Bios for established Star Trek characters

You will see from the following examples that my approach to writing bios is to treat them as stories in themselves, rather than just a simple collection of information points, or a potted history. I like my bios to have a narrative feel; I want them to evoke something in the player rather than just supply dry information. For me, a good bio should tell you a lot about a character and leave you wanting to know even more.

Captain Jean Luc Picard no longer simply sits in command of a starship, he sits as mentor and friend at the head of a family. For more than a decade, he has stood next to and over his crew, watched them grow and evolve into the exemplary and tight-knit unit he has come to love and trust implicitly, in mind, body and soul.

Although he is still haunted by memories of assimilation by the Borg, Picard’s sense of adventure and his spirit of exploration remain as strong as ever, as does his firm belief in the betterment of humanity and his conviction that dialogue and communication can achieve so much more than war ever could.

At this stage in his life, perhaps more than at any other, Captain Jean Luc Picard truly embodies the Platonic ideal of the Philosopher King.

As human as he has ever been in his life, the Soong-type android Lieutenant Commander Data has experienced much that has brought him ever closer to attaining his ultimate goal of achieving humanity.

He now has his emotion chip under better control, able to turn it on and off at will as he grapples with each new feeling and perception. He has even experienced the sensation of touch after the Borg Queen grafted organic flesh to his body; a gift he values, even if it was intended as a poisoned chalice.

For Data, however, the journey towards humanity is never over. Fortunately for him, it is not one he must take alone. He walks that path alongside people who love him, people who have his back. The crew of the Enterprise are Data’s friends, his family, and surely, if proof of humanity were ever needed, being surrounded by friends and family is as strong a confirmation as it gets.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Data

Will Riker

It has been a long time coming, but after more than fifteen years as Jean-Luc Picard’s steadfast second in command and reliable right-hand man, William T. Riker has finally accepted the responsibility, and the honor, of commanding his own starship as captain of the USS Titan.

But if there was ever a man more capable and deserving of such awesome command, it’s Riker. His experiences on the Enterprise have taught him a lot, not just about keeping a cool head in a crisis but also trusting in the skills and abilities of your crew. Because being a captain is not just about issuing orders, it’s about knowing what your people can do.

And Riker knows people. It’s one of his greatest strengths, and those instincts will serve him well as captain. But he has one other great strength, and that is the love he has for his wife, the half-Betazoid empath Deanna Troi. With her by his side, there is nothing he cannot achieve.

Deanna Troi

The half-Betazoid empath Deanna Troi has seen, experienced and, more specifically, felt much over almost two decades serving under Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the USS Enterprise. She is a trusted confidant and advisor whose wisdom is often sought.

While Deanna’s empathy gives her an insight into the hearts and minds, her keen intelligence gives her the ability to interpret those insights into tactical, strategic options that have proved their worth again and again in service to the crew of the Enterprise. That ability has only been honed and refined over the years, to the point where Deanna has become an integral member of the command team.

But if Deanna is indispensable to her shipmates, then she is absolutely essential to her husband, partner, and the love of her life, William T. Riker. Just like the crew relies on the helm to get them where they’re going, in matters of the heart, he relies on Troi to steer his course true.

In turbulent waters or calm, Deanna Troi is the anchor you can trust to keep you stable.

Like her old friend Jean-Luc Picard, it has been some time since Dr Beverly Crusher served as a Starfleet officer aboard a Federation vessel. Unburdened by Starfleet's rules, free to practice medicine as she sees fit, without having to worry more about Prime Directives than patients’ lives, Beverly has found a new role for herself in a galaxy where kindness is increasingly hard to find.

Beverly is now part of Eleos, a freelance humanitarian organization that focuses its attention on the grittier frontlines of survival. Together they fly into warzones to help those in need, interposing themselves between vicious gangs and unscrupulous villains and those people and civilizations they would seek to exploit. This older, steelier Beverly Crusher has seen a lot. She’s not just a doctor anymore; she’s a warrior.

How much can a man hold on to who he is, to the ideas he holds dear, when all around him the universe he knows and loves seems to be shifting away from him? For Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, a man historically given to existential introspection, a man quite literally no longer the human being he used to be, these questions loom large.

The Federation has been touched by darker days since Jean-Luc captained the Enterprise. The destruction of Romulus, and the events that followed it, not least Starfleet’s response to Romulan suffering, led Picard to resign acrimoniously from Starfleet. Yet, in a time of uncertainty, when the threads of old enmities threaten to fray and snap, when the bloodlust rises and calls for war, perhaps Jean-Luc Picard is the older, wiser head the galaxy needs.

Beverly Crusher

Admiral Picard

Fleet Commander Seven of Nine

It has been a long road, but at last Seven of Nine has achieved her goal of joining Starfleet. However, Seven’s struggles are not yet over. The reality of life proves just as difficult for the former Borg, working alongside those who remember all too well the friends and colleagues lost to the Collective.

After years wrestling with her identity, fighting to regain her humanity under the mentorship of Captain Janeway aboard the USS Voyager, Seven eventually attained a sense of equilibrium. That equilibrium was challenged however when she returned to the Alpha Quadrant and found herself rejected by Starfleet, despite her obvious talents.

Dismissed by those she had idolized, Seven became a rootless bounty hunter, until her dealings brought her into contact with Jean-Luc Picard and back once more into the sphere of Starfleet. This time, with both Picard and Janeway vouching for her, she finally earned the right to wear the uniform.

Now, having attained the position of a high ranking serving officer aboard a Starfleet vessel, she has even more to prove than ever.

Dixon Hill

“So I heard these mooks in the city saying somewhere out there it’s the 25th century or some cockamamie crazy talk like that, but right here, right now, in the real world, it’s 1941 and the future - heck, any kind of future - well, it looks a long, long way away to me. Sure I got my dreams, we all got our dreams, of a bright new tomorrow, of a shining metropolis of wonders like in the moving pictures, but none of that ain’t gonna happen until I clean the dirty streets of today.

San Francisco is a cesspool of sleaze and crime, a town overrun by gangsters and the corrupt politicians in their pockets, where every second knock at my door is some dame looking to settle a score or mend a broken heart, like I’m the answer to all their problems. Hell, what do I know? Maybe I am. All I can say for sure is that I do the best I can. You need help? You can find me in the book. The name’s Dixon Hill. Detective for hire.”