The story of
Tora Ziyal is short and tradgic. The daughter of Bajoran Tora
Naprem and Cardassian Gul Dukat she was never really acepted in
either world though she hoped to help unite both through her art.
Born on Bajor, when she was 13 years old the occupation ended and Dukat was able to get her and her mother aboard a freighter to freedom on a world where they could live out the rest of their lives in safety. It never got there. Her mother was killed in the crash and Ziyal spent the next six years enslaved by the Breen to mine dilithium.
Gul Dukat with the help of Major Kira Nyres
eventually found her and the other survivors but their reunion
was bitter sweet. According to Cardassian customs,
Dukat was
expected to execute his bastered daughter but the powerful
Cardassian couldn't do it. He instead decided to return to
Cardassia with her. This defiance of Cardassian customs did not
go unpunished and Dukat nearly lost everything. His wife left
him, his mother diowned him and he was demoted to commanding the
freighter Groumal. Later, when he took command of a Klingon Bird
of Prey to fight his own war, Kira stepped in and took Ziyal with
her to Deep Space Nine and safety. There Ziyal met her father's
bitter enemy Garak and a breif romance followed much to Dukat's
displeasure.
A young officer working under Dukat on the
Groumal aligned himself closely with his commander 
and set things in motion
leading up to Ziyal's tragic end. When the Cardassians retook
Deep Space 9, Damar was not blind to Ziyal's treachery. He knew
that she was involved with a dissident group on the station and
openly disrespected her father. When the Federation was about to
retake the station, Damar could no longer stand by and watch as
Ziyal stubbornly refused to leave for Cardassia with her loving
father. He pulled his phaser and coldly shot the traitorous
daughter. His action backfired and Dukat collapsed in dispair at
her lost and nothing Damar could do would convince him to leave
her side. Dukat became a prisoner of the Federation and slipped
into insanity while Damar was promoted to Legate and became the
leader of Cardassia.
In the last three seasons of Deep Space Nine, Ziyal was played by three actors. First , and the favorite with many fans, was Cyia Batten. Next was Tracy Middendorf and finally, Melanie Smith.
[Profiles][Gul Dukat][Garak][Damar][Gul Ocett][Ziyal][Seska][Gul Evek][TNG][DS9]
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© 1999 Gul Maket