Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Admiral James T. Kirk

Before any of us even watched this film, we all knew Kirk would be the protagonist. Spock may have his name in the title, but Kirk is the star of the show, the leader of the crew. His reputation precedes him.

Also, Spock's dead, so….

The question is why we consider Kirk the protagonist—and the answer is he's the character we want to see succeed against the odds. We root for Kirk when he decides to remain loyal to Spock despite Starfleet's direct orders not to. We cheer when he steals the Enterprise and feel his pain at his son's death.

And we want him to defeat Kruge. Partly this is because Kirk's motives are selfless and Kruge's are not, but mostly it's because we don't want to see world-destroying weapons in the hands of murderous jerks.