Rolston). Starfleet engineer who helped build the Starship Enterprise -D. In 2362, while the Enterprise -D was still under construction at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, a love triangle existed among Pierce, Marla Finn, and another man. When Pierce caught the other two embracing, he became overwhelmed with anger and killed them both. Afterwards he was overcome by guilt, and committed suicide by jumping into the plasma stream in one of the Enterprise -D’s nacelle control rooms. Because Pierce’s maternal grandmother was Betazoid, Pierce was partially empathic. The subspace energy in the nacelle imprinted his empathic pattern on a bulkhead like a “psychic photograph.” In 2370, Daniel Kwan discovered the panel, and since he was also partially empathic, the psychic signature triggered an hallucination that caused him to experience events similar to those last experienced by Lieutenant Pierce, causing Kwan to commit suicide. When investigating the death of Kwan, Deanna Troi experienced the same phenomenon, but was stopped before she could jump to her death. (“Eye of the Beholder” [TNG]).
~1:[2,#B],10:[2,#BI],21:[2,#B]@1Piersall, Lieutenant@2(Mark Erickson). Starfleet officer assigned to the U.S.S. Prometheus. Piersall was on duty during the mission to reignite Epsilon 119 in 2370. (“Second Sight” [DS9]).
~1:[2,#B],3:[1,#I],14:[2,#B]@1Pierson, Lieutenant@2Enterprise -D engineering technician. Pierson worked to help repair the experimental particle fountain at planet Tyrus VIIA in 2369. (“The Quality of Life” [TNG]).
~1:[3,#B],8:[1,#B],15:[2,#B],21:[2,#B]@1Pike City Pioneers@2One of the six baseball teams organized in mid 2371 on Cestus III. The youngest brother of Kasidy Yates was a member of the Pioneers, and even arranged to have audio recordings of their games transmitted to her in the Bajor Sector. (“Family Business” [DS9]).
~1:[2,#B],6:[2,#B],12:[1,#B],19:[5,#I]@1Pike City@2Town on planet Cestus III. Pike City organized a baseball team in mid-2371. (“Family Business” [DS9]). Presumably named for Christopher Pike.
~1:[2,#B],10:[2,#BI],21:[2,#B],27:[3,#B],40:[1,#B],48:[1,#I],65:[2,#B],76:[2,#B],112:[1,#B],136:[24,#I],161:[14,#I],176:[4,#I],182:[19,#I],203:[55,#I],260:[3,#I],265:[25,#I]@1Pike, Christopher@2(Jeffrey Hunter). Early captain of the first Starship Enterprise. Pike commanded one of the first missions to planet Talos IV, after which Starfleet imposed General Order 7, prohibiting Federation contact with that planet. Pike was born in Mojave, on Earth; he took command of the Enterprise in 2250 and conducted two five-year missions of exploration. He relinquished command of that ship to James Kirk in 2263, at which time Pike was promoted to fleet captain. Pike suffered severe radiation injuries in 2266 as a result of an accident aboard a class-J training ship. Wheelchair-bound as a result of delta-ray exposure, Pike went to live on Talos IV when the Talosians offered to use their power of illusion to provide him with a life unfettered by his physical body. (“The Cage,” “The Menagerie” [TOS]). Based on Spock’s line that he had served with Pike for 11 years, we conjecture that Pike had commanded two five-year missions of the Enterprise prior to his promotion to fleet captain in 2263. Christopher Pike was seen as Enterprise captain in the first Star Trek pilot episode, “The Cage” [TOS], produced in 1964. Actor Jeffrey Hunter, who portrayed Pike, was unavailable when the second Star Trek pilot (“Where No Man Has Gone Before” [TOS]) was being planned, so the part was recast with William Shatner portraying Captain James Kirk. Footage from “The Cage” was later incorporated into the two-part episode “The Menagerie” (TOS). Prior to selecting either Shatner or Hunter, producer Gene Roddenberry had offered the role of the captain to Sea Hunt actor Lloyd Bridges. Star Trek tradition has it that shuttlecraft are named after famous explorers and scientists, and the shuttle in “The Most Toys” (TNG) was named after Christopher Pike.
~1:[2,#BI],6:[1,#I],15:[1,#B],25:[1,#I],44:[2,#B],50:[1,#I],52:[11,#I]@1Pike, Shuttlepod@2Assigned to the Enterprise -D, this shuttle, #12, was destroyed while transporting hytritium to the ship in 2366. The explosion of the Pike was initially believed to be due to pilot error, but was later discovered to have been caused by Kivas Fajo. (“The Most Toys [TNG]). The Pike was named for Captain Christopher Pike, early captain of the first Starship Enterprise.
~1:[2,#B],3:[1,#I],12:[2,#B]@1Pinder, Lieutenant@2Enterprise -D science division crew member, and supervisor to Ensign Janeway. Pinder found fault in Janeway’s performance, much to Janeway’s dismay. (“Man of the People” [TNG]).
~1:[1,#BI],2:[1,#B],13:[1,#B],20:[1,#I],25:[1,#B],27:[1,#B],60:[2,#B],62:[6,#I],69:[2,#B],71:[1,#I],73:[4,#I],80:[16,#I],97:[20,#I]@1Pioneer 10@2Ancient robotic space probe launched from Earth in 1972 by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Pioneer 10 studied the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and was the first human-made object to leave Earth’s solar system. The probe drifted for centuries in the interstellar void until it was destroyed in 2287 by a Klingon bird-of-prey piloted by Captain Klaa. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). SEE: SETI greeting. The Pioneer 10 model used in Star Trek V was built by Greg Jein with technical assistance provided by TRW, Inc., and Richard O. Fimmel, Pioneer project manager for NASA’s Ames Research Center. (We didn’t tell him that we were going to blow up his spacecraft!)
~1:[1,#B],3:[2,#B]@1Piotr@2SEE: Chekov, Piotr.
~1:[3,#B],6:[3,#B],11:[1,#I]@1Piper, Dr. Mark@2(Paul Fix). Chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise in 2265. Predecessor to Dr. McCoy. (“Where No Man Has Gone Before” [TOS]).
~1:[1,#BI],2:[1,#B],30:[1,#I]@1pipius claw@2A traditional Klingon dish. Commander Riker tasted some of this stuff when he tried to acquaint himself with Klingon culture prior to his temporary assignment to the Pagh in 2365. (“A Matter of Honor” [TNG]).
~1:[1,#B],6:[1,#B],10:[1,#B],23:[2,#B],27:[3,#B],35:[2,#B]@1Pirak@2Gul who commanded the Cardassian weapons depot at Hathon. Pirak was killed, along with his family, by a bomb planted by Kira Nerys and the Shakaar resistance cell. Years later, on stardate 50416, Silaran Prin, a servant to Pirak who was disfigured in the explosion, sought vengeance against those responsible. (“The Darkness and the Light” [DS9]).
~1:[4,#BI],34:[4,#I],40:[1,#I]@1Pirates of Penzance, The@2Comic operetta by Sir William Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, first published on Earth in 1879. Beverly Crusher, in her role as ship’s drama director, staged a production of The Pirates of Penzance aboard the Enterprise -D in 2368. She urged Geordi La Forge to audition for the role of Major-General Stanley for the production, although Geordi was uncomfortable about singing in front of an audience. (“Disaster” [TNG]).
~1:[1,#B]@1Piri@2(Rosemary Morgan). Akritirian citizen born in 2359. Piri and her brother, Vel, sympathized with the terrorist group known as Open Sky. (“The Chute” [VGR]).
~1:[1,#B],45:[2,#B]@1pistol@2Handheld weapon that used a small chemical explosive cartridge to propel a metal pellet. One variety of these weapons, known as a double-action cavalry pistol, circa 1873, was found in a subterranean cavern on Earth in 2368. (“Time’s Arrow, Part I” [TNG]). SEE: Police Special.
~1:[1,#B],7:[3,#B]@1Pit@2(Ed Trotta). Inmate of the Akritirian prison satellite while Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris were imprisoned there on stardate 50156. (“The Chute” [VGR]).
~1:[1,#BI],18:[1,#B],20:[2,#BI],39:[1,#I],43:[2,#I]@1Plak-tow@2Vulcan term roughly translating as “blood fever.” Refers to a state of mind in which a Vulcan undergoing Pon farr, the mating drive, becomes oblivious to anything not related to the winning of one’s mate. Spock experienced Plak-tow when he underwent Pon farr in 2267, making him prone to throwing bowls of soup in anger. (“Amok Time” [TOS]).
~1:[2,#B],23:[2,#B],48:[2,#I],54:[1,#I],73:[2,#B],75:[4,#I],81:[15,#I],99:[1,#I],105:[16,#I],122:[12,#I],135:[17,#I]@1Planet Hell@2Unofficial name for a Class-M planet in the Delta Quadrant. The planet had no detectable plant life, was shrouded with trigemic vapors, and possessed electromagnetic disturbances throughout its atmosphere. The planet was given its name by the personnel of the Stellar Cartography section of the U.S.S. Voyager in 2372. Shortly after Voyager's discovery of the planet, Lieutenant Paris and Neelix were stranded there when their shuttlecraft crashed. (“Parturition” [VGR]). SEE: reptohumanoid hatchling. Planet Hell was the Star Trek production crew’s tongue-in-Cheek nickname for Stage 16 at Paramount Pictures, where many planet sets for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation were built. Stage 16 was also used for the exteriors of the Ponderosa Ranch in the Bonanza television series and for the surface of the moon in the miniseries Space. (The interiors of the Ponderosa were filmed on Stage 17, where Deep Space 9’s Promenade was built.)
~1:[2,#B],22:[1,#B],24:[1,#B],35:[1,#B],43:[1,#B],51:[1,#I],141:[2,#BI],157:[3,#B]@1planet killer@2Automated spacegoing weapon from outside our galaxy that entered Federation space in 2267, destroying the planets in star systems L-370 and L-374. Several kilometers in length, with a hull composed of pure neutronium, it smashed planets into rubble with an antiproton weapon, and used the matter as fuel. Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk theorized that it was a weapon, a doomsday machine built primarily as a bluff used in a war uncounted years ago in another galaxy. The civilization that built the planet killer might have gone, but the machine continued to destroy. Initial projections suggested that the planet killer’s course, if unchecked, would take it toward the Rigel colonies and the most densely populated part of our galaxy, putting billions of lives at risk. The ancient weapon was finally destroyed when Kirk sent the hulk of the U.S.S. Constellation to explode in the planet killer’s interior, destroying it. (“The Doomsday Machine” [TOS]). SEE: Decker, Commodore Matt.
~1:[2,#B],4:[2,#B]@1Planet Q@2SEE: Q, Planet.
~1:[3,#B],13:[1,#I],25:[2,#B],33:[2,#B]@1Planetary Geosciences Laboratory@2Scientific research facility located on Deck 10 of the Enterprise -D. The planetary geosciences lab, under the supervision of Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher, surveyed the planetary systems in the Selcundi Drema sector in 2365. (“Pen Pals” [TNG]).
~1:[3,#B],47:[1,#U],58:[45,#I],104:[24,#I],128:[1,#U],141:[3,#B],149:[1,#U],170:[1,#B],172:[1,#B],179:[19,#I],198:[1,#U],220:[1,#B],239:[1,#U],268:[2,#B],292:[1,#U],309:[1,#B],311:[1,#B],320:[1,#I],323:[6,#I],331:[25,#I]@1planetary classification system@2A method of labeling planet types according to a letter nomenclature. Planetary classes near the letter M are generally more likely to support life. The farther from the letter M, the less likely the planet is to support life as we know it.
Class-D planets are small, rocky planetoids. Regula was a Class-D world. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). The ringed Saturn-like planet in “Emanations” [VGR] was also described as a Class-D world, but the term had previously been established to describe asteroids, and “Starship Down” (DS9) further established Saturn to be a Class-J planet. Perhaps the Voyager crew was referring to the asteroid-like objects in the planet’s rings, or maybe they were just overly excited at the discovery of element 247.
Class-H planets are generally extremely dry, although sometimes habitable. An example is planet Tau Cygna V (“The Ensigns of Command” [TNG]).
Class-J planets are gas giants with turbulent atmospheres in which wind speeds of over 10,000 kilometers per hour are not unknown. Jupiter and Saturn are Class-J planets. (“Starship Down” [DS9]). Note that “Emanations” (VGR) suggests that Saturn is a Class-D planet, but we’re assuming this to be a mistake.
Class-K planets are unsuitable for humanoid life, even though their gravity fields can fall within Class-M norms. Class-K planets, like the planet Mudd, are adaptable for humanoid life only with the use of pressure domes and life-support systems. (“I, Mudd” [TOS]).
Class-L planets are generally small, rocky, terrestrial worlds with oxygen-argon atmospheres. (“The 37’s” [VGR]). Class-L worlds can sometimes support life, although this is often limited to plant forms. Planet Indri VIII was Class-L. (“The Chase” [TNG]). In 2373, Odo and Quark made an emergency runabout landing on a Class-L planet. (“The Ascent” [DS9]).
Class-M planets are small, rocky, terrestrial worlds with oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres, and are highly supportive of organic life. Earth and Vulcan are Class-M planets. (“The Cage” [TOS], “Caretaker” [VGR]). The Star Trek format suggests that the majority of Star Trek’s adventures should take place on Class-M planets. This is a key concept in making the show affordable within the limits of an episodic television budget.
~1:[1,#B],3:[1,#B]@1planetoid@2SEE: asteroid.
~1:[2,#B],14:[2,#B],36:[2,#B]@1plankton loaf@2Baked microscopic Earth sea life, sometimes served as a breakfast food. Keiko O’Brien was very fond of plankton loaf and served it, along with kelp buds and sea berries, to her new husband, Miles O’Brien, who wasn’t too sure about the stuff. (“The Wounded” [TNG]).
~1:[2,#B],11:[2,#B]@1plasma canister@2A device used to transport small amounts of warp plasma. (“Fair Trade” [VGR]).
