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Data (Star Trek)

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Template:Star Trek character Data[1] is a character, portrayed by Brent Spiner, in the Star Trek fictional universe. Designed by Doctor Noonien Soong, Lieutenant Commander[2] Data is an android who serves as the second officer and chief operations officer aboard the starships USS Enterprise-D and USS Enterprise-E. Data appears throughout the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) television series and in the films based on The Next Generation.

Data is a sentient artificial lifeform designed to resemble a human. His positronic brain allows him impressive computational capabilities[3] and the ability to perform most human activities. However, he has ongoing difficulties understanding various aspects of human behavior and is unable to feel emotions[4] until he is provided with an "emotion chip" in Star Trek: Generations.

Dramatically, Data is a rough counterpart to Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) in that he has a rational, analytical mind and finds humans hard to understand, and through his attempts to understand human behavior, the series' creators comment on certain aspects of humanity. Unlike Spock, however, he is drawn to the concept of humanity. Coincidentally, Data was one of the few non-Vulcans to master the Vulcan nerve pinch.[5]

Data's name[1] is properly pronounced (in IPA) /'dei.tə/ (or day-tuh) as opposed to the alternative pronunciations /'dɑ:.tə/ (dah-ta)or /'dæt.ə/ (datt-a). When Data corrects Dr. Katherine Pulaski for using the latter pronunciation, Pulaski asks, "What's the difference?" Data replies, "One is my name, the other is not".[6]

Character arc

At the beginning of The Next Generation, Data was aware of some of his backstory: that he had been found on Omicron Theta after an attack by the Crystalline Entity and reactivated by Starfleet personnel. Data went to Starfleet Academy and served in Starfleet, being assigned to the Enterprise prior to Picard being given command of that ship.

Starting with the episode "The Naked Now", Data became sexually involved with Tasha Yar, this relationship seems to have lasted until Yar's death. In "Datalore" he discovers his "evil" brother, Lore and learns he was not the first android Soong made. In "The Measure of a Man," Data was legally declared an individual as opposed to Starfleet property, yet is not named a full sentient being as merely free officer, able to choose not to get disassembled as test subject for his positronic brain. Data attempted to reproduce in the episode "The Offspring" by creating a daughter, Lal, from his own neural net matrix (she died by the end of the episode). In the episode "Brothers", Data finds his creator, Dr. Soong; reunites with Lore, only to see him steal the emotion chip meant for himself. Data experienced dreaming for the first time in the episode "Birthright," and later in "Descent" he experiences "negative" emotions, reunites with and, afterward, disassembles Lore who controls his free will.

In the film Star Trek: Generations, Data installs the emotion chip retrieved from Lore and experiences full scope of joy, crippling fear, and overwhelming guilt. The Borg tried to use his emotion ship to manipulate him in the film Star Trek: First Contact . In the film Star Trek: Nemesis Data discovers another older brother, B-4, into whom he transfers his own memory engrams, prior to sacrificing himself to save the USS Enterprise and crew from total destruction.

Brent Spiner on Data

Brent Spiner has noted that he has visibly aged out of the role and that it would be implausible for him to continue playing an android whose appearance should not change with time [7] (although the seventh-season episode "Inheritance" establishes that Data has an aging program that can change his appearance). While Spiner has often expressed affection for Data and appreciation for his career within Star Trek, he has also made it quite clear he is ready to move on.

Scholarly and fan reception

Fans and scholars have compared Data to Spock from the original series.

In another vein, robotics engineers regard Data (along with "R2-D2 or C-3PO-like devices from the Star Wars movies) as the pre-eminent face of robots in the public's perception of their field.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b In the episode "The Measure of a Man", Data's full name—the sole word—is elaborated upon in an on-screen graphic with the initialisms NFN and NMI: No First Name, No Middle Initial.
  2. ^ In the past timeline scenes in "All Good Things...", Data wears the insignia of a lieutenant junior grade, although Picard addresses him as "Commander."
  3. ^ TNG: "The Measure of a Man"
  4. ^ TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"
  5. ^ TNG: "Unification, Part II"
  6. ^ TNG: "The Child"
  7. ^ http://www.comingsoon.net/news/startreknews.php?id=16437
  8. ^ James M. Conrad, Stiquito for Beginners: An Introduction to Robotics Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; Book and Access edition (December 27, 1999), page 2

Template:Star Trek regulars

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