Jonathan Archer ( mirror ) Commander Jonathan Archer was a male in the 22nd century Terran Empire . In the 2150s , he was first officer aboard the , under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest . A dedicated officer , Archer ' s desire for his own command landed him in the center seat of an advanced starship . However , his quest for power and glory , and his ultimate desire to take over the Terran Empire , eventually resulted in his downfall . ( ) Biography . Before " Enterprise " . Archer was originally in line to command " Enterprise " himself , but Captain Forrest assumed command instead . Archer would later insist that this change of command was the result of an unspecified number of admiral s conspiring against him . Prior to serving aboard " Enterprise " , Archer was romantically involved with . When Forrest was given captaincy of " Enterprise " , however , Sato saw an opportunity to advance her career and left Archer to become the captain ' s woman . Although Archer claimed to understand that Sato leaving him was strictly a career move , he was nonetheless hurt and resentful . Despite taking away Archer ' s command and his lover , Forrest selected Archer as his first officer . He later claimed that he trusted Archer because he felt Archer never sought power and glory , and that he had no ambition . But Archer did indeed harbor ambition for his own command , and it was only a matter of time before those ambitions surfaced . New ambitions . In 2155 , after learning that the Tholian s had captured an Earth ship from a parallel universe and a century in the future , Archer attempted to convince Forrest of the necessity of capturing the ship and taking advantage of its advanced technology to crush a rebellion that was devastating the Empire . Forrest rebuffed him , however , accusing Archer of attempting to gain favor with the Emperor . In response , Archer staged a mutiny , imprisoning Forrest in the brig and taking command of " Enterprise " . In addition , Archer took advantage of his new command by rekindling his romance with Sato . Archer assigned Commander as his first officer , and ordered her to help Commander install a Suliban cloaking device , which they had stored on the ship . Later , Archer captured a member of the Tholian species and torture d it for information on the location of the Earth vessel . Learning that it was being kept in the Vintaak system , Archer set a course , and encrypted the helm controls with a random code . Archer also ordered Sato to send all data on the Earth vessel to be sent to Fleet Admiral , knowing that Gardner would support his plan should Forrest regain control of the ship . This plan proved prescient , as Forrest did indeed regain command of " Enterprise " , putting Archer in the agony booth for ten hours as punishment for his actions . Archer ' s plan worked , however , and Admiral Gardner ordered Forrest to continue Archer ' s mission . Traveling into Tholian space under cloak , " Enterprise " arrived in the Vintaak system and located the Earth ship : The . Examining the ship , Forrest ordered Archer to lead a boarding party aboard the " Defiant " , download the database and destroy the ship . Archer vehemently disagreed with Forrest ' s decision , stating that they should attempt to take the " Defiant " with them , but Forrest overruled him . As Archer led the boarding party , the Tholians discovered " Enterprise " s presence in their space , and launched an attack . Forrest ordered the crew to abandon ship in the escape pod s , while he stayed aboard and attempted to fight the Tholians off long enough to let his crew get away . As Archer and his team watched from the bridge of the " Defiant " , " Enterprise " was destroyed with Captain Forrest still aboard . ( ) With the Tholians surrounding them , Archer took control of the " Defiant " and easily fought them off . Detecting " Enterprise " s escape pods , Archer ordered them brought aboard , and christened himself captain of the " Defiant " . A new command . While aboard the " Defiant " , Archer learned about his counterpart in the other universe . At first , he protested that his counterpart was not a great man but weak and foolish for his efforts in helping to form the United Federation of Planets ( which he dismissed as a " Federation of Fools " ) , noting that great men should conquer other species rather than work together with them . Secretly , however , Archer resented his counterpart and was insanely jealous of his success , particularly when he learned that the other Archer had a long , respected career as a starship captain , diplomat , and statesman ; had two planet s named for him ; and was noted as the " greatest explorer of the 22nd century . " His preoccupation with his counterpart ' s success eventually drove him to have a mental breakdown , taking the form of hallucinations of the other Archer , who mercilessly taunted him about his own inadequacies . Archer became determined to gain the same respect and hero status accorded to his counterpart . When it was determined that Slar , the Gorn foreman that was employed by the Tholians , was responsible for stealing key engine components and indiscriminately murdering several engineers , Archer rejected T ' Pol ' s advice to negotiate with him . Seeing an opportunity to earn the respect of his crew , he acted on the encouragement of his illusory counterpart and personally led a team of s to the lower decks of the " Defiant " to seek out and kill Slar . The ill - advised operation resulted in a bloody pyrrhic victory : during the pursuit , Major was seriously injured , several other MACOs were killed , and Archer himself nearly died at Slar ' s hands before ultimately defeating and killing the Gorn . When the " Defiant " eventually made it to the battle between Starfleet and rebel forces , the , under the command of Admiral Black , was the only surviving Starfleet vessel . Archer destroyed all but one of the rebel ships , which he allowed to leave so they would tell other rebels what had transpired . Black was grateful to Archer for both his intervention in the battle and for obtaining the " Defiant " , and assured Archer he would be promoted at the earliest opportunity . When Archer asked for an immediate battlefield promotion and command of the " Defiant " on a permanent basis , Black refused , stating he wanted to take the ship back to Earth and have it reverse - engineered to learn about its technology . Archer , fed up with the continuing losses suffered by the Empire , its corrupt leadership , the setbacks his own career was suffering , and the realization that Black would likely take all the credit for his own achievements ( all the while being taunted by his illusory counterpart ) , finally reached his breaking point . In a bold move , he murdered Black and took the " Defiant " for himself . The brief reign of Emperor Archer . In an address before the crews of " Avenger " and the " Defiant " , Archer unveiled his most ambitious plan yet : seizing control of the Terran Empire . He argued that the problem with the Empire was its leadership , and publicly announced that he was seeking to make himself Emperor and then stop the rebellion . In the process of approaching Earth , Archer became more xenophobic in his views , believing they were holding humanity back . In his paranoia , he ordered all alien crew members ( with the exception of Doctor , whom he believed would not be a threat as his species were known pacifists ) on the " Defiant " transferred onto " Avenger " . Archer later destroyed " Avenger " as its alien crew , led by , attempted to stop him . However , as the " Defiant " was en route to Earth , Archer was betrayed by Sato who , with assistance from Archer ' s personal guard , Sergeant , poisoned Archer and took command . Arriving at Earth , Sato referred to herself as " Empress , " and demanded Earth ' s surrender . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " This is First officer Archer . In accordance with orders this date , I ' ve relieved Captain Forrest of duty and assumed command of " Enterprise " . My orders are to take the ship into Tholian space for a mission of vital importance to the Empire . I can ' t reveal the details of our assignment , but I can tell you this . If we ' re successful , Starfleet will crush the rebellion once and for all . No crew in Starfleet has been tested more in battle . I know I can count on each of you to perform your duty to the best of your ability . Nothing will impede our march toward victory . Long live the Empire . " " " " This isn ' t like you , Jonathan . You never lusted for power and glory . That ' s why I trusted you at my side all these years – because you have no ambition ! " " < br > " " Then why are you in the brig ? " " " " You gonna sh . . . shoot me now , or . . . wait for . . . court martial ? " " " " Great men are not ‘ peacemakers ’ . Great men are conquerors ! " " " " More like a Federation of fools ! " " " " Our entire Assault fleet . . . wiped out by a rebel attack . Thousands of your fellow Starfleet officers . . . dead . If the " Defiant " hadn ' t arrived when it did , all of you would be among them . And who are we to blame for this ? Not the brave men and women who gave their lives for the Empire . Criminals who are losing this war are sitting in their comfortable offices back at Starfleet Command . Their weakness invited our enemies to strike , and their corruption and arrogance have brought the Empire to the brink of defeat ! . I ' ve been a soldier all my life , and I will not stand by and let these people destroy an empire that has endured for centuries ! I ask you . . . all of you . . . to join me . We cannot put down this rebellion so long as our forces are commanded by dishonorable men . Before we can defeat the rebels , we must defeat them . That ship out there is the key to our victory . With the " Defiant " on our side , there will be nothing to stop us . " " " " You ' re confusing our universe with someone else ' s ! " " Appendices . Apocrypha . In the novella " Age of the Empress " , Archer was cloned by Doctor Phlox under the orders of Empress Hoshi Sato I , as she needed an experienced officer to lead a new fleet into the area that may hold a new people called the Romulan Star Empire , with whom Sato wished to make first contact . In the short story " Nobunga " from " Shards and Shadows " , he was further conditioned by Regent T ' Pol to be fiercely loyal to Empress Sato the First , and obey her every order . However , while Phlox ' s work held , T ' Pol ' s did not and Archer defected to the Rebellion after two years of service . He rose to prominence quickly , debunking the Imperial myth that the " Defiant " came from a future Terran Empire and fostering support for a new government modeled after the parallel universe Federation . As a symbol of this support , the rebels adopted the uniforms of the 23rd century Starfleet . In 2165 , a new threat to the Rebellion would present itself in the , a copy of the " Defiant " built by order of the Empress herself , with construction overseen by Commander Charles Tucker III . In desperation , Archer contacted Tucker , pleading for his help in destroying the new starship , voicing their mutual fear of what Sato could accomplish with both ships under her command . Motivated by that fear , Tucker instead provided Archer with the prefix codes for the " Nobunaga " , allowing the Rebellion to seize the ship and turn it against the Empire .