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jadziaNAME(S): Jadzia Dax
AGE: 31 (Jadzia, born 2341) or over 300 (Dax symbiont, born 2018).
FANDOM: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Memory: Alpha wiki article
Jadzia Idaris was born on the planet Trill in the year 2341. Not much is mentioned of her youth, or her life as a young adult until she attended Starfleet Academy, earning premier distinctions in the fields of astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology. Once she graduated from the Academy, Jadzia applied to the Trill Symbiosis Commission on her homeworld in order to be considered for joining with a symbiont.
During this time, she endured the months of physical and psychological tests and training that are required of any young Trill hoping to be joined. The training was rigorous, but things only got worse when she was paired with field docent Curzon Dax. After two hellish weeks, he recommended that she be dropped from the program. Jadzia returned, more determined than ever, and reapplied for the program, becoming the only Trill in history to be reinstated to the initiate program after being washed out.
In a move that surprised many, when Jadzia was approved for joining, she specifically requested her old docent’s symbiont, Dax, when she learned that Curzon was dying. She was joined in the year 2367, becoming Jadzia Dax. Shortly thereafter she was stationed on Deep Space 9, a Cardassian space station which had been surrendered to the Federation after their occupational force withdrew from the planet of Bajor.
Not long after her arrival, she and Benjamin Sisko - an old friend of her symbiont’s former host - discover a stable wormhole from the Alpha to the Gamma quadrants. This is considered a holy place to the Bajorans, and changes the economic situation of the entire sector, drawing in traders, travelers, and scientists from many other systems.
About half a year later, a party from Klaestron IV, led by a man named Ilon Tandro, attempt to extradite Jadzia from Deep Space Nine on grounds that Dax is wanted on their planet for treason and the murder of one General Ardelon Tandro, his father. She is rescued by her colleagues before they manage to get her off the station, and a hearing is held to determine whether the Bajoran government will allow the extradition to take place. Odo goes to Klaestron IV to investigate, where he learns that Curzon Dax had been best friends with Tandro, but that he had also been more than friends with Tandro's wife, Enina.
During the hearing, the debate rages over whether Jadzia Dax should be held accountable for the alleged crimes of her predecessor Curzon. Tandro argues that she should, while Sisko postulates that she is an entirely different individual and therefore is not culpable. Jadzia remains silent, unwilling to defend herself, much to Sisko’s frustration. The debates end when Enina Tandro steps forward and reveals that she and Curzon had been together during the time when the act of treason, and subsequent murder, was committed, and that Dax is innocent.
The following year, the station is evacuated because of a plasma storm, leaving only a skeleton crew behind to maintain operations. During this vulnerable time, another Trill named Verad and his crew of mercenaries board the station with the purpose of removing the Dax symbiont from Jadzia so it can be placed into Verad. The crew attempt to fight back but are overpowered, and the symbiont is put in Verad.
When Jadzia awakes after the surgery, she tells Julian that she is frightened and that she’s never felt so empty or alone. The crew is able to mount a resistance and capture Verad before he can escape to the Gamma Quadrant as he’d planned, and Dax is returned to Jadzia. Upon waking, she confides in Benjamin that she remembers all of Verad’s thoughts and his sadness, and that it will be with her for the rest of her life.
A few months later, Jadzia and Odo travel into the Gamma Quadrant to study a strange particle field they detected from the station. When they arrive at the site of the field, they find a single colony on an isolated planet. While they are at first held under suspicion for the disappearance of several colonists, they are subsequently recruited to assist in investigating what might have happened to the missing people.
They discover that all of the people in the colony are holographic projections except for the village’s founder. The people are disappearing because the generator which creats their images - the source of the particle field - has begun to malfunction. Dax and Odo repair it, and all those who had gone missing reappeared.
Shortly thereafter, Dax is asked to be field docent for a young Trill initiate named Arjin, much as Curzon Dax had been her docent. Although the young man is concerned that she will be too harsh on him, as is Dax’s reputation, she assures him that she is not the same as Curzon. Despite these reassurances, Jadzia does have her doubts about the young man, feeling that he has no actual goals or direction of his own, but is living the life that his father desired for him instead of pursuing what he truly wanted.
When the two take a shuttle through the wormhole, they snag some of what Dax calls “subspace seaweed” on their warp nacelle. Upon returning to the station, further study leads Dax to determine that it’s actually a growing proto-universe whose exponential expansion cycle threatens to destroy the station, and even the entire system, if it is not dealt with. During all of this, Dax has a confrontation with Arjin and tells him she’s not confident in his readiness to become joined. He lashes out in anger, but she gives him a chance to redeem himself and help her pilot the proto-universe back through the wormhole after they decide not to destroy it once discovering signs of life within.
Arjin and Jadzia successfully return the proto-universe to the Gamma Quadrant, though the trip through the wormhole nearly destroys the shuttle. Arjin apologizes for his unkind words to Jadzia, and she says she thinks that in time he could become a good candidate for joining.
A few months later, three of Curzon Dax’s old Klingon friends - Kor, Kang, and Koloth - come to the station looking for him, but are disappointed to find Jadzia instead. Curzon, who had been a Federation ambassador to the Klingon empire, had sworn a blood oath with them to avenge the murder of their sons - one of whom was Dax’s godson - by a man called “the Albino.” Kang releases Dax from the oath, but she still feels bound to see it through. Jadzia struggles with the idea of killing someone for revenge, even asking Kira what it was like to kill someone. Kira tells her that taking a life feels like losing a part of yours, too. Sisko wants to order Jadzia to stay behind, but she pleads with him not to make her defy his orders, being determined to go.
Once the Klingons and Jadzia set off to find the Albino, she realizes that the reason Kang didn’t want her coming along was because he knew they would be walking into a trap. She convinces him to fight in earnest to avenge his son, and once they find the Albino’s hideout, she disables all the phasers and disruptors so she and the Klingons can engage the guards in hand-to-hand combat. Koloth is killed in the melee, and Kor is wounded. Jadzia and Kang confront the Albino, but Kang is stabbed in the altercation. The Albino taunts Jadzia, doubting that she has the wherewithal to kill him, but Kang manages to get up and fatally stab him in the back. Kang dies from his own wounds shortly thereafter; Kor and Jadzia are the only survivors.
Some time later, Jadzia comes to a dinner party hosted by Sisko, and when she finds a small keyboard, she begins to try and play a tune on it, trying hard to recall the melody but unable to do so. She shushes Julian when he asks her about the tune, and the next day she storms out of a chess match with Ben after she accuses him of trying to cheat her. The others are all concerned about Jadzia’s irrational behavior- she goes as far as threatening Kira when the major checks up on her.
As she walks along the station’s promenade, she has a hallucination where she is menaced by a man in a mask while the piano tune from the previous day can be heard playing from a distance. When she snaps out of it, she goes to the infirmary to have herself checked out, and she apologizes for her behavior. The doctor discovers that her isoboramine (a neurotransmitter that regulates the connection between symbiont and host) levels are low, meaning that she could be in danger of dying. They decide to go to the Trill homeworld, where the Symbiosis Commission can run further tests.
Jadzia has more hallucinations, and even though the Symbiosis Commission doctors prescribed medication to help maintain her isoboramine levels. Sisko and Julian do a little research to find out about the song that Jadzia hears in her trances, and when she sees a picture of the composer’s face, she goes into shock. He was a musician named Joran, and further digging shows that he was an unstable and dangerous man who murdered a doctor and was himself killed in his attempt to escape. What they hadn’t expected to discover was the fact that Joran was a short-lived host of the Dax symbiont, and the Commission had those memories repressed before Dax was passed on to Curzon.
Because her isoboramine levels are so low, the Commission’s doctors are prepped to remove the symbiont, but Ben threatens to reveal the truth that he has learned from their investigation: that over half the Trill population could be viable hosts, rather than the commonly-believed one-in-ten figure. The doctor argues that if this became public information, the symbionts would be treated as commodities, fought over, or even sold on the black market. Sisko swears that he will tell if Jadzia dies, and the doctor relents. Jadzia is allowed to have the memories of Joran reincorporated into the symbiont, which returns her biochemical level to normal. Later, she tells Ben, “If you want to know who you are, it’s important to know who you’ve been.”
A few months later, the crew are exploring the Gamma Quadrant and discover a planet that phases into the physical universe from a state of pure consciousness and energy for a few days once every sixty years. While they study and learn about the culture of the people living on the planet of Meridian, Jadzia falls in love with a local scientist named Deral. The feeling is mutual, and though Deral considers leaving Meridian to be with Jadzia, he’s forced to reconsider because of how much his own people need him. After much consideration, Jadzia decides to stay on Meridian with him when the planet phases back to its energy state.
Unfortunately, when the planet begins to shift, Jadzia’s presence disrupts the phasing process, and the planet begins to tear itself apart. She bids a sad farewell to Deral and is beamed back to the Defiant, where she watches the planet disappear. She is left to grieve, but consoles herself by saying she just needs some time- only sixty years or so.
A few moths later, a transporter accident sends Jadzia, Sisko, and Julian three hundred years into Earth’s past, an era known for its extreme social stratification and a string of riots called the “Bell Riots.” She is fortunate enough to be brought into an elite social circle, while Ben and Julian were taken to the poor, walled-in area of the city. With the help of her well-to-do friend Chris Brynner, Jadzia is able to find her colleagues. They have a problem, though- Gabriel Bell, the leader of the Bell riots, was killed in an altercation with city guards in order to protect Ben and Julian. Sisko takes his place and leads the people, allowing history to take its course (with only a few small changes). Using the comparably primitive technology combined with the Federation comm badges, they are able to contact the Defiant in the future and are beamed home to safety.
Later that year, a guardian from the Trill homeworld (one who tends to and cares for the needs of unjoined symbionts in the caves of Trill) comes to the station to oversee Jadzia’s zhian’tara ceremony. It is a ritual in which the memories of previous hosts are transferred temporarily into the bodies of the current hosts most trusted friends. Jadzia calls upon Benjamin, Julian, Kira, Odo, Miles, Leeta, and Quark to embody Dax’s previous hosts, and all of them agree except Quark, who requires a little persuading.
Everything proceeds smoothly at first. Jadzia enjoys meeting all of her symbiont’s previous hosts and learning new things about herself, such as the fact that her mannerism of walking with her hands clasped behind her back is inherited from Dax’s first host, Lela. The first bump in the road comes when Benjamin takes on Joran’s memories; though he is kept confined in a brig cell, he verbally abuses Jadzia, saying she’s nothing more than a little girl who doesn’t measure up to all of the previous hosts. He tries to convince her to lower the forcefield, promising he will help her never feel fear again, but she refused. He then attempts to push through the field, harming Ben in the process, but Sisko manages to assert control for a moment. When Jadzia lowers the forcefield, Joran takes control again and attacks her, but she is able to fend him off. Sisko later thanks her for not breaking any of his bones in the process.
The final host, Curzon, is embodied by Odo. Much to everyone’s surprise, Odo not only takes on Curzon’s memories, but his shape-shifting ability allows him to change his features to resemble Curzon’s as well. Rather than spending time talking with Jadzia like the others had, Curzon seeks out Benjamin, seeming more interested in drinking and reacquainting himself with his old friend than playing out his part in the ritual. Jadzia tries several times to ask Curzon why he washed her out of the initiate program, but he evades her each time.
In a move that shocks everyone involved, Curzon declares that he wants to stay with Odo, and that Odo has agreed; they both like who they have become. Jadzia, deflated, agrees to allow it and is thereafter unwilling to confront him about it. Sisko, angered by the whole situation, takes Jadzia aside to explain to her that as much as Curzon had been his friend, sometimes the man was wrong and crossed the line. When that happened, he needed to be confronted about it and made to do the right thing. Jadzia considers this at length and finally decides to speak to Curzon.
When she goes to Odo’s room, she demands that Curzon explain his motives, but he insults her, saying she is a little girl. She refuses to back down, and he eventually admits that he recommended she be removed from the program because he had fallen in love with her and felt horribly guilty over his inappropriate feelings. He felt relieved when she reapplied, and didn’t stand in her way. Curzon believes that, now that she is aware of his feelings, she will not want his memories back, but Jadzia counters his belief by explaining that she she does want the memories back, and that she and Curzon will always be together through Dax. Curzon agrees and returns her memories.
Odo later apologizes for his part in what happened, but Jadzia tells him that she isn’t angry, and that it was a gift for her, in a way, because now she gained the memory of Odo’s ability to change forms.
PERSONALITY:
In order to fully understand Jadzia’s personality, one must first know that she is not human, and it is not only her unique personality that they’re meeting. Jadzia is a Trill: a symbiotic race of aliens from the planet of the same name. Humanoid Trills appear almost entirely human save for a pattern of rosette-shaped markings (which originate at their temples and travel down the entire length of their bodies) and a distinct pouch under their ribs. Trill symbionts, however, are small, wormlike creatures that live in pools found in subterranean caves. When ‘joined’ with their vermiform counterparts, the personalities and memories of both the symbiont and the host blend to form an entirely new entity. In this manner, a symbiont can be passed from host to host, accumulating knowledge and experience through many lifetimes, as they can live to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
Jadzia is the eighth host of the Dax symbiont. She has inherited memories of being both male and female, husband and wife, father and mother. She has been a legislator, engineer, gymnast, musician, scientist, and ambassador. As such, Jadzia Dax is open-minded and accepting, with versatile skills and talents, as well as tastes for cuisine and music.
Before being joined, Jadzia was extremely shy, quiet, and reserved, yet still brilliant and determined. Even after the disheartening blow of losing her place in the initiate program, she gathered her courage and reapplied.
As the joined Jadzia Dax, she became a much more confident individual, with over three hundred years of life experience to guide her. Jadzia Dax reveals many facets to her personality: the old, wise, experienced soul, and the quirky, vivacious young woman who is out to make the most of experiencing life.
She can be very unorthodox and, at times, even uncouth. Jadzia has no qualms with asking personal or inappropriate questions, stating at one point that impersonal questions were boring after seven lifetimes, and that she hates to be appropriate. This makes her a great drinking buddy, and that, plus a fearsome poker face, makes her a formidable gambler.
Despite the more rambunctious or mercurial aspects of her personality, Jadzia is also a reliable, loyal friend. Her lifetimes of experience make her an excellent advisor, one who never pulls punches for the sake of spared feelings. She is also a genuinely kind and caring individual who will take youngsters under her wings and help guide them when they need a hand to hold. Her ingenuity and creativity balances high ambition with a down-to-earth pragmatism that helps her get the job done.
Her curiosity, zeal, and dedication to duty make her an ideal Starfleet officer, while her sassy attitude and charming personality make her a great friend to keep around. Jadzia will always stand for what she believes in and never sway from the pursuit of her goals. If you can’t keep up with her, you ought to step out of her way.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
In the episode “Facets,” Jadzia asks all the members of the senior staff, as well as Quark and a Dabo girl named Leeta, to participate in her zhian’tara ceremony, stating that they are her closest friends on the station. The closest friendships are mentioned here.
Benjamin Sisko: The longest standing relationship that Jadzia maintains is her friendship with Ben Sisko. Curzon, Dax’s previous host, was Sisko’s friend and mentor, and they usually keep to this model; Sisko often comes to Dax for advice and jokingly calls her “Old Man.” Jadzia trusts Sisko without reservation, and considers him her best friend. He was given the memories of Dax’s former host Joran during Jadzia’s zhian’tara ceremony.
Kira Nerys: Jadzia’s closest female friend. She sees a challenge in the traditional and sometimes closed-minded Nerys and enjoys pushing her to expand her horizons, and often drags her along on holodeck adventures. She embodied Dax’s host Lela during Jadzia’s zhian’tara.
Julian Bashir: While Julian was, at first, very flirtatious and obviously infatuated with Jadzia. She always rebuffed his advances, and their relationship eventually settled into a close, steady friendship. It’s probably safe to say that Julian still harbors some hope that Jadzia will come around and give him a shot. He embodied the host Torias.
Quark: Jadzia and Quark have a playful friendship. Quark openly flirts with her, and they are often found gambling together in a lively game of tongo. Jadzia at one point tells Kira that she realizes Ferengi are greedy and sometimes misogynistic, but that she enjoys spending time with them because she can acknowledge and look past their flaws. Quark embodied Dax’s host Audrid.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Season 3, episode 25: Facets. In this episode, Jadzia speaks to and even confronts the hosts of the Dax symbiont which have come before her. When Curzon refuses to return to his place in the symbiont’s memories, she initially decides to let the issue rest because of her own feelings of insecurity and her doubts about her self-worth. Sisko gives her a sound talking-to, and Jadzia realizes that she has to stand up for herself despite her fears. She accepts Curzon’s memories - even the parts of him which he feels are shameful and inappropriate - and he is rejoined with her.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Darkness is nothing to be afraid of. That’s something you learn very quickly in Starfleet- space is a great expanse of darkness, and while it contains fearsome creatures and dangers that could take your life in a heartbeat, it also contains wonders beyond imagining.
Jadzia was floating in the dark, but she wasn’t afraid. There was nothing here to be afraid of. Not yet, anyway. Not that she could see.
She wondered why she hadn’t rematerialized yet. That floating sensation you experienced mid-transport was one thing, but this had gone on for far too long, and that was what got her to worrying. Had there been a malfunction? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in a transporter accident, but it still wasn’t like anything she’d experienced before.
Beneath her, she saw a light, and looking down, she could see... was that the Trill homeworld? No, she realized, squinting her eyes. It looked like glass, glowing as if it’d been lit from behind; a stained glass window designed to look like her home planet, and superimposed over that image was the distinct silhouette of Deep Space Nine.
Her feet touched the glass and she stumbled before regaining her balance, glancing around and trying to figure out exactly what was going on. She tapped the comm badge on her chest, relieved to hear it chirping. “Dax to O’Brien,” she said, and waited.
No response.
She tapped it a second time. “Dax to Sisko, is anyone reading me? There’s been some error- I wasn’t beamed to the correct landing site.” Frowning in frustration and mounting concern, she turned and began to examine her surroundings.
‘So much to do, so little time... Take your time, don’t be afraid.’
Jadzia spun at the sound of the voice, drawing her phaser and holding it at the ready. “Who’s there?” she called, but no one answered.
‘The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?’ She glanced around, still looking for the source of the voice, though the way it resonated indicated that it was... inside her head? Was there a telepath trying to communicate with her? Hesitantly, she moved forward, holstering her weapon when she saw three pillars at appear at the center of the glass circle.
’Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.’
Power? What power? Jadzia’s brow furrowed as she examined the pedestals. They were square, gray, with sleek black tops. She might have mistaken them for some sort of console if they had been on a ship. She reached out to the first, and felt a jolt when her fingers came in contact with an invisible object.
A sphere flickered with energy at her touch, like a containment field or shield around a ship. Pulling her tricorder, she tried to analyze the shield for energy output readings, but the device, though apparently powered and functioning, could detect nothing that it could interpret. Her head snapped up when she heard the voice again.
’The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?’ A guardian? Jadzia had never seen herself in that light. Maybe Lela had been a guardian, or even Audrid, but not Jadzia. Those memories lived in her, but they didn’t define her new life. She brushed her fingertips over the shield again, watching it crackle and shimmer with blue energy, but let her hand fall away.
The second pedestal contained a familiar box, glowing with light. It was an orb, a Tear of the Prophets. Opening the box to look at the luminous orb inside, she heard the voice again. ’The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?’ She shook her head, wondering what Kira would say were she present. Jadzia was a scientist, and though she respected her friend’s beliefs, she didn’t put much stock in magic. That was just science that couldn’t be explained yet. She closed the box with a final click.
Moving on to the next pedestal, she saw that a bat’leth was floating there, suspended over the surface. With a laugh, she reached out and picked up the weapon. ’The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?’ Resolutely, she gripped the handle of he bat’leth and gave it an experimental swing. It was the perfect length, perfectly balanced in her hand, as if it’d been made for her. She couldn’t deny that she loved the thrill of the fight- there was, perhaps, more Klingon in her than she cared to acknowledge. Besides, sometimes, the best defense was a good offense.
She nodded; this was her choice. As soon as she made her decision, the bat’leth disappeared in a flash of glimmering light. Her hand instinctively went to her phaser, but she eased it away when she heard the voice again.
’Now, what will you give up in exchange?’
“In exchange?” she wondered aloud, but her feet were already moving her to the Tear of the Prophets. She touched the box and fondly thought of her friends.
’You give up this power?’ the voice spoke, and she nodded.
“Yes.” The box, like the bat’leth, disappeared in a flash of light.
’You’ve chosen the power of the warrior. You’ve given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?’ Jadzia nodded in confirmation, and the pedestals disappear as if they’d been beamed away. She waited in the subsequent silence, looking around for any further signs of life.
When the ground beneath her began to shake, she braced her feet wide and looked down, watching as the glass panes shattered into flecks of white and floated up into the air.
As if it would help, she urgently pressed her comm badge again. “Dax to O’Brien, is anyone there? Please respond!” But no one answered, and she knew she was alone. When the few pieces beneath her feet finally broke away, she fell again, down into the darkness.
But that’s all right; darkness is nothing to be afraid of.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Jadzia has no magical or supernatural abilities.
Abilities:
Symbiont - The symbiont isn’t exactly what one would consider an ability. Rather, it is an asset, bringing with it seven lifetimes of memories and knowledge which have become a part of Jadzia’s being.
Intelligence - Even before joining with the Dax symbiont, Jadzia was a bright student who earned academic distinctions at Starfleet Academy, where she studied astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology.
Martial arts - Jadzia is a skilled fighter, expertly wielding the Klingon bat’leth. She also enjoys wrestling, and is competent in the use of phasers.
Je ne sais quoi - There is an alluring quality to her personality that allows Jadzia to easily mingle with all sorts of people. She’s vibrant, confident, and in full command of her faculties.
Weaknesses:
Symbiont - Though the symbiont is a great asset, if it is injured or removed from her body, Jadzia will die. She is also vulnerable to insect bites because the toxins in the venom can disrupt the neurotransmitters that connect her to the symbiont.
AGE: 31 (Jadzia, born 2341) or over 300 (Dax symbiont, born 2018).
FANDOM: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Memory: Alpha wiki article
Jadzia Idaris was born on the planet Trill in the year 2341. Not much is mentioned of her youth, or her life as a young adult until she attended Starfleet Academy, earning premier distinctions in the fields of astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology. Once she graduated from the Academy, Jadzia applied to the Trill Symbiosis Commission on her homeworld in order to be considered for joining with a symbiont.
During this time, she endured the months of physical and psychological tests and training that are required of any young Trill hoping to be joined. The training was rigorous, but things only got worse when she was paired with field docent Curzon Dax. After two hellish weeks, he recommended that she be dropped from the program. Jadzia returned, more determined than ever, and reapplied for the program, becoming the only Trill in history to be reinstated to the initiate program after being washed out.
In a move that surprised many, when Jadzia was approved for joining, she specifically requested her old docent’s symbiont, Dax, when she learned that Curzon was dying. She was joined in the year 2367, becoming Jadzia Dax. Shortly thereafter she was stationed on Deep Space 9, a Cardassian space station which had been surrendered to the Federation after their occupational force withdrew from the planet of Bajor.
Not long after her arrival, she and Benjamin Sisko - an old friend of her symbiont’s former host - discover a stable wormhole from the Alpha to the Gamma quadrants. This is considered a holy place to the Bajorans, and changes the economic situation of the entire sector, drawing in traders, travelers, and scientists from many other systems.
About half a year later, a party from Klaestron IV, led by a man named Ilon Tandro, attempt to extradite Jadzia from Deep Space Nine on grounds that Dax is wanted on their planet for treason and the murder of one General Ardelon Tandro, his father. She is rescued by her colleagues before they manage to get her off the station, and a hearing is held to determine whether the Bajoran government will allow the extradition to take place. Odo goes to Klaestron IV to investigate, where he learns that Curzon Dax had been best friends with Tandro, but that he had also been more than friends with Tandro's wife, Enina.
During the hearing, the debate rages over whether Jadzia Dax should be held accountable for the alleged crimes of her predecessor Curzon. Tandro argues that she should, while Sisko postulates that she is an entirely different individual and therefore is not culpable. Jadzia remains silent, unwilling to defend herself, much to Sisko’s frustration. The debates end when Enina Tandro steps forward and reveals that she and Curzon had been together during the time when the act of treason, and subsequent murder, was committed, and that Dax is innocent.
The following year, the station is evacuated because of a plasma storm, leaving only a skeleton crew behind to maintain operations. During this vulnerable time, another Trill named Verad and his crew of mercenaries board the station with the purpose of removing the Dax symbiont from Jadzia so it can be placed into Verad. The crew attempt to fight back but are overpowered, and the symbiont is put in Verad.
When Jadzia awakes after the surgery, she tells Julian that she is frightened and that she’s never felt so empty or alone. The crew is able to mount a resistance and capture Verad before he can escape to the Gamma Quadrant as he’d planned, and Dax is returned to Jadzia. Upon waking, she confides in Benjamin that she remembers all of Verad’s thoughts and his sadness, and that it will be with her for the rest of her life.
A few months later, Jadzia and Odo travel into the Gamma Quadrant to study a strange particle field they detected from the station. When they arrive at the site of the field, they find a single colony on an isolated planet. While they are at first held under suspicion for the disappearance of several colonists, they are subsequently recruited to assist in investigating what might have happened to the missing people.
They discover that all of the people in the colony are holographic projections except for the village’s founder. The people are disappearing because the generator which creats their images - the source of the particle field - has begun to malfunction. Dax and Odo repair it, and all those who had gone missing reappeared.
Shortly thereafter, Dax is asked to be field docent for a young Trill initiate named Arjin, much as Curzon Dax had been her docent. Although the young man is concerned that she will be too harsh on him, as is Dax’s reputation, she assures him that she is not the same as Curzon. Despite these reassurances, Jadzia does have her doubts about the young man, feeling that he has no actual goals or direction of his own, but is living the life that his father desired for him instead of pursuing what he truly wanted.
When the two take a shuttle through the wormhole, they snag some of what Dax calls “subspace seaweed” on their warp nacelle. Upon returning to the station, further study leads Dax to determine that it’s actually a growing proto-universe whose exponential expansion cycle threatens to destroy the station, and even the entire system, if it is not dealt with. During all of this, Dax has a confrontation with Arjin and tells him she’s not confident in his readiness to become joined. He lashes out in anger, but she gives him a chance to redeem himself and help her pilot the proto-universe back through the wormhole after they decide not to destroy it once discovering signs of life within.
Arjin and Jadzia successfully return the proto-universe to the Gamma Quadrant, though the trip through the wormhole nearly destroys the shuttle. Arjin apologizes for his unkind words to Jadzia, and she says she thinks that in time he could become a good candidate for joining.
A few months later, three of Curzon Dax’s old Klingon friends - Kor, Kang, and Koloth - come to the station looking for him, but are disappointed to find Jadzia instead. Curzon, who had been a Federation ambassador to the Klingon empire, had sworn a blood oath with them to avenge the murder of their sons - one of whom was Dax’s godson - by a man called “the Albino.” Kang releases Dax from the oath, but she still feels bound to see it through. Jadzia struggles with the idea of killing someone for revenge, even asking Kira what it was like to kill someone. Kira tells her that taking a life feels like losing a part of yours, too. Sisko wants to order Jadzia to stay behind, but she pleads with him not to make her defy his orders, being determined to go.
Once the Klingons and Jadzia set off to find the Albino, she realizes that the reason Kang didn’t want her coming along was because he knew they would be walking into a trap. She convinces him to fight in earnest to avenge his son, and once they find the Albino’s hideout, she disables all the phasers and disruptors so she and the Klingons can engage the guards in hand-to-hand combat. Koloth is killed in the melee, and Kor is wounded. Jadzia and Kang confront the Albino, but Kang is stabbed in the altercation. The Albino taunts Jadzia, doubting that she has the wherewithal to kill him, but Kang manages to get up and fatally stab him in the back. Kang dies from his own wounds shortly thereafter; Kor and Jadzia are the only survivors.
Some time later, Jadzia comes to a dinner party hosted by Sisko, and when she finds a small keyboard, she begins to try and play a tune on it, trying hard to recall the melody but unable to do so. She shushes Julian when he asks her about the tune, and the next day she storms out of a chess match with Ben after she accuses him of trying to cheat her. The others are all concerned about Jadzia’s irrational behavior- she goes as far as threatening Kira when the major checks up on her.
As she walks along the station’s promenade, she has a hallucination where she is menaced by a man in a mask while the piano tune from the previous day can be heard playing from a distance. When she snaps out of it, she goes to the infirmary to have herself checked out, and she apologizes for her behavior. The doctor discovers that her isoboramine (a neurotransmitter that regulates the connection between symbiont and host) levels are low, meaning that she could be in danger of dying. They decide to go to the Trill homeworld, where the Symbiosis Commission can run further tests.
Jadzia has more hallucinations, and even though the Symbiosis Commission doctors prescribed medication to help maintain her isoboramine levels. Sisko and Julian do a little research to find out about the song that Jadzia hears in her trances, and when she sees a picture of the composer’s face, she goes into shock. He was a musician named Joran, and further digging shows that he was an unstable and dangerous man who murdered a doctor and was himself killed in his attempt to escape. What they hadn’t expected to discover was the fact that Joran was a short-lived host of the Dax symbiont, and the Commission had those memories repressed before Dax was passed on to Curzon.
Because her isoboramine levels are so low, the Commission’s doctors are prepped to remove the symbiont, but Ben threatens to reveal the truth that he has learned from their investigation: that over half the Trill population could be viable hosts, rather than the commonly-believed one-in-ten figure. The doctor argues that if this became public information, the symbionts would be treated as commodities, fought over, or even sold on the black market. Sisko swears that he will tell if Jadzia dies, and the doctor relents. Jadzia is allowed to have the memories of Joran reincorporated into the symbiont, which returns her biochemical level to normal. Later, she tells Ben, “If you want to know who you are, it’s important to know who you’ve been.”
A few months later, the crew are exploring the Gamma Quadrant and discover a planet that phases into the physical universe from a state of pure consciousness and energy for a few days once every sixty years. While they study and learn about the culture of the people living on the planet of Meridian, Jadzia falls in love with a local scientist named Deral. The feeling is mutual, and though Deral considers leaving Meridian to be with Jadzia, he’s forced to reconsider because of how much his own people need him. After much consideration, Jadzia decides to stay on Meridian with him when the planet phases back to its energy state.
Unfortunately, when the planet begins to shift, Jadzia’s presence disrupts the phasing process, and the planet begins to tear itself apart. She bids a sad farewell to Deral and is beamed back to the Defiant, where she watches the planet disappear. She is left to grieve, but consoles herself by saying she just needs some time- only sixty years or so.
A few moths later, a transporter accident sends Jadzia, Sisko, and Julian three hundred years into Earth’s past, an era known for its extreme social stratification and a string of riots called the “Bell Riots.” She is fortunate enough to be brought into an elite social circle, while Ben and Julian were taken to the poor, walled-in area of the city. With the help of her well-to-do friend Chris Brynner, Jadzia is able to find her colleagues. They have a problem, though- Gabriel Bell, the leader of the Bell riots, was killed in an altercation with city guards in order to protect Ben and Julian. Sisko takes his place and leads the people, allowing history to take its course (with only a few small changes). Using the comparably primitive technology combined with the Federation comm badges, they are able to contact the Defiant in the future and are beamed home to safety.
Later that year, a guardian from the Trill homeworld (one who tends to and cares for the needs of unjoined symbionts in the caves of Trill) comes to the station to oversee Jadzia’s zhian’tara ceremony. It is a ritual in which the memories of previous hosts are transferred temporarily into the bodies of the current hosts most trusted friends. Jadzia calls upon Benjamin, Julian, Kira, Odo, Miles, Leeta, and Quark to embody Dax’s previous hosts, and all of them agree except Quark, who requires a little persuading.
Everything proceeds smoothly at first. Jadzia enjoys meeting all of her symbiont’s previous hosts and learning new things about herself, such as the fact that her mannerism of walking with her hands clasped behind her back is inherited from Dax’s first host, Lela. The first bump in the road comes when Benjamin takes on Joran’s memories; though he is kept confined in a brig cell, he verbally abuses Jadzia, saying she’s nothing more than a little girl who doesn’t measure up to all of the previous hosts. He tries to convince her to lower the forcefield, promising he will help her never feel fear again, but she refused. He then attempts to push through the field, harming Ben in the process, but Sisko manages to assert control for a moment. When Jadzia lowers the forcefield, Joran takes control again and attacks her, but she is able to fend him off. Sisko later thanks her for not breaking any of his bones in the process.
The final host, Curzon, is embodied by Odo. Much to everyone’s surprise, Odo not only takes on Curzon’s memories, but his shape-shifting ability allows him to change his features to resemble Curzon’s as well. Rather than spending time talking with Jadzia like the others had, Curzon seeks out Benjamin, seeming more interested in drinking and reacquainting himself with his old friend than playing out his part in the ritual. Jadzia tries several times to ask Curzon why he washed her out of the initiate program, but he evades her each time.
In a move that shocks everyone involved, Curzon declares that he wants to stay with Odo, and that Odo has agreed; they both like who they have become. Jadzia, deflated, agrees to allow it and is thereafter unwilling to confront him about it. Sisko, angered by the whole situation, takes Jadzia aside to explain to her that as much as Curzon had been his friend, sometimes the man was wrong and crossed the line. When that happened, he needed to be confronted about it and made to do the right thing. Jadzia considers this at length and finally decides to speak to Curzon.
When she goes to Odo’s room, she demands that Curzon explain his motives, but he insults her, saying she is a little girl. She refuses to back down, and he eventually admits that he recommended she be removed from the program because he had fallen in love with her and felt horribly guilty over his inappropriate feelings. He felt relieved when she reapplied, and didn’t stand in her way. Curzon believes that, now that she is aware of his feelings, she will not want his memories back, but Jadzia counters his belief by explaining that she she does want the memories back, and that she and Curzon will always be together through Dax. Curzon agrees and returns her memories.
Odo later apologizes for his part in what happened, but Jadzia tells him that she isn’t angry, and that it was a gift for her, in a way, because now she gained the memory of Odo’s ability to change forms.
PERSONALITY:
In order to fully understand Jadzia’s personality, one must first know that she is not human, and it is not only her unique personality that they’re meeting. Jadzia is a Trill: a symbiotic race of aliens from the planet of the same name. Humanoid Trills appear almost entirely human save for a pattern of rosette-shaped markings (which originate at their temples and travel down the entire length of their bodies) and a distinct pouch under their ribs. Trill symbionts, however, are small, wormlike creatures that live in pools found in subterranean caves. When ‘joined’ with their vermiform counterparts, the personalities and memories of both the symbiont and the host blend to form an entirely new entity. In this manner, a symbiont can be passed from host to host, accumulating knowledge and experience through many lifetimes, as they can live to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
Jadzia is the eighth host of the Dax symbiont. She has inherited memories of being both male and female, husband and wife, father and mother. She has been a legislator, engineer, gymnast, musician, scientist, and ambassador. As such, Jadzia Dax is open-minded and accepting, with versatile skills and talents, as well as tastes for cuisine and music.
Before being joined, Jadzia was extremely shy, quiet, and reserved, yet still brilliant and determined. Even after the disheartening blow of losing her place in the initiate program, she gathered her courage and reapplied.
As the joined Jadzia Dax, she became a much more confident individual, with over three hundred years of life experience to guide her. Jadzia Dax reveals many facets to her personality: the old, wise, experienced soul, and the quirky, vivacious young woman who is out to make the most of experiencing life.
She can be very unorthodox and, at times, even uncouth. Jadzia has no qualms with asking personal or inappropriate questions, stating at one point that impersonal questions were boring after seven lifetimes, and that she hates to be appropriate. This makes her a great drinking buddy, and that, plus a fearsome poker face, makes her a formidable gambler.
Despite the more rambunctious or mercurial aspects of her personality, Jadzia is also a reliable, loyal friend. Her lifetimes of experience make her an excellent advisor, one who never pulls punches for the sake of spared feelings. She is also a genuinely kind and caring individual who will take youngsters under her wings and help guide them when they need a hand to hold. Her ingenuity and creativity balances high ambition with a down-to-earth pragmatism that helps her get the job done.
Her curiosity, zeal, and dedication to duty make her an ideal Starfleet officer, while her sassy attitude and charming personality make her a great friend to keep around. Jadzia will always stand for what she believes in and never sway from the pursuit of her goals. If you can’t keep up with her, you ought to step out of her way.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
In the episode “Facets,” Jadzia asks all the members of the senior staff, as well as Quark and a Dabo girl named Leeta, to participate in her zhian’tara ceremony, stating that they are her closest friends on the station. The closest friendships are mentioned here.
Benjamin Sisko: The longest standing relationship that Jadzia maintains is her friendship with Ben Sisko. Curzon, Dax’s previous host, was Sisko’s friend and mentor, and they usually keep to this model; Sisko often comes to Dax for advice and jokingly calls her “Old Man.” Jadzia trusts Sisko without reservation, and considers him her best friend. He was given the memories of Dax’s former host Joran during Jadzia’s zhian’tara ceremony.
Kira Nerys: Jadzia’s closest female friend. She sees a challenge in the traditional and sometimes closed-minded Nerys and enjoys pushing her to expand her horizons, and often drags her along on holodeck adventures. She embodied Dax’s host Lela during Jadzia’s zhian’tara.
Julian Bashir: While Julian was, at first, very flirtatious and obviously infatuated with Jadzia. She always rebuffed his advances, and their relationship eventually settled into a close, steady friendship. It’s probably safe to say that Julian still harbors some hope that Jadzia will come around and give him a shot. He embodied the host Torias.
Quark: Jadzia and Quark have a playful friendship. Quark openly flirts with her, and they are often found gambling together in a lively game of tongo. Jadzia at one point tells Kira that she realizes Ferengi are greedy and sometimes misogynistic, but that she enjoys spending time with them because she can acknowledge and look past their flaws. Quark embodied Dax’s host Audrid.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Season 3, episode 25: Facets. In this episode, Jadzia speaks to and even confronts the hosts of the Dax symbiont which have come before her. When Curzon refuses to return to his place in the symbiont’s memories, she initially decides to let the issue rest because of her own feelings of insecurity and her doubts about her self-worth. Sisko gives her a sound talking-to, and Jadzia realizes that she has to stand up for herself despite her fears. She accepts Curzon’s memories - even the parts of him which he feels are shameful and inappropriate - and he is rejoined with her.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Darkness is nothing to be afraid of. That’s something you learn very quickly in Starfleet- space is a great expanse of darkness, and while it contains fearsome creatures and dangers that could take your life in a heartbeat, it also contains wonders beyond imagining.
Jadzia was floating in the dark, but she wasn’t afraid. There was nothing here to be afraid of. Not yet, anyway. Not that she could see.
She wondered why she hadn’t rematerialized yet. That floating sensation you experienced mid-transport was one thing, but this had gone on for far too long, and that was what got her to worrying. Had there been a malfunction? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in a transporter accident, but it still wasn’t like anything she’d experienced before.
Beneath her, she saw a light, and looking down, she could see... was that the Trill homeworld? No, she realized, squinting her eyes. It looked like glass, glowing as if it’d been lit from behind; a stained glass window designed to look like her home planet, and superimposed over that image was the distinct silhouette of Deep Space Nine.
Her feet touched the glass and she stumbled before regaining her balance, glancing around and trying to figure out exactly what was going on. She tapped the comm badge on her chest, relieved to hear it chirping. “Dax to O’Brien,” she said, and waited.
No response.
She tapped it a second time. “Dax to Sisko, is anyone reading me? There’s been some error- I wasn’t beamed to the correct landing site.” Frowning in frustration and mounting concern, she turned and began to examine her surroundings.
‘So much to do, so little time... Take your time, don’t be afraid.’
Jadzia spun at the sound of the voice, drawing her phaser and holding it at the ready. “Who’s there?” she called, but no one answered.
‘The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?’ She glanced around, still looking for the source of the voice, though the way it resonated indicated that it was... inside her head? Was there a telepath trying to communicate with her? Hesitantly, she moved forward, holstering her weapon when she saw three pillars at appear at the center of the glass circle.
’Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.’
Power? What power? Jadzia’s brow furrowed as she examined the pedestals. They were square, gray, with sleek black tops. She might have mistaken them for some sort of console if they had been on a ship. She reached out to the first, and felt a jolt when her fingers came in contact with an invisible object.
A sphere flickered with energy at her touch, like a containment field or shield around a ship. Pulling her tricorder, she tried to analyze the shield for energy output readings, but the device, though apparently powered and functioning, could detect nothing that it could interpret. Her head snapped up when she heard the voice again.
’The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?’ A guardian? Jadzia had never seen herself in that light. Maybe Lela had been a guardian, or even Audrid, but not Jadzia. Those memories lived in her, but they didn’t define her new life. She brushed her fingertips over the shield again, watching it crackle and shimmer with blue energy, but let her hand fall away.
The second pedestal contained a familiar box, glowing with light. It was an orb, a Tear of the Prophets. Opening the box to look at the luminous orb inside, she heard the voice again. ’The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?’ She shook her head, wondering what Kira would say were she present. Jadzia was a scientist, and though she respected her friend’s beliefs, she didn’t put much stock in magic. That was just science that couldn’t be explained yet. She closed the box with a final click.
Moving on to the next pedestal, she saw that a bat’leth was floating there, suspended over the surface. With a laugh, she reached out and picked up the weapon. ’The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?’ Resolutely, she gripped the handle of he bat’leth and gave it an experimental swing. It was the perfect length, perfectly balanced in her hand, as if it’d been made for her. She couldn’t deny that she loved the thrill of the fight- there was, perhaps, more Klingon in her than she cared to acknowledge. Besides, sometimes, the best defense was a good offense.
She nodded; this was her choice. As soon as she made her decision, the bat’leth disappeared in a flash of glimmering light. Her hand instinctively went to her phaser, but she eased it away when she heard the voice again.
’Now, what will you give up in exchange?’
“In exchange?” she wondered aloud, but her feet were already moving her to the Tear of the Prophets. She touched the box and fondly thought of her friends.
’You give up this power?’ the voice spoke, and she nodded.
“Yes.” The box, like the bat’leth, disappeared in a flash of light.
’You’ve chosen the power of the warrior. You’ve given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?’ Jadzia nodded in confirmation, and the pedestals disappear as if they’d been beamed away. She waited in the subsequent silence, looking around for any further signs of life.
When the ground beneath her began to shake, she braced her feet wide and looked down, watching as the glass panes shattered into flecks of white and floated up into the air.
As if it would help, she urgently pressed her comm badge again. “Dax to O’Brien, is anyone there? Please respond!” But no one answered, and she knew she was alone. When the few pieces beneath her feet finally broke away, she fell again, down into the darkness.
But that’s all right; darkness is nothing to be afraid of.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Jadzia has no magical or supernatural abilities.
Abilities:
Symbiont - The symbiont isn’t exactly what one would consider an ability. Rather, it is an asset, bringing with it seven lifetimes of memories and knowledge which have become a part of Jadzia’s being.
Intelligence - Even before joining with the Dax symbiont, Jadzia was a bright student who earned academic distinctions at Starfleet Academy, where she studied astrophysics, exoarchaeology, exobiology, and zoology.
Martial arts - Jadzia is a skilled fighter, expertly wielding the Klingon bat’leth. She also enjoys wrestling, and is competent in the use of phasers.
Je ne sais quoi - There is an alluring quality to her personality that allows Jadzia to easily mingle with all sorts of people. She’s vibrant, confident, and in full command of her faculties.
Weaknesses:
Symbiont - Though the symbiont is a great asset, if it is injured or removed from her body, Jadzia will die. She is also vulnerable to insect bites because the toxins in the venom can disrupt the neurotransmitters that connect her to the symbiont.
