Philippa Georgiou

"Battle is not simulation. It's blood and screams and funerals. I thought you better than that. We don't start shooting on a hunch. And we don't take innocent lives, period."

- Georgiou, on battle.

Philippa Georgiou was a human female introduced in the Star Trek: Discovery pilot The Vulcan Hello.

She was portrayed by Michelle Yeoh.

A member of Starfleet, by 2249 she had reached the rank of Captain and commanded the USS Shenzhou. Even by then she had been a highly decorated officer. In 2249 she welcomed Michael Burnham on board her ship, who eventually became her friend and first officer.

In 2256 she and Burnham participated in a mission to repair damage to a planet's water table to help the indigenous culture survive. During the mission she expressed her belief that Burnham was ready for her own command. After returning to the Shenzhou Georgiou took her ship to a binary system at the edge of Federation space to investigate why a beacon had gone off line.

There Georgiou encountered a group of Klingons led by T'Kuvma. Despite Burnham's insistence, Georgiou refused to open fire on the Klingons without provocation, and was forced to place her friend under arrest when Burnham tried to seize command of the Shenzhou. Georgiou later wondered if she had missed something while trying to get inside the shell Burnham had drawn around herself.

Georgiou and Burnham later slipped aboard T'Kuvma's flagship in an attempt to capture him. Georgiou died in combat against T'Kuvma, who was in turn shot and killed by Burnham.