Star Trek Online players held a virtual memorial to honor Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and other Star Trek projects. Armadas of Galaxy-class starships assembled in the MMORPG. Some players launched fireworks from orbit, while others gathered on the ground for candlelit vigils. Stewart passed away Oct. 29 after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Redditors documented the vigils and left comments about what Stewart’s performance as Picard meant to them. “I think he was a hero,” u/Zoberraz wrote. “Not in the conventional sense, like a first responder or a soldier, but in another way that matters: he inspired us to aspire to something better. Through Jean-Luc Picard, he gave us a vision of leadership grounded in wisdom rather than force, strength guided by compassion, and authority exercised with humility rather than arrogance. Someone who valued knowledge, respected others, and held fast to his principles even when doing so was difficult. And Patrick Stewart made that vision believable. He made it something worth aspiring to.”
The sentiment was echoed across other social media platforms, including by Star Trek great William Shatner. “Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work. My heart goes out to Sunny and his family. He will be deeply missed,” he wrote on X.
Ian McKellen, who met Stewart at the Royal Shakespeare Company before starring alongside him in the X-Men films as Magneto to Stewart’s Professor X, left his own heartfelt goodbye to the actor on social media. “He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”
Fans ask for an in-game memorial
Some players have called on Star Trek Online developer Cryptic to add an in-game statue to honor Stewart and Picard, as the studio did after the death of Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock. Another Redditor suggested that Cryptic introduce Picard’s family vineyard to the game as a place to remember the performer.
Cryptic posted its own tribute to the actor on X. “In an era where no one was sure whether Star Trek HAD a future, your warmth and your sturdiness gave us hope. For seven years, you were the Captain of the Enterprise, and you held yourself with that dignity in all walks of life. A knight in the truest sense of the word, and a man who will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace, Sir Patrick Stewart.”
It has been a particularly brutal week for Trekkies. On Oct. 25, Walter Koenig died at 90. He was known for playing Ensign Pavel Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek Online players similarly mourned his loss with an in-game vigil.