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"Number One" was the nickname given by Captain Christopher Pike to his first officer on the USS Enterprise. While Number One served in this role, she held the rank of lieutenant. She was noted for her exceptional intelligence and rationality, and Captain Pike regarded Number One as the most experienced officer on the Enterprise.
In 2254, When Captain Pike was kidnapped by the Talosians, Number One led the effort to rescue him, first by attempting to blast open the entry to the Talosian underground lair with a laser cannon, and then by using the transporter in an attempt to infiltrate it. Number One was subsequently kidnapped, along with Yeoman Colt, for the purpose of providing Pike with a mate with whom he could procreate. In response to this, Number One set her laser pistol to overload, telling the the Talosian Keeper that it was wrong to keep a colony of Humans as slaves, and that they would rather die. This, combined with an examination of the Enterprise's historical records, convinced the Talosians that humans' unique hatred of captivity made them unviable subjects, and they were subsequently allowed to return to the Enterprise. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II")
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Appendices
Background information
It is rare that an officer with the rank of lieutenant serves as the first officer of a starship. The likely reason for this is that, when Gene Roddenberry first created Star Trek, the first rank structure he employed was based on the system used in the 18th and 19th century British navy, in which a ship's second in command was generally a First Lieutenant in the sense of the most senior lieutenant, rather than 20th century naval ranks we have come to associate with Starfleet.
Number One was portrayed by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, credited as Majel Barrett in "The Cage," but as "M. Leigh Hudec" in "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II" (possibly in order to not confuse her with regular character Christine Chapel played by Barrett at that time in the series).
Number One was dropped from the series as NBC executives did not respond well to her character. Reactions to her in the screen test of "The Cage" were also poor (the women more negatively than the men, according to Roddenberry). Her highly-logical, steel-trap mind was given to the character of Spock in (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") and maintained there onward.
Apocrypha
In the Marvel Star Trek: Early Voyages comic book series she is named Lieutenant Commander Robbins. Her first name is interrupted by other dialogue, but starts with "Eure-."
In the novel Vulcan's Glory by TOS writer D.C. Fontana suggested this name was not simply a nickname or title – she was an Ilyrian who was named "Number One," as the best intellect among her generation.
In the Captains Table novel Where Sea Meets Sky, Number One was given the last name Lefler (an allusion to Robin Lefler).
Peter David's New Frontier series of novels suggested that her name (at least in the 24th century) may have been "Morgan Primus," and that she was an immortal like Flint (from TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah"). She was the mother of Robin Lefler.
The early days of Number One are currently being chronicled in Crew.
External links
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