59 Fun Facts About Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Who created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?

Rick Berman and Michael Piller created Deep Space Nine, the first Star Trek series made without Gene Roddenberry's direct involvement; he died in October 1991, fifteen months before its January 1993 premiere.

How many episodes of Deep Space Nine were made across its seven seasons?

Deep Space Nine ran 176 episodes: season one, which began in January 1993 midway through the broadcast year, had 20, and seasons two through seven had 26 each.

What is the name of the station's commercial and social hub?

The Promenade is the station's commercial and social hub, a two-level ring holding the Replimat, the infirmary, a temple and the bar where much of the series unfolds.

Who plays Benjamin Sisko?

Brooks also directed episodes, including the acclaimed 'Far Beyond the Stars', in which he starred.

The station was built by the Cardassians during their occupation of which planet?

The Cardassians built the station in orbit of Bajor during their roughly fifty-year occupation of the planet, which ended in 2369 when they withdrew and Bajor's provisional government invited Starfleet in.

What was the station called under Cardassian rule, before it was renamed Deep Space Nine?

Terok Nor was the station's name under Cardassian rule, when Gul Dukat commanded it as the last prefect of the Occupation; Starfleet renamed it Deep Space 9 on taking over in 2369.

The wormhole discovered near the station leads to which distant part of the galaxy?

The wormhole connects the station's system to the Gamma Quadrant, roughly 70,000 light-years away, turning a backwater station into the gateway for exploration and, later, the Dominion War.

The Bajorans revere Sisko as what?

The two-hour pilot was titled 'Emissary' for that reason.

In the pilot, Sisko's wife Jennifer dies aboard the USS Saratoga in which battle against the Borg?

At the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367, Locutus's cube destroyed 39 Starfleet ships, including the Saratoga; Sisko's lingering grief explains his coldness toward Picard in the premiere.

Which prototype warship was introduced in season three to allow stories away from the station?

The USS Defiant, a prototype warship, debuted in the season-three opener 'The Search' (1994); it was nearly named Valiant, but that was changed to avoid confusion with the new series Voyager.

What Starfleet rank does Benjamin Sisko hold when the series begins?

Sisko holds the rank of Commander when the series begins in 2369; he is promoted to Captain in the season-three finale, 'The Adversary' (1995).

Which Next Generation character joined the main cast in season four?

Michael Dorn's Worf ended up with more Star Trek appearances than any other character.

Odo, the station's security chief, belongs to which shape-shifting species?

Odo is one of the Changelings; his species, the shape-shifting Founders who rule the Dominion, live merged in a liquid Great Link, and his origin is revealed in the season-three opener 'The Search' (1994).

Who plays Odo?

René Auberjonois played Odo for all seven seasons, spending hours in makeup each day; he was already known as Father Mulcahy in the 1970 film M*A*S*H and Clayton Endicott III on Benson.

The Dominion's genetically engineered shock troops are called what?

The Jem'Hadar are the Dominion's genetically engineered soldiers, bred to mature within days, need no sleep, and depend on the drug ketracel-white, which keeps them loyal to the Founders.

In which second-season episode is the Dominion first mentioned?

'Rules of Acquisition' (1993) first names the Dominion: while Quark negotiates a tulaberry-wine deal with the Dosi, they reveal that the Karemma belong to it. Its soldiers do not appear until the season-two finale.

Which recurring DS9 actor played both the Ferengi Brunt and the Vorta Weyoun, both in 'The Dogs of War'?

Jeffrey Combs appears as both Brunt and Weyoun in 'The Dogs of War'; he first came to DS9 as the alien Tiron in 'Meridian' (1994) and later played the Andorian Shran on Enterprise.

Elim Garak, the station's Cardassian tailor, is a former agent of which secret police organisation?

Garak served the Obsidian Order, the Cardassian intelligence agency feared even by its own military, under its head Enabran Tain; his exile to the station followed a falling-out with Tain.

Who plays Gul Dukat, Sisko's arch-enemy?

Marc Alaimo played Gul Dukat across all seven seasons; he had earlier played Gul Macet, the first Cardassian ever shown on screen, in the TNG episode 'The Wounded' (1991).

Which Cardassian, introduced as Dukat's aide, eventually leads an insurgency against the Dominion?

Damar, first seen as Dukat's aide in 'Return to Grace' (1996), later becomes Cardassia's Dominion-installed leader, then turns rebel and dies in the final episode leading the Cardassian uprising.

Who becomes the first Ferengi to join Starfleet?

Nog becomes the first Ferengi in Starfleet after Sisko sponsors his Academy application in 'Heart of Stone' (1995); he loses a leg at AR-558 and recovers in 'It's Only a Paper Moon'.

Which comedian and Princess Bride actor plays Grand Nagus Zek, leader of the Ferengi?

Wallace Shawn, Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987), played Grand Nagus Zek from 'The Nagus' (1993) through 'The Dogs of War', the episode in which Zek retires and names his successor.

Who plays Quark, the Ferengi bar owner?

Armin Shimerman played Quark throughout the series; he had already played a Ferengi, Letek, in TNG's 'The Last Outpost' (1987), the episode that introduced the species.

Which Klingon general succeeds Gowron as Chancellor after Worf kills Gowron?

Martok, played by J. G. Hertzler, becomes Chancellor in 'Tacking Into the Wind' when Gowron dies in a duel and the victor hands Martok the title rather than claim it.

Morn, the regular at Quark's bar, is famous for what?

He had a line in the pilot script that was cut for time, which inspired the joke.

Odo's morphing effects and the show's first CGI starship were built by which effects company?

VisionArt Design & Animation created Odo's liquid morphing effects from the 1993 pilot onward and supplied the series' earliest computer-generated ship models, before Foundation Imaging and Digital Muse took over CGI work in later seasons.

To save money on fleet battle scenes, the effects team used what in the background?

Background ships in fleet scenes were padded out with toys, model kits and Christmas ornaments, a cheap trick used before all-CGI armadas became affordable with the Dominion War from 1997.

How much did the physical model of the Deep Space Nine station sell for at Christie's in 2006?

The station's filming miniature fetched $132,000 at Christie's '40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection' auction in New York in October 2006, the same sale in which the Enterprise-D model made $576,000.

Who composed the Deep Space Nine main title theme, which won an Emmy?

Dennis McCarthy composed the theme, opening with a lone trumpet to convey the outpost's isolation; it won the 1993 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music.

Into which original series episode were the DS9 crew digitally inserted for Star Trek's 30th anniversary?

'Trials and Tribble-ations' (1996) drops the crew into 'The Trouble with Tribbles' as Star Trek's 30th-anniversary tribute; Voyager's companion tribute that year was 'Flashback'.

In 'Far Beyond the Stars', Sisko envisions being Benny Russell, a sci-fi writer in New York in which year?

Benny Russell writes for the pulp magazine Incredible Tales in 1953 New York, facing the racism of the era; the regular cast appear as 20th-century humans without their alien make-up.

In 'In the Pale Moonlight', which power do Sisko and Garak scheme to bring into the war?

Sisko and Garak forge evidence to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War; when Senator Vreenak spots the fake, Garak blows up his shuttle so the Romulans blame the Dominion and declare war.

In 'The Visitor', the elderly Jake Sisko is played by which actor, better known as Candyman?

Tony Todd, star of 1992's Candyman, plays the elderly Jake; he also played the Klingon Kurn on TNG and DS9. 'The Visitor' lost the 1996 Hugo to Babylon 5's 'The Coming of Shadows'.

In 'Duet', Kira interrogates a Cardassian claiming to be Gul Darhe'el, the 'Butcher of' which labour camp?

Gallitep was the labour camp the resistance liberated; the prisoner is really Aamin Marritza, a file clerk there, who wants Cardassia forced to admit its crimes.

Time-travelling Quark and his family become the aliens of which UFO event in 'Little Green Men'?

The 1995 episode casts the three Ferengi as the aliens of the Roswell UFO incident of July 1947, after smuggled kemocite throws their shuttle back in time and into the hands of the US Army.

In the Mirror Universe episodes, who rules the alternate reality?

In DS9's mirror universe, first seen in 'Crossover' (1994), the Terran Empire has fallen and a Klingon–Cardassian Alliance rules, with Terrans enslaved until they rebel across four more episodes.

Section 31, the Federation's shadowy black-ops group, was introduced in which episode?

'Inquisition' (1998) introduces Section 31 through Luther Sloan's interrogation of Bashir; the group is later revealed to have engineered a virus intended to wipe out the Founders.

Jadzia Dax is which host of the Dax symbiont?

Jadzia is the eighth host of Dax, after Lela, Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias, Joran and Curzon; Curzon was Sisko's old friend, which is why Sisko calls her 'old man'.

Who plays Ezri Dax, introduced in season seven after Jadzia's death?

Nicole de Boer, previously the lead of the 1997 film Cube, joined as Ezri Dax; the producers kept the new host female so that Nana Visitor would not be the only woman in the main cast.

Dr Julian Bashir's big secret, revealed in season five, is that he was what?

Bashir was genetically engineered as a child, an illegal procedure in the Federation; in 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume?' (1997) his father takes a two-year prison sentence so Julian can keep his commission.

Miles O'Brien is unique among regular Star Trek characters because he is what?

O'Brien is a non-commissioned officer: a chief petty officer who came up through the enlisted ranks rather than Starfleet Academy. Colm Meaney played him on TNG before moving to DS9 for its 1993 launch.

Bajoran custom puts the family name first, so what is Major Kira's given name?

She grew up in a labour camp during the fifty-year Cardassian occupation and fought in the resistance.

Vic Fontaine, the holographic Rat Pack-style lounge singer, is played by which 1960s teen idol?

James Darren, the teen idol of the Gidget films (1959–63) and the 1961 hit 'Goodbye Cruel World', played Vic Fontaine from 'His Way' (1998) through the finale.

Who took over from Michael Piller as showrunner in 1995 and ran the series to its end?

Ira Steven Behr, a writer-producer on the show since its first season, became showrunner when Piller moved on to launch Voyager in January 1995, and ran DS9 through its seventh and final season.

Where does the final confrontation between Sisko and Dukat take place in the series finale?

The Fire Caves of Bajor are where Sisko confronts a Pah-wraith-possessed Dukat and tackles him into the flames, taking the book of the Kosst Amojan with him and sealing the Pah-wraiths away.

At the end of the finale, who becomes commander of Deep Space Nine?

Colonel Kira takes command of Deep Space Nine after Sisko departs to the Celestial Temple; the finale's closing shot has her standing beside Jake at a window as the camera pulls back from the station.

Why was Sisko's departure to the Prophets in the finale changed from permanent to a promised return?

An earlier draft had Sisko dying at Cardassia and being resurrected by the Prophets.

Which DS9 episode featured Star Trek's first on-screen same-sex kiss?

'Rejoined' (1995) pairs Jadzia with Lenara Kahn, whose symbiont was once married to Dax's; their kiss was the franchise's first between two women, and the episode drew both praise and protest letters.

Deep Space Nine was pitched as the sci-fi equivalent of which type of Western?

The pitch was 'The Rifleman in space': a widowed father raising his son in a town on the edge of the frontier, which became Sisko and Jake on a station beside the wormhole, surrounded by civilian regulars.

Which former original series star criticised DS9 in 2007 as the polar opposite of Roddenberry's vision?

George Takei, Sulu in the original series, said in 2007 that DS9's dark, war-driven tone was the polar opposite of Roddenberry's vision; writer D. C. Fontana countered that Roddenberry, a WWII veteran, would have appreciated it.

Where was Benjamin Sisko born?

His father Joseph runs a Creole restaurant there, and Sisko himself is a devoted baseball fan.

At whose request did Rick Berman and Michael Piller create Deep Space Nine?

Brandon Tartikoff, then chairman of Paramount Pictures, asked Berman in 1991 for a new Star Trek series to run alongside The Next Generation; the show he commissioned debuted in January 1993.

On what date did Deep Space Nine's final episode air?

'What You Leave Behind' aired on June 2, 1999, closing a run that had begun on January 3, 1993, midway through The Next Generation's sixth season.

Which Next Generation director recommended Jeffrey Combs for DS9 after working with him on 'Meridian'?

Combs had once auditioned for Riker, the role Frakes won, and later played Brunt and Weyoun.

Who plays Quark's brother Rom?

Max Grodénchik played Rom, rising from Quark's put-upon brother to station engineer and finally Grand Nagus; Grodénchik had played two other Ferengi on The Next Generation before landing the role.

Which Ferengi character engineers a women's-rights revolution on Ferenginar?

Ishka, Quark and Rom's mother, known as Moogie, wins Ferengi females the right to wear clothes and earn profit by becoming Zek's partner; she was played by Andrea Martin, then Cecily Adams.

Which DS9 episode unites the original-series Klingons Kor, Koloth and Kang?

'Blood Oath' (1994) brings back Kor, Koloth and Kang, played by their original actors John Colicos, William Campbell and Michael Ansara, to hunt the Albino alongside Jadzia Dax, honouring an oath sworn to Curzon.

The Maquis storyline is rooted in which Next Generation episode about settlers refusing to leave their planet?

'Journey's End' (1994) has the Native American colonists of Dorvan V refuse to leave when a treaty cedes their world to Cardassia, seeding the Maquis, who debut weeks later in DS9's 'The Maquis'.

Who created Babylon 5 and suspected Paramount had used his pitch materials to shape DS9?

J. Michael Straczynski had pitched Babylon 5 to Paramount in 1989, which passed; when the studio announced DS9 roughly two months after Warner Bros announced Babylon 5, he suspected his pitch had been used, though he never took legal action.