Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Picard was born in La Barre, France, in 2305 and dreamed of joining Starfleet. He failed his first Starfleet Academy entrance exam, but was subsequently admitted and became the first freshman to win the Academy marathon. His academic training in archaeology is mentioned in several Star Trek: Next Generation episodes. Shortly after graduation, he was stabbed in the heart by a Nausicaan; the organ was irreparable and required replacement with a parthenogenetic implant. Picard eventually served as first officer aboard the USS Stargazer, and later commanded the ship for 22 years. During that time, he invented a starship combat maneuver that would become known as the Picard Maneuver.

Star Trek: The Next Generation depicts Picard's command of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). The pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint" presents the crew's mission to investigate Farpoint Station being sidetracked when Q (John De Lancie) makes Picard humanity's "representative" in a trial charging the species with being a "dangerously savage child race". Picard persuades Q to test humanity, and Q chooses as the test's first stage the crew's performance at Farpoint. The trial ends seven years later, in the series finale "All Good Things...", when humanity is absolved by Picard's demonstration that the species has the capacity to explore the "possibilities of existence".

The third-season finale, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", depicts Picard being assimilated by the Borg. Stewart asked Roddenberry to keep Picard a Borg for a few more episodes beyond the third-season finale, as he thought that would be more interesting than simply restoring Picard in Part II.

Picard works with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek: Generations to fight the film's villain, Soran (Malcolm McDowell). Commanding the new USS Enterprise-E, Picard again confronts the Borg in the following film, First Contact. He fights a species' forced relocation in Insurrection, and in Nemesis encounters Shinzon (Tom Hardy), a Romulan-made clone of himself.

One of the recurring themes of The Next Generation involves Picard having a long-standing love of ship's doctor Beverly Crusher from his cadet days. He was initially reluctant for her to serve on the Enterprise, as she was the widow of one of his good friends Jack Crusher and he felt guilty for his feelings toward her. She obviously reciprocated, but the two evaded the issue until the seventh season episode, Attached, in which they were connected by a neural transponder and forced to acknowledge their feelings for one another. Beverly expresses a wish that they remain simply friends for the time being, and Picard reluctantly agrees. They remain close in later installments and the subsequent movies.

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