Kobayashi Maru
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Kobayashi Maru is the name of a starship in a training exercise in the Star Trek fictional universe. The term also commonly refers to the simulation in which the starship appears or, more generally, to any no-win scenario.
The Kobayashi Maru was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which command division cadets at Starfleet Academy are presented with a no-win scenario as a test of character. This provided context for how the main character, Admiral James T. Kirk, deals with the possibility of unwinnable situations, and death in particular.
The training exercise in Star Trek II describes the Kobayashi Maru as a Class III neutronic fuel carrier-ship, with a crew of 81 and 300 passengers. The name is Japanese, and loosely translates as the ship named Kobayashi, with Kobayashi (小林) meaning small forest and being a common family name. Maru (丸) means perfection or purity and is a common suffix for Japanese ship names, implying a safe return always, or "round journey".
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[edit] The Simulation
The simulation takes place on a replica of a starship bridge, with the "testee" as captain and other Starfleet members, officers or other cadets, in other key positions. In the scenario of the 2280s, the cadet receives a distress signal, stating that the Kobayashi has struck a "gravitic mine" in the Klingon Neutral Zone and is rapidly losing power, hull integrity and life support. There are no other vessels nearby. The cadet is faced with a decision:
- Attempt to rescue the Kobayashi's crew and passengers, which involves violating the Neutral Zone and potentially provoking the Klingons into hostile action or an all-out war; or
- Abandon the Kobayashi, preventing war but leaving the crew and passengers to die.
If the cadet chooses to save the Kobayashi, the scenario progresses quickly. The bridge officers notify the cadet that they are in violation of the treaty, which is duly noted in the log. As the starship enters the Neutral Zone, the communications officer loses contact with the crippled vessel. Three Klingon starships then appear on an intercept course, or decloak nearby. Attempts to contact them are met with radio silence; indeed, their only response is to open fire, with unrealistically devastating results. The simulation ends with the understanding that the cadet's ship and crew have been lost. There is no way to win the resulting 'battle,' as the computer is programmed to ensure Klingon victory by any means necessary; but then, the objective of the test is not for the cadet to outfight the opponent, but rather to test the cadet's behavior and thought processes in the face of shame and defeat.
By the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Federation had reached an alliance with the Klingons, rendering the previous format of the scenario no longer suitable. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Learning Curve", Lieutenant Tuvok placed several former Maquis crewmembers in a similar scenario on the holodeck using a damaged Ferengi starship and Romulan warbird as the opponent in a tactical training scenario. While similar, this exercise was not a true Kobayashi Maru scenario, as there was a way to win: running away.
[edit] Notable Test Takers
[edit] Saavik's Test
At the beginning of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, viewers see the one instance of a Kobayashi Maru test that is actually shown on-screen. Lt. Saavik is taking her Kobayashi Maru test in the simulator. The mission - reported to be a training mission - seems to be routine. Doctor McCoy is standing by on the bridge, with Captain Spock acting as science officer, Uhura as communications officer, Sulu as helm officer, and other cadets fulfilling other roles on the bridge of the simulator. Engineer Scott is acting as chief engineer - although it is unclear as to whether Scott was actually present in another part of the simulator or if he too was part of the simulation.
Soon the distress call is received from the Kobayashi Maru, which has struck a mine and is rapidly losing life support. Saavik and her crew soon learn that the ship is in the Neutral Zone. Saavik decides to make a rescue attempt. Mr. Sulu tries to remind Saavik of the potential consequences of entering the Neutral Zone, but she tells him that she is aware of her responsibilities.
As the simulated Enterprise approaches the coordinates where the Kobayashi Maru was reported to be, Spock tells Saavik that they are now in violation of treaty, followed by Uhura who says to Saavik that she has lost the other ship's signal. Soon an alert sounds that three Klingon vessels are on an intercept course. Saavik requests the ships be shown on the main viewer, which shows three D7 cruisers approaching. She recognizes that the crew is in over their heads, and orders Sulu to get the "ship" out of there.
Soon the lead Klingon ship fires a torpedo at the Enterprise. When the simulated torpedo hits, the helm explodes, and Sulu "dies". Saavik asks for a damage report, and learns from Scott that the main energizer is hit. Another explosion takes place, which "kills" Uhura when her console explodes. She is soon followed by Doctor McCoy when another explosion takes place. At about the same time the cadet at the weapons console announces that the shields are collapsing. Saavik orders weapons to be fired, but Spock reports that there is no power. His science console then explodes behind him - which "kills" Spock. Scott reports that the Enterprise is dead in space. Saavik looks around to see her key officers have all been "killed". At that moment she orders the crew to escape pods, to send out the log buoy, and then gives the order to abandon ship.
Admiral Kirk, who had been monitoring the situation from the control room decides to stop the simulation. The main viewscreen slides aside as he walks into the room. Saavik asks for suggestions, to which Kirk replies that she should pray as the Klingons don't take prisoners. All the "deceased" officers begin to rise, the blowers begin blowing the smoke in the simulator room clear, and the trainees are ordered to report for debriefing. Saavik remains and protests that the test was unfair as there was no way to win. Kirk tells her that how a person faced death was as important as how they faced life.
The images of the Klingon ships shown during Saavik's test were reused from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The images shown were originally those of the three Klingon ships on their initial approach to V'ger.
[edit] Other test-takers and their solutions
James T. Kirk takes the test three times while at Starfleet Academy. Prior to his third attempt, Kirk surreptitiously reprograms the simulator so that it is possible to rescue the freighter. He justifies it by arguing that putting cadets in a no-win situation was cheating, and so he had to cheat in return. He receives a commendation for original thinking.
As Spock had not entered Starfleet Academy as a command track cadet, he did not take the Kobayashi Maru test while there. In his death scene at the conclusion of The Wrath of Khan, he would describe his sacrifice as his solution to the scenario.
Depictions of the Kobayashi Maru test are a fairly popular subject in Star Trek literature. Non-canonical examples of Kobayashi Maru tests have been shown in many Star Trek novels. Much like how Kirk cheated to win, characters are frequently depicted as coming up with very innovative or surprising ways of handling the situation, and typical themes depicted in solutions to the Kobayashi Maru test are self-sacrifice and innovation.
[edit] The Kobayashi Maru (novel)
The Kobayashi Maru (1989) by Julia Ecklar tells how each of these officers faced the problem:
- Chekov evacuates his ship and then crashes it into the three Klingon cruisers, destroying all four ships in the process and (inadvertently) all of the evacuees as well.
- Sulu realizes it is probably a trap and refuses to cross the Neutral Zone.
- Scotty attempts to fight the Klingon ships, employing a series of unorthodox tactics, such as bypassing the Klingon shields using a works-on-paper-only calculation, and transporting various destructive items to them. At first, he is surprisingly effective, but the computer scenario ups the ante with the arrival of additional Klingon ships. Scotty's responds in kind with even more unorthodox tactics that rapidly escalate in on-the-fly engineering derring-do and destructiveness. The simulation is shut off before reaching a completed state, but it is clear that the simulation will never end, no matter what the student throws at the Klingon ships, as an ever-increasing number of Klingon vessels will arrive on the scene, guaranteeing that the testee will lose eventually.
- Kirk reprograms the simulated Klingons to be afraid of "The Captain Kirk," arguing that he expected to build a comparable reputation.
[edit] Dreadnought (1986)
In the novel Dreadnought by Diane Carey, the protagonist, a recent academy graduate named Piper, crashes the entire simulator program by attempting to improvise an engineering solution to the problem through a very unorthodox series of computer commands and jury-rigging, essentially tricking the computer running the simulation into fighting against itself. Her instructors admit that her solution might theoretically have been successful.
[edit] Sarek (1994)
In A.C. Crispin's novel Sarek, Peter Kirk, James T. Kirk's nephew, uses his experiences through the novel to come up with another way to defeat the unwinnable scenario. Upon entering the Neutral Zone, he provokes the Romulans who are expected to destroy the Enterprise. Before the Romulans open fire, Peter challenges the Romulan commander to a ritual fight-to-the-death (using an obscure but still valid Romulan law predating their schism with the Vulcans), in which actual battle is prohibited until the contest is resolved. As Peter leaves the bridge to go to the simulation transporter chamber, he instructs the crew to beam aboard the "survivors" and escape, leaving him to certain death. The simulation ends with the supervising instructor ending the test in confusion. Upon learning of Peter's trick, he promises to change the scenario to prevent it from being re-used. Peter is credited with coming up with an actual "winning" solution: saving the Kobayashi Maru and his own ship by sacrificing himself.
[edit] Avenger (1998)
In William Shatner's novel Avenger, Captain Christine McDonald of the USS Tobias tells Captain Kirk that in her time, the Kobayashi Maru scenario is no longer used to test character, but rather to evaluate the very "original thinking" for which Kirk had received a commendation. In the new version of the scenario, cadets are charged with coming up with ways to outsmart the simulation by reprogramming it to counter various moves made by the more advanced AI of the computer.
[edit] Stone and Anvil (2003)
In his Star Trek: New Frontier novels, Peter David suggests that future versions of the scenario would involve the Romulans. In the novel Stone and Anvil, Mackenzie Calhoun realizes that it is impossible to rescue the Kobayashi Maru, and takes the unorthodox solution of destroying the Kobayashi Maru itself. He determines that a rescue attempt will be unsuccessful, would likely end in failure and would probably also result in his own ship being destroyed or captured. His reasoning is that it is more merciful to kill the civilians outright rather than let them be captured (and likely tortured) by the Romulans.
[edit] Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Three short stories in the Strange New Worlds anthologies series have also tackled the test. In "The Bottom Line," by Andrew Morby (Strange New Worlds III, 2000) and Shawn Michael Scott's "Best Tools Available" (Strange New Worlds VI, 2003), cadet Nog solves the scenario in two entirely different (and thoroughly Ferengi) manners. Kevin Lauderdale’s "A Test of Character" (Strange New Worlds VII, 2004) depicts a different version of Kirk's solution from Ecklar's, in which Kirk's tampering is "cheating without cheating," since he merely creates a level playing field, where success is not necessarily guaranteed.
[edit] Star Trek Video Games
In the video game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, one of the missions given to the player is the Kobayashi Maru scenario. The player - who controls the character of Cadet David Forrester - has a choice to make prior to the test. The player can have Forrester reprogram the computer as Captain Kirk did when he took the test, or can have Forrester face the unaltered version of the test.
If the player decides to face the unaltered version, the ship is swiftly destroyed by overwhelming force. If the player decides to "cheat", the cheating is detected by Academy staff, and Forrester is offered a chance to avoid punishment by helping the authorities with an ongoing criminal investigation.
In the PC game Star Trek: Starfleet Command III, one of the campaign missions is titled "Klingon Maru;" however, the player can rescue the ship and not fight a battle.
There was also a Kobayashi Maru Alternative computer game made in 1985.
[edit] References in other media
Originally, Kobayashi Maru was the name of the ship used to transport the supposed jeweled, solid gold, life-sized statue of a falcon in the film The Maltese Falcon.
A ship named the Kobayashi Maru appears in the manga Gundam F90, and proves to be just as ill-fated as its namesake, being destroyed in the prologue just before finishing up a tour of duty. Gundam has sometimes been called "the Star Trek of Japan", given the similarities between the two franchises.
In the American film version of Godzilla (1998), the Japanese freighter destroyed by the creature in the beginning is named the Kobayashi Maru.
In the film Dog Soldiers (2002) a soldier describes their situation as "the Kobayashi Maru test" when they find a bug in a radio. He assumes that their exercise was always a no-win scenario.
The phrase is featured in the rock band Powerman 5000's lyrics in the song "Neckbone" from their Mega!! Kung Fu Radio album.
The Kobayashi Maru is mentioned in the US TV series Friends when Chandler calls another no-win scenario a "Curiad Mariah" and is corrected by Ross.
In Duke Nukem 3D Expansion Pack Caribbean, a boat named Kobayashi Maru is set as the start and end point of several game levels.
A character from the movie The Usual Suspects (1995) is named Kobayashi, who blackmails the others into a seemingly unwinnable situation.
In the CSI:Las Vegas episode "Monster in the Box" (2007) the lab technician David Hodges admits he has a cat called 'Mr. K' and subsequently calls him Kobayashi Maru.
In the Bridge Simulator used at the State University of New York Maritime College, simulations often include a container ship, which is flagged in Japan, and named the Kobeashi Maru.
Star Trek Bridge Commander has several mods under the name Kobayashi Maru which gives the game more ships, better graphics, and still allows multiplayer capability.
In the PC based first person shooter video game "Star Trek: Elite Force" Tuvok's character makes a reference to the simulation as he's stepping out of the turbolift with the player's character. This happens in one of the first cut scenes while Tuvok is counceling the player's character on his or her seemingly impossible borg cube infiltration simulation. Tuvok tells the player to think of the simulation as his or her personal Kobayashi Maru.
In an interview with Trekmovie.com, Star Trek books editor Margaret Clark has said that the next Star Trek: Enterprise novel will be called The Kobayashi Maru. [1]
The novel will involve Captains Jonathan Archer and Erika Hernandez taking their respective ships, Enterprise and Columbia, on a patrol of the Klingon border, where they encounter a civilian freighter which is under attack.
In the webcomic Erfworld (page 38 or Bonus page 1), Parson suggests himself to be in an altered consciousness state and points that his gaming group may have provoked it as an out-of-the-box Kobayashi Maru tactic for getting rid of the no-win scenario. He also thinks about rewarding them for their original thinking[1]
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Kobayashi Maru scenario article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
