 Quick Facts:
- Rank: Commander
- Assignment: Chief
Engineer, Enterprise NX-01
- Full Name: Charles "Trip"
Tucker III
- Birthplace: North America,
Earth
- Marital status: Single
Complete Bios:
FROM
STARTREK.COM
Trip — his father and
grandfather were both Charles, so "Trip" is short for "triple" —
has been in Starfleet for 12 years, and has known Archer for
eight. The two officers met back when Archer was a commander
involved with the NX-Test Program and Trip was a lieutenant on
Captain Jefferies' engineering team. Trip and Archer teamed up
with Commander A.G. Robinson to convince Starfleet and its
Vulcan advisors that the NX program was worth keeping on track.
Though they resorted to unorthodox means, launching an NX vessel
without permission, they were ultimately successful. From then
on, the duo shared a strong bond, and once endured harsh
survival training in the Australian outback together. The
captain describes his chief engineer as "tough as nails," and
has saved Trip's life several times. During an Omega training
mission on Titan, Trip's EV pack froze up and he got nitrogen
narcosis and tried to remove his helmet — Archer ordered him to
keep it on. Likewise, when the two were stranded on a brutal
desert planet, Archer saved a delirious Trip from succumbing
entirely to heatstroke. For his part, Trip is always there when
the captain needs cheering up. When Archer was depressed about
Enterprise's botched first contact with the Kreetassans, his
chief engineer lightened the mood with a data module of the
Stanford vs. Texas water polo match.
Prior to his time on Enterprise, Trip had only been to one
inhabited planet beyond Earth — and it was "inhabited" by
dust-dwelling ticks. Thus, he craves adventure, and tends to get
"antsy" when things are too dull. Luckily, Enterprise's mission
thus far has been packed with new experiences. Trip went down in
history as the first human male to become pregnant and the first
example of interspecies pregnancy involving a human after his
encounter with the Xyrillian female Ah'len. During his brief
experience being "with child," Trip experienced all the usual
hormonal irregularities, resulting in mood swings and
fluctuations in appetite. Luckily, Enterprise managed to locate
the Xyrillians and transfer the embryo.
As he has proved time and time again, Trip is an ace engineer,
and claims that he can't sleep without the warp engines online.
Attacks from an unknown race prompted Trip and Lieutenant Reed
to lead the crew in building a complement of phase cannons from
scratch while in mid-space, effectively upgrading Enterprise's
weapons. They accomplished in two days what would have taken the
armory team at Jupiter Station at least a week. He was key in
saving the ship from some strange, large-lobed alien thieves,
and has been left in command of Enterprise on several occasions
— one time, he even successfully impersonated Captain Archer.
Though he appears to be the charmer when it comes to the ladies,
Trip claims that he has been involved in only three
relationships, all of which ended badly. A long distance romance
with Natalie from Pensacola didn't work out, and he regrets that
he was unable to say good-bye in person. As a Starfleet trainee,
he was infatuated with a waitress named Ruby at Mill Valley's
602 Club — the same Ruby that Lieutenant Reed once had a
relationship with. Ruby had names all picked out for her
children, and claimed that she would marry the first man who
could guess them — Trip did his best, but was unsuccessful.
Trip's first dance was at Bayshore Elementary in Panama City,
Florida, and he still expresses regret that he was unable to
approach the girl he had a crush on, Melissa Lyles. Despite
practicing the two-step for weeks with his brother, Trip ended
up spending the whole dance in the corner with his friends.
Recently, Trip experienced a flirtation with Kantare beauty
Liana — he gave her a tour of the ship and a protein resequencer
programmed for five flavors of ice cream. He also had a romantic
encounter with Kaitaama, the first monarch of Krios Prime. The
two fled their alien captors together and ended up spending some
time on a humid, swamp-like planet. Trip experienced a
flirtation of a significantly more uncomfortable kind when one
of Dr. Phlox's wives, Feezal, attempted to romance him. Although
Phlox was very encouraging, Trip ultimately rejected Feezal's
advances.
When he first joined Starfleet, Trip lived a few blocks from the
Vulcan compound, and in 10th grade he had a Vulcan biology
teacher, Mr. Velik. None of this has tempered his distrust of
the Vulcans, who he sees as cold and rigid in their ways.
Sub-Commander T'Pol is challenging his preconceived notions a
bit. Though she and Trip have clashed many times regarding
protocol — prompting T'Pol to remind Trip that she outranks him
— the two share a grudging respect and an unusual bond. When
Trip inadvertently learned that T'Pol's pre-arranged marriage
might force her to leave Enterprise, he managed to convince her
to follow her gut and stay onboard. Trip also found a Vulcan
friend in Kov, an engineer and member of the unconventional "V'tosh
ka'tur." The chief engineer's friendship and guidance eventually
convinced Kov to contact his long estranged father. Another
interesting alien encounter came in the form of Zho'Kaan, an
Arkonian. When Trip and Zho'Kaan both crashed on an inhospitable
moon, they started out as combatants, but ultimately developed
something of an understanding.
Trip has also forged an unlikely bond with Reed, whose
buttoned-up nature seems diametrically opposed to the chief
engineer's friendly manner. When the duo was stranded in a
damaged shuttlepod for several days, they initially clashed, as
Trip is given to what Reed calls "treacly optimism." In the end,
they discovered they have more in common than they thought, and
at one point, Trip even tried to sacrifice himself so that Reed
would have a better chance of survival. Luckily, they were both
rescued by Enterprise, and lived to spend some memorable shore
leave time together on pleasure planet Risa. The two men went in
search of fun at a Risan nightclub — and ended up getting
mugged. They managed to escape, but did their best to avoid
detailing the incident to their fellow crewmembers.
Not all of Trip's friendships have developed smoothly, however.
When Enterprise made first contact with the Vissians, Trip took
it upon himself to befriend the cogenitor, a third gender used
for reproduction. He attempted to get the cogenitor to see that
it was equal to its fellow beings, teaching it how to read and
opening its eyes to such things as music and engineering. The
Vissians, however, did not take kindly to this, particularly
when the cogenitor requested asylum with Enterprise. Archer
denied its request, and it later committed suicide. This
encounter taught Trip that he sometimes acts too rashly when it
comes to encountering new species.
Trip's nephew is in Ms. Malvin's fourth grade class at the
Worley Elementary School in Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland, and
the students sent Enterprise some drawings and questions
regarding life on a starship. Trip was asked to field a query
about flushing the ship toilets — and expressed dismay at being
asked a "poop question."
Trip has interests outside of engineering, and enjoys taking
pictures of the many new sights encountered by Enterprise. He
also took photos of Captain Archer, so that an Oakland artist
would be able to paint the captain's portrait, to be displayed
at Starfleet Command. He is quite athletic, and very much
enjoyed the game of Geskana, which was introduced to him by
charismatic alien leader Zobral. Despite his jovial nature, Trip
has been known to tear up during the occasional movie. His
favorite food is pan-friend catfish, particularly his mother's
recipe, and his favorite flavor of ice cream is Rocky Road.
Trip experienced a devastating tragedy in 2153 — his younger
sister, Elizabeth, was killed when the Xindi attacked Earth.
Elizabeth, who Trip called Lizzie, was an architect living in
Florida. This deep, personal loss has made Trip determined to
track down the Xindi in the Delphic Expanse. With this new
mission underway, Trip's top-notch engineering skills and
dedication guarantee Archer that the ship's warp engines are in
the best possible hands. |
