10 Most Tragic Star Trek Characters
8. David Marcus
Introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, David Marcus was the son of Captain James Kirk and the scientist Carol Marcus. David knew about Kirk but they didn't meet until David was an adult.
When Khan forced Chekov, first officer of the U.S.S Reliant, to announce that Starfleet was taking over Carol and David's Genesis Project, Enterprise went to investigate.
David's initially attacked Kirk because he thought Kirk intended to seize Genesis. When Carol intervened, Kirk realized his attacker was his son.
David was impressed by his father's courage during the conflict with Khan and apologized for misjudging him.
In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, David and Lt. Saavik joined the crew of the U.S.S Grissom to explore the planet created by the Genesis wave released by Khan. David was initially ecstatic about the planet's biodiversity but soon learned a lesson in scientific hubris when he realized that the planet would soon self-destruct.
David, Saavik, and a resurrected Spock were marooned on the planet when Klingon commander Kruge destroyed the Grissom. When Enterprise arrived to retrieve Spock, Kruge demanded that Kirk hand over Genesis or Kruge would have one of them killed. David died protecting his comrades.