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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Character
Elim Garak
Status	Alive
Gender	Male
Species	Cardassian
Origin	Cardassia
Portrayed by	Andrew Robinson
First Appearance	"Past Prologue"
Profession	"Just a simple tailor."
Relatives	Enabran Tain (father)
Special Features	Mysterious past, including being a ruthless espionage agent.

Elim Garak is a fictional recurring character from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was played by actor Andrew Robinson.

Garak was a Cardassian, a member of the race that enslaved the Bajoran people for decades. He was a former agent of the powerful Obsidian Order, a secret intelligence organization, feared by Cardassian citizens and enemies of Caradassia alike. The Obsidian Order like unto the Soviet Union's KGB. Garak was a ruthless spy and intelligence officer, responsible for many assassinations in the line of duty.

Due to a falling out between Garak and the Obsidian Order and its leader, Enebran Tain, Garak was exiled on Terok Nor, a space station orbiting Bajor built by the Cardassians to help optimize their exploitation of the planet's resources. Garak was very closed mouthed about his past life, and opened a tailor shop, describing himself as a "simple tailor" when suggestions that he might be anything more arose.

When the Cardassian occupation of Bajor ended, the Bajorans gave control of Terok Nor, now under their control, to Starfleet in exchange for their help with security matters and with an eye towards having Bajor, sometime in the future, joining the United Federation of Planets. The station's name was changed to Deep Space Nine.

Garak, still in exile, was forced to remain on the station, the only Cardassian still living there. While rumors always ran rampant about him being a "possible Cardassian spy", Garak continued to depict himself as "plain, simple, Garak". Ironically, these rumors about Garak had less to do with his past, and more to do with his position as the only Cardassian left on the station. While Garak still maintained contact with certain factions of Cardassian Intelligence, his exiled status made him essentially harmless.

Still, as the Federation's war with the Dominion heated up, and Cardassia fell under the sway of the Founders and their soldiers, Garak revealed more about his past, and used his talents and connections to the Cardassian intelligence community, as well as his knowledge of Cardassian thinking and security measures, to make himself useful to Benjamin Sisko and the other officers on Deep Space Nine. It became evident that Garak would be a useful ally, if they could trust him. However, a man as secretive as Garak would surely have his own agenda.

As a secretive but accomplished liar, and a master spy using humility as a cloak to disguise his true nature, Garak could sometimes be a source of dark humor. He developed an odd friendship with Julian Bashir, with whom he would lunch regularly. Bashir was intensely curious about this strange character, and found stories of espionage exciting and romantic. During these lunches, Garak hinted about his past, and told him many stories, but it was always unclear how much of which he told the naive doctor was true.

External Links

• Garak at Memory Alpha Wiki