Ro Laren
Encyclopedia
Ro Laren is a recurring fictional character
on Star Trek: The Next Generation
, played by Michelle Forbes
.
Ro Laren was also planned to be a main character in the two following Star Trek television shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
and Star Trek: Voyager
. The creators of Deep Space Nine wanted a strong-willed Bajoran character who would engender interpersonal conflict with the station's commander, Benjamin Sisko
. However, Michelle Forbes turned down the role, so another Bajoran character named Kira Nerys
was created instead.
", indicates she was born on January 17, 2340 on Bajor to Ro Talia and Gale, and that she attended Starfleet Academy
from 2358 to 2362.
According to Bajoran tradition, her family name precedes her personal name. When she first joins the crew of the Enterprise-D, Picard addresses her as "Ensign Laren". She corrects him, saying that Laren is her given name and Ro is her family name. She is then referred to as "Ensign Ro."
Ro joins the crew as a troubled young Bajoran officer who had been court-martial
led while serving on the USS Wellington, for disobeying orders on an away mission, resulting in eight deaths. She was imprisoned on Jaros II, but Admiral Kennelly gives her a second chance by assigning her to a mission alongside Picard and the Enterprise crew.
Once past her initial hostility, Ro forms friendships with several Enterprise crew members, including Ten Forward bar manager Guinan, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
and Commander William Riker
. As a Bajoran, she has a great dislike for Cardassians, as she was forced to watch them torture her father to death when she was a child. In the first episode in which she appears, entitled "Ensign Ro
", she is given a full pardon in exchange for going on a secret mission to help stop dissident raids, in order to protect a treaty with Cardassia.
In "The Next Phase
", Ro and La Forge are presumed dead after a transporter
malfunction while returning from rescue operations on a disabled Romulan
ship. Upon regaining consciousness, they discover they have become invisible and intangible to everyone but each other. At first, Ro believes they are dead, converted to a ghostlike existence, which awakens a number of Bajoran spiritual beliefs she thought she had abandoned decades earlier. By invisibly observing the crew of the Romulan vessel, Ro and La Forge soon discover that the accident, as well as the damage to the Romulan ship, is the result of a Romulan weapons test, and that the Romulans are now performing a subtle act of sabotage that will destroy the Enterprise-D the moment that ship accelerates to warp drive
. After discovering and defeating a similarly-cloaked Romulan operative, Ro and La Forge find a way to alert the crew and return to normal, warning Picard and averting disaster.
In the episode "Rascals
", Ro, Picard, Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien are transformed into adolescent versions of themselves, while retaining their adult intelligence. As children, they foil a Ferengi
plot to steal the captured Enterprise and sell the crew as slave labor. During this episode, some of the unpleasant backstory of Ro's original childhood is revealed. The adolescent Ro is portrayed by Megan Parlen
.
As Executive Officer
, Commander Riker is a strict taskmaster toward the former convict while she struggles to earn his trust and respect. Their mutual animosity is forgotten, however, when they and the entire crew suffer forced amnesia in "Conundrum". Ro concludes the feelings she has toward Riker are those of passion and sexual familiarity, and invites herself to his quarters. "I have this funny feeling that I spend most of my off hours here," Ro explains to Riker before seducing him. When their memories are restored, Counselor (LtCmdr) Troi explains that the pair likely always had sexual attraction toward each other.
In her final episode, entitled "Preemptive Strike
", the newly-promoted Lieutenant Ro is asked by Starfleet
to infiltrate the rebel Maquis
, who are undermining the Federation treaty with Cardassia. During the mission she finds her loyalties in conflict with her duties as she becomes increasingly sympathetic to the plight of the Maquis. Despite Picard's effort to force her to do her duty, in the end, she betrays Starfleet and joins the rebel group. Riker says she seemed pretty sure she was doing the right thing, though she regretted disappointing Picard. Ro does not appear again in any of the canon
Star Trek series and films. However, her life after leaving Starfleet for the Maquis is a subject for some novels (which the copyright holder Paramount has treated as less canonical than the series and films). Within Star Trek canon, the Dominion
help Cardassia exterminate the majority of the Maquis, but Ro's specific fate is unknown.
In many of the Star Trek books deemed non-canonical by Paramount, Ro Laren becomes a security officer aboard Deep Space Nine
(DS9). It is implied in the most recent stories that Ro Laren has been promoted to Captain of the DS9 space station.
After the demise of the Maquis the novels diverge. In Behind Enemy Lines, Ro comes to Picard as a refugee on the Bajoran vessel "Orb of Peace". However this account, and her relationship with Picard in general, is contradicted in the "relaunch" series. According to Avatar, after the Dominion's destruction of the Maquis, Ro continued to fight in resistance cells until the Dominion's retreat to Cardassia, and had no contact with Picard. The "relaunch" has been the basis for DS9's publishing line as of Avatar in 2001.
After Sisko's disappearance, Ro returns to Bajor where she is given a commission in the Bajoran militia. Not finding a place there, she is reassigned to DS9 as Chief of Security. When Bajor finally joins the Federation, Ro intends to leave her post to escape punishment for crimes she committed with the Maquis, but is convinced by Picard to accept a pardon
and rejoin Starfleet. She is granted the rank of lieutenant and remains on DS9 as station's Chief of Security. She and Quark develop mild romantic feelings for each other.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, played by Michelle Forbes
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo , known professionally as Michelle Forbes, is an American actress who has built a career of work in television and independent film and has acted in productions in both the United States and in the United Kingdom...
.
Ro Laren was also planned to be a main character in the two following Star Trek television shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
and Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
. The creators of Deep Space Nine wanted a strong-willed Bajoran character who would engender interpersonal conflict with the station's commander, Benjamin Sisko
Benjamin Sisko
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
. However, Michelle Forbes turned down the role, so another Bajoran character named Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
was created instead.
Appearances
Ro Laren appears in eight episodes of The Next Generation in seasons 5, 6, and 7:- "Ensign RoEnsign Ro (TNG episode)"Ensign Ro" is a fifth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, introducing the recurring character Ro Laren , and her race, the Bajorans. The episode has an average rating of 4/5 on the official Star Trek web site .-Plot:The Solarion Four settlement is destroyed, and the Bajorans claim...
" - "DisasterDisaster (TNG episode)"Disaster" is a season 5 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode has an average rating of 4.4/5 on the official Star Trek website .-Overview:...
" - "ConundrumConundrum (TNG episode)"Conundrum" is the title of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, from the fifth season. The episode has an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 on the official Star Trek website .-Plot:...
" - "Power PlayPower Play (TNG episode)"Power Play" is the title of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, from the fifth season. The episode has an average rating of 4/5 on the official Star Trek website .- Plot:...
" - "Cause and EffectCause and Effect (TNG episode)"Cause and Effect" is the 18th episode in the 5th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.- Plot summary :The Enterprise-D is shown to be stuck in a time loop, with events culminating in the destruction of the ship as a result of a collision with another Starfleet vessel that emerges from a...
" - "The Next PhaseThe Next Phase (TNG episode)"The Next Phase" is the 124th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode has an average rating of 4.2/5 on the official Star Trek website .-Overview:...
" - "RascalsRascals (TNG episode)"Rascals" is the 133rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the seventh episode of its sixth-season.-Plot:Captain Picard, Guinan, Ro Laren and Keiko O'Brien are returning to the Enterprise, but an anomaly causes them to materialize on the transporter pad as 12-year old children...
" - "Preemptive StrikePreemptive Strike (TNG episode)"Preemptive Strike" is the 176th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:"Preemptive Strike" concluded the plotline involving the character Ro Laren...
"
Fictional character biography
Ro Laren's personnel file, seen in the episode "ConundrumConundrum (TNG episode)
"Conundrum" is the title of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, from the fifth season. The episode has an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 on the official Star Trek website .-Plot:...
", indicates she was born on January 17, 2340 on Bajor to Ro Talia and Gale, and that she attended Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
from 2358 to 2362.
According to Bajoran tradition, her family name precedes her personal name. When she first joins the crew of the Enterprise-D, Picard addresses her as "Ensign Laren". She corrects him, saying that Laren is her given name and Ro is her family name. She is then referred to as "Ensign Ro."
Ro joins the crew as a troubled young Bajoran officer who had been court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
led while serving on the USS Wellington, for disobeying orders on an away mission, resulting in eight deaths. She was imprisoned on Jaros II, but Admiral Kennelly gives her a second chance by assigning her to a mission alongside Picard and the Enterprise crew.
Once past her initial hostility, Ro forms friendships with several Enterprise crew members, including Ten Forward bar manager Guinan, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
and Commander William Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
. As a Bajoran, she has a great dislike for Cardassians, as she was forced to watch them torture her father to death when she was a child. In the first episode in which she appears, entitled "Ensign Ro
Ensign Ro (TNG episode)
"Ensign Ro" is a fifth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, introducing the recurring character Ro Laren , and her race, the Bajorans. The episode has an average rating of 4/5 on the official Star Trek web site .-Plot:The Solarion Four settlement is destroyed, and the Bajorans claim...
", she is given a full pardon in exchange for going on a secret mission to help stop dissident raids, in order to protect a treaty with Cardassia.
In "The Next Phase
The Next Phase (TNG episode)
"The Next Phase" is the 124th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode has an average rating of 4.2/5 on the official Star Trek website .-Overview:...
", Ro and La Forge are presumed dead after a transporter
Transporter (Star Trek)
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...
malfunction while returning from rescue operations on a disabled Romulan
Romulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
ship. Upon regaining consciousness, they discover they have become invisible and intangible to everyone but each other. At first, Ro believes they are dead, converted to a ghostlike existence, which awakens a number of Bajoran spiritual beliefs she thought she had abandoned decades earlier. By invisibly observing the crew of the Romulan vessel, Ro and La Forge soon discover that the accident, as well as the damage to the Romulan ship, is the result of a Romulan weapons test, and that the Romulans are now performing a subtle act of sabotage that will destroy the Enterprise-D the moment that ship accelerates to warp drive
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
. After discovering and defeating a similarly-cloaked Romulan operative, Ro and La Forge find a way to alert the crew and return to normal, warning Picard and averting disaster.
In the episode "Rascals
Rascals (TNG episode)
"Rascals" is the 133rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the seventh episode of its sixth-season.-Plot:Captain Picard, Guinan, Ro Laren and Keiko O'Brien are returning to the Enterprise, but an anomaly causes them to materialize on the transporter pad as 12-year old children...
", Ro, Picard, Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien are transformed into adolescent versions of themselves, while retaining their adult intelligence. As children, they foil a Ferengi
Ferengi
The Ferengi are a fictitious extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu,...
plot to steal the captured Enterprise and sell the crew as slave labor. During this episode, some of the unpleasant backstory of Ro's original childhood is revealed. The adolescent Ro is portrayed by Megan Parlen
Megan Parlen
Megan Sloan Parlen is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary-Beth Pepperton on the NBC series Hang Time ....
.
As Executive Officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
, Commander Riker is a strict taskmaster toward the former convict while she struggles to earn his trust and respect. Their mutual animosity is forgotten, however, when they and the entire crew suffer forced amnesia in "Conundrum". Ro concludes the feelings she has toward Riker are those of passion and sexual familiarity, and invites herself to his quarters. "I have this funny feeling that I spend most of my off hours here," Ro explains to Riker before seducing him. When their memories are restored, Counselor (LtCmdr) Troi explains that the pair likely always had sexual attraction toward each other.
In her final episode, entitled "Preemptive Strike
Preemptive Strike (TNG episode)
"Preemptive Strike" is the 176th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:"Preemptive Strike" concluded the plotline involving the character Ro Laren...
", the newly-promoted Lieutenant Ro is asked by Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
to infiltrate the rebel Maquis
Maquis (Star Trek)
In the American Star Trek science-fiction franchise, the Maquis are a 24th Century paramilitary organization or terrorist group first introduced in the 1994 episode "The Maquis" of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who subsequently also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and...
, who are undermining the Federation treaty with Cardassia. During the mission she finds her loyalties in conflict with her duties as she becomes increasingly sympathetic to the plight of the Maquis. Despite Picard's effort to force her to do her duty, in the end, she betrays Starfleet and joins the rebel group. Riker says she seemed pretty sure she was doing the right thing, though she regretted disappointing Picard. Ro does not appear again in any of the canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
Star Trek series and films. However, her life after leaving Starfleet for the Maquis is a subject for some novels (which the copyright holder Paramount has treated as less canonical than the series and films). Within Star Trek canon, the Dominion
Dominion (Star Trek)
In the Star Trek universe, the Dominion is a ruthless and militaristic Gamma Quadrant state consisting of many different races. The Dominion wages war on the United Federation of Planets and its allies in the late 24th century, acting as an antagonist in the TV show Star Trek: Deep Space...
help Cardassia exterminate the majority of the Maquis, but Ro's specific fate is unknown.
In many of the Star Trek books deemed non-canonical by Paramount, Ro Laren becomes a security officer aboard Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine (space station)
Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
(DS9). It is implied in the most recent stories that Ro Laren has been promoted to Captain of the DS9 space station.
Novel appearances
The character of Ro Laren is further developed in the novels. They agree that Ro continued to fight for the Maquis until its destruction. According to Abyss, during this time she crashed on Sindorin and was rescued by Ingavi colonists.After the demise of the Maquis the novels diverge. In Behind Enemy Lines, Ro comes to Picard as a refugee on the Bajoran vessel "Orb of Peace". However this account, and her relationship with Picard in general, is contradicted in the "relaunch" series. According to Avatar, after the Dominion's destruction of the Maquis, Ro continued to fight in resistance cells until the Dominion's retreat to Cardassia, and had no contact with Picard. The "relaunch" has been the basis for DS9's publishing line as of Avatar in 2001.
After Sisko's disappearance, Ro returns to Bajor where she is given a commission in the Bajoran militia. Not finding a place there, she is reassigned to DS9 as Chief of Security. When Bajor finally joins the Federation, Ro intends to leave her post to escape punishment for crimes she committed with the Maquis, but is convinced by Picard to accept a pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
and rejoin Starfleet. She is granted the rank of lieutenant and remains on DS9 as station's Chief of Security. She and Quark develop mild romantic feelings for each other.