Ro Laren

Origins

Star Trek Canon Special Note

Not everything listed in the origin is Canon. That is because only television shows and movies are considered canon for Star Trek. This being a comic website there are many things here that are not canon. So unless it is contradicted in film it should be listed as part of the character biography.

Ro Lauren was born on January 17, 2340 on a planet called Bajor. Her childhood was long and depressing and she was extremely happy when it was over. This was mostly because her childhood was spent in a number of refugee camps that numbered in the thousands all across Bajor because of Cardassian rule. The first 10 years of her life she didn't even have a bed. To ease her suffering her father played music that he claimed had magical powers that would keep all the bad things away.

Sometime later Ro was shown how ruthless the Cardassians could be. She was offered candy by a Cardassian who later forced her into a room where her father was sitting. They tortured and questioned her father for days until he finally died. After this terrible event she felt ashamed at both herself and her father, because instead of dying with dignity he begged for any mercy. Ro later decided to move on. She couldn't stand the camp where people couldn't even feed themselves Through the years she began to sort out her feelings of shame and over time no longer felt ashamed of her heritage as she had done for so long. She even decided to keep her traditional name. The family first name is given first while the given name is given last.

On one of her first assignments abroad the U.S.S. Wellington she was unfortunately among the away team to Garon II. During this mission she disobeyed a direct order which caused eight of her fellow team members to die. She was court martialed for this. However she refused to speak in her defense. The court found her guilty and sentenced her to Jaros II for hard labor. Her sentence was cut short when captain Jean-Luc Picard is forced to make her apart of his crew by Admiral Kenelley. Picard's objections were duly noted by the Admiral.

Creation

The character of Ro came to be because the producers and writers on the show wanted a character who was not as clean cut as the rest of the characters on the Enterprise. The character was used in a handful of episodes and was very popular with fans. So popular Michelle Forbes who played the character was offered to take the role of the first officer on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television show.

She refused the role and thus the character was changed to Kira Nerys. Early plans for Star Trek Voyager intended to use her in the role that would go to Be'Lana Torres (as would have been set up by Ro's defection to the Maquis during her final appearance in Star Trek the Next Generation).

Character Evolution

On the U.S.S. Enterprise D Ro was very hostile toward the crew. When she was first introduced, Captain Picard calls her "Ensign Laren" she instantly corrects him telling him that it's "Ensign Ro" explaining that it's tradition for the last name to go first. From here on out she is referred to as "Ensign Ro". On this mission Ro is a pawn in a bigger game orchestrated by Admiral Kenelley. She had nowhere to turn but was sought out by Guinan. Guinan convinced her to tell Picard what was going on and in doing so endeared her to him and he kept her on his crew. After a while Ro lightens up and begins to form friendships with the members of the crew. She bonded with Geordi La Forge when the two are presumed dead during a transporter accident from a damaged Romulan ship. When they regained consciousness they discover that they are actually cloaked which means that they are invisible and intangible. Ro originally thought that they were in a ghost like plane which resurrected many Bajoran beliefs that she thought she had buried so deep in her mind she had forgotten.

La Forge soon discovers the "accident" as well to the damage to the Romulan ship is the direct result of their weapons testing, and as soon as the ship enters warp speed it will be destroyed. The also find that the Romulans have a spy on the Enterprise. The two soon find the Romulan spy and stop him and find a way to return themselves to normal and warn the crew saving them.

Ro serves on the Enterprise for a while and eventually goes and gets special Federation training and returns to the Enterprise after the training now as a Lieutenant, Ro is asked by Starfleet to be a mole and infiltrate the Maquis. The Maquis is a Bajoran resistance group During the mission she finds it difficult to fulfill her duties as she becomes more and more sympathetic to the Maquis plight. Despite Picard forcing her to stick with her duty as a Federation Officer she betrays them and joins rebels. In the Maquis camps she meets Macias who becomes a father-like figure to her. She proved her loyalty to him and the Maquis when she steals medical supplies from the Enterprise unknowing that the crew let them to keep up appearances. Soon after this she convinces the Maquis to invest in an attack on a Yridian convoy which is a Federation trap.

Before she can do this however, three Cardasians attack the Maquis cell and killed Macias. Once again she begins questioning her loyalties and tries to cancel the convoy trap. However Picard sees past her lies and questions her loyalty to the Federation. Picard send William Riker to join her as a spy to keep her on mission.

During the trap she pulls a phase on Riker and fired a particle beam from the shuttle craft that revealed a Starfleet ship. Just before she beamed to her ship she asks for Picards and Rikers forgiveness for betraying their trust. She is last seen among the Maquis, however her fate after the Dominion's massacre of the Maquis is still a mystery.

Major Story Arcs

The Last Generation

Here, while Ro is still a member of a freedom resistance movement, this time she is on the side of the angels. She is a member of Picard's Resistance movement and the fight against the Klingon Empire is underhand. Her relationships also seem more secure in this reality. No longer worried that those who show her kindness either want something or are lying to her, she has a comradely with the other members of the resistance and is also has a romantic relationship with Tasha Yar.

One thing that has stayed the same is her belief in Jean-Luc Picard. When Picard learns of the altered timeline, she goes along with his plan to correct history, despite that she has been fighting against the Klingons for a long time. When Tasha points out the obvious to her, that it could all end in disaster, Ro, seeming the more optimistic one in the relationship, says that as long as she has Tasha, it doesn't matter how it all ends. Unfortunately, not all the members of Picard's cell agree. When Wesley stages a coup, he drops an EMP grenade, intending to take out Picard's chance of fixing the timeline. When it rolls towards Picard and Yar, Ro sacrifices herself to save them, throwing herself on top of the grenade. Her last concern before she dies is for Tasha. "She's right here, Ro. You saved us all, soldier."