Pavel Chekov

Template:Star Trek character Pavel Andreievich Chekov (Cyrillic: Павел Андреевич Чеков), played by Walter Koenig, is a Russian Starfleet officer in the fictional Star Trek universe.

Origin

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry stated for the series' 25th anniversary special that he created Chekov's character in response to a Pravda article that noted that although the Soviet Union was a leader in space exploration, the international crew of the Enterprise lacked a Russian character. Including someone from Russia, the United States' long-time Cold War adversary, matched well with Roddenberry's vision of an ideal future in which the people of the Earth were united. (This story had actually been published in TV Guide after the character was introduced.)

In truth, evidence suggests that Pravda never published such an article. Koenig always denied the "Russian origin" story and said the character was added in response to the popularity of The Monkees' Davy Jones, and the character's hairstyle and appearance are a direct reference to this.

Career

Template:Spoiler Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a young and naïve ensign who first appeared on-screen in The Original Series’ second season as the Enterprise's navigator. Although The Wrath of Khan established that he had been assigned to the ship sometime prior to the first season episode “Space Seed”.

Chekov also substitutes for Mr. Spock at the science officer station when necessary. His promotion to lieutenant for Star Trek: The Motion Picture brings with it his transfer as the ship's tactical officer and chief of security. By the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Chekov has been promoted to commander and executive officer aboard the USS Reliant. In that film, Khan Noonien Singh uses a creature that wraps itself around Chekov's cerebral cortex to control him and his captain. Chekov overcomes the creature's mind control and serves as Enterprise tactical officer in the film's climactic battle against the Reliant.

Chekov is an accomplice in Kirk's illegal rescue of Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) but is not punished for his actions (Star Trek: The Voyage Home). He serves as navigator aboard the Enterprise-A (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier), presumably until that ship's decommissioning (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). The character's final appearance is as a guest aboard the Enterprise-B on its maiden voyage (Star Trek: Generations). The non-canon Lost Era novel The Sundered posits that Chekov later serves as Hikaru Sulu's first officer aboard the USS Excelsior.

Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) also appears in the fan series New Voyages.

Gags

“Nuclear wessels”

One of the most famous Chekov quotes comes from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: trying to find a nuclear-powered naval ship while stuck in the 20th century, he asks a policeman where to find "nuclear vessels", pronouncing the "v" as a "w"; pronouncing "vessel" as "wessel" has become a popular gag. The filming for Star Trek IV was completed in San Francisco in front of an unsuspecting and unscripted public for which the spontaneous and genuine reactions of the passersby can be attributed.

In the Russian language, there is no corresponding letter to the English "w". Chekov would have to have used an "u" sound plus and "i" sound in Russian, making the likelihood of such a "w" sound being part of a true Russian's language very suspect, which adds to the overall comedic relief of the gag.

Crediting things to Mother Russia

A running joke involves Chekov's tendency to credit things to "Mother Russia". They include:

• "The Russian Epic of Cinderella" (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
• Scotch being invented by "a little old lady from Leningrad" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
• The Garden of Eden being "just outside" Moscow. ("The Apple")
• The grain quadrotriticale being a Russian "inwention" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
• The Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland being from Minsk ("Who Mourns for Adonais?")
• Various star systems being charted by Russians ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
• The old saying quoted by Scotty: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" (Friday's Child)
• Alexander the Great ( Starfleet Academy Chekov's missions module)

Memorable Quotes

• “So you die, Keptin. And, we all move up in rank. No one vill question the assassination of a keptin who has disobeyed prime orders of the Empire.” - from Star Trek: The Original Series: Mirror, Mirror

• “Get back in there!” - from Star Trek: The Original Series: The Apple

External links

• Pavel Chekov at Memory Alpha
• "Pavel Chekov" at STARTREK.COM