Species: male android of the Soong type
Last rank: Lieutenant Commander
Date of activation: February 2, 2338
Place of creation: Omicron Theta
Date of death: 2379
Place of death: Bassen Rift, aboard the Scimitar
Creator: Dr. Noonien Soong*
Siblings: Lore (deconstructed), B-4
Daughter: Lal (deceased)

A humanoid android so sophisticated that he was regarded as a sentient life-form with full civil rights. Data was a Starfleet officer who served as operations manager under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the Starship Enterprise-D (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"), and later aboard the Starship Enterprise-E ("Star Trek: First Contact"). His existence ended in 2379 when he destroyed the thalaron generator aboard the Scimitar to save his ship and crew ("Star Trek Nemesis").

Data was built around 2335 by the reclusive scientist Noonien Soong and his wife Juliana Soong, at the Omicron Theta colony. Data was actually the fifth positronic android constructed by Soong; the first three were unsuccessful (TNG: "Inheritance"). The fourth, the first to become functional, was known as Lore (TNG: "Datalore"). Lore exhibited dangerous behavior, forcing Soong to disassemble him. Soong thereafter pursued the idea of building an android free of emotions. Soong hoped this new android would not exhibit the cruelty shown by Lore. Juliana had wanted Data to have a female form, but Noonien, as before, created Data in his own image. Following his activation, Data was much like a baby, though he was made in the form of a full-grown adult. Data had difficulty learning basic social skills, and "social niceties" had to be built into his programming. In addition, a creative capacity was also programmed into Data by Mrs. Soong, who reasoned that, without emotions, the android would need another way to express himself. After this initial period, Data was thought unsuccessful and deactivated (TNG: "Inheritance"). He was programmed with the logs and journals of the Omicron Theta colonists in an effort to help Data function better in human society (TNG: "Datalore", "Silicon Avatar"). Unfortunately, before Data could be reactivated, the Crystalline Entity attacked the colony, and Soong and his wife, Juliana, were forced to abandon their work. Fearing that, when reactivated, Data might behave as Lore did, Juliana made Dr. Soong leave Data at the colony site (TNG: "Inheritance"). Data remained in a dormant condition underground where he was discovered in 2338 by the crew of the Starship Tripoli. Data subsequently joined Starfleet and eventually became operations manager aboard the Enterprise-D (TNG: "Datalore").

Data was based on a sophisticated positronic brain developed by Soong, from concepts first postulated in the 20th century by Dr. Isaac Asimov (TNG: "Datalore"). Data's body closely mimicked humanoid form, and contained approximately 24.6 kilograms of tripolymer composites, 11.8 kilograms of molybdenum-cobalt alloys, and 1.3 kilograms of bioplast sheeting (TNG: "The Most Toys"). His upper spinal support was polyalloy, while his skull was composed of cortenide and duranium (TNG: "The Chase"). Soong went to extraordinary lengths to create a naturalistic human appearance in Data. He gave Data a functional respiration system, although its purpose was for thermal regulation. Data was in fact capable of functioning extended periods in a vacuum (TNG: "Brothers"). He gave Data a pulse and a circulatory system that distributed biochemical lubricants and regulated microhydraulic power throughout Data's body. Data's hair was even capable of growth at a controllable rate (TNG: "Birthright, Part I"). Data did not require food; he occasionally ingested a semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based liquid medium (TNG: "Déja Q"). Although Data's systems were primarily mechanical, cybernetic, and positronic, sufficient biological components were present to allow him to become infected by the Psi 2000 virus in 2364. While under the influence of the inhibition-stripping effect of that disease, Data became intimate with Enterprise-D security chief Tasha Yar (TNG: "The Naked Now"). Data's basic programming included a strong inhibition against harming living things, but he nevertheless had the ability to use deadly force to protect others. (TNG: "The Most Toys", "Star Trek: Insurrection").

Prior to his assignment to the Enterprise-D, Data served aboard the USS Trieste. During this tour-of-duty, the Trieste once fell through a wormhole (TNG: "Clues"). Aboard the Enterprise-D, Data served as operations manager, and was in charge or coordinating the many departments aboard the ship (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). In 2366, Commander Data was seriously injured trying to save Q from an attack by gaseous creatures called the Calamarain. In gratitude, Q gave Data the gift of allowing Data to experience human laughter for a brief time (TNG: "Deja Q"). Data served as father of the bride for the wedding of Miles O'Brien and Keiko Ishikawa in 2367, and found it necessary to learn to dance to fulfill this ceremonial function (TNG: "Data's Day"). Data's first opportunity to command a starship came during the Federation blockade during the Klingon civil war of 2368. Data was assigned temporary command of the Starship Sutherland in Picard's armada. As an android, Data encountered a small amount of prejudice among the human crew, but was nevertheless able to lead effectively (TNG: "Redemption, Part I"). In late 2368, when bizarre evidence was found suggesting that he had died some 500 years ago, Data traveled back in time to old San Francisco. The evidence was Data's severed head, unearthed from beneath the city of San Francisco, where it had been buried for five centuries (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part I"). Traveling back in time to the year 1893, Data uncovered a plot by aliens from the planet Devidia II who were using the cholera plague of the time to conceal their murder of humans. While attempting to stop the Devidians, Data's head was severed, and his body was sent forward in time, back to 2368. Aboard the Enterprise-D, Geordi La Forge was successful in reattaching Data's ancient head to his body (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part II"). Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Data accepted an assignment the following year under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard ("Star Trek: First Contact").

Upon returning to the Omicron Theta colony site in 2364, Data participated in the discovery and activation of his android brother, Lore. Physically identical to Data, Lore has radically different personality programming, and attempted to commandeer the Enterprise-D before he was beamed into space (TNG: "Datalore"). Although Noonien Soong was believed to have died at Omicron Theta, he was discovered to have escaped the colony when, in 2367, he remotely gained control of Data, commanding his creation to visit him in his new secret laboratory. There, Soong attempted to install a new chip in Data's positronic brain that would have given Data the ability to experience human emotions. Unfortunately, Lore also responded to Soong's call, and stole the emotion chip from Soong's lab. Dr. Soong died shortly thereafter (TNG: "Brothers"). Data began to experience emotions in 2369 when Lore secretly bombarded Data with signals that triggered negative emotions in his positronic brain. Lore used these negative emotions to guide Data into joining him and the Borg against the Federation. When Data realized that Lore was manipulating him and harming the Borg, he was forced to deactivate Lore. Data kept Soong's emotion chip, but was reluctant to install it for fear of causing further harm to his friends (TNG: "Descent, Parts I and II"). In 2379 the Romulan Praetor Shinzon used another android of the Soong type, B-4, to spark the interest of the Enterprise-E under Captain Picard and to spy on the Federation ship. Technically and intellectually less sophisticated than Data or Lore, B-4 was found to be an earlier prototype of the Soong androids. With Data's memories transferred to B-4, there was hope that after Data's death the android may be able to exceed his original programming ("Star Trek: Nemesis").

Data's attempts to understand human nature once included an effort to learn about the concept of humor, which he studied with the assistance of Guinan and a holodeck-created comedian (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona"). Data even tried a beard once, to the considerable amusement of his shipmates even learned to dance (TNG: "The Schizoid Man"). Aboard the Enterprise-D, Data shared his living quarters with that of a cat called Spot. Data tried to provide for Spot's well-being, but found it difficult to predict the cat's preferences in food (TNG: "Data's Day"). One of Data's more challenging efforts to experience humanity was his attempt to pursue a romantic relationship with Enterprise-D Security Officer Jenna D'Sora in late 2367. Although D'Sora was attracted to Data, he was unable to return the affection, at least in a manner that she wanted (TNG: "In Theory"). Data began to experience dreams in 2369 as a result of an accidental plasma shock received during an experiment. It was later learned that the shock had triggered a program designed for this purpose by Soong, who had hoped the program would be activated when Data reached a certain level of development. Data's initial dreams were of Soong as a blacksmith, incongruously forging the wings of a bird, which Data believed represented himself (TNG: "Birthright, Part I"). Those dreams turned to nightmares while under the influence of interphasic organisms in 2370 (TNG: "Phantasms"). Later that year, following the Enterprise-D's discovery of the D'Arsay archive, Data's own personality became completely submerged by a series of personas, enacting the mythology of a long dead civilization. Following the experience, Captain Picard commented that even if Data became human, he had transcended the human condition by becoming an entire civilization (TNG: "Masks").

One of Data's most noteworthy efforts in his quest for humanity was his construction of an android daughter in 2366. Data employed a new submicron matrix transfer technology to allow his own neural pathways to be duplicated in another positronic brain, which he used as the basis for his child. His daughter, whom he named Lal ("beloved" in Earth's Hindi language), developed at a remarkable rate and showed evidence of growth potential beyond that of her father, even experiencing emotions. Lal died after having lived little more than two weeks, when she experienced a serious failure in her positronic brain (TNG: "The Offspring"). In 2371, Data finally decided to install the emotion chip that Dr. Soong had created for him. Although Data had initial difficulty coping with the flood of emotions - a problem made worse when the chip became fused with his neural net - the chip represented a significant step in his quest to become more human ("Star Trek Generations"). By 2373 Data was able to turn his emotion chip on and off at will. During the Borg invasion of that year, the Borg queen used Data's quest to become human against him. She had organic components integrated into his body, allowing him to experience tactile sensations, in an effort to seduce him to the Borg collective. Her efforts were remarkably successful, and Data later reported being tempted by her offer for 0.68 seconds. Data nevertheless destroyed the Borg queen and the collective by exposing them to highly toxic plasma coolant. His efforts not only saved the Enterprise-E and his shipmates, but blocked a time-traveling Borg effort to prevent Zefram Cochrane, in the year 2063, from making his historic first warp flight ("Star Trek: First Contact").

The question of Data's sentience, and more specifically whether Data was entitled to civil rights as a citizen under the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, was addressed in a number of important legal decisions. The first, in 2341, was rendered by a Starfleet Academy entrance committee that permitted Data to enter the Academy and serve as a member of Starfleet. Several years later, the question was definitively addressed when Judge Advocate General Phillipa Louvois ruled that Data was indeed a sentient being and therefore entitled to civil rights, including the right to resign from Starfleet if he so chose. As of Stardate 42527, Data had been decorated by Starfleet Command for gallantry and had received the Medal of Honor with clusters, the Legion of Honor, and the Star Cross (TNG: "The Measure of a Man").

Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android Data on the television series Star Trek: Nová generácia (1987), was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His parents, Sylvia (Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, owned and operated a furniture store, and were both from Jewish immigrant families (from Austria, Hungary, and Russia). Jack died of kidney failure at age 29, when Brent was 10 months old. When he was 6 years old, his mother married Sol Mintz, who adopted Brent and his older brother Ron. Although his mother divorced Mintz after 7 years of marriage, Brent retained his adopted father's last name until 1975, when he took back his birth name.

Spiner first began pursuing his interest in acting while in high school. There his inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett, gave a great start to the careers of a remarkable group of aspiring young actors (and directors), including Spiner, Cindy Pickett (Cecil's daughter), Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme, all of whom later attained success in Hollywood. After graduation, Spiner followed his mentor to the University of Houston and other local colleges, while also launching his professional acting career in theater (The Houston Music Theater and other regional theater) and in film (My Sweet Charlie (1970), which was shot on location in Texas). After a couple of false starts in New York and Hollywood, Spiner eventually established himself as a stage actor in New York, appearing in a number of off-Broadway and Broadway plays, such as "A History of the American Film" (1978), "Leave It to Beaver is Dead" (1979), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), and "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1985). While in New York, he had a bit part in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) and starred in an independent film called Rent Control (1981). The play "Little Shop of Horrors "brought Spiner to Los Angeles in 1984, where he eventually took up permanent residence.

In 1986, after a number of character parts in television series and movies, such as Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), Crime of Innocence (1985), Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986), and Family Sins (1987), Spiner snagged the role that would bring him international fame: Data, the endearing android, whom Spiner played "by tapping into his inner child." Star Trek: Nová generácia (1987), the sequel to the original television series Star Trek (1966), became hugely popular, moving to the big screen for four films (so far) after its 7-year run on television. Aside from these films, Spiner has made cameo appearances in a number of films directed by his friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme, such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Crazy from the Heart (1991), and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995), and has appeared in small roles in more recent films, such as Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and The Master of Disguise (2002). Arguably his most popular film portrayal was Dr. Brakish Okun in Deň nezávislosti (1996), a role that elicited his unique eccentricity and sense of humor. He reprised the character in the sequel, Deň nezávislosti: Nový útok (2016).