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Captain Jean-Luc Picard

© Alex Shutter

Captain Jean-Luc Picard was played by Patrick Stewart. This man is one the most important figures in the history of Star Trek. Picard was captain of the fifth and sixth Enterprises, a noted figure in space exploration, science, interstellar diplomacy, archaeology and a man recognized by his colleagues as a good friend and leader.

Picard was born on Earth in 2305 to Maurice Picard and Yvette Gessard Picard. Paris has always been his favourite city on Earth, and he often visits it on the holodeck. Picard never married, although he had numerous relationships during his seven seasons as captain of the Enterprise. However, none of them ever really work out, because Picard puts his duty first and they split up because of his career or in order to preserve a friendship. In 2322, Picard failed to gain entrance to Starfleet Academy at the age of 17, but was admitted a year later. As a first-year cadet in 2323, Picard became the only freshman ever to win the Starfleet Academy marathon on Danula II. While a cadet, he was stabbed in a bar fight, and as a result, he has an artificial heart for the rest of his life. When he is killed for a disrupter, Q gives him the chance to avoid the stabbing, he does so, and ends up as a lieutenant when he should be a captain. When he goes back and recreates the stabbing, Q restores him to life.

Picard's first posting as captain was aboard the "USS Stargazer". It was with this posting that he made first contact with the Ferengi and also invented the "Picard Manuevre". His second posting was aboard the "USS Enterprise NCC-1701D". This is, of course, the Federation flagship. Picard was abducted by the Borg in late 2366, as part of the Borg assault on the Federation. Picard was surgically altered and had Borg technology implanted into his body. This transformed him into an entity called Locutus of Borg. He was eventually rescued by Worf and Data and transformed back into Picard. After the destruction of the Enterprise-D, Picard goes on to command the Enterprise-E. The Enterprise-E became the new flagship of the Federation. It successfully saved Earth from a time travelling Borg cube, and also provided protection to the Baku colony from the Sona. Picard is something of a Renaissance man. His areas of interest range from drama to archaeology. He was an avid amateur archaeologist, who was well-respected, even by professional archaeologists. Occasionally, he published scientific papers on the subject, and even addressed the Federation Archaeology Council in 2367 about the ruins of Tagus III. He, among other things, discovered the semi-legendary planet of Iconia in 2365, which led to the discovery of the Iconian gateways. He also discovered the Tox-Utat in 2366 and in 2369 he determined that many humanoids have a common ancestry.