With the release of the trailer for Starfleet Academy came a closer look at the school’s wall of heroes (unofficial name, obviously)—the glowing, epic list of important players in Starfleet history. In an earlier image, Commander Beckett Mariner stood out; the Lower Decks character did good! Her real-life counterpart, actor Tawny Newsome, somehow rose even higher in the ranks: In the 32nd century, she’s listed as an admiral.
The (presumably final) ranking of more than one character (or behind-the-scenes name) is a source of some curiosity—or glee. Admiral Harry Kim (Voyager) made it past ensign! Demora Sulu (Generations) also achieved the rank of captain, but of which ship? When, how, and why did Montgomery Scott (TOS) become a captain? How did Julian Bashir (Deep Space 9) and Tom Paris (Voyager) stay lieutenants forever? Is Commander Zero the Third the same Zero from Prodigy, or perhaps a descendant?
More than a few of these characters are folks who met unfortunate fates before they could move up the ranks, among them Ellen Landry, Discovery’s chief of security, who died at the hands (feet?) of a massive alien tardigrade. Her peers in early demise include Tasha Yar, the Enterprise-D’s chief of security on The Next Generation, and Deep Space 9’s Riley Shepard, the helmsman on the Valiant, killed by a Jem’Hadar ship.
And then there’s very special boy Wesley Crusher (The Next Generation). Crusher technically belongs among those whose careers ended early—though less in death than in mysterious vanishing. Presumably Starfleet included him here because his fate is tragically unknown to them, and not because he fucked off with the Travelers and went on to pop up in unexpected places. (Could even pop up on Starfleet Academy, for that matter.)
Lieutenant Nog also deserves a mention. The Ferengi from Deep Space 9 was promoted to lieutenant junior grade by Benjamin Sisko just before Sisko went to join the Prophets—a fate also referenced in the Starfleet Academy trailer. His non-canonical promotion to captain in the Deep Space 9 documentary What We Left Behind apparently wasn’t official enough to earn him captain’s rank here, but he did also get a spaceship named after him.
A lot of big names are missing from this board, which is absolutely mystifying in terms of who appears on it and in what order. We choose to believe it cycles through names, and there are plenty more presently unseen. Presumably the most famous captains have entire wings of the school named after them. Kirk, as we’ve seen, gets a pavilion, so maybe there’s a Picard dorm? A Janeway annex?
Notably, the only visible character from Discovery—which takes place at the same time as Starfleet Academy—is Commander Hugh Culber. “Commander” was his title when we last saw him in Discovery‘s finale, but his presence on the wall is enough to make you wonder: Is he still alive? Did something terrible happen to him? Or are all of Discovery’s crew on there somewhere, just waiting for their moment to glow? Is this wall only for the dead, and is he on there because he was dead?
Don’t hurt Hugh, show! He’s been through enough.
Starfleet Academy premieres in 2026 on Paramount+.
