25 of the best fictional planets to visit
14. Genesis (Star Trek)
Okay, if you’re in need of some serious, serious regeneration, then you’re in luck. The Star Trek universe has (or, depending on where you jump into the story, had) a planet with such regenerative powers that even death briefly held no sway there. Welcome to Genesis.
It all started with the Genesis Device, created by a team of scientists led by Dr. Carol Marcus. Marcus and her son, David, helped to create the Genesis Device in order to alleviate the many problems plaguing the galaxy. Limited food supplies? Crowded cities? Just too many people? No problem, thanks to the Genesis Device! Simply turn it on any old uninhabitable rock in space and you’ll have a cozy class M planet in no time.
That was the plan, anyway. Rapid terraforming courtesy of the device could create worlds ready for new settlers, thus relieving population pressures in other sectors. Sounds great, until you realize that the Genesis Device could also be detonated around populated areas, wiping already inhabited planets of all life. It proved to be a possibly powerful and very feared doomsday device, regardless of Marcus’ original good intent.
The genesis of Genesis
Towards the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, villain Khan Noonien Singh detonates the Genesis Device aboard a stolen ship. All of the matter around said ship is disassembled, then rapidly re-assembled into the planet known as Genesis. Advanced life, including lush plant matter, springs up almost too quickly to believe. As it turns out, even deceased individuals could be inadvertently launched to the planet’s surface, where they would be resurrected.
Too bad that David Marcus screwed up a few calculations, resulting in an unstable planet core. Almost as soon as the beautiful landscapes and quasi-zombies start popping up, so do did violent windstorms and earthquakes. If you want to visit and take part in the rejuvenating process, you’ll have to time your trip just so. Genesis might not be around for too much longer.