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[[folder:Admiral Brett Anderson]]
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An admiral in Starfleet; his command ship is the U.S.S. ''Europa''.
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* MeaningfulName: Like her biblical namesake, the archangel Gabriel, she is an "angel", due to her time travelling suit - and she functions as a messenger, alerting Spock to Michael's peril when he is a child, and later warns him of the impending end to all life due to Control's devastation.
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* MeaningfulName: Like her biblical namesake, the archangel Gabriel, she is an "angel", "angel" (specifically, the first Red Angel) due to her time travelling suit - and she functions as a messenger, alerting Spock to Michael's peril when he is a child, and later warns him of the impending end to all life due to Control's devastation.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: In past and future series, they've been willing to overlook some of their Captain's disregards of the Prime Directive (alias their most sacred rule, which ''Strange New Worlds'' would later call them out on), but they'll come down hard on lesser infractions. Michael Burnham's mutiny is met with life imprisonment (though she certainly didn't endear herself by doing so in the first place), and they would later go after Commander Una-Chen Riley with [[spoiler:20 years imprisonment and charges of treason for lying about her Illyrian heritage]].
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* {{Hypocrite}}: DentedIron: The Burn severely cripples The Federation, but they're still functioning 100 years after it happened, albeit severely diminished in scope and scale. Solving the mystery of what caused The Burn helps to alleviate their woes and begin the process of rebuilding, though it takes some time before they can get everyone onboard.
* FaceHeelTurn: Founding member Andor leaves The Federation after The Burn, and allies with the Orions to form the Emerald Chain. They later enter talks to rejoin after the Chain collapses, and the DMA crisis is resolved.
* HeelFaceTurn: The Romulans, the very reason The Federation was formed in the first place, would join their ranks after the loss of their homeworld and their subsequent reunification with Vulcan. In fact, they were the ones who wanted to ''stay'' after The Burn, but their Vulcan cousins won out.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In past and future series, they've been willing to overlook some of their Captain's disregards of the Prime Directive (alias their most sacred rule, which ''Strange New Worlds'' would later call them out on), but they'll come down hard on lesser infractions. Michael Burnham's mutiny is met with life imprisonment (though she certainly didn't endear herself by doing so in the first place), and they would later go after Commander Una-Chen Riley with [[spoiler:20 years imprisonment and charges of treason for lying about her Illyrian heritage]].
** During the Klingon War, The Federation is appalled by the lengths the Klingons are going to wipe them off the face of the galaxy, but when they decide to drop a bomb in the core of Qo'Nos and detonate it, it's justified as a necessity of survival. Luckily, they're talked out of going through with it.
* FaceHeelTurn: Founding member Andor leaves The Federation after The Burn, and allies with the Orions to form the Emerald Chain. They later enter talks to rejoin after the Chain collapses, and the DMA crisis is resolved.
* HeelFaceTurn: The Romulans, the very reason The Federation was formed in the first place, would join their ranks after the loss of their homeworld and their subsequent reunification with Vulcan. In fact, they were the ones who wanted to ''stay'' after The Burn, but their Vulcan cousins won out.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In past and future series, they've been willing to overlook some of their Captain's disregards of the Prime Directive (alias their most sacred rule, which ''Strange New Worlds'' would later call them out on), but they'll come down hard on lesser infractions. Michael Burnham's mutiny is met with life imprisonment (though she certainly didn't endear herself by doing so in the first place), and they would later go after Commander Una-Chen Riley with [[spoiler:20 years imprisonment and charges of treason for lying about her Illyrian heritage]].
** During the Klingon War, The Federation is appalled by the lengths the Klingons are going to wipe them off the face of the galaxy, but when they decide to drop a bomb in the core of Qo'Nos and detonate it, it's justified as a necessity of survival. Luckily, they're talked out of going through with it.
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* TheNeedsOfTheMany: {{Deconstructed}}. The Federation's efforts to find dilithium alternatives resulted in many of their member worlds being ignored in a time of crisis. Once The Burn happened, said members quit, and were hesitant to rejoin out of concern they would be subject to being ignored again should disaster strike. For extra irony, The Vulcans (who coined this trope) were the most displeased with this focus.
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* RousseauWasRight: In Season 4, a meeting is called to give all Federation and non-Federation members the chance to vote on whether or not to make peaceful contact with Species 10-C, or engage in a risky effort that might provoke them into attacking. A majority votes for peaceful first contact.
* SavedByCanon: In Season 2, Control's attempts to wipe out all sentient life is thwarted because The Federation will still exist a century from now, allowing ''The Next Generation'' of explorers to take up the cause of making new discoveries. That very era would repay this series on ''Picard'', where the fact that both Starfleet and the UFP still exist by the 32nd century doomed [[spoiler:the rogue Changelings and The Borg Collective's]] attempts to wipe them out.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The resulting damage caused by The Burn lead many of its members to quit for their own sakes. Once the cause is revealed and The Federation begins to rebuild, some former members are hesitant to join, out of concern another disaster might lead them to ignore its individual members and focus on the organization as a whole.
* ShroudedInMyth: Because The Burn wiped out much of their organization in the 31st century, they've become a myth to the 32nd century, with no whereabouts as to where they might be. It takes a few episodes for the ''Discovery'' crew to find them, where they're battered, but not broken.
* TookALevelInCynicism:
** The horrors of the Klingon War took a toll on Starfleet's leadership, stretching their resolve to the point they were willing to ''blow up Qo'Nos'' with a bomb in the planet's core to win.
** The Burn did a number on much of Starfleet as well, since most of its members left, the organization's resources become horrendously stretched, and what remained was constantly under the threat of the Emerald Chain. Few of its leadership could afford to spare any hope, at least until ''Discovery'' was able to finally solve what caused The Burn.
** Earth is a particularly noteworthy example. After The Burn, they became increasingly isolationist, and have refused all and any off-worlders. {{Deconstructed}}, since it results in them leaving the colony on Titan to a harsher life when their own equipment fails.
* SavedByCanon: In Season 2, Control's attempts to wipe out all sentient life is thwarted because The Federation will still exist a century from now, allowing ''The Next Generation'' of explorers to take up the cause of making new discoveries. That very era would repay this series on ''Picard'', where the fact that both Starfleet and the UFP still exist by the 32nd century doomed [[spoiler:the rogue Changelings and The Borg Collective's]] attempts to wipe them out.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The resulting damage caused by The Burn lead many of its members to quit for their own sakes. Once the cause is revealed and The Federation begins to rebuild, some former members are hesitant to join, out of concern another disaster might lead them to ignore its individual members and focus on the organization as a whole.
* ShroudedInMyth: Because The Burn wiped out much of their organization in the 31st century, they've become a myth to the 32nd century, with no whereabouts as to where they might be. It takes a few episodes for the ''Discovery'' crew to find them, where they're battered, but not broken.
* TookALevelInCynicism:
** The horrors of the Klingon War took a toll on Starfleet's leadership, stretching their resolve to the point they were willing to ''blow up Qo'Nos'' with a bomb in the planet's core to win.
** The Burn did a number on much of Starfleet as well, since most of its members left, the organization's resources become horrendously stretched, and what remained was constantly under the threat of the Emerald Chain. Few of its leadership could afford to spare any hope, at least until ''Discovery'' was able to finally solve what caused The Burn.
** Earth is a particularly noteworthy example. After The Burn, they became increasingly isolationist, and have refused all and any off-worlders. {{Deconstructed}}, since it results in them leaving the colony on Titan to a harsher life when their own equipment fails.
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!!Starfleet
[[AC:Crew of the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' (NCC-1031 / NCC-1031-A)]]
[[folder:Captain Michael Burnham]]
!!Captain Michael Burnham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_dcs_cast_s3_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"All life is born from chaos. The world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up, and sometimes when you're lost, you're found."'']]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SonequaMartinGreen
The [[TheHero lead protagonist]] of ''Star Trek: Discovery'', she was raised on Vulcan and was the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. By the start of the series, she is the first officer aboard the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou'', although she ends up being recruited by Captain Lorca aboard the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' after the events of the two-part pilot. She is eventually made a bridge science officer, and ship's science officer and Commander again. She gains the rank of Captain at the end of season 3 and becomes the Discovery's commanding officer.
[[AC:Crew of the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' (NCC-1031 / NCC-1031-A)]]
[[folder:Captain Michael Burnham]]
!!Captain Michael Burnham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_dcs_cast_s3_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"All life is born from chaos. The world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up, and sometimes when you're lost, you're found."'']]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SonequaMartinGreen
The [[TheHero lead protagonist]] of ''Star Trek: Discovery'', she was raised on Vulcan and was the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. By the start of the series, she is the first officer aboard the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou'', although she ends up being recruited by Captain Lorca aboard the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' after the events of the two-part pilot. She is eventually made a bridge science officer, and ship's science officer and Commander again. She gains the rank of Captain at the end of season 3 and becomes the Discovery's commanding officer.
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[[AC:Crew
[[folder:In General]]
The founding governing body of the
[[folder:Captain Michael Burnham]]
!!Captain Michael Burnham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_dcs_cast_s3_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"All life is born from chaos. The world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up,
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SonequaMartinGreen
The [[TheHero lead protagonist]]
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[[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMichaelBurnham She has her own page here]].
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* BigGood: They act as this to the ''Trek'' franchise, being the more noble of the major galactic powers.
* DeathFakedForYou: The Federation classifies that ''Discovery'' and her
* {{Hypocrite}}: In past and future series, they've been willing to overlook some of their Captain's disregards of the Prime Directive (alias their most sacred rule, which ''Strange New Worlds'' would later call them out on), but they'll come down hard on lesser infractions. Michael Burnham's mutiny is met with life imprisonment (though she certainly didn't endear herself by doing so in the first place), and they would later go after Commander Una-Chen Riley with [[spoiler:20 years imprisonment and charges of treason for lying about her Illyrian heritage]].
* LegacyVesselNaming: By the 32nd century, they're on the 15th iteration of the ''Excalibur'', and the 11th of the ''Voyager'', though strangely there's no new ''Enterprise'' flying around.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Section 31 creates an A.I. known as Control to act as a threat-assessment algorithm. It decides that the only way to end any threat is to end all sentient life in the galaxy, which results in the events of Season 2 playing out as they did.
** While The Federation classifying what really happened at Xahea was designed to prevent another threat like control from rising again, their decision to do so led to a great deal of A.I. related tragedies they could have prevented otherwise. This includes the loss of the ''Excalibur'' thanks to the malfunctioning M-5 computer, the numerous possessions of Data's personality, the creation of the insane A.I.s Badgey and A.G.I.M.U.S., the FaceHeelTurn of Ensign Peanut Hamper, [[spoiler:the construction of the rogue ''Texas'' class automated starships]], the Living Construct Virus nearly wiping out Starfleet at the Battle of Gamma Serpentis, the synthetic attack on the Utopia Planetia Shipyards, and most recently [[spoiler:the near annihilation of Starfleet via Borg assimilation during the Frontier Day Festivities of 2401]].
** Starfleet elects to keep Section 31 going, reframing it as the shadowy organization it will become by ''Deep Space Nine''. This decision results in the near-extinction of the Changeling population during the Dominion War, which results in [[spoiler:some of its members allying with ''The Borg'' to wipe Starfleet off the face of the Earth, and would have succeeded had it not been for the crew of the resurrected ''Enterprise''-D]].
** The organization's increased reliance on Dilithium saw them stretch themselves too thin to help all of its members. When the Burn did happen and crippled The Federation, there was still a lot of bad blood with a multitude of member worlds (Ni'var, a founding member, included), because they found this single-minded focus on helping the whole instead of the parts left too many people to suffer. It initially makes negotiations for reentry into the Federation difficult until a compromise is reached to appease both sides.
* {{Unperson}}: They write off ''Discovery'' as a loss in 2258, and classify the fate of her, her spore drive, and her crew as KIA, under penalty of treason to anyone would would reveal otherwise.
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!!Starfleet
[[AC:Crew of the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' (NCC-1031 / NCC-1031-A)]]
[[folder:Captain Michael Burnham]]
!!Captain Michael Burnham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_dcs_cast_s3_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"All life is born from chaos. The world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up, and sometimes when you're lost, you're found."'']]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SonequaMartinGreen
The [[TheHero lead protagonist]] of ''Star Trek: Discovery'', she was raised on Vulcan and was the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. By the start of the series, she is the first officer aboard the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou'', although she ends up being recruited by Captain Lorca aboard the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' after the events of the two-part pilot. She is eventually made a bridge science officer, and ship's science officer and Commander again. She gains the rank of Captain at the end of season 3 and becomes the Discovery's commanding officer.
----
[[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMichaelBurnham She has her own page here]].
[[/folder]]
[[AC:Crew of the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' (NCC-1031 / NCC-1031-A)]]
[[folder:Captain Michael Burnham]]
!!Captain Michael Burnham
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_dcs_cast_s3_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"All life is born from chaos. The world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up, and sometimes when you're lost, you're found."'']]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/SonequaMartinGreen
The [[TheHero lead protagonist]] of ''Star Trek: Discovery'', she was raised on Vulcan and was the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. By the start of the series, she is the first officer aboard the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou'', although she ends up being recruited by Captain Lorca aboard the U.S.S. ''Discovery'' after the events of the two-part pilot. She is eventually made a bridge science officer, and ship's science officer and Commander again. She gains the rank of Captain at the end of season 3 and becomes the Discovery's commanding officer.
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[[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMichaelBurnham She has her own page here]].
[[/folder]]
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'''The Federation''' | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryKlingonEmpire The Klingon Empire]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMirrorUniverse The Mirror Universe]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryEmeraldChain The Emerald Chain]]-]]]]]
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'''The Federation''' | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMichaelBurnham Michael Burnham]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryKlingonEmpire The Klingon Empire]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMirrorUniverse The Mirror Universe]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryEmeraldChain The Emerald Chain]]-]]]]]
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* ActionGirl: She's more of a ScienceHero, but nonetheless she is trained in Vulcan martial arts, knows how to use a phaser, can fight a Klingon in melee combat, and regularly gets herself into (and out of) plenty of dangerous situations as the series' lead.
* AesopAmnesia: By Season 3 of the series, Burnham has successfully managed to reunite with ''Discovery'' in the 32nd Century, get promoted to the ship's first officer, and get some clues as to what caused The Burn that crippled the galaxy. Yet when ''Discovery'' gets a chilly reception when they reunite with Starfleet, she suggests going rogue and trying to help a civilization in danger to prove their worth. Saru has to gently remind her that doing so would land them in more trouble with an already suspicious Federation, and disappointingly notes that she should have learned that by now. Such a tendency gets further [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in the following episode, as her disobeying orders again to save Book and gather further clues to The Burn's cause gets her chewed out by Admiral Vance and Saru, who removes her as First Officer because he can't trust her. The only reason she gets off so light for blatantly violating orders is because she saved a lot of lives and got more crucial intel. She does seem to learn her lesson proper by the eight episode of the season, as an incident with the Emerald Chain over Book's homeworld leads her to personally get Admiral Vance's authorization this time around.
* AlternateSelf: She had a counterpart in the Mirror Universe, who [[InSpiteOfANail looked up to Georgiou as a mother figure and betrayed her too]].
* AntiHero: At least initially, she is fairly aggressive for a Starfleet officer.
* TheAtoner:
** Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done [[BeyondRedemption cannot be atoned for]]. She only seeks the punishment she [[ItsAllMyFault feels she deserves]], until Lorca appeals to her [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome sense of wonder]] and duty. She does eventually redeem herself, ironically defeating Lorca's ulterior motives in the process. Not long afterwards, she recognizes that Starfleet Command is about to make the same mistake she did and exploits her own guilt and reputation as "the mutineer" to talk Admiral Cornwell out of blowing Qo'noS up.
** She's later subjected to a {{Deconstruction}} over this. Ever since she lost her parents, Burnham has taken it upon herself to carry massive burdens on her shoulders, be it the well being of Sarek's family, or the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war. But it's this behavior that made Spock refuse to reconcile with her, as he sees her behavior as selfish.
* BerserkButton: After decades of trying to reconcile with Spock, she gets very displeased with his stubborn refusal to accept her apology and his calling out of her character flaws. At least until she realizes that [[JerkassHasAPoint he wasn't too far off the mark]].
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In "Scavengers", she disobeys orders and goes rogue to rescue Book, wanting to secure the information he has that could help solve the mystery of The Burn. Saru and Vance are understandably pissed at her, which she fully accepts, but she also points out that Starfleet ''has'' to solve what caused The Burn before it can ever rebuild. They both accept her reasoning, which is why she only gets slapped with a demotion from XO.
* BreakingOldTrends: She's the first ''Trek'' character since Sisko who starts out as a Commander rather than TheCaptain, but this changes soon as her mutiny gets her stripped of rank. She would spend the rest of Season 1 as a Specialist, until she's given a pardon and restored to her old rank. Like Sisko, she's given a promotion in Season 3.
* BrokenAce: She was noted as being an exceptional officer prior to her mutiny, as well as a skilled scientist and xenoanthropologist. But when she betrays the trust of her captain and mother figure, and said captain dies in a war Burnham blames herself for starting, she's convinced that she's BeyondRedemption and deserves to rot in jail for her actions.
* CallingTheOldManOut: She tells off Sarek in “Lethe” for making her believe that she failed him, when in reality he was angsting over his own choices. She later tells Tyler that while she’s still sad and angry, a burden has been lifted.
* TheCaptain: Season 3 ends with her in command of ''Discovery''.
* TheCassandra: In the pilot, she tries and fails to convince Captain Georgiou that they need to fire first or the Klingons will destroy them. It's unclear whether that would have worked, but Georgiou, her ship, and most of the fleet are wiped out in the aftermath.
* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: When Saru gently calls her out on obsessing (when she in turn wants Book to cry or open up) over the deaths in “Kobayashi Maru”, she gives a tight smile and draws attention to his medal.
* CloseToHome: She’s of the opinion that Ripper only attacked in self-defense and they shouldn’t judge it based on one incident of the past, obviously relating it to her own experience.
* CombatPragmatist: When fighting Voq and gradually getting overpowered, Burnham goes [[EyeScream for his eyes]]. She's also proven herself willing and able to shoot first when she feels it necessary.
* CommanderContrarian: Even though Captain Georgiou is her commanding officer and something of a mentor to her, she advocates tactics that are rather [[AttackAttackAttack strident and aggressive]] in contrast to her captain's [[MartialPacifist more cautious]] approach.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter:
** She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are born from Earth, Burnham is born from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive sister.
** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31; and essentially they have to be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the books of Starfleet and the Federation because of the Control's actions.
* ControlFreak: As a Captain, she struggles to accept that deaths will happen on her watch, and she’s not in charge of everything, the Federation is.
* DefrostingIceQueen: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When she comes on-board ''Discovery'', she is withdrawn from everyone except Saru, not wishing to make any sort of connection since she thinks she won't be staying. When she realises Lorca intends to keep her on, she opens up a bit, but it's still obvious she had a Vulcan upbringing.
** Come season 3, she is completely defrosted.
* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed in a similar way to Kirk, as she doesn’t believe in a no win scenario either, but it’s because she has faced so much loss that she needs every moment from then on to be a victory. She even says about the Kobayashi Maru that it’s a rigged test, and they don’t tell you that, so all you want to do is retake it.
* DramaticIrony: She utterly hates the Klingons, and the guy she's in love with is actually Klingon himself, although a ManchurianAgent.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: In the first episode, everyone dismisses her opinions about the Klingons' aggression because of her perceived prejudice against them -- and then trying to mutiny against her captain [[OutOfTheFryingPan doesn't make things any better]].
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
** As a young girl growing up with her biological parents, Burnham had long, curly hair.
** After her adoption by Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda Grayson, she had the SciFiBobHaircut typical of Vulcans, which she retained all the way through adolescence to her first meeting with Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou''.
** By the time she became the ''Shenzhou'''s first officer, she had grown out her bob slightly to a still short but straight-styled hair.
** After her Court-Martial and dismissal from Starfleet, she had a very unkempt afro as a prisoner.
** When she begins working aboard ''Discovery'', her curly afro is now styled.
** As of Season 3's TimeSkip, she wears her hair in long box braids after spending a year apart from the crew, marking the new territory the crew have found themselves in.
* FamedInStory: As a result of the actions resulting in her court martial, Burnham is widely known as the mutineer held responsible for starting the war with the Klingons and because she's apparently the ''first'' mutineer Starfleet ever had. In-universe, however, no one seems to care that T'Kuvma's Klingons were deliberately ''[[GenghisGambit trying]]'' to start a war (and for that matter fired first), and nothing Burnham could have done would have prevented that, even if killing T'Kuvma only made the situation worse by turning him into a martyr.
* FascinatingEyebrow: She was raised as a Vulcan, so naturally she has a talent for eyebrow raises when humans are being annoying.
* FatalFlaw:
** Klingons. Having been orphaned by a Kingon attack on her home colony, she will do ''anything'' to stop them. In the pilot, she perpetrates a '''mutiny''' against her own captain because she feels she's right in how to deal with them, and is imprisoned because of it.
** Her ruthlessness is also a serious problem for her, leading to things like the aforementioned mutiny or abusing Saru's trust in "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry".
* {{Foil}}: To Kirk, with trauma from childhood tying them to being MarriedToTheJob to unhealthy degrees, refusing to believe in no win scenarios because any other choice is too much to deal with, having a special hatred of Klingons, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and a tendency to quote Alice In Wonderland]].
* GaggingOnYourWords: She is genuinely sorry and hates herself for the mutiny, but still has Vulcan pride and finds it difficult to actually say the word sorry.
* GenderBlenderName: Her name is "Michael", which can be a feminine name depending on culture, although Tilly notes she's never heard of another female with it.
* GoodIsNotNice: Though she is the protagonist, she is rather hawkish and aggressive for a Starfleet officer, at least among those seen in ''Star Trek'' to date.
* GuileHero: Successfully cons Harry Mudd by manipulating his greed and his ego.
* HappilyAdopted: More or less, although [[ParentalSubstitute Sarek]] comments that she cannot learn Vulcan due to being "too human". He later laments that he never encouraged her enough -- though given his track record with Spock, that appears to be a habit with him, as Vulcans don't believe in excessive praise. She got along well with Sarek's human wife, Amanda. We learn in the second season that she even got along well with Spock, until she sabotaged their familial relationship in hopes of protecting Spock from the Logic Extremists.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Sympathetically done, but once Book’s home planet is destroyed she tries to get him to open up, while he and others remind her that she has the same self-destructive ThousandYardStare PTSD deal.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Spock calls her out on having a narcissistic GuiltComplex, acting like she’s so important that everything is her fault. Georgiou also kindly but pointedly mentions she’s too confident for her own good on their first meeting.
* InsufferableGenius: Saru complains that she often used to undermine his opinions, feeling she knew better. For extra points, while she’s manipulating him in the fourth episode, she borrows “fascinating” from Spock.
* ItsAllMyFault: Has a tendency to take the blame for things that are out of her control. She blamed herself for her parents' deaths, as she'd asked them to delay a trip offworld, and the Klingon war (which admittedly she was blamed for by everyone else as well), and for the attacks on her adoptive family by the extremist Vulcans. It gets severely deconstructed in Season 2, as Spock finds her actions to be selfish, and has refused to reconcile with her for years simply because of this attitude.
* LackOfEmpathy:
** She’s a good person with a lot of feelings, but lacking on the whole empathy thing. When Lorca kicks Stamets by playing the DistressCall to the whole ship, she just rolls her eyes at the attempt at guilting.
** The beginning of “Kobayashi Maru” has her and Book dig themselves deeper with the Alshain, and she asks him to do “his empathy thing”.
* LikeADaughterToMe: How Captain Georgiou thought of her, as the captain states in her pre-recorded will. Mirror Georgiou had the same relationship with Mirror Michael.
* MartyrWithoutACause: [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-discovery-sonequa-martin-green-on-burnham-path-to-captain/ Sonequa Martin Green]] has talked about how having a complicated relationship with death is true for all Trek captains.
* MeaningfulName: With the revelation that she is the Red Angel, her name has another signification too, beside being a typical male name. "Michael" is one of God's Archangels.
-->'''Philippa:''' Lead me to my death, Angel Michael.
* TheMenFirst: Proves to be this kind of Captain in “Kobayashi Maru”, risking her own life because she has the experience instead of delegating. When a few people still die, she looks broken.
* MilitaryMaverick: Goes with being a CommanderContrarian. Uniquely for a Star Trek show, however this attitude has ''serious'' consequences as opposed to the light slap of the wrist it usually warrants (or approval from the brass) in previous incarnations. She's court-martialed and sent to prison for life as a result of her attempted mutiny.
* MoralityPet: To a whopping three people.
** To Ash Tyler (aka Voq), who basically pulls a HeelFaceTurn for her.
** To Gabriel Lorca, who is willing to kill pretty much everybody on his way to the Terran throne, except for her.
** To Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who is completely fine with being hunted down by Starfleet and the Klingons till the end of her days, but can't bring herself to kill Michael.
* NerdActionHero: Shares in the great Starfleet Captain tradition of knowing and willing to fight dirty, and being a sweet dork (when she relaxes at least).
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Does ''[[FantasticRacism not]]'' hold any positive opinions of the Klingons, due to [[YouKilledMyFather losing her parents]] in an attack on a Human[=/=]Vulcan outpost when she was a child.
* NoSocialSkills: Thanks to her Vulcan upbringing, she has trouble making friends and finds socializing to be quite puzzling.
* NumberTwo: The first ''Trek'' series protagonist to be this instead of TheCaptain[[note]]Originally, Commander Riker was intended to be the protagonist of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; however, he was playing opposite Creator/PatrickStewart and Things Happened. Commander Sisko of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' was a commander when he started out, but he was still the leader of the station and eventually was promoted to Captain.[[/note]]. Initially, she is the first officer to Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou'', before being stripped of rank and recruited by Captain Lorca aboard ''Discovery''. As of season 3, with Saru officially Captain of ''Discovery'', she is now his XO -- until "Scavengers", when she goes on a rogue mission and gets relieved of her duties as XO. Then it becomes averted entirely when, after the Emerald Chain falls apart and with Saru on leave, she becomes the Captain[[note]]ironically in Season 3, as Sisko did when he became Captain[[/note]].
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: A xenoanthropologist by training, but she has taken on all kinds of assignments in her role as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Her attempted mutiny, especially since it's the first time that it has ever (officially) happened in Starfleet history. She also generally doesn't correct anyone when they call her the instigator of the Federation-Klingon war: while factually incorrect (the Klingons fired first), it is only because Burnham's mutiny failed. She likely views herself as morally guilty as she would have been had her mutiny been successful. When the crew arrives in the future and is giving a frosty reception by Starfleet, Saru has to gently remind her of this incident when she suggests going rogue to prove themselves.
* OneSteveLimit: With ''[=DS9=]'' character Michael Eddington, both of whom betrayed their respective captains for what they believed to be noble reasons.
* ParentalSubstitute: Sarek and Amanda Grayson are this to her, after she was orphaned as a child in a Klingon attack.
* PragmaticHero: She’s more in line with the soldiering Trek leads than the diplomats. Her line to Saru in “Choose Your Pain” sums it up, the more you keep hurting someone, the less helpful they become, that not being her only concern, but her main one.
* ProperlyParanoid: She's absolutely convinced the Klingons are not there for peaceful purposes when they come out of nearly a century of isolation -- and is proven right.
* RankUp:
** Initially inverted. For her actions aboard the ''Shenzhou'' in the pilot episode, she is court-martialed, stripped of her rank, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.
** For her actions aboard ''Discovery'' in saving the ship and crew multiple times, not to mention the entire Federation, she's given a Presidential pardon, her record is expunged, and her rank reinstated.
** It's played straight, then averted in Season 3. She is made ''Discovery's'' first officer, but when she disobeys orders yet again, her punishment sees her lose the job to a very disappointed Saru.
** She is promoted to Captain at the end of the season 3 finale.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Lorca tries to get her to stay in the MirrorUniverse and rule at his side as he was honestly in love with her Mirror counterpart, and has a great deal of respect for her, saying that Burnham is ''better'' than Mirror-Burnham was. Seeing as Mirror-Burnham was a traitorous sociopath and a sadist, he's not entirely wrong.
* RememberTheNewGuy:
** Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
** The finale for Season 2 eventually reveals why she wasn't mentioned before: to bury the information about the Sphere data, the Red Angel suit, time travel, and the events of what happened, Spock convinces Starfleet to erase the records of ''Discovery'' and her crew, and to make it illegal to discuss them by the Starfleet personnel who did know. Since it was his idea, in order to, among other things, protect Michael if she made it to the future, he'd obviously be the most scrupulous in observing it.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: She ''is'' correct that the Klingons are going to attack, but it's mainly because her bias is guiding her thought process than any reasonable logic; best shown when she's trying to persuade her captain to give the Klingons a "Vulcan hello" to scare them off convinced it'll mean peace, when it reality the Klingons want a war with with Starfleet to bring back the glory of the Empire. And it doesn't matter to them who fires first.
* SamaritanSyndrome: After her mutiny, she plans to serve her time and never get involved again. Obviously things don’t work out that way, and Lorca preys on her innate need to help (and be right).
* ScienceHero: Attended the Vulcan Science Academy and entered Starfleet to serve as a xenoanthropologist, before working her way up to a command position. After she is reinstated she accepts a position as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Michael has a tendency to ignore orders that feel like Red Tape. She want to do the right thing and she wants to do it NOW.
** Burnham ignores Starfleet's policy of Diplomacy First, attacking her commanding officer when Captain Georgiou refuses to preemptively fire on the Klingons. Burnham firmly believes and vocally argues that this is necessary to save the lives of everyone aboard the Shenzhou and countless lives of Federation citizens because it would show that the United Federation of Planets is not a soft, easy target. This breach in protocol led to Michael being charge with mutiny, stripped of rank, and imprisoned on a full life sentence.
** Despite having already been severely punished for mutiny, Michael stands up to Admiral Cromwell when she discovers that the Admiral is conspiring with Emperor Georgiou to plant a bomb on Quo'onos, the Klingon homeworld. Although the Klingons have devastated the Federation in their ongoing war, blowing up their planet in retaliation goes against the Federation's ideals. Michael leads the Discovery bridge crew in refusing to comply with a direct order. Instead, they pursue a more diplomatic approach, helping L'Rell gain control as High Chancellor. L'Rell then signs an armistice with the Federation, cooling the conflict. For her leadership, Michael has her previously stripped command rank restored.
** When Spock is accused of murder, Michael initially turns him over to Section 31, Starfleet's Intelligence Agency for interrogation and treatment. However, when she is informed that they might hurt Spock, she breaks him out and they head for Talos IV, a planet that is off-limits to Starfleet officers on pain of death. The Talosians help repair Spock's fried psyche.
** When Discovery lands in the the 32nd century, they are ordered to stand down while Starfleet investigates their claim of being from the past. But when Michael's friend Book goes missing, she leaves on an unauthorized mission to find him, resulting in a chain of events that nearly kicks off a war with the Emerald Chain. This results in her being demoted from First Officer for failure to comply with direct orders. However, recovering Book helps Michael recover the black boxes that eventually help resolve the issue of the Burn, allowing the Federation to make huge strides in recovering from the catastrophic damage. Admiral Vance acknowledges that her methods, though unorthodox, may not be the right way of doing things, but they still work.
* TheSlowPath: She emerges from the wormhole in the 32nd century a full year ahead of ''Discovery'' and the rest of her crewmates, so she spends the year waiting and investigating The Burn until the ship arrives and crash-lands.
* SociallyAwkwardHero: All she’s faced in the first half of season one alone, and she’s most terrified of having to mingle at a party.
* StrawVulcan: Being a human ward on Vulcan, flashbacks have her try to be as cold and logical to overcompensate, to the point where Sarek has to tell her to stop.
* SurvivorsGuilt: She has been carrying this ever since the attack where her parents died. This is one of the main elements behind her ItsAllMyFault attitude and penchant for doing the HeroicSacrifice play.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Evidently neither Sarek nor Amanda made the effort to find her one, even though specialists in childhood trauma exist ''now''--instead, Sarek inserts triggering video in her learning material and then chides her for being upset by it. This and later conversations imply that Vulcans don't have a very progressive attitude towards mental healthcare.
* ThousandYardStare: Her default mode after trauma (whether it’s something happening to her or her own actions) is staring off sadly and stoically into space.
* TokenHuman: Not the ''only'' human, as Amanda is there, but Sarek used her as an example of humanity’s potential, and it nearly got her assassinated. As she was already a child with deep trauma, this gives her even more issues as an adult, feeling like she has to be perfect.
* TraumaButton:
** Being near Klingons brings back the memory of her parents getting killed in a Klingon attack.
** She struggles seeing her graduation day replaying over and over in Sarek’s brain, and how he considers her a failure, until Tyler makes her realise Sarek is just lashing out over his own perceived failures.
* TraumaCongaLine: Season Two puts her through the wringer. She's been asked to perform a MercyKill on ''two'' crewmates (Saru wound up not needing it, but Airiam wasn't so lucky), her relationship with Amanda undergoes a severe strain, her relationship with ''Spock'' is a total disaster, and finally she learns that her parents were in Section 31, and Leland's bad intelligence work was what got them killed. On top of all that, she's made an {{Unperson}} after disappearing into the future, meaning nobody will ever publicly acknowledge that she even existed!
* UptightLovesWild: She falls in love with Cleveland Booker and becomes less uptight the longer she spends with him.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Much like her brother, she feels like she’s a disappointment to her father, and getting approval is a rare feat.
* WaifFu: Is a skinny woman, and raised to be as Vulcan and logical as possible, but turns out to be a dirty fighter, KO-ing three prisoners at once in her third episode.
* WhenSheSmiles: She doesn’t have cause to do it often, what with the TraumaCongaLine that is her life, but when she does, other characters are glad to see it.
* WhatTheHellHero: The amount she’s called out for her shit, by others and her own GuiltComplex, hits double digits. Even nice, nervous Saru tells her she’s not that different from Lorca.
* {{Workaholic}}: She complains to Tilly in “Choose Your Pain” that she hates not working, and thus having to actually process how she feels.
* AesopAmnesia: By Season 3 of the series, Burnham has successfully managed to reunite with ''Discovery'' in the 32nd Century, get promoted to the ship's first officer, and get some clues as to what caused The Burn that crippled the galaxy. Yet when ''Discovery'' gets a chilly reception when they reunite with Starfleet, she suggests going rogue and trying to help a civilization in danger to prove their worth. Saru has to gently remind her that doing so would land them in more trouble with an already suspicious Federation, and disappointingly notes that she should have learned that by now. Such a tendency gets further [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in the following episode, as her disobeying orders again to save Book and gather further clues to The Burn's cause gets her chewed out by Admiral Vance and Saru, who removes her as First Officer because he can't trust her. The only reason she gets off so light for blatantly violating orders is because she saved a lot of lives and got more crucial intel. She does seem to learn her lesson proper by the eight episode of the season, as an incident with the Emerald Chain over Book's homeworld leads her to personally get Admiral Vance's authorization this time around.
* AlternateSelf: She had a counterpart in the Mirror Universe, who [[InSpiteOfANail looked up to Georgiou as a mother figure and betrayed her too]].
* AntiHero: At least initially, she is fairly aggressive for a Starfleet officer.
* TheAtoner:
** Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done [[BeyondRedemption cannot be atoned for]]. She only seeks the punishment she [[ItsAllMyFault feels she deserves]], until Lorca appeals to her [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome sense of wonder]] and duty. She does eventually redeem herself, ironically defeating Lorca's ulterior motives in the process. Not long afterwards, she recognizes that Starfleet Command is about to make the same mistake she did and exploits her own guilt and reputation as "the mutineer" to talk Admiral Cornwell out of blowing Qo'noS up.
** She's later subjected to a {{Deconstruction}} over this. Ever since she lost her parents, Burnham has taken it upon herself to carry massive burdens on her shoulders, be it the well being of Sarek's family, or the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war. But it's this behavior that made Spock refuse to reconcile with her, as he sees her behavior as selfish.
* BerserkButton: After decades of trying to reconcile with Spock, she gets very displeased with his stubborn refusal to accept her apology and his calling out of her character flaws. At least until she realizes that [[JerkassHasAPoint he wasn't too far off the mark]].
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In "Scavengers", she disobeys orders and goes rogue to rescue Book, wanting to secure the information he has that could help solve the mystery of The Burn. Saru and Vance are understandably pissed at her, which she fully accepts, but she also points out that Starfleet ''has'' to solve what caused The Burn before it can ever rebuild. They both accept her reasoning, which is why she only gets slapped with a demotion from XO.
* BreakingOldTrends: She's the first ''Trek'' character since Sisko who starts out as a Commander rather than TheCaptain, but this changes soon as her mutiny gets her stripped of rank. She would spend the rest of Season 1 as a Specialist, until she's given a pardon and restored to her old rank. Like Sisko, she's given a promotion in Season 3.
* BrokenAce: She was noted as being an exceptional officer prior to her mutiny, as well as a skilled scientist and xenoanthropologist. But when she betrays the trust of her captain and mother figure, and said captain dies in a war Burnham blames herself for starting, she's convinced that she's BeyondRedemption and deserves to rot in jail for her actions.
* CallingTheOldManOut: She tells off Sarek in “Lethe” for making her believe that she failed him, when in reality he was angsting over his own choices. She later tells Tyler that while she’s still sad and angry, a burden has been lifted.
* TheCaptain: Season 3 ends with her in command of ''Discovery''.
* TheCassandra: In the pilot, she tries and fails to convince Captain Georgiou that they need to fire first or the Klingons will destroy them. It's unclear whether that would have worked, but Georgiou, her ship, and most of the fleet are wiped out in the aftermath.
* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: When Saru gently calls her out on obsessing (when she in turn wants Book to cry or open up) over the deaths in “Kobayashi Maru”, she gives a tight smile and draws attention to his medal.
* CloseToHome: She’s of the opinion that Ripper only attacked in self-defense and they shouldn’t judge it based on one incident of the past, obviously relating it to her own experience.
* CombatPragmatist: When fighting Voq and gradually getting overpowered, Burnham goes [[EyeScream for his eyes]]. She's also proven herself willing and able to shoot first when she feels it necessary.
* CommanderContrarian: Even though Captain Georgiou is her commanding officer and something of a mentor to her, she advocates tactics that are rather [[AttackAttackAttack strident and aggressive]] in contrast to her captain's [[MartialPacifist more cautious]] approach.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter:
** She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are born from Earth, Burnham is born from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive sister.
** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31; and essentially they have to be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the books of Starfleet and the Federation because of the Control's actions.
* ControlFreak: As a Captain, she struggles to accept that deaths will happen on her watch, and she’s not in charge of everything, the Federation is.
* DefrostingIceQueen: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When she comes on-board ''Discovery'', she is withdrawn from everyone except Saru, not wishing to make any sort of connection since she thinks she won't be staying. When she realises Lorca intends to keep her on, she opens up a bit, but it's still obvious she had a Vulcan upbringing.
** Come season 3, she is completely defrosted.
* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed in a similar way to Kirk, as she doesn’t believe in a no win scenario either, but it’s because she has faced so much loss that she needs every moment from then on to be a victory. She even says about the Kobayashi Maru that it’s a rigged test, and they don’t tell you that, so all you want to do is retake it.
* DramaticIrony: She utterly hates the Klingons, and the guy she's in love with is actually Klingon himself, although a ManchurianAgent.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: In the first episode, everyone dismisses her opinions about the Klingons' aggression because of her perceived prejudice against them -- and then trying to mutiny against her captain [[OutOfTheFryingPan doesn't make things any better]].
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
** As a young girl growing up with her biological parents, Burnham had long, curly hair.
** After her adoption by Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda Grayson, she had the SciFiBobHaircut typical of Vulcans, which she retained all the way through adolescence to her first meeting with Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou''.
** By the time she became the ''Shenzhou'''s first officer, she had grown out her bob slightly to a still short but straight-styled hair.
** After her Court-Martial and dismissal from Starfleet, she had a very unkempt afro as a prisoner.
** When she begins working aboard ''Discovery'', her curly afro is now styled.
** As of Season 3's TimeSkip, she wears her hair in long box braids after spending a year apart from the crew, marking the new territory the crew have found themselves in.
* FamedInStory: As a result of the actions resulting in her court martial, Burnham is widely known as the mutineer held responsible for starting the war with the Klingons and because she's apparently the ''first'' mutineer Starfleet ever had. In-universe, however, no one seems to care that T'Kuvma's Klingons were deliberately ''[[GenghisGambit trying]]'' to start a war (and for that matter fired first), and nothing Burnham could have done would have prevented that, even if killing T'Kuvma only made the situation worse by turning him into a martyr.
* FascinatingEyebrow: She was raised as a Vulcan, so naturally she has a talent for eyebrow raises when humans are being annoying.
* FatalFlaw:
** Klingons. Having been orphaned by a Kingon attack on her home colony, she will do ''anything'' to stop them. In the pilot, she perpetrates a '''mutiny''' against her own captain because she feels she's right in how to deal with them, and is imprisoned because of it.
** Her ruthlessness is also a serious problem for her, leading to things like the aforementioned mutiny or abusing Saru's trust in "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry".
* {{Foil}}: To Kirk, with trauma from childhood tying them to being MarriedToTheJob to unhealthy degrees, refusing to believe in no win scenarios because any other choice is too much to deal with, having a special hatred of Klingons, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and a tendency to quote Alice In Wonderland]].
* GaggingOnYourWords: She is genuinely sorry and hates herself for the mutiny, but still has Vulcan pride and finds it difficult to actually say the word sorry.
* GenderBlenderName: Her name is "Michael", which can be a feminine name depending on culture, although Tilly notes she's never heard of another female with it.
* GoodIsNotNice: Though she is the protagonist, she is rather hawkish and aggressive for a Starfleet officer, at least among those seen in ''Star Trek'' to date.
* GuileHero: Successfully cons Harry Mudd by manipulating his greed and his ego.
* HappilyAdopted: More or less, although [[ParentalSubstitute Sarek]] comments that she cannot learn Vulcan due to being "too human". He later laments that he never encouraged her enough -- though given his track record with Spock, that appears to be a habit with him, as Vulcans don't believe in excessive praise. She got along well with Sarek's human wife, Amanda. We learn in the second season that she even got along well with Spock, until she sabotaged their familial relationship in hopes of protecting Spock from the Logic Extremists.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Sympathetically done, but once Book’s home planet is destroyed she tries to get him to open up, while he and others remind her that she has the same self-destructive ThousandYardStare PTSD deal.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Spock calls her out on having a narcissistic GuiltComplex, acting like she’s so important that everything is her fault. Georgiou also kindly but pointedly mentions she’s too confident for her own good on their first meeting.
* InsufferableGenius: Saru complains that she often used to undermine his opinions, feeling she knew better. For extra points, while she’s manipulating him in the fourth episode, she borrows “fascinating” from Spock.
* ItsAllMyFault: Has a tendency to take the blame for things that are out of her control. She blamed herself for her parents' deaths, as she'd asked them to delay a trip offworld, and the Klingon war (which admittedly she was blamed for by everyone else as well), and for the attacks on her adoptive family by the extremist Vulcans. It gets severely deconstructed in Season 2, as Spock finds her actions to be selfish, and has refused to reconcile with her for years simply because of this attitude.
* LackOfEmpathy:
** She’s a good person with a lot of feelings, but lacking on the whole empathy thing. When Lorca kicks Stamets by playing the DistressCall to the whole ship, she just rolls her eyes at the attempt at guilting.
** The beginning of “Kobayashi Maru” has her and Book dig themselves deeper with the Alshain, and she asks him to do “his empathy thing”.
* LikeADaughterToMe: How Captain Georgiou thought of her, as the captain states in her pre-recorded will. Mirror Georgiou had the same relationship with Mirror Michael.
* MartyrWithoutACause: [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-discovery-sonequa-martin-green-on-burnham-path-to-captain/ Sonequa Martin Green]] has talked about how having a complicated relationship with death is true for all Trek captains.
* MeaningfulName: With the revelation that she is the Red Angel, her name has another signification too, beside being a typical male name. "Michael" is one of God's Archangels.
-->'''Philippa:''' Lead me to my death, Angel Michael.
* TheMenFirst: Proves to be this kind of Captain in “Kobayashi Maru”, risking her own life because she has the experience instead of delegating. When a few people still die, she looks broken.
* MilitaryMaverick: Goes with being a CommanderContrarian. Uniquely for a Star Trek show, however this attitude has ''serious'' consequences as opposed to the light slap of the wrist it usually warrants (or approval from the brass) in previous incarnations. She's court-martialed and sent to prison for life as a result of her attempted mutiny.
* MoralityPet: To a whopping three people.
** To Ash Tyler (aka Voq), who basically pulls a HeelFaceTurn for her.
** To Gabriel Lorca, who is willing to kill pretty much everybody on his way to the Terran throne, except for her.
** To Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who is completely fine with being hunted down by Starfleet and the Klingons till the end of her days, but can't bring herself to kill Michael.
* NerdActionHero: Shares in the great Starfleet Captain tradition of knowing and willing to fight dirty, and being a sweet dork (when she relaxes at least).
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Does ''[[FantasticRacism not]]'' hold any positive opinions of the Klingons, due to [[YouKilledMyFather losing her parents]] in an attack on a Human[=/=]Vulcan outpost when she was a child.
* NoSocialSkills: Thanks to her Vulcan upbringing, she has trouble making friends and finds socializing to be quite puzzling.
* NumberTwo: The first ''Trek'' series protagonist to be this instead of TheCaptain[[note]]Originally, Commander Riker was intended to be the protagonist of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; however, he was playing opposite Creator/PatrickStewart and Things Happened. Commander Sisko of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' was a commander when he started out, but he was still the leader of the station and eventually was promoted to Captain.[[/note]]. Initially, she is the first officer to Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou'', before being stripped of rank and recruited by Captain Lorca aboard ''Discovery''. As of season 3, with Saru officially Captain of ''Discovery'', she is now his XO -- until "Scavengers", when she goes on a rogue mission and gets relieved of her duties as XO. Then it becomes averted entirely when, after the Emerald Chain falls apart and with Saru on leave, she becomes the Captain[[note]]ironically in Season 3, as Sisko did when he became Captain[[/note]].
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: A xenoanthropologist by training, but she has taken on all kinds of assignments in her role as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Her attempted mutiny, especially since it's the first time that it has ever (officially) happened in Starfleet history. She also generally doesn't correct anyone when they call her the instigator of the Federation-Klingon war: while factually incorrect (the Klingons fired first), it is only because Burnham's mutiny failed. She likely views herself as morally guilty as she would have been had her mutiny been successful. When the crew arrives in the future and is giving a frosty reception by Starfleet, Saru has to gently remind her of this incident when she suggests going rogue to prove themselves.
* OneSteveLimit: With ''[=DS9=]'' character Michael Eddington, both of whom betrayed their respective captains for what they believed to be noble reasons.
* ParentalSubstitute: Sarek and Amanda Grayson are this to her, after she was orphaned as a child in a Klingon attack.
* PragmaticHero: She’s more in line with the soldiering Trek leads than the diplomats. Her line to Saru in “Choose Your Pain” sums it up, the more you keep hurting someone, the less helpful they become, that not being her only concern, but her main one.
* ProperlyParanoid: She's absolutely convinced the Klingons are not there for peaceful purposes when they come out of nearly a century of isolation -- and is proven right.
* RankUp:
** Initially inverted. For her actions aboard the ''Shenzhou'' in the pilot episode, she is court-martialed, stripped of her rank, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.
** For her actions aboard ''Discovery'' in saving the ship and crew multiple times, not to mention the entire Federation, she's given a Presidential pardon, her record is expunged, and her rank reinstated.
** It's played straight, then averted in Season 3. She is made ''Discovery's'' first officer, but when she disobeys orders yet again, her punishment sees her lose the job to a very disappointed Saru.
** She is promoted to Captain at the end of the season 3 finale.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Lorca tries to get her to stay in the MirrorUniverse and rule at his side as he was honestly in love with her Mirror counterpart, and has a great deal of respect for her, saying that Burnham is ''better'' than Mirror-Burnham was. Seeing as Mirror-Burnham was a traitorous sociopath and a sadist, he's not entirely wrong.
* RememberTheNewGuy:
** Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
** The finale for Season 2 eventually reveals why she wasn't mentioned before: to bury the information about the Sphere data, the Red Angel suit, time travel, and the events of what happened, Spock convinces Starfleet to erase the records of ''Discovery'' and her crew, and to make it illegal to discuss them by the Starfleet personnel who did know. Since it was his idea, in order to, among other things, protect Michael if she made it to the future, he'd obviously be the most scrupulous in observing it.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: She ''is'' correct that the Klingons are going to attack, but it's mainly because her bias is guiding her thought process than any reasonable logic; best shown when she's trying to persuade her captain to give the Klingons a "Vulcan hello" to scare them off convinced it'll mean peace, when it reality the Klingons want a war with with Starfleet to bring back the glory of the Empire. And it doesn't matter to them who fires first.
* SamaritanSyndrome: After her mutiny, she plans to serve her time and never get involved again. Obviously things don’t work out that way, and Lorca preys on her innate need to help (and be right).
* ScienceHero: Attended the Vulcan Science Academy and entered Starfleet to serve as a xenoanthropologist, before working her way up to a command position. After she is reinstated she accepts a position as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Michael has a tendency to ignore orders that feel like Red Tape. She want to do the right thing and she wants to do it NOW.
** Burnham ignores Starfleet's policy of Diplomacy First, attacking her commanding officer when Captain Georgiou refuses to preemptively fire on the Klingons. Burnham firmly believes and vocally argues that this is necessary to save the lives of everyone aboard the Shenzhou and countless lives of Federation citizens because it would show that the United Federation of Planets is not a soft, easy target. This breach in protocol led to Michael being charge with mutiny, stripped of rank, and imprisoned on a full life sentence.
** Despite having already been severely punished for mutiny, Michael stands up to Admiral Cromwell when she discovers that the Admiral is conspiring with Emperor Georgiou to plant a bomb on Quo'onos, the Klingon homeworld. Although the Klingons have devastated the Federation in their ongoing war, blowing up their planet in retaliation goes against the Federation's ideals. Michael leads the Discovery bridge crew in refusing to comply with a direct order. Instead, they pursue a more diplomatic approach, helping L'Rell gain control as High Chancellor. L'Rell then signs an armistice with the Federation, cooling the conflict. For her leadership, Michael has her previously stripped command rank restored.
** When Spock is accused of murder, Michael initially turns him over to Section 31, Starfleet's Intelligence Agency for interrogation and treatment. However, when she is informed that they might hurt Spock, she breaks him out and they head for Talos IV, a planet that is off-limits to Starfleet officers on pain of death. The Talosians help repair Spock's fried psyche.
** When Discovery lands in the the 32nd century, they are ordered to stand down while Starfleet investigates their claim of being from the past. But when Michael's friend Book goes missing, she leaves on an unauthorized mission to find him, resulting in a chain of events that nearly kicks off a war with the Emerald Chain. This results in her being demoted from First Officer for failure to comply with direct orders. However, recovering Book helps Michael recover the black boxes that eventually help resolve the issue of the Burn, allowing the Federation to make huge strides in recovering from the catastrophic damage. Admiral Vance acknowledges that her methods, though unorthodox, may not be the right way of doing things, but they still work.
* TheSlowPath: She emerges from the wormhole in the 32nd century a full year ahead of ''Discovery'' and the rest of her crewmates, so she spends the year waiting and investigating The Burn until the ship arrives and crash-lands.
* SociallyAwkwardHero: All she’s faced in the first half of season one alone, and she’s most terrified of having to mingle at a party.
* StrawVulcan: Being a human ward on Vulcan, flashbacks have her try to be as cold and logical to overcompensate, to the point where Sarek has to tell her to stop.
* SurvivorsGuilt: She has been carrying this ever since the attack where her parents died. This is one of the main elements behind her ItsAllMyFault attitude and penchant for doing the HeroicSacrifice play.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Evidently neither Sarek nor Amanda made the effort to find her one, even though specialists in childhood trauma exist ''now''--instead, Sarek inserts triggering video in her learning material and then chides her for being upset by it. This and later conversations imply that Vulcans don't have a very progressive attitude towards mental healthcare.
* ThousandYardStare: Her default mode after trauma (whether it’s something happening to her or her own actions) is staring off sadly and stoically into space.
* TokenHuman: Not the ''only'' human, as Amanda is there, but Sarek used her as an example of humanity’s potential, and it nearly got her assassinated. As she was already a child with deep trauma, this gives her even more issues as an adult, feeling like she has to be perfect.
* TraumaButton:
** Being near Klingons brings back the memory of her parents getting killed in a Klingon attack.
** She struggles seeing her graduation day replaying over and over in Sarek’s brain, and how he considers her a failure, until Tyler makes her realise Sarek is just lashing out over his own perceived failures.
* TraumaCongaLine: Season Two puts her through the wringer. She's been asked to perform a MercyKill on ''two'' crewmates (Saru wound up not needing it, but Airiam wasn't so lucky), her relationship with Amanda undergoes a severe strain, her relationship with ''Spock'' is a total disaster, and finally she learns that her parents were in Section 31, and Leland's bad intelligence work was what got them killed. On top of all that, she's made an {{Unperson}} after disappearing into the future, meaning nobody will ever publicly acknowledge that she even existed!
* UptightLovesWild: She falls in love with Cleveland Booker and becomes less uptight the longer she spends with him.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Much like her brother, she feels like she’s a disappointment to her father, and getting approval is a rare feat.
* WaifFu: Is a skinny woman, and raised to be as Vulcan and logical as possible, but turns out to be a dirty fighter, KO-ing three prisoners at once in her third episode.
* WhenSheSmiles: She doesn’t have cause to do it often, what with the TraumaCongaLine that is her life, but when she does, other characters are glad to see it.
* WhatTheHellHero: The amount she’s called out for her shit, by others and her own GuiltComplex, hits double digits. Even nice, nervous Saru tells her she’s not that different from Lorca.
* {{Workaholic}}: She complains to Tilly in “Choose Your Pain” that she hates not working, and thus having to actually process how she feels.
to:
* AesopAmnesia: By Season 3 of the series, Burnham
* AlternateSelf: She had a counterpart in the Mirror Universe, who [[InSpiteOfANail looked up to Georgiou as a mother figure and betrayed her too]].
* AntiHero: At least initially, she is fairly aggressive for a Starfleet officer.
* TheAtoner:
** Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done [[BeyondRedemption cannot be atoned for]]. She only seeks the punishment she [[ItsAllMyFault feels she deserves]], until Lorca appeals to her [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome sense of wonder]] and duty. She does eventually redeem herself, ironically defeating Lorca's ulterior motives in the process. Not long afterwards, she recognizes that Starfleet Command is about to make the same mistake she did and exploits
** She's later subjected to a {{Deconstruction}} over this. Ever since she lost her parents, Burnham has taken it upon herself to carry massive burdens on her shoulders, be it the well being of Sarek's family, or the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war. But it's this behavior that made Spock refuse to reconcile with her, as he sees her behavior as selfish.
* BerserkButton: After decades of trying to reconcile with Spock, she gets very displeased with his stubborn refusal to accept her apology and his calling out of her character flaws. At least until she realizes that [[JerkassHasAPoint he wasn't too far off the mark]].
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In "Scavengers", she disobeys orders and goes rogue to rescue Book, wanting to secure the information he has that could help solve the mystery of The Burn. Saru and Vance are understandably pissed at her, which she fully accepts, but she also points out that Starfleet ''has'' to solve what caused The Burn before it can ever rebuild. They both accept her reasoning, which is why she only gets slapped with a demotion from XO.
* BreakingOldTrends: She's the first ''Trek'' character since Sisko who starts out as a Commander rather than TheCaptain, but this changes soon as her mutiny gets her stripped of rank. She would spend the rest of Season 1 as a Specialist, until she's given a pardon and restored to her old rank. Like Sisko, she's given a promotion in Season 3.
* BrokenAce: She was noted as being an exceptional officer prior to her mutiny, as well as a skilled scientist and xenoanthropologist. But when she betrays the trust of her captain and mother figure, and said captain dies in a war Burnham blames herself for starting, she's convinced that she's BeyondRedemption and deserves to rot in jail for her actions.
* CallingTheOldManOut: She tells off Sarek in “Lethe” for making her believe that she failed him, when in reality he was angsting over his own choices. She later tells Tyler that while she’s still sad and angry, a burden has been lifted.
* TheCaptain: Season 3 ends with her in command of ''Discovery''.
* TheCassandra: In the pilot, she tries and fails to convince Captain Georgiou that they need to fire first or the Klingons will destroy them. It's unclear whether that would have worked, but Georgiou, her ship, and most of the fleet are wiped out in the aftermath.
* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: When Saru gently calls her out on obsessing (when she in turn wants Book to cry or open up) over the deaths in “Kobayashi Maru”, she gives a tight smile and draws attention to his medal.
* CloseToHome: She’s of the opinion that Ripper only attacked in self-defense and they shouldn’t judge it based on one incident of the past, obviously relating it to her own experience.
* CombatPragmatist: When fighting Voq and gradually getting overpowered, Burnham goes [[EyeScream for his eyes]]. She's also proven herself willing and able to shoot first when she feels it necessary.
* CommanderContrarian: Even though Captain Georgiou is her commanding officer and something of a mentor to her, she advocates tactics that are rather [[AttackAttackAttack strident and aggressive]] in contrast to her captain's [[MartialPacifist more cautious]] approach.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter:
** She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are born from Earth, Burnham is born from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive sister.
** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31; and essentially they have to be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the books of Starfleet and the Federation because of the Control's actions.
* ControlFreak: As a Captain, she struggles to accept that deaths will happen on her watch, and she’s not in charge of everything, the Federation is.
* DefrostingIceQueen: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When she comes on-board ''Discovery'', she is withdrawn from everyone except Saru, not wishing to make any sort of connection since she thinks she won't be staying. When she realises Lorca intends to keep her on, she opens up a bit, but it's still obvious she had a Vulcan upbringing.
** Come season 3, she is completely defrosted.
* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed in a similar way to Kirk, as she doesn’t believe in a no win scenario either, but it’s because she has faced so much loss that she needs every moment from then on to be a victory. She even says about the Kobayashi Maru that it’s a rigged test, and they don’t tell you that, so all you want to do is retake it.
* DramaticIrony: She utterly hates the Klingons, and the guy she's in love with is actually Klingon himself, although a ManchurianAgent.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: In the first episode, everyone dismisses her opinions about the Klingons' aggression because of her perceived prejudice against them -- and then trying to mutiny against her captain [[OutOfTheFryingPan doesn't make things any better]].
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
** As a young girl growing up with her biological parents, Burnham had long, curly hair.
** After her adoption by Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda Grayson, she had the SciFiBobHaircut typical of Vulcans, which she retained all the way through adolescence to her first meeting with Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou''.
** By the time she became the ''Shenzhou'''s first officer, she had grown out her bob slightly to a still short but straight-styled hair.
** After her Court-Martial and dismissal from Starfleet, she had a very unkempt afro as a prisoner.
** When she begins working aboard ''Discovery'', her curly afro is now styled.
** As of Season 3's TimeSkip, she wears her hair in long box braids after spending a year apart from the crew, marking the new territory the crew have found themselves in.
* FamedInStory: As a result of the actions resulting in her court martial, Burnham is widely known as the mutineer held responsible for starting the war with the Klingons and because she's apparently the ''first'' mutineer Starfleet ever had. In-universe, however, no one seems to care that T'Kuvma's Klingons were deliberately ''[[GenghisGambit trying]]'' to start a war (and for that matter fired first), and nothing Burnham could have done would have prevented that, even if killing T'Kuvma only made the situation worse by turning him into a martyr.
* FascinatingEyebrow: She was raised as a Vulcan, so naturally she has a talent for eyebrow raises when humans are being annoying.
* FatalFlaw:
** Klingons. Having been orphaned by a Kingon attack on her home colony, she will do ''anything'' to stop them. In the pilot, she perpetrates a '''mutiny''' against her own captain because she feels she's right in how to deal with them, and is imprisoned because of it.
** Her ruthlessness is also a serious problem for her, leading to things like the aforementioned mutiny or abusing Saru's trust in "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry".
* {{Foil}}: To Kirk, with trauma from childhood tying them to being MarriedToTheJob to unhealthy degrees, refusing to believe in no win scenarios because any other choice is too much to deal with, having a special hatred of Klingons, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and a tendency to quote Alice In Wonderland]].
* GaggingOnYourWords: She is genuinely sorry and hates herself for the mutiny, but still has Vulcan pride and finds it difficult to actually say the word sorry.
* GenderBlenderName: Her name is "Michael", which can be a feminine name depending on culture, although Tilly notes she's never heard of another female with it.
* GoodIsNotNice: Though she is the protagonist, she is rather hawkish and aggressive for a Starfleet officer, at least among those seen in ''Star Trek'' to date.
* GuileHero: Successfully cons Harry Mudd by manipulating his greed and his ego.
* HappilyAdopted: More or less, although [[ParentalSubstitute Sarek]] comments that she cannot learn Vulcan due to being "too human". He later laments that he never encouraged her enough -- though given his track record with Spock, that appears to be a habit with him, as Vulcans don't believe in excessive praise. She got along well with Sarek's human wife, Amanda. We learn in the second season that she even got along well with Spock, until she sabotaged their familial relationship in hopes of protecting Spock from the Logic Extremists.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Sympathetically done, but once Book’s home planet is destroyed she tries to get him to open up, while he and others remind her that she has the same self-destructive ThousandYardStare PTSD deal.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Spock calls her out on having a narcissistic GuiltComplex, acting like she’s so important that everything is her fault. Georgiou also kindly but pointedly mentions she’s too confident for her own good on their first meeting.
* InsufferableGenius: Saru complains that she often used to undermine his opinions, feeling she knew better. For extra points, while she’s manipulating him in the fourth episode, she borrows “fascinating” from Spock.
* ItsAllMyFault: Has a tendency to take the blame for things that are out of her control. She blamed herself for her parents' deaths, as she'd asked them to delay a trip offworld, and the Klingon war (which admittedly she was blamed for by everyone else as well), and for the attacks on her adoptive family by the extremist Vulcans. It gets severely deconstructed in Season 2, as Spock finds her actions to be selfish, and has refused to reconcile with her for years simply because of this attitude.
* LackOfEmpathy:
** She’s a good person with a lot of feelings, but lacking on the whole empathy thing. When Lorca kicks Stamets by playing the DistressCall to the whole ship, she just rolls her eyes at the attempt at guilting.
** The beginning of “Kobayashi Maru” has her and Book dig themselves deeper with the Alshain, and she asks him to do “his empathy thing”.
* LikeADaughterToMe: How Captain Georgiou thought of her, as the captain states in her pre-recorded will. Mirror Georgiou had the same relationship with Mirror Michael.
* MartyrWithoutACause: [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-discovery-sonequa-martin-green-on-burnham-path-to-captain/ Sonequa Martin Green]] has talked about how having a complicated relationship with death is true for all Trek captains.
* MeaningfulName: With the revelation that she is the Red Angel, her name has another signification too, beside being a typical male name. "Michael" is one of God's Archangels.
-->'''Philippa:''' Lead me to my death, Angel Michael.
* TheMenFirst: Proves to be this kind of Captain in “Kobayashi Maru”, risking her own life because she has the experience instead of delegating. When a few people still die, she looks broken.
* MilitaryMaverick: Goes with being a CommanderContrarian. Uniquely for a Star Trek show, however this attitude has ''serious'' consequences as opposed to the light slap of the wrist it usually warrants (or approval from the brass) in previous incarnations. She's court-martialed and sent to prison for life as a result of her attempted mutiny.
* MoralityPet: To a whopping three people.
** To Ash Tyler (aka Voq), who basically pulls a HeelFaceTurn for her.
** To Gabriel Lorca, who is willing to kill pretty much everybody on his way to the Terran throne, except for her.
** To Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who is completely fine with being hunted down by Starfleet and the Klingons till the end of her days, but can't bring herself to kill Michael.
* NerdActionHero: Shares in the great Starfleet Captain tradition of knowing and willing to fight dirty, and being a sweet dork (when she relaxes at least).
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Does ''[[FantasticRacism not]]'' hold any positive opinions of the Klingons, due to [[YouKilledMyFather losing her parents]] in an attack on a Human[=/=]Vulcan outpost when she was a child.
* NoSocialSkills: Thanks to her Vulcan upbringing, she has trouble making friends and finds socializing to be quite puzzling.
* NumberTwo: The first ''Trek'' series protagonist to be this instead of TheCaptain[[note]]Originally, Commander Riker was intended to be the protagonist of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; however, he was playing opposite Creator/PatrickStewart and Things Happened. Commander Sisko of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' was a commander when he started out, but he was still the leader of the station and eventually was promoted to Captain.[[/note]]. Initially, she is the first officer to Captain Georgiou aboard the ''Shenzhou'', before being stripped of rank and recruited by Captain Lorca aboard ''Discovery''. As of season 3, with Saru officially Captain of ''Discovery'', she is now his XO -- until "Scavengers", when she goes on a rogue mission and gets relieved of her duties as XO. Then it becomes averted entirely when, after the Emerald Chain falls apart and with Saru on leave, she becomes the Captain[[note]]ironically in Season 3, as Sisko did when he became Captain[[/note]].
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: A xenoanthropologist by training, but she has taken on all kinds of assignments in her role as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Her attempted mutiny, especially since it's the first time that it has ever (officially) happened in Starfleet history. She also generally doesn't correct anyone when they call her the instigator of the Federation-Klingon war: while factually incorrect (the Klingons fired first), it is only because Burnham's mutiny failed. She likely views herself as morally guilty as she would have been had her mutiny been successful. When the crew arrives in the future and is giving a frosty reception by Starfleet, Saru has to gently remind her of this incident when she suggests going rogue to prove themselves.
* OneSteveLimit: With ''[=DS9=]'' character Michael Eddington, both of whom betrayed their respective captains for what they believed to be noble reasons.
* ParentalSubstitute: Sarek and Amanda Grayson are this to her, after she was orphaned as a child in a Klingon attack.
* PragmaticHero: She’s more in line with the soldiering Trek leads than the diplomats. Her line to Saru in “Choose Your Pain” sums it up, the more you keep hurting someone, the less helpful they become, that not being her only concern, but her main one.
* ProperlyParanoid: She's absolutely convinced the Klingons are not there for peaceful purposes when they come out of nearly a century of isolation -- and is proven right.
* RankUp:
** Initially inverted. For her actions aboard the ''Shenzhou'' in the pilot episode, she is court-martialed, stripped of her rank, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.
** For her actions aboard ''Discovery'' in saving the ship and crew multiple times, not to mention the entire Federation, she's given a Presidential pardon, her record is expunged, and her rank reinstated.
** It's played straight, then averted in Season 3. She is made ''Discovery's'' first officer, but when she disobeys orders yet again, her punishment sees her lose the job to a very disappointed Saru.
** She is promoted to Captain at the end of the season 3 finale.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Lorca tries to get her to stay in the MirrorUniverse and rule at his side as he was honestly in love with her Mirror counterpart, and has a great deal of respect for her, saying that Burnham is ''better'' than Mirror-Burnham was. Seeing as Mirror-Burnham was a traitorous sociopath and a sadist, he's not entirely wrong.
* RememberTheNewGuy:
** Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
** The finale for Season 2 eventually reveals why she wasn't mentioned before: to bury the information about the Sphere data, the Red Angel suit, time travel, and the events of what happened, Spock convinces Starfleet to erase the records of ''Discovery'' and her crew, and to make it illegal to discuss them by the Starfleet personnel who did know. Since it was his idea, in order to, among other things, protect Michael if she made it to the future, he'd obviously be the most scrupulous in observing it.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: She ''is'' correct that the Klingons are going to attack, but it's mainly because her bias is guiding her thought process than any reasonable logic; best shown when she's trying to persuade her captain to give the Klingons a "Vulcan hello" to scare them off convinced it'll mean peace, when it reality the Klingons want a war with with Starfleet to bring back the glory of the Empire. And it doesn't matter to them who fires first.
* SamaritanSyndrome: After her mutiny, she plans to serve her time and never get involved again. Obviously things don’t work out that way, and Lorca preys on her innate need to help (and be right).
* ScienceHero: Attended the Vulcan Science Academy and entered Starfleet to serve as a xenoanthropologist, before working her way up to a command position. After she is reinstated she accepts a position as ''Discovery'''s Science Officer.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Michael has a tendency to ignore orders that feel like Red Tape. She want to do the right thing and she wants to do it NOW.
** Burnham ignores Starfleet's policy of Diplomacy First, attacking her commanding officer when Captain Georgiou refuses to preemptively fire on the Klingons. Burnham firmly believes and vocally argues that this is necessary to save the lives of everyone aboard the Shenzhou and countless lives of Federation citizens because it would show that the United Federation of Planets is not a soft, easy target. This breach in protocol led to Michael being charge with mutiny, stripped of rank, and imprisoned on a full life sentence.
** Despite having already been severely punished for mutiny, Michael stands up to Admiral Cromwell when she discovers that the Admiral is conspiring with Emperor Georgiou to plant a bomb on Quo'onos, the Klingon homeworld. Although the Klingons have devastated the Federation in their ongoing war, blowing up their planet in retaliation goes against the Federation's ideals. Michael leads the Discovery bridge crew in refusing to comply with a direct order. Instead, they pursue a more diplomatic approach, helping L'Rell gain control as High Chancellor. L'Rell then signs an armistice with the Federation, cooling the conflict. For her leadership, Michael has her previously stripped command rank restored.
** When Spock is accused of murder, Michael initially turns him over to Section 31, Starfleet's Intelligence Agency for interrogation and treatment. However, when she is informed that they might hurt Spock, she breaks him out and they head for Talos IV, a planet that is off-limits to Starfleet officers on pain of death. The Talosians help repair Spock's fried psyche.
** When Discovery lands in the the 32nd century, they are ordered to stand down while Starfleet investigates their claim of being from the past. But when Michael's friend Book goes missing, she leaves on an unauthorized mission to find him, resulting in a chain of events that nearly kicks off a war with the Emerald Chain. This results in her being demoted from First Officer for failure to comply with direct orders. However, recovering Book helps Michael recover the black boxes that eventually help resolve the issue of the Burn, allowing the Federation to make huge strides in recovering from the catastrophic damage. Admiral Vance acknowledges that her methods, though unorthodox, may not be the right way of doing things, but they still work.
* TheSlowPath: She emerges from the wormhole in the 32nd century a full year ahead of ''Discovery'' and the rest of her crewmates, so she spends the year waiting and investigating The Burn until the ship arrives and crash-lands.
* SociallyAwkwardHero: All she’s faced in the first half of season one alone, and she’s most terrified of having to mingle at a party.
* StrawVulcan: Being a human ward on Vulcan, flashbacks have her try to be as cold and logical to overcompensate, to the point where Sarek has to tell her to stop.
* SurvivorsGuilt: She has been carrying this ever since the attack where her parents died. This is one of the main elements behind her ItsAllMyFault attitude and penchant for doing the HeroicSacrifice play.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Evidently neither Sarek nor Amanda made the effort to find her one, even though specialists in childhood trauma exist ''now''--instead, Sarek inserts triggering video in her learning material and then chides her for being upset by it. This and later conversations imply that Vulcans don't have a very progressive attitude towards mental healthcare.
* ThousandYardStare: Her default mode after trauma (whether it’s something happening to her or her own actions) is staring off sadly and stoically into space.
* TokenHuman: Not the ''only'' human, as Amanda is there, but Sarek used her as an example of humanity’s potential, and it nearly got her assassinated. As she was already a child with deep trauma, this gives her even more issues as an adult, feeling like she has to be perfect.
* TraumaButton:
** Being near Klingons brings back the memory of her parents getting killed in a Klingon attack.
** She struggles seeing her graduation day replaying over and over in Sarek’s brain, and how he considers her a failure, until Tyler makes her realise Sarek is just lashing out over his own perceived failures.
* TraumaCongaLine: Season Two puts her through the wringer. She's been asked to perform a MercyKill on ''two'' crewmates (Saru wound up not needing it, but Airiam wasn't so lucky), her relationship with Amanda undergoes a severe strain, her relationship with ''Spock'' is a total disaster, and finally she learns that her parents were in Section 31, and Leland's bad intelligence work was what got them killed. On top of all that, she's made an {{Unperson}} after disappearing into the future, meaning nobody will ever publicly acknowledge that she even existed!
* UptightLovesWild: She falls in love with Cleveland Booker and becomes less uptight the longer she spends with him.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Much like her brother, she feels like she’s a disappointment to her father, and getting approval is a rare feat.
* WaifFu: Is a skinny woman, and raised to be as Vulcan and logical as possible, but turns out to be a dirty fighter, KO-ing three prisoners at once in her third episode.
* WhenSheSmiles: She doesn’t have cause to do it often, what with the TraumaCongaLine that is her life, but when she does, other characters are glad to see it.
* WhatTheHellHero: The amount she’s called out for her shit, by others and her own GuiltComplex, hits double digits. Even nice, nervous Saru tells her she’s not that different from Lorca.
* {{Workaholic}}: She complains to Tilly in “Choose Your Pain” that she hates not working, and thus having to actually process how she feels.
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Added DiffLines:
* AlternateSelf: She had a counterpart in the Mirror Universe, who [[InSpiteOfANail looked up to Georgiou as a mother figure and betrayed her too]].
Added DiffLines:
* BerserkButton: After decades of trying to reconcile with Spock, she gets very displeased with his stubborn refusal to accept her apology and his calling out of her character flaws. At least until she realizes that [[JerkassHasAPoint he wasn't too far off the mark]].
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In "Scavengers", she disobeys orders and goes rogue to rescue Book, wanting to secure the information he has that could help solve the mystery of The Burn. Saru and Vance are understandably pissed at her, which she fully accepts, but she also points out that Starfleet ''has'' to solve what caused The Burn before it can ever rebuild. They both accept her reasoning, which is why she only gets slapped with a demotion from XO.
* BreakingOldTrends: She's the first ''Trek'' character since Sisko who starts out as a Commander rather than TheCaptain, but this changes soon as her mutiny gets her stripped of rank. She would spend the rest of Season 1 as a Specialist, until she's given a pardon and restored to her old rank. Like Sisko, she's given a promotion in Season 3.
* BrokenAce: She was noted as being an exceptional officer prior to her mutiny, as well as a skilled scientist and xenoanthropologist. But when she betrays the trust of her captain and mother figure, and said captain dies in a war Burnham blames herself for starting, she's convinced that she's BeyondRedemption and deserves to rot in jail for her actions.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In "Scavengers", she disobeys orders and goes rogue to rescue Book, wanting to secure the information he has that could help solve the mystery of The Burn. Saru and Vance are understandably pissed at her, which she fully accepts, but she also points out that Starfleet ''has'' to solve what caused The Burn before it can ever rebuild. They both accept her reasoning, which is why she only gets slapped with a demotion from XO.
* BreakingOldTrends: She's the first ''Trek'' character since Sisko who starts out as a Commander rather than TheCaptain, but this changes soon as her mutiny gets her stripped of rank. She would spend the rest of Season 1 as a Specialist, until she's given a pardon and restored to her old rank. Like Sisko, she's given a promotion in Season 3.
* BrokenAce: She was noted as being an exceptional officer prior to her mutiny, as well as a skilled scientist and xenoanthropologist. But when she betrays the trust of her captain and mother figure, and said captain dies in a war Burnham blames herself for starting, she's convinced that she's BeyondRedemption and deserves to rot in jail for her actions.
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[[WMG:[[center:[-''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' '''[[Characters/StarTrekDiscovery Main Character page for the United Federation of Planets in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery''. To return to the main character page, click [[Characters/StarTrekDiscovery here]].Index]]'''\\
'''The Federation''' | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryKlingonEmpire The Klingon Empire]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMirrorUniverse The Mirror Universe]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryEmeraldChain The Emerald Chain]]-]]]]]
'''The Federation''' | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryKlingonEmpire The Klingon Empire]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryMirrorUniverse The Mirror Universe]] | [[Characters/StarTrekDiscoveryEmeraldChain The Emerald Chain]]-]]]]]
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* MythologyGag / CastingGag: In a very meta way, his TokenReligiousTeammate status on ''Discovery'' may be an echo of the fact that the character was originally played by Jeffrey Hunter, who had played [[Film/KingOfKings Jesus]].
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* MythologyGag / CastingGag: In a very meta way, his TokenReligiousTeammate status on ''Discovery'' may be an echo of the fact that the character was originally played by Jeffrey Hunter, Creator/JeffreyHunter, who had played [[Film/KingOfKings Jesus]].
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* AssholeVictim: When he is killed in episode 13, it feels very much deserved.
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* AssholeVictim: When he is killed in episode 13, it feels very much deserved.deserved given that he hamstrung the crew of ''Discovery'' into doing his dirty work (not to mention that he makes the already xenophobic Emperor Georgiou look like Creator/FredRogers).
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* TheCaptain: Of the U.S.S. ''Discovery''. His Prime counterpart was formerly in charge of the ''Buran''.
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* TheCaptain: Of the U.S.S. ''Discovery''. His Both he and his Prime counterpart was formerly in charge of their respective versions of the ''Buran''.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Once the true nature of his personality is revealed, he dismisses the idea of Starfleet and the Federation as nothing but a "failed experiment" for being so open and inclusive with one another. His bigoted values blind him from the fact that such cooperation and trust between the species made it to where they've been able to weather all sorts of disasters, starting from the very Romulan War a century ago that led to their formation, to future conflicts he would never bear witness to like [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine the Dominion War]]. Meanwhile, his precious Terran Empire would collapse as a result of Mirror Spock trying to make it more like Starfleet, only for vengeful Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans to wipe them out in this weakened state as revenge for years of genocide, and enslaved the rest of them for life (and even that didn't last because Starfleet officers managed to get them united in a rebellion for their freedom).
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%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages, so this entry has been commented out. Add context before uncommenting. * ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter: He turns out to have been the Gabriel Lorca from the MirrorUniverse impersonating him. The one from the prime universe is presumably dead.]]
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* NiceJobFixingItVillain: For all that Lorca saw Starfleet as a "failed experiment", his little coup attempt is implied to have been the start of the eventual downfall of the Terran Empire in ''TOS'' and ''Deep Space Nine'', while the very organization he hid amongst wound up surviving numerous wars, attempted destructions, and major galactic disasters to eventually rebuild.
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* BigGood: As President of the recovering Federation, she serves this role beginning in Season 4.
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* AllegoricalCharacter: She's a perfect representation of the problems that the Federation has always faced, in that she preaches about unity and goodwill in public, but in private she's TheNeedsOfTheMany (even if JerkassHasAPoint about
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* AllegoricalCharacter: She's a perfect representation of the problems that the Federation has always faced, in that she preaches about unity and goodwill in public, but in private she's TheNeedsOfTheMany (even if JerkassHasAPoint about it).
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* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite clashing with Michael and having some jerk moments, she ultimately has good intentions.
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* InterspeciesRomance: She enters a relationship with Saru at the end of Season 4.
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* SilkHidingSteel: She's gentle and soft-spoken, but doesn't hesitate to speak up when she perceives an injustice, especially against her children. After Spock's doctors refuse to led her speak to him or tell her what's wrong with him, she is not above stealing his medical files.
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* SilkHidingSteel: She's gentle and soft-spoken, but doesn't hesitate to speak up when she perceives an injustice, especially against her children. After Spock's doctors refuse to led let her speak to him or tell her what's wrong with him, she is not above stealing his medical files.
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* TheAtoner: Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done [[MoralEventHorizon cannot be atoned for]]. She only seeks the punishment she [[ItsAllMyFault feels she deserves]], until Lorca appeals to her [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome sense of wonder]] and duty. She does eventually redeem herself, ironically defeating Lorca's ulterior motives in the process. Not long afterwards, she recognizes that Starfleet Command is about to make the same mistake she did and exploits her own guilt and reputation as "the mutineer" to talk Admiral Cornwell out of blowing Qo'noS up.
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* TheAtoner: TheAtoner:
** Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done[[MoralEventHorizon [[BeyondRedemption cannot be atoned for]]. She only seeks the punishment she [[ItsAllMyFault feels she deserves]], until Lorca appeals to her [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome sense of wonder]] and duty. She does eventually redeem herself, ironically defeating Lorca's ulterior motives in the process. Not long afterwards, she recognizes that Starfleet Command is about to make the same mistake she did and exploits her own guilt and reputation as "the mutineer" to talk Admiral Cornwell out of blowing Qo'noS up.up.
** She's later subjected to a {{Deconstruction}} over this. Ever since she lost her parents, Burnham has taken it upon herself to carry massive burdens on her shoulders, be it the well being of Sarek's family, or the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war. But it's this behavior that made Spock refuse to reconcile with her, as he sees her behavior as selfish.
** Subverted in "Context is for Kings", where Burnham tries to refuse a chance to redeem herself because she feels that what she has done
** She's later subjected to a {{Deconstruction}} over this. Ever since she lost her parents, Burnham has taken it upon herself to carry massive burdens on her shoulders, be it the well being of Sarek's family, or the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war. But it's this behavior that made Spock refuse to reconcile with her, as he sees her behavior as selfish.
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** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31; and essentially they have to be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the books of Starfleet and the Federation.
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** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31; and essentially they have to be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the books of Starfleet and the Federation.Federation because of the Control's actions.
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** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with the Control[=/=]Leland and Section 31 and were forced by others who witnessed this event to never mention it again because of the Control.
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** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with the Control[=/=]Leland Leland[=/=]Control and Section 31 31; and were forced by others who witnessed this event essentially they have to never mention it again because of be [[UnPerson un-personed]] forever in the Control.books of Starfleet and the Federation.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are from Earth, Burnham is from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive sister.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: ContrastingSequelMainCharacter:
** She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are born from Earth, Burnham is born from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptivesister.sister.
** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with the Control[=/=]Leland and Section 31 and were forced by others who witnessed this event to never mention it again because of the Control.
** She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are born from Earth, Burnham is born from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive
** She also is the opposite to the ''Voyager's'' [[TheCaptain captain]] Kathryn Janeway, being that both of them are stuck in another region of the universe after an incident. But Janeway and the ''Voyager'' crew are able to go back on Earth after being stranded in Delta Quadrant for seven years and are hailed as heroes after defeating the Borg, while Burnham and the ''Discovery'' crew are actually on the run and had to visit the [=32nd=] Century after their encounter with the Control[=/=]Leland and Section 31 and were forced by others who witnessed this event to never mention it again because of the Control.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She is the first main protagonist of the franchise who is a ScienceHero and is not in charge of a ship or a station [[spoiler:until Season 3]]. Unlike previous protagonists who are from Earth, Burnham is from Vulcan who is adopted by Spock's family, subsequently becoming Spock's adoptive sister.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She has some commonalities to [[Characters/StarTrekVoyagerSevenOfNine Seven of Nine]] from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (double with the cranial implant on her head that counts as a MythologyGag), being that they're both cybernetically augmented humans who struggled having the sensation of being loved throughout their entire lives. While Seven is a human-turned Borg who was assimilated by the Collective when she was a child, Detmer is simply a human whose prosthetics are due to her injuries she sustained in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Seven is the ''Voyager's'' science officer who prefers analytical, straightforward thinking when solving problems, while Detmer is ''Discovery's'' helm officer, preferring to escape from out of it with her piloting skills, as shown when she skillfully gets the ''Discovery'' out of a gravity well. While Seven struggles to become a human and is emotionally detached likely due to being a Borg (at first), Detmer is more emotional and suffers from not having the sensation of love and safety.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She has some commonalities to [[Characters/StarTrekVoyagerSevenOfNine Seven of Nine]] from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (double with the cranial implant on her head that counts as a MythologyGag), being that they're both cybernetically augmented humans who struggled having the sensation of being loved throughout their entire lives.lives, as well as losing someone they loved. While Seven is a human-turned Borg who was assimilated by the Collective when she was a child, Detmer is simply a human whose prosthetics are due to her injuries she sustained in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Seven is the ''Voyager's'' science officer who prefers analytical, straightforward thinking when solving problems, while Detmer is ''Discovery's'' helm officer, preferring to escape from out of it with her piloting skills, as shown when she skillfully gets the ''Discovery'' out of a gravity well. While Seven struggles to become a human and is emotionally detached likely due to being a Borg (at first), Detmer is more emotional than Seven and suffers from not having the sensation of love and safety.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She has some commonalities to [[Characters/StarTrekVoyagerSevenOfNine Seven of Nine]] from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (double with the cranial implant on her hand that counts as a MythologyGag), being that they're both cybernetically augmented humans who struggled having the sensation of being loved throughout their entire lives. While Seven is a human-turned Borg who was assimilated by the Collective when she was a child, Detmer is simply a human whose prosthetics are due to her injuries she sustained in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Seven is the ''Voyager's'' science officer who prefers analytical, straightforward thinking when solving problems, while Detmer is ''Discovery's'' helm officer, preferring to escape from out of it with her piloting skills, as shown when she skillfully gets the ''Discovery'' out of a gravity well. While Seven struggles to become a human and is emotionally detached likely due to being a Borg (at first), Detmer is more emotional and suffers from not having the sensation of love and safety.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She has some commonalities to [[Characters/StarTrekVoyagerSevenOfNine Seven of Nine]] from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (double with the cranial implant on her hand head that counts as a MythologyGag), being that they're both cybernetically augmented humans who struggled having the sensation of being loved throughout their entire lives. While Seven is a human-turned Borg who was assimilated by the Collective when she was a child, Detmer is simply a human whose prosthetics are due to her injuries she sustained in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Seven is the ''Voyager's'' science officer who prefers analytical, straightforward thinking when solving problems, while Detmer is ''Discovery's'' helm officer, preferring to escape from out of it with her piloting skills, as shown when she skillfully gets the ''Discovery'' out of a gravity well. While Seven struggles to become a human and is emotionally detached likely due to being a Borg (at first), Detmer is more emotional and suffers from not having the sensation of love and safety.
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* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: She has some commonalities to [[Characters/StarTrekVoyagerSevenOfNine Seven of Nine]] from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (double with the cranial implant on her hand that counts as a MythologyGag), being that they're both cybernetically augmented humans who struggled having the sensation of being loved throughout their entire lives. While Seven is a human-turned Borg who was assimilated by the Collective when she was a child, Detmer is simply a human whose prosthetics are due to her injuries she sustained in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Seven is the ''Voyager's'' science officer who prefers analytical, straightforward thinking when solving problems, while Detmer is ''Discovery's'' helm officer, preferring to escape from out of it with her piloting skills, as shown when she skillfully gets the ''Discovery'' out of a gravity well. While Seven struggles to become a human and is emotionally detached likely due to being a Borg (at first), Detmer is more emotional and suffers from not having the sensation of love and safety.
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Just For Pun is a disambiguation
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* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: Is almost a [[JustForPun mirror opposite]] of Gabriel Lorca. He's honest, kind and very likable, compared to Lorca being an unlikable, manipulative jackass who turned out to be EvilAllAlong. He made it a point to assert this early on to earn the crew's trust.
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* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: Is almost a [[JustForPun mirror opposite]] opposite of Gabriel Lorca. He's honest, kind and very likable, compared to Lorca being an unlikable, manipulative jackass who turned out to be EvilAllAlong. He made it a point to assert this early on to earn the crew's trust.
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* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Culber is the only character who doesn't compromise his morals over the course of the series. Stated by the producers as the reason why a Mirror!Culber didn't appear. They didn't want to tarnish that by having a having an evil version.
** Averted in the second season, where he [[TookALevelInJerkass gets more moody and aggressive]] in the wake of coming BackFromTheDead. The third season does show Mirror!Culber, though firmly OutOfFocus.
** Averted in the second season, where he [[TookALevelInJerkass gets more moody and aggressive]] in the wake of coming BackFromTheDead. The third season does show Mirror!Culber, though firmly OutOfFocus.
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* IncorruptiblePurePureness: IncorruptiblePurePureness:
** Culber is the only character who doesn't compromise his morals over the course of the series. Stated by the producers as the reason why aMirror!Culber Mirror Culber didn't appear. They didn't want to tarnish that by having a having an evil version.
** Averted in the second season, where he [[TookALevelInJerkass gets more moody and aggressive]] in the wake of coming BackFromTheDead. The third season does showMirror!Culber, Mirror Culber, though firmly OutOfFocus.
** Culber is the only character who doesn't compromise his morals over the course of the series. Stated by the producers as the reason why a
** Averted in the second season, where he [[TookALevelInJerkass gets more moody and aggressive]] in the wake of coming BackFromTheDead. The third season does show
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* RememberTheNewGuy: Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
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* RememberTheNewGuy: RememberTheNewGuy:
** Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
** Michael is Spock's never-before-referred-to foster sister. Of course, Spock never mentioned his parents or [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier his half-brother Sybok]] until they showed up in the flesh, so it's not out of character. Similar to Sybok, a Vulcan that deviated wildly from Vulcan culture, Burnham's reputation as Starfleet's first mutineer would make him that much less likely to bring her up in conversation, not to mention that they did not have a positive relationship growing up together.
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* HeinzHybrid: She's a mix of human, Cardassian, and Bajoran, but the percentages are unknown.
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* UnevenHybrid: She's a mix of human, Cardassian, and Bajoran, but the percentages are unknown.
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* CyborgHelmsman: Uses cybernetic implants to communicate with the spore drive, until he can get rid of them in season 4.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Stamets is caustic, arrogant, and impatient--especially in season 1 when Starfleet is trying to weaponize his life's work and Lorca keeps pushing Stamets for more and longer jumps even at the expense of safety--but he does care deeply about others, and especially about peaceful applications of his beloved science. (He's the first person to openly tell Burnham that Lorca is a "warmonger", when others like Saru tried to shy around the topic.) Though he mellows out considerably after the tardigrade DNA incident, mentoring Tilly in her career and Burnham in her relationships, he's apparently still enough of an arrogant git to annoy Detmer as late as Season 3's "Forget Me Not".
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Stamets is caustic, arrogant, and impatient--especially in season 1 when Starfleet is trying to weaponize his life's work and Lorca keeps pushing Stamets for more and longer jumps even at the expense of safety--but he does care deeply about others, and especially about peaceful applications of his beloved science. (He's the first person to openly tell Burnham that Lorca is a "warmonger", when others like Saru tried to shy around the topic.) Though he mellows out considerably after the tardigrade DNA incident, mentoring Tilly in her career and Burnham in her relationships, he's apparently still enough of an arrogant git to annoy Detmer as late as Season 3's "Forget Me Not".
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* SadisticChoice: His own actions with the spore drive force him into one, as he develops increasingly debilitating cognitive issues. If he tells Dr. Culber about the side effects, Culber will have no choice but to ground Stamets for his own safety and the good of Starfleet's only spore drive, which in turn would force Culber to tell Starfleet about Stamets' illegal genetic experiment--jeopardizing or outright ending Culber's career in addition to his own. If he does ''not'' tell Culber, he's betraying his partner's trust and straining their own relationship, plus depriving himself of any opportunity to get help managing the side effects. He ends up trying to TakeAThirdOption by co-opting Cadet Tilly to help him deal with the side effects, but this only puts ''her'' career in jeopardy as she tries to aid him as best she can while keeping Stamets' confusion a secret. This ends up falling apart when Lorca makes Culber run diagnostic scans in "Into The Forest I Go", and they reveal neurological problems. Stamets still agrees to make a series of micro-jumps to help expose the Klingon flagship's cloak, followed by one more to get ''Discovery'' back to a starbase -- which ends up TemptingFate one time too many, landing Stamets in a HeroicRROD and ''Discovery'' in the MirrorUniverse.
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* SadisticChoice: His own actions with the spore drive force him into one, as he develops increasingly debilitating cognitive issues. If he tells Dr. Culber about the side effects, Culber will have no Culber's choice but will be to either ground Stamets indefinitely for his own safety and the good of Starfleet's only spore drive, drive... or lie for him, which in turn would force Culber to tell Starfleet about Stamets' illegal genetic experiment--jeopardizing or outright ending Culber's end his own career in addition to his own. if he's caught. If he Stamets does ''not'' tell Culber, he's betraying his partner's trust and straining their own relationship, plus depriving himself of any opportunity to get help managing the side effects. He ends up trying to TakeAThirdOption by co-opting Cadet Tilly to help him deal with the side effects, but this only puts ''her'' career in jeopardy as she tries to aid him as best she can while keeping Stamets' confusion a secret. This ends up falling apart when Lorca makes Culber run diagnostic scans in "Into The Forest I Go", and they reveal neurological problems. Stamets still agrees to make a series of micro-jumps to help expose the Klingon flagship's cloak, followed by one more to get ''Discovery'' back to a starbase -- which ends up TemptingFate one time too many, landing Stamets in a HeroicRROD and ''Discovery'' in the MirrorUniverse.
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[[caption-width-right:350:''"There are always lives at stake. That's what keeps us employed. See, [[NecessaryEvil we do what we do so you can do what you do]]."'']]
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[[caption-width-right:350:''"There are always lives at stake. That's what keeps us employed. See, [[NecessaryEvil [[NecessarilyEvil we do what we do so you can do what you do]]."'']]
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* NiceGirl: Amanda is generally a kind-hearted woman, to the point that she goes easy on T'Pring during the Vulcan Awareness Ritual (when she's supposed to point out the latter's faults) because she doesn't wish to be needlessly cruel.
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* {{Foil}}: For Paul Stamets. Both men are extraordinarily intelligent, outstanding scientists, and have—-at least at first—-a somewhat arrogant/brusque manner that can be off-putting. But underneath the naked ambition that stands out on first acquaintance, each is capable of—-and, ultimately, motivated by—-deep and powerful emotional connections. The comparison with Tarka helps define Stamets’s boundaries: Stamets does have a high risk tolerance, but unlike Tarka he isn’t actually reckless, especially when other people’s lives are involved. Tarka is also far more selfishly motivated.
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* {{Foil}}: For Paul Stamets. Both men are extraordinarily intelligent, outstanding scientists, and have—-at least at first—-a somewhat have a somewhat arrogant/brusque manner that can be off-putting. off-putting on first acquaintance. But underneath the naked ambition that stands out on first acquaintance, InsufferableGenius schtick, each is capable of—-and, of--and, ultimately, motivated by—-deep by--deep and powerful emotional connections. The comparison with Tarka helps define Stamets’s Stamets's boundaries: Stamets does have a high risk tolerance, but unlike Tarka he isn’t isn't actually reckless, especially when other people’s people's lives are involved. Tarka is also far more selfishly motivated.
