Alternate Universe Selves
Could the main alternate universe characters in Star Trek (2009) be the main prime universe characters in an alternate universe with slightly different biographies, or could they be different persons probably born to the same sets of parents at different times than the prime universe persons but given the same names by their parents? That is the question.
And I think that the answer is:
Yes.
Yes? Yes to which?
Yes to both possibilities.
Yes, some or all of the main alternate universe characters could possibly be the same as the main prime characters, at least up to the moments hen their life experiences start to change.
And:
Yes, some or all of the main alternate universe characters could possibly be totally different persons from their prime universe counterparts. They could have been born at different moments of time to the same sets of parents and thus have different sets of genes and still have been given the same names as their prime universe counterparts.
Considering how different the Kelvin seems at the beginning when Nero arrives back in time, and how different Khan seems in Star trek: Into Darkness, it seems likely that Nero and Spock did not go back in time to the past of the familiar Star Trek universe but instead went back to the past of a universe that as already an alternate universe to to the familiar Star Trek universe centuries before.
But let's ignore that and assume that the changes were all due to Nero and Spock travelling back in time to the past of the familiar Star Trek universe.
There are actually clear and canonical statements about the ages of to main prime universe characters, from the second season of TOS.
In "The Deadly Years" prime Kirk is shown to be 34.
SPOCK: Medical banks, compute described subject's physical age, using established norms as comparative base.
COMPUTER: Working. Subject's physical age based on physiological profile, between sixty and seventy two. Aging rapidly.
KIRK: No, I'm thirty four. I'm thirty four years old.
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/40.htm
And in "Who Mourns for Adonais?" prime Chekov is said to be 22 years old:
SCOTT: Carolyn. What's happened to her?
KIRK: Scotty, I'll find out.
CHEKOV: Perhaps if I assisted.
KIRK: How old are you?
CHEKOV: Twenty two, sir.
KIRK: Then I'd better handle it. (goes over to a very satisfied looking woman) You all right?
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/33.htm
So Kirk is said to be somewhere between 34.000 and 34.999 in one second season episode, and Chekov is said to be somewhere between 22.000 and 22.999 in another second season episode.
Michael and Denise Okuda in the official (but not necessarily canonical or correct) Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future decided that TOS episodes happen in production order (in their chronology) 300 years after being broadcast on Earth. Thus they put "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and "The Deadly Years" in 2267.
Thus I calculate that Kirk could have been born between 2232.001 and 2233.999, and Chekov could have been born between 2244.001 and 2245.999 in the Okuda chronlogy.
The Okudas had less precise information for the other characters and had to guess a bit at their birth years.
The Okuda chronology deduces and speculates that Montgomery Scott was born in 2222, Leonard McCoy was born in 2227, Spock was born in 2230, James T. Kirk was born on 22 March 2233 (day 50 of 2233, or about 2233.13698), Hikaru Sulu was born in 2237, Nyota Uhura was born in 2239, and Pavel Chekov was born in 2245.
According to Memory Alpha, the stardates in the alternate reality films have the year to the left of the decimal point and the number of the day, up to 365, to the right of the decimal point. Thus in Star Trek (2009) Kirk's birth on stardate 2233.04 corresponds to 04 January 2233 [not 22 March 2233 which would be 2233.50] and the stardate 2258.42 in the main action corresponds to 11 February 2258. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Stardate
If the two universes diverge on 04 January 2233, Scott should already be going on eleven, McCoy should already be going on six, and Spock should already be going on three. Sooner or later their lives would start to change and they would become more and more different persons as their life experiences become more and more different.
After the two universes start to diverge, Hikaru Sulu, Nyota Uhura, and Pavel Chekov might be born as the same persons with the same genes if nothing happens to change the moment they are conceived. But sooner or later their life experiences would start to change and they would become more and more different persons.
But if the changes start to affect their parents' lives before they are conceived then they may be born from different eggs and sperm and have different genes and be totally different persons, just given the same names by their parents.
At the present time the age requirements to enter the United States Naval Academy are:
at least 17 years of age and must not have passed your 23rd birthday on July 1st of the year of admission;https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/FAQ.php
And the age requirements to enter the United States Military Academy are:
you must be a United States citizen, at least 17 and not yet 23 years of age on July 1 of your year of admission.https://www.thebalance.com/the-united-states-military-academy-3344741
The Making of Star Trek, 1968, says that original Kirk entered the Academy aged 17, the minimum legal age. So we can assume that the entrance age to Starfleet Academy is about 17.000 to 22.999.
If alternate universe Hikaru Sulu is born about 2237.000 to 2237.999 - the same as prime Sulu - he can enter Starfleet Academy about 2254.000 to 2260.998 and graduate about 2257.700 to 2264.798.
If alternate universe Nyota Uhura is born about 2239.000 to 2239.999 - the same as prime Uhura - she can enter Starfleet Academy about 2256.000 to 2262.998 and graduate about 2259.700 to 2266.798.
Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future says that prime Sulu and prime Uhura enter Starfleet Academy in 2255 and 2257 and graduate in 2259 and 2261.
Thus there is no need to assume that alternate Sulu and Uhura had to be born at different dates than prime Sulu and Uhura in order to be in Starfleet Academy in 2258.
Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future says that prime Chekov is born in 2245, enters Starfleet Academy in 2263, graduates in 2267 and is commissioned an ensign.
According to Star Trek (2009) Chekov is 17 in 2258 and thus should have been born in 2240 or 2241, and thus is about four to five years older than prime Chekov.
That is strong evidence that the two Chekovs were born at different times and thus were conceived from different eggs and sperm and thus have different genes and were totally different persons from the beginning.
But it is possible that the two Chekovs were the same person originally, conceived at the same instant with the same egg and sperm and the same genetic code, if one or both of them have had a science fictional type life history, involving time in suspended animation, time travel, use of time warps to make time go faster or slower than in the outside world, etc., etc.
The two Sulus seem to be genetically different persons, if sexual orientation is determined by genes, since alternate universe Sulu is homosexual in Star Trek Beyond. But maybe they are the some person genetically, and one comes out decades earlier than the other one.
So it seems that Scott, McCoy, Spock and Kirk should be genetically the same persons in the two universes, while Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov could be either genetically the same persons or genetically different persons born to the same parents and given the same names. and everyone's lives would gradually become more and more different after 2233, making them more and more different persons with different life histories.
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