Executive officer of the Starship Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
William Thomas Riker was born in Valdez, Alaska, on Earth in 2335. Riker's mother died when he was only 2 years old and he was raised by his father, Kyle Riker. The elder Riker abandoned his son at age 15, an act that William held against his father until 2365 when, at age30, father and son were reunited aboard the Enterprise-D. Riker graduated from Starfleet academy in 2357, and was ranked 8th in his class at graduation. As of 2369, he had been decorated 5 times.
Riker's first assignment after graduating from the academy was aboard the U.S.S. Pegasus, a ship that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Early in his career, Riker was stationed on planet Betazed, where he became romantically involved with psychology student Deanna Troi. Riker, then a lieutenant, chose to make his Starfleet career his priority over his relationship with Deanna, and accepted a posting to the U.S.S. Potempkin. While aboard the Potempkin, Riker led a rescue mission to the planet Nervala IV and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant commander and commended for "exceptional valor" during the rescue. It was not realized until years later that a transporter malfunction during the final beam-out caused an identical copy of Riker to be created on the planet surface. William Riker was later promoted to executive officer aboard the U.S.S. Hood, where he served under the command of Captain Robert Desoto.
Riker joined the Enterprise-D at planet Deneb IV, having transfered from the Hood. Riker accepted the Enterprise-D posting despite the fact that he'd been offered command of the U.S.S. Drake. One of Riker's greatest personal tests came in 2364 when the entity Q offered him a gift of supernatural powers, an offer that Riker was able to refuse. Riker became the first Federation Starfleet officer to serve aboard a Klingon vessel when he participated in an Officer Exchange program in 2365, serving as first officer aboard the Klingon ship Pagh. Riker was offered command of the U.S.S. Aries in 2365, but he declined the appointment preffering to remain on the Enterprise-D. Riker suffered a near brush with death while on a survey mission to planet Surata IV, where contact with an indigenous plant form caused him to lose consciousness for several hours. Riker was charged with murder in the 2366 death of Dr. Net Apgar at planet Tanuga IV after Apgar's research station exploded. He was acquitted after a holodeck re-creation of the events leading to the death demonstrated that Apgar had been responsible for the explosion. In late 2366, Riker refused a third opportunity to command a starship when he was offered the U.S.S. Melbourne during the Borg incursion that year. Shortly thereafter, Riker was granted a temporary field promotion to Captain, and given command of the Enterprise-D following the capture of Captain Picard by the Borg. The Melbourne was later destroyed by the Borg in the battle of Wolf-359.
Riker's approach to command was frequently unconventional. Prior to his service aboard the Enterprise-D, Riker had been a lieutenant aboard the Starship Potempkin. During a crisis aboard that ship, Riker positioned the Potempkin over a planet's magnetic pole, thus confusing his opponents sensors. Indeed, Data once observed that Riker relied upon traditional problem solving techniques less than one-quarter of the time.
As a boy, Riker was responsible for cooking for himself and his father. As Enterprise-D executive officer, Riker regarded cooking as a hobby. One of Riker's passions was for old earth jazz music, and he was a pretty fair trombone player. William Riker was first seen in "Encounter at Farpoint."