Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi (played by Marina Sirtis) was a half-Betazoid, half-Human Starfleet officer. Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, she served as ship's counselor aboard the USS Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-E. In 2379, Troi transferred to the USS Titan. (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Nemesis)

Like most Betazoids, Troi had telepathic abilities but was incapable of reading aliens with brain structures dissimilar to Humans and other Betazoids. As a half-Betazoid, she was also capable of extra-sensory empathy. Due to her half-Human heritage, however, the range of her abilities were limited compared to full-blooded Betazoids. Troi's telepathic skills made her an important asset to her crewmates and often came in handy when dealing with hostile races. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "Ménage à Troi")

Early Life and Career
Deanna was born on March 29, 2336, near Lake El-Nar on Betazed, to Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi and Human Starfleet officer Ian Andrew Troi. Deanna was actually the second of their two children, the first being Kestra Troi, born in 2330. Tragically, Kestra drowned when Deanna was just an infant. Stricken with grief and regret, Lwaxana removed all evidence of Kestra's existence from her own life, and even repressed all memories of Kestra. She also made her husband swear never to mention Kestra again. Because of this, Deanna would not learn of her sister until 2370, when Lwaxana's memories resurfaced. (TNG: "Conundrum", "Dark Page")

As required by Betazoid custom, Deanna was genetically bonded with a Human male named Wyatt Miller at a young age. Wyatt was the son of Steven and Victoria Miller, close friends of Deanna's parents. The two were scheduled to be married in early 2364, but the marriage was permanently cancelled when Wyatt chose to join his fantasy lover aboard an infected Tarellian vessel. (TNG: "Haven")

As a child living on Betazed, Deanna often learned aspects of Human culture from her Human father, Ian. One such aspect which he passed on to his daughter was a fondness for stories set during Earth's Ancient West, which he often read to her. (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas") She also heard stories from her maternal grandfather, who told them telepathically; something of a traditionalist, he rarely spoke, saying speech was for "offworlders and people who didn't know any better." (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder")

Sadly, Deanna's father died in 2343, when Deanna was only seven years old. Even so, she remembered him fondly, and when she became pregnant by an alien energy being, she named the child after her father. (TNG: "Half a Life," "Dark Page," "The Child")


 * According to a scene cut from TNG: "The Bonding", the Troi family lived on Betazed when Ian Andrew died. After his death, Deanna kept wanting to talk about her father but the Betazoids kept pulling her thoughts out of her head before she could say the words. This made her very angry.

Deanna frequently felt as though she were the parent and Lwaxana the child. In one instance in 2342, during a party celebrating Deanna's sixth birthday, Lwaxana disappeared halfway through the celebration, but returned later, dressed as a Koropian princess and carried in a sedan chair by four men, much to Deanna's embarassment. (TNG: "Cost of Living")

Deanna Troi entered Starfleet Academy in 2355. She later graduated from the Academy in 2359, majoring in psychology. (TNG: "Conundrum") On her homeworld of Betazed, she met William T. Riker, a Starfleet ensign who was stationed on the planet. The two began a relationship which lasted several years. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint," "Ménage à Troi," "Second Chances") By 2364, Troi held the rank of lieutenant commander. That year, she was assigned as ship's counselor aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")


 * Deanna had apparently been taking Starfleet courses while studying on Betazed. Even though Starfleet Command is a four-year curriculum, it is possible that Deanna's studies on Betazed did not require her to fulfill all four years at the Academy.


 * In "Encounter at Farpoint", Riker refers to Troi as 'Lieutenant' even though she wears the insignia of a lieutenant commander.

2364-2365
Troi proved herself to be an important asset to the crew of the Enterprise-D during the ship's first mission to Farpoint Station in 2364. Her ability to sense feelings and emotions gave vital clues which allowed the crew to determine that the station was actually a shapeshifting spaceborne entity being forced into servitude by the Bandi. By rescuing the creature and reuniting it with its mate, Troi and her shipmates were able to pass a test of Humanity's intentions imposed onto them by Q. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")


 * In a scene from the final draft of the script for "Encounter at Farpoint", Troi is frozen by Q after shouting at him and accusing him of being a barbarian for causing Lieutenant Yar to similarly freeze. In the final version of the episode, Yar is the only character who experiences this icy ordeal.

Soon after, Troi was affected by the polywater intoxication that caused her and the majority of the Enterprise's crew to act out of character, but she was quickly taken to sickbay and provided with medical treatment. (TNG: "The Naked Now") Her empathic abilities came in handy a short time later when she assisted in uncovering the intentions of Ligonian leader Lutan after he kidnapped security chief Natasha Yar. (TNG: "Code of Honor")

When a planet in the Delphi Ardu system drained the Enterprise of its power, Troi and the majority of the ship's crew suffered from exposure to extreme cold and were forced to endure almost deadly oxygen deprivation. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

Troi was unable to detect any feelings from The Traveler when he was encountered by the Enterprise's crew in 2364. (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before") However, she was later instrumental in discovering that an alien force had been invading the minds of crew members aboard the Enterprise and was influencing Captain Picard, who later temporarily blinded Troi while he was under the alien's influence. After Picard beamed himself and the alien into space, the crew believed that he could not be recovered but Troi sensed that the captain had separated from the alien influence and, thanks to her advice, Picard was ultimately returned safely to the ship. (TNG: "Lonely Among Us")

Later that year, the Enterprise traveled to Haven, a legendarily beautiful planet in the Beta Cassius system. Troi did not inform any other members of the crew that the planet was the also the location of Wyatt Miller, who was scheduled to marry her due to their genetic bonding. Although Troi had felt certain the marriage would never happen in the years she spent on the Enterprise-D, and with the distance the ship had taken her away from her home, she planned to leave the ship once married to her new husband. (TNG: "Haven")

Later that year, Troi's shuttle crashed on Vagra II, where she was held captive by an entity known as Armus. He held her prisoner by surrounding the shuttle with a force field and stopped all rescue attempts by the crew, even going as far as to kill Lieutenant Yar. Troi and her shuttle pilot were eventually rescued after Wesley Crusher and Worf discovered that the field weakened when Armus was provoked. (TNG: "Skin of Evil")

In early 2365, Troi became pregnant by an alien who wished to experience Human feelings and relationships. He grew at an accelerated rate and within hours was an eight-year old boy. At the same time, a plasmic plague struck the ship threatening to kill everyone within hours. The alien realized that he was the source of the plague and sacrificed his Human life to save the ship. He reverted back to his alien form and left the ship. Troi experienced both the joy of childbirth and the heartbreak of losing a child. (TNG: "The Child")

Later that year, when Ira Graves downloaded his memories into Data, Deanna Troi was the one that discovered that the changes in Data's personality were actually Graves. (TNG: "The Schizoid Man")

2366-2367
The next year she fell for a delegate, Devinoni Ral, at a conference for the rights to a wormhole. Ral and Troi each had an instant attraction for each other. She learned that he was part Betazoid and had been using his mental powers to influence the negotiations. When the Ferengi threatened to blow up the wormhole, stating that there was a secret deal between the Federation and the Barzan, Troi suspected that this was staged by Ral to acquire the rights to the wormhole. The Barzan gave the right to Ral, but it was soon discovered that the wormhole was unstable and worthless. Ral quickly left and bid goodbye to Troi. (TNG: "The Price")

Deanna began studying psychology sometime in the 2350s. While studying at the University of Betazed, one of her patients was Tam Elbrun, a Betazoid male who had been suffering from mental instability due to his lack of the Betazoid's natural ability to "tune out" the thoughts of others. She met him again when he was being transported by the Enterprise to make first contact with an alien lifeform that looked like an organic spaceship. Having lost its crew years ago, Tin Man, as the organism was called, wanted to die and waited by a star that would shortly explode. After boarding the organism, Tam bonded with the alien and remained with it. He had found a way to relieve his mental pain and Tin Man had a companion. (TNG: "Tin Man")

Troi became the object of affection for a new crewmember named Barclay. He was too shy to approach her so created a holoprogram so he could interact with her. Troi conselled him, and he eventually ended the program. (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits")

While attending a trade conference on Betazed, she, Lwaxana, and Riker were captured by the Ferengi. They wanted to use Lwaxana's telepathic ablilities to give them an advantage in negotiations. They used mind probes on Troi and Lwaxana. Riker was able to send a message to Enterprise giving them the location of the Ferengi ship, and they were rescued. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")

She temporarily lost her powers when she came in contact with two-dimensional lifeforms that had caught the Enterprise in their magnetic force. They were heading for a cosmic string which would destroy the Enterprise. Picard asked her to use her Human abilities to try to determine the aliens' intentions. She found out that the cosmic string was their home; the Enterprise was able to break free, and after the aliens left, her powers returned. (TNG: "The Loss")

While investigating the USS Brattain, which had become stranded in space, the Enterprise found one crewmember alive, a Betazed counselor. The rest of the crew had killed each other. They discovered that the ship was caught in Tyken's Rift which sapped all the energy from the ship and was caused sleep deprevation in the crew. The same thing was happening to the Enterprise. The crew was on the verge of madness, and only Data and Troi were unaffected. Data believed that an explosion would get them out of the rift, but the plan failed. Troi was having nightmares, but believed that they were acts of communication from other beings stuck on the other side of the rift. In a dream state she relayed a plan of cooperation that would release each ship. The plan worked. (TNG: "Night Terrors")

2368-2369
Troi took command of the Enterprise after it was hit by a space filament that caused major damage. The accident trapped the officers in various parts of the ship. Her decision not to separate bridge and engineering and divert power to engineering saved the ship. (TNG: "Disaster")

She counseled Worf and Alexander, who had boarded the ship to stay with his father. Her efforts helped stablize their relationship. Worf was going to send his son to a Klingon school, but Troi observed that the boy was difficult because of the death of his mother, leaving him a feeling of abandonment. Sending him away would only make the boy worse. (TNG: "New Ground")

During a visit by telepathic aliens, Troi was attacked and lapsed into a coma. On waking, she believed she was attacked by Riker. One of the aliens who participated in the attack had been using his telepathic powers to make her think it was someone else. (TNG: "Violations")

While helping to save a closed society of genetically-engineered Earth colonists, she became romantically involved with their leader, Aaron Conor. After the colony was saved, the romance ended as she returned to the ship and he declined to leave his colony. (TNG: "The Masterpiece Society")

Her body was taken over by an alien spirit after the Enterprise investigated the disappearence of the spaceship Essex, an event that had happened almost two hundred years previously. Troi, along with O'Brien and Data, was possessed, and hijacked the Enterprise, taking hostages in the process. The Troi alien stated that he was Bryce Shumer, Captain of the Essex, and that he and his crew's spirits were caught up in the magnetic field of the moon. He asked that their bones, which were on the planet, be returned to Earth, so their spirits could rest. Picard did not believe "Troi", and found out that she wished to return to the planet to get the other alien spirits so they could take over the crew's bodies. The moon was a penal colony and the spirits were criminals. After Picard threatened to destroy the Enterprise and their existences, the spirits decided to stay alive on their moon. (TNG: "Power Play")

After boarding the Enterprise and announcing that she planned to marry (again), Lwaxana Troi began to meddle in Troi's attempts to counsel Alexander, Worf's son, about meeting his responsibilities. Deanna also became upset that her mother was not going to follow the traditional Betazed marriage rituals. Lwaxana was suffering a mid-life crisis, and in the end she ended her relationship with her stuffy suitor. (TNG: "Cost of Living")

In 2369, Ves Alkar, a Federation mediator, boarded the Enterprise. Alkar telepathically transfered his dark thoughts and emotions to other hosts so his mind was clear and able to mediate conflicts more effectively. The effect of this transfer caused rapid aging and death. He attacked Troi and Dr. Crusher put her into stasis to save her life. (TNG: "Man of the People")

She participated in an Old West holodeck program with Worf and Alexander that became too real when a malfunction released the safety protocols. They were able to rescue Alexander and put the outlaws in jail. (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas")

In 2369, Troi was kidnapped and surgically altered by the Romulan underground movement. She was forced to assume the role of Major Rakal, an operative for the Tal Shiar, aboard the IRW Khazara. While there, Troi befriended Subcommander N'Vek, who helped her to adopt her role and also revealed the true nature of her mission - help Vice-Proconsul M'ret and two of his aides defect to the Federation. Troi discovered that she wielded much power over the crew of the Khazara, as many people were scared of the Tal Shiar. However, she had a conflicted relationship with the Khazara ' s commanding officer, Commander Toreth. When Troi's mission took a turn for the worse and a fight with the Enterprise seemed imminent, Deanna seized command of the Khazara. She was able to successfully complete her mission by concealing a transporter beam inside a low-level disruptor blast. N'Vek was killed by the Khazara ' s helmsman after Toreth re-took command, and the Enterprise barely managed to beam Deanna back on board before the Khazara fled under cloak. (TNG: "Face of the Enemy")

Troi, along with Picard, Data, and La Forge, returned from a conference to find the Enterprise and a Romulan ship suspended in time. This was caused by aliens who were using the warp core as an incubation for their young. After driving out the aliens, the timeline was restored. (TNG: "Timescape")

At the end of the year she engaged Lore and a group of individualized Borg drones. Lore planned to lead them to destroy the Federation and had brainwashed Data into helping him. Troi, Picard, and La Forge were captured by Lore. They stole a transceiver that they used to restore Data's ethics. They were rescued by Hugh, Data, and the Enterprise. (TNG: "Descent, Part I", "Descent, Part II")

2370-2371
In early 2370, a group of aliens boarded the Enterprise as part of a cultural exchange. Troi was the liaison for Loquel. He drove her crazy, as all he wanted to do was indulge himself and party. It was revealed that his assignment was to experience pleasure. (TNG: "Liaisons")

Troi attempted the Bridge Officer's test in 2370. Riker supervised the tests, and did not show any favoritism towards Deanna. After she attempted the engineering qualification several times without much luck, he told her the tests were cancelled. However, he also gave her a hint which told her that the test was really about her ability to send a crewmember to his death. (TNG: "Thine Own Self")

She helped save her mother's life when Lwaxana was suffering a severe mental breakdown due to a long repressed memory. With the help of a telepathic alien, she was able to enter into her mother's mind and find the source of the mental trauma. Troi found out she had a older sister who died in a drowning accident that Lawxana blamed herself for. She was able to help her mother accept the death and convince her that she was not to blame. (TNG: "Dark Page")

After a crewmember, Daniel Kwan, committed suicide on board the Enterprise, Troi was asked to investigate, since the crewman had empathic abilities and Troi might be able to find out why he killed himself. After examining his station, Troi became insanely jealous of Worf and when she found him in the arms of another female crewmate, she killed him and attempted suicide. As she prepared to jump to her death, Worf, who was actually still alive, saved her. It turned out that everything that she experienced was in her mind. When the Enterprise-D was being built, one of the crew, who had been an empath, committed murder and suicide, and this empathic message was picked up by Kwan, leading to his death. Troi picked up the same message, but was more fortunate. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder")

In 2371, Troi piloted the Enterprise-D during the Battle of Veridian III and the subsequent crash-landing of the ship's primary hull on the planet below. She was the last person to pilot the ship, as the engineering section was destroyed due to a warp core breach and the saucer section could not be salvaged. (Star Trek Generations)

Further References:
 * "Haven"
 * "Skin of Evil"
 * "The Child"
 * "Manhunt"
 * "The Price"
 * "Tin Man"
 * "Ménage à Troi"
 * "The Loss
 * "First Contact"
 * "Half a Life"
 * "The Mind's Eye"
 * "Darmok"
 * "Disaster
 * "Cost of Living"
 * "Man of the People"
 * "Chain of Command, Part I"
 * "Chain of Command, Part II"
 * "Face of the Enemy"
 * "Dark Page"
 * "Thine Own Self"
 * "Eye of the Beholder"
 * Star Trek Generations

The Enterprise-E
In 2372, Deanna transferred to the Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E, with most of the senior staff of the Enterprise-D. In 2373, Troi was alarmed by news that the Enterprise had been ordered to protect the Romulan Neutral Zone while a fleet of other ships would attempt to destroy a Borg cube on a direct course for Earth.

Deanna was later standing the bridge watch when the gathered fleet engaged the Borg and she relayed news of this development to Picard, who was in his ready room. On the bridge, Picard decided to disregard his orders and join the battle against the Borg, a decision that was not met with objection from Troi nor any other senior officer. With the crew's full support, the Enterprise joined the Battle of Sector 001.

The ship was primarily responsible for the Borg vessel's subsequent destruction, though a Borg sphere escaped from the cube moments before it exploded and generated a temporal vortex. The Enterprise followed the sphere to 2063 and destroyed the Borg craft before it could prevent the historic first flight of Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix warp ship.

Following the Borg attack, two teams of officers beamed to the surface of Earth, with Deanna serving as a member of the second team. While on Earth, she searched for Zefram Cochrane in the missile silo where the Phoenix was located. As her search proved unsuccessful, Troi interrupted Picard and Data's intimate exploration of the Phoenix' hull to report the situation to Picard and suggest that Cochrane may have been killed in the attack.

As Deanna continued to search for the inventor of warp drive, she met a man who agreed to talk to her on the condition that she join him for a drink. After three shots of tequila, Troi eventually found out that the man was, in fact, Zefram Cochrane.

Deanna was drunk when Riker later found her in a bar with Cochrane. However, she continued to share a drink of extremely strong tequila with the inventor, who she officially reported was "nuts", and eventually lost consciousness due to her large consumption of alcohol.

After she came to, Troi helped to convince Cochrane of the importance of his first warp flight, as he considered cancelling it following the Borg attack. Troi also supervised the historic launch of the Phoenix from Earth and assisted in preserving first contact between Humans and Vulcans. (Star Trek: First Contact)

Two years later, in 2375, Troi helped Captain Picard prepare to host a reception for an Evora delegation after she had read a Starfleet report on the species. Deanna attended the ceremony with Picard, Riker and Dr. Crusher. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

In 2379, Deanna traveled with the Enterprise-E crew one last time to Romulan space on a diplomatic mission to meet the new praetor, Shinzon. She was subjected to telepathic violations during her visit, but she used the residual link to her advantage in The Battle of Bassen Rift. After the Enterprise-E was nearly disabled, she took the helm and under Captain Picard's orders, crashed the Enterprise-E into the Scimitar, further disabling the Romulan warbird. (Star Trek Nemesis)

References:
 * Star Trek: First Contact
 * [Star Trek: Insurrection
 * Star Trek Nemesis

Project Pathfinder
In 2376, Deanna Troi visited Lieutenant Reginald Barclay while she was enjoying shore leave on Earth. Barclay, an old friend of hers from the Enterprise-D and -E, told her about his role in the Pathfinder Project - a mission to determine a method of communicating with the USS Voyager, stranded in the distant Delta Quadrant. Using a holographic simulation of the starship and its crew, Barclay had devised a plan to contact Voyager. However, he had become obsessed with the starship and Troi feared that he was suffering from a relapse of holo-addiction, a condition he had previously recovered from with Deanna's assistance. Although Troi was scheduled to leave Earth aboard the Enterprise the next morning, she decided to ask Captain Picard for a temporary leave of absence so that she could spend some time with Barclay. Later that night, Barclay left his apartment and headed to Starfleet Command, where he finally managed to establish communication with Voyager. Deanna later shared a drink with Barclay to celebrate his success. (VOY: "Pathfinder")

Later that year, Troi was serving aboard the Enterprise when Barclay contacted her from Jupiter Station. His friend and the inventor of the Emergency Medical Hologram, Doctor Lewis Zimmerman, was terminally ill on Jupiter Station and only expected to live a few more months. The officers aboard Voyager had managed to send a member of their crew, a Mark I EMH named simply the Doctor, to Jupiter Station but Dr. Zimmerman was refusing to be treated by the Doctor, whom he saw as inferior to the later Mark II and Mark III EMHs.

Barclay suspected that Troi might be able to persuade Zimmerman to allow the Doctor to cure him before he died. Although the Enterprise was in the middle of a mission almost seven light years away, Troi agreed that the plan sounded like an interesting challenge and requested leave from Captain Picard. A week later, she arrived at Jupiter Station but was unable to mediate an agreement between the two doctors. Zimmerman and the Doctor ultimately reached a mutual understanding without Troi's help. (VOY: "Life Line")

The next year, Troi was sunbathing on a beach when Barclay crept up on her. He told her that he had created an advanced interactive hologram in his own image with the express purpose of sending it to Voyager, but the program had gone missing on its way to the starship. Troi helped Barclay and his supervisors at the Pathfinder Project to determine that the crew of a Ferengi casino ship had stolen the hologram. Troi and Barclay discovered that the Ferengi had reprogrammed the hologram and sent it to Voyager in an attempt to acquire Borg nanoprobes from Seven of Nine. The casino ship opened a geodesic fold, a gateway to the Delta Quadrant. Troi suggested sending a warning message to Voyager through the geodesic fold but Barclay told her that subspace transmissions could not pass through the anomaly.

Instead, Barclay contacted the casino ship from the Voyager simulation at Starfleet Command while Troi stood next to him and watched from out of the Ferengi's view. Pretending to be his hologram, Barclay told the Ferengi that Captain Janeway had discovered their plan and was furiously preparing to attack with powerful weaponry. The Ferengi believed the trick and closed the geodesic fold. Shortly before Deanna left San Francisco, Barclay was working on programming another version of his hologram with security protocols so it couldn't be stolen again. (VOY: "Inside Man")

Chocolate
Deanna once said that she had never met a chocolate that she did not like.

Data mentioned to Q that when Counselor Troi was in a bad mood, she often ordered a food containing chocolate. (TNG: "Deja Q")

Poker
Aboard the Enterprise-D, Troi enjoyed playing poker with her crewmates.

Music
Troi was observed idly playing a melody on a piano in (TNG: "The Masterpiece Society").

Friendships
Troi had a close relationship with Doctor Beverley Crusher.

Reginald Barclay
Troi was a good friend of Lt. Reginald Barclay.

William T. Riker
Deanna had an intimately close relationship with Will Riker, referring to him as imzadi, a Betazoid word for "beloved", and teaching him how to read her thoughts when she telepathically projected them. They learned each other's abilities but couldn't say "goodbye" when they parted. After Troi was assigned to the Enterprise-D in 2364, she was reunited with Riker. Although they informed Captain Picard that they already knew each other, neither Riker nor Troi initially revealed the intimate nature of their former relationship. While exploring the mysterious Farpoint station, Troi expressed, in an outburst of emotion, her extreme fear that Riker could be hurt. She soon managed to resume her former sense of calm, however, and returned to the Enterprise as Riker had ordered. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

During the Enterprise ' s subsequent missions, Troi referred to Riker as "Bill" on at least two occasions. (TNG: "The Naked Now", "Haven")


 * Onscreen it is almost exclusively Troi who calls Riker "Bill" (the only exception is Dr. Crusher doing so in "Encounter at Farpoint"). However, others may have called him "Bill" in their lives outside the episodes. Similarly, Troi may have used the name more than twice off-screen. According to the novel Ghost Ship, Troi uses the name "Bill" for Riker because the word "Will" means "shaving cream" in the Betazoid language. However, this is not established in canon, and it contradicts Troi's frequent later use of the name "Will" in the series.

While under the influence of polywater intoxication, Troi was drawn to Riker and, in an attempt to seduce her former lover, she sensuously embraced him in a hug in engineering. When he picked her up in his arms and began carrying her to sickbay, she asked if he wouldn't rather be alone with her in his mind than ensuring she was hospitalized. Riker, however, did not surrender to her seductive advances and succeeded in taking her to sickbay. (TNG: "The Naked Now")

Troi's life was later saved by Riker, as well as the lives of virtually the entire crew of the Enterprise, when he managed to persuade Portal 63 of the long-extinct Tkon Empire to release the starship from his control, as the Portal had trapped the Enterprise in an energy field that was draining the ship's power and forcing its crew, including Troi, to endure extreme cold and almost deadly oxygen deprivation. (TNG: "The Last Outpost") Will later remarked that he knew Deanna better than anyone. (TNG: "Man of the People") One of their favorite and most special locations was Janaran Falls. Eventually, Will was transferred to the Potemkin. The two stayed in touch and planned to meet at Risa in 2361, but Will was promoted shortly after the Nervala IV mission and was forced to cancel their date. He made his career a priority over their relationship, and gradually, they lost touch and did not see one another until they were both posted to the new USS Enterprise in 2364. (TNG: "Second Chances") It was difficult to see each other again, and Troi tried to speak to Riker alone during their mission to Farpoint Station. He maintained a distance, and she did not make another attempt. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") They eventually decided to keep a professional yet friendly relationship. They stayed close friends and confidantes, often approaching each other either to talk or for support in times of crisis. (TNG: "Violations," "Second Chances") As first officer and counselor, they were required to manage crew evaluations every three months. (TNG: "Man of the People", "Lower Decks")

While under the influence of the polywater intoxication in 2364, Troi attempted to seduce Riker, but Will maintained control and brought her to sickbay. (TNG: "The Naked Now")

Will was dismayed to learn of Deanna's betrothal to Wyatt Miller in 2364. Deanna reassured him that he would always be a special part of her life and that she still cared for him greatly. Will was delighted when Deanna remained aboard the Enterprise after Wyatt left to help the Tarellians recover from a plague. (TNG: "Haven")

Will and Deanna attended the funeral service for Tasha Yar together after she was killed by Armus in 2364. Riker comforted Deanna during and following the event. (TNG: "Skin of Evil")

Troi was impregnated by an alien lifeform in early 2365. Riker had mixed feelings about the pregnancy and resultant child, but was with Deanna for the birth and supported her during the ordeal, especially after the child sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise. (TNG: "The Child")

Troi was visibly upset when Riker almost accepted assignment to the Aries in 2365. (TNG: "The Icarus Factor";)

When Riker was affected by the memory virus picked up on Surata IV, Deanna stayed with him through his convalescence. She was present during his treatment and relayed the emotions Will was experiencing to Dr. Pulaski, giving her indication of which memories to activate and which to suppress. (TNG: "Shades of Gray")

During the negotiations for the Barzan wormhole in 2366, Riker was challenged by the Chrysalian representative, Devinoni Ral, in more ways than one. Ral and Deanna began a romantic relationship, and Ral used this to intimidate Riker. However, the Barzan wormhole was later determined to be worthless and Riker gleefully withdrew the Federation bid in front of Ral, who had just secured rights for the Chrysalians through underhanded means. (TNG: "The Price")

Later that year, Troi backed off when Riker made his interest in Yuta known. (TNG: "The Vengeance Factor") She stood by him after he was accused of Dr. Nel Apgar's murder, even when it seemed that he was guilty. After he was exonerated, she squeezed his hand in affection. (TNG: "A Matter of Perspective")

The couple tried to take a romantic holiday on Betazed in 2366, but were interrupted by Lwaxana Troi. A Ferengi DaiMon, Tog, later arrived to kidnap Lwaxana, taking Troi and Riker with her. They later engineered an escape and were rescued by the Enterprise. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")

The Enterprise became trapped by two-dimensional lifeforms in early 2367. They also supressed Deanna's telepathic abilities and she found it difficult to deal with her loss. Will tried to help her cope with the trauma, but she resisted. He then called her "aristocratic" and thought she was upset because her empathic powers helped her feel superior to her shipmates. When the Enterprise was freed, her abilities were restored. She apologized to Will, but also made it clear that he was not to call her aristocratic again. (TNG: "The Loss")

Will and Deanna attended the wedding of Keiko and Miles O'Brien together. (TNG: "Data's Day")

Sometime prior to 2368, Riker and Troi had a romantic encounter following a poker night. Troi was reluctant to continue a relationship at the time and the incident remained isolated. (TNG: "Violations")

Both Riker and Troi were affected by the Satarran energy weapon, but Deanna still felt a connection to Will. Her suspicions were confirmed when Riker found a copy of Ode to Psyche given to him by Troi, with the inscription "To Will, all my love, Deanna." (TNG: "Conundrum")

When Riker expressed interest in Soren, he went to see Deanna in order to gain her approval of the relationship. Once again, Deanna assured him that they would always be special to one another, even if they saw other people. (TNG: "The Outcast")

Ambassador Ves Alkar telepathically linked with Deanna in 2369, using her as a receptacle for his "psychic waste." Deanna's behavior was drastically altered and she began to rapidly age due to the stress. She appeared for a crew evaluation meeting with Riker in a seductive outfit, then revealing that she had just slept with a male junior officer. Riker claimed that he felt her lovelife was none of his business, but Troi continued to press the issue, causing Riker to leave. Troi later tried to kiss Riker, then scratched him for no apparent reason. Riker reported this behavior to Dr. Crusher, who uncovered Alkar's plan and broke his link with Troi. Deanna thanked Will for his support, and he promised to love her even when she becomes old and gray. (TNG: "Man of the People")

The discovery of Riker's double on Nervana IV complicated his relationship with Deanna. That Riker had spent eight years pining for Deanna, and was eager to resume their relationship. He tried to have her transfer to the Gandhi, but she refused, not wanting to give up the life she spent so long building on the Enterprise. (TNG: "Second Chances")

Lwaxana Troi felt that Riker was partially the reason Deanna was still unmarried by 2370. While suffering from strain due to repeated telepathic contact with the Cairn, Lwaxana approached Will in Ten Forward and scolded at him, telling him to leave Deanna alone. She later had Deanna apologize for her behavior. (TNG: "Dark Page")

Will and Deanna stayed friends into their early years aboard the Enterprise-E. He helped her nurse the outcome of an alcohol binge instigated by Zefram Cochrane while they were trying to convince him to conduct his warp flight in 2063. (Star Trek: First Contact) However, things changed when they encountered the radiation of the Ba'ku planet in 2375. They began to playfully flirt with one another and ended up taking a bubble bath together. Their rekindled romance continued after the Enterprise left the Briar Patch. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

The two were to vacation at Pebble Beach on Earth in 2377. Deanna arrived first; Will was going to meet her a few days later. They later decided to go to Tiburon instead. They invited Reg Barclay to accompany them, wanting to introduce him to a mutual friend, Maril. (VOY: "Inside Man")

Will and Deanna were finally married in 2379, shortly before their transfer to the Titan. Their wedding party in Alaska included Captain Picard as best man, Dr. Crusher as bridesmaid, and Data, La Forge, Worf, and Wesley Crusher as groomsmen. Guinan was also present. Another ceremony, a traditional Betazoid wedding, was planned on Betazed shortly following. However, that ceremony was delayed when the Enterprise was diverted to Romulus. (Star Trek Nemesis)

Worf
Worf was distrustful and uneasy around telepaths, but Deanna became a trusted exception. When he was severely injured in 2368, he asked her to care for Alexander if he died. In 2370 Worf asked her to become a soh-chim to his son, a role she gladly accepted. (TNG: "Dark Page", "Ethics", "Parallels")

After an encounter with alternate realities showed Worf a life with Deanna as his wife, Worf's eyes were opened new possibilities and he began to pursue her. Though surprised, she welcomed the advances, and the two enjoyed a romantic relationship through 2370. Deanna wasn't thrilled by Worf's concern for Will Riker's interest in the matter, and an unease began to show between the rivals for Troi. The triangle's tension was eased after Picard's experience in an alternate future revealed how the situation could grow into naked animosity between the rivals for Troi. (TNG: "Parallels", "Eye of the Beholder", "All Good Things...")


 * In the novel Triangle: Imzadi II, set in mid-2371, Worf makes a marriage proposal to Troi and she accepts. However, after Riker and Commander Elizabeth Shelby rescue Troi and Worf's son, Alexander, from a hostage situation, Troi and Worf realize that they are too different to be married and that Troi still has feelings for Riker. The couple call off their engagement as a result.

By the next year, the romance seemed to have dissolved amicably, and eventually, she resumed her relationship with Riker. Worf's only visible unease at their wedding of 2375 was the result of imbibing too much Romulan ale, and the prospect of appearing naked at their Betazed marriage ceremony. (Star Trek Generations; Star Trek: Insurrection; Star Trek Nemesis)

Alternate Timelines
In an alternate timeline briefly created in 2366, Deanna Troi was not serving as a senior officer aboard the Enterprise-D when the ship encountered its predecessor, the Ambassador-class starship USS Enterprise-C. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")


 * In the alternate timeline section of the episode, Troi is neither seen nor referred to.

In 2369, Q sent Picard into an alternate timeline which he had created. The captain discovered that he was a mere lieutenant J.G. who was assigned to the Enterprise-D as an assistant astrophysics officer. Both Troi and Riker were less familiar with him than they were in Picard's own universe. In the ship's Ten Forward lounge, Picard sought advice from Riker and Troi about his future on the ship. Although Troi noted that Picard's performance reports were consistently good and that he was a dedicated and thorough officer, she commented that the main problem throughout his career had been his reluctance to do what was necessary to achieve his lofty goals. She was also eager to leave, believing that Ten Forward was not the best place to discuss Picard's command opportunities and suggested to him that they should discuss his career prospects later, shortly before she exited Ten Forward with Riker. (TNG: "Tapestry")

In 2370, Lieutenant Worf encountered a quantum fissure that caused him to begin shifting between quantum realities. In at least one universe, Troi participated in a surprise celebration for Worf's birthday. Later, Troi spoke with Worf about his son, Alexander, and graciously accepted his offer to serve as his son's soh-chim, formalizing her motherly relationship with Alexander. In two other universes that Worf visited, he was married to Troi in an extremely loving relationship. In the first of those universes, Troi's romantic affiliation with Worf had begun approximately three years earlier, shortly after he had recovered from a spinal injury on stardate 45587. Six months later, Worf had asked Riker for his formal permission to court Troi, believing that to do otherwise would be dishonourable. In the latter of the two universes in which Troi was married to Worf, the Klingon was first officer and father of two children with Troi. They had a son named Eric-Christopher, who was born in 2367, and a daughter named Shannara, who was born in 2368. However, Troi had no knowledge of Worf's son, Alexander. Although she believed that the Worf who was indegineous to her own universe might not return, Troi kissed Worf goodbye before the Klingon departed her ship in the Curie, a type-6 shuttlecraft. (TNG: "Parallels")

In the anti-time future, Troi died around 2375 and a funeral was later held in her memory. Both Worf and Riker were extremely saddened by her demise and blamed the other for preventing a relationship with her, causing relations between the two men to become deliberately estranged for the next twenty years. (TNG: "All Good Things...")

Miscellaneous information
Among the holographic environments that Deanna Troi visited are sickbay and engineering aboard the Intrepid-class starship Voyager, and the bridge, captain's ready room and engineering aboard the NX class starship Enterprise. (VOY: "Life Line", "Inside Man"; ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Troi frequently wore nonuniform attire while on duty, possibly due to her position as ship's counselor. She primarily favored unitards in a variety of colors, as well as one turquoise variant with a long skirt. However, while serving under Edward Jellico in 2369, she was ordered to wear a standard duty uniform, which she continued to use after Captain Picard resumed command. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I")

Troi was able to beat Data in a game of three-dimensional chess, using "intuition". When faced with the Kriskov gambit, instead of countering with the El-Mitra exchange as is characteristic, Troi chose to leave her king vulnerable, devising a completely unanticipated response to a classic attack, and forcing checkmate in seven moves. (TNG: "Conundrum")

Apocrypha
In the DS9 book series Millennium, she was ship's counselor on the U.S.S. Enterprise-F and was killed when the ship was destroyed in an alternate future.

Chronology



 * 2336: Born on Betazed to Ian and Lwaxana Troi
 * 2336: Older sister, Kestra, drowns
 * 2343: Father, Ian Andrew Troi, dies
 * 2350s: Begins studying psychology at the University of Betazed
 * 2359: Meets and begins relationship with Starfleet officer William T. Riker
 * 2359: Graduates from Starfleet Academy
 * 2361: Breaks off romantic relationship with William Riker
 * 2364: As Starfleet officer with rank of lieutenant commander, assigned aboard USS Enterprise-D as ship's counselor
 * 2364: Prearranged marriage to Wyatt Miller is called off
 * 2365: Son, Ian Troi, is born and dies
 * 2370: Promoted to rank of commander
 * 2371: Successfully pilots the Enterprise-D's saucer section safely into Veridian III after being knocked into the atmosphere by the exploding stardrive section with all hands alive
 * 2372: Assigned as ship's counselor aboard USS Enterprise-E
 * 2375: Rekindles romantic relationship with William Riker
 * 2379: Married to William Riker in ceremonies held on Earth and later on Betazed
 * 2379: Transfers aboard USS Titan with William Riker

Appearances

 * Star Trek: The Next Generation
 * All episodes except for "Hide and Q", "Datalore", "11001001", "Heart of Glory", "A Matter Of Honor", "The Perfect Mate" and "The Inner Light"


 * Star Trek Generations
 * Star Trek: First Contact
 * Star Trek: Insurrection
 * VOY:
 * "Pathfinder"
 * "Life Line"
 * "Inside Man"
 * Star Trek Nemesis
 * ENT: "These Are the Voyages..."

Background
The original concept for the character of Deanna Troi had much in common with the Ilia character, created for the abandoned series Star Trek: Phase II before ultimately appearing in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Similarly, Troi's relationship with Riker has its conceptual roots in Ilia's relationship with Willard Decker from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, Troi's description in the original casting call was as follows:
 * LT. DEANNA TROI--An alien woman who is tall (5'8-6') and slender, about 30 years old and quite beautiful. She serves as the starship's Chief Psychologist, Deanna is probably foreign (anywhere from Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Icelandic, etc.) with looks and accent to match.  She and Number One are romantically involved.  Her alien "look" is still to be determined.

Notably, Troi's alien roots are not fully detailed in this description but she was described in the first version of the series "bible" as only a quarter Betazoid with some telepathic powers due to her "Starfleet officer grandfather having lived on Betazed with one of its humanoid females". In the final draft of the writer's guide to the series (most likely with the script for "Haven" under development), Troi's heritage was altered to how it is established in the series - half Betazoid, with her Starfleet father having lived on Betazed with her native mother.

Troi's position in one of the Enterprise-D's three center seats, the other two chairs occupied by Picard and Riker, was originally to have been filled by Data. This was changed when the producers realized that Troi would be strengthened both in her shipboard role and as a character if she were to occupy the third central seat. Troi was also given the informal duty of notifying Picard of the concerns of his thousand-plus crew, a duty that was initially the official responsibility of Geordi La Forge.

Denise Crosby was originally intended to play Deanna Troi, while Marina Sirtis was auditioning for the role of Macha Hernandez (later to be named Natasha Yar). Although producers Robert Justman and Rick Berman were happy with this arrangement, Gene Roddenberry decided that each actress would be better as the other's character and the roles were consequently reversed.

Before the pilot episode was made, Troi's rank was changed from lieutenant to lieutenant commander, ultimately established by a bridge monitor that appears in "Code of Honor". However, during an away team mission in "Encounter at Farpoint", Riker mistakenly refers to Troi as "lieutenant", a mistake that was obviously an uncaught piece of discontinuity, carried over from an earlier version of the script. More puzzling is that Picard refers to Troi as "commander" in the very first scene, as she is not referred to as holding that rank in any other episode of the first season.

Several other differences exist between the pilot episode's depiction of Troi and her appearance in the subsequent series. These include the fact that she communicates telepathically with Riker in the pilot, but does not do so in the series, a lessening of her abilities that essentially avoided the emotional soliloquies that even made actress Marina Sirtis cringe in "Encounter at Farpoint".

Other differences were changes in Troi's hair and clothing - she wears a virtually unique "skant" version of the Starfleet uniform in "Encounter at Farpoint", but is mostly adorned in civilian attire in the series; she wears her hair up in a perm in the pilot, but appears with a severe bun hairstyle throughout the first season. An unused look considered for the character included the old "skant" Starfleet uniform and the later used severe bob hairstyle. These changes were a result of the belief that Troi had looked too "loose" and too cheerleader-like in "Encounter at Farpoint".

As the first season progressed, the writers struggled with Troi's character, believing her to be one of the hardest to write for. According to actress Marina Sirtis, Troi was almost even dropped from the series after she was unused in four episodes.

Deanna Troi was the first counselor to appear in a Star Trek series and would ultimately become the most prominent example of that role in the series, portrayed by Marina Sirtis in all but one of her many filmed appearances - an uncredited baby appears as an infant Deanna Troi in "Dark Page".