Every Star Trek Movie Villain Ranked From Worst To Best

Admiral Cartwright appears in Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI, though is only considered a villain in the latter. He is one of the co-conspirators in the attempts to assassinate Gorkon and the Federation President, only to see himself exposed by Valeris.

Cartwright is a highly decorated Starfleet Admiral, which makes his treachery all the more shocking. Similar to General Chang in many ways, he uses his position and power to install Valeris on the Enterprise-A, while protecting other conspirators from detection. He is instrumental in planning the second attempted assassination, working with Colonel West to impersonate a Klingon soldier.

Evidence of his treachery is almost wiped away as West targets Valeris from the balcony, only to be killed by Scotty bursting through the door, phaser in hand. For a moment, the Khitomer conference descends into chaos, before the crews of the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior expose the plot in full.

Cartwright could almost have been a forgotten footnote in history, yet Brock Peters plays him with such power and poise that one can barely feel anything but sympathy for the man, despite his crimes. He may have acted completely in the wrong, yet he did so from a sense of pure patriotic loyalty.