Star Trek: The Original Series - Ranking Every Major Character Worst To Best

James Tiberius Kirk, the first main captain of the Star Trek franchise. William Shatner's take on the character makes him one of the most popular in the show to this day.

Young and headstrong, Kirk is someone who is not afraid to rush into danger. While at times he can be brash, he is also calculated and smart, and part of his charm is his ability to outwit the Enterprise's enemies wherever they go. He doesn't underestimate the value of his crew and is an expert at using their skills to form his own strategies.

Kirk, as the central character of the show, gets plenty of big moments. From fighting Gorns to battling an evil doppelganger of himself, and going up against Klingons, Romulans and Khan, there isn't much Kirk doesn't get up to during the Enterprise's five-year exploration mission. Really, the only thing that hasn't aged well with his character is his approach to various females on the show - he's almost quite possessive at times and seductive.

The one big contrast to that last point (and arguably Shatner's finest hour) is 'The City on the Edge of Forever', the season one episode in which Kirk and Spock travel to 1930, where Kirk falls in love with a woman, Edith Keeler, but must allow her to die to save his future. The story is one of tragedy, and while Kirk suffers many moments of grief through the course of the series, you never quite see it impact him as much as her death does.