Natasha

Natasha Yar
Tasha Yar on the Enterprise-D
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Home planet	Turkana IV
Affiliation	Starfleet
Posting	Enterprise-D chief of security and chief tactical officer
Rank	Lieutenant
Portrayed by	Denise Crosby
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Originally, the character was to be named "Macha Hernandez"² and was set to be played by Jenette Goldstein.³ Yar was originally inspired by the character of Vasquez in Aliens.⁴ Goldstein was replaced by Marina Sirtis.³ At that time, Denise Crosby was set to play Deanna Troi,⁵ but she and Sirtis switched roles before production began.³⁶

Story overview

The back story for the character states that Natasha (Tasha) Yar, of Ukrainian descent, was born on Turkana IV, a colony that fell into chaos and eventually severed ties to the United Federation of Planets.¹ Tasha learned to defend herself on the streets and avoid rape gangs.¹ She left Turkana IV at age 15, leaving her younger sister behind, and later attended Starfleet Academy.¹

After watching Yar cross a minefield to save a colonist, Jean-Luc Picard requested that she be assigned to his next command.¹ She later becomes chief of security and chief tactical officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D, some time prior to the beginning of the series.¹

Armus kills Yar on Vagra II as a demonstration of his power in "Skin of Evil".¹ while Yar is attempting to rescue Deanna Troi. Worf replaces her as chief tactical and security officer.¹

In "Yesterday's Enterprise", the USS Enterprise-C travels into the future in the midst of defending a Klingon colony from Romulan attack, creating an alternate timeline in which the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war, and in which Yar did not die on Vagra II.¹ Learning from Guinan that she died a senseless death in the normal timeline, Yar opts to return to the past aboard the Enterprise-C.¹ There, she is captured and becomes consort to a Romulan general in order to spare her fellow survivors' lives.¹ She later bears the general a child, Sela, also played by Crosby. Years later, Yar is executed by the Romulans when trying to escape from them with Sela.¹

Yar's final appearance is in scenes that take place in the series finale, "All Good Things...". Her scenes are mostly what happened in times other than shown in the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" and diverges from the "normal" time-frame as events in the finale occur.¹

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Okuda, Mike and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.
^ Adam Schrager, "Marina Sirtis: From Hoi Polloi to Counserlor Troi" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 147. "Sirtis auditioned for the role of the chief security officer about the USS Enterprise, Lieutenant Macha Hernandez (later changed to Natasha Yar)."
^ ^a ^b ^c Star Trek: The Next Generation first-season DVD commentary
^ Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
^ Adam Schrager, "Marina Sirtis: From Hoi Polloi to Counserlor Troi" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 147. "Meanwhile, Denise Crosby had been auditioning for the role of Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi, the ship's Betazoid counselor."
^ Adam Schrager, "Regular Players: Denise Crosby" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 206. "Denise Crosby was auditioning for the role of Troi, and Marina Sirtis for that of Yar (then Hernandez). Although producers Rick Berman and Bob Justman liked them in those roles, Gene Roddenberry switched them. ... Once Crosby was cast as Hernandez, the character's name was changed to Natasha Yar, and she was given a Ukrainian background to match Crosby's blond hair."

Contents

Development and casting

Story overview

References

See also

External links