10 Most Messed Up Deaths In Star Trek: TOS

Though the mission of the Enterprise was to seek out new life, there are certain cases in which they’d have probably rather not. Take the horrific planet-killing device in The Doomsday Machine, which plays the proverbial Moby Dick to guest starring Commodore Decker’s Captain Ahab.

Once rescued by the Enterprise crew, the maniacal Decker spends the duration of the episode obsessively trying to conquer the relentless and seemingly indestructible titular automaton. Eventually, the tragic Commodore seems to realise that enough is enough, opting for a suicide run by way of steering a shuttlecraft directly into the machine’s flaming maw.

It would be quite understandable if Decker slightly regrets his decision as the gaping inferno grows ever closer, and the sheer terror on his face wholly conveys his looming oblivion. The very image of the tiny craft flying into the mouth of hell is staggeringly bleak.

Not to add insult to injury, but his noble sacrifice ended up doing almost no damage to the juggernaut-like machine whatsoever. Were there anything left of poor Decker to bury, his tombstone might read “at least he tried”.