star trek data lineage

Star Trek: Who Created Data And What Happened To Him?

In the long history of "Star Trek," few characters are as beloved by fans as the android Data (Brent Spiner). A cybernetic being powered by a positronic brain, Data served as second officer on Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) U.S.S. Enterprise, the setting of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." But while fans got to spend time with Data over the many episodes of TV and movies in which he appeared, far less is known about his reclusive creator, Doctor Noonian Soong (also Brent Spiner).

Indeed, the story of Data's creation by Soong is documented in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and additional information has been included in other movies and series, most recently "Star Trek: Picard." We've learned that the cyberneticist came from a long line of geniuses who worked to create new life forms using science, not all of whom were pure of heart. Indeed, Soong himself was driven by an obsession that lasted until his final moments. Though he was declared a madman and considered a disgrace by Federation scientists, he continued his work in secret. Eventually, he was destroyed by his own creations.

The mad cyberneticist Noonian Soong made Data and his evil twin Lore

Doctor Noonian Soong came from a long lineage of mad cybernetics experts, and they were engaged in some questionable experiments long before Data was assembled. Soong's ancestor, Adam Soong (Brent Spiner once again) went so far as to create a series of clones. All of them died with the exception of one, Kore, and he spun the fiction that he was her father in the traditional sense of the word. That history was depicted in Season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard." Adam may even have been connected to the creation of the villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), but that's a story for another time. Later, in the "Star Trek" timeline's 22nd century, Adam's descendant, Arik Soong, picked up the torch of genetic and cybernetic experimentation. The character was featured in multiple episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise."

This lineage eventually culminated with Data's progenitor, Noonian Soong, who worked in secret alongside his wife, Juliana O'Donnell (Fionnula Flanagan) to perfect his research and create the fan-favorite android. But Data was actually the fifth such android Soong built. The first three were far less capable and much closer to mindless robots. His breakthrough came with the fourth attempt, Data's evil brother Lore . Ultimately, it was Soong's fifth android, Data, whom the scientist considered to be the apex of his work. Unlike Lore, who had emotions but lacked a sense of ethics and therefore was a loose cannon, Data was not given the emotional programming, allowing him to function within certain ethical parameters.

Data's brother Lore killed their creator

Ultimately, it was Noonian Soong's own work that killed him. His fourth android, Lore, was much like Data but without the sense of ethics that kept him from being corrupted. Over time, Lore developed a deep resentment for his father figure, believing that Soong was playing favorites and preferred Data. Lore's paranoia was further confirmed when he learned that Soong was secretly developing an emotion chip for Data. The actual reason for this was that Soong mistakenly believed that Lore was disassembled and functionally dead, so he had no reason to work on Lore's own upgrades.

When Soong sent out a signal summoning Data to Terlina III, where he had secretly been furthering his cybernetic experiments, it also drew Lore's attention, and the two brothers converged on the planet in the Season 4 "The Next Generation" episode "Brothers." After Soong reveals in the episode that he'd created an emotion chip for Data, Lore's jealousy grows. He deactivates Data, then impersonates him in order to receive the emotion chip for himself. But since the chip wasn't meant for him, Lore becomes unstable and attacks the already sickly Soong.

In Soong's final moments, he compares Lore to the biblical Esau, Jacob's evil sibling who impersonated his brother to receive a false inheritance from their blind father, Isaac. But as Data, rescued by William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), comes to the aid of his dying creator, he finally refers to Soong as "father."

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Published Feb 2, 2023

Android Ancestry: Examining the Soong-Type Line

In celebration of Brent Spiner's birthday, we're taking a look at Dr. Noonian Soong's legacy.

StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart

Brent Spiner has portrayed various roles across the Star Trek universe, from members of the Soong family, his primary role as Data, and to a number of android brethren.

In celebration of Spiner's birthday, we're going to examine the line of Soong-type androids, created by Dr. Noonian Soong . These androids, possessing revolutionary positronic brains, includes two early prototypes, four operational models built by Soong himself, and one version constructed by Data himself.

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The most well-known Soong-type android, Data was discovered by a Federation starship and subsequently chose to join Starfleet. Throughout his tenure aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Enterprise-E , Data endeavored to explore what it meant to be human, pondered his place in the universe, and even defended his rights as a sentient individual. The android established close relationships with the command crew, owned a cat named Spot, considered Geordi La Forge to be his best friend, and became fascinated by theatre, music, and art .

Data eventually obtained an emotion chip that Dr. Soong had designed for him, and its installation granted him access to a wide-range of feelings. Despite sacrificing his life to save Captain Picard from Praetor Shinzon, Data’s consciousness continued to exist in a simulation that Dr. Altan Soong and Dr. Bruce Maddox crafted from a copy of Data’s memories and a single one of his neurons, which the two scientists also used to create the Coppelius androids. Following a brief chat with his former captain, Data requested that Picard end the simulation, thus ending Data’s historic existence.

Although he was Data’s predecessor, Lore possessed an insight into human emotion that Data lacked, but these feelings often expressed themselves in unstable and troubling ways. Noonian Soong deactivated Lore, who was later found and brought back online by his “brother,” Data.

Unfortunately, Lore’s talent for deception remained, as he collaborated with the Crystalline Entity, stole Data’s emotion chip, and even organized wayward Borg drones to reign terror across the quadrant. Data captured and shut off Lore, making the Borg plot Lore’s final scheme. Or so it seemed...

In a bid to procreate, Data employed his own positronic brain’s layout and created an android who he considered to be his child. In a remarkably progressive move, Data recommended that his progeny choose their own species and gender. Opting to be a human woman, the android known as Lal quickly ingratiated herself to Data’s friends, though Captain Picard was a bit conflicted that he was not briefed prior to Lal’s “birth.” Starfleet took an even stricter position, arguing that Lal was its property and needed to be studied so more Soong-type androids could be manufactured.

As the only Soong-type android not assembled by Noonian Soong, Lal represented a spectacular achievement, especially as she demonstrated an ability to express emotion. The familial bliss did not last long, however, with the failure of Lal’s neural net prompting a complete neural system failure. In her dying moments, Lal declared her love for her father. Unable to share in the emotion, Data nevertheless desired to keep Lal with him, so he incorporated her programs back into his own, permitting Lal’s memories to live on.

Juliana Tainer

When Noonian Soong’s wife Juliana O’Connell was mortally wounded by the Crystalline Entity, the cyberneticist transferred her memories into a positronic matrix prior to her death. Soong soon activated the Juliana android , which was built to mimic human features, hide its artificial nature, and eventually pass away after living a full life. Not even Juliana knew about her true identity, as she believed she was the real Juliana O’Connell. The android eventually left Soong and remarried.

A chance encounter with Data granted Juliana the opportunity to get to know her “son,” but it was not long before an accident helped Data deduce that Juliana was actually an android. A Noonian Soong holoprogram embedded in Juliana explained her lineage and requested that Data not reveal her artificial ancestry to her. Data spent much time weighing the choice, deciding that it was in Juliana’s best interest to keep Noonian’s secret to himself.

A previously unknown model that pre-dated Lore, B-4 was a less sophisticated variant found by Praetor Shinzon, who attempted to use the android to steal information from the Enterprise-E ’s computer. While Data tried to transfer his memories into B-4, the elder android did not seem to have the capacity to process the files.

In the wake of Data’s death, there was some hope that his personality could reemerge in B-4. Once this did not manifest, B-4 was disassembled and stored at the Daystrom Institute , where Picard visited his components in 2399.

Brent Spiner's Star Trek Characters, Ranked

Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Jay can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @StobiesGalaxy.

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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• Soong-type androids

Soong family

The Soong family was a line of Humans and androids known for their research in genetics and cybernetics . The Soong line included Starfleet 's first android officer , Data . ( STO - Agents of Yesterday mission : " Message From Another Time I ")

• 1.1 mirror universe family members
• 1.2 Cultures
• 2 Family members gallery
• 3.1 References

Soong family genealogy list [ ]

• Persephone Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Despoina Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Persephassa Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Persephatta Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Prosperina Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Artemis Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2]
• Kore Soong , Adam's clone creation and "daughter" [2] , and a transtemporal Traveler from 2024 [3]
• Arik Soong , 22nd century geneticist [4] and a cyberneticist from 2154 [5]
• Noonian Soong , 24th century cyberneticist and creator of the Soong-type android [6]
• Altan Inigo Soong , cyberneticist, member of the Coppelius colony , and Noonian's only biological child [8]
• Noonian's failed Soong-type prototypes [9]
• B-4 , mentally impaired android [10]
• Lore , sociopathic android [6]
• Lal , Data's daughter [12]
• Dahj Asha , Data's posthumous daughter and twin of Soji. [13]
• Soji Asha , Data's posthumous daughter and twin of Dahj. [13]

mirror universe family members [ ]

• Lore (mirror) [16]
• Data (mirror) [17]

Cultures [ ]

The Soong-type androids developed by the Soong family and imitated by other scientists formed their own society on Coppelius . They became a Federation protectorate in 2399 . ( PIC episode : " Et in Arcadia Ego ")

In an alternate timeline were Doctor Noonian Soong and the Federation achieved android mass-production, their society split between those remaining in the Federation and those forming a society around Data and Lore on planet Turing ( Iconia ). ( TNG - Myriad Universes - Brave New World novel :)

In another alternate timeline , the Children of Soong were a culture of Soong-type androids which dominated former Federation space circa the 44th century . They were created by Data on Omicron Theta . ( TNG - Strange New Worlds II short story : " I Am Become Death ")

Family members gallery [ ]

Appendices [ ]

References [ ].

• ↑ PIC episode : " Fly Me to the Moon ".
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 PIC episode : " Mercy ".
• ↑ PIC episode : " Farewell ".
• ↑ ENT episode : " Borderland ".
• ↑ ENT episode : " The Augments ".
• ↑ 6.0 6.1 TNG episode : " Brothers ".
• ↑ TNG episode : " Inheritance ".
• ↑ PIC episode : " Et in Arcadia Ego ".
• ↑ TNG novel : Immortal Coil .
• ↑ TNG movie & novelization : Star Trek Nemesis .
• ↑ TNG novel : Encounter at Farpoint .
• ↑ TNG episode : " The Offspring ".
• ↑ 13.0 13.1 PIC episode : " Maps and Legends ".
• ↑ ENT - Mirror Universe - Glass Empires novel : Age of the Empress .
• ↑ TNG - Mirror Universe - Glass Empires novella : The Worst of Both Worlds .
• ↑ TNG novel : Q & A .
• ↑ TNG - Mirror Broken comic : " Prelude ".
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 USS Dallas (NCC-2019)
• 3 Achilles class

Star Trek: What Happened To Data?

Quick links, how and when did data die, what legacy did data leave in star trek, how did data continue to be important to the star trek universe after his death.

• Data may have been inspired by the Original Series ' Spock, but undertook an incredible journey of his own.
• Data has been unlucky enough to die twice in Star Trek , but that proved the key to realizing his dream of becoming human.
• Data's legacy continued to impact the Star Trek franchise, including major plot points in Star Trek: Picard .

Data is one of Star Trek ’s icons — a giant in a galaxy of pop-culture legends. When Star Trek: Next Generation arrived in 1987, the crew of an all-new USS Enterprise had the unenviable task of living up to household names of the Original Series and spin-off films. TNG ’s success is well known, as are many of the characters it introduced. At its heart was an incredible ensemble with notable performances, not least Data. The brilliantly conceived android operations officer, brought to life with a pitch-perfect performance by Brent Spiner, became a big part of the franchise and earned a permanent place in pop culture.

Data may have entered the Star Trek franchise as an update of the Original Series ’ Spock, the famous logician with a sideline in comic relief. But while his journey certainly paralleled the famous Vulcan, Data grew into a notable character of his own, not least thanks to having one of the franchise’s most impressive character journeys. Riker compared Data to Pinocchio on their first meeting, and that dream of being human was something the android pursued from the opening story of Star Trek: The Next Generation to the conclusion of Star Trek: Picard ’s third season. On the way, he’s been one of the few leading characters in Star Trek to have died twice .

Star Trek: Data's Best Quotes

Data is one of the best characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation and his quotes showcase that despite being an android, he's extremely human.

In the TNG finale, ‘All Good Things, fans were introduced to a possible future in which Data had retired from Starfleet to become a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Living in Sir Isaac Newton's old house with a housekeeper and several cats, the ageless android added a white streak to his hair and adopted the distinct air of a fictional character who had long fascinated him, Sherlock Holmes.

Data’s life and death wasn’t to be that fairytale. Data died in service during the events of Star Trek: Nemesis . The Next Generation’s final film pitted the fan-favorite crew against Shinzon, a distorted clone of Jean-Luc Picard who had seized control of the Romulan Star Empire.

Star Trek: The Earth-Romulan War Explained

How has this pivotal conflict in Star Trek history never made it to the screen?

Unfortunately, Shinzon and his Reman forces had developed an incredible new weapon using thalaron radiation. Having saved his captain from being sacrificed in a genetic transfusion to save the fast-destabilizing Shinzon, Data then sacrificed himself to detonate the thalaron weapon and save his crewmates.

All was not necessarily lost, however. Shinzon’s impressively complicated plot had lured the Enterprise to the Romulan Neutral Zone with the traces of an android similar to Data. This unsophisticated prototype of Data was knowingly called B-4. But following Data’s death, Picard discovered that Data had downloaded his memories into his predecessor.

Data’s death and the promise of his resurrection were reminiscent of Spock, but there was no Genesis Planet to bring the android back to life. Nemesis may have ended the flight of the Enterprise-E under Jean-Luc Picard on the big screen, but Data’s legacy inspired a significant plot in the sequel series Star Trek: Picard . Twenty years after Data’s sacrifice, Jean Luc Picard was haunted by memories of his old second officer, often encountering him in his dreams, playing poker in Ten Forward or painting in the retired admiral’s vineyard.

Data played a massive role in the lives of his crewmates during his life, helping save the day in countless TNG adventures. As a non-human character and a synthetic lifeform, Data could do what Star Trek does best: shine a light on the human condition as he learns more about being an organic creature.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Characters Who Appear On Other Series

The beloved characters from The Next Generation have made plenty of crossovers within the Star Trek universe.

TNG stories like ‘The Measure For a Man’ explored the meaning of sentience when a courtroom hearing brought by cyberneticist Bruce Maddox attempted to seize Data as the property of Starfleet. When Data took command of a starship in the epic two-parter ‘Redemption,’ he was subject to and overcame the prejudice of his crew. ‘Phantasms’ showed Data triggering new human-like abilities, such as dreaming, and as of Star Trek: Generations , he began to use an emotion chip introduced in Season 4’s ‘Brothers.’

In Star Trek: First Contact , Data came closest to achieving his aim of becoming human thanks to the Borg Queen before once again sacrificing the idea for his crewmates.

‘Datalore’ and ‘Brothers’ helped grow another aspect: Data’s family included father Noonien Soong and brother Lore. Lore was more than the evil twin of Data — he was an earlier model with emotions, inherent instability, and a tendency for malevolence. Star Trek: Enterprise extended Data’s lineage further back, showing the Soong family had previously been involved in genetics and promoting augmented humans decades after the Eugenics War saw the rise and fall of the tyrant Khan Noonien Singh . ​​Arik Soong’s failure and imprisonment turned his and his descendants' interest to the creation of synthetic life instead.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best Data Episodes

Data is a beloved character from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and his episodes are among the most adored by fans.

The science of life passed through generations of Soongs and their creations: In TNG ’s third season, Data attempted to expand his family when he created a daughter, Lal, in ‘The Offspring .’ Despite exceeding Data’s programming in some ways, Lal was irreparably flawed and didn’t survive the episode. Her father downloaded her memories into his positronic net in a storyline that, along with other plot strands above, would be continued in Star Trek: Picard .

Star Trek: Picard ’s first season was underpinned by Data’s legacy. The series retconned the canon to seed a deep mistrust of synthetic life in Romulan culture. Their dark underground forces were shown to be behind the devastating Mars attack that caused the total ban of synthetics in the Federation.

At the season’s climax, it was revealed that Dahj and Soji Asha were synthetic lifeforms created by Bruce Maddox, who had attempted to seize Data years earlier, using the Soong androids that had come into his possession. Data finally has his offspring and, through a strange stroke of fate, the chance to see his captain one last time.

9 Underrated Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

Star Trek: The Next Generation had plenty of memorable episodes, but some hidden gems inevitably flew under the radar.

Picard, who was suffering from Irumodic syndrome, as first revealed in ‘All Good Things,’ died during a Romulan attack but was saved by the transference of his mind into a golem. This was a synthetic shell developed by Noonien Soong's biological son Altan that, while being an organic android, was virtually indistinguishable from a biological lifeform.

In a quantum simulation following the transfer, Picard encountered a virtual form of Data, whose memories had survived after Maddox salvaged them from the B-4 prototype. It’s with Picard that Data dies for a second time when his old captain agrees to let his consciousness expire. The android confirms his belief that only a finite life could prove he had ever lived.

The universe had lost Data once again and was poorer for it until a further twist in the android’s story during the third season of Star Trek: Picard . During the season, it was discovered that Maddox and Altan Soong had developed another golem, using it to house aspects of Altan, as well as Data, his daughter Lal, and his brothers Lore and B-4.

The new organic 'Data' construct aged at an average rate and was found in a top-secret branch of the Daystrom Institute. While Data was the dominant entity, he was able to seed clues to bring his former Enterprise crewmates to him. Within the construct, the various personas vied for supremacy until a final reckoning between Data and his brother Lore saw the younger android finally triumph in episode 6, ‘Surrender,’ with considerable thanks to his precious cat Spot.

Star Trek: 5 Worst Things Done By The Borg

The Borg are an unrelenting alien hive mind that seek to assimilate the galaxy, and they have done horrible things in that endeavor.

Data had returned and just in time. When Star Trek Picard’s third and final season was framed as a TNG reunion, showrunner Terry Matalas understandably explained , 'How the hell are you going to do a Star Trek: Next Generation reunion without Data being a part of it?'"

As of the end of Star Trek: Picard , Data was seen back with his old crewmates, although in a different form as he learned to be an organic lifeform. As well as providing major plot strands for Star Trek ’s continuing stories, the franchise’s famous Pinocchio finally had his wish.

Star Trek: Picard

Release Date January 23, 2020

Cast Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd

Franchise Star Trek

Main Characters Jean-Luc Picard

Number of Episodes 30

Network CBS

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Daystrom Institute Technical Library

Screen Rant

Could tng's data meet his newest family member in star trek: prodigy season 2.

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13 Star Trek Legacy Characters In Prodigy Season 1

Montana jordan confirms georgie & mandy’s first marriage’s official replacement for george, supergirl's melissa benoist & 5 other actors join mindhunter star's netflix thriller series.

• Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 introduced Dal R'El, who is a distant cousin of Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• In season 2, Dal and the crew of USS Protostar become Warrant Officers and have the opportunity to learn more about Dal's lineage and potentially meet Data.
• Despite Data's death before the start of Prodigy's timeline, there are several ways in which the character could still be featured in the show, including holographic representations or a meeting in the future.

Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 introduced a distant relative of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), setting up a potential Soong family reunion in Prodigy season 2. Actor Brent Spiner has played multiple branches of Data's family tree in TNG , Star Trek: Enterprise , and Star Trek: Picard from his 24th-century father, Noonien Soong, all the way back to 2024's Adam Soong. Other members of the Soong family have been played by Fionnula Flanagan, who played an android replica of Data's mother, and Star Trek: Picard 's Isa Briones, who played Data's twin "daughters", and the daughter of Adam Soong.

After spending most of season 1 trying to learn more about his origins, Star Trek: Prodigy 's Dal R'El (Brett Gray) discovered he had a connection to Star Trek 's Soong family . Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 sees Dal and the former crew of the USS Protostar get commissioned as Warrant Officers under the command of Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Now part of an official Starfleet crew, Dal has a chance to learn more about his lineage, and could perhaps meet Data himself. Although Data died four years before the start of Prodigy 's timeline, there are still several ways that the beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation character could feature in Prodigy .

The USS Protostar's ragtag young heroes encounter over a dozen Star Trek legacy characters, many voiced by the original actors, in Prodigy season 1.

How Star Trek: Prodigy's Dal Is Related To TNG's Data

In Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 15, "Masquerade", Dal discovered the answers about his origins when the USS Protostar ports at Noble Isle. It's there that Dal encounters the rogue geneticist, Dr. Jago (Amy Hill) who deduces that he was the result of genetic experimentation. Created from the DNA of 26 alien species, Dal was a unique humanoid hybrid, created by proteges of the late Dr. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner). Arik Soong believed that Star Trek 's Eugenics Wars were the result of humanity's irresponsible approach to genetic engineering. Arik later abandoned genetics to focus on robotics, paving the way for his descendant Noonien Soong to build Data and Lore hundreds of years later.

While Dal isn't a direct descendant of Arik Soong, he is a product of the geneticist's research, effectively making him a distant cousin of Data. The proteges of Arik Soong weren't named on screen in Star Trek: Prodigy , but Soong's research was preserved for posterity in Star Trek: Enterprise . The scientists that created Dal could be rogue geneticists inspired by Arik's work, or they could even be unseen members of the Soong family. Star Trek: Picard reveals Data's human half-brother, Altan Inigo Soong, which suggests that there are other members of the scientific dynasty waiting to come out of the woodwork.

Could Data and Dal Meet in Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2?

Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 is set in 2384, long after Data gave his life to save Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Nemesis . However, there are multiple ways for Data and Dal to meet in Prodigy season 2. Dal has already met holographic representations of a number of legendary Starfleet officers, like Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in the episode "Kobayashi." There's no reason that Dal's search to learn more about the legacy of Soong and his proteges won't lead him to seek advice from a holographic Data.

It's also worth remembering that Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will see the USS Voyager-A travel to an alternative 25th century in search of Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran). Chakotay is currently stranded roughly 50 years in the future , which dates season 2 to 2434. That's roughly 33 years after Data's resurrection in Star Trek: Picard season 3, setting up a potential meeting with Dal in Star Trek: Prodigy 's 25th century timeline. As two unique species serving aboard Starfleet vessels, Data and Dal have a lot in common, which makes a meeting between the two a tantalizing prospect.

All episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 are streaming now on Netflix.

IDW's 'Star Trek: Lore War' will bring back Data's evil brother in 2025 comics crossover event

Data's dangerous android brother is up to no good in this March 2025 release.

In a reality-warping cosmic event two years in the making, IDW Publishing is celebrating all the creative foundational work after relaunching its award-winning " Star Trek " comics with the Eisner-nominated "Star Trek #400" to present an epic new crossover project next year, "Star Trek: Lore War."

Hailing from top-tier creators Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Christopher Cantwell, and illustrator Davide Tinto, this intertwined sci-fi tale arriving in March of 2025 will carry over into the prime "Star Trek" ongoing series, " Star Trek: Defiant ," and several special one-shot tie-in issues to be announced later.

Watch Star Trek on Paramount Plus: Get a one month free trial  

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Here's the official synopsis:

"The single most devious mind in the universe has won. Commander Data's evil brother, Lore, has used the Orb of Destruction to obliterate all of reality and remake it in his image while declaring himself its God. Now that Lore has claimed the ultimate victory, what happens next?"

Related: How is Data in 'Star Trek: Picard' if he died in 'Star Trek: Nemesis?'

"The gods are dead, and only one mad android holds the reins of our universe. With absolute power comes absolute corruption ... but does it come with absolute control?" Kelly said. "Featuring the incredible art of Davide Tinto - a newcomer to the 'Trek' world - we're not settling for anything less than the most impressive and world-ending 'Star Trek' event that comics can contain."

Lanzing described this endeavor as the "ultimate 'Star Trek' comics crossover event" and reiterates its importance after laying the groundwork for its saga since 2022.

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"This is it. The moment we've been building to since the Theseus left space dock and the Defiant was stolen," he remarked.

Group Editor Heather Antos is obviously excited for fans to finally enjoy what IDW has been cultivating since their "Star Trek" franchise relaunch two years ago. 

"It's all been building to this moment," she notes. "No, literally. From the original prelude in 'Star Trek #400' two years ago the road map has always led to 'Lore War.' When Collin, Jackson, and Christopher first embarked on this mission we asked the question 'Can a man be both man and a god?'  Well now Lore is answering."

The character of Lore was an antisocial Soong-type android created by Doctor Noonien Soong and an amoral twin of Lt. Commander Data. He was introduced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 1 in the episode "Datalore," airing in 1988.

"Since the line's inception, our grander story in both titles has dealt with 'Star Trek's' concept of godlike beings and the rejection of those godlike beings — order and entropy as it exists throughout the four quadrants of the galaxy," added Cantwell. "Who pulls the strings and who dares to cut them? 'Lore War' is quite literally the apotheosis of that shared theme, two years in the making."

"Star Trek: Lore War #1" beams directly into comic shops on March 26, 2025.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

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Lt. B'Elanna Torres gets dizzy while scolding Seven of Nine and Icheb ( Manu Intiraymi ) in Engineering. Icheb tries to render medical aid and discovers that Torres is pregnant.

The Doctor, surprised that Torres and her husband, Lt. Tom Paris, weren't actively trying to conceive, now nevertheless have a fetus that looks very healthy. However, the gestating girl, like many Klingon females, has a deviated spine, which the Doctor illustrates with holographic projection.

Usually, there's a surgery after birth, both B'Elanna and her mother had that surgery. Nowadays, however, pre-natal "genetic modification" is the preferred treatment, and the Doctor can do it tomorrow. At the parents' request, the Doctor shows a holographic extrapolation of the whole baby. B'Elanna's dismayed at how Klingon the baby looks.

B'Elanna starts reminiscing about a camping trip on Earth with her father, John Torres ( Juan Garcia ); her uncle, Carl Torres ( Javier Grajeda ); and three of her cousins, all humans. B'Elanna then goes to the holodeck and has the computer extrapolate how her baby would grow up with certain Klingon DNA sequences deleted. Then she tries to get this done for real without consulting Tom, who of course strongly objects.

The Doctor summons both Paris and Torres to Sickbay, and announces suddenly that their child will suffer life-threatening issues unless B'Elanna's genetic resequencing is performed. B'Elanna is thrilled to hear this, but Paris is skeptical at the sudden reversal. He takes the Doc's findings to Seven and Icheb, who both notice several errors in his analysis, which reveals possible tampering with his programming. When Tom fails to reach the Doctor or Torres about this discovery, he assumes that B'Elanna must be going ahead with the procedure. As the crew races the clock trying to breach Sickbay, they manage to stop the Doctor from commencing the dangerous operation.

As the procedure is narrowly stopped in time, Paris and Torres must work out their differences, which also involves B'Elanna revealing the root of her fears: Due to an event that happened when she was younger, her father ended up walking out of her and her mother's lives. Paris tells her that he's not her father, and no matter what happens he will always be there for both her and their daughter. B'Elanna finally comes to terms with her heritage, and mends fences with the Doctor by making him the godfather to her daughter.

This episode provides examples of

• Adults Are Useless : In flashbacks, John Torres is spectacularly oblivious to the racist bullying B'Elanna endures from her own cousins, and more critically, to her increasing feelings of loneliness and isolation. He tops it off by complaining about being miserable living with two Klingon women (B'Elanna and her mother) within earshot of her, mere hours after hearing her cry that no one accepts her because of her race.
• Bottle Episode : Other than a little flashback here and there, this one's entirely on the ship.
• Comically Missing the Point : When Icheb detects a life sign inside B'Elanna, he assumes that it's a parasite. Seven looks at his tricorder readings and realizes the truth: B'Elanna is pregnant. This leads to a Brick Joke where Seven teases Icheb for his incorrect assumption.
• Continuity Nod to "Life Line" : When Ensign Kim congratulates him on the baby, Lt. Paris asks if Kim found out from "the data stream from Earth," referring to the monthly transmission from Earth the crew has been receiving since that earlier episode.
• Designer Babies : Apparently genetic resequencing is allowed for medical purposes such as preventing birth defects, but forbidden for "cosmetic" or "augmenting" reasons (basically think Denobulan own rules of the subject). The Doctor uses resequencing to eliminate a spinal defect in B'Elanna's child, but balks at making changes to eliminate or suppress the child's Klingon DNA.
• Disappeared Dad : It goes into great length on how and why B'Elanna's father leaves her and her mother. B'Elanna fears the same thing will happen to her child , but Tom Paris assures her that it won't because he loves her.
• Easily Forgiven : B'Elanna altered the Doctor's program, effectively brainwashing him into conducting an unethical procedure on her fetus. In the next scene after the alterations being found out and repaired, she asks the Doctor to be her child's godfather; he is so eager to say yes that he cuts her off. Are you sure you fixed all those subroutines, B'Elanna?
• Fantastic Racism : B'Elanna claims she wants to avoid this by deleting the Klingon genes from her baby. The real issues are a bit more complicated .
• Feeling the Baby Kick : The episode ends with the EMH feeling B'Elanna's fetus kicking. He jokes that the baby is "feisty" and it must be genetic.
• Flashback B-Plot : John Torres takes young B'Elanna camping along with other kids. This illustrates why B'Elanna considers it so important for her own daughter to be more human than Klingon.
• Freudian Excuse : B'Elanna's afraid that Tom will eventually run out on her just like her father did.
• Get Out! : The sentence B'Elanna never forgave herself for saying. Young B'Elanna (to her dad): If you can't stand living with us, then why don't you just leave?
• Internalized Categorism : This episode digs into the root of B'Elanna's issues with her Klingon side .
• Kids Are Cruel : B'Elanna's male cousins, who put worms in her sandwich because that's what they say Klingons eat .
• LEGO Genetics : B'Elanna attempts to redesign her child so that she would not be born with any Klingon traits. Tom Paris doesn't want her to do it and Captain Janeway rules against it, so she modifies the Doctor's programming to be more receptive to her request . Thankfully the crew of Voyager prevents this from going all the way.
• Medical Drama : With extra Klingon!
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business : When Icheb discovers a flaw in the Doctor's genetic analysis that requires the excision of the baby's Klingon genes, Tom realizes that something's very wrong, since the Doctor doesn't make mistakes like that.
• Open Secret : In the first few minutes of the episode, B'Elanna and Tom both decide to keep the whole baby thing under wraps for a little while..... Oh please, this is Voyager! Literally everyone knows within minutes, except for Tuvok in this instance. (Thanks a lot, Icheb.)
• Parting-Words Regret : B'Elanna tells her father to get out of their life. He does.
• Pregnancy Makes You Crazy : The Doctor tells B'Elanna she might experience mood swings. Given that she's a tsundere , that's kind of her normal behaviour and unsurprisingly she blows her top when she thinks Tom is patronizing her. Paris: Look, the Doctor said you might experience mood swings. Torres: That's it—just dismiss my argument as some kind of hormonal outburst!
• Saying Too Much : Early on, B'Elanna decides she doesn't want to know the baby's sex. Then, while the Doctor is explaining about the curvature of the spine defect he needs to correct for... EMH : It tends to run in Klingon families, especially among females. *winces as he realizes what he just said* Tom : Are you saying that this baby is a girl? EMH : ... No. I didn't say that. Tom : But it is a girl, right? EMH : You cannot infer that. B'Elanna : It's okay. You might as well just tell us. EMH : *sighs* Yes. It's a girl.
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome : In the flashbacks B'Elanna is older than when she related her father left her in "Faces", though that could be the Half-Human Hybrid coming into play.
• Though if she was bullied at school it would have been by kids, who as stated above, do it to everyone.
• Nevertheless, racist comments from people who supposedly bully everyone are still racist. It still has a disproportionate effect on the victim.
• The problem is that mere hours after John Torres assured B'Elanna that being teased for her race was "just normal teasing", he complained about how much he hated living with her and her mother... because of their race. All he did was confirm his daughter's worst suspicions that she was unloveable because of her race, and then abandoned her completely less than two weeks later.
• What Happened to the Mouse? : The glaring absence of Naomi Wildman from the story. As a half-human / half-Ktarian, she was effectively no different than Tom and B'Elanna's baby. She also had notable non-human features (a line of spikes down her forehead). Plus, the Ktarians had a somewhat questionable history with the Federation as well (including at least one attempt to take over Starfleet and supporting the Maquis revolt). Her presence would have highlighted B'Elanna's internal racism much more clearly, but she was completely absent.
• What the Hell, Hero? : Tom gives B'Elanna this reaction as soon as he learns of her whole idea. But when she alters the Doctor's program to get him to remove the baby's Klingon DNA? Then Tom's really pissed off.
• With All Due Respect : When B'Elanna and the Doctor are arguing about altering the baby's genetics, one of his points is that it's thought the Klingon third lung evolved to give them greater stamina on the battlefield, leading to this trope. B'Elanna: My daughter is not going to be a warrior! Doctor: With all due respect, Lieutenant, you don't know what your daughter is going to be!
• You're Not My Father : After Paris finds out the truth about B'Elanna's alterations to the Doctor's program and puts a stop to things before the procedure can get started, Torres goes ballistic and he says that he never thought she would go this far. He demands that they talk things out and she tells him "Stop telling me what to do. You're not my father." Paris asks just what she's talking about and she admits what's really bothering her - that she feels that she was the one who caused her father to leave. During a disastrous camping trip, she tried to run away after overhearing a conversation in which he talked about not having the constitution to live with a Klingon and now he has to live with two. After getting caught, she told him, "If you can't stand living with us, why don't you just leave?" Twelve days later, he did. Paris realizes that her real worry is that he will someday leave her. He assures her that this will never happen, that he is not her father, and that their daughter will be perfect just the way she is.
• Star Trek Voyager S 7 E 10 Shattered
• Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
• Star Trek Voyager S7 E12 Repentance

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Lineage Stardate: 54452.6 Original Airdate: 24 January 2001

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Jan 24, 2001

Tom and B'Elanna are overjoyed about their coming child; however, B'Elanna soon starts to have unpleasant flashbacks about her difficult childhood. Tom and B'Elanna are overjoyed about their coming child; however, B'Elanna soon starts to have unpleasant flashbacks about her difficult childhood. Tom and B'Elanna are overjoyed about their coming child; however, B'Elanna soon starts to have unpleasant flashbacks about her difficult childhood.

• Peter Lauritson
• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman
• Michael Piller
• Kate Mulgrew
• Robert Beltran
• Roxann Dawson
• 16 User reviews
• 4 Critic reviews

Top cast 18

• Capt. Kathryn Janeway

• Cmdr. Chakotay

• Lt. B'Elanna Torres

• Lt. Tom Paris

• Seven of Nine

• Ensign Harry Kim

• John Torres
• Young B'Elanna

• (as Nicole Sarah Fellows)
• (as Gilbert R. Leal)

• Voyager Computer

• (uncredited)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia According to Torres, there were 140 humans on board at this time.
• Goofs Tom Paris asks Tuvok for advice on fatherhood, saying he doesn't know anyone else who's been through it; however, he knows Joe Carey and knows that Carey has daughters, and might know that Ayala has sons.

Tuvok : Offspring can be disturbingly illogical, and yet profoundly fulfilling. You should anticipate paradox.

• Soundtracks Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title Written by Jerry Goldsmith Performed by Jay Chattaway

User reviews 16

• tomsly-40015
• Feb 4, 2024
• January 24, 2001 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 43 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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