Difference between revisions of "Harcourt Fenton Mudd"
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Latest revision as of 04:30, 29 August 2023
| Species | Human |
| Sex | Male |
| Police Record Code | X731248 |
| Height | 6 feet, 1 inch |
| Weight | 240 pounds |
| Hair | Brown |
| Eyes | Brown |
| First Appearance | TOS04 (13 Oct 1966) |
| Portrayed by | Roger C. Carmel (TOS04, 42; TAS08 (Voice)) Rainn Wilson (DSC05, 07; STK03) |
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Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd was a Human criminal in the 23rd century.[1] During the Klingon War, Mudd was captured by the Klingons. The Klingons entertained themselves by giving their captives a choice: they could take a beating, or choose another prisoner to take it for them; Mudd invariably chose someone else to take his beatings, and began to act as a spy for the Klingons against the Starfleet prisoners placed into his cell. When Captain Gabriel Lorca effected an escape from the Klingon prison ship with the aid of Lieutenant Ash Tyler, Lorca left Mudd behind, locking him in the cell as he and Tyler left.[2]
Mudd, who had a penchant for escaping captivity against seemingly insurmountable odds,[3] concocted an elaborate scheme to get revenge upon Lorca. Somehow acquiring a time crystal to power a device that caused time to repeatedly loop back upon itself, but leave him immune to the effect, he hid a shuttle inside of a space whale, which was then taken in by the U.S.S. Discovery NCC-1031. Commanded by Lorca, the ship possessed an experimental spore drive that was proving to be a decisive weapon for the Federation in the Klingon War. After killing Lorca dozens of times, and in dozens of different ways, he planned to seize control of the ship, which he would then present as a trophy to the Klingon Empire. The Discovery crew, however, was able to circumvent Mudd's plans, and instead of contacting the Klingons, his signal instead went to Barron Grimes, father of his paramour, Stella, and someone to whom Mudd was in significant debt. Mudd was left in Grimes' (and Stella's) custody.[4]
Mudd escaped once more, and this time enacted a scheme where he disguised himself as a bounty hunter, sold off an android duplicate of himself to another party for "a cut of the bounty," then disappeared before the fraud was discovered. He managed to pull the scheme off at least a half dozen times.[3]
On Stardate 1329.1, Mudd was arrested by Captain Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 on charges of operating a spacecraft without a navigational beam (presenting a hazard to navigation to other ships), operating a spacecraft without a license (as his license had been suspended on Stardate 1116.4), trafficking in narcotics, and for outstanding charges of transport of stolen goods and purchase of a space vessel with counterfeit currency. Mudd had previously had psychiatric treatment, but its effectiveness was disputed. When the Enterprise first encountered Mudd, he was operating under the pseudonym of Leo Francis Walsh, but it was soon revealed that the real Leo Walsh had passed away, and Mudd stole the other man's identity.[1]
During that encounter, Mudd was discovered to have given an illegal Venus drug to three women who wanted to be wiving settlers, planning to make a handsome fee from brokering their arranged marriages on Ophiucus III, but when his stolen ship was destroyed fleeing pursuit by the Enterprise, he instead brokered a deal with three miners on Rigel XII. By the time his fraud was exposed, two of the men had already married two of the women via subspace radio, though Kirk was confident the marriages could be annulled if they so chose.[1]
Mudd somehow escaped from prison after that encounter, and attempted to sell a Vulcan patent to the Denebians, who proscribed the death penalty to nearly every infraction. Escaping, he found an uncharted planet, which was inhabited by thousands of androids. With the androids obeying his every command, he attempted to seize control of the Enterprise. Instead, the Starfleet crew turned the tables on Mudd and his androids, and rather than take him back to prison once again, Captain Kirk left him in the custody of 500 android duplicates of his wife, Stella.[5]
Mudd managed to escape yet again, and attempted to sell Starfleet Academy to the Ilyrians. He also conned the natives of a planet in Omega Cygni into buying their own ocean, then tricked dilithium miners out of their crystals with fake Federation currency vouchers. When the Enterprise found him once more, he was selling what he thought to be a fake love potion to the miners on Motherlode. By the time he discovered that the potion actually worked, he had been captured by the Enterprise crew and bemoaned the lost opportunity to become wealthy by selling it. He was once again remanded to a penal facility for rehabilitation.[6]
Image Gallery
Notes and References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "Mudd's Women". Star Trek, season 1, episode 6 (Production number 04). Directed by Harvey Hart. Written by Stephen Kandel. Desilu Productions. 13 October 1966.
- ↑ Fuller, Bryan et al (Executive Producers). "Choose Your Pain". Star Trek: Discovery, season 1, episode 5 (Production number 05). Directed by Lee Rose. Story by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Kemp Powers. CBS Entertainment. 15 October 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kurtzman, Alex et al (Executive Producers). "The Brightest Star". Star Trek: Short Treks, season 1, episode 3 (Production number 03). Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski. Written by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt. CBS Entertainment. 6 December 2018.
- ↑ Fuller, Bryan et al (Executive Producers). "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad". Star Trek: Discovery, season 1, episode 7 (Production number 07). Directed by David M. Barrett. Written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander. CBS Entertainment. 29 October 2017.
- ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "I, Mudd." Star Trek, Season 2, Episode 12. Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Stephen Kandel. Desilu Productions, 3 November 1967.
- ↑ Scheimer, Lou & Norm Prescott (Producers). "Mudd's Passion". Star Trek: The Animated Series, season 1, episode 10 (Production number 08). Directed by Hal Sutherland. Written by Stephen Kandel. Filmation Associates. 10 November 1973.
