Leonard Nimoy's Spock Lives On In This Popular Modern Star Trek Adaptation

Human voice might bring forth the purest music on the planet. According to Boyz II Men, that's an absolute fact, and it's hard to argue with the effect a familiar voice can have on a person when they're not exactly expecting it. Sometimes, even when we fully anticipate how emotional hearing a certain saying will hit us, it can manage to transport us back in time. Voices are magical like that. We have reached a point in history where people keep voicemails on their phones for sentimental reasons, and it's just a natural thing we all kind of do; it helps keep those we care about alive. For "Star Trek" fans, some of their favorite actors have passed on, but their performances live on through strange new venues that many couldn't have dreamed of when the show was originally airing, like "Star Trek Online."

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game, "Star Trek Online," houses a touching tribute to Leonard Nimoy that fans still visit to this day, and now that gesture has spread to other actors who have left their mark on the beloved franchise. It's a charming sentiment to see the Trekkies making that virtual pilgrimage to see Nimoy's Spock in different corners of the game world, people doing the Vulcan salute emotes in front of the star's statues might actually prove that the Internet wasn't a massive mistake altogether. A lot of credit has to be extended to the game designers for such a small touch that the players greatly appreciate.

Vulcan is now home to a big stone statue of Spock with "Live Long and Prosper" scrawled right beneath it in the world of "Star Trek Online," and the sentiment really just sings when you think about how his presence permeates the game world. The game's design team chose that location after players decided to congregate there themselves when Nimoy died in 2015, as you would expect most devoted "Star Trek" fans to behave when someone so central to the entire enterprise passed away.

These kinds of fan memorials are popping up more frequently as multiple franchises have had their brushes with mourning popular actors, and the fandoms themselves step up to honor the people who bring their favorite pieces of media to life. The team behind "Star Trek Online" decided to lean into the fans' decision-making by erecting that first statue, but also added memorials on New Romulus and other planets that felt resonant to Spock's character. Executive producer Stephen Ricossa talked about their thought process in a lengthy blog post on the game's website following Nimoy's passing. He began, 

"Last Friday, we lost someone dear to us. All of us. Not just the people of the 'Star Trek' community, but anyone who ever tried with varying success to make the Vulcan salute. Anyone who ever said 'Live Long and Prosper,' whether or not they knew who brought that phrase into our cultural lexicon, and anyone who can understand the impact a positive public figure can have on the world."

"Leonard Nimoy was more than just a 'Star Trek' icon — he was a cultural icon," Ricossa declared. "His passing has been felt farther and wider than I think he could have possibly known, and I feel it's that humility, despite all of his skills, talents, and fame, that made him someone we all care about."

Through time, our favorite performers touch our lives long after they're gone, all the while inspiring new viewers who come to a property after you've already engraved iconic lines into your memory banks. Moments like "Star Trek Online" memorializing Leonard Nimoy show you just how far these moments of inspiration can reach; they might even travel at warp speed, if you think about it for a while. The actor consistently expressed the kind of care for not only his performances, but for the people he touched along the way, and that's why so many people revered this man. It was more than a salute and some catchphrases; he meant something to people.

"Star Trek Online" has made it even easier to introduce the franchise to future generations through the inclusion of these memorials of iconic individuals associated with "Star Trek," and that's a great thing. Small gestures go a long way with these big properties; a lot of massive series see their influence fade over time, and that's not the case for "Star Trek," as long as they keep the community at the top of mind. There's no need to worry about the "end of the road" while people help keep the memories alive.