Biographical Data:

U.S.S. Enterprise Second Officer Commander Data once estimated that Wil Riker uses traditional tactics only 21% of the time. After winning admission to the Academy, Riker began acquiring a lifelong reputation for unorthodox solutions when, during a simulation, he figured out a Tholian ship's sensor blind spot and successfully used it as a hiding place. Riker finished eighth in his graduating class at Starfleet Academy.

As an ensign on his first assignment, Riker had served under the now-Admiral Pressman on the test ship U.S.S. Pegasus and proved pivotal in defending his captain against a rare Starfleet mutiny before they and only a handful of others escaped, shortly after the ship's destruction during a shakedown test. It was some years later in 2370 that Pressman's renegade cloaking experiment was unmasked, and Riker was detained briefly for questioning on his involvement with the project, but was exonerated of any formal charges.

Riker was later stationed on Betazed until 2362, which was a posting that would launch a rapid rise in his career. Assigned to the starship U.S.S. Potemkin in 2362 as a lieutenant, Riker proved unorthodox again in avoiding a confrontation by stationing the ship over a planet's magnetic pole to confuse an opposing ship's sensors. Only six weeks after being assigned to the Potemkin, he barely escaped from Nervala IV, where his rescue of fellow crewmates led to a promotion and a switch from operations to command division. It was from this division he eventually became first officer of the U.S.S. Hood under Captain Robert DeSoto. During this assignment to the Hood, he was offered his first command on the light cruiser U.S.S. Drake, but declined the position.

Riker was later promoted to Commander and picked sight unseen from among 50 candidates by Captain Jean-Luc Picard as his First Officer onboard the new Galaxy class starship U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D. In fact, the two had never met until he signed aboard at Farpoint Station, after he was dropped off ther by the U.S.S. Hood.

It was aboard the Enterprise that Riker would truly come into his own as a Starfleet Officer. Riker grew so completely satisfied with his assignment under Picard, who dubbed him "Number One" according to old Terran naval parlance, that he twice turned down two more commands of his own: once to the scout ship U.S.S. Aries in 2365, and again to the ill-fated U.S.S. Melbourne a year later. Riker did, however, temporarily have a field promotion to Captain during the Borg crisis of 2366-67 during Picard's abduction. Ironically, he likely would have died on the Melbourne during the Borg massacre at Wolf 359 and would not have been present to play a major role during the Enterprise's final assault on the Borg in orbit of Earth. It was during this crisis that Riker would utilize his unorthodox strategies again, successfully rescuing Captain Picard from the Borg and eventually defeating the Borg.

Extremely knowledgeable of legal issues, Riker was pressed into presenting Starfleet's case against Data's independence as a sentient lifeform at Starbase 173 in 2365 and, two years later, defended first Crewman Tarses and then even Picard before Admiral Satie's inquiry in 2367. Riker also held the distinction of being the first human to serve aboard a Klingon starship in the Federation-Klingon exchange program of 2365, where he showed a keen knowledge of their culture and became one of the few to obtain Picard's "surrender."

Riker would later be given temporary command of the U.S.S. Excalibur in Picard's blockading fleet against Romulan involvement in the Klingon civil war of 2367-68, but Admiral Nechayev passed over him by placing Captain Jellico in command during Picard's abduction by the Cardassians in 2369. His harsh disagreements with Captain Jellico led to Riker being temporarily relieved of duty until he was called back by Jellico for Cardassian negotiations.

Riker's latter tour years on the U.S.S. Enterprise were filled with many more surprises. Aside from being drugged and made nearly insane by the Tilonians, captured and nearly killed by the xenophobic Malcorians on a first contact mission gone bad, abducted by solanagen-based aliens, and revealed for his role in the Pegasus incident, he discovered a duplicate of himself created as a transporter malfunction from the Nervala IV mission.

Ironically, the two Rikers clashed in temperament, with the "found" Riker finding his own restless career on the Gandhi before resigning to join the Maquis rebels and his subsequent capture by Cardassians in a failed theft of the U.S.S. Defiant from Deep Space Nine.

Riker would again give no thought to his own command and joined Captain Picard and the other senior staff aboard the new Sovereign class U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E. Though the incident has been classified, Riker also has the satisfaction of having joined Chief Engineer LaForge in the cockpit of Zefram Cochrane's warp test vehicle Phoenix during efforts to repair temporal damage caused by Borg in 2373.

Although Riker has a well-rounded personality and temperament, his mother's death when he was only 2 helped foster an quarrelsome 15-year separation from his father at age 15, when he left home. He had deeply missed his mother, but came to loathe the distance his father erected between them as his own means of grief. Their relationship resorted to an ongoing competition of activities such as fishing trips, and formally manifested itself in the martial art of Anbo-Jyutsu as way to work out their problems. The two began a tentative rapprochement in 2365 during a surprise encounter, where Riker discovered his father had nearly died in a Tholian attack in 2253. The family history includes a veteran of the Terran American Civil War, Col. Thaddeus "Iron Boots" Riker, who was wounded as commander of the 102nd New York at the Battle of Pine Mountain, serving in General W.T. Sherman's march to Atlanta in 1864.

Riker's knack for improvisation runs throughout his hobbies and interests as well. A master poker player and bluffer, he had learned the game during his brief stint on the U.S.S. Potemkin. His reputation won him the role as replacement Federation negotiator during the short-lived Barzan wormhole talks. He has also visited Quark's bar and casino on Deep Space 9, where in its first year of operation under Starfleet-Bajoran administration he was the only person to win a triple-down dabo.

Riker also possesses a keen musical talent as well and is proficient at the keyboards. His favorite musical instrument is the trombone. He especially loves jazz and has played for numerous shipboard functions and concerts, and he displays his trombone in his quarters along with a Risian horga'hn Picard once brought him, as well as a fishing reel. Under Dr. Crusher's direction, his acting talents have increased greatly since "Something for Breakfast" in 2369 until his riveting "Frame of Mind" performance only weeks later. Cooking is another of Rikers’ hobbies, thanks to the necessity of a father who hated to do it, and his language skills include basic Ferengi as well as Klingon. Generally, he claims to be inept at organizing his time off and, predictably, prefers to let events happen unplanned.

Aside from a string of incomplete female relationships, Riker's major romance last involved Counselor Deanna Troi, who began calling him "imzadi," the Betazoid word for "beloved," after they met during his Betazed mission. He had last seen her there the day before he shipped out on the U.S.S. Potemkin in 2362, but it would be two years before they were reunited again as fellow officers on the U.S.S. Enterprise. The two had planned to meet six months after his departure, but the Nervala IV incident interfered with that. His early feelings for Troi at that time can still be seen in his twin "Thomas." Riker professed a warm friendship for Troi in later years that occasionally blossomed into romance, but they generally stayed platonic, although Worf's surprising courtship of her in 2370 seemed never to have settled well with him.

Starfleet Career Summary:

2358 -- As ensign, first assigned to U.S.S. Pegasus test project under Capt. Erik Pressman.

2361 -- As lieutenant, stationed with Starfleet detachment on Betazed.

2362 -- Assigned to U.S.S. Potemkin; decorated for rescue of ship's away team on Nervalla IV six weeks later and promoted to lieutenant commander, transferring from operations to command division. Named first officer of U.S.S. Hood under Capt. Robert DeSoto.

2364 -- Promoted to commander, named first officer of U.S.S. Enterprise by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

2366 -- Temporary field promotion to captain by Adm. Hanson during Borg crisis.

2369 -- Accidental double, retaining rank of lieutenant from Nervala IV crisis, assigned to U.S.S. Gandhi and uses middle name "Thomas"2370 -- Temporarily detained due to earlier involvement with Pegasus project; charges dropped.

2371 -- Riker "twin" resigns Starfleet to join Maquis, leads raid on Orias III in captured U.S.S. Defiant and is imprisoned by Cardassians upon capture.

2372 -- Transferred with remainder of Picard's senior staff to Sovereign-class U.S.S. Enterprise.

2373 -- During attempt to repair Borg temporal sabotage with Earth first contact, acts as replacement flight crew for Zefram Cochran's Phoenix warp test.