For 55 years, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek has been taking fans on a journey unlike any other story in human history. A tale of an Earth that has become a utopia and a people who have reached the farthest points of the galaxy, Star Trek started as a sci-fi adventure series that was canceled after three seasons and has expanded to become one of pop culture's greatest stories.
What continues to make Star Trek so wonderful is how the people behind it continue to mix in the optimism of a better future with the realities of the troubles we face today. Star Trek tackles everything from race, sexuality, religion, and gender dynamics in ways that few forms of entertainment would dare, but it always centers these discussions on what matters most; people. And in between all the action and philosophical debates, Star Trek finds the humanity in every character, and on more than one occasion, can bring a tear to the eye of the hardest Klingon heart.
10 When The Old Spock Dies
No small part of Star Trek's success lies at the feet of Leonard Nimoy and his portrayal of Mister Spock. When Nimoy sadly passed away, it was represented in Star Trek Beyond by having the young Spock from an alternate universe learn of the passing of his older self.
The moment was done in silence and shown with a simple photo of the original Spock with the crew of the original Enterprise, and it hit old school Trek fans right in the heart. The moment was an honest and respectful way to say goodbye to absent friends.
9 When Picard Loses His World
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5 episode 25, "The Inner Light", Captain Picard finds himself living on an alien world where he has a wife and children. At first, Picard knows that this life is wrong. He knows he is the captain of a starship and not an iron weaver on the planet Kataan, but as the years pass, he comes to believe that this is his true life.
What Picard learns is that everything he is experiencing happened, and what he is living is the last years of the planet Kataan. The people of the planet sent out a probe before Kataan's destruction in hopes that someone would find it and learn their culture. That person was Picard, who would forever remember the people he came to love.
8 When Jadzia Dax Dies
A joined Trill, Jadzia was the host of an organism that lived inside her known as Dax. Dax had been joined to seven people before Jadzia and as such, Jadzia had the memories of those people. This made Jadzia one of the oldest people on Deep Space Nine, even though she appeared to be younger than almost everyone. In time, Jadzia came to fall in love with the Klingon Worf, but shortly after their marriage, she was shot by Gul Dukat.
While the doctors on DS9 were able to save the Dax symbiote, Jadzia died. Worf lost his love, and fans lost a great character.
7 When Sulu Saves The Day
Not every tear is born of sadness, as Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country proves. While the movie stood as the last one to center on the original cast of Star Trek, one character is noticeably absent for much of the film, Sulu.
But when things look to be their worst for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise as they go against Starfleet and battle General Chang's Bird-of-Prey, who should show up to save the day but Sulu, the captain of the USS Excelsior. For longtime fans, seeing Sulu reach the rank of Captain was a great moment.
6 When Janeway Gets A “Dear John” Letter
In Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Janeway and her crew find themselves stranded 70,000 light-years from Earth, and while they can't communicate with Starfleet at first, by the fourth season of the show they have found a way to contact Earth again.
For Janeway, being able to contact Earth again came with some sad news. Before the Voyager became lost in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway had been engaged to a man named Mark Johnson, but after years of the Voyager being missing in action, Mark had moved on and fallen in love with another woman.
5 When Old Jake Sisko Saves His Dad
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine may be the most emotional of any Star Trek series or movie, and the season four episode "The Visitor" really gets the waterworks going. In the episode, an elderly Jake Sisko, son of Captain Benjamin Sisko, is visited by a young woman who loves his writing and has some questions for him.
As we learn, Jake has spent his life mourning the death of his father, who was vaporized in an accident when Jake was just a teen. What has kept Jake from being able to move on from that day is that from time to time, his father appears to him begging for help. As Jake has discovered, his father is trapped out of sync with space and time, and the only way to save Captain Sisko is for Jake to die.
4 When Benny's Story Isn't Printed
The DS9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars" tells the story of Benny Russell, a man who lives on Earth in the 1950s and makes his living as a science fiction writer for a magazine. In the episode, Benny writes about a future where mankind has put an end to poverty, war, and hunger and has started to explore space.
In his story, which is set on a space station, the captain of the crew is a black man. Because of the race of the main character of the story, the publisher refuses to print Benny's story. Star Avery Brooks brings so much passion and power to the role of Benny that the final scene of the episode is sure to leave you crying.
3 When Kirk Can't Save Edith Keeler
In all of Star Trek history, "The City on the Edge of Forever" from the original series may be the most celebrated episode of the franchise. In the episode, Kirk, Spock, and Bones find themselves on Earth in the 1930s where they meet a woman named Edith Keeler.
In time, Kirk comes to fall in love with Edith, only to learn that she is destined to die in a few days. Kirk wants to save Edith, but according to Spock, if Edith does not die, the course of history will change and the Nazis will win World War II. In the final moments of the episode, Kirk has no choice but to watch as the woman he loves is struck and killed by a car.
2 When Scotty's Nephew Dies
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is arguably the most famous and most loved Star Trek movie, but real fans know that to get the whole picture, you need to watch the Director's Cut. In that version, viewers are introduced to Midshipman first-class Peter Preston, who just happens to be Scotty's nephew.
When the Enterprise is first attacked by Khan and his crew, the ship's engines are targeted and take a real beating. But as everyone else fled the engine room, Preston stayed at his station, working to keep the ship's power on. This decision would save the crew but cost Preston his life.
1 When Spock Dies
There is no sadder moment in all of Star Trek than the death of Mister Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In order to save the crew of the Enterprise, Spock enters the radioactive warp core and sacrifices himself to get the ship's warp drive online.
Kirk rushes to be by his friend's side, but a pane of glass keeps them separated as Spock slowly dies of radiation poisoning. At his funeral, a devastated Kirk says it best as he eulogizes his friend, "Of my friend, I can only say this. Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human"