Hendorff ( alternate reality ) Hendorff was a security officer serving on the in the late 2250s . Biography . Starfleet Academy . He first met at the Shipyard Bar in Riverside , Iowa in 2255 . Being a Starfleet cadet , Hendorff tried to protect whom Kirk was trying to pick up . The following dispute ended in a bar fight and Kirk facing three cadets as his opponents . The dispute was broken up by Captain . Security officer aboard the USS " Enterprise " . Three years later , Hendorff served as security officer aboard the " Enterprise " and was part of the security team which was sent down to engineering to arrest the intruders , namely James T . Kirk and , who had beam ed aboard . He arrested the two and brought them onto the bridge where he witnessed the discussion and fight between , Uhura , and Kirk . ( ) Hendorff was one of two security officers who accompanied Kirk , Spock , and Uhura to Qo ' noS to capture John Harrison in 2259 . ( ) When survivors from the " Enterprise " were being led into Krall ' s base following the destruction of the ship , Hendorff was walking directly behind Keenser . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Hendorff was played by actor Jason Matthew Smith . He is credited as " Burly Cadet # 1 " in ( matching the fact that , in the film ' s script , he was referred to as " a burly Starfleet cadet " ) and as " Cupcake " in the end credits of , although he is addressed by Kirk as " Mr . Hendorff " in the latter film . When making the first film , Smith kept " begging " J . J . Abrams to give the character the name , but all of his suggestions kept being shot down . Years later , when Smith saw he had been credited as " Cupcake " in " Into Darkness " , Smith felt Abrams was " just messing " with him . In the script of " Star Trek " , Hendorff wasn ' t just called " Cup Cake " by Kirk but also " Moon Beam " . Hendorff was meant to die in " Into Darkness " ; Smith shot a scene where he is skewered by a Klingon ' s " bat ' leth " , and was surprised to see it was cut from the film , or that it did not appear on any of the home releases . He joked , " " It ' s got to be a Guinness Book of World Records for a redshirt to survive three movies . I never thought in a million years that I would have the kind of part that I would have . I know why they did it though . The peripheral characters make it feel like it is a real crew . The familiarity with the " Enterprise " and the crew are what draw you into that world . You start to care about everyone on board . " " Smith returned for the filming of and would have been featured in a scene , being killed by Krall . However , his death scene was cut out again . He can nonetheless briefly be seen in the background of a shot on the surface of Altamid . Abrams has claimed Hendorff will return for . Brian Oerly served as stunt double for Smith during the bar fight in the 2009 film . It was stated in the that Hendorff received a reprimand from Captain Pike for brawling with Kirk . The author s of this reference work had an understanding that this Handorff was an alternate reality counterpart to the Hendorff from . Apocrypha . Issue # 8 of " " from IDW Publishing , " Vulcan ' s Vengeance , Part 2 " first revealed that " Cupcake " was the alternate reality counterpart of Hendorff . Despite Hendorff ' s repeated reminders to Kirk of his name , Kirk continued to call him " Cupcake . " He is the narrator of issue # 13 , " The Redshirt ' s Tale " , which established his first name initials as " G . P . " His parents owned a Labrador dog . He also recalls that his father thought he shouldn ' t let Uhura get away from him . In the novelization of " " , Hendorff is killed by a Klingon wielding a " bat ' leth " . Despite not being seen for the rest of the film , his appearance in " Star Trek Beyond " confirms his survival . The virtual collectible card battle game " " is using his picture for card # 78 " Lieutenant Cupcake " .