Kathryn Janeway
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew
, is a fictional character
in the Star Trek
franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet
starship USS Voyager
, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager
, and later, a Starfleet
admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek Nemesis. She is the first, and to date, the only female captain to be the lead character in a Star Trek series.
The character was originally called "Elizabeth Janeway
", after the famous writer of the same name. However, after Geneviève Bujold
was cast, she requested the character be renamed "Nicole Janeway". Bujold had mainly feature film experience, was unprepared for a schedule demanded by series television, and was unwilling to do news interviews. She dropped out on the second day of filming on the pilot episode "Caretaker
". Kate Mulgrew
, who had previously auditioned for the role, was brought in. She suggested that the name be changed to "Kathryn". Actresses Erin Gray
and Chelsea Field also auditioned for the role.
. She was born on May 20.
Captain Janeway took command of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager in 2371. Their first mission was to locate and capture a Maquis
vessel last seen in the area of space known as the Badlands. While there, the Maquis ship and Voyager were transported against their will into the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-year
s away, by a massive displacement wave. The Maquis ship is destroyed while fighting the Kazon-Ogla, and although Voyager survives, there are numerous casualties. In order to protect an intelligent species (the Ocampa
), Janeway destroys a device, the Caretaker Array, that has the potential to return her crew to Federation space, stranding her ship and crew seven decades' travel from home.
Her first major task is integrating the surviving Maquis and Voyager crews. Chakotay
, captain of the Maquis ship, succeeds the deceased Lieutenant Commander Cavit as her first officer. Janeway also grants convicted criminal, former Starfleet officer, and accomplished pilot Tom Paris
a field commission, and makes him Voyager' s helmsman.
Janeway's other interactions with her crew include helping the ex-Borg
Seven of Nine
reclaim her individuality and humanity and advocating for the Doctor's
status as a sentient being.
During the course of the TV series, Voyager has contact with the Q Continuum
on three occasions, and repeated contact with the Borg. With the intervention of a future/alternate version of herself, Janeway leads her crew in using one of the Borg's transwarp conduits to return her ship to Federation
space after traveling through the Delta Quadrant for seven years.
to travel to Romulus at the invitation of the film's antagonist.
Admiral Janeway also appeared in the Borg Invasion 4-D ride at the Star Trek: The Experience
venue in Las Vegas, which closed in 2008. In the ride, Janeway leads Voyager to the rescue of ride participants who are ostensibly trapped first on a space station and later on a shuttlecraft that come under attack by a Borg Cube commanded by the Borg Queen. At the ride's end, Janeway tells the participants, "Congratulations. You've defeated the Borg with one thing the Queen can never assimilate: the human spirit. As long as we have that, resistance will never be futile."
Although Paramount considers only the onscreen, live-action Trek episodes and movies to be official canon, Janeway has nonetheless continued as a character in the Star Trek novels. In Peter David
's 2007 Star Trek: The Next Generation
novel, Before Dishonor, which is set after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis
, Janeway is assimilated by a rogue faction of the Borg
, and becomes the new Borg Queen. Seven of Nine
, with the aid of Ambassador Spock and the Enterprise-E crew, manages to communicate with Janeway's consciousness, buried deep within the Queen's mind. During a brief moment of contact, Janeway helps them destroy the Borg cube, with all hands on board. Although Seven manages to escape, Janeway is killed. Her memorial service sees a vast turnout, and a tall gleaming pillar with a light burning atop it is constructed in tribute to her. The Q female, Lady Q, appears to Janeway's spirit, and tells her that Q
and the Q Continuum
had taken an interest in her. Telling her that she has a destiny, Lady Q takes Janeway by the hand, and disappears with her into realms unknown. Writer Peter David explained the book was conceived by Pocket Books
editorial as one in which Janeway would die, and that he was brought in to write it in order to give her a heroic send-off.
In Cryptic Studios
online role-playing game, Star Trek: Online, Janeway is briefly mentioned in the background, exploring the Hobus system after the supernova that was the catalyst for the events of the 2009 Star Trek movie.
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
, is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
starship USS Voyager
USS Voyager (Star Trek)
The fictional Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager is the primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway....
, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
, and later, a Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek Nemesis. She is the first, and to date, the only female captain to be the lead character in a Star Trek series.
Casting
Elizabeth Janeway
Elizabeth Janeway was an American author and critic.Born Elizabeth Ames Hall in Brooklyn, New York, her naval architect father and homemaker mother fell on hard times during the Depression, leading her to end her Swarthmore College education and help support the family by creating bargain basement...
", after the famous writer of the same name. However, after Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
was cast, she requested the character be renamed "Nicole Janeway". Bujold had mainly feature film experience, was unprepared for a schedule demanded by series television, and was unwilling to do news interviews. She dropped out on the second day of filming on the pilot episode "Caretaker
Caretaker (Voyager episode)
"Caretaker" is the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager. It was originally shown as one double-length episode, but has been split into two parts for repeats...
". Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
, who had previously auditioned for the role, was brought in. She suggested that the name be changed to "Kathryn". Actresses Erin Gray
Erin Gray
Erin Gray is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Summers in the situation comedy Silver Spoons and as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century....
and Chelsea Field also auditioned for the role.
Fictional character biography
Janeway's hometown is Bloomington, IndianaBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
. She was born on May 20.
Captain Janeway took command of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager in 2371. Their first mission was to locate and capture a Maquis
Maquis (Star Trek)
In the American Star Trek science-fiction franchise, the Maquis are a 24th Century paramilitary organization or terrorist group first introduced in the 1994 episode "The Maquis" of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who subsequently also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and...
vessel last seen in the area of space known as the Badlands. While there, the Maquis ship and Voyager were transported against their will into the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s away, by a massive displacement wave. The Maquis ship is destroyed while fighting the Kazon-Ogla, and although Voyager survives, there are numerous casualties. In order to protect an intelligent species (the Ocampa
Ocampa
Ocampa is the fictional home planet of the Ocampa, a fictional race of elf-like humanoids in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager....
), Janeway destroys a device, the Caretaker Array, that has the potential to return her crew to Federation space, stranding her ship and crew seven decades' travel from home.
Her first major task is integrating the surviving Maquis and Voyager crews. Chakotay
Chakotay
Chakotay , played by Robert Beltran, is a character in Star Trek: Voyager. He is the First Officer of the USS Voyager.-Character biography:...
, captain of the Maquis ship, succeeds the deceased Lieutenant Commander Cavit as her first officer. Janeway also grants convicted criminal, former Starfleet officer, and accomplished pilot Tom Paris
Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Paris serves as the chief helmsman and an auxiliary medic aboard the USS Voyager...
a field commission, and makes him Voyager
Janeway's other interactions with her crew include helping the ex-Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine is a fictional character on Star Trek: Voyager, portrayed by actress Jeri Ryan. Born human, she was assimilated by the Borg at the age of six. Eighteen years later, Voyager left Borg space with Seven on board, after attempts to negotiate passage through Borg space proved only...
reclaim her individuality and humanity and advocating for the Doctor's
Doctor (Star Trek)
The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram Mark I , is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by actor Robert Picardo...
status as a sentient being.
During the course of the TV series, Voyager has contact with the Q Continuum
Q Continuum
In the fictional televised Star Trek universe, the Q Continuum is an extradimensional plane of existence inhabited by a race of extremely powerful, hyper-intelligent beings known as the Q...
on three occasions, and repeated contact with the Borg. With the intervention of a future/alternate version of herself, Janeway leads her crew in using one of the Borg's transwarp conduits to return her ship to Federation
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
space after traveling through the Delta Quadrant for seven years.
Later appearances
During a cameo appearance in the film Star Trek Nemesis, now-Admiral Janeway instructs Captain Jean-Luc PicardJean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
to travel to Romulus at the invitation of the film's antagonist.
Admiral Janeway also appeared in the Borg Invasion 4-D ride at the Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience
Star Trek: The Experience was a themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based on the Star Trek entertainment franchise. It opened in January 1998, closed in September 2008, and was scheduled to reopen in the Neonopolis Mall on May 8, 2009 in time for the premiere of the...
venue in Las Vegas, which closed in 2008. In the ride, Janeway leads Voyager to the rescue of ride participants who are ostensibly trapped first on a space station and later on a shuttlecraft that come under attack by a Borg Cube commanded by the Borg Queen. At the ride's end, Janeway tells the participants, "Congratulations. You've defeated the Borg with one thing the Queen can never assimilate: the human spirit. As long as we have that, resistance will never be futile."
Although Paramount considers only the onscreen, live-action Trek episodes and movies to be official canon, Janeway has nonetheless continued as a character in the Star Trek novels. In Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
's 2007 Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
novel, Before Dishonor, which is set after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek Nemesis is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird, written by John Logan , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the tenth feature film in the Star Trek franchise, and the fourth and final film to star the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
, Janeway is assimilated by a rogue faction of the Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
, and becomes the new Borg Queen. Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine is a fictional character on Star Trek: Voyager, portrayed by actress Jeri Ryan. Born human, she was assimilated by the Borg at the age of six. Eighteen years later, Voyager left Borg space with Seven on board, after attempts to negotiate passage through Borg space proved only...
, with the aid of Ambassador Spock and the Enterprise-E crew, manages to communicate with Janeway's consciousness, buried deep within the Queen's mind. During a brief moment of contact, Janeway helps them destroy the Borg cube, with all hands on board. Although Seven manages to escape, Janeway is killed. Her memorial service sees a vast turnout, and a tall gleaming pillar with a light burning atop it is constructed in tribute to her. The Q female, Lady Q, appears to Janeway's spirit, and tells her that Q
Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional character who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. In all of these programs, he is played by John de Lancie....
and the Q Continuum
Q Continuum
In the fictional televised Star Trek universe, the Q Continuum is an extradimensional plane of existence inhabited by a race of extremely powerful, hyper-intelligent beings known as the Q...
had taken an interest in her. Telling her that she has a destiny, Lady Q takes Janeway by the hand, and disappears with her into realms unknown. Writer Peter David explained the book was conceived by Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
editorial as one in which Janeway would die, and that he was brought in to write it in order to give her a heroic send-off.
In Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios, a wholly owned Perfect World subsidiary, is a small American massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer headquartered in Los Gatos, California.-History:...
online role-playing game, Star Trek: Online, Janeway is briefly mentioned in the background, exploring the Hobus system after the supernova that was the catalyst for the events of the 2009 Star Trek movie.