The greatest tragedy of Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) life mimics a Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) tragedy from Star Trek: The Original Series. Both Captain Kirk and Captain Picard prioritized their Starfleet careers and their starship crews became their families. Although Captain Kirk's older brother initially pursued a Starfleet career, he later took a position as a civilian research biologist, living on the planet Deneva with his family. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has revealed more about Kirk's brother, Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte), offering a glimpse into his Starfleet career.
In Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 29, "Operation — Annihilate!," the USS Enterprise travels to Deneva to investigate strange reports of mass insanity. Captain Kirk visits his brother's home to find Sam dead, his wife Aurelan (Joan Swift) hysterical, and their son Peter (Craig Hundley) in a coma. Aurelan later dies on the Enterprise, but Peter recovers after the Enterprise crew finds a way to stop the parasites causing the insanity. Star Trek has never revealed what became of Peter Kirk onscreen, although he does feature in some Star Trek tie-in fiction, and the fate of Sam Kirk's other two children remains unknown.
Picard’s Family Died Just Like Kirk’s In Star Trek: The Original Series
Picard & Kirk Both Lost Most Of Their Families
In Star Trek Generations, Captain Picard receives the tragic news that his brother, Robert Picard (Jeremy Kemp), sister-in-law, and nephew have perished in a fire. Although Jean-Luc and Robert had had their fair share of disagreements, Captain Picard was devastated by his family's deaths. Picard was hit by the realization that no one would be left to carry on his family name after his own death. Prior to this moment, Jean-Luc had never worried about having children, knowing that his nephew Rene (David Birkin) would continue the Picard line. Jean-Luc was bereft that the Picard line would end with him.
Although Kirk and Picard have very different command styles, they both enjoy being in the Captain's chair more than anywhere else.
Captain Kirk had a son named David (Merritt Butrick) with Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch). Klingons killed David on the Genesis Planet in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Kirk mourned for his son and cursed the Klingons, but he did not seem as bothered by the fact that his family line would end with him. In Star Trek Generations, Kirk finds himself in the Nexus, living a life with a woman named Antonia, but Jim soon reverts back to his first, best destiny: being a starship captain.
Star Trek Made Sure Jean-Luc Isn’t The Last Picard
Should Jack Crusher change his surname?
In Star Trek: Picard season 3, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) came crashing back into Jean-Luc Picard's life, revealing that she had given birth to his son around twenty years before. Beverly chose to keep Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) a secret from Jean-Luc, fearing that the captain's many enemies would target him. As he was raised by Beverly, Jack took his mother's surname, but it's possible he could change or hyphenate it now that he has a relationship with his father.
After helping to avert the Borg/Changeling takeover, Jack joined Starfleet and quickly landed a position on the newly renamed USS Enterprise-G. Whether in name or not, Jack will carry on the legacy of both of his famous parents, alleviating any of Jean-Luc's fears that the family line would end with him. It remains to be seen exactly what Jack's responsibilities are as Special Counselor to Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), but hopefully, a future Star Trek project will revisit the story of Picard's son.
