Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his Enterprise crew encounter their fair share of god-like beings in Kirk and his crew a valuable lesson and leave peacefully, but other times, it takes equally powerful beings to thwart them. Either way, these god-like aliens, who often can shape reality itself, rarely garner sympathy.

The alien in The Original Series season 2, episode 2, "Who Mourns for Adonais?," however, is a different kind of god. When a huge green hand appears in space and traps the Enterprise, Kirk and a landing party must beam down to the planet below, where they encounter a powerful being claiming to be the TOS' version of the Greek god, Apollo (Michael Forest). Apollo promises to provide for Kirk and his crew as long as they worship him, but Kirk immediately refuses. Despite his considerable abilities, Apollo needs humans to sustain him, and his story makes him more sympathetic than other god-like aliens.

Why I Felt Sorry For Apollo In Star Trek: The Original Series

Apollo Was A Tragic & Lonely Figure Who Ultimately Faded Away

Captain Kirk speculates that this being may actually be Apollo, pointing out that ancient Greeks would have assumed a powerful alien to be a god. The worship of the ancient Greeks and Romans sustained Apollo and his fellow gods, but when humankind moved on, the powerful aliens were forced to return to their home planet of Pollux IV. On a now-empty world, these aliens gave up hope one by one, fading from existence, or as Apollo puts it: "They returned to the cosmos on the wings of the wind."

Michael Forest delivers an irable performance as Apollo, which helps make the character more compelling and sympathetic.

As the last of his kind, Apollo finds himself alone on an empty planet, waiting for humans to return. But when the Enterprise arrives, the crew wants nothing to do with Apollo and has no interest in worshiping him. Although Apollo clearly sees himself as superior to humans, he also appears lonely and seems sincere in his desire to care for Kirk and his crew. He doesn't understand that these humans are not like the ones from Ancient Greece who used to worship him.

Apollo even claims to be in love with archeology and anthropology officer Lt. Carolyn Palamas (Leslie Parrish), who falls for him far too quickly. Whether or not Apollo understands love is up for debate, but he appears genuinely distraught when Palamas and the rest of the humans reject him. In the end, Apollo fades away to his fellow gods and goddesses, lamenting that humans no longer have any "room for gods."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Revealed Apollo Has A Relative In Starfleet

Ensign Olly Is The Granddaughter Of Zeus

In its fifth and final season on Paramount+, Star Trek: Lower Decks introduces a demigod descended from Zeus himself. In Lower Decks season 5, episode 6, "Of Gods and Angles," Ensign Olly (Saba Homayoon) is transferred to the USS Cerritos after she has been dismissed from numerous other ships. Olly wants to become an engineer, but the psychokinetic power she inherited from her grandfather, Zeus, makes her job difficult. After another series of mishaps, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) wants to dismiss Olly from Starfleet, but Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) convinces her mother to let her mentor the young ensign.

With some encouragement from Mariner, Olly eventually uses her energy-absorbing ability to help end the fighting that breaks out between the visiting Orbs and Cubes. Freeman agrees to let Olly remain on the Cerritos as part of the engineering crew, and the young demigod later helps the Cerritos in its mission to save the multiverse in the Star Trek: Lower Decks series finale. Olly may not be much like Star Trek: The Original Series' Apollo, but she proves that the legacy of the Greek gods lives on, even after the gods themselves have long since vanished.