Star Trek is synonymous with the main characters of its original series, Captain Kirk and Spock. Kirk is still in many ways the face of the franchise, even more so than his various alien co-stars, but another character in the original series was Christopher Pike, who would gain popularity in later shows and movies. Despite how minute his role in the original series would eventually be, Pike was originally meant to be the captain of the Enterprise.
This took place in the original pilot that Gene Roddenberry made for the series, which was rejected and subsequently retooled into the more recognizable 1960s series. Roddenberry, however, planned for a different Enterprise captain that had elements of both Kirk and Pike. Here's the story behind the true first hero of Star Trek, and how he, like Pike, eventually made it into canon.
Captain Robert April
Robert April was the name of the Enterprise captain in the original pitch for Star Trek's inaugural series. The pitch's description for him made him out to be a slim, active man in his 30s who was clearly the hero of the show. While his personality was described as openly heroic, he would have also been racked with self-doubt and worry over his own leadership style. His faults were said to be his tendency to act rather than think, though he was also described as having a great level of compassion and high regard for all life. Due to his apocryphal nature in the series, his only live-action "depiction" was a picture of series creator Gene Roddenberry wearing an Enterprise uniform. When the pilot was finalized, however, April was changed into Pike when the pilot was finalized.
This is a somewhat generic description for the hero of a somewhat action-oriented series, but still revolutionary in many ways. For one, the idea of the hero doubting himself and questioning his own actions was much less common in the days of the gunslinging cowboys that still dotted television. This self-doubt and sense of guilt also evoke Christopher Pike, who, in the original pilot, considered resigning after several of his crew members were killed. Likewise, his tendency to act instead of think is comparable to the two-fisted, silver-tongued Kirk, especially given the pitch's description of him as one tempted to "risk many to save one." Roddenberry would take these ideas and characterizations and split them into two characters when he retooled the pilot afterward.
Star Trek: The Animated Series
An elderly Robert April would eventually find his way into the original series' canon via its first official sequel, Star Trek: The Animated Series. He's officially established as the Enterprise's first canon captain and Christopher Pike's predecessor in an episode that deals with the ship being pulled into an alternate universe where time flows backward. This has an increased effect on those from outside the parallel universe, turning the Enterprise's crew into mere children. Robert April, on the other hand, is taken back to his physical prime, and he's able to save the crew in one last daring feat of heroism.
This appearance, where he was voiced by Scotty's actor James Doohan, has so far been April's only on-screen portrayal. Even prequels, such as the Kelvin Timeline movies and Star Trek: Discovery, have failed to expand on the Enterprise's first captain's adventures, though Robert Orci did once consider making him the villain in Star Trek: Into Darkness. April's also shown up in supplementary books and comics, but even with those appearances, his history is still sadly an area where no man has gone before.
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March 30, 2021 at 05:05AM
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