Throughout his Star Trek career, Brent Spiner has proven himself to be one of the franchise’s most versatile actors by playing several different androids beyond Star Trek: The Next Generation Lieutenant Commander Data. The data was created by Dr. Noonien Soong (also played by Brent Spiner), a cyberneticist who has built several androids over the course of his life. Brent not only portrayed Data and his creator, but Spiner also portrayed every other Soong android that appeared on Star Trek, including Data’s evil twin brother, Lore.
Brent Spiner began acting in the late 1970s and is best known for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In all, Spiner depicted versions of three different androids, as well as four different members of the Soong family. Spiner is also known for playing Dr. Brakish Okun in Independence Day And Independence Day: Resurgence, and Bob Wheeler in the original Night Court and the 2023 reboot. Spiner has appeared in numerous television shows across genres and recently returned to voice an alternate universe version of Data in the animated film. Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Lieutenant Commander Data
Star Trek: The Next Generation and four TNG films
Lieutenant Commander Data served aboard the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for over seven years. Data was then a member of the USS Enterprise-E until his death in Star Trek: Nemesis. Data’s android abilities, as well as his resistance to disease and mental manipulation, makes him an invaluable asset to the Company. Although he was superior to humans in many ways, Data yearned more than anything to be human.. Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data observed and learned from the humans around him, especially his best friend, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
Related
Data’s Complete Star Trek Timeline, Explained
Brent Spiner’s Lt. Commander Data has had one of Star Trek’s most fascinating character journeys, from Star Trek: TNG to Star Trek: Picard.
Through his friendship with Geordi and the rest of the Enterprise-D crew, Data has developed his own type of humanity over the course of his life. Star Trek: The Next Generation. To be judged for the simple fact of existing in TNG “The Measure of a Man” from season 2 to the creation of a girl in TNG “The Offspring” from season 3 Data has experienced several life-changing events throughout his time with the Enterprise. Brent Spiner’s nuanced performance helped make the data-centric episodes one of Star Trek: The Next GenerationIt’s the best. With his endless curiosity and selfless kindness, Data remains Dr. Noonien Soong’s greatest achievement.
Traditions
Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Picard
Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 13, “Datalore”, Lore was the android that Dr. Soong created just before Data. Lore was as advanced as Data in many ways, but his emotional programming quickly became unstable. Lore came to view himself as superior to humans and had to be dismantled. After the Enterprise-D crew found and reassembled Lore in “Datalore”, they wasted no time trying to destroy the Enterprise and its crew. Lore then stole the emotion chip intended for Data, making him even more unstable.
Spiner took over Lore in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
After Lore allied himself with a group of Borg and attempted to manipulate Data into joining him, Data was forced to deactivate Lore and he was taken down again. In Lore’s four appearances on TNG, Brent Spiner was clearly having fun playing the villainous opposite of Data. Lore’s instability and calculating nature allowed Spiner to express more emotions than he ever had the chance to express as Data. Spiner took over Lore in Star Trek: Picard season 3, when the evil android personality fought for control of Data’s new golem body.
B-4
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Nemesis introduced another android prototype Soong into the less sophisticated B-4. The Enterprise-E crew found the disassembled body of the B-4 on the planet Kolarus III in 2379 and reassembled it. Wanting to help his brother develop his abilities, Data transferred his own memories to B-4, but the less advanced android had difficulty assimilating them. Data and Geordi eventually discovered that Shinzon (Tom Hardy) had placed B-4 in the Enterprise’s path and was using him as a spy.
Related
Star Trek: End of Nemesis and Why It Killed TNG Movies Explained
Star Trek: Nemesis wasn’t trying to kill the TNG films, but bad decisions and poor timing spelled the end of Captain Picard’s film franchise.
Due to this, B-4 was temporarily deactivated until Data’s death, after which Captain Picard reactivated him to inform him of his brother’s death. Some of Data’s memories soon began to resurface, but B-4’s future ultimately remained uncertain. When synthetic life was banned after malicious synthetics attacked Mars in 2385, The B-4 was dismantled and stored at the Daystrom Institute. Dr. Altan Soong was eventually able to extract Data’s memories from B-4’s positronic brain and incorporate the two androids’ personalities into his new golem body.
Data (Daystrom Android M-5-10)
Star Trek: Picard
Data briefly returned via dreams and pure consciousness into Star Trek: Picard season 1, before making a complete return InStar Trek: Picard season 3. In Picard season 3, Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Captain Worf (Michael Dorn), and Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) infiltrated Daystrom Station and found the latest creation of Dr. Altan Soong (Brent Spiner) – Daystrom Android M-5-10. This new, more human, emotion-filled Data body combined the personalities of Data, Lore, B-4, Data’s daughter Lal (Hallie Todd), and Soong himself.
A race of synthetics, including twins Dahj and Soji (Isa Briones), were secretly constructed from one of Data’s positronic neurons by Dr. Bruce Maddox (John Ales) and Dr. Altan Inigo Soong on the planet Coppelius.
After being rescued from Daystrom Station, Data and Lore’s personalities fought for control of their shared synthetic body until Data ultimately triumphed. Data then took up his old position on the newly rebuilt USS Enterprise-D and helped his friends thwart the Borg/Changeling plot to destroy Starfleet. Data experienced real emotions and relied on his instincts to pilot the Enterprise. through a complex Borg cube to find the beacon at its center. Data then began attending near-daily counseling sessions with counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) to work on his new humanity.
Purple data
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Brent Spiner returned to voice a purple version of Data in an alternate universe Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 7, “Fully Dilated”. As the USS Cerritos continued to investigate the quantum rifts that had mysteriously appeared across the galaxy, they sent a team to the planet Dilmer III. When lieutenants. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) searched for evidence of the Violet Enterprise’s accidental visit to Dilmer III, they came across Data’s disembodied head. Tendi found a way to reactivate Data’s head and he helped her solve her problems.
Purple Data truly felt like a blast from the past in all the best ways.
As an animated show, Star Trek: Lower Decks had more freedom to bring back legacy characters, and Season 5’s multiverse storyline allowed the show to do just that. The data was not the only character returned in Lower decks season 5, but his appearance was particularly special considering the character’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis. Purple Data truly felt like a blast from the past in all the best ways. This is largely thanks to Brent Spiner Star Trek: The Next Generation Data has become a very beloved character, and I hope that modern data Hiking finds ways to keep bringing it back.
-
- Release date
-
September 28, 1987
- Final year
-
November 30, 1993
-
- Release date
-
January 23, 2020
- Final year
-
November 30, 2022
- Cast
-
Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, Orla Brady, Michelle Hurd, Jeri Ryan, Brent Spiner, Harry Treadaway, Rebecca Wisocky, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Patrick Stewart
-
- Release date
-
August 6, 2020
- Final year
-
November 30, 2023
