Jean-Luc Picard
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe, the captain of the USS Enterprise-D. He is played by British actor Patrick Stewart in the television series and several films. The character was devised by Gene Roddenberry. The fictional Jean-Luc Picard is named after Dr. Jean Piccard, a Swiss scientist and high-altitude balloonist.
Historical Info
Picard was born in La barre, France, Earth on July 13, 2305 to Maurice and Yvette Picard. Both of his parents are deceased. His brother, Robert, and nephew, Rene, his only remaining family, were killed in a fire in 2371. He graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2327. He served as first officer aboard the Stargazer, and then as her captain.
During his command of the Stargazer, Picard won the Battle of Maxia by originating a battle tactic which became 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.
When enjoying the comforts of home on the Enterprise, Picard sometimes drank Earl Grey tea. This was obtained from the replicator with the command "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot". He learned to play a flue when interacting with a space probe carrying the memories of a man and his civilization long after it was destroyed. He enjoys also classic literature, fencing, and a holodeck program of a fictional fictional (as in fictional in this already fictional world) character Dixon Hill, who is an obvious almost exact match to Sam Spade.
Warning: Plot details follow.
When the series first starts, Captain Picard takes command of the new Galaxy Class USS Enterprise D, and a new crew with her. We follow their adventures for the next seven years.
On the Enterprise's first mission, 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. Later, Q stages the trial again, testing 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 his own ship, the Enterprise. This was prevented by Picard's crewmembers.
This, however wasn't the last of Bok in Picard's life. 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.
Picard was chosen to command the third Galaxy class starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), in 2363. As captain of the Enterprise, he was captured and assimilated by the Borg in 2366 (his Borg designation was Locutus) before being 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 taskforce 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 which caused it to self-destruct.
After this conflict, Captain Picard took time out to visit his family in Le Barre, France, while the Enterprise underwent repairs for damage it had sustained during the battle at Earthstation 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. Picard was later rescued and restored as captain of the Enterprise.
Around 2371, the Enterprise was pulled into an elaborate scheme hatched by Dr. Tolian Soran. Soran wanted to return to The Nexus, and was prepared to go to any lengths to achieve this. He led the Enterprise on a chase, culminating on Viridan III, where he was confronted by Captain Picard and Captain James T. Kirk, who thwarted his plans to destroy the Viridian sun and redirect the nexus to his position.
During all this, the Enterprise-D, was involved in a space battle with a Klingon Bird of Prey. The Bird-of-Prey managed to invoke a warp core breach in the Enterprise, which meant it would be destroyed. Commander Riker ordered a saucer separation maneuver, and the saucer section of the ship crash landed on Viridian III. The stardrive section was destroyed in space.
Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D, he was given command of the next Enterprise, designation NCC-1701-E.
After only a year in space aboard this new ship, the Borg launched another incursion on Federation space, and intended to attack Sector 001, or Earth. Due to Captain Picard's emotional involvment with this race, Starfleet Command originally 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, and the Earth was not assimilated. USS Enterprise returns to the year 2373.
In 2375, Captain Picard and the Enterprise were called to the rescue of Data, who had had a malfunction. 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.
Furthermore, it was discovered that Starfleet was involved in this plot, and the Enterprise was subsequently told to leave. Picard refused to do so on moral grounds, and led his crew in a mission to stop the alien race from being relocated.
During this mission, Picard fell in love with a local inhabitant, and this further stengthened his resolve to stop them being relocated.
The Series
Movies
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Nemesis
External links