History StarTrekDeepSpaceNine / TropesEToL

** "The Alternate" definitely suggested that Sisko’s father was dead. Whoops.

** For someone who would become one of the show's most prominently featured characters in latter seasons, Dax has surprisingly little screentime or character development in the first season, with her role being mostly limited to filling in bits of Sisko's backstory and being an object of lust for Bashir. Conversely, Jake and Nog seem like a SpotlightStealingSquad at times, with nearly every B-story from the season revolving around one or both of them. In latter seasons Dax would have a much bigger role, while Jake was slowly DemotedToExtra, and Nog fell more in line with the other recurring characters in terms of screentime.

** In their first couple of appearances, the Prophets are depicted as SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who barely even comprehend the concept of corporeal life, and don't particularly like what they do understand. Likely due to concerns that this made them too much like the Q, they were later rewritten into BenevolentPrecursors who had been carefully guiding the development of Bajoran society, [[spoiler:and even Sisko's conception]]. This one was at least reconcilable: they experience time in a non-linear fashion, so it was Sisko who inspired them ''to'' become BenevolentPrecursors... millennia in our relative past... and then ensure Sisko is born and reaches the point where he can teach them the lesson. TimeyWimeyBall doesn't even begin to describe it, but it does make a ''kind'' of sense.

* ExperimentalArcheology: "Explorers".

* ExposedExtraterrestrials: Odo is technically naked most of the time, but since he's a shape shifter it looks like he's wearing clothing and it's never really commented on. It's also likely that he doesn't have any parts to expose anyway [[{{Shapeshifting Squick}} until he wants them.]]
** Although they never explain [[FridgeLogic where his communicator comes from, or what happens to it when he shifts...]]

* EmotionalMaturityIsPhysicalMaturity: The Jem'Hadar are all much younger than they look. One episode with a young Jem'Hadar that was separated from the rest of its brood indicates that they grow to full physical and emotional maturity within a few weeks. The few occasions we see into their behavior does bring this into question, especially the childish bickering between the Alphas and Gammas.
** They acquire knowledge rapidly during their development, but not necessarily wisdom, this explains both the seeming maturity and the bickering. The strong code of honor and the conditioning for obedience makes them look mature until they encounter a situation not covered by their conditioning.

* EnemyMine: Quark and Odo in "The Ascent".

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Most notable with Kira, as our first glimpse of her is a [[HotBlooded shouting match]] with the provisional government. That [[FieryRedhead fire]] would remain a centerpiece of her character for the rest of her life. (As would her continuing clashes with the provisional government, for that matter).

** Gul Dukat. [[MoralityPet Tora Ziyal]] is willing to give him chances he doesn't deserve and almost always forgives him, no matter what he does or how he treats people (including her).

* EverybodySmokes: "Far Beyond The Stars", set in the 50s.

* FantasticSlurs: Cardassians are occasionally referred to as "Cardies" and "spoonheads." "Shifter" and "Changeling" are used to refer to Odo's species, though the latter name was later adopted by the species as their name.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: From "The Begotten" Doctor Bashir to Odo: "You need to relax, I told you that last week." Odo: "And it helped, that and the prune juice."
** Many people seem to enjoy the holosuite program "Vulcan Love Slave" - there is even a "Part 2".
** "Bol**cks!" obviously isn't a curse word in Paramount studios!

* HumanityIsInfectious: The famous exchange between Quark and Garak regarding root beer.

* TheJudge: Els Renora in "Dax", and Makbar in "Tribunal".

** Ensign (later Lietuenant) Vilix'pran was always "[[MrSeahorse budding]]" whenever he was mentioned, with some new detail about the reproductive or rearing process added each time. According to Jake, babysitting his dozen-plus hatchlings involved untangling their wings, while O'Brien had to build him a hatchling pond.

* HatePlague: in ''Dramatis Personae'', a telepathic thingy that caused the extinction of a Gamma Quadrant species turns the crew (except Odo) into a pack of raging factional paranoids.

* LoveHurts: Odo over Kira, Bashir & Quark over Dax. Garak and Ziyal.

** It's uncertain whether the writers had already decided that Dr Bashir [[spoiler: was going to be a secret genetically engineered human]], but it certainly appears to be hinted at in the fourth season episode ''Our Man Bashir'' when he [[spoiler: calmly and effortlessly shoots Garak's neck, resulting in a flesh wound that could well have been lethal if he'd intended, but instead merely clipped the flesh.]]

** Bashir tries to establish this early on with O'Brien, insisting that he call him Julian rather than "sir". At this point, O'Brien still found him incredibly irritating and so makes the first name sound even more formal and awkward than "sir" ever could. At the end of the episode, Bashir gives in and tells him to just drop it and address him how he likes.