List of Star Trek: The Next Generation characters

This is a list of characters from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Characters are ordered alphabetically by family name, and only characters who played a significant recurring role in the series are listed.

Jack Crusher

Jack Crusher
Species Human
Affiliation United Federation of Planets
Starfleet
Posting USS Stargazer
Rank Lieutenant commander
Portrayed by Doug Wert

Lieutenant Commander Jack R. Crusher was portrayed by actor Doug Wert. Dead before the series' beginning, Crusher is the late husband to Beverly Crusher and father of Wesley Crusher, and former second officer (third in command) aboard the USS Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard's first command. He was killed in action at the age of 32 Earth years, for which Picard blamed himself until Beverly Crusher first reported on the USS Enterprise. Crusher assured Picard she had signed on the Enterprise-D voluntarily and not due to Picard's influence.[1]

Jack Crusher once made a holographic recording of himself in which he explained his life and recent happenings to his son Wesley shortly after his birth. Crusher intended this to be the first in a series of messages, one every couple of years, but due to his death, only one recording was made. By the time Wesley first got to view the recording, Jack was already long dead.[1]

Appearances

Lieutenant Commander Crusher appears in the following Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes:[1]

Guinan

Guinan
Species El-Aurian
Affiliation United Federation of Planets
Posting USS Enterprise-D
Position Bartender
Portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg
First appearance "The Child" (TNG)

Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is a recurring character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She also appears in the TNG films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis but is uncredited in both.

The character first appears in the second-season opening episode "The Child", and she appears several times over the course of the next four seasons; she does not appear at all in the seventh season. She is said to have the closest relationship with Jean-Luc Picard, which is "beyond friendship" and "beyond family", though the exact nature of that relationship is never revealed.

Whoopi Goldberg portrays Guinan

Casting

According to Whoopi Goldberg, she approached the producers of TNG with her desire to be on the show, due to her childhood admiration of Uhura, a character from the original Star Trek, played by actress Nichelle Nichols.[2] Goldberg hoped to play the new ship's doctor after Gates McFadden was fired, but the producers did not see her as suitable for the role.[3] They did not think a suitable role could be created, until Goldberg said that she did not care how big or small the role was, even if she just swept the floor in the background. It was from this they decided to give her the role of a bartender; the character is named after a Prohibition bartender, Texas Guinan.[4]

Overview

Guinan is originally from El-Auria. Her people, the El-Aurians, are sometimes called the "listeners". As a refugee aboard the El-Aurian vessel Lakul, she is rescued from the Nexus by the USS Enterprise-B. In "Q Who", Guinan states that when the Borg destroyed her homeworld her people were scattered throughout the galaxy. The subsequent diaspora and reintegration of her people, and even their traditional clothing, that Guinan still wears, are interpreted as a reference to questions about race and colonization.[5]

Her species is long-lived, and she is somewhere between 500 and 700 years old when she joins the Enterprise-D. "Time's Arrow, Part I" reveals that she visited Earth in 1891, and "Rascals" establishes that her father was 700 years old during that episode.

Guinan reveals in Star Trek: Nemesis that she has been married 23 times. She states in "Evolution" that she has many children, including a son who went through a phase when "he wouldn't listen to anybody" – something unusual "in a species of listeners".

Her wise counsel occasionally proves to be quite valuable to the crew. In one episode, for example, she tries to show Troi that she has other abilities she can use when Troi's confidence is shaken because her telepathic powers stop working temporarily. In particular, she and Picard are especially close, to where they trust one another implicitly, although the full nature of their connection is never revealed. She does indicate that Picard stood by her at a time when she was in serious trouble and that their relationship is "beyond friendship, beyond family" ("Best of Both Worlds, Part 2"). Also, she reveals that one of the first things she notices in men are their heads, having a fondness for bald men ("Booby Trap").

While by no means hostile or belligerent, she keeps an energy rifle of alien design (which she claims to have acquired on Magus III) behind the bar in Ten-Forward, which she used in the episode "Night Terrors" to quell a rowdy bar brawl. She also has exceptional aim, as seen when she was able almost effortlessly to outshoot Worf during a target practice session in the episode "Redemption".

In "Yesterday's Enterprise", which involves the timeline being altered, Guinan is able to sense the disruption, even though everyone else believes it is the natural course of events – in the Generations novelization, it is heavily implied that her unusual abilities regarding the flow of time might be related to her connection to the Nexus (this theory is expanded on in the novel Engines of Destiny, where Guinan reflects that her Nexus-self, existing outside of time, is aware of all possible alternatives, and is thus able to influence her other selves towards some central goal that even she cannot perceive).

In "Q Who?", Q retorts, after hearing her called "Guinan" in the Enterprise-D's Ten-Forward lounge, "'Guinan' – is that your name now?" He claims that Guinan, "is not what she appears to be." Q "offered" to remove her from the Enterprise and Guinan raised her hands against him.

Kurn

Kurn
Species Klingon
Affiliation Klingon Empire
Bajoran Militia (temporary)
Posting USS Enterprise-D executive officer (temporary)
IKS Hegh'ta commanding officer
Klingon High Council
Deep Space Nine security officer (temporary)
Portrayed by Tony Todd

Kurn, played by Tony Todd, is Worf's brother and a Commander in the Klingon Defense Force in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Officer exchange

Commander Kurn is introduced in the episode "Sins of the Father", where, as part of an officer exchange program, he is posted to the Enterprise (in exchange for Riker's earlier placement on a Klingon ship, depicted in "A Matter of Honor"), where he is temporarily assigned as first officer. Kurn specifically requests the Enterprise so that he can observe Worf closely, eventually revealing that he is Worf's younger brother.

Tony Todd portrays Kurn

Kurn tells Worf he was determined to be too young to go along to Khitomer, where Worf had always thought that his entire family had died. The Starfleet officer who rescued Worf had been told by the Klingon government that he had no living relatives, but Kurn was taken in by his father's closest friend, Lorgh, and raised as his son. At the age of ascension, Kurn was informed of his true bloodlines.

Kurn also informs Worf that the council has judged Mogh and his family to be traitors, and that Mogh had betrayed Khitomer to the Romulans. The Enterprise goes to Qo'noS so that Worf may challenge the accusation. Duras, the son of Mogh's greatest rival Ja'rod, leads the prosecution of Worf. Duras tries to have Kurn assassinated, but Kurn is rescued by the Enterprise personnel, and makes a full recovery. The Enterprise crew soon discovers that it is truly Ja'rod who collaborated with the Romulans. But K'mpec refuses to clear Mogh, and is prepared to execute Worf. Worf agrees to accept discommendation on the condition that Kurn's true bloodlines be kept secret, and that he be allowed to continue to serve.

Gowron's ascension

Worf meets with Kurn again right before the Klingon Civil War, in the two-part episode "Redemption". By this time, Kurn is a captain, and has his own vessel. When the two brothers save Gowron's life, Gowron (K'mpec's successor, thanks to Worf and Picard) returns to Worf and Kurn their honor and that of their family.

After the Klingon Civil War, Kurn becomes a member of the Klingon High Council. He serves in this position until the breakdown in relations between the Klingons and the Federation following the Klingon invasion of Cardassian space. When Worf refuses to join Gowron, Gowron casts him out of Klingon society. When that happens, Kurn is forced from his seat on the council. Kurn becomes concerned over the future of the family since he has no male heirs, making Worf's son Alexander the next leader of the house. Kurn worries that Alexander will not be ready to lead the house when the time comes.

Deep Space Nine

Kurn next appears in the Deep Space Nine episode "Sons of Mogh".

After being forced from the council, Kurn finds that he has lost the will to live. Kurn then goes to Deep Space Nine, to ask his brother to kill him to restore his honor. Worf tries to fulfill Kurn's request, but is stopped by Jadzia Dax and Odo. Captain Sisko is furious over this, and forbids Worf from taking Kurn's life. Worf is then forced to try to get Kurn to regain his will to live. Odo agrees to make Kurn a member of the station security force. Kurn soon discovers a visitor is smuggling illegal items, and the smuggler raises his gun at Kurn. In a twist of suicide by cop, despite having the ability to easily disarm the criminal, Kurn does nothing, and allows himself to be shot because dying in the line of duty would be an honorable death. Because a man with a death wish is a danger to himself and everyone else, Odo dismisses him from the security force. At about the same time, the Klingons are discovered attempting to mine the Bajoran system. Worf recruits Kurn to go onto a Klingon ship docked at the station, and they are able to uncover information about the mining program.

Realizing that his brother will never recover from his losses, Worf allows Dr. Julian Bashir to erase most of Kurn's memory. The procedure is successful: Kurn remembers nothing of his past life when he wakes up. Worf contacts an old family friend, Noggra, who agrees to take Kurn in as his son. Noggra tells Kurn that he has suffered an accident that has erased most of his memory, and that his name is Rodek.

A subsequent non-canon novel series (Star Trek: I.K.S. Gorkon/Star Trek: Klingon Empire) shows Kurn, in his new identity, continuing to serve the Klingon Empire aboard a Klingon Defense Force warship named for Chancellor Gorkon.

Lore

Lore
Species Android
Portrayed by Brent Spiner

Lore[6] (played by Brent Spiner) is a prototype android and the brother of main character Data and of B-4. However, while Data is virtuous and B-4 is primitive, Lore is sophisticated, clever, jealous, and self-serving, making him the evil triplet in the group.

Lore was introduced in the episode "Datalore", the episode in which he was activated. He returned in "Brothers" and in both parts of "Descent", at the end of which he was deactivated and dismantled permanently.

Overview

Lore was constructed and activated before his brother, Data, on Omicron Theta. Unlike Data, Lore was programmed with emotions, but became emotionally unstable and developed megalomaniac tendencies. Lore perceived himself as superior to the human colonists and felt that they resented him due to his perceived superiority. His creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, whom Lore saw as a father figure, would later deactivate and disassemble Lore, constructing what Lore claimed was a "less-perfect android" – Data – without emotions or the capacity to use linguistic contractions. (The part about Data being "less-perfect" was a lie, as Soong later told Data in "Brothers"; the only real difference between the two of them "was some programming".) Soong planned on repairing Lore after building and testing Data, but before he could do that the colony was destroyed by the Crystalline Entity and Soong was forced to flee. Lore admits (in "Datalore") that, unknown to Soong or the colonists at the time, it was Lore himself who lured the Crystalline Entity to the colony.

Brent Spiner portrays Data and his evil twin brother, Lore

Lore's body parts were discovered in Soong's lab in the episode "Datalore", and he was rebuilt and reactivated. Although Lore initially appeared as inquisitive and harmless as Data, his true nature was gradually revealed during the episode. Lore secretly contacts the Crystalline Entity again, offering it the crew of the USS Enterprise as sustenance. However, Data foils his plans and transports Lore into space before the Crystalline Entity can attack, saving the ship.

In the episode "Brothers", Soong summons Data to Terlina III to give him an emotion chip. However, the same signal summons Lore, who had been found drifting in space and rescued by a group of Pakleds. In contrast to Data's stoicism, Lore is sympathetic and distraught upon learning of their "father's" terminal illness, but jealousy over his brother and resentment of his own uncorrected imperfections reassert themselves. Lore incapacitates Data and poses as him while Soong installs the chip. He then fatally wounds Soong before fleeing.

In "Descent, Part II", Lore revealed that he later finds a group of Borg struggling with individuality following the Enterprise crew's actions in "I, Borg", and became their leader. Lore uses Soong's emotion chip to control Data until Geordi La Forge, Jean-Luc Picard and Deanna Troi manage to reactivate Data's ethical programming. Data shoots Lore at the end of the episode and then deactivates him permanently (retrieving his emotion chip afterwards). His final words to Data are "I love you... brother."[7]

Filming

Brent Spiner played Lore (and also Soong), except in some instances where a shooting double was necessary. In one scene in "Datalore", Lore puts down a glass of champagne that Data then picks up. This was achieved by the use of a moving split screen.

Lursa and B'Etor

Duras sisters
Species Klingon
Portrayed by Lursa – Barbara March
B'Etor – Gwynyth Walsh

The Klingon sisters Lursa (played by Barbara March) and B'Etor (played by Gwynyth Walsh) are collectively known as the Duras sisters, first appearing in TNG's "Redemption, Part I". The pair are daughters of Ja'rod and sisters of Duras. Like the other members of the House of Duras, they are villains; throughout their appearances, the characters attempt to destabilize the Klingon High Council and its relations with the United Federation of Planets. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Past Prologue", Lursa and B'Etor work with a Bajoran terrorist. Lursa is pregnant in "Firstborn", but the child's fate is not told.

In the film Star Trek Generations, the sisters align with Dr. Tolian Soran and attack the USS Enterprise-D. After capturing Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge and placing a surveillance device inside his VISOR, they are able to exploit the Enterprise's defenses and severely damage the ship, leading to the destruction of the ship's stardrive section and crash-landing of the saucer section, but they are killed in the battle.

They are known among Star Trek fans for their distinctive costumes, which include holes in their armor to display their cleavage.

Appearances

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Feature Films

Alyssa Ogawa

Alyssa Ogawa
Species Human
Affiliation United Federation of Planets
Starfleet
Posting USS Enterprise-D nurse
USS Enterprise-E nurse
Rank Ensign
Lieutenant junior grade
Portrayed by Patti Yasutake

Alyssa Ogawa, played by Patti Yasutake, is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe. The character appears in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the film Star Trek Generations as a nurse aboard the USS Enterprise-D and in Star Trek: First Contact as a nurse aboard the USS Enterprise-E.

She joins the USS Enterprise-D in 2367 as an ensign in the medical department. In 2370, upon recommendation of Dr. Beverly Crusher, she is promoted to lieutenant junior grade (TNG: "Lower Decks"). She marries Lieutenant Andrew Powell in that year. Shortly after she reveals she is pregnant, Ogawa reports to the senior staff when an injury incapacitates Crusher (TNG: "Genesis"). She was still pregnant by the series finale (TNG: "All Good Things..."), and her baby's birth was never shown or referred to on television; while said finale depicted her losing her unborn baby due to the effects of an "anti-time" anomaly, this was part of an alternate timeline that Captain Jean-Luc Picard ultimately prevented from coming to pass. In an alternate timeline in the episode "Parallels", she makes a brief appearance as the ship's doctor with the apparent rank of commander.

According to the non-canon Star Trek: Titan book series, Ogawa works in Titan's sickbay. She married Andrew Powell on Enterprise-D. Powell was killed at the Battle of Rigel during the Dominion War. Ogawa and her young son transferred to the USS Titan under command of Captain Riker to serve in the sickbay.

Appearances

Ogawa appears in seasons 4-7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact.

Alexander Rozhenko

Not to be confused with Alexander Rodchenko.
Alexander Rozhenko
Species Three-quarters Klingon,
One-quarter Human
Father Worf
Mother K'Ehleyr
Portrayed by Jon Paul Steuer
Brian Bonsall
James Sloyan
Marc Worden

Alexander Rozhenko is the son of Worf and Ambassador K'Ehleyr. He was conceived during the events of "The Emissary" and first introduced to his father during "Reunion". After the death of his mother, he was sent to live with Worf's adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, until becoming a troublesome youth in need of his father. He was reunited with Worf aboard the Enterprise-D until the end of the series at which time he returned to Earth. He later joined the Klingon military in its battle against the Dominion where he ended up serving under his father, who was General Martok's first officer aboard the IKS Rotarran.

Appearances

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Lwaxana Troi

Lwaxana Troi
Species Betazoid
Portrayed by Majel Barrett

Lwaxana Troi (played by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) is Enterprise Counselor Deanna Troi's Betazoid mother. Her complete title is "Lwaxana Troi, Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed". She is depicted as a deeply caring, flamboyant, Auntie Mame type whose telepathic abilities and blunt honesty often provoke controversy.

When she's aboard the Enterprise, Captain Picard will go to great lengths to avoid her.

Troi is the widow of Ian Andrew Troi and mother of Deanna Troi. Deanna often feels embarrassed by her mother's eccentric personality and fashion sense. Lwazana will often try to convince Troi to leave the ship and settle down. Something which angers Troi greatly, as she's happy on the Enterprise. During a mental break down in Dark Page, Lwaxana accused Willian Riker of using Deanna and leaving her. An act she instantly apologized for when she was in her right mind.

She serves as the Betazoid ambassador to the Federation. As a Betazoid, she possesses telepathic abilities. She has visited the USS Enterprise-D on several occasions. Her appearances often involve her search for a husband, fixing her sights at various times on a diplomatic minister, an alien scientist forced to die by a mandatory cultural requirement, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Another plot line revolved around Deanna's older sister Kestra, who died in a childhood accident when Deanna was an infant. This also explains why Lwaxana refers to Deanna as 'little one.' When Lwaxana becomes comatose, Deanna explores her mother's mind and discovers the memories of Kestra.

During a visit to Deep Space Nine, Lwaxana is trapped in a malfunctioning turbolift with Odo; to ease his intense discomfort at being an object of curiosity, Lwaxana removes her wig and reveals that even a 'solid' would enjoy the ability to change their shape once in a while.

In addition to Deanna and Kestra, Lwaxana Troi also has a son whose father is a Tavnian named Jeyal. She briefly marries Odo to void Jeyal's claim to the child.

Majel Barrett portrayed Lwaxana Troi, Deanna's mother

Appearances

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Mr. Homn

In most of her Star Trek: The Next Generation appearances, Lwaxana Troi travels with her extremely tall manservant, Mr. Homn (Carel Struycken). In "The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned", part of the non-canonical Tales of the Dominion War short story anthology, Homn is killed when the Jem'Hadar invade Betazed. Homn rarely ever spoke. His sole line of dialogue is in "Haven" where he says "Thank you for the drinks."

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Crusher, Jack R." The Star Trek Encyclopedia, by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, page 442. Online at Google Books.
  2. ↑ Beck, Donald R. (Director) (1991). Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special.
  3. ↑ Pascale, Anthony. "Rick Berman Talks 18 Years of Trek In Extensive Oral History". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Okuda, Michael et al. The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future (New York: Pocket Books, 1994).
  5. ↑ Hastie, A. Fabricated Space: Assimilating the Individual on Star Trek: The Next Generation in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek. Eds. Harrison et al. (Westview Press: Boulder, 1996).
  6. ↑ "Lore". Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  7. ↑ TNG Episode "Descent, Part II", near 39 minutes. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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