Chakotay
Chakotay is a male television character who features in Star Trek.
Contents |
Biography
Chakotay
When Chakotay was 15 years old, he had already set his sights on Starfleet and greatly surprised his father when he told him that he was going to leave the tribe to attend Starfleet Academy. His father disapproved of his son's decision but was unable to convince him otherwise. It was noted that the young Chakotay came to be sponsored by Captain Sulu. Chakotay though had misled the officer into believing that he had Kolopak's permission to join. (VOY: Tattoo)
Chakotay and his father were not on good terms when Kolopak was killed while defending his colony against Cardassians. When the news reached Chakotay, he was unsure about how to reconcile their differences and heal their old wounds. To honor his father's memory and to continue the fight in his name, Chakotay resigned from Starfleet and joined the Maquis. It was then that he took the mark, the tattoo, on his forehead in order to honor the memory of his father and to signify his Native American heritage. (VOY: Tattoo)
When Chakotay was young, he looked after his grandfather, who suffered from hallucinations caused by an inherited defective gene. This gene was suppressed in Chakotay before birth, although it was activated for a brief period in 2375 by aliens who attempted to make contact with the crew of Voyager. (VOY: The Fight)
When he was 15 years old, Chakotay entered Starfleet Academy, sponsored by Captain Hikaru Sulu. Chakotay misled the officer into believing that he had Kolopak's permission to join. (VOY: Tattoo)
On his first starship posting, he served during the planned first contact with the Tarkannans. After spending a lot of time pushing his captain to let him be on the diplomatic team, he began studying everything about them. When he finally came face to face with their delegation, he very proudly made the traditional gesture for "hello", not realizing that males and females have different styles of movement when making such symbolic gestures. He later found out that he had actually propositioned the ambassador. He remembered this encounter and mentioned it to Captain Janeway when in 2372 they made first contact with the Drayans, noting that it almost got his sent back to the Academy for remedial training. (VOY: Innocence) On another assignment, he visited a tomb excavation on Ktaria VII on one of his earliest away missions. There, unaware of local custom, he – wanting to take a memento – stole a small stone from the burial. He was later informed that each stone represented a prayer and that he had desecrated the burial site. (VOY: Emanations)
Among their various missions as Maquis, included an instance when Chakotay, Torres, and Seska successfully disabled the computer core on a Cardassian frigate, orbiting Bajor. This was accomplished when Seska modified an antiproton beam to penetrate the frigate's shields and hull from an extremely close range. (VOY: Maneuvers) Around 2370, Chakotay encountered two Starfleet runabouts near Teluridian IV. Although outnumbered, the Val Jean was able to escape using the Maquis trick whereby they blew out the dorsal phase emitters and cut main power, making it look as if the ship was in serious trouble. (VOY: Ex Post Facto) While trying to escape from a Cardassian warship commanded by Gul Evek in the Badlands, Chakotay and his crew, including Tuvok – Captain Janeway's security chief working undercover as a Maquis – were transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker's array. In an attempt to locate the disappeared Maquis ship, USS Voyager followed them into the Badlands, becoming trapped 70,000 light years away in the Delta Quadrant shortly after. (VOY: Caretaker)
Overview
Personality and attributes
When younger, Chakotay had little interest in the traditions of his tribe or in spirituality. However, he connected with the spirituality and traditions of his culture as an adult out of respect to his father, who was killed by the Cardassians while defending the planet his tribe lived on, a connection that grew because of his experiences on Voyager far from home. (VOY: Tattoo)
Chakotay was noncommittal on the existence of an afterlife, stating that he accepted there were "things that can't be scanned with a tricorder". (VOY: Barge of the Dead) He recognised that vision quests, while spiritual practices, were underlain by science. (VOY: Sacred Ground)
Kolopak tried to teach Chakotay that without Spirits to guide him, he would lose his way. But Chakotay did not want to listen as he did not place much value in spirituality. He remained resistant, instead choosing to embrace technological advancement, believing that he was the master of his own life. (VOY: One Small Step)
Chakotay had refused to hunt deer with his father. (VOY: Waking Moments)
One of Chakotay's childhood heroes was astronaut John Kelly. (VOY: One Small Step)
Powers and abilities
Chakotay possessed great piloting skills and during his first year he trained as a pilot in North America. (VOY: Future's End, Part II)
He also became a proficient boxer at the light heavyweight level, with a record of twenty-three wins and one loss. (VOY: Tsunkatse)
Notes
- Chakotay was portrayed by actor Robert Beltran and featured in the setting of Star Trek: Voyager.
In other media
Books
Appearances
- Star Trek: Voyager:
External Links
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