Star Trek Original Series Nyota Uhura Freecomputerdesktopwallpaper

Meet Nyota Uhura

Fans of the Star Trek: Original Series, Start Trek Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films as well as the 2009 Star Trek movie will no doubt know who Nyota Uruha is. This beautiful character was originally played by Nichelle Nichols. Nyota Uruha was played by Zoe Saldana in the 2009 Star Trek movie.

The original series featured a multicultural crew, of which Nyota Uruha was an important member. She was one of the first characters of African descent to be shown on an American television series.

The name Uhura is derived from the Swahili word uhuru, which means freedom. Nichelle Nichols has said that she brought a copy of the book Uhuru with her when she read for the part. This supposedly inspired Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to come up with the name Uruha.

Nyota Uruha’s first name remained a mystery until the 2009 Star Trek movie, when a young Spock called her Nyota. This was in an intimate moment that the two characters shared. The name first Nyota was the name most commonly used for Uhura. It was created by author William Rotsler, who used the name in his licensed tie-in book Star Trek II Biographies. The book was published by Wanderer (Pocket) Books in 1982. Rotsler sought the approval of both Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols. Roddenberry signified his approval, as did Nichelle Nichols. She was said to be thrilled when Rotsler told her that Nyota meant star in Swahili.

The name Nyota would appear in subsequent Star Trek novels. One novel by author Janet Kagan was even called Uhura’s Song. Nicholls went on to say that Nyota’s full name was Nyota Upenda Uhura. Uhura was also called by the first name Nyota when Nichols played her again in the Star Trek fan film Of Gods and Men. Other alternative first names for Uhura were Penda and Samara.

Uhura hails from the United States of Africa and is fluent in Swahili. She is classified as Bantu by both non-canon novels written by author James Blish and by Gene Roddenberry’s novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The character of Uhura was first seen in the Man Trap episode. She became part of the crew of the USS Enterprise as a lieutenant. She was also Captain Kirk’s chief communications officer. She later became a lieutenant commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. By the time that Star Trek II; The Wrath of Khan came out, Uhura had been promoted to full commander. Uhura played a key role in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock when she carried out an assignment in the transporter room. This was part of a scheme to steal the Enterprise. Uhura imprisoned a co-worker in a closet then used the transporter station to transport Kirk, Leonard McCoy and Hikaru Sulu to the Enterprise. The latter then used the ship to save Spock from the Genesis Planet.

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