Nero Nero was a Romulan miner originating from the late 24th century , and captain of the mining vessel " Narada " . Following the destruction of Romulus in 2387 , Nero sought vengeance against those he felt were responsible , ultimately resulting in his being transported back in time to 2233 . Nero ' s actions in the past resulted in the creation of an alternate reality . In this reality , Nero was responsible for the destruction of the as well as the death of its senior officer , Captain Richard Robau . ' s kamikaze strike against Nero ' s ship , as a result of Nero ' s kill - or - be - killed dilemma , altered the upbringing of his son , , who in this timeline did not join Starfleet until 2255 . Nero was later responsible for the destruction of the alternate reality ' s , which resulted in the deaths of and the majority of the Vulcan race . Nero also attempted to destroy this timeline ' s Earth , but his plot was foiled by Jim Kirk and the crew of the . Biography . 24th century origins . Nero was married and was about to become a father , but his wife and their unborn child were killed when Romulus was destroyed by a supernova in 2387 . Nero was off - planet when the disaster occurred , but he witnessed the event firsthand . Grief - stricken and madly seeking revenge , Nero placed the blame for Romulus ' s destruction on Ambassador Spock , who had promised to prevent the disaster , and the Federation , which he believed did nothing while Romulus was destroyed . Spock , piloting the " " , was able to extinguish the supernova by using red matter to create a black hole which absorbed the supernova , but before he could escape , he was intercepted by Nero , now in command of a technologically - advanced " Narada " . Both ships were pulled into the black hole , with the " Narada " going in first . Arrival in the 23rd century . The " Narada " emerged 75 , 000 kilometer s away from the Federation - Klingon border 154 years in the past , on stardate " 2233 - 04 " . There , the " Narada " encountered , attacked , and severely damaged the Federation starship . Seeking information as to the whereabouts of Spock , Nero had his second - in - command , Ayel , contact the " Kelvin " and demand that the ship ' s commanding officer , Richard Robau , board a shuttlecraft and come aboard the " Narada " . Robau was unfamiliar with Spock , however , and when he informed Nero of the current stardate , Nero killed Robau with his " Teral ' n " . Nero then launched a second attack on the " Kelvin " , now under command of Robau ' s first officer , . Kirk used the " Kelvin " s weapons to prevent Nero from destroying the shuttle s departing the " Kelvin " , ultimately sacrificing himself by ramming the " Kelvin " into the " Narada " . Kirk ' s actions saved eight hundred lives , including his wife , , and their newborn son , James , but he was unable to destroy the " Narada " or Nero . Nero spent the next twenty - five years awaiting the arrival of Ambassador Spock , plotting his vengeance against him and the Federation . Near the end of those twenty - five years , Nero was involved in an attack on a Klingon prison planet and , using the " Narada " , destroyed 47 Warbirds . During his time on the prison planet , Nero sustained an injury to his right ear . Attack on Vulcan . Nero ' s goal was to ensure a future for Romulus that was completely free from the Federation . When Spock arrived through the black hole in 2258 , Nero was waiting for him . He captured Spock ' s ship , which still had an entire compartment full of red matter . Rather than kill Spock , however , Nero marooned the elderly ambassador on so he could witness the destruction of from the planet ' s surface . With the red matter now in his possession , Nero attacked Vulcan , using the " Narada " s extending drill platform to burrow to the planet ' s core . A fleet of seven Federation starships arrived to assist Vulcan , unaware the planet was under attack . They stood no chance against the advanced " Narada " , however , and Nero easily and quickly destroyed them all . When another Starfleet vessel arrived , Nero ordered that it be destroyed as well . However , after a brief attack , Nero recognized the vessel as the " Enterprise " . Knowing that a younger served aboard the " Enterprise " , he ceased his attack on the vessel , wanting this era ' s Spock to see the destruction of Vulcan as well . He contacted the " Enterprise " and demanded that its captain , , come aboard the " Narada " via shuttlecraft – the ship ' s transporter s were inoperable as long as the drill was active . Pike complied , but only to allow a team consisting of James Kirk , , and Chief Engineer Olson to space - dive onto the drilling rig and disable it so the " Enterprise " could get a signal through to Starfleet , informing them of the attack . Though Olson had been killed during the mission , Kirk and Sulu were successful in sabotaging the drill , but not before Vulcan ' s core was breached . Nero released a canister of red matter into the planet ' s core , creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan which devoured the planet and killed the vast majority of the Vulcan race , as well as Spock ' s mother , . Following the planet ' s destruction , the number of remaining Vulcans was estimated to be less than ten thousand . Nero ' s mass genocide had turned the once - thriving Vulcans into an endangered species . Attack on Earth and downfall . Nero ' s next target was Earth , the core of the United Federation of Planets . Before he could attack Earth , he required the Starfleet codes which would allow him to disable the planet ' s defenses . He had captured Captain Pike for this purpose , and although Pike refused to cooperate willingly , Nero forced him to talk with a Centaurian slug . With Starfleet ' s defenses no longer a problem , Nero set a course for Earth . As Nero prepared to attack Earth , however , Kirk and Spock were able to beam aboard the " Narada " from the " Enterprise " , which used the magnetic field of Saturn ' s rings to remain invisible to the " Narada " s sensor s . Nero confronted Kirk , who was searching for Captain Pike . While fighting Kirk , Nero told the young officer that he recognized him from Earth ' s history and that the Jim Kirk he read about " was considered to be a great man . . . but that was another life . " Nero was preparing to kill Kirk when he received word that Spock had stolen the " Jellyfish " and used it to destroy the drill , which had already begun boring into Earth . Furious that his plans to destroy the Federation were falling apart , he called out Spock ' s name in anger . Nero left Kirk to Ayel and went to the bridge of the " Narada " . There , Nero hailed Spock and said he should have killed him back at Vulcan . Incensed at Spock ' s response , he quickly ordered all weapons to fire at the " Jellyfish " . The fact that the ship ' s destruction would have ignited the red matter didn ' t matter ; he wanted nothing more than to kill Spock . Spock took the " Jellyfish " to warp to get out of the Sol system , and Nero quickly followed . In an isolated area of space , Spock set the " Jellyfish " on a collision course with the " Narada " . Nero desperately ordered his crew to " fire everything . " However , before Nero ' s fire could destroy the " Jellyfish " , the " Enterprise " emerged from warp and destroyed his torpedoes with phaser fire , leaving the " Narada " defenseless against Spock ' s attack . After Kirk ( who had killed Ayel ) , Spock , and Pike were transported back to the " Enterprise " , Nero watched in despair as the " Jellyfish " collided with the " Narada " , igniting the red matter . The resulting black hole ripped through the " Narada " , cutting it in half . Aboard the bridge , Nero answered the hails of Captain Kirk aboard the " Enterprise " , who offered his assistance . Embittered and enraged that the people he loathed above all offered him " assistance " , Nero furiously refused the offer , saying he would rather watch his homeworld be destroyed a thousand times and die in agony than accept the assistance of the Federation . Kirk obliged and ordered the " Enterprise " to fire on the " Narada " . Nero remained on the bridge as he observed the ship collapsing around him and closed his eyes as he resigned to his fate . Within seconds , the " Narada " was consumed by the black hole , taking Nero and every remaining crew member aboard with it . ( ) Legacy . Nero and the " Narada " ' s very presence in 2233 created the alternate reality , causing divergences both immediate ( the destruction caused by the ship ) and unrelated ( ' s date of birth , for example ) . After Vulcan ' s destruction , Spock led the survivors to settle on the New Vulcan colony . For stopping Nero from destroying Earth and the rest of the Federation , Kirk was promoted to captain to relieve Pike of command of the " Enterprise " . Pike was promoted to admiral . ( ) Admiral set about militarizing Starfleet to better defend the Federation . Marcus ' main concern was not the Romulans , but the belligerent Klingon Empire . Section 31 searched for potential weapons and discovered the , and revived to design weapons to prepare for the imminent conflict . A year later , Khan had turned on Starfleet , and committed acts of mass murder and destruction in London and San Francisco before being placed in stasis once more . At a memorial service , Kirk , having suffered Nero and Khan ' s schemes , reminded his fellow officers that Starfleet ' s ideal was not to seek revenge on their enemies , but to be peaceful explorers . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " Kill him ? I ' m not gonna kill him . I ' m gonna make him " watch . " " " Hi , I ' m Nero . " " " " I chose a life of honest labor , to provide for myself and the wife who was expecting my child . I was off - planet , doing my job while your Federation did " nothing " , and allowed my people to burn while their planet broke in half . And Spock , he didn ' t help us . He " betrayed " us ! " " " " IT " HAS " HAPPENED , I WATCHED IT HAPPEN , I SAW IT HAPPEN , DON ' T TELL ME IT DIDN ' T HAPPEN . " " " " When I lost her , I promised myself retribution . And for twenty five years I planned my revenge against the Federation , and forgot what it was like to live a normal life . But I did not forget the pain . It ' s a pain that every surviving Vulcan now shares . My purpose , Christopher , is to not simply avoid the destruction of the home that I love , but to create a Romulus that exists free of the Federation . You see , only then will she be truly saved . That is why I will destroy all the remaining Federation planets , starting with yours . " " " " James T . Kirk was considered to be a great man . He went on to captain the . . . but that was another life . A life I will deprive you of , just like I did your father ! " " " " SPOOOOOCK ! " " " " I want Spock dead " now " ! " " " " FIRE EVERYTHING ! " " " " I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times . I would rather die in " agony " than accept assistance from " you ! " Appendices . Background information . Nero was played by Eric Bana . Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci named Nero after the Roman emperor , as a nod to the Roman inspirations of the Romulans . In the script of " Star Trek " , Nero seemed significantly more compassionate to Humans than he is in the final version of the film , at one point commenting , " " It ' s not the fault of the human race that Starfleet chose Earth as its center . You ' re a more noble race than my fallen cousins . I ' ll take no pleasure in your extinction . " " The script also had Nero kill Ayel prior to the Battle of Earth , and Nero ' s scripted last words were " " Forgive me . . . Romulus . . . " " In the film , Ayel addresses Nero as " Prod " . In a deleted scene in which the " Narada " is surrounded by a Klingon fleet , the subtitle s created for the scene translate " prod " as " Commander . " However , in the audio commentary for the film , the writers state that " Prod " was intended to mean " Praetor . " In all other instances , Nero is referred to as " Captain . " Based on the use of " Commander " in both " The Next Generation " and " Deep Space Nine " episodes to refer to Romulans ( and Vulcans ) in command of military vessels , it may be that the Romulan understanding of the word has a specifically civilian connotation , while " Commander " refers to a military role . Apocrypha . In the prequel comic " " , Nero ' s backstory is expanded upon . According to the series , Nero was initially in league with Spock , and attempted to help him stop the supernova threatening Romulus . When Vulcan declined to assist Romulus by handing over the technology necessary to produce red matter , Nero blamed Spock and Vulcan after the supernova destroyed Romulus , believing it was a ploy to claim Romulan territory . He claimed his " teral ' n " from the Romulan Praetor , whom he killed for ignoring Spock ' s warnings about the supernova . An explanation is also given for the tattoo s on Nero and his crew : In the novelization of 2009 ' s " Star Trek " by Alan Dean Foster , Nero states that his formal name resembles " Oren " ( " Ŏ ' ŗên " ) , but is difficult for Humans to pronounce . The novel reiterates that Nero believed the destruction of Romulus was part of a conspiracy perpetrated by the Federation , and that any attempt to warn of the supernova in the past would therefore be futile . It is also suggested that if Nero had succeeded in destroying the Federation , he would have used any remaining red matter to create a black hole and consume the star before it could go supernova . Additionally Nero states that the annihilation of the Federation would allow the " Narada " crew to return to Romulus as warriors rather than simple miners . The 25 year gap in Nero ' s whereabouts in " Star Trek " is the setting for the comic series " " , the follow up to " Star Trek : Countdown " . Its ideas incorporate the deleted scenes of Nero ' s imprisonment on Rura Penthe , explaining that despite his numerous escape attempts he and his crew are kept alive as their mining benefits the Klingons economically . Nero becomes telepathic , training the Vulcan side his people had locked away , enabling him to communicate with his Borg modified ship and " V ' Ger " to calculate when Spock will arrive . A Targ was responsible for biting off his right ear tip and creating the scars on that side of his head . In issue fifteen of the " " comic series , a version of Nero is flung back into the mirror universe ' s past instead of the prime reality . After the Terran Empire conquers the Klingons , Commander Kirk finds Nero on Rura Penthe , and avenges his father by breaking his neck . The virtual collectible card battle game " " is using his picture for card # 104 " Romulan Captain Nero " .