- This page details Nyota Uhura in the primary universe; for the Nyota Uhura in the mirror universe see Nyota Uhura (mirror); for the Nyota Uhura in the alternate reality created by Nero's temporal incursion see Nyota Uhura (alternate reality); for the Nyota Uhura in all other alternate universes see Nyota Uhura (alternates).
| Nyota Uhura | |
 Nyota Uhura in 2293 | |
| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | Female |
| Homeworld: | Earth |
| Birthplace: | United States of Africa, Earth |
| Born: | 2239 |
| Affiliation: | Federation, Starfleet |
| Family | |
| Mother: | M'Umbha Uhura |
| Father: | Alhamisi Uhura aka Dama Pua |
| Sibling(s): | Malcolm Marien Uhura, Uaekundu Uhura |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Career | |
| Previous Assignment: | CO, USS Hermes |
| Assignment: | Starfleet Intelligence |
| Rank: | Admiral |
| Insignia: |  
|
- "And Uhura, whose name means freedom. She walks in beauty, like the night."
- — Ambassador Kollos, 2268
Nyota Uhura was a female Human best known as an influential officer in the Federation Starfleet in the 23rd and 24th centuries. Uhura was one of only a small group of servicemen who served under the command of Captain James T. Kirk continuously from his ascent to the captaincy of the USS Enterprise until the end of her 23rd century career, decades later. Uhura was the lover of Robert James Halliwell in 2287 and in 2293 and in 2306.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Nyota Uhura was born in the year 2239 in the United States of Africa on Earth.
The daughter of Alhamisi and M'Umbha Uhura, she was born in Kitui Province, Kenya. Her family's name is derived from the Swahili word Uhuru, which translates to "freedom", and her given name means "star".
Some translations have "uhura" translating into "truth".
As a child, Uhura lived with her parents in the coastal city of Mombasa where she was enrolled in several after-school classes, such as music and dance, swimming, gymnastics and languages. Once a year just after her birthday in January, she stayed for a month in the country with her grandparents and cousins.
At some time in her childhood, Uhura attended Public School 29 in Nairobi, where her teacher was Ms. Yemada.
In the summer of 2249, at the age of 10, Uhura learned sign language from her deaf cousin, Epala, while visiting her in Koyo.
Also in 2249, Uhura was a student at the Institute for Advanced Mathematics, where her roommate was a girl named T'iana. There was a fire in their dorm room and T'iana was trapped under a fallen beam, and Uhura was lit ablaze. Uhura was unable to save T'iana before succumbing to the effects of the heat and fire. For years after, Uhura would have dreams about T'iana's death and Uhura's subsequent rescue by adults. The fear recurred most vividly in 2269 when Uhura was part of the Enterprise crew facing a deadly heat effect that began in the Beta Castelli star system.
In 2255, just after her 16th birthday, Uhura traditionally killed an automated lion with a spear in East Africa.
Shortly before Uhura entered the Academy, her father, Alhamisi, disappeared while on a deep space mission.
Starfleet Academy[]
Uhura entered Starfleet Academy in 2257, and studied at the Starfleet College of Communications. There, she learned spatial navigation, Duotronics, and cryptography skills under Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Finney.
Uhura's time as a cadet crossed over with the Academy career of James T. Kirk. When the Academy campus was locked down with an accusation of misconduct by Captain Matthew Decker, Uhura agreed to break curfew with Kirk and a group of other cadets to investigate the problem. They discovered that Decker's accusation was false, and had been planted in the computer as a test to see how the cadets would perform under pressure. Decker later congratulated the class for working together to prove their innocence, without fighting amongst themselves.
Cadet Uhura's roommate at the Academy was an Orion girl. The Orion girl's attitude did not impress Uhura, who later said the Orion was "full of it". Uhura remembered this quality of Orion women when she was involved in a fight with the Orion Imperial Elite in an alternate reality.
Uhura's dear friend Trent Ojuremi failed to enter the Academy, and Uhura lost contact with him by her second year. However, she subconsciously retained her strong affections for him, which in 2266 were sensed by the M-113 creature. It thus took on a telepathic form of him and communicated in Swahili, telling her that it could feel her missing his presence.
In 2259, Uhura won the Jovian Triathlon.
Starfleet career[]
First post[]
Uhura's first command was at a location called Two Dawns. Here she met a Junior Diplomat from Eeiauo named Sunfall of Ennien.
Aboard the Ahriman and Potemkin[]
Uhura graduated from the Academy in 2261 and was assigned to the Saladin class destroyer, USS Ahriman, as junior communications officer. While on a mission to Wynet V later that year, the Ahrimans commanding officer was killed. Shortly after, Uhura was promoted to lieutenant junior grade.
Shortly after, Lieutenant Uhura transferred to the Constitution class starship USS Potemkin as junior communications officer.
Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701)[]
Uhura transferred aboard the USS Enterprise in 2262 as chief communications officer, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. Like the rest of the Enterprise crew at that time, she developed fierce loyalty for Captain Pike. So, when James T. Kirk assumed command in 2264, she was unsure about the young captain. A skilled singer, she sometimes performed music and improv with Lieutenant j.g. Spock (a skilled lyre player) on the crew rec deck. Six years later, in 2270, Lieutenant Arex, a harpist, joined. One of Uhura's favorite songs was "The Moon's a Window to Heaven".
Nevertheless, Uhura's first conversation with Kirk saw him praise her father and express regret over his loss, thus earning Kirk Uhura's respect.
Following the three-month voyage around the Federation Phalanx in 2264, Uhura was temporarily re-assigned, leaving Lieutenant Commander Daniel Alden to assume her former post. She returned to the Enterprise in 2265 when Alden transferred off the ship. This period just before the exchange of duties saw her relationship with Kabaka Buganda.
In her first assignment back aboard the Enterprise, Uhura commandeered a shuttlecraft so that she could rescue Captain Kirk and a landing party from a group of Klingons that had captured them. It was around this occasion her department colors switched from gold to red.
Shortly after the Enterprise's first encounter with Harcourt Fenton Mudd, Uhura went to Captain Kirk and requested to be reassigned from the command division to the engineering and services division. Kirk was not happy with this decision and grilled her about throwing away her command abilities and leadership potential, however, despite his disappointment, he approved her transfer.
Later that year, following the Romulan attack on the Neutral Zone outposts, she was promoted to full Lieutenant, after she deciphered the Romulan micropulse code.
The start of 2267 marked Uhura's stint on Enterprise with being complimented as a Nubian (of ancient Egypt) by the Q called Trelane. Weeks afterwards, she was temporarily re-assigned to the USS Lexington, under the command of Commodore Robert Wesley, to aid with communications with an alien race from the Gamma Xaridian system.
Later on in 2267, Uhura was reunited with Trent Ojuremi on the planet Merope IV, when the Enterprise transported survivors from the Stephen Hawking to the planet. Towards the end of this year, Uhura's memory was erased, by the Nomad/Tan-Ru probe. A natural fast learner, she was re-educated from her mother-tongue of Bantu Swahili back to English.
In 2268, Uhura was instrumental in finding a cure for the ADF syndrome that had struck the planet Eeiauo. Remembering songs that she and an Eeiauoan friend sang at the Academy, she directed the Enterprise to the planet Sivao, which was the long-forgotten homeworld of the Eeiauoans.
The culmination of her trust and respect for Kirk over the past half decade surfaced when she admitted to him how the sound of his voice calmed her in times of shipboard crisis.? Though it was never made public, the two may have shared a relationship on the border between professional and intimate. An example of this is when Kirk was quick to defend her, while she was assaulted by a thrall on Triskelion. One of her lesser-known (and quite embarrassing) moments was her inadvertently seeing Kirk's "birthday suit". This happened, of course, while she made a special errand to Kirk's quarters on March 22nd.
Uhura finally got a shot at command in 2269. After all of the male Enterprise crewmembers were lured down to Taurus II by the enchanting women on the planet, Uhura was forced to assume command.
Return to Earth and the second five year mission[]
When the Enterprise returned to Earth in 2270, following the completion of the five-year mission, Uhura took a post at Starfleet Academy teaching special communications.
In 2273, Uhura was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and re-assigned to the newly-refitted Enterprise as chief communications officer. She also used an updated version of linguacode, first ciphered by Hoshi Sato, in the 22nd century.
By late 2285, Uhura received much criticism for choosing a posting at Earth spacedock's transporter room and communication ops. Her eager assistant, Mr. "Adventure" was one to question her choice. For which, she appealed to more "peace and quiet". After the recent events of the Genesis affair. This may have been her first calling to covert operations-as this was all a stage to grant Admiral Kirk's party safe passage back to the de-commissioned Enterprise. She later made rendezvous with them on Vulcan, having used the transporter system to travel to the Vulcan Embassy on Earth. Having the behest of Ambassador Sarek, they were all granted clemency and asylum from Starfleet jurisdiction for rescuing his son Spock from a non-sanctioned Klingon incursion to the Genesis planet. A galactic controversy, of its time.
Assignment to the Excelsior[]
Following the destruction of the Enterprise in 2285, Captain Kirk and the command staff are reassigned to the USS Excelsior, Uhura joins them and is assigned as Chief Communications Officer.
Shortly after, Uhura accompanies Sulu and Lt. William Bearclaw to investigate the smuggling of dilithium crystals. The party discovered that the smugglers were also slavers, and managed to engineer the smugglers capture.
Assignment to the Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)[]
Following the Cetacean Probe crisis on 2286, Commander Uhura was assigned to the newly-launched USS Enterprise-A.
Nyota Uhura in 2287
Later that year, Uhura joined with the renegade Vulcan Sybok, when he took over the Enterprise and used the ship to penetrate the Great Barrier, to find the legendary planet Sha Ka Ree. It was at this time she confessed her affections toward Montgomery Scott, while the two were alone. Even though her emotions were uninhibited on this occasion, he kept composed and decided to maintain a Platonic relationship. Scott, however, had told her she was one of the most understanding women (besides Enterprise) he had known.
Mission to the Quatrin system[]
In 2287, while on shore leave in the Quatrain system, Uhura and Sulu witnessed a multiple murder. Fortunately, one of the victims survived and was beamed aboard the Enterprise for treatment. The Quatrain security agency began to investigate the murders and insisted that Uhura and Sulu appear before a board of inquiry to give evidence.
Meanwhile, the Quatrain security director learned that the survivor identified one of his men as the murderer to Captain Kirk, and ordered his second-in-command to kill Uhura and Sulu before they could beam back to the Enterprise. Sulu managed to stop the killer, but was wounded in the attempt, and Uhura managed to steal a shuttlecraft and headed to the nearby ice planet, Beta, with Sulu.
After arriving on Beta, Uhura headed off to find medical help for Sulu, and encountered a group of Betan rebels who lent assistance and treated Sulu, in exchange for Uhura's help with their communications equipment. At the Betan encampment, Uhura was captured by the security forces, but managed to get a message to the Enterprise and Commander Chekov and a security team rescued her.
After the Enterprise[]
Following the Praxis incident in 2293, Uhura once again began teaching at Starfleet Academy. A few months later Uhura joined Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy on a diplomatic mission to Qo'noS to improve relations, and began working with Klingon musicians and singers to exchange musical ideas and theories.
Also in 2293, Uhura left Starfleet and became the Senior Vice President in charge of Procurement and Delivery for Inter-Galactic Systems. She was happily stationed somewhere between Earth and Mars when James T. Kirk enlisted her to help save Hikaru Sulu. She had no future intention of re-joining Starfleet. She even went so far as to state that the only reason she joined the rescue party was out of loyalty to James T. Kirk.
In 2294, Captain Spock assumed command of the Oberth class USS Intrepid, and Commander Uhura came aboard as first officer, for the ship's shakedown cruise. Following the diversion to the planet Obsidian, Spock resigned his Starfleet commission, and Uhura was promoted to captain and given command of the Intrepid II.
At some point afterwards that year, Uhura tracked down her former crewmate, Montgomery Scott, and asked him gently to move on with life and quit blaming himself following the loss of Captain Kirk, and expressed her condolences and her regret at being unable to make it to the memorial.
Captain Uhura in the 2300s.
By the 2300s, Captain Uhura was in command of the USS Hermes, and in 2310, the Hermes took aboard Doctors Gillian Taylor and Carol Marcus, who planned to test an experimental Genesis Device on the planet Pacifica. However, Marcus and Taylor encountered intelligent life in Pacifica's ocean and the plan was abandoned. As of 2301 Uhura and Robert were not lovers because he got married. By 2306 Uhura became the lover of Robert James Halliwell again after his wife divorced him.
Starfleet Intelligence[]
Uhura was first approached by operatives of Starfleet Intelligence on Khitomer following the attempted assassination of Federation President Ra-ghoratreii in 2293. They offered her a spot in S.I., which Uhura accepted.
For the rest of her Starship career, even when she commanded the Hermes, she was passing on things that she heard on to Starfleet Intelligence. She never spied on Starfleet personnel, only passing on information that she heard on the subspace frequencies.
In the years that followed Uhura gradually made her way up the chain of command at Starfleet Intelligence, eventually making her way to the top of the department. She maintained the rank of captain, in part to retain a low profile, but had security clearances higher than some admirals.
In the year 2343, Captain Uhura traveled to Starbase 47 in the midst of the Betreka Nebula Incident to personally assign operative Elias Vaughn to assess the situation on Raknal IV.
In 2344, Uhura made an unofficial request to Commander Saavik of the USS Armstrong to travel to Romulus and bring back Spock, who had answered a summons sent by a Romulan officer named Charvanek.
In 2360, Admiral Uhura sent a team that included Lieutenants Benjamin Sisko, Selar and Tuvok on a covert mission behind the borders of the Romulan Star Empire to gather intelligence on the virulent disease called the gnawing that had been afflicting the Empire.
Admiral Uhura remained working in Starfleet Intelligence throughout the Dominion War and the Watraii affair of 2377. As of 2377, she is 138 years old.
Personal life[]
In 2360, Uhura lived alone in a house built into a hillside overlooking the Muir Woods in California on Earth.
Friendships and relationships[]
Spock reunited with his shipmates
Throughout their years of serving together, Uhura developed a strong friendship with the other members of the Enterprise senior staff. In 2285, she helped Kirk without hesitation in his quest to find peace for Spock's katra. When the other crew members had recovered Spock's body from the Genesis Planet, Uhura had been waiting for them on Vulcan and witnessed the fal-tor-pan ritual being performed on Spock.
Kimara Cretak[]
Uhura met Kimara Cretak at the Khitomer Conference in 2293 when the Romulan was serving as an aide to Senator Pardek. Although they never met face-to-face again, they kept in touch via specially coded subspace signals.
Scott Heisenberg[]
Lieutenant junior grade Scott Heisenberg was unceremoniously locked in a closet at phaser-point in the Old City Station transporter room by Uhura in 2285. Months later in 2286, Uhura ran into Heisenberg at Starfleet Headquarters where he admitted to her that it wasn't the phaser she'd pointed at him that scared him, but rather the look she gave him after he called her a "space veteran" and remarked that "her career was winding down". Despite this rather rocky start, the two became friends and Heisenberg ended up working for Uhura in Starfleet Intelligence.
James T. Kirk[]
Kirk and Uhura about to kiss
Serving under Kirk for many years, Uhura developed a great respect for him, both as a starship captain and a person. On stardate 5784.2, under the influence of powerful telepaths, Uhura was forced to kiss him.
Spock[]
Spock and Uhura make music together in the recreation room
Near the beginning of her service aboard the Enterprise, Uhura attempted to reach the Human side of Spock.
On stardate 1513.1, she tried to start a conversation with a sardonic Spock and asked him how Vulcan looked when its moon was full. When Spock mentioned to her that Vulcan has no moon, she expressed little surprise at his lack of romanticism. She was also amazed that Spock lacked any curiosity with regard to the identity of a dead officer on planet M-113.
Soon afterward, when Charles Evans was aboard the Enterprise, Uhura and Spock entertained the crew together in the recreation room on stardate 1533.6. With Spock on the Vulcan harp, Uhura sang two versions of the improvised song Oh, On the Starship Enterprise, one about Spock, the second about Evans (which caused Evans to make her temporarily lose her voice).
In the alternate reality, Uhura and Spock became romantically involved.
Montgomery Scott[]
Uhura and Scotty (2287)
In 2287, Uhura began to show some romantic interest in Montgomery Scott. Under the influence of Sybok, however, Uhura became more persuasive. Scotty, nevertheless, politely declined the advance, mindful of her "condition". However, the two are seen sharing a drink together after their mission to Nimbus III, walking closely and smiling at each other, therefore implying that some romantic progression had been made.
Scotty helped Uhura and Chekov look up Klingon phrases in antique books in 2293, while trying to cross the border into Klingon space to rescue their jailed colleagues.
Robert James Halliwell[]
Three weeks after the Nimbus III mission Uhura meet Robert James Halliwell on the Enterprise-A. Uhura began to show some romantic interest in Robert. Uhura took Robert to her quarters and had sex with him. Soon after making love Uhura and Robert became lovers. As of 2301, Uhura and Robert were not lovers because he got married. By 2306, Uhura became the lover of Robert James Halliwell again after his wife divorced him.
Curzon Dax[]
By 2360, Uhura and Curzon Dax were very good friends. In fact, Curzon wanted a little more than just friendship and actively flirted with Uhura, mostly to no avail.
Alternate timelines[]
In an alternate timeline created when Yeoman J. Mia Colt was sent forward in time from 2254 to 2293 after her tricorder scans released the tachyon energy contained in an Argollian artifact known as a Keepsake, Uhura served as the communications officer of the Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike until it was decommissioned. She continued to serve in that position aboard the USS Enterprise-A.
She was killed when Pike activated the Enterprise-A's self-destruct sequence in orbit of Argol II in 2293 after it had been severely damaged by a Klingon bird-of-prey commanded by General Chang and three Klingon battle cruisers. As the Enterprise was destroyed, Colt entered the Well of Tomorrows on Argol II and was returned to 2254, thereby restoring the proper timeline.
In another alternate timeline in which John Frederick Paxton destroyed Starfleet Command and ended the talks for the Coalition of Planets in 2155, Uhura was an agent of Starfleet Intelligence during the 2260s.
In 2264, using the pseuodym "Penda," she was assigned as the beta shift communications officer aboard the UESS Enterprise during its mission to escort Lady T'Pol and Ambassadors Nancy Hedford and Spencer Tarses to Babel so that they could petition for United Earth's admission to the Interstellar Commission.
She was forced to reveal her identity when the Vulcan V'Shar agent Subcommander T'Pring transmitted Babel's security codes to the Enterprise so that they could transport herself and the injured Captain Pike aboard.
When Nero and Ambassador Spock were sent back to the 23rd century, causing what was called the Kelvin timeline after Nero's assault of the USS Kelvin, a photo of Uhura and Spock's crewmates aboard the USS Enterprise-A was among the personal effects bequeathed to the alternate Spock after Ambassador Spock passed away in the year 2263.
Starfleet service record[]
| location | assignment | dates | rank or rate | assignment insignia | rank insignia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starfleet Academy | student officer | 2257-2261 | cadet |  |
| |
| USS Ahriman | junior communications officer | 2261 | ensign | 
| ||
| USS Potemkin | 2262 | lieutenant junior grade | ||||
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | 
| |||||
| chief communications officer | 2262-2270 | lieutenant | ||||
| ||||||
| 2271-2279 | lieutenant commander |  |
 
| |||
| USS Asimov | chief science officer | 2279 |  |
 
| ||
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | chief communications officer | 2279-2285 | ||||
| commander |  
| |||||
| USS Excelsior | 2285-2286 | |||||
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) | 2286-2293 | |||||
| USS Intrepid II | first officer | 2294-2296 | ||||
| commanding officer | 2296 | captain |  
| |||
| USS Hermes | 2300s | |||||
| Starfleet Intelligence | intelligence officer | circa 2340s | ||||
| circa 2360s–2370s | admiral |  |
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