From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chakotay
Commander Chakotay
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Eye color:	Brown
Affiliation:	Starfleet (2348 – 2368, 2371-present) Maquis (2369 – 2371)
Posting:	Starfleet instructor Val Jean commanding officer USS Voyager first officer
Rank:	Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Commander (provisional)
Serial number:	47-A-612
Portrayed by:	Robert Beltran

Chakotay, played by Robert Beltran in Star Trek: Voyager, is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe, and is the first officer of the USS Voyager.

Chakotay was born in 2329. As a boy, Chakotay resented his Native American tribe's and father Kolopak's traditions and spirituality and dreamed of entering Starfleet Academy, which he finally managed at 15 (Voy: "Tattoo"). He attended Starfleet Academy from 2344 to 2348 where he engaged in the sport of boxing. During his tenure in Starfleet, he was assigned as an instructor in Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 2370, Chakotay's home planet in the Demilitarized Zone was taken over by the Cardassians. He subsequently resigned from Starfleet and joined the Maquis. During his time as a renegade fighter against the Cardassians, Chakotay inducted into his Maquis cell the half-Klingon woman B'Elanna Torres who became his chief engineer. He also invited a Bajoran named Seska and the two became intimate for a time. However, unknown to Chakotay, Seska was actually a Cardassian spy who had been surgically altered to infiltrate the Maquis.

Chakotay was captain of the Val Jean raider (Voy: "Repression"). This vessel is destroyed after both it and Voyager are transported to the Delta Quadrant. Voyager's commanding officer, Captain Kathryn Janeway, appoints Chakotay as Voyager's first officer with the provisional rank of lieutenant commander (Voy: "Caretaker"). Janeway and Chakotay eventually become close friends, though in the second season episode "Resolutions", they experienced romantic tension when they entered a state of self-exile on a planet after contracting a fatal virus that would run its course if they left that planet. After several weeks on that planet, however, the Voyager crew managed to find a cure for it, and they returned to the ship. Chakotay's calm and insightful demeanor made him a respected officer. Near the end of Voyager's seven-year journey in the Delta Quadrant, the former Borg drone Seven of Nine chose Chakotay to be the object of her affections in her continuation of her rediscovery of her humanity.

In an alternate future in the Voyager series finale, Endgame, Chakotay died in 2394. However, the episode's events preclude that particular timeline from developing.

In the Voyager relaunch novels, written by Christie Golden, Chakotay is promoted two steps in rank after the ship returns home, and is now Captain of Voyager. (All of Voyager's Maquis contingent, Chakotay included, were given full amnesty for any crimes they may have committed while in the Maquis.) Tom Paris serves as Chakotay's first officer.

• Chakotay article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
• Startrek.com Link to Chakotay