Kevin Riley

Character
Name:	Kevin Riley
Occupation:
Relationships:
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
Other:
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Kevin Riley was a character on Star Trek: TOS.

He appeared in two episodes, "The Naked Time" and "The Conscience of the King."

He was portrayed by Bruce Hyde, who stated in 1984: "Kevin Riley was proficient and keen enough to get promotion, but he was too flamboyant a character ever to make it to Admiral. He was not of the type to inspire people with his qualities of leadership."

The Ever-Popular "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"

At cons, fans were eager to hear him perform "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen," the song Riley mangled over the Enterprise's intercom in the episode, "The Naked Time." This song was included in the 1971 issue of The Star Trek Songbook.

One Star Trek club compiled some of Hyde's music. From a 1985 ad:

BRUCE HYDE ENTERTAINS - a beautiful audio tape exclusive to TREK-ON. Bruce Hyde (Lieutenant Kevin Riley) entertains you on this lovely country and western tape, which he has made available exclusively to TREK-ON. All the songs (apart from "Kathleen" which he sings in unmistakable Riley style) have been written, composed and sung by Bruce, and are really superb. The tape includes songs he performed at MIDCON, and some are brand new. "Looking For Love", "All That Is Gold" and the very beautiful "Dream Me Home Tonight". All are songs you will love. In fact, if you enjoy good music and believe in IDIC , this tape is for you.

Bruce Hyde also appeared Saturday and sang for us. I have heard Bruce sing before and it was no less a pleasure hearing him sing again. Bruce has a lovely voice but he is a songwriter, too, and some of the songs he performed for us were his own composition. His final song was "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen," sung in Kevin Riley's particular style.

Pairings and Relationships

• Kirk & Riley
• Kirk/Riley
• Spock/Riley (rare!)

Tropes and Themes

• many fanworks focus on Riley's singing
• Riley as a gambler, careless and flamboyant
• often portrayed in adventures with Sulu (TOS) and Chekov (TOS)
• as a part of fanworks that address Tarsus IV, due to Riley's appearance in "The Conscience of the King"

Fanworks

Fanfiction

• Carbon Copy by Kathie Farnell ("Sulu has an alien plant that can make exact duplicates of small objects. Lt. Riley shows it some money so he can recoup gambling losses; he's trying to buy an engagement ring for his intended.") (Pastaklan Vesla #4) (1972)
• Kevin O'Riley: King of the Irish by Pat Harris and Sonni Cooper ("A shuttle craft crashes on Planet Erin and Kevin finds out he really is King of the Irish.") (from Infinite Diversity #1) (1978)
• Kevin and his wife (original character, Torrie Riley) are in several stories in In a Different Reality (1980s)
• Sunshine for Sale by Pamela Rose ("Recalled from shore leave, Kevin Riley buys a bottle of "sunshine from home" and lets it out on the Enterprise.") (1982)
• Sulu's Vacation by Ingrid Cross ("With three months of accumulated leave, Chekov, Sulu, and Kevin Riley make their plans. However, Sulu's plans for a restful trip home are interrupted by the other two's ideas of profit and adventure.") (the novel that makes up Saurian Brandy Digest #30) (1982)
• To Stalk a Vulcan by Jane Woods ("Kyle, Riley, Sulu and Chekov have a bet going. The first one to land a date with the next female to come aboard will be hailed by the others as the greatest lover. How were they to know the next female would be a Vulcan?") (from Five Year Mission and Beyond... #1) (1982)
• The Dante Connection by Jenny Elson ("Peter Kirk dies of an apparent drug overdose, and Kirk is pulled into the world of drugs and slavery when he and Spock team up with a disgraced Kevin Riley to find out what is really happening to cadets sent to Danteʼs Planet.") (from The Dante Connection and Nor the Stars Shall Shine) (1982)
• Just Keep Moving by Pam Trelli ("Lt. Kevin Riley and Ensign William Hickey are stranded on a nightmare planet, unable to communicate with the Enterprise. Will they survive?") (a bit of an RPF, as William Hickey was a fan) (from Our Favorite Things #6) (1990)
• The Night Watch by d. William Roberts (includes an original character named Lieutenant Shaun Kelsey, whose first assignment is the U.S.S. Enterprise where he meets Lieutenant Kevin Thomas Riley.)(1993)
• Naked Fever by Carlyn (Spock/Kevin Riley (K/S implied) - "In the aftermath of the Psi2000 virus, two crewmembers find themselves still suffering from the experience.") (part of Spock Fuh-Q Fest) (2000)
• The Stars Shine On by FyreFlyte ("For Jim Kirk, the scars of Tarsus IV won't ever fully fade. But sometimes a fellow survivor and a few close friends can do more than the psychological counselors ever could. A loosely connected series of oneshots. Part Three: Told from Riley's POV. A mission gone wrong, a feverish Jim, and an observant Vulcan.") (2012)
• bortaS ChoQ by Elizabeth Knauel (includes "the mysterious Captain Kevin Riley") (2001)
• Blue Fields by WerewolvesAreReal ("In his thirteenth year James Kirk ends up on Tarsus IV with his aunt and uncle. During the famine he takes refuge with a six year-old named Kevin Riley and a young half-Vulcan.") (2015)
• Preemptive Triage by Marshmellin ("The Enterprise escorts Federation historians to a symposium on Tarsus IV — the site of a massacre Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley barely survived. When a colony ship faces disaster en route, old trauma collides with urgent duty.") (2015)

Filks and Poems

• Ballad of the Birthday Boy (to Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley) ("pilfered from" Cheryl White & Jeanne Cloud) (from The IDICon Song Book (1984)

• From an untitled Kirk/Riley filk:

I’ll take home again, James Kirk

Across the Horse Head Nebulayyyyy

To where your heart has ever been

Since we first told Tarsus IV, good-bye

The curls have left your darling head

I’ve seen them all go bye-bye

You need glasses ere when books are read

But, they never hide your sparkling eyes.

Oh, I will take you back, boyo

And there I will erase your pain

Now, Jimmy lad, don’t be coy, oh

I’ll take you to my arms again.

Fan Art

• 
  art by GIL, from "Born an Irishman" in R & R #8) (1978)
• 
  Pat Harris portrays "Kevin O'Riley," King of the Irish (1978)
• 
  from "Space Legs" by Julie McCoy ("Kevin Riley has a problem adjusting to space when he first arrives on the Enterprise and McCoy seeks a means to help him.") (from McCoy's Illegible Log #5 (1981)
• 
  Sulu, Riley, and Chekov on the cover of Saurian Brandy Digest #30 (1982)
• 
  Barbara Walker, for Sunshine for Sale (1985)

Fan Comments

1980

Kevin Riley was a major character in a Star Trek Tie-in Novel:

I finished David Gerrold's THE GALACTIC WHIRLPOOL and have mixed reactions about it: I detect distinct parallels with BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES: disbelieve Kevin Riley’s maturity to be thrust into the mainstream of this story as Mr. Gerrold has done; at several times I felt there were some unfinished lines of thought that could have been more developed; in short, I think it would have been a better magazine story rather than a full blown novel! Of course, who am I to dispute Mr. Gerrold's expertise —- I'm just another fan expressing opinions. But I was somewhat disappointed during the midst of the book and had no qualms about putting it down until some further reluctant inclination to pick it up and continue reading.

Lt. Kevin Riley is the hero of the story. It is he who leads the contact party into the alien vessel and whose subsequent adventures we follow in detail. Riley is given a compelling personality all his own, and yet he still comes across as a younger Kirk, The two have certain similar qualities; compassion, courage, sensitivity, humanity. Another first - it is Riley who gets the girl in the story, leaving poor Jim [Kirk] stranded without a love interest!

Fanwork Archives

• Kevin Riley at Archive of Our Own
• Kevin Riley at Fanfiction.net