The Top 20 most impactful deaths in Star Trek history

Andrew Depledge

‘He’s dead Jim!’ – Are there any words from Star Trek which have better permeated our culture? Well maybe, but nobody ever actually said ‘Beam me up Scotty’

Death is a constant, unfortunately as we move through our lives we lose people who are important to us, sometimes these losses can make us stronger but that does little to remove the pain of the original loss.

Much like in life as we watch our favourite shows characters and actors die along the way, and just as with life the longer it goes the greater the losses.

Some of those deaths can have a greater impact on the franchise than others, whether it’s through the loss of a valued friend and colleague, or through the way their deaths can help to propel other characters and the storyline forward.

With that in mind we will now look at the top 20 most impactful deaths in Star Trek History,

20. Weyoun

You might ask how the death of a character who literally dies several times a season can be impactful?

We saw Weyoun die no less than four times during his time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as a key leader inside of the dominion several of his deaths left an impact on the series.

The death of Weyoun 4 showed us that the Jem’Hadar had a code, made them far more rounded characters overall. The Death of Weyoun 5, while not shown on-screen would eventually cast Damar in a more positive light.

Had Weyoun 6 lived longer he may have shortened the war and saved millions of lives, unfortunately he tragically took his own life to save Odo from Weyoun 7, who himself would later be killed by Worf while Worf and Jadzia Dax were in custody.

The last incarnation, Weyoun 8 would be killed by Garak during the assault on Cardassia Prime.

Amazing the impact one easily replaceable man can have on a series.

19. The Romulan Senate

What possible impact could the deaths of a foreign government with no ties to the Federation have on the series?

Sure it led to the events of Star Trek: Nemesis when a human clone who stood for the Reman people took control of Romulus with a bomb placed in the Romulan Senate, but does that make it impactful to the series?

The truth is the death of the Senate not only lead to the events of Nemesis and to another impactful death on this list (more on that later), but it also may have led to the entire Kelvin Timeline.

Over the course of the 24th century the Romulan Senate had slowly undergone a shift, in many ways brought on by the diplomatic tactics of Ambassador Spock who had worked for many years on the idea of re-unification between the Romulan and Vulcan people. With the deaths of Spock’s allies in the senate it no doubt slowed the progress of improved relations, had it not perhaps Spock would have been in a better position to save Romulus from the supernova that would ultimately lead to the creation of the Kelvin Timeline.

Thats right, to those of you who don’t enjoy Nemesis or the Kelvin movies you can now blame one on the other.

18. Chancellor Gowron

Another foreign leader killed, but this time at the hands of a Starfleet officer.

We began our journey through the life of Chancellor Gowron during Star Trek: The Next Generation when Captain Picard would have a hand in choosing him as the leader of the Klingon Empire, and later to win the resulting Klingon Civil War.

Gowron was a pretty good leader most of the time, however it seemed at times that the writers of his second series as a recurring character, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine often didn’t know how to use him properly, a complaint actor Robert O’Reilly has made publicly in the past.

Gowron was eventually painted as a leader out of his element, perhaps even so far out of his element that he may have been replaced by a. changing looking to destabilize the empire. It would later be proven that he was not a changing, but he would go on to try to undermine the house of Martok and have a detrimental effect on the Dominion War. As a result Gowron was killed during a leadership challenge by Worf, and the title of Chancellor of the Klingon empire was passed on to Martok.

With Gowron dead the Klingons were a better fighting force, no longer retreating they took the fight to the enemy, who knows what may have happened had it not been for the death of Chancellor Gowron.

17. Commander Sonak

Really, did he even speak two lines? How was his death impactful to anyone?

Quite right, we didn’t know Star Trek: The Motion Picture‘s Commander Sonak well, we knew he was the science officer aboard the refitted Enterprise, he was fully certified on all ship systems, and that he was apparently a friend of Admiral Kirk’s. (We also know he should have just taken the shuttle)

So how is his death impactful? Quite simply without his dying the newly emotionally purged Spock would not have had a reason to return to the Enterprise, Sonak would have filled the position of first officer to Kirk once Captain Decker was out of the picture and none of the events that came after would have been the same… Ok so it might have saved us from Star Trek III: The Search fo Spock, but it was still a good thing for the franchise overall.

16. Tuvix

I know what you’re thinking, he wasn’t even a real character, he was an accident!

For those who missed it (Spoiler Alert) Tuvix is what happens when you put Tuvok and Neelix in a transporter powered blender and spit them out as a single entity, but what makes his death impactful? The original characters lived.

Yes, Neelix and Tuvok survived the episode, but the truth is Tuvix was a unique character in his own right, so much so that another actor was brought in to play him.

When the crew of Star Trek: Voyager finds a way to undo the transporter accident that lead to his creation he tells Captain Janeway that he wants to live and the doctor even refuses to do the procedure as it will violate his Hippocratic oath.

That’s when the impactful part happens, Captain Janeway torn between her loyalty to her original crew and the want to let this new life form life decides to essentially murder the individual to save the pair. This had to have an impact on the good Captain, because while she will do anything to save her crew, she will find out before arriving home again what happens when a Starfleet officer breaks the rules too many times.

Interesting side note: Since we all know Admirals tend to be evil people who become the villains of movies through their judgement that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, is it any surprise that Janeway became an Admiral in the end?

15. Ensign Sito Jaxa

From an occupied planet, to an unfortunate academy decision, to a suicide mission to save an enemy of her people. The Life of Ensign Sito Jaxa was short, tragic and impactful.

She started off as one of a group of cadets who were looking to make a statement, to perform a maneuver which had been banned but Starfleet due to its inherent dangers, and banned with good reason as it led to the death of one of her close friends, and to the termination of one of the great upcoming pilots in the academy.

From there Sito Jaxa went on to graduate the academy, and unbeknownst to her she was requested transferred to the flagship by Captain Picard himself as he wanted to be sure she would have a chance to redeem herself, a fact she would find out during one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, entitled Lower Decks which showed her character come full circle as she learned to stand up for herself, take pride in who she was and what she had gone through to get where she was again.

Her death at the end of the episode completed an excellent and in many ways unparalleled character arc for Ensign Sito. it would also have a notable impact on Worf, who in part because of the death of someone under his wing as she had been would go on to become a stronger leader and eventually serve as the defecto captain of the USS Defiant.

14. Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax

One of the original core cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the death of Jadzia Dax should rank higher on the list, except for one thing, the writers tried their best to lower the impact.

Dax’s death was in many ways unfair, both to Terry Farrell and to the character, the former powers that be for the Star Trek franchise have been noted many times for the unfair ways they have treated actors who wished to change their level of participation in their series. One could argue that Wesley Crusher may have become a more beloved character had it not been for Rick Berman’s poor treatment of Will Wheaton, and the same is true for Terry Farrell’s Jadzia Dax, although she was a better written and longer lasting character by the time her character came to an end.

Dax essentially died for nothing, similar to how Tasha Yar had died years earlier, she was killed and stepped over by Gul Dukat as callously as Armus had done years earlier.

Whats more one episode later Dax would return as Ezri Dax, a new host carrying the same symbiont as Jadzia, with all of her memories intact. While the characters continued to grieve for Jadzia they also began to reform their friendships with Dax, all save for her husband Worf, who often seems to be the one most impactful by the deaths on this list.

13. Amanda Grayson

While the prime timeline gave us little insight into Spock’s human mother, the Kelvin Timeline’s Spock was largely shaped by her death. It gave a parallel to the changes in the Spock character as the death of George Kirk gave to the Kelvin’s James T. Kirk.

Despite his wish to appear Vulcan we know that Spock is half human, constantly at odds with himself, fighting his emotions, attempting to be the incarnation of logic, but the death of his mother Amanda threw him through enough of an emotional loop that Captain Kirk was able to reclaim his rightful place as Captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek (2009).

There have been few characters seen as little as Amanda Grayson who have so profoundly affected the events and characters in the Star Trek universe, the impact of her death forever altered the dynamic and the command structure of the flagship of the Federation, and indeed of the characters themselves.

Her death during the destruction of Vulcan at the hands of Captain Nero was a heartbreaking moment felt by not just one incarnation of her son who came so close to saving her, but also to an alternate incarnation of her son who felt at least somewhat responsible for the events that lead to hear death in this reality.

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.

11. Lal

Lal was Data’s attempt to procreate, but rather than making a child in his own image, or more to the point in his father’s image, Data chose to create a child who could choose her own image.

A short life with a lasting impact, Lal was, for a time, thought to be the first Soong type android to have been successfully created by a person other than Dr. Noonian Soong.

Unfortunately for Data, the android who would become his daughter was in a way born with a degenerative condition that eventually lead to the failure of her neural net.

"“Thank you for my life” Lal’s final words to her father."

As a part of her death Lal experienced emotions, something Data had himself been unable to do up until that point, and would not experience for several more years, we can only imagine the impact her death had on her once his emotion chip was installed.

Data would make sure that a part of her would live on, transferring her memories and experiences to his own brain following her death, and if you pay close attention you will see his expression of her in his painting and his thoughts over the rest of the series.

10. Commander Charles ‘Trip’ Tucker, the third

You could be forgiven for not remembering the death of Commander Charles Tucker, even though he more or less died twice during the run of his series.

The first time we see Trip die is as his clone Sim during the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Similitude in which a clone is created with a 15 day lifespan to extract brain tissue to save the life of the real Commander Charles Tucker III.

Tuckers second death occurred, essentially, on the holodeck of the Enterprise D, during the regrettable series finale These are the voyages… when after being saved from death by his friend and Captain, Jonathan Archer he returned the favour by luring a group of aliens to a plasma junction which he claimed he could use for communications to bring them their target, Shran, but instead rigged the junction to explode killing both the aliens and himself.

While it was a heroic death after a long and storied career abroad Enterprise, and Trip was certainly one of the best parts of the series, his death ultimately became muted by the poor execution of the series finale taking place on a holodeck during the events of an episode of another series.

None the less, as Tuckers death saved his Captain, and founding member of the United Federation of Planets, Jonathan Archer it’s impact can not be understated. Had it not been for his sacrifice the Federation may not have existed.

09 – Dr. Hugh Culber

As this list demonstrates there have been many deaths throughout the history of Star Trek, but have any been as jarring as the death of fan favourite character Doctor Hugh Culber?

Discovery is full of deaths, and rightfully so for a series who’s first season splits time between an all out war with the Klingons and the brutal reality of the mirror universe, but as many deaths as we have seen there was just something particularly jarring about the death of Dr. Culbert at the hands of Ash Tyler.

Hugh marks a long overdue step forward in diversity for a series that prides its self on such things, and the expert portrayal of the character by Wilson Cruz brought him to life and made us care about him, and his relationship with Lt. Paul Stamets.

When he was on the verge of being discovered, and suffering from PTSD, Ash Tyler, aka Voq, lashed out in a sudden act of violence and broke Culbert’s neck, dropping him lifelessly to the floor. It’s a death that will not only stay with many fans, but ultimately have a profound impact on his partner, Paul Stamets for many years to come.

08. Jennifer Sisko

Let us never forget those we lost at Wolf 359. While the battle ultimately slowed the Borg incursion towards sector 001 and gave the Enterprise time to neutralize them and save their Captain, the lives that were lost there would forever change the quadrant.

Her husband Commander Benjamin Sisko served as first officer aboard the USS Saratoga at the time of the Battle of Wolf 359, Jennifer and her young son Jake were unfortunately caught in the middle of the action when the ship was destroyed, while Jake was saved, along with Ben, unfortunately Jennifer was not as lucky.

We never knew her in life, but her impact would be felt for the entire run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and beyond. Appearing regularly as a voice of the prophets, the aliens who lived in the wormhole and watched out for Bajor, Jennifer’s death changed Commander Sisko’s life forever. Had he not been as broken by her death as he was he may not have been transferred to a fledgling station on a distant border with the Cardssians where he would find out, and eventually even accept that he was the Emissary, a celestial creation of the wormhole aliens meant to save Bajor from an evil force that would eventually come to inhabit the body of his predecessor Gul Dukat.

But it was more than just his spiritual life that would be affected, the way his son would grow up before our eyes, his future relationship with Cassidy Yates and indeed his interactions with his entire crew were the result of Jennifer’s Death.

For a character we never saw alive, she sure had a deep impact.

07 – Tasha Yar

A female Chief of Security and Tactical Officer with a dark past and the ability to hold her own in any fight, Tasha’s death may have been for nothing, but its impact would last.

Growing up on a planet where robbery, gang rape, and acts of violence were the everyday normal turned Tasha into a driven officer with a strong sense of right and wrong who was tough enough to take on any challenge.

Unfortunately, she met Armus, a puddle who killed her to see if it would amuse him to do so. Her death was due to actress Denise Crosby’s wish to leave the series as she was reportedly afraid that the bulk of the episodes would focus on the three most senior officers and her character wouldn’t grow in the way she wanted, had she known how much of an ensemble series Star Trek: The Next Generation would become I’m sure she would have done it differently.

The impact of her death would change the series as a whole, moving Worf from an uncomfortable looking ops officer to Chief of Security really brought his character into its own, turning him into one of the most lasting character in franchise history, I’m not sure I could say that had he remained at the front of the bridge looking out of place next to Geordi, or Data.

Her death would also be long remembered by Data, with whom she had established a physical relationship, and be featured as a part of one of the best episodes of the series, Yesterday’s Enterprise in which she learned that she didn’t belong as a part of the crew and ultimately went back in time with the crew of the Enterprise C, where she was captured by Romulans and gave birth to the villainous Commander Sela.

A pretty strong impact for a character who didn’t make it out of the first season.

The Creators of Star Trek the Next Generation Copyright Paramount / CBS

06 – Gene Roddenberry

Hold on!

You’re thinking this is a list of character deaths, what the heck is Gene doing on it, he was never a character!

And you’re right, Gene was never a character on his own show, though he was once a voice in the original series, and his picture appeared in a database on a screen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

But the truth is his death had a huge impact on the characters of the Star Trek franchise, while he was the visionary who created the first two series, and was behind the scenes throughout the first six movies, Gene in some ways held Star Trek back.

His recycled stories, and characters and strict non-confrontational rules during the first seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation were in some ways holding the series back from the greatness it would achieve later on. While he deserves all the credit in the world for what the franchise has become sometimes the best thing a creator can do is step away and let their creation grow which is the impact his death ultimately had on the series.

Had Gene lived he likely wouldn’t have allowed such things as The Best of Both Worlds, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, or Star Trek Discovery, Each is in some way built on a conflict between the crew, something Gene was strongly against, and each has its own important place in Star Trek history.

We may never have known what his ultimate vision would have led us to but his death impacted the characters we know and love in a deep and profound way.

Captain James T Kirk

05. James T. Kirk

Did you ever imagine that the ultimate fate of Captain Kirk would be that he died because the Enterprise B couldn’t get its systems installed before the following Tuesday?

Well it wasn’t exactly that simple, though that was the inciting incident that would lead to his time in the Nexus that allowed him fight beside Captain Picard and die at the hands of Soran.

As much as Star Trek: The Next Generation had already taken the torch and run with it for seven seasons on TV, Star Trek: Generations and the death of James Kirk was the symbolic passing of the torch from the former Captain of the movie franchise to the next.

We may have already assumed him dead by the time the Enterprise D flew out on her maiden voyage to Farpoint Station, but that didn’t diminish the impact of his death on the franchise some seven years later. Our Captain lay dead, fittingly on a last away mission to an empty barren planet, and wearing a red shirt to boot.

04. Edith Keeler

One of the most important figures in history, Edith died a nobody and saved humanity in doing so.

The amazing thing about Edith Keeler is that had she lived long enough to be important she would have been the end of our civilization as we know it, only by dying as an unimportant person could she be the linchpin that propelled us towards the final frontier.

Her death certainly has an impact on all three men who traveled back to meet her, in that going with their good nature and wish to help those in need was the one way they would doom humanity. It’s well explored in the Star Trek novels that her passing had a lasting impact on Kirk, and no doubt it also haunted Doctor McCoy.

Throw in the fan theory that the timeline in which she lived is also the mirror universe and she could be the most impactful death in Star Trek history.

03. Acting Captain George Kirk

To paraphrase Admiral Pike, he was Captain of a Starship for 12 minutes and saved 800 lives, but his death was the spark of a new reality. I dare anyone to have that impact.

You want a death with some impact look no further than Captain George Kirk, while dying he helped to name the hero of the series, and his final act saved his crew, delayed the villain long enough for the next group to come together and altered history enough that it created a whole new timeline .

George is one of the few people we can see for both sides, the impact of his life, and the impact of his death. Alive he raises his son to become one of the all time great Starfleet Captains and star of The Prime Timeline’s Star Trek. Dead he’s the spark of inspiration that drives his son to take up the Admirals challenge and become one of the all time great Starfleet Captains and star of the Kelvin Timeline’s Star Trek movie series

02. Lieutenant Commander Data

Unique, intelligent, loyal, dedicated, strong and with the curiosity of a child, Data was in many ways the viewers eyes in the world of Star Trek The Next Generation.

Though somewhat minimized by circumstances and writing the death of Data was a loss for the entire galaxy, sure it would have meant more had he remained the only Soong-type Android known to be functional, rather than one of two with his oddly placed brother B-4, and had it not been the final movie for the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In many ways Data’s life was a parallel to the entire premise of the series, to explore strange new worlds, as Data explored his own humanity, to seek out new life and new civilizations, as Data searched for new ways to become more human and increase his awareness of who he was and how he fit in the universe, and to boldly go where no one was gone before, as Data was constant charging head first into new situations and forging his own path.

Ok, so it’s a bit of a stretch, but that is ultimately what made data as popular a character as he was, and even though we may or may not see the full impact his death had on the universe, it had an impact on us as fans, and certainly would have had a major impact on the crew of the Enterprise.

01 . Captain Spock

Who can forget this shocking, and touching moment? I mean it’s Spock after all, Kirk is going to save him right? Just beam him out of there, McCoy can fix him….?

McCoy did save him, In fact he already kind of was saving him at the time, thanks to a well-timed mind meld. But most moviegoers missed the mind meld and left the theatres in tears, some sent death threats to the Director and studio. Add to that the rumours at the time were that this would be the last Star Trek Movie.

Kirk may have been the hero, McCoy May have been the conscience, but Spock was the icon.

Looking back with 20/20 hindsight the series looks almost planned, but at the time it wasn’t as clear cut, the death of Spock signalled the end of the franchise.

Of course he would return in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, only to die again in an alternate reality version of the past after providing information to save his crew from the same madman who had taken his life all those years earlier.

Spock the character’s death had a massive impact on his crewmates and two timelines, and Spock the icons death had a massive impact on us fans, making his the most impactful death in Star Trek History.

Andrew Depledge

my name is Andrew and I'm the Site Expert for Red Shirts Always Die. I am a lifelong science fiction fan and come from a background of team/community building and of problem solving.