- Willard Decker
Star Trek character|if=|Title = Willard Decker
bgcolor = #ccccff
Caption = Captain Willard Decker
Species =Human
Gender =Male
Affiliation =Starfleet
Posting = USS "Enterprise" commanding officer
USS "Enterprise" executive officer and science officer
Rank = Captain
Commander (reinstated to captain upon going MIA)
Portrayed =Stephen Collins Captain Willard "Will" Decker, played by
Stephen Collins , is a fictionalStarfleet officer who is briefly the commanding officer, and later executive officer, of the USS "Enterprise" in "".Development
Decker's basic character outline was originally developed as part of ' before that project became "The Motion Picture". Some of this character's elements are similar to those of
William Riker , the second in command of the USS "Enterprise"-D in '.Depiction
Willard Decker is the son of Commodore Matt Decker, [startrek.com, [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/MOV/001/character/1119268.html Character biography Willard Decker] , accessed April 20, 2007] who commands the USS "Constellation" in the "" episode "The Doomsday Machine".cite book|title=
The Star Trek Encyclopedia |author=Okuda, Mike and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek|publisher=Pocket Books|id=ISBN 0-671-53609-5|year=1999] Willard Decker was recommended by Rear AdmiralJames T. Kirk to command the USS "Enterprise" upon its refitting.In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", [cite episode|title=|year=1979] Decker loses command of the "Enterprise" to Admiral Kirk when
V'ger threatens Earth. Kirk demotes Decker to commander and executive officer. He also serves as science officer untilSpock rejoins the crew. Decker previously had a relationship with Deltan navigator Lieutenant Ilia, whom V'ger captures and uses as a template for a probe to interact with humans. Decker chooses to represent humanity as V'ger's creator, merging with V'ger in the process. Kirk orders both Decker and Ilia listed asmissing in action , and returns Decker to the rank of captain.Collins' reflections
Collins has stated that Star Trek fans forget he was captain of the "Enterprise" when they list the starship's captains.Fact|date=February 2007 He also said he would love to revisit the role to see what happened to Decker after he joins with V'Ger, but no one has approached him with any ideas.Fact|date=February 2007 In the special edition interview of the film, Collins mentioned that he felt out of place working with the "Star Trek" cast, a feeling that he used in his characterization of Decker, as he felt that Decker was something of an outsider within the crew.Fact|date=February 2007
References
External links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
