Tasha Yar
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Natasha "Tasha" Yar, played by Denise Crosby
, is a character in Star Trek: The Next Generation
. In the fictional series, the character served as chief of security aboard the USS Enterprise-D
for the first season.
Crosby left the series near the end of first season, but reprised the role in "Yesterday's Enterprise
" and "All Good Things...".
, the character was originally to be named 'Macha Hernandez'. The producers considered Jenette Goldstein
, who had played Vasquez, for the role, but Dorothy Fontana pointed out that the actress "is not Latina. She is petite, blue-eyed, freckle-faced", and Marina Sirtis
was cast as Yar. At that time, Denise Crosby was cast as Deanna Troi
, but she and Sirtis switched roles before production began.
: Наташа "Таша" Яр), of Ukrainian descent, was born on Turkana IV, a colony
that fell into chaos and eventually severed ties to the United Federation of Planets
. Tasha learned to defend herself on the streets and avoid rape gangs. She left Turkana IV at age 15, leaving her younger sister Ishara behind, and later attended Starfleet Academy
.
After watching Yar cross a minefield to save a colonist, Jean-Luc Picard
requested that she be assigned to his next command. She later became chief of security and chief tactical officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D
, some time prior to the beginning of the series.
Armus kills Yar on Vagra II as a demonstration of his power in "Skin of Evil
" while Yar is attempting to rescue Deanna Troi. Worf
replaces her as chief tactical and security officer.
In "Yesterday's Enterprise
", the USS Enterprise-C
travels into the future in the midst of defending a Klingon
colony from Romulan
attack, creating an alternate timeline in which the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war, and in which Yar does not die on Vagra II. Learning from Guinan that she dies a senseless death in the normal timeline, Yar opts to return to the past aboard the Enterprise-C, thus creating another new timeline. She is then taken prisoner along with a few others and ordered to be executed by the Romulan Star Empire. A Romulan General becomes enamored when he sees her, and he strikes a deal in which Tasha would be his consort in exchange for the lives of her fellow survivors. Sela
, (pronounced see-la) her daughter, is born a year later. One night, when Sela is 4 years old, Tasha attempts to escape with her, but Sela cries out and Tasha is then caught and executed. The adult Sela appeares in two 2-part episodes of the series (including the Season 4 cliffhanger finale where she is first revealed), and is also played by Denise Crosby.
Yar's final appearance is in scenes that take place in the series's finale, "All Good Things...". Her scenes are mostly what happened in times other than shown in the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint"; the story diverges from the "normal" time-frame as events in the finale occur.
The audience is made aware of Yar's death on three different occasions. First she is killed by Armus. The second time, Sela informs the crew that Yar was executed after a failed attempt to escape from the Romulans. Then in the series's finale, "All Good Things...", we again see Yar die as the Enterprise is destroyed inside an anomaly.
Tasha and the android Lt. Data
have a sexual encounter with each other in the episode "The Naked Now". After this, Data keeps a hologram of Tasha with him, and during the trial regarding his rights in the second season's episode "The Measure of a Man," he publicly admits to the incident with the words "We were intimate."
Denise Crosby
Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, is a character in 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...
. In the fictional series, the character served as chief of security aboard the USS Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
for the first season.
Crosby left the series near the end of first season, but reprised the role in "Yesterday's Enterprise
Yesterday's Enterprise
"Yesterday's Enterprise" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television show Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode first aired in syndication the week of February 19, 1990...
" and "All Good Things...".
Development and casting
Inspired by the character of Vasquez in AliensAliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, the character was originally to be named 'Macha Hernandez'. The producers considered Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Elise Goldstein is an American actress.- Life and career :Goldstein was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Beverly Hills. Her first film role was in James Cameron's Aliens , playing the Hispanic character PFC Jenette Vasquez...
, who had played Vasquez, for the role, but Dorothy Fontana pointed out that the actress "is not Latina. She is petite, blue-eyed, freckle-faced", and Marina Sirtis
Marina Sirtis
Marina Sirtis is a British-American actress of Greek descent. She played the role of the human/Betazoid Commander Deanna Troi, ship's counselor, on the television and film series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Life:...
was cast as Yar. At that time, Denise Crosby was cast as Deanna Troi
Deanna Troi
Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor...
, but she and Sirtis switched roles before production began.
Story overview
The back story for the character states that Natasha (Tasha) Yar (UkrainianUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
: Наташа "Таша" Яр), of Ukrainian descent, was born on Turkana IV, a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
that fell into chaos and eventually severed ties to the United Federation of Planets
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
. Tasha learned to defend herself on the streets and avoid rape gangs. She left Turkana IV at age 15, leaving her younger sister Ishara behind, and later 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...
.
After watching Yar cross a minefield to save a colonist, Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
requested that she be assigned to his next command. She later became chief of security and chief tactical officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
, some time prior to the beginning of the series.
Armus kills Yar on Vagra II as a demonstration of his power in "Skin of Evil
Skin of Evil (TNG episode)
"Skin of Evil" is the 23rd episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:A vicious and powerful creature toys with an away team sent to rescue a downed shuttlecraft containing Deanna Troi.-Plot:...
" while Yar is attempting to rescue Deanna Troi. Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
replaces her as chief tactical and security officer.
In "Yesterday's Enterprise
Yesterday's Enterprise
"Yesterday's Enterprise" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television show Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode first aired in syndication the week of February 19, 1990...
", the USS Enterprise-C
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)
The USS Enterprise is a fictional starship that appears in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise". This Ambassador-class starship, under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett , is the fourth Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise...
travels into the future in the midst of defending a Klingon
Klingon
Klingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...
colony from 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...
attack, creating an alternate timeline in which the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war, and in which Yar does not die on Vagra II. Learning from Guinan that she dies a senseless death in the normal timeline, Yar opts to return to the past aboard the Enterprise-C, thus creating another new timeline. She is then taken prisoner along with a few others and ordered to be executed by the Romulan Star Empire. A Romulan General becomes enamored when he sees her, and he strikes a deal in which Tasha would be his consort in exchange for the lives of her fellow survivors. Sela
Sela (Star Trek)
Commander Sela is a fictional character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the daughter of an alternate timeline version of Tasha Yar and a Romulan official. She was played by Denise Crosby, who also played Tasha Yar.-Overview:...
, (pronounced see-la) her daughter, is born a year later. One night, when Sela is 4 years old, Tasha attempts to escape with her, but Sela cries out and Tasha is then caught and executed. The adult Sela appeares in two 2-part episodes of the series (including the Season 4 cliffhanger finale where she is first revealed), and is also played by Denise Crosby.
Yar's final appearance is in scenes that take place in the series's finale, "All Good Things...". Her scenes are mostly what happened in times other than shown in the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint"; the story diverges from the "normal" time-frame as events in the finale occur.
The audience is made aware of Yar's death on three different occasions. First she is killed by Armus. The second time, Sela informs the crew that Yar was executed after a failed attempt to escape from the Romulans. Then in the series's finale, "All Good Things...", we again see Yar die as the Enterprise is destroyed inside an anomaly.
Tasha and the android Lt. Data
Data (Star Trek)
Lieutenant Commander Data is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek...
have a sexual encounter with each other in the episode "The Naked Now". After this, Data keeps a hologram of Tasha with him, and during the trial regarding his rights in the second season's episode "The Measure of a Man," he publicly admits to the incident with the words "We were intimate."