5 Star Trek Characters Who Died And Then Came Back To Life

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In its sixty years of existence, "Star Trek" has rarely been shy about a resurrection; death can be so temporary for Starfleet bridge crews that you'd almost think they're superheroes. There are plenty of ways to come back from the undiscovered country in "Star Trek," whether by time travel or super-science.

The number of "Star Trek" main characters who've permanently died is rather small, and even in those cases, there were workarounds. Take Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), killed in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Season 6 finale "Tears of the Prophets." Dax was a Trill, a humanoid species that bonds with symbiotic slugs. So, come "Deep Space Nine" Season 7, Dax was back with a new host, Ezri (Nicole de Boer). The "Star Trek" expanded universe of novels and such has also seen fit to undo some deaths that the primary TV canon left permanent, such as Lt. Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) in "Star Trek: Enterprise." That primary "Star Trek" canon is filled with similar cases of defying the laws of life and death.

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Fittingly, the most famous "Star Trek" resurrection belongs to the most famous "Star Trek" character of them all.

By the 1980s, Leonard Nimoy had grown frustrated with being typecast as Mr. Spock. His 1975 autobiography was literally titled "I Am No Spock." To lure Nimoy back for the "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," executive producer and writer Harve Bennett offered him a "great death scene." But while Nimoy went into the movie thinking he could end his time playing Spock with a dramatic triumph, he enjoyed making the movie so much that he began to reconsider. So, even as "Wrath of Khan" hit theaters, there was reporting Spock would be back in movie no. 3.

In "Wrath of Khan," Spock dies from radiation poisoning, sacrificing himself to save the rest of the Enterprise's crew. His last words are shared with his captain and friend, Jim Kirk (William Shatner), between some transparent shielding. But if you can notice it through the tears, the movie seeds a potential return. Before Spock's sacrifice, he apparently mind melds with Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and proclaims, "Remember." Spock's casket lands on the newly created "Genesis" planet, born from a device that can create life from death.

"Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (directed by Nimoy himself) picks up those threads. The Genesis planet resurrects Spock's body as a rapidly aging child, while McCoy carries Spock's "katra" (Vulcan word for soul). At the film's ending Spock's body and soul are reunited, and he is resurrected.

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Do clones with the same memories count as the same people, or are even shared DNA and mind not the same thing as the soul? No "Star Trek" character invites that debate like Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) does.

Weyoun is a Vorta, an artificial species created by the shapeshifting Founders to serve them as the diplomats and administrators of their empire, the Dominion. Like the Dominion's genetically engineered Jem'Hadar soldiers, the Vorta are disposable. Unlike the Jem'Hadar, individual Vorta's genetic codes, personalities, and histories are considered vital enough to back up and resurrect if needed.

Weyoun debuted as a villain of the week in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Season 4 Episode 23, "To the Death," where he met his end. But he returned in Season 5 episode "Ties of Blood and Water," which revealed the Vorta are all clones and retroactively established that the Weyoun from "To the Death" was actually the fourth iteration of Weyoun. Upon learning this, Captain Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) mused the Vorta essentially have immortality. Weyoun humbly responded, "of a sort."

Weyoun 5 lasted into "Deep Space Nine" Season 7 before dying offscreen, apparently in a transporter "accident" arranged by his rival Damar (Casey Biggs). Weyoun 6, debuting in "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" was a defective clone who wanted to defect, and so lived a short life. By the time Weyoun 7 met his end in "Strange Bedfellows" courtesy of Worf (Michael Dorn) snapping his neck, the Vorta's death and returns seemed like a running gag.

But in the series finale, "What You Leave Behind," Weyoung 8 was shot dead by Garak (Andrew Robinson). Without any other cloning material backed up, Weyoun 8 was apparently the end of his line.

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In 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis," Data (Brent Spiner) sacrifices himself to save his captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart). Picard is stuck on an enemy ship, the Scimitar, that's about to unleash a deadly burst of thalaron radiation and the Enterprise transporters are down. Data, being an android who doesn't need air, leaps through the vacuum to the Scimitar carrying an emergency transporter, gives it to Picard, and destroys the thalaron weapon — as well as himself in the ensuing explosion.

"Star Trek: Nemesis" isn't a beloved film, and Data's death is often remembered as a poor attempt to recapture the power of Spock's sacrifice. It also similarly leaves the door open for Data to return. The Enterprise crew discovers a prototype android, B-4 (Spiner) created by Data's creator Dr. Noonien Soong. At the end of the film, Picard notices B-4 singing a song Data had earlier in the film, suggesting Data's memories might live on in his "brother."

Data's resurrection took much longer than Spock's, though. In the sequel series "Star Trek: Picard," Data returns thanks to Dr. Soong's son, Altan (Spiner again). In Season 1, Data's consciousness has been recreated, from memories embedded in B-4, inside a simulation and frequently converses with Picard. At Data's request, Picard deletes the simulation at the end of the season.

But come "Picard" Season 3, which was the "Next Generation" reunion and last hurrah many Trekkies had wanted in the first place, Data has been properly restored in a physical body thanks to the efforts of Soong Jr. The new Data is a composite of all the Soong androids, including his malicious "brother" Lore, and resides in a "golem" body that mimics human form. In the end, Data gets as close as he can to his desire to become human.

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"Star Trek: Lower Decks" is set within the main "Star Trek" universe, but it's also a very loving parody of all-things Trek. The show takes place on the USS Cerritos, a minor Starfleet ship, and the main characters are low-ranked ensigns (at least at first) — characters who would be red shirts in other Trek shows.

The bridge crew of the Cerritos are recurring characters, though, such as Bajoran Security Officer Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore). In the "Lower Decks" Season 1 finale, "No Small Parts," Shaxs seemingly faces a heroic death when he's caught in the explosion of a self-destructing Pakled ship. But then, in Season 2 Episode 3 "We'll Always Have Tom Paris," Shaxs returns as if he never left. The details are never divulged, but he somehow came back to life. It was apparently such a harrowing experience that he never reveals the secret.

This is, of course, another instance of "Lower Decks" parodying "Star Trek" convention. It's showing, for instance, how odd it would be for a random Enterprise crewman who attended Spock's funeral to then go back to serving under Spock upon his resurrection. Shaxs' return effectively makes returns from death, and firsthand knowledge of how it happened, another privilege of starships' senior staff.

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Does rewriting the timeline count as a resurrection? In this specific case, I'd argue yes, given the meta text.

At the end of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 1, Denise Crosby — who'd played Security Officer Tasha Yar — left the series. Tasha received an ignominious death in the episode "Skin of Evil," killed dispassionately by the alien Armus (Mart McChesney and Ron Gans). Basically, a main character got the kind of death you'd expect a red shirt to have.

As a make-good, the "Next Generation" producers brought Crosby back for a guest appearance in Season 3 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." The episode premise is that the Enterprise-C, predecessor to the Enterprise-D, appears out of a space-time anomaly and the timeline shifts around it. History says that the Enterprise-C was destroyed over 20 years prior defending a Klingon colony from a Romulan attack, a sacrifice that turned the Federation and Klingons' alliance from uneasy peace to genuine friendship.

In the revised timeline, Starfleet is fighting a losing war with the Klingons, and Tasha is still alive. The crews of both Enterprises conclude the Enterprise-C has to go back through the anomaly to restore history. Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), the Enterprise-D's bartender and a clairvoyant El-Aurian, warns Tasha she'll already be dead, from a meaningless death, if the timeline changes. So, with Picard's permission, Tasha chooses to go aboard the Enterprise-C to get a death that "count[s] for something," preserving the Federation and the timeline for all her shipmates.

As for the later retcon that Tasha was taken prisoner by the Romulans, made a comfort woman and birthed a half-Romulan daughter, Sela (Crosby), before being executed? Well, I guess bad luck is bad luck, no matter the timeline.