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CHIEF O'BRIEN AT WORK

EPISODE 386: Report Card

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Webcomic / Chief O'Brien at Work

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Chief O'Brien at Work is a webcomic created by Jon Adams that focuses on the day-to-day struggles of Star Trek: The Next Generation character Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien. The comic lampoons the Star Trek universe by showcasing just how dull a job like being the ship's transporter chief is compared to the glamorous adventures of the away teams and command crew. It's also not afraid to showcase just how terrible Chief O'Brien's life is.

Chief O'Brien at Work provides examples of:

• All Just a Dream : If something good is happening to O'Brien, you can assume it is.
• Blatant Lies : Lieutenant Borgberg swears they are not Borg.
• Body Horror : When O'Brien melds himself with his clone and becomes, according to his wife, "a horrible monstrosity."
• Bungled Suicide : O'Brien tries to hang himself in 265, but the artificial gravity fails and Engineering is in no hurry to correct the problem.
• Butt-Monkey : O'Brien's life is a never ending slew of disappointment and loneliness.
• Card-Carrying Villain : Armus is a (self-proclaimed) godlike being of ultimate power who gets his power from being evil, as evil is the ultimate power, and who brags about how much he loves hurting and torturing people.
• The Casanova : Riker's quite a ladies' man, much to O'Brien's chagrin.
• The Chew Toy : You'd feel sorry for poor O'Brien if his pain weren't so fun to behold!
• Comically Missing the Point : When Worf tells O'Brien that the teleporter room's button hasn't worked in years and out of pity Geordi just programmed the computer to pretend that O'Brien pressing the button does something, O'Brien is just shocked and happy because no one has ever taken pity on him before.
• A Day in the Limelight : After O'Brien is apparently killed by a space monster, Wesley becomes the main character for a few comics, with the comic's title becoming Wesley Crusher, Interdimensional Bachelor .
• Death Seeker : The chief's usually sour demeanor lightens up at the prospect of an alien intruder putting him out of his misery.
• Driven to Suicide : In one episode O'Brien beams himself into space. This is just one instance however. Although he's always alive by the next episode.
• Empty Shell : In #344, Geordi tests an experimental new teleportation technique on O'Brien that runs the risk of stripping away his soul and leaving him a hollow shell of a human if it goes wrong. When he asks O'Brien afterwards how he feels, he says the same as always: completely empty and soulless.
• Energy Being : After ascending to godhood, Wesley has become a being of pure energy (but still wears his sweater).
• Everyone Has Standards : No matter how desperately lonely O'Brien is, even he is creeped out by Q and doesn't want his friendship after Q reveals he's perfectly fine with ( what he thinks is ) O'Brien marrying a 12-year old.
• Extreme Doormat : O'Brien.
• The Faceless : Riker is typically depicted as being slightly out of frame whenever he makes an appearance.
• Fourth-Date Marriage : Exaggerated: Wesley proposes to Bev'orly before their first date even starts.
• Hand Wave : The explanation for how O'Brien survived after being torn in half and left to drift in the vacuum of space for thousands of years? "The mysteries of space, I guess."
• Hiding Behind the Language Barrier : A pair of aliens, believing that O'Brien's universal translator is broken, take the opportunity to talk about how utterly pathetic he is and wonder openly if he'll ever get the courage to kill himself in order to escape the torment of his life.
• Hope Spot : Too many to count.
• It's All About Me : Wesley is comically self-absorbed, being more concerned about impressing the aliens who asked for his help with how smart he is and how cool his powers are than actually saving them. He's also completely willing to let O'Brien die in front of him just so he can brag about resurrecting him.
• I Want My Mommy! : O'Brien calls out for his mother when he realizes he's about to die after being torn in half by a space monster.
• Jerkass : Riker is unapologetic in his slowly crushing of what remains of O'Brien's hope. The rest of the Enterprise crew can also fit this.
• Jerkass God : After seeing that O'Brien was torn in half by a space monster and is now slowly bleeding out, Wesley tells him that with his godlike powers he could easily turn back time to make it so that never happened... but instead prefers to watch him die and will just resurrect him afterwards. When he finally does (seemingly) die, Wesley just ditches his body to help aliens in exchange for a date.
• Kick the Dog : The Micky Mouse simulation refusing listen to O'Brien when he tells him he really needs to talk to someone, not because of limits placed on his software but because he just doesn't feel like it.
• Legally Dead : O'Brien is so forgettable that the crew assume he's dead when no one bothers to relieve him of his shift. After O'Brien contacts Picard, Picard decides not to fix the error because it's easier than going through the paperwork.
• Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe : It's very likely that "Uncle Riker" is Molly's real father.
• Mistaken for Pedophile : After accidentally turning his wife into a 12-year old due to an accident with the teleporter, O'Brien is mistaken as a pedophile who married a child and ends up locked up for several comics. The only one who comes to his aid is Q, who uses his powers to resolve the whole thing.
• Perpetual Frowner : O'Brien's always sporting the same sour look in every episode.
• Physical God : Wesley somehow has obtained the powers of a god and ascended to become an Energy Being who can travel to other dimensions, reverse time, resurrect the dead, and shrink entire planes of existence. Despite that, he's still extremely immature and self-absorbed.
• Power Perversion Potential : O'Brien isn't above beaming Tasha Yar into his transporter room when she's changing.
• Running Gag : Many. Riker having an affair with O'Brien's wife, the computer being able to do O'Brien's job, and no one invites O'Brien to poker night.
• Screw Yourself : After being rejected by everyone he asked out, Wesley created a duplicate of himself to date. Upon finding out that was his sole reason for existing, the duplicate decided to uncreate itself and vanished.
• Teleporter Accident : Par for the course for a Star Trek comic. O'Brien manages to get Ensign Barclay killed in one.
• Yank the Dog's Chain : Just when you think O'Brien is about to get a break...
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Miles O'Brien

Character » Miles O'Brien appears in 138 issues .

Served aboard the USS Enterprise D and Deep Space Nine

Summary short summary describing this character..

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: The Q Conflict

Miles O'Brien last edited by steelhandcuffs on 07/13/23 11:09AM View full history

Star Trek Canon Special Note

Not everything listed in the origin is Canon. That is because only television shows and movies are considered canon for Star Trek. This being a comic website there are many things here that are not canon. So unless it is contradicted in film it should be listed as part of the character biography.

Part of O'Brien's early career was in the Cardassian War aboard the U.S.S. Rutledge and it shaped him greatly into the man he became. Through a chance life and death situation he found that he had a skill for engineering. He also built a real dislike/hatred for the Cardassians. This dislike/hatred for Cardassians is something he struggled with for decades after the war. After the war O'Brien was stationed on the Flagship of the Federation and had a role in it's first mission and many more afterwards.

The character of O'Brien was created during the Star Trek: The next Generation Television show. His character however evolved very slowly unlike many other characters. He was first seen in the pilot episode of the show but had no name attributed to him. His rank and title changed as well as the series went on. By the fourth season however O'Brien had a name and some minor characteristics that were sprinkled about as the show had gone on. Most importantly was that he was a non-commissioned (non-com) officer.

Being a non-com O'Brien represented all the enlisted personal on the show. He was also a family man who actually was allowed to marry and have a family on the show and have them be a regular part of the series. This was especially true when the character became one of the main characters in the next Star Trek show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9).

Since O'Brien wasn't originally suppose to be a main cast member he was allowed to grow as a character. In Next Generation he got married and had his first child. When DS9 started the whole family of characters became a part of the show.

Another part of his evolution that was not a smooth transfer was his rank. The show the Next Generation never really dealt with non commissioned crewmen and the rank insignia was not well established for these ranks. O'Brien even wore the rank of Lieutenant and was even called one on the show. Most the time however he was referred to as chief. It was not until about halfway through the Deep Space Nine series that his rank insignia was clearly established.

Character Evolution

Once O'Brien transferred to the Enterprise his life really began to grow as he met and married Keiko. Miles and Keiko O'Brien also had their first child Molly O'Brien who was born during a crisis situation that resulted in the Tactical Officer Worf delivering the child. The new family was only together a short time before Miles was assigned to the O'Brien Space station.

Keiko was not real happy on DS9 and only found a purpose when she opened up a school. O'Brien himself had a hard time at first. The technology on the ship was part Cardassian, Bajoran and Federation so it was a very complicated system to work with. This stress however was really a labor of love leaving his true annoyance being Julian Bashir .

Miles had a real dislike for the green Bashir and did all he could to avoid him. The irony in this is they became the very best of friends and were virtually inseparable as they served together. Bahsir was there for Miles during his darkest times.

No time was darker for O'Brien than when he was sentence and convicted to a crime of espionage that he didn't even commit. Not only was he sentence but he served about twenty years in prison. What O'Brien did not know was that his incarceration was imposed upon him by an alien technology so that O'Brien did not age or even spend any real time in prison but his mind felt that he did. O'Brien couldn't even adjust to time on the station. He became haunted by the image of his friend and cell mate he had killed because he believed he was stealing food. He was so bothered by it that he tried to kill himself and it was Bashir who convinced him to live.

O'Brien and Keiko would go on and have another child and after the Dominion War, Miles would go back to planet earth to teach engineering at Starfleet . This was an odd move for him as he loved to work on challenging problems and seemed to have a need for action. It is likely that he will not be there long.

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If you've ever felt lost and worthless, step aside, because someone else feels even more so, and his name is Chief O'Brien of the Starship Enterprise. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, crappy jobs, and ennui will enjoy our short-lived Chief O'Brien at Work comics.

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IDW NYCC Panel Reveals First Look At Upcoming Trek Comics, Including New “Sons Of Star Trek” Miniseries

| October 18, 2023 | By: Michael A. Nguyen 16 comments so far

At New York Comic Con, IDW hosted the “Star Trek: Boldly Going with IDW Publishing” panel all about Trek comics for a packed room at the Javits Center over the weekend. IDW Star Trek editor Heather Antos led the discussion with writers and artists from a number of new and upcoming Trek titles. The panel covered IDW’s prolific output of titles this year as well as upcoming releases planned for later this year and 2024.

Sons of Star Trek coming in February

At NYCC, IDW announced a new miniseries titled Star Trek: The Sons of Star Trek which launches in January 2024. The series is being written by Morgan Hampton, who is new to Trek comics, and features art from Trek comic vet Angel Hernandez. As the name of the series implies, it will take a closer look at some of the famous sons of the franchise, including Worf’s son Alexander, Sisko’s son Jake, Rom’s son Nog, and even Q’s son Q. IDW editor Heather Antos joked that the series deals with Star Trek’s “nepo babies” and hinted it would also include Jack Crusher, son of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher.

IDW also released a cover and early interior artwork for the series.

Cover for Sons of Star Trek (IDW)

Interior art for Sons of Star Trek (IDW)

According to Antos, the series will tie in to the continuity of the ongoing Star Trek and Defiant comics, which also feature Alexander and Jake. She said the series is “dealing with fathers who may not have been there in the ways they wanted them to. We really explore all of that and what it means to be a legacy in the Federation.”

At the panel, they also showed off an additional cover and more interior art.

Defiant annual to tell Sela’s origin story

Fans of The Next Generation may also be excited for the upcoming Star Trek Defiant Annual,  coming in January 2024. The character of Commander Sela has already been featured in the Star Trek: Defiant series, including the recent “Day of Blood” crossover. At the panel, Defiant writer Chris Cantwell described this annual as “her issue,” revealing it will feature Sela along with her mother Tasha Yar, via some time travel. “We are going to see some of the more painful and tragic events in both of their lives,” said Cantwell, who also teased that the series will show Sela’s origins in a Romulan prison camp, picking up after the events of the classic TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”

First look at the cover for Defiant Annual 2024 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)

First look inside Lower Decks interactive graphic novel

IDW first revealed they were making a choose-your-own-adventure style book tied to Lower Decks at San Diego Comic-Con . Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way is being written by Ryan North, who wrote last year’s Lower Decks IDW miniseries, and will have art by Chris Fenoglio. Heather Antos said Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan has been very supportive of the project as well as their other tie-ins to his animated comedy. Antos was wary of giving out spoilers even when pressed by the audience. She did reveal there is a “correct path”—but as the book is written from the perspective of Beckett Mariner, you will need to make “Mariner-like choices in order to find the correct path.”

She brought interior art from the book, showing the Lower Decks version of Khan.

First look inside Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way (Photo: TrekMovie.com)

Space dinosaurs and Gorn gangsters

Now that the big “Day of Blood” crossover has wrapped up, the ongoing Star Trek and Defiant series are branching out into their own stories starting in October. Later this month, the first part of the new “A Savage World of Glass and Bone” arc for the ongoing Star Trek series will be released, starting with issue 13. The new storyline focuses on the Tzenkethi Coalition, which was mentioned on Deep Space Nine but never shown. At the panel, writer Collin Kelly hyped up the arc, saying, “The mighty world of Tzenketh has been unseen for too long and we know that the Federation has clashed with them twice and lost in both cases.” Sisko has been tasked to stop another war, which is a challenge, as Kelly noted: “With the Tzenkethi being gigantic space dinosaurs, that might get a little rough.” He also revealed the series will feature the return of Harry Kim, working as a secret agent with the codename “Kingsnake.”

Cover C for Star Trek #13 coming later this month

The new Star Trek: Defiant arc titled “Another Piece of the Action” began earlier this month. On the panel, writer Christopher Cantwell said it was inspired by the first Mission: Impossible film, with Worf and his crew being “disavowed” by Starfleet so they can track down some of the Federation’s most wanted off the books. This includes Hugh the Borg, Berlinghoff Rasmussen (who is hiding out on Talos IV), and a new character named Benny the Munch, a holdout from Sigma Iotia who “still believes in Chicagoland gangsterism” and is using tech from McCoy’s communicator to cause trouble, which includes teaming up with some Gorn.

Cover B for Star Trek: Defiant 310 coming in December

Prodigy comics?

As discussed at the panel, IDW has done tie-ins to all the original Star Trek shows that have streamed in Paramount+ except one. When asked if they had plans for a Star Trek: Prodigy comic, perhaps timed for the release of the second season in 2024 on the show’s new streaming home, Netflix , Antos deflected the question, saying, “I would love to. That is a question for people above my pay grade.” She encouraged the fans in the audience to let those people know if they wanted a Prodigy comic, resulting in loud applause. She indicated some of those decision-makers were in the room, so maybe Prodigy will finally get the IDW comics treatment.

Heather Antos (L) speaking at the IDW Star Trek comics panel at NYCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)

More from NYCC

Check out all of our Star Trek Universe at New York Comic Con coverage including Alex Kurtzman’s Star Trek Universe update and his gratitude to fans who saved  Star Trek: Prodigy , Mike McMahan talking  Lower Decks  season 4 finale and season 5  as well as the first part of  our NYCC interview with McMahan . We also reported on the  Kid Cudi x Star Trek reveal at NYCC .

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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See Jake and Nog Reunited For A New Adventure In ‘Sons Of Star Trek’ #1 Preview

Don’t spend much time on the comics, but I’m pretty sure these sons of Trek don’t fit the definition of nepo babies. Jack Crusher, however, does in spades.

why not use the “space rhino” Tzenkethi design that STO established years ago? big literal dinosaurs is so generic and seems like Gorn ripoffs

Not to nitpick, but “space rhinos” make me envision the rhino-like Judoon of “Doctor Who” fame.

The First Splinter Tzenkethi are more alien.

Star Trek Comics are becomming more and more absurd… Jake in Starfleet? Is as belivable as Janeway having crush on Seven.

Why is that so unbelievable?

because they only talked about it a dozen times in the series about how Jake didn’t want to follow his father’s career path. Even in ‘The Visitor’ he got deep into science and worked with Starfleet but never entered.

One, these comics are not canon. Two, that’s just art of them in uniform, Nog is the only one that’s ever joined Starfleet. Three, the part I had issue with was them taking a shot at J/7. That was unnecessary.

Janeway didn’t have a crush?

“ Is as belivable (sic) as Janeway having crush on Seven.”

So what you’re saying is you think Jake should be Commander, Starfleet. Got it.

It’s Jake and Alexander ending up in another alternate universe.

https://www.comicbook.com/startrek/amp/news/star-trek-sons-of-star-trek-series/

“Their paths become entangled when they find themselves in an alternate universe where they both follow more explicitly in their fathers’ footsteps, each joining Starfleet and serving aboard the U.S.S. Burton.”

What did Hugh do? He’s too cute for this.

Could we have some daughters, please?!

I would have liked to see Molly O’Brien or Demora Sulu … Sela’s being used in Defiant it seems. Certainly, more than Q’s son. On the other hand, he’s the one driving the alternate reality plot it assume.

the “abandoned by their fathers in one way or another” series…

Just read the description of the new “Defiant” arc….. JESUS ,and they accuse Lower Decks and Picard of nostalgia pandering!!!

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Yellow Uniform, Blue Collar: Celebrating Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Chief O’Brien

When you think Star Trek there are a few words that instantly come to mind. “Kirk” and “Spock” are far and away the most well-known characters in the series—and younger generations of fans might answer The Next Generation ’s Captain Picard or even Q as some of the most iconic figures the franchise has churned out. Regardless of which Trek show is your jumping-on point, though, “Miles O’Brien” is rarely the answer that comes to mind when we think about Star Trek ’s most beloved characters—and that’s an utter travesty. Though he may not be the most well-known, or even the most well-liked character on the series in which he appeared, Miles O’Brien is one of Star Trek ’s most fascinating and under-appreciated characters.

Brought to life by Colm Meaney (who celebrates his 68th birthday today!), Miles O’Brien was first introduced as a the transporter chief on Star Trek: The Next Generation —a supporting player who was perhaps most memorable to viewers at the time for his Irish accent and friendship with Commander Data. Franchise higher-ups picked up on his potential, though, and after a successful tenure on TNG , O’Brien made the jump to a main cast member on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , where he truly blossomed into a remarkable figure in the Trek universe, building off of already established story arcs and weaving in new character threads.

Admittedly, if the name Miles O’Brien didn’t ring a bell for you right off the bat, it’s for good reason. Even though he’s the second most long-running character in Trek history (behind Michael Dorn’s Worf), O’Brien’s character is, for lack of a better word, engineered to play second fiddle. While some Trek characters are beloved for their quirky-one liners, memorable physical attributes, or extraordinary abilities, O’Brien is a very deliberate everyman—a sort of audience stand-in who’s at his best when he’s playing off of other, bigger characters.

It’s easy to draw the eye when you’re the center of attention, but to be a standout as a supporting player takes a special gift—and that’s exactly the prowess Colm Meaney holds as an actor on TNG and DS9 . His most memorable relationship is part of a dynamic duo with Alexander Siddig’s bright-eyed doctor Julian Bashir, with whom O’Brien developed a begruding friendship. While we laugh and fondly role our eyes at Julian Bashir’s over-eager antics, it’s O’Brien’s annoyance and infuriation that makes the comedic beats in those scenes work. He’s a much-needed grounding presence when some of the more absentminded characters babble off into monologues of techno jargon—O’Brien is always there with a baffled, unimpressed look or a frustrated comment to level out the often overwhelming amount of sheer sci-fi in the later seasons of Deep Space Nine .

What’s more, O’Brien’s relatability extends beyond just playing straight man to goofy characters in comedic bits—he’s also frequently used by the writers’ as a vehicle to explore more grounded, blue collar themes and subjects that don’t always seem to go hand-in-hand with spaces battles and Vulcan mind melds. One particularly memorable (and trailblazing) episode is is DS9 4×16 “Bar Association,” where O’Brien inspires the Ferengei Rom to form a union and go on strike after becoming fed up with the inhumane working conditions at his brother Quark’s bar.

It’s a silly episode, sure, but Star Trek excels in using silliness and sci-fi to tackle real-life issues, and “Bar Association” is an excellent example of one of the rarer times that Trek tackles are more blue-collar subject: unions. Though Star Trek is beloved and iconic for its often deeply intellectual and philosophical storytelling, it’s not always the most accessible show—and through O’Brien, the franchise had a way to express more salt-of-the-Earth ideas in a far-flung sci-fi setting.

O’Brien’s down-to-Earth nature and more traditional sensibilities also made him the perfect conduit through which to explore one of the franchise’s touchier subjects: bigotry. Trek began as a picture of a Utopian world where hatred and bigotry was a thing of the past, but as the franchise blossomed and grew, it found ways to address those ideas without losing the integrity of the franchise. In the early days of The Original Series , it was most frequently through alien cultures that audiences saw depictions of bigotry and closed-mindedness, but with the introduction of Miles O’Brien, the franchise was able to tackle the subject in a new way—through the lens of a protagonist.

It’s rare to see any franchise willing to place bigotry in its heroes front and center, but that’s exactly what Star Trek was able to do with Miles O’Brien—explore hatred and closed-mindedness through a well-loved protagonist in a way that both honored the character and explored the issue with previously unexplored thoughtfulness and depth. It’s an unfortunate truth that even our closest friends and loved ones are all closed-minded in some capacity—but with O’Brien, Star Trek was able to explore where hatred comes from on a smaller, more personal scale.

The Next Generation 4×12, “The Wounded,” is the first episode in which O’Brien’s character is explored significantly—and, consequently, is also the first episode where we learn of his resentment towards the Cardassian race. The episode revealed that O’Brien was stationed at a Federation outpost which the Cardassian military mistakenly believed was harboring a secret Federation military base that would launch an attack on Cardassia. As such, the Cardassians launched their own pre-emptive counterstrike, resulting in the slaughter of virtually the entire civilian population of the outpost.

From then on, O’Brien harbored intense hatred of all Cardassians as a whole—a personal prejudice which would go on to be explored further in Deep Space Nine episodes “Tribunal,” “Paradise,” and “Empok Nor.” What’s fascinating about how the show handles O’Brien’s hatred towards Cardassians is that it both empathetically acknowledges the root of his bias and also condemns the cruelty of judging and entire race by the actions of a select few. O’Brien is, by all accounts, a lovable character—a good soldier, a better crewmate, and a loyal friend. He’s commended by both his captains and his fellow officers—yet he has a very clear and very significant personal flaw that haunts his service in Starfleet, and one that’s acknowledge in a meaningful way by the show.

O’Brien isn’t perfect—he knows it, the audience knows it, the other characters know it—and that’s what makes him such an effective character. He’s told off by his wife Keiko for making bigoted comments about the Cardassian people—the show’s way of reminding audiences that even the fictional hereos we see on TV are flawed, human figures. What’s more is that the show takes it a step further—having O’Brien himself acknowledge his bigotry and where it comes from. In one of The Next Generation ’s best lines, he tells a Cardassian soldier that “It’s not you I hate, Cardassian; I hate what I became because of you.”

Chief Miles O’Brien isn’t a particularly glitzy character, nor (at face value) is he an enviable role as an actor. But in Colm Meaney’s honest, grounded performance, Star Trek was able to explore a number of sticky subjects that would have failed miserably in the hands of a less capable actor and writing staff. From his involvement in unions to his wartime PTSD to his hatred towards Cardassians, O’Brien became a symbol of how Star Trek could and should explore the flaws within the Federation just as it explored bigotry in alien cultures. Just because you have flaws, that doesn’t make you any less of a hero.

(featured image: CBS)

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Published Jan 30, 2024

The Hardships of Miles Edward O’Brien

An examination of the inexplicably painful Starfleet career of the galaxy's unluckiest Irishman.

StarTrek.com

The life of a Starfleet officer can be fraught with danger.

As Captain Kirk put it, "Risk is our business." But what about the life of a non-commissioned officer? As it turns out, the Starfleet grunts bear the brunt of that risk business. None more so than Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles Edward O’Brien, whose career is a resume filled with an unfair excess of pain and suffering. So why is Chief O’Brien so unlucky?

It’s time we get to the bottom of Miles’s monumental misfortune. With a thorough exploration of several of the chief’s most harrowing experiences, perhaps we can determine the possible causes of his undue grief, and maybe even put his cursed career into the larger context of his life to truly determine if Miles Edward O’Brien really is as unlucky as we give him credit for.

So, let’s take a look at that time Chief O’Brien was…

Shoved into a Jefferies Tube with Spiders

" realm of fear ," star trek: the next generation.

"Realm of Fear"

During a mission on Zayra IV, the arachnophobic chief was forced into a Jefferies tube overrun with Talarian hook spiders.

If the thought of slipping into a tight, coffin-shaped (emphasis on "coffin") tube filled with giant spiders fills you with dread, then just imagine the shear terror that erupted in poor O’Brien — who grew up with a morbid fear of spiders — when he was told that the mission relied on him becoming an unwilling contestant in Fear Factor: Starfleet Edition !

"All’s well that ends well," wrote William Shakespeare, a man whose plays usually didn’t end well for their characters. However, for O’Brien, this terrifying session of exposure therapy did succeed in freeing him of his phobia. Aboard the Enterprise -D, he kept a Lycosa tarantula named Christina. Still, I’m not sure the reward was equal to risk. Crawling through spiders is not where most Starfleet recruits sign up to "boldly go."

Nearly Killed by a Biogenic Weapon

" armageddon game ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Armageddon Game"

After O'Brien helps to disarm stockpiles of a deadly bio-mechanical weapon known as Harvesters, he is accidentally infected and faces a painful death.

No good deed goes unpunished. That thought was surely on the chief's mind when, moments after helping to end a centuries-long war by destroying the bio-weapons, he and Dr. Bashir are ambushed by Kellerun soldiers determined to make sure the secret of the Harvesters dies with everyone in the room. Though they survive the attack, O'Brien discovers that he’s been infected and now faces the prospect of dying alone with a babbling Bashir. As Miles tells Keiko later, "It was hell…you can see for yourself, the man never stops taking!"

The poor chief can't even die in peace. And as if that’s not enough, mere moments from a firing squad, O’Brien let slip that serving with Bashir was an honor. How will he ever live that down?

Replaced by a Replicant

" whispers ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Whispers"

While on a mission to the Parada system, Chief O'Brien is captured and replaced with a replicant programmed for peace conference mayhem.

No, technically this hardship isn’t Chief O'Brien's. Still, it's further proof that Miles is so unlucky that even copies of him must suffer. Xerox-O'Brien is a perfect clone, with no idea he's a fake. So, when his friends and family begin to act strange around him, he assumes it’s a conspiracy and becomes a paranoid wreck.

Because the counterfeit chief wholeheartedly believes himself to be the real deal, it's heartbreaking when he takes a fatal phaser blast and discovers the truth. His last words, "Keiko…tell her I love—" could easily have been uttered by the genuine O'Brien. A pretty raw deal when you consider that Commander Riker's double, Thomas Riker, gets to live out his days at a sunny Cardassian labor camp. Life can be so unfair.

Framed and Imprisoned on Cardassia

" tribunal ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Tribunal"

On the way to some R&R with the wife, Chief O'Brien is framed and imprisoned by the Cardassians.

Yes, even on vacation, the chief can't catch a break. Within minutes of arriving on Cardassia, O'Brien is stripped naked, slammed into a chair, and has a molar painfully ripped from his mouth with pliers — and that’s just the booking process. Worse, in the Cardassian’s Law & Order & Unwanted Dental Surgery legal system, the trial is just a formality. O’Brien's execution has already been scheduled.

Thankfully, back on Deep Space 9 , Miles’ crewmates succeed in uncovering the Cardassian conspiracy and secure his release. Still, to put O'Brien’s brutal week on Cardassia in perspective, three years later when Dr. Bashir is captured and held prisoner by the Dominion for more than a month, he makes it out without losing a single tooth! Hardly seems fair.

Killed and Replaced by a Future O’Brien

" visionary ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Visionary"

Yes, you read that right — O'Brien ACTUALLY DIED.

Thanks to a workplace accident involving radiation and a cloaked Romulan warbird, O'Brien is pulled into the future. Every time he time jumps, O'Brien gets a glimpse of DS9’s impending destruction. The only way to save DS9 is one more jump to the future. Unfortunately, that final jump is one too many, and the Miles we’ve known and loved is killed by radiation. No last minute medical miracles or techno-babble resurrections, just a reluctant swap with the O’Brien from that future.

While future-O’Brien's presence succeeds in keeping DS9’s crew manifest from being short one "living O’Brien," it’s little comfort for ex-O’Brien, who’s shuffled off his mortal coil and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible. That O’Brien never sees his family again. The poor stiff doesn’t even get a memorial plaque for saving the station. Rough.

Mentally Imprisoned on Argratha for 20 Years

" hard time ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Hard Time"

O’Brien is arrested and implanted with the memories of a savage 20-year prison incarceration. Back on the station, Miles returns to his normal routine but has difficulty coping. O’Brien’s haunted by the memories of his cellmate, Ee’Char, whom he killed in cold blood. Overwhelmed by guilt and rage, Miles snaps at his friends, assaults Quark, and nearly hits his daughter, Molly. Terrified of the man he’s become, the chief swipes a phaser from a weapons locker and presses it to the soft flesh beneath his trembling chin. With his eyes clenched shut, Miles is ready to end his life.

Julian, who’s been keeping a keen eye on his friend, finds and convinces Miles to put the phaser down and get help. O’Brien returns to his family and embraces Molly. All of this for showing a little interest in Argrathi technology. The chief may want to reconsider ever leaving his quarters again.

Stuck with a Pah-Wraith Possessed Wife

" the assignment ," star trek: deep space nine.

"The Assignment"

O’Brien’s wife Keiko returns from Bajor’s famed Fire Caves with a stowaway — she’s been possessed by a Pah-wraith, the ancient nemeses of the wormhole aliens that the Bajorans' refer to as the Prophets.

The Pah-wraith commandeering Mrs. O’Brien is hellbent on killing the wormhole aliens. To complete its mission, it gives Miles a detailed list of modifications to make to the station. Any deviation from its plan and the Pah-wraith will kill Keiko. With Keiko held hostage in her own skin, Miles must convince his daughter and friends that everything is normal or risk becoming a widower.

Worse? The chief’s only hope at survival might be Rom.

Marriage is difficult under the best circumstances, but when your significant other is possessed by a Bajoran demon? Somehow playing house with a sadistic spirt seems like just another day for unlucky O’Brien.

Berated by James T. Kirk

" trials and tribble-ations ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Trials and Tribble-ations"

O’Brien travels through time and gets to meet the legendary Captain Kirk, only to be reprimanded by him.

The DS9 crew travel back to 2268, to stop an incognito-Klingon named Arne Darvin from exacting revenge on Kirk with a tribble-time-bomb. In the process, O’Brien and Bashir are swept into a brawl with Klingons onboard Space Station K-7. Every Enterprise crew member involved in the melee (including the two masqueraders from the future) are lined up for a chest-puffed-to-attention dress down from Kirk, who rips into his crew for fighting.

They say never meet your heroes. It’s easy to see why. When pressed directly for an explanation, O’Brien, who’s blushing redder than his 23rd Century velour uniform, is forced to lie to Kirk. While Dax shares a playful shrug and Sisko gets a friendly chat, O’Brien meets Kirk with all the dignity of a pup caught chewing on a shoe.

Invited to a Klingon Bachelor Party

" you are cordially invited ," star trek: deep space nine.

"You Are Cordially Invited"

O’Brien jubilantly accepts an invitation to Worf’s bachelor party only to discover that Klingon and Human bachelor parties are tragically light years apart.

Kal’Hyah is Klingon for "the path of clarity." We can safely assume that some vital information was lost in that translation, because what’s touted as a mental and spiritual journey for the groom-to-be and his closest (or unluckiest) friends, could easily be a deleted scene from a Saw movie. While on the path to kal’Hyah , O’Brien endures searing heat, starvation, and an itinerary that includes ample bouts of hanging from a ceiling above hot coals.

At the end of Worf’s four-day "bachelor party," the chief’s only solace is beating the groom senseless with a ma’Staka , the traditional Klingon wedding-bludgeon. When measured against Dax’s wild bachelorette party, it’s hard to see Worf’s stag party as anything but abject suffering. O’Brien better hope Worf never remarries.

Donnie-Brasco-ed by Starfleet Intelligence

" honor among thieves ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Honor Among Thieves"

Enlisted by Starfleet Intelligence to infiltrate a crime ring known as the Orion Syndicate, the success of O’Brien’s mission means the death of the mobster he’s befriended.

The Orion Syndicate rules Farius Prime, but among its operatives, in a seedy bar, waits Miles O’Brien. Posing as a "fix-it-man" named Connelly, O’Brien befriends a low-level mob man named Liam Bilby. The two quickly strike up a friendship and trust that O’Brien uses to gain access to the criminal organization. Because Bilby vouched for him, when O’Brien’s true identity is revealed, Bilby is destined for death. Miles can’t help him and must live with the consequences of his undercover mission.

Undercover work is hard enough without the added stress of an impossible, damned if you do, damned if you don’t success. Even when he wins, O’Brien loses!

Forced to Raise a Feral Teenager

" time’s orphan ," star trek: deep space nine.

"Time's Orphan"

During a picnic on Golana, O’Brien’s daughter Molly falls through a time portal and is marooned in the past. When the chief beams Molly back, she’s lived alone for a brutal decade and emerges a wild, barbaric teenager.

The teenage years are considered the most difficult for parents, so naturally, Miles’ first brush with the experience comes as dad to a manic, bite-happy teen who sleeps in trees. Without a copy of, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Feral Teenager on hand, the O’Briens do the best they can to re-assimilate Molly to life on Deep Space 9 . Then an epic meltdown and rampage at Quark’s sends Molly to the DS9 equivalent of juvie — Odo’s holding cells.

While returning feral Molly to the time portal brings eight year-old Molly home, one can’t help but wonder why even an O’Brien family picnic has to be an agonizing affair.

24th Century Martyr?

" what you left behind ," star trek: deep space nine.

"What You Left Behind"

Miles O’Brien, a man who plays darts against a genetically-enhanced opponent, and whose idea of a peaceful retirement is returning to Earth to teach. So, at the very least, he’s a glutton for punishment. But is he unlucky? Now that we’ve strolled through the daily trauma of the chief’s life in Starfleet, what’s the verdict? Does Miles live a charmed or cursed life?

In examining only the valleys of O’Brien’s life, it’s easy to get lost in shadows, but when taken with the peaks, we get a fuller portrait of a life that isn’t so unlucky after all. While he surely suffers more than your average Starfleet officer, O’Brien’s achieved something that’s eluded many of Starfleet’s finest — Miles found time for a family. A caring wife and two beautiful children whose love and unwavering support pull him through each undeserved hardship. Isn’t that worth a little blood, tears, and pulled teeth?

Indeed, we’re fortunate to have lucky O’Brien. In the chief, we have a flawed man who suffers, goes home to the waiting arms of his family, and then wakes up and does it all again. A 24th entury reflection for many of us 21st entury chumps. That’s a comforting notion, to know that even in Gene Roddenberry’s perfect future society, there’s room for imperfect blokes like Miles Edward O’Brien — and us.

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This article was originally published on April 24, 2020.

Andy Bray (he/his) is a husband, father, and co-author of the memoirs, Making Fake Star Trek and Making More Fake Star Trek. He developed his unhealthy obsession with Star Trek as an embryo. In his twenties, he acted in an official Star Trek production no one’s ever heard of: “Spock’s Brain,” the stage play. After cultivating a collection of obscure credits on his IMDB page, Andy now spends his days writing and embarrassing his children. You can follow him on Instagram at @AndyBrayAuthor and on Twitter at @TheAndyBray. 

Chief O'Brien's Tragic Star Trek Timeline Explained

Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien has led a storied life. He joined Starfleet at 17 years old , and by the time he settled down to teach engineering to cadets who outranked him the second they graduated, he'd served for 30 years. This jack-of-all-trades and certified transporter wizard can beam a radioactive MacGuffin through an ion storm in the middle of a swirly blue temporal distortion, keep a mishmash of Federation, Cardassian, and Bajoran technology running for seven seasons, and is an expert in starship combat, to boot. O'Brien doesn't need to be an officer to command respect.

However, O'Brien's rise from random bridge guy to main cast member wasn't all a shiny Galaxy -class ride set to heroic music. Star Trek loves to torture its engineers, after all, and our mild-mannered transporter chief has a biography that would make a Vulcan weep. Get the violins ready because we're about to dive into Chief O'Brien's tragic Star Trek timeline.

Chief O'Brien saw the horrors of war early on

O'Brien served aboard the USS Rutledge early in his career, when Starfleet was embroiled in the Federation-Cardassian War. During the conflict, the Cardassians came to believe that the Federation had established a military base on Setlik III, and they set out to destroy it. According to Memory Alpha , all they found was a civilian colony, but they attacked anyway, killing most of the colonists.

The Rutledge was the first Federation ship to arrive, leaving O'Brien to witness the bloody aftermath firsthand as the crew worked to rescue the remaining survivors amid Cardassian patrols. O'Brien saved 13 people by repairing a field transporter and beaming everyone away, but he truly distinguished himself when he led a group of two dozen against a regiment of Cardassians, an offensive which would change him forever. As he was protecting a group of civilians, two Cardassians ambushed O'Brien. He managed to knock one out, but he had to shoot the other ... with a phaser he didn't know was set to maximum.

O'Brien had never killed anyone before and was haunted by the incident for years to come. He was decorated for his valor in the colony and became known as the " hero of Setlik III ," but he didn't relish the title, merely tolerating it. O'Brien came to resent Cardassians and would later recount that he hated the person he became after the massacre.

He had to face down his former captain

By the time of the Next Generation episode " The Wounded ," the Federation and the Cardassians have signed a peace treaty, and a newly married O'Brien is serving on the Enterprise . The transporter chief's honeymoon gets tossed on its head, however, when he learns that Captain Benjamin Maxwell, his commanding officer during the war, has gone rogue and is attacking and destroying Cardassian ships. The Enterprise is tasked with entering Cardassian space and finding Maxwell's ship, the Phoenix , and bringing it home, a mission tailor-made to dredge up painful memories.

Maxwell's wife and children were killed in the Setlik III massacre, so it doesn't take long for accusations of revenge to fly. O'Brien, however, refuses to believe that his former captain doesn't have a good reason for what he's doing, and when the Enterprise crew finally catches up with Maxwell, the captain claims that the Cardassians are preparing to start another war. Captain Picard , however, is there to stop Maxwell from kicking off a conflict and orders the rogue officer to follow the Enterprise back to Federation space.

En route, Maxwell suddenly takes the Phoenix off toward another Cardassian ship, telling Picard that he'll destroy it if the Enterprise crew doesn't board it. In a bid to keep the two captains from trading photon torpedoes, O'Brien pulls some transporter magic and beams onto the Phoenix through its shields. There, he finally manages to talk Maxwell, who'd already killed more than 600 Cardassians , into surrendering.

Chief O'Brien took his own family hostage while possessed

O'Brien leads a generally happy life on the Enterprise , but he wouldn't be O'Brien if something bad didn't happen to him every now and then. In the TNG episode " Power Play ," he's called upon for more transporter voodoo, in this case to beam a stranded away team up from a stormy planet. He succeeds in doing so ... but gets possessed, along with Data and Troi, by imprisoned alien lifeforms hoping to free their comrades.

The aliens are quite intent on moving the Enterprise into position to rescue their buddies, but they're not very patient and try to take over when they don't get what they want. They end up in Ten-Forward, the Enterprise' s fancy space pub, where they take hostages, including O'Brien's wife, Keiko, and his newborn daughter, Molly.

After the Enterprise has moved to their desired location, the aliens each take a hostage (with O'Brien choosing Keiko) to a cargo bay, where the chief's transporter knowledge will be used to beam the rest of the prisoners on board. They're ultimately foiled, and it's revealed at the end of the episode that O'Brien was conscious the entire time he was possessed but was unable to do anything as he terrorized his own wife and daughter.

He almost succumbed to a biological weapon

O'Brien receives the promotion of his life after five years aboard the Enterprise . He goes from being the "beam me up" guy to the chief of operations of Deep Space Nine, the Federation's newest secondhand outpost. Of course, taking an everyman like O'Brien and making him the chief engineer in a Star Trek series is like dressing someone in sheet metal and having him run through a thunderstorm carrying a steel pole. Case in point: the DS9 episode " Armageddon Game ."

In this outing, O'Brien and Dr. Bashir are helping two alien races, the Kelleruns and the T'Lani, destroy their stocks of biological weapons, along with all knowledge on how to create them. Neither of them were informed that this process includes killing everyone who helped to dispose of the weapons, leaving the duo quite confused when soldiers storm in and kill all the extras just as the last batch is being eradicated. O'Brien gets gassed by a bioweapon in the mayhem, but he and Bashir escape, leaving the two to sneak and fight their way to freedom as more soldiers hunt them, all while O'Brien gets sicker and sicker. Eventually cornered, Bashir and a nearly dead O'Brien end up facing an impromptu firing squad just before Sisko swoops in to save the day.

O'Brien was kidnapped and replaced by a duplicate

In literally the next episode after almost dying from an alien bioweapon, our beleaguered hero gets kidnapped. In " Whispers ," O'Brien is helping the Paradans — who've been locked in a civil war for several years — prepare for peace talks, but then the Paradan government takes him and replaces him with a replicant . This copy has all of O'Brien's knowledge and memories and doesn't know what he is ... but he's also programmed to assassinate the rebels' diplomatic delegation. The Paradan rebels, however, are wise to the government's plan and warn Deep Space Nine before Fake O'Brien returns.

When the replicant gets "home," things aren't right. No one seems to trust him, he's kept from working on anything pertaining to the peace conference, and he realizes that he's being surveilled. He concludes he's run afoul of some massive conspiracy once Sisko and Kira try to arrest him, after which the replicant escapes.

O'Brien's duplicate ends up making his way back to Parada II, where he finds Sisko and Kira meeting with the rebels, but just as he thinks he's about to stop whatever they're plotting, he gets shot. That's when it's revealed that Sisko and Kira were there to pick up the real O'Brien, who now gets to watch himself die. The replicant's last words to his real counterpart are "Keiko ... tell her I love ..." Cheerful.

This Star Trek hero was framed by the Cardassians

Chief O'Brien takes a much-needed vacation in the DS9 episode " Tribunal " ... or at least he tries to. Everything is squared away for his absence from the station, and he even crosses paths with an old friend from the Rutledge , Raymond Boone, on his way to his shuttle. But then, as he and Keiko are en route to their destination, the Cardassians show up to arrest O'Brien, stunning him in front of his wife and carting him off.

On Cardassia, O'Brien is stripped naked, has a molar pulled from his mouth, and is repeatedly prompted to confess to charges he hasn't even heard. Eventually, O'Brien learns that he's been accused of smuggling weapons to the Maquis, Federation rebels who remain hostile to the Cardassians despite the peace treaty, and that the Cardassians who arrested him found photon torpedoes in his runabout's cargo bay.

O'Brien's execution is already scheduled, and the trial is a mere formality. He's just been declared guilty when Sisko enters the courtroom with O'Brien's old buddy Boone, except it isn't Boone. The real Boone was killed years earlier and replaced by a surgically altered Cardassian spy , who recorded O'Brien's voice when they "bumped into each other" and used it to steal the photon torpedoes and frame him, all part of a Cardassian ploy to discredit the Federation and increase their own negotiating clout. O'Brien, with a dead friend to mourn, is released.

O'Brien died (but kept on serving)

For most people, watching themself die would be a life-changing, traumatic experience. For O'Brien, it's Tuesday. In " Visionary ," the chief finds himself briefly time-jumping a few hours into his future. While Dax and Dr. Bashir work to figure out the cause, a few more time shifts ensue, which give O'Brien a chance to do things like help himself in a Klingon bar fight and witness and subsequently prevent his own assassination, until a jump lands him in the morgue, standing over his own corpse. Luckily, Dr. Bashir is there to tell the chief that his autopsy revealed previously undetected damage to his nervous system due to the time shifts, information which O'Brien can relay once he shifts back.

Everything's going to be okay ... until O'Brien jumps forward one last time and finds himself piloting a shuttle full of evacuees away from Deep Space Nine as it explodes. To save the station, Bashir fashions a device that blasts O'Brien with radiation and sends him back to the future, a bit before DS9 blows. O'Brien wakes his future self up, and the two quickly figure out why the station blew when a Romulan Warbird decloaks and attacks. Dying from the radiation, O'Brien gives Future O'Brien the device so the latter can go back, warn everyone, and save the day.

He was given 20 years of prison memories

The universe's next gut punch comes in the form of the DS9 episode " Hard Time ," in which O'Brien once again finds himself arrested, this time by the Argrathi. The chief is wrongfully convicted of espionage, and his captors have a very efficient correctional system. They implant the memory of a 20-year prison sentence into O'Brien's mind before the rest of the DS9 crew even knows what happened. In real life, only a few hours have passed, but as far as O'Brien is concerned, he's just spent two decades growing old and gray in a dark cell. He had one friend while incarcerated, his cellmate Ee'char, but near the end of his sentence, after the years had frayed his mind, O'Brien killed his friend for hoarding food, only to realize that Ee'char had been saving it for both of them.

And then he's suddenly back at DS9 with 20 years of unremovable prison memories. O'Brien tries to adjust but understandably can't get over what happened. He becomes ever more irritable and violent before finally almost hitting his daughter. After this, he runs off to a cargo bay, finds a weapons locker, and takes out a phaser, ready to commit suicide. Thankfully, Bashir talks him down.

O'Brien lost another friend

As detailed by Memory Alpha , during his time on Deep Space Nine, O'Brien becomes good friends with another crewman, Enrique Muniz. Sadly, this friendship doesn't last long. In " The Ship ," Sisko, Dax, Worf, and O'Brien are surveying an alien planet, and they find a crashed Jem'Hadar vessel. With the main cast members are several other personnel, including Muniz, so you can probably guess where this is going. Another group of Jem'Hadar soon show up and destroy the DS9 crew's runabout, and our heroes are left holed up in the crashed Dominion ship.

During a firefight, Muniz receives a minor wound, which isn't enough to stop him from saving O'Brien from an infiltrating Jem'Hadar soldier. Muniz's wound won't stop bleeding, though, and it becomes apparent that the weapon that hit the crewman had poisoned him with some sort of anticoagulant. As O'Brien watches helplessly, his friend's condition deteriorates, with Muniz beginning to hallucinate that he's a child again, visiting a carnival with his dad. By the time the Defiant arrives to rescue O'Brien and the others, poor Muniz has died.

He just can't catch a break with Cardassians

Chief O'Brien simply can't catch a break when it comes to Cardassians, as seen in the episode " Empok Nor ." O'Brien, Nog, and four Starfleet crewmen are sent to the eponymous abandoned space station to salvage parts. Along for the ride is DS9's resident tailor/spy Garak, who's there to disarm booby traps. The party's presence, however, awakens two Cardassian soldiers — left to guard Empok Nor — from stasis. They've been shot full of some serious mind-altering drugs, and they waste little time destroying the intruders' ship and killing two crewmen.

Garak, a clothier with no shortage of deadly skills, goes after the soldiers while the rest try to contact DS9. He kills one but is exposed to the drug. The other soldier takes out a third crewman and is about to kill the fourth when Garak dispatches him as well ... right before slaying the final crewman himself.

Garak proceeds to go full supervillain, taking Nog hostage and taunting O'Brien about the Setlik III massacre before O'Brien agrees to fight the Cardassian hand-to-hand on the station's promenade, where Garak has hung the bodies of the dead crewmen. Garak proceeds to beat the Starfleet out of O'Brien, but the chief manages to stun him with a strategically set-down tricorder rigged to explode. O'Brien, despite presumably acquiring a whole new pile of Cardassian-based PTSD triggers, later agrees to testify that Garak wasn't responsible for his drug-fueled rampage.

O'Brien had to betray a friend

O'Brien's résumé is further expanded in the DS9 episode " Honor Among Thieves ," in which he's recruited by Starfleet Intelligence to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate, the biggest organized crime outfit in the Alpha Quadrant, to learn the identity of a mole the Syndicate has in Starfleet. Posing as a down-on-his-luck engineer named "Connelly," O'Brien utilizes his space handyman skills to earn the trust of a few Syndicate operatives, including Liam Bilby , for whom he does several jobs.

Things become more ominous when O'Brien is asked to repair several Klingon disruptors and subsequently witnesses the Syndicate meeting with a representative of the Dominion. At this point, O'Brien's assignment changes to finding out what's going down, and he discovers that the Dominion wants the Syndicate to assassinate a Klingon ambassador in order to destabilize the Federation-Klingon alliance. O'Brien passes this information on to his handler, who immediately warns the ambassador, but there's a problem. A genuine friendship has formed between O'Brien and Bilby, who's supposed to carry out the assassination and is now walking into certain death.

O'Brien visits Bilby, reveals his true identity, and warns him that the Klingons know he's coming. He urges his shocked friend to turn himself in or go into hiding, but Bilby chooses to go through with the assassination attempt and die so that the Syndicate will look after his family rather than kill them.

O'Brien nearly lost his daughter in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

It's a good thing O'Brien's a workaholic because his days off are clearly cursed. In " Time's Orphan ," he, Keiko, Molly, and his baby son, Kirayoshi, are enjoying a picnic on Golana, and everything's good until they hear Molly scream. She's wandered into a nearby cave, and O'Brien finds her hanging from the edge of a cliff, dangling over an alien time travel device. Molly falls before her father can save her, and then the portal deactivates. O'Brien and a science team get the time portal running again and beam Molly out, but they're met by a feral teenager, not an eight-year-old. Molly has been stuck in the past for ten years.

On Deep Space Nine, Molly has an understandably difficult time adjusting. Slowly, she makes progress, eventually uttering the words "mommy" and "daddy," but things take a turn for the worst when Molly freaks out and assaults several people in Quark's bar. Not wanting to see their daughter institutionalized, the O'Briens make a heart-wrenching decision — to send her back through the portal and then destroy it to keep her safe. After a last tearful goodbye, Molly tells her parents she loves them. On the other side, though, she finds herself back at the same point in time she was originally sent to when she was eight, and she sends her younger self back through the portal to her parents, an act which erases teenage Molly from existence.

• Mirror Universe

Miles O'Brien (mirror)

• View history

Miles "Smiley" O'Brien was a Terran slave who worked for the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance aboard station Terok Nor , but later became the leader of the Terran Resistance Forces who fought the Terran Rebellion .

In 2370 , O'Brien was working in the station's ore processing center , and had the slave classification " theta ", which was a relatively respected and privileged position. O'Brien was also occasionally recruited to repair Benjamin Sisko 's raider when it was docked at the station. Sisko claimed he hated the name Miles, and instead nicknamed O'Brien "Smiley", despite of Smiley's lack of approval. He had a good reputation on the station for being an excellent "tinkerer and putterer".

When Smiley met a Julian Bashir from another universe in the ore processing center, he initially thought that Bashir's "wild" tales of his counterpart being Chief of Operations was simply a ruse to get him to help Bashir. However, Bashir's earnest attitude won him over, along with the realization that anything had to be better than his slavery to the Alliance. Smiley helped Bashir try to escape from the station, on the condition that he be taken along to the other side.

However, when Captain Sisko also rejected Intendant Kira Nerys ' authority, Smiley changed his mind and decided to join Sisko's crew , deciding that there was something worth staying for after all. ( DS9 : " Crossover ")

When Captain Sisko was killed by the Alliance in early 2371 , Smiley took charge of the Terran Rebellion . In order to complete Sisko's last mission, he recruited Benjamin Sisko from the other universe to take the place of his deceased counterpart long enough to convince Jennifer Sisko to leave the Alliance and start working for the Rebellion. ( DS9 : " Through the Looking Glass ")

While he was aboard Deep Space 9 , Smiley took the opportunity to download a large portion of the station's database , including the schematics for the USS Defiant . This information came in handy the next year, when the rebels managed to capture Terok Nor from the Alliance. Smiley used the stolen specifications to build the rebels' own warship , which they also christened Defiant . However, with the Alliance about to launch a counterattack to recapture the station, Smiley once again recruited Sisko in order to help them finish construction of the Defiant in time.

Smiley piloted the ISS Defiant during the Battle of Terok Nor , although he was replaced by Sisko partway through, because Sisko had greater experience flying the little warship. Following the successful conclusion of the battle, Smiley sent Sisko back home. ( DS9 : " Shattered Mirror ")

In 2375 , Smiley was still in command of the rebellion on Terok Nor. He commanded the Defiant when it pursued Brunt 's ship as it stole a cloaking device from the station, and later negotiated Regent Worf 's surrender and capture. ( DS9 : " The Emperor's New Cloak ")

Appendices [ ]

Apocrypha [ ].

Prior to the establishment of the history of the televised mirror universe, a mirror version of O'Brien appeared in the novel Dark Mirror , depicting a mirror universe in which the Terran Empire had survived well into the 24th century . That version of O'Brien served as a conn officer aboard the ISS Enterprise (ICC-1701-D) from 2364 until at least 2367 .

The Star Trek: Mirror Universe novels feature General O'Brien after "The Emperor's New Cloak". By Saturn's Children , O'Brien and the mirror universe version of Keiko Ishikawa had become lovers. After the defeat of the Alliance in Rise Like Lions , they married and settled down on Inis Mór, a small island off the western coast of Ireland . They had a daughter named Molly in 2380 .

During the Star Trek Online mission "Crack in the Mirror", it is revealed that O'Brien had a son named James who murdered him some time after 2375. This is separate to the events in the novels. The mission was later removed as part of a revamp to the story arc, and James O'Brien's role was replaced by Leeta .

External link [ ]

• Miles O'Brien (mirror) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
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Keiko O'Brien

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Professor Keiko O'Brien (née Ishikawa) was a 24th century civilian botanist aboard the USS Enterprise-D and on Bajor, as well as the primary school teacher aboard the starbase Deep Space 9. She was the wife of Chief Miles O'Brien and mother of Molly and Kirayoshi.

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Exclusive idw first look: kevin wada’s ‘star trek: celebrations’ cover.

IDW proudly presents a one-shot anthology centering and celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the Star Trek universe!

Courtesy of IDW, AIPT can exclusively share Kevin Wada’s variant cover for Star Trek: Celebrations . Due to release in comic shops on May 20th, the 40-page special features writers Vita Ayala, Hannah Rose May, Stephanie Williams, Steve Orlando, and Magdalene Visaggio.

Check out the cover below!

“Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate but to celebrate differences in ideas and differences in life forms.” —Gene Roddenberry IDW proudly presents a one-shot anthology centering and celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the Star Trek universe! Join legendary heroes from each era of the beloved franchise in stories that showcase the strengths of infinite diversity in infinite combinations, brought to you by a star-studded cast of writers and artists including Vita Ayala, Steve Orlando, Mags Visaggio, and more!

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'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 4 blasts onto Blu-ray and DVD on April 16

Paramount+'s rowdiest gang in the galaxy hits home video starting today (April 16).

Things are definitely heating up in the "Star Trek" universe this month.

The fifth and final season of Paramount+'s " Star Trek: Discovery " rolled out on April 4, and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is fast approaching the completion of principal filming for its upcoming third season in Toronto.

And sprinting onto home video to join the spring festivities is " Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 4 , whose Blu-ray and DVD versions were released today (April 16). The show stars the crazy crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos and their often-chaotic adventures in the final frontier.

This deluxe edition is packed with all 10 episodes of the most recent " Lower Decks " run, in addition to exclusive cast and crew audio commentaries revealing personal details on the show's creation, fresh featurettes, and plenty of bonus content.

Related: 'Star Trek:' History & effect on space technology

Watch Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount Plus: <a href="https://paramountplus.qflm.net/c/221109/175360/3065?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paramountplus.com%2F" data-link-merchant="paramountplus.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Get a one month free trial 

Get all the Star Trek content you can possibly handle with this free trial of Paramount Plus. Watch new shows like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and all the classic Trek movies and TV shows too. Plans start from $4.99/month after the trial ends.

Here's the official description:

"Created by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan, in Season 4 of 'Star Trek: Lower Decks,' an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn’t important enough for stuff like that! 

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"Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves — all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way.

"The Starfleet crew residing in the 'lower decks' of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome; Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid; Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells; and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. The Starfleet characters that comprise the U.S.S. Cerritos' Bridge crew include Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis; Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O'Connell; and Doctor T'Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman."

— 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' will get a choose-your-own-adventure graphic novel

— 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' takes center stage at NYCC 2023

—  Join the crew of the USS Cerritos in 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' role-playing game

Paramount's two-disc assembly is fortified with every Season 4 episode and showcases a constellation of guest stars such as Jack McBrayer ("30 Rock"), Andy Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien"), and Wil Wheaton (" Star Trek: The Next Generation ").

Special features listed are: audio commentaries by Jack Quaid, Mike McMahan, and Brad Winters for Episode 401; Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells and Gabrielle Ruiz for Episode 404; Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Chase Masterson and Mike McMahan for Episode 406; Dawnn Lewis, Tawny Newsome and Mike McMahan for Episode 409; and Robert Duncan McNeill and Mike McMahan discussing Episode 410. Also included in this comprehensive home entertainment collection are the featurettes titled "Lower Decktionary: Setting Up Season 4" and "Old Friends."

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Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

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A Star Trek Origin Movie Is Coming in 2025 From 'Andor' and 'Doctor Who' Director Toby Haynes

'Star Trek' (2009) director J.J. Abrams is attached to produce.

The Big Picture

• A new Star Trek prequel film, an "origin story", is in development, at Paramount.
• The Star Trek history before Kirk's missions on the Enterprise is largely unwritten, leaving room for creativity with the new film.
• Director Toby Haynes, known for Andor , is working on the film alongside writer Seth Grahame-Smith; a 2025 release window was announced at CinemaCon.

Star Trek may finally be coming back to the big screen. A prequel to the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise is in the works from director Toby Haynes . The news comes from Paramount's presentation at CinemaCon today, as reported by Collider's Steve Weintraub and Britta DeVore . With Haynes, who recently helmed six episodes of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor , at the rudder, the film will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith .

So far, other details on the new film are scarce, but it will reportedly be an "origin story", taking place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film, which took place in 2255. That likely means that it will not feature the cast from the 2009 reboot, which has so far been difficult for Paramount to wrangle together for a fourth film, despite numerous attempts to do so . That doesn't necessarily mean that a fourth movie isn't happening: back in March, Paramount hired The Flight Attendant scribe Steve Yockey to pen a new script for the film. For their part, the cast is game as well, with Zoe Saldaña recently stating her willingness to return for a fourth mission on the USS Enterprise .

What Happened Decades Before Kirk's First Missions on the Enterprise?

The history of the Star Trek universe prior to the celebrated voyages of the Enterprise is largely unwritten. The first starship Enterprise 's adventures in the 22nd century were chronicled on the UPN prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise . That series ended with the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, which leaves almost a century of mostly unexplored history between that and the history now being charted on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (and the first two seasons of mothership show Star Trek: Discovery ).

At some point, the nascent Federation faces a devastating war against the Romulan Star Empire , while also engaged in a Cold War with the Klingons. The USS Enterprise will eventually be launched in the 23rd century, under the captaincy of Robert April, who has been briefly glimpsed on Star Trek: The Animated Series and Strange New Worlds , before being handed off to Christopher Pike . Apart from that, however, Haynes and Graeme-Smith have a near-blank canvas upon which to make their mark.

In addition to Andor , Haynes has also helmed episodes of Doctor Who , Sherlock , and Black Mirror ; his work on the latter series includes the episode " USS Callister ," a loving pastiche of Star Trek . Graeme-Smith wrote the novels Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter ; he worked on the story for the upcoming horror comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice .

A new Star Trek prequel film is in development; no date has yet been set beyond a 2025 release window . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Screen Rant

Star trek: ds9 has a disappearing brothers problem.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that Captain Sisko, Chief O'Brien, and Major Kira all had brothers, then promptly forgot that they even existed.

• Sisko and O'Brien share a strong bond, but their unnamed brothers are mysteriously absent from the storyline of DS9.
• Quark and Nog are not the only brotherly relationship in DS9, as Sisko, O'Brien, and others also have unseen siblings.
• The missing brothers of Sisko, O'Brien, and Kira in DS9 may be due to writers forgetting or logistical challenges of space travel.

For a TV show that contains so many strong family units, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has a weird problem when it comes to the brothers of many of its characters. DS9 has one of the largest ensemble casts in the entire Star Trek franchise, introducing multiple non-Starfleet characters with personal and familial connections to the regulars. Joseph Sisko (Brock Peters), the father of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was a recurring character from DS9 season 4 onward. The Sisko family were the heart of DS9 , but Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and his wife Keiko O'Brien (Rosalind Chao) also had an important role to play.

Sisko and O'Brien were strong father figures, particularly in a touching moment from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 15, "Paradise", in which they compare notes on fatherhood. However, Sisko and O'Brien were also brothers to unnamed siblings, something that never factored into their storylines . Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Nog (Max Grodénchik) are the best known brotherly relationship in DS9 , but Sisko, O'Brien and other Deep Space Nine characters had brothers who were never seen on-screen.

Quark's Brother Became A New Kind Of Ferengi In Star Trek: DS9

Star trek: ds9’s missing brothers problem explained.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 15, "Paradise", Sisko reveals that he used to pick vegetables in the garden with his two brothers . This fact never comes up again, even when Sisko voices concerns about his father's health in "Homefront", and again when he recuperates on Earth after the death of Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). Sisko plans to visit his sister Judith in "Past Tense", but never mentions his brothers, and again suggests to Joseph that Judith, rather than his unnamed brothers, help with the restaurant in "Homefront".

The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico gives Sisko's brothers the names Elias and David Sisko.

Chief O'Brien and Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) also mention their brothers in the episodes "Invasive Procedures" and "Shadowplay", respectively. O'Brien's brothers are never named, or mentioned again, while Kira's brothers, Pohl and Reon never appear barring a brief glimpse of them as infants in "Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night". When Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) joins Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in season 4, the show literally disappears Kurn (Tony Todd) by genetically altering him to be someone else. Only the brothers of Ensign Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer), Norvo and Janel avoid being disappeared in DS9 season 7.

Why We Never Meet Sisko, O’Brien, and Kira’s Brothers

The most likely explanation for why audiences never meet Sisko and O'Brien's brothers in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is that the writers forgot they existed . However, in terms of an in-universe explanation for Sisko and O'Brien never receiving a visit, one need only look at where the former Cardassian space station is situated. Deep Space Nine is out on the frontier, and Sisko and O'Brien only ever make it back to Earth for official Starfleet business. Therefore, their brothers are unlikely to make the long journey, especially if they're civilians.

Major Kira's brothers are a more interesting case, as they presumably live on Bajor or one of the nearby planets. Kira never states that her brothers were killed during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, so they're presumably still alive throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Given Nerys' initial hostility toward Sisko and the Federation, it's not too big a stretch to imagine that Kira Pohl and Kira Reon also opposed the Federation's involvement, and chose not to visit DS9 in protest.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

*Availability in US

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

StarTribune

What to know and seek for record store day 2024 in the twin cities.

If you're an old Record Store Day pro, you know the drill: Map out your itinerary, make a wish list, get up early and hope your credit card and patience with slow crate-diggers hold up.

If you're less experienced with Saturday's annual shopper's holiday — started in 2007 to promote independent record shops before the now-prevalent resurgence of vinyl — then there's a lot to take in. Stores around the country open early and stock up on items, including limited-edition Record Store Day (RSD) releases put out by labels and artists just for the occasion.

Here are some of the specifics of Saturday's RSD events around the Twin Cities, where more than 20 stores are listed as participants on the official site, recordstoreday.com .

The hours: How rock 'n' roll is it to go record shopping at the crack of dawn? You'll have that option at Hymie's Records in Minneapolis, whose 7 a.m. opening is the earliest option. The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis and Caydence Records & Coffee and Barely Brothers Records in St. Paul begin sales at 8 a.m. Mill City Sound in Hopkins, Down in the Valley in Golden Valley, Roadrunner Records in Minneapolis and all Cheapo Discs locations open at 9 a.m.

The in-store performances: Live music is a big component of RSD once again, although technically local sibling band Durry's 11 a.m. busker set won't be "in store" but rather behind the Electric Fetus, which is also hosting DJ sets 10 a.m.-5 p.m. by Jake Rudh, Bad Bad Hats and others.

The special releases, locals edition: Among Minnesota acts, the Replacements will once again have one of this year's most sought after RSD-exclusive limited releases, a two-LP version of their 1986 live set at the Metro in Chicago, featured in last year's "Tim: Let It Bleed Edition" box set . The only Prince-related item this year is a three-LP repackaging of 94 East's mid-'70s recordings featuring the teenaged boy wonder on guitar. Also look for new albums stocked in recent weeks by Humbird, Charlie Parr, Bad Bad Hats and Jeremy Messersmith.

The special releases, non-locals: Among the hottest RSD items up for grabs nationally are: Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan's joint 7-inch single; other 7-inches by Sleater-Kinney, Sabrina Carpenter and Frank Turner; live albums by the Weeknd, Fleet Foxes, De La Soul, the 1975 and Talking Heads, plus new collections of unreleased tracks by David Bowie and the Ramones. Former RSD ambassador Taylor Swift has nothing special advertised, but it's no coincidence her new album, "The Tortured Poets Department," is out Friday.

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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