TNG O'Brien

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Chief Miles Edward O'Brien; Starfleet engineer, chief of operations at station Deep Space 9. "Emissary" (DS9). O'Brien's family resided in Dublin, Ireland, on Earth. "Homefront" (DS9). His ancestors included noted 20th century union leader Sean Aloysius O'Brien and 11th-century Irish King Brian Boru. "Bar Association" (DS9). Prior to being assigned to Deep Space 9 in 2369, Miles Edward O'Brien had been operating transporters for some 22 years, the last seven of which were spent on the Enterprise-D. "Realm of Fear". As of 2372, he had been decorated 15 times by Starfleet Command. "Rules of Engagement" (DS9).

Miles, who was born in the month of September "Whispers" (DS9), grew up with two brothers. "Invasive Procedures" (DS9). During his youth, O'Brien did poorly in mechanical aptitude tests, but his later skills belied his test scores. "Paradise" (DS9). His father, Michael, wanted him to be a concert cellist, but two days before he was to start at the Aldebaran Music Academy, Miles signed up for Starfleet. "Shadowplay" (DS9).

Early in his Starfleet career, O'Brien had been the tactical officer aboard the U. S.S. Rutledge under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell. O'Brien's first experience with transporters came in 2347 when the Rutledge responded to the Cardassian massacre at planet Setlik III. O'Brien repaired a balky field transporter, preventing himself and 13 Starfleet personnel from becoming Cardassian prisoners of war. He also participated in the rescue of several survivors of that bloody massacre. The experience of Setlik III scarred O'Brien deeply, and he continued to harbor bitterness against the Cardassians for many years. "The Wounded". He was rewarded for his resourcefulness by being promoted to Rutledge tactical officer. "Paradise" (DS9).

O'Brien was deathly afraid of spiders, until an incident where he had to crawl through a Jefferies tube past twenty Talarian hook spiders to perform a critical repair at Zayra IV. After that considerable act of courage, O'Brien said he wasn't quite so fearful of arachnids, and even kept a Lycosa tarantula named Christina as a pet. "Realm of Fear". Once when O'Brien dislocated his left shoulder while kayaking on the holodeck. O'Brien was healed, almost miraculously, by a touch from the Zalkonian named John Doe. "Transfigurations".

O'Brien married Keiko Ishikawa on Stardate 44390 in a ceremony in the Ten-Forward Lounge aboard the Enterprise-D. Captain Jean-Luc Picard presided at the ceremony, and Data (who had first introduced Miles and Keiko to each other) served as father of the bride. "Data's Day". O'Brien became a father a year later when Molly O'Brien was born. "Disaster". O'Brien was deeply committed to his family, and was well aware of the risk that Starfleet duty entailed. He periodically recorded a "goodbye" message for his family, to be played in the event of his death. He recorded such a message every time he was about to go into battle, and as of early 2372, had done so 11 times. "To the Death" (DS9). His second child, Kirayoshi O'Brien, was born in 2373. "The Begotten" (DS9).

O'Brien was promoted and assigned to be chief of operations on station Deep Space 9 in 2369, and moved there with his wife and daughter. O'Brien's technical expertise and skill at improvisation proved invaluable, given the station's generally poor condition and the lack of technical resources at the distant post. "Emissary" (DS9).

O'Brien almost died in 2370 after being exposed to nanobiogenic gel while helping the T'Lani. and Kellerun governments to neutralize their deadly harvester weapon. He drank coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet. "Armageddon Game" (DS9). Later that year, O'Brien was assigned to assist in preparations for the peace talks between the Paradan government and the rebels with whom the government had been at war. The Paradan government abducted O'Brien and replaced him with a cloned replica that was physically identical to O'Brien. The replica, who was programmed by the government to assassinate members of the rebel negotiating team, was given O'Brien's memories, and had no way to know that he was not the original. "Whispers" (DS9).

O'Brien died of severe delta-series radioisotope contamination in 2371, when he was time-shifted several hours into a future in which the Romulan government destroyed Deep Space 9. The time-shifting was triggered by interaction of temporal displacement waves from a nearby cloaked Romulan warbird with the radioisotopes in O'Brien's body. Ironically, O'Brien's death made it possible for his future self to travel back in time to his original "present," where the future O'Brien successfully warned station personnel of the impending Romulan attack. The future O'Brien thereby effectively changed places with the present O'Brien, and continued his life in this altered reality. "Visionary" (DS9).

The alternate O'Brien from the future fit in well, showing virtually no difference from the original O'Brien. During a rather remarkable winning streak at darts, O'Brien suffered a rotator cuff tear and was forced to have humeral socket replacement surgery. It ended his winning streak, but allowed him to finally complete his beloved kayaking program. "Shakaar" (DS9). In 2372, O'Brien was falsely accused of espionage by the Argrathi government and, as punishment, was implanted with memories of a 20-year prison sentence. After returning to Deep Space 9, O'Brien suffered mental stress and hallucinations caused by the implanted memories, pushing him to the brink of suicide. With help, O'Brien was able to cope with the incident "Hard Time" (DS9). When Kira Nerys shared the O'Briens' quarters while she served as surrogate mother to their second child in 2373, both Nerys and Miles realized that they shared a mutual attraction. They nevertheless agreed to ignore their feelings. "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" (DS9).

Besides engineer, husband, and father, O'Brien briefly served as a substitute schoolteacher, when his wife visited her mother on Earth. "The Nagus" (DS9). O'Brien's off-duty pastimes also included music, and he was seen playing the cello in a string quartet in Ten-Forward aboard the Enterprise-D on at least one occasion. "The Ensigns of Command". O'Brien liked to kayak on the holodeck and holosuite. "Heart of Stone" (DS9), "Transfigurations" and enjoyed racquetball, although perhaps not quite so much as did Dr. Julian Bashir. "Rivals" (DS9). O'Brien was first seen as the battle bridge conn officer in "Encounter at Farpoint". While at Setlik III, O'Brien led two-dozen troops against the Barrica encampment, successfully driving out an entire regiment of Cardassian soldiers. "Empok Nor" (DS9). In 2374, Miles secretly worked as an undercover operative for Starfleet on Farius Prime. O'Brien infiltrated an Orion Syndicate group believed to have ties to the Dominion. While O'Brien was successful in his mission, he deeply regretted that it resulted in the death of Liam Bilby, a syndicate member whom O'Brien had befriended. Just before Bilby's death, O'Brien promised to take care of Bilby's pet cat, Chester. Upon returning to Deep Space 9, Chester became the O'Brien family pet. "Honor Among Thieves" (DS9). After the Dominion war, Miles O'Brien accepted a professorship in engineering at the Starfleet Academy and moved to Earth, along with his family. "What You Leave Behind, Parts I and II" (DS9).

Miles O'Brien; (mirror); In the mirror universe, a Terran conscript who served on station Terok Nor. O'Brien held a theta designation, and in that capacity served as a repair technician for the mining equipment on the station. This O'Brien helped engineer the escape of Major Kira Nerys and Dr. Julian Bashir from the station in 2370. O'Brien escaped in the company of Benjamin Sisko (mirror), and the two began the difficult fight to regain human freedom in the mirror universe. Sisko insisted on calling him 'Smiley.' "Crossover". After Benjamin Sisko (mirror) was killed in 2371, the mirror O'Brien used a reconfigured transporter to abduct Commander Benjamin Sisko from the alternate (our) universe to complete the mirror Sisko's last mission. "Through the Looking Glass". While in our universe this O'Brien also downloaded technical information from the computer at Deep Space 9. These data permitted Terrans at Terok Nor to construct a copy of the Starship Defiant The new Defiant (mirror) proved to be a powerful weapon for the Terran resistance. "Shattered Mirror".

O'Brien also appeared in "Lonely Among Us", "The Child", "Where Silence Has Lease", "Loud as a Whisper", "Unnatural Selection", "A Matter of Honor", "The Measure of a Man", "The Dauphin", "Contagion", "The Royale", "Time Squared", "The Icarus Factor", "Pen Pals", "Q Who?", "Up the Long Ladder", "Manhunt", "The Emissary", "Shades of Gray", "The Bonding", "Booby Trap", "The Enemy", "The Price", "The Hunted", "A Matter of Perspective", "Tinman", "Hollow Pursuits", "Sarek", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I and Part II", "Family", "Brothers", "Remember Me", "Legacy", "Clues", "Night Terrors", "Half a Life", "The Mind's Eye", "In Theory", "Redemption, Part II", "Darmok", "The Game", "Power Play", "Rascals", "All Good Things..., Parts I and II"