I think the character would have been more believable and likeable if Landau hadn't played him as so unstable sometimes. Like in Last Sunset when he rips Kano a new one, or when he shoots Cantar in The Exiles. Or pick a scene from The Lambda Factor (I cringe when Helena is trying to make him face his fears in Command Center). It's SOOOO over the top you might mistake him for William Shatner.

The Cantar ecample is quite understandable though. If he had told anyone else about what he intended to do, then Cantar might somehow have caught on.

I liked the background the original writer's guide gave for Koenig. He was married for five years to a gifted artist, who decided at that time that "she had submitted some of her own life to his, and... decided to do so no longer. John was unhappy over this decision, but loved her enough to make the separation an amicable one." This was six years prior to Breakaway, and the experience made John hold back at relating deeply to other women.
Starlog had printed the writer's guide as a two-part article back in 1980, and 15 years or so after that, when I watched S1 on laserdisc, I bore some of that background info in mind. Of course, S2's "The Rules of Luton" negated all that, but since the 'divorce' background info was never mentioned on screen, there's no real nit.
On the other hand, if one views each season as two separate series (as I prefer to), one can have it both ways.

So, here's another tangent from me...
What religion was John Koenig? Although the character was never really played as deeply religious, I never got the impression he was atheistic or even agnostic. Spiritual, perhaps, since he makes references to God/gods throughout the series, or possibly religious but non-practicing. If that's the case, I presume many people assumed his religion would have been Christian, but I saw one person (in the Online Alpha archive, perhaps? I forget where exactly...) suggest that he could have been Jewish.
I bring it up because S99 was unusual for a science fiction series in that several episodes were laced with religious undertones (some Christian, some non-Christian), and it's only natural that that would come across in some of the characters (by design or by accident).

He's been portrayed as Jewish in several fanfics, presumably because Martin Landau is Jewish.

excuse me, could you all point me to the "Yasko" section of the bulletin board? Thanks in advance!

She doesn't have her own board, but would fit in the "Other Regulars" under the Characters board.

...Or other Irregulars, as the case may be ;)

"Koenig" doesn't sound Jewish, but then "Spock" kinda does. Go figure.

I'm not a Jew, but my agent is!

Koenig's family could be German-born Jews maybe. I think Koenig is a German name.

Koenig is similiar to the German 'Konig' which means King. The name certainly might have Germanic roots. There are some languages similiar to the German one where it might be translated from.

I've seen the name Koenigs in real life, but I don't know where it originated.

We have a patron named Koenig at our library, but instead of pronouncing it Ko-nig, she pronounces it Kay-nig. Wonder if it's a regional difference?

Just a bit of useless trivia to toss into the pool.

I believe that's the German pronounciation. constanze or Electron, can you confirm that?

Koenig is the other form of König - the ö can be written as oe. And yes, its the german word for King. The german pronounciation is neither ko-nig nor kay-nig, but ... well, its difficult, since the "ö"-letter doesn't exist in english, I think the sound doesn't exist either (e.g. the "ch"-sound doesn't exist in english at all), and I can't remember offhand what combination of english sounds would come closest. I guess kooh-nig. I found a link with audiofiles and a pronounciation table for german.

OK, the Americanized version of the German pronounciation. I have problem saying the oe/ö sound.

Umm, is Walter Koenig not his real name? He's real, isn't he?

As an example of the name I mean....

Walter Koenig's name is pronounced like "caneing". Matt Groenig says his rhymes with "complaining". "John Koenig," as 48 episodes have shown us, is pronounced differently.

The guy I knew (see my Feb 24 '03 post) pronounced his name "Kay-nigs."

I don't like the way Koenig looked at Yasko. Poor Yasko created such sexual tension in Command Centre. She had to go. The other females saw her as a threat. They resented the special hold Asian females have on the hearts of Western gentlemen. Yasko was very much a Monica Lewinsky type... a dedicated,innocent,young woman vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Koenig, you PIG!!!

I saw DeForrest Kelley speak at a con once many years ago, and I distinctly remember him pronouncing Walter Koenig's name as KEE-nig. Don't know if that's the actual pronounciation, though.

I never saw Koenig look at Yasko in an unprofessional manner. Even with Helena, all hanky panky was off time.

Hmm... maybe it's just me, but Koenig seems to eye up the Eagle stewardess (sorry, flight attendant) who hands him coffee in "Breakaway"'s prologue. I only noticed him do it because I did it, too... uh, AHEM! I mean, I was just wondering...

There were some babes on the show. Ms Cranston in "Seeds of Destruction" was a hottie! The two ladies in swimsuits in "Catacombs of the Moon" sure weren't. Shame on casting for that!

How pathetic. Does any male ever comment on how intelligent any of the female characters are?

Rose, no offence, but if you read some of the other comments about the female characters you might see what you are looking for. I, for example, have stated that Maya's character might have been more interesting if she hadn't been used as 'plot device of the week' simply changing shape to get out of a situation, and also thinking that if more effort had been put into showing how she adapted to a new environment would have made her better.

I've also said that Judy Geeson portrayed her rather tortured character Regina, pretty well.

I realise that looking at the large amounts of past postings might seem a bit time consuming, but if you do so, you might see opinions you agree with.

Don't take this the wrong way as no offence is meant.

As tempting as it may be to make sarcastic comments, even in jest, I caution everyone to remember the rules of NitCentral and to remember that some comments may be interpreted badly. (I'm not saying we can't speak our minds, but we should maintain a sense of civility, even when we disagree with each other.) In any event, such comments may get dumped by the Moderator or a Roving Mod.

The new "Eagle Crash Guide" in the Catacombs reminds us that Koenig was piloting seven of the twelve Eagle crashes in the show (Alan,second, at four crashes). Koenig is a holy terror at the controls!
Maybe, Alpha should have let Yasko pilot the Eagles. They couldn't have lost any more Eagles that way!

That raises an interesting question.
Who would make a better pilot...Yasko, Sandra, or Alibe ?

I think Mr. Sulu has a better track record, I don't remember him crashing ANY ships! LOL Besides, couldn't you just see him attacking the Dragon with his fencing sword and slicing off every limbtentacle, while his shirt is conveniently on the floor behind him...LOL

"Bones" could have sent the Spock zombie (from "Spock's Brain") to fight the Dragon. Wait a moment, good 'ol Freddie Freiberger would have probably found that to be a good idea.
An unused Freddie story idea: " Trees vs the Dragon"!

How about the 'imposter Kirk' (not the Mirror Kirk) facing off against the 'doppelganger Koenig'...three falls, winner takes all?

Koenig is dead is Kirk uses his patented 'Kirk-Fu' fighting style on him.

What's a "Kirk-Fu" fighting style?
The obvious use of a double in fight scenes?

Kirk-Fu was discussed on another Sci-Fi board at which I am a moderator, it basically consists of how Kirk uses the same couple of fighting moves per episode, like a gut punch while holding his opponent. It always ends with Kirk somehow throwing his opponent over his shoulder.

Surely, Kirk's shirt has to get ripped during the fight!

Thanks Doug for the points on Kirk's fighting technique.
Now, I'll be able to spot it when I watch some old eps. Maybe, I should set my VCR. The Sci-Fi channel is running old Trek all this week during the day.

Of course, Martin Landau was origianly supposed to play Spock, so Koenig's fighting style does have some 'psychic' connection to Trek.