Wesley Crusher
 Ensign Wesley Crusher |
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| Species | Human |
|---|---|
| Home planet | Earth |
| Affiliation | United Federation of Planets Starfleet |
| Posting | USS Enterprise-D civilian, helmsman Starfleet Academy cadet (resigns) USS Titan assistant chief of engineering |
| Rank | Acting ensign Ensign (resigns to attend Academy) Cadet (resigns) Lieutenant junior grade (Star Trek Nemesis) Lieutenant Commander (Star Trek: The Experience) |
| Portrayed by | Wil Wheaton |
Wesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in Star Trek Nemesis. His father is Jack Crusher.
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[edit] Overview
In the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the character of Wesley Crusher first arrived on the Enterprise-D with his mother, soon after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command. Captain Picard was annoyed by Crusher at first, as Picard is uncomfortable around all children, but he comes to realize that Crusher understands many things beyond his age and has inherited his mother's high intelligence.
An alien, known as The Traveler expressed to Captain Picard (who was told not to tell Dr. Crusher) that Wesley had a unique intelligence and great potential if provided encouragement and opportunity, comparing him to a child prodigy like Mozart. Picard soon appointed Crusher to an acting ensign.
In early episodes of the series, Picard did not allow Crusher on the bridge of the ship. Crusher eventually took the entrance exam for Starfleet Academy. His test score ranked lower than required, and he was not accepted into the Academy in his first attempt. ("Coming of Age"). Later, he missed his second chance to take the Academy entrance exam in order to assist the Enterprise-D crew in rescuing William Riker, Deanna Troi, and Lwaxana Troi from hostile Ferengi. Picard soon granted him a field promotion to full ensign ("Ménage à Troi").
Crusher was invited to reapply the following year, took the exam, and was accepted into the Academy where he joined an elite group of cadets known as Nova Squadron. His involvement with this group led to his losing academic credits ("The First Duty"), when a squadron-mate was killed attempting a dangerous and prohibited flight maneuver and, under pressure from the team leader Nick Locarno, Crusher abetted the squadron's efforts to cover up the truth. Although the crew's intervention and Crusher's own testimony saved him from expulsion, all of Cadet Crusher's academic credits for the year were canceled and he was required to repeat the year and graduate after most of the rest of his class. He remained in the Academy thereafter until the Traveler re-contacted him, whereupon he resigned his commission and went with the Traveler to explore other planes of reality ("Journey's End").
He subsequently appears in the non-canon A Time To... novel series, visiting his mother.
He is also seen sitting next to his mother in the background of the wedding scenes in Star Trek Nemesis. He is being transferred to Riker's new ship, The Titan.
[edit] Reception
Many fans, including Wil Wheaton himself,[1] considered the character to be a Mary Sue and a stand-in for Gene Roddenberry, whose middle name was "Wesley". On TV Tropes, "The Wesley",[2] a trope describing a character who is liked by the creators but disliked by audiences, is named after him.[3]
Some fans disliked the idea of a young boy who seems to constantly save the whole ship. Commentators have observed at least seven times in which Wesley, "who has trouble getting into the Starfleet Academy" and is on a ship "filled with Starfleet's best and brightest crew members", has come up "with the needed solution".[4][5]
For these reasons, he is sometimes referred to as a "Canon Sue."
[edit] References
- ^ Wil Wheaton. "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Code of Honor". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/04/28/star-trek-the-next-generation-code-of-honor/. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
- ^ "The Wesley - Television Tropes & Idioms". Tvtropes.org. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWesley. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ Pat Pflieger (2001). Too good to be true: 150 years of mary sue. 3. Presented at the American Culture Association conference. http://www.merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.HTM. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
- ^ Phil Farrand, "Updated Conundrum Tote Board" The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers, Vol. 2 New York: Dell (1995): 319
- ^ Gillmor, Dan. We the media. p. 78. ISBN 0596007337.
[edit] External links
- Wesley Crusher at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
- Wesley Crusher biography at StarTrek.com
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