James T. Kirk (Star Trek TOS)

Overview
The intrepid and dashing Captain of the USS Enterprise, James T. Kirk is one of the central characters in the original Star Trek TV series, the animated cartoon, and the first seven films of the movie franchise based on it; boldly going where no man has gone before.

Admired and beloved by his crew; he is well known for his tendency to risk himself first and foremost and his priority of placing the ship and the crew above his own safety. He is regarded as being as much a soldier as a diplomat and explorer and one of the greatest Captains of Starfleet history.

Background
James Tiberius Kirk was born on March 22, 2233, in Riverside, Iowa to Starfleet Commander George Samuel Kirk Sr. and his wife, Winona. His elder brother was George Samuel Kirk, Jr. His parents named him James after his maternal grandfather while his middle name of Tiberius came from his paternal grandfather.

At the age of 13, he and his family lived briefly on Tarsus IV where a food crisis prompted Governor Kodos decided in a cold-blooded attempt to save as many of the colonists as he could by killing 4,000 of those he deemed the least fit to survive; including James Kirk who was one of only nine surviving eyewitnesses to the massacre.

The Tarsus Incident led Kirk to be a bitter and rebellious teenager who blamed his absentee father for not being there and contemptuous of a useless Starfleet which failed to save Kodos' victims. Moving back to Earth, he became known as a cocky and reckless troublemaker and often skipped school before he tried to run away from home at the age of 16 with his own gang of ne'er-do-wells, breaking dozens of laws in the process. He was found and detained by his father who dragged him back home. Fearful that his son was heading towards a life of crime; at the behest of his wife, George Kirk decided to take his son on a small, peaceful space mission as a demonstration of the value of his career as a Starfleet officer, causing him to beg a favor from an old family friend, Captain Robert April.

April agreed and brought them aboard the USS Enterprise on what would be a minor goodwill mission to a small and newly established archaeological settlement. However, the Enterprise was forced to divert for an emergency which would have caused them to miss the ceremony at the settlement. As a result, Captain April decided to take a small shuttlecraft with George and James Kirk on their own to make the trip and still be on time. However, they were beset by pirates who sought to cripple the shuttlecraft and seize it. Unfortunately, this small-time band of pirates underestimated the resourcefulness of the Starfleet crew who managed to badly damage their vessel and left them powerless for a time. However the crew realized that their actions had only managed to delay the pirates who were slowly repairing their vessel and would soon finish the job.

Realizing that the shuttlecraft crew was doomed, George Kirk and Robert April fashioned a makeshift lifepod rigged with a distress beacon which they ordered James to enter which they would eject, allowing him to escape and hopefully be picked up. A horrified James realized that they were sacrificing themselves to give him a chance to survive and after shortly being launched; used his knowledge of criminal larceny to reprogram the pod's computer which he sent on a collision course with the pirate's vessel. Crashing into the pirates, he was at first thought dead by both pirates and Starfleet crew. James Kirk however survived, having managed to inadvertently board the ship and was able to selectively sabotage the inertial dampening field of pirates' ship at a critical moment inflicting massive damage and causalities.

Now just as badly damaged as the shuttlecraft, the Starfleet crew decided to follow in James' footsteps and performed a forced boarding themselves and began a vicious battle for control of the ship only to find themselves at a stalemate with the pirates holding James as hostage. Their stalemate however came to an abrupt end when the Enterprise arrived, having received a communique from the archaeological settlement detailing that Captain April and his party had never arrived.

Afterwards, an injured April made note to James Kirk that his father saw his behavior as a sign of potential criminal larceny. April remarked that his father was right. That deep down; James Kirk was a criminal who enjoyed breaking the rules.

On the other hand, April noted that it was that criminal gangster aspect who had an amazing ability to seize opportunity when no one else saw it and who could get inside people's heads and use it against them. And that part of himself might be able to save a lot of lives someday ... if properly guided and channeled constructively. And his behavior in the escape pod also proved that unlike most criminals, James had a capacity for self-sacrifice. As it so happened, April knew of a special institution which just might be able to properly harness those energies and was able to pull a few strings that got James Kirk a slot in the upcoming class at Starfleet Academy.

Trivia

 * William Shatner was not the first choice to portray Captain Kirk. Jack Lord was the top contender for the role but demanded partial ownership of the show which the studio rejected and Lloyd Bridges was next considered but felt that Star Trek would not last and turned them down, citing his previous failures in the sci-fi genre.

Quotes

 * We humans are full of unpredictable emotions that logic cannot solve.
 * One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.
 * Your logic can be most... annoying.
 * Now, Mr.Spock and I are going to go out there ... and quite probably die. In an attempt to show you ... that there are some things ... worth dying for.
 * Intuition, however illogical, Mr. Spock, is recognized as a command prerogative.
 * Well, Bones, in the language of the planet, what's your beef?
 * We're very tired, Mr. Spock. Beam us up home.
 * They used to say that if Man was meant to fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to.
 * Risk... Risk is our business. That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her.
 * Very good, Spock. We'll make a human out of you yet.
 * A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, even his entire crew, rather than violate the Prime Directive.
 * No one may kill a man. Not for any purpose. It cannot be condoned.
 * We fight only when there is no other choice. We prefer the ways of peaceful contact.
 * Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in this galaxy that can make that claim.
 * The prejudices people feel about each other disappear when they get to know each other.
 * "I don't believe in the no-win scenario." ―James T. Kirk to Saavik; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
 * "You're a great one for logic. I'm a great one for rushing in where angels fear to tread.  We're both extremists.  Reality ... is probably somewhere in between us."  ―James T. Kirk to Spock; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
 * "Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair." ―James T. Kirk to Captain Harriman; Star Trek: Generations
 * "Don't let them promote you, don't let them transfer you, don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship. Because while you're there, you can make a difference." ―James T. Kirk to Jean-Luc Picard; Star Trek: Generations