Data (Star Trek)

Lieutenant Commander Data, played by Brent Spiner, is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe. An android, he served as the second officer and chief of operations on the USS Enterprise-D and the USS Enterprise-E. Data appeared throughout the ' television series and in later movies.

Biography

Data's creation was originally a mystery. Having been rescued by Starfleet officers from Omicron Theta, a planet where almost all life had been destroyed by the Crystalline Entity, Data decided to join Starfleet as a career. After attending Starfleet Academy and graduating with honors degrees in probability mechanics and exobiology (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "The Measure of a Man"), Data served with distinction on the Enterprises-D and -E, with the rank of lieutenant commander. Data held some of Starfleet's highest honors including the Starfleet Command Decoration for Valor; Starfleet Command Decoration for Gallantry; Medal of Honor, with Clusters; Legion of Honor; and the Starcross ("The Measure of a Man").

Related Topics:
Omicron Theta - Crystalline Entity - Starfleet Academy - Honors degrees - Probability mechanics - Exobiology - TNG - Encounter at Farpoint - The Measure of a Man - Lieutenant commander

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The first season episode "Datalore" revealed that Data was created by Dr. Noonien Soong, a cyberneticist. Data's construction followed Dr. Soong's previous, less successful attempt at an artificial humanoid life form, named Lore, who became a recurring character on TNG. Lore was more or less Data's "evil twin", although they refered to each other as "brother." In Lore's first appearance, he deactivated Data in an attempt to take over the Enterprise-D and offer its crew to the Crystalline Entity. In the seventh-season episode "Inheritance", Data meets Soong's wife, Dr. Juliana Tainer, who tells him that a total of seven androids of Data's type were constructed, but that they were prone to cascade neural failures and were all short-lived.

Related Topics:
Datalore - Noonien Soong - Lore - Evil twin - Inheritance - Juliana Tainer

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In 2365, cyberneticist Commander Bruce Maddox obtained permission to have Data reassigned for study, wherein he would be deactivated, disassembled, and duplicated (with his knowledge and memories dumped into a computer and thereafter transferred back), possibly destroying him in the process. Data refused, and sought and won a legal judgment ? with the aid of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, his commanding officer on the Enterprise-D (and -E), as his legal counsel ? declaring him a sentient being with the same rights as other Federation citizens ("The Measure of a Man").

Related Topics:
Bruce Maddox - Captain Jean-Luc Picard - Commanding officer - Sentient being

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Desiring to reproduce, Data created an android daughter, Lal, in 2366. She exceeded Data's abilities, using verbal contractions and feeling some emotions. Unfortunately, she became scared when Starfleet scientists wanted to relocate her away from Data, and ? overwhelmed ? she suffered a cascade neural failure and died shortly after being activated. She told Data, "I love you, father," but Data was incapable of reciprocating ("The Offspring").

Related Topics:
Lal - Contraction - Emotion - The Offspring

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Data was thought lost in a shuttle accident in 2366, but had in fact been kidnapped by fraudulent antiquities dealer Kivas Fajo. Fajo was subsequently arrested and Data released ("The Most Toys").

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During the Borg invasion of the Federation in 2366-7, Data successfully interfaced with Locutus of Borg (an assimilated Captain Picard who was abducted then rescued), accessed the Borg collective consciousness, and introduced a command into a low-level program pathway that forced the Borg to regenerate. This action effectively "put them to sleep," halted their advance, and caused the Borg ship to self-destruct in Earth orbit ("The Best of Both Worlds").

Related Topics:
Borg - Invasion of the Federation - Locutus of Borg - Assimilated - Earth orbit - The Best of Both Worlds

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In 2367, Data was taken over by a homing signal generated by Dr. Soong, who intended to give Data a basic emotion chip which Soong had perfected in secret after being thought dead. The homing signal compelled Data to commandeer the Enterprise-D and bring it to Soong's lab on Terlina III. Unfortunately, the homing signal summoned Lore as well, who tricked Soong into giving him the chip and then killed him ("Brothers").

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In 2368, Data's head was discovered in an archeological dig in San Francisco. The ensuing investigation sent Data, later followed by several senior Enterprise-D officers, to late 19th century San Francisco. Data's presence set up a number of temporal paradoxes involving Guinan, who had been present on Earth at that time, and the senior staff. Jack London and Mark Twain appear in the episode. Data's head was blown off in the 19th century; the officers escaped with his body, but Captain Picard was left behind. Picard implanted a message into the head, and when it was reattached hundreds of years later, the crew was able to avoid catastrophe and rescue him ("Time's Arrow").

Related Topics:
San Francisco - 19th century - Guinan - Jack London - Mark Twain - Time's Arrow

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In 2370, Data was kidnapped by Lore and coerced through Lore's manipulation of Soong's aforementioned emotion chip into aiding an insurrection by the Borg. After the threat to the Federation was dealt with, Data was forced to disassemble his brother. From Lore, Data obtained the emotion chip which Soong had originally intended for him ("Descent").

Related Topics:
Borg - Descent

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Later in 2370, Data met a woman who appeared to be Dr. Juliana Tainer, the widow and collaborator of Dr. Soong; in a sense, Data's mother. However, she turned out to be an android constructed by Dr. Soong after the original Dr. Tainer died; she had, unlike Data, been unaware of her nature as an android. Dr. Tainer eventually divorced Dr. Soong and remarried ("Inheritance").

Related Topics:
Juliana Tainer - Inheritance

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In 2371, Data chose to use the emotion chip he had extracted from Lore. Despite initial difficulties in adaptation, Data successfully integrated the emotion chip ('). He was later able to deactivate the emotion chip at will, which he did at the request of Captain Picard during the Borg attempt to commandeer the Enterprise-E, following the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373. (').

Related Topics:
Borg - Battle of Sector 001

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Data was chosen to become first officer of the Enterprise-E in 2379; shortly thereafter, he discovered a second prototype version of himself, whom Dr. Soong had named B-4. However, before acceding to the first officer's position, he was lost in the line of duty while saving the Enterprise-E and its crew from the thalaron beam generator aboard the Reman ship Scimitar when that ship exploded ('). However, before his death, Data copied his knowledge and memories to B-4's brain in the hopes that this would help B-4 learn and grow. This gives the possibility for Data to be resurrected in a future movie, although this may necessitate the use of parts from the dismantled Lore, since B-4 had severe circuitry limitations.

Related Topics:
B-4 - Reman

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In an alternate future created by Q, Data held the Lucasian professorship at Cambridge University ("All Good Things...").

Related Topics:
Q - Lucasian professor - Cambridge University - All Good Things...

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