Pavel Chekov

Pavel Andreievich Chekov was a 23rd century Starfleet officer who served as navigator and security chief aboard the USS Enterprise, as executive officer aboard the USS Reliant, and again as navigator aboard the USS Enterprise-A.

Early life
Pavel Chekov, son of Andrei Chekov, was born in Russia on Earth in 2245. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?") He was an only child; however he once believed, under the influence of the Beta XII-A entity, that he had a brother named Piotr whom the Klingons supposedly killed. (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

Starfleet Academy
Around 2263 Chekov entered Starfleet Academy, from which he graduated with the rank of ensign. His Starfleet serial number was 656-5827D. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

During the early 2260s, Pavel was romantically involved with Irina Galliulin, while they attended the Academy together. The two had several disagreements before parting ways: Pavel believed Irina to always be too free-spirited; Irina believed Pavel to have always been rigid. When Irina dropped out of the Academy, each accused the other of leaving. Pavel left, but came back to look for Irina, who was at the time staying in the city with friends. Irina eventually joined the counterculture movement of Dr. Sevrin and his search for the mythical planet Eden. (TOS: "The Way to Eden")

The five-year mission
His first assignment, at the age of 22, was on the USS Enterprise under command of Captain James T. Kirk. Chekov served a standard junior officer rotation, eventually earning the post of navigator, although he was also proficient with the science officer station, often serving at the post in Spock's absence. While acting in the role of science advisor, Chekov made every attempt to be as thorough as possible.

Chekov joined the crew of Enterprise sometime prior to their discovery of Khan Noonien Singh and his group of augment followers in 2267. Khan met Chekov sometime during the former's stay aboard Enterprise. When Chekov encountered Khan on Ceti Alpha V over 15 years later, Khan recognized him, stating he never forgot a face. (TOS: "Space Seed"; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)


 * Chekov must have been assigned to the Enterprise in some capacity as early as Khan's assault in "Space Seed", since Khan remembered meeting him in The Wrath of Khan. It must have occurred off-screen, as Walter Koenig hadn't yet joined the series when that episode was filmed.

While investigating a humanoid who could generate and control energy, and referred to himself as Apollo, in 2267, Chekov began to spout off information on similar creatures. After naming the electric eel and giant dryworm, he was stopped by Dr. McCoy, who told him "not the whole encyclopedia, Chekov," later quipping on Chekov's dedicated thoroughness by stating: "Spock's contaminating this boy, Jim." (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?")

When Kirk was transported to the mirror universe, Chekov's counterpart believed him to be the mirror universe Kirk, and tried to assassinate him in order to seize control of the Enterprise. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

After landing on a planet, the Enterprise's crew discovered Harcourt Fenton Mudd had crashed on the planet, which came to be known as Mudd's planet. The planet was populated by androids who wished to use the Enterprise to visit other worlds. The androids tempted Chekov with a planet full of beautiful women to serve him. In the end, the crew banded together and escaped the planet, leaving Mudd with an android replica of his own wife. (TOS: "I, Mudd")

During an away mission to deliver supplies to an Earth colony on planet Gamma Hydra, the crew found most of the colonists dead from rapid aging. Upon returning to Enterprise the entire crew was infected with the disease, except Chekov, who was part of the away team. McCoy determined that the cure was adrenaline. Chekov was so afraid at finding the dead bodies on the planet that his adrenaline provided an immunity to the disease. (TOS: "The Deadly Years")

During the tribble incident at station K-7, Chekov, along with Uhura, brought one tribble back to the Enterprise, which reproduced so fast that the ship became overrun with them. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")

Chekov, Kirk, and Uhura were captured by alien beings who used them in gladiatorial combat, on which the beings wagered. Such captured beings were known as "thralls." One of the thralls, Tamoon, who was assigned to train Chekov in gladiatorial combat, developed romantic feelings toward him, leading to many unwelcome advances. (TOS: "The Gamesters of Triskelion")

Chekov was left in charge of the Enterprise when Kirk, Spock and McCoy visited a primitive planet. While they were on the surface, a Klingon ship appeared, and Chekov was able to hide the Enterprise from the Klingon ship. This protected the Enterpirse and the away team. (TOS: "A Private Little War")

In 2268, Chekov was killed during a mission to make contact with the Melkotians. The Melkotians considered the humans a disease to be destroyed, and placed them in the OK Corral setting during the time of Wyatt Earp. The away team filled the role of the Clantons, one of the two major groups involved in the gunfight. Chekov was killed by one of the Earps over a girl. Spock realized that the simulation was unreal, and thus the away team could not be hurt if they did not believe in the illusion. After successfully escaping the illusionary setting, the crew was transported back to the Enterprise, along with Chekov who was alive once again. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")

Chekov was part of an away team that beamed aboard the adrift USS Defiant, which they discovered was dissolving. After beaming back to the Enterprise, Chekov attacked Spock in a fit of madness. The illness then spread throughout the ship. The dissolving of space was causing mental breakdowns in the crew. After rescuing Kirk and escaping the Tholians, order was restored. (TOS: "The Tholian Web")

In 2269, Chekov encountered his lost love, Irina. Initially happy to see one another, Chekov adamantly disapproved of her new lifestyle and attempted to cast her off. She visited Chekov, who was working in auxiliary control in order to help Spock locate Eden, to apologize for upsetting Pavel. Her ulterior motive, however, was to subtly use him to gain his knowledge of the Enterprise's systems, which Sevrin later used to hijack the ship. The two left each other again, this time saying good-bye to one another, each with a better understanding of the other. (TOS: "The Way to Eden")

By the early 2270s Chekov had been promoted to lieutenant and served as the security chief of the refit Enterprise under command of Willard Decker. Chekov's hands were severely burned when the ship was probed during its encounter with V'Ger. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
 * Many fans and reference books speculate that there was another mission under Admiral Kirk after this movie.

Later career
Chekov was later promoted to commander and assigned as first officer to the USS Reliant under Captain Clark Terrell.

In 2285, Reliant was on a mission to find a suitable planet to conduct trials with the Genesis device. When they explored Ceti Alpha V, Chekov and Terrell encountered Khan Singh and his augments. By putting Ceti eels inside their heads, Khan made them susceptible to his suggestions, his motive being to seek revenge on James Kirk. Using Chekov and Terrell, Khan seized the Reliant and subsequently stole the Genesis device. After Captain Terrell's death and the departure of the Ceti eel from his head, Chekov recovered in time to help defeat Khan in the battle of the Mutara Nebula. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

In 2286, Chekov and his shipmates Kirk, Scotty, Sulu, and McCoy stole the Enterprise from Spacedock (with Uhura's help) in an attempt to recover a regenerated Spock from the Genesis planet. The Enterprise was disabled by a Klingon bird-of-prey in orbit around the Genesis planet, and was then self-destructed by Kirk (with help from Scotty and Chekov) to prevent its capture. Kirk and his crew later seized control of the Klingon ship, which they named the HMS Bounty. The crew then delivered Spock's regenerated body to Vulcan, to be reunited with his katra, which had been placed in McCoy. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Using the slingshot effect, the Bounty went back in time to 1986 San Francisco, to transport two humpback whales to the 23rd century. While on Earth, Chekov and Uhura were assigned to acquire photons for recrystallizing the Bounty's dilithium crystals. Although the mission was a success, Chekov was critically injured and taken into emergency surgery at a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a tearing of the middle meningeal artery. McCoy healed him and Chekov was subsequently evacuated from the hospital by McCoy, Kirk and Gillian Taylor.

Upon returning to the 23rd century, Chekov and his shipmates faced court martial for their actions in Spock's rescue. They were cleared of all charges and Chekov was reassigned as navigator and security chief on the Enterprise-A. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

In 2293, Chekov was a guest of honor on board the Enterprise-B at the launch of the ship's maiden voyage, a media event which attracted several reporters. When the Enterprise-B rescued the occupants of an El-Aurian transport ship from the Nexus energy ribbon, Chekov recruited two reporters to assist him as nurses and rendered medical assistance. (Star Trek: Generations)
 * Chekov was briefly referred to as "Captain Chekov" by one of the reporters on the Enterprise-B. Chekov was still wearing a commander's pin, suggesting that he might have been a "junior captain." Another possibility is that he had received news of his promotion but had not yet actually undergone his promotion ceremony.

Biographical timeline

 * 2245: Born in Russia, on Earth.
 * circa 2263: Enrolls at Starfleet Academy; later graduates with the rank of ensign.
 * circa 2266: Assigned to USS Enterprise as helmsman and relief science officer.
 * 2270: The Enterprise's five-year mission ends.
 * Early 2270s: Joins the refit Enterprise crew as lieutenant, assigned as security chief.
 * 2285: Assigned to USS Reliant as commander, first officer. Assignment ends when the vessel is destroyed by Khan Noonien Singh. Chekov participates in the theft and destruction of Enterprise, and flees with Admiral Kirk's party to Vulcan.
 * 2286: Charges against the crew and Chekov are dropped; Chekov becomes security chief of USS Enterprise-A.
 * 2287: Temporarily in command of the Enterprise-A, acts as captain to negotiate with Sybok at Nimbus III.
 * 2293: After helping to solve the Khitomer conspiracy, Chekov's assignment to the Enterprise-A ends when the vessel is scheduled for retirement. Chekov is a guest on board the new Enterprise-B.

Background
Chekov was played by Walter Koenig, who joined the cast of Star Trek at the beginning of Season 2. Fandom placed Chekov's birthplace in Saint Petersburg.

According to Gene Coon in The Making of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry wanted to add a young, British character to appeal to younger demographics. However, he received a written complaint from Russian sources, who complained that Star Trek—though trying to fashion a future where the world was united—was ignoring the USSR, which, at the time, was the leader in the space race. Roddenberry altered his British youth into Chekov.

Apocrypha
In the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy game, Chekov claims he was stationed on planet Benderi IV prior to joining the Enterprise, where he had a commanding officer who believed that getting angry was unprofessional and bottled up her rage until it exploded. After Chekov's final appearance in Generations (2293), and the reference that a starship would be named after him by 2367, no canon information exists on how he lived out the rest of his days, or what fate he met. According to "The Sundered", the first book in the Star Trek: The Lost Era series, Chekov served as executive officer of the USS Excelsior from 2293 through at least part of 2298. Chekov is mentioned in TNG-era novels from Pocket Books, such as "Federation." That novel mentioned him becoming an admiral after commanding both the USS Potemkin and USS Cydonia. "The Return" indicates that Chekov became Fleet Admiral. In "Exodus," a novel in the Star Trek: Vulcan's Soul series, a plot thread indicates Chekov may still be alive by the time of the Dominion War, as well as Admiral Uhura. In Star Trek: New Voyages, Walter Koenig reprised his role as Chekov in the episode which premiered November 23 2006 and subsequently died, defying the canonical progresion of all the Star Trek movies.