Quark
(Armin Shimerman). Entrepreneur who ran Quark’s bar on station Deep Space 9.
Quark grew up on planet Ferenginar with his father Keldar, his mother Ishka, and
his younger brother Rom. Inheriting his mother’s good business sense, Quark left
his homeworld in 2351 as soon as he reached his Age of Ascension. (“Family
Business” [DS9]). As a young man, Quark was apprenticed to a district
sub-nagus. He behaved
as a proper, subservient Ferengi, and was very popular with the sub-nagus, and
felt he was well on his way to success. However, Quark became involved with the
sub-nagus’s sister, and was ousted from his apprenticeship because of it.
(“Playing God” [DS9]). SEE: Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: 112. Quark worked on a
Ferengi freighter ship for eight years before opening a bar on the Cardassian
mining station, Terok Nor. (“Babel” [DS9], “The Way of the Warrior” [DS9]).
Quark served as ship’s cook on the freighter, and was away from Ferenginar when
the planet was struck by the Great Monetary Collapse. (“Homefront” [DS9]). In
2363, Quark had a brief affair with Natima Lang, a Cardassian woman with
unorthodox political views, who admired him for illegally selling food to
Bajoran nationals on Terok Nor. Lang left Quark after learning that he had used
her personal access code to steal money. Quark regarded Lang as the great love
of his life and always regretted having betrayed her trust. (“Profit and Loss”
[DS9]). During the Cardassian occupation of planet Bajor, Quark ran a
black-market business for Bajoran nationals on the station. When the Cardassians
left in 2369, Quark reluctantly stayed to manage his bar. Quark, a Ferengi
national, felt unfairly persecuted by station security chief, Odo. (“Emissary”
[DS9]). Later that year, Quark served as grand nagus when Grand Nagus Zek
apparently died. The appointment was only temporary, however, because Zek had
faked his death to test his son, Krax.
(“The Nagus” [DS9]). SEE: Corvan gilvos.
In 2370, during an attempt to find a list for an acquaintance, Pallra, Quark was
shot with a compressed tetryon-beam weapon and suffered life-threatening
injuries to his thoracic cavity. Fortunately, he recovered. (“Necessary Evil
[DS9]). Also in 2370, Grand Nagus Zek gave Quark the opportunity to be the first
Ferengi to open business negotiations with a planet from the Gamma Quadrant.
Unfortunately, the scandalous revelation that Pel, Quark’s protégé in the
venture, was female resulted in the loss of Quark’s profits. (“Rules of
Acquisition” [DS9]). Early in 2371, Quark found himself briefly thrust into
Klingon politics when he accidentally killed Kozak, a patron at his bar. Quark
temporarily became head of the House of Kozak, and husband to Grilka. In that
capacity, he helped to insure Grilka’s financial security by fending off a plot
by D’Ghor to gain control of Kozak’s assets. (“The House of Quark” [DS9]). SEE:
divorce, Klingon. Quark once loaned his cousin, Gaila, latinum to start an arms
consortium. Years later, when Gaila had grown enormously wealthy, he repaid the
debt by presenting Quark with his own ship. Quark named the vessel Quark’s
Treasure, but unfortunately, the ship experienced a serious malfunction on its
first voyage and had to be scrapped after an accidental side trip to Earth in
the year 1947. (“Little Green Men” [DS9]). In 2372, Quark was faced with an
extraordinarily difficult situation when the employees at his bar formed a labor
union and went on strike. Pressured by the threat of violence from the FCA,
Quark settled the dispute by making secret concessions to the workers, despite
Ferengi law prohibiting negotiations with labor unions. SEE: Guild of Restaurant
and Casino Employees. (“Bar Association” [DS9]). A few weeks later, while on a
trip to Ferenginar, Quark was misdiagnosed with fatal Dorek syndrome by Dr.
Orpax during his annual insurance physical examination. Mindful of Ferengi
tradition that holds that a Ferengi who dies in debt will suffer in the
afterlife, Quark tried to raise money by offering his desiccated remains on the
Ferengi Futures Exchange. Quark accepted an anonymous bid of 500 bars of latinum
before learning that the diagnosis was in error. He subsequently learned that
the anonymous bidder was FCA Liquidator Brunt, who refused a refund and demanded
fulfillment of his contract for Quark’s remains. When Quark defied Ferengi law
by breaking his sales contract, Brunt responded by confiscating Quark’s assets
and revoking his Ferengi business licence. Fortunately, Quark’s friends on Deep
Space 9 came to the rescue, offering help so that he could remain in business.
(“Body Parts” [DS9]). In 2373, Quark made a brief foray into illegal arms
dealing in order to settle his mounting debt. (“Business As Usual” [DS9]). The
Lady Grilka returned into Quark’s life in 2373 when she traveled to Deep Space 9
to ask his advice on financial
matters. Quark found the Klingon woman very
attractive, and, with Worf’s tutelage, won her romantic attentions. As a result,
Quark received a compound fracture of the right radius, two fractured ribs, torn
ligaments, strained tendons, and numerous bruises, contusions, and scratches.
(“Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places” [DS9]). Armin Shimerman also
played Letek, one of the original three Ferengi in “The Last Outpost” (TNG);
Bractor, another Ferengi, in “Peak Performance” (TNG); and the gift box face in
“Haven” (TNG). Quark was first seen in “Emissary” (DS9). Addendum: Owner of a
bar on the Promenade of station Deep Space 9. Quark regained his Ferengi
business license in 2373 in exchange for helping Brunt break up the relationship
between his mother Ishka and the Grand Nagus Zek. Quark later got the two back
together. (“Ferengi Love Songs” [DS9]). Quark became a reluctant war hero when
he played a pivotal role in the dramatic Starfleet recapture of Deep Space 9
from Dominion control in 2374. Quark, along with Tora Ziyal, freed several
resistance fighters from Dominion imprisonment, killing two Jem’Hadar soldiers
in the process. (“Sacrifice of Angels” [DS9]). Later that year, Quark led a team
of six Ferengi mercenaries who rescued his mother from Dominion captivity. (“The
Magnificent Ferengi” [DS9]). Quark came to the rescue again in 2374 when he
underwent a sex-change operation so that he could convince Commissioner Nilva of
the wisdom of Zek’s radical reforms that granted females the right to wear
clothing. (“Profit and Lace” [DS9]). Quark was nevertheless rather conservative
in his views of Ferengi politics and was opposed to many of Zek’s more radical
reforms. It was not surprising, therefore, that Quark was passed over by Zek in
his search for a successor in 2375. While Quark’s brother, Rom, became the new
grand nagus (“Dogs of War” [DS9]), Quark himself remained on Deep Space 9,
tending his bar and counting his profits. (“What You Leave Behind” [DS9]).