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All biographical data as of "Star Trek Nemesis" (2379).

Jean-Luc Picard

Species: male human
Rank: Captain
Date of birth: July 13, 2305*
Place of birth: La Barre, France, Earth
Parents: Maurice and Yvette Gessard Picard (both deceased)
Brother: Robert Picard (deceased)
Marital status: single
Played by Patrick Stewart

Captain of the fifth and the sixth Starship Enterprise and a noted figure in space exploration, science, and interstellar diplomacy (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Part I", "Star Trek: First Contact").

Picard was born on Earth in 2305 to Maurice Picard and Yvette Gessard Picard. Maurice was a tradition-bound French vintner who opposed Jean-Luc's ambitions of voyaging among the stars (TNG: "Tapestry", "Chain of Command, Part II"). Jean-Luc was raised on a family farm in La Barre, France, along with his older brother, Robert Picard (TNG: "Family"). As a boy, young Jean-Luc enjoyed building ships in bottles; his collection included a legendary Promellian battlecruiser, a ship that he would one day discover in his voyages aboard the Enterprise-D. Those toy ships served as a springboard for the future captain's imagination. (TNG: "Booby Trap"). Jean-Luc Picard was proud of his illustrious family history. One of his ancestors fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, a Picard won a Nobel Prize for chemistry, and Picards were among those who settled the first Martian Colonies ("Star Trek: Generations"). On the other hand, Picard felt guilt over the role of another ancestor, Javier Maribona-Picard, in the infamous crushing of the Pueblo Revolt on Earth in 1692 (TNG: "Journey's End").

Picard failed in 2322 to gain entrance to Starfleet Academy at the age of 17, but was admitted a year later (TNG: "Coming of Age"). As a first-year cadet in 2323, Picard became the only freshman ever to win the Starfleet Academy marathon on Danula II (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"). Picard won top academic honors as well (TNG: "Family"). Cadet Picard committed a serious offense while at the Academy. Years later, he credited Academy groundskeeper Boothby with making it possible for him to graduate by helping him to do the right thing (TNG: "The First Duty"). Shortly after graduating from Starfleet Academy with the class of 2327, Picard was on leave with several classmates at Starbase Earhart, where he picked a fight with three Nausicaans at the Bonestell Recreation Facility. One of the Nausicaans stabbed Picard through the heart, necessitating a cardiac replacement procedure, leaving Picard with an artificial heart (TNG: "Samaritan Snare", "Tapestry").**

As a young lieutenant, Picard met Ambassador Sarek at the wedding of the ambassador's son.*** Picard recalled how in awe he was at meeting someone who had helped to shape the Federation (TNG: "Sarek"). As a young officer, Picard was romantically involved with the future Jenice Manheim. Although the two had been strongly attracted to each other, Picard feared commitment, and eventually broke off the relationship in 2342. Picard regretted losing Jenice for many years, and the two saw each other again in 2364 when the Enterprise-D saved her husband, Dr. Paul Manheim, after a serious laboratory accident on Vandor IX (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris"). In his early career, Picard distinguished himself when he led an away team to planet Milika III, to save an endangered ambassador (TNG: "Tapestry").

Lieutenant Picard was a bridge officer on the USS Stargazer when the ship's captain was killed. Picard took charge of the bridge and for his service in the emergency was offered the command of the Stargazer (TNG: "Tapestry"). Picard commanded the Stargazer for some 20 years, until 2355, when the ship was nearly destroyed by an unprovoked sneak attack near the Maxia Zeta star system. The surviving Stargazer crew, including Picard, drifted for weeks in shuttlecraft before being rescued. The assailant in the incident was unknown, but was later found to be a Ferengi spacecraft (TNG: "The Battle"). Following the loss of the Stargazer, Picard was court-martialed as required by standard Starfleet procedure, but he was exonerated. The prosecutor in the case was Phillipa Louvois, with whom Picard had been romantically involved (TNG: "The Measure of a Man").

Jean-Luc Picard was appointed captain of the fifth Starship Enterprise in 2363, shortly after the ship was commissioned (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). Picard was offered a promotion to the admiralty in 2364 when Admiral Gregory Quinn was attempting to consolidate his power base to combat an unknown alien intelligence that was trying to take over Starfleet Command. Picard declined the offer, citing his belief that he could better serve the Federation as a starship commander (TNG: "Coming of Age"). An energy vortex near the Endicor system created a duplicate of Picard from six hours in the future in 2365. Although identical to the "present" person, Picard had difficulty accepting the existence of his twin because he believed the twin might have been responsible for the destruction of his ship, a deeply repugnant thought (TNG: "Time Squared"). Picard's artificial heart required routine replacement, most recently in 2365, when complications in the cardiac replacement procedure performed at Starbase 515 necessitated emergency assistance by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (TNG: "Samaritan Snare"). Picard met Ambassador Sarek again in 2366, when Sarek's last mission was jeopardized by Bendii Syndrome, which caused the ambassador to lose emotional control. Picard mind-melded with Sarek to lend the ambassador the emotional stability needed to conclude the historic treaty with the Legarans (TNG: "Sarek"). Picard was abducted by the Borg in late 2366 as part of the Borg assault on the Federation. Picard was surgically mutilated and transformed into an entity called Locutus of Borg (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I"). As Locutus, Picard was forced to cooperate in the devastating battle of Wolf 359, in which he was forced to help destroy 39 Federation starships and their crews. Picard was rescued by an Enterprise-D away team, then surgically restored by Dr. Crusher (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"). In an alternate quantum reality, Picard was lost to the Borg in 2366. In this reality, Riker was promoted to captain following his loss (TNG: "Parallels"). Following his return from the Borg, Picard spent several weeks in rehabilitation from the terrible physical and psychological trauma. While the Enterprise-D was undergoing repairs at Earth Station McKinley, Picard took the opportunity to visit his home town of La Barre for the first time in almost 20 years. While there, he stayed with his brother Robert Picard, met Robert's wife, Marie Picard, and their son, René Picard, for the first time. Picard briefly toyed with the idea of leaving Starfleet to accept directorship of the Atlantis Project, but his return home helped him realize that he belonged on the Enterprise-D (TNG: "Family"). Picard was reduced to a child after passing through an energy field in 2369 (TNG: "Rascals"). Jean-Luc Picard suffered profound emotional abuse in 2369 when he was captured by Gul Madred, a Cardassian officer who tortured Picard for Starfleet tactical information. Picard resisted, but later confessed that the experience so brutalized him that he would have told Madred anything had he not been rescued (TNG: "Chain of Command, Parts I and II"). Picard's command of the Enterprise-D came to a premature end in 2371, when the ship was destroyed at planet Veridian III while trying to prevent Dr. Tolian Soran from destroying the Veridian system. Working with Picard to stop Soran was James T. Kirk, captain of the original Starship Enterprise. Kirk, who had been missing for some 78 years following the launch of the Enterprise-B, was killed while stopping Soran (Star Trek: Generations).

Picard was in command of the newly commissioned Enterprise NCC-1701-E when his latent link to the Collective helped destroy a Borg cube that was about to attack Earth. When the Borg attempted to change the history of the first human warp flight in 2063 and began to assimilate the crew, his uncompromising course of fighting against them to death created unrest among his crew. Only Lily Sloane, a human woman from the 21st century could finally convince him to blow up the ship together with the Borg. But instead of leaving in an escape pod with the others, Picard decided to free his friend Data who was in the hands of the Borg Queen, which eventually saved Data and the ship. On 21st century Earth Picard took the opportunity of meeting warp pioneer Zefram Cochrane and of touching his ship, the Phoenix, which had always fascinated him ("Star Trek: "First Contact"). Picard decided to act against explicit orders from his superior officer, Admiral Dougherty, when he sided with the Ba'ku who were going to be relocated, allegedly for a greater benefit ("Star Trek: Insurrection"). The probably most unusual enemy Picard was confronted with may have been Shinzon, a clone created by the Romulans from Picard's DNA. Picard struggled with the idea of Shinzon being a representation of himself who, under different circumstances, had become an arch-rogue. Moreover, in the course of the fight against Shinzon Picard had to bemoan the death of his valued officer and friend Data ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Picard assumed an unprecedented role in Klingon politics when he served as Arbiter of Succession following the death of Klingon leader K'mpec in 2367. K'mpec took the highly unusual step of appointing an outsider as arbiter so as to insure that the choice of K'mpec's successor would not plunge the Empire into civil war. Under Picard's arbitration, council member Gowron emerged as the sole challenger for leadership of the High Council (TNG: "Reunion").

Picard was something of a Renaissance man, whose areas of interest ranged from drama to astrophysics. Picard was an avid amateur archaeologist, occasionally publishing scientific papers on the subject, and even addressing the Federation Archaeology Council in 2367 (TNG: "QPid"). Early in his career, at the urging of his teacher, noted archaeologist Richard Galen, Picard seriously considered pursuing archaeology on a professional level. Picard's path later crossed Galen's again just before Galen's death in 2369. Picard helped complete Galen's greatest discovery, the reconstruction of an ancient message from a humanoid species that lived some 4 billion years ago (TNG: "The Chase"). Picard studied the legendary ancient Iconians while at the Academy (TNG: "Contagion"). He enjoyed drinking tea, his favorite blend being Earl Grey (TNG: "Lessons"). Picard was also an accomplished equestrian, and one of his favorite holodeck programs was a woodland setting in which he enjoyed riding a computer-simulated Arabian mare (TNG: "Pen Pals"). Picard played the piano when he was young (TNG: "Lessons"), but his deep love of music may have stemmed from an incident in 2368 when his mind received a lifetime of memories from the now-dead planet Kataan, and he experienced the life of a man named Kamin, who died a thousand years ago. Kamin had played a Ressikan flute, and Picard treasured that instrument because of having shared Kamin's memories (TNG: "The Inner Light"). Picard shared his music with Neela Daren, an Enterprise-D crew member with whom he became romantically involved in 2369 (TNG: "Lessons"). Picard was involved with Miranda Vigo in 2346 during shore leave on Earth and although they attempted to keep in touch, never saw her again. In 2370, Bok resequenced Jason Vigo's DNA to appear as Picard's son. Bok planned to kill Jason in retaliation for Picard supposedly murder his son in 2355 (TNG: "Bloodlines"). Picard was introduced to Beverly Howard, the future Beverly Crusher, in 2344, and fell in love with her. Picard never acted on his feelings because Beverly was involved with his best friend, Jack Crusher, whom she married in 2348. When Jack was killed in 2354, Picard still did not reveal his attraction for her, because he felt to do so would be to betray his friend. Beverly finally learned of Picard's feelings in 2370, when Picard and Crusher were implanted with psi-wave devices so that she could read his thoughts (TNG: "Attached"). With the tragic death of his brother, Robert, and his nephew, René, in 2371, Picard experienced regret at his decision not to have children ("Star Trek: Generations"). While supporting the Ba'ku against the merciless relocation plans of the Son'a Picard became romantically involved with the Ba'ku woman Anij. At that time the rejuvenating effect of the metaphasic particles around the planet intensified his hidden desires ("Star Trek: Insurrection").

* Picard is 59 years old when he assumes command of the Enterprise-D in 2364, and 74(!) at the time of "Nemesis". The reason seems to be a simple miscalculation. The note that Picard graduated in 2327 comes from TNG: "The First Duty". It nails down his previously mentioned first year at the Academy and his birth (knowing that he was 17 when he first applied one year earlier).

** Q commented that the injury top Picard's heart had occurred "30 years ago", which would set the Nausicaan incident in 2338. Unfortunately, this was a mistake, since TNG: "The First Duty" established that Picard graduated in 2327, but the oversight was not caught until after the episode was filmed. The young Ensign Picard was played by Marcus Nash.

*** The episode does not make clear which "son" Picard was referring to, although Gene Roddenberry said he thought it was Spock.

William T. Riker

Species: male human
Full name: William Thomas Riker
Rank: Captain
Date of birth: 2335
Place of birth: Valdez, Alaska, Earth
Father: Kyle Riker
Twin brother: Thomas Riker (technically a duplicate of Will Riker due to a transporter malfunction)
Marital status: married with Deanna Troi
Played by Jonathan Frakes

Executive officer of the Starship Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") until its destruction and from 2373 to 2379 on the Enterprise-E. Starfleet serial number SC 231-427 (TNG: "Gambit, Part I"). Since 2379 commanding officer of the USS Titan ("Star Trek Nemesis"). In an alternate timeline, Riker would eventually have become an admiral commanding the still intact and refitted Enterprise-D in 2395 (TNG: "All Good Things").

William Thomas Riker was born in Valdez, Alaska, on Earth in 2335. Riker's mother died when he was only two years old, and he was raised by his father, Kyle Riker. The elder Riker abandoned his son at age 15, an act that William held against his father until 2365 when, at age 30, father and son were reunited aboard the Enterprise-D (TNG: "The Icarus Factor"). Riker graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2357, and was ranked eighth in his class at graduation. As of 2369, he had been decorated five times (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I").

Riker's first assignment after graduating from the academy was as helm officer aboard the USS Pegasus, a ship that disappeared in 2358 under mysterious circumstances. Years later, it was revealed that Pegasus captain Erik Pressman had been illegally testing a Federation cloaking device in violation of the Treaty of Algeron. The crew of the Pegasus mutinied to try to prevent Pressman from testing the device. Riker fought to defend his captain, and Riker and Pressman were the only two to escape when the ship apparently exploded. Afterwards, Pressman suppressed all records of the incident (TNG: "The Pegasus"). Early in his Starfleet career, Riker was stationed on planet Betazed, (TNG: "Ménage à Troi"), where he became romantically involved with psychology student Deanna Troi. Riker, then a lieutenant, chose to make his Starfleet career his priority over his relationship with Deanna, and accepted a posting to the USS Potemkin.

While aboard the Potemkin, Riker led a rescue mission to planet Nervala IV and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant commander and commended for "exceptional valor" during the rescue. It was not realized until years later that a transporter malfunction during the final beam-out caused an identical copy of Riker to be created on the planet's surface (TNG: "Second Chances"). William Riker was later promoted to executive officer aboard the USS Hood, where he served under the command of Captain Robert DeSoto. The second Riker was discovered in 2369. He later changed his name to Thomas Riker and transferred to the USS Gandhi. In 2371 Thomas Riker, now working for the Maquis, stole the USS Defiant and was put into prison by the Cardassians (DS9: "Defiant").

Riker joined the Enterprise-D at planet Deneb IV, having transferred from the Hood (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I and II"). Riker accepted the Enterprise-D posting, despite the fact that he'd been offered command of the USS Drake (TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom"). One of Riker's greatest personal tests came in 2364 when the entity Q offered him a gift of supernatural powers, an offer that Riker was able to refuse (TNG: "Hide and Q"). Riker became the first Federation Starfleet officer to serve aboard a Klingon vessel when he participated in an Officer Exchange Program in 2365, serving as first officer aboard the Klingon ship Pagh (TNG: "A Matter of Honor").

Riker was offered command of the USS Aries in 2365, but he declined the appointment, preferring to remain on the Enterprise-D (TNG: "The Icarus Factor"). Riker suffered a near brush with death while on a survey mission to planet Surata IV, where contact with an indigenous plant form caused him to lose consciousness for several hours (TNG: "Shades of Gray"). Riker was charged with murder in the 2366 death of Dr. Nel Apgar at planet Tanuga IV after Apgar's research station exploded. He was acquitted after a holodeck re-creation of the events leading to the death demonstrated that Apgar had been responsible for the explosion (TNG: "A Matter of Perspective"). In late 2366, Riker refused a third opportunity to command a starship when he was offered the USS Melbourne during the Borg incursion that year (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I"). Shortly thereafter, Riker was granted a temporary field promotion to captain, and given command of the Enterprise-D following the capture of Captain Picard by the Borg. The Melbourne was later destroyed by the Borg in the battle of Wolf 359 (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"). Riker did, however, have ambitions of becoming a starship commander. After the loss of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Riker expressed regret that he would not have the opportunity of someday commanding that great ship (Star Trek: Generations). In an alternate quantum reality, Picard was lost to the Borg in 2366. In this reality, Riker was promoted to captain following Picard's loss (TNG: "Parallels").

Riker's approach to command was frequently unconventional. Prior to his service aboard the Enterprise-D, Riker had been a lieutenant aboard the Stars hip Potemkin. During a crisis aboard that ship, Riker positioned the Potemkin over a planet's magnetic pole, thus confusing his opponent's sensors. Indeed, Data once observed that Riker relied upon traditional problem-solving techniques less than one-quarter of the time (TNG: "Peak Performance").

As a boy, Riker was responsible for cooking for himself and his father. As Enterprise-D executive officer, Riker regarded cooking as a hobby (TNG: "Time Squared", ENT: "These Are The Voyages"). One of Riker's passions was for old Earth jazz music, and he was a pretty fair trombone player (TNG: "11001001"). He also enjoyed a good poker game (TNG: "The Measure of a Man", "Legacy"). Riker had a brief affair with the Bringloidi colonist Brenna Odell (TNG: "Up the Long Ladder"). He was romantically involved with Yuta, the last survivor of the Tralesta clan of the Acamarians whose mission it was to eliminate the former enemies of her clan. Riker had to kill Yuta to prevent her from carrying out the plan (TNG: "The Vengeance Factor"). When their memories had been wiped out by the Satarrans, Riker and Ro Laren spent several nights together. Riker later fell in love with Soren, a member of the neutral J'naii species who was being discriminated for feeling like a woman (TNG: "The Outcast"). His romantic involvements also included Minuet, actually an advanced holographic character created by the Bynars to distract him (TNG: "11001001"). Under the influence of the metaphasic particles in the Briar Patch William Riker and Deanna Troi rediscovered their love ("Star Trek: Insurrection"). In 2379 the two finally got married ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Data

Species: male android of the Soong type
Last rank: Lieutenant Commander
Date of activation: February 2, 2338
Place of creation: Omicron Theta
Date of death: 2379
Place of death: Bassen Rift, aboard the Scimitar
Creator: Dr. Noonien Soong*
Siblings: Lore (deconstructed), B-4
Daughter: Lal (deceased)
Played by Brent Spiner

A humanoid android so sophisticated that he was regarded as a sentient life-form with full civil rights. Data was a Starfleet officer who served as operations manager under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the Starship Enterprise-D (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"), and later aboard the Starship Enterprise-E ("Star Trek: First Contact"). His existence ended in 2379 when he destroyed the thalaron generator aboard the Scimitar to save his ship and crew ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Data was built around 2335 by the reclusive scientist Noonien Soong and his wife Juliana Soong, at the Omicron Theta colony. Data was actually the fifth positronic android constructed by Soong; the first three were unsuccessful (TNG: "Inheritance"). The fourth, the first to become functional, was known as Lore (TNG: "Datalore"). Lore exhibited dangerous behavior, forcing Soong to disassemble him. Soong thereafter pursued the idea of building an android free of emotions. Soong hoped this new android would not exhibit the cruelty shown by Lore. Juliana had wanted Data to have a female form, but Noonien, as before, created Data in his own image. Following his activation, Data was much like a baby, though he was made in the form of a full-grown adult. Data had difficulty learning basic social skills, and "social niceties" had to be built into his programming. In addition, a creative capacity was also programmed into Data by Mrs. Soong, who reasoned that, without emotions, the android would need another way to express himself. After this initial period, Data was thought unsuccessful and deactivated (TNG: "Inheritance"). He was programmed with the logs and journals of the Omicron Theta colonists in an effort to help Data function better in human society (TNG: "Datalore", "Silicon Avatar"). Unfortunately, before Data could be reactivated, the Crystalline Entity attacked the colony, and Soong and his wife, Juliana, were forced to abandon their work. Fearing that, when reactivated, Data might behave as Lore did, Juliana made Dr. Soong leave Data at the colony site (TNG: "Inheritance"). Data remained in a dormant condition underground where he was discovered in 2338 by the crew of the Starship Tripoli. Data subsequently joined Starfleet and eventually became operations manager aboard the Enterprise-D (TNG: "Datalore").

Data was based on a sophisticated positronic brain developed by Soong, from concepts first postulated in the 20th century by Dr. Isaac Asimov (TNG: "Datalore"). Data's body closely mimicked humanoid form, and contained approximately 24.6 kilograms of tripolymer composites, 11.8 kilograms of molybdenum-cobalt alloys, and 1.3 kilograms of bioplast sheeting (TNG: "The Most Toys"). His upper spinal support was polyalloy, while his skull was composed of cortenide and duranium (TNG: "The Chase"). Soong went to extraordinary lengths to create a naturalistic human appearance in Data. He gave Data a functional respiration system, although its purpose was for thermal regulation. Data was in fact capable of functioning extended periods in a vacuum (TNG: "Brothers"). He gave Data a pulse and a circulatory system that distributed biochemical lubricants and regulated microhydraulic power throughout Data's body. Data's hair was even capable of growth at a controllable rate (TNG: "Birthright, Part I"). Data did not require food; he occasionally ingested a semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based liquid medium (TNG: "Déjà Q"). Although Data's systems were primarily mechanical, cybernetic, and positronic, sufficient biological components were present to allow him to become infected by the Psi 2000 virus in 2364. While under the influence of the inhibition-stripping effect of that disease, Data became intimate with Enterprise-D security chief Tasha Yar (TNG: "The Naked Now"). Data's basic programming included a strong inhibition against harming living things, but he nevertheless had the ability to use deadly force to protect others. (TNG: "The Most Toys", "Star Trek: Insurrection").

Prior to his assignment to the Enterprise-D, Data served aboard the USS Trieste. During this tour-of-duty, the Trieste once fell through a wormhole (TNG: "Clues"). Aboard the Enterprise-D, Data served as operations manager, and was in charge or coordinating the many departments aboard the ship (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). In 2366, Commander Data was seriously injured trying to save Q from an attack by gaseous creatures called the Calamarain. In gratitude, Q gave Data the gift of allowing Data to experience human laughter for a brief time (TNG: "Dejà Q"). Data served as father of the bride for the wedding of Miles O'Brien and Keiko Ishikawa in 2367, and found it necessary to learn to dance to fulfill this ceremonial function (TNG: "Data's Day"). Data's first opportunity to command a starship came during the Federation blockade during the Klingon civil war of 2368. Data was assigned temporary command of the Starship Sutherland in Picard's armada. As an android, Data encountered a small amount of prejudice among the human crew, but was nevertheless able to lead effectively (TNG: "Redemption, Part I"). In late 2368, when bizarre evidence was found suggesting that he had died some 500 years ago, Data traveled back in time to old San Francisco. The evidence was Data's severed head, unearthed from beneath the city of San Francisco, where it had been buried for five centuries (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part I"). Traveling back in time to the year 1893, Data uncovered a plot by aliens from the planet Devidia II who were using the cholera plague of the time to conceal their murder of humans. While attempting to stop the Devidians, Data's head was severed, and his body was sent forward in time, back to 2368. Aboard the Enterprise-D, Geordi La Forge was successful in reattaching Data's ancient head to his body (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part II"). Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Data accepted an assignment the following year under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard ("Star Trek: First Contact").

Upon returning to the Omicron Theta colony site in 2364, Data participated in the discovery and activation of his android brother, Lore. Physically identical to Data, Lore has radically different personality programming, and attempted to commandeer the Enterprise-D before he was beamed into space (TNG: "Datalore"). Although Noonien Soong was believed to have died at Omicron Theta, he was discovered to have escaped the colony when, in 2367, he remotely gained control of Data, commanding his creation to visit him in his new secret laboratory. There, Soong attempted to install a new chip in Data's positronic brain that would have given Data the ability to experience human emotions. Unfortunately, Lore also responded to Soong's call, and stole the emotion chip from Soong's lab. Dr. Soong died shortly thereafter (TNG: "Brothers"). Data began to experience emotions in 2369 when Lore secretly bombarded Data with signals that triggered negative emotions in his positronic brain. Lore used these negative emotions to guide Data into joining him and the Borg against the Federation. When Data realized that Lore was manipulating him and harming the Borg, he was forced to deactivate Lore. Data kept Soong's emotion chip, but was reluctant to install it for fear of causing further harm to his friends (TNG: "Descent, Parts I and II"). In 2379 the Romulan Praetor Shinzon used another android of the Soong type, B-4, to spark the interest of the Enterprise-E under Captain Picard and to spy on the Federation ship. Technically and intellectually less sophisticated than Data or Lore, B-4 was found to be an earlier prototype of the Soong androids. With Data's memories transferred to B-4, there was hope that after Data's death the android may be able to exceed his original programming ("Star Trek: Nemesis").

Data's attempts to understand human nature once included an effort to learn about the concept of humor, which he studied with the assistance of Guinan and a holodeck-created comedian (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona"). Data even tried a beard once, to the considerable amusement of his shipmates even learned to dance (TNG: "The Schizoid Man"). Aboard the Enterprise-D, Data shared his living quarters with that of a cat called Spot. Data tried to provide for Spot's well-being, but found it difficult to predict the cat's preferences in food (TNG: "Data's Day"). One of Data's more challenging efforts to experience humanity was his attempt to pursue a romantic relationship with Enterprise-D Security Officer Jenna D'Sora in late 2367. Although D'Sora was attracted to Data, he was unable to return the affection, at least in a manner that she wanted (TNG: "In Theory"). Data began to experience dreams in 2369 as a result of an accidental plasma shock received during an experiment. It was later learned that the shock had triggered a program designed for this purpose by Soong, who had hoped the program would be activated when Data reached a certain level of development. Data's initial dreams were of Soong as a blacksmith, incongruously forging the wings of a bird, which Data believed represented himself (TNG: "Birthright, Part I"). Those dreams turned to nightmares while under the influence of interphasic organisms in 2370 (TNG: "Phantasms"). Later that year, following the Enterprise-D's discovery of the D'Arsay archive, Data's own personality became completely submerged by a series of personas, enacting the mythology of a long dead civilization. Following the experience, Captain Picard commented that even if Data became human, he had transcended the human condition by becoming an entire civilization (TNG: "Masks").

One of Data's most noteworthy efforts in his quest for humanity was his construction of an android daughter in 2366. Data employed a new submicron matrix transfer technology to allow his own neural pathways to be duplicated in another positronic brain, which he used as the basis for his child. His daughter, whom he named Lal ("beloved" in Earth's Hindi language), developed at a remarkable rate and showed evidence of growth potential beyond that of her father, even experiencing emotions. Lal died after having lived little more than two weeks, when she experienced a serious failure in her positronic brain (TNG: "The Offspring"). In 2371, Data finally decided to install the emotion chip that Dr. Soong had created for him. Although Data had initial difficulty coping with the flood of emotions - a problem made worse when the chip became fused with his neural net - the chip represented a significant step in his quest to become more human ("Star Trek Generations"). By 2373 Data was able to turn his emotion chip on and off at will. During the Borg invasion of that year, the Borg queen used Data's quest to become human against him. She had organic components integrated into his body, allowing him to experience tactile sensations, in an effort to seduce him to the Borg collective. Her efforts were remarkably successful, and Data later reported being tempted by her offer for 0.68 seconds. Data nevertheless destroyed the Borg queen and the collective by exposing them to highly toxic plasma coolant. His efforts not only saved the Enterprise-E and his shipmates, but blocked a time-traveling Borg effort to prevent Zefram Cochrane, in the year 2063, from making his historic first warp flight ("Star Trek: First Contact").

The question of Data's sentience, and more specifically whether Data was entitled to civil rights as a citizen under the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, was addressed in a number of important legal decisions. The first, in 2341, was rendered by a Starfleet Academy entrance committee that permitted Data to enter the Academy and serve as a member of Starfleet. Several years later, the question was definitively addressed when Judge Advocate General Phillipa Louvois ruled that Data was indeed a sentient being and therefore entitled to civil rights, including the right to resign from Starfleet if he so chose. As of Stardate 42527, Data had been decorated by Starfleet Command for gallantry and had received the Medal of Honor with clusters, the Legion of Honor, and the Star Cross (TNG: "The Measure of a Man").

* The spelling was "Noonian Soong" in Data's personnel file in TNG: "Conundrum" but was changed to "Noonien Soong" in the remastered episode, to comply with the version "Noonien" as it was common later in the series, such as on the passenger manifest in "Inheritance".

Deanna Troi

Species: female human/Betazoid
Rank: Commander
Date of birth: March 29, 2336
Place of birth: Betazed
Parents: Ian Andrew Troi (deceased) and Lwaxana Troi
Sister: Kestra Troi (deceased)
Son: Ian Andrew Troi ("deceased", actually a non-corporeal lifeform)
Marital status: married with William T. Riker, previously engaged with Wyatt Miller
Played by Marina Sirtis

Counselor aboard the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). She later transferred to the USS Titan along with her husband, Captain William Riker ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Daughter of Lwaxana Troi and Ian Andrew Troi, Deanna was betrothed to Wyatt Miller through the Betazoid custom of genetic bonding when they were both children. Deanna and Wyatt never married, though, because Wyatt chose to join the last surviving Tarellians in search of a cure for the Tarellian plague (TNG: "Haven"). When she was growing up, Deanna did not know that she had an older sister, Kestra Troi, who died when Deanna was only an infant (TNG: "Dark Page"). Deanna's father used to read her heroic stories about the ancient American West on planet Earth, and she remained fond of these stories into her adulthood (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas"). Troi studied psychology at the University of Betazed prior to joining Starfleet (TNG: "Tin Man"). She graduated from the academy in 2359 (TNG: "Conundrum").

While a psychology student on Betazed, Troi became romantically involved with Lieutenant William T. Riker (TNG: "Ménage à Troi"). Troi had hopes of a serious commitment between the two, but Riker's career plans took him away to an assignment aboard the USS Potemkin (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "Second Chances"). While the two were serving together aboard the Starship Enterprise-D, they never resumed their relationship. Instead of that, Deanna began dating Worf in 2370 (TNG: "All Good Things, Part I and II"). It was not until their visit to the Ba'ku homeworld on the Enterprise-E that Deanna fell in love with Riker once again ("Star Trek: Insurrection"). The two got married in Alaska on Earth, Riker's birth place, in 2379, with the traditional ceremony still to follow when the Shinzon crisis forced the ship to alter its course ("Star Trek: Nemesis").

Troi was once involuntarily impregnated by an unknown non-corporeal lifeform. She named the child Ian Andrew Troi after her late father (TNG: "The Child"). Troi suffered a brief loss of her empathic powers in 2367 from proximity to a newly discovered group of two-dimensional creatures. Although Troi found the loss disconcerting, she was pleased to discover that she could still function as ship's counselor without her Betazoid abilities (TNG: "The Loss"). Counselor Troi assumed temporary command of the Enterprise-D on stardate 45156 when the ship was disabled from collision with two quantum filaments. Troi, who held the rank of Lieutenant commander, was the senior officer on the bridge at the time (TNG: "Disaster"). She later undertook the field training program for advancement to the rank of commander. She passed the Bridge Officer Exam and was promoted to full commander on stardate 47611 (TNG: "Thine Own Self"). In 2369 Deanna Troi was kidnapped by a Romulan underground movement. Disguised as Major Raka of the Tal'Shiar she helped high-ranking members of the Romulan government to defect to the Federation (TNG: "Face of the Enemy"). When the Reman viceroy built a telepathic link to her, Deanna's mind was successfully connected to the ship's sensors to detect the perpetrator on the cloaked Scimitar ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Troi said she never met a chocolate she didn't like (TNG: "The Price", "The Game"). In 2370, Troi was assigned as liaison officer for Iyaaran ambassador Loguel. Troi commented that the ambassador had tested even her limits for chocolate (TNG: "Liaisons").

Geordi La Forge

Species: male human
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Date of birth: 2335
Place of birth: Mogadishu, Somalia, African Confederation, Earth
Parents: Edward M. La Forge and Silva La Forge (missing, presumed dead)
Sister: Ariana La Forge
Marital status: unknown
Played by LeVar Burton

Chief engineer aboard the Starship Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-E. Born blind in 2335 because of a birth defect, La Forge wore a remarkable device called a VISOR that permitted him to see with greater clarity than other humans could. Geordi La Forge came from a family of Starfleet officers. His mother, Silva La Forge, was captain of the USS Hera at the time of her death in 2370 (TNG: "Interface"), and his father was an exobiologist. Geordi recalled that, even though he moved around a great deal, he considered his childhood a great adventure (TNG: "Imaginary Friend"). La Forge did not receive his VISOR until after his fifth birthday. (TNG: "Hero Worship"). Geordi was caught in a fire when he was five years old. He was rescued by his parents, and was not injured. Geordi recalled how for a time after the incident it was extremely important to know where his parents were at all times (TNG: "Hero Worship"). Geordi had a pet Circassian cat when he was eight (TNG: "Violations"). Possibly because his parents traveled so much when he was a child, Geordi had something of a knack for languages. One such language was Hahliian (TNG: "Aquiel").

Geordi La Forge graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2357 (TNG: "The Next Phase"). One of La Forge's first assignments was as shuttle pilot for the Jovian run between Jupiter and Saturn (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part II"). La Forge first met Captain Picard when La Forge piloted Picard's shuttle on an inspection tour. During the tour, Picard made an offhand remark about a minor inefficiency in the shuttle's engines, and La Forge subsequently stayed up all night to repair the problem. Picard was so impressed with the incident that he requested La Forge be assigned to the Enterprise-D in 2364 (TNG: "The Next Phase"). La Forge served as an Ensign aboard the USS Victory under the command of Captain Zimbata (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data"). One of Geordi's closest friends on that ship was Lieutenant Susanna Leijten. In 2362 both La Forge and Leijten participated in an away mission to planet Tarchannen III. It was later realized that all members of that away team were infected by an alien DNA strand that would, if unchecked, compel them to return to Tarchannen III, where they would be transformed into a native Tarchannen lifeform. La Forge was saved from the transformation in 2367 by Leijten's actions and medical intervention by Enterprise-D CMO Crusher (TNG: "Identity Crisis").

La Forge transferred to the Enterprise-D as flight controller (conn) in 2364 (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I and II"). Geordi was promoted to full lieutenant and assigned as USS Enterprise-D chief engineer the following year, just prior to Stardate 42073.1 (TNG: "The Child"). Although brilliantly proficient as a starship engineer, La Forge had difficulty building relationships with women. Perhaps as a result, Geordi developed an attachment to a holographic representation of Enterprise-D designer Leah Brahms (TNG: "Booby Trap"). The real Dr. Brahms was outraged to learn of this simulation, noting that creating such a replica without her permission was an invasion of privacy. Brahms did eventually become friends with La Forge, although Geordi was disappointed to learn that Leah was already married* (TNG: "Galaxy's Child"). La Forge was promoted to lieutenant commander in early 2366 (TNG: "Evolution"). Because of his VISOR interface, Geordi was the perfect candidate to test an experimental interface device. He used the device in 2370, in an attempt to rescue the crew of the USS Raman. During the rescue, Geordi encountered what appeared to be his mother, Silva La Forge, aboard the Raman. Geordi was at first convinced his mother's ship was actually trapped in the atmosphere, but later realized the experience was an attempt by the Marijne VII beings to communicate. Though he was unable to save his mother, Geordi felt the incident gave him the opportunity to say good-bye to her (TNG: "Interface").

After the destruction of the Enterprise-D, La Forge accepted an assignment as chief engineer of the USS Enterprise-E when it was launched in 2372. By Stardate 50893, Geordi had been given ocular implants that replaced his VISOR. although the implants were smaller than his VISOR, they still afforded La Forge a wide range of sensory information ("Star Trek: First Contact"). In 2375, La Forge was able to temporarily see naturally through real eyes as a result of the metaphasic radiation emanating from the rings of the planet Ba'ku. ("Star Trek: Insurrection").

* In an alternate reality, La Forge was married to a woman named Leah as of 2395, who was not shown but may have been Leah Brahms (TNG: "All Good Things").

Worf

Species: male Klingon
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Date of birth: 2340
Place of birth: Qo'noS
Father: Mogh (deceased)
Brother: Kurn
Adoptive parents: Sergey and Helena Rozhenko
Adoptive brother: Nikolai Rozhenko
Son: Alexander Rozhenko (born 2366)
Marital status: widowed from Jadzia Dax
Played by Michael Dorn

The first Klingon warrior to serve in the Federation Starfleet and an influential figure in Klingon politics (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Part I").

Worf, Son of Mogh, was born on the Klingon Homeworld in 2340 (TNG: "Sins Of The Father"). As a young child, Worf was fond of his pet targ (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before"). He accompanied his parents to the Khitomer outpost in 2346. Worf was orphaned later that year in the brutal Khitomer massacre, a Romulan attack in which 4,000 Klingons were killed. Worf was rescued by Sergey Rozhenko, a human crew member from the USS Intrepid. Sergey and his wife, Helena Rozhenko, adopted Worf and raised him as their own son, because it was believed that Worf had no remaining family on the Homeworld (TNG: "Sins Of The Father"). With his new family on the farm world of Gault (TNG: "Heart of Glory"), and later on Earth, Worf found it difficult to fit into the alien world of humans and was a bit of a hell raiser (TNG: "Family"). In 2352, while living on Gault, Worf accidentally caused the death of a human boy named Mikel during a soccer match. During a championship game Mikel's and Worf's heads collided, breaking the human boys neck. Worf felt responsible, and ever since that day, Worf practiced extreme restraint whenever dealing with humans, who were physically fragile compared to Klingons (DS9: "Let He Who Is Without Sin..."). Worf was raised along with an adoptive brother, Nikolai Rozhenko, the Rozhenkos' biological son (TNG: "Homeward"). For some reason, Worf's experiences of Earth never included drinking prune juice. When given a taste of it by Guinan in 2366, Worf pronounced it "a warrior's drink" (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise").

Worf visited the homeworld as a boy but was shunned by his cousins for being too human. His parents allowed him to visit No'Mat, where a vision of Kahless the Unforgettable appeared to Worf, telling him that he would do something no other Klingon had ever done (DS9: "The Sword of Kahless"). When Worf was a boy growing up in Russia (DS9: "Image in the Sand"), his father used to take him and his brother Nikolai on camping trips in the Ural Mountains. Every night they would listen to the wolves howling in the distance. Nikolai was afraid of them, but Worf would lie in his tent for hours just listening. Worf would later recall that he secretly felt the urge to strip off his clothes and run into the night to live in the forest as something wild (DS9: "Change of Heart"). Nikolai entered Starfleet Academy at the same time as Worf, but later dropped out because he found Starfleet not to his liking (TNG: "Heart of Glory"). Worf's hobbies included building models of ancient Klingon ocean sailing vessels in a bottle, considered difficult handiwork (TNG: "Peak Performance"). Worf's adoptive parents remained close to him over the years, and made it a point to visit him in early 2367 when the Enterprise-D was docked at Earth Station McKinley for repairs (TNG: "Family").

Following his graduation from Starfleet Academy in 2361, Worf held the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, and served as flight control officer (conn) aboard the USS Enterprise-D (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). Worf was promoted to acting chief of security and made a full lieutenant following the death of Lieutenant Natasha Yar at planet Vagra II in late 2364 (TNG: "Skin of Evil"). Worf felt intense guilt when Lieutenant Marla Aster was accidentally killed on an away mission in 2366, orphaning her son Jeremy Aster. Worf later took Jeremy into his family through the Klingon ritual R'uustai, or bonding, ceremony (TNG: "The Bonding"). In 2366, Worf's spinal column was shattered in an accident when several cargo containers collapsed onto him. Worf was left paralyzed, and his prognosis indicated little hope for a full recovery. In accordance with Klingon tradition, Worf refused medical treatment and opted for the Hegh'bat form of ritual suicide. He was dissuaded from taking his life when Dr Toby Russell performed a dangerous experimental surgical procedure called genetronic replication, in which a new spinal column was generated to replace the damaged organ. The surgery was successful, in part because Klingon physiology includes redundancy for nearly all vital bodily functions (TNG: "Ethics"). Worf was promoted to lieutenant commander in 2371 in a ceremony held on a holodeck representation of the 19th-century sailing frigate Enterprise ("Star Trek Generations").

Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D, Worf returned to study for a year at the monastery on Boreth before he accepted an assignment as strategic operations officer at station Deep Space 9. The promotion marked a change in career path for Worf, from operations to command (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior"). For some reason, Worf found living on the station uncomfortable, so he moved his residence from quarters in the station to a stateroom aboard the USS Defiant (DS9: "Bar Association"). Worf took advantage of the time alone on the Defiant by playing Klingon opera very loudly on the ship's sound system. He particularly liked the singing of Barak-Kadan (DS9: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"). Worf commanded the Starship Defiant on Stardate 50893 as part of the Starfleet armada that intercepted a Borg cube at Earth. After the Defiant was incapacitated in that battle, Worf and his crew were aboard the Starship Enterprise-E, where Worf served as tactical officer for the remainder of the encounter ("Star Trek: First Contact").

Worf was thrust into high-level Klingon politics in 2366 when he discovered that he had a biological brother, Kurn. The Klingon High Council had ruled that their father, Mogh, had committed treason years ago at Khitomer. Worf and Kurn challenged this judgment, but found the High Council unwilling to hear evidence that the politically powerful Duras family had falsified the charges against Mogh. Although Worf was willing to die in the challenge to protect his family honor, he eventually chose to accept a humiliating discommendation rather than allow his brother to be killed (TNG: "Sins of the Father"). Worf later killed Duras for having murdered K'Ehleyr (TNG: "Reunion"). Worf was once again dragged into high-level politics in late 2367 and early 2368 when a challenge to Gowron's reign by the Duras family triggered a Klingon civil war. Worf and Kurn agreed to support the Gowron regime in exchange for the rightful restoration of honor to the Mogh family. During the conflict, Worf was forced to resign his Starfleet commission because he would not otherwise be permitted to take sides in that internal political matter (TNG: "Redemption, Parts I and II"). Worf once investigated a claim that his father had not died at Khitomer, but was instead being held prisoner at a secret Romulan prison camp in the Carraya System. Although the report was false, Worf did indeed find a prison camp where survivors of the Khitomer massacre and their families were being held. At the camp, Worf fell in love with a half-Romulan, half-Klingon named Ba'el. Worf led some of the prisoners to freedom, but the majority (including Ba'el) chose to remain, regarding the Carraya prison as their home (TNG: "Birthright, Parts I and II").

In 2369, Worf experienced a crisis of faith, and requested a leave of absence to visit the Klingon monastery on Boreth. While meditating to invoke visions of Kahless the Unforgettable, Worf met a very real vision of Kahless. It was discovered that this Kahless was in fact a clone of the original, created by the clerics of Boreth. At Worf's suggestion, and with the support of Chancellor Gowron, the new Kahless was installed as the ceremonial emperor of the Klingon people in 2369 (TNG: "Rightful Heir"). Despite Worf's support of Gowron's regime, he refused to join the Klingon invasion of Cardassia in 2372, an act of defiance for which Gowron ordered Worf's family removed from the High Council, his titles stripped, his land seized, making Worf persona non grata anywhere in the empire (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior"). Shortly thereafter, Worf became a pawn in a deception orchestrated by the Klingon government. Worf was accused of destroying a civilian transport ship and murdering 411 Klingon citizens. A hearing at Deep Space 9 revealed that government agents had faked the deaths by using the names of Klingon citizens who had died earlier in a crash on Galorda Prime. The Gowron regime had hoped to disgrace Worf, and to gain sympathy for the empire's plan to annex Cardassian territory (DS9: "Rules of Engagement"). During the final weeks of the Dominion War, Worf became appalled that Chancellor Gowron was squandering the lives of Klingon warriors in pursuit of personal political gain. Worf urged the chancellor to reconsider his strategies, but was rebuffed. Soon, Worf realized that Gowron's politically motivated decisions threatened the survival of the empire itself. Worf challenged and slew Gowron in a bat'leth fight for honor, and in so doing, earned the right to lead the high council. Nevertheless, Worf believed that the interests of his people would be best served with Martok leading the empire, so Worf stood aside and Martok became chancellor (DS9: "Tacking into the Wind"). After the Dominion war, Worf became the Federation ambassador to Qo'nos (DS9: "What You Leave Behind"). In 2375, Worf briefly rejoined the crew of the Enterprise-E to prevent the Ba'ku people from being forcibly removed from their homeworld by the Son'a ("Star Trek: Insurrection"). He later permanently returned to Starfleet ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Worf had a son, Alexander Rozhenko, with Ambassador K'Ehleyr, with whom he had been romantically involved. When K'Ehleyr was murdered by Klingon High Council member Duras, Alexander returned to Earth to be cared for by Sergey and Helena (TNG: "Reunion"). During the Dominion War, Worf served aboard the Bird-of-Prey Rotarran under General Martok. So pleased was Martok with Worf that he made Worf a member of the House of Martok (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire"). Worf was romantically involved with Deanna Troi in 2370 (TNG: "All Good Things, Part I and II"). In 2373, Worf found himself attracted to the Lady Grilka when she visited station Deep Space 9, although she preferred the company of Quark. Worf's interest in Grilka nearly blinded him to the attentions of Jadzia Dax, who had always had a fascination for things Klingon. It was not until the two shared a holosuite opera of Kahless and Lukara that Worf and Jadzia consummated their romantic relationship (DS9: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"). In late 2373, Worf and Jadzia became engaged to be married (DS9: "Call to Arms"). Worf never felt fully comfortable with his son, Alexander, and the two became further estranged when Alexander went to live with Worf's parents on Earth. Worf reacted angrily when Alexander subsequently joined the Klingon Defense Force and the two served together aboard the bird-of-prey IKS Rotarran, but the two began to heal their relationship when Alexander agreed to join his father as a member of the House of Martok (DS9: "Sons and Daughters"). Ever since he was a boy, Worf had always wanted a traditional wedding, possibly as a way of compensating for the fact that he was raised in human society. In 2374, on Stardate 51247, Worf got his wish when he and Dax were married in a traditional Klingon ceremony on Deep Space 9. In the ceremony, his son Alexander was Worf's Tawi'Yan, or sword bearer (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited"). On Stardate 51597.2, Worf commanded a mission into Dominion territory to extract a vital Starfleet operative from possible Dominion capture. The mission was a failure when the informant was killed by Jem'Hadar forces after Worf chose to care for his wife, who had been critically wounded, instead of making the rendezvous with the informant. Captain Sisko entered another serious reprimand in Worf's record after the incident, meaning that Worf had little chance of ever being granted a command of his own by Starfleet (DS9: "Change of Heart"). Worf was deeply in love with Jadzia, but his dream of raising a family with her was shattered in 2374 when Jadzia was tragically killed by a Pah-wraith inhabiting the body of Gul Dukat (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets"). After her death, Worf worried that Jadzia had not died in battle, and might be denied entry to Sto-Vo-Kor in the afterlife (DS9: "Image in the Sand"). He therefore volunteered for a dangerous mission, dedicating the glorious victory to her name so that she may have a place among the honored dead. In this effort, Worf was assisted by his friends Julian Bashir, Miles O'Brien, and Quark, who also risked their lives to honor Jadzia (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols"). Upon his return, however, Worf was faced with an unexpected challenge: the emotionally difficult task of meeting the new host to the Dax symbiont. Worf's discomfort was so great that Ezri Dax nearly refused a posting to Deep Space 9 out of respect for Worf's feelings. She agreed to stay only after Worf indicated that he believed Jadzia would have wanted him to accept her as the new host (DS9: "Afterimage").

Beverly Crusher

Full name: Beverly Cheryl Crusher
Species: female human
Rank: Commander
Date of birth: October 13, 2324
Place of birth: Copernicus City, Luna
Grandmother: Felisa Howard (deceased)
Parents: Paul and Isabel Howard (both deceased)
Son: Wesley Crusher
Marital status: widowed from Jack Crusher (2354)
Played by Gates McFadden

Chief Medical Officer aboard the Enterprise-D under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Crusher was born Beverly Howard* in 2324, and graduated from medical school in 2350. She was at the Arvada III colony and helped her grandmother, Felisa Howard (TNG: "Sub Rosa") care for the survivors of that terrible tragedy. Although her grandmother was not a physician, she taught Beverly much about the medicinal uses of herbs and roots to help care for the sick and wounded after regular medical supplies had been exhausted (TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom").

Beverly was introduced to her future husband, Starfleet officer Jack Crusher, by their mutual friend Walker Keel (TNG: "Conspiracy"). She married Jack in 2348, and the two had a child, Wesley Crusher, the following year. As a young married couple, Beverly and her husband Jack spent a great deal of time with Jean-Luc Picard. She did not learn until many years later that Picard had fallen in love with her, but he didn't act on his feelings in order not to betray his friend (TNG: "Attached"). Crusher did her internship on planet Delos IV under the tutelage of Dr. Dalen Quaice in 2352 (TNG: "Remember Me"). Following her husband's death in 2354, Beverly continued to pursue her Starfleet career, attaining the position of chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise-D in 2364 (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). Crusher left the Enterprise-D in 2365 to accept a position as head of Starfleet medical, but returned to the ship a year later, and was reunited with her son, Wesley (TNG: "Evolution"). In 2366, Crusher became romantically interested in a man from planet Zalkon whom she named John Doe (TNG: "Transfigurations"). The following year, she became involved with a Trill named Ambassador Odan. Although the two were very much in love, Beverly found it difficult to accept her lover inhabiting a different body (TNG: "The Host"). Beverly's grandmother, Felisa Howard, died in 2370, and Beverly returned to her grandmother's home in the Caldos Colony to speak at her funeral. Beverly discovered that her grandmother had taken a lover, apparently a 34 year old man named Ronin, who was actually an anaphasic life-form that had been a "spirit lover" of Howard women for 20 generations. Beverly was at first taken in by Ronin, and even went so far as to resign from Starfleet to remain on Caldos with him, before Beverly was forced to kill him in order to protect her friends (TNG: "Sub Rosa"). In an alternate reality Beverly Crusher was married with Jean-Luc Picard and later divorced from him (TNG: "All Good Things, Parts I and II").

Although a physician aboard a starship is not normally regarded as a line officer, Crusher was left in command of the Enterprise-D when virtually the entire crew was transported to the surface of a planet to search for Data in early 2369. Crusher employed the metaphasic shield technology which the ship had acquired from Dr. Reyga in order to escape a pursuing Borg ship and rescue the crew on the surface (TNG: "Descent, Part II"). Later that year, Crusher was severely injured by Worf, who was under the influence of Barclay's Protomorhosis Syndrome. She was placed in stasis and required reconstructive surgery (TNG: "Genesis").

Beverly was quite an accomplished dancer. Her colleagues named her "The Dancing Doctor", a nickname she disliked, so aboard the Enterprise-D she did her best to avoid demonstrating her skills. Nevertheless, the fact that she had won fist place in a dance competition in St. Louis was part of her Starfleet record, so Data asked her to help him learn to dance for the wedding of Miles O'Brien and Keiko Ishikawa in 2367 (TNG: "Data's Day"). Beverly also had a strong interest in amateur theatrics and was director of a successful theater company aboard the Enterprise-D. Among the productions performed by her company in 2367 was Cyrano de Bergerac (TNG: "The Nth Degree"). Several months later, her troupe performed Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (TNG: "Disaster"). Crusher wrote a play for her troupe, called Something For Breakfast (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas"). Another play written by Crusher was entitled Frame of Mind (TNG: "Frame of Mind").

* Beverly's family history as stated in TNG: "Sub Rosa" is a totally implausible oddity, because in 20 to 30 generations of her ancestors the women kept their birth names under the influence of Ronin, and curiously Beverly herself was the only exception.

Wesley Crusher

Species: male human
Rank: none*
Date of birth: 2349
Parents: Jack Crusher (deceased), Beverly Crusher
Marital status: unknown
Played by Wil Wheaton

Son of Starfleet officers Jack Crusher and Beverly Crusher. Wesley was born in 2349, and was raised by his mother following the death of his father, Jack, in 2354 when Wesley was five years old (TNG: "True Q"). Wesley went to live on the Starship Enterprise-D in 2364, when his mother was assigned to that ship as chief medical officer (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I and II"). Wesley spent little time with his father before his death, but recalled that Jack taught him to play baseball (TNG: "Evolution").

Wesley showed a keen interest in science and technology, and had an extraordinary ability to visualize complex mathematical concepts, an ability that the Traveler once urged Captain Picard to nurture. Perhaps in response, Picard commissioned Crusher an acting ensign on stardate 41263.4 in recognition of Wesley's key role in returning the Enterprise-D to Federation space after it was stranded by Kosinski's failed warp drive experiments (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before"). As a member of an away team to planet Rubicun III, Crusher inadvertently broke a local law and was sentenced to death by the planetary government. Crusher was later freed by Enterprise-D captain Picard, although Picard acknowledged that the act violated the Prime Directive (TNG: "Justice"). Wesley's first experience with command was when Commander Riker assigned him the task of supervising geological surveys of the planets in the Selcundi Drema Sector in 2365. Although Crusher initially found it difficult to supervise officers older than himself, he eventually found that the experience built self-confidence, and Crusher's leadership led to scientifically important discoveries (TNG: "Pen Pals"). Crusher conducted a test using medical nanites in 2366, accidentally resulting in the creation of an enhanced version of the tiny robots possessing enough intelligence to be considered a legitimate lifeform. The nanites were so recognized and granted colonization rights on planet Kavis Alpha IV (TNG: "Evolution").

Wesley's first romantic interest was with the lovely young Salia, leader of planet Daled IV. Although not human, Salia was a shape-shifting allasomorph who appeared as a teenaged human girl whose keen intelligence and wit captured his interest. (TNG: "The Dauphin").

Wesley first attempted to gain entrance to Starfleet Academy in 2364 at age 15 (TNG: "Coming of Age"). Although he did not win admission at that time, he continued his studies and gained academic credit for his work aboard the Enterprise-D (TNG: "Evolution", "Samaritan Snare"). Wesley was accepted to Starfleet Academy in 2366, but missed his transport to the Academy because he was participating in a rescue mission after William Riker, Deanna Troi, and Lwaxana Troi had been kidnapped by Ferengi DaiMon Tog. In recognition of his sacrifice, Captain Picard granted Wesley a field promotion to the rank of ensign shortly after the incident (TNG: "Ménage à Troi"). Wesley finally entered Starfleet Academy in 2367 when a position opened up mid-term in the current class. His final assignment as part of the Enterprise-D crew was to accompany Captain Picard on a diplomatic mission to planet Pentarus V. The mission was interrupted with their transport shuttle, the Nenebek, crashed on Lambda Paz, after which Captain Picard became critically injured. Crusher cared for Picard until a rescue party arrived (TNG: "Final Mission"). Crusher's first year at the Academy went well, and he even gained entry into the Academy's elite Nova Squadron flight team (TNG: "The First Duty"). Wesley returned to the Enterprise-D for a brief visit on stardate 45208, where he became very fond of mission specialist Robin Lefler (TNG: "The Game"). Crusher's sophomore year was marred by a serious incident in which he and other members of Nova Squadron attempted a prohibited maneuver, and cadet Joshua Albert died in the resulting accident. Although initial testimony by members of the squadron suggested Albert was responsible for the accident, Crusher later came forward with the truth. A reprimand was entered into Crusher's academic record, and he was forced to repeat his sophomore year (TNG: "The First Duty"). In an alternate quantum reality visited by Worf in 2370, Wesley Crusher was not on the Academy but on the Enterprise-D by that time. He had achieved the rank of lieutenant, and was assigned to tactical (TNG: "Parallels").

Wesley Crusher became disenchanted with his studies at Starfleet and resigned his commission to the Academy in 2370, choosing instead to live among the American Indians on planet Dorvan V, a world currently under Cardassian jurisdiction. Crusher's decision to leave Starfleet in favor of self-exploration was a difficult one, aided by insight offered by the Traveler (TNG: "Journey's End"). He returned to Earth to celebrate Troi's and Riker's wedding ("Star Trek Nemesis").

* We see Wesley in Starfleet attire at the wedding ceremony in "Star Trek Nemesis", but this may be just decoration, as he does not seem to be wearing rank pips.

Tasha Yar

Species: female human
Full name: Natasha Yar
Last rank: Lieutenant
Place of birth: Turkana IV
Date of death: 2364
Place of death: Vagra II
Sister: Ishara Yar
Last marital status: single
Played by Denise Crosby

Enterprise-D chief of security under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint, Part I").

Yar was born on a failed Federation colony on planet Turkana IV. Her parents were killed when she was only five, and she spent much of her childhood in a bitter struggle for survival, evading marauding rape gangs and caring for her younger sister, Ishara Yar. One of the few "normal" aspects of her childhood was her ownership of a pet kitten that she protected (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before"). Tasha escaped from Turkana IV at the age of 15, choosing to join Starfleet (TNG: "The Naked Now").

As a Starfleet officer, she impressed Captain Picard with her courage in rescuing a wounded colonist, making her way through a Carnellian mine field. Thus, Picard requested that she be transferred to the Enterprise-D in early 2364 (TNG: "Legacy"). While under the inhibition-stripping effects of the Psi 2000 virus, Tasha apparently became intimate with fellow Enterprise-D crew member Data (TNG: "The Naked Now"). Yar was killed in late 2364 while participating in a rescue mission on planet Vagra II. Tasha, knowing her line of work entailed considerable risk, left a holographic farewell to her comrades in which she thanked her shipmates for being part of her life (TNG: "Skin of Evil"). Data kept a small holographic portrait of Tasha, and he considered it one of his most precious personal possessions (TNG: "The Measure of a Man").

In an alternate reality the Federation was at war with the Klingon Empire in 2366 and Tasha Yar was still alive. When Tasha learned that she would be dead anyway once the old timeline was restored, she decided to join the crew of the Enterprise-C in a hopeless battle against the Romulans in 2344 (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise"). She was captured and later gave birth to a daughter, Sela, the father being a Romulan officer (TNG: "Redemption, Part II").