Star Trek: Data’s 10 Most Human Relationships

Star Trek’s Data isn’t quite human, but his relationships with humans, aliens, and even cats can blur the line between synthetic and sentient.

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For many Star Trek fans, their favorite character has and always will be Commander Data, and by a wide margin. There was just something so compelling about a brilliant superhuman that desperately wanted to be like everyone else around him. No matter all the fantastic things he could do, he just wanted to be human. And the best part of that was that, despite his mechanical heart, he was one of the most human characters on the show.

What helped make him so endearing were the relationships he built with the people around him. He built such wide-eyed bonds with everyone he met, but there were a few that stood above the others.

10 Noonien Soong

Data has a complicated relationship with his father. That’s part of the humanity of Data’s bond with Soong. While his other brothers have a much more unpleasant time with their parent, Data is the favorite son. Soong has always had high expectations and hopes for Data, because he wanted to eventually give him the emotion chip that will make him the most human android alive.

However, even though Data views his father favorably, Soong’s cryptic nature and mistreatment of his brother still causes Data distress. Even bad, confusing dreams, eventually. That does only make his relationship with his father all the more human, though.

9 Lore and B4

Despite being an android, Data desperately wants to be close with his brothers. It’s a unique facet of humanity that he still can connect with. Between B4’s broken-down nature and Lore’s evil intentions, though, that brotherly love doesn’t go all that well for him.

Data still cares deeply for them, particularly Lore. Lore is a connection to his origins and is apart of who he is. He struggles to assume the worst of someone who looks and feels like they belong with him. That never made Lore a good person but Data’s endless love for him only makes him more human.

8 Spot

While Data keeps on talking about how he doesn’t feel emotion, his bond with his cat, Spot, is special and very much like any human with their pet. He cares for her, feeds her, pets her exactly how she likes it. Beyond that, he also makes special gifts for her and writes her poetry. If anything, he’s just as (if not more) preoccupied with his cat as the average cat owner. Data’s devotion to the fluffy feline is so heartwarming.

With Spot by his side, Data proves he isn’t just performing humanism around other humans. He’s like that even when they’re not around, for his adorable Spot.

7 Captain Picard

Even though Data was a member of Starfleet for decades, Captain Picard was the first person to treat him like a living being and a member of his crew. Under Picard, Data learned to make friends, play games, even feel a little more than he ever thought he could. Whether he felt the same depths of emotion didn’t matter; there was clearly some real, tangible humanity to him.

Picard helped bring that out in him. In a way, Picard was the family that Soong never was to him. Not only did Data sacrifice himself for Picard in the end, but he trusted Picard with his future daughters.

6 Ishara Yar

After losing Tasha, Data had to grapple with his unique brand of love for Tasha. He found comfort in the concept of getting “used” to people and finding comfort in that. In Ishara, Data was finally able to digest and express all the things he felt about Tasha that he never got to tell her about.

Sure, Ishara and Data were just leaning on each other to fill the hole that Tasha left in their lives. Their kiss was less about each other and more about missing her. That’s a pretty human response to grief, though.

5 The Borg Queen

This one is a weird one, but it’s still important. With the Borg Queen, Data experienced temptation and desire for the first time. Those are such inherently human things that they overwhelmed him. While she didn’t actually have any sensual interest in him, it did prove to be a big moment of growth in his emotional programming.

Luckily, Data eventually chose his family on the Enterprise over her feminine wiles. Everyone can agree that was the right choice to make in that situation.

4 Jenna DeSora

As one of Data’s closest friends, Jenna eventually grew to have romantic feelings for Data. However, her idea of romance was much more intuitive than she should’ve expected out of an android who never experienced it before.

Having a friendship grow into a romance was a good experience for Data, though. He learned how to try to navigate such a complicated situation. One of the best parts, even though it was sad, was seeing Data deal with a fundamental incompatibility. Sure, he and Jenna didn’t work great together, but friends don’t always date well. At least their friendship survived.

3 Lal

As Data’s first offspring, his bond with Lal was very special. After years of other people telling him who he was, what his bonds to the world were like, what family was like, Lal was his first choice of his own. Instead of being handed a brother or father, he created her of his own free will.

Even though Lal’s time on the Enterprise was short, she showed Data the potential of his own legacy and his own capacity to care for another human. And not just emotional care, but have someone rely on him. It was a life-changing experience and it affected Data deeply. It’s also (probably) what led to the eventual creation of Dahj and Soji.

2 Tasha Yar

During “The Naked Now,” Data had a… unique encounter with Tasha Yar. Hopped up on the intoxicated infection, Yar became obsessed with Deanna Troi’s more slinky clothes and explored how “fully functional” Data was.

Even though Tasha didn’t seem all that interested talking about what happened between them, it did create a bond. They were always close afterward and cared deeply for each other since. Maybe, with time, something more than just an awkward sexual encounter could’ve happened. Unfortunately, Tasha passed away and instead Data coped with his first serious brush with grief over a close friend.

1 Geordi La Forge

When it comes to humans, Data’s most complex and in-depth relationship was with his engineer best friend, Geordi La Forge. They spent years working together on various mechanical systems on the ship, and bonded over it. Geordi even played a big part in caring for Data’s own tech.

They grew from friendly colleagues to best friends, the Watson to Data’s Holmes. While they didn’t expect it, their relationship is arguably the most important one in either of their lives. They depended on each other for companionship and comfort. Losing Data was probably one of the hardest things Geordi ever experienced. He may have been an android, but with Geordi, Data was very, very human.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-trek-data-most-human-relationships/