William T. Riker

 is a central character featured in the Star Trek film and television franchise. Played by actor Jonathan Frakes, he was a regular cast member on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and appeared in all 176 episodes of the series as well as four of the Star Trek feature films including, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis. The character has also made guest appearances on the spin-off shows Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise (a variation of Riker's character named Thomas Riker appeared in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Outside of films and television, has been prominently featured in a multitude of books, comics and video games.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of was created by Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana.


 * Actor William O. Campbell originally auditioned for the role of Will Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was the second choice for the part, but the role ultimately went to Jonathan Frakes. Campbell was not completely cut off from the Star Trek mythos however. He popped up in 1988 in the season two episode "The Outrageous Okona" playing the titular character Captain Thadiun Okona.