Star Trek: 10 Captains That Totally LOST IT

3. Matthew Decker Stares Into The Abyss

Be warned, the clue is in the title of The Doomsday Machine; there's no happy ending to be found here.

Investigating a garbled distress call, the Enterprise discovers the debris of several destroyed planets...and the battered shell of the USS Constellation. Kirk leads an away team to the seemingly abandoned ship, only to find its captain, Commodore Matt Decker, alone. Before long, the harrowing story is pieced together.

A giant robot with a huge mouth had been methodically destroying planets, like a terrifying version of Pac-Man. The Constellation was no match for it, and Decker beamed his crew onto a planet in an effort to save them. But in a horrifying turn of events, the machine destroyed both the planet and the crew that had taken shelter on it.

It's a devastating tale...if he'd just kept them on the ship, some might have survived. That realisation would be enough to drive anyone over the edge.

Traumatised and seeking vengeance, Decker uses his rank to take control of the Enterprise. He launches a futile attack against the formidable machine, and when removed from duty, hijacks a shuttle and flies it straight into the maw of the monster.

Kirk tries desperately to talk him down from the fatal flight, but there's no going back for Decker. The only consolation is that his sacrifice inspires Kirk to use the wrecked USS Constellation to bring an end to the planet killer.

This isn't an entry that leaves you wondering why Decker snapped; this Starfleet officer clearly broke in the face of unfathomable trauma. But it does leave you wondering what could have been if we'd got to know Decker under less tragic circumstances.