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William Thomas Riker is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe played by Jonathan Frakes, who appears in the television series (TNG) and all the movies focussing on the TNG characters. Riker is called "Will" by those who know him; "Bill" only by the unfamiliar (such as Dr. Crusher in Encounter at Farpoint).
Will Riker was born to Kyle Riker and an as-of-yet unknown woman in Valdez, Alaska, Earth in 2335. In 2350, the elder Riker abandoned his son; his wife had died some years before. William resented his father for this and the two did not speak again until 2365, fifteen years later.
Riker entered Starfleet Academy c. 2353 and graduated in 2357. Among the earliest assignments of his career were on the Excelsior class USS Potemkin, on the planet Betazed, where he met Deanna Troi. He then served as a lieutenant and then a lieutenant commander on the USS Hood, also an Excelsior. Riker had two cruises on Hood, his second (2361–4) as XO. During his time on Hood, Riker was involved in a transporter accident while beaming up from a planet; that accident created an exact copy of him which remained on the planet. Seven years after graduation, 2364, he requested and received a transfer to the Enterprise-D, the Federation flagship of that time, where he served as first officer under Captain Jean-Luc PicardJean-Luc Picard is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe, the captain of the USS Enterprise D and the Enterprise E. He was played by British actor Patrick Stewart in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and resulting films. The c. After his assignment to the Enterprise, the fast-tracking young commander's career came to rest, and he remained on the Enterprise for nearly a decade and a half. (Starfleet has a bizarre habit of indulging officers who wish to stay with ships named Enterprise, even when it would be better for their careers to move on to new ships and postings.) Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Riker was reassigned to the Enterprise-EThe USS Enterprise ( NCC-1701-E) is a Sovereign class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe. This vessel was launched on stardate 49827. 5 ( 2372) from San Francisco Shipyards under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a year before the 24th Cen, where he again was Picard's first officer. On the Enterprises, Riker was a popular officer with many close friends among the crew, acting as the visible extension and "softer face" of the somewhat aristocratic Captain Picard's authority.
While on Enterprise, Riker was involved in the rescue of his transporter-duplicate, who continued his own career in Starfleet as Tom Riker.
In 2379, having previously turned down several promotions in order to continue serving with Picard, Riker finally accepted promotion to Captain and assignment to command of the USS TitanIn the fictional universe of Star Trek, the USS Titan was a Starfleet ship under the command of Captain William T. Riker to which he was transferred from the Enterprise E circa stardate 56844. Riker's prior tours of duty comprised fifteen years as Executi. In the same year, he also married Deanna Troi.
Tom Riker is a transporter-generated clone of William RikerFor the political scientist, see William H. William Thomas Riker is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe played by Jonathan Frakes, who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and all the movies focussing on the TN. Both Rikers are legally named William Thomas Riker, but the clone uses the name "Tom" while the original uses the name "Will." Tom shaved his sideburns and wears his beard as a goatee to keep himself visually distinct from his "brother". He was created some seven years before the Enterprise-D's launch, while Will was the Second Officer of the Starship Potemkin. Tom Riker continued in StarfleetIn the Star Trek fictional universe, Starfleet is the paramilitary exploration force of the United Federation of Planets. Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco, California, Earth, Sol System, Sector 001, in the Alpha Quadrant. This organizati for a short time after being recovered by the Enterprise. Later he secretly joined the MaquisIn the fictional Star Trek universe, the Maquis were a resistance movement made mostly of humans that refused to give up the planets that they lived on after they were ceded to the Cardassians as part of the treaty to end the war between the Federation an and helped a group of Maquis steal the Starship Defiant from Deep Space Nine. Captain Sisko allowed the Cardassians to capture him on the condition that Defiant be returned to Starfleet and Tom Riker not be executed.
Tom Riker is presumably still alive. His current status is unknown, as the Cardassian forces had been defeated in the Dominion War.