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Will Riker: Personnel File - YouTube
Channel: Certifiably Ingame
[0]
hello all it's been a while since i've
[2]
done one of these personnel files but
[4]
let's look at the career
[6]
of william t riker as depicted in the
[9]
star trek shows
[10]
there will be apocryphal content added
[12]
to fill in some blanks
[14]
but his canonical timeline overrides
[16]
this so although there's potentially
[18]
room for him to
[19]
advance to the rank of rear admiral
[21]
before he retired we see him return to
[23]
duty in star trek picard at the rank of
[25]
captain
[26]
so a large segment of his time on the
[28]
uss titan
[29]
has yet to be documented nevertheless
[31]
there will be spoilers for all star trek
[33]
series ahead so let's jump in
[36]
william thomas riker was born on august
[38]
19th in valdez alaska
[41]
on earth in 2335 to kyle
[44]
and elizabeth betty riker kyle riker was
[47]
a civilian strategist to starfleet
[50]
and as we'll see will inherited his
[52]
flair for tactical thinking
[54]
while growing up will riker lived in
[55]
fairbanks for a time
[57]
in 2337 his mother died and kyle riker
[60]
continued to work away from home
[62]
frequently this led will to become very
[65]
independent and take up cooking for
[66]
himself
[67]
as well as practice his love of jazz
[69]
music
[70]
occasionally his father would engage him
[73]
in anbo
[73]
jutsu training in 2350 however
[77]
kyle riker simply stopped visiting his
[79]
son and will considered himself
[82]
abandoned in 23 53 with nowhere else to
[85]
go
[86]
he applied to join starfleet academy and
[89]
was accepted
[90]
while at the academy he took the command
[92]
training program as his primary focus
[94]
but also engaged in numerous optional
[96]
classes such as engineering
[98]
communications
[99]
sciences and piloting he also won the
[102]
spot on the academy band
[103]
during one training simulation he
[106]
managed to calculate a blind spot in
[108]
enemy thorium vessels and hid from its
[110]
sensors for a time
[112]
figuring out the first of many tactical
[114]
situations
[115]
in 2354 he took advanced
[118]
survival skills but an unexpected
[121]
hurricane hit the testing site
[123]
and he was trapped under a tree for
[124]
three days before rescue
[126]
this year he also pulled a prank with
[128]
friends
[129]
on an instructor so that the senior
[131]
officer transported in
[133]
minus his clothing this incident caused
[136]
a
[136]
much greater scandal than riker believed
[139]
and he took on a greater understanding
[141]
of
[141]
seriousness and of his duty
[144]
by the end of his time at sfa riker had
[148]
enough of a grounding in sciences
[150]
to pursue a doctorate but instead had
[152]
his
[153]
focus on securing a command position
[155]
before the age of 35
[157]
preferably on a starship he graduated in
[161]
2357
[162]
at eighth in his class and was promoted
[164]
to ensign
[165]
his first assignment was to the turret
[168]
iv orbital base
[169]
but he refused in favor of a posting on
[171]
the uss pegasus ncc 53847
[175]
he took the position of junior con
[177]
officer
[178]
under captain eric pressman however the
[181]
captain experimented with a trans-phase
[183]
cloaking device
[184]
and the truth of the interphasic
[185]
cloaking device was buried after a
[187]
mutiny led pressman
[188]
riker and several others being chased
[191]
off the vessel
[192]
while the rest of the crew perished
[194]
starfleet intelligence classified the
[196]
incident
[197]
preventing further investigation from
[200]
2358 to 2359
[202]
will riker was reassigned to the uss
[204]
fortuner when he was promoted to the
[207]
rank of lieutenant
[208]
eventually he applied to the first
[210]
officer posting
[211]
on the uss hood and was accepted however
[214]
the excelsior class was mid-overhaul
[217]
and in the meantime he was appointed to
[218]
the federation embassy on beta zed
[220]
it was here he met deanna troy at a beta
[223]
zed dignitaries wedding
[225]
and was smitten he remained on beta zed
[228]
for several years and dated diana for
[230]
some time
[230]
although there are some discrepancies
[232]
based on differing timelines in
[234]
books he frequently took part in
[237]
diplomatic missions around that area at
[239]
this time until 2361
[242]
when he accepted her position as
[243]
operations officer on the uss potemkin
[246]
ncc 18253
[249]
here too he uncovered a method of hiding
[251]
a ship in the magnetic pole of certain
[253]
planets
[254]
and powering down to hide from sensors
[257]
this year he took part in a rescue
[259]
operation
[260]
to navala iv a one in a million chance
[263]
caused the transporter duplicate when he
[265]
beamed out
[265]
during the operation which would remain
[268]
undiscovered until 2369.
[270]
he was promoted to lieutenant commander
[272]
for his success
[274]
the next year 2362 he took the position
[277]
on the uss
[278]
zhukov ncc 26136 as second officer
[281]
and a year later he was assigned to the
[284]
excelsior class uss yorktown ncc
[286]
2033 as the first officer he soon
[290]
transferred to the uss hood
[292]
ncc 42296 under captain robert de soto
[296]
as the first officer the same position
[298]
he had deferred
[300]
years earlier however he refused to
[302]
allow captain desoto to beam into a
[304]
hazardous situation
[305]
which was noted in his career as risking
[308]
a court-martial
[310]
by the end of the year however he was
[312]
promoted to commander
[313]
and offered two positions command of the
[316]
uss drake
[317]
or the xo position on the uss enterprise
[320]
ncc 1701
[322]
d in 2364 he accepted his role as number
[326]
one to captain jean-luc picard
[328]
the uss hood took him to deneb 4 where
[330]
he conducted a manual reattachment of
[332]
the sorcerer section and proceeded to
[334]
take part in the far point mission
[336]
i'll cross over the majority of the
[337]
show's timeline as you can easily watch
[339]
all of that
[340]
but i'll highlight a few key points he
[342]
uncovered the tacon remnants in the
[344]
delphi ardu system
[346]
and negotiated the release of the
[347]
enterprise and perengi vessels
[349]
in 2365 he took command of the uss
[352]
hathaway
[352]
in an anti-borg training war game which
[355]
turned
[356]
sour when ferengi arrived riker then
[358]
invented a method of
[359]
faking the destroying of a ship another
[362]
maneuver
[362]
credited to his tactical thinking that
[365]
year he
[366]
took part in an exchange officer program
[368]
with the klingon defense force
[370]
and the captain cargan of the iks pach
[373]
which he took in stride
[375]
this year he was also offered command of
[376]
the uss aries
[378]
which he refused his second such decline
[381]
in 2366 he took command of the uss
[384]
enterprise d
[385]
in the efforts against the borg and
[387]
locutus
[388]
admiral hanson granted him a field
[390]
promotion to captain which overrode the
[392]
previous offer
[393]
to command the uss melbourne he failed
[396]
to catch up to the battle of wolf 359
[398]
but managed to halt the borg advance and
[401]
recover captain picard
[402]
after he was cleared for duty he stepped
[404]
back down to commander and returned the
[406]
captaincy
[407]
to jean-luc picard he was accused of the
[410]
murder of dr
[411]
neil apgar but was discovered to be
[413]
innocent
[414]
in 2367 riker acted as a temporary host
[417]
to the odan symbiant to complete
[419]
negotiations with the pelians
[421]
in 2368 he was assigned to command
[425]
the uss excalibur as part of the tachyon
[427]
detection grid to halt romulan
[429]
involvement in the klingon civil war
[431]
and was given captaincy of the
[433]
enterprise again while captain picard
[435]
left for romulus to find ambassador
[437]
spock
[438]
during 2369 however he was relieved of
[441]
his position as first officer by captain
[443]
jelico
[444]
he also undertook an undercover mission
[447]
to tellonus
[448]
iv he was sent in 2370 to infiltrate to
[450]
the marquis
[451]
when ensign row laron went rogue this
[454]
year
[455]
the treaty of oderon violation that now
[458]
admiral pressman had engaged in came to
[460]
light the former pegasus crews including
[463]
riker were brought to a board of inquiry
[465]
at starbase 247
[467]
but he was cleared for duty in 2371 the
[471]
battle of
[472]
viridian 3 took place and picard left
[474]
riker in command of the enterprise as he
[477]
beamed down to the planet's surface
[479]
riker captained the ship's evacuation
[482]
and controlled crash landing
[484]
in 2372 riker was assigned as xo
[487]
on the uss enterprise ncc 1701 e
[491]
under captain morgan bateson who then
[494]
passed over command to captain jean-luc
[496]
picard this year also saw the battle of
[499]
secta001
[500]
and the 2063 first contact
[503]
incident during the dominion war the
[506]
enterprise was assigned to the gorn
[508]
border and in 2374 riker was assigned to
[511]
overseeing campments along the border
[513]
with a klingon starfleet engineering
[515]
team
[515]
at el coron 2. the enterprise was
[518]
present at the
[519]
second battle of seoul in 2375.
[522]
later that year he took command of the
[524]
enterprise again to alert the federation
[526]
council
[526]
to admiral docherty and the sonar plan
[529]
for the baku
[530]
during this battle he invented the reiko
[532]
maneuver
[533]
during this year he was also assigned to
[536]
acting captain of the uss excalibur ncc
[539]
26517
[540]
until its own captain captain mackenzie
[543]
calhoun returned
[545]
in 2378 his father kyle riker
[548]
died and he proposed to deanna troy
[551]
admiral janeway also offered riker
[553]
command of the lunar class uss titan
[556]
with a reminder that she suspected it
[558]
would be the last
[560]
time he was offered a command in 2379
[564]
captain riker married diana troy and
[566]
accepted promotion to the uss
[568]
titan ncc 80102 before he could depart
[572]
however he took part in the federation
[574]
response to the shinzon coup and then
[576]
the battle of basin rift
[577]
his first mission on the titan was to
[580]
attend diplomatic talks with
[582]
romulus at the head of a diplomatic task
[585]
force which
[585]
yielded promising results later that
[588]
year he began exploration of the gum
[590]
nebula
[592]
during 2380 the titan responded to a
[595]
distress call
[596]
from the uss ceretos ncc 75567
[599]
driving off several pac-led radar ships
[602]
in 2381
[604]
thaddeus troy riker was born in 2385 the
[608]
synthetic attack on mars
[610]
led to the federation banning synthetic
[612]
ai development
[614]
around 2387-ish
[617]
kestrel troy riker is born around
[620]
2391 he and his wife moved to nepenthe
[624]
with the family in an attempt to cure
[627]
thaddeus's illness
[628]
and william riker was placed on reserve
[630]
duty
[631]
in temporary retirement but with his
[633]
commission still active
[635]
in 23 96 thaddeus troy riker
[640]
dies in 2399 riker aided the retired
[644]
admiral picard and then returned to
[647]
starfleet at captain rank
[649]
on the bridge of the uss zheng he ncc
[652]
something to head up an inquiry-class
[654]
task force that intercepted a tau shia
[657]
fleet over kapalius
[658]
the confrontation was resolved without
[660]
firing a shot on starfleet's
[662]
side this is the latest canonical event
[664]
where we see riker
[666]
with more on the horizon in terms of
[668]
hobbies riker famously enjoyed jazz
[670]
music and playing the trombone
[672]
but he would frequently try most sports
[674]
and other new things
[676]
he took part in theater chess cooking
[678]
fishing dubbo and of course was a
[680]
regular at poker
[681]
this willingness to try new things often
[684]
opened him to innovative thinking that
[686]
translated very well to his tactical
[688]
ability
[689]
and he was a natural risk taker and
[691]
diplomat
[692]
lieutenant commander data estimated
[694]
riker only abides by traditional tactics
[697]
21
[698]
of the time more often than not meshing
[700]
ideas
[701]
and standard responses to create
[703]
unexpected outcomes
[705]
the raka maneuver may be named after him
[707]
but ever since his time at the academy
[710]
he had been creating unique solutions to
[712]
problems
[713]
from analyzing his career we can see
[716]
that he
[716]
was ambitious and career focused
[719]
dedicating himself to his work
[721]
taking on more than he needed to and was
[723]
pegged as a potential
[725]
to beat kirk's record to captaincy in
[728]
fact
[728]
riker himself had command of a starship
[731]
in mind from the start
[733]
and turned down his first posting as an
[735]
ensign to a space
[736]
station in favor of the uss pegasus this
[739]
first outing may not have gone as he
[741]
expected
[742]
but it did little to dampen his rapid
[744]
advancement throughout the ranks
[746]
he may have had more vessels enlisted
[749]
here but he was eventually promoted to
[751]
lieutenant it was
[752]
then that he took what seems to be his
[754]
first land
[755]
side posting on beta zed but only
[758]
because
[759]
he had already secured a position on the
[761]
uss hood
[762]
and was simply waiting for the ship to
[764]
finish its overhaul
[766]
but here is the first time we see his
[768]
momentum falter somewhat
[770]
and it's probably not a coincidence that
[773]
it's when he first met diana troy who
[775]
would go on to become his imzadi
[777]
his beloved and future wife like i
[779]
mentioned there's
[780]
some open interpretation as to how long
[783]
he's spent on beta zed
[784]
but his relationship with her did not
[787]
work out
[788]
roxanna troy did not approve of him and
[790]
he seemed too
[791]
immature for diana the two parted for a
[794]
time but would reunite on the enterprise
[796]
both more experienced in 2361 he
[800]
returns to the career path and advances
[802]
through the ranks achieving lieutenant
[804]
commander
[805]
gaining a second officer then first
[807]
officer position
[808]
all within three years before then being
[810]
offered his own command
[812]
or the posting he would become famous
[814]
for on the enterprise d
[816]
the enterprise d would then confront
[818]
riker with the only thing
[820]
that ended his blazing rise through the
[822]
ranks
[823]
not diana herself but comfort his
[826]
functioning as number one under captain
[828]
picard surrounded by colleagues he
[830]
appreciated
[831]
was in many ways a perfect fit for him
[835]
he frequently got to flex his command
[837]
muscles and
[838]
was apt at whipping the frequently
[840]
rotating crew
[841]
into a shape worthy of the federation
[843]
flagship
[844]
all the while learning from a mentor and
[846]
friend in picard
[848]
starfleet would offer him his own
[850]
command several times
[852]
but he always turned it down to the
[854]
point where admiral janeway reputedly
[856]
had to point out
[857]
that the titan would be the last offer
[860]
and he voiced several times that the
[863]
enterprise was the only ship he really
[864]
had his eye on commanding
[866]
it was no secret that riker pretty much
[869]
holds the much coveted xo position on
[871]
the enterprise
[872]
which garnered him some hostility on the
[875]
parts of officers
[876]
such as elizabeth shelby who otherwise
[879]
would have stepped into the role it was
[881]
usually interpreted as
[883]
arrogance but in actuality
[887]
it was comradeship and loyalty that kept
[890]
him from advancing
[891]
and the pauses in his career reflect
[893]
this
[894]
it's as if he had an ambition and desire
[898]
in him to excel
[899]
maybe from the lack of parental figures
[902]
which
[902]
wasn't placated by his career excellence
[906]
but it was sated by the relationships he
[909]
found
[909]
in his peers in which he showed
[911]
dedication and loyalty to
[913]
and his own ambition took a back seat in
[916]
later life we see that he continues to
[918]
hold this loyalty to his family and
[921]
colleagues
[921]
in higher regard and reactivates his
[924]
commission to save picard
[926]
this view of william riker is far from
[929]
the only aspect to his personality
[931]
but it is one i interpreted from his
[934]
career record
[936]
some quintessential riker episodes in my
[938]
opinion
[939]
include the first and second parts of
[941]
best of both worlds
[943]
where we can see his command capability
[945]
on show
[946]
and second chances is a good reflection
[948]
of his life choices
[950]
lastly i'd point out either the icarus
[953]
factor
[954]
or episode 7 of picard nepenthe to see
[957]
his approach to family
[959]
as a son and a father thanks for
[962]
watching this personnel file on
[964]
riker it's a shame that the titan books
[966]
no longer fit entirely
[968]
with the show's continuity anymore but i
[970]
still like to think that many of these
[972]
events
[972]
still happened in some way thus we're
[975]
still
[975]
getting frequent dips into his life as a
[978]
captain so in many ways his character is
[981]
still developing thanks again i've been
[984]
rick and i'll see you again for another
[985]
video
[986]
until then goodbye
[1002]
[Music]
[1007]
you
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