Jean-Luc Picard

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (2379)
Gender:	Male
Species:	Human
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Rank:	Captain
Serial number:	SP-937-215
Status:	Active (2379)
Born:	July 13, 2305
Father:	Maurice Picard
Mother:	Yvette Gessard
Sibling(s):	Robert Picard (brother)
Other Relative(s):	René Picard (nephew)
Played by:	Patrick Stewart (adult) David Tristan Birkin (age 12) Tom Hardy (Academy years) Marcus Nash (Ensign)
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (2364)

Jean-Luc Picard was a celebrated and well-respected Starfleet officer who served during the latter half of the 24th century. The highlights of his career are his positions as commanding officer of the following Federation starships: first, the USS Stargazer, followed by the USS Enterprise-D, and then the USS Enterprise-E. In these roles, Picard not only witnessed the major turning points of recent galactic history, but played a key role in them also, from making first contact as captain of the Federation's flagship with no fewer than 27 alien species, including the Ferengi and the Borg, as well as becoming the chief contact point with the Q Continuum, to serving as Arbiter of Succession, choosing the former leader of the Klingon Empire, Chancellor Gowron, and exposing the Romulan Star Empire as backers of his chief rivals, later aiding an underground movement of dissidents to gain a toehold on the Romulan homeworld. He continued to serve as captain of the Enterprise-E, the sixth starship to bear the name, until at least 2379.

Contents 1 Personnel File 2 Biography 2.1 Childhood 2.2 Academy years 2.3 Early Starfleet career 2.4 Aboard the Stargazer 2.5 Captain of the Enterprise 2.5.1 Encounters with the Q entity 2.5.2 Encounters with the Borg 2.5.3 Kamin and the Ressikan Probe 2.5.4 Later career 3 Medical record 4 Personal life 4.1 Personal relationships 4.1.1 Family 4.1.2 Romance 4.1.3 Beverly Crusher 4.1.4 Guinan 4.1.5 William T. Riker 4.1.6 Data 4.1.7 Worf 5 Appendices 5.1 References by other people 5.2 Alternate realities and timelines 5.3 Chronology 5.4 Apocrypha 5.5 Memorable Quotes 5.5.1 Catchphrases 5.6 Background Information 6 External Links

[edit] Personnel File

• Serial number: SP 937-215
• Active rank: Captain
• Most recent assignment: Commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-E
• Previous assignments:
  • Commanding officer, USS Stargazer (NCC-2893), (2333-2355)
  • Commanding officer, USS Enterprise-D, (2364-2371)
  • Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise-E, (2372-)

[edit] Biography

[edit] Childhood

Jean-Luc Picard was born in La Barre, France on Earth on July 13, 2305. (TNG: "Conundrum") He and his brother, Robert, spent their childhood tending to their family vineyards with their father, Maurice. Concerned about the preservation of their familial values, Maurice and his wife, Yvette, educated their sons in the ancient traditions, avoiding in particular any superfluous technologies. (TNG: "Family") As a young boy, Jean-Luc watched his grandfather "deteriorate from a powerful, intelligent figure to a frail wisp of a man, who could barely make his own way home." (TNG: "Night Terrors")

As a child, Jean-Luc dreamed of adventure and exploration. He was fond of starships, of which he liked to build models. (TNG: "Booby Trap") Moreover, he was captivated by the Phoenix, the first Human warp-capable starship, which he admired several times at the Smithsonian Institution. (Star Trek: First Contact) Like his nephew René, Jean-Luc wrote a ribbon-winning report on starships. (TNG: "Family")

Despite Picard having been born in France, he had a distinct English accent. According to TNG: "Code of Honor", by the 24th century, French was considered an archaic language, but Picard may have spoken French with his family during childhood and he still remembered French children's songs like "Frère Jacques," as mentioned in TNG: "Disaster". He also occasionally cursed "merde" in times of stress, such as in "The Last Outpost" and "Elementary, Dear Data".

[edit] Academy years

Jean-Luc caused "quite a stir" by leaving his family's generational vineyard and applying to Starfleet Academy. (TNG: "Family") Although he failed to gain entry on his first attempt, Picard succeeded in his second attempt in 2323. He subsequently became one of the most outstanding cadets in his class. (TNG: "Coming of Age")

Picard's career at the Academy was difficult, at best – years later, Picard would credit Academy groundskeeper Boothby with helping him develop a mature attitude. (TNG: "The First Duty") Among Picard's friends at the Academy were Donald Varley, Cortin Zweller, Marta Batanides, and an acquaintance called "A.F.", whom he blamed for his failed semester of Organic Chemistry and whose initials Picard carved into Boothby's prized elm. (TNG: "Contagion", "The Game", "Tapestry")

Peter David's Star Trek novels say another Academy classmate of Picard's was Morgan Korsmo, who was later killed fighting the Borg just before the start of the Star Trek: New Frontier novels. The Starfleet Corps of Engineers eBook series says Captain David Gold was an upperclassman that Picard beat in the Academy marathon.

At the Academy, Picard developed an interest in archaeology. His professor, Richard Galen, encouraged him to continue in this field, but Picard ultimately refused his offer of becoming an archaeologist. (TNG: "The Chase")

Picard also excelled in sports. He won the Starfleet Academy marathon in April 2323 on Danula II, becoming the first freshman to win the race. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"; Picard family album) During a wrestling match, Picard caught a Ligonian with a reverse body lift and pinned him down in the first fourteen seconds. (TNG: "The First Duty")

During his sophomore year, Picard was assigned to training on Morikin VII where he had his first encounter with Nausicaans, who had an outpost on a nearby asteroid. (TNG: "Tapestry")

On April 20, 2327, Picard accepted an invitation to attend the Academy graduation ceremony in the Yuri Gagarin Hall. (Picard family album)

Star Trek Nemesis seems to suggest that Beverly Crusher knew and remembered Picard from his Academy days as being "cocky." This would be impossible, however, as Crusher was born a year after Picard entered the Academy and would only be around three years old when he graduated. However, she might just have been referring to stories she heard about him from these days. Nemesis also depicts a younger Picard as being completely bald while at the Academy, though both "Tapestry" and "Violations" show him as having a full head of hair after this period, though it is entirely possible that he chose to shave his head in his youth.

[edit] Early Starfleet career

Shortly upon graduation in 2327, Picard's promising career nearly ended abruptly during a layover at Starbase Earhart. During a bar brawl over a rigged game of dom-jot, he was stabbed through the heart by a Nausicaan, and had to undergo emergency surgery to replace his heart. He later related to Wesley Crusher that he laughed after looking down to see the knife protruding through his chest. This event helped him realize how fragile life could be, and thus made him more willing to take risks and make his mark on the universe, which he only realized when Q proposed him to change this event in 2369. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare", "Tapestry")

In a scene cut from TNG: "The Measure Of A Man", Admiral Nakamura recalled serving aboard the USS Reliant during his lieutenancy with the newly assigned Ensign Picard.

As a junior officer, Picard was the closest of friends with Walker Keel, and also became friends with Jack Crusher and his fiancée, Beverly Howard. (TNG: "Conspiracy", "Journey's End")

Picard demonstrated command abilities early in his career, in particular when he led an away team on Milika III to save an ambassador. This incident would later be mentioned by Q as one of the crucial events forming Picard's personality. (TNG: "Tapestry")

As a young lieutenant, Picard attended the wedding of Sarek's son where he briefly met Sarek and Spock for the first and only time before the 2360s. (TNG: "Sarek", "Unification I")

Caution was still in place during the writing of "Sarek" about dealing with characters from The Original Series, thus it is only implied that the son in question is Spock. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) Picard's line in "Unification I" only states that he has met Spock before but does not explicitly state when that meeting occurred, though likely it would have been at the wedding.

[edit] Aboard the Stargazer

Picard was assigned as a flight controller aboard the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893). In 2333, as a lieutenant commander, he assumed command of the vessel when the captain was killed on the bridge. Starfleet awarded Picard a promotion to the post of captain, making him one of the youngest Starfleet officers ever to attain the position. (TNG: "Tapestry") Picard remained in command of the Stargazer for twenty-two years.

It is not clear if Picard was promoted directly to captain, or if he was promoted to full commander but assigned a captain's responsibilities, before being promoted to the higher grade later. In accordance with naval rank tradition, one does not necessarily have to hold a captain's rank to command a vessel.

The length of Picard's command of the Stargazer is from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers'/Directors' Guide. The year he took command is derived from "The Battle", in which it is stated Picard lost the Stargazer in 2355.

In 2342, Picard dated a young woman named Jenice at the Café des Artistes in Paris. However, he became afraid of a possible future relationship and posted Jenice, who later married Paul Manheim. (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")

During the Cardassian wars, the Stargazer was involved in a truce offering by the Federation. After making contact with a Cardassian warship, Picard lowered the ship's shields as a gesture of good will, but the Cardassian commander ignored the gesture and disabled the Stargazer's weapons and impulse engines. The Stargazer managed to regroup and flee. (TNG: "The Wounded")

In 2354, Picard was on an away mission when he saved the life of one team member at the expense of another; Jack Crusher was lost in the line of duty. Picard met with Crusher's widow, Beverly, on Starbase 32 to present the body; it was one of Wesley Crusher's earliest memories. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "Coming of Age", "The Bonding", "Violations")

In 2355, the Stargazer was seriously damaged in a battle with an unknown enemy vessel, later discovered to be a Ferengi ship. Picard managed to destroy the enemy vessel using the Stargazer's warp engines in a unique tactical maneuver (later named the "Picard Maneuver"), but was forced to abandon the Stargazer. His actions during the battle were called into question by Starfleet prosecutor Phillipa Louvois, but he was exonerated by the inquiry board and was later awarded with the Grankite Order of Tactics (Class of Excellence) for the development of the Picard Maneuver. The encounter with the Ferengi vessel, later known as the Battle of Maxia, would come back to haunt Picard. DaiMon Bok, whose son was killed during the battle, would twice try to exact revenge on Picard. (TNG: "The Battle", "The Measure Of A Man", "Bloodlines"; Picard family album from Star Trek Generations)

[edit] Captain of the Enterprise

In 2364, Picard was assigned command of the newly-commissioned Galaxy-class starship USS Enterprise-D, the most prestigious captaincy in Starfleet. He commanded the ship for seven years, participating in many important missions. Among these were the defeat of the Borg invasions of 2366 and 2369, and his command of the fleet which blockaded the Klingon-Romulan border during the Klingon Civil War.

What Picard did for the nine years between the Stargazer and the Enterprise is unknown and has never been discussed in any Star Trek production. The amount of time would have been sufficient for him to command another starship, but never have we heard Picard mention another starship command beside the two we know about. The novel The Buried Age fills in many of the gaps, including Picard's first meetings with Troi, Data, Yar, Kathryn Janeway, and La Forge.

Picard hand-picked most of his senior staff, such as two young officers who impressed him enough upon first meeting. Geordi La Forge once piloted Picard's inspection tour shuttle and stayed up all night to refit an engine part Picard had made a passing comment on, and Picard witnessed Natasha Yar risk her life to save colonists amid a Carnelian minefield. He had also picked William T. Riker as his first officer and promoted him to Commander sight unseen, impressed by the young officer's record of independence. (TNG: "The Next Phase", "Legacy", "The Pegasus")

Mere months upon taking command, Picard was offered a promotion to commandant of Starfleet Academy with the rank of Admiral by Admiral Gregory Quinn, but turned it down to retain command of the Enterprise. (TNG: "Coming of Age")

Although Picard often heatedly defended a strict interpretation of the Prime Directive, he broke it numerous times when he felt it was warranted. Thus, in 2364, he allowed an Edo woman to confront her "god" from space, and in 2366, Picard brought a Mintakan leader aboard the Enterprise so as to undo the damage done by cultural contamination. (TNG: "Justice", "Who Watches The Watchers") Furthermore, in 2370, the Enterprise, by hand of Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko, transported a primitive group of Boraalans aboard from Boraal II before an atmospheric dissipation rendered it uninhabitable. Although in violation of the Prime Directive, Picard ordered that the Boraalans be resettled. (TNG: "Homeward")

In 2369, when the Enterprise was undergoing a baryon sweep at the Remmler array, Picard uncovered a plan, by mercenaries, to steal toxic waste from the ship's warp core. He managed to take out all of the intruders by setting traps throughout the various sections of the ship. He even used the Vulcan nerve pinch technique on one of them. (TNG: "Starship Mine")

[edit] Encounters with the Q entity

Commanding the Enterprise on its first mission, Picard made first contact with a member of the Q Continuum – Q. Picard and his senior officers had to stand trial for Humanity's immaturity. To prove their worthiness as a species, Picard had to solve the "mystery of Farpoint Station." The crew of the Enterprise discovered that the inhabitants of Deneb IV, the Bandi, had captured a space-dwelling being to serve their own purpose. The Enterprise helped to free the creature, and Q, somewhat disappointed by the crew's success, retreated, though he hinted that it would not be their final encounter. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

Thus, later that year, Q created a bizarre and deadly "game" for the crew of the Enterprise in order to demonstrate that he had given Riker Q-like abilities. Ultimately, Riker rejected these new powers, and Q again disappeared. (TNG: "Hide and Q") One year later, in 2365, Q first expressed an interest in joining Picard's crew. When Picard declined, Q tried to show how much he could be of assistance by hurling the Enterprise into the path of a Borg cube. Q was hoping to show that the Federation was entirely unprepared to meet some of the more powerful races that existed in the universe. Ultimately, Picard had to beg for Q's help in escaping from the pursuit of the Borg vessel. (TNG: "Q Who")

A fourth encounter with Q occurred in 2366, when the other members of the Continuum had stripped him of his omnipotence and immortality as punishment for his irresponsibility. He sought refuge on the Enterprise and, although Picard and the rest of the crew were initially unconvinced of the sincerity of Q's pleas, the captain agreed to provide Q temporary asylum. As the Enterprise began to suffer under Calamarain attack, however, Q resolved to end his life in order to prevent further risk to the Enterprise crew, but another member of the Q Continuum prevented Q from sacrificing himself, and restored his powers as a reward for his selfless act. (TNG: "Deja Q")

Late in 2367, Q returned to the Enterprise to "properly" thank Picard for his role in helping him regain his standing in the Continuum. At the time, Picard was meeting Vash, whom he had met on Risa the year before. Q resolved to teach Picard a lesson about love and cast the captain, Vash, and the Enterprise command crew into an elaborate scenario styled by the ancient legend of Robin Hood. Q himself assumed the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Ultimately, Picard learned his lesson, and everyone was returned to the Enterprise. Intrigued by Vash, though, Q offered to take her on a journey of exploration to explore various archaeological ruins of the galaxy, and she accepted. (TNG: "Qpid")

In 2369, Q once again appeared aboard the Enterprise, this time to instruct Amanda Rogers, a Human who was the child of two Q and possessed Q powers herself. Although Q's petulant and acerbic attitude did little to ingratiate himself to Amanda, he eventually convinced her to go with him to the Continuum to learn to use her newfound abilities. (TNG: "True Q")

Later that same year, Q appeared to Picard when the latter was critically injured in a Lenarian ambush. Appearing as "God", Q told Picard that he had died because of his artificial heart, and offered him the chance to return to the incident in his youth, allowing him to relive the events leading up to his near-fatal injury and change history. Although Picard was successful in changing history, he eventually realized that the event – and his previous nature as an arrogant, brash young man – was a part of his identity, and had helped mold him into the successful Starfleet officer he had become. Although he was uncertain as to whether the experience had been real or simply a vision, Picard was grateful for Q's revelation. (TNG: "Tapestry")

In 2370, Q returned to the Enterprise to continue the trial against Humanity. Claiming that the seven-year-old trial had never actually ended, Q proclaimed Humanity guilty of "being inferior" and informed Picard that his race was to be destroyed. He sent Picard traveling through time to his past, present, and future, where he was presented with a temporal paradox in the form of an eruption of anti-time in the Devron system. In this paradox, Picard himself was responsible for the creation of the anomaly that propagated backwards in normal time (anti-time having the opposite properties of normal time), thus destroying Humanity in the past.

However, in addition to sending Picard jumping through time, Q also provided Picard with hints to understanding the nature of the paradox. Ultimately, Picard determined the solution and devised a way to close the anti-time anomaly in all three time periods. Following the captain's success, Q revealed that the entire experience had been a test, aimed at determining whether Humanity was capable of expanding its horizons to understand some of the advanced concepts of the universe. Departing, Q promised to continue watching Humanity, proclaiming that "The trial never ends." (TNG: "All Good Things...")

[edit] Encounters with the Borg

In 2365, Q sent the Enterprise 7,000 light years into uncharted space, into the path of a Borg cube. Although the Enterprise suffered losses, it became the first ship known by the Federation to survive an encounter with the Borg and so managed to inform Starfleet of the Borg's existence. (TNG: "Q Who")

One year later, in 2366, the Borg launched their first invasion of the Federation. A single cube destroyed the New Providence colony and the USS Lalo, and kidnapped Picard when the Enterprise attempted to intervene. Picard was partially assimilated and became a Borg drone known as Locutus of Borg. The cube proceeded towards Earth and engaged Starfleet in the Battle of Wolf 359, resulting in the destruction of 39 Federation vessels. On arrival at Earth, an away team from the Enterprise successfully rescued Picard and used his connection to the Borg to implant false data in the cube, destroying it. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds") It was revealed years later that his assimilation and time spent in the Collective had a profoundly disturbing effect on Picard's life. (Star Trek: First Contact)

The Enterprise again encountered the Borg in 2368 when they rescued a Borg drone from a crashed Borg shuttle. This drone was cut off from the collective and slowly regained an individual identity, eventually being named Hugh. Initially, the plan was drafted to use Hugh to destroy the collective in its entirety, although Dr. Beverly Crusher resisted the extermination of an entire race – even if it was the Borg. Picard eventually confronted Hugh, who immediately recognized Picard as Locutus. Picard took the role of Locutus while talking to Hugh, to simulate the authority that Hugh was used to. However, Geordi La Forge, Data, Dr. Crusher, and other members of the Enterprise crew had a profound effect on the former drone. Even Guinan, who initially wanted nothing to do with Hugh, taught him that resistance is not futile. Guinan's homeworld had been destroyed long ago by the Borg, but the fact that Guinan was still alive was proof to this assertion.

When Picard reminded Hugh that "resistance is futile," Hugh informed him that it was not so. When Picard told Hugh that La Forge would be assimilated, Hugh stated that La Forge did not want to be assimilated. When Picard said that this was irrelevant, Hugh specifically said that he (and Hugh used the word "I") would not assist in the assimilation of La Forge. Picard was stunned that a Borg drone would say such things. He decided that he could not send Hugh back with the file that would destroy the Borg. Picard offered Hugh asylum on board the Enterprise, but Hugh said that the collective would not stop looking for him until they found him. Hugh agreed to go back to the crash site and to be taken back into the Collective, to protect the Enterprise from harm. (TNG: "I, Borg")

The individuality present in Hugh spread through the ship he returned to, causing a catastrophic separation of the ship from the rest of the collective. This rogue mini-collective was unsure how to cope with its freedom, and so fell under the influence of the android Lore. Lore persuaded them to aid his plan to conquer Earth. Using the rogue ship, they attacked several outposts before being tracked down by the crew of the Enterprise-D. They destroyed the Borg ship and were able to persuade the remaining members of the mini-collective of Lore's unreliability. The mini-collective then disappeared into space and has not been encountered since. (TNG: "Descent", "Descent, Part II")

There were some within Starfleet who blamed Picard for the destruction of the task force at Wolf 359. Benjamin Sisko, who was serving as first officer of the USS Saratoga at the time, lost his wife Jennifer in the attack. Picard and Sisko finally met in 2369, after the Enterprise was the first Starfleet vessel to arrive at Deep Space 9. Sisko was, at first, hostile toward Picard, but later came to forgive him. Sisko also gave Picard his letter of resignation, which Picard did not send, feeling Sisko was the right person for command of Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Emissary")

In 2373, the Borg launched their second invasion of the Federation, and again the crew of the Enterprise would play a major role in their defeat. Initially, the Enterprise was not to have participated in the Battle of Sector 001, because according to Starfleet Command, Picard would bring an "unstable element into a critical situation." Seeing that the Borg were getting the best of the fleet, Picard ordered the Enterprise to Earth to assist. He was instrumental in defeating both the main invasion and an attempt by the Borg to prevent the formation of the Federation by altering history. (Star Trek: First Contact)

[edit] Kamin and the Ressikan Probe

In 2368, the Enterprise encountered a space probe of unknown origin, which emitted a nucleonic beam directly at Picard. This led to his fainting and awakening on an unknown world where he was known as an ironworker named Kamin and was married to Eline. Picard later found out that Kamin was a member of the Ressik community on a planet called Kataan. For five years, Picard clung to his life aboard the Enterprise and searched for ways to return, but eventually settled into his life as Kamin, having two children with Eline and eventually a grandchild. In the approximately 35 years Picard spent as Kamin, he learned to play the Ressikan flute, dabbled in astronomy, and analyzed soil samples from the planet, eventually confirming that Kataan was a dying world.

Near the end of his life on Kataan, it was revealed to Picard that Kataan had been destroyed more than 1,000 years ago, and the residents of the Ressik community had engineered the probe to share the memory and experiences of their people with someone who could then teach others about their civilization. He awoke on the Enterprise as Jean-Luc Picard once more, and discovered that he had lived a lifetime in only 25 minutes. The probe was collected by the Enterprise and disassembled. A Ressikan flute was found inside the probe, which William T. Riker then presented to Picard. (TNG: "The Inner Light")

Picard considered the flute to be one of his most prized possessions. As of 2379, he kept the flute on his desk in his ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-E. (TNG: "Lessons"; Star Trek Nemesis)

• Picard playing the Ressikan Flute^file info

[edit] Later career

In 2371, the USS Enterprise-D was lost over Veridian III, with the vessel's primary hull crash-landing on the planet's surface. There were no fatalities, and most of the ship's senior crew was reassigned to the USS Enterprise-E, the sixth Federation starship to bear the name. Picard was installed as commanding officer and given a new authorization code: "Picard-4-7-alpha-tango." After a one-year shakedown cruise, the new Enterprise was nearly lost when the senior staff had decided to sacrifice the ship in order to save Earth's future by preventing the onboard Borg from changing history. Fortunately, the crew was able to repel the Borg's attempt without having to destroy the Enterprise. (Star Trek: First Contact)

Two years later, in 2375, Picard ordered the Enterprise-E to the Ba'ku homeworld in the Briar Patch when it appeared that his operations officer, Lieutenant Commander Data, had malfunctioned and assaulted members of the research team there. Picard was able to capture Data and uncovered a plot by Admiral Matthew Dougherty and some in the Federation Council to relocate the Ba'ku against their will. Picard rebelled against Dougherty, bringing word of his actions to the public. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

Picard continued in command of the Enterprise through 2379, when the ship was sent to Romulus after the coup by Praetor Shinzon. Shinzon was a clone of Picard created by a former Romulan government – they intended to replace the captain with a spy of their own. Following a change of government, the plan was abandoned and Shinzon was sent to Remus to die. Instead, he prospered, becoming a highly successful leader during the Dominion War. Shinzon used a thalaron radiation weapon to eradicate the Romulan Senate and had planned to do the same to Earth. He needed Picard in order to repair faults in his own genetic makeup.

In a pitched battle between the Enterprise and Shinzon's flagship, the Scimitar, Picard was eventually able to board the enemy ship and eliminate Shinzon. Picard's life was saved by Data, who transported his captain back to the Enterprise before sacrificing his own life to destroy the Scimitar by firing on the thalaron weapon with a hand phaser, thereby also saving the over 800 men and women aboard the Enterprise. (Star Trek Nemesis)

[edit] Medical record

Picard always remained in excellent health, thanks to a regimen carried over from his days as an athlete, and at the age of seventy-four (in 2379), was still a vibrant and healthy man. (Star Trek Nemesis)

Despite his captaincy of the Enterprise, Picard still found time for fencing, racquetball, and equine sports, usually by holodeck. Nevertheless, he did show a tendency for overwork, avoided formal vacations, and had reported bouts of insomnia. Additionally, Picard usually tried to avoid his annual physicals, to the great irritation of Dr. Beverly Crusher. (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris", "Suddenly Human", "Captain's Holiday", "Allegiance")

At a very young age, Picard was diagnosed with Shalaft's Syndrome, a rare congenital defect that left him hypersensitive to any kind of sound. His condition was treated, but his hearing was still highly acute. As an ensign, Picard could sense subtleties as faint as a starship's torque sensors out of alignment by three microns. (Star Trek: Insurrection; Star Trek Nemesis)

Picard lost his hair by the 2350s, although he was known to have had a shaved head for some time as a student at Starfleet Academy. (TNG: "Rascals", "Tapestry", "Violations"; Star Trek Nemesis)

Boothby's comment in TNG: "The First Duty", in which he wondered what happened to Picard's hair, suggests that Picard did indeed have hair when they met. Picard also has thin brown hair when he is remembered by Beverly Crusher in "Violations". However, both Shinzon and the photo of the younger Picard have clearly shaved heads (with visible stubble shadow). In Shinzon's case, as Tom Hardy was apparently not naturally bald, this may have been an oversight by the makeup department.

Owing to a near-fatal stabbing through the heart in 2328, a cardiac device later found to be defective was implanted to save Picard's life. The unit required replacement when it malfunctioned in 2365, overseen at Starbase 212 by Dr. Katherine Pulaski. Four years later, the unit was damaged and again replaced following a near-fatal Lenarian compressed tetryon weaponry attack. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare", "Tapestry")

Following his assimilation by the Borg in 2366, Picard was formally declared dead as a casualty of war by Admiral J.P. Hanson. The ruling was rescinded six days later when Picard was recaptured by the crew of the Enterprise. Along with the physical recovery, the invasive incident took an enormous emotional toll and required several weeks of counseling. Picard underwent similar, though less lengthy recuperation following his capture and torture by Cardassians in 2369. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "Chain of Command, Part I")

Ronald D. Moore commented regarding Picard's assimilation: "I lobbied for giving Picard a permanent bionic arm, but Rick and Michael wouldn't go for it. Picard's arm is his own." [1]

[edit] Personal life

Picard held diverse intellectual interests and recreational pursuits. He had a lifelong interest in archaeology, inspired by his Academy instructor, Richard Galen, having studied the Iconian culture since his cadet days. Picard even addressed the Federation Archaeological Council as keynote speaker on his oft-studied Tagus III ruins in 2367. He also had a deep love of Terran literature, from the works of William Shakespeare to detective stories featuring Dixon Hill, and preferred to read them in their written form rather than on a holo-visual display. Picard had studied semantics, and kept his Latin fresh. Other subjects that enthralled Picard were physics and celestial mechanics. He kept up with the Atlantis Project on Earth through journals. Picard was fascinated to be the first to reveal an ancient Promellian battle cruiser, as visiting such an elegant craft was always a dream of Picard's, a dream he had held on to ever since he was a child when he used to build model ships in bottles. (TNG: "Booby Trap") After his experience with the Kataan probe, Picard began to play the Ressikan flute, and was good enough to perform works by Mozart. He considered the flute to be one of his most prized possessions. It represented, to him, an entire lifetime he lived in only 25 minutes. As of 2379, Picard kept the flute on his desk in his ready room aboard the Enterprise-E. His attempts at painting were less successful. (TNG: "The Chase", "Family", "The Inner Light", "A Matter of Perspective"; Star Trek Nemesis)

Despite Picard being a rather private person, he maintained a good relationship with the members of his senior staff on board the Enterprise, but only joined in their weekly game of poker after seven years. (TNG: "All Good Things...") When enjoying the comforts of home on the Enterprise, Picard drank Earl Grey tea. He delighted in fencing, horseback riding, and his scale models of various Starfleet vessels. His opponents in fencing included Lieutenant Dean and Guinan, whom Picard coached in the sport. She initially lost one of their matches, and said she did not think she liked the sport. Picard replied she liked it well enough two weeks prior, when she scored him two touches. (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris", "I, Borg")

Only rarely did Picard take extended time off to relax. In 2366, several of the members of his crew persuaded him to go on holiday on Risa. While intending to just relax in the suns, reading a book, he ended up going on a treasure hunt for the Tox Uthat, an artifact from the future. (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")

Philosophically, Picard saw life and death as more than two choices of eternal or momentary existence. In fact, he believed there was another concept yet beyond Human understanding due to the marvelous complexity and the clockwork precision of the universe. In 2364, confronted by Q, Picard quoted from Shakespeare: "What a piece of work is man? How noble in reason? How infinite in faculty, in form, in moving, how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god..." Upon Q's interruption that surely he did not see his own species like that, Picard answered that he saw Humankind one day becoming so. In Picard's opinion, genetic engineering with its predetermination robbed Humanity of the unknown factor that makes life worth living. (TNG: "Lonely Among Us", "Hide and Q", "The Masterpiece Society")

[edit] Personal relationships

[edit] Family

Picard claimed that he was able to trace his family's roots in western Europe back to the time of Charlemagne in the 8th century. He had "never been a family man," and was thus long uncomfortable with the presence of children aboard the Galaxy-class Enterprise. The orphaned son of Lieutenant Marla Aster again raised his concern about the vessel's civilian family contingent, although his unease with children had dissipated since being stranded with three youths during a shipboard quantum filament crisis. His initial reaction to family was also reflected in the friction with his father, and later his older brother, over leaving the family business. Upon the sudden accidental deaths of his brother Robert and his nephew René, the issue of lineage and Picard's lack of offspring caused a sustained yet brief period of depression. (TNG: "Journey's End", "The Bonding", "Disaster", "Family"; Star Trek Generations)

In 2370, DaiMon Bok threatened Jason Vigo, claiming that Jason was Picard's son. It was soon revealed that Jason was not actually Picard's son. As a parting gift, Picard gave Jason an archaeological artifact of significant sentimental value. (TNG: "Bloodlines")

[edit] Romance

When Ambassador Lwaxana Troi visited the USS Enterprise-D in 2365, she had just entered her Betazoid phase, and so she set her sights on several male crewmembers as potential mates, including Picard. She announced her "wedding" with William Riker on the bridge of the Enterprise shortly before moving on to Picard. Following an intimate dinner with the ambassador, Picard hid himself on the holodeck in a Dixon Hill holonovel. Lwaxana continued to teasingly flirt with Picard during her future visits to the Enterprise. On one occasion, Picard pretended to be in love with Lwaxana in order to save the ambassador's daughter, Deanna Troi, and Riker from Ferengi captivity. Lwaxana was most impressed with his Shakespearian poetry. (TNG: "Manhunt", "Ménage à Troi")

Picard had a relationship with an "adventurer" and some-time criminal named Vash. They initially met when Picard aided her attempts to find a rare artifact. Over the course of their adventure, the two developed an intimate relationship. Vash later returned to the Enterprise as part of an archaeological advisory team, and was upset to find that Picard had not told his friends about their relationship. At the same time, Q appeared on the ship, and in return for Picard's aid in getting back to the Q Continuum, he created a Robin Hood fantasy world in which Picard (Robin) had to save Vash (Maid Marian). Eventually, Vash and Picard parted on good terms, as she decided to travel the universe with Q. She later reappeared one last time on Deep Space 9 after being unceremoniously abandoned by her "partner" Q.

In 2368, while mediating negotiations between the warring planets Krios and Valt Minor, Picard encountered Kamala, an empathic metamorph intended as a gift for Valtese Chancellor Alrik. Due to premature emergence from stasis, Kamala underwent her bonding phase before the marriage could be completed. When circumstances placed Picard and Kamala in close proximity to each other, she eventually bonded with the captain. However, having adapted to be perfectly compatible with Picard, Kamala found that her sense of duty demanded that she proceed with the marriage rather than pursue a relationship with Picard. Picard was deeply affected by Kamala, as shown by his reaction to Ambassador Briam's inquiry about the experience.

In 2369, Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren came aboard the Enterprise to become head of the ship's Stellar Sciences department. In her new role, she was very forthright in her requests for ship resources to support her department's studies. Soon after coming aboard, she and Picard met. A friendship quickly formed, based on their shared love for music. Daren accompanied the captain on a portable piano while he played the Ressikan flute. Their friendship soon blossomed into love. The crew reacted d