Gene Roddenberry's 'Official' Response To A Star Trek Continuity Error Over Kirk's Middle Name

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Many Trekkies know this piece of trivia: In the 1966 "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Captain Kirk (William Shatner) finds himself grappling with Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) in fisticuffs. Mitchell, one of the strongest villains in the "Star Trek" franchise, has only just absorbed some kind of ineffable cosmic power, granting him godlike abilities. Deciding that this makes him a superior life form, Mitchell threatens Kirk directly, mocking the captain's newfound powerlessness. He even magically manifests an open grave, complete with a tombstone, that he intends to put Kirk in.

Infamously, the tombstone reads "JAMES R. KIRK." As anyone can tell you, though, Kirk's actual middle initial is T.

Indeed, after "Where No Man Has Gone Before" aired, Captain Kirk would introduce himself as "James T. Kirk" exclusively. The "James R." debacle was more or less ignored. Later, in a 1974 episode of the under-appreciated spin-off "Star Trek: The Animated Series" titled "Bem," Kirk officially announced that his middle name is Tiberius. This is now a well-established facet of "Star Trek" canon. The name "Tiberius" was even mentioned in J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" feature film. How could Gary Mitchell, infused with the powers of a god, have made such an elementary mistake?

In the introduction for the 1991 script book "Star Trek: The Classic Episodes, Vol. 1," the "Star Trek" writer D.C. Fontana recalled addressing the "James R. Kirk" debacle with the franchise's creator Gene Roddenberry, who had come up with an answer to offer any fans who pressed him for one at "Star Trek" conventions. Roddenberry, as related by Fontana, put it very plainly:

"Gary Mitchell had godlike powers, but at base he was human. He made a mistake."

This response was meant as a patch-up to what is, of course, a tiny continuity gaffe. When teleplay writer Samuel A. Peeples penned "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Kirk's middle name may not have been established yet, allowing him to insert whatever middle initial he wanted. Or maybe Roddenberry had indeed dictated that Kirk's middle initial was "R," only to change his mind later. Because Trekkies have always been sticklers for continuity, however, this kind of error stands out, and picky fans will demand explanations from writers. 

Roddenberry began attending "Star Trek" conventions in the early 1970s (when "Star Trek" conventions were still a recent phenomenon), at which point he began interacting with Trekkies for the first time. He likely encountered many people who had seen each episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" multiple times in reruns and was being confronted with continuity errors in earnest. Clearly, Roddenberry had been confronted enough times about certain "Star Trek" errors that he decided to formulate stock answers as a way of stemming any nitpicking. So, if anyone ever held his feet to the fire about "James R. Kirk," he could just point out that Gary Mitchell, although near-omnipotent, still possessed a very human mind. After all, viewers don't know if Gary Mitchell had read Kirk's personnel file. He could have very well made a simple mistake. 

And now that we all know Roddenberry's officially sanctioned response, we can all stop obsessing over the mistake. Instead, we can focus on other mistakes. Like when Spock (Leonard Nimoy) called himself "Vulcanian" rather than Vulcan.