Tuvok: Worthless Underachiever or No Ambition?

[Keevan_Colton]

After choosing to transfer across to command and a red t-shirt....and probably undergo a lot of retraining on how not to solve problems with a gun.

And if I recall rightly he shifted across from Red to Gold in the early NG era anyway, so it's moving back.....

[Dillon]

I don't think that the character on the E-B was supposed to be Tuvok. If you look closely, you'll notice he doesn't have pointy ears, like he should if he is supposed to be Vulcan.

[Keevan_Colton]

I don't think that the character on the E-B was supposed to be Tuvok. If you look closely, you'll notice he doesn't have pointy ears, like he should if he is supposed to be Vulcan.

We're not talking about that guy.

Tuvok is shown serving under Sulu in a flashback in Voyager, not in Generations.

[Dillon]

I don't think that the character on the E-B was supposed to be Tuvok. If you look closely, you'll notice he doesn't have pointy ears, like he should if he is supposed to be Vulcan.

We're not talking about that guy.

Tuvok is shown serving under Sulu in a flashback in Voyager, not in Generations.

Oh shit, i just realized. Ok, I should have read more carefully.

[Solauren]

It could have alot to do with why Tuvok left STarfleet and why he went back.

IIRC, Tuvok left because he could't stand serving with humans (I said words to that effect during the flashback with Janeway)

He said he rejoined it because as a parent, he could appricate why is parents wanted to expose him to different cultures.

It may be that he rejoined Starfleet and taught at the academy to maximize exposure to other alien species within Starfleet.

I mean, everyone has to go through Starfleet Academy, right? (at least according to the TNG era stuff)

However, not everyone/every species is assigned to starships. (hell, there could be species that ask not be be assigned to starships)

Anyway, I see Tuvok going back to Starfleet, teaching at the academy for a while to maximize his exposure to other species, and after being at the academy for a while, he's ordered onto a ship so he has practical on the jobs experience to relate, instead of a limited tour of duty 50+ years ago.

[Ender]

IIRC, he was a plant in the Marqui. Perhaps he was slow to promote because of his involvement with the intellegence division? Afterall, who needs real rank when you can just be handed appropriate papers for whatever rank you need for your assignment?

EDIT: Scratch that, just read the career summary. the fucking of a holograph version of his wife was odd though.

[Joe Momma]

Correct me if I'm wrong but dont both engineering and security have the gold shirts and science and medical both have blue (which is why voyager still had blues despite their total lack of a medical staff) and red is command and.....er.....whatever the hell it is they need the extras for.

This site explains the uniforms, but in summary blue is science and incorporates medical personnel), gold is support (a.k.a. "the guys who actually do shit" -- mechanics, engineers, security) and red is command. Keep in mind that you're going to have command/administrative staff to give and orders and coordinate work at most levels, so a low-ranked red uniform isn't necessarily a contradiction.

Er... I thought Data was Lieutenant Commander at the beginning... since I thought he had always been the third-in-command.

At the beginning of TNG, yes. The timeline for his promotion takes events prior to the series into account. BTW, note that Data seems to have been held at Lt. Cmdr for an unusually long time.

Indeed, yellow-shirted Data was an acting captain in TNG.

The chain of command for temporary situations (i.e., the captain is absent or incapacitated) seems to follow rank and seniority rather than organizational branch, per se. Note that when Data's position was formally changed to First Officer under Jellico that he began wearing command red. Ditto with Worf as First Officer for Riker in the final "Parallels" alternate universe.

As far as Tuvok and the "gold shirt" thing goes, it could also be due to Starfleet's PC stupidity. Perhaps since security is seen as a violent field, those that specialise solely in it are not fit for command, since after all the federation is totally opposed to violence etc....

That's possible and horribly ironic, given that the best security and military personnel are the ones that act the most calmly and reasonably in a stressful situation and only use violence when circumstances dictate that it is the most appropriate solution. But the Feddies (or more accurately their malformed gods B&B) think being a good warrior means acting like fucking Rambo.

EDIT: Scratch that, just read the career summary. the fucking of a holograph version of his wife was odd though.

Yes. It should have been holograms of his wife and her hottie best friend/sister. Stupid Vulcan.

-- Joe Momma

[Darth Fanboy]

Clarification...GOOD! Thankyew.

and I am now reminded that worf did switch to a new color when he went to DS9. Awright, good deal.

So Tuvok just wasn't ambitious enough to go into command, hrmmm ah well such is life I guess.

[Jeremy]

Now I was under the impression that Star Fleet had regulations on Vulcan promotion. Since they live longer they had to wait longer before being promoted or else the top ranks would be filled with Vulcans.

[Tsyroc]

Now I was under the impression that Star Fleet had regulations on Vulcan promotion. Since they live longer they had to wait longer before being promoted or else the top ranks would be filled with Vulcans.

I don't remember hearing that but it kind of makes sense. It would also explain why Data hadn't been promoted nearly as fast as some of the others around him since there's no telling when he might "die".

[The Duchess of Zeon]

But how concerned are Vulcans with prestige, and what is the relation between rank and housing? His family isn't in Starfleet (and lives on Vulcan), and I can find little difference qualitywise between his quarters and, say, Captain Janeway's. What housing would we be talking about?

A dacha in the countryside and a new Volga.

[neoolong]

Now I was under the impression that Star Fleet had regulations on Vulcan promotion. Since they live longer they had to wait longer before being promoted or else the top ranks would be filled with Vulcans.

Truthfully, I don't think that makes sense.

Promotion is based on accomplishment and experience. If it takes 5 years for a human to gain enough to advance a level, why should it take a Vulcan longer than that if they have the same accomplishments and experiences.

Maybe it would be different if they're still maturing physically, like the maturation from a teenager to an adult, but not high level promotions.

[neoolong]

But how concerned are Vulcans with prestige, and what is the relation between rank and housing? His family isn't in Starfleet (and lives on Vulcan), and I can find little difference qualitywise between his quarters and, say, Captain Janeway's. What housing would we be talking about?

A dacha in the countryside and a new Volga.

So the Federation is Communist. And Russian to boot.

[Drooling Iguana]

Maybe he got demoted after he tried to steal trilithium from the Enterprise when it was docked and evacuated for a baryon sweep (TNG: "Starship Mine".)