Part of creating a complex and far-reaching universe such as that found within the fiction world of the Star Trek franchise, is adding a ridiculous amount of detail. It’s one thing to create a world where things happen, and there is a history to the people, and all the characters are well written and interesting. But it's another when a created universe really shines with all the small details that most may overlook. It’s the difference between introducing the idea of a warp drive that allows for faster than light travel, and creating an entire fictionalized science to explain how exactly it works.
One such sprinkling of flavor the shows are very good at adding are the various different Starfleet maneuvers, scenarios, and teachings that seemingly all cadets who want a pip on their collar must learn. These are not just throwaway names for meaningless tests or situation training. They are fleshed-out exercises or theoretical situations that stand up even outside the fictional universe. Perhaps the most famous of these (aside from the Riker maneuver), or at least one of the most referenced, is that of the Kobayashi Maru. What exactly was it, and why is it so important?
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The Kobayashi Maru was a scenario designed for those who were in training for command. It was for the best of the best at the academy, who needed to be grilled and worked hard to make them into the great captains that Starfleet needed them to be. The scenario was famous not for the elegance of the solution or for the adventure of it, but rather because it was designed never to be won.
Its purpose, then, was not to test the cadets' ability to win. Rather, it was a trial of their character and command style, and decision-making abilities in an impossible situation. While the appearance of the test changed over the years, the scenario stayed fundamentally the same. The cadet would be placed in command of a Federation ship which receives a distress signal from the civilian ship Kobayashi Maru. Their call comes from the Klingon neutral zone (still in a time when the Federation and the Klingon empire were at war). As the cadet's ship is the only one in range, they jump into action, forced to enter the neutral zone to rescue the ship. However, this violates the neutral zone treaties, so the ship is soon confronted by a Klingon vessel.
Depending on the wits of the cadet, the outcome here can change, but most often this interaction ends with a fight. Even if they manage to avoid this confrontation, it is widely considered to be impossible to avoid the fight, save the Kobayashi Maru, and also escape the neutral zone intact. Although always ending in disaster, each stage of the test is a great way to analyze each cadet's leadership skills, and to see what they prioritize most. Some cadets, after taking heavy damage from the Klingon ship, flee to save the thousands aboard their own ship, dooming the Maru. Others chose to sacrifice themselves to take down the Klingon ship and save the Maru. Each portrays a vastly different captaining style. The test is a common one at Starfleet, and has only ever been beaten once — by none other than James T. Kirk.
Beaten is potentially an overstatement, though. While he did manage to win the unwinnable simulation, he did so by secretly reprogramming the computer to make it possible, and then did so in a spectacularly co*cky way. Starfleet found out, of course, always watching their golden boy. However, he was still awarded commendation for beating the program, noting his unique ability to think outside the box. (This commendation happens in the prime timeline rather than the Kelvin one, where he was severely told off.) He still won the simulation, he just did so by changing the rules, something true to his unique captaining abilities.
While Kirk is the only known person to beat the test, he was not the only one to have come up with a solution of sorts. His victory was based on his ability to successfully complete all goals. But in The Next Generation, William Riker revels that one of his classmates, Paul Rice, had managed to beat the simulation by coming up with a fourth solution. Annoyingly, his solution was never divulged in the show, but was likely to have been violent as Rice’s character was noted to be a fighting man by counselor Deanna Troi.
Due to the ever-changing political landscape of the Star Trek programs, a similar simulation was created in the 24th century which involved a damaged Ferengi ship and a Romulan warbird. This variation was undertaken by Tuvok in the poorly-reviewed Voyager series, who notes that there was in fact a very logical solution: to run away. In Picard, the old admiral Jean-Luc mentioned briefly to Raffi that he was considering an update to the test, once again changing the ‘villains’ of the narrative so that they would not be Romulans this time, a race of people who had faced great hardship over recent years. There was another variation to the test, one found within an alternate reality, one where Spock designed the scenario to terrify the cadets, and allow them to experience the fear of staring death in the face.
The Kobayashi Maru test was a perfect example of how, when Star Trek wants to create a relatively small aspect of background flavoring, they really go to town on it. They flesh every detail out to the best of their ability. The test is a complex philosophical impossibility, designed to test the cadets in a situation where the only option is to lose — it’s just about how hard they lose.
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