Khan Noonien Singh

Khan Noonien Singh is a fictional villain in the Star Trek universe. He first appeared in the original ' series episode "Space Seed", and then in the film '. In both cases he was played by Ricardo Montalbán. He is generally referred to simply as Khan.

"Space Seed"

Khan's ship was not discovered for almost 300 years, when it was found by the starship U.S.S. Enterprise. An away team led by Captain Kirk found Khan and several dozen others in cryogenic freeze chambers. The ship's historian, Lieutenant Marla McGivers, seemed particularly fascinated by Khan. Khan nearly died during the reanimation sequence when his chamber malfunctioned. Khan was beamed straight to sickbay, where he amazed Dr. Leonard McCoy with his recuperative powers. Upon awakening, Khan grabbed McCoy and put a knife to his throat. Khan did not divulge anything about himself beyond his name, claiming fatigue. Meanwhile, he began plotting how to take over the Enterprise. Kirk readily granted Khan's request to study the ship's technical manuals, which gave him knowledge of how to take over and operate the Enterprise. Later, he used Lt. McGivers' attraction to him, getting her to help him beam back to the Botany Bay and revive the other supermen.

Related Topics:
Enterprise - Kirk - Cryogenic - Marla McGivers - Dr. Leonard McCoy

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With the help of Marla and his revived crew, Khan took control of engineering and used what he had gleaned from the technical manuals to shut off life support to the bridge. Kirk found that Khan had anticipated every contingency for retaking control of the ship, and the bridge crew faced imminent suffocation. After passing out, they found themselves alive, but Khan's captives. Khan declared that humans have advanced technologically, but there was so little improvement in human evolution in the last 300 years. He still considered himself superior, that it gave him the right to rule other men -- only this time his target was not merely Earth, but the Galaxy.

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But Khan still needed help in selecting a planet with a population that would be willing to be led by him. He decided that the best way to convince the Enterprise crew to cooperate would be to put Kirk in the ship's compression chamber and slowly reduce the pressure, forcing the crew to watch until they agreed to join Khan. Fortunately, Marla could not stand by and let her captain be killed, and she rescued him. Spock had just been escorted, and with his help, Kirk flooded the ship with neural gas. It neutralized Khan's men, but Khan escaped to engineering. Kirk then engaged Khan in a hand-to-hand fight, losing badly until he used a metal tool to knock Khan out.

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Captain Kirk faced a dilemma. He felt it would be a waste to confine Khan and his followers to a rehabilitation colony, but they could not be allowed to go free. He therefore dropped all charges and specifications against them, including against Lt. McGivers. Instead, he chose to deposit them on Ceti Alpha V, a rough but habitable planet where they could start a new life.

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Kirk had offered Khan a world to conquer, knowing that this would be a challenge great enough to keep him busy for the rest of his life. Spock, however, wondered at the "seed" Kirk had planted in their Galaxy, and what it would be like in 100 years time. In fact, it turned out to be far sooner than that before Khan once again crossed Kirk's path.

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