TOS Nyota Uhura is a rare engineering officer in the TOS Enterprise Crew in Star Trek Fleet Command.
The character that Nichelle Nichols made famous, and one that has inspired generations is here.
Captain’s Maneuver
Sorry, Neither – When fighting players, as long as the ship has Morale, TOS Nyota Uhura decreases the opponent’s Critical Hit Chance by 10%.
With synergy, you can get this even higher. Keep in mind the way critical hit chances work. Each ship has a base critical hit chance. This chance can be increased with technology, and officers can increase this even more. The reason Khan is so valuable is that he can increase this in a long battle to close to 100%.
What TOS Uhura will do is take 10% off this chance, so long as your ship has Morale. So a ship with anything less than 10% critical hit chance won’t score any critical hits against you.
By the way, in case you’re curious about the origins of “Sorry, Neither,” it’s a reference to a line ad-libbed by Nichelle Nichols in “The Naked Time.”
Officer Ability
Modulation Frequency Found – When fighting players, as long as the ship has Morale, TOS Nyota Uhura removes (8%, 10%, 12%, 16%, 20%) from the Shield Mitigation of the opponent’s ship. (Shield Mitigation determines the amount of damage dealt to the shield health.)
This one’s a little complicated, so I’ll do my best to explain. This will increase the amount of damage that your opponent’s shield takes, and will drain their shield faster, leading to more damage to their hull, and helping you defeat them faster.
On the origins of “modulation frequency,” it’s been reported that Nicholls hated having to say “hailing frequencies open” repeatedly. To the point where Gene Roddenberry wrote an in-joke about it into The Man Trap, where Uhura says, “Sometimes I think if I hear that word ‘frequency’ once more, I’ll cry“
Uhura Trivia
I’m working on a longer Nichelle Nichols profile, that’s going to be included in the Enterprise Crew Uhura article that I’ve been working on over the weekend. I’d hoped to have it completed today, but family obligations limited my time over the weekend. And rather than rush out bio of Nichols, I’m going to hold off until it’s completed. So here’s a bit of backround of the origins of the character of Uhura.
Unlike Kirk and Spock, Uhura didn’t appear in either of the two Star Trek pilots, The Cage or Where No Man Has Gone Before.
Instead, she debuted in the third episode, The Corbomite Maneuver. And she didn’t even appear in the final draft of that script. She was added later. And, she debuted in a gold command uniform.
The name of the character, Uhura, came from a discussion between Gene Rodenberry and Nichelle Nicholls before her audition. It derives from the Swahili word, “Uhuru,” which means freedom. Rodenberry and Nicholls had both read the 1962 novel Uhuru by Robert Ruark, and liked the name.
The first name of the character, Nyota, (which means “star” in Swahili) was never used in the Original Series, or in any of the films featuring the original cast. It first appeared in the 1982 book Star Trek II: Biographies. It first appeared onscreen in the 2009 JJ Abrams version of Star Trek.
Other than Chekov, who didn’t appear until season two, Uhura was the last main character to be cast.
(Author’s note… can we please get a Chekov in this game, please. He’s got the best lines. I mean really, “Absolutely I will not interfere!”)
For the first season of the show, she did little more than work the communications console. The role was expanded in the second season, and finally had an established background in the second season writer’s guide.
Communications officer Uhura was born in the United States of Africa. Quick and intelligent, she is a highly efficient officer and expert in all ships’ systems related to communications. Uhura is also a warm, highly female female off duty. She is something of a favorite in the Recreation Room during off-duty hours too, because she sings – old ballads as well as the newer space ballads – and she can do an impersonation at the drop of a communicator.