The bald Captain, and arguably the most iconic example of that trope (next to Kirk, of course).Polymath, diplomat, and all-around gentleman, Picard at first seems like an incongruous choice to run a starship — at least until somebody fires at his ship or disregards an order. Highly-cerebral and somewhat rigid in his duties, Picard occasionally acts coldly to his subordinates (a trait mirrored, aptly, by his artificial heart).Of all the alien phenomena experienced by Picard, the principal ones that affect him are Q and the Borg; the former making a bet that his 'enlightened' principles won't hold up in the darkness of space, and the latter threatening to change him into a violent, vengeful man — the very thing he despises.
Tropes:
Adventurer Archaeologist: He studied archeology as a young man, and winds up going on adventures of this type in various episodes, like Captain's Holiday, The Chase, and Gambit.
Troi: Captain, when the treaty was first negotiated, the Federation sent 372 legal experts. What do we have? Picard: Thee and me.
Badass Grandpa: Not as over-the-top about it (except perhaps in the movies), but distinguishes himself by the number of Badass bases he covers — Picard is the envy of younger men in ship combat, shooting, hand-to-hand, fencing (both classical and Klingon) and sheer endurance. He's not literally a badass grandpa, however— in fact, he never married or had children (until the relaunch novels).
Character Tics: "The Picard Maneuver" — his habit of tugging his tunic down whenever he stands up. He's not alone in doing this, but he is the most blatant about it (and, for various reasons, the one most commonly seen doing it).
Child Hater: A notable subversion. Picard mentions in the pilot that he does not deal well with children. We later find that this is not dislike, but a discomfort that he sees as a personal flaw—he is far too used to dealing with supremely professional adults, and children also remind him of his own estranged family and his sacrifices for his career. In Generations he enters a Lotus-Eater Machine and is actually given children of his own- he is so overwhelmed with joy he actually starts to cry. The machine in question- a space anomaly called the Nexus- only give him children because that was his deepest and most hidden desire.
Closet Geek: Picard lights up at the subject of unsolved mysteries; his childhood hero was the pulp novel detective Dixon Hill. The holodeck allows Picard to fantasize himself as the two-fisted gumshoe.
Cool Old Guy: He's not that old, to be fair, but close. People just respect him naturally.
Cosmic Play Thing: Whenever Q wants to test humanity, he decides Picard should be the one to take it.
Cultured Badass: He speaks French and Klingon, and is well-versed in archaeology, literature, fencing and horseback riding.
Deadpan Snarker: Often and usually at Q's expense. Very deadpan, no smirking.
Defiant to the End: THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!Often forgotten is that this is a subversion. Picard only shouts this after another Cardassian soldier walks in and orders the Gul to stop the torture. Later, Picard admits to Troi that not only would he have surrendered had the torture not been stopped just then, he could actually see five lights there.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Events always seem to conspire to cast doubt on Picard's service record, to his ongoing resentment. Despite saving his entire crew and inventing a new Starship maneuver, he was dragged before a court marshal and scapegoated for the destruction of the Stargazer*
Although it's worth noting that court-martial upon loss of ship has been standard practice for many navies, regardless of circumstance
. His image also took a severe battering following Wolf 359.
Dysfunctional Family: As shown in "Family", his relationship with his brother Robert is very tense, while "Tapestry" implies that his father likewise never forgave him for running away to join Starfleet. His relationship with his nephew and his sister-in-law is much warmer.
Fantastic Racism: Towards the genetically engineered, as seen in "The Masterpiece Society". Might have something to do with the idea of built-in castes being way too reminiscent of the Borg.
Former Teen Rebel: It took getting a knife through the heart before Picard began to reconsider some of his life choices.
Good Is Not Nice: A minor version. He's not mean or a jerk, just very serious and intense. He can be a nice guy when off duty though.
Guile Hero: Not the trickster kind, but he always prefers to resolve conflicts by diplomacy and finesse if possible, rather than resorting to combat. He's not above judiciously applied brinksmanship when necessary, either. When he suspected that he was being lured into a Romulan ambush as a prelude to war, he arranged for the Enterprise to be escorted by cloaked Klingon warships. Once the Romulan ambushers revealed themselves, so did the Klingons.
Hates Small Talk: He'll do what he needs to avoid it. A good example is in Starship Mine, when Data attempts to make small talk with him and he directs the android to keep an eye on someone who was notorious for being big on small talk. Has made excuses for nearly a decade to avoid attending an annual conference stocked with flag officers and fellow captains that always turns into an excuse for aimless chit-chat. In the episode it comes up, the Enterprise's engines go offline due to a faulty upgrade, and Picard's relief is almost palpable.
Large Ham: Basically, Picard and Patrick Stewart have equal levels of ham content, considering that both are Shakespearian actors, but only one is in command of a powerful starship.
Last of His Kind: The death of his brother Robert and his nephew Rene, means that he's now the last Picard.
Limited Advancement Opportunities: Kirk, Sisko, Janeway and Archer were all promoted over the course of their respective series or films. Picard, on the other hand, chose to stay a captain for the entirety of his career. It is mentioned in All Good Things that Picard eventually became an ambassador. In Generations Kirk flat-out tells Picard that he regrets being promoted to Admiral and advises him to never let it happen to him. One could argue that Picard is an Almighty Janitor as a consequence- he is more than qualified to be a top-ranked Admiral and everyone knows it, to the point the actual Admirals usually speak to him less as a subordinate and more as an equal, and he even puts one or two in their place. In First Contact when the Admiral leading the assault on the Borg invasion of Earth is killed, Captain Picard immediately takes command of the entire fleet (or whats left of it) and nobody questions it. Especially when he leads them to victory in a few minutes.
Major Injury Underreaction: Picard's reaction to getting knifed through the heart was to begin laughing! Even Q was somewhat disturbed by this.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Captain Phillipa Louvois in "The Measure of a Man". In one of the novels, it's further elaborated that Louvois and Picard were romantically involved before she was chosen to prosecute him during his court martial, where she betrayed him by using the fact he'd wake screaming the names of the dead Stargazer crew, as proof that he was guilty.
The Stoic: While he is pushed to his limits several times and he develops a Berserk Button about the Borg, Picard's reserve and emotional control are impressive enough that a Vulcan suffering from an age-related breakdown of self-control mind-links with him for stability.
Took a Level in Badass: Picard could always handle himself in a fight, but it was played up to absurd lengths in the movies, where most of his scenes played out like "Die Hard In Space"
Unresolved Sexual Tension: Picard has this with Beverly Crusher, by choice. Might be caused by Death of the Hypotenuse, as Jack Crusher, Picard's best friend and Beverly's husband, was slain whilst serving on the USS Stargazer. Out of respect for him, they largely keep things to themselves.
The quintessential Number Two (or One). Started life as an expy of Kirk: a womanizing, cocksure space ace. With the beard, however, came a newfound gravitas and sense of responsibility. Fiercely loyal, he is probably the one officer whom Picard is most open with.
Also a case of Throw It In. Frakes grew the beard during the summer hiatus and figured he'd shave it off before filming resumed. However, he made a convention appearance before then and fan response was very positive, and ultimately Gene Roddenberry requested he keep it.
Bold Explorer: Sharing this role with Picard, Riker was closer to the classic model as seen in the original series.
Determinator: Data's analysis of his personality and record in "Peak Performance" that he will not give up, and that the weaker his position, the more aggressive will be his posture.
Department of Redundancy Department: Shields up, Red Alert! What they keep forgetting to tell Riker is that going to Red Alert raises the shields automatically.
Disappeared Dad: "The Icarus Factor" reveals that Riker feels bitter resentment to his father for not being around after the death of Riker's mother. Until that episode, they'd neither seen nor spoken to each other in nearly 15 years.
Guile Hero: Data notes that Riker is skilled at using "unusual cunning" and knowledge of his opponent to fool them. He relies on traditional tactics "only 21% of the time."
The Kirk: Riker is a very interesting example of this trope. In short, Data will usually present a strictly rational solution to an ethical dilemma, while Crusher or Troi will present a more emotional one. Remember, usually they're people, not abstracts. At this point, Riker will weigh them internally and give his opinion to Picard, who then re-Kirks it and makes a decision. For a guy who hates bureaucratic admirals, he sure does like oversight.
Lethal Chef: Only Worf likes his cooking, which is pretty bad. He's no Ben Sisko, that's for sure.
Limited Advancement Opportunities: By his own choice, no less. He was offered command several times during the series, but always turned them down because he would rather serve as first officer on the flagship than captain of an insignificant vessel *
. He explains his reasoning behind this to Captain Picard in Part I of "The Best of Both Worlds": "With all due respect, sir, you need me." In Part II of that episode, he's given a field promotion to Captain after Picard's capture and has four pips on his uniform signifying his new rank, but after Picard's return he has three pips again for some reason. (No reason he couldn't have continued to serve as first officer while keeping his new rank. And after saving the Federation, he really deserved to keep that extra pip.) He finally accepts a promotion in Nemesis.
The novels leading up to Nemesis make his decision more clear. He was ready to turn down his promotion to captain the USS Titan the same as he turned down many other ships, until he realizes what that decision would mean for Data. As an android, Data is supremely competent and not the least bit ambitious to move up the Starfleet ranks. And because Riker has always been there as Picard's right hand, he's never had a chance to move into a real leadership position. Riker realizes that in a way, he's taken advantage of Data's android nature, by using his talents but never feeling threatened with being overshadowed the way he would with a competent and ambitious humanoid officer looking to make their mark. So by limiting his own advancement, he is giving Limited Advancement Opportunities to Data and other officers beneath him *
This is true in real life militaries; it's known as the "up or out" system. It is a process designed to promote a steady stream of officers to ever-higher ranks as merited, while filtering out those who don't match up, in order to ensure that the top officers reach the top ranks and that those same officers don't linger to impede the upward mobility of those coming up behind them. In a real life system, if Riker hadn't been promoted to captain after X number of years, he'd have been retired to free up his billet for someone who can.
. For that reason, he takes the captain's job so that Data can have his chance to take over as the new Number One and develop his own leadership qualities in a way he'd never had the chance to.
Running Gag: One wonders if it was intentional on the part of the writers, because otherwise it's remarkable that every time he's offered the Captain's chair, the ship in question ends up being destroyed in a later episode?!
“Well Done Son” Guy: Will has a highly adversarial relationship with his father, Kyle Riker, who went as far as to cheat when competing against his preteen son in martial arts. His drive for excellence was in part motivated by his dad's constant one-upmanship; this doubtlessly colored Will's later decision to turn down a promotion, ending their competition.
Engineering whiz and all-around Nice Guy. Born blind, he wears a spiffy VISOR which allow for some degree of sight. Geordi is most defined through his interactions with Data, who considers him his best friend.
Creator interviews suggest that this is partly because Geordi is in love with the Enterprise, similar to the way that Kirk was (although it is much less of a Masochism Tango). His relationship with the holographic Leah Brahms, the ship's designer, evokes this.
Aura Vision: Occasionally the crew (and audience) gets to see what Geordi sees, which appears as a confusing mass of light and color. Geordi explains that he can choose what to focus on the same way he can focus on one conversation in a crowded room.
In the book Metamorphosis, Geordi describes organic beings as having a shifting aura around them. Data's more machine nature has his aura look like a halo. When Data becomes human, Geordi observes that he's "lost his halo".
Disability Superpower: The VISOR doesn't mimic normal human eyesight, but its ability to see infrared and EM spectrums comes in handy, and it can be jury-rigged to do some odd tasks.
Throwing Off The Disability: His eyes and vision were completely regenerated in Insurrection because of the rejuvenating effects of the Ba'ku homeworld. This eliminated his disability.
In "Hide and Q," the Q-empowered Riker grants Geordi eyesight. Though he briefly sees without his VISOR, he soon declines. ("I don't like where it came from.")
Reportedly, it was suggested that this trope be invoked early into the series' run, with the justification being 24th century technology could simply cure his blindness. Both Burton and Roddenberry were against it - considering it a disservice to blind people.
China O'Brien in space, and the original Worf, so to speak. Regularly got accosted by the Monster of the Week, concluding with her getting killed by a slime monster. Death notwithstanding, she still popped up now and again in alternate timelines.
Dead Alternate Counterpart: Tasha Yar from the reality where the Enterprise-C fell into a wormhole learns that in the soon-to-be-restored reality she was killed, she volunteers to go back through to help the C crew.
Fanservice: Drunk Tasha wandering the ship; her "blitzed" voice is very seductive.
That Didn't Happen: The night with Data. He agrees to keep it quiet, but we see that it's one of his most precious memories. (In an extended version of Yar's goodbye message, she says, "Data? It did happen.")
Even more interestingly, the role was read by dark-haired, olive-skinned Marina Sirtis, while Crosby read for the role of the ship's counselor. They swapped parts.
The genesis for Worf was Gene Roddenberry's suggestion that there be a "Klingon marine" on the Enterprise bridge, thus symbolizing that the human-Klingon feud was a thing of the past. Didn't quite work since it turned out he was actually raised by humans and was the only Klingon in all of Starfleet, and the Klingons—while no longer enemies—still had a pretty tense relationship with the Federation. But it did set up some very good and long-running storylines.Of all the TNG regulars, Worf underwent the most Character Development, partially because his early characterization was minuscule, and partially because the character has made more appearances across the Star Trek franchise than any other. Over the years, he thwarted a civil war on his homeworld (and got exiled for his trouble), became a father, got beat up (a lot), broke his spine (luckily he had a spare), got married to Troi (in an alternate dimension), crossed over to Deep Space Nine, was promoted to Commander, got married again, and eventually cleared his name (finally) and became a Klingon ambassador.
Jeremy: Your parents? Worf: No, they're dead. Jeremy: Your wife? Worf: First or second? ..Oh, nevermind, they're both dead. Jeremy: Your brother? Worf: He's not dead. But only because they stopped me from killing him. Jeremy: HUH?? Worf: It was for his own good. Jeremy: Any children? Worf: Only the son who shames me.
Birthday Hater: Worf doesn't look forward to his birthday as he doesn't like to be surprised, and knows that his shipmates always want to throw him a surprise party.
Culture Blind: Subverted. Worf isn't ignorant of Earth culture, but he compensates for his "neither here nor there" upbringing by sticking doggedly to Klingon ideals. The few things he is comically unaware of (Gilbert and Sullivan, prune juice as a home remedy) are ones that a 24th-century man could easily miss. Oddly enough in his dogged attachment to Klingon ideals he seems blind to much of the Klingon culture that doesn't really follow them.
It's even been mentioned that some of his virtues are based more off his human upbringing; his modesty, some of his morals, loyalties and even idealized aspects of Klingon culture have basis in human values. Even when these are brought up, he seems to ignore just where he might have picked it up.
Deadpan Snarker: It's not overt, but Worf gets a bunch of really great snarks out over the course of the series.
Q: I have no powers! What must I do to convince you of that?
Worf: Die.
Delivery Guy: "The computer simulation was not like this. The delivery was very orderly."
Fantastic Racism: Worf completely loathes the Romulans. To the point where when he refuses to give a dying Romulan a blood-transfusion to save his life and also shuns a Klingon woman he was initially attracted to after learning she is actually half-Romulan. However, numerous characters routinely call him out on this attitude. By the last movie, he (begrudingly) praised the Romulans who helped them for their honor.
Momma's Boy: Worf absolutely loves his adoptive mother Helena Rozhenko. He insists that she makes the best Rokeg blood pie in the entire galaxy, beat up five teenage boys he deemed "disrespectful" to her (with the implication that they had insulted her rather than him) at the age of 7, and one of his favorite places is her home of Minsk.
My Greatest Failure: It's later revealed in Deep Space Nine that part of the reason for his stoicism is because as a boy he accidentally killed another child whilst playing football. Since then, Worf vowed never again to lose control.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: And inverse of this. Most of the human characters only have Worf's view of Klingon culture to go on, so when other Klingons who have been living in that culture pop up, they're quick to point out (or show off) that he's basically been compensating.
Offered The Crown: Subverted. The Duras sisters attempt to convince him to change his loyalty to them, offering the older sister as his wife and him the Regency for their nephew. Later, after defeating Gowron in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he had, per Klingon Promotion, the right to lead the Klingon Empire, but gives the job away.
Raised by Orcs: Inversion — a Klingon raised by humans. In a fairly effective Deconstruction of the trope, Worf was often more true to Klingon principles and culture than most Klingons, due to having had more of an incentive to stand up for his identity in an alien environment.
Also because he didn't grow up in a Klingon environment, Worf is only aware of how Klingons are supposed to conduct themselves — other Klingons have learnt (as we all do) that there's honor and then there's the subtle compromises you make to get along in life. This leads to several Honor Before Reason decisions by Worf.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When Duras killed his beloved K'Ehleyr, Worf boarded his ship and killed him in the Rite of Vengeance.
The Stoic: Most of the time — that is, unlike most Klingons. This was explained in Deep Space Nine as being the result of constant self-control after he accidentally killed a human friend whilst playing football as a child. The only time this image cracks is when he slips into Unstoppable Rage.
This was explained in "Heart of Glory", TNG's first Klingon-centric episode.
"Stop Having Fun" Guy: Frequently falls into this. He usually comes off more as a humorless stiff than a badass Klingon warrior.
The redhead (later blonde) Doctor in charge of Sickbay. Has a long and complicated relationship with Picard, who served over her late husband, Jack Crusher, as Captain of the ill-fated Stargazer. Picard, still troubled with guilt over Jack's death, often expresses romantic feelings toward Beverly, but will not act on them. Jack and Beverly had a son, Wesley, who lives aboard the Enterprise.After being dropped from the show in Season Two for a failed attempt at a McCoy expy, Beverly is given much more screentime that isn't focused on her relationships with Picard and Wesley, insead exploring her career in medicine and outside interests. Sadly, she remains largely in the background in the movies.
The Cast Show Off: Gates McFadden made her name as a choreographer and, in "Data's Day," Crusher gets a scene where she teaches Data to dance, opening with a fairly impressive bit of tap-dancing from the doctor.
Combat Medic: One of the more prominent examples among Trek doctors, she's quite able and willing to shoot a phaser or throw a punch, and does surprisingly well when she's forced by circumstance to command the ship in a fight. In fact, she likes command and regularly commands the night shift "just to keep in practice."
And when Picard visits the future in "All Good Things...", she's captain of a medical ship.
Fiery Redhead: Although she has yet to approach the levels of this seen in, say, Kira Nerys, this trope comes into full effect when anyone tries to stop her from doing what she sees as her job.
Riker: (as Picard contemplates beaming Crusher back aboard despite her insistence on staying behind to treat wounded civilians) I don't wanna be in the Transporter Room to greet her.
Hot Mom: Her figure was mentioned in her original character description. In-story, she was certainly a draw, between UST with Picard and several one-episode romance plots.
Mama Bear: Her reaction when Lore threatens to kill Wesley in "Datalore".
No Badass to His Valet: The only person onboard the ship who can give the Captain orders. She's also known Picard for long enough to give him honest advice.
Noodle Incident: Whatever happened on Arvada III when she lived there with her Nana.
Put On A Shuttlecraft: Was absent from the show during the entire second season, when Dr. Pulaski was the doctor in her place.
Satellite Character: Her initial description in the cast bible is a one line description of how she is Wesley's mother. Her other major character usage is UST with Picard. This contributed to her bus trip in season two, but after her return (and Wesley's departure) she gets a number of episodes and plots dedicated to her.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Picard. Ironically, even though it's Picard who has hang-ups about a romantic relationship, she shoots him down when he asks. They get over themselves in the novels.
Counselor (later Commander) Deanna Troi
Played By: Marina Sirtis
"I am the Goddess of Empathy. Cast off your inhibitions and embrace love, truth, joy."
— Barclay's hologram of Troi
Half-Betazoid counselor who gets to sit right up front on The Bridge — a remnant of the touchy-feely 80s. Somewhat justified by her empathic abilities, which allowed her to detect lies and therefore give an edge to Picard in negotiations (though she mostly just stated the obvious). After a few seasons of this, complaints arose from the actress (and the audience); happily, those criticisms were echoed by Captain Jellico, who promptly barked at Troi to change into a proper uniform.As promised, Troi gained a less-revealing outfit, a phaser, and moved into the Counselors' office to assist the crew in more concrete ways. Troi is also notable for her very, very meddlesome mother (Lwaxana) and her on-again, off-again relationship with Riker. By the final TNG movie, the pair reconciled and got hitched.
Tropes:
Captain Crash: It's worth noting that she was only allowed to drive twice. The first time she hit a planet, the second time only another ship.
Ethical Slut: Troi has the most romantic subplots of any character in the series (almost none of which outlast the episode), but they're almost always positive and mostly just serve to show how compassionate she is.
The Fashionista: Deanna dresses fashionably (within Starfleet regulations as permitted), and is shown early in the series to have what others consider excellent taste in clothes. Unlike her mother Lwaxana, Deanna is more humble about it, unflamboyantly letting her outfits speak for themselves as she does her job.
Future Spandex: The next time you oogle Seven of Nine, you'll know who to thank.
Fleeting Passionate Hobby: In "A Fistful of Datas" Alexander invites her because "she like Westerns." This is never mentioned again.
She did mention that she liked westerns again briefly.
The Expanded Universe establishes that her late human father was a fan of westerns, justifying it as one of the things she remembers enjoying with him when she was a child before he died.
Human Aliens: Both she herself and full-blooded Betazoids like her mother Lwaxana is almost this. As noted under Green-Skinned Space Babe, Betazoids and Betazoid-human hybrids aren't actually visually indistinguishable from humans, but the difference is subtle enough that it can be easily be missed by the viewer unless you pay attention or have it pointed out to you.
Informed Attribute: She almost never reports anything that isn't head-slappingly obvious, to the crew and audience alike.
Impossibly Low Neckline: Her informal blue outfit (shown here) comes close. But her grey, purple and red informal outfits had a more modest V-shaped neckline. Her standard Starfleet uniform (worn in the series pilot and in Season 7) did not show cleavage at all.
Ms. Fanservice: And how. She sported prominent cleavage and a raging cameltoe for most of the series.
Not So Stoic: Troi tries very hard to be levelheaded and serene (as a counselor, of course). When her facade is cracked, it's almost always a Crowning Moment of Funny.
The Watson: Sadly often used to ask questions to which any Starfleet officer, even a directly-commissioned shrink, should know the answer, but the audience may not.
Women Drivers: Very adept at crashing the Federation flagship into things. We'll ignore the time she was told to.
Lieutenant Commander Data
Played By: Brent Spiner
I have often wished to be human. I study people carefully, in order to more closely approximate human behavior.
Gold-skinned android who serves as Second Officer and Operations Officer aboard the Enterprise. Though his presence was fairly inexplicable in the beginning, he was soon revealed to have been built by an eccentric scientist, who perished and left Data alone on a space colony. Upon his retrieval by Starfleet, Data reasoned that his natural path was to enroll in Starfleet Academy.Data's popularity and presence on the show eventually grew to rival Nimoy's, so much so that Brent Spiner (who gamely carried many episodes) began to the feel the strain by year seven. In addition, he was prominently featured in three out of the four TNG films.
Back from the Dead: In Star Trek Online, Data's death in Nemesis is undone by his personality asserting itself in B-4's body, effectively making him the same person as before.
Beware the Nice Ones: For an emotionless machine, he can be quite brusque with people who question his sentience or abilities as a shipmate. One imagines that, after twenty years in Starfleet, Data's learned to put those pests in their place.
In "The Gambit" Data, as temporary Captain, verbally rips Worf (his temporary First Officer) a new one for questioning his orders in front of the crew.
In "The Most Toys", after the villain mocks him for being unable to bring himself to kill him in cold-blood, we see Data raise the phaser, only to be beamed out as the weapon fires!
Data: I cannot allow you to continue...
Bizarre Alien Biology: The technological equivalent, in particular the location of his 'off switch' and the fact that his head can be removed and still function without his body.
Breakout Character: Oh, hell yeah. To this day is on Spock's level as the most popular Star trek character in the franchise.
Brutal Honesty: Although he would retort, "But it is simply an observation of fact." His daughter, Lal, inherited this catchphrase.
Cannot Tell a Joke: One of Data's many attempts to become more human involves him trying to understand the nature of humor. He enlists the help of a holodeck comedian program and memorizes all the jokes... then proceeds to completely botch the delivery of every one.
Custom Uniform: In several episodes, Data's uniform has a decidedly greener tint than the gold of the standard Operations.
Deuteragonist: Replaced Riker in this role after he emerged as the Ensemble Darkhorse, and remained so for the rest of the series (and especially in the movies).
Do-Anything Robot: Culminating in Data acting as a flotation device ("In the event of a water landing...") in the movies.
Eating Machine: He ingests chemical compounds to keep his insides well-lubricated and functioning.
Eating Optional: Data eats even though he does not have to, in order to more closely emulate human behavior.
Motor Mouth: To his crewmates' chagrin. Although it occasionally works to their advantage, such as when Picard needs to brush him on off on, say, Lwaxana Troi.
No Sense of Humor: Not for lack of trying, though. The guy named his cat "Spot", for crying out loud.
Recycled Script: He is derived from the character Xon from the cancelled Star Trek: Phase 2. Xon was a full-blooded Vulcan, the idea being that he would provide a contrast to the vanished Spock—whereas Spock was always denying his human side and embracing his Vulcan, Xon would already be secure in his Vulcan-ness and thus be more intrigued and curious about understanding human emotions. This eventually mutated into the idea of an emotionless android seeking to achieve those human emotions.
Ridiculously Human Robot: Justified. His creator was far more interested in the puzzle of creating fully-sentient mechanical life than any commercial applications.
Skunk Stripe: A flash-forward to the future ("All Good Things...") shows Data with a glaringly-obvious streak of grey hair, an attempt to make himself feel older and distinguished.
Admiral McCoy: I don't see any points on your ears, boy, but you sound like a Vulcan!
Data: No sir, I am an android.
Admiral McCoy: Almost as bad.
Thinking Tic: He sometimes cocks his head sharply to one side when he's doing some deep calculation.
Tin Man: He was actually called this a few times during the series, the most memorable of which was in that ridiculous episode with the sentient, evil sludge.
A much-maligned, much-hated character in his prime, Wesley was inserted into the series by Gene Roddenberry as a wunderkind who single-handedly saves the ship (or, more commonly, imperils it) from week to week. Unfortunately, his bloated screentime and infallible genius did not ingratiate him with many viewers.As he grew older, Welsey became a more likable Audience Surrogate. He enrolled in Starfleet Academy, becoming a sort of surrogate son to Picard. Despite this, Wesley began to question the dogmas of the Federation, which he saw as hypocritical. Like Ro Laren, he left Starfleet after finding himself on the opposing side of the Maquis issue.
Tropes:
Always Someone Better: Despite everything said below, he was still beaten into the Academy by his Benzite colleague Mordock.
Even in real life. When Wesley aced his second entrance exam for the Academy, Roddenberry commemorated it by presenting Wil with the second lieutenant bars Gene earned in the Air Corps. Present at the ceremony was General Colin Powell(!).
Evil Genius: Seems to be at times, when he doesn't bother to explain himself.
Although in his case, it was more like Accidental Evil Genius thanks to his science experiments. In one episode, his nanotech experiment almost destroyed the ship and, in another, he managed to get his mom trapped in a space/time bubble after a test on the warp drive, which nearly killed her as it collapsed in on itself.
Military Brat: Son of a Starfleet doctor and command officer.
Put On A Shuttlecraft: Arguably justified. Ronald D. Moore pointed out that so much hoopla had been made of Wesley's "genius" that it seemed an odd fit for him to be another cadet.
What Could Have Been: At one point he was planned as a female character named Leslie Crusher, as the TNG creators thought the teenaged boy genius was too much of a cliché. (They were probably right.)
Although considering that a female genius would have literally been Mary Sue, it was kind of a no-win situation.
Recurring Crew and Dependents (in alphabetical order)
Cloud Cuckoo Lander and social basketcase who serves aboard the Enterprise as engineer. Has logged more holodeck hours than even Riker himself; in fact, Barclay practically lives on the holodeck, which renders him useful whenever some quirky Holodeck Malfunction happens. Barclay later turned up on Voyager, where his holodeck OCD somehow led to a communications breakthrough, allowing Starfleet to detect Janeway's stranded crew.It can be safety said that Barclay is more at ease around computers than people. Unsurprisingly, his closest friend ended up being Dr. Zimmerman, taciturn and antisocial creator of the EMH.
Tropes:
Ambiguous Disorder: Barclay has a history of antisocal behavior stretching all the way back to the Academy. When he applies himself, he's the best engineer in Starfleet. Too bad he's afraid of literally everything, including transporters, germs, and human contact.
Brain Critical Mass: In "The Nth Degree," Barclay's brain is taken over by an ancient race from the center of the galaxy, greatly increasing his intellect. Under their influence, Barclay seizes command of the Enterprise, controlling the ship with his mind.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Extremely good at his job on the Enterprise, whenever they can keep him out of the holodeck.
Gadgeteer Genius: Single-handedly manages to come up with the plan to recongfigure the "MIDAS" subspace telescope to send a signal through a nearby passing pulsar, with the sole intention of creating a micro-wormhole which he will aim at the estimated location of Voyager. And It Worked!
Hypochondria: Did an attempted self diagnosis in "Realm of Fear" due to something he saw when in the transporter, and how it affected him.
Kicked Upstairs: From his previous assignment to the Enterprise; his former CO had been giving him glowing performance evaluations specifically to bait another captain into requesting him.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: So much so that he's one of the few people that Spot likes. His later Voyager appearances would show him with a cat of his own.
Mr. Imagination: Mostly through holodiction as he's always generating new fantasy scenarios.
Odd Friendship: Most of his closest friends are holograms.
Overly-Long Name: His full name is Reginald Endicott Barclay III.
Reassignment Backfire: Originally moved to the Enterprise just to get rid of him, Barclay came into his own as a Starfleet officer under Picard's command.
Straw Fan: Like Doctor Who's "Whiz Kid," Reg was conceived as the stereotypical fan of Star Trek: Divorced from the real world and obsessed with fictional characters.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He is one of the rare individuals that views Holograms as alive, once stating that they are more "real" to him than most people. This is in stark contrast to everyone else who considers them to be Just a Machine.
Wise and mysterious bartender with a big hat. Guinan manages the Ten Forward lounge, but her history with Picard goes back way further than that. Contrary to appearance, she is one of the last survivors of an ageless and inscrutable species who were scattered by the Borg. Most of her past remains murky; she harbors no love for Q, and is possibly the one person he truly fears. In the TNG films, Guinan is revealed to have once been trapped in the Nexus.
Tropes:
Almighty Janitor: In "Yesterday's Enterprise", Picard sends 120 people to their deaths on the word of a bartender.
The Bartender: To many characters, but frequently to Jean-Luc.
Beware the Nice Ones: In "Deja Q", she takes pleasure in tormenting the de-powered Q, stabbing his hand with a fork, and later simply saying "How the mighty have fallen." after he gets attacked by the Calamarain, another race Q bullied. And in "Night Terrors", there's that BFG mentioned below.
BFG: Keeps one behind the bar to break up particularly nasty bar fights. She's actually a better shot than Worf.
Fantastic Racism: While she does come to accept Hugh, she really hates the Borg.
Have We Met Yet?: 19th-century Guinan meets first a time-displaced Data, then Picard, while in San Francisco, both of whom (obviously) know her.
Human Alien: She looks completely like a human female. No rubber head or pointy ears.
Last of His Kind: She's one of the few surviving El-Aurians who escaped the Borg.
Mysterious Past: Guinan often refers to adventures from her past, several of which become important plot points, but many more of which remain mysterious.
Never Bareheaded: Guinan is always wearing a hat. Even when she's been shot in 19th-century San Francisco. Even when she's a Living Memory in the Nexus. The only time she's seen without a hat is in her quarters in Generations.
Promoted Fangirl: Whoopi Goldberg was a huge fan of the original series and has specifically named Nichelle Nichols as her inspiration for acting. Just before the second season entered production, she called Roddenberry, saying "I am a Star Trek fan, I was a Star Trek fan long before I was ever Whoopi Goldberg and I'm wondering if there's some part I can play in your show?" Roddenberry was so impressed that he re-wrote the bartender character he had intended to introduce for Goldberg.
Shout Out: Named after famed speakeasy owner and entertainer Texas Guinan.
Really 700 Years Old: Guinan looks exactly the same in the late 24th century as she does in the late 19th.
Whoopi Epiphany Speech: Several times, but most notably to Riker in "The Best of Both Worlds".
Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien
Played By: Rosalind Chao
A botanist who worked in the Enterprise arboretum. Later introduced to her eventual husband, Miles O'Brien, through matchmaker Data. As the most stable family unit on Star Trek, the O'Briens nonetheless had their share of problems. A majority of "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes revolve around Keiko and/or Molly being placed in imminent peril.When O'Brien left to join Deep Space Nine, Keiko and their daughter Molly came with him. Keiko opened a children's school on the station.
Perennially unlucky Irishman, put in charge of the transporter room. A veteran of numerous never-seen wars, most notably the Cardassian conflict, which lands him squarely on the idealogical side of the Maquis. Unlike Ro Laren and Wesley, though, he stayed true to the uniform.O'Brien later transferred to Deep Space Nine as its chief engineer. Though his character growth was limited, he was featured much more prominently on a show in which even an extra got his own episode at some point. He's also one of the few members of Starfleet ever depicted to be enlisted.
Tropes:
A Day in the Limelight: The episode "The Wounded," about his and his old captain's experience in the Cardassian war.
Ascended Extra: He went from an unnamed speaking bridge officer in the pilot to a recurring minor character to a main character on Deep Space Nine.
Fantastic Racism: Towards Cardassians, due to them being responsible for the first time he took a life.
The Engineer: Specializing in transporter technology.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Occasionally displays this, due to his experiences in the Federation-Cardassian War.
Molly O'Brien
Played By: Tadeski twins, Hana Hatae
O'Brien's first child. Had the dubious honor of being delivered by Worf. (Her baby brother, Kirayoshi O'Brien, is born under similarly weird circumstances.)About the most exciting thing to happen to Molly was her Plot-Relevant Age-Up on Deep Space Nine, quickly undone by the Reset Button.
When Gates McFadden quit the show in its second season, Pulaski was brought on to replace her. An expy of Dr. McCoy, Pulaski had an adversarial relationship with Data, whom she treats like an uppity office appliance. The trouble with this dynamic was that, unlike Bones, Pulaski had no philosophical viewpoint to differ herself from Data. She was, simply put, a Luddite.*
...who works on a starship. Figure that one out.
The writers quickly dropped this angle and Pulaski warmed up, though fans did not; she stepped away from the role after one season after it became clear that everybody just wanted Crusher back. Pulaski was dropped from TNG with little fanfare, and replaced with Gates McFadden again.
Tropes:
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: When McFadden returned for Season 3, Pulaski dropped off the face of the galaxy with her last episode being an underwhelming Clip Show. She is mentioned in two further TNG episodes and the finale of Voyager (being paged at Starfleet Medical), and shows up in the Star Trek Expanded Universe more than once.
What's surprising is that when the holographic Moriarty returns in Season Six, he doesn't ask where Pulaski has gone. She was the one he spent the most time with, after all, so you would think that if anybody would mention her, he would.
Dr. Jerk: (Arguably) retooled in the second half of Season Two to be more friendly, though she still wasn't averse to pulling rank on Picard and threatening to declare him incompetant. When Dr. Crusher did that, it was motherly and cute; not here. This undoubtedly fueled fan backlash against the character.
Establishing Character Moment: Refusing to introduce herself personally to the Captain, forcing Picard to schlep all the way down to the canteen to greet her.
Expy / Gender Flip: If McCoy ever had a character more blatantly patterned after him, it was Dr. Pulaski.
Fake Guest Star: Always a guest through season two, despite being in most episodes and being such an important role on the ship. Diana Muldaur was actually offered main cast billing, but she turned it down.
Fantastic Racism: Towards Data. He doesn't react, but it infuriates Geordi and Wesley.
Bajoran officer and child of the Cardassian occupation of her homeworld. Has a chip on her shoulder the size of Wyoming, as well as a rebellious attitude toward protocol (indicated by her earrings, which clash with Starfleet dress code). Basically, a Breakout Character if ever there was one.When the Maquis started attacking Cardassian settlements in open violation of Federation treaties, Laren was hand-picked to infiltrate their group. It soon became clear that her fondness for Picard did not measure up to her hatred of the Cardassians. Picard noticed this and warned Laren of the consequences of defection, even ordering Riker to stay on top of her. Laren easily overpowered Riker and sabotaged her own sting operation, officially joining the Maquis in the process. Ro Laren's popularity made her the subject of not one but twoSuspiciously Similar Substitutes. The creators of Deep Space Nine tried to write her in as a regular, as did Voyager, but in both cases Michelle Forbes was unwilling to commit to a television series. The character was reworked into Kira Nerys and B'Elanna Torres.
Anti-Hero: Her distinctly un-amiable attitude is particularly noticeable, even with Worf there.
The Atoner: Before joining the Enterprise, she was in prison for an incident that got a number of her comrades killed.
Belligerent Sexual Tension: Spends most of the series being yelled at by Riker, due to a tendency to ignore procedure.
They Do: When the crew of the Enterprise has their memories blocked, Ro concludes that they were having an affair and acts on it.
Dark and Troubled Past: Although TNG renders the Bajoran occupation far less harshly than DS9, it's still clear that growing up there was terrible.
Defrosting Ice Queen: She slowly becomes friends with some of her crewmates, and particularly Picard.
Elites Are More Glamorous: Ro seemed to get a lot more respect (which is to say, any) from the Enterprise crew after she returned from Starfleet Advanced Tactical Training.
Face Death with Dignity: In "Out of Phase," she decides that she and Geordi are both ghosts and urges him to accept it.
Put on a Bus: Ro Laren never reappeared in Star Trek after Preemptive Strike.
Bus Crash: The Maquis are wiped out almost to the last man during Deep Space 9. Although Ro is not mentioned specifically, it is highly likely she was killed. The Expanded Universe had other ideas however, eventually making her The Captain of Deep Space Nine.
Shoot the Dog: She advocates separating the ship in "Disaster," under the logic that it's better to lose half the crew to a warp core breach than all of it because they were busy trying to find a way to fix it. Troi overrules her.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Alternately played straight and averted. Ro was very similar to Yar in terms of history and personality, occupying her niche in the emotional dynamic of the show, but she was nothing like Wesley, whose position she took in the bridge crew.
Take Up My Sword: Explicitly stated by Macias when he's killed by Cardassians.
Illegitimate son of Worf and K'Ehleyr, a Klingon ambassador. Worf was not even aware of Alexander's birth until he was grown. Worf sent him away to be raised by his foster grandparents on Earth, no doubt scrambling Alexander's sense of identity even more. A year later, he was shipped back off to the Enterprise.Worf, who had suppressed his Klingon tendencies for most of his life, perversely wanted Alexander to follow the honorable Klingon tradition. Though the pair always end up reconciling, their relationship stays more or less tumultuous, even on Deep Space Nine.
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Alexander was born in 2366, but when he arrives on the Enterprise in 2367, he is played by 6-year-old Jon Paul Steuer. Upon his return a year later he's played by 11-year-old Brian Bonsall. And when he shows up again in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it's 2374 and he's 8 years old... and played by 21-year-old Marc Worden. Maybe being 3/4ths Klingon does crazy things to your physiology? Will Miral Paris age super-slowly?
Other Recurring Characters (in alphabetical order)
Duras
Played By: Patrick Massett
"His heart is not Klingon."
A Klingon politician whose father was a rival of Worf's before the Khitomer Massacre in which both men were killed, due to Duras' father betraying his people to the Romulans. When this information is discovered years later, Duras persuades the Klingon High Council to blame Worf's father instead of his (since he's powerful enough to start a civil war in the Empire if they don't do what he wants). This sets Worf up to be stigmatized and, under Klingon law, executed as the son of a traitor. When Worf challenges this, Duras not only does everything he can to make Worf's father look guilty, but also attempts to have Worf's brother and Picard assassinated for supporting him. In the end, after Worf and Picard learn the truth, Worf agrees to accept discommendation in order to keep the Empire from falling apart; this means that he admits his guilt and accepts lifelong ostracization from all other Klingons. Worf, quite understandably, holds a grudge against Duras for this.Later, Duras is suspected of poisoning the Klingon head of state and his former co-conspirator in burying the truth about Khitomer, K'mpec, in order to usurp K'mpec's position. This is an extremely dishonorable method of killing among the Proud Warrior Race of Klingons, and K'mpec urges Picard to not only determine who should succeed him, but discover whether Duras or another Klingon in a position to succeed him—Gowron—did the deed, as anybody who would do such a thing cannot be trusted to rule the Empire. Duras not only attempts to have Gowron killed with a bomb, but does kill Worf's love interest, K'Ehleyr, when the latter starts digging into his past and accuses him of being the son of a traitor and framing Worf. Worf, upon finding K'ehleyr near death and learning that Duras is responsible, goes after Duras and kills him in single combat.This wouldn't be the end of the Duras family causing trouble, though, as he had a couple of sisters who picked up right where he left off...
Tropes:
Dirty Coward: By Klingon standards, anyway. Duras doesn't run away when Worf challenges him to a fight, which can be considered brave, but he does try to get out of fighting Gowron for leadership of the Empire by trying to have Gowron killed with a bomb. He also often uses assassins to dispatch his enemies instead of doing his own dirty work, notably when he tries to have Worf's brother Kurn killed; Duras gives Kurn an ultimatum, and then when Kurn turns him down Duras walks away to safety and leaves his men to dispatch Kurn. The only exception to this is when he goes to face K'ehleyr, who was apparently no match for him. During his fight against Worf, he tries to convince Worf not to kill him by saying that he's the only one who can ever prove Worf's innocence and he can't do that if he's dead. The cherry on top would be if he were the one who poisoned K'mpec; it's never determined one way or the other, but we later find out that the only other suspect, Gowron, seems to be above such tactics.
Word Of God confirmed that Duras was the murderer. Apparently no-one noticed that they never actually said so until the fans started asking.
In the Blood: Turns out that Duras was collaborating with the Romulans before his death, just like his father did.
Jerk Ass: Dear lord, is he ever. Not content to just thank his lucky stars that he isn't being condemned as the son of a traitor, he does everything he can to insult, demean, and smear the guy who is condemned as such, Worf. That would be enough by itself, and when combined with his evil actions he becomes an ULTRA Jerk Ass.
Leave No Witnesses: He tried very hard to make sure everybody who knew his dirty little secret was dead.
Minored In Asskicking: While usually too much of a Dirty Coward to fight when he doesn't have to, his performance against Worf shows that he's a pretty good with a sword.
Would Hit a Girl: Would beat her to death because she knows too much, in fact.
The Duras Sisters — Lursa and B'Etor
Played By: Barbara March and Gwynyth Walsh
A pair of Klingon troublemakers who consider themselves entitled to rule the Empire. They are the sisters of the late Duras, and they try to get their brother's illegitimate son installed as ruler of the Empire. This touched off the Klingon Civil War, which Picard put a quick stop to, resulting in Gowron's consolidation of power. The duo later turned up on Deep Space Nine, selling guns to the Maquis to recoup their losses.The Duras sisters are (to date) the latest Klingon adversaries to be faced in a Trek feature film, famously blowing up the Enterprise-D. Riker blew up their ship in kind.
The Man Behind the Man: This is what they wanted to set themselves up as; being female, neither of them would be allowed to rule the Klingon Empire. Their nephew was allowed to make a claim to the position, being male, but he was nothing more than their puppet.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: They did manage to take out the Federation Flagship while riding in an antique.
The Quisling: They are happy to sell out the Klingon Empire to the Romulans for their support in their attempted power-grab.
A crafty Klingon politician who slowly works his way up to Chancellor. Though some of his intimates (such as Martok) despair of Gowron's dwindled thirst for war, his moderate stance has aided the Federation more times than not.Gowron eventually succumbed to the call for war on Deep Space Nine. With the Dominion running amok and attacking Klingon outposts, the Klingons went on the offensive, threatening to blow apart the Federation-Klingon alliance. Eventually, it turned out that Gowron's advisor, Martok, had been replaced by a Changeling who was the real root of the problem.
Tropes:
Authority Equals Asskicking: A significant aversion, among a race known for the trope. As time goes on, we see that he is unremarkable as both a duellist and a strategist. He certinly won't back down from a fight, though.
Even if it's with the second coming of Kahless. He seemed pretty sure that Kahless was a fraud, but still...
Sleazy Politician: His wheeling and dealing has been compared to that of a Ferengi. Not a favorable comparison.
Ungrateful Bastard: Although he admits his debt to Worf, he refuses a request to reinstate the House of Mogh. He tries to ignore Picard's similar request for a favor later on, until Picard reminds Duras' aide how valuable a gift his gratitude might be.
Hugh
Played By: Jonathan Del Arco
A stranded Borg drone who was recovered by the Enterprise. While Geordi worked to rehabilitate him, Picard schemed to reintroduce Hugh into the Borg collective along with a fatal computer virus. Eventually, Picard realized that Hugh had been changed by his interactions with the crew, and had developed a will of his own. It was hoped that by sending Hugh back to his people, he would contaminate the collective not with a virus, but with a sense of understanding (which is almost worse).As expected, Hugh's reentry into the Borg caused all sorts of havoc. He and his fellow drones formed a splinter collective, but were co-opted by Lore, who lured them with the promising of restoring order. With the Enterprise's help, Hugh overthrew Lore and took his place as leader.
Tropes:
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He rejects the Borg motto of 'Resistance is Futile" and instead comes to beieve that "Resistance is NOT futile."
Punny Name: He didn't get pronouns at first, so they named him "Hugh" because it sounds like "you".
Captain Edward Jellico
Played By: Ronny Cox
Jerkass Captain assigned by Admiral Nechayev to replace Picard. With tensions rising between the Federation and the Cardassians, Jellico was put in charge because of his military muscle. He butted heads with Riker, leading to Data being temporarily promoted to first officer.Despite all this, Jellico proved his worth by mounting a successful rescue of Picard, subduing an entire Cardassian fleet in the process.
Catch Phrase: "Get it done." Spoken quite gruffly.
Custom Uniform of Sexy: Doesn't apply to him, of course, but he is probably best known for dismissing this trope in regards to Troi and ordering her to wear a standard uniform while on duty (which she continued to do for the rest of the show, meaning he could also dismiss Status Quo Is God.)
Guile Hero: Is able to outmaneuver an entire fleet of Cardassian ships hiding in a scanner-disrupting nebula by having Commander Riker covertly use a shuttle craft to plant limpet mines on them and threaten them with wholesale destruction if they didn't withdraw.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His decoration of the Captain's ready room include drawings made by his son.
One Shot Character: Only appears in the "Chain of Command" two-parter, but it was enough to make an impact.
What Could Have Been: Ronald D. Moore considered bringing him back to be the commander of the Enterprise in the Alternate Timeline presented in the episode Tapestry.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The Deep Space Nine episode In The Pale Moonlight reveals that his ship, the USS Cairo, is missing and believed destroyed, though it's not clear if he was still in command at that point or not. The Expanded Universe reveals that he lived to become an Admiral in the post-DS 9 timeline.
K'Ehleyr
Played By: Suzie Plakson
Klingon-Human hybrid and mother of Worf's child. Despite her occupation as Klingon Ambassador, K'Ehleyr never held much love for the old Klingon ways, often infuriating Worf. This flagrant defiance of tradition was eventually transmitted to her son. She was killed by Duras as penalty for snooping around his operation.
What Could Have Been: The original plan was to have Worf hook up with Dr. Selar (also played by Plakson), as there was a real drought of Vulcans on the show and pairing one up with a Klingon sounded interesting. Writer Tracy Tormé was overruled on this point; but Plakson was talented enough (and tall enough) that she was recast anyway.
You Got Spunk: Gowron chuckled heartily after she stared him down.
You Look Familiar: Suzie Plakson is yet another of Trek's hat-trick actors. She also played a Vulcan Science officer in "The Schizoid Man", and went on to play Fem-Q (an Old Flame of Q's and mother to Q Junior) on VOY and an Andorian on ENT.
Lore
Played By: Brent Spiner
Psycho Prototype built by Dr. Soong and abandoned on a space colony. Though Lore initially claimed to have been an improvement over Data's model — evidenced by full range of emotion — the truth is that Lore came first, and was a total failure. Despite his emotions chip, he lacked empathy and considered himself superior to humans. His schemes usually revolve around controlling the Crystalline Entity, the giant creature which plagued Dr. Soong's colony, in order to wipe out organic life.Lore came into contact with Hugh's Borg Collective and appointed himself leader. He attempted to brainwash Data to join him, but was beaten and dissembled into spare parts again, where he belongs. His damaged emotion chip was bequeathed to Data, who was initially too timid to try it on himself.
Tropes:
Cain and Abel: Lore's appearances always come down to a personal confrontation between him and Data.
Emotion Control: Does this to Data in "Descent", transmitting negative emotions such as anger and hatred to him and causing him to turn on his crewmates. This is why Data is reluctant to use Lore's salvaged emotion chip when he finally gets it; he's afraid that emotions will push him into another Face Heel Turn.
Freudian Excuse: Resents Dr. Soong for abandoning him, which resentment spills over onto all organic beings.
Generation Xerox: Lore has inherited his father's self-importance, as well as his penchant for making grandiose promises he can't back up. Lore winds up using Hugh's collective as lab rats for making the Borg into fully-synthetic lifeforms. Like Soong's positronic brain, though, this only results in embarrassing failures.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Tried to feed the Enterprise to his pet Crystalline Entity, and got beamed into the Entity himself, instead.
Self-Made Orphan: He was genuinely moved by seeing Dr. Soong again, but didn't let that stop him in his evil ambitions.
Spot The Impostor: Naturally, he impersonates Data at one point. And then at another point.
Uncanny Valley:invoked He blames his stasis on the colonists being afraid of a lifelike android. They petitioned for a simpler model (Data) to take his place. Then again, this is Lore's side of things.
“Well Done Son” Guy: "Brothers" implies that all he's ever wanted is Soong's approval, but instead only got rejection for being imperfect.
Lore: Why didn't you just fix me? It was within your power to fix me!
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He's pretty much pure evil in both his first and last appearances, but in "Brothers" viewers learn about his Freudian Excuse and quite possibly feel sorry for him. Soong explains why Lore turned out the way he did and we see just how bitter Lore is over being deactivated, disassembled, and then (in his view) given up on and forgotten about so that Soong could start over with Data. By the end of the episode, however, Lore's actions remove all traces of Woobie and leave only Jerk Ass.
Alynna Nechayev
Played By: Natalia Nogulich
Hawkish Admiral and a perennial thorn in Picard's side. Nechayev is a firm believer in Federation security and openly scornful of anyone who acts contrary to it.Picard wasn't the only one to suffer her wrath; Nechayev also appeared on Deep Space Nine to harass Commander Sisko. In a holodeck simulation constructed by the Dominion, Sisko was placed in a situation where Nechayev and the rest of Starfleet had fully capitulated to the Dominion's regime.
Tropes:
Iron Lady: She's spent a good chunk of her career dealing with the Cardassian border, which seems to have left her with no patience for moral quandaries or Maquis.
Mean Boss: Understandable given the circumstances. But some of her decisions were memorably harsh.
"I'm not good in groups. It's hard to work in groups when you're omnipotent."
Omnipotent prankster who belongs to the Q Continuum, a race of godlike aliens who live outside our plane of existence. Simultaneously the main 'villain' and Trickster Mentor of the series.Q's pranks seems chaotic on their surface, but have a subtle purpose: namely, to humble the Federation, which in his view has grown too complacent. Q demonstrates this by warping the Enterprise light-years across the galaxy and dropping them in Borg space.Q, who makes it his business to meddle in mortal affairs, seems to enjoy annoying Picard in particular. For his part, Picard is unsure whether Q has humanity's best interests at heart, or is simply a bored kid who tortures insects.
Anti-Villain: Q is more of a recurring pain in the ass than an out-and-out villain.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: More comes from a higher plane of existence to play with mortals, but the Q Continuum drags him back there when he's done enough damage for a millennia.
Badass Finger Snap: Practically a trademark of the character. He does this whenever he warps reality on a large scale.
Beware the Silly Ones: Episodes like "Q-Pid" and "Déjà Q" mined Q for all the laughs they could get- but ones like "Q Who" remind you that he CAN make your existence hell if he is so inclined and there is NOTHING you can do about it.
Bling of War: The giant ruby-studded medallion he wears as 'The Judge.' Q seems to show a preference for this in other scenes: appearing as a medal-bestudded Ollie North during the Farpoint mission, and later a Marshall from the Napoleonic Wars. (Riker notes that Q has chosen a rank just high of "Captain.")
Break the Haughty: The expression on his face when Geordi orders him to sit still and keep pressing buttons. ("Déjà Q") Poor guy looks bored to tears!
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: You don't want this guy to get bored and then decide to make you his playmate.
Character Overlap: Has been in The Next Gen, Voyager, DS-9 and the expanded universe. Honestly, it was surprising that he didn't show up in Enterprise. (Though Q and zippers just seems wrong somehow.)
Deadpan Snarker: All the time. Its one of the many reasons the crew doesn't like Him.
Depending on the Writer: As SF Debris points out, Q was subject to schizophrenic characterization. He could either come off as detached and sinister ("Encounter at Farpoint", "Q Who", "All Good Things...") or wild and silly ("Hide and Q", "Q-Pid").
In his first episode, he changes his appearance frequently, and while his personality remains that of an arrogant and judgmental deity, he behaves differently whenever he changes his look. From a superior french admiral to a drug-addled 21st century foot soldier.
The entire Q Continuum has a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass thing- they'll act friendly, mess around with you, but won't kill you... until you piss them off or annoy them enough for them to decide to squash you.
An early plan for the Q Continuum was that they were several entities wearing the same face, explaining this schizophrenic characterization. Though ultimately unused in the series, one of the DC Comics utilized this idea in one arc.
Divine Intervention: Usually after he's started the problem and someone brow-beats him into cleaning up the mess he made.
Entitled Bastard: When the Continuum strips him of his powers, he asks to be dropped off on the Enterprise in human form. Picard figures out that he did so to gain some protection from all the enemies he's made with his Jerk Ass God behavior.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: This applies to the Continuum itself, which Janeway could only perceive as a ranch house (and later the American Civil War). A war between the Q was sighted by humans as a barrage of supernovas.
For the Lulz: Most of his actions are just because he is bored and looking for entertainment.
A God Am I: Well, technically, he's right, but he tends to rub people's noses in it.
Good Is Not Nice: Even his "good" moments are tempered by his complete disregard for who is hurt by his actions.
Hanging Judge: In his first (and last) appearance. Q's courtroom is ironically modeled on the Kangaroo Courts of the early 21st century, when atomic and eugenic wars had completely dissolved civilization.
Heroic Sacrifice: He attempts one at the end of "Deja Q", to the astonishment of everyone involved.
"I'm not interested in human interpersonal relationships. I just want to prove to Picard that I'm indispensable."
It's All About Me: He expects the Enterprise to drop everything else when is around or requires Their help. Even the potential destruction of a planet or a crew member sacrificing himself for Q won't stop his selfish attitude.
Jerk Ass God: He's done some really mean things to people on a whim and a lot of them were rather deadly practical jokes (on the scale of wiping out entire civilizations).
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Such as warning the Federation of the Borg a year before they would have come.
Large Ham: His presence is as large as his ego. For instance, he celebrated the return of his powers with a dramatic He's Back shout and a mariachi band.
Living Forever Is Awesome: Opinion of his race as a whole but Q in particular believes this trope. One of the most severe punishments they have (and sentenced Q to once) is to make one of their own mortal.
Manchild: He's an obscenely powerful, omnipotent deity who has the emotional development of a six-year old. This includes being hopelessly self-obsessed, never realizing how annoying people find him, pouting when things don't go his way or he is upset and generally acting like a spoiled child when it suits Him.
Picard: I understand what you've done here, Q, but I think the lesson could have been learned without the loss of 18 members of my crew.
Q: If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross... but it's not for the timid.
His bored reaction to Riker calling him out on the deaths he caused in "Q Who?"
Pet the Dog: In gratitude to Data for helping his transition while he was a mortal human, he leaves him a surprisingly thoughtful gift. 2 minutes of hearty laughter that Data admitted he enjoyed.
Physical God: He has a physical form and god-like power.
Reality Warper: Q powers tend to take this form, changing things in a flash of light with a signature sound effect.
Really 700 Years Old: He's immortal and was present at the beginning of the Universe yet still looks like a middle aged man.
Shapeshifter Default Form: A human John de Lancie in a Starfleet captain's uniform (presumably to mock Picard). Failing that, the uniform of a high-ranking officer in another military force.
Q briefly switched to DS9 colors when he ran into Sisko.
Small Name, Big Ego: An odd case in that his ego is arguably justified by his powers, but Picard treats him like this.
Story Breaker Power: He's a Q. The words "omniscient and omnipotent" belong somewhere in the species description.
Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Every member of the Q Continuum (minus Q's son) was present at the beginning of the universe. They are very advanced. Which just gives added props to the humans who decide to take a swing at him, like Ben Sisco.
Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Q, who enjoys playing dress-up, once tried to justify his Captain's uniform by offering to join Picard's crew. When Picard rudely declined his help, Q hurled his vessel into the path of a Borg cube.
Super Empowering: To Riker, and in a novel, Lwaxana Troi. The former gives them up to avoid Power Corrupts. The latter turned out to be an incrediblybad idea on Q's part.
In the novel Q-Squared, Trelane is retconned into a member of the Q Continuum, with Q stuck babysitting him.
Trickster Archetype: According to some of the semi-canon novels, he's the Ur example for this trope in-universe (with basically every Trickster god, alien and human (including Loki and Prometheus (where the Q Continuum literally strung him out on a cliff and had wild animals eat out his internal organs repeatedly for giving humans the gift of fire on a whim)) being based in some shape or form on him... and for good reason).
Trickster Mentor: Q's actions ultimately help Picard every time he shows up, and ultimately help humanity. He challenges morals, ethics, thoughts, ideas of what we would do for power, who we are and what we could change, as well as the nature of existence. "Tapestry" suggests him to be amused enough by Picard to save his life. "Q-Who" suggests, even at his worst, throwing the crew into their first encounter with the Borg, he's making sure they have enough experience to be prepared.
Unreliable Narrator: you think he's bad in the series? Wait until you read some of the books written in the first person narrative.
“Well Done Son” Guy: Q's a lousy parent, but that's not saying much; he's the first Q in history to conceive a child.
Mad scientist and creator of Data and Lore. When his theories on artificial intelligence were scoffed at by his peers, Soong left Earth and settled on a space colony to continue his research.Data occasionally has visions of Soong, who encourages him to continue pushing the boundaries of his programming. Soong finally reunited with his 'sons' as an old man, but was killed by a vengeful Lore.
Tropes:
As Long as It Sounds Foreign: A blue-eyed white man with an American accent, an Indian first name, and a Chinese surname.
It if sounds clunky, it's because "Noonian Soong" is a play on Khan Noonien Singh.
Alter Kocker: Spiner played up his Jewish heritage as the old crank.
For Science!: Soong was obsessed with creating fully sapient mechanical beings — not as a labor force or an improvement on existing life forms, but to prove it could be done.
Never Found the Body: Was assumed dead when the Crystalline Entity attacked his colony.
Posthumous Character: Makes at least two appearances this way, in a dream of Data's and a holoprogram coded into the android duplicate of his wife.
They Called Me Mad!: Once considered a promising cyberneticist, Soong was laughed out of scientific circles for failing to deliver on his theories. Among his collegues, he was nicknamed "Often-wrong".
Needs no introduction. Currently, Spock serves as the Vulcan Ambassador to Romulus, hoping to broker peace between the two worlds. His rebellious streak (inherited from Kirk) is still in full bloom.
He was also the One-Armed Man in the film version of The Fugitive.
Smug Snake: At least when he's winning. Which rarely lasts long.
Lwaxana Troi
Played By: Majel Barrett Roddenberry
Widowed mother to Troi and Federation Ambassador to Betazed. The encroachment of middle age causes Lwaxana to 'overcompensate' in some ways - namely, making sexual advancements on anyone with a pulse. She repeatedly tried to seduce Picard, usually dragging him into saving her from plights of her own making.Lwaxana later crossed over to Deep Space Nine, where her stalker tendencies promptly shifted to Odo.
Tropes:
Abhorrent Admirer: Sort of. Lwaxana is constantly flirting with Picard. He doesn't find her especially unattractive, but he's put off by how aggressive she is. Deanna later explains that this is because Betazoid women's sex-drive quadruples when they reach a certain age, meaning that half of the population of Betazed literally consists entirely of cougars.
Ass In Ambassador: Enjoys Ambassadorial status and total diplomatic immunity — which she abuses to the hilt.
Fake Guest Star: Majel Barrett Roddenberry voiced-acted every Federation computer in NextGen (and for that matter DS9 and Voyager), and was only a "guest star" here in the sense that she physically appears in the episode. As the computer, they even managed to squeeze her into Star Trek: Enterprise ("In A Mirror, Darkly") and the 2009 preboot (very shortly before her death), making her the only person to be involved in every incarnation of the franchise.
Genki Girl: Always friendly, always cheerful, always enthusiastic, even to the point of annoying people around her.
Good Bad Girl: Since her husband died, she always seems to have Mr. Fanservice on her arm or is on the lookout for it.
Hoist By Her Own Petard: She's a constant pain in the side of Captain Picard for pushing herself onto him and never taking no for an answer. In the episode Menage A Troi, she's pursued by a Ferengi captain that she finds utterly repulsive, but he's captivated by her beauty. So much so that he kidnaps her and forces her to wait on him.
I Want Grandkids: She simply can't wait for Deanna to give her a few children and is rather disappointed she decided to settle on a professional career in Starfleet.
Insistent Terminology: Remember, she's the daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir of the Holy Rings of Betazed, and won't let you forget it.
Telepath: A full telepath and Empath, unlike her daughter Deanna who is mainly an empath and only rare telepath. Lwaxana can talk mentally to nearly any species (except Ferengi and a few others), while the only non-empath Deanna is ever shown talking mentally to is Will Riker.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Lwaxana Troi, Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed.
