James T . Kirk ( mirror ) James Tiberius Kirk was a captain in the Imperial during the 23rd century . In his youth he was apparently an idealist ( according to Marlena Moreau ) ; however by the time he became captain , he had become a cold - blooded Terran killer . During his career , he was twice awarded for surviving a mortal wound and for being a master of poisons . He succeeded to command of the by assassinating Captain . His first action was the suppression of the Gorlan uprising through the destruction of the rebels ' home planet . His second action was the execution of five thousand colonists on Vega IX . Kirk ' s rise to power was very much due to his possession of the Tantalus field , a device he stole from an alien scientist that allowed Kirk to vaporize uncooperative enemies remotely , without evidence . However , Kirk also had a personal security squad as bodyguards , led by . His woman in the late 2260s was , a lieutenant assigned to the sciences division ( and also a skilled assassin ) . In 2267 , he visited the home planet of the Halkan s . The Empire had noted their homeworld ' s vast dilithium reserves and threatened to destroy them if they did not cede mining rights to the Empire . When Kirk ' s landing party attempted to beam up from the Halkan homeworld , an ion storm crossed him with his counterpart from another universe , beaming him right inside his duplicate ' s clothes in a one - in - a - million transference , which read to ' s board as a " wobble " in the power beam of the transporter . He found himself aboard the in a different world than he knew – the Spock of that universe noted that it was far more difficult for the " barbaric " landing party to act civilized than it was for the civilized crew of his vessel to feign barbarity . After being imprisoned by Spock , he offered him fantastic bribes to get his command back . Spock proceeded to place the captives on the transporter , to wait for when the crew from his landing party reciprocated the action , and beamed themselves back into the places of their duplicates . ( ) During a second crossover in 2370 , Intendant told her counterpart , Major Kira Nerys , that Kirk ' s situation upon his return was radically different . His relieved him of command , learned of the existence of the Tantalus field and earned Marlena ' s loyalty . Kirk ' s counterpart had strongly encouraged them to attempt to overthrow and change the Empire ' s negative effects on the galaxy . Upon relaying this information to Julian Bashir , he noted that the events leading to Kirk ' s overthrow were something that he had read about at Starfleet Academy . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Like his counterpart , the mirror Kirk was played by William Shatner . Had a would - be Shatner guest appearance on come to fruition , mirror Kirk would have come aboard " Enterprise " ( with a revelation that victims of the Tantalus field – used by Spock soon after his return – are displaced in time , not killed ) in the hopes of using the transporter to return to his universe – which , in the process , he and an unwitting Archer would have created in the first place . Apocrypha . According to the novel " Dark Victory " , Kirk stole the Tantalus field from a mirror version of Balok during an encounter between the Terran Empire and the First Federation , similar to the exchange observed in . In contrast , in the short story " The Greater Good " from " Shards and Shadows " , Kirk obtained the device from Dr . Simon Van Gelder at the Tantalus penal colony and used it to assassinate Captain Pike to become captain . Marvel Comics ' " Fragile Glass " , a sequel to " Mirror , Mirror " , depicts Spock assassinating the mirror Kirk in short order after the return from the crossover . The novella ( later novel ) " " shows that after Kirk ' s return to his universe , Spock attempted to dissuade him from destroying the Halkans , showing that if they did , it would in fact , be even more difficult for the Empire to get the dilithium , but Kirk refused and destroyed the Halkan civilization anyway . Shortly after , Kirk was strangled to death by Spock in his own quarters , and Marlena vaporized his body with the Tantalus field . Decipher ' s " " also had Kirk assassinated after his return . However , DC Comics ' " The Mirror Universe Saga " and Pocket TNG : " Dark Mirror " by Diane Duane both depict Kirk surviving , as well as the Empire in its current form . The latter actually depicts an Empire in the TNG - era , something that did not occur in the DS9 version of events . In DC ' s comic arc , Kirk finally fell victim to arrogance when he was executed , along with his staff , for the crimes of his duplicate from " our " creation , after Kirk tried to invade this universe ' s Federation . In the " " novels of William Shatner and co - writers Judith and Garfield Reeves - Stevens , the mirror Kirk survives well into the 24th century via hibernation sleep ( unlike his counterpart , who had to die twice to get into the 24th century ) . This version of events , which ties closely to the canon DS9 version , depicts Kirk as a madman who rose to ultimate power as the Emperor Tiberius I , with the help of Intendant Spock . Meanwhile , Spock had been fulfilling his promise and attempted to change the Empire from the inside , using Kirk ' s power , before his betrayal . Afterward , it is revealed that it was former Emperor Tiberius that brought together the Klingons and the Cardassians into a formidable alliance before his eventual disappearance for 78 years . In an alternate reality version of the mirror universe , was featured in issues fifteen and sixteen of the " " comic series . Kirk was depicted as being first officer on the under the command of Captain . A second alternate mirror universe counterpart of James T . Kirk appeared in the fiftieth , fifty - first , and fifty - second issue of the " Star Trek Ongoing " comic series . This Kirk was depicted as being captain of the ISS " Enterprise " before that version of Spock mutinied against him . He later regained command of the " Enterprise " through the help of that universe ' s Khan Noonien Singh and the prime alternate reality version of James T . Kirk .