Chris Pine’s Kirk Won The Star Trek Dare That Made Him Join Starfleet

Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) joined Starfleet on a dare, and he won that dare by the end of Star Trek (2009). Director J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek: The Original Series and recast its iconic characters with younger faces like Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Set in the alternate Kelvin timeline, Star Trek (2009) launched Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the USS Enterprise on a mission to stop the Romulan time-traveling villain Nero (Eric Bana) from destroying the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek (2009) was a new origin of how James T. Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise. But first, Kirk had to join Starfleet. In this parallel Star Trek timeline, Jim grew up without a father. Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) sacrificed himself to save the USS Kelvin's crew from Nero. After a bar fight with a group of Starfleet Cadets, Jim Kirk was encouraged by Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to enlist in Starfleet. Pike told the young Kirk, "Your father was captain of a starship for 12 minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better."

Chris Pine’s Kirk Won Captain Pike’s Dare In Star Trek (2009)

Kirk Outdid His Father's Heroism

By the end of Star Trek (2009), James T. Kirk won his bet with Captain Pike. Although Kirk stowed away aboard the USS Enterprise, Jim fully grasped the threat Nero posed to the Federation. After Nero destroyed Vulcan, Kirk attempted to assert himself to lead a counterattack as Nero targeted Earth. Despite conflicts with Commander Spock, Kirk and the Vulcan put aside their differences. Together, Kirk and Spock led the Starship Enterprise to defeat Nero and save Earth and the Federation.

Kirk was promoted to Captain of the Enterprise at the end of Star Trek (2009), officially winning Captain Pike's dare to "do better" than his father. Lt. George Kirk's heroism saved the crew of the USS Kelvin, including the newborn Jim and his mother, Winona Kirk (Jennifer Morrison). But Jim Kirk's boldness saved billions of lives, not just the people of Earth but the other Federation worlds Nero would have surely targeted next. James T. Kirk was also Captain of a starship for far longer than twelve minutes.

Captain Kirk’s Dare Became A Problem In Star Trek Beyond

Kirk Got Older Than His Father Ever Got To Be

A year after beating Nero, Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise saved Earth again from Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Star Trek Into Darkness. Further, Kirk prevented the corrupt Admiral Alexander Marcus' (Peter Weller) plot to militarize Starfleet and start a war with the Klingons. Four years later, in Star Trek Beyond, however, Captain Kirk was despondent. In the midst of the Enterprise's five-year mission of exploration, Kirk realized, "I'm older now than my father ever was" and he questioned his purpose in Starfleet.

Kirk applied for a promotion to Vice Admiral, which would mean leaving the Starship Enterprise to command the massive USS Yorktown starbase. However, after overcoming a plot by Star Trek Beyond's villain, Krall (Idris Elba), to destroy Yorktown, Kirk regained his faith that his place was with the crew of the newly built USS Enterprise-A as its Captain. It's hard to imagine where J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Kelvin Timeline would be if James T. Kirk didn't accept and win Captain Pike's dare.