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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"If the Dominion comes through the Wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. [[You Shall Not Pass|And I intend to be ready for them]]."'' |'''Commander Benjamin Sisko'''}}
The second of the "next generation" of ''[[Star Trek]]'' shows, following on from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'', this series ran seven seasons. ''Deep Space Nine'' traded the [[Wagon Train to the Stars]] premise of the previous (and future) ''Star Trek'' shows for a "Fort Apache in Space" setting.
In the setting of the show, the native Bajoran people recently drove out the oppressive Cardassian Occupation through a war of attrition and a fair amount of terrorism (both Cardassians and the Bajoran Occupation were previously established on ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]''). The Bajoran Provisional Government petitioned [[The Federation]] for support, despite not being a Federation member. A relatively small crew was sent to take residence on an abandoned Cardassian station called Terok Nor, designated Deep Space 9 by the Federation, to aid the Bajorans in charge. In the first episode a rare [[Swirly Energy Thingy|stable]] [[Our Wormholes Are Different|wormhole]] was discovered leading to the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy, and the station was relocated there to claim its use. The fixed base allowed the show to delve deeply into the politics of the ''Star Trek'' universe, but the addition of the wormhole also allowed exploration of unknown planets.
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* [[Alternate Universe]]: See also the entry for [[Mirror Universe]].
* [[Ambadassador]]: Worf and Curzon Dax
* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Virtually every male Ferengi character has hinted at this. From Rom's ability to mimic female walking, to Brunt and Zek's tendency to hide in a "closet," to various male Ferengi's attraction to Quark when he cross-dressed.
** Rule of Acquisition Number 113: Always have sex with the boss. And Ferengi women are supposed to stay at home... Granted, this rule only appeared in the non-canon ''Legends of the Ferengi'' book, but it was written by the executive producers of the show.
*** Canonically, there is a Ferengi book called ''Oo-mox for Fun and Profit''. Oo-mox is a (partially) sexual act, and at the time only Ferengi males were legally allowed to earn profit.
** Quark didn't merely cross-dress, but actually [[Gender Bender|crossed genders]] to make sure a scheme succeeded. The fact that he was able to change and then ''change back again'' using nothing more than some advanced surgery suggests the [[Fridge Logic|Ferengi have had reason to do something like this before]]. Maybe this easy trans-sexuality comes from being willing (and able) to do just about ''anything'' to close a deal, which on occasion might have included feminine sexual favors for the customer when there aren't any females available... yet.
** Garak. Toned done after his first appearance because the writers weren't fans of Garak/Bashir shippers.
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* [[Artifact of Attraction]]: The Sword of Kahless.
** [[Word of God]] states that the Sword doesn't actually possess any supernatural attraction, it's just that the glory associated with possessing it was too much for even the most honorable Klingon to completely resist.
* [[Artifact Title]]: A common joke amongst Trek fans is that the characters of DS9 don't do that much trekking.
* [[Ascended Extra]]
** Damar - from Dukat's unremarkable [[The Dragon|Dragon]] to one of the most crucial components of the later seasons.
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* [[Awesome but Practical]]: The prototype TR-116 Rifle from "Field of Fire" which is basically a sniper rifle modifed with a transporter to fire bullets through walls.
** Presumably, the ethical dilemma of Starfleet condoning a weapon whose main application would be for covert assassinations are why they never took this weapon beyond the prototype stage.
** To be fair, the original point--at least as stated in the episode--was to have a weapon that was capable of operating in environments where directed energy weapons were scrambled or otherwise useless. The ability to transport the bullets was an after-market add-on by the assassin in question.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: Dukat becomes this for quite awhile after {{spoiler|Ziyal's death}}.
** {{spoiler|Mirrorverse Kira}}
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** Played straight in a [[Timey-Wimey Ball]], where it turns out Sisko was probably always meant to be Gabriel Bell.
* [[Berserk Button]]: In the "Siege of AR-558," Dr. Bashir treats Vargas, a disgruntled trooper complaining about being stuck in the front lines for an extended period of time, of his illnesses and Vargas eases up a bit. When Bashir proceeds to treat his bandaged arm, Vargas lashes out, grabbing Bashir's shoulder and pointing a phaser at his throat. Even though he absolutely hated the guy who put the bandages on for talking his ear off, seeing that guy suddenly becoming silent with a hole in the chest gave him psychological trauma, and he kept the bandage on ever since.
** Colonel Kira has several, including, but not limited to, manhandling Tora Ziyal or being Gul Dukat
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: The Federation. Unlike the other entries in the franchise where the message where they are portrayed as [[Humans Are Diplomats|diplomatic]], ''Deep Space Nine'' routinely shows that just because they favour peace, this doesn't mean that in a crunch [[Humans Are Warriors|they can't knock seven bells out of anyone in their path]].
* [[Big Ego, Hidden Depths]]
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** And don't forget [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u_rPON7aLE that one episode] which made waves in universe and out...
* [[Big Little Man]]: Invoked. Bashir and O'Brien are just back from a mission [[Incredible Shrinking Man|that involved them being miniaturised]]. They stand at the bar boasting about their exploits, when Quark and Odo both note that a waitress seems oddly tall next to them, sending them scurrying away to check their height in sickbay. The waitress then stands down, off the step she'd been put on by Odo and Quark, revealing the entire thing to be a gag.
* [[Big No]]:
** Said by Sisko in "In the Hands of the Prophets" (in [[Slo Mo]] for extra points.)
** Also employed by Odo during the climax of "The Adversary."
** And by Quark in "Who Mourns for Morn."
* [[Big Secret]]: "Dax" is a typical example, albeit with an atypical defendant.
** Dr. Bashir's childhood.
* [[Bio Augmentation]]: {{spoiler|Bashir.}} The 'Jack Pack' in "Statistical Probabilities".
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** Rom's first appearance in a speaking role is ''markedly'' different from his subsequent appearances.
*** He acts more like a typical Ferengi, and is rather aggressive, yelling at Nog while dragging him around the room. It is rather jarring to watch for someone used to seeing his portrayal throughout the rest of the series.
*** Also jaring to anyone familiar with only the later seasons was Rom's attempt to murder Quark in the first season episode ''The Nagus''.
** Granted, that Rom's [[Genius Ditz]] capacity as a genius engineer is still played continually straight, even after he joins the engineering crew under O'Brien. His ability is continually underestimated to the end, and he uses it to his advantage. Much of the time the reasoning for the character trait is Quark's own unwillingness to pay for the proper maintenance to be maintained.
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Hilariously parodied in the case of Doctor Noah, in [[It Makes Sense in Context|the form of Sisko but not played by Sisko]], in "Our Man Bashir".
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** It also has {{spoiler|(at first)}} a cloaking device, illegal under interstellar law for any other Federation starship.
* [[Courtroom Episode]]: "Dax", "Tribunal".
** Also ''Rules of Engagement''.
* [[Cowboy Cop]]: Worf in "Hippocratic Oath." He ruined Odo's investigation, forcing him to just arrest the middleman instead of taking out an entire smuggling business.
** Interestingly, Starfleet believes that Odo himself is a [[Cowboy Cop]], and make several minor attempts to reign him in. Despite chafing and complaining about Federation procedure, however, Odo seems to follow it dutifully.
* [[Crazy Cultural Comparison]]: One episode had a Cardassian scientist repeatedly snipe at Miles O'Brien, expressing [[Discriminate and Switch|surprise that he's a good engineer]]. It's later revealed that her sniping is the Cardassian equivalent of ''flirting.''
<!-- %% See Awesome/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine, Funny/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine and Heartwarming/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine for various Crowning Moments of Stuff. -->
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** Justified in O'Brien's case - he's not an officer (full rank and name Chief Warrant Officer Miles O'Brien according to Star Trek Encyclopedia).
** Starting around Season Three, Major Kira eventually trades in her militia uniform for a slinkier one-piece garment.
** Odo's uniform was modified from the standard Bajoran militia uniform, too, with a higher collar and a belt (which he later discarded). Rene Auberjonois liked his Mirror Universe outfit so much, he asked the producers to create a similar one that he could wear on a regular basis.
* [[Dark Messiah]]: Gul Dukat, as a Pah Wraith emissary.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: After the [[Retool]].
* [[Data Crystal]]: Isolinear chips.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Garak is the show's standout example. Bashir and Odo have their moments too.
** The 100-year-old Bajoran arbiter Els Renora, from the episode "Dax", stands apart as a shining example of this trope, too. Played by Anne Haney (who also played the social worker in ''Mrs. Doubtfire''), she gets some real gems.
{{quote|"I am one hundred years old. I do not have time to squander listening to superfluous language. In short, I intend to be in here until supper, not senility."
"But the penalty for these crimes on your world is death, and that is rather permanent." }}
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** There are a lot of moments, often involving the Ferengi, which consider Roddenberry's peaceful and non-capitalist vision of the future (of humans) and the potential downsides of it.
** The episode "Valiant" is a deconstruction of the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' film (aka ''[[A New Hope]]'') and derivative works. One tiny ship manned by young, inexperienced but brave heroes runs down the trench of a giant superweapon ship and uses a super torpedo on its [[Weaksauce Weakness]]...{{spoiler|only for it to fail, their ship to be blown up and most of them killed}}.
** "Far Beyond the Stars" and "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" consider the trend in ''[[Star Trek]]'' to never explicitly mention race or racism (in humans) from the Next Generation onwards, implying it is so distant in the past that it is forgotten. Sisko is shocked when he experiences it in his visions of being a black 1950s science fiction writer, and seems newly aware of the ramifications of his skin colour in the past and becomes angry at [[Politically-Correct History]] period holo-programmes brushing over it.
* [[Defictionalization]]: Beyond the examples shared with other Trek media, the scifi novel "Far Beyond the Stars" from the episode of the same name was later written and published.
* [[Definitely Just a Cold]]: Odo after contracting the Founders' disease.
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** In "Take Me Out to the Holosuite", Ben tells Kasidy the reason why he wants to beat the Vulcan captain's team so badly, and then tells her she's not allowed to tell anyone. He makes her promise. Cut immediately to Kasidy talking to the crew in the wardroom, having just told them: "He made me promise not to say anything, so keep it under your hats."
* [[Despite the Plan]]: the episode "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" involved an Ocean's Eleven-style casino heist where nothing went as planned, but everyone bounced back in time to pull it off.
** They actually show us what the perfectly-performed plan looks like, too, and even mislead us a little into thinking it's the actual performance of the plan, with the characters narrating/explaining their parts. This makes the blunder-filled version that much more hilarious. And exciting. (Of course, this is the common inversion of the [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]: since we hear the plan, you know it won't go that smoothly in practice.)
* [[Determinator]]: Worf, in "By Inferno's Light". He forever earns the respect of General Martok.
{{quote|'''Martok:''' Seven battles, and ''seven'' victories! What hero of legend could have done as well?
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* [[Dueling Shows]]: With ''[[Babylon 5]]''.
** An oblique reference was made to this on B5. In one episode, a gift shop is set up on the station. One of the characters loudly declaims this idea, saying "This isn't some Deep Space Franchise! This means something!" It should be noted that the writer of this episode, [[Peter David]], has written several [[Star Trek]] novels.
** The [[DS 9]] writers weren't above including their own subtle jabs at B5. One episode featured Bashir having to chaperone a cadre of Ambassadors visiting the station and putting up with all the crap that comes with it.
* [[Dying Alone]]: Kira Nerys father Kira Taban was shot by the Cardassians. Although she was by his side for most of it, she left with the rest of her resistance cell to the kill those responsible. Her father [[Tear Jerker|died alone, calling out her name, she only missed it by a matter of hours.]] It haunted her for the rest of her life.
** The episode that reveals this also has a Cardassian who became a surrogate father-figure to her dying. After learning of something he did during the Occupation she storms off, only to be convinced to return as "he doesn't deserve to die alone." She returns and stays with him until he dies, and then [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|buries him next to her father]].
* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: Played ''very'' straight by Nog and Jake in "In the Cards", with hilarious consequences. They go through a ''lot'' to get that baseball card. But by the end, everyone on the station feels better, not just Sisko. They also do tons of wheeling and dealing to get five bars of latinum in "Progress", while Nog does the same solo in "Faith, Treachery and the Great River" (at the risk of poor O'Brien almost getting his head taken off by Kira, Worf and Martok).
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** "Past Tense", where Sisko's presence in the past caused the premature death of an important historical figure a few days before he was supposed to die heroically, forcing Sisko to impersonate him.
** Commented on in "Little Green Men". Nog was studying Earth's history, and when he encountered an entry about the historical figure, passed comment about how closely Sisko resembled a picture of him (the picture, of course, being that of Sisko).
** Sisko also, at one point, gets kidnapped by Miles 'Smiley' O'Brien from the Mirror Universe, because Mirror-Sisko was killed-in-action and they need someone to convince Sisko's Mirror-wife to join the rebel cause. Naturally, it works.
* [[Emotional Maturity Is Physical Maturity]]: The Jem'Hadar are all much younger than they look. One episode with a young Jem'Hadar that was separated from the rest of its brood indicates that they grow to full physical and emotional maturity within a few weeks. The few occasions we see into their behavior does bring this into question, especially the childish bickering between the Alphas and Gammas.
* [[Empty Chair Memorial]]: Inverted in "Who Mourns for Morn". Quark pulls another bar patron into Morn's empty seat to "keep it warm". Said patron is actually [[You Look Familiar|the actor who played Morn out of makeup]].
* [[Endangered Souffle]]: Subverted, where they sneak weapons into a prison under the pretense of delivering a souffle, and when a guard demands to investigate it, they warn him to be careful with it...right before they knock him out with the Off-Button Hypospray, causing his head to fall into the souffle and crush it.
* [[Enemy Mine]]: Quark and Odo in "The Ascent".
** Dukat envisions himself and Sisko as something like this in the episode "Waltz". The truth is he's just nuts and running out of self-delusions
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* [[Everybody Smokes]]: "Far Beyond The Stars", set in the 50s
** Same thing in the episode "Little Green Men", Earth 1947. Once the story reaches Earth, it's a smoke-fest for the next 30 minutes. Every human who has more than 2 seconds of screen-time is seen smoking at least once. The trope is played straight, as part of an [[Anvilicious]] [[Take That]] at smoking. The Ferengi talk about how humans willfully ingest poison simply because it's addictive, and Quark even tells a General that Humans should stop smoking because it would kill them.
* [[Evil Is Hammy]]: Invoked in "Duet" by a Cardassian {{spoiler|pretending to be another man who oversaw an infamous death camp. When he dropped his facade, his hamminess was gone.}}
* [[Evil Is One Big Happy Family]]: Quoted almost word for word by Weyoun in "The changing face of evil", but actually subverted since {{spoiler|Damar betrays him and Cardassia rebels against the Dominion.}}
* [[Evil Me Scares Me]]: Intendant Kira and Joran Dax.
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* [[Fumbling the Gauntlet]]: Done by Sisko to Worf.
** A rare case of two simultaneous examples occurs in "Our Man Bashir". Bashir and Garak are stuck on a [[James Bond]] style holodeck novel with the safeties off and the rest of the crew trapped inside. Garak wants to leave the holodeck but Bashir shoots and just clips him. As a result Garak agrees to continue having seen Bashir's determination to save the rest of the crew. However, when Garak calls for the door to leave he does it in an unnecessarily long winded way which gives Bashir time to shoot, showing that Garak was testing how far Bashir would go and if he would be prepared to kill him. On the other hand, as we later find out, Bashir is {{spoiler|genetically modified and clipping Garak was an easy shot for him.}} So Bashir was fully in control of the situation and only made Garak ''think'' that he was prepared to kill him. [[Fridge Brilliance]] all around.
* [[Future Me Scares Me]]: Yedrin Dax in "Children of Time".
* [[Gambit Pileup]]: The Dominion War.
** Or even just the double episode {{spoiler|Improbable Cause}}/{{spoiler|The Die is Cast}}, which shows itself to be a double episode only at the end of the first part.
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** Leads to a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] at the end of "Who Mourns for Morn?" Quark believes that he has finally avoided all the other people trying to claim a tremendous stash of stolen latinum. Only to break one open and realize "There's no latiunum in these bricks! There's nothing here but worthless gold!" Cue [[Big No]] as he frantically flails around in a pile of gold dust.
* [[Good Guy Bar]]: Quark's.
* [[Government Agency of Fiction]]: Section 31.
* [[Government Drug Enforcement]]: The Founders used Ketracil White, an addictive performance enhancer and vital nutrient supplement, to control their Jem'Hadar supersoldiers. Without it, they will die--but not before going into an uncontrollable beserker rage.
* [[Grand Theft Me]]: In "The Passenger," a criminal hijacks Bashir's body and in "Dramatis Personae," the senior staff is possessed by the telepathic remnants of an extinct civilization. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
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** In "For The Uniform", {{spoiler|he faked one in order to bring Eddington down. And did it ''extremely'' convincingly.}}
** Quark got this, but not from a failure. When he just opened fire on two Jem'Hadar soldiers, killing them and allowing his brother to be saved, he stands there shocked that he did something like that.
*** Played far more seriously in ''The Siege of AR-558'', where Quark spends most of the episode deriding Humans' violent and bloodthirsty nature when they are removed from their creature comforts or threatened. When Quark kills a Jem'Hadar to defend his wounded nephew, Quark shows signs of [[Heroic BSOD]] as he realizes he has become just as violent.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Li Nalas.}}
* [["Hey You!" Haymaker]]: Upon realizing that Garak {{spoiler|blew up a Romulan senator's shuttle}}, Sisko barges into his shop to deliver this greeting.
** Sisko seems very fond of this greeting.
** As does Worf.
* [[Historical In-Joke]]: Ferengi land at Roswell.
* [[Holding Back the Phlebotinum]]: Tended to be the show that subverted this the most in [[Star Trek]]. You have replicators? Self-replicating minefield. Your transporter accidentally sent you to a parallel universe? The other universe standardized the technology. And if you can transmit hologram packages to the Delta Quadrant, you can probably manage real time holodeck communications in the Alpha Quadrant. They're also the only one of the five shows to actually let their main characters use cloaking technology which was present in all of them<ref>Although to be fair, they are legally prevented from using it, which was established in TOS</ref>. They even let their augment practice medicine openly.
* [[Holding the Floor]]: In "Looking for Par'mach in all the Wrong Places", Quark demands the Ferengi Right of Proclamation during a duel with a Klingon to give Worf and Dax the opportunity to fix the mechanism that allows them to remote control Quark's body during the duel. The Klingons give it to him as he has respected their traditions and they should respect his, though it's unclear whether this "Proclamation" is an actual tradition or whether Quark made it up on the spot to stall proceedings.
* [[Holier Than Thou]]: Winn Adami, the eventual spiritual leader of Bajor, and a jealous and power-hungry [[Knight Templar]], to boot.
** Quark, oddly enough, pulls off a pretty awesome holier than thou when he points out to Sisko how, though humans look down upon Ferengi for their Straw Capitalist culture, humans are actually reacting to memories of their own capitalist past and the ugliness that went on in their culture as a result. He follows up by pointing out that Ferengi have managed to avoid that ugliness and brutality through commitment to their principles, such as they may be, making Ferengi superior to humans.
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{{quote|'''Worf:''' We were like warriors from the ancient sagas. There was nothing we couldn't do.
'''O'Brien:''' Except keep the holodecks working right. }}
* [[
** He outright transforms into a cloud of sparkling gas at one point to give Kira an idea of what the Great Link is like. It's safe to say this is not the first (or last) time his shapeshifting skills have been used for kinky purposes.
** There's a sort of reverse version of this when a scene opens on Odo and a female-form Changeling with the other Changeling saying "So that is how Solids mate." Apparently doing it in matching forms with nothing particularly kinky was pretty odd in their view.
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** D'Ghor's reaction suggests that this is a deadly insult to a Klingon.
** And of course, "I am Worf, son of Mogh!" This is actually quite a common introduction among Klingons.
* [[Icon of Rebellion]]: In a story arc, Bajor is threaten by a nationalistic group called the Circle. These extremists would spray paint their symbol as vandalism or in their headquarters.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: The Klingons use of the Bat'leth in battle. A particularly egregious example occurs "The Way of the Warrior" where they fail to remember that just because [[Humans Are Diplomats]], doesn't mean that in a fight they aren't the [[Combat Pragmatist]]. After gunning down the first wave of invading Klingons on the station, they simply take their fallen Bat'leths and use them [[Hoist By Their Own Petard|to slaughter more invading Klingons.]] Some episodes did try to make them seem more pragmatic with Worf and Jadzia debating Bat'leth tactics, but even in those scenes it's hard not to notice how cumbersome the weapons are.
* [[I Don't Pay You to Think]]: In the episode "Bar Association," Quark tells Leeta "I don't pay you to think. I pay you to spin the Dabo wheel."
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* [[Insistent Terminology]]: DS9 is not a Federation station... it's a Bajoran station under Federation administration. This is repeated several times by Sisko and ''especially'' Kira in the early seasons.
* [[I Say What I Say]]: O'Brien in "Visionary" hates temporal mechanics. Both of him.
* [[I Shall Return]]: Sisko's speech at the end of season 5, where he tells the people of DS9, "I will not rest until I stand with you again," before leaving to fight the Dominion.
* [[It Is Beyond Saving]]: Ezri believes this about the Klingon Empire, in stark contrast with Jadzia's tendency to romanticize it.
* [[I Will Only Slow You Down]]:
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* [[The Judge]]: Els Renora in "Dax", and Makbar in "Tribunal".
* [[Kill the Poor]]: In a [[Time Travel]] episode where Sisko, Bashir, and Dax accidentally travel back to Earth [[Twenty Minutes in The Future|Twenty Minutes into Our Future]]. Sisko and Bashir are assumed to be homeless by the police who find them and they are sent to an interment camp for the indigent. The government of the time claims that it's a progressive measure to help the less fortunate, but Sisko points out that it's really just a way to sweep the poor under the rug so other people don't have to think about them.
* [[Kiss Diss]]: Kasidy does this to Sisko once after he apologizes for being afraid of commitment.
* [[Klingon Promotion]]: Multiple times, including one Ferengi episode, but most notably with {{spoiler|Gowron's removal}}.
** Ferengi don't actually practice it, and the guy who tried it was dismissed as a complete idiot. Though he might have gotten the job had he actually succeeded, the fact that he failed marked him as too incompetent to be trusted to do the job right.
*** It was the way he did it that was the bad part. As Grand Nagus Zek said: "You don't ''seize'' power! You build it up, through buying and conning and profit! What good is being in charge without the latinum to show for it?!"
* [[Klingon Scientists Get No Respect]]: Rom.
* [[Kneel Before Zod]]: Dukat, endowed with the strength of the Pah-Waiths, commands Sisko to bow before him.
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* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: in the episode "Far Beyond the Stars", Captain Sisko is sent a vision from the Prophets (maybe)of him as a science fiction writer from the 1950s. At the end of the episode, he wonder if life aboard the station isn't the illusion.
** In the episode ''In the Pale Moonlight'' when Sisko is relating the events of the episode in his personal log the camera is in a generally fixed position right across from him, giving the viewer the impression that it is they who Sisko is speaking to.
** In ''Rules of Engagement'', Worf is accused of war crimes and undergoes an extradition hearing. Worf and his crew mates all give their testimony, during which we see the events they're describing. During these flashbacks, the characters speak directly to the camera.
* [[Les Collaborateurs]]
* [[The Load]]: Alexander Rozhenko, son of Worf. Yes, you read that right. It becomes so critical, the Klingon crew he's working with thinks the more he's acting like [[The Load]], the more chances they have to win the next fight.
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*** Which comes to a head in the sixth season finale "Tears of the Prophets", where Dax stays behind to run the station {{spoiler|and gets murdered by Gul Dukat as a result}}, while Kira boards the ''Defiant'' with the rest of the main characters (even Jake) for the invasion of Cardassian space.
** One [[Egregious]] example is the undercover operation to expose Gowron as a Changeling in Season 5. Worf ''is'' a Klingon and, in fact, the one who trains the others on how to act. Odo is an expert on Changelings, {{spoiler|and he realizes that the ''actual'' Changeling is Martok, not Gowron,}} so he also has to be there. But Sisko's inclusion is questionable, although he's a good enough actor to pull it off and he ''was'' the one to suggest the mission to Starfleet Command. But ''O'Brien?'' He might have the most combat experience of anyone else in the main crew, but seriously, one would think that Starfleet Intelligence could have sent ''one'' operative who could have filled the last slot more effectively.
*** O'Brien may have been there to supervise their equipment.
* [[Man On Fire]]: Part of Kira's hallucination in "If Wishes Were Horses."
* [[Meaningful Name]]: The Jem'Hadar are named after ''jemadar'', a rank of sepoy (native troops in India who fought for the British Empire and were commanded by British officers). This fits well for a soldier race who are commanded by members of an unrelated race (the Vorta).
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* [[Mook Promotion]]: Damar
* [[Money, Dear Boy]]: Averted with Frank Langella's uncredited appearance in the first three episodes of Season 2. He didn't want to make it seem like he was appearing on DS9 for money or exposure.
* [[Mouth of Sauron]]: The Vorta serve as the public face of the Founders, who are so paranoid that they rarely venture out of their homeworld. (And almost never in their true shape.)
* [[Mr. Fixit]]: O'Brien, and later, even Rom.
* [[Mr. Vice Guy]]: Quark and Greed.
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** Ironic, since Dr. Mora is a Bajoran, and they worship the Prophets, not God.
*** Perhaps it's a hiccup in the [[Universal Translator]].
* [[My Own Grampa]]: Bashir's reasoning for trying to sleep with a 23rd-century science officer. [[Moment Killer|O'Brien won't hear of it]].
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* [[Needle in a Stack of Needles]]: The Tribble bomb in "Trials and Tribble-ations".
* [[The Needless]]: The Jem'Hadar don't need to eat or sleep. [[Inverted Trope|They just forever need Ketricel White just to stay mentally stable and physically survive.]]
* [[Negated Moment of Awesome]]: The Dominion begins an insidious takeover of the Federation under the guise of "peace" -- just as we've been forewarned -- in "The Search". Starfleet capitulates, Jem'Hadar roam free on the station, and even Sisko's subordinates are collaborators. With help from Garak, Sisko organizes a daring insurrection, and {{spoiler|...it's all a holographic simulation. The Dominion was just testing Sisko in order to gauge how he would resist an occupation.}}
* [[Never a Self-Made Woman]]: Kasidy Yates is Ben Sisko's girlfriend, Keiko is Miles O'brien's wife, and Ishka is Quark and Rom's mother. Also, Ziyal would not have mattered to anyone had she not been Dukat's daughter, and Dabo Girl Leeta was only important as Rom's wife. Ezri Dax managed to make the character stand on her own without any men to lean on, and Jadzia mostly did (she and Worf were separate main characters for so long, her longer than him, so she's not there as "Worf's wife" any more than he is there as "Jadzia's husband".)
* [[Neutral No Longer]]: The Romulans, after the events of "In The Pale Moonlight".
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** Worf's face in ''Accession'' when he finds out that Keiko is pregnant ''again''. O'Brien relates how Worf was forced to help deliver Molly when the Enterprise was damaged and adrift after colliding with a quantum filament. On noticing his panic, Bashir and O'Brien mock him accordingly.
** Worf and Garak after stumbling into a Jem'Hadar invasion fleet iduring ''In Purgatory's Shadow''.
*** Followed by the crew of DS9 seeing the same fleet pour through the wormhole.
* [[Oireland]]: Normally, Colm Meany's Irish accent is barely noticeable. Sometimes, however, O'Brien will start waxing poetic about Ireland or something related to it, and begins slipping into this trope.
* [[Old Shame]]: Inverted, Terry Farrell regretted leaving the show for the seventh season for a role on ''[[Becker]]'' because she loved playing Jadzia, calling her a "superhero."
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** The villain Falcon (the image of Chief O'Brien) grants agent Komoninoff (Kira) and Bashir one last kiss before he shoots them. Bashir proceeds to remove her earring while they kiss and tosses it to the floor to make it explode, distracting Falcon and his minions long enough to knock them out and escape.
** Bashir and Garak are strapped to a giant laser. Bashir's last request is for Dr. Honey Bare (Dax) to let her hair down (she's very shy, but she does it). This is enough seduction for her to slip him the key.
* [[Oppressive States of America]]: The Bell Riots episode feature The Sanctuary Districts, sections of American cities walled off that housed the poor and unemployed. While their intent was to aid them, they later degraded into interment camps.
* [[Orphaned Punchline]]: Quark does this twice, in the first-season episode "The Nagus" and season four's "Homefront", both times while talking to Morn -- and both times, the joke has an Andorian in the punchline. Quark has to prompt Morn with "get it?" in the first example, and the second example completely eludes Morn.
{{quote|'''Quark:''' Then the Andorian said, "Your ''brother?'' I thought it was your wife!"
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* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]: Kira and Dax wear a couple when they were in a [[King Arthur]] program on the Holosuite. Then they meet Worf, Kira is mortified Dax doesn't seem to care. Worf merely compliments Kira's [[Nice Hat|headdress]].
* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: The Defiant, first of her class.
* [[Placebotinum Effect]]: Odo inadvertently traps himself, Sisko, Garak and Dax in his own memories ("Things Past"). It was later revealed to be a variation on 'linking' between Changelings, amplified by Odo's runabout flying into a plasma field.
* [[Planet of Hats]]: While still the same part of Star Trek that it always is, DS9 went deeper into the cultures of some races far more than any other Star Trek, Cardassians and Klingons got a lot of development, but even the Ferengi managed to put a few good words in for themselves.
** But they still wore the same old hats...
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* [[Platonic Life Partners]]: Sisko is fond of calling Dax "Old Man." He was a close friend of the male Curzon Dax, and the friendship carried over when the symbiont was transferred to Jadzia and Ezri -- both female.
* [[Playing Cyrano]]: Worf trains Quark in how to woo the Klingon Grilka, the Ferengi's one-time wife. Worf is infatuated with her himself, but he is an exile and cannot pursue her..
* [[Politically-Correct History]]: Sisko doesn't like Vic's casino program because it's set in a [[Politically-Correct History]] version of 1961, and as such is an insult to those oppressed in the era it is set. He points out that at that time African-Americans could be janitors or entertainers for the casino, never customers. His wife looks at the program as an representation of [[What Could Have Been]] rather than a misrepresentation of history.
* [[Post-Mortem Comeback]]: Trials and Tribbleations features the Klingon from the Star Trek TOS episode Trouble with tribbles going back 100 years into the past to plant a bomb that will kill Kirk.
* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: the aforementioned [[Planet of Hats|Ferengi]]. They'd never practice mass slavery or genocide--because people who are enslaved and/or dead can't buy things.
** This argument also helped push forward feminism, but only '''very''' late, after millenia of hardliner male chauvinism.
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** Additionally, a combination of contract issues and simple "show fatigue" made Terry Farrell want to move on from the show at the end of season six, leading to {{spoiler|Jadzia getting killed}}. This is something the head writing and directoral staff didn't even ''want'' to do (Ira Stephen Behr straight-up said "I didn't want to {{spoiler|kill Jadzia}}; to me, that had very little to do with good storytelling") but they felt they had little choice.
* [[Rearrange the Song]]: The opening credits and main title theme were modified between seasons 3 and 4.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Sisko doesn't get much support from [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|Admiral Nechayev]] or Starfleet in general, forcing him to turn to Dukat for help -- which Dukat delivers, amiably. That changes once Cardassia forms an alliance with the Dominion. From then onward, Sisko reports directly to [[Four-Star Badass|Admiral William Ross]].
* [[Recurring Character]]: Lots of them. The fixed location of the station meant that quirky aliens would need to come to them, not the other way around.
* [[Reconstruction]]: The Ferengi were rebuilt into a more robust fictional society, and the innate contradictions in their culture were acknowledged and addressed on their own terms over the course of the show. For example, their subjugation of women was ended in order to gain new workers and an expanded consumer base instead of for ethical reasons.
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* [[Reincarnation Romance]]: Sort of. Dax and another Trill consider continuing their relationship from when both were in previous hosts. They eventually decide not to, as this is considered a massive taboo by Trill society.
* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Cult of the Pai-Wraths.
** Actually, they are more like the [[Path of Inspiration]]. Though mainstream Bajoran religion portrays the Pah-Wraiths as [[Always Chaotic Evil]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]], members of the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths (who don't call it a "cult", obviously) believe that the Pah-Wraiths have been [[Mis Blamed]] and the ''Prophets'' are the villains, even before Bajor's [[Arch Enemy]] Dukat showed up and took over claiming to be receiving visions and commandments from them. The problem, of course, is simply that the Pah-Wraiths really ''are'' [[Always Chaotic Evil]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]], and rather worse than that really ''are'' giving Dukat visions and commandments, possibly up to and including [[Kill'Em All]] in order to conceal the fact that Dukat is still a womanising murdering [[Manipulative Bastard]]. That it really was ''their'' idea, and not Dukat just covering his tracks via mass-murder, is pretty damn sinister, but that their followers don't believe them to be evil (one even goes through with the suicide because he believes that, despite Dukat's treachery, they really did order it, and kills himself out of "faith") and in fact believe them to be ''good'', stops this being a [[Religion of Evil]].
* [[Remember the New Guy?|Remember The New Species]]: In "The Adversary", we're told of a species named the Tzenkethi, who fought at least one war against the Federation in the past 20 years; the ''TNG'' era is in its seventh season and this is the first we've heard of them. (And we never ''do'' actually ''see'' them on-screen).
* [[Renaissance Man]]: Sisko does have quite a wide range of talents and interests. But then, being [[Renaissance Man|Renaissance Men]] is more or less the Federation's [[Planet of Hats|hat]] (at least since ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'').
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* [[Reluctant Ruler]]: {{spoiler|Martok}} in the seventh season episode ''Tacking into the Wind'', also Sisko, in the beginning of the series.
* [[Retcon]]: ''Trials and Tribble-ations''
* [[The Reveal]]: In the 3rd season, when it's revealed that the Changelings are the head of the Dominion,
** A few years later Gul Dukat is revealed to be working with the Dominion.
** And a few episodes later, when it is revealed that Bashir is in a Dominion prison and has been replaced by a Changeling for most of the season. The real Bashir is wearing the old uniform, giving the viewers a precise indicator of when Bashir was snagged.
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** There's a minor one in the early seasons involving Sisko's nonchalant reaction to being punched in the face. The two most notable examples are ''Q-Less'' and ''Fascination.''
*** In ''Q-Less'', Q, an omnipotent being, taunts Sisko by recreating a nineteenth century boxing ring. He punches Sisko with bare knuckles no less than four times before Sisko reacts at all: he blocks a fifth blow and [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|knocks Q right on his butt]]. Q looks shocked, but Sisko just shrugs as if to say "That's what happens when you hit me."
*** ''Fascination'' has a love-sick Bariel who believes that Sisko is a competitor for Dax's affection. While Sisko is trying to explain that he is not interested in Dax, Bariel punches Sisko in the jaw--after which Sisko's tone of voice and body language don't change at all.
* [[Sadistic Choice]]: In the episode 'For the Uniform', Eddington gives Sisko the choice of rescuing Cardassians or catching him. And then Sisko, of all people, gives one to ''Eddington'' when he demands he gives himself up to save the ''Maquis'' (or their worlds, at least).
* [[Salt the Earth]]: After Starfleet is forced to abandon Deep Space Nine to the Dominion and the Cardassians, Kira Nerys destroys the computer systems. Between this and the budding Bajoran [[La Résistance|Resistance]], the station doesn't become fully operational again until partway into the sixth season (just in time for Starfleet and the Klingons to build up their forces enough to take it back.)
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'''Ezri:''' Oh, ''come'' on. I've been a man; I know! }}
** The Maquis story arc pushed Sisko's [[Berserk Button]] quite often, ultimately leading to him firing torpedoes that would spread biogenic weapons that were lethal to Humans across the entire planet's atmosphere, forcing the Maquis colonists to evacuate. All because they would have done the same to a Cardassian colony if he hadn't. They pushed him too far that time. He was angry, and he wasn't going to let them get away with what they were doing.
* [[Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up]]: Ever since they were cadets, Solok has built his career around humiliating Sisko.
* [[Scoundrel Code]]: The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.
* [[Scotty Time]]: Sisko is impatient when it comes to the ''Defiant'''s maintenance, as O'Brien can attest.
* [[Screw You, Elves]]: In the Vulcan baseball episode.
* [[Shades of Conflict]]: The Dominion War has a lot of this. The Federation are the good guys for the most part, but they have secret agents willing to do ''[[Genocide Dilemma|anything]]'' to protect it, and the Klingons are rife with corruption. Meanwhile, the Dominion are responsible for a ''lot'' of atrocities back in the Gamma Quadrant, while the Cardassians, while starting out as Space Nazis, fell on hard times and their bad deal with the Dominion eventually pushed a lot of them into the position of [[The Atoner]].
* [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]]: Odo's shapeshifting ability is removed in a few instances:
** Garak uses a device on Odo that prevents his shapeshifting to torture him when Odo's body needs to return to a liquid state.
** Later, he is turned into a "solid" human by his people as punishment (for half a season).
** The Founder's Disease does this to all Changelings during the war, though most of the ones at home just stay in liquid form anyway.
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** And Worf. And Damar. [[Running Gag|And his own men.]] He doesn't learn quickly.
* [[Silent Offer]]: In "Past Prologue", Garak negotiates the price for a terrorist with two Klingons in this way, using an electronic tablet instead of paper.
* [[Slave Collar]]: In one alternate universe episode, the captured Garak is restrained this way by Worf.
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Started out as optimistic -- but still not so cheery, considering the themes of Sisko's bereavement and Bajor's Holocaust-like recent history -- as the other series, only to head straight into the Dominion War arc by the third season, and slamming straight into the very end of the Cynical side of the scale in the second to last season with the episode "In The Pale Moonlight".
* [[Smart People Play Chess]]: Sisko has a 3-D chess set in his office. He's also been seen playing traditional chess with Dax.
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** Ends up being a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] when it turns out at the end of the episode that O'Brien does drink coffee in the afternoon sometimes.
* [[Space Opera]]
* [[Space Mines]]: During the Dominion Wars the Defiant mined the entrance to the Bajoran wormhole.
** The Klingons established an illegal cloaked minefield in "Sons of Mogh." The mines were dormant and had to be remotely activated in event of war — and would effectively cut DS9 and Bajor off from support from elsewhere in the Alpha Quadrant.
* [[Space Western]]: Not a direct example, but draws on several Western tropes such as the frontier town near a strategic pass, the bar, the sheriff, etc.
** Much as ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' was pitched as "[[Wagon Train to the Stars]]," ''Deep Space Nine'' was originally conceived as "''[[The Rifleman]]'' [[Recycled in Space|in space]]."
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** In "Improbable Cause"/"The Die Is Cast", Garak flat-out tells Odo to lie after torturing him for hours.
*** Garak eventually starts begging Odo to make up something he can give Tain so that he can stop. Odo does eventually give in, and then Garak lies to Tain about it. Garak is, at the time, far more emotionally upset about the torture than Odo is.
* [[Torture Technician]]: In "Improbable Cause"/"The Die Is Cast", Tain strongly indicates that Garak often played this role for him in the past prior to Garak's exile and, in the episode itself, Tain expects Garak to play that role again to torture Odo.
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Most of the main cast are fond of raktajino, particularly Sisko. Miles, on the other hand, prefers Jamaican blend Earth coffee, "double strong, double sweet", while Julian drinks Tarkalean tea, and Worf drinks prune juice.
** While Worf drinking prune juice is a [[Continuity Nod]], it's amusing that he's one of the few who don't drink raktajino, since it's described several times in the show as "Klingon coffee."
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** And to a lesser extent, Sisko takes a while to warm up to being the Emissary of the Prophets, although arguably they actually DO qualify as supreme beings.
* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: Winn Adami, so '''very''' badly.
* [[Uptight Loves Wild]]: Worf and Jadzia. To a 't'.
* [[Vigilante Execution]]: '''Heavily''' subverted in "Duet", one of the best early episodes. Aamin Marritza, a Cardassian {{spoiler|file clerk masquerading as a war criminal to force Cardassia's sins to light}} is stabbed to death immediately upon being released. When Kira tells the assailant the truth, he says that Marritza being Cardassian was reason enough to kill him. The last line of the episode is Kira telling the assasin "No, it's not!"
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Dukat after {{spoiler|Ziyal's death}}.
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* [[Warts and All]]: Kor's last appearance.
* [[We Are Everywhere]]: The Founder's final words to Odo in ''The Adversary.''
** And subverted in ''Paradise Lost'': A Founder states that they ''aren't'' everywhere, and indeed, aren't even in most places at all. But that doesn't matter because they can be ''anywhere'', pretending to be ''anyone'', and the Federation has [[Paranoia Fuel|no way of knowing]] ''where'' they are at any moment. Four agents operating on Earth are able to cause a chain reaction of events leading to Martial Law being declared on Earth, and a battle being fought [[Let's You and Him Fight|between two Starfleet starships]] that had each been lead to believe the other was commanded by a changeling.
* [[Welcome to Hell]]: O'Brien gets this in "Hard Time".
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: {{spoiler|Garak towards Enabran Tain.}}
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