Hello all! Ric here with a personnel file on a member of Starfleet who has
a long history with the organisation, but has spent less time in it that you’d think, Tuvok.
As usual I will be creating this file from primary content first, as in the shows,
before layering on apocrypha where it does not contradict,
however with a tale and career as long and convoluted as Tuvok’s that’s a tall order.
Especially if we included his post Voyager years, but I’ve tried to date them up as best as I can.
Without further ado, let’s get started! Tuvok was born in 2264, on the Vulcanis Luna
Colony of T’Rukhemai to T’Meni and Sunak. In, 2273 at the age of 9, he ran into the
desert and undertook the Tal’oth ritual, surviving the ordeal and returning home.
During his childhood however, he re rebelled against Vulcan teachings culminating in his
expulsion from school, before coming to accept the necessity of them around 2280 and by 2289,
he was even preparing himself for Kolinahr. However, instead, he followed his parents’ wishes
and applies for Starfleet Academy. That year he was accepted at the age of age 25.
He seldom engaged in extracurricular activities, but took part in a 400 metre hurdles race and won.
During the Academy he did well, but was generally put off by human behaviour and found them
arrogant, a gripe he would maintain for a long time that affected his commitment to Starfleet.
During on training mission in 2290, he was temporarily assigned to the USS Excelsior
under Captain Sulu’s first command mission. Tuvok graduated in 2293, science division
and was promoted to Ensign. His first assignment was on the same ship he had served on as a
training cruise, the USS Excelsior NCC-2000 as the Gamma Shift Junior Science Officer.
In 2293 he was part of a Medical survey of Mestiko and later that year protested Captain
Sulu’s attempted rescue mission of James T Kirk and Leonard McCoy from Rura Penthe.
His objection was noted but ignored. During a battle in the Azure Nebula he
fought against a K’t’inga class battlecruiser. In 2295 the USS Excelsior was assigned to 3
year mission to explore the Beta Quadrant, and Tuvok was part of this mission. When it ended,
Ensign Tuvok tended his resignation from Starfleet, citing his opinion and inability
to work with humans as his reason. He instead returned to Vulcan and
taught at the Vulcan Institute of Defensive Arts for several years. He also rededicated himself
to pursuing Kolinahr, but once again his path to complete logic was foiled when his um… Pon
Farr manifested and he married T’Pel in 2304. Over the next few years, he and T’Pel raised 4
children, Sek, Carith, Elieth and Asil. His life outside of Starfleet persisted
for some time, until in 2348 he undertook a pilgrimage across the Forge and by the end
of his journey, he had come to the conclusion to reapply to Starfleet, under his own terms.
He reapplied around 2349 and joined again at the rank of Ensign.
His first posting was to the USS Wyoming NCC-43730 under Captain Broadnax. However not long after,
the captain died and command went to Commander Akaar. Later that year,
Tuvok crashed on Planetoid 437 and was stranded for 2 weeks. He refused to allow Captain Akaar
to sacrifice himself and was eventually rescued. He was nonetheless transferred from the Wyoming
by Akaar for defying his captain’s orders. During 2350, he was temporarily assigned as
specialist to USS Stargazer during a mission in the Kellasian Sector,
before being promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. He then spent 16 years as an instructor at
Starfleet Academy, both on campus and external sites alongside other duties.
During this time, he was also assigned to review tactical performances of would-be
Captains by Starfleet Command which is where he first met Kathryn Janeway.
In 2356, he berated her before the board on her lack of tactical options and focus
on scientific solutions to issues. He was later assigned as Security
officer to USS Billings NCC-3907 to keep an eye and work with then-Commander Janeway.
He also served aboard the Deep Space 4 for a time and in 2360, he was sent undercover on a mission
to Romulan Space, by Starfleet Intelligence. In 2365, he was assigned to Jupiter Station
and the next year his tenure as academy instructor ended.
He was promoted to Lieutenant and in 2371, Captain Janeway requested Lt. Tuvok for her crew of her
new command, the Intrepid class USS Voyager NCC-74656 as chief of security. He accepted
the position, but was immediately assigned a new mission before the ship could launch.
In 2371, he was assigned as Maquis infiltrator by Starfleet and ended
up on the SS Val Jean under Chakotay. During this mission, Tuvok came across
a Bajoran Vedek called Teero Anaydis who plants a conditioned series of actions in Tuvok’s mind
without him being aware before allowing him to continue.
This year saw the Val Jean abducted by the Caretaker array and his subsequent
recovery to the USS Voyager. From here, he took up his prior
assigned post as Chief of Security. That year however, he had a blemish
added to his career for violating the prime directive in obtaining a Sikarian Spatial
Trajector against the wishes of their government and orders of his captain.
The next year saw a rare transporter malfunction meld him into a new lifeform
known as Tuvix until it was reversed. In 2374, he was promoted from Lieutenant
to Lieutenant Commander, in 76 he developed a multiphasic shielding technology and in 77,
Anaydis’ embedded commands activated. In 2377, he was diagnosed with degenerative
neurological disease only curable via relative’s mind meld. But in 2378,
Voyager returns home, leading to a cure for this condition.
He was promoted to Commander and took a position as instructor at Starfleet Academy,
much as he had before. In 2379, he was sent to Romulus undercover to find Ambassador Spock and
return him to Federation space, but the Shinzon Coup occurred and he was captured and imprisoned.
He was freed by USS Titan NCC-80102 and Captain Riker.
The USS Titan was then transported to the Small Magellanic Cloud and upon its return he was
offered the position of Chief Tactical Officer. He accepted and relocated his family to the ship.
In 2380, he was dispatched to the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E as acting chief
of Security for a single mission. In 2381, the Borg made an attack on
Federation space, but now we are entering into the Star Trek Destiny Timeline books so drawing
from apocrypha is likely to be contradicted. Nevertheless, he may still have been serving on
the USS Titan as of 2381, but he was not seen or referenced in Lower Decks, nor the Dark Veil book.
In 2385, we have the attack on Utopia Planetia, followed by the destruction of Romulus and the
Romulan Supernova in 2387 which shake things up. Following Star Trek online continuity,
by 2409, he has reached the rank of rear admiral and taken the USS Voyager as his flagship,
but I’ll leave it there for the future of Tuvok because the franchise has yet to make
mention of him on screen post Voyager. Tuvok’s activities beyond his work,
(although few) included many adherences to Vulcan culture, tradition and practice.
Despite him never attaining enlightenment through Kolinahr, he is still an ardent practitioner of
Vulcan philosophy and is willing to impart its benefits to others. He is acutely aware,
however that not every other species has the inclination, desire or ability to embrace
them in the same way he does, having learned from his first attempt at Starfleet Academy.
He has taken up personal interests too, including playing the Vulcan lute and has a surprising
degree of skill at writing holoprograms. While making an effort to craft a believable narrative,
he was responsible for the “Insurrection Alpha” program that was supposed to be a training
scenario for against a Maquis takeover of Voyager. The program was abandoned early on, but celebrated
by the crew on its discovery for its compelling nature. In a similarly serendipitous reveal,
Tuvok is also apparently an exceptional cook, with a focus on making baked or sweet goods.
Although perhaps his longest hobby has been that of cultivating and breeding orchids, including the
cross pollination of multiple species of flora from several planets. Certainly a unique hobby
in of itself, but we can see for the most part, that Tuvok is a very career focused individual
and even his hobbies tend to serve a purpose in his life which is not unusual for a Vulcan. He
does make time for his family however, and after being separated from them on the USS Voyager for 7
years, his first actions were to take assignments that kept him nearby to them, before bringing them
with him on his next long-term posting, well his wife anyway, his kids are well into adulthood.
He is also an exceptional investigator and very well read on criminal psychology and
the first person on Voyager the crew generally turn to, to solve a crime. Despite this, he,
like many Vulcans can find emotions in other unpredictable, although these instances of him
overlooking an emotional state are rare and when he does, he seeks advice from others he trusts.
Like most Vulcans, he too harbours a deep wellspring of emotion beneath his surface,
but unlike, say, Spock, who learned to embrace and even let his emotion show on the
surface from time to time, such expression usually unnerves Tuvok for the most part.
Tuvok has a wealth of experience, but in his earlier days he did not exactly embody the ideals
of IDIC, resenting humans in particular from his time spent in the academy. However it’s
also worth noting that he was originally in the sciences division, under pressure from his family
and when he was allowed to return under his own terms years later, not only did he enter
a completely different division, security, but he learned to appreciate the difference between
Vulcans and Humans and well… basically became a lot more “chill”. He can still remain a little
“rigid” in his views (as it has been put), but is always ready to offer guidance and training if
asked. This made him a natural fit for the role of a tutor or instructor, so it’s little surprise
we see him enter that role multiple times in his life, even when he is posted shipside. Like
many Vulcans, he does not have a wide selection of friends, but a small and tight-night group
of close companions that he surrounds himself with, and a deep emotional connection to them,
just buried under all that Vulcan logic. As with his adherence for Vulcan tradition,
technique and preference for its culture, we can safely say that he finds comfort in the familiar,
although he’d probably denounce that assertion as an emotional treat.
Some important Tuvok episodes include, “Learning Curve” which showcases Tuvok’s stricter side and
how he too has to adapt, and of course “Gravity” and “Flashback” for some backstory on the guy.
“Riddles” shows a markedly different Tuvok, after he lost many of his memories for a time
and kind of a bittersweet story so it deserves at least a mention. As with many characters,
there are moments laced throughout the series and I certainly hope that we get to see more of him,
even if that means taking him away from his apocryphal posting on the USS Titan to do so.
Thanks for watching this video on Tuvok. Let me know what I missed because after all,
I do try to condense these down if there is a lot of lore to go through, and there are a lot
of good Tuvok episodes. Thanks again, I’ve been Ric and until the next video, goodbye!