Mackenzie Calhoun
Mackenzie Calhoun | |
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Captain |
Mackenzie Calhoun (born M'k'n'zy of Calhoun) is a fictional character from the
Calhoun appears primarily in
Calhoun is the only Star Trek character that has not appeared in any of the Star Trek
Publication history
In 1997 Pocket Books introduced Star Trek: New Frontier, a novel series written by Peter David that featured a combination of original characters and recurring, supporting characters from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its spinoffs. The series is centered upon the U.S.S. Excalibur, a starship of the United Federation of Planets, which is commanded by the series' star, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun. The series was a popular success,[1] and led to New Frontier comic books and appearances in Star Trek video games and action figures.
Fictional character history
Calhoun is born M'k'n'zy of Calhoun on the planet
Calhoun encounters
As a Starfleet officer, Calhoun served aboard the USS Grissom,
Calhoun makes an appearance in the 2007
Calhoun's older brother, D’ndai, dies during an alien invasion of his homeworld, Xenex, in the 2011 novel Blind Man's Bluff.[7]
Personality and appearance
Calhoun is depicted as intelligent, cunning, canny,[8] resourceful and sneaky.[9] His success as a tactician is due in part to his ability to sense imminent danger, and anticipate his enemies' moves.[10][11] As a young rebel, he trained himself to control his respiration, heartbeat and pulse in order to make himself a more efficient killer, though Peter David has explicitly made it unclear whether this ability is common to Xenexians or unique to Calhoun.[12]
Like all Xenexians, Calhoun resembles a human almost entirely, with the exception of his purple eyes. His skin has a leathery, burnished texture, the years of hardship he endured early in life having given him a weathered look, with several deep creases already lining his forehead by the time he was 19. Calhoun has a scar down the right side of his face from his right temple down across his cheek, left by the wound Falkar inflicted on him with his short sword in 2353.[18] He is a head shorter than his older brother, D'ndai.[19] The renditions of Calhoun on the New Frontier novel covers, and in the comic book Double Time, consistently depict him as resembling a Caucasian human male with dark brown hair, though it appears as black in Turnaround.
The Mirror Universe Mac, who first appears in "Cutting Ties", a story in the 2007 anthology Star Trek Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances, is described as having black hair,[20] and appears thus in Turnaround. Whereas our universe's Calhoun has a scar down the right side of his face, the mirror Calhoun has one down the left side of his.[21] Mac spent a year on Romulus educating himself in areas such as philosophy, war strategy, and chess. He learned to defend himself during his many years in the Reman mines.[20]
Influences
Fans have noted the similarity between Calhoun and another of Peter David's Star Trek characters, Commander Quintin Stone from David's 1991 TNG novel, A Rock and a Hard Place.[22] David has explained that Calhoun was not intentionally a remodeled Stone, but that both were based to some extent by characters portrayed by film actor Mel Gibson: the apparently unstable "cowboy diplomat" Stone was based on Martin Riggs from the Lethal Weapon films, and Calhoun, who was a rebel leader at 20, was inspired by the Scottish rebel leader William Wallace from Braveheart. David has added that Calhoun is closer to the historical Wallace, in that like Calhoun, Wallace was much younger than the real-life Gibson was when he portrayed Wallace in the movie.[23]
In addition, Calhoun, who is depicted as something of a cowboy, has been compared by other characters in the stories to
In other media
Playmates Toys produced a limited edition Captain Calhoun 4.5 inch action figure which was available only via mail order through the Star Trek Communicator fan club magazine, and began shipping in September 1998. Approximately 10,000 of these figures were produced.[25]
In September 2005, Calhoun made a
In the online game Star Trek Online, Calhoun is a Starfleet mission contact based on Starbase K-7. He issues PvP missions to Federation players so they can fight other STO players playing the Klingon faction.[27]
References
- ^ "Star Trek – The Reading List". Lincoln, Nebraska: City of Lincoln, Nebraska Libraries. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Peter David. Star Trek: New Frontier: House of Cards; 1997
- ^ a b c d Peter David. Star Trek New Frontier: The Captain's Table, Book 5: Once Burned
- ^ Peter David. Star Trek: New Frontier: Martyr
- ^ Peter David. Star Trek: New Frontier: Stone and Anvil
- ^ Peter David. Star Trek: New Frontier: Into the Void
- ISBN 978-1-4516-1169-4.
- ^ David. House of Cards, page 7
- ^ David, Peter (1997). Star Trek: New Frontier: Into the Void. p. 17.
- ^ House of Cards page 12
- ^ David, Peter (2011). Star Trek: New Frontier: Blind Man's Bluff. Pocket Books. p. 2
- ^ Blind Man's Bluff, pp. 2 and 81
- ^ House of Cards p. 139
- ^ House of Cards p. 140
- ^ House of Cards page 154
- ^ David. House of Cards pp. 155-156
- ^ David. Into the Void, p. 36
- ^ David. House of Cards p. 24
- ^ David. House of Cards p. 36
- ^ a b Peter David. 2007; Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Obsidian Alliances; "Cutting Ties"; Page 199
- ^ Peter David (April 2008). Star Trek: New Frontier: Turnaround #4 IDW Publishing. p. 22.
- ^ David, Peter (June 20, 2006). Peter David. "What'cha wanna know?". peterdavid.net. June 20, 6:25pm post.
- ^ David, Peter (October 21, 2003). Peter David."WHAT'CHA WANNA KNOW?" peterdavid.net. October 21, 2:06am post.
- ^ David, Peter (November 26, 2003). "WHAT'CHA WANNA KNOW?" peterdavid.net. November 26, 11:43am post.
- ^ Advertisement printed on the inside back cover of multiple Star Trek novels published in 1998 and 1999.
- ^ Peter David. "Q&A"; April 14, 2007 entry on Peter David's blog; April 16, 2007 12:42am post.
- ^ "Star Trek: Online Preview", Strategy Core, February 1, 2010
External links
- Star Trek: New Frontier: House of Cards at Amazon.com