Throughout its long history as a franchise, Star Trek has killed off several main characters; while some of these deaths upset fans, or ended a character's tenure in the series prematurely, others proved to be an opportunity for further development in the character's overall arc. Some of the most memorable moments in the franchise are the dramatic death scenes — but in some cases, what happens after a character perishes is truly special.

Gene Roddenberry launched his enduring franchise with Star Trek: The Original Serieswhich debuted in 1966 — more than 50 years ago in real time. Within the franchise, the timeline actually spans over a thousand years, with Star Trek: Enterprise beginning in the year 2151 and Star Trek: Discovery season 3 being set in 3188. Just by virtue of how much time passes between each series — most of the characters in TOS are presumed long dead by the events of TNG — there are technically a lot of character deaths in canon. In fact, because Discovery season 3 is so far in the future, there's virtually no chance of any characters from previous series making an appearance.

Related: Star Trek: Killing Off Jadzia Dax Was DS9's Biggest Mistake

With that in mind, relatively few main characters get to die onscreen in the world of Star Trek, with the vast majority having their ultimate fate left unknown. Not every character death that appears in Star Trek is rewarding, however: Data's untimely death in Star Trek: Nemesis was so disliked by fans that Star Trek: Picard used its season-1 storyline to correct it. Similarly, Jadzia's Dax's death in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is considered by some to be one of the franchise's biggest mistakes. More often than not, death simply serves as the end of a character's journey, like Kirk's sacrifice in Star Trek Generations, or as a necessary plot point, like how Worf's former lover K’Ehleyr died, leaving Worf to parent a son he had only just met. In rare cases, a death gets to be a turning point in the franchise, and becomes the event that made a rewarding storyline for that character possible.

Spock, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in Star Trek 2009 and The Next Generation

As a key figure in the cast from Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock is arguably the franchise's most enduring figure — both in terms of his legacy within the franchise as well as his reputation among the fandom. Although he doesn't hold the record for appearing in the most Star Trek series (Jonathan Frakes does), late actor Leonard Nimoy had an impressive tenure within the franchise prior to his tragic death in 2015. In addition to appearing in TOS and its subsequent movies, he also appeared in a guest role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as the Kelvin timeline movies Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. The character Spock was even written into Discovery, season 2, portrayed by Ethan Peck.

Spock died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is easily one of the most well-known and beloved Star Trek feature films. Knowing that the crew will surely die in their current dire circumstance, Spock defies orders and enters the highly-irradiated dilithium reactor room in order to repair the engine, allowing the Enterprise to escape Khan's Genesis Device — but at the cost of his own life. Spock's sacrifice in the third act is a major emotional moment in the overall story, with his final conversation with Kirk offering a heartfelt moment of closure between the two friends. Although the scene is deeply tragic, it feels earned — and as such, remains one of the franchise's best onscreen character deaths.

Spock would return in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and resume his role as a core member of the TOS-era crew. The experience of dying and being resurrected influenced Spock's suppressed emotional side, and as a result, there are notable character changes by Star Trek IV: Voyage Home. This trend would continue, and by the time Spock appears to unify the Vulcans and Romulans in TNG's pivotal two-parter "Unification I" and "Unification II," he is notably a wiser, more mature, and softer version of the character.

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Nimoy's final appearance in the franchise is in the Kelvin timeline: Spock was transported into another, alternate reality after attempting to create a black hole to prevent a supernova star from destroying Romulus, leading to his appearance in the 2009 movie Stark Trek. Nimoy's performance was a highlight of the film, and further demonstrated his character's maturity. In the original timeline, Spock is presumed dead, but becomes an almost-legendary figure in Vulcan and Romulan culture, being remembered posthumously as "The Great Spock."

Tasha Yar, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek Tasha Yar

Lt. Natasha Yar was a misstep for TNG, as the female security officer never quite worked as a part of the Enterprise-D crew. Tasha was inspired by the Aliens character Vasquez — the tough-yet-sexy latinx Private who keeps up with her male teammates. The problem was, Star Trek's writers were unable to translate that into a believable (human) Starfleet officer, and as a result, instead of coming across as fiery and intimidating, Tasha was bland, a bit sad, and largely forgettable. Her death wasn't great — she is killed by an alien species that looks a little too much like a guy wearing a couple trash bags — but she at least got to be recognized in a funeral at the episode's end, unlike the countless "red shirts" who lost their lives in the line of duty during the TOS era.

Actress Denise Crosby left The Next Generation in season 1 because she felt that her character wasn't going anywhere, and, according to an interview with TrekMoviewas scared by the prospect of spending the next six years in the same role. She left the series amicably and was eventually asked to return in a guest spot for a season 3 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," in which she returns as part of the bridge crew because of a timeline change. In typical TNG fashion, the episode presented an impossible ethical choice: send a Starfleet ship back in time from whence it came — where it will almost certainly be destroyed by Romulans — or continue living in an altered future in which the United Federation of Planets and the Klingons are still at war. Ultimately, they choose the former, even though it means Lt. Tasha Yar will disappear (since she died in the past in the original timeline).

Related: Star Trek: How The Enterprise Got Its Worst Captain

Guinan warns Tasha that this will be her fate, and tells her that she died an "empty death" (echoing fan sentiment). Tasha opts to go out fighting instead, and boards the badly-damaged Enterprise-C to help them in their final battle in the past. The timeline is restored, and Tasha is assumed to have died along with this version of the Enterprise; however, the season 4 episode "Redemption II" revealed that Tasha had been captured by the Romulans, became a consort, and had a daughter, Sela. Although Tasha died when Sela was just 4 years old, following a failed escape attempt, the actress Crosby was able to return to TNG to play the half-Romulan offspring.

Philippa Georgiou, Star Trek: Discovery

Michelle-Yeoh-as-Philippa-Georgiou-Mirror-in-Star-Trek-Discovery

Originally, Captain Philippa Georgiou died in the series premiere of Discovery, following a disastrous encounter with the Klingons that was made worse by protagonist Michael Burnham's insubordination. The death was frustrating for many fans who were excited at the prospect of a female captain portrayed by the Chinese-Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh. Thankfully, the actress later returned to the series as her mirror universe version: the Emperor of the Terran Empire. Since the mirror version of Georgiou was introduced in season 1, she has gradually grown to become a complex character and a key part of the Discovery family. Although she possesses the unsavory disposition of most mirror universe counterparts, she maintains a soft spot for Burnham, and has proven herself a valuable — and entertaining — asset to the crew.

Dr. Hugh Culber, Star Trek: Discovery

Culber, Saru, and Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery

Discovery season 1 featured several questionable deaths, including the unexpected loss of Dr. Hugh Culber — who was in the first openly-gay relationship between two regular characters in Star Trek's history. Like with Georgiou, many fans were outraged that a BIPOC was being killed off so unceremoniously in the series. Rather than have Culber return as a mirror universe version (although mirror Culber is mentioned by Georgiou), season 2 resurrected Culber via the mycelial plane. Essentially, a new body was grown and somehow his consciousness was imparted onto it — not unlike Spock's resurrection in Star Trek III. Rather than simply resuming his life, however, this Culber deals with the PTSD of having died and then finding himself alive, but trapped, in the mycelial plane. His soul searching in season 2 is some of the best character development in all of Discovery so far, and his eventual reconciliation with his partner Lt. Paul Stamets is easily's one of the show's most rewarding moments.

Jean-Luc Picard (& Data), Star Trek: Picard

Picard Finale Star Trek

Former Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard was the focus of Star Trek: Picard, which followed the adventures of TNG's iconic captain during his retirement years. The embittered elderly man finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy involving the Zhat Vash and the "daughter" of his late friend Data, who sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise crew in Star Trek Nemesis. Data's death served a purpose in-universe — actor Brent Spiner felt he needed to retire from the role since Data was not supposed to age, yet the actor clearly was — but the moment felt hollow in the movie, lacking the emotional weight of Spock's sacrifice in Wrath of Khan. To make matters worse, Nemesis undercut Data's death by showing that his memories had been copied into the body of his "brother," android B-4. The moment hinted that Data could return — which only made his sacrifice even more meaningless.

In Picard, the titular former captain is haunted by what happened to Data. He is also suffering the effects of a fatal abnormality in the parietal lobe in his brain. Picard is at the end of his life, and makes the choice to go out fighting for a cause close to his heart. In the season 1 finale, he successfully saves the synthetic lifeforms while also preventing the destruction of all organic life in the universe — but collapses afterward, his body finally succumbing to his illness. His death is expected, and since the first season repeatedly established that him dying was inevitable; yet, the series found a fitting way to resurrect him that both fixed the genetic abnormality and also connected to the established themes of the series so far: Picard was reborn as a synthetic.

Related: Star Trek Almost Had A Different Data — Because of Patrick Stewart

The finale included a very touching scene between Picard and Data that offered some much-needed closure for both characters. Not only are they able to have the sort of honest, open, heart-to-heart that was so sorely missing in Data's Nemesis storyline, but the conversation also addresses the ethical dilemma of Data's non-consensual resurrection. Data asks Picard to terminate his consciousness (which had been reconstructed in a machine, effectively dooming Data to live indefinitely in a simulation) so that he may finally experience true life, knowing that it is finite. Picard obliges, and offers comfort at the side of Data's virtual death bed. This second attempt to end Data's story is more effective — and satisfying — than the first, even though it isn't a moment of great sacrifice, since it lets the android take control of his own destiny — and finally grants him his long-time wish of experiencing humanity.

Other Notable Characters Who Die In Star Trek

Star Trek DS9 Jadzia Dax

The above examples are characters whose deaths led to better storylines or fixed problems with events in the franchise's past; however, there are also examples of characters who died but weren't better off for it — even though that paved the way for some interesting plots in the franchise. Jadzia Dax is a prime example of this: her exit from the series was the result of growing tensions between actress Terry Farrell and the studio. The character was killed off when Farrell left the show ahead of season 7, and she was replaced by a successor, a new Trill character, Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer), who — inexplicably — happened to also be a pretty, young, white woman with dark hair and blue eyes. Although Deep Space Nine season 7 did some interesting things with Ezri, her very inclusion in the series was an insult to Jadzia's memory. The whole point of the Trill is that a symbiont moves from host to host, creating new identities along the way — so the choice to pick another actress who physically resembled Farrell further cheapened her death by creating the feeling that she was being replaced.

There are other notable character deaths that didn't have any sort of emotional payoff: Trip Tucker's death in the infamous Enterprise finale was abrupt and didn't feel earned; Commander Ellen Landry being killed by the tardigrade after torturing it in Discovery season 1 made her seem both cruel and incompetent; and Gowron's defeat at the hands of Worf during their fight to the death in DS9 season 7 felt necessary, but wasn't a great note to end on for the long-running character, first introduced in TNG. Gul Dukat faced a similar problem — his season 7 arc was so unlikable and odd, that the moment he dies evokes relief, not sadness, for fans of the villain. In fact, numerous deaths in Deep Space Nine in particular felt more tragic than meaningful, adding to the series' reputation for being one of Star Trek's darkest: Tora Ziyal (Dukat's daughter), Damar (who led the Cardassian rebellion against the Dominion), and Weyoun 6 (the "defective" Vorta clone who so desperately wanted to experience life) are just a few examples from the show's later seasons of characters whose deaths lacked resonance.

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With Discovery in season 3, and Picard set to return for season 2, the stories Culber, Georgiou and Picard will continue to develop. Even Spock's legacy was touched upon in Discovery, season 3, episode 7, and fans were treated to a touching hologram that featured footage from Nimoy's appearance in TNG. Hopefully, Picard's story in the next season of his show will deal with his new life as a synthetic (although the season 1 finale was careful to establish how human-like it was, without any sort of augmentations). If any other Star Trek characters die in future episodes, one hopes the trend will continue of making the deaths payoff as necessary moments in interesting storylines.

Next: Star Trek: Why Leonard Nimoy Hated Generations