Tuvok
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This article or section requires an update. |
 Tuvok in 2371 | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Vulcan |
| Height: | 182 cm |
| Affiliation: | Federation Star Fleet |
| Rank: | Lieutenant Commander |
| Status: | Missing (2378) |
| Born: | 2264 |
| Mother: | T'Meni |
| Spouse(s): | T'Pel |
| Children: | Three sons (one named Sek) and one daughter (Asil) |
Tuvok was the tactical officer and second officer aboard USS Voyager. He served in this post for the seven years that Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. His security override code was Tuvok-pi-alpha.
Early life
Tuvok, son of T'Meni, was born on stardate 38774 in 2264, on the Vulcanis Lunar Colony.
As a teenager, he rebelled against the Vulcan ideal of logic and reasoning when he fell in love with a Terrellian girl named Jara, the daughter of an ambassador to Vulcan. Tuvok was willing to violate every tenet of Vulcan philosophy simply to be near her; unfortunately, Jara did not return Tuvok's feelings, and Tuvok chose to leave her. He later spent several months in isolation studying with a Vulcan master, where he learned to subdue his emotions.
He had to survive in the Vulcan desert for four months with a ritual blade as his only possession, as part of the tal'oth ritual.
Star Fleet Academy
Tuvok entered Star Fleet Academy at the age of 25 but found it difficult to fit in. He found the egocentric nature of Humans difficult to deal with but endured it because it was the wish of his parents to enter Star Fleet and he felt obligated to fulfill their expectations. His experiences at the Academy would stay with him until his first assignment, after which he resigned his Star Fleet commission.
Early Star Fleet career
The Excelsior
After Tuvok graduated from Star Fleet Academy in 2293, he was assigned to the USS Excelsior under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu as a junior science officer. He was present during the Excelsior's attempt to rescue James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy from the Klingon penal colony Rura Penthe. This was despite a direct order from Star Fleet that no rescue attempt must be tried. Tuvok protested to Captain Sulu about his breach of orders, but to no avail.
In the subsequent battle in the Azure Nebula with a Klingon battle cruiser, crewmember Dmitri Valtane died in Tuvok's arms. An alien virus that Valtane was carrying transferred itself to Tuvok, and then disguised itself as a repressed memory engram. This virus later manifested itself in 2373, when Tuvok served aboard the Voyager, before being destroyed by the Doctor.
Tuvok was also among those who spoke out against Spock's proposed alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.
Resignation and return to Vulcan
After the Excelsior's three-year mission in the Beta Quadrant ended, Tuvok resigned his commission, on account of his dealings with Humans. His experiences on the Excelsior were not pleasant. Humans, in Tuvok's view, believed that everyone in the galaxy should be like them; that all should share their sense of humor and their Human values. His perceptions of Humanity, and of Star Fleet, were undoubtedly colored by the fact that he did not want to be there in the first place.
Tuvok returned to Vulcan, where he taught archery science for several years at the Vulcan Institute for Defensive Arts. He then spent several years in seclusion by immersing himself in the Kolinahr. After his marriage to T'Pel, in 2304, and the birth of his children, Tuvok decided to return to Star Fleet following a fifty year absence. Raising his own children made Tuvok realize what his parents had gone through and that he had not always made the right decisions when he was young.
Return to Star Fleet
Recognizing that there was much he could learn from other races such as humans, Tuvok entered Star Fleet again in 2349 and served as an ensign on the USS Wyoming. Tuvok was an instructor at Star Fleet Academy for sixteen years, a role he resumed aboard Voyager in order to instruct Maquis crewmen in Star Fleet protocols. He also served as instructor to Icheb in his pursuits to join Star Fleet.
Tuvok first met Kathryn Janeway in 2356. Tuvok dressed Janeway down in front of three Star Fleet admirals for failing to observe proper tactical procedures during her first command. Although this encounter bruised Janeway's "Human ego", nevertheless Tuvok was right, and from 2365 onward, Janeway came to rely on Tuvok's "insightful and unfailingly logical advice".
During the mid-2360s, Tuvok was temporarily assigned to Jupiter Station where he often wrote to Captain Janeway.
Aboard USS Voyager
Tuvok was assigned to Voyager as a lieutenant under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway. He was serving as security officer when, in 2371, he infiltrated the crew of the Maquis raider commanded by a former Star Fleet officer, Chakotay. While hiding from a Cardassian ship in the Badlands, the raider was hit by an energy wave which transported it over 70,000 light years to the Delta Quadrant. While looking for the missing raider, Voyager itself was also hit by the energy wave and transported to the Delta Quadrant, reuniting Tuvok with his ship – much to Chakotay's dismay.
When faced with the merger of Star Fleet and Maquis crews Tuvok wrote a drill simulation, "Insurrection Alpha", in the event of crew mutiny on Voyager. However, when he realized that the crews were getting along better than he could have expected, he deleted the program, fearing that it would spark off the very mutiny he wanted to prevent. The crew accidentally discovered this simulation a few years later, mistaking it for a holonovel, and, when Tuvok was encouraged to finish it, he and Tom Paris discovered that Seska, a traitor who had died almost a year previously, had altered the program to kill Tuvok after he accessed the narrative parameters file. Fortunately, they were able to stay alive through the assistance of Janeway from outside the holodeck. In a final confrontation with Seska, Tuvok reconfigured a phaser rifle to overload before handing it over to her. By killing the holographic Seska, the program ended, and Paris and Tuvok were freed.
Tuvok proved Tom Paris innocent of murdering a Banean scientist whose wife Paris was caught with, despite the fact that the victim's memories showed Paris killing him. Tuvok was able to prove that the Banean doctor, who was an agent of the Banean's enemies, had perpetrated the crime, thanks to his mind-meld with Paris showing that the murderer was actually shorter than Paris.
Tuvok set a trap for the crewmember who was giving the Kazon Voyager technology. The guilty party turned out to be Seska, a Cardassian who served on Chakotay's ship and had been altered through cosmetic surgery to look like a Bajoran. She escaped before Tuvok could arrest her.
Later that year, Tuvok attempted a rescue of Harry Kim who had disappeared in a "Beowulf" holoprogram. An energy being had been trapped in the program and had turned Kim into pure energy. The same fate befell Tuvok, but both were released by the being after the crew freed it from the holodeck.
An alien entity known as the Komar assaulted the shuttlecraft manned by Tuvok and Chakotay, leaving Tuvok injured and Chakotay apparently brain-dead. The alien had the ability to enter into the minds of others and control them. It seized control of Tuvok, who took over command of the ship and ordered it into the nebula. The crew was able to drive the lifeform from Tuvok's body and leave the nebula.
He also tried to train the former Maquis crewmembers to Star Fleet standards. The four former Maquis had a great disdain for Tuvok, and he was very strict with them. They found a new respect for each other after they banded together to save each other after a systems failure.
The Second Year
During contact with the Botha, Tuvok saw visions of his wife, T'Pel. He was arrested by Mokra soldiers while seeking tellerium, along with Torres, and was tortured for 'information' about the resistance, despite the fact that Voyager was in contact with the colony leader. He was subsequently rescued by Janeway, the resistance, and an away team.
While visiting the Sikarians, it was learned that they possessed the means to fold space and travel great distances in a short time. However, they could not give the technology to Voyager due to their equivalent of Star Fleet's non-interference order, or prime directive. Defying the orders of Captain Janeway, Tuvok attempted to obtain the technology in a trade. However, it was found that the technology was incompatible with Voyager, and Tuvok was reprimanded by Janeway.
When a crewman was found dead, and Lon Suder, a former Maquis was revealed as the murderer, Tuvok tried a mind meld on Suder in order to understand his motives. The meld had a reverse effect, and Tuvok exhibited violent tendencies inherited from Suder. After a period of rehabilitation, Tuvok was able to control these tendencies, and sought to help Suder. After Suder redeemed himself during a Kazon attack and was killed, Tuvok offered a Vulcan prayer for him, hoping that, in death, Suder found the peace that had eluded him in life.
On stardate 49301.2, Tuvok represented Quinn, a Q who wished to die, as counsel in his request for asylum, since Vulcans practice euthanasia for the infirm and elderly. This was a role he would reprise to defend the Doctor's rights as a sentient being when it was discovered that he officially had no legal rights.
While Janeway was making first contact with the Drayan, a shuttle piloted by Tuvok crashed on a Drayan moon. Tuvok found three frightened children who told Tuvok that the Drayans sent them to the moon to die, and asked him to help them hide. The next day Tuvok discovered that two of the children had vanished. In a nearby cave, he found their clothes, but not the children. When the Drayans landed on the planet, Tuvok tried to protect the last child, named Tressa. The Drayans explained that Tressa was 96 years old. The Drayan aging process is reversed, and Tressa wasn't brought there to be killed, but to die a natural death. Tuvok stayed with Tressa to comfort her in her final moments.
Later that year, a transporter accident caused Tuvok to be combined with crewmate Neelix (External Link) at a molecular level, forming a new individual, Tuvix. Tuvix possessed the memories of both men, and had a mixture of their personalities. It took the Doctor over a month to find a method to restore Tuvok and Neelix to their original state.
When Janeway and Chakotay were infected by an alien disease, they were forced to be left behind on an alien planet, leaving Tuvok in command of an uneasy crew. At the insistence of the crew, who were uncomfortable with abandoning their captain and first officer, he sought a remedy from the Vidiian physician, Denara Pel, who had become romantically involved with the Doctor when Voyager treated her for a severe case of the phage.
Tuvok helped the crew survive on a primitive planet where they were stranded after the Kazon captured Voyager.
2373
In 2373, Tuvok had a mental collapse due to a suppressed memory. In order to cure himself he had to perform a mind meld with Janeway. They traveled back to the time he served aboard the USS Excelsior, commanded by Hikaru Sulu. They discovered that an alien virus had invaded his brain, and lain dormant for years. Tuvok was saved when the doctor drove the virus out by bursts of radiation.
Tuvok was part of an away team that returned to Earth in 1996. Voyager was trying to stop a temporal explosion that would obliterate Earth's solar system in the 29th century, caused by Henry Starling, who came upon a 29th century starship that was thrown back in time. Tuvok and Paris would contact Rain Robinson, an astronomer who picked up Voyager's signal and worked for Starling. They saved her when Starling ordered her killed. They told her that they were spies. He also rescued Chakotay and Torres who were taken hostage by a paramilitary group. Tuvok and the crew were able to stop Starling and return the timeline.
Tuvok attempted to rescue Kes who had her mind and body taken over by Tieran, an ancient warlord who used her to retake control of his planet. Although the attempt failed, he was able to contact her with a mind meld and tell her to continue to fight. Tuvok led another rescue attempt that was successful. Kes was rescued with the use of a synaptic stimulator that removed Tieran's neural pattern.
In an alien encounter, he and Chakotay met the Sakari who were attacking Voyager with space storms because they believed Voyager would harm them. Their ancestors were driven underground by attacks from another alien race, who Tuvok and Chakotay discovered were the Borg.
Later that year, he was able to persuade a lonely alien who appeared to him in the holodeck to let Voyager leave a nebula it was caught in. She wanted him to stay with him. He, along with Neelix, helped the Nezu fend off an attack by their enemies, and exposed a Nezu traitor. The incident also brought him and Neelix closer together.
2374
In 2374, Tuvok was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander by Captain Janeway.
Also in 2374, during a temporary alliance with the Borg, Tuvok accompanied Janeway aboard the Borg ship to help develop a weapon against Species 8472. The Borg tried to install temporary neuro-transceivers on them, but they insisted they be assigned a Borg representative to communicate with verbally instead. It was this incident that brought Seven of Nine aboard Voyager. Shortly after, Tuvok tried to help Kes stabilize her telepathic abilities with a mind meld. He was unable to help and Kes transformed into energy and left the ship. Tuvok subsequently lit a candle in memory of his lost student.
Tuvok would also rescue Chakotay from the Vori who had brainwashed him into serving in their army and participating in a war. Despite appearing as one of the enemy who Chakotay had been conditioned to hate, he was able to get through to his commander, reminding Chakotay that he was a scientist, not a soldier.
When Seven's nanoprobes reactivated and she tried to return to Borg space, Tuvok worked with Janeway to try to bring her back. After tracking her, Tuvok beamed over to her shuttle, but was overpowered by her. He accompanied her to a planet that contained the wreckage of the Raven, her parents' ship. There he found the Borg machine that had activated her nanoprobes and he disabled them, ending the crisis.
He defended and proved Torres innocent of projecting violent thought on a planet of telepaths, simultaneously uncovering a 'black market' of violent thought. Tuvok and Seven of Nine were captured by the Hirogen. They were going to be skinned alive and their bones used as trophies. Voyager was able to beam them to safely after causing a black hole to destroy the Hirogen ships. He also found proof that Kovin, an Entharan trader, had not assaulted Seven in order to harvest her nanoprobes like Seven believed. A burst from Kovin's disrupter that was fired accidentally caused the nanoprobes to regenerate, and triggered a suppressed memory in Seven of assimilation.
When the Krenim attacked Voyager with a temporal weapon that changed the timeline, Tuvok found an active warhead lodged in the hull. Tuvok was sure it would explode in minutes, but Seven wanted to learn its temporal variance so they could perfect shielding against it. She made a determination just before the torpedo blew up, but the explosion blinded Tuvok. His sight was returned when the Krenim ship was destroyed and the timeline restored.
During the Hirogen takeover of Voyager, when they used the crew as part of a holodeck hunting game, Tuvok played a resistance fighter during a Nazi scenario. He was concerned that Seven was a Nazi spy and told Janeway that if so, they should kill her.
2375-2376
Tuvok later developed multiphasic shielding, which went into Voyager's multispatial probe and was later adapted for use in designing the Delta Flyer.
He crash-landed on a planet beset by an ion storm in the Delta Flyer along with Ensign Samantha Wildman and Paris. They were rescued just as their oxygen ran out, but in the process, Tuvok was able to console Wildman about her fears for her daughter, Naomi. His own young daughter had now been without him for over four years, and yet he was confident that she would be safe with his remaining family. On another away mission they again crashed on a planet were they met Noss, who helped them survive the hostile planet. Noss became infatuated with Tuvok, who could not return the affection.
By 2376, Tuvok had received seventeen commendations for valor. That year, while returning from a diplomatic mission, he was attacked by an invisible being, later found out to be a member of the Ba'neth species. He suffered neuroleptic shock which caused brain damage. As he recovered from the shock, his brain functions were very simple and he showed great emotion. Neelix (External Link) nursed him back to health and cared for him until The Doctor was able to reverse the effects of the shock.
Tuvok and Seven were captured by an alien named Penk. He secured players for a violent fight game named Tsunkatse. Seven at first refused to participate, but was forced to, because Tuvok was wounded and Penk refused to give him medical treatment unless she did so. They were eventually rescued by Voyager. He helped track down a gang of grifters who were posing as Janeway and him in order to steal goods. He confronted an elder Kes when she returned to try to destroy Voyager, blaming Janeway for her lost youth; his past self also had occasional 'flashes' to the future due to tachyon instability caused by Kes's future self traveling back in time, which allowed the past Janeway to realize what was happening.
When Torres and Kim were stranded on an L-class planet, Tuvok stayed awake for over two straight weeks during Voyager's search for them. Tom Paris took pleasure in waking Tuvok up when he started snoring in the captain's chair.
The Final Year
The last year of Voyager's trip home brought many adventures to Tuvok. Tuvok, Janeway, and Torres allowed themselves to be assimilated by the Borg, carrying a pathogen to help the Borg drones of Unimatrix Zero resist the Borg Queen. The assimilation was supposed to have been only of the body; The Doctor had administered an inoculation to the three of them to prevent their minds from being assimilated, and thus keep them from becoming drones. However, Tuvok's inoculation wore off prematurely, and his mind was assimilated. Thus he became an actual drone. However, the mission succeeded and the drone, designated Three of Twelve, was taken back to Voyager with Janeway and Torres. The implants were removed and the drone once again became Tuvok. It took him some time to fully recover from the experience.
Tuvok attempted to salvage a cortical node to replace Seven's node that was malfunctioning. He represented The Doctor in obtaining the right to a holonovel that The Doctor had written, called Photons Be Free. The Doctor had forwarded a text of the novel to Star Fleet when communications became possible between them and Voyager, but he was subsequently forbidden from making changes. Although the trial did not result in The Doctor gaining full legal rights as a sentient being, he was accorded the status of 'artist', due in no small part to Tuvok pointing out that The Doctor had created an original work, something that a purely artificial being could not do.
In 2377, Tuvok had received a message from his son Sek over a datastream aboard Voyager regarding his studies of music. Unbeknownst to either of them, Bajoran radical Teero Anaydis hid a subliminal message set to Vulcan brainwaves in the message, so that when Tuvok watched the message, it activated a mind control program in his psyche that Teero had implanted years earlier; he was eventually able to throw it off.
Tuvok gave Paris tips on being a father when Torres became pregnant. During the capture of the crew by the Quarrens who used them as laborers and had wiped out their memories of Voyager, Tuvok began to have flashbacks of his previous existence. Tuvok served the workforce as an expert in thermionic conversion, but was replaced by Chakotay after he was taken by Quarren guards. He had to be given additional treatments of mind control.
In an alternate future timeline, Voyager had returned home after a fifteen-year journey. On the tenth anniversary of its return, Admiral Janeway decided to travel back into the past to in order to try to get Voyager back home sooner. One of the reasons was that Tuvok's neural peptides had been deteriorating for years, unknown to anyone but The Doctor. His declining mental state could only be treated in the Alpha Quadrant by means of a Fal-tor-voh with a compatible Vulcan, i.e. a blood relative. Unfortunately, he returned home with Voyager too late, and suffered severe mental damage and lived in a mental hospital.
Admiral Janeway traveled back in time to convince her counterpart Captain Janeway to use Borg conduits to get home, and history was changed, and Tuvok was cured.
Personal interests
Tuvok was a prize-winning orchid breeder. He used grafting techniques on flowers from both Earth and Vulcan.
Tuvok's main pastime was the Vulcan game kal-toh, which he frequently played with Ensign Harry Kim. As of 2378, Ensign Kim had never beaten Tuvok at the game.
Tuvok also spent his spare time meditating, and instructed various members of the crew in this pursuit over the years. He was an avid student and observer of many Alpha Quadrant martial arts, including Earth sumo wrestling.
Personal relationships
Family
Tuvok was a devoted parent and husband. Tuvok married T'Pel in 2304, and later had four children, three sons and a daughter. In 2374, he learned that his eldest son Sek had a child, named T'Meni after his mother, making him a grandfather.
His youngest child, Asil, was born in the city of T'Paal. Tuvok's friend Kathryn Janeway attended Asil's kolinahr.
Friendship
Kathryn Janeway
His closest friend aboard Voyager was Captain Janeway herself, who trusted him completely, and whom he considered the closest thing to family aboard Voyager.
He was one of her most trusted advisers. She discussed all command decisions with him. When he disobeyed her orders concerning the Sakari technology that could fold space by trying to trade for it on the black market, she felt betrayed by his disobedience. He explained that logic dictated his actions.
Tuvok's friendship with her saved his existence. He and Neelix were merged due to a malfunction in the transporter into one being called Tuvix. Her personal relationship with him was the determining factor in her decision to terminate Tuvix in a procedure that separated him back to Neelix and Tuvok.
Neelix
- Neelix and Tuvok were the proverbial "odd couple" of Voyager. Although Neelix was very fond of the Vulcan, his feelings were not reciprocated, until an incident when Tuvok lost his memory after an attack by mysterious aliens, called the Ba'neth. Neelix helped Tuvok to recover, strengthening their friendship. It was during this time that he gained an appreciation for pastry baking and jazz music.
- When Kes went through her elogium, Neelix went to Tuvok for advice on fatherhood. Tuvok, despite his natural lack of emotion, was able to assure Neelix that fatherhood brought great rewards, and informed Neelix that it did not matter whether the child was a son or daughter, as in both cases a father was able to play an important role.
- Tuvok once had to share his quarters with Neelix when a shipload of Klingons in the Delta Quadrant came aboard, much to Tuvok's chagrin.
- Tuvok encouraged Neelix to assist an imperiled Talaxian settlement, and be reunited with his people. As a going-away gift Tuvok danced a brief step, to the delight of Neelix, who had previously mentioned that he would convince Tuvok to dance before Voyager returned home.
- When Neelix first came on board Voyager, he referred to Tuvok as "Mister Vulcan", and would continue to do so from time to time in the following years.
Romance
- Despite Tuvok being married, he did become very close to a young woman, Noss, while stranded on an inhospitable planet for a number of months. However, after he was rescued, he explained to her that they could only be friends, although he did form a mind meld with her to show her his feelings.
- Before that, he became strangely attracted to Marayna, one of the holodeck characters, because of her fresh thoughts, pure logic, and intelligence. Tuvok and B'Elanna Torres discovered that Marayna was actually a projection of a lonely alien outside of the ship. Tuvok convinced her to return home to spend some time with her people.
- He also became very close to the Mari Chief Examiner Nimira. She was one of the last constabulary officers in this virtually crime-free society. She and Tuvok bonded and became friends bordering on romance. Both respected the way their respective societies eliminated violence. They spent time together during his shore leave on the Mari homeworld and he asked her to visit Voyager, which she accepted.
Mental Health
- On many occasions Tuvok, and the crew of Voyager, were subjected to brain trauma and tampering. This, no doubt, affected Tuvok's overall mental performance.
Chronology
- 2264: Born on the Vulcanis Lunar Colony on Stardate 38774.
- 2289: Enters Star Fleet Academy at his parents' insistence.
- 2293: Graduates Star Fleet Academy; serves as a junior science officer aboard the USS Excelsior.
- 2298: Resigns from Star Fleet and returns to Vulcan, where he spends several years immersing himself in the Kolinahr.
- 2304: Marries T'Pel.
- 2349: Returns to Star Fleet; serves aboard the USS Wyoming.
- 2350s-2360s: Serves as an instructor at Star Fleet Academy for a period of sixteen years.
- 2356: First meets Kathryn Janeway.
- Mid-2360s: Temporarily assigned to Jupiter Station.
- 2370: Assigned as Chief Tactical Officer of the USS Voyager.
- 2371: Infiltrates a Maquis ship; transported to the Delta Quadrant.
- 2372: For two weeks, Tuvok ceases to exist while Tuvix lives.
- 2374: Promoted to Lieutenant Commander; granddaughter T'Meni, daughter of Sek is born.
- 2376: Assimilated by the Borg.
- 2378: Officially declared missing for the second time after contact is lost with Voyager
