Introduced: "Broken Bow" (ENT, Season One)Last Seen: "The Expanse" (ENT, Season Two)The Humanoid Figure quickly dubbed "Future Guy" online first appeared during the premiere episode of Enterprise. He made a total of five appearances in the show's first two seasons and although only a few details were revealed about his backstory (he was from six hundred years in the future and physically unable to travel back in time he became a central figure in the show's ongoing Temporal Cold War story arc. In season there, however, he was only mentioned, and by season four the Temporal Cold War storyline was more or less abandoned. Who was Future Guy and what were his ultimate motivations? The series never presented any definitive answers to these questions, preferring to keep him vague and ominous. Executive producer and co-creator Rick Berman often stated in interviews that the character's identity and backstory were never developed, and although they had planned to reveal who he was in the first season finale, "Shockwave," the idea was ultimately abandoned. In 2009, however, executive producer and co-creator Brannon Braga claimed that Future Guy was "probably going to be a Romulan," tying into the Earth-Romulan War that was only hinted at before the series was cancelled. Then, in 2012, Braga changed his story, claiming that if a fifth season had been produced, it would have revealed that Future Guy was actually Captain Jonathan Archer "trying to correct history" from the distant future, and that this was actually the writer's plan from the beginning. Whatever the truth of the matter, the post-series Enterprise novels have forged a different path than either of Braga's ideas. In the novel, "Watching the Cloak," it turns out he is a man named Jamran Harnoth, who is of Suliban, Romulan, and Tandran descent. He has been attempting to manipulate history in order to alter species across time with his civilization's advanced genetic engineering technology. Eventually, he was apprehended by Daniels, a temporal agent from the 31st century. Did we miss any great storylines that Star Trek left hanging? Share your thoughts in the comments thread below.
Michael is one of the founders of FACT TREK (www.facttrek.com), a project dedicated to untangling 50+ years of mythology about the original Star Trek and its place in TV history. He currently is the Director of Sales and Digital Commerce at Shout! Factory, where he has worked since 2014. From 2013-2018, he ran the popular Star Trek Fact Check blog (www.startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com).
