Technically, Starfleet’s goal is to boldly go where no man has gone before. Its crews are on journeys of discovery, finding new worlds and exploring them. But since the Star Trek universe is filled with nefarious villains, they’re not always lucky enough to simply chart a planet and move on. There’s almost always some kind of conflict involved.
Some of pop culture’s most iconic villains ever created have come from the Star Trek universe. The most famous and arguably the greatest is Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán, introduced in The Original Series before being immortalized on the big screen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Khan Is The Best: He Fits Nietzsche’s “Übermensch” Concept
Khan’s characterization has been compared to Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Übermensch” theory — the concept of a “superman” — as he’s physically and psychologically superior to the rest of the human race.
However, where Nietzsche theorized that humans have to create their own meaning in their lives through self-awareness, Khan’s chosen purpose is to exact revenge against Kirk.
Alternative: Romulans
When Star Trek writer Paul Schneider created the Romulans for the episode “Balance of Terror,” his basic concept was a futuristic version of the Roman Empire that managed to figure out space travel.
The Romulans are basically the opposite of the Vulcans. Whereas the Vulcans are a peaceful people, the Romulans are a ruthless militaristic force to be reckoned with. They’re not just enemies of the Enterprise; they’re enemies of the entire United Federation of Planets.
Khan Is The Best: He Has A Personal Vendetta Against Kirk
A lot of Star Trek villains are just evil for the sake of being evil, but Khan has a specific reason to target the crew of the Enterprise. After the crew saved him from suspended animation and he tried to take over their ship, Captain Kirk exiled him to Ceti Alpha V.
When Khan returned to wreak havoc on the Enterprise crew a decade and a half later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, there was a good reason for his vendetta against Kirk.
Alternative: Professor Moriarty
Technically, Professor James Moriarty is a villain from the Sherlock Holmes universe, but in a fascinating episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a recreation of Moriarty escapes from the Holodeck and takes over the Enterprise.
Since Data kept cracking all the cases the Holodeck came up with, Geordi La Forge wanted to create a baddie that Data couldn’t defeat and they ended up with their own Moriarty on the loose.
Khan Is The Best: Ricardo Montalbán Gave The Greatest Performance Of His Career
Throughout his decades-long acting career, Ricardo Montalbán gave a bunch of memorable performances in roles like Mr. Roarke in Fantasy Island and Armando in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
But he gave possibly his all-time greatest performance as Khan in Star Trek II. Playing a villain who believes they’re not a villain is difficult, but Montalbán nailed it.
Alternative: Mirror Spock
“Mirror, Mirror,” an episode from the second season of The Original Series, is notable for introducing the concept of a mirror universe into the Star Trek canon.
This parallel dimension contains carbon copies of people with goatees to distinguish them from the mainline versions. Mirror Spock is the most memorable villain to emerge from the mirror universe.
Khan Is The Best: He’s The Benchmark For Star Trek Movie Villains
Since The Wrath of Khan became a favorite among Trekkies, Khan has been the benchmark against which all Star Trek movie villains have been judged. In fact, in promoting Star Trek: Generations, Paramount promised a villain as great as Khan.
Khan isn’t just recognized as a great Star Trek villain; he’s recognized within the larger canon of sci-fi villains in general and often ranked alongside such icons as Darth Vader and HAL 9000.
Alternative: The Borg
Now used as a symbol of monolithic entities that are too big to stop, the Borg is a hive mind that searches the Star Trek universe for other alien species whose knowledge they can assimilate into “the Collective.”
The Borg is a truly unnerving force of antagonism, as it turns individuals into “drones” by giving them cybernetic body parts. They also frequently say, “Resistance is futile.”
Khan Is The Best: He Had The Perfect Final Words
Whereas the disappointing Benedict Cumberbatch version of Khan is put back into cryosleep at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, the original version is killed at the end of The Wrath of Khan.
He signs off with the perfect final words, taken from Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick: “To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart, I stab at thee; for hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.”
Alternative: Q
While most Star Trek villains have clear-cut explanations within the franchise’s lore, Q’s origins are a mystery. Co-created by Gene Roddenberry himself, Q is an interdimensional being who doesn’t abide by the laws of physics.
He can bend time, space, and reality on a whim to suit his own needs. He’s quite possibly the most overwhelmingly powerful character in the Trek universe.
