José Tyler José Tyler was a male Human Starfleet officer in the 23rd century . He served in the command division aboard the in 2254 under the command of Captain Christopher Pike . Tyler was one of the ship ' s navigator s . That same year , Tyler was one of a number of " Enterprise " crewmembers injured during a battle on planet Rigel VII . After the incident , Captain Pike ordered the " Enterprise " to Vega colony in order to replace any crewmembers who required hospital ization . " En route " , however , the crew detected a distress signal from the , an Earth vessel which had disappeared in the Talos star group eighteen years previously . Arriving at Talos IV to investigate , Tyler was amongst the " Enterprise " crewmembers to be included in the landing party . Later , when it became clear that the distress signal was an elaborate trap set up by the Talosian s in an effort to capture Captain Pike , Tyler participated in the unsuccessful attempts to rescue him . ( ) Footage of his experience aboard the " Enterprise " under Captain Pike during the original visit to Talos IV , from 13 years prior , was transmitted from that planet during Spock ' s fictional court martial aboard the same ship in 2267 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Tyler was played by Peter Duryea . Tyler ' s first name was based on background production references ; the navigator described in the original " Star Trek " pitch was named " José Ortegas " . The uniform Tyler wore had one braid for the rank s of ensign to commander ; therefore , his rank cannot be determined from his uniform . According to , he held the rank of lieutenant . The following character biography appeared in " The Making of Star Trek " , during a time in production when Robert April was still being considered as the name of the " Enterprise " s captain : The Navigator . " José ( Joe ) Tyler , Boston astronomer father and Brazilian mother , is boyishly handsome , still very much in the process of maturing . An unusual combination , he has inherited his father ' s mathematical ability . José Tyler , in fact , is a phenomenally brilliant mathematician and space theorist . But he has also inherited his mother ' s Latin temperament , fights a perpetual and highly personalized battle with his instruments and calculators , suspecting that space – and probably God , too – are engaged in a giant conspiracy to make his professional and personal life as difficult and uncomfortable as possible . Joe ( or José , depending on the other party ) is young enough to be painfully aware of the historical repute of Latins as lovers – and is in danger of failing this challenge on a cosmic scale . " The script of " The Cage " described Tyler as ; " " Mid - twenties , sometimes appearing even younger , very much in the process of maturing , both physically and socially . But beneath this exterior is a computer - like mind and strange mathematical brilliance . " " Also in the script , Tyler made repeated failed attempts to flirtatiously draw Yeoman J . M . Colt ' s attention to him , though he doesn ' t do that in the episode ' s final version . In a scripted but ultimately unused line of dialogue , Tyler also worried that the Talosians might be dissecting Captain Pike or possibly doing even worse things to him . " The Cage " Director Robert Butler was involved in casting Peter Duryea in the role of Tyler and later recalled , " " I think Peter was simply a good choice from casting . I think we had seen a lot of people , and I remember that he had terrific energy . " " ( " The Star Trek Interview Book " , pp . 98 - 99 ) Butler was also pleased with how Duryea portrayed Tyler on screen , commenting about the actor , " " He did a wonderful job . " " ( ) Duryea was overjoyed to be cast as Tyler , expecting the role to become a series regular . When " Star Trek " was recast , Duryea was devastated by the fact that the role of Tyler was dropped , the actor later remembering , " " It knocked me out . When I lost that role , I cried for two weeks . " " ( ) Apocrypha . José Tyler made an appearance in the " " novel " The Rift " .