Gary Mitchell

Gary Mitchell was a Human Federation Starfleet officer, of American descent, on active duty until the mid-2260s.

Early life and career

In addition to serving on James T. Kirk's command staff during Kirk's first five-year mission, Gary Mitchell had also been 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 -- then a midshipman third class acting as an instructor -- a "stack of books with legs" (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", TOS novel: My Brother's Keeper trilogy). Brevet Lieutenant 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.

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

After graduation from Starfleet Academy, Gary Mitchell was posted as a junior navigator on the USS Constitution in the late 2250s. (TOS novel: My Brother's Keeper: Constitution)

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

When Kirk succeeded Christopher Pike as commanding officer of the USS Enterprise, he chose Mitchell as his first officer but was overruled by Starfleet Command (in the person of Admiral Kimitake Noguchi) in Spock's favour. Still in a regen capsule at Starfleet Teaching Hospital in San Francisco, Mitchell was unable to board the ship until after Kirk's first mission. (Enterprise: The First Adventure)

Mitchell served as second officer (third-in-command) for approximately one year. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")

In the My Brother's Keeper trilogy, it was a longer period: 13 months and 12 days.

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 psionic 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. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")

Later career

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")

Officers of the starships Enterprise
	CO	XO	CMO	SCI	ENG	TAC	SEC	HELM	NAV	COMM
NCC-1701:	April Pike Kirk Decker Spock	Pike | Chin-Riley | Spock | Decker | Sulu	April Boyce M'Benga Piper McCoy Chapel	Lucero Spock Chekov Kyle Sonak Decker Saavik	Louvier Hemmer Pelia Scott DeSalle Cleary	Noonien-Singh Sulu Chekov	Noonien-Singh Giotto Freeman Chekov	Chin-Riley Mann Ortegas G. Mitchell H. Sulu Leslie Hadley Kyle DePaul Hansen Spinelli Walking Bear	Tyler | Amin J. Mitchell Kelso Alden | Bailey Farrell | Hadley | Riley Stiles | Latimer | DeSalle Osborne | Painter Chekov | Leslie | Haines Arex | Ilia | DiFalco Saavik	Garison Nicola Christina Shankar Alden Uhura Farrell Hadley Palmer Martine M'Ress
NX-01 | NX-01 (mirror) | NCC-1701 | NCC-1701 (alt) | NCC-1701 (mirror) | NCC-1701-A | NCC-1701-B | NCC-1701-C | NCC-1701-D | NCC-1701-E | NCC-1701-F | NCC-1701-G

Alternate continuities

Enterprise: The First Adventure

In this continuity, Mitchell is older than Kirk by a year, rather than the other way around. Most people called him "Mitch"; only Kirk called him "Gary" because he'd known him the longest and never got around to making the change to the newer nickname. (TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure)

The Janus Gate

In an alternate timeline where James T. Kirk had never been captain of the Enterprise, a Captain Marshall Hoffman succeeded Christopher Pike, but was killed during the Enterprise's battle with a Romulan bird-of-prey. Mitchell was then breveted to captain. Mitchell was also victorious in battling a Gorn commander, but the Metrons destroyed the entire space fleet of the Gorn Hegemony. (TOS novel: The Janus Gate trilogy: Future Imperfect)

Orion Press

Mitchell's full name was Garrison Keillor Mitchell. His parents' names were Tom and Kera.

James Kirk and Gary Mitchell had known each other since childhood, as their respective parents were friends. ("First Contact 101")

In this continuity, the galactic energy barrier was composed of psionic beings, the Ph'ecdalyns, who amplified the abilities of humans with high esper ratings. During the events of TOS: "Where No Man has Gone Before", the landslide caused by Kirk's phaser rifle blast did not kill Mitchell. He eventually freed himself and created a habitable environment for himself on Delta-Vega.

Mitchell was rescued by the officers and crew of Enterprise in 2274. While the Ph'ecdalyns' influence had faded on the planet, once Mitchell was in space, his telekinetic abilities resurged. In overthrowing the alien influence, Mitchell also destroyed himself. ("Resurrection", "The Unexplained")

Star Trek: Accord

In this continuity, Mitchell's full name was Garrison Southworth Ewing Mitchell. While born near New York City, his familial roots on his maternal side went back to late 20th-century California and, before that, to 19th-century Dallas, Texas. On his paternal side, he was a descendant of William "Billy" Mitchell (1879-1936), considered the father of the U.S. Air Force.

Mitchell, as a lieutenant commander in 2261, served as second officer on USS Accord, succeeding Melissa Sturdevant. He transferred off the ship several months before it was lost. ("Year One")

Senior officers of the starships Accord
	CO	XO	SO	SCI	ENG	HELM/NAV	COMM	CMO
NCC-1842:	Ibañez Anbinder J.C. Cohen Devine	N. Barstow Ramjattansingh Shappe Kinne J.C. Cohen Rose Beshures	Sturdevant Mitchell Kindermann	Ramjattansingh Gray | Kinne Devine	Sigurdsdottir Shappe Valentine	Kindermann Corwin | Avram ben Eliezer | Janek | Farkas | G. Benteen	Clark Beshures	Mangubat Ayelet ben Eliezer
Marshall-class | Sadat-class | NCC-0542 | NCC-1842 | NCC-63781 | NCV-2561842

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men

In this timeline, Gary Mitchell establishes the Galactic Order, an evil version of the Federation using the same ship designs. He also came to be known as "Curate Prime." He lost his powers in 2306 after a battle with Charlie Evans. He was killed shortly thereafter when his ship was rammed by the GSS Conqueror.

Star Trek is...

In this continuity, Mitchell's father was named Gary Mitchell, Sr.. He was commanding officer of the SS Yorktown from 2217 to 2224.

Appearances

• TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
• TOS novels Enterprise: The First Adventure, Strangers From The Sky and the My Brother's Keeper trilogy
• Star Trek/X-Men crossover comic Star TreX.
• Orion Press: "First Contact 101"
• Star Trek: Accord: "Year One"
• Star Trek: Pendragon: "Whispers As Loud As Thunder"

External links

• Gary Mitchell article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Gary Mitchell article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.