Kirk's first commanding officer, killed with much of his crew by a vampiric cloud creature for which Kirk long blamed himself.
Garrovick was captain of the USS Farragut when a young Lieutenant Kirk served aboard. Eleven years before the events of Obsession, a gaseous creature that drained the iron from human blood attacked the ship near Tycho IV, killing Garrovick and many of the crew. Kirk believed he had hesitated before firing his phaser, and had blamed himself ever since.
When the creature reappears, Kirk becomes fixated on destroying it. Garrovick's son David, now an ensign aboard the Enterprise, helps Kirk lure and destroy the creature.