Geordi La Forge

Geordi La Forge held the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise-D and later the USS Enterprise-E, both under Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Early life
Geordi La Forge was born on February 16th, 2335 in the African Confederation on Earth, to parents Captain Silva La Forge and noted exozoologist Commander Edward M. La Forge. Due to a birth defect, he was born blind.

Sometime prior to 2340, Geordi was trapped alone in a burning building; he would later remember this as one of the scariest moments of his life. (TNG: "Hero Worship")

When he was five years old, Geordi received his first VISOR, which allowed him to see (although not the same way the average human does) for the first time in his life.

Geordi went to Zefram Cochrane High School sometime prior to 2353. (Star Trek: First Contact)

Early Starfleet career
He attended Starfleet Academy from 2353 to 2357, where he excelled at engineering and idolized Zefram Cochrane. (Star Trek: First Contact)

His first deep space assignment was as an ensign aboard the USS Victory, under Captain Zimbata. In 2362, La Forge participated in the investigation of the disappearance of the Federation colony on Tarchannen III. (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data", "Identity Crisis")

La Forge later transferred to the USS Hood, where he served under Captain Robert DeSoto. On the Hood La Forge knew William Riker, but only professionally. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") Riker knew La Forge the longest out of all of their shipmates aboard the Enterprise, as the two would develop a close friendship during their later years together at that assignment. (TNG: "The Next Phase")

At one point in his career as a young officer, La Forge was assigned to pilot Jean-Luc Picard an inspection tour. En route to their destination, Picard made an off-hand remark about the shuttle's engine efficiency not being what it should. In response to this, La Forge stayed up all night refitting the shuttle's fusion initiators. When Picard discovered what La Forge had done the following morning, he knew right then that he wanted La Forge with him on his next command. (TNG: "The Next Phase")

Conn Officer
In 2364, he was named Conn officer on the USS Enterprise-D under Captain Jean-Luc Picard. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

While investigating the deaths of the SS Tsiolkovsky crew, La Forge contracted a variant of polywater intoxication, causing him to lose his inhibitions. Dr. Beverly Crusher used La Forge to test her vaccines and was able to develop a cure. (TNG: "The Naked Now")

The first test of his abilities as a starship commander came during an encounter with an advanced planetary defense system in orbit of planet Minos. With the senior officers' away teams entrenched at the planet's surface, La Forge carried out the order to send the Enterprise's saucer section to safety, then returned to Minos with the stardrive section to work out a way of evacuating the away teams. While battling a cloaked drone in orbit, he devised a strategy to lure the opponent into the planet's atmosphere, thus revealing its location. In this tense situation, he proved that he had the ability to successfully lead a skeleton crew to victory. (TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom")

His special vision was impressively demonstrated during an away mission to the drifting freighter Batris. The VISOR data was directly transmitted to the Enterprise-D's main bridge viewscreen, via his Visual acuity transmitter, allowing the bridge crew to gain an insight into Geordi's view of the world and to follow the progress of the mission until the datalink failed. (TNG: "Heart of Glory")

Chief Engineer
In 2365 La Forge was promoted to full Lieutenant. He transferred from the command division to operations and was named Chief Engineer. Over the course of the next several years, it became evident that this transfer had been a wise decision: his technical and analytical abilities, his versatility and his cooperative leadership style were very well suited to the requirements of a senior engineering officer aboard a major starship. Just one year later, in 2366, he was promoted again to Lieutenant Commander.

An especially demanding situation arose in 2365, after the ship's main computer had been infected by an Iconian computer virus by ways of the log files of the USS Yamato. Those files were the only useful item that remained of this Galaxy-class starship, after a catastrophic loss of antimatter containment had caused it to explode with the loss of all hands. La Forge was eventually able to disprove suspicions of a general design flaw in Galaxy-class starships which had arisen when the alien program caused more and more shipboard systems to fail. Working with Lieutenant Commander Data, whose positronic brain had been infected as well, he found the solution to the problem in time to save the Enterprise-D from seemingly inevitable destruction. (TNG: "Contagion")

Geordi learned about one particular disadvantage of following in the footsteps of Starfleet's legendary engineers when members of a race known as the Pakled took him hostage, hoping to gain technological knowledge. Although injured, he successfully devised an escape method without further bloodshed. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare")

La Forge would use a hologram of Dr. Leah Brahms, the engineer who designed the Galaxy-class, after the Enterprise was ensnared in a Menthar booby trap. He and the hologram Brahms worked incredibly well together, and figured out an escape route for the Enterprise. In the process, Geordi became strongly attracted to Brahms. (TNG: "Booby Trap")

Later that year, Geordi was trapped on a desolate planet with a Romulan. He and the Romulan at first tried to kill each other, but soon resolved their differences and worked together to survive. (TNG: "The Enemy")

In 2367, he would meet the real Leah Brahms. La Forge was ecstatic at the chance to meet her, even if on a solely professional level, but he was in for a surprise. Whereas the hologram Geordi had assembled was kind, creative, and warm, the real Brahms was rude, and, much to Geordi's chagrin, married. They worked together to solve a problem onboard, but Dr. Brahms found out about the holoprogram and became infuriated. They eventually calmed down and were able to laugh about it, but a romantic future for the two seemed in doubt. (TNG: "Galaxy's Child")

He would meet an old friend named Susanna Leijten who he had served with aboard the Victory. She told La Forge that several of their crewmates, with whom they had formed an Away team to Tarchannen III, had disappeared. Shortly after, Leijten started to transform into an alien being. He himself became infected, but before he was transformed into an alien, he discovered that shadow aliens on the planet had implanted a parasite into the away team members that turned them into the aliens. This is how they procreate. La Forge was rescued and given an antidote that stopped the transformation. (TNG: "Identity Crisis")

At the end of 2367, La Forge was captured by the Romulans, who brainwashed him into assassinating the Klingon Governor Vagh. Klingon ambassador Kell worked with the Romulans from the inside. By tracing Kell's signal to La Forge's visor, they were able to stop the assassination attempt. (TNG: "The Mind's Eye")

When the Enterprise was hit by a quantum filament that caused massive power failure throughout the ship, La Forge and Dr. Crusher were trapped in a cargo bay with dangerous, explosive materials. They daringly decompressed the bay while they were still in it, to jettison the materials into space. (TNG: "Disaster")

He would work with the scientists on Penthara IV after the planet's mantle was damaged by an asteroid hit. His first plan failed but a new one more risky than the first works and the planet is saved. (TNG: "A Matter of Time")

Later that year, the Enterprise discovered an injured Borg drone in the Argolis Cluster. La Forge helped to repair the drone, and in the process made friends with him. It was Geordi who named him "Hugh". Starfleet initially planned to use Hugh to infect the Borg Collective, but Hugh's emotions, including those he felt towards his friend Geordi, dissuaded this plan. La Forge asked Hugh to remain onboard, but he declined, to ensure the safety of the Enterprise. (TNG: "I, Borg")

After answering a distress call from a Romulan ship, La Forge and Ro Laren disappeared during a transporter cycle. They could see each other and everything around them, but no one was aware of them, and they were presumed dead. They found out that the Romulan distress call was related to an accident with their cloaking device, and decloaked themselves by creating enough chroniton fields to force Data to use a chemical to decontamiate the fields, which also re-materializes La Forge and Ro. (TNG: "The Next Phase")

In 2369, La Forge, along with the rest of the Enterprise principal crew, traveled back to 19th century Earth to save Data. In the process, Geordi encountered Samuel Clemens. (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part I" and "Time's Arrow, Part II")

One of Geordi's dreams came true later that year, when the Enterprise answered a distress call sent out by the USS Jenolan. He discovered that the ship's transporters were configured in a strange manner, and was able to rematerialize someone. That someone turned out to be Montgomery Scott, the Chief Engineer from the orginal Enterprise. Scott had preserved himself in the transporter buffer for 75 years. Geordi was initially overjoyed to be working with such a legend, but Scotty's constant nitpicking about 24th century technology led Geordi to snap at him. This plunged Scott into a brief depression. Geordi eventually consoled him, pointing out that age does not dictate usefulness, and the two worked together to save the Enterprise. (TNG: "Relics")

He was abducted by Solanagen-based lifeforms, who experimented on him. (TNG: "Schisms")

Later that year, he became romantically involved with fellow Starfleet officer Aquiel Uhnari, who was suspected of murdering her coworker. He eventually proved that the murderer was a coalescent organism. (TNG: "Aquiel")

In 2370, he was captured by Lore, who was leading a group of rogue Borg, who had left the collective due to the individuality Hugh, which Geordi helped to foster, in attacks against the Federation. Lore brainwashed Data into attempting to turn La Forge into a cybernetic organism. This plot was narrowly foiled. (TNG: "Descent, Part II")

Later that year, Geordi's mother, Silva, was listed as missing in action during a mission. Upon further investigation, Geordi found that her image was being used by aliens to lure him into helping them. (TNG: "Interface")

He would help prove that the Hekarans, Serova and Rabal, were correctly asserting that warp drive was damaging the fabric of space, which was instrumental in creating the Warp 5 "speed limit". (TNG: "Force of Nature")

In 2371, while on an away team investigating the Amargosa observatory with Lieutenant Commander Data, Geordi was knocked unconscious by Tolian Soran. Soran then kidnapped Geordi, and escaped aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. The Klingons traded him for Captain Picard. They put a spy device in Geordi's VISOR, and used it to attain the Enterprises shield frequency. The device was removed after the destruction of the Klingon ship, but unfortunately, the damage caused to the Enterprise during the flight would prove career-ending for the starship. (Star Trek Generations)

The Enterprise-E
After the destruction of the Enterprise-D, he transferred to the new Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E in 2372. He, and the Enterprise, then spent a year on a shakedown cruise.

Some time between 2371 and 2373, he had received ocular implants capable of even more impressive functions than his VISOR.

In 2373, the Borg attacked the Federation colony on Ivor Prime. The Enterprise was told to patrol the neutral zone, and Geordi argued that the Enterprise-E was the most advanced ship in the fleet, and should be at the front lines, and Captain Picard decided to head to the battle. After destroying the Borg Cube, the Enterprise followed a sphere that opened a temporal vortex in Earth's atmosphere.

Geordi, along with the entire crew of the Enterprise-E, was transported to 2063. He and an engineering team beamed down to help repair the Phoenix, and got to work with his hero, Zefram Cochrane. He told Cochrane about his attendance at a high school named after him, and a large marble statue erected in his honor. This rattled Cochrane, but he pulled together and made first contact as planned. The Enterprise then returned to the 24th century. (Star Trek: First Contact)

In 2375, while investigating an incident involving Data on the Ba'ku planet, La Forge was able to temporarily see naturally through real eyes as a result of the metaphasic radiation emanating from planet's rings. Despite this apparent gift, he still assisted Captain Picard in working against the Federation's plans to exploit the planet. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

In 2379, Geordi took part in the Enterprise's mission to Romulus. After a fierce battle with the Scimitar, he helped his best friend Data in his task of self-sacrifice to save the Enterprise crew. (Star Trek Nemesis)

VISOR
La Forge, who was born blind, often wore a VISOR, a half-moon-shaped device attached at the temples, that allowed him to see. It enabled him to "see" throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from heat and infrared through light and radio waves. With the cybernetic technology connected directly to his brain, it required such a complex and broad-based input that the user had to concentrate to focus on one area. Eventually, he received ocular impants with electric blue irises and the same abilities.
 * Main article: VISOR

Engineering talents and specialties
La Forge had great talent for engineering and a keen judgment for needed modifications in the field; his faith in technology and his ability to master it were normally an inspiration to those around him. As a junior officer, his specialties included antimatter power, dilithium regulators, Holodeck programs, and climate-control computers. His intense focus enabled him to master the complexities of warp engineering and other starship systems. An all-night refit of a shuttle engine after an off-hand comment by a superior officer garnered the attention of Jean-Luc Picard, as it was testament to his no-nonsense skill and insight.

During the Zefram Cochrane project, he recalled the Phoenix test vehicle's intermix chamber from memory. (Star Trek: First Contact)

Legendary forces
In 2063, La Forge helped his idol Dr. Zefram Cochrane, Terran scientist, eccentric genius, and inventor of the Terran warp drive, launch his warp test vessel Phoenix in order to make the historic initial meeting with the Vulcans. (Star Trek: First Contact) Similarly, when a transporter loop allowed Geordi to come into contact with the near-mythic engineer Montgomery Scott, in 2369 the two joined forces to free the Enterprise from a Dyson Sphere's interior. (TNG: "Relics")

Personal life
The major childhood trauma of being alone in his burning home caused him great duress, though he was pulled to safety after only two minutes. His isolation from his field-assigned officer parents amplified his feelings of solitude.

Despite this, his outstanding characteristic was his adaptability to change and satisfaction with life. His sense of humor remained strong, despite his growing responsibilities.

He enjoyed the senior officer's weekly poker game, and though his artificial "eyes" allowed him to detect bluffing and see his opponents' cards in the ultraviolet spectrum, he never "peeked" until a hand was over.

He also delighted in scale model building of old sailing ships, chess, swimming, skindiving, the history of his profession, and fencing. He was not well-suited for writing or the mandolin, despite a preference for guitar music. He liked iced tea and pasta, such as fungilli. Due to his nomadic upbringing, he was adept at various languages including Haliian.

Friendships
La Forge always tried to be on friendly terms with everyone around him, yet he only seemed completely at ease in company of his closest friend, Data. The two of them often role-played in holodeck simulations of Sherlock Holmes stories, where Data assumed the role of Holmes and La Forge was Dr. Watson.

Geordi was also close friends with Miles O'Brien and Susanna Leijten. Possibly because of his own tendencies to retreat to fictitious settings, Geordi became friends with the extremely shy and nervous genius Reginald Barclay, trying to keep him in reality. (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits")

Romance
Geordi was slightly insecure concerning dating and women, though he has had significant relationships with Christy Henshaw, Lt. Aquiel Uhnari, and Dr. Leah Brahms. He may have also harbored a slight romantic attraction to his crewmate Tasha Yar. (TNG: "The Naked Now", "Hide and Q")

Being self-conscious and slightly nervous, it took him considerable effort to get in contact with potential female partners. This apparently contributed to him falling in love with two women's holographic audiovisual representations when it appeared that he would never get to meet them in person.

Christy Henshaw
Efforts to date Enterprise-D crewmate Christy Henshaw were initially unsuccessful, although she became much more interested in him after an encounter with the Zalkonian known as John Doe left him feeling much more confident. (TNG: "Booby Trap", "Transfigurations").

Leah Brahms
Working with a holographic representation of engineer Leah Brahms, a key member of the Galaxy-class Starship Development Project and, in a way, the mother of the Enterprise's warp propulsion system, La Forge fell in love with her.

Upon meeting the real Dr. Brahms one year later, in 2367, things were everything but rosy. Both had to work hard to find a way of cooperating, but eventually became friends. (TNG: "Booby Trap", "Galaxy's Child")

Aquiel Uhnari
Investigating into the supposed death of one and disappearance of another officer at a remote subspace relay station in 2369, Geordi reviewed the personal correspondence of the suspected victim, Lieutenant Aquiel Uhnari. In the process, he came to know and like her so much that upon her unexpected apprehension, both formed a short relationship. (TNG: "Aquiel")

Alternate timelines
In the alternate timeline created by Q for Captain Picard in 2370, La Forge's optic nerves re-generated due to the anti-time particles emanating from a temporal anomaly, restoring his vision. In that timeline's future, he had married Leah Brahms and had three children. (TNG: "All Good Things...")

In another alternate timeline, by 2389, La Forge had been promoted to captain, and was in command of the Galaxy-class USS Challenger. In that year, he pursued Chakotay, Harry Kim, and Tessa Omond in a stolen Delta Flyer to the Takara Sector in an attempt to stop them changing history by preventing the destruction of the USS Voyager fifteen years earlier. (VOY: "Timeless")

Chronology

 * 2335 : Born in African Confederation, Earth
 * 2340 : Receives the first VISOR
 * 2353 : Admitted to Starfleet Academy
 * 2357 : Graduates Starfleet Academy, Assigned USS Victory
 * 2361 : Assigned USS Hood under Captain DeSoto
 * 2364 : Assigned to USS Enterprise-D as helmsman
 * 2365 : Promoted to lieutenant and chief engineer
 * 2366 : Promoted to lieutenant commander
 * 2369 : Receives word that his mother, Captain Silva La Forge of the USS Hera has died
 * 2371 : Enterprise-D destroyed over Veridian III (Star Trek Generations)
 * 2372 : Assigned to the USS Enterprise-E.
 * 2373 : Travels back in time to 2063 in order to defeat an attempt by the Borg to create an alternate timeline in which the Federation is never created (Star Trek: First Contact)
 * 2375 : Assists in Picard's rebellion against Starfleet Admiral Dougherty in order to protect the Ba'ku; La Forge's eyes temporarily regain sight because of the planet's effects (Star Trek: Insurrection)
 * 2379 : Attends the wedding of William Riker and Deanna Troi (Star Trek Nemesis)

Trivia
Geordi has held more ranks on screen than any other Star Trek character: he was an ensign in a flashback in TNG: "Identity Crisis", he was a lieutenant junior grade in TNG Season 1, a full lieutenant in TNG Season 2, a lieutenant commander in TNG Seasons 3 through 7 and the four Next Generation feature films, a commander in the illusory future of TNG: "Future Imperfect", and a captain in an alternate timeline in VOY: "Timeless".


 * For a contrasting view on who has held the most ranks on screen, consult the article on Nog.

Background
Geordi La Forge was played by LeVar Burton in all of the character's television and film appearances.

The character, and all other La Forges, were named for the late Star Trek fan Jordan La Forge (according to Jonathan Frakes in "Trekkies").

The original March 1987 Writers/Directors Guide for TNG had La Forge with somewhat different interests and talents. He wasn't listed as the helmsman, or even a bridge officer, instead being simply an "away mission regular". His "specialty": the "starship school for children". (This was inspired by LeVar Burton's participation in the "Reading Rainbow" educational television series.) It also stated in the guide that there was a plan to visit a planet where Geordi would receive the equivalent of Human eyes, "and their limitations lead to the major disappointment of his young life."