20 Most Popular Star Trek Characters Ever

She’s a lady. Without a doubt a character in her own right, the Enterprise gives texture and depth to a show as much as any human, alien, android or hologram. When an Enterprise passes, we and the characters mourn her as we would mourn any other character.

But, even though we’ve been through a few of them at this point, the spirit of the Enterprise lives on from one incarnation to the next. With each new iteration setting the tone for the next phase in our Trek through the stars.

The original Enterprise was a powerful ship with a diverse mission but to serve that mission, the crew were packed in, sleeping in bunks and filling the corridors with a hustle and bustle. It was utilitarian in nature and though well-equipped, lacked some luxuries. The refit of that ship was a vessel fit for a new era, faster, stronger, more advanced, a ship fit for the big screen. When we next see the Enterprise, she’s a behemoth, the mighty flagship of the federation, the Enterprise D was a luxury liner, with families, civilians and more leisure facilities than you could get through in a tour of duty. It was a ship that showed that Starfleet thought it was invulnerable.

The E was a sleeker darker ship, stripped of civilians and families, it was a vessel of a darker more dangerous time for the federation. And the NX-01, was a pioneer ship, still developing many of the technologies and customs that we had come to take for granted.

The Enterprise is an icon, instantly recognisable, forever a symbol a sci-fi, full of real character.