Gary Mitchell

Gary Mitchell was a human Federation Starfleet officer, serving in the 2260s, who gained powerful psionic abilities as a result of interaction with the galactic barrier.

Early life and career
Mitchell showed high Esper readings as a youth.

He served on the USS Constitution in the late 2250s as junior navigator. (TOS novel: My Brother's Keeper, #2: Constitution)

He served as first officer on the USS Lydia Sutherland under command of James Kirk in the early 2260s until its destruction at Ghioghe, where he was near-fatally injured. (TOS novel Enterprise: The First Adventure)

Enterprise missions
When James Kirk took command of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), he chose Mitchell as his first officer but was overruled by Starfleet Command (in the person of Admiral Kimitake Noguchi) in Spock's favour. Recovering from a near-fatal wound, Mitchell was unable to board the ship until after Kirk's first mission. (TOS novel Enterprise: The First Adventure)

Mitchell served as second officer (third-in-command) for approximately one year. 

Transformation and apparent death
While exploring Warp Region 6, the Enterprise attempted to breach the galactic barrier. The energies of the barrier had a strong effect on humans with high Esper ratings, killing nine crew, and severely affected Mitchell and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, a psychiatrist recently assigned to the Enterprise: Both developed psycho-kinetic powers, Mitchell immediately, and Dehner some days later. The first effects noticeable were Mitchell's eyes: they had turned metallic-silver and seemed to glow. After he displayed abilities like telekinesis and telepathy, but also a changed personality, Spock and Kirk determined that he had become too dangerously insane and powerful to return to Federation space. They attempted to abandon him on the planet Delta Vega. When this failed, Kirk attempted to kill him with a phaser rifle and finally, with Dehner's help, buried him under a rockfall in a grave he had dug out and meant for Kirk.Once back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk's log listed both Mitchell and Dehner as killed in the line of duty. 

Later career
In Star Trek: Pioneer continuity, Gary Mitchell survived and transformed Delta Vega into a paradise. On it he created a race of beings which possesed similar powers to his own, though not as advanced. A group of them led by Mitchell stole the USS Pioneer in 2387, intending to control the Federation. Fortunately they were stopped. (PNR: "In Thy Image")

In the Star Trek: Pendragon timeline, the USS Pendragon was diverted in 2383, to retrieve the bodies of Mitchell and Dehner from Delta Vega, which led to the ship breaching the galactic barrier. (PDN: "Whispers As Loud As Thunder")

Friendships
In addition to serving on James Kirk's command staff during Kirk's first 5-year mission, Gary Mitchell was also Kirk's closest friend from their Starfleet Academy days.

The two got off to a rocky start at the Academy, however, when Mitchell called Kirk a "stack of books with legs" (Pocket Books series: My Brother's Keeper). The young Lt. Kirk heard the remark, and decided to teach Mitchell some respect. Kirk immediately had Mitchell transferred into his Tactics class. It was here that Kirk discovered Gary's ability to interpret the thoughts of others, and how he was able to do it. Gary was able to figure out what a person was thinking by simply looking at their face and "reading" the cues he noticed. Kirk thwarted this and forced Mitchell to actually think about answers to questions by turning away from Mitchell when he - Kirk - asked a question.

The two discovered common ground with their mutual competitiveness which included but not limited to such things as raquetball. An inside joke between them, Mitchell used to claim that Kirk's middle name was 'raquetball', and would frequently call him "James R. Kirk", although Kirk's real middle name was Tiberius.


 * One of many possible explanations for the spelling "James R. Kirk" in the pilot episode.

Kirk took pride in teaching his friend to conform a little more, while Mitchell took pride in helping to make Kirk think a little more creatively and to be a little less "by the book". He also took credit for helping his friend Jim feel more comfortable around women.

Background information

 * Portrayed by actor

Appearances

 * TOS novels ', ' and the  trilogy
 * Star Trek/X-Men crossover comic .
 * Star Trek: Pioneer: "In Thy Image"
 * Star Trek: Pendragon: "Whispers As Loud As Thunder"
 * Star Trek: Pendragon: "Whispers As Loud As Thunder"