Copyright Paramount David Marcus Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan
12. David Marcus
Casual fans of the franchise would be forgiven for not immediately recognizing number twelve on this list, David Marcus was the only son of Captain James T. Kirk.
First encountered by Kirk during Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan we’re introduced to David as a scientist working on the Genesis Project along with his mother Dr. Carol Marcus. While Kirk had no idea David existed, David certainly knew of Kirk and while he displayed many of his father’s personality traits, he had a deep-seated hatred for him.
The dynamic between the two would change from one of hate, to respect and eventually to one of love, Kirk grew as a character as he finally saw the he could become a family man and pass on some of himself to his son. Unfortunately for Kirk a short time later David is sent on a landing party and taken prisoner by Klingons looking to take the Genesis device, and he was ultimately killed in an ill-fated attempt to save Saavik from a Klingon blade.
The impact on Captain Kirk was brutal, as fast as his son had jumped into his life he was cast out of it, the death of David would go on to haunt Kirk for the rest of his lift.