Pavel Andreievich Chekov () is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe.

Walter Koenig portrayed Chekov in the second and third seasons of the original Star Trek series and the first seven Star Trek films. Anton Yelchin portrayed the character in the 2009 Star Trek reboot film and two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. Both Koenig and Yelchin were born to Russian parents, but grew up in the United States, and both affected Russian accents for their roles.

Origin

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted to include a younger cast member to appeal to teenage audiences. With a second season of Star Trek to be produced, Roddenberry interviewed Walter Koenig on the recommendation of director Joseph Pevney. After casting Koenig, Roddenberry wrote a letter to Mikhail Zimyanin, editor of Pravda, The existence of such a Pravda article is disputed. Roddenberry also acknowledged that the character was in response to the popularity of The Monkees' Davy Jones. Koenig always denied the "Russian origin" story and affirmed that his character was added in response to the popularity of The Monkees, and the character's hairstyle and appearance are a direct reference to this. Roddenberry had previously mentioned, in a memo to his casting director, a desire to have someone reminiscent of one of The Beatles or Monkees on the show. In actuality, Koenig is only five years younger than co-stars Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner.

The episode "Amok Time", which was the first episode broadcast during the second season, was Chekov's first television appearance ("Catspaw", the first episode shot with the Chekov character, would be broadcast a month later to roughly coincide with Halloween). Because of budgetary constraints, the character did not appear in the animated Star Trek. Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text calls this "the apparent gaffe notorious throughout Star Trek fandom". Although Chekov does not appear in "Space Seed", "Catspaw"—with the character—has an earlier stardate. Koenig joked that Khan remembers Chekov from the episode after he takes too long in a restroom Khan wants to use.

Chekov is an accomplice in Kirk's theft of the Enterprise to rescue Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, but is exonerated in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He serves as navigator aboard the Enterprise-A during the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The character's final film appearance is as a guest aboard the Enterprise-B on its maiden voyage in Star Trek Generations. Chekov is mentioned in the series finale of Star Trek: Picard as being deceased in a broadcast by his son, Anton, who is serving as the president of the Federation. Koenig insisted that the character be called Anton as a tribute to the late Anton Yelchin, who inherited his role as Chekov for the J. J. Abrams reboot films.

Spinoff novels show a continued career path, but these are not considered canon in the Star Trek universe. Novels written by William Shatner detail that Chekov reaches the rank of admiral, and even serves as Commander in Chief of Starfleet.

Reboot films

thumbnail|right|[[Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov]]

The 2009 Star Trek film creates an alternate timeline in the franchise. In this timeline, Anton Yelchin's portrayal presents Chekov as a 17-year-old prodigy whose mathematical ability proves instrumental in a few events within the film.

In the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, Chekov finds himself promoted to chief engineer after Scotty resigns. When Kirk orders him to put on a red shirt, a brief sting is heard as a closeup shows Chekov's nervous face, playing on the reputation of redshirts in the franchise as much as the character's shock regarding his sudden promotion.

The third film, Star Trek Beyond, was Yelchin's final appearance as Chekov, the film seeing Chekov accompanying Kirk after the entire crew is marooned on an uncharted planet following the destruction of the Enterprise, forcing them to destroy the last of the Enterprise to escape a trap and later work with the rest of the senior staff to restart a long-lost Starfleet ship to escape the planet and defeat a plan to attack the Federation.

Anton Yelchin's death

Yelchin was crushed to death by his 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee on June 19, 2016, a little more than a month before the scheduled release of Star Trek Beyond on July 22, 2016. All filming had been completed and post-production had started. A dedication to Yelchin's memory was inserted into the credits. J. J. Abrams, producer of the reboot trilogy and director of its first two films, has stated that the role will not be recast for future sequels, implying the character of Chekov will be written out in future films.

Fan productions

Walter Koenig reprised his role as Chekov 12 years after Star Trek Generations in the fan-created series New Voyages episode "To Serve All My Days". Andy Bray portrayed a younger Chekov in that episode. Koenig reprised the character again in Star Trek: Renegades as 143-year-old Admiral Chekov, the newly appointed head of Section 31. He has stated that should there be a sequel, he would reprise Chekov and then retire from the role. He also returned as Chekov in the online miniseries Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.

In scientific illustrator Jenny Parks' 2017 book Star Trek Cats, Chekov is depicted as a Russian Blue.

Reception

In 2018, The Wrap placed Chekov as 21st out 39 in a ranking of main cast characters of the Star Trek franchise prior to Star Trek: Discovery. In 2016, Chekov was ranked as the 30th most important character of Starfleet within the Star Trek science fiction universe by Wired magazine, out of 100 characters.

In 2018, Comic Book Resources ranked Chekov the 22nd best member of Starfleet.

References

  • "Pavel Chekov" at STARTREK.COM