Data's Complete Star Trek Timeline, Explained

Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) quickly became one of the Star Trek most interesting and beloved characters. A unique and advanced android, Data served as operations officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Data's universal kindness and childlike sense of wonder made him hard to dislike, and he remains an important part of modern society. Star Trek. Brent Spiner's distinctive performance helped set Data apart among TNG's incredibly strong cast, and their quest to be human became one of TNG's best ongoing stories.

Thanks in part to Brent Spiner's performance as Data (as well as his portrayal of Data's evil twin brother Lore and several members of the Soong family), Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe data-centric episodes remain some of the show's strongest. As Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek: The Original Series, Allowed data TNG to explore humanity from an outside perspective. After completion of TNG, Data played a significant role in all four Star Trek: The Next Generation films until his heroic sacrifice in Star Trek: Nemesis. The data was then missing from the Star Trek franchise until the character made a surprising return in Star Trek: Picard – not once, but twice.

The data was created by Dr. Noonien Soong and found by Starfleet (2330s-2364)

Dr. Soong constructed data sometime in the 2330s

Noonien Soong created data on the planet Omicron Theta around 2336, as the fifth of six androids. Data lived his early days among the colonists on Omicron Theta learning from the world around them, just like a human child would. At one point, Dr. Soong deactivated Data to send the colonists' memories into the android's positronic brain. While Data was deactivated, a Crystalline Entity attacked the colony, forcing Dr. Soong and his wife, Juliana (Fionnula Flanagan), to flee and leave Data behind. On February 2, 2338, the USS Tripoli found Data and reactivated him.

Data fought without his “country,” but his neural network continued to develop as he achieved sentience. Because a Starfleet ship found it, Data chose to attend Starfleet Academy starting in 2341. Although his lack of understanding of social cues sometimes made Data's life difficult, he achieved high grades and eventually graduated with honors in 2345. Data's first assignment was aboard the USS Trieste, where he rose from ensign to lieutenant. , before being promoted to lieutenant. commander in 2360. Four years later, in 2364, Data joined the crew of the USS Enterprise-D as an operations officer.

Data conveyed on the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2371)

Data carried on the Enterprise-D from 2364 until the ship's destruction in 2371

As operations officer on the USS Enterprise-D, Data participated in many missions away from home and was regularly left in charge of the bridge during the night shift as he did not need to sleep. Data's android abilities and immunity to disease have proven vital on several occasions. and the Enterprise would have been destroyed multiple times if Data hadn't been on board. Throughout his time on the Enterprise, Data learned more and more about what it meant to be human, often with the help of his best friend, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).

In Star Trek: The Next Generation In the first season, Data met his brother Lore and learned more about his upbringing. The following year, a Federation judge ruled that Data was an individual and had the right to make his own choices. In TNG In season three, Data created an android daughter named Lal (Hallie Todd) based on his own positronic technology, although she later suffered a tragic cascade failure and stopped functioning. At the beginning TNG Season 4, Data met his creator, Dr. shortly before the elderly man's death at the hands of Lore. Data later had to deactivate his brother after Lore manipulated Data into siding with the Borg.

Dice died in Star Trek: Nemesis (2371-2379)

Data was killed in action in 2379 and his physical body was destroyed

In the first film after the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations, Data decided to install the emotional chip that Dr. Soong had created for him several years earlier. As Data adjusted to the emotional chip, he experienced strong outbursts of emotion this affected his ability to do his job. Much of Data's emotional chip journey was played for laughs at Star Trek Generations, and the plot was dropped as the films progressed. In Star Trek: First Contact, Data was kidnapped by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) and tempted to join her cause (for 0.68 seconds).

Data also played a central role in Star Trek: Insurrection, as he was the one who initially discovered something wrong on the planet Ba'ku. In the final TNG film, Star Trek: Nemesis, the Enterprise-E discovered another of Data's brothers, B-4. Despite B-4's less sophisticated positronic brain, Data uploaded his own memories into the other android's neural network. After William Riker's (Jonathan Frakes) promotion to captain, Data was about to take over as the Enterprise's first officer, but Picard's clone Shinzon (Tom Hardy) had other plans. In the end, Data sacrificed himself to save Captain Picard, the Enterprise, and planet Earth.

Data returned (with a twist) in Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Various versions of data appeared in Star Trek: Picard

Despite his death in Star Trek: Nemesis, Data returned in Star Trek: Picard season 1. Data first appeared in Admiral Jean-Luc Picard's dreams while the two were playing poker and later when Data painted a picture of his “daughter.” Picard remained deeply affected by Data's death and he later had the chance to speak to the android's consciousness in a simulation created by Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner). At Data's request, Picard agreed to terminate the android's consciousness, resulting in another death in 2399. Altan Soong, however, continued working on Data and eventually built a new synthetic body for the android.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 revealed that Soong found a way to extract Data's memories from B-4, and he combined them with Lore and Lal's memories. After a visiting team led by Captain Riker rescued the synthesizer android from Daystrom Station in 2401, the personalities of Data and Lore fought for control. In the end, Data won and his personality became dominant, finally allowing the android to experience real emotions. From his love for his cat Spot to his fascination with Sherlock Holmes, Data remains one of the Star Trek: The Next Generation most lovable characters and he has one of the strongest character journeys in the franchise.