In the
Star Trek universe, Kathryn Janeway was born on May 20, 2336 in
Bloomington, Indiana on
Earth. She was the daughter of Vice Admiral Janeway and has a sister named Phoebe, who is the artist in the family. Phoebe never chose to join Starfleet and stayed close to home with her mother, Gretchen Janeway. Kathryn Janeway was very close to her father, who taught her to look at the universe with a scientist's eye; she was devastated by his death. Her first mission after graduating the academy was as a science officer on the USS
Al-Batani, where she served as chief science officer during the Arias mission. Captain Janeway takes command of the
Intrepid-class
USS Voyager in 2371. Their first mission is to locate and capture a
Maquis vessel last seen in the area of space known as the
Badlands. While there, the Maquis ship and
Voyager are transported against their will into the
Delta Quadrant, 70,000
light-years away, by a massive displacement wave. The Maquis ship is destroyed while fighting the
Kazon-Ogla, and although
Voyager survives, numerous casualties occur. To protect the
Ocampa, who live on a planet
Voyager visits, Janeway destroys the Caretaker Array, the space station that transported the two ships to the Delta Quadrant, which provides energy to the Ocampa's planet, despite the fact that the Array may be the two ships' only chance to return home. In doing this, Janeway strands her ship and crew seven decades' travel from home. Her first major task is integrating the surviving Maquis and
Voyager crews.
Chakotay, captain of the Maquis ship, succeeds the deceased Lieutenant Commander Cavit as her first officer. Janeway also grants convicted criminal, former Starfleet officer, and accomplished pilot
Tom Paris a field commission, and makes him
Voyagers helmsman. A few years after
Voyager's return to Federation space and Janeway's subsequent promotion to admiral, Janeway commands the USS
Dauntless in an effort to locate her former first officer Chakotay, who disappeared while commanding the USS
Protostar.
Non-canon Admiral Janeway also appeared in the Borg Invasion 4-D ride at the
Star Trek: The Experience venue in Las Vegas, which closed in 2008. In the ride, Janeway leads
Voyager to the rescue of ride participants who are ostensibly trapped first on a space station and later on a shuttlecraft that come under attack by a Borg Cube commanded by the
Borg Queen. At the ride's end, Janeway tells the participants, "Congratulations. You've defeated the Borg with one thing the Queen can never assimilate: the human spirit. As long as we have that, resistance will never be futile." Janeway continued as a major character in the
Star Trek novels that depict the events in the lives of the
Voyager characters after the end of that series. In
Peter David's 2007
Star Trek: The Next Generation novel,
Before Dishonor, which is set after the events of
Star Trek: Nemesis, Janeway is assimilated by a rogue faction of the
Borg, and becomes their new Borg Queen.
Seven of Nine, with the aid of Ambassador
Spock and the
Enterprise-E crew, manages to communicate with Janeway's consciousness, buried deep within the Queen's mind. During a brief moment of contact, Janeway helps them destroy the Borg cube, with all hands on board. Although Seven manages to escape, Janeway is killed. Her memorial service sees a vast turnout, and a tall gleaming pillar with a light burning atop it is constructed in tribute to her. The Q female appears to Janeway's spirit, and tells her that
Q and the
Q Continuum had taken an interest in her. Telling her that she has a destiny, Lady Q takes Janeway by the hand and disappears with her into realms unknown. Writer Peter David explained the book was conceived by
Pocket Books editorial as one in which Janeway would die, and that he was brought in to write it to give her a reportedly heroic send-off. In the 2012
Star Trek: Voyager novel
The Eternal Tide by
Kirsten Beyer, Janeway returns to human life with the help of young Q, who needs her assistance, and by the book's end resumes her admiralship in Starfleet. In the 2014
Star Trek: Voyager novel
Protectors by Kirsten Beyer, Janeway goes back to Earth per orders of Starfleet Command; by the end of the book, she returns to the Delta Quadrant, taking charge of the starships stationed there. She continues this mission in Beyer's second 2014
Star Trek: Voyager novel,
Acts of Contrition. In
Cryptic Studios' online role-playing game,
Star Trek Online, Janeway was physically added to game in January 2022, along with voiceover work by Kate Mulgrew as part of the game's 12th anniversary. Prior to her addition, Janeway was only occasionally mentioned in the game. She was also retroactively added to the game's 2014
Delta Rising expansion. ==Reception==