Mr. Kyle was the USS Enterprise’s reliable Transporter Chief in Star Trek: TOS, and Strange New Worlds brought him back – with some key differences.

Although lesser known than his Star Trek: The Original Series crew mates, Mr. Kyle (John Winston) appeared in 11 episodes of TOS, and has taken on a new life in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Actor John Winston played Kyle in 11 episodes of Star Trek: TOS and also made a cameo appearance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Winston’s first TOS episode was “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, in which he was credited as Transporter Chief. It wasn’t until Winston’s fifth appearance, in “Who Mourns For Adonais?” that he was identified as Lieutenant Kyle by Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy).

Kyle even featured in Star Trek: The Animated Series, where he was voiced by Scotty actor James Doohan. Like his Star Trek: The Next Generation counterpart Colm Meaney, John Winston’s small role appeared to get bigger in subsequent episodes. Unlike TNG‘s Chief O’Brien, the character of Lt. Kyle was never given a lead role in a spinoff, but he has recently been resurrected as a supporting character in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, played by Vampire Academy‘s André Dae Kim.

Mr. Kyle In Star Trek: The Original Series

Mr. Kyle didn’t have an easy time during Star Trek: The Original Series, as he was often incapacitated in the line of duty. Kyle was attacked by Khan Noonien-Singh (Ricardo Montalban) during his hijacking of the USS Enterprise in “Space Seed.” Later, Kyle was attacked by Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) in “The City on the Edge of Forever” while the Enterprise medic was under the influence of cordrazine. Star Trek: TOS‘ Mr. Kyle was more than just a punching bag, however, and he assisted Spock in finding vulnerabilities in Apollo’s force field and helped Scotty to loosen Vaal’s grip on the Enterprise.

As well as operating Star Trek‘s transporters, Lieutenant Kyle also temporarily served at the helm in the episode “The Immunity Syndrome.” It was Kyle who was piloting the Enterprise during their mission to locate the missing USS Intrepid. Many years later, Commander Kyle was serving aboard the USS Reliant with Captain Clark Terrell (Paul Winfield) and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) when they arrived at what they believed to be Ceti Alpha VI. When the truth was revealed, Kyle had another unpleasant encounter with Khan Noonien-Singh, who stranded him and his fellow officers on the ravaged Ceti Alpha V.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Kyle Retcon

Canadian actor André Dae Kim played Transporter Chief Kyle in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1. Dae Kim’s Asian heritage led to some debate among fans about whether he was playing the same Kyle from Star Trek: The Original Series, or the unnamed Asian transporter operator in Star Trek‘s original pilot, “The Cage”. André Dae Kim is playing the same character as John Winston, reimagined to increase the diversity of the SNW cast. It’s the same reason that Admiral Robert April (Adrian Holmes) isn’t played by a white man in SNW, despite being presented as such in Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Interestingly, the backstory of Kyle in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals that he previously served aboard the USS Shenzhou alongside then-Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). He transferred to the USS Enterprise at some point after the ship was lost in the Battle of the Binary Stars. The episode “Spock Amok” revealed that Kyle was “mean“, making the chore of cleaning the transporter pads a nightmare for those given the job. André Dae Kim left Strange New Worlds before season 2, but the character of Kyle will be back, as eight years later, he’s a fully-fledged Lieutenant aboard Kirk’s Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew – Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) – with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.