Herschel Wescott Maines-Dowd
Male

Place of Origin: Paisley, Renfrewshire; Scotland

Standing at 5’10”, Herschel doesn’t exactly win the tallest Starfleet Captain of the year award but it is of little consequence to him. At first glance, one would be forgiven for not seeing much (if anything distinguishing to look at), with his black (peppered now with hints of gray) haircut cropped close to his head, clean-shaven and coupled with light blue eyes, he would seem like any other standard male.

However, looking closer, one would notice his age showing through (there is no denying it); reaching his fiftieth year, but still manages to remain largely in shape wherever possible due to his ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ approach to his appearance. Hersh is a man who rather likes his Starfleet uniform, only stripping down to the shirt and trousers whenever he has his ‘off-time’ and rarely is seen in anything else.

Herschel isn’t a man unscathed either, a man who has his fair share of scars – ranging from anything of childhood accidents to silly mistakes he had made in Starfleet Academy onwards. His most prominent is his missing right pinky finger, certainly an embarrassing tale that never really gets a straight answer and his scar that is an inch in width, three inches in length across the left side of his face (a nasty encounter with the corner of a medbay bed).

Where many people would say that the exterior tends to reflect the interior, they would be half true. Herschel’s outward appearance tends to set the bar for where most of his interactions with people lay, often giving off the impression that his grumpier and aggressive nature is more than skin-deep.

However, like all things, appearances can be deceiving.

Herschel has struggled with the balance of ‘old Herschel from Paisley, Scotland’ and ‘Starfleet Captain Herschel’ – often leading him to coming into conflict with not only others but himself. On one hand, the man had worked hard to get where he is, tempering his outbursts of defiance whenever he feels strongly about an issue going against his own personal set of morals (which has seen him bumping heads more than once with fellow officers).

Persevering
Natural leader
Disciplined
Respectful
Curious
Moral

Stubborn
Confrontational
Temper
Protective
Insomniac
Workaholic

Herschel was born as the first of five siblings out of two sisters and twins. He was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire; Scotland to parents Reginald Dowd and Kaylee Maines. His childhood consisted of running away from school to hang around in his uncle’s family garage, learning the tools of the trade; Hersch got into trouble multiple times for bunking off his lessons and causing a disturbance around his neighbourhood. His mother was a starfleet officer, and his father was a surgeon, neither of them had too much time delegated to them – so they struggled to try and curb the boisterous nature of their son (which often the task got delegated to his younger siblings). It wasn’t that he wanted to be the rebellious first son, he wanted an out straight after he had finished his school, so he started looking into his mother’s career in Starfleet.

And started looking up at the stars with a renewed interest.

2338 he had enrolled into Starfleet Academy after being given a second chance at redoing his exams before being commissioned. It was the hardest few years of his life, Herschel had at many points wondered what he was doing there – even if the answer was simple.

To make a name for himself.

And with the label of being Kaylee Maines’ unruly son, Hersch had to work harder to prove that he wasn’t wasting Starfleet’s time. The route of choosing medicine seemed like a far-fetched idea at the time but with his father’s input (as limited as it was), he had managed to scrape a pass and within the next year was stationed on board the USS Oslo. Though he had managed to pass and get himself stationed, it wasn’t enough.

Hersch had gotten a taste of what Starfleet had to offer and continued at full throttle. He wanted to make his parents proud, wanted to prove that he was capable of more than just ‘scraping by’ or being looked down upon. During his time on the Oslo, he gained his first promotion to Lt. Junior Grade before being transferred to the USS Remus where he had decided that he wanted to pursue a different (but equally as challenging) branch within starfleet and had opted to return to the Academy to attend the Science course.

However, not everything was going smoothly. His time on the Ingenuity tested his character, certainly leading him to butt heads with a fellow ranking officer which had caused his time on the ship to be cut short; his commanding officer thinking it best to transfer the both of them to separate ships to avoid further conflict and as such went through a number of different starships.

2338 to 2339 – commissioned into Starfleet Academy; medical route
2340 to 2345 – USS Oslo
2348 – Promotion to Lieutenant junior grade
Late 2349 to 2352 – transferred to USS Remus
Mid 2355 to 2360 – Promoted to lieutenant, returns to Starfleet Academy; passes Science course
2361 to 2364 – USS Ingenuity; transferred due to disagreement with fellow officer
2365 to 2369 – USS Galahad
2370 to 2372 – USS Norway
2373 to 2876 – USS Saratoga; promoted to second officer
2384 – Promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander
2392 to 2394 – USS Arnheim; transferred, filled in as acting CO
2396 – USS Harbinger; current CO