Odo - Overview, Mirror Universe, Trivia

Anglo-Norman clergyman, Bishop of Bayeux, and half-brother of William I. He fought at the Battle of Hastings (1066) and was created Earl of Kent. He played a conspicuous part under William in English history, and was regent during his absences in Normandy, but left England after rebelling against William II. He rebuilt Bayeux Cathedral, and may have commissioned the Bayeux tapestry.

Odo
Constable Odo
Species:	Changeling
Gender:	Male
Hair color:	Light brown (Simulated hair)
Eye color:	Blue (Simulated eye)
Home planet:	Unnamed rogue planet in the Omarion Nebula
Affiliation:	Bajoran Militia
Posting:	Deep Space Nine chief of security
Rank:	Security Chief
Portrayed by:	Rene Auberjonois

"Constable" Odo is a shapeshifter played by Rene Auberjonois on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

One of "the hundred" sent out by The Founders long ago to explore the galaxy, Odo was found adrift in 2356 in the Denorios Belt by Bajorans, who indirectly gave him his name. Even after it became clear that Odo was sentient, the scientists kept calling him by that name, which eventually was styled (as a joke) into a Bajoran name "Odo Ital", then shortened to simply "Odo".

He was studied by Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora Pol, whom Odo disliked due to Mora's questionable (but effective) practice of inducing pain as a motivator in encouraging Odo to assume different shapes before, and even after Odo was recognized as sentient. While Mora regarded himself as a father of sorts to Odo, Odo felt intense hostility toward Mora. Odo modelled his humanoid appearance on Dr. Mora, but never had the skill to duplicate humanoid features with precision, making his humanoid appearance an approximation. When others of Odo's race (the Founders) were introduced, they shared a similar 'unfinished' look, which they adopted mostly to make Odo feel at ease around them - they could replicate humanoids exactly, whereas Odo, having grown up without others of his kind, never learned to master it.

Odo later worked for the Cardassians during the Occupation of Bajor aboard the orbiting Terok Nor ore-processing space station, and later for the Bajorans/Federation aboard Deep Space Nine (the Federation name for Terok Nor), in both cases as chief of security.

Odo's early career on Terok Nor hit a snag when he investigated an assassination attempt on Dukat.

Up until this time, Odo was unaware of his people and his ancestry. Later, in the episode "The Alternate", Dr. Mora visited Odo at Deep Space Nine and went with him to the Gamma Quadrant to investigate a planet with a similar life-form.

In 2372, Odo married a pregnant, recently divorced Lwaxana Troi as a favor to her, so that her child would not be taken away from her at birth by the father, as required by Tavnian law.

Odo became the first ever Changeling to kill another of his species (in "The Adversary"). Eventually, an infant shapeshifter Odo was caring for died, integrating itself into Odo's physical makeup.

Odo remained loyal to the Bajoran and Federation people throughout the Dominion War.

During his time on the station, Odo was involved in an ongoing battle of wits with the Ferengi Quark.

Odo entered a romantic relationship with Kira Nerys with the help of Vic Fontaine.

Mirror Universe

In the Mirror Universe, Odo was the supervisor of the mining complex at Terok Nor (DS9's mirror counterpart).

Trivia

In the non-canon Deep Space Nine relaunch novels, Odo was succeeded as security chief by Ro Laren, who had been pardoned for her past association with the Maquis, and thus regained her Starfleet commission. After playing the mirror Odo (in the episode "Crossover"), Auberjonois decided he liked that Odo's uniform better (it was more militaristic, and sported a belt and a higher collar) and decided to use it while playing the normal Odo as well. According to the book The Deep Space Nine Companion, Odo's love affair with Kira wasn't planned by the show's creators, but was inspired by the way Auberjonois played a scene with Nana Visitor when Kira happily tells Odo she's fallen in love with another man. The Deep Space Nine Companion reveals that Odo's makeup evolved quite a bit in the early seasons of DS9, mostly due to the difficulties of trying to hide the seams of individual prosthetics. The book The Nitpicker's Guide to Deep Space Nine raised some awkward questions about how Odo's shapeshifting works, particularly regarding his weight. When in humanoid form, Odo apparently weighs as much as a human his size, if not more (one character, struggling to carry an ailing Odo, comments that he's heavier than he looks). For example, during a scene in the first season episode A Man Alone, Odo's office has been vandalized, and while Odo is still in shock, Quark arrives and they begin to talk about who did it. Auberjonois and Shimmerman decided that during the scene they would begin straightening up the office, with Quark constantly trying to pilfer small items and Odo catching him every time, without a word. At the scene's end Quark is about to leave with an object in his hands, but, at the last moment, he respectfully hands it back to Odo, re-establishing the strange friendship beneath their constant jibes. Many years after the series ended, Auberjonois did a cameo as Odo in an episode of Family Guy.