Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco,[15] and is of Japanese heritage. His birthdate has not been established definitively, but the book Star Trek Chronology by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda speculates that he was 29 at the time of the first season of Star Trek (as was the actor himself), putting his birth in the year 2237.[15] He was shown as the USS Enterprise's staff physicist in the pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966).[16]
An early Paramount press release described this initial conception of his character as follows: "Physicist Sulu is the trim, soft-spoken chief of the Enterprise's Astro Science Department. Frequently it is his assessment of the conditions on unexplored planets that finally determines when and how they will be approached, or if they can be explored at all." However, throughout the rest of the series, he served as third officer and senior helmsman, holding the rank of lieutenant.[3] Throughout the series, Sulu is shown having many interests and hobbies, including gymnastics, botany,[17] fencing,[18] and ancient weaponry.[19] In the episode "The Naked Time" (1966), Spock observes that Sulu "is at heart a swashbuckler out of the 18th century".[18]
The character is promoted to lieutenant commander some time before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and to full commander by the time of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[15] During the first five Star Trek movies, he serves as helmsman aboard both the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A.[3] He is promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior three years before the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[15]
Star Trek Generations introduces Hikaru's daughter, Demora Sulu,[3] whose origins are also depicted in Peter David's canon novel The Captain's Daughter.[20]
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