Pavel Andreievich Chekov, (Cyrillic: Павел Андреевич Чехов), played by Walter Koenig, is a Russian Starfleet officer in the fictional Star Trek universe. In the 2009 Star Trek prequel film, the younger Chekov will be portrayed by Anton Yelchin.
Origin
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry stated for the series' 25th anniversary special that he created Chekov's character in response to a Pravda article that noted that although the Soviet Union was a leader in space exploration, the international crew of the Enterprise lacked a Russian character. Including someone from Russia, the United States' long-time Cold War adversary, matched well with Roddenberry's vision of an ideal future in which the people of the Earth were united. (This story had actually been published in TV Guide after the character was introduced.)
Evidence suggests that Pravda never published such an article, and the story that it did and that this inspired the character is believed to be a publicity stunt and a fabrication by either Roddenberry or an overzealous publicity agent. However, Roddenberry did write a letter to Mikhail Zinyanin, editor of Pravda,[1] informing him of the introduction of the character, and an NBC press release announcing the character at the time did state that it was in response to a Pravda article.[2][3] Koenig always denied the "Russian origin" story and said the character was added in response to the popularity of The Monkees' Davy Jones, and the character's hairstyle and appearance are a direct reference to this.
Chekov first appeared in "Catspaw", the first episode produced for the second season, making him the last of the original core Star Trek characters to appear. The episode "Amok Time", which was the second episode aired during the second season, was Chekov's first television appearance ("Catspaw "would be aired a month later to roughly coincide with Halloween). Due to budgetary constraints the character did not appear in Star Trek: The Animated Series.
[edit] Name
Although the character is intended to be Russian, the name "Chekov" (Чеков) is not an authentic Russian surname[citation needed]. However, the surname Chekhov (Чехов) is well-known in Russia, being especially famous as the surname of the playwright and author Anton Chekhov.
[edit] Career
Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a young and naïve ensign who first appeared on-screen in The Original Series’ second season as the Enterprise's navigator. However, The Wrath of Khan established that he had been assigned to the ship sometime prior to the first season episode "Space Seed". It is also known that he joined after "Mudd's Women", since he does not recognize Mudd in the episode "I, Mudd".
Chekov also substitutes for Mr. Spock at the science officer station when necessary. His promotion to lieutenant for Star Trek: The Motion Picture brings with it his transfer as the ship's tactical officer and chief of security. By the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Chekov has been promoted to commander and executive officer aboard the USS Reliant. In that film, Khan Noonien Singh uses a creature that wraps itself around Chekov's cerebral cortex to control him and his captain. Chekov overcomes the creature's mind control and serves as Enterprise tactical officer in the film's climactic battle against Khan.
Chekov is an accomplice in Kirk's unsanctioned use of the Enterprise to rescue Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) but is exonerated for his actions (Star Trek: The Voyage Home). He serves as navigator and second officer aboard the Enterprise-A during the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The character's final film appearance is as a guest aboard the Enterprise-B on its maiden voyage (Star Trek Generations). A Next Generation TV episode has character William Riker commenting on having read Admiral Chekov's books.
Star Trek novels show a continued career path, but it is open to debate whether this is considered canon in the Star Trek universe. Novels written by William Shatner detail that Chekov reached the rank of Admiral, and even served as Commander in Chief of Starfleet.
[edit] Mirror Universe
In the mirror universe in the episode "Mirror, Mirror", Chekov is a cunning schemer who recruits several crew members to help him assassinate Kirk and take over the Enterprise. However, he is in turn betrayed by one of his own men, and sentenced to torture in the "agony booth."
[edit] Fan Productions
Walter Koenig would reprise his role as Chekov twelve years after Star Trek Generations in the fan series New Voyages, in the episode "To Serve All My Days". Koenig would return as Chekov one last time in the online mini-series Star Trek: Of Gods and Men which debuted on December 22, 2007.
[edit] Eleventh Star Trek film
On August 8, 2007, it was announced that Chekov will be portrayed by Anton Yelchin in the eleventh Star Trek film, although the role the character will play in the movie is currently unknown.[4]
[edit] Gags
[edit] “Nuclear wessels”
One of the most famous Chekov quotes comes from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Chekov and Uhura are trying to find a nuclear-powered naval ship while stuck in the 20th century, upon which Pavel asks a policeman where to find "nuclear vessels", pronouncing the "v" as a "w"; the joke being, of course, that he was an identifiably Eastern European man (indeed Russian, even if the transliteration of the letter V as a W is stereotypically Polish) asking about nuclear technology at a time when the USSR was still an enemy of the USA (though relations were warming). Therefore, pronouncing "vessel" as "wessel" has become a popular gag within Star Trek fan circles. The filming for Star Trek IV was completed in San Francisco in front of an unsuspecting and unscripted public for which the spontaneous and genuine reactions of the passersby can be attributed according to an article on the official site Star Trek website.[5] An article posted two years on the same site reveals that the people present in the foreground of the scene were paid extras, including the first person to respond to the inquiry, Layla Sarakalo, who was directed not to speak but ignored her instructions.[6]
This was an interesting (and clearly non-Russian) characteristic, as in Russian there is no "w" sound - instead, W's in English words are transliterated into Cyrillic as V's. For example, "Washington" would be transliterated as "Vashington" (Вашингтон). Other words with a V in them are likewise often pronounced by Chekov with a substituted W sound, such as "inwention" instead of invention. However, this could realistically be interpreted as hypercorrection on Chekov's part.
In the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before," Fry, after asking Walter Koenig to repeat something "in Russian" (actually in English with a thick accent), he says "Now say 'nuclear wessels,'" to which Koenig replies with an emphatic, "No."
[edit] Crediting things to Mother Russia
A running joke involves Chekov's tendency to credit things to "Mother Russia". They include:
"The Russian Epic of Cinderella" (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Scotch being invented by "a little old lady from Leningrad" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
The Garden of Eden being "just outside" Moscow. ("The Apple")
The grain quadrotriticale being a Russian "inwention" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
Various star systems being charted by Russians ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
The old saying quoted by Scotty: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" ("Friday's Child")
Alexander the Great (Starfleet Academy Chekov's missions module)
Homework being a Russian "Inwention" (the novel "Doctor's Orders")
The claim that the story of the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a Russian story about a disappearing cat from Minsk ("Who Mourns for Adonais?")
Kirk alludes to Sulu that Chekov, if he'd come along, would have mentioned the 1908 Tunguska incident, when they surmised the Enterprise' destruction in "That Which Survives".
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry stated for the series' 25th anniversary special that he created Chekov's character in response to a Pravda article that noted that although the Soviet Union was a leader in space exploration, the international crew of the Enterprise lacked a Russian character. Including someone from Russia, the United States' long-time Cold War adversary, matched well with Roddenberry's vision of an ideal future in which the people of the Earth were united. (This story had actually been published in TV Guide after the character was introduced.)
Evidence suggests that Pravda never published such an article, and the story that it did and that this inspired the character is believed to be a publicity stunt and a fabrication by either Roddenberry or an overzealous publicity agent. However, Roddenberry did write a letter to Mikhail Zinyanin, editor of Pravda,[1] informing him of the introduction of the character, and an NBC press release announcing the character at the time did state that it was in response to a Pravda article.[2][3] Koenig always denied the "Russian origin" story and said the character was added in response to the popularity of The Monkees' Davy Jones, and the character's hairstyle and appearance are a direct reference to this.
Chekov first appeared in "Catspaw", the first episode produced for the second season, making him the last of the original core Star Trek characters to appear. The episode "Amok Time", which was the second episode aired during the second season, was Chekov's first television appearance ("Catspaw "would be aired a month later to roughly coincide with Halloween). Due to budgetary constraints the character did not appear in Star Trek: The Animated Series.
[edit] Name
Although the character is intended to be Russian, the name "Chekov" (Чеков) is not an authentic Russian surname[citation needed]. However, the surname Chekhov (Чехов) is well-known in Russia, being especially famous as the surname of the playwright and author Anton Chekhov.
[edit] Career
Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a young and naïve ensign who first appeared on-screen in The Original Series’ second season as the Enterprise's navigator. However, The Wrath of Khan established that he had been assigned to the ship sometime prior to the first season episode "Space Seed". It is also known that he joined after "Mudd's Women", since he does not recognize Mudd in the episode "I, Mudd".
Chekov also substitutes for Mr. Spock at the science officer station when necessary. His promotion to lieutenant for Star Trek: The Motion Picture brings with it his transfer as the ship's tactical officer and chief of security. By the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Chekov has been promoted to commander and executive officer aboard the USS Reliant. In that film, Khan Noonien Singh uses a creature that wraps itself around Chekov's cerebral cortex to control him and his captain. Chekov overcomes the creature's mind control and serves as Enterprise tactical officer in the film's climactic battle against Khan.
Chekov is an accomplice in Kirk's unsanctioned use of the Enterprise to rescue Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) but is exonerated for his actions (Star Trek: The Voyage Home). He serves as navigator and second officer aboard the Enterprise-A during the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The character's final film appearance is as a guest aboard the Enterprise-B on its maiden voyage (Star Trek Generations). A Next Generation TV episode has character William Riker commenting on having read Admiral Chekov's books.
Star Trek novels show a continued career path, but it is open to debate whether this is considered canon in the Star Trek universe. Novels written by William Shatner detail that Chekov reached the rank of Admiral, and even served as Commander in Chief of Starfleet.
[edit] Mirror Universe
In the mirror universe in the episode "Mirror, Mirror", Chekov is a cunning schemer who recruits several crew members to help him assassinate Kirk and take over the Enterprise. However, he is in turn betrayed by one of his own men, and sentenced to torture in the "agony booth."
[edit] Fan Productions
Walter Koenig would reprise his role as Chekov twelve years after Star Trek Generations in the fan series New Voyages, in the episode "To Serve All My Days". Koenig would return as Chekov one last time in the online mini-series Star Trek: Of Gods and Men which debuted on December 22, 2007.
[edit] Eleventh Star Trek film
On August 8, 2007, it was announced that Chekov will be portrayed by Anton Yelchin in the eleventh Star Trek film, although the role the character will play in the movie is currently unknown.[4]
[edit] Gags
[edit] “Nuclear wessels”
One of the most famous Chekov quotes comes from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Chekov and Uhura are trying to find a nuclear-powered naval ship while stuck in the 20th century, upon which Pavel asks a policeman where to find "nuclear vessels", pronouncing the "v" as a "w"; the joke being, of course, that he was an identifiably Eastern European man (indeed Russian, even if the transliteration of the letter V as a W is stereotypically Polish) asking about nuclear technology at a time when the USSR was still an enemy of the USA (though relations were warming). Therefore, pronouncing "vessel" as "wessel" has become a popular gag within Star Trek fan circles. The filming for Star Trek IV was completed in San Francisco in front of an unsuspecting and unscripted public for which the spontaneous and genuine reactions of the passersby can be attributed according to an article on the official site Star Trek website.[5] An article posted two years on the same site reveals that the people present in the foreground of the scene were paid extras, including the first person to respond to the inquiry, Layla Sarakalo, who was directed not to speak but ignored her instructions.[6]
This was an interesting (and clearly non-Russian) characteristic, as in Russian there is no "w" sound - instead, W's in English words are transliterated into Cyrillic as V's. For example, "Washington" would be transliterated as "Vashington" (Вашингтон). Other words with a V in them are likewise often pronounced by Chekov with a substituted W sound, such as "inwention" instead of invention. However, this could realistically be interpreted as hypercorrection on Chekov's part.
In the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before," Fry, after asking Walter Koenig to repeat something "in Russian" (actually in English with a thick accent), he says "Now say 'nuclear wessels,'" to which Koenig replies with an emphatic, "No."
[edit] Crediting things to Mother Russia
A running joke involves Chekov's tendency to credit things to "Mother Russia". They include:
"The Russian Epic of Cinderella" (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Scotch being invented by "a little old lady from Leningrad" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
The Garden of Eden being "just outside" Moscow. ("The Apple")
The grain quadrotriticale being a Russian "inwention" ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
Various star systems being charted by Russians ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
The old saying quoted by Scotty: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" ("Friday's Child")
Alexander the Great (Starfleet Academy Chekov's missions module)
Homework being a Russian "Inwention" (the novel "Doctor's Orders")
The claim that the story of the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a Russian story about a disappearing cat from Minsk ("Who Mourns for Adonais?")
Kirk alludes to Sulu that Chekov, if he'd come along, would have mentioned the 1908 Tunguska incident, when they surmised the Enterprise' destruction in "That Which Survives".
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