Star Trek: These villains were basically right

• Netzwelt dives deep into the “Star Trek” history.
• Find out all about two classic antagonists that might not have been at all.
• Because “evil” may sometimes depend on the perspective of the viewer.

Basically, in the “Star Trek” universe created by Gene Roddenberry, there were never really simple or particularly clear black and white decisions. In this context, the legendary Kobayashi-Maru test appears to be just one of the most extreme forms. And of course the history of “Star Trek” is also rich in villains who were actually really bad from the ground up.

But some antagonists from films and series may not have been all that wrong with their actions – or at least they fall into a moral gray area. Here we present the two most striking cases.

Kodos the Executioner (“Starship Enterprise” Season 1, Episode 13)

Captain James T. Kirk meets Kodos, the man responsible for a massacre on Earth’s colony Tarsus IV, in this classic 1966 episode of Starship Enterprise. Similar to the MCU villain Thanos from “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame”, he decided to have half of the 8000 colonists executed – which earned him the little glorious nickname of the executioners.

Unlike Thanos, Kodos chose to sift out and select only the best of the colonists to live on (Kirk was one of those).

Kodos acted this way because an exotic fungus had infested the food reserves on Tarsus IV. He himself saw his actions as a necessary evil, and if a supply ship had not turned up shortly after the executions, this assessment might even have been correct.

Jug from “Star Trek III: In Search of Mr. Spock”

Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd, is the Klingon antagonist in the motion picture Star Trek III: The Search for Mr. Spock (1984). He is on a spy mission to gather information about Starfleet’s Genesis Project. Kruge shows violent and downright evil traits, but his motivation is understandable from a Klingon point of view.

Because the Federation and the Klingons are at war at this point. The Genesis Project was originally intended to be used for terraforming, but it turns out it can also be used as a weapon.

It is therefore quite understandable that the Klingons would also want to gain possession of this knowledge – even if it was “only” for deterrence in a similar way to how the atomic bomb can serve as a deterrent.

If Kruge hadn’t acted so viciously, he might be likened to the Star Wars rebels who stole the plans for the planet-killing Death Star.

In principle, both Kruge and Kodos wanted to ensure the survival of their people. They themselves do not particularly benefit from their actions. Whether they are truly evil or not therefore depends on the viewer’s perspective.