James T. Kirk (mirror)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

The mirror Kirk

In the mirror universe, James Tiberius Kirk was a Starfleet captain, but rather than the Federation "our" universe's Kirk worked for, he was loyal to the brutal Empire.

Kirk succeeded to command the ISS Enterprise through assassination of Christopher Pike. His first action was the suppression of the Gorlan uprising through the destruction of the rebels' home planet. His second action was the execution of 5,000 colonists on Vega IX. Kirk's rise to power was very much due to his possession of the Tantalus field, a device he stole from an alien scientist, that allowed Kirk to vaporize uncooperative enemies remotely, without evidence. However, Kirk also had a personal security squad as bodyguards, led by Mr. Farrell. His woman in the late 2260s was Marlena Moreau, a lieutenant assigned to the sciences division (and also a skilled assassin).

In 2267 he visited the home planet of the Halkans. The Empire had noted their homeworld's vast dilithium reserves and threatened to destroy them if they did not comply. When Kirk's landing party attempted to beam up from the Halkan homeworld, an ion storm crossed him with his parallel from this universe, beaming him right inside his duplicate's clothes in a one-in-a-million transference, which read to Kyle's board as a "wobble" in the power beam of the transporter.

He found himself aboard the USS Enterprise in a different world than he knew – Spock noted it was more difficult for the barbaric mirror landing party to behave civilized than it was for the civilized crew to feign barbarity on the other side. After being imprisoned by Spock, he offered him fantastic bribes to get his command back. Spock proceeded to place the captives on the transporter, to wait for when the crew from his landing party reciprocated the action, and beamed themselves back into the places of the duplicates. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

It was later revealed by Intendant Kira to her counterpart Kira Nerys, during a second crossover into the mirror universe in 2370, that Kirk's situation upon his return would be far different. His Spock had relieved him of command, and had Kirk's Tantalus secret and the loyalty of his woman. Kirk's duplicate had strongly encouraged them to attempt to overthrow and change the Empire's negative effects on the galaxy.

Upon relaying this information to Julian Bashir, he noted that the events leading to Kirk's overthrow was something he read at Starfleet Academy. (DS9: "Crossover")

[edit] Background

Like his counterpart, the mirror Kirk was played by William Shatner.

Marvel Comics' "Fragile Glass", a sequel to "Mirror, Mirror", depicts Spock assassinating the mirror Kirk in short order after the return from the crossover. The recent Glass Empires novel shows that after Kirk's return to his universe, Spock attempted to dissuade him from destroying the Halkans, showing that if they did, it would in fact, be even more difficult for the Empire to get the dilithium, but Kirk refused and destroyed the Halkan civilization. Kirk was assassinated shortly thereafter by Spock in his own quarters with Marlena watching. According to the book, Spock throttled him in his quarters and then strangled him to death and vaporized his body with the Tanatalus field. Decipher's Mirror Universe also had Kirk assassinated after his return.

However, DC Comics' The Mirror Universe Saga and Pocket TNG: Dark Mirror by Diane Duane both depict Kirk surviving, as well as the Empire in its current form. The latter actually depicts an Empire in the TNG-era, something that did not occur in the DS9 version of events. In DC's comic arc, Kirk finally fell victim to arrogance when he was executed, along with his staff, for the crimes of his duplicate from "our" creation, after Kirk tried to invade this universe's Federation.

In the Star Trek: The Mirror Universe Trilogy novels of William Shatner and co-writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, the mirror Kirk survives well into the 24th century, via hibernation sleep (unlike his counterpart, who had to die twice to get into the 24th century). This version of events, which ties closely to the canon DS9 version, depicts Kirk as a madman who rose to ultimate power as the Emperor Tiberius I, with Intendant Spock's help. Meanwhile, Spock had been fulfilling his promise and attempted to change the Empire from the inside, using Kirk's power, before his betrayal. Afterwards, it is revealed that it was former Emperor Tiberius that brought together the Klingons and the Cardassians into a formidable alliance before his eventual disappearance for 78 years.

However, no canon scenario has confirmed or denied the speculative licensed works.

Commanding officers of the starships Enterprise

Enterprise (NX-01):

Archer • T'Pol • Tucker • Lorian

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701):

April • Pike • Kirk • Decker • Spock

USS Enterprise-A:

Kirk

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B):

Harriman

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C):

Garrett