Wesley Crusher is a character on the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was played by actor Wil Wheaton.

The son of Jack and Beverly Crusher, he was a bright young man who was almost too intelligent for his own good. He first arrived on the Enterprise-D with his mother right after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command. Picard realized that he understood many things beyond his age and appointed him as acting Ensign. He matured over the years and eventually entered Starfleet Academy. The first time he took the Academy entrance exam, however, he didn't pass. See "Coming of Age". Starfleet wasn't to be his destiny, as he participated in an incident in which a fellow student was killed. During the year he had to repeat before graduating, he became restless and bored with his studies.

While visiting the Enterprise, he met The Traveler who helped him transcend space and time and achieve his true potential.

Many viewers found the character intensely irritating, claiming he was a Mary Sue ('Wesley' being Gene Roddenberry's middle name). There was at one point a Usenet newsgroup named "alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die."

External Links

• Official biography of Wesley Crusher
• Google archive of the alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die newsgroup