| Saavik | |
|---|---|
| |
| Actor: | Robin Curtis |
| Species: | Vulcan/Romulan |
| Gender: | female |
| Born: | 2264 |
| Hair: | brown |
| Eyes: | green/brown |
| Height: | 1.8 m |
| Affiliation: | Starfleet |
| Occupation: | Chief science officer |
| Rank: | Lieutenant commander |
| Insignia: |   |
| Insignia: |   |
| Spouse(s): | Spock |
| Children: | Sorak |
| |
| Actor: | Kirstie Alley |
Saavik was a half-Vulcan, half-Romulan Federation Starfleet officer on active duty in the late 23rd and 24th centuries. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Early life[]
Saavik was born on Hellguard, a failed Romulan colony. She was half Vulcan and half Romulan. Abandoned shortly after birth, she lived as a street child until age 10, when she was rescued by a Vulcan exploration party at the behest of Spock. (TOS novel: The Pandora Principle) Spock attended to her education personally and sponsored her admission to Starfleet Academy. (Novelizations of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
During Saavik's time as an Academy cadet, she assisted Torias Dax and other scientists from the Daystrom Institute with test flights of Infinity, a transwarp shuttle. (DS9 anthology: The Lives of Dax: "Infinity")
Starfleet career[]
Upon her graduation from the Academy in 2285, Saavik was given the brevet rank of lieutenant junior grade, and was assigned to the USS Enterprise as navigator under Admiral James T. Kirk during the Genesis crisis. At this stage in her career, she often quoted Starfleet regulations, and was surprised by the way Kirk occasionally bent those rules. Despite her Vulcan stoicism, Saavik was seen to cry at Spock's funeral. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Later that year, Saavik was transferred to the USS Grissom, commanded by Captain J.T. Esteban, where she further studied the Genesis Planet along with Kirk's son David Marcus. There, they found the body of Captain Spock, who was believed lost. When Saavik and Marcus found him, Spock's regenerated body was physiologically that of a child, but he aged rapidly. Saavik helped Spock through the agonies of the pon farr. She travelled to Vulcan with the Enterprise crew to reintegrate Spock's katra into his body. This was her first visit to Vulcan. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
In 2286, she remained on Vulcan when the Enterprise crew, together with Captain Spock, left for Earth. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Three months after the Genesis Incident, Savvik was reassigned to the Miranda-class starship USS Fleming as her new science officer, replacing Dimitri Valtane (who was transferring to a newly-commissioned vessel). (Star Trek: Omega Force Gaiden: "Self-Examination")
Later she transferred to the USS Lexington, serving as science officer with rank of lieutenant commander. (The Lexington Adventures)
24th century[]
In 2311, Commander Saavik was serving aboard the USS Excelsior under Captain Nyota Uhura. In that year, sometime after the Tomed Incident, she became the ship's first officer, having succeeded Janice Rand, who had been killed in the line of duty several weeks earlier. ("Tomorrow's Excelsior")
The year 2329 was a pivotal one for Saavik. She was appointed executive officer of the Oberth-class USS Armstrong, and, not least, she and Spock were married in a ceremony witnessed by Admiral Leonard McCoy and Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Heart)
During the Dominion War, Saavik was in command of the Excelsior-class USS Alliance. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Soul trilogy: Exodus)
By 2381, Saavik had worked her way up to the rank of Admiral, as mentioned to Captain Kirk by Klingon Commander Kruge, following his research of the events in galactic history following the Genesis Incident of 2285. (Harry Potter and the Fountain of Possibilities: "All Hell Breaks Loose")
Personal life[]
Saavik did not know which of her parents as Vulcan and which Romulan. She had intentionally not undergone genetic tests to find her Vulcan family. She had a Romulan family mark branded on to her shoulder. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock novelization)
Spock had been Saavik's mentor from her rescue from Hellguard at age 10 to his death in 2285. However, after his restoration on Vulcan, he failed to recognize Saavik. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home novelization)
Saavik taught mathematics to Montgomery Scott's nephew Peter Preston as a cadet until his death during the Khan incident. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan novelization)
Saavik met Kirk's son David Marcus during the Genesis crisis. By the time of her assignment to USS Grissom, they had become lovers. Their relationship ended when Marcus was killed at the orders of Kruge. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock novelization)
Fanon[]
Orion Press[]
Saavik was born in 2261. Her mother was Szarin R'el'ikian, a Romulan consul, and her father was Scopal, an observer from the Vulcan Science Academy.
She was raised in the warrens of the Old City on Hellguard by S'Terek, Scopal's partner. S'Terek operated under the alias of S'rael, a master pickpocket, and taught Saavik (whom he nicknamed "Tiki") how to survive. Spock rescued her when she was a young teenager.
Saavik graduated from Starfleet Academy with a major in Command and a minor in the sciences.
After David Marcus's death at the hands of Kruge, she put on a Vulcan "mask" and took months before she dropped the barrier. A year after his death, she rejoined the crew of the Enterprise-A with the rank of lieutenant commander. (Orion Press: "To Hell(guard) and Back", "You Are Not Alone")
During the Kelvan War in 2285, Saavik was named executive officer of the Enterprise-A. (Kevin Riley was its commanding officer during the period that James T. Kirk commanded Task Force Six.) (In Harm's Way) After the war ended, she transferred to the USS Hathaway to be exec under Captain Paul Freeman; however, she only lasted in this billet for six months.
Over the next eight years, Saavik served on many vessels in many billets that included tactical officer, navigator, helm officer, science officer, security chief and even assistant chief engineer. She never lasted more than 18 months with anyone commanding officer; during this time, she was relieved of duty nine times for insubordination and stood before two formal boards of inquiry. On these occasions, interventions from Captains Spock and Kirk saved her career.
In late 2294, Lieutenant Commander Saavik was reassigned to the Enterprise-B as tactical officer, with the understanding that this was her last chance. (Immediately prior to this, she had served aboard the USS Coral Sea where she had called Captain Opatashu "incompetent".)
After a mindmeld, Spock determined that she had been carrying the katra of David Marcus all of this time. After she released it, she became a model officer. (Chekov's Enterprise)
Later in the seven-year mission, Saavik would succeed Nyota Uhura as executive officer of the Enterprise-B, under Captain Pavel Chekov. She would also become romantically involved with Lieutenant Peter Kirk. ("Odd Man Out")
Background[]
- Saavik was played by Kirstie Alley in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and by Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. There are, however, a few inconsistencies present with this change of actress. Alley's eyebrows were not characteristically slanted like all other Vulcans seen to that point. Her hair also changed from straight to curled when picked up by Curtis, although her eyebrows took on a familiar Vulcan slant. Additionally, Alley's eyes were green while Curtis had brown eyes.
- Alley also played Saavik in The Machiavellian Principle a play written by Walter Koenig for the "Ultimate Fantasy" convention. The script, as published by Creation Conventions in a 1987 booklet called "Through the Looking Glass", misspells the name as "Savik".
- Marie Cano portrayed Saavik (with the rank of lieutenant commander) in The Lexington Adventures fan film series (set soon after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). She was later replaced by Renda Carr.
- Allyson Marx portrayed Saavik in "No Good Deed", an episode of The Federation Files released in 2021.
Appearances[]
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- The Machiavellian Principle (play)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- The Lexington Adventures
- Star Trek: Grissom
- The Federation Files: "No Good Deed"
External links[]
- Saavik article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Saavik article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.