Zefram Cochrane
Doctor Zefram Cochrane was a Human scientist in the 21st century and a pivotal figure in Human history. An eccentric genius, he was the inventor of warp drive on Earth and became the first recorded Human to travel faster than light, prompting official first contact with the Vulcans. (; ; ; ; )

Biography

Early life 
Cochrane was born in the 2030s. (;  library computer file) His place of birth was Montana, North America, Earth. ()

Cochrane's circumstances were somewhat affected by World War III, gaining him at least minimal knowledge of ECON, one of the aggressors in that conflict. ()

Developing warp drive 
During the 2060s, Cochrane and his team of engineers began developing the warp drive. () The challenge of inventing warp theory took Cochrane an extremely long time. () In 2061, he was responsible for Earth's first successful demonstration of light speed propulsion, though his work was far from complete. (;  library computer file) His primary motivation for commencing warp technology was financial gain in the devastated, poverty-stricken America that existed in the wake of the Third World War. 

He finally built Earth's first warp ship, the Phoenix, in the hope its success would prove profitable and allow him to retire to a tropical island filled with naked women. A historical irony was that, contrary to the fact he went on to use the Phoenix to inaugurate an era of peace, Cochrane incorporated a weapon of mass destruction into its design; he constructed the Phoenix in a silo on a missile complex and used a Titan II missile as his launch vehicle.

By 4 April 2063, Doctor Cochrane had made plans to pilot the Phoenix on a test warp flight that was scheduled to launch the next morning. That night, he was witness to an attack from a Borg sphere that fired on the missile complex from above; Borg photon torpedoes exploded extremely close to him, as he desperately struggled to escape. Cochrane was thereafter sought by the crew of the Federation starship , who had recently come back in time from the year 2373 to stop the Borg sphere from preventing first contact. He was temporarily considered by the Enterprise crew to have been killed in the Borg attack.

By the time Dr. Cochrane was located by the Enterprise crew, he had abandoned hope for the continuation of the Phoenix, wishing that the prototype craft would "rest in peace." Cochrane was convinced to half-heartedly persist in his endeavors by the Enterprise-E crew, who treated him like a historical figure, which he was to them. When they confronted him with some particulars of his future image as herald of a better world, Cochrane refused to accept this new role. He initially attempted to literally flee from his destiny, pretending that his departure was merely temporary so he could urinate. He was subsequently pursued by a squad of officers and shot down with a phaser – which he thought of as a laser – set to a minimal power output and wielded by an impatient Commander Will Riker.

Cochrane then became more cooperative; by 10:00 a.m. on 5 April, he had mentally prepared himself to make history (despite a distinctly uncomfortable hangover) and had begun readying the Phoenix for liftoff, even though he still disputed the notion of being idolized. An hour later he was aboard the Phoenix as it launched, with Commander Riker and Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge accompanying him. Cochrane was not only instrumental in the flight of the Phoenix – at one point giving the instruction to activate warp drive with the command, "Engage" – but was also amazed to view the Earth and the Enterprise-E from space and was shocked to experience the sensation of traveling at warp. He broke the warp barrier just after 11:00 a.m., enough to draw the attention of the , a type of Vulcan survey ship which was passing near Earth.

That evening, Cochrane was among many Human spectators who watched the Vulcan ship land in Bozeman, Montana, thereby making first contact with Humans and opening a new era for the whole of mankind. Finding difficulty in returning a Vulcan salute, he welcomed the arrival of the ship's Vulcan captain by engaging him in a handshake, for which Cochrane was thankful. ()

In an alternate timeline, the Borg succeeded in stopping Cochrane from breaking the warp barrier. His failure to execute that achievement eventually resulted in Earth's being inhabited by an entirely Borg population of approximately nine billion. (; )

In 2064, Cochrane acknowledged details about the first contact in Bozeman, in a commencement address at Princeton University. He claimed it had involved "a group of cybernetic creatures from the future" which had been repelled by a group of Humans who had come from the same era. However, Cochrane's remarks were largely shrugged off by his audience as a result of his tendency toward imaginative stories and intoxication. ()

In time, Cochrane resigned himself to the role history had apparently written for him, rather than maintaining the more fantastical truth of what had happened. (; ) He recanted his own statements regarding first contact and the two warring groups involved in the event a few years after making the claims. () In 2073 he was recorded as proclaiming, "Don't try to be a great man; just be a man, and let history make its own judgments." ()

In the early 22nd century, Cochrane designed a style of warp reactor that was fitted aboard  freighters. It was rumored that he personally signed the inside of each reactor casing. () He also collaborated with Henry Archer on the warp five engine around this time, working hard to develop it and help make it a reality. In 2119, Cochrane officially opened the Warp Five Complex on Earth, making a  at the opening ceremony. () Cochrane met Henry's son, Jonathan Archer, the future captain of , while the elder Archer was giving his son a tour of the facility. () In a historic holoprogram, Cochrane was said to have given Henry Archer a bottle of whiskey in celebration on the day they broke ground at the Warp Five Complex. ()

Later life 
At the age of eighty-seven, Cochrane left his new home on Alpha Centauri colony for an interstellar expedition. (;  library computer file) In a state of tiredness and dying from old age, he chose to die in space. () His body was never recovered and he was presumed dead. (;  library computer file)

Cochrane ended up on an asteroid in the Gamma Canaris region. He was brought there, while in a disabled spaceship and virtually dead from old age, by a cloud-like entity which he called the Companion. Cochrane was rejuvenated by this entity, which went on to keep him young and alive for 150 years. At one point he cannibalized his ship, using left-over tools and supplies to construct a building where he could live. Necessities including food and water were provided for him by the Companion, with whom he could telepathically communicate. However, Cochrane eventually wished to be released from the entity's supervision, finding immortality boring. In an attempt to obtain freedom from the Companion he explained that he was lonely, so it decided to bring him other Humans for company.

In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, and Dr. Leonard McCoy of the  were ferrying Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford, who was terminally ill, aboard the shuttlecraft  when they were mysteriously brought to the asteroid by the Companion. Cochrane was delighted to meet the newcomers there, exchanging handshakes with each of the other men, and was impressed by the configuration of their shuttlecraft. Nevertheless, he originally kept the truth from the visitors, saying he had crashed on the asteroid an indeterminate time ago and feigning ignorance of the Companion. Under duress from Kirk, he conceded the facts, such as confessing the actual specifics of his arrival. Cochrane repeatedly talked with the Starfleet officers about the differences in the galaxy since his disappearance, remaining tempted to leave the asteroid. The Federation and universal translator were both new concepts to Cochrane. His knowledge of modern propulsion was also updated thanks to Spock and Kirk, the latter of whom observed that Cochrane didn't "look a day over thirty-five."

Faced with the quandary of either escaping the Companion and helping Commissioner Hedford to a hospital or risking the death of the Companion, Cochrane reluctantly opted to endanger the entity, despite being exceedingly grateful for its guardianship; this choice led to his being struck down and momentarily rendered unconscious. In a conversation that Kirk had with the entity, the Companion repeatedly called Cochrane "the man". Once it was discovered that the Companion was actually feminine with romantic feelings toward Cochrane and the female entity entered the body of Hedford, Cochrane was finally allowed to leave with his guests, though the merged entity was unable to accompany him. Feeling greatly indebted to the Companion for having rescued and cared for him, Cochrane began a new life on the asteroid with the newly integrated being, both of them now with a typical Human life span. Cochrane had Kirk swear never to reveal his fate to the authorities. ()

Legacy 
Though Zefram Cochrane (at the time of First Contact) did not have a grand vision of ushering in a new era for mankind or of endowing Earth with the gift of warp technology, these qualities came to be commonly ascribed to him by later generations; as with many of history's icons, the man's legend was less multifaceted than he himself had been. ()

Abundant hearsay circulated in the aftermath of Cochrane's disappearance. One supposition was that he had been testing an experimental warp ship. He was also reputed to have been flying a one-man craft at the time he was lost. () Another rumor regarding Cochrane was that he had personally signed the inside of each reactor casing aboard the series of J-class freighters. ()

Numerous phrases that Cochrane had used in the speech he gave at the dedication ceremony for the Warp Five Complex were repeated by Starfleet for generations to come, such as talk of exploring "strange new worlds," seeking out "new life and new civilizations," and going boldly "where no man has gone before." (, et al.) The latter line in particular later adorned the dedication plaques of various starships named Enterprise (albeit somewhat paraphrased, as "...to boldly go where no man has gone before" or "...to boldly go where no one has gone before"), for centuries to come. (; ; ;  set artwork) In 2151, a recording of the speech was displayed at the launch ceremony for Enterprise, Jonathan Archer's command. At the same ceremony, the showing of the recording was prefaced by Admiral Forrest giving a speech of his own in which he repeatedly alluded to Cochrane, describing his warp flight as "legendary." ()

A statuette of Cochrane was kept by Captain Archer in his quarters aboard Enterprise during that vessel's time in service. (, et al.)

While teasing American Starfleet officer Charles Tucker III about his nationality in November 2151, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed posited that, if Cochrane had been European rather than from Montana, the Vulcans would have been far less reluctant to help the Humans progress with space travel than they ultimately had been. Reed also reckoned that, as an American, Cochrane likely spent his boyhood nights reading about cowboys and Native American Indians. ()

After Tucker and Captain Archer became inadvertently entangled in a symbiotic lifeform, Tucker rhetorically asked Archer whether, by speaking about new life and new civilizations, Cochrane had meant aliens such as the one that was currently trapping them. ()

By 2152, Cochrane's involvement in First Contact was well known among school children and a statue of him had been built in Bozeman. () In 2152, Cochrane still had surviving family and Admiral Forrest characterized his disappearance as "the greatest missing person case of the century." When Enterprise came across a  adrift in space in October, 2152, manned by one dead occupant, Captain Archer wondered if it could be the long-lost Cochrane. In the interest of determining the deceased pilot's identity, Dr. Phlox submitted a request to the Cochrane family for them to release Cochrane's genetic profile. However, it was soon learned that the pilot was a Human from the 31st century whose  had suffered a critical disaster, in which he had been killed, while visiting the 22nd century. ()

By 2153, the Cochrane Equation had been named in Zefram Cochrane's honor; it described a fundamental mathematical expression in warp theory. () Cochrane distortion, a fluctuation in the subspace field that all warp engines generate, also took its name from him. () A unit of measure of subspace distortion known as the  was named in his honor too. (, et al.) The Cochrane deceleration, a well-known battle maneuver in the 23rd century, was also named in his honor. () The first chapter of Basic Warp Design, a required course in Starfleet Academy's curriculum, was titled "Zefram Cochrane". () 

Numerous schools were named after Cochrane by 2154. () One academic institution was called Zefram Cochrane High School () and a scientific research organization was called the Zefram Cochrane Science Institute. () In 2154, Hernandez guessed that these schools were fewer than those named after Jonathan Archer following the Xindi incident, which Hernandez estimated were two or three dozen in North America alone. () In 2267, Spock remarked that Zefram Cochrane's name was "revered throughout the known galaxy," but Cochrane himself considered spending the remainder of his life with the feminine combination of the Companion and Nancy Hedford to be "honors enough." By that point, planets, great universities, and cities had been named after him. () A starship bearing his name, the , was launched in or by 2367. (; , et al.)

In a holodeck program set in 2161, Hoshi Sato noted that Archer's avoiding credit for the Coalition of Planets would be similar to Cochrane's taking no credit for warp drive. It was also this holoprogram that cited Cochrane as having given a whiskey bottle to Henry Archer, a recollection mentioned by the holographic Jonathan Archer. ()

In 2256, Captain  of the  cited Cochrane, along with Orville and Wilbur Wright and Elon Musk to get Lieutenant Paul Stamets to continue his work on the spore drive and asked if he wanted his own name to stand alongside those other inventors or if he wanted to go down in history as a failed scientist. ()

In 2368, an excited Geordi La Forge voiced an expectation that participating in one of the first tests in soliton wave propulsion would be akin to witnessing Cochrane engage the first warp drive. () This is ironic considering that La Forge went on to do precisely that. ()

When the command staff of the  was contemplating whether to allow Tom Paris to venture on a test flight of transwarp drive in 2372, Captain Janeway remarked that, if the flight was successful, Paris would join an elite group of historic pilots whose names already included Cochrane's. () Two of Voyagers complement of shuttlecraft were eventually named Cochrane: , and its replacement. (; )

Zefram Cochrane was so memorable that – when quizzed by Harry Kim, during the Year of Hell version of 2374, about the name of the famous ship that had been involved in making Earth's first contact with Vulcans in Montana – B'Elanna Torres could remember only that it had been Cochrane's vessel. ()

By 2375, a Starfleet award called the Cochrane Medal of Honor was named to commemorate Cochrane. () In an alternate timeline, a similar award with the same namesake was the Cochrane Medal of Excellence. ()

In 2378, the crew of Voyager paid respects to Cochrane, celebrating the 315th anniversary of First Contact by throwing a party on the traditional holiday of First Contact Day; in the ship's mess hall, rock and roll music was played from a jukebox and cheese pierogi were served, since they had been Cochrane's favorite music and food respectively. ()

In the early 2380s, the Phoenix replica featured a hologram of Cochrane that piloted the ship on a recreation of his First Contact Day flight.()

Relationships

Lily Sloane 
One of Cochrane's good friends was Lily Sloane, whom he had known since the Third World War. She nicknamed him "Z". ()

Eddy 
He was also on first-name terms with several residents of Bozeman, including a bartender called Eddy.

Deanna Troi  

Cochrane was physically attracted to Deanna Troi for a brief time after first meeting her, though he had difficulty remembering her first name. He made several sexual advances on her, though these were spurned, Troi drunkenly concluding he was "nuts." Even with these rejections, he was not disheartened to the extent that he stopped socializing with her – at one point voicing satisfaction to learn Riker was not her husband – and Troi was later among Cochrane's collaborators during the test flight of the Phoenix, as she announced the final countdown before liftoff from outside the craft. ()

Henry Archer 
During their time working together, Cochrane would gift Henry Archer a special bottle of whiskey the day they broke ground at the Warp Five Complex. Archer would later give that bottle to his son Jonathan Archer. ()

Nancy Hedford 

Similarly, Cochrane immediately found Nancy Hedford attractive, referring to her as "beautiful." Thinking of the Companion as a lover initially disgusted Cochrane, however, and he at first found the binding of Hedford and the Companion to be frightening. Realizing that his intolerance of the alien's feelings for him was motivated by prejudice, he ultimately fell in love with the female combination, even sacrificing the opportunity to explore the galaxy so he could stay with her. One final confession that he offered to Kirk was that his love for her – convinced they would have many happy years together – was the motivating factor for his staying on the asteroid, rather than simply gratitude to the entity. ()

Personality 
Often wearing civilian clothing that incorporated a thin neck-scarf and a backwards cap on his head, Cochrane had a cynical streak. For example, he skeptically questioned Lily Sloane's theorizing that the attacking Borg sphere was an ECON craft, and he took considerable persuading before he finally came to realize the truth about the Borg and the officers from the Enterprise-E. ()

Cochrane also had an alcohol abuse problem. He commonly drank whiskey but was also known to imbibe shots of tequila. () The inventor of the transporter, Emory Erickson, adopted Cochrane's practice of celebrating scientific breakthroughs by consuming large amounts of alcohol and once recalled of Cochrane, "Now there was a man who knew the benefits of a little liquid courage." ()

Cochrane was well acquainted with the stars in Earth's proximity, owning a telescope and being able to identify the constellation  on sight. () His favorite food was cheese pierogi. () He had an intense dislike for air- and space-travel and preferred taking trains.

Cochrane was a fan of late-20th century rock and roll music. His favorite songs included "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison and "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. He often became stressed if he couldn't listen to recordings of such music when he wanted to, and introducing the Vulcans to rock and roll was one of his first priorities during their encounter. ()

Cochrane was also somewhat interested in agriculture. In his initial deception of the Starfleet officers who visited him on the asteroid where he eventually resided, he alleged that he grew vegetables in fields near his house. Cochrane later admitted that the Companion provided gardens for him, and, moments before his visitors from Starfleet departed, he supported his determination to remain on the asteroid by saying its surface conditions were optimal for growing things and by suggesting that he might try planting a fig tree. ()

After Lily Sloane advised him that he would regret drinking alcohol to the point of having a hangover while piloting the Phoenix on its maiden voyage into space, Cochrane claimed to her that he never had regrets. This was not entirely true, however. () For instance, he regretted his early prejudice regarding the Companion's love for him. ()

Memorable quotes 
"Who is this jerk? (slurring) And who told him he could turn off my music?"
- Zefram Cochrane, after Will Riker unplugs his jukebox ()

"And you people, you're all astronauts on... some kind of star trek?"
- Zefram Cochrane, checking his understanding of the Enterprise crew members ()

"You people got some pretty funny ideas about me! You all look at me as if I'm some kind of... saint, or visionary or something!"
"I don't think you're a saint, Doc. But you did have a vision. And now we're sitting in it."
"You wanna know what my vision is? Dollar signs, money! I didn't build this ship to usher in a new era for Humanity. You think I wanna go to the stars? I don't even like to fly! I take trains! I built this ship so I could retire to some tropical island... filled with naked women. That's Zefram Cochrane. That's his vision. This other guy you keep talking about, this historical figure? I never met him. I can't imagine I ever will."
- Zefram Cochrane and Will Riker, discussing who Cochrane is ()

"Someone once said, 'Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgments."
"That's rhetorical nonsense. Who said that?"
"You did. Ten years from now."
- Will Riker and Zefram Cochrane ()

"Let's rock'n'roll!"
- Zefram Cochrane, before Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" ()

"Sweet Jesus!"
- Zefram Cochrane on seeing the Enterprise-E ()

"Live long and prosper."
"Thanks."
- Vulcan Captain and Zefram Cochrane, greeting each other after the T'Plana-Hath lands ()

"On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a hundred times faster than we can today. Imagine it – thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips... and we'll be able to explore those strange new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly... where no man has gone before."
- Zefram Cochrane, at the dedication ceremony for the Warp Five Complex, in 2119 ()

"You're food to a starving man."
 - Zefram Cochrane to Nancy Hedford, as they are formally introduced ()

"I could even offer you a hot bath."
"How perceptive of you to notice that I needed one."
- Zefram Cochrane and Nancy Hedford, as she ridicules his hospitality ()

"Immortality consists largely of boredom."
- Zefram Cochrane, after Kirk asks him if he wants to leave the asteroid ()

"What was it they used to call it? The Judas goat?"
- Zefram Cochrane, before he baits the Companion ()

"I can't leave her. I love her. Is that surprising?"
"Not coming from a Human being. You are, after all, essentially irrational."
- Zefram Cochrane and Spock, on Cochrane's decision to stay with the Companion ()

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

Performers 
In , Zefram Cochrane was played by Glenn Corbett. Veteran actor James Cromwell portrayed the character in the film  and  pilot episode . For the latter appearance, he received no credit.

Introduction 

In both the first draft and the revised final draft of the script for "Metamorphosis", Cochrane was described thus: "He is a young, sturdy, tall, handsome man in his mid-thirties, dressed in a one piece set of coveralls." In the first draft of the "Metamorphosis" teleplay, Cochrane encountered not only Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but also Montgomery Scott, who was delighted to meet the noted inventor and discuss some  with him. (The Star Trek Compendium, UK 4th ed., p. 71) Cochrane also reacted much more frustratedly to the revelation of the Companion's female gender and love for him than he does in the episode's final version; enraged, he called the Companion an emotional vampire, repeatedly yelled, "Nasty," raved and screamed, threw rocks, grabbed a , and even tried to physically attack her. The conclusion to the same draft of the script involved Spock wondering – in the company of the three other Enterprise crewmen – if the fact that Nancy and the Companion shared the same body might result in Cochrane's being a bigamist, an idea Kirk dismissed as nonsense. 

Cochrane's introduction in the final version of "Metamorphosis" was partly filmed with a fish-eye camera lens, though its use at first caused him to appear strange. "When Cochrane entered the foreground and ran toward the group at the [shuttle]craft, it seemed as if he had on seven league boots; he was covering what seemed like a football field distance in about five paces," explained the episode's director, Ralph Senensky. "I solved this by filming his approach from several angles, which were then joined together in the editing room."

Film re-creation

Rewriting the character 
The decision to include Zefram Cochrane in the film Star Trek: First Contact was preceded by the movie's writers choosing to set the story at a time when they could also feature Humans and Vulcans making first contact with one another. "Lo and behold, we looked around and found Zefram Cochrane sitting around the same time period," recollected co-writer Ronald D. Moore. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 171) Rick Berman, who worked on the film as producer and story co-writer, concurred, "We realized where our story was going and that we could marry those elements [Cochrane and Humanity's first warp flights] into the story." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 21)

How to depict Cochrane in the movie was a subject of much debate among the writers, including Ronald D. Moore, who later recalled, "We had very long discussions about who Cochrane was and who he should be in this film. And what we decided was you wanted to see a transition. You wanna see an arc for the character." (audio commentary, /) The writers also chose to significantly vary the film's depiction of Cochrane from how he had been established in "Metamorphosis". "We decided to take a lot of liberty with the Original Series character, and we created a new character," declared co-writer Brannon Braga, "because the character we meet in this film is very different [....] We kind of ignored, to some degree, the Cochrane from the original series." ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /) Rick Berman revealed that the writers did a lot of research into the "very vague history" that had been established about Cochrane and the initial warp flights. He went on to clarify, "We attempted to stay close to what we perceived as being the way Gene [Roddenberry] had wanted to set it in motion, but we took some liberties too." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 21)

Even though it had been established in "Metamorphosis" that Cochrane was somewhat familiar with Vulcans, that episode makes no mention of Cochrane's involvement in Earth's first contact with the species. The idea that the event took place immediately after Cochrane's first warp flight – a sequence of incidents first established in the film First Contact – followed from the  episode ; that installment presented the Federation as customarily initiating first contact only with species that were evidently on the cusp of warp drive technology. The movie First Contact also established, for the first time, Cochrane's qualification as a doctor (having been addressed by Kirk as "Mister Cochrane" in "Metamorphosis").

In the first draft script for First Contact, Dr. Cochrane was wounded in the Borg attack. An introductory description of him read, "He has a youthful, dynamic appearance marred by recent radiation burns." Much of the plot also dealt with Cochrane receiving urgent medical treatment in a hospital, comatose throughout much of the script. Out of action even for a while after he regained consciousness, he let Captain Picard secretly pilot the Phoenix rather than himself, wishing he could make the flight too. It was also said he was "touched" by Geordi La Forge paying him "obvious respect." Cochrane went on to make first contact with the Vulcans, much as he does in the film's final version. 

Although the writers thought Cochrane was one of the elements that worked successfully in the first script draft, they decided to adjust the character. "Let's get simple. Bring Cochrane into the story," stated Ronald D. Moore. "Let's make him an interesting fellow, and it could say something about the birth of the Federation. The future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned is born out of this very flawed man, who is not larger than life but an ordinary flawed Human being." () Brannon Braga concurred, "We realized in subsequent drafts that this is an interesting character. You kind of want to meet the guy. He's such a critical part of history. One of the things that we thought was an interesting idea was that if you went back in history [...] to meet one of your heroes [...] you might find meeting them in person, smelling the environment they lived in, and really just being there, very different from reading about it. We thought it would be cool if the man who basically ushered in a new era of humanity was motivated by things that were antithetical to Star Trek." (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 16)

Having discarded the concept of Cochrane changing by being revived, the writers now dealt with their impulse to have Cochrane undergo a character arc, in the course of the movie, by attempting to imply that he becomes the man whom the Enterprise-E crew expects him to be. (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 16) Ronald D. Moore noted, "In that man, by the end of the picture you see the transition of humanity from petty and small-minded to reaching out to the stars and actually bridging the gap between us and 24th-century man." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 21) As such, both Moore and Brannon Braga described Cochrane, by the end of the movie, as having become "a Roddenberry person." (audio commentary, /) Alternatively, Rick Berman once stated that, at the end of the film, Cochrane "was far from a Gene Roddenberry human." Berman backed up this statement by pointing out that "when we last saw Zefram Cochrane [...] he was drinking whiskey with some Vulcans." ()

Not only has the degree to which Cochrane fitted into the character mold of a near-perfect future Human envisioned by Gene Roddenberry been questioned, but the character's similarities to the Star Trek creator himself have also come under occasional discussion. For instance, Anthony Pascale said, "I always felt that the way they treated Cochrane is kind of like Roddenberry. Roddenberry's revered as this god-like visionary, but Gene Roddenberry was a Human being with flaws, you know, but that doesn't mean he isn't also a great man and a great visionary." Damon Lindelof similarly likened Cochrane, in a scene where Lieutenant Reginald Barclay is overjoyed to meet him, to Gene Roddenberry being met by an enthusiastic fan. (audio commentary, /)

Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga were highly pleased with how they ultimately wrote Cochrane. Said Moore, "Cochrane became a really cool character who I think the audience can identify with a little bit." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 21) Braga perceived that writing Cochrane as such a flawed character "made for more interesting drama in the film." ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /)

Both Brannon Braga and Picard actor Patrick Stewart likened Cochrane to the Wright brothers. Commented Stewart, "He represents, to the post-21st century, what perhaps the Wright brothers, the aviators, represent to us in the 20th century." (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 16; ) Stewart also felt Cochrane, as presented in First Contact, was imbued with "gritty reality and humor." Another strength of the character, in Stewart's opinion, was that Cochrane challenged the actions, beliefs, and virtue of the regular TNG characters who were in the film. (Fade In - The Writing of Star Trek: Insurrection)

Damon Lindelof opined that showing the highly esteemed Cochrane as actually alcoholic and eccentric is an example of "one great convention of time-travel movies" and "sort of a touchstone of what Moore and Braga did on the series and are doing in the movie, which is, you know, character first, character first, character first." Lindelof also noticed that, in common with the character of Lily Sloane, Cochrane serves as "a conduit for the audience," as he is at first unfamiliar with the Enterprise-E crew and their indigenous time period of the 24th century. (audio commentary, /)

Recasting the role 
Even though James Cromwell didn't match the look of the Original Series Cochrane, casting a performer with a likeness to that representation was not a priority for the production staff. "That didn't interest us," Rick Berman admitted. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 29) In fact, the role in the movie was written for Cromwell to play. Rick Berman stated, "When we were creating the character, we always had Jamie in our heads." () Berman told Cromwell the writers had written the part specifically for him, because he was in their minds from the Star Trek guest appearances he had done. () Due to the actor gaining celebrity for his presence in the film , the production personnel were at one point somewhat worried that Cromwell might not be available. "We were afraid he was going to be out of our price range," explained Berman. "But it all worked out." () Additionally, Berman said, "Because we had worked with him on a number of occasions, we were delighted when he did, in fact, take the role." ()

Even though the part had been written for him, James Cromwell auditioned for the role. Upon doing so, he was asked to perform a later-excised scene wherein Cochrane attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the edge of a cliff, only for his descent to be stopped in midair by a force field Geordi La Forge had rigged up. The actor cast his memory back to his performance; "I stood on the edge of a chair, and when it came time to fall, I lay down across the chair which got a real hoot out of everybody!" () Cromwell's audition was indeed highly successful. "He nailed it," Director Jonathan Frakes raved. "He left Berman and me with our jaws in our laps." ()

Academy Award-winning actor  was briefly considered to play Cochrane in First Contact (requested by then-Chairwoman of Paramount Pictures Sherry Lansing), but James Cromwell was ultimately confirmed for the role – much to the relief of both he and Rick Berman – after it was determined that the film's production wouldn't fit into Hanks' scheduling. According to Berman, the role would have needed to be considerably rewritten if Hanks had been able to accomplish it. ()

Having an interest and belief in the existence of extraterrestrials, James Cromwell was thrilled to be cast as Cochrane. (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 41) The actor later emphasized, "I thought it was so serendipitous and extraordinary that I should have this interest and make this film. I'm looking forward to seeing whether this is all part of a plan. I think it's intriguing." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 30) Cromwell also enthused, "The character was very well-written, and he had wonderful things to do. What intrigued me was the first contact idea [....] So that was a lot of fun." Cromwell's participation was also valued by Rick Berman, who explained, "He seemed to be the perfect character to play Cochrane because we were looking for somebody who was exactly opposite what people would think [....] Jamie was perfect, and he was available and interested in doing it, and we were lucky from day one." ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /)

Costuming for movie 

Of all the costumes in First Contact, Costume Designer Deborah Everton felt she was given the most freedom to design Cochrane's clothing. "Even though he's so established in the lore of Star Trek, he's not a character with which we're really familiar," she mused. "I could really go to town on him and take his character pretty far out." () Given that Cochrane had been written as an eccentric genius famed for being a pivotal figure in Human history, Everton wanted to represent the character's kookiness in his costuming, without making him too repulsive to the film's audience. "I wanted to bring out a lovable, quirky quality about him," she noted. (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 80) Cochrane's clothing ended up as a reflection of his personality, a mix of practicality and flamboyance, and encompassed a large sheepskin coat for outdoor scenes. One alternative costume layout for the character was designed by Everton, illustrated in a concept sketch, but not used. Yet another sketch of Cochrane demonstrated a blue-colored spacesuit, worn, in the movie, by not only him but also Riker and La Forge. ()

The inclusion of a distinctive-looking hat was at the request of Rick Berman, after Deborah Everton had incorporated the headgear in her original sketch for Cochrane's costume. (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 81) Further sketches focusing just on the cap were carefully completed, but the headpiece eventually received more decoration around its rim. The cap, featuring more decorative studs around the outer edge, was also illustrated in the sketch of Cochrane wearing a spacesuit. () Everton reflected, "Rick Berman kept liking this hat – every time he would see it on one of the illustrations, it was 'God, I really like that hat!' So when I made it for Cochrane, I wanted to make it sort of funkier, as a character thing." (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 81)

James Cromwell was grateful that Cochrane's costumes included a heavy wool coat that he was able to wear while filming on location in frosty cold night conditions. () He was especially pleased that the costuming did not cover him up as much as he had been, by prosthetics, in his previous Star Trek roles, later remarking, "It was really nice to play someone where you can use what physicality you have and your expressiveness to give him life. When you're in a costume that covers every part of you, that's really a matter of somebody else's imagination dictating what your outer form is. I loved Cochrane's costume because it let me be me, or let me play Cochrane." ( issue #234, p. 41) Jonathan Frakes was also pleased with the clothes Cochrane wears in the film, characterizing them as "great costumes." (audio commentary, /)

On the other hand, the costuming for Cochrane proved baffling to others. For example, Brannon Braga once admitted, "I always meant to ask Deborah Everton, 'What was that hat that he was wearing?" (audio commentary, /) Cochrane's neck-scarf likewise puzzled Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale, though the latter hypothesized that Cochrane wearing it might be an attempt to hide a scar. (audio commentary, /)

Second portrayal 
James Cromwell purposely did not watch Glenn Corbett's presentment of Cochrane prior to playing the character himself. "I didn't feel as if I were dealing with a historical character," Cromwell expressed. "I suppose that I am to some degree, at least in the eyes of some Trekkies, because Corbett played the role before I did. I just felt that what I wanted to do was to give my interpretation of what the writers of First Contact wrote as a character. I didn't need or want any outside assistance as to what somebody else had done with the same fellow." ( issue #234, p. 40)

James Cromwell found it easy to appear in the movie role. "They just let me play it as it was written," he said. "And I looked at him as just me. A guy who is overwhelmed, horny, fun-loving and self-deprecating, which is me." With a laugh, Cromwell added, "Except that he happens to be an alcoholic." () Cromwell also characterized the somewhat "maverick" Cromwell as "a throwback to the 1960s" and "actually the guy who starts Star Trek." () The actor related, "The character came alive for me. Instead of having to play a legend, what I had to play was someone who was reluctant to become a legend. That's immanently playable. It's very hard to play a legend, but it's not so hard to play when you have an action. He had a very strong action, which was that it frightened, confused, confounded and disturbed him." ()

Jonathan Frakes postulated that James Cromwell's stability with playing the part added to the characterization, as did him having great physical ease, especially considering his extreme height. "I think it made him... or made the character more Human and more attractive, because of the way Cromwell tackled the part," Frakes commented. "Instead of playing it with this sort of straitlaced respect, it was played with a wonderful casualness." (audio commentary, /)

One particular element of the story in which Cromwell found difficulty with portraying Cochrane is when the character is finally involved in the actual first contact with the Vulcans. Noted the actor, "All I had to do was say, 'It's real, it's real, it's real.' And I kept on saying to myself, 'What would it look like? What would I do? Would I perspire? Would I shake?' and I thought, 'God, the real thing is that you don't know what you'll do when it actually happens." (The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, p. 110)

Even though Cochrane was instrumental in the construction of the Phoenix, James Cromwell never saw the missile that, in the movie, supposedly delivers the prototype warp ship into space. ()

Ultimately, Jonathan Frakes deemed James Cromwell as having been "brilliant in this role." (audio commentary, /) Patrick Stewart concurred that Cromwell was "perfect" as Cochrane. (Fade In: The Writing of Star Trek: Insurrection) Ronald D. Moore likewise concluded that Cochrane's transformation into "a really cool character," slightly identifiable to the audience, was "once we married [the metamorphosis which the character is implied as going through, during the course of the film] [...] with James Cromwell." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 21)

Later references and appearances 
In the first draft script of , Jadzia Dax referenced Zefram Cochrane, excitedly remarking that an experimental technique to create artificial wormholes "could be the most important advance in space travel since Zefram Cochrane invented the warp drive."

Cochrane was additionally mentioned in the series bible for . That document noted that he was idolized by Jonathan Archer. 

The only physical description of Cochrane in the final revised draft script for the pilot episode of Enterprise, , was the word "elderly."  In that episode, Cochrane was once again played by James Cromwell. As he had become a relatively big movie star by then, Star Treks production personnel had to pull in a favor for him to reprise the role. This task was facilitated by Junie Lowry-Johnson, a big fan of Cromwell's who helped cast both First Contact and "Broken Bow". Rick Berman said of Cromwell's return as Cochrane, "It was interesting to get [him] [....] He was very gracious and did it." ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD special features) Elaborated Berman, "We just needed him for a day [...] and he was sweet enough to come and do it for us in our pilot." ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /) Cochrane's scene in "Broken Bow" was scheduled to be filmed on , on Paramount Stage 16, but actually ended up being shot there two days later, on 22 June. That morning, Cromwell reported to the makeup department at 7:30 a.m. Makeup and hair-styling were applied to give him an old-age look. He was due on set at 10:30 a.m., though he actually arrived on set sometime between 10:15 and 10:30 a.m. He had no meals during his visit to Paramount and was dismissed from the set at 11:30 a.m. Removal of his makeup then took fifteen minutes. ("Broken Bow" shooting schedule, call sheets & production reports) The suit that Cromwell wore to appear as Cochrane in "Broken Bow" was ultimately sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. 

In the final draft script of ENT Season 2 outing , Cochrane was referred to in a scene description, in connection with a similarity between the cockpits of the Phoenix and NX-Alpha.

At one stage, Rick Berman was noncommittal about continuing to feature Zefram Cochrane's history in Enterprise, addressing such details as his involvement in the Warp 5 project, his association with Henry Archer, and his eventual disappearance. Shortly after Berman finished work on the making of the second season, he said, "We have not ruled out telling more stories that further Cochrane's story, but we also don't have anything planned in the immediate future." ()

Footage of James Cromwell (as Zefram Cochrane greeting the Vulcans) was reused, with Cromwell's consent, at the beginning of . ("In a Mirror, Darkly" audio commentary, ENT Season 4 DVD special features) While the final draft script for that episode made it clear the footage was to be reused (dictating Cochrane's physical appearance), the teleplay didn't make any outright statement that  seen in that episode was actually from the mirror universe.

Age and physical appearance 
↑ According to "Metamorphosis", Cochrane was eighty-seven years old when he arrived on Gamma Canaris N, 150 years before 2267, suggesting he was born in the year 2030 and disappeared in 2117. A library computer file in  uses these years, and this correlates with information provided in the  and the . However, according to the recording of the dedication of the Warp Five Complex in , Cochrane was still on Earth in 2119, establishing that the "hundred and fifty years" proposed in "Metamorphosis" was not given as an exact figure and making his earliest possible year of birth 2032. () According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 61), Zefram Cochrane left Earth in 2120, suggesting a year of birth in 2033.

The first draft script of , set in 2063, described Cochrane as "a man in his mid-forties."  However, James Cromwell was fifty-six years old during the production of the film, the final version of which is also set in 2063, meaning that the character is supposedly in his early thirties during the events of the film. The Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 81) accounted for this discrepancy by speculating that Cochrane's aged appearance in the movie was the result of radiation poisoning.

Theories 
At one stage, Star Trek writer and science consultant André Bormanis supposed that Cochrane may have discovered a source of dilithium crystals deep in the Earth's crust and might have invented the formula for verterium cortenide from which the Phoenixs warp coils were then fashioned. () In contrast, according to the earlier Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual (p. 17), dilithium was first discovered in 2049, from the fifth moon of Jupiter.

Brannon Braga once speculated that Cochrane "probably is instrumental in the formation of Starfleet." ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /)

James Cromwell has theorized that, prior to the first flight of the Phoenix, Cochrane had not planned to take the prototype warp craft into space himself, being merely a scientist and having never flown in space before. Proposing that the version of events demonstrated in First Contact constitute an alternate timeline, Cromwell went on to say, "Obviously, he does take it up himself, so something was supposed to happen, and in reality he would have made the choice anyway. Since they [the Enterprise-E crew] come back a little earlier than he had made that choice, he is frightened." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 29-30)

Likewise, in an audio commentary for First Contact available on the film's  and  releases, Anthony Pascale supposed that, prior to encountering the Enterprise-E crew, Cochrane "must have read a journal about time travel in , maybe before the Third World War, or something."

Trivia 
In , an illustration of Zefram Cochrane can be seen when Data is assimilating the Dixon Hill novels. This illustration was from the FASA RPG module The Federation.

Cochrane's first name was consistently spelled "Zephram" in the first draft script of  as well as the call sheets from the production of , and the final draft scripts of , , , and .   Similarly, in the film's credits, the character's surname is misspelled "Cochran". The final draft scripts of  and  spelled the character's full name "Zefram Cochrane".

Cochrane was mentioned in a scene deleted from , in which Picard quoted Cochrane as having said, "To seek out new life and new civilizations."

Cochrane is the only character to utter the phrase "star trek" in the franchise, which he does in First Contact, although Q does use the phrase "trek through the stars" in the  series finale, . The prospect of somehow working the phrase "star trek" into the franchise had been a secret fantasy of Rick Berman's for about the past eight years, but had proven challenging to carry out due to the oddness of the phrase. Brannon Braga offered, "We went round and round about that, [contemplating] whether it should just be 'trek,' 'star journey' [or something else]." (audio commentary, /) James Cromwell was conscious of whether the line sounded like a natural or intentional reference, stating, "Hopefully it came out [...] as, you know, searching for an idea." Cromwell believed that Cochrane saying the line while in a forested area helped make the reference sound natural, interesting, and somewhat fitting. ("The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" documentary featurette, /) However, audience response to the line, when the film was exhibited in movie theaters, was not only sometimes laughter but also occasionally groans. (audio commentary, /)

The first season South Park episode "Damien" references a line spoken by Cochrane in First Contact: "Don't try to be a great man, just be a man."

Apocrypha 
In the ization of "Metamorphosis" (as adapted by James Blish in Star Trek 7), Cochrane made mention of having been on  and professed, "I was always pretty much of a loner. Spent years in space by myself." After Spock outlined that he had concluded the Companion's homeworld was once a moon of some now-destroyed larger celestial body and was colonized by a highly advanced civilization, Cochrane agreed and attested that he had found some artifacts that corroborated these theories.

In the novelization of , it was suggested that Cochrane's alcoholism was not his only issue. He also suffered from bipolar disorder, a condition that had been treated with a cerebral implant that delivered the necessary medications. After World War III, however, Cochrane was unable to find either a way to refill the implant, nor a suitable replacement, so he took to self-medicating with alcohol. The crew of the Enterprise-E was able to stabilize his condition enough for him to complete his work on the Phoenix, and Beverly Crusher cured the disorder permanently, shortly before returning to the Enterprise. In addition, this novelization specified that Cochrane was born in the year 2013, as opposed to 2030 or 2032, which would be more consistent with actor James Cromwell's real-life age and countenance in the film.

The reasoning for Cochrane having a far more weathered and older appearance than his natural age had often been given in non-canon literature (most notably the Pocket Books novel ) as being a result of him suffering from radiation poisoning. In the comics story "A Warp in Space" (printed as the forty-ninth issue of Gold Key TOS), Cochrane was shown as an elderly-looking man, even in flashback events from "Metamorphosis", with no explanation given for the change in his appearance.

The novel First Frontier divulged that Cochrane accidentally stumbled on the secrets of the warp drive and that he had originally been looking for something else, though it was never indicated what he had been looking for, exactly.

A lot of the Star Trek literature of the 1980s describes Cochrane as a native of Alpha Centauri, which is inhabited by Preserver-transplanted Humans. The novel Memory Prime explains that "Zefram Cochrane" is an anglicized version of his true name: "Zeyafram Co'akran". FASA's RPG sourcebook The Federation gives his full name as "Zephram Edark Cochrane" and claims he was born in Lurivala, Alpha Centauri.

Cochrane appeared via flashback in the second issue of the comic crossover mini-series Star Trek vs. Transformers where he and Lily Sloane are shown witnessing the Autobots leaving Earth aboard the Titan Fortress Maximus during the beginning of World War III.

In the reference book Star Trek: Federation - The First 150 Years, Cochrane grew up with a love for science, as his parents, Jesse and Hilde Cochrane, were academics. He had a rough adolescence because of the fallout from various wars and conflicts and learned to internalize his love of science. As interest in science went down around the country, Cochrane got a job with a military contractor, at one of the last places with an active science lab. There, he began designing antimatter weapons, as he was fascinated with matter/antimatter reactions and it was the only way to access the latest research.

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