Michael Burnham

Latest revision as of 05:35, 24 September 2024

Michael Burnham is a female television character who features in Star Trek.

Biography

Origin

Michael Burnham was a female human born on Earth in 2226 as the daughter of astrophysicist Gabrielle Burnham and scientist Mike Burnham.

In 2236, her parents were stationed at Doctari Alpha with Michael staying with them during their assignment.

During a family dinner, Burnham came to see a light through a telescope with this actually an attack on the outpost by the Klingons. This saw her father attempt to barricade the kitchen door whilst her mother hid Michael in a cabinet. Their home was attacked by Klingons where her father was killed and it was believed her mother was similarly murdered in the process. The young Michael then saw the attackers sit down at the Burnham family table where they ate their dinner that was prepared and laughed at the slaughter.

She was found by Vulcan ambassador Sarek who decided to adopt the young orphaned human girl. This saw him bringing her to Vulcan where she was introduced to his wife Amanda Grayson and leading to her meeting their son Spock.

Following the incident, Burnham came to believe that her presence put the family in danger and attempted to run away. She ran away into Vulcan's Forge where she was saved from a vicious predatory animal by Sarek and the authorities after they were guided to her location by Spock. (DIS: If Memory Serves) Afterwards, Michael stayed with the family with Amanda reading books to both her and Spock. (DIS: Context Is for Kings) On her 10th birthday, she and Amanda visited the moon of Eridani D in order to attend a book exchange that was considered an ancient Human ritual. (DIS: Lethe) By her 11th birthday, Michael read Alice in Wonderland out loud to herself where she pretended to read it to her deceased parents. (DIS: Perpetual Infinity)

Following her graduation, she applied to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group though unknown to her the application was rejected on the basis of her being a human. This led to her adoptive father Sarek having to choose only one of his children to join the space service. Ultimately, he decided to choose Spock and hid this truth out of personal shame. Instead, he told Michael that her rejection was due to her having 'insufficient' ability with Burnham blaming herself for her weaknesses. This was despite her foster mother attempting to dismiss these thoughts in an attempt to comfort Michael. Afterwards, Spock decided to join Starfleet with this only increasing the shame Sarek felt over seemingly sacrificing Michael's future career over a pointless decision. (DIS: Lethe)

Starfleet

Burnham came to serve for six months in prison when she was taken from her cell and transported via shuttlecraft to another facility at Tellun. During transit, the shuttle was disabled with Michael along with the other three in-mates being rescued by the U.S.S. Discovery. It was then she was brought before Captain Gabriel Lorca and asked to participate in a boarding action aboard the U.S.S. Glenn. Lorca then offered her a place on Discovery where she was assured that her life sentence would not be an issue with Michael coming to share quarters with Sylvia Tilly. (DIS: Context Is for Kings) Burnham was reassigned from the command division to the sciences division and allowed to wear a Starfleet uniform again, albeit without any rank or other insignia. Lorca assigned her to work on the tardigrade, which had been captured aboard the Glenn. Burnham named the creature 'Ripper' because of its strength and ability to damage even a starship's tritanium hull. In collaboration with Tilly and Paul Stamets, she discovered the tardigrade's connection to the mycelial network, which enabled the full utilization of the spore drive in order to stop the Klingon attack on Corvan II. (DIS: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry) In the following weeks, the Discovery used the spore drive several times; Burnham grew concerned with the effects of this usage on the tardigrade, which became weaker and seemed to be at great discomfort when utilized for the drive. After voicing her concerns to acting captain Saru, she was confined to quarters by him. Following the successful mission to rescue Captain Lorca, she and Tilly released the tardigrade into space, where it regained its strength and traveled away. (DIS: Choose Your Pain)

After recovering Sarek from an assassination attempt by the same extremists who had targeted her as a young girl, Burnham was offered a position as bridge science specialist by Lorca, which she accepted. In the process, Burnham learned the truth about her rejection by the Expeditionary Group – Sarek had chosen to enable Spock to serve with the Group instead. (DIS: Lethe) Burnham then assisted Stamets in stopping Harry Mudd from stealing the Discovery and selling it to the Klingons. Burnham, Lorca, and Tyler then turned Mudd over to his fiance, Stella Grimes and her father. During this time, she and Tyler developed feelings for each other. (DIS: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad) Burnham then went with Tyler and Saru to Pahvo. There, they hoped to use a crystal structure to act as a SONAR in order to detect cloaked Klingon ships. During this time, Burnham noticed that Saru had become fearless after making first contact with the Pahvans. However, he had become hostile toward her and Tyler. Burnham was then able to convince the Pahvans to withdraw their influence over him and allow to complete their mission. Burnham was successful and the three of them returned to Discovery. (DIS: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum)

Following the Battle at Pahvo and the subsequent deception by Lorca, the Discovery found itself stranded in the mirror universe. Burnham took the place of her counterpart, long assumed to be dead, in an attempt to find a way home. While in command of the ISS Shenzhou, she was ordered to hunt down Gabriel Lorca, who was attempting a coup against the emperor. Her shuttlecraft was destroyed during this operation and she was presumed dead. Burnham was forced to disguise herself as her Terran counterpart on the Shenzhou in order to retrieve the data files on the Constitution-class USS Defiant to uncover how it crossed into the mirror universe's past. Burnham and Lorca play the part of their Terran selves. Ensign Connor, who is now Captain Connor, attempts to kill Burnham in an attempt to maintain his new position, but fails. The crew of the Shenzhou applauds Burnham for her killing as she takes the captain's chair. Later, Burnham appears exhausted keeping up the act and goes to her quarters where she and Tyler, who joined Burnham as her personal bodyguard, have sex. (DIS: Despite Yourself)

Burnham becomes increasingly agitated with her facade as mirror Burnham, and questions how long someone can keep a façade up until they actually become something they initially were not. She was alarmed by mirror Saru, who was a nameless slave in this universe, and decided to name him Saru in honor of her friend. Mirror Saru was shocked by her friendly gesture. Burnham was tasked to destroy a rebel base on the planet Harlak. Instead, she and Tyler opted to form a secret alliance with the Vulcans, Klingons, Andorians, and Tellarites, who opposed the Terran Empire. Voq appeared, the mirror universe counterpart of the Klingon she fought at the Binary Stars, and asked Mirror Sarek, known as The Prophet, to mind meld with Burnham to see if her intentions were pure. Mirror Sarek was taken aback by Burnham's memories and concluded she was a compassionate person who meant them no harm. Burnham became curious of Voq's ability to forge alliances with other alien races in order to find the solution to the Klingon war in her universe. Voq's explanation triggered Tyler, who spoke in Klingon and attacked Voq. Burnham convinces mirror Voq to spare Tyler's life. When Burnham and Tyler returnws to the Shenzhou, having faked the attack, she confronted Tyler. Tyler admitted that he didn't think he was actually Ash Tyler. It became apparent that Tyler was actually Voq and that speaking with mirror Voq set off his true nature, having been brought on the Discovery originally as a sleeper agent. Burnham was confused, but then realized that Tyler was the one she fought at the Binary Stars. Tyler, now mentally fully turned into Voq, attempted to kill her. Burnham was unable to defend herself, and mirror Saru arrived and attacked Tyler, saving her. Burnham faked Tyler's execution, actually transporting him to the Discovery together with the files from the Defiant, where he is held captive. Later, Burnham was dismayed to learn her falsities at Harlak had been uncovered by the silent emperor, who turned out to be her former captain Philippa Georgiou's mirror version. (DIS: The Wolf Inside)

Burnham and Lorca were transported to the ISS Charon, as the revelation that Georgiou was the emperor weighed down on her, making her feel the situation was a reckoning for her betrayal of her own Georgiou. Lorca refused to bow to Georgiou, and was taken to an agony booth. Georgiou suspected Burnham of deception, and holding a knife to her neck asked why she came there, revealing she was aware that she conspired to kill her and take her throne with Lorca. Burnham was left shocked by this revelation of her mirror counterpart's betrayal as well. When she referred to the emperor as 'Philippa', she was outraged, as she would normally have referred to her as 'mother'. Later, Burnham revealed prior to her execution that she was from another universe, using prime Georgiou's insignia as proof. Emperor Georgiou agreed to make a deal with Burnham to exchange the spore drive technology in exchange for her freedom to go home. Later, Burnham learned more about her mirror counterpart's history. In this universe, due to Terran supremacy, rather than Sarek and Amanda raising Michael after her parents were killed, Emperor Philippa Georgiou did instead. However, mirror Burnham's quest to hunt down Lorca appeared to be a ruse, as she was conspiring against her own adoptive mother to kill her and take her throne with Lorca, who mirror Burnham once viewed as a father figure, until she grew up and it became romantic. Georgiou told Burnham about Lorca planning to cross time and space itself to take what was rightfully his and Burnham put the pieces together, along with Georgiou's sensitivity to light that Lorca was from the mirror universe and their crossing over was not an accident. (DIS: Vaulting Ambition) Burnham worked out a plan to deliver Georgiou to Lorca in the same way she planned. Burnham told Lorca that she would stay in exchange for Discovery's safe passage home, but it was a ruse, as Georgiou and Burnham began attacking and killing Lorca's men. Eventually, Burnham got the upper hand on Lorca with a phaser, telling him that they would've helped him get home, because that's who Starfleet was, and that was who she was, which was why she wouldn't kill him. Georgiou, however, killed him instead. She then allowed Burnham to go back home, with her reign as emperor gone given Lorca's rebellion, deciding to die killing Lorca's men. However, Burnham saved Georgiou at the last minute, holding onto her, as they were transported back to the Discovery and into the prime universe. (DIS: What's Past Is Prologue)

Future

Emerging from the wormhole, she came to find herself in the year 3188 with her suit colliding onto a vessel before she crashed onto the surface of the planet Hima. (DIS: That Hope Is You, Part 1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Her biological mother was Gabrielle Burnham and her father was also a scientist named Mike Burnham.

After being adopted, she gained a younger adoptive brother in the half-Vulcan Spock.

Her foster mother was shown to had often read to Michael and Spock when they were children. Among those books was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with Burnham owning a physical copy of the book that was a gift given to her by Amanda. (DIS: Context Is for Kings)

Upon joining Starfleet, she came to find a mentor in Captain Philippa Georgiou.

Burnham and Philippa Georgiou had almost a mother–daughter relationship; after taking on Burnham as a member of her crew, Georgiou decided to take a chance on Burnham and made her first officer. From their first encounter, Philippa boosted Michael's self-esteem, telling her that her confidence was justified, much to Michael's shock and complimenting her back. Over the course of seven years, they developed an extremely close relationship. Georgiou grew to trust Burnham, and while exploring with her in 2256, said she trusted her with her life. (DIS: The Vulcan Hello) Georgiou once took Burnham to her home city of Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia, to see the beautiful beaches. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?) On a relatively primitive planet, the duo opened a well, and enabled the planet's residents to survive a coming eighty-nine-year drought. (DIS: The Vulcan Hello)

Powers and abilities

Notes

• Michael Burnham was created by Bryan Fuller and Aaron Harberts where she was portrayed by actor Sonequa Martin-Green and featured in the setting of Star Trek: Discovery (2017).

Alternate Versions

• In the Mirror Universe, an alternate version of Michael Burnham was shown where she was the adoptive daughter of Terran Emperor Georgiou. It was said that she was an orphan alongside a group of children that were on a garbage scow where she was found Emperor Georgiou who decided to adopt the young girl. This version became the lover of Gabriel Lorca with the two plotting to overthrow her mother. She was ultimately killed in an escape attempt with Lorca surviving and entering the main universe.

Appearances

• Star Trek: Discovery: "The Vulcan Hello" (2017)

External Links

• Memory Alpha Wiki Entry
• Memory Beta Wiki Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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