Formerly played by internet superhero George Takei, when we first meet Sulu in JJ Abramss reboot, it looks like he might be the fall guy. Hes not exactly clumsy they wouldnt let him anywhere near the Starship Enterprise if he was but hes still capable of shocking absent-mindedness, like not engaging the warp gear before setting off on their maiden voyage. Instantly, he gets pegged by the audience (especially newcomers to the franchise) as a bit haphazard, not someone to take seriously. So when it comes time to save Vulcan, we see Kirk volunteer for the incredibly dangerous super-ultra-skydive mission to ruin the Romulan planet-boring weapon. Thats fair enough hes Kirk. Danger is practically his middle name (spoiler: its actually Tiberius) so if anyones going to sign up for kamikaze quests, its going to be him. But who else is going? Well, theres the obligatory Red Shirt, but we all know hes going to die. So who else will make this dangerous trip? Well apparently, its Sulu. Thats right, Sulu. Not even Kirk is thrilled with this, asking him what the hell his training is, and Sulu doesnt help himself saying that hes an excellent fencer. Kirk rolls his eyes, and even were smirking. I mean, what the hell is fencing going to do? Quite a lot, actually. As soon as Sulu is on that platform, he breaks out an awesome origami sword and begins whipping a couple of Romulans, while the once incredulous Kirk is heroically getting his face stoved in by a single opponent. Its honestly really impressive we knew everyone on the Starship Enterprise was exceptional, but damn, tell me you werent shocked when he front flipped over that guy? To me, it was actually kind of incredible, and a great bit of rug-pulling about the Sulu character. When he first uttered fencing, you feared for the worst, yet here is that same apparent klutz who couldnt get the Enterprise out of its driveway, and he was showing up the series protagonist. Awesome.