I don't think there has been a character in science fiction more talked about than Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Kirk was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise after Christopher Pike in the Star Trek Universe. Kirk was the youngest captain in Starfleet history and was as brash as he was charismatic.

In the books and television show, the young Kirk wasn't afraid to take chances and bend... if not completely break... the rules. Captains like Jean-Luc Picard and Ben Sisko were much more methodical and straight arrow than the adventurous Kirk. Age matured the adventurous captain and while he was still a risk taker, he understood the impact the decisions had on everyone around him.

An older Kirk is world weary and feels the weight of authority, but misses the days of exploring space and living the great adventure. The earns the rank of admiral and a desk job, but gets demoted back to starship captain after saving the world... again. While Picard and the other captains were always meant to be deeper and more brooding as a way to make them more three dimensional, Kirk was always the bull in a China shop.

You know that he was going to let reason fall to the wayside and follow his heart. This trait I think is what has endeared him to the hearts of many. He does what we all want to do, but never can because we live in the real world where out decisions have real consequences.