Hikaru Sulu

**Hikaru Sulu** was a decorated officer of Starfleet, and became famous within the United Federation of Planets for his exploits on board the USS *Enterprise*and USS *Enterprise*-A.

Sulu is notable not just for his service to Starfleet, but also for his variety of interests and skills. He was well-studied in both astrosciences and botany. He was known to be an expert on the subject of antique firearms, and enjoyed dabbling in swordplay -- especially fencing. He was also quite skilled at martial arts such as judo. He was also a skilled pilot and had studied how to fly ancient Earth aircrafts as well as the current spacecrafts of his day.

## History

### Career on the *Enterprise*

Sulu was initially assigned to the USS *Enterprise* 1701 as head of the astrosciences division -- although he was noted for his expertise in botany as well. Within a year, however, Sulu had transferred from the Science Division to the Command Division and been assigned to be the helmsman for the ship.

Throughout his time on the *Enterprise*, Sulu showed a great ability to think on his feet, taking over when others were too shocked or afraid to fulfill their duties. He was placed in command of the ship on multiple occasions, and always proved he was a capable leader even in the face of tremendous danger. In 3267 CE, Pavel Chekov joined the crew of the Enterprise. The two quickly became lifelong friends.

Sulu's loyalty and friendship for his crew mates and his commanding officer aboard the *Enterprise* never wavered even after the completion of their five year mission, and even after Sulu's promotion to Lieutenant Commander. He remained aboard the *Enterprise* when command of the ship was given to William Decker, but took orders from Rear-Admiral James T. Kirk the moment that his former captain retook command.

Sulu participated in Saavik's *Kobayashi Maru* test at Starfleet Training Academy, though he returned to the *Enterprise* after the test was completed. He served as helmsman for what was intended to be a three-week training cruise. This jaunt turned into a difficult and traumatic event, as the crew found themselves up against their old nemesis Khan Noonien Singh in a battle over Project Genesis. Sulu attended Spock's funeral in the aftermath of the crisis.

When it seemed that leaving Spock's body behind was a violation of Vulcan funeral traditions, and that Spock's *katra* might be having negative effects on Dr. Leonard McCoy, Sulu helped Kirk to rescue the doctor from lockup and to steal the *Enterprise* in order to illegally return to the Genesis Planet and recover Spock's remains.

With the destruction of the *Enterprise* at the Genesis Planet, Sulu managed to learn the controls of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, dubbed the HMS *Bounty* by its new crew. They returned to Earth aboard the ship, only to discover the planet under attack by a strange alien probe. To save the planet, the crew traveled back in time to 1986 CE in order to rescue two of the now-extinct humpback whales. While in the past, Sulu enjoyed piloting a helicopter to help procure plexiglass necessary for transporting the whales.

After returning to their own time, and saving the Earth, Sulu -- and the rest of the crew -- were dismissed from their court martial proceedings due to their heroic actions, and given new assignments. Sulu was expecting to be assigned to the USS *Excelsior* -- an assignment that had been lined up to follow the disastrous training cruise. Instead, Sulu was pleased to find he had been assigned to the USS *Enterprise* 1701-A.

His last mission as a member of the crew of the *Enterprise* led him to the center of the Milky Way, where he acted as a liaison to Sybok. Under Sybok's orders, he led search parties searching for his fellow crew members. When Sybok was eventually defeated, however, Sulu returned to dutifully following Kirk's orders.

### Career on *Excelsior*

In 3290 CE, Sulu assumed command of the USS *Excelsior*. Perhaps because of his experiences with Sybok, he was far less easy-going as a commander of his own vessel than he had been as helmsman aboard the *Enterprise* -- but he still showed remarkable loyalty to his crew and his former crew.

His vessel was assigned a three year mission cataloging gaseous anomalies in the Beta Quadrant. Whilst on this mission, they encountered a subspace shockwave caused by the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis. Shortly thereafter, McCoy and Kirk were sentenced to serve time on Rura Penthe, accused of assassinating Grand Chancellor Gorkon. In violation of Starfleet orders, Sulu decided to mount a rescue -- despite the opposition of some of his crew, such as Ensign Tuvok.

On their approach to Qo'nos, through the Azure Nebula, Sulu encountered a Klingon battle cruiser commanded by Captain Kang. In order to avoid direct conflict, Sulu ordered the gaseous clouds of the nebula be ignited. While this allowed them to evade Kang, they were soon drawn into battle with other Klingon vessels which forced the *Excelsior* to turn back.

Nevertheless, the *Excelsior* proved vital to the Khitomer Accords -- helping the *Enterprise* to wage battle against General Chang and preventing the assassination of the President of the Federation.

### Legacy

Sulu would be remembered by the Federation long after his passing. A holographic portrait of Sulu would be displayed at Starfleet Headquarters.

## Alternate Versions

Hikaru Sulu exists in several alternate realities and timelines.

* Mirror Universe Hikaru Sulu: a version of Sulu from an alternate universe where he is a helmsman loyal to the Terran Empire, and is infatuated with Nyota Uhura.
* Kelvin Timeline Hikaru Sulu: in an alternate timeline, still serves aboard the U.S.S. *Enterprise*but never worked in the Federation's science division.

## Source

Hikaru Sulu is derived from *Star Trek: The Original Series*.