Admiral Alexander Marcus is the secondary antagonist in the 2013 film Star Trek: Into Darkness, the second installment of the Star Trek rebooted film series.
He is the head of Starfleet, and is secretly trying to militarize Starfleet due to his belief that war with the Klingons is inevitable. As part of his plan, he awakens Khan Noonien Singh from cryo-sleep and coerces him into designing weapons for him by holding his crew hostage. When Khan goes rogue and attacks Starfleet headquarters, Marcus attempts to sacrifice the Enterprise both to kill Khan and to start the war he wanted.
He was portrayed by Peter Weller.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- While the standards in the Star Trek universe are absurdly high, Marcus exists in a universe separate from the main continuity, meaning he doesn't have to compete with anyone there.
- He is desensitized to the idea of letting entire planets' worth of primitive lifeforms die because of the Prime Directive and Starfleet personnel being sacrificed to uphold the Directive (training Pike and others to agree with this). He had Kirk removed from command for saving the people of one such planet, even though Kirk's actions were well-intentioned.
Background[]
- He forced Khan to work for him by threatening the lives of his crew, thinking he could control Khan despite his past crimes. He continued to withhold Khan's crew from him until Khan thought they were dead, which caused Khan to go rogue to get revenge.
- Although he appeared to be distraught over Pike’s death, it is also likely their relationship is purely professional and he never truly cared for Pike other than as an instrument of his will(implying Marcus taught Pike it’s okay to be verbally abusive to rule breakers no matter their motives).
Star Trek: Into Darkness[]
- Only allowed Kirk to only demoted to first officer and shortly reinstated as captain out of pragmatism.
- He ordered the Enterprise to kill Khan in order to cover up his complicity, intending to have Khan bombed to death with torpedoes containing his own crew, which is horrible even considering Khan's own crimes.
- He sabotaged the Enterprise in order to start a war with the Klingons, viewing Kirk and his crew as disposable pawns.
- He attempted to destroy the Enterprise when Kirk didn't hand over Khan, killing many crew members.
- When Kirk tried to surrender and begged for the lives of his crew, Marcus mocked his apology, telling Kirk that he would never have spared his crew, no matter what Kirk said or did.
- He shows no remorse for his actions. He claimed that his acts were justified because war with the Klingons was inevitable, and that he was merely trying to carry out the death sentence that was initially imposed on Khan and his crew. However, his sadistic tendencies and willingness to sacrifice those under his command are totally unacceptable.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He has some genuine care for his daughter, as he stops his assault on the Enterprise and has her beamed to his ship so that she won't die when he destroys it. However, it is ambiguous if he only saved her so he might corrupt her into agreeing with his actions, making this a minor prevention.
