Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre	Science fiction Action adventure
Created by	Rick Berman Michael Piller
Based on	Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry
Starring	Avery Brooks René Auberjonois Terry Farrell Cirroc Lofton Colm Meaney Armin Shimerman Alexander Siddig Nana Visitor Michael Dorn Nicole de Boer
Theme music composer	Dennis McCarthy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	176 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Rick Berman Showrunners Michael Piller (1993–1995) Ira Steven Behr (1995–1999)
Running time	45 minutes
Production company	Paramount Domestic Television
Original release
Network	Syndication[1]
Release	January 3, 1993 (1993-01-03) – June 2, 1999 (1999-06-02)
Related
Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: Voyager Star Trek TV series

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the Star Trek media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from January 3, 1993, to June 2, 1999, spanning 176 episodes over seven seasons.^[2] Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, its narrative is centered on the eponymous space station Deep Space Nine, located adjacent to a wormhole connecting Federation territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy.

Following the success of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Paramount Pictures commissioned a new series set in the Star Trek fictional universe. In creating Deep Space Nine, Berman and Piller drew upon plot elements introduced in The Next Generation, namely the conflict between two species, the Cardassians and the Bajorans. Deep Space Nine was the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, the first set on a space station rather than a traveling starship and the first to have an African American as its central character: Starfleet Commander, later Captain, Benjamin Sisko (played by Avery Brooks).

Changes were made to the series over the course of its seven-year run. In the third season, the starship USS Defiant was introduced to enable more stories away from the space station, and the fourth added Worf (Michael Dorn), a character who originated on The Next Generation, to the main cast. The final three seasons deal with a story arc, that of the war between the Federation and an invading Gamma Quadrant power, the Dominion. Although not as popular as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine was critically well received. Following the success of Deep Space Nine, Paramount commissioned Berman, Piller and Jeri Taylor to produce Star Trek: Voyager, which began in 1995. During Deep Space Nine's run, various episode novelizations and tie-in video games were produced. After the show ended, various novels and comics continued the adventures of the crew.

Premise

The main setting of Deep Space Nine is a space station near the planet Bajor, built by the imperialistic Cardassians during their long, brutal occupation of Bajor. After liberating themselves through a guerrilla war, the Bajorans invite the United Federation of Planets to jointly administer the station. The station is renamed Deep Space Nine, and a Starfleet crew is assigned to manage it, led by Commander Benjamin Sisko.

Shortly after his arrival, Sisko discovers a stable wormhole in Bajoran space between the Alpha Quadrant and the unexplored Gamma Quadrant, and the station is moved near the wormhole's entrance. The wormhole is the home of powerful, non-corporeal aliens whom the Bajorans worship as "the Prophets". Sisko is revered by the Bajorans as the Prophets' "Emissary"; although he is initially uncomfortable with being a religious figure, he gradually grows to accept his role.

Deep Space Nine and Bajor quickly become a center for exploration, interstellar trade, political maneuvering and finally open conflict. Threats come not only from Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans from the Alpha Quadrant, but later from the Dominion, a powerful empire in the Gamma Quadrant ruled by a race of shapeshifters. The starship USS Defiant is assigned to help protect the station. When the Dominion and the Cardassians take up arms against the Federation and its allies starting in the fifth season, Deep Space Nine becomes a key Federation base in the Dominion War.

According to co-creator Berman, he and Piller considered setting the new series on a colony planet, but they decided a space station would appeal more to viewers, and would save the money required for a land-based show's on-location shooting. They did not want the show set aboard a starship because Star Trek: The Next Generation was still in production, and in Berman's words, it "seemed ridiculous to have two shows—two casts of characters—that were off going where no man has gone before".^[3]

While its predecessors tended to restore the status quo ante at the end of each episode, allowing out-of-order viewing, DS9 contains story arcs that span episodes and seasons. One installment often builds upon earlier ones, with several cliffhanger endings. Michael Piller considered this one of the series' best qualities, allowing repercussions of past episodes to influence future events and forcing characters to "learn that actions have consequences."^[3] This trend was especially noticeable toward the series finale, by which time the show was intentionally scripted as a serial.^[3][4]

Unlike Star Trek: The Next Generation, interpersonal conflicts were prominently featured in DS9. This was at the suggestion of Star Trek: The Next Generation's writers, many of whom also wrote for DS9, who said that Roddenberry's prohibition of conflicts within the crew restricted their ability to write compelling dramatic stories. In Piller's words, "People who come from different places — honorable, noble people — will naturally have conflicts".^[3] The series took a more cynical view of human nature and the United Federation of Planets than the utopian vision presented in The Next Generation, and unlike its predecessor, it featured main characters who were not from the Federation and could offer an alternative perspective.^[5]

Cast

Recurring characters

Main article: List of recurring Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters

Marc Alaimo, Armin Shimerman and Colm Meaney, who portrayed the characters of Gul Dukat, Quark and Miles O'Brien, respectively

The setting of the series — a space station rather than a starship — fostered a rich assortment of recurring characters. It was not unheard of for "secondary" characters to play as much of a role in an episode as the regular cast, if not more. For example, "The Wire" focused principally on the recurring character Elim Garak, while in "It's Only a Paper Moon", the central characters were Nog and Vic Fontaine, with the regular characters in supporting roles.

Several Cardassian characters figure prominently in DS9, particularly Gul Dukat, a senior member of the Cardassian military involved in the occupation of Bajor, played by Marc Alaimo. A complex character, Dukat undergoes several transformations before ultimately resolving as a profoundly evil character, and Sisko's archenemy, by the show's conclusion. A StarTrek.com article about Star Trek's greatest villains described Gul Dukat as "possibly the most complex and fully-developed bad guy in Star Trek history".

Elim Garak, portrayed by Andrew Robinson, is the only Cardassian who remains on the space station when the Federation and the Bajorans take over. Although he maintains that he is merely a simple tailor, Garak is a former agent of the Obsidian Order, the feared Cardassian secret police; his skills and contacts on Cardassia prove invaluable on several occasions, and he becomes a pivotal figure in the war with the Dominion.

Damar (Casey Biggs) is introduced in Season 4 as an aide to Gul Dukat, and he rises in stature as Dukat regains prominence. He becomes the leader of the Cardassian Union when Dukat has an emotional breakdown, but, dissatisfied with Cardassia's relationship with the Dominion, Damar forms and leads an insurgency against the Dominion, playing a vital role in its eventual defeat.

Nana Visitor and René Auberjonois, who portrayed the characters of Kira Nerys and Odo, respectively

Jeffrey Combs has stated that he had auditioned for the role of William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when Jonathan Frakes (who won the part) later directed the DS9 episode "Meridian", he recommended Combs for a part.^[8] Combs made his Star Trek and DS9 debut as a one-episode alien named Tiron, before being cast as two recurring characters, the Ferengi Brunt and the Vorta Weyoun. He would go on to appear in 31 episodes of DS9. In "The Dogs of War", he became one of the few Star Trek actors to play two unrelated roles (Brunt and Weyoun) in the same episode. He would later play the recurring role of Shran on Star Trek: Enterprise.

In addition to Quark and his brother Rom (Max Grodénchik), several other Ferengi had recurring roles, including their shrewd mother Ishka (Andrea Martin, later Cecily Adams), who eventually engineers a social revolution on Ferenginar; Rom's son Nog (Aron Eisenberg), the first Ferengi to join Starfleet; and Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn), the Ferengi leader. The Bajoran character Leeta (Chase Masterson), who works at Quark's bar and later marries Rom, is sometimes involved in the Ferengi storyline.

The Klingon Empire plays a significant role in DS9. Aside from Worf, recurring Klingon characters include Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly), leader of the Empire, who was introduced on The Next Generation, and General Martok (J. G. Hertzler), a leader of the Klingon forces in the Dominion War, who succeeds Gowron as Chancellor when Gowron is killed by Worf late in the series. Kor, a Klingon character from Star Trek: The Original Series, appears in three DS9 episodes; one of them, "Blood Oath", unites Kor with two other Klingons from the original series: Koloth and Kang. John Colicos, William Campbell and Michael Ansara reprised their original series roles.

Morn is a minor character who is a fixture in Quark's establishment, sitting at the bar over the course of seven years. It became a running joke that, though the other characters remark on how talkative and funny he is, he never speaks a word on camera. Morn did have a line in the script for pilot episode "Emissary", but it was cut due to run time considerations, after which the creators conceived the joke that he never talks.^[9][10]

Season overview

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ran for seven seasons, from 1993 to 1999. The first season started half-way through the typical broadcast season running from fall to spring and had fewer episodes than typical Star Trek runs.

Plot elements

Chase Masterson (left) portrayed the recurring character Leeta on the series; Nicole De Boer (right) played Ezri Dax, a main character introduced in the seventh season.

Major plotlines focus on several key Star Trek cultures, especially interactions between the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Klingons, and the Federation. Each of these cultures is represented by major characters in the main or recurring cast.

Major arcs revolve around Bajor's recovery from Cardassian occupation; the Maquis, a rebellious Federation splinter group; and the Dominion, a hostile imperial power from the other side of the galaxy. The war between the Dominion and the Federation spans the last two seasons of the show, after tensions between the two gradually increase from the beginning of the third season. Throughout the series, loyalties and alliances change repeatedly: pacts with the Cardassians are made, broken, and remade; a short war with the Klingons flares up and is settled; Bajor grows into political stability; and formerly neutral powers are drawn into conflict.

Production

Avery Brooks directed several episodes in addition to his lead role of Sisko.

The series was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller at the request of Brandon Tartikoff and was produced by Paramount Television.^[11] The original Star Trek series had been pitched as the science fiction equivalent to television westerns such as Wagon Train and DS9 was instead analogous to shows like The Rifleman, featuring a town or trading post right on the edge of the frontier.^[11] As overall head of Star Trek production, Berman served as executive producer for the series's entire run. Piller initially served as second executive producer and showrunner, but left the series in 1995 to manage Star Trek: Voyager. Writer Ira Steven Behr was promoted by Berman to replace Piller as showrunner and held that role for the remainder of the series. In addition to Berman, Piller, and Behr, key writers included Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Ronald D. Moore, Peter Allan Fields, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Hans Beimler and René Echevarria.

Several actors also directed episodes, including Avery Brooks, who directed and starred in the critically acclaimed episode "Far Beyond the Stars".^[12]

DS9 was the first television series in the Star Trek franchise to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) for exterior space shots. Although a few other television series, like Babylon 5, were using CGI exclusively to avoid the high expense of model photography, the Star Trek franchise had continued to use primarily physical models for exterior space shots because producers decided models provided more realism. DS9 continued using models where needed, such as the Season 4 premiere and the alternate-universe episode "Shattered Mirror".^[13] During the battle sequences between the Federation and Klingon fleets, the effects department used Playmates toys, Ertl model kits and Hallmark Bird-of-Prey Christmas ornaments in the background in an effort to keep production costs down.^[14]

The USS Defiant was the first full-fledged starship in the Star Trek franchise to have a CGI model used in regular production. It was first built and animated by VisionArt, which was responsible for the morphing of Odo. The CGI Defiant was featured heavily in the Season 4 episode "Starship Down", where it battled a CGI Jem'Hadar ship in a CGI gas giant's atmosphere.^[15][16]

The series started using Foundation Imaging and Digital Muse in 1997 (Seasons 6 and 7) for its effects as part of the ongoing storyline of the Dominion occupation of the station. The station itself remained a physical model throughout the series' seven-year run, except for the final scene of the series. In October 2006, the physical model of the station was sold for $132,000 in an auction at Christie's auction house in New York City.^[17]

The opening sequence was likewise modified in the fourth season, most notably by the introduction of CGI inserts of construction work being performed on the station's exterior by suited maintenance crews, and more docking and launching activity by ships, along with subtle colored wisps of nebulae added to the background starfield. Accordingly, the solo trumpet (preceded by a solo French horn) featured prominently in the main theme by Dennis McCarthy to accentuate the lonely isolation of the outpost was augmented by a chorus of brass as the station attained a more bustling atmosphere following the presence of the wormhole.

The digital effects were done in standard definition and thus the series cannot be re-released in HD format without re-doing the special effects.^[18]

Episodes

Overall 176 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would be produced,^[19] with an average run-time of 43 minutes each. Geek.com calculated 126 hours of total viewing time for the series.^[20]

The show debuted in January 1993 with the double-episode "Emissary", half-way through the 6th season of The Next Generation. This is the first time that two Star Trek franchise series aired concurrently, which would continue until DS9 ended in 1999, except for late 1994, when Next Generation ended and DS9 was alone on the air. But in the next year, Star Trek: Voyager aired on the then-new UPN network, so that once again two shows from the franchise aired.

The most acclaimed episodes of DS9 include these: "In the Pale Moonlight", in which Sisko wrestles with compromising his ethics to win the Dominion War; "The Visitor", in which an elderly Jake Sisko tries desperately to undo the loss of his father; and "Far Beyond the Stars", in which Sisko has a vision of himself as a writer coping with racism in 20th-century New York.^{[19][21][22][23]}

Reception

Although DS9's ratings remained solid, it was never as successful as the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation, with approximately 6% versus 11% of US households watching during sweeps months. However, it continued to perform better than its franchise sibling Star Trek: Voyager, which averaged around 5% according to the Nielsen ratings. One factor was the increasingly crowded syndicated marketplace, which provided viewers with a number of alternative television series to follow. Another factor was the minimal promotion for DS9, as Paramount focused its efforts on its flagship network series Star Trek: Voyager.^[24] From 1995 onwards, most of the independent stations joined new networks (UPN and The WB), and these primetime shows gradually pushed syndicated programming into less favorable time slots as the US television market expanded from four networks (in 1987 when TNG premiered) to six.

Babylon 5 controversy

Babylon 5, another science fiction series with a similar premise, set on a space station, aired around the same period as Deep Space Nine. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski indicated that Paramount Television was aware of his concept as early as 1989,^[50] when he attempted to sell the show to the studio and provided them with the series bible, pilot script, artwork, lengthy character background histories and plot synopses for 22 "or so planned episodes taken from the overall course of the planned series".^[51][52]

Paramount declined to produce Babylon 5, but later announced that Deep Space Nine was in development, two months after Warner Bros. announced its plans for Babylon 5. Straczynski stated that, even though he was confident that Deep Space Nine producer/creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller had not seen this material, he suspected that Paramount executives used his bible and scripts to steer the development of Deep Space Nine.^[53][54][55] He and Warner Bros. did not file suit against Paramount, largely because Straczynski did not see it as a productive option, with negative repercussions for both TV series. In 1993, he responded to a Deep Space Nine fan who saw the lack of legal action as proof that Straczynski's allegation was unfounded with: "If there is any (to use your term) winking and nudging going on, it's on the level of 'Okay, YOU (Paramount) know what happened, and *I* know what happened, but let's try to be grownup about it for now,' though I must say that the shapechanging thing nearly tipped me back over the edge again. If there are no more major similarities that crop up in the next few weeks or months, with luck we can continue that way."^[55]

Music

On June 30, 1993, between seasons one and two, DS9 followed the example of other Star Trek series in releasing the original score from its pilot episode on CD. The title theme was also made available as a CD single. Music from several other episodes is included on The Best of Star Trek releases.^[56][57]

Originally created in the hope that Frank Sinatra Jr. would take the role,^[58] the character Vic Fontaine (instead played by 1960s heart throb James Darren) was introduced in the sixth-season episode "His Way". The character was a self-aware holographic Las Vegas lounge singer and night club owner from the early 1960s. Vic was popular with the station's crew and performed many period songs by, among others, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Darren's role allowed him to release This One's from the Heart on August 24, 1999, featuring songs that Vic sang in the show and other period pieces.^[59]

On February 12, 2013, La La Land Records released a limited edition, four-disc soundtrack collection entitled the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection. The discs contain various cues from episodes scored by Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway, David Bell, Paul Baillargeon, John Debney, Richard Bellis and Gregory Smith. Only 3000 copies of the collection were printed.^[60][61]

Home media

Episodes of DS9 were made available on VHS cassettes. The series was released on VHS in the United Kingdom starting August 2, 1993. Each video cassette contained two episodes and unique artwork and character/plot information. The first VHS release in the United States came on November 19, 1996.

Beginning in 1996, DS9 began releases on LaserDisc. Picture and sound quality in this format was significantly better than that of VHS cassettes; however, the Laserdisc format was discontinued in 1997. Only 30 discs, or the first 60 episodes, were released, comprising the first, second and part of the third season before Pioneer halted its production of Star Trek laserdiscs in October 1999. DS9 LaserDiscs were also produced for the Japanese and European markets. In Japan, the first five seasons were released in a series of ten boxed sets (two per season) before they were cancelled around the same time as the US releases.^[62] In Europe, a select few DS9 episodes were released on PAL laserdisc: "Emissary", also included in the boxed set Star Trek: The Pilots; "The Way of the Warrior", parts 1 and 2; and "Trials and Tribble-ations" from DS9, "The Trouble with Tribbles" from Star Trek: The Original Series and "More Tribbles, More Troubles" from Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Following the DVD release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2002, DS9 was released on DVD beginning in February 2003. DS9 was released in boxed sets of one season each, which were released approximately one month apart. Each season contains several "special features", including a biographical look at a main character, information from make-up designer Michael Westmore on how various aliens were created, and interviews with cast members and crew members.

The sets also include "Section 31" easter eggs that give a brief look at other aspects of the series. The Region 2 and 4 DVDs also come with bonus CD-ROM discs that allow users to build a "virtual" DS9 on their computer with each release (this software can no longer be installed as the on-line registration is no longer available). On October 26, 2004, a boxed set of all seven season sets was also released.

In 2017, the complete series was released on a DVD box set, with 176 episodes on 48 discs; the set also included a variety of extras that was the same as those on the 2003 Box Set.^[63][64] An example of bonus content is a featurette ''Deep Space Nine: A Bold New Beginning".^[63]

What We Left Behind

In 2017, Ira Steven Behr announced he had reconvened much of the former cast and crew of Deep Space Nine for a documentary film entitled What We Left Behind. It had a very positive response and surpassed its fundraising goals, and this success led to ground-breaking conversions of Deep Space Nine footage into higher definition, although it caused some delays. A screening version was released in late 2018 in Hollywood, New York and at the Destination Star Trek convention in the UK.^[65][66][67]

By February 2017, the documentary was partially finished, with an Indiegogo fundraising page set up to crowdsource the rest of the money needed to complete it. In addition to interviews with cast and crew, the documentary will explore Deep Space Nine's legacy; Behr also reconvened the series' old writers' room to develop a script for the first episode of an imagined eighth season, which will be featured in the film.^[68] In 2017, a tentative release date was set for 2018.^[69] In the summer of 2018, the makers scheduled special release events starting in October 2018.^[66] A version was able to be screened at these special release events at Paramount in Hollywood and some other locations, but a decision was made to delay the media release to increase the number of high-definition conversions.^[65][67]

In 2017, a fundraiser for the documentary surpassed its target of nearly $150,000 within a day of going live.^[70] It went on to raise over $500,000 by March 2017, almost four times the amount requested.^[71] When it concluded it had raised over $631,000 from thousands of donations.^[72]

Development of What We Left Behind took extra time due in part to the large amount of material for editing and technical challenges.^[73] This includes crafting special effects footage and working with CBS to make high-definition scans.^[73] The makers also expanded the amount of footage that is being remastered, and innovated with a 16:9 scan of the original DS9 film.^[66]

In August 2018, it was announced the documentary would have original music scored by Star Trek veterans Dennis McCarthy (256 Star Trek episodes scored) and Kevin Kiner (10 Star Trek episodes scored).^[66] The documentary's producer is Kai de Mello-Folsom, in consultation with others from the original creative team including Michael Okuda, Jonathan West and Doug Drexler.^[74]

It premiered in late 2018 at the following locations:^[65]

• Los Angeles, October 12
• New York City, October 14
• Birmingham, UK, October 20, during the Destination Star Trek convention^[65]

The strong community support and overall response, as well as the creative team's access to resources to create the high-definition sequences led to a delay to increase the sequences filmed in higher definition for the documentary.^[67] Although the screening version was complete and could have been released as-is, a creative decision was made to undertake converting more sequences into high definition.^[67] One teaser showed concept art of a Star Trek spacecraft, which appears in the documentary in an animated sequence.^[75] The spacecraft design was by John Eaves, who designed many spacecraft in the franchise's television shows and theatrical films.^[75]

On May 13, 2019, there was a limited theatrical release.^[76] It played at about 800 theaters and grossed over $380,000.^[77] The film reviewed various aspects of the series from a perspective of twenty years later, explored a plot for a notional eighth season and included many clips re-scanned from original footage in high definition.^[76]

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from nine critics.^[78]

Books

Pocket Books has published several dozen books based on DS9. Some of these were novelizations of memorable episodes, such as "Emissary", "The Search" and "What You Leave Behind", which were usually published a few days after the episode aired in the United States. Several novels were part of "crossover" series between the Star Trek franchises, while others were part of other franchises, but dealt with events laid out in DS9. For example, The Battle of Betazed tells of how Deanna Troi attempted to resist the Dominion occupation of her world (mentioned in the episode "In the Pale Moonlight"). Most focus on the station and its crew, with a notable exception being Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe's Legends of the Ferengi.

The "Millennium" series by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, published by Pocket Books beginning in 2000, consists of The Fall of Terok Nor (book 1), The War of the Prophets (book 2), and Inferno (book 3). The series lays out an alternate ending to DS9 (the novels were actually written before the series concluded) in which a second wormhole is created by the actions of a number of shady characters, destroying the station. In the space-time distortion that occurs, most of the crew are transported 25 years into the future - a future in which the Federation and its allies are virtually crushed, and a fanatical sect of Bajorans who worships the Pah-wraiths have ascended to power and plan to destroy the universe to bring about a higher state of existence. Inferno ends the series, as an unexpected mode of time travel is discovered after the end of the universe, allowing the DS9 crew to alter past events.

Avatar, a two-part novel published on May 1, 2001, picked up where the series left off. It began Season 8 of DS9, into which A Stitch in Time (a biographical look at the life of Garak, written by Andrew Robinson himself) was incorporated retroactively. The events of "What You Leave Behind", DS9's series finale, caused some radical changes to occur in Season 8. As Benjamin Sisko had entered the Celestial Temple, Colonel Kira was given command of the station while a new commander named Elias Vaughn took over her position, Garak became the leader of post-war Cardassia, Odo helped the Changelings rebuild and Rom presided over the Ferengi Alliance.

Other publications, such as the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual and Deep Space Nine Companion, are common to most of the Trek series. The DS9 Companion contains detailed episode guides and interviews with actors, writers, directors and other staff members.

DS9 series influences were included in role-playing game reference books from Last Unicorn Games and Decipher, Inc. Additionally, several novels have also been released in audio form, narrated by René Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman among others.

Games

Several video games focus on DS9. The first is Crossroads of Time, a 1995 side-scrolling game for the Super NES and Genesis. It takes place around the time of the series premiere, borrowing some stories from early episodes such as "Past Prologue" and creating others. A number of problems reportedly impeded the game's development process,^[79] and it was met with mixed reactions.

Three DS9-themed games were released for the PC: Harbinger in 1996, The Fallen in 2000, and Dominion Wars in 2001. A board game was released as part of the now-defunct "component board game" series, which includes a compatible board game for Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[80] DS9's role-playing book is one of several that failed to be released into wide circulation when Decipher, then publisher of the Star Trek role-playing game, discontinued its line.

DS9 is featured prominently in the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, particularly its second edition. In the first edition, Deep Space Nine is the titular fifth set, followed by one titled "The Dominion" and several other DS9-themed sets. In the second edition, there are two types of cards for the United Federation of Planets, which may be placed at Earth or Deep Space Nine. The Ferengi, Dominion, Cardassian, Bajoran and Maquis affiliations are primarily DS9-derived material, while the Klingon affiliation also borrows strongly from it.^[81]

The PC game Star Trek Online features Deep Space Nine as a trading hub. The lower ring (The Promenade) contains vendors, and the upper ring offers views of surrounding space. The expansion Victory is Life is focused around DS9 and the Gamma Quadrant.

In 2019, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Red Alert video game gambling machine was announced, with a tie-in promotion to the Las Vegas Star Trek convention.^[82]

Other merchandising

Along with the rest of the Star Trek franchise, DS9 has had much merchandising including Action figures, keychains, and models. The station itself is the subject of many of these items. Paramount sells Starfleet uniforms, including the so-called "DS9-style" uniform with various division colors. The licensed product produced by Playmates Toys^[83] was directed by Karl Aaronian, who was responsible for helming the development of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Aaronian called upon sculptors such as Scott Hensey of Anaglyph Studios, Steve Varner of Varner Studios, Art Asylum, and relied on graphic design from a number of design and development studios, including White Design, PANGEA, McHale Design, and Robinson-Clarke. The writing for the toy line was penned by John Schulte, John Besmehn, and Cheryl Ann Wong — all of PANGEA. The company was also responsible for generating blueprints of vessels and other in-pack incentives for the toy line.

DS9 was represented at Star Trek: The Experience, an attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton with an immersive reenactment of the DS9 universe, as an adventure on the bridge of the Enterprise and on DS9. Staffed by costumed actors, Quark's Bar & Restaurant served Star Trek-style cuisine, and hosted gatherings such as conventions. The Shopping Promenade sold souvenirs such as "official" Starfleet uniforms and action figures. The attraction closed in September 2008.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

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• Official website
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at IMDb
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at Memory Alpha