Quark (Star Trek)
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| Species | Ferengi |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Ferengi Alliance |
| Posting | Deep Space Nine Resident |
| Position | Captain |
| Father | Keldar |
| Mother | Ishka |
| Partner | Grilka (divorced) |
| Portrayed by | Armin Shimerman |
| First appearance | "Emissary" (DS9) |
Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically capitalist and motivated only by profit.
Quark, who often served as the show's comedy relief, may have been named after the 1978 Quark (TV series), which frequently examined science fiction themes from a humorous or satirical perspective.
Before opening a bar, known as Quark's, on the station, Quark served as a cook aboard a Ferengi freighter for eight years. Quark came to the station while it was named Terok Nor during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Originally, Quark admired the Cardassian race for their version of morality, but later he seemed to take pity on the downtrodden Bajoran people, selling them food and equipment just above cost, which could have gotten him into serious trouble if the Cardassians had found out. When the station changed hands at the end of the occupation, Quark decided to leave the station. Commander Sisko, feeling that Quark's Bar (which offered holosuites and gambling) would encourage commercial tourism to boost the station's economy, extorted Quark to stay, using Quark's nephew Nog as a bargaining chip, in the Deep Space Nine pilot episode, "Emissary".
Quark nevertheless continued to conduct a variety of shady deals while on the station, but neither Sisko nor the Bajoran authorities took many punitive actions against him, partially because Quark's position in the station's business community and contribution to station tourism outweighed the trouble caused by his activities, which were legal under Ferengi law and, for the most part, harmed no one. This was also largely because of the Federation's policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other races, which extended even to the Ferengi and their business dealings (their lack of Federation membership notwithstanding); the station's status as, technically, the property of Bajor, which allowed Starfleet's presence but could theoretically revoke that privilege, also sometimes tied Sisko's hands in such cases, often to his chagrin. In the episode Business as Usual, Sisko admitted that he had "cut [Quark] a lot of slack in the past [and] even looked away once or twice when [he] could have come down hard on [Quark]." A shrewd businessman, Quark often quotes the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.
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