Talk:Pavel Chekov

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Is Chekov from Russia? In one of the books, Crisis on Centaurus, it was clearly stated that he's from a Russian lunar colony. Tualha 23:44, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Even if you accept that novel as canonical, it's not really important. Chekov is firmly grounded in Russian culture; he goes out of his way to mention Russian locations ("This place is better than Leningrad!") and historical figures ("Peter the Great once had a problem like that"). Regardless of whether he was was born on the Moon, he clearly considers himself Russian in every way that matters. -- Pat Berry 23:12, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I clearly recall a scene from Star Trek IV where Chekov continued to pronounce "vessels" as "wessels". As this is unlikely with a Russian accent (it's something more likely with Polish or Bulgarian), does anyone have any ideas? Xyzzyva 23:29, May 21, 2005 (UTC)

While we have both sounds (v and w, however written differently), I think only a very stupid Pole might mispronounce v as w. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.218.41.190 (talk) 16:44, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If it helps, the actor's family immigrated from Lithuania

Incidentally, other sources state that he's from St. Petersberg.

List of what Chekov has credited to Mother Russia

I've got a list started of things Chekov has credited to Russia. I put the ones in that I remembered, if anyone has more I'd hope they would add them to the list.
JesseG 07:21, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

You forgot Wikipedia. ;)--Kross^Talk 23:35, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Needs to be cleaned up

There is a section that has:

addendum: The Generations script was hastily written. The parts were intended for Captain Spock and Doctor McCoy. Nimoy refused to be a bit player, and Kelly is rumored to have said, "If he's out, I'm out." Chekov was given McCoy's dialog, Scotty was given Spock's. Hence the two mistakes: Calling Chekov "captain", and the dialog to Scotty, "I'm glad you're an engineer instead of a psychiatrist." Later, after the El-Aurian's are aboard the Enterprise-B, Chekov drafts the reporters into nurses. More McCoy dialog. Wiki-police: Reference the Starlogs and special "Generations" magazines of the time.

This is not properly formatted, but I have no time to fix it.

- jptdrake

Koenig background

The Koenig article indicates that his family is Russian, but they claimed Lithuanian heritage during the McCarthy era. $20 says, however, that the Koenig article is quoting from the IMDb biography, and IMDb isn't exactly always right. Has anyone here actually read his autobiography or have a more reputable source one way or the other? If not, I'd suggest omitting Koenig's ethnicity; anyone who's curious can look at that article, and we can avoid discrepancy between the two. --EEMeltonIV 20:23, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

I've read his book, and he's from Lithuania, but is of Russian-Jewish descent [LMA].

Nuclear Wessels

The explanation in the text misses a possibility; that Chekov, a Russia, overcompensates for the lack of a 'w' sound in Russian, and thus makes the mistake of pronouncing 'v' as 'w'. Either that, or he learned English from someone with a specific working-class-London accent that confuses spoken 'v' and 'w'. Argyriou (talk) 17:32, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

There's also the possibility of phonetic shift in Russia between now and the 23rd century... - furrykef (Talk at me) 07:32, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

The problem with the v-sound in Russian is that it is actually different from what English speakers perceive to be a v-sound. In Russian there is a sound 'v' (in Cyrillic 'B') which is like a 'v' in our language but is pronounced between both lips rather than with the top teeth on the bottom lip as in English. This means that Russian speakers can sound like they are mixing up the 'v' and 'w' sound when they are speaking English. In fact they are making the same sound, which sounds very much like a 'v' to English native speakers when we are expecting to hear 'w' and vice-versa when we are expecting to hear 'v'. In the examples given in the article 'Washington' will indeed sound to us like 'Vashington' but 'Vermont' will sound like 'Wermont'

As he is the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants I assume that Mr Koenig is pronouncing these sounds exactly as a Russian would. I have studied Russian and have spent time in Russian-speaking areas and would say that his pronounciation as Mr Chek(h)ov sounds convincing.

The name Chekov is a bit of a problem though. It could be a Russianisation of the name of someone of Turkic origin or a bastardisation of Chekhov, which is a moderately common name in Russia. As one of Russia's leading literary figures though, Chekhov's name suggests a slight laziness in the scriptwriting. Imagine a Russian Star Trek with an English Lieutenant Shakespeare or Dickens ...... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.41.187.219 (talk) 01:26, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

recall that we had both a DOG and a PORN STAR named "Beethoven"...sometimes writers just find these amusing, i guess. 66.105.218.6 (talk) 02:12, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

This joke always falls flat with me. My Russian grandmother happened to name one of my uncles "Victor," and not once did I ever hear her mispronounce it as "Wicktor." -Greg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.84.8.94 (talk) 11:22, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

As someone pointed out above, the Russian letter represented by Cyrillic В в can sometimes sound more "v"-like but sometimes more "w"-like, depending on factors like its position in the word. Notably, in the given name Pavel (Павел), the "v" typically sounds like a "w", so that the name more or less rhymes with "towel", and is a homonym with the English surname "Powell". (Rather than rhyming with "gavel" or "hovel".)

And incidentally, I suspect most native Russian speakers who study English would argue that the "th" sounds in "with" and "that" are actually the most difficult English consonant sounds to pronounce correctly -- so real-life Russians might have trouble with word pairs like "thick" and "sick" (or "then" and "den"), but by comparison, distinguishing "vet" from "wet" is pretty easy for them. Throbert McGee (talk) 18:33, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Pravda story

The snopes references doesn't go so far as saying this is outright false. Certainly it is a story that goes back a long way, appearing in a 1968 book, and the Inside Story by Solow/Justman doesn't really try to debunk it - indeed it reproduces a letter Roddenberry sent to Pravda. It might be an interesting project for someone to search Pravda back-issues. :)

But anyway, most sources are relatively open about the whole Monkees thing as well. Poor Koenig had to wear a wig at first! So the whole "Roddenberry made up this story to disguise an attempt to cash in on the Monkees" spin isn't really justified by the sources. Morwen - Talk 18:11, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Quote Section

The first quote from "Mirror, Mirror" should either be taken out, or noted that the line came from Mirror Chekov and not Chekov himself. ST Intergalactic 04:43, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Name

I'm not sure that the name section is stated in quite the right way. "Chekov" (no "h") appears to be one of several ways in which Anton Chekhov's surname was historically transliterated into English, although it is no longer the most common way. Incidentally, babelfish.altavista.com seems to think that "Чеков" means "checks", although it isn't clear if it means bank checks, checkmarks, or to check on something. 70.20.207.70 (talk) 06:03, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

"Чеков" is a form of "чек" which is essentially "a bill" in Russian. I'd say that "Chekhov" is closer to Russian pronunciation of "Чехов" and "Chekov" should spell "Чеков" in Russian. Another thing to consider is that there is no "Андрейвич" patronymic in Russian. The correct one is "Андреевич". --Dr rus (talk) 22:37, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Is there any precedent for "Чеков" being a name? --Lazar Taxon (talk) 22:00, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

While googling, I found few "Чеков" as a name. But to my knowlage in all existing Russian translations "Chekov" always translated as "Чехов" (Chekhov).
Regarding etymology of the name "Чеков" - two russian words occured to me. First, already mentioned before "чек" (pronounced as "check" and have only two meanings: cheque from bank, and sales slip. For other meanings of the English word "check" ("to check something", "to checkmark", "checkmate" in chess) another Russian words exist). Second - "чека" ("checka"), which have only meaning "pin" (e.g. safety pin for the grenade).
But important is not our thoughts, but what thinks Roddenberry when choose this name. --MYury (talk) 10:02, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Oh good grief, it refers to the Czech people. From the Czech Republic, formerly Czechoslovakia, formerly Bohemia. Presumably one of his ancestors was from that part of the world. Nothing to do with checks, cheques, Cheka, or anything else. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 12:14, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Joining this discussion after a similar one on HebrewWiki, the official Netflix Russian translation was "Чехов" (see here). On RussianWiki it's also Чехов, and the same is true for Memory Alpha. I think we can safely change the Russian name to Чехов. GHA (talk) 10:46, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Gags

I couldn't help but notice that the Gags section failed to mention the films. There is a running gag in the movie versions of Star Trek which feature Chekov, where he is always the member of the classic crew who manages to be seriously injured. In TMP, he is electrocuted. In II, he's got a sandworm boring it's way into his brain. I haven't seen III in ages, so I don't remember what happened to him in that one. In IV, he falls off one of the elevators of the Enterprise onto the dock and cracks his skull. In V, he gets brainwashed by whatshisname. I believe he managed to get through VI and Generations without incident, though. Am I alone in thinking that this is the sort of thing that warrants mentioning? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.66.146.104 (talk) 22:55, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Page move

Please restore this page to Pavel Chekov from Chekov (Star Trek) immediately. It was an entirely appropriate location consistent with the naming conventions for the other characters within the Wikiproject. The claim that the character is "better known" as just "Chekov" is a dubious and unsubstantiated claim. --EEMIV (talk) 03:23, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

It's ridiculous to use "(Star Trek)" as a disambiguator when the character's first name is known and available for use. I think the manual of style is clear on that point. Powers ^T 12:05, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

• Support Pavel Chekov is pretty well known. 70.29.208.129 (talk) 06:38, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose Although "Pavel Chekov" may be well known to the cognescenti, I doubt that the majority of ordinary readers will know who is being referred to. "Checkov (Star Trek)", on the other hand, is perfectly clear to both Trekkers and the general public. "Pavel Chekov (Star Trek)" would be OK. Ed Fitzgerald _{t / c} 07:58, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
  • "Pavel Chekov (Star Trek)" is completely unnecessary because "Pavel Chekov" is not an ambiguous title. We only use disambiguating phrases when necessary. Powers ^T 15:12, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
• Support Other characters (and not just Star Trek ones) have their full names as their articles (e.g. Star Wars character Palpatine). - Presidentman (talk) Random Picture of the Day 10:51, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
• Support, there is no "cognescenti" owning this article, the full name Pavel Chekov has been used in the series and movies for some time. See also Hikaru Sulu Alastairward (talk) 15:06, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
• Support, with no hard feelings to original mover. YeshuaDavid (talk) 22:34, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
• Strong support; this page should never have been moved in the manner it was, especially without any discussion. (If not for the ongoing discussion, I'd have just moved it back right away.) --Ckatz^chat_spy 01:09, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Comment I've actually moved it back to Pavel Chekov, due to yet another undiscussed move (to Pavel Chekov (Star Trek)) by the editor who moved it in the first place. This should be OK, given the direction the discussion is going. However, if consensus does in fact select another location, please let me know and I (or any other admin) can move it there. --Ckatz^chat_spy 03:26, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Origin of Pavel

Where did the name Pavel come from? I don't remember ever hearing it on Star Trek TOS. The Wikipedia articles on Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura tell us how their first name got introduced into the Star Trek canon, but this one doesn't. Does anyone know? —MiguelMunoz (talk) 04:01, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Kirk calls him "Pavel" in the hospital in Star Trek IV, and then I think Chekov himself says it as he regains consciousness. Might come up earlier in the franchise, but I'm not sure. --EEMIV (talk) 11:53, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm too lazy to click on the other characters' articles, but I'm going to guess one of the reasons those two characters have some coverage of their name is because a) George Takei made a big deal in interviews and his autobiography about his character not getting a first name until Star Trek VI and b) kinda-similar for Uhura, who I think had several suggested first names in the Star Trek novels and EU. *shrug* I think for both, their kind of trivial; even more so here. --EEMIV (talk) 11:56, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Russian/Czech

Any IP editor keeps changing phrasing to call Chekov Czech. All the third-party commentary/sources, and the in-universe plot points, call him Russian. Whether that jibes with what "makes sense" in terms of real-world etymology really doesn't matter. --EEMIV (talk) 15:02, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

When the series was made, Czech was part of Russia, a satellite state of them anyway. History of Czechoslovakia (1948–89). In this timeline it was still part of Russia. Just like in the 1990s the Eugenics Wars took place. The Star Trek universe isn't real world history. Dream Focus 02:05, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

He was Ukrainian. All famous Russians are actually Ukrainian, including Igor Sikorsky, Anton Chekhov, and Nikolai Gogol. BilCat (talk) 18:29, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Birthdate

The article mentions that Chekov was born in 2241 but Memory Alpha and the official Star Trek webaite have it at 2245.165.120.233.36 (talk) 22:31, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

Character biography

I think the content in the ‘Character Biography’ section needs some serious rewriting. Firstly, it specifically lists all the times Chekov loses his mind/is subject to mind control. However, I haven’t read anywhere that this happens to Chekov more than it happens to other characters. For instance:

- Sulu loses his mind in Catspaw, The Naked Time, The Return of the Archons, and in And the Children Shall Lead

- Spock loses his mind in This Side of Paradise, Amok Time, and in Spock’s Brain

- Kirk loses his mind in Dagger of the Mind and in The Paradise Syndrome

This is just a common recurring theme in Star Trek TOS, and does not constitute a significant part of Chekov’s character.

Also, I don’t think that Chekov losing fights to creatures stronger than him is a running gag, and I don’t think it’s particularly notable that Chekov was depicted as being attracted to beautiful women in a couple of episodes (the same is true of literally every male character).

Instead, I think this section should contain more actual info about the character’s history: e.g. was born in Russia, is an only child, had a romantic relationship with Irina Galliulin at the Starfleet Academy, his career in Starfleet throughout the show & movies (his time as Science Officer of the USS Enterprise), etc. Spaghettication (talk) 04:16, 27 October 2023 (UTC)