"I tried. I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation. But you know what? It's no fun! I don't like the Cardassians, they're mean and arrogant. And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar. They're creepy, they just stand there like statues, staring at you. That's it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back! I want to sell root beer again!"
Quark was a supporting character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, often acting as a comedic relief figure that frequently shifted between a hero and anti-hero (true to his nature as a Ferengi, a type of alien in Star Trek that are well-known for their greed, which is seen as a pivotal part of their culture and spirituality).
Due to his sneaky nature he often ran foul of chief-of-security Odo but throughout the series Quark proved his loyalty to those he befriended and despite his open criticism of humans he was protective of them and saw the station as his family (though he tried to mask it as "good business"): he proved a valuable ally during many conflicts, such as the Dominion War.
More Notable Heroic Acts[]
While normally an anti-hero at best and by no means a pleasant individual Quark has done some truly heroic acts across the course of the series (as well as several acts in expanded media, such as Star Trek Online), some of his acts include:
- when he first came to Deep-Space 9 it was still under Cardassian rule, he would help to smuggle food to the oppressed Bajorans (though he justified it as simply making profit he was often generous and would add "extras").
- saving Odo's life when the pair were trapped in the wilderness, going as far as carrying Odo up a mountain (despite claiming he was doing so to use Odo as food, he clearly did so out of care for his friend).
- freely admitted he missed the Federation when the Dominion temporarily occupied Deep-Space 9, lamenting that he found the Dominion creepy and his dislike of Cardassians, while he justified it as bad for business he was clearly mourning genuine good times with friends aboard the station and wanted to end the Dominion's unjust occupation (he was also clearly taken back to his early days of working under Cardassian rule).
- he helped disarm a Jem'Hadar torpedo that was stuck in the hull of the USS Defiant, saving the ship from destruction.
- during a savage Jem'Hadar attack, he saved Nog, who was wounded, by killing a Jem'Hadar who had entered into the infirmary.
- while a criminal Quark almost exclusively works on small-scale smuggling and very rarely (if ever) engages in the more openly malicious forms of crime (such as murder or drug-dealing); however, he did engage in arms-dealing at least once (yet he redeemed himself quickly by undoing said deals and stopping the criminals, saving approximately 28 million lives).
- he would form a strong bond with Jadzia Dax, even after she rejected his more romantic feelings, it was this friendship with Jadzia (alongside his disgust at profiting from the deaths of others) that convinced him to give up his brief arms-dealing, when Dax was murdered Quark participated in the ritualistic mission to destroy the Monac shipyard and grant Jadzia's entrance into the afterlife.
History[]
The son of Ishka and Keldar, Quark traveled to Terok Nor with his brother Rom and nephew Nog to run a bar on the station. They remained as the Cardassians withdrew and the Federation took over, renaming the station Deep Space Nine.
Quark's Bar became the center of station life on DS9. Quark for his part participated in all manner of activities, some of which were less than legal. Even so Quark had his standards and there were some things even he would not stoop to. His time in the Federation led to his developing a sense of ethics that some of his fellow Ferengi lacked.
Quark had a rivalry with Odo that went on from the moment Odo became chief of security on DS9. Odo spent a great deal of his time short circuiting Quark's schemes and arresting Quark when he broke the law. Despite this the two men respected each other. He also was attracted to Major Kira Nerys, but she firmly put a stop to his obscene advances. Quark also nursed an attraction to Jadzia Dax. While she was a bit more tolerant of Quark, she did not feel anything beyond friendship for the Ferengi bartender.
Even though Quark often acted like a jerk towards his family and friends, in reality Quark deeply cared for his brother, nephew, mother, and his friends.
Quark bore a strong resemblance to the Ferengi DaiMon Letek, leading Dax to quip that Letek looked familiar when the DS9 crew encountered him in the 2370s.
When the Federation was forced to leave DS9 at the onset of the Dominion War, Quark remained on the station. At first content to continue his business under the new regime, he came to see how evil the Dominion was, and joined Major Kira's resistance movement. He helped break Kira, his brother, Jake, and the others out of captivity in order to buy Benjamin Sisko time to enter the wormhole and convince the Prophets to intervene against the Dominion reinforcements travelling through the wormhole.
Quark remained on the station throughout the Dominion War and remained on board following the war. At the end of the war he was running a pool on who would be the next Kai of Bajor, something Kira Nerys quickly put a stop to.
Novel Timeline[]
Quark remained on the station and entered into a relationship with the Bajoran Ro Laren. Station residents thought that he and Ro made a weird couple.
As Bajor prepared to enter the Federation, Quark was considering leaving the station as the moneyless Federation economy would make it that much harder to do business. Learning of Quark's troubles, his brother Rom had Quark's declared the official embassay of the Ferengi Alliance to Bajor, and named Quark as the Ferengi Ambassador to Bajor.
Quark survived the destruction of Deep Space Nine by the Typhon Pact, and opened a bar on the surface of Bajor while the station was being rebuilt. When a replacement station was built, Quark opened a new Quark's Bar on the second station, and moved there to run the operation.
Trivia[]
- Quark has the distinction of speaking the last lines of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the series finale "What You Leave Behind":
| “ | The more things change, the more they stay the same. | „ |
| ~ Quark to Morn quoting Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr |
- Quark made an appearance outside of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine twice, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Firstborn" and in the Star Trek: Voyager premiere episode, "Caretaker".
