Born: San Francisco, Planet Earth, 2237
Joined the crew of the Enterprise was as a physicist, but he later transferred to the helm.
Promoted to Captain and given command of the Starship Excelsior in 2290.
First mission as commander of Excelsior was a three year mission to catalog gaseous
planetary anomalies in the Beta Quadrant.
Hobbies included botany, fencing and old style hand guns.
Starfleet Captain, swashbuckler, botanist, astrophysicist, adventurer, father.
Serial Number: SH203-622 Starfleet Command
Born: San Francisco, California, Earth, 3 July 2237
Father: Liholiho Sulu
Mother: Kalea Graef Hatoyama
Siblings: Kamehameha Fujiwara Sulu; Liliuokalani Dani Sulu
Marital Status: (presumed unmarried; read Peter David's "The Captain's Daughter")
Children: Demora Sulu, Ensign, assignment U.S.S. Enterprise
(NCC-1701-B); Helmsman.
Education: Non-standard: Mother is a consulting agronomist and the
family traveled extensively at or near the frontier of human space, so Sulu received a varied
education, mostly through his father, a poet. However, subject completed a year of primary school
and two years of secondary school on Ganjitsu (collog.: Shinpai); Starfleet Academy Class 102.
Much of the above is borrowed from "Star Trek II Biographies" (ISBN #0-671-46391-8) by William Rotsler.
Wanderer Books; published by Simon and Schuster (New York). 1982. Some information has been modified to
correspond to facts given in the various Trek movies.
Additionally, a specific history of the animated Star Trek voyages
(TAS) involving then-Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu is available at the
fantastic World Wide Web site of Curt Danhauser's Guide to the
Animated Star Trek.
According to The Star Trek Encylopedia (ISBN #0-671-86905-1)...
Sulu, Hiraku (George Takei)
Helm officer aboard the original Starship Enterprise under the
command of Captain James Kirk. Sulu, born in 2237 in San
Francisco on Earth (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), was
initially assigned as a physicist ("Where No Man Has Gone
Before" [TOS]) aboard the Enterprise in 2265 ("The Deadly
Years" [TOS]), but later transferred to the helm. ("The Corbomite
Maneuver" [TOS]).
Sulu assumed command of the Starship Excelsior in 2290, and
subsequently conducted a three-year scientific mission of
cataloging gaseous planetary anomalies in the Beta Quadrant. Sulu
and the Excelsior played a pivotal role in the historic Khitomer
peace conferance against of 2293 by helping to protect the
conference against Federation and Klignon forces seeking to
disrupt the peace process. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country). Sulu had a wide range of hobbies, including botany
("The Mantrap" [TOS]) and fencing. The latter surfaced when Sulu
suffered the effects of the PSI 2000 virus in 2366, and Sulu threatened everyone in sight with a foil.
("The Naked Time" [TOS]). Old-style hand guns were another of Sulu's hobbies, and he had
always wanted a Police Special in his collection. ("Shore Leave" [TOS]).
Here are the author's notes that follow the entry:
Sulu's first appearance was in "Where No Man Had Gone Before," but by "The Corbomite
Maneuver" he had assumed his familiar post at the helm. A scene that was filmed for Star Trek II:
The Wrath of Khan would have shown that Sulu was about to assume command of the Excelsior
at that time. This scene was cut because the movie was to long. A scene for Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home in the final draft of the script but not filmed would have had Sulu meeting a young
boy in San Francisco who was Sulu's great-great-grandfather. Sulu's first name, Hikaru, was not
authorized by Gene Roddenberry in 1979, but was not used on film until Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country.
Editor's Note: According to Takei's autobiography, "To The Stars," the scenes with Kirk (Shatner)
and Sulu (Takei) in Star Trek II (concerning Sulu's promotion to Captain) were weak due to
Shatner's acting and attitude in the scene. Subsequently, they were not used. For the Star Trek IV
scene with his great-great-grandfather (a young boy at the time), the child actor did not cooperate
for the scenes. Due to the shooting schedule, Director Leonard Nimoy chose not to reshoot or find
a replacement. Mr. Takei goes into depth about both examples in his book.
