William Thomas "Tom" Riker was a result of a transporter accident in 2361 that created two William T. Rikers, genetically indistinguishable from each other, with personality and memories identical up to the point of the duplication. One of the duplicates continued to be known as William Riker. The other chose to use his middle name and be known as Thomas Riker.
Early life[]
William Thomas Riker was born in 2335 to Kyle and Betty Riker in Alaska on Earth. His distant ancestors were from mainland North America, including Colonel Thaddius Riker, who fought in the American Civil War.
Betty died when Will was only two years old, leaving his father to raise him alone. The Rikers remained in Alaska at Betty's wish. The only thing which kept Kyle going was Will, but he did not feel as if he could discuss the situation with him, even when Will was older. The memories of Betty's presence at their Alaska home were also painful for both. This initial trauma created a rift between the two Rikers which lasted thirty years.
When Will first started school, at the age of five, he told all of his new friends that his mother was still alive. Eventually, he told the story so often that he began to believe the lie. Soon, his teacher learned of this problem, and both she and Kyle had to talk to Will and make him realize that his mother was dead and was not coming back. Will cried the entire night following, but later realized it was an important step in accepting his mother's death. However, Will's relationship with Kyle continued to deteriorate into his early teens. He was often left to care for himself, learning such skills as cooking.
Will was never able to concentrate much on subjects such as math, as he constantly daydreamed about starships. In 2344, Will and his father went on a fishing trip. Will was able to hook a large fish, but Kyle insisted on reeling the fish in. This incident bothered Will for many years. He also practiced anbo-jyutsu with his father. Kyle admitted that by the time Will was twelve, his skills were superior. Will did not know that the only reason he always lost was because his father used illegal hachidan kiritsu moves.
Kyle completely abandoned Will by 2350, when Will was fifteen. Will held a grudge against his father for the following fifteen years.
Starfleet Academy[]
Will entered Starfleet Academy in 2353. During his time at the Academy, his superintendent was a Vulcan, who had taken the time to memorize the personnel files of each and every cadet. (TNG: "The First Duty") Paul Ricewas a close friend of Riker's while at the Academy.
He felt that people were out to get him during his first year at the Academy. During a battle simulation against a Tholian opponent, Riker calculated a sensory blind spot of the Tholian vessel and hid within the blind spot. This ingenious tactical strategy was noted in his record. Upon graduation in 2357, Riker was ranked eighth in his class. He set lofty goals for himself, and hoped to reach captain before thirty-five years of age.
Early Starfleet career[]
Seven months after graduation, Ensign William Riker's first posting was to the USS Pegasus under the command of Erik Pressman. He was the ship's conn officer, and his youthful appearance earned him the nickname "Ensign Babyface," coined by fellow crewmember Lieutenant Boylen. Phil Wallace was another of Riker's friends aboard the Pegasus.
Fresh from the Academy, Riker was still somewhat serious about his work. Loyalty and obedience to his commanding officer were top priorities. Riker's ears were still ringing with words like duty and honor. This attitude caused him to behave against the principles of the Treaty of Algeron during a crisis on board the ship.
Captain Pressman had been illegally testing a prototype phasing cloaking device aboard the Pegasus. This top-secret project was in violation of the Treaty of Algeron, not to mention extremely dangerous to the crew, leading most of the Pegasus officers, such as the first officer and chief engineer, to mutiny against Pressman. Riker was the only bridge officer to defend the captain, picking up a phaser and instigating a running firefight all the way to the escape pods. Only a few other crew joined Riker and Pressman. Once safely away, Riker and the others watched as the Pegasus apparently exploded, killing the remaining seventy-one personnel.
Although Pressman commended Riker for his unquestioning loyalty, over the years Riker began to have doubts about whether he had made the right decision. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General investigated the Pegasusincident, but the survivors participated in a coverup. The Judge Advocate General discovered evidence of a mutiny aboard the Pegasus before its destruction. While further investigation was recommended, Starfleet Intelligence declared the entire incident classified and no follow up was ever conducted.
Following the Pegasus incident, Riker was stationed on Betazed. While there, he met Deanna Troi. The two began a relationship which lasted several years. Sometime during his early career, Riker needed to wear a feathered costume while on a diplomatic mission to Armus IX. Similarly, he wore furs to meet with the leadership council on Kabatris.
The Potemkin[]
By 2361, Riker was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the USS Potemkin. Aboard the Potemkin, he developed a tactic which involved using a planet's magnetic pole and shutting down all ship's systems to confuse an enemy vessel's sensors. Later in 2361, Riker led an away team to Nervala IV to rescue researchers stranded at the outpost on that world. Riker was the last to beam out. Atmospheric distortions threatened to dissipate his pattern, so the Potemkintransporter chief compensated by creating a second confinement beam. Only one beam was needed for Riker to rematerialize, so the second beam was shut down. The Potemkin crew did not realize that the second beam had, in fact, been reflected back to the planet's surface. In an odd twist of fate, the second transporter beam, which had exactly the same phase differential as the distortion field, maintained its integrity and created a duplicate William T. Riker. The duplicate Riker remained stranded on the surface for the next eight years. Up until that moment, both Rikers were the same person. As a result, both had an equal claim to being the "real " William T. Riker.
Eight years later[]
The existence of this other William Riker (hereafter referred to as "Thomas") was discovered on Nervala IV eight years later in 2369 when the USS Enterprise-Dreturned to retrieve scientific research that had been left behind. With the aid of Thomas, who had altered the computer systems on the planet to aid in his survival, the Enterprise away team was able to access the information and return to the ship with Thomas.
During the time he spent on the planet, Thomas had remained deeply in love with Deanna Troi, his girlfriend at the time. Thomas had planned to meet Deanna on Risa the year of the transporter mishap, a fact upon which he had dwelt while stranded. In contrast, the Riker that beamed off-planet eight years prior was soon promoted and made his career a priority over their relationship, and never made the trip to Risa with Deanna.
Upon his rescue, Thomas told Deanna that he could not believe Will had failed to meet her as planned and that he was hoping their relationship could resume. Initially, Deanna was opposed to the idea, but found herself won over despite her objections. In the end, however, Thomas decided that he could not remain on the Enterprise alongside his countpart, while Troi's feelings for him were not strong enough for her to leave the Enterprise with him.
Divergent personality[]
Thomas and William clashed almost immediately due to the resentment each felt towards the other. The eight years of living different lives made them entirely different men – William evolved into a cautious and duty-driven officer while Thomas remained impulsive and reckless. As a result of conflicts with William – who was by that time a superior officer (a commander) – Lieutenant Riker decided to leave the Enterprise. He chose to use his middle name, Thomas, to distinguish himself from his counterpart. Captain Jean-Luc Picard managed to get Thomas a posting on the USS Gandhi where he could continue his Starfleet career. Upon Thomas' departure, William seemed to have accepted Thomas' existence and gave him his (or rather, their) trombone as a parting gift.
Maquis affiliation[]
In 2370, Thomas expressed dismay at the Federation's policies towards the Cardassians and the Federation colonies in the Demilitarized Zone, and later joined the Maquis resistance. In early 2371, Thomas, posing as William Riker, came aboard Deep Space 9 and stole the newly-commissioned USS Defiant.
With Major Kira as his unwilling passenger, Thomas took the Defiant to the Orias system, deep in Cardassian space, where the Maquis believed that the Cardassians were building a fleet of warships. Major Kira accused Thomas of still acting like a Starfleet officer instead of a terrorist; more concerned with intelligence reports and interstellar politics than with simply hurting the enemy. Trying to locate the Defiant with the assistance of Commander Sisko, Gul Dukat swore that he knew nothing of the fleet in the Orias system. He was telling the truth, as the fleet had been constructed by the Obsidian Order in direct violation of Cardassian law. As the Defiant arrived at Orias, it was intercepted by a number of Cardassian warships.
Sisko achieved a compromise with Dukat and negotiated Thomas' surrender – in exchange for the Defiant's sensor logs of the secretive Orias base, Thomas' sentence would be reduced to life imprisonment in the Lazon II labor camp, while the Defiant would be escorted back to the Federation-Cardassian border returning the rest of the Maquis crew to the Federation for trial. Thomas was initially wary of accepting the terms offered to him, but Kira pointed out that it would accomplish his mission and let his crew escape Cardassian imprisonment, even challenging his reluctance as some kind of death wish, a desire to go out in a blaze of glory in order to distinguish himself from the other, more successful William Riker.
Immediately after Thomas surrendered the Defiant to the Galor-class cruisers of the Cardassian Central Command, the Kraxon extended its shields around the Defiant to protect her from the fast approaching ships from Orias (upgraded Keldon-class cruisers with markedly higher top speeds than regular ships of the class). Dukat was confident that the Orias ships would not dare fire on Cardassian ships. Upon seeing this, the ships from Orias – under the command of the Obsidian Order and not technically part of the Cardassian military – turned around and returned to the Orias system.
Just before Thomas transported over to the Kraxon, Kira promised to return for him one day.
External links[]
- Thomas Riker article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Thomas Riker article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Thomas Riker article at Star Trek Expanded Universe.