Deanna Troi

Commander Deanna Troi is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe, played by the actress Marina Sirtis in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (the latter only in guest appearances), and in several Star Trek films. According to the novel Imzadi, Troi became interested in Starfleet as a career after a romantic involvement with William Riker. However, Star Trek novels are generally not considered canon.

As a child, Troi was 'genetically bonded' to a human boy called Wyatt Miller, which meant that they would marry once they were old enough. However, days before it was due to take place, the wedding was called off.

Being brought up on Betazed, Deanna had little access to human culture, but her father used to read Western stories to her every night and fostered a lifelong interest in the genre.

Troi had a sister named Kestra, whom she never knew, as Kestra died in a drowning accident while Deanna was a baby.

Troi graduated from the University of Betazed with a degree in Psychology.

Troi was ship's counselor on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and also subsequently on the U.S.S. Enterprise-E.

She was born on March 29, 2336 near Lake El-Nar, Betazed, to parents Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi (a Betazoid) and the late Starfleet Lt. Ian Andrew Troi (a human). Troi, though lacking in her range of mental abilities due to her half-human heritage, is capable of extra-sensory empathy, which often comes in useful when dealing with hostile aliens, though often she fails to detect intelligence in creatures with a brain structure dissimilar from that of the standard humanoid until it is too late.

In 2365 Deanna had a son, named Ian Andrew after her father, as a result of an impregnation by an energy being seeking to learn more about humans by living a human existence. The child aged rapidly, and died after several days.

In 2364, she joined as a lieutenant commander on the Enterprise-D and in 2370 was promoted to commander.

In 2372, following the crash-landing of the Enterprise-D, she was transferred to the Enterprise-E.

In 2379, after an on-again/off-again relationship which solidified in Star Trek: Insurrection, Deanna Troi married Commander William Riker and transferred to the U.S.S. Titan with her husband, who was promoted to captain and assumed command of the vessel. (Events depicted in Star Trek: Nemesis)

In an alternate future created by The Q in TNGs final episode, "All Good Things ...", Troi dies of unknown (but apparently tragic) causes in 2377, an event that causes a rift to develop between Worf (with whom she was briefly romantically linked near the end of the series) and Riker. Jean-Luc Picard prevents these events from happening by revealing the future to his crew.

Counselor Troi is one of the less popular characters on the series, partly because of a perceived worthlessness of her character's position in the show, and partly because in many episodes her dialogue accomplished little but to state what was already obvious (such as the famous "I sense <emotion>, Captain," after that emotion had already been adequately demonstrated by dialogue or special effects). However, later in the show, there were some attempts to broaden her characterization, including training for a promotion to full commander. She also proved successful in undercover work on several occasions. Ron D. Moore, one of the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation and executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, identified Counselor Troi as one of the show's most embarrassing feature, noting that having a psychotherapist as a member of the command-level crew was a very obvious relic of the 1980s.

Another debatable aspect of the character was her costuming; although a Starfleet officer, she dressed in civilian clothes, often form-fitting jumpsuits and, during one season, an exotic-looking dress. It has even been quoted by Sirtis herself that her role was to make the show sexier. She switched to a standard uniform in the sixth season of TNG when Troi was ordered to don a regulation uniform by temporary Enterprise captain, Edward Jellico (during a period when Picard was on an undercover assignment). The producers decided that Troi looked good in a regular uniform, so the new look was kept.

Troi's accent was also a changeable feature of the character. Originally, Sirtis – who in real life speaks with an English accent – created an exotic-sounding, almost Slavic accent for the character. Her efforts at creating a sound for citizens of Betazed were for naught when actors using American accents began playing other Betazoids. Over the course of the series, Troi's accent was gradually toned down to the point that, by the TNG theatrical films, Sirtis was using her natural accent.

Besides starring in The Next Generation and its movies, Troi appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and will appear in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise airing this May.

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