10 Star Trek Characters Who Didn't Deserve Their Fate

Denise Crosby's name was in the main credits, for Pete's sake! She was sure to be safe. This was 1987 and The Next Generation was surely not going to off one of their lead characters before the debut year had even wrapped...right?

Well, this one had as much to do with Crosby's frustrations as anything. Quickly tiring of the lack of action for Yar, Crosby asked to be released from her contract so that she could pursue other opportunities. Gene Roddenberry then took the chance to truly startle the audience - by killing Yar off.

This could have been done in a way that felt earned, or important. However, in one of the most pathetic deaths in the franchise, Yar is tossed aside by an oil slick named Armus and then dies on the operating table. It was totally unexpected, thus achieving the shock value that Roddenberry was looking for, but at what cost?

Thankfully Tasha was given another chance to go out on a stronger note in the third season episode Yesterday's Enterprise, but Skin Of Evil is a real stain on the legacy of the character. Its long-term impact did serve to offer Worf more to do, but even that could have been achieved in any number of ways.

Yar's death in season one is a damp squib of an ending, even with that touching memorial in the holodeck.