Galaxy Conquests: Captain Kirk's 10 Hottest Star Trek Girlfriends

Space ladies: the final frontier.

Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner, was a cosmic Casanova. Every week on the show that brought us the voyages of the starship Enterprise, as brainy plotlines unfolded, Captain Kirk took a break from scientific discovery and diplomacy to pursue his own five-year mission of romance. While exploring strange new worlds, Kirk sought out new life while fulfilling his carnal desires, a mission that likely wasn’t sanctioned by Star Fleet (unless they too were total horndogs).

In the 79 episodes of the original series, Captain James T. Kirk wines and dines a lot of women, and definitely goes where no man has gone before. These are the girlfriends, lovers, and interstellar one night stands who captured Kirk's heart (however briefly) and made the biggest impact on the audience. 

When Captain Kirk and his crew members are abducted into slavery and forced to fight as gladiators for the amusement of three disembodied beings known as the Providers in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" audiences got a taste of a gal who captivated fanboys across the galaxy. In his time as a forced gladiator, Kirk meets the beautiful, electronically collared Shahna and while they don’t necessarily develop the most emotionally resonant relationship, they do smooch and after Kirk defeats the Providers she tries to follow him back to the Enterprise.

By season 2 Kirk was used to clingy alien babes so he gave her the ol’ “you must learn to live with your newfound freedom” line before beaming outta there. Played by Angelique Pettyjohn, Shahna only appeared in one episode but she was wildly popular at conventions thanks to her racy poster.

There’s no Star Trek character that’s as emblematic of Kirk’s lust for intergalactic babes as Marta, the green-skinned Orion slave girl who appeared in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy.” Played by Yvonne Craig (forever famous as Batgirl on the Batman TV series), Marta isn’t just eye candy, she’s an important part of the narrative and an incredibly sympathetic character. 

Kirk never really gets a chance to get too far with Marta because she’s being controlled by Garth of Izar, a shapeshifting psychopath, although she does try to seduce the Captain to no avail. In the end Marta was killed by an explosive planted in her body, ain’t that always the way?

Star Trek was definitely in favor of female characters wearing interesting outfits, but Andrea’s one piece jumpsuit was definitely inspired and it left little to the imagination. Played by Sherry Jackson, an actress who appeared on pretty much every show in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Andrea is the perfect girlfriend for Kirk. Her clothing is barely there, she’s fond of smooching, oh and she’s an android who does whatever her master tells her.

Even though she’s in service of Dr. Korby, Andrea can’t pass up a chance to smooch the Captain. The audience learns that Kirk is so good at locking lips that women literally beg him to continue kissing him, and in this instance when he refuses he earns a phaser blast to his stomach. Luckily, the Kirk that ends up getting shot was only an android. 

In “Dagger of the Mind” the audience discovers some important information about Captain Kirk: he doesn’t just like to hook up with android babes with a penchant for going braless, but that he’s also got a thing for women with brains. Enter Dr. Helen Noel, played by genre queen Marianna Hill, a psychiatrist with whom Kirk once had an intense relationship. When they broke up Kirk told her that he needed some space, literally, and started his five year mission on the Enterprise.

It’s clear that Dr. Noel still loves Kirk, and when they get stuck on a penal colony everyone’s favorite horn dog Captain is brainwashed into thinking he loves his old flame. Dr. Noel makes the hard choice of spurning his advances - even though they’re what she wants - in lieu of getting the old Kirk back and getting off the planet. 

Even Kirk can’t say no to the advances of a beautiful actress. In “The Conscience of the King” the Captain does his best to investigate the real identity of Anton Karidian, an actor who leads a Shakespearean acting troupe, but his daughter Lenore manages to keep Kirk’s interest more than the looming performance of Hamlet.

Played by Barbara Anderson, most well known for her work on Ironside, Lenore is cool and stylish, she charms Kirk and keeps him from getting too close to her father. By the end of the episode it’s clear that Lenore is a serial killer with her eyes set on Kirk as her next victim, making her the first woman in Star Trek history to turn the tables on Kirk and use his libido against him. 

Kirk is no stranger to being on the wrong side of a courtroom. At least three Star Trek feature films concern Kirk being cross examined but in “Court Martial” it looks as if this is the first time he’s met a lawyer who’s a wo-wo-wo-woman. Because we’re talking about Kirk here, he knows Lt. Shaw because they had a relationship previous to his negligence trial.

Lt. Shaw is played by the excellent Joan Marshall and she’s one of Kirk’s many ex-girlfriends who are obviously thriving after the Captain abandoned them for the cold embrace of space. Throughout the episode she cuts up the Captain and almost gets him stripped of rank with her cunning litigation. 

“The City on the Edge of Forever” is considered to be one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever produced, and while that may be so it also gives Kirk one of the greatest ways to get out of a relationship ever. You see, he has to ghost his girlfriend because if he doesn’t Hitler wins World War II. Has there ever been a better reason to break up with someone?

Keeler is played by a young Joan Collins with all the sweetness of someone who could start a worldwide pacifist movement. Kirk meets her after jumping through a time portal that takes him back to San Francisco in 1930 where Keeler is trying to feed the homeless and end all war. Kirk genuinely seems to love her, but when Spock informs him that Keeler has to die Kirk leaves her to her fate for the sake of the universe. 

Sylva, played by character actor Antoinette Bower, may look like a witch but she’s actually a shapeshifting, telepathic alien who really wants to control the Enterprise and then the rest of the galaxy. Initially Sylvia tries to startle Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise by pretending that she lives in a haunted castle, then she turns into a cat because you know… witch.

While she and Kirk never technically date, she does call him into her room so she can learn to experience human sensations (i.e. “kiss”) and who better to do that with than James T. Kirk. Presumably the T is for “tongue.” Kirk plays along in order to get his crew back to the Enterprise. 

Oh Miramanee, you sweet Native American stand in, what were you thinking when you got involved with Kirk? The daughter of the high chief of a peaceful alien tribe living near a placid lake, she takes Kirk into the tribe when he loses his memory. But because he’s from space, the tribespeople believe that he’s a god. Played by former Playboy Bunny, Easy Rider actress, and anti-pollution activist Sabrina Scharf, Miramanee is Kirk’s ex that gets the shortest end of the relationship stick.

Kirk and Miramanee are married, and she even gets pregnant. Kirk is living a great life on the planet until he’s asked to stop a storm with his god powers. Obviously Kirk’s only power lies in seduction and not changing the weather, so the tribespeople stone him and Miramanee as Spock and McCoy show up to save their Captain. Unfortunately, Kirk’s wife passes away from her injuries. 

If there’s any job that ever fit Kirk more than starship captain it’s “breeding stock,” especially in the 1960s version of the future. In the third season episode “Wink of an Eye” the Enterprise was taken over by an alien race who developed hyper-acceleration, a trait that makes them appear visible to anyone outside their race. This is great for when they need to borrow something without asking, but it’s unfortunately turned the men of the race sterile.

No problem says Deela, the Queen of the Scalosians. She decides to just force the crew of the Enterprise to sleep with their women and of course she chooses Kirk as her first concubine. Played by actress Kathie Browne, Deela is as bad as they come, mostly because she doesn’t understand what’s so horrible about her plan.