Mackenzie Calhoun
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Mackenzie Calhoun (born M'k'n'zy of Calhoun) is a fictional character from the Star Trek universe. Created by Peter David, Calhoun is an extraterrestrial from the planet Xenex, and is Captain of the Federation starship USS Excalibur. He appears exclusively in Star Trek: New Frontier, a series of spinoff novels and comic books set during the 24th Century era of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which he is the main character. He first appeared in the 1997 New Frontier debut novel, Star Trek: New Frontier: House of Cards. He is the only Star Trek character that has not appeared in any of the Star Trek television series or movies to have an action figure.
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[edit] History
Calhoun was born M'k'n'zy of Calhoun on the planet Xenex. He grew up under the brutal rule of the Danteri, who occupied his world. Having witnessed the execution of his father in a town square at a young age, he grew into a warlord who led his people to repell the Danteri from his world by the time he was twenty. Shortly after doing so, he fathered a child with a woman from his tribe whose husband had died, as she requested as part of the Xenexian culture. Calhoun encountered a young Jean-Luc Picard, who, while Captain of the USS Stargazer, visited Xenex as a representative of the United Federation of Planets, to assist in negotiations between Xenex and Danter. Picard convinced Calhoun to join Starfleet, the scientific and defensive arm of the United Federation of Planets. Calhoun left Xenex, a move which roused the ire of many of his people, to enter Starfleet Academy, where he met Elizabeth Shelby, who would become his lover, rival, and eventually, his wife.
As a Starfleet officer, Calhoun served about the USS Grissom, where he met Katarina "Kat" Mueller, who would become his lover. Calhoun was present during a catastrophic event aboard the USS Grissom, which led to his apparent departure from Starfleet. In reality, he had become an undercover operative for Admiral Nechayev, who years afterward, fearing Calhoun was getting "too deep" into the lifestyle of the thugs and criminals he was associating with, pulled him out, and gave him his own starship to command, the Excalibur. It was in taking this command that he was reunited with both Shelby, who was now his First Officer, and Mueller, whom he picked as his Executive Officer (the terms are normally synonymous on the various television series,, but in the New Frontier novels, a First Officer heads the ship's day shift, while the Executive Officer commands the night shift watch). Calhoun was assigned to Sector 221-G, the area of space of the former Thallonian Empire, which had collapsed, resulting in destabilization of the region.
[edit] Physical appearance
Like all Xenexians, Calhoun resembles a human being almost entirely, with the exception of his purple eyes. He has a scar down the right side of his face from his duel with the Danteri soldier he dueled when he was twenty. The renditions of Calhoun on the New Frontier novel covers and in the comic book Double Time consistently depict him as resembling a Caucasian human male with dark brown hair.
[edit] Influences
Fans have noted the similarity between Calhoun and another of Peter David's Trek characters, Commander Quentin Stone from David's 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, A Rock and a Hard Place [1]. David has explained that Calhoun was not intentionally a remodelled Stone, but that interestingly, both were based to some extent by characters portrayed by film actor Mel Gibson: the apparently unstable "cowboy diplomat" Stone was based on Martin Riggs from the Lethal Weapon films, and Calhoun, who was a rebel leader at twenty, was inspired by the Scottish rebel leader William Wallace from Braveheart. David has added that Calhoun is closer to the historical Wallace, in that like Calhoun, Wallace was much younger than the real-life Gibson was when he portrayed Wallace in the movie. [2] Gibson is also a fan favorite to portray Calhoun in any onscreen appearances that might arise. Joe Flanigan from Stargate: Atlantis is another popular fan choice. [citation needed]
In addition, Calhoun, who is depicted as something of a cowboy, has been compared by other characters in the stories to Captain Kirk, as in a conversation with Admiral Edward Jellico in the novel Martyr, a likely indication that in terms of his style as a starship captain, Peter David modelled Calhoun in some respect after Kirk. David has also stated that on his blog that Calhoun indeed looks up to and identifies with Kirk, seeing himself himself very much in the cowboy mold that Kirk personified. [3]
[edit] Mirror Universe
The Mirror Universe counterpart of Calhoun will appear in the upcoming novel Obsidian Alliances (a trade paperback collection of Mirror Universe stories). In the Mirror Universe, M'k'n'zy of Calhoun is a slave of the Romulan Star Empire.
[edit] Action Figure
Playmates Toys produced a limited edition Captain Calhoun 4.5 inch figure for the Star Trek Communicator magazine. The figure was available via mail order only and began shipping in September 1998. There were approximately 10,000 of these figures produced.
