TWITrek Character Insight No. 5: Commander Charles Tucker III

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, our subject is Commander Charles Tucker III from Enterprise.



Tucker, who was also known as "Trip" thanks to having the same name as his father and grandfather, served as the Chief Engineer on the Enterprise after Vulcan Subcommander T'Pol became the First Officer under Captain Archer.

Tucker was always striving to learn more about engine technologies, and his contributions helped ensure that the first Warp 2 prototype vessels were successful.  Archer also played a significant role in this success, leading to the lifelong friendship that makes the Captain and his Chief Engineer the closest friends on the Enterprise series.

Although Tucker was devastated by his sister's death in the war against the Xindi, he pushed past his sleepless nights to be a key element in disrupting and destroying the superweapon of the Sphere Builders to save Earth.


Tucker is a true southerner, loving his pan-fried catfish and hushpuppies with Pecan Pie for dessert. Tucker also loves cinema and he keeps a Frankenstein figurine in his quarters to represent his favorite movies.



Tucker also holds a unique role as being the only regular cast member of any Star Trek series to actually die in a series finale.  Also, Tucker joins other "closest comrades" in Spock and Data, who also sacrificed themselves for their captains.

One Notable Quote comes from Desert Crossing in season 1 (episode 24):  
Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III: The desert, sir? The heat, the dry air? You know how it sucks the life outta me.
Captain Jonathan Archer: What about the two weeks we spent in Australia? We had a great time.
Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III: Survival training in the outback? Drinkin' recycled sweat and eatin' snake meat? That's your idea of a great time?

Best Episodes Featuring Tucker:
Shuttlepod One, season 1 episode 15
Extinction, season 3 episode 3
These Are The Voyages..., season 4 episode 22

Actor: Connor Trinneer played Tucker and appears to have no current extended roles in progress.  Trinneer did play on Stargate Atlantis for 10 episodes over two years.