Sokel is the stern Vulcan captain of the cruiser Sh'vhal, who judges his officer T'Lyn too emotional and has her transferred to Starfleet after her initiative saves the USS Cerritos.
Sokel appears in wej Duj, the second season episode that follows the lower decks of Klingon and Vulcan ships. He has little patience with T'Lyn's instincts and unauthorised upgrades, and orders her to meditate after what he regards as outbursts.
Her sensor work leads the Sh'vhal to a Pakled and Klingon plot, and her untested shield amplifier lets the ship save the Cerritos. Sokel acknowledges the result but still sends her away to serve on a Starfleet vessel.
He is named in Empathological Fallacies, where Mariner calls his decision unfair, and is glimpsed in A Few Badgeys More. In Old Friends, New Planets, after Nova Fleet is broken up, he offers T'Lyn her old post back, and she turns it down to stay on the Cerritos. Sokel is voiced by Nolan North.