STAR TREK: LIEUTENANT HIKARU SULU
While not what you would call a Trekkie, I have been a big Star Trek fan since I was a little boy. I have watched the series and franchise grow into one huge monstrosity over the last 30 years and with the current direction the films are taking, I think it will last a lot longer. This is a series dedicated to the lovable space pioneers and the movies for which they starred. A lot of these caches are on a fairly busy road. I tried to place them where parking was good. Please watch children along this stretch and use good judgement. I hope you enjoy my latest entries.
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games. John Cho assumed the role of the character in both the 2009 film Star Trek and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.
Takei recalled Gene Roddenberry wanted the character to represent all of Asia, which symbolized the peace of the Trek universe in spite of the numerous wars in the continent. Roddenberry did not want a nationally specific surname, so he looked at a map and saw the Sulu Sea. "He thought, 'Ah, the waters of that sea touch all shores'," the actor recalled, "and that's how my character came to have the name Sulu."
In the book Inside Star Trek The Real Story, the character's name is noted as a pun on the name of vice president of Desilu Studios, Herb Solow.
Novelist Vonda McIntyre first presents 'Hikaru' as the character's first name in the novel The Entropy Effect. McIntyre derived the character's first name from The Tale of Genji. Although McIntyre was unaware at the time of any controversy surrounding her giving Sulu a first name, editor David Hartwell had to clear the name with Gene Roddenberry and Takei in order to supersede Paramount's objections. However, the name did not become canon until its mention in Star Trek VI, and it was included only after Peter David, who authored the film's comic book adaptation, visited the set and persuaded director Nicholas Meyer to insert it.
The fictional character Hikaru Sulu is born on June 24, 2230 in San Francisco, and is of Japanese heritage. He was shown as the USS Enterprise's staff physicist in the pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", but served as third officer [disambiguation needed] and senior helmsman throughout the rest of the series, during which he held the rank of lieutenant.
Throughout the series, Sulu is shown having many interests and hobbies, including gymnastics, botany, fencing, and ancient weaponry. In the episode "The Naked Time", Spock observes that Sulu "is at heart a swashbuckler out of the 18th century".
The character is promoted to lieutenant commander some time before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and to full commander by the time of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. During the first five Star Trek movies, he serves as helmsman aboard both the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A. He is promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior three years before the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Star Trek Generations introduces Hikaru's daughter, Demora Sulu, whose origins are also depicted in Peter David's non-canon novel The Captain's Daughter.
John Cho portrays a young Sulu for the 2009 film Star Trek. J. J. Abrams was concerned about casting a Korean-American as the character, but Takei explained to the director that Sulu was meant to represent all of Asia on the Enterprise, so Abrams went ahead with Cho. Cho acknowledged being an Asian-American, "There are certain acting roles that you are never going to get, and one of them is playing a cowboy. Playing Sulu is a realization of that dream — going into space." He cited the masculinity of the character as being important to him, and spent two weeks fight training. Cho suffered an injury to his wrist during filming, although a representative noted it was "no big deal". James Kyson Lee was interested in the part, but because Zachary Quinto was cast as Spock, the producers of the TV show Heroes did not want to lose another cast member for three months.
Cho portrays a younger Sulu in the 2009 film, though he is actually older than Takei was when he portrayed the role in the original series; Cho was 36 while Takei was 29.
Cho also portrays Sulu in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness, taking up the role of acting captain on the USS Enterprise when both Kirk and Spock were absent.