William T. Riker

William Thomas Riker was a 24th century Human man. Riker was best known for service in Starfleet, as a captain in command of the USS Titan from the year 2379. Riker had previously served as first officer aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) between the years 2364 and 2379.


 * The novel ' posited that Riker's middle initial "T" stood for "Thelonius." After TNGs "Second Chances" established that Riker's middle name was "Thomas", the novel Imzadi II revealed that "Thelonius" was a self-adopted middle name, not his actual one.''

Ancestry
Riker's family had lived in the United States of America since at least the mid-19th century, when a soldier named Thaddius Riker fought for the Union in the American Civil War. 

It was suggested by Astrid Kemal that there was a high likelihood that the Riker family descended from the offspring of Augments who had emigrated to Alaska following the Eugenics Wars. Riker was at first shocked by this suggestion, but later realized it was a very real possibility. 

Early life
Riker was born on April 15, 2335 in Valdez, Alaska in continental North America on planet Earth, the son of Kyle and Elizabeth Laura 'Betty' Riker. .


 * In the novel Deny Thy Father, Riker's mother is given the name Annie.

Riker's mother died when he was two years old. His father, a civilian strategist for Starfleet, was kept away from Earth by his duties for extended periods, forcing Riker to largely raise himself. Kyle eventually abandoned his son altogether when Will was only fifteen years old. 

Will's maternal grandfather was a trombone player in New Orleans. In 2342, Will fractured his collarbone after falling off Execution Rock. 

Durring his childhood, Will took a trip to Maine. While on the coastline he had a chancen to see the North Atlantic Ocean. 

Will's best friend growing up was named Jackson Carter, whom Will nicknamed "Squibby". Carter retaliated by giving Will the nickname "Thunderball". When Will left for Starfleet Academy in 2353, he and Carter swore that they would keep in touch, but they didn't see each other again until the year 2366 on the planet Paradise. 

Another person Will called his "best friend" was Teller Conlon - who later joined Will at Starfleet Academy, onboard the USS Potemkin (NCC-18253) and the USS Yorktown (NCC-2033). In 2361, both were detached from Starfleet duty so they could serve on the team that forged the Imperiman Trade Agreement

Yet another very close friend during Will's childhood was Lyrinda Halk, who was also born in Valdez.

Riker grew up – at least partially – in Fairbanks, Alaska

Starfleet Academy
Will entered Starfleet Academy in the year 2353, and was a member of Zeta Squadron. One of Zeta Squadron's assignments was a "scavenger hunt" style survival test on the streets of San Francisco. 

While at the Academy, Will once re-programmed a transporter so that a particularly despised instructor would arrive at a ceremony in his honor sans clothing. 

Riker graduated eighth in his class in 2357. One of the speakers at his graduation ceremony was Admiral Leonard McCoy. 

The teenage Riker's first serious love relationship was with a gorgeous Russian ballet dancer, Paula Andropova, who was old enough to be his mother. 

During Will's third year at the Academy, he developed a relationship with Janice Eardman. Will enjoyed taking her on walking tours within the holodeck and fixing her favorite dish. Real Strawberries and Chocolate mixed with Venduvian sauce. 

Riker was also part of the Starfleet Academy Band. At one time, the band was asked to perform for the troops on the war-torn Elofim. On the way there, they made a stop at the planet Pacifica. 


 * Though not stated, it is possible that it was during this visit that Riker had his brief sexual encounter with future USS Titan crewmate Aili Lavena. 

Early Career


As Will was getting ready to graduate from the Academy, he had an opportunity to fill an Ensign position on the distant Tarett IV orbital base as his first assignment. However his desire for Starship duty inspired him to turn down any orbital base or shoreside assignment. This decision had ended his relationship with Janice Eardman. 

The Pegasus
Will's first assignment as a Starfleet officer was a posting as an Ensign aboard the USS Pegasus (NCC-53847) under the command of Captain Erik Pressman in late 2357. His youthful appearance soon earned him the nickname "Ensign Babyface" from the ship's Tactical Officer Mark Boylan.

Among the Pegasus' assignments before the ship was lost include the extradition of war criminal Endyk Plure from the Candelar system, and a harrowing encounter in space disputed by the worlds of Omistol and Ven. 

When Riker received his rank of Lieutenant Commander, he was commissioned to the USS Zhukov (NCC-26136) as Second Officer. He went to the transporter room in Starbase 18, and transported to the ship, and made an arrogant tour around the decks. After 10 hours, he went to the office of the First Officer, to ask permission for duty, when he was shocked to see, that the real Second Officer of the ship was inside of the room. Riker realized only at that moment, that he was traveling on the wrong ship, it was the Excelsior-class USS Yorktown (NCC-2033) under the command of Captain LedBetter. He was sent back to his own ship, but two years later Riker was promoted to serve on the Yorktown. 

Deanna Troi
By 2359, Will was serving as Lieutenant and Second officer on the USS Fortuna when word of his promotion to First Officer of the USS Hood (NCC-42296) came through. Will was on the command fast track, and many even believed that he would achieve a command of his own faster than the legendary James T. Kirk, who became captain at the age of 29.

But before he could report to the Hood, which was in Drydock under going repairs from an attack by Sindareen Raiders, Riker was temporarily assigned as Starfleet liaison to the Federation Embassy on Betazed.

On Will's first day on Betazed, he was asked to be the Federation's presence at the wedding of the Daughter of the Third House of Betazed, Chandra Xerx. Will was utterly oblivious to the fact that in Betazoid weddings, all members of the wedding party and all of the guests are expected to be nude. It was at this wedding where Will first caught sight of Deanna Troi (much to her amusement), who was one of the bridesmaids.

Over the weeks that followed, Will pursued Deanna with only limited success. It was not until Will's rescue of Deanna from Sindareen Raiders whom had taken her captive that they each gave into their mutual passion under a waterfall in Betazed's isolated Jalara Jungle. Riker could feel Deanna in his mind, and he heard a word in her voice – "Imzadi."

Deanna's mother Lwaxana was less than pleased with this development, and forbid the relationship to continue. At first, Deanna complied with her mother's wishes, and told Will so. She later defied her mother's wishes and left to be with her Imzadi.

Unfortunately, the rejected Riker had drowned out his sorrows with a bottle of Scotch whisky when he received a visitor in the form of Wendy Roper, the daughter of the head of the Federation Embassy, who had come to "console" him.

Deanna found the two of them in bed together, and realized that Riker was not ready for the kind of relationship that she needed from him. They parted amicably a few days later at a Betazed museum as the Hood arrived to collect Riker. Neither said "goodbye" to the other. 

Riker attempted a reconciliation by arranging a date with Deanna a few years later on Risa while on temporary assignment to the USS Potemkin (NCC-18253), but was unable to make the date. Riker chose to make his career a priority and did not see Deanna again until they were both posted to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2364. 

In 2361, Riker was duplicated in a transporter accident on Nervala IV. A redundant secondary confinement beam reflected off the atmosphere, rematerializing a duplicate on the surface; his duplicate was left behind alone on the planet for eight years. Riker was unaware of this incident until returning to Nervala IV in 2369.

Riker served on the Hood under Captain Robert DeSoto until receiving the promotion to First Officer of the Federation's flagship, the Enterprise-D, and saw Deanna again.

NCC-1701-D
In 2364, Riker transferred to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) as, "Number One," under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He was soon reunited with Deanna Troi who was assigned to the Enterprise ship's Counselor. The two chose not to renew their romantic relationship at that time for professional reasons.

Later, this same year, Riker was imparted with Q powers and virtual immortality. A "gift" he later returned to the giver, after seeing how uncontrolled power can corrupt a Human. Little did he know the Q had a particular impact to his family. Years later, the mortal Riker joked with Picard and others how he planned to live forever. 

Will was close to not living, when attacked by microbes on planet Surata IV. Only the opposite of all his pleasureful memories with Deanna Troi and others he'd ever known saved him from death. 

In 2368, Riker received a strange visitor in the form of himself, Admiral William T. Riker from the year 2408. The elder Riker had traveled back in time by way of the Guardian of Forever in order to prevent the murder of Deanna Troi by a time-traveling Sindareen, who blamed Deanna for his race's troubles in this era.

When the timeline had been restored, Admiral Riker was restored to his proper time. The younger Riker and Troi again chose not to renew their romantic relationship, but Riker long remained haunted by the vision of the bitter and joyless Riker from the future, who had lived his life without his Imzadi. The elder Riker also reminded him of his father. 

In 2369, Riker met himself again, this time in the form of a duplicate created by a transporter accident in 2361. This Lieutenant Riker and he had an antagonistic relationship. When Lieutenant Riker left Enterprise, he took the name Thomas Riker. 

In 2370, the Enterprise-D rendezvoused with the shuttlecraft Goddard, carrying retired Captain Montgomery Scott. Scott utilized the old logs of the original USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and recreated the gravity slingshot that propelled the Bounty 2 back through time, with the Enterprise following. When they determined they were back in an alternate 2293, Picard was certain Scott intended to save James T. Kirk from death aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B); Riker was the only bridge officer who doubted it, thinking it was irresponsible. When they found the timeline considerably altered, Riker theorized that Scott may have overshot his time destination, or made a second jump back in time. Eventually the Enterprise was able to rendezvous with Scott and Kirk, returning the latter to the Nexus to restore the timeline. 

At some point, Troi had begun a romantic relationship with her Enterprise shipmate, Lieutenant Commander Worf. Riker was outwardly happy for his friends, but secretly harbored resentment towards Worf.

After the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Riker finally realized the depths of his feelings of Deanna. He had no wish to hurt his friend Worf, but he resolved to tell Deanna how he felt. Riker's timing was unfortunate, as before Riker could talk to Deanna, Worf proposed marriage to her, and she accepted. At first, Riker willingly stepped aside, but soon realized that he had no wish to turn into that bitter old man from the future, and went after Deanna, Worf be damned.

At this time, Worf's son Alexander Rozhenko had been captured by Tom Riker (who had recently escaped from the Cardassian labor camp on Lazon II) and was being coerced by the Romulan Sela, who believed him to be Will. Will Riker was, in turn, then captured by Cardassians, who believed him to be the escaped Tom. Will was rescued from the Cardassians by Worf, and the two put aside their differences in order to rescue Deanna and Alexander.

It was after this encounter that Worf and Deanna realized that they were too different for their relationship to work, and they parted amicably. Will and Deanna again chose not to renew their romantic relationship at that time, but both saw it as an inevitability that they both looked forward to. 

NCC-1701-E
In 2372, Riker and most of the rest of the Enterprise-D command staff, including Deanna, requested assignment to the newly constructed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) under the assumption that Captain Picard would be given command. Starfleet Command had other ideas.

Riker strenuously objected when Starfleet gave command of the Enterprise-E to Captain Morgan Bateson, but did his duty as assigned.

Bateson stepped aside for Picard after losing command of the ship to a group of Klingons, led by his old nemesis Kozara, and Picard re-took the ship from them. 

Will and Deanna finally resumed their romantic relationship in 2375 after feeling the rejuvenating effects of the metaphasic radiation inherent to the adopted homeworld of the Ba'ku. While in temporary charge of Enterprise-E, an armed conflict with the Son'a in the Briar Patch earned his strategy the name of the Riker Maneuver. Much in the tradition of his captain's Battle of Maxia Zeta. 

Still in 2375, Riker was in command of the Enterprise while Captain Picard was visiting family on Earth and the Breen attacked San Francisco. He would lead the Enterprise against the Breen vessels assaulting Earth alongside the USS Columbia, destroying them after a short battle. (SS TNG (Eleven Hours Out))

In late 2375, Riker was given temporary command of the USS Excalibur (NCC-26517) (which he had commanded briefly during the Klingon civil war of 2366-2367) when that ship's captain, Mackenzie Calhoun was on a temporary assignment for Starfleet Intelligence. Riker commanded the Excalibur and her unorthodox crew through an encounter with Sela and the Romulans. 

In late 2378, Riker was forced to take command of the Enterprise after Picard's competence was called into question after an incident at the Rashanar Battle Site that resulted in the destruction of the USS Juno (Excelsior class) with all hands, and the seeming destruction of an Ontailian vessel. Picard was soon cleared of all charges, and re-assumed command. 

After the death of Riker's father Kyle on the planet Delta Sigma IV with so much between them still unresolved, he decided that his relationship with Deanna was not something that he wanted to go unresolved any longer. Will proposed marriage to Deanna, and Deanna accepted.

Soon after, he was offered the command of the USS Titan (NCC-80102) by Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Janeway reminded Riker that Starfleet had offered him his own command more than once, and warned him that this may be the last time. 

Riker accepted the offer soon after his ordeal at the hands of the madman from Tezwa, Kinchawn a few weeks later. 

After seeing the Enterprise through a grueling inspection tour, William Riker and Deanna Troi were married in a ceremony in Riker's native Alaska.

The Enterprise was on her way to Betazed for the wedding ceremony being planned by Deanna's mother Lwaxana (who now claimed that she had always adored Will), when the ship had its fateful encounters with the mad Reman Praetor, Shinzon.

Soon after the Betazed ceremony, Will and Deanna transferred to the Titan. 

Voyager
Q called Commander Riker to Voyager as a witness in a attempt to get Quinn re-incarcerated into a comet to keep him from killing himself. Riker protested Q's interference in his affairs, but Q said that if it was not for Quinn, who had saved the life of Thaddius Riker at Pine Mountain, he would not have Commander Riker around to provoke and insult at all. Q also mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that Riker's role in defeating the Borg five years earlier was so significant that, had he not been alive, the Federation would have fallen to the invaders. 

Captain Riker
Captain William T. Riker took command of the USS Titan (NCC-80102) on Stardate 56941.1, in the closing days of the year 2379. After more than four offers by Starfleet Command, it was a "take-it-or-leave-it" decision. Deanna was assigned as ship's Head Counselor and Diplomatic Officer. In hindsight of this, one could point out Riker's career choice may have also been borne out of sheer nostalgia, having co-piloted, six years earlier, a Titan-class rocket, in Earth's past. His love for 20th century Earth Blues and its varieties, compelled him to have all issued shuttles christened with names of musicians from the era. One, in particular, the Armstrong; was mistaken for Neil the astronaut, rather than Louis ("Satchmo").

The Titan's primary mission was to be one of scientific inquiry and exploration in the uncharted region known as the Gum Nebula. But, before the ship and crew could begin that mission, Admirals William Ross and Leonard James Akaar ordered a slight detour.

Titan was sent to Romulus as head of a small diplomatic and humanitarian convoy in response to Praetor Tal'Aura's request to begin a dialogue between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire.

While in Romulan space, Riker and Titan managed to rescue Commander Tuvok, formerly of the Starship Voyager, who had been sent to Romulus to recall the legendary Ambassador Spock back to Federation space. Instead, Tuvok found himself taken captive by a Romulan faction during the chaos following Shinzon's murder of the Romulan Senate.

Riker and Spock managed to negotiate an agreement between the Romulans, the Remans, and the Klingons that did much to stabilize the region.

Before leaving Romulan space, Riker assisted Romulan Commander Donatra in searching for a missing fleet of Romulan ships that vanished near the anomaly created by the destruction of Shinzon's thalaron weapon, which the Romulans called The Great Bloom. The Remans and others called it Shinzon's Folly. The bloom turned out to be an interspacial portal of some kind that deposited Titan and Donatra's ship, the Valdore into the mini-galaxy known as the Smaller Magellanic Cloud, home to the sundered branch of Earth humanity known as the Neyel. 

While in SMC space, the Titan evacuated as many Neyel and other species as they could from the destruction caused by the growth of a Proto-Universe (which was called the Sleeper by the natives of the SMC, and dubbed the Red King by the crew of the Titan), back to the Milky Way Galaxy. The fate of those left behind in the SMC is uncertain.

After returning from SMC space, Riker chose the Vulcan phrase Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations for the ship's Dedication Plaque, in tribute to Titans crew, which was one of the most species diverse in Starfleet history. One of his other choices was a verse sung by Jazz legend Theressa Brewer. (It don't mean a thing/ If it ain't got that swing)

Titan finally began her primary exploratory mission of exploration in the Gum Nebula in late February of 2380, on stardate 57137.8.

In Riker's first mission, he brokered an agreement between a race of galactic hunters called the Pa'haquel (who believed that they were protecting the galactic ecology by hunting down and killing hostile Cosmozoan species), and the intelligent Star-jellies (who objected to be hunted and their corpses defiled), whom Riker and Troi first encountered at Deneb IV, on their first mission on the Enterprise-D.

The Gum Nebula apparently served as a breeding ground for cosmozoan species such as the Star-Jellies, the Crystalline Entities or Branchers, a living Solar System called the Proplydian, and many others. 

The Titan continued on her mission of exploration in the Gum Nebula.

Sometime in mid-2380, Will and Deanna attempted to conceive a child through natural means. Although she required hormonal treatments to improve fertility which had the side effect of weakening her psionic defenses, Deanna eventually became pregnant with child. However, the fetus was miscarried. With miscarriage not an uncommon occurrence, the medical professionals on the Titan did not consider any further testing after removing the fetus.

In 2381, the couple was able to again conceive a child. Again, the pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. Doctor Ree diagnosed severe genetic abnormalities in the fetus, which they had not previously considered testing for. Although the growing child was likely to rupture her uterine lining, Troi refused to allow Dr Ree to remove the fetus, a reaction that Riker supported despite his personal misgivings. The second miscarriage spun the couple into a dark depression; Riker knew that Deanna would refuse to speak rationally with him if he went to speak with her, and he wouldn't remove her from duty. William felt as though he had lost all hopes for children with Deanna when Dr Ree delivered his prognosis. Despite her condition, he allowed Deanna Troi to join an away mission to the planet later revealed to be New Erigol, the home of the reclusive Caeliar. 

Once on the surface, Troi and the rest of the away team became invited permanent guests of the Caeliar, and a similar message was delivered to Captain Riker and the Titan. The tension and grief between the two had all but prevented communications between them, and Riker found the loss of his trusted officers Deanna, Vale, and Tuvok to be yet another personal blow. Riker attempted to rescue the away team with a strike force, but a feedback in their systems halted the effort; rather than allow his crew to be discouraged, Riker made an announcement that they had made progress in learning more of the Caeliar capabilities and were finding the next attempt. Eventually, the Titan was able to tap into the soliton pulses used to maintain their subspace tunnels; former Earth Starfleet Captain Erika Hernandez became aware of this, and offered to take the Titan to the Azure Nebula if they left immediately. Although Riker was hesitant to leave behind his wife and away team, he agreed with Erika's plan and they departed New Erigol. 

Also in 2381 Will and Deanna have their first child, named Natasha Miana Riker-Troi. 

25th Century
At some point in this century, Will was an admiral with three grandchildren. 

Alternate universes
A different, temporal version of William T. Riker was the last person Picard saw alive, as his shuttlecraft departed Enterprise-D. Minutes before the ship was destroyed by a vortex, in 2365. 

In one alternate universe, Riker dies in 2366 on the bridge of Enterprise-D, while manning a terminal that explodes from heavy Klingon fire. He is fatally wounded helping to buy time for the underpowered Enterprise-C re-entering a rift anomally. Back to its proper space/time: 22 years in the past, at the Narendra system. 

In another continuity of the same alternate universe, called "Track A", Riker was captured and tortured in a joint Romulan-Cardassian experiment into pain shortly after his marriage to Deanna Troi, unaware that he had conceived a son with her. In this universe, Riker was eventually rescued by Worf, a paranoid Klingon rogue, who then returns him to the Federation. After Trelane merged this universe with two others, Riker was forced to kill his counterpart from the "Track C" reality, who had become increasingly unbalanced due to the disruptions to reality caused by Trelane. This act was done in protecting his son and Deanna Riker, whom he was finally able to recognize and re-associate into his tortured memory. Following this experience, Commander Jean-Luc Picard- promoted to Captain after the suicide of Captain Jack Crusher- suggested that Riker serve as his first officer, as he was of the appropriate rank and they were each two equally damaged officers who might be just what the other needed. 

Riker, captain of Enterprise-D from a universe where the Battle of Wolf 359 was lost, was killed in 2370. He was prevented from continuing fire at all Enterprises cooperating in restoring each starship to its proper dimension, with his ship being destroyed when it was hit with a single phaser blast due to the scale of the damage it had sustained.