Anton Karidian Anton Karidian was an alias assumed by Governor Kodos , also known as " Kodos the Executioner " , after a massacre on Tarsus IV in 2246 . Living as such , Anton Karidian was a traveling actor with the Karidian Company of Players , the star and director of this troupe of itinerant actors . He was also the father of Lenore Karidian . Ultimately , however , he was killed by her . ( ) Biography . The earliest records of Anton Karidian date to 2246 . His daughter , Lenore Karidian , was born one year after the massacre at Tarsus IV . As far back as Lenore could recall , her father had been acting . In 2257 , his Karidian Company of Players was sponsored by the Galactic Cultural Exchange Project . For the next nine years , Anton Karidian toured with this company as they visited official installations . In 2266 , the Karidian Company visited Planet Q . One of the residents of that world was Thomas Leighton , who recognized Karidian as Kodos . He asked James T . Kirk to investigate , as Kirk was one of nine people who had actually seen Kodos . After a series of murder s and attempted murders , Kirk was convinced that Karidian was Kodos and was killing witness es to cover his identity . In actuality , it was Lenore who had been committing the crimes . When Lenore confessed this to him , Karidian was horrified that the past that he spent years living down had instead poisoned her to become a remorseless serial murderer determined to protect him . At that confession , Kirk overheard it and confronted the both of them . In desperation , Lenore tried to flee with her father unto the stage and when she saw that they were trapped , she grabbed a security guard ' s phaser to threaten Kirk and his ship . Further aggrieved to see his daughter is now without a doubt utterly insane , Karidian jumped in the line of fire as she fired at Kirk , killing him . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Anton Karidian was played by Arnold Moss . In ultimately unused dialogue from the final revised draft script of " The Conscience of the King " , Kirk made arrangements regarding Anton Karidian staying aboard the , Kirk privately telling Spock , " " Karidian is somewhat of a hermit . Pass it on to all hands . . . he ' s not to be disturbed . " " Later in the teleplay , Karidian approached Spock and McCoy at night , in a corridor aboard the " Enterprise " . His presence there seemed somewhat suspicious , as he came up to the pair of officers from behind them , interrupting a conversation they had been having about the possibility of Karidian being Kodos . The script ' s stage directions remarked that Karidian was to be " " in a dressing gown , his white hair framing his face , his head like a lion ' s , proud and aloof . . . but he seems a little . . . apologetic . " " Uttering polite apologies , he claimed he had lost his way aboard the ship and that he liked to take walks when everyone was asleep , as he felt he could rest better by doing so . As Spock told him the corridor they were in was one of the restricted areas of the ship , Karidian soon left , leaving Spock to wonder how much of the previous discussion he had overheard . This scene was never filmed due to time constraints . ( " " , p . 296 ) In another unused scene from the same script , a distraught Karidian was pacing in his quarters aboard the " Enterprise " , the teleplay ' s stage directions commenting , " " Karidian ' s composure is not that of the acclaimed actor confident in his talent and the homage of the civilized universe . Instead , we see a harried man , pacing nervously . " " After Lenore Karidian entered , he asked where she had been , though she merely replied she was with him now . He was calmed by her , and eased gently down on his bed by Lenore , as it was her recommendation that he have a nap . This scene was filmed , but cut from the finished episode due to it running too long . ( " " , p . 294 ) When later visited in his quarters by Kirk ( in a scene which does take place in the final version of the episode ) , Karidian was characterized in the script thus ; " " Karidian , present , is wearing a dressing gown which resembles a kingly robe and looks a dominant and distinguished figure . " " The next sentence reinforced the notion of him looking " kingly " . During casting , someone recommended that an actor with a powerful delivery and a strong sense of drama be chosen to play the role of Karidian . Casting Director Joseph D ' Agosta and " The Conscience of the King " Director Gerd Oswald were jointly responsible for selecting Moss . ( " The Star Trek Compendium " , 4th ed . , p . 44 ) The actor himself stated , " " The character was called Anton Karidian or Kodos , either one or the other [ . . . ] You never knew which because he was either a man from some other planet who had killed 8 , 000 people or an actor – a Shakespearean actor who traveled from planet to planet to entertain . " " Moss also recalled part of the preparations which the role required , commenting , " " I remember a 6 a . m . makeup call when I didn ' t have much makeup . " " ( " " , issue # 130 , p . 72 )