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This article is about the Star Trek fictional character. For other uses, see Odo (disambiguation) "Constable" Odo is a shapeshifter played by Rene Auberjonois on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was a main character for the show's entire seven-year run.
Overview One of "the hundred" sent out by The Founders long ago to explore the galaxy, Odo was found adrift in 2356 in the Denorios Belt by Bajorans, who indirectly gave him his name. It is unclear how long he had been adrift in the Denorios Belt. Since Odo had not yet learned how to morph into a humanoid appearance, he appeared in his natural gelatinous form. The Bajorans, not sure of what Odo actually was, put him in a container and labelled it "unknown sample". The Cardassian overseers translated this into their own language as "odo'ital", literally "nothing". Even after it became clear that Odo was sentient, the scientists kept calling him by that name, which eventually was styled (as a joke) into a Bajoran name "Odo Ital", then shortened to simply "Odo". He was studied by Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora Pol, whom Odo disliked due to Mora's questionable (but effective) practice of inducing pain as a motivator in encouraging Odo to assume different shapes before, and even after Odo was recognized as sentient. While Mora regarded himself as a father of sorts to Odo, Odo felt intense hostility toward Mora. Their relationship was difficult, but eventually they did reach a certain understanding. Odo modelled his humanoid appearance on Dr. Mora, but never had the skill to duplicate humanoid features with precision, making his humanoid appearance an approximation. Originally, Odo's "unfinished" look was intended to convey that he simply chose not to bother with anything more than the most basic face necessary to communicate with humanoids, since he otherwise didn't really care what others thought of his appearance. When others of Odo's race (the Founders) were introduced, they shared a similar 'unfinished' look, which they adopted mostly to make Odo feel at ease around them - they could replicate humanoids exactly, whereas Odo, having grown up without others of his kind, never learned to master it. Odo later worked for the Cardassians during the Occupation of Bajor aboard the orbiting Terok Nor ore-processing space station, and later for the Bajorans/Federation aboard Deep Space Nine (the Federation name for Terok Nor), in both cases as chief of security. During the occupation, Gul Dukat had originally enlisted Odo to investigate the murder of one of the Bajoran station workers. Since Odo was seen as a neutral observer, sympathizing with no one, he was considered a valuable security officer. Odo's early career on Terok Nor hit a snag when he investigated an assassination attempt on Dukat. Three Bajoran workers were initially linked to the attack, and Odo - eager to ensure the rule of law and quickly conclude the investigation - hurriedly convicted them and allowed them to be executed. Soon after, Odo discovered that all three men were innocent, and that his lax investigative procedures caused a serious miscarriage of justice. This prompted Odo to be much more insistent on actual justice (not necessarily the actual letter of the law). Up until this time, Odo was unaware of his people and his ancestry. A criminal showed him a necklace containing an apparently non-sentient shapeshifter in the episode "Vortex." Later, in the episode "The Alternate", Dr. Mora visited Odo at Deep Space Nine and went with him to the Gamma Quadrant to investigate a planet with a similar life-form. It wasn't until later that Odo learned that his people were the leaders of the Dominion. In 2372, Odo married a pregnant, recently divorced Lwaxana Troi as a favor to her, so that her child would not be taken away from her at birth by the father, as required by Tavnian law. Although Odo had been annoyed by Lwaxana in the past, he came to appreciate her company. However, he still was not in love with her, so after her ex-husband witnessed the marriage, she returned to Betazed. Odo became the first ever Changeling to kill another of his species (in "The Adversary"). Although it was in self-defense, and there was no intent to kill, the Founders punished him by taking away his shape-shifting abilities, then transforming him into a physical human being ("Broken Link"). He retained his physical body for several months and even had a brief romantic relationship, but he was unhappy in this form. Eventually, an infant shapeshifter Odo was caring for died, integrating itself into Odo's physical makeup. This integration caused Odo's body to revert back to normal, and he regained all his shape-shifting abilities ("The Begotten"). Odo remained loyal to the Bajoran and Federation people throughout the Dominion War. At the end of the war, he went back to the "Great Link" to cure the other Founders of a disease that Section 31 had infected them with, and to teach the Founders how to trust other races again. During his time on the station, Odo was involved in an ongoing battle of wits with the Ferengi Quark. One famous line that can be heard in most episodes is Odo exclaiming "Quark!" from off-screen. Trouble for the Ferengi would usually ensue. Odo would spend a great deal of time "observing" Quark, both in humanoid form, as well as various other shapes. Over the years the two men would gain a grudging respect for each other. Their relationship was likely an attempt to recapture something of the sparring affection of Spock and McCoy from the original series, and was mostly a hit with fans. In the series' final episode, "What You Leave Behind"", Odo refused to admit the friendship he had developed with Quark, turning away with his usual contempt. But Quark saw through him, saying, "That man loves me. Did you see it? It was written all over his back." Odo entered a romantic relationship with Kira Nerys with the help of Vic Fontaine. Odo had pined for her for years, while she was oblivious. They remained involved until Odo left to rejoin the Great Link. Mirror Universe In the Mirror Universe, Odo was the supervisor of the mining complex at Terok Nor (DS9's mirror counterpart). He was a brutal taskmaster over Terran slaves there, and tolerated no deviation from his numerous rules. Relatively little is known of him, as no one in the Mirror Universe is aware that the wormhole exists or who Odo's people are. During a slave revolt, the mirror Odo is killed by Julian Bashir who vaporizes him with a phaser set on kill. Trivia | ||||||||
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