Online Encyclopedia
Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe, playing the captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E). He is played by British actor Patrick Stewart in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and resulting films. The character was devised by Gene Roddenberry and named after Dr. Jean Piccard, a Swiss scientist and high-altitude balloonist. While there is no official source of the name Picard, it corresponds to a region of northern France (Picardy) and a French dialect associated with that region.
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Historical Info
Jean-Luc Picard was born in Labarre, France, Earth on July 13, 2305 to Maurice and Yvette Picard. As of 2379, both of his parents are deceased. His brother, Robert, and nephew, Rene, were his only remaining family and were killed in a fire in 2371 . He graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2327 . He served as first officer aboard the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893) in 2333 and became captain upon the death of the captain in battle.
During his command of the Stargazer, Captain Picard won the Battle of Maxia in the Maxia Zeta system in 2355 by creating a tactic known as the "Picard maneuver". It was not known until many years later that this battle was waged against a Ferengi ship. As a result of destroying the Ferengi ship, members of its crew died with it. After the loss of the Stargazer, Captain Picard was court-martialed in 2356 but cleared of wrongdoing.
What Picard did during the next nine years until he took command of the Enterprise has mostly remained unrevealed; he may have commanded a ship or served at a space station during that time. In one episode he makes reference to an event that occurred between his Stargazer and Enterprise years where his ship had responded to a distress call.
Personal Life and Interests
When enjoying the comforts of home on the Enterprise, Picard drank Earl Grey tea. This was obtained from the replicator with the command "Tea, Earl Grey, hot". He learned to play a flute when interacting with a space probe carrying the memories of a man and his civilization long after it was destroyed. On occasion, he may practice his flute with the ship's computer. Jean-Luc Picard is a highly private man who enjoys classic literature, fencing, and holodeck programs of a fictional fictional (as in fictional in this already fictional world) detective Dixon Hill, who seems to be an homage to Sam Spade.
There has always been a hint of some kind of romantic attraction between Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher, the chief medical officer on the Enterpise but it was not revealed until it was forced into the open by a device implanted in the two by an alien species that allowed them to read each other's thoughts in the episode "Attached ".
Command of the Enterprise-D
When the series first starts, Captain Picard assumes command of the new Galaxy class USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) with her new crew. Picard assumed command of the Starfleet flagship on stardate 41124 and during her first mission circa stardate 41153.7, Picard is called upon as a representative for the human race, to stand trial before Q. Picard eventually persuades Q to give humanity a chance, and this is left as it is. Circa stardate 47988 in 2370, Q stages another trial to test Picard; Picard duly passes the test and humanity is saved.
In relation to the Battle of Maxia, Bok , a Ferengi later found the hull of the Stargazer, and brought it back to Picard, whom he accused for the murder of his son. Using mind control he subjected Picard to intense memories of the events, which led him to nearly destroy the Enterprise. This was prevented by Picard's crewmembers. Some years later, Bok found a man, Jason Vigo, whose DNA he altered to appear as if he was Picard's son. He planned to introduce him to Picard, and then kill him, to serve as retribution for Picard having a part in his son's death. This plan was subverted when it was discovered that Jason Vigo wasn't actually Picard's son.
Captain Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg circa stardate 43989.1 in 2366 ; his Borg designation was Locutus. He was later rescued by his first officer, Commander William Riker.
During Captain Picard's time with the Borg, he became a kind of figurehead for that race. He commanded the Borg in the Battle of Wolf 359, where a task force of forty Federation starships tried in vain to stop the Borg Cube from attacking and assimilating Earth. The Borg cube was eventually stopped when Picard was rescued, and members of the Enterprise crew were able to issue a command to the Borg Cube that caused it to self-destruct. After this conflict, Captain Picard took time out to visit his family in Labarre, France, while the Enterprise underwent repairs for damage it had sustained during the battle at Earth Station McKinley.
Captain Picard was subject to further torment in 2369 . During a covert mission against the Cardassians, Picard was captured and held hostage in order to determine Federation military secrets. During this time, Captain Edward Jellico was placed in command of the Enterprise. Captain Picard was later rescued and restored as captain of the Enterprise.
Movies
Star Trek: Generations
Circa stardate 48650.1 in 2371 , the Enterprise was pulled into an elaborate scheme hatched by Dr. Tolian Soran . He wanted to return to The Nexus Of Joy, and was prepared to go to any lengths to achieve this. He led the Enterprise on a chase, culminating on Veridan III , where he was confronted by Captain Picard.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise was involved in a battle with a Klingon D-12 class Bird of Prey commanded by the Duras sisters. The Bird-of-Prey was destroyed, but not before causing a warp core breach in the Enterprise, which meant she too would be destroyed. Commander Riker ordered a saucer separation maneuver, and the saucer section of the ship crash landed on Veridian III. The stardrive section was destroyed in space. Shortly after, the temporal Nexus took Captain Picard, while destroying Soran, the planet, and all its inhabitants (including the entire crew of the Enterprise-D).
By entering the Nexus, Picard found himself in an alternate paradoxal universe, beginning with the fulfillment of all his greatest wishes, one of which was to be with his family at last. After being informed of his new placement by Guinan, Picard chose to enter another dimension of the Nexus where he found Captain James T. Kirk (who had himself entered the Nexus). There, both he and Kirk decided to return back in time to stop Soran and prevent the Nexus ribbon from destroying Veridian III. Kirk was killed in the final confrontation, but Picard (in his new alternate universe) managed to stop the approaching Nexus ribbon, and shortly after Soran died as well.
After the surviving crew of the Enterprise-D was rescued, Picard was given command of the next Enterprise, the Enterprise-E, a Sovereign class starship.
Star Trek: First Contact
On stardate 49827.5-A (from this point forward, the "A" after stardates and earth years stands for alternate), Picard was chosen to command the new USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E). After only a year in space aboard the new Enterprise, the Borg launched another incursion into Federation space and to assimilate Earth circa stardate 50893.5-A. Due to Captain Picard's previous emotional involvement with the Borg, Starfleet Command factored out the Enterprise-E as part of the task force. However, Captain Picard and his crew took the decision to go and engage the Borg.
After defeating the Borg cube, a Borg sphere was released from that ship. This sphere created a temporal anomaly and went into Earth's past to try to assimilate the human race. Their plan to do this was to prevent first contact, a historic event in which Zefram Cochrane tested the first warp drive and in doing so made contact with another alien race for the first time.
Due to Captain Picard's and the Enterprise's efforts, this was not allowed to happen...at least in the alternate universe. Earth was not assimilated and the Enterprise returns to the year 2373-A.
Star Trek: Insurrection
In 2375-A, Captain Picard and the Enterprise were called to the rescue of Commander Data, who suffered a malfunction during a duckblind mission. While visiting the planet he was working on, the crew discovered a plot to relocate the planet's inhabitants in order to supplant them with a new race. Furthermore, the planet's atmosphere had healing properties that slow age effects.
This new race, the Son'a, were interested in the Bak'u planet because of the metagenic healing properties of the rings around the planet which have the effect of reversing age, as seen on some of the Enterprise crew members.
During this mission, Picard fell in love with a local inhabitant, and this further strengthened his resolve to stop them being relocated.
Star Trek: Nemesis
Circa stardate 56844.9-A in 2379-A, Captain Picard and the Enterprise were ordered by Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway to the Romulan Neutral Zone to investigate overtures of peace being sent by the Romulan Senate . Upon arrival, they discovered that Shinzon, a Reman, had gained control of the Romulan Senate and become the new Praetor.
After further meetings with Praetor Shinzon, it was discovered he was a clone of Picard, created to replace him and recover information about Starfleet. Owing to the unstable nature of Romulan internal politics, this plot never came to fruition. Since he was a clone, Shinzon was missing some vital parts of his DNA that he needed from Captain Picard. On top of this, he had a plan for domination of the quadrant using his ship, the Scimitar, and its superweapon. Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E stopped this from happening but suffered severe damage and crew losses, most notably Commander Data who sacrificed himself to destroy the Scimitar. The Enterprise later returned to Earth for repair.
External links
- Official biography of Captain Picard
- Jean-Luc Picard at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki
- The Picard Song, a humorous tribute to Jean-Luc Picard by a group called DarkMateria