Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Kim
3. Mystery Is His Middle Names
Mysterious middle initials are somewhat of a tradition in Star Trek. All the way back in Where No Man Has Gone Before, Kirk's tombstone read "James R.", a 'mistake' in retrospect on the part of the godlike Gary Mitchell, to be replaced by the much more famous 'James T.' 'T' was then officially 'Tiberius' in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode Bem. The 'R' went on to appear in 'Wesley R. Crusher' (and 'Jack R. Crusher' [father], moreover). Of course, there's always William T…(homas)!
At first, Harry Kim was just 'Harry Kim'. But move over 'Turkey Platter,' there were two letters to add. In Non Sequitur, when Harry pulls up his own service record, the screen reads "Harry S.L. Kim". There are caveats, not the least of which is image quality, and the finest distinction (not unironic) in LCARS between capital 'L' and 'I'. That's not to forget that this particular service record was from an alternate timeline, created by accident when Harry's shuttle intersected a "temporal inversion fold in the space-time matrix".
Nonetheless, 'S.L.' has stuck, as we saw in the teaser trailer for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The initials could also be seen on the transporter room panel of the USS Dauntless, as created by Dominique Rossier for Star Trek: Prodigy. 'S.L.' has never been indicated in dialogue, however, and no one, not even Garrett Wang, knows what either letter stands for. That hasn't stopped Wang from coming up with his own creative suggestions. For example, during 'Harry Kim's Latinum: Trek Trivia' evening at Dragon Con 2017, Wang reportedly (and humorously) offered up "Sushi Lovin'" as an option. We're back to Turkey Platter!
