Jadzia Dax

Jadzia Dax was a joined Trill, the eighth host of the Dax symbiont from 2367 to 2374, and a Starfleet officer. She was born in 2341 on the Trill homeworld and joined to Dax in 2367 after the death of its previous host Curzon.

Early Life and Career
Growing up, Jadzia was always a shy and quiet child. She lived with her mother, father and her sister on Trill and was always very driven by her ambitions to one day be joined to a symbiont. She spent much of her early life focusing on achieving her goals. She was the only member of her family who would ever become joined to a symbiont.

Prior to her joining, Jadzia attended Starfleet Academy from 2359 to 2363, and applied to the Trill Symbiosis Commission for joining after graduation. While at the Academy, she gained degrees in astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology. (DS9: "Playing God")

After working hard, Jadzia was initially rejected for joining and eliminated from the program by her field docent, Curzon Dax in 2363. She successfully re-applied in 2364 and became the only Trill in history to successfully complete the program after having been rejected. This experience would haunt her for years to come and is a reason why she never had positive feelings about returning to Trill. She never could understand why she was washed out of the program by Curzon.

After being approved for joining, she heard of Curzon's deteriorating health and requested that she receive the Dax symbiont after he died. She was joined to Dax in 2367. Later, during her zhian'tara, she learned that Curzon's reasons for rejecting her original application were personal, and that he had actually been in love with her. (DS9: "Facets")



After being joined to Dax, Jadzia's training and experiences made the adjustment to having six different lifetimes of memories and experiences relatively easy. The once shy, hardworking and dedicated Jadzia became a livley, confident and outgoing person, with a passion for life.


 * "In order to know who you are. It's important to know who you've been." - Jadzia Dax

Jadzia was very comfortable with who she was. She was later described by Garak as "vital, alive... she owned herself."

After joining, Jadzia picked up on the habits of her previous hosts, such as clasping her hands behind her back, taking up Klingon martial arts, an interest in Klingon culture and playing Ferengi tongo, to name a few.

As an Ensign and Lieutenant (JG) in Starfleet, she had dealings with many prominent officers. She was acquainted with Captain Keogh, though the two did not get along. She was also friends with Captain Shelby, who even owed her a favor, which Jadzia eventually cashed in. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar", "You Are Cordially Invited")

Aboard Deep Space 9
Lieutenant Jadzia Dax was assigned as science officer aboard the space station Deep Space 9 in 2369 under the command of Benjamin Sisko, who had been a friend of Curzon. It was shortly after her assignment to the station that Jadzia and Sisko discovered the Bajoran wormhole, opening a new era in Federation history. (DS9: "Emissary")

Later that year Jadzia stood trial for crimes that Curzon had allegedly committed during the Klaestron Civil War. Though she was ultimately cleared of the charges, Jadzia had been willing to accept a guilty verdict in order to protect Curzon and others. (DS9: "Dax")

She became a real-life game piece in a game of Chula, a Wadi game that Quark was forced to play. An alien took her form and became very amorous with Julian Bashir. (DS9: "Move Along Home", "If Wishes Were Horses")

In 2370, the Dax symbiont was removed from Jadzia and kidnapped by an unjoined Trill, Verad, who believed he had been cheated of being joined. He was briefly joined with the Dax symbiont, becoming Verad Dax before he was apprehended and Dax was rejoined with Jadzia. After she was rejoined with the symbiont, Verad's memories – cold and afraid – stayed with her for the rest of her life. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures")

After landing on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, Jadzia and Odo tried to solve a mystery. The people of the village were disappearing. They discovered that the people were holograms, created by Rurigan, whose village was wiped out by the Jem'Hadar. The hologenerator was malfunctioning, but they were able to fix it and bring the people back. (DS9: "Shadowplay")

Jadzia kept an oath made by Curzon with his Klingon brothers. His friends' sons had been killed by the Albino, a master criminal, and they vowed vengence. At first they were reluctant to accept her into their group, but she persuaded them. She participated in the attack that killed the Albino; however, two of the three Klingons were killed as well. (DS9: "Blood Oath")

That same year, Jadzia took on the role that had caused her so much pain before, that of field docent. Her initiate, Arjin, boarded Deep Space 9 with a great deal of apprehension because of the legendary harshness of Dax as a field docent. Jadzia, however, was determined not to be the same kind of docent that Curzon had been and made every effort to convince Arjin of this. (DS9: "Playing God")

Jadzia was threatened with the removal of Dax on second occasion in 2371, when it was discovered that a previously undisclosed host, Joran Belar, had been psychotic. The Trill Symbiosis Commission had kept the memories of Joran blocked from both symbiont and host, but they began to resurface and threatened to cause Jadzia to reject Dax. Under threat of exposing their great secret - that one in two Trill were capable of joining, not the generally believed one in ten-thousand - the Commission agreed to restore Joran's memories, saving Jadzia's life. (DS9: "Equilibrium")

Also in 2371, she was transported back in time to the era of the Bell Riots, an event which caused social upheaveal and awareness of the plight of the poor. While Sisko and Bashir were trapped in a Sanctuary District, she was able to contact the crew of the Defiant, who were able to return them to their own timeline. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I" and "Past Tense, Part II")

Sometime between stardates 48959 (DS9: "The Adversary") and 49011 (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior") Jadzia was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Jadzia became trapped with Bashir in a turbolift with limited air during an attack by the Jem'Hadar on the Defiant. She was rescued just as the air ran out.

She helped Kor and Worf retrieve the Sword of Kahless, saving it from being taken by Toral, a usurper to the leadership of the Klingon High Council. She assisted Bashir in his attempts to cure the blight, a disease caused by a bioweapon with which the Jem'Hadar had infected a planet. (DS9: "Starship Down", "Sword of Kahless", "The Quickening")

Jadzia would join Worf on Martok's ship, the IKS Rotarran. The crew was lax and had no fighting spirit due to the constant defeats by the Jem'Hadar. She helped instill Klingon pride and spirit in them, and they won their first battle.

She also helped Sisko capture Michael Eddington, a former Starfleet officer on Deep Space 9 who had joined the Maquis. (DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire", "Blaze of Glory")

Dominion War
Jadzia became an important figure during the Dominion War. With the threat of invasion, Jadzia commanded the Defiant in a mission to mine the Bajoran Wormhole and prevent further Dominion reinforcements from coming through. That action began the Dominion War.

After Deep Space 9 was taken by the Cardassian/Dominion fleet, Jadzia piloted the Defiant to safety, and soon after became involved in serveral battles with the Dominion.

During a mission to destroy a ketracel-white facility in Cardassian space, the Dax symbiont was badly injured. Jadzia, along with the rest of her crew, was rescued soon after by the Rotarran.

Jadzia was given a field promotion to Captain of the Defiant in early 2374 by Admiral Ross, and when it was uncovered that a major reason for the Dominion's dominance was a sensor array monitoring all activity across five sectors, Jadzia commanded a successful mission to destroy it.

She was aboard the Defiant for Operation Return and was present for Sisko's near-suicide mission into the wormhole to stop Dominion reinforcements from coming through. Fortunately, the Prophets intervened, saving Dax and the rest of the crew of the Defiant. (DS9: "Call to Arms", "A Time to Stand", "Favor the Bold")

When the Federation and allied forces went on the offensive at the First Battle of Chin'toka, she stayed behind and took command of the Deep Space 9. Sadly, though, while her crewmates were fighting the battle, Gul Dukat (controlled by a Pah-wraith) struck her down. She was in a Bajoran temple when Dukat arrived and tried to destroy a sacred Orb in order to imprison the Prophets in the wormhole; when she tried to stop him, he killed her. Her symbiont was saved and transferred to another Trill. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets", "Shadows and Symbols")

Personal interests
Jadzia was an outgoing individual with varied interests. Many of her pursuits were the result of influences from her previous hosts. Joran Dax left her with an appreciation for music, even though no one in her family had any musical ability, and after re-integrating Joran's personality she regularly practiced playing music herself. However, even before becoming aware of Joran, Jadzia had been a collector of the music of lost composers. (DS9: "Equilibrium", "Facets", "Playing God")

Jadzia also enjoyed playing tongo with Quark and the other Ferengi on the station. She claimed that, while Kira was right about the Ferengi being greedy misogynistic trolls who couldn't be trusted, once you accept that they could be a lot of fun. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")

Jadzia, influenced no doubt by Curzon, enjoyed fighting and loud, often raucous parties. Such behavior lead Sirella, the wife of Martok to call her a Risian slut. Other experiences, such as Tobin's intimate knowledge of warp drive theory and his knack for magic tricks, often manifested themselves in Jadzia's day-to-day life as well, but with less drastic results. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited", "The Circle", "Business as Usual", "Playing God")

Emony, the third Dax host, had been a professional gymnast, and it was after her joining that Jadzia developed an interest in physical exercises along those lines. These interests merged in part with Curzon's love of Klingon culture, and she took up Klingon calisthenics and combat techniques.

Additionally, Jadzia inherited other characteristics from previous hosts, as she learned during her zhian'tara. For example, Lela often paced with her hands behind her back, while Tobin bit his nails, both things Jadzia had often done subconsciously. One unique experience she found fascinating was Curzon's time spent merged with Odo; this gave Jadzia a unique opportunity, allowing a solid to briefly experience what it was like to be a Changeling. (DS9: "Facets")

Benjamin Sisko
The previous Dax host, Curzon, had been Benjamin Sisko's mentor during Sisko's younger days and the two were close for almost twenty years. When Curzon died and Jadzia became host to Dax the friendship between the two persisted and Sisko continued to call Jadzia "old man", a term he had used affectionately with Curzon. Though it was initially difficult for him to adjust to Dax's new appearance, Jadzia and Sisko became friends again quickly. (DS9: "Emissary, "A Man Alone")

During Dax's zhian'tara, she asked Benjamin to embody Joran Dax, an insane murderer who had received the symbiont by accident. Sisko took this in good faith and voluntarily took on the role of Joran. Joran attempted to kill Jadzia but she fought Sisko off, and once he regained control he thanked her for not breaking any bones.

Dax confided in Sisko about her feelings of inadequacy when it came time for her to meet Curzon Dax via Odo. Though Sisko tried to reassure her that she was strong, she was unsure of what would happen. When Curzon decided to keep Odo's body, Sisko revealed to Dax that, while a charming man, Curzon was also selfish, and he told her to confront Curzon so the older Trill would back down. (DS9: "Facets")

Jadzia considered Sisko one of her closest friends, and the feeling was mutual. The two went to extremes to protect and help each other. In 2369, when Dax was accused of murder by the Klaestron government, Sisko mounted a spirited defense on her behalf. (DS9: "Dax") And when Jadzia's health was threatened by a rogue Trill, and by possible rejection of her symbiont, Sisko went to great lengths to make sure his friend survived. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures", "Equilibrium") When Jadzia at one point called off her wedding to Worf, Sisko stepped forward to tell her that she was being unreasonable, and convinced her to go on with the event. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")

Jadzia's death was particularly hard for Benjamin to accept, coming as it did at the height of the Dominion War and in the midst of several personal crisis for Sisko. Before her funeral, and shortly before his departure from Deep Space 9 on a leave of absence, Sisko confessed to her that he needed her most now, and painfully regretted that she was gone, also mentioning that, while Curzon was his mentor, Jadzia was his friend. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets")

Kira Nerys
Kira and Dax were far from best of friends when Dax was first stationed aboard DS9, since Kira didn't trust the Federation. Despite this, their professional relationship grew friendly over time. They traded stories and teased one another; they also gossiped about various goings-on at the station, and Kira regularly confided in Dax about her relationships with Bareil and later Shakaar, even though Dax had a tendency to let things slip. (DS9: "Duet", "Crossfire", "A Simple Investigation")

When Dax was considering going with Kang, Koloth and Kor to kill the Albino, Dax wanted to confide in Kira but didn't want to get into the details. However Kira made Dax talk to her about it. Once Kira learned of the plan, she warned Dax that killing someone means you lose part of yourself. (DS9: "Blood Oath")

Although Kira believed holosuites were a waste of time, Dax eventually convinced Kira to visit a holosuite with her. Although their initial plan to go kayaking was interrupted, Dax later took Kira to a simulation of the Hoobishan Baths on Trill and to Camelot. While in the latter program, Kira's lack of familiarity with the storyline led her to knock out Lancelot when he tried to kiss her, as she was playing a married woman at the time. (DS9: "Second Skin", "The Way of the Warrior")

Nerys embodied Lela Dax, a kind old woman, during Jadzia's zhian'tara. (DS9: "Facets")

Julian Bashir
From the very beginning Julian Bashir was infatuated with Dax and he asked her out several times shortly after their stationing aboard DS9. Depsite a lack of interest in Julian as a romantic partner, Jadzia admitted that she enjoyed being pursued by him. (DS9: "Emissary", "A Man Alone") In an alternate timeline the two of them were married. (DS9: "The Visitor")

When Julian eventually got over Jadzia, an accident that trapped them together for a time aboard the Defiant led him to observe how much she enjoyed being chased; now that he had stopped, he claimed she missed it. Jadzia admitted that Bashir was quite charming, but he had come on so strongly at first that she could barely breathe. In any case, they both valued their friendship enough that they would not give it up for anything. (DS9: "Starship Down")

Bashir, along with Quark, was initially upset over the marriage of Worf and Jadzia, and even more so when the two announced their intention to have children. Still, his desire to see her happy allowed him to overcome his jealousy. After her death, Julian's feelings re-surfaced when he met the new Dax host, Ezri. Ezri, stirred in part by Jadzia's memories of Julian, realized she was attracted to him as well and the two eventually became involved. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited", "What You Leave Behind")

Bashir embodied Torias Dax, a confident and outgoing man, during Dax's zhian'tara. (DS9: "Facets")

Quark
Jadzia and Quark, the resident Ferengi entrepeneur of Deep Space 9, developed a long-term friendship during her years on the station. Unlike most other members of the station crew, Jadzia had an affinity for Ferengi society. She regularly joined the Ferengi staff of Quark's bar for games of tongo, and often served as a sounding board for Quark when he faced particularly thorny financial, ethical, or legal issues. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")

However, their friendship was greatly strained when Quark briefly entered the field of weapons sales. Jadzia made it clear to Quark that she found his new profession reprehensible and wanted nothing further to do with him. In part because of her reaction, Quark left behind his career as an arms merchant and was able to rekindle their friendship. (DS9: "Business as Usual")

Though Quark did not want to participate in Jadzia's zhian'tara at first – he was not eager to let "some dead person" inhabit his body – Jadzia convinced him otherwise. She even got him to embody Audrid Dax, a woman whose greatest joy in life was having children. During the zhian'tara, Quark impatiently interrupted to make sure Jadzia would not tell anyone about the embarrassing things Audrid was saying through him. (DS9: "Facets")

After Jadzia's death, Quark was among those who participated in the mission to destroy the Monac shipyards in an effort to guarantee Jadzia's entrance into Sto-Vo-Kor. (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols")

The Crew of DS9
Other people Jadzia felt close to included Leeta, Odo, and Miles O'Brien. She thus invited them, along with Sisko, Bashir, and Quark, to take on the form of her previous hosts during her zhian'tara ceremony. (DS9: "Facets")

Dax took perverse pleasure in annoying Odo, who had such a specific routine that he became aggitated when something in his quarters was so much as a centimeter out of place. Occasionally, Quark would distract Odo while Dax snuck into Odo's quarters and moved everything out of alignment – just enough that Odo would notice. She and Quark thought Odo needed to lighten up, but he did not find this amusing and eventually forced her to put everything back where it belonged, taking the same perverse pleasure in making the moving process take longer than necessary. (DS9: "Homefront")

Klingons
Jadzia, like Curzon, had the heart of a Klingon and honored a blood oath with Kor, Kang and Koloth to kill the Albino. (DS9: "Blood Oath")

She also became a member of the House of Martok after she married Worf.

Jadzia was a skilled warrior with the Klingon bat'leth, and often practiced with her weapon in the holosuites. She made it clear that when fighting in a holosuite her opponent was not to hold back because she was a woman or a Trill.

In addition to speaking Klingon, Jadzia was a keen follower of many Klingon traditions. She enjoyed eating gagh and drinking blood wine.

Like Curzon, she had a deep respect and understanding for the Klingons.

Family
Jadzia's father was Kela, who died when she was young. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")

Jadzia had at least one sister, who sent her glassware as a gift in late 2372. She gave them to Quark after his property was seized by the FCA. (DS9: "Body Parts")

Deral
When the Defiant discovered Meridian, a planet that faded in and out of existence periodically, Jadzia had a brief romantic relationship with Deral, an inhabitant of Meridian. Their attraction to each other was so strong that Deral decided to leave Meridian in order to stay with Jadzia. The decision was momentous. The planet was sparsely populated and any absence would be felt by its remaining intensely.

Deral ultimately decided he could not leave his planet and Jadzia elected to remain behind on the planet when the Defiant left in order to phase out of normal space along with Deral and the rest of the inhabitants. However, it was soon discovered that her presence on the planet during its shift would disrupt the delicate balance there and prevent the shift from occurring. This in turn could lead to the destruction of Meridian and everyone on it. Unable to complete the transition, Jadzia watched helplessly as Deral and the others crossed into the separate dimension for another 60 years. (DS9: "Meridian")

Kahn symbiont
At one point Jadzia faced ostracism from Trill culture when she briefly considered a relationship with Lenara Kahn, a Trill scientist from the Trill Science Ministry. The previous hosts of both symbionts, Torias Dax and Nilani Kahn, had been married, and when Kahn visited Deep Space 9 to conduct experiments on the wormhole she and Jadzia became close. In doing so Jadzia and Lenara were violating the Trill taboo against reassociation. Knowing that allowing their relationship to continue would mean being expelled from Trill society, and that their symbionts would die with them, Jadzia and Lenara broke off the relationship. (DS9: "Rejoined")

Worf
During her first few years on Deep Space 9, Jadzia was romanced both by Dr. Julian Bashir and Quark. Neither of them proved able to win her heart, though, and it was in 2372 Lt. Commander Worf was re-assigned to the station and met Jadzia for the first time. With her impressive knowledge of Klingon history and society, Worf found her a singular companion. Jadzia gave Worf a copy of her calisthenics program, which Worf mistook for Curzon's program. At this, Jadzia challenged Worf to a bat'leth match. She lost, but impressed Worf with her skill. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior").

When Worf moved his quarters to the Defiant, Jadzia gave him her collection of Klingon operas, suggesting to play them through the Defiant's communications systems. Worf accepted them as a thoughtful gift. (DS9: "Bar Association")

As their friendship grew, so did their interest in each other, and ultimately the two fell in love; they became romantically involved in early 2373. At that time Worf was pursuing Grilka, an attached female Klingon. However, since Mogh's family honor had been disgraced, Grilka could not possibly mate with Worf. Jadzia helped him deal with the disappointment by assisting him in courting Grilka through Quark. In the end though, it was Jadzia and Worf who discovered their attraction for each other. They vacationed on Risa together, and Jadiza was able to get Worf to relax and lose his sternness. (DS9: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Let He Who Is Without Sin...")

In 2374 they were married and Jadzia became a member of the House of Martok, despite the initial objections of Martok's wife, Sirella. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")

The marriage proved strong. When Lasaran, a Cardassian defector, contacted Starfleet Intelligence in 2374, Worf and Jadzia were ordered to rendezvous with him and return him safely to Federation space. During the mission Jadzia was seriously wounded by a Jem'Hadar energy weapon. The anticoagulant properties of the weapon put Jadzia's life in danger, and Worf abandoned Lasaran in order to save her. As a result, Lasaran died trying to reach the rendezvous point. The action caused Worf to receive a reprimand, and Captain Sisko believed it would prevent him from ever receiving his own command, but Worf stated he had no regrets. (DS9: "Change of Heart")

By late 2374, Jadzia and Worf had decided to attempt parenthood, despite the extreme difficulties posed by the disparate biologies of Trill and Klingons. With the help of Dr. Bashir, Jadzia was able to attempt to conceive. In thanks she visited the Bajoran temple on the Promenade, where she was attacked and killed by Gul Dukat, who had been possessed by a Pah-wraith seeking the destruction of the Orb kept in the temple.

In 2375, Worf led a mission to destroy the Dominion shipyards at Monac IV. He dedicated this mission to his late wife, in order to ease her entrance into Sto-Vo-Kor. (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols")

Background
Jadzia was played by Terry Farrell throughout the first six seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

When selecting the characters for Deep Space Nine, the production staff knew that they'd have Humans, Bajorans, and a Changeling; for other characters they wanted to pick "a species that had already been established on TNG." They decided on a Trill, as seen in the form of Odan in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Host".

Although Michael Westmore's alterations to make the Odan headpiece more feminine was as good as all of his work, the writers simply didn't like it. Instead of changing species, as they'd already come to like the idea of an "old man", a person with centuries of experience to guide Sisko, Westmore suggested to "just give her spots like we gave Famke", who played a Kriosian. This make up was used on all Trill afterwards.

Jadzia's pre-joining last name was never revealed on the series.

Apocrypha

 * According the non-canon novel Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 2, after her body was placed in a torpedo casing, it was taken back to Trill and buried there. Her gravestone bore her (non-canon) full pre-joining name, "Jadzia Idaris".


 * Prior to her time aboard DS9, Jadzia knew an Andorian counselor named Setheleyis th'Rasdeth. His unconventional approach to counseling helped Jadzia make the decision to return to the Symbiosis Commission and reapply for joining after she was rejected by Curzon. He died at the age of 58 in the Dominion War. ("Prophecy and Change")