Hikaru Sulu

**Hikaru Kato Sulu**  was a human Starfleet officer, best known for commanding the USS *Excelsior*, as well as serving aboard the USS *Enterprise* and USS *Enterprise*-A.

## Hikaru Sulu

### Office Held:

President of the United Federation of Planets

## Biography

### Early life

Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco, Earth on 2237.

His parents named him after the protagonist of the Japanese novel *The Tale of Genji*.

In 2248, Sulu and his family moved from Earth to Ishikawa, on the planet Ganjitsu, located along the Federation-Klingon border. An unexpected Klingon force attacked the colony they lived at. This resulted in the death of a girl Sulu was close friends with. Only many years later, did he finally release this consuming guilt he had harbored.

By 2251, Sulu was living on Hafjian, a high-gravity planet where the inhabitants were forced to wear Lieber exoskeletons. Years later, Dr. McCoy was concerned that this might cause problems for Sulu after he turned 70. By 2252, Sulu was once again living on Ganjitsu, when he snuck aboard the USS *Aerfen* to meet Captain Hunter. Sulu was discovered and given a guided tour of the starship.

### Starfleet Academy(2255-2259)

Sulu entered Starfleet Academy in 2255, and quickly developed an aptitude for Spatial Navigation, as well as fencing, in which he became champion for three years running. Hikaru also took up an extracurricular in botany, finally graduating in 2259. This aspect of his hobbies earned him the nickname, "D'Artagnan" six years later.

### Early Career(2259-2264)

Sulu's first shipboard deep-space assignment as a Starfleet ensign following his graduation was aboard the USS *Arjuna*, where the starship encountered the nomadic Betelgeusian species, whose entire civilization were carried aboard massive fleets of interstellar argosies after fleeing the impending supernova of their home star. On his very first day as an ensign aboard the ship, Sulu accidentally spilled coffee all over the helm controls, a mortifying experience that did not endear him to the ship's captain.

### Aboard the *Enterprise* (NCC-1701)(2264-2269)

In 2264, Sulu was assigned to the Enterprise to the Astrophysics department. However, Sulu was temporarily thrown into helm duties by the crisis at Mestiko, as the pulsar ravaging that world threatened to destroy the *Enterprise.* Following Mitchell's death in 2265, Sulu requested to be transferred to another *Constitution*-class starship, as he was bored in astrophysics. Rather than losing a much valued officer Captain Kirk offered him the position of helmsman, and Sulu accepted. His mathematics skills carried over into this new field.

Soon after, Sulu led his first landing party on an uncharted world that held archaeological ruins. A member of Sulu's team accidentally triggered an ancient security system and geologist Vanani Manprasad was killed. Sulu confided with friend and shipmate Janice Rand about his self-doubt as to whether or not he was truly bridge officer material. Sulu got over his doubts after the Captain cleared him of all wrongdoing in the matter and assured him that the helm was still his if he wanted it.

In 2266, Sulu and Commander Spock were assigned to escort Prince Vikram back to his homeworld of Angira, and helped defend the prince from those who tried to overthrow him.

In 2269, Sulu considered applying for a transfer off the *Enterprise* because he felt like more of a challenge. Kirk realized this and put through a request that Sulu be promoted to Lieutenant Commander. This promotion went into effect the same year.

In 2269, while piloting the *Enterprise* as it worked to save the mining colony on Klondike VI from its decaying rings, Sulu had a unique opportunity to meet and work with old Earth astronaut Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, who had briefly been transferred into Kirk's body via an alien probe. Realising that he had been 'programmed' with the energy pattern the probe used to stabilise an ancient program to preserve the planet's rings, Christopher was allowed to sit at the helm of the *Enterprise* alongside Sulu to fire the ship's phasers to duplicate the effect, saving the colony, Sulu noting to Christopher that he had always been a fan of early cosmonauts

### Reassignment(2269-2271)

In early 2269, Sulu was reassigned when the Enterprise went through a Refit and not placed with the rest of the crew Sulu was transferred to the USS *Courageous* as its second officer. Despite his promotion, Sulu was not happy and deliberately didn't integrate with the crew of the *Miranda*-class vessel.

A few months later, the *Courageous*  defended a Bajoran colony from an attack by Klingons The *Courageous* was badly damaged and Sulu took command after Captain Caulder was killed and Commander Costley was injured. This command experience would help him later in his career.

### Return to the *Enterprise(2271-2276)*

Sulu returned to the *Enterprise* for f Kirk's Second five-year mission

During this time Sulu and Pavel Chekov took shore leave on Earth, Chekov convincing Sulu to visit the holiday resort of Demora in the middle of the Sahara desert. At first Sulu was against the idea, but once there he met a mysterious woman calling herself Ling Sui. Sulu wound up getting sucked into Ling's nefarious activities, resulting in the pair of them getting stranded in the middle of the Sahara desert. They spent the night together in an oasis, but after falling asleep, Sulu woke to find Ling had gone. Chekov was able to rescue Sulu in a shuttle, but they found no sign of Ling.

Shortly after the encounter with V'Ger, Kirk decided to name Sulu as his second officer, feeling that it would be good command level experience for Sulu. When Spock took personal leave on Vulcan, Sulu stood in as first officer. Sulu took the opportunity to tell the story of his *Kobayashi Maru* test to Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov while they were stranded aboard a drifting shuttlecraft following an accident. When a child was killed by a plasma grenade during a fight between Klingons and an *Enterprise* landing party on Cragon V, Weyland, the omnipotent ruler of the planet, punished Kirk by sending Sulu, Scotty and Chekov back in time. Sulu found himself in Japan in 1600, where he swore allegiance to Torii Mototada, the lord of Fushimi Castle, and fell in love with Mototada's concubine, Lady Oneko. Oneko pleaded with Sulu to take her into the mountains and live there with her as a farmer, but Sulu was unwilling to live in hiding and without honor. He brought her to safety in Edo, Japan and returned to Fushimi Castle, knowing that the forthcoming siege would result in the deaths of every person there. As the inevitable end of the siege approached, Sulu rode out into the enemy but was returned to the 23rd century by Weyland.

### First Officer of the Enterprise(2276-2282)

In 2278 the *Enterprise* arrived at Earth for Shore leave and during its downtime Sulu was approached by Captain Morgan Bateson and offered the posting of First Officer aboard the USS *Bozeman*. Sulu accepted the position, but was instead called to Starfleet Medical by Dr. Leonard McCoy, who informed Sulu that Ling Sui, whose real name was Susan Ling, had died and left him a daughter, Demora Ling. At first Sulu planned to send Demora to a boarding school and take the *Bozeman* posting, but as he grew to know her, he decided to take up fatherhood, He turned down the Bozeman position as it was Deep space mission and stayed with the Enterprise as it's mission at the time allowed him to keep her aboard the Enterprise.

### Starfleet Academy Instructor(2282-2285)

Sulu in 2282 along with the Enterprise crew became Instructors for Starfleet Academy This allowed him to remain he in San Francisco and care for his daughter better on earth.

When the Cetacean Probe began damaging Earth's atmosphere in its search for humpback whales, Hikaru Sulu and the senior crew of the late starship *Enterprise* traveled back in time from 2286 to 1986 to retrieve a pair of humpbacks. While in San Francisco of 1986, Sulu met and spoke in Japanese with a young child - the child believed Sulu to be his uncle. When McCoy asked who the child was, Sulu replied that the child was a distant ancestor of his. Sulu and his colleagues were able to successfully retrieve George and Gracie, and helped bring them back to the 23rd century, saving Earth in the process. His skills at firing the braking thrusters (twice) to escape Sol's gravity proved successful.

Upon the successful resolution of the Whalesong Crisis, a brand-new starship, the USS *Enterprise*-A, was launched and placed under the command of the newly-demoted Captain Kirk, Sulu was temporarly assigned to the Enterprise-A for only 6 months as Chief Helmsman and Second officer until he was reassigned to another ship.

### USS Constellation(2285-2287)

Sulu was First officer aboard the Constellation class USS Constellation for 2 years while it explored unknown region of space.

### USS Excelsior(2287-2310)

In late 2287 Newly Promoted Captain Sulu was assigned to the USS *Excelsior*

 In one of his first missions as Captain, he attended a summit held at the Korvat colony at which Ambassador Curzon Dax used the tactic of angering Klingon delegate Kang in order to get him to move beyond posturing rhetoric. The tactic was successful, but Sulu considered Dax to be a loose cannon.

In 2290, Sulu and his crew then assisted the *Enterprise* as they helped the Tabukans disarm their warheads, maintain their peace between their worlds and prevent Romulan interference.

In 2293, Captain Hikaru Sulu expressed his convictions to a young Ensign junior grade Tuvok for rushing to aid Kirk and the *Enterprise* at Rura Penthe and Camp Khitomer. Sulu's life was saved numerous times by Kirk and McCoy — who had just escaped Rura Penthe — and Sulu felt he owed them, even if it risked his career.

In the same year, Sulu was running an exercise drill when Pavel Chekov called to tell Sulu about the assumed death of Captain James T. Kirk.

Also in the same year, Sulu took the *Excelsior* to rescue the USS *Ranger*  that had been caught in the Janus Vortex. During the event, he and his crew were transported into the mirror universe, where they exchanged places with their counterparts in that reality and found themselves on board their ISS *Excelsior*. After fighting off an attempt to destroy his vessel by Pavel Chekov, Sulu took his vessel and crew on a journey to Janus Ultima in order to return to their own universe. To accomplish this, he had to take the ship through Terran Empire space. Whilst on the journey, his ship came under attack from Klingon fighters and a battlecruiser, but the arrival of the ISS *Renegade* — under the command of Captain Kael — forced the Klingons to retreat. Kael then escorted *Excelsior* to Starbase 9, but was unaware of the fact that the ship has been replaced by counterparts from the primary universe. Arriving at the starbase, Sulu used an aggressive posture to convince the local CO into repairing his ships until they received a communication revealing Sulu to be an enemy. The starbase launched fighters to attack the *Excelsior*, but the crew's own complement of fighters managed to repel the attack. After the repairs were complete, the fighters of the *Excelsior* disabled the ISS *Renegade*; allowing Sulu to escape from the Terran base.

Attempting to reach the Klingon border, Sulu's crew crossed into an old weapon-testing range, where they encountered the M5 Unit, which had taken over four derelict vessels. The M-5 began attacking the *Excelsior* in an attempt to protect itself. Controlling four *Constitution class* starships and a number of drone fighters, the M5 Unit began its attack, and was suspected to be installed on the *ISS Hood*. After the annihilation of the *Hood*, the fighters self-destructed. Before the weakened *Excelsior* could continue its journey, an Orion *scavenger ship* attempted to pick it off, but thanks to its fighter squadron, the Orion ship was destroyed. Sulu then took the *Excelsior* to the border of Klingon space and found a Terran starbase, where he attempted to gain dilithium crystals to power his vessel, only to be ambushed by Chekov with a small fleet of ships. After a pitched battle between the two sides, Sulu managed to defeat Chekov, who was once again forced to flee. Taking the crystals, Sulu managed to re-energize the warp drive of his ship.

After entering into Klingon space, Sulu began to feel uneasy after traveling into a system that was supposed to be a primary industrial center in the Klingon Empire but only found small planetoids and asteroids in its place. Once there, they fought several Klingon fighters and were later attacked by Orion raiders, but managed to repel these assaults. Traveling deeper into Klingon space, he encountered more devastation and answered the distress calls of a nearby Klingon outpost, which was threatened with destruction by two damaged battlecruiers whose warp cores were about to explode. Despite trying to help, the *Excelsior* was attacked by the Klingons; who thought the ship was a Terran Empire vessel that was attacking the outpost. He later assisted the Klingons in destroying the Doomsday Machine which the Terran Empire had tricked into Klingon space, and which had been ravaging their territory. By saving the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS, he earned their gratitude, and they helped escort him to the Romulan border. Once there, he was ambushed by Chekov's forces, who tried to destroy his Klingon escorts only to be repelled by the *Excelsior*'s crew. While continuing his journey, he encountered the Mirror counterparts of Balok and the First Federation, who attempted to destroy him through the use of radiation emitting space buoys. Sulu and the crew managed to defeat Balok, and continue on their journey to Janus Ultima.

After entering the Romulan Neutral Zone, Sulu had to contend with a remote Romulan patrol, and destroyed them to prevent them from informing their military of the incursion into their space. Entering into Romulan space, he encountered a warning in the form of the dead hulks of numerous starships in their space, but continued his course. He eventually learned that the Romulan Republic of this reality had its space being ravaged by the Space amoeba entity, and Sulu helped them destroy the organism. In gratitude, the Romulans escorted him to Tholian space, where he was once again ambushed by Chekov. Despite the attack, he repelled Chekov's offensive, allowing Sulu to enter Tholian territory. In an attempt to avoid a large fleet from the Imperial Starfleet, Sulu had the *Excelsior* engage its warp drives, which had been damaged earlier. This action created a wormhole and deposited the ship into Tholian space. Before he could go to Janus Ultima, he received a distress call from the *I.S.S. Enterprise*-A, which had been attacked by Tholian ships, and was doomed without any help. Despite his reservation, Sulu helped Chekov, and in gratitude, the Imperial Starfleet Commander formed an alliance with Sulu, and helped him in fending off attacks from other ships.

Reaching the Vortex, they encountered a large, Terran Imperial fleet that attempted to stop them, but the assistance of the *I.S.S. Enterprise*-A allowed the *Excelsior* to enter the Janus Vortex, where they attempted to recreate the incident that allowed them to cross realities. In-between dimensions, he encountered his Mirror counterparts, and a battle erupted between the two until Sulu deployed the dilithium warhead, which catapulted both crews back to their own realities. Once back to his home universe, Sulu was informed by Chekov that the Klingons and Romulans were eager for him to lead them into a war against the Federation, but he declined the offer, and plotted a course to the nearest starbase. (*TOS* video game: *Shattered Universe*)

Sulu, along with his new First Officer, Cipriano, were then sent by Admiral Renshaw on diplomatic mission to meet with the Tholians in the Vyell system, to find about their recent disagreement/offense with the Federation colony on Mirabi 5 near their border. On the way the meeting with the Tholian, Sulu and the crew of the *Excelsior* responded to a distress call from the USS *Shepherd*, which had suffered heavy damage from a supernova. Fortunately they were able to rescue the *Shepherd* 's crew, but were 37 minutes late to the meeting with the Tholians.

In 2298, Sulu made contact with the sundered branch of Earth humanity known as the Neyel when the *Excelsior* followed an interspace corridor into the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Sulu's efforts were crucial in preventing war between the Neyel and the Tholian Assembly.

At some point in the early 24th century, Sulu takes shore leave time from *Excelsior* on an unnamed jungle-planet, when he is mistakenly attacked by Kang (now governor of a Klingon colony world), believing him to be the deceased James T. Kirk. Kang, investigating the alleged reappearance of Kirk there (following his disappearance in 2293), agrees to team up with Sulu in order to verify the rumor. Along the way, the pair are assaulted by an automated defense system, followed by a battle against S'alath, the Gorn captain defeated by Kirk decades earlier during the Cestus III incident. Although stunned by Sulu's phaser blast, the Gorn captain dies, apparently due to extreme age and physiological infirmity. It is discovered that the rumors surrounding Captain Kirk's "reappearance" were due to a holographic projector installed by the Gorn captain, causing visitors to see images of Kirk. Sulu and Kang bury the Gorn, shake hands, and part ways amicably, returning to their respective commands.

Sulu remained captain of a vessel named *Excelsior* until at least the year 2310. Both he and his daughter — carriers of the prestigious rank

### Admiral Sulu(2310-2340)

Sulu eventually gained the rank of Fleet Admiral

### President Sulu(2342-2358)

After retiring from Starfleet in the first half of the 24th century, Sulu ran for public office, and eventually was elected as President of the United Federation of Planets, serving three terms.

### Illness and Death(2361)

Sulu eventually in early 2360s was found to have Darnay's disease and while his health care was of high quality the disease is incurable and he died in late 2361.

## **Personal Life**

### Skills and hobbies

He was an excellent pilot and was familiar with many types of vessels, both historic and contemporary.

Sulu was a recognized expert on the subject of antique firearms and small arms, especially Earth projectile weapons.

He also enjoyed swordplay, in particular fencing (although he was once asked if the purpose of fencing were actually *shish kebab*) with this activity reminding him of some of his favorite characters of Earth history, namely the French musketeers and the Japanese samurai.

While under the influence of the polywater intoxication, Sulu left the bridge to go to the ship's gym, figuring that a light workout would take the edge off.

Sulu was also an advanced judo practitioner and capable of defending himself against opponents much larger than himself. His judo skills impressed even his captain. In 2269 during a mission to Phylos, Sulu was attacked by a Phylosian named Agmar. Using a body throw self-defense technique, however, Sulu easily disposed of the assailant. Afterward Kirk asked Sulu to teach him that particular technique.

Sulu was an avid botanist and spent much of his off duty hours tending to his rare and delicate plants, which he had collected from all over Federation space in the *Enterprise*'s botanic garden. Sulu also shared his personal interests with his shipmates, including Kevin Riley, who once complained that "*Last week it was botany he was trying to get me interested in. I was supposed to be collecting leaves, plant specimens.*" Sulu, however, told him that his attitude was "all wrong". Sulu's interest in botany was part of his role during the visit of the initial scouting party to the Shore Leave Planet. He later admitted his unfamiliarity with rural life, during a landing party mission to Omicron Ceti III, where he was also reviewing the planet's plant life, explaining that, "*When it comes to farms, I wouldn't know what looked right or wrong if it were two feet from me.*" Knowledge of his interest in botany as a hobby became known to Tongo Rad, who was himself said to "reach botany", and that it was also one of his favorite of studies. Thia s was all part of their ploy to take over the *Enterprise*.

Later in life, Captain Sulu enjoyed a cup of hot tea in the mornings.

### Friendships

#### Pavel Chekov

Chekov became Sulu's closest friend among the *Enterprise* officers after joining the bridge crew in 2267, and they often shared jokes, observations, and opinions with each other while on duty.

### Love interests

Susan Ling Hikaru had a relationship with that spawned his only child **Demora Sulu**

## Personal Timeline

 2272
 2340
 2342-2358
 2360
 2361