Data (Star Trek) - Depiction

Depiction

Dialog in "Datalore" establishes some of Data's backstory. It is stated that he was deactivated in 2336 on Omicron Theta before an attack by the Crystalline Entity, a spaceborne creature which converts life forms to energy for sustenance. He was found and reactivated by Starfleet personnel two years later. Data went to Starfleet Academy from 2341–45 (he describes himself as "Class of '78" to Riker in "Encounter at Farpoint", but that may refer to the stardate and not the year that he graduated) and then served in Starfleet aboard the USS Trieste. He was assigned to the Enterprise under Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2364. In "Datalore", Data discovers his amoral brother, Lore, and learns he was not the first android constructed by Soong. Lore fails in an attempt to betray the Enterprise to the Crystalline Entity, and Data beams his brother into space at the episode's conclusion.

In "Brothers", Data reunites with Dr. Soong (also portrayed by Spiner). There he meets again with Lore, who steals the emotion chip Soong meant for Data to receive. Lore then fatally wounds Soong. Lore returns in the two-part episode "Descent", using the emotion chip to control Data and make him help with Lore's attempt to make the Borg entirely artificial life forms. Data eventually deactivates Lore, and recovers, but does not install the damaged emotion chip.

The episode "In Theory" traces Data's literary roots to Isaac Asimov's and Philip K. Dick's exploration of the nature of artificial intelligence and the nature of reality and humanity. The episode reflects the ideas created in such works as Bicentennial Man and Asimov's Robot series (which introduced the Three Laws Of Robotics).

In "The Measure of a Man", a Starfleet judge rules that Data is not Starfleet property. The episode establishes that Data has a storage capacity of 800 quadrillion bits, (88.81784197 PB) and a total linear computational speed of 60 trillion operations per second.

The concepts of Data's family is explored in "The Offspring" which introduces a robot based on Data's neural interface and is technically his daughter Lal, who died shortly after activation. Later, his mother Julianna appears in the episode "Inheritance" and reunites with Data, though the crew discovers she was an android built by Soong after the real Julianna's death, programmed to die after a long life. Faced with the decision, Data chooses not to disclose this to her and allow her the chance to continue on with her normal life.

In "All Good Things...", the two-hour concluding episode of The Next Generation, Captain Picard travels between three different times. The Picard of 25 years into the future goes with La Forge to seek advice from Professor Data, a luminary physicist who holds the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University.

Although several androids, robots and artificial intelligences were seen in the original Star Trek series, Data was often referred to as being unique in the universe as being the only sentient android known to exist (save the other androids created by Soong).

In the film Star Trek: Generations, Data finally installs the emotion chip he retrieved from Lore, and experiences the full scope of emotions.

In the film Star Trek: Nemesis, Data beams Picard off an enemy ship before destroying it, sacrificing himself, saving the captain and crew of the Enterprise. However, Data previously copied his core memories into B-4, Data's lost brother who is introduced in the movie. This was done with the reluctant help of Geordi LaForge who voiced concerns about how this could cause B-4 to be nothing more than an exact duplicate of Data.

In the comic book mini-series Star Trek: Countdown (the official prequel to the reboot Star Trek film) Data, having successfully transferred his positronic pathways and memories into B-4, now commands the Enterprise-E in its mission to stop the Romulan Nero. Spock compares Data's "resurrection" with his own death and return years earlier.