While Chris Pine’s Kirk gets a firm slap on the wrist for screwing with the system, William Shatner’s Kirk gets a commendation for “original thinking.” In “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” plucky young Vulcan Starfleet cadet Saavik (Kirstie Alley, forever changing the course of her career) asks Kirk how he won the Kobayashi Maru scenario, to which he responds, “I changed the conditions of the test. … I don’t like to lose,” perfectly encapsulating everything about what makes him great.
Today, the Kobayashi Maru scenario is a permanent point of reference for situations with no good outcome. Not only is it mentioned in Neil Marshall’s 2002 cult horror classic, “Dog Soldiers” (“It’s the Kobayashi Maru test. They fixed it so we can’t f***in’ win.”), but “Doctor Strange” writer C. Robert Cargill also used it on the podcast “Double Toasted” in 2016, calling casting the Ancient One “Marvel’s Kobayashi Maru.” Ultimately, as long as there are no-win scenarios, the Kobayashi Maru scenario will always be remembered.
