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| Played by: |
Brent Spiner (02/02-1949)
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| Native: |
Android (Artificial Lifeform), Build on "Omicron Theta" |
| Birthday: |
29 February 2338 |
| Academy: |
2341 - 2345 |
| Lover: |
Natasha Yar
Jenna DeSaura ("In Theory")
|
| Family: |
"Father", Dr Noonian Soong (Designer & Builder)
"Brother", Lore
"Daughter", Lal (Created and died in "The Offspring")
|
| Friends: |
Geordi LaForge
Keiko + Miles O'Brien
Ishara Yar ("Legacy")
Sarjenka ("Pen Pals")
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| Enemies: |
|
| Known as: |
"Data" |
| +: |
Logic mind. |
| -: |
No instincts. |
| Position: |
Lieutenant Commander, 2nd officer, OPS station. |
|
Profile
Data is the only android ever to serve in Starfleet. Data has proven to be
a vital member of the Enterprise crew from the start, and has been saving
the crew's lives since the second episode of the entire series - indeed, had
Data been transferred to another ship or destroyed at any point, the
Enterprise would have almost certainly succumbed to some kind of enemy threat or
natural disaster about five episodes later!
Data's existence as an android has brought mistrust from humans, and his
computerized nature also means that he can be deactivated or even taken over
by anyone with the proper skills ("The Schizoid Man" & "Contagion", just to
name a few). But his agility, strength and inability to fall victim to many
techniques used to render organic beings unconscious or disoriented has also
allowed Data to save the Enterprise (as in "The Naked Now" and "Night
Terrors"), entire planets ("The Ensigns Of Command") and even the entire
Federation and civilization as we know it ("The Best Of Both Worlds").
It is interesting to notice, however, that even Data was not immune to
being kidnapped and experimented upon by aliens and recalling none of the
incident in "Schisms".
Two of the most potentially intriguing facets of Data's character have
been examined several times over the series' run: his rights as a
machinebeing and his inability to feel or even successfully emulate human emotions.
"The Measure Of a Man", "The Schizoid Man" and "The Offspring" focused on
whether living organic beings' rights take precedence over those of an
android, while such stories as "The Most Toys" and "Legacy" showed humans with
malicious intent taking advantage of Data's inability to feel anger or
mistrust (although he appears to have learned to analyze situations more
extensively by the time Sela tries to take advantage of the same traits in
"Redemption II". A few other shows, such as "Data's Day", show a more
lighthearted side to Data's unique outlook on his surroundings. As noted before,
surviving some of the perils of the galaxy would have been impossible for
the Enterprise were Data not on board.
Data's head - badly damaged - was found on Earth in caverns beneath
Starfleet Academy in San Francisco during an archaeological dig, along with
other items, including a pocketwatch and a Colt pistol. All of those
artifacts had been buried there since the late 1800s, though no trace of Data's
body could be found. Also discovered in the excavation were traces of alien
organisms that Geordi traced back to a distant planet. The Enterprise
visited the planet, and in the course of investigating invisible life-forms
there who had apparently constructed a gateway through time, Data was sucked
back into 19th-century San Francisco, where he immediately began trying to
continue his investigation of probable alien interference in human history.
It turned out that an encounter with the aliens resulted in an energy surge
which blew his head off, while the away team from the Enterprise that
followed him into the past took his body back to the future with them and
reconnected the head, repaired, with his body, restoring him to full function.
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