KIRA NERYS

'Kira Nerys', played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in ''.

Contents

Back story

Story

Alternate universe

Relationships

Casting

References

External links

Back story

Per Bajoran custom, her surname, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys.
The back story of the character states that Kira Nerys was born 2343, in Dakhur province, Bajor, during the 50-year Cardassian occupation of the planet. She was raised in a labor camp. Her family were members of the artisan caste, though Kira herself has repeatedly shown a lack of any artistic talent. At the age of 12, Kira was recruited into the Shakaar resistance cell, part of an underground movement which carried out terrorist attacks against Cardassian military and civilians with the ultimate goal of ending the occupation.

Story

In the early episodes of the show, after Cardassia withdrew from Bajor, now at age 26, the recently-ranked Major Kira became an influential figure in Bajor's reconstruction and the politics of the region, due to her assignment to ''Deep Space Nine'', and her closeness to Captain Benjamin Sisko, whom the Bajorans believed to be an emissary from the Bajoran Prophets.
Initially, Kira was opposed to the Federation presence on ''DS9'', feeling that the Bajoran people should have nothing to do with the Federation. Over time, her sentiments changed and she became one of the strongest supporters of Bajor joining the Federation.
Though she is a member of the Bajoran Militia, Kira is an invaluable help to Starfleet, especially during the Dominion War. When the Dominion captures ''Deep Space Nine'' at the start of the war, Kira remains aboard the station as liaison officer, as part of Bajor's non-aggression pact with the Dominion. Her role allows her to organize a resistance cell, including Rom, Quark, and Jake Sisko. They smuggle intelligence to Starfleet which indicates that the Dominion has begun to dismantle the minefield preventing Dominion reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant. She also manages to sabotage weapons systems, which then allows Starfleet to retake ''Deep Space Nine''.
Kira's experience in the Bajoran Resistance earned her a Starfleet field commission as Commander in order to assist the Cardassian Resistance against the Dominion. Kira, Odo and Garak are smuggled into Cardassia to teach Damar the tactics of organizing a resistance movement with a decentralized command. Their resistance cell manages to infiltrate a Dominion shipyard and steal the Breen weapon that Federation ships were defenseless against. Their actions allowed Starfleet engineers to develop shields that could counter the weapon. At the conclusion of the war, Kira takes command of ''DS9'' after the disappearance of Sisko. She is promoted to Colonel sometime earlier in 2374.

Alternate universe

The character of Kira Nerys also exists in the mirror universe. In the ''DS9'' episode "Crossover," Kira encounters her mirror self, who is Intendant of Terok Nor, with Garak as her first officer. Kira convinces the mirror-Sisko to rebel against the Intendant-Kira and start the Terran Resistance. This group is later successful in taking command of Terok Nor and capturing the Intendant, but she manages to escape with the help of mirror-Nog. Eventually the escaped Intendent convinces the alternate universe's ''Bareil Antos'' to travel to the regular universe in order to obtain an ''Orb of the Prophets.'' The mirror Kira falls in love with her double from the other universe, leading some fans to speculate that the mirror Kira is bisexual. Nana Visitor dismisses this, saying that she intended to portray this as "total narcissism on her part. It had nothing to do with sexuality."

Relationships

The character of Kira Nerys has a romantic relationship with Vedek Bareil Antos until his death during important treaty negotiations with the Cardassians. After previously being severely wounded in a shuttle accident, Dr. Julian Bashir manages to keep him alive long enough for him to guide Kai Winn Adami through the negotiations. Already antagonistic of Winn for her power hunger and political manipulations to become Kai, Kira becomes even more embittered against Winn, who took all the credit for the subsequent peace treaty between the Bajorans and Cardassians.
She later has a brief romantic liaison with her former cell commander, later first minister of Bajor, Shakaar Edon. During this time, she also agrees to carry, then give birth to the baby of Miles and Keiko O'Brien, when Keiko was wounded and nearly miscarried during an away mission (actress Nana Visitor was pregnant in real life). Kira gives birth to the O'Briens' son Kirayoshi in 2373, but she and Shakaar later break up after consulting the Prophets and learning that they were not meant to be together.
She then begins a relationship with Odo during the Dominion War. At first she is extremely uncomfortable after learning that Odo has feelings for her, but with the help of Vic Fontane, the two finally began dating. Their relationship is a source of both strength and stress during the war, finally culminating in Odo's decision to leave the station and return to the Founder's homeworld.
Kira was a close friend of Jadzia Dax. Kira had developed a very harsh and stubborn personality due to her experiences during the occupation, but Jadzia's love of fun and adventure eventually helped to soften Kira. Jadzia would sometimes take Kira to the holodeck, which Kira had difficulty taking seriously. Jadzia also had become a confidant of Kira, especially during her romantic struggles and turmoils. After Jadzia's death, Kira does not become close to Ezri Dax.
Kira had a close friendship with Tora Ziyal, Gul Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter. She first met Ziyal when she and Dukat went to find a missing Cardassian transport ship that had been carrying Bajoran prisoners. After learning that Dukat had gone with her to kill his illegitimate daughter, Kira persuaded him to spare her. When Dukat captured a Klingon Bird of Prey during the Klingon-Cardassian War, Kira offered to care for Ziyal on ''Deep Space Nine'', saying the girl should not be involved in his personal vendetta. Ziyal saw Kira almost as a mother-figure, and Kira in turn was very protective of her. At the onset of the Dominion War, Kira arranged for Ziyal to stay with her friend on Bajor and study art at a university. Though Kira continued to despise Gul Dukat for his role in the Cardassian Occupation, she never let her hatred for him interfere with her friendship with Ziyal. Ziyal was later killed by Damar.

Casting

In the early stages of planning ''Deep Space Nine'', the show's creators wanted to bring the character of Ensign Ro Laren (from ''. Michelle Forbes turned down the offer, so a new Bajoran character was created.^[1] Nana Visitor had just barely given birth to a baby boy a couple of months before she was called to audition for the rôle of Kira Nerys, and her becoming a mother actually shaped her decision process for accepting or turning down roles. With the character of Kira Nerys, Visitor felt "completely engaged on every level by the part."^[2]

References

1. IMDb, Michelle Forbes (I) profile "After appearing in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) as Ro Laren, she was approached to play the same character in a starring role on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993). When she turned down the part, because she didn't want to commit to a regular TV role at that point in her career, a new Bajoran character, Kira Nerys, was created and Nana Visitor was cast in that part." Accessed 31 Aug 2007
2. Marc Shapiro, "Mother with a Mission" ''Star Trek Monthly'' Sept. 1995. Duplicated at http://nanavision.com/?p=17, accessed 31 Aug 2007.

External links

★ Star Trek.com: Kira Nerys