Star Trek Online players have banded together to celebrate the lives of Sir Patrick Stewart and Walter Keonig following their deaths.
Over the past few days, the two Star Trek legends unfortunately passed away. Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series, died on October 25th from natural causes. Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, died on October 28th following a battle with Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body Dementia.
Both actors were beloved members of the Star Trek universe, and featured in multiple games based on the franchise. Koenig even starred in the Star Trek Online MMO, reprising his role as Chekov in the 2016 expansion Agents of Yesterday.
Following news of Koenig’s passing, players flocked to the Star Trek Online recreation of Starfleet Academy to pay their respects on PC. At the event, players held out torches in remembrance of the iconic Star Trek actor. Each instance in STO can gold a maximum of 50 players, but tributes spanned multiple instances across multiple platforms.
After the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart, players arranged another tribute, this time at Earth Spacedock. Within the MMO, players maxed out instances by bringing their starships to the planet and firing their weapons in a sci-fi-style 21-gun salute.
“I sincerely hope that Sir Patrick knew just how many people that he (and the characters he played) inspired over the years, and how much of an example both Jean-Luc & Patrick as a person set to try and be a better person and to be there to help and support others,” one player who attended the event said.
Alongside the tribute, players have also called for the developers of Star Trek online to bring a permanent tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart to the game. One post on the game’s subreddit asks for a recreation of Château Picard, the home of the fictional Star Trek captain, to the game “where players from all factions can gather, remember him, and pay their respects”.
Players have also called for a permanent statue of Picard to be erected at Starfleet Academy. The MMO’s developers have created similar memorials in the past. The passing of Spock actor Leonard Nimoy in 2015 saw the addition of Spock statues on Vulcan and New Romulus, as well as memorial plaques in major social hubs.
The passings of both Walter Koenig and Sir Patrick Stewart have been emotional gut-punches to fans everywhere. As actors and characters, the two inspired countless fans across the globe, so much so that writing an article on their passing and subsequent tributes still doesn’t feel real.
