Captain
Captain was a commissioned officer rank, the equivalent of which was used by the service organizations of many civilizations. The title of  was often used by vessel commanders and, as a naval rank, in many Earth navies and Starfleet, was above commander.

History 
The naval rank of captain was common in Earth militaries and was used by the United States Navy branch of the United States military and was comparable to the infantry rank of colonel. In the Earth Starfleet, and later the Federation, it was represented by four collar pips. 

By the mid-22nd century, captain was a senior line officer rank of most space services and usually given to the commanding officers of starships. This naval rank was equivalent to the Romulan Star Empire's commander grade, the Cardassian Union's title of gul and the Ferengi Alliance's quasi-military DaiMon title.

Captains of starships, often located hundreds of light years away from and out of communications with higher authority, needed to be able to function autonomously and make independent command decisions affecting Federation policy and countless lives. Accordingly, few Starfleet officers ever gained the captaincy of a starship, the result of decades of sustained excellence as a Starfleet leader. ()

A senior captain given a large degree of responsibility or administrative assignment was sometimes given the title of fleet captain.

The rank of captain could also be held by non-command personnel, especially on ships with a number of veteran and senior officers whose experience had warranted advancement to the rank of captain but without command of a starship. Such was the case on the , where the senior staff consisted of no less than three captains: the commanding officer (James T. Kirk), the first officer (Spock), and the chief engineer (Montgomery Scott). () Captain Scott had previously held his rank of captain while chief engineer of the , where he was known as the "captain of engineering". ()

The rank of captain could also be held by staff officers, such as those assigned to as a Judge Advocate General sector officer. Such was the case with Phillipa Louvois, who was a sector JAG officer in 2365. () Reaching the rank of captain in other non-command branches of Starfleet was generally considered difficult, as noticed by one security officer, who once remarked "You don't make captain by wearing a gold shirt". () However, the rank was apparently obtainable in both the sciences and operations division, as the rank was held by Captain Krasnovsky in 2267, and Commodores Stone and Stocker  both surpassed the rank of captain by the same time. Likewise, Admiral Leonard McCoy also surpassed the rank by 2364, as did Vice Admiral Toddman, sometime before 2371. (; ; )

Tryla Scott was said to have achieved the rank of captain faster than anyone in Starfleet history as of 2364. ()

In the 2360s, K'Vada, Kargan, Korris, Kurn, , and Tel-Peh were captains in the Klingon Defense Force. (; ) In the 2150s, Vorok was a captain in the Klingon Imperial Fleet. ()

When Lieutenant Commander Data was asked in 2368 by  why he wasn't captain of the Enterprise-D, Data explained that "My service experience does not yet warrant such a position." ()

Some known Starfleet captains included:

 Captain Jonathan Archer of 
 Captain Balthazar Edison of 
 Captain Richard Robau of the 
 Captain Robert April of the 
 Captain Philippa Georgiou of the 
 Captain Christopher Pike of the  and 
 Captain Gabriel Lorca of the 
 Captain James T. Kirk of the  and 
 Captain Hikaru Sulu of the 
 Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the , , and 
 Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space 9 and the 
 Captain Kathryn Janeway of the 
 Captain William T. Riker of the  and 
 Captain Carol Freeman of the 
 Captain Saru of the 
 Captain Michael Burnham of the USS Discovery
 Captain Chakotay of the 
 Captain Cristóbal Rios of the 

The Starfleet of the alternate reality established in 2233 by the temporal incursion of the Romulan Nero had the following noteworthy captains:
 Captain Frank Abbott of the 
 Captain  of the 
 Captain  of the  and

Memorable quotes

Appendices

Background information 
The lead characters in Star Trek productions have traditionally been Starfleet captains. In the broadcast television era, these characters were (in production order) James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula; the only difference when listed chronologically being that Captain Archer was before the other four captains). This format was the intention from the very first episode of Star Trek, , wherein Captain Christopher Pike is established as the lead character. At first, the only exception to the captain-as-series-lead practice was when Sisko was portrayed as a commander during the first three seasons of , however in the streaming era, this has become much more common: for example, in , Captains Philippa Georgiou, Gabriel Lorca, Christopher Pike, and later Saru serve as secondary characters to series lead Michael Burnham, who only becomes a captain herself at the end of the third season after a long story arc. Similarly, Picard follows retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, while Lower Decks follows a group of ensigns.

Regarding the challenge of following the legacy of so many extremely well-established series lead characters who had been Starfleet captains, Discovery Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman commented, "It's incredibly difficult to follow the amazing Starfleet captains that have already been created and beloved by so many. Every single one of them in different ways have been rendered so beautifully and so specifically that they're all tough acts to follow, but I'm sure that, when each one was being conceived, that the creators of those particular captains were scared about, you know, matching the one that had come before." ("Discovering Discovery: The Concepts and Casting of Star Trek: Discovery", DIS Season 1 DVD and Blu-ray special features)

The actors who have appeared in lead roles as Star Trek captains on broadcast television have been extremely varied. Jonathan Frakes remarked, "The five captains are so distinctive because of the five actors that play them, obviously. Patrick [Stewart] was cast against type, coming after Bill [Shatner]. Avery [Brooks], quite obviously, was cast against type, coming after Patrick. It was smart to bring Kate [Mulgrew] in, as a woman, and then Scott [Bakula] had an entire charm of his own. I think [...] whether it was planned or not, it was a very successful endeavor." (The Captains)

The Bajoran Militia, which also used army rank names, has been referred to by the  as having a captain grade, with an insignia seen in episodes on officers subordinate to Major Kira Nerys, although they were never referred to by that rank on screen.

External link 
 

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Military ranks