If you really want to get the full idea of what Kirk as a captain is like, dive into the old paperback novels. He has a presence of command that many good writers have expanded on, and there's a reason he's a legend among the many Starfleet commanders. Although I have a head canon that anyone getting to the point of captaining a starship has similar awesomeness in their character that can face just about anything head on. A 23rd/24th century version of the steely-eyed missile man.
Which puts a new light on the various captains in all the series that "failed" in some way. Decker and the rest. They were Kirk level, and what they went through still broke them.
Stamets@startrek.website 10 months ago
AHA! THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG! PIKE WAS! HE WINS!
But yeah, I don’t blame you. Kirk is pretty great lol
ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Image
OK, OK … I keep getting corrected on my Trek lore … yes, I was wrong … I keep forgetting about Pike’s origin in the Trek universe.
It’s funny … I watched several episodes of TOS as a kid and like everyone, I’ve only ever known Kirk (you were lucky if you knew or saw the first original pilot with Captain Pike back then) … so I just automatically grew up thinking Kirk (Shatner) was the first Star Trek Captain.
Stamets@startrek.website 10 months ago
Oh totally. To be honest I thought Kirk was the first captain until the 2009 movie. That introduced me to the character of Pike (I somehow missed his TOS episodes) and my love was born.