Minuet Minuet was a sultry female hologram and character created in the holodeck of the . She was created by Commander William T . Riker in 2364 . Minuet , who was highly astute and self - aware , existed within the confines of a program of the Bourbon Street Bar , a New Orleans jazz club set in the year 1958 . ( ) Wishing to play some music , Riker specified the location and requested an audience for the program . Initially the system created a full crowd , but Riker reduced the audience to one , a woman . The system created the female character first as a blonde , but Riker changed her appearance to that of a redhead because - as he said - " blondes and jazz seldom go together " . The character was further revised at his request that she appear " sultry " until her final configuration was set . ( ) Prior to the program ' s initiation , the holodeck had been upgraded by the Bynar s and it was immediately clear that Minuet was different from any other holodeck character . Riker found her unbelievably realistic and intuitive , a view shared by Captain Picard . Minuet was able to adapt to subtle visual and audio cues given off by the people in the holodeck . She spoke French to Captain Picard after hearing his name , despite not being programmed to do so , and made other slight adjustments to her personality and actions in order to provide the most realistic companion possible . The result was that Riker found Minuet to be fascinating , almost " too real " , and realized that he could fall in love with her just as with a real woman . However , she seemed to be aware of her status as a computer program ; for example , when Picard marveled that she responded in French merely upon hearing his name , she responded that she accessed the French language database from the ship ' s computer . ( ) However , it transpired that Minuet was programmed by the Bynars to distract Riker while they took control of the " Enterprise " in an effort to save the main computer of their homeworld . When Picard and Riker tried to leave the holodeck , Minuet tried to stop them before ultimately revealing the details of the situation . The Bynars provided her program with information that allowed Riker and Picard to help them save their world if their own attempts failed . After the " Enterprise " had been safely returned to Starbase 74 , Riker returned to the holodeck to her program , only to find that the enhanced Minuet character had disappeared . In her place , another short - haired brunette appeared , who both by personality and appearance was nowhere near the Minuet Riker had interacted with while the Bynars were in charge . His attempts to recreate her failed and he was deeply disappointed . ( ) Minuet was part of Commander Riker ' s memories while being infected on the surface of Surata IV and treated in sickbay . ( ) After an accident during an away mission in 2367 , Riker was stranded on Alpha Onias III with a lonely alien known as Barash who created an elaborate deception , making Riker believe that sixteen year s had passed since his accident in 2367 and that he was the Captain of the " Enterprise " - D . In the reality Barash had created for Riker based on Riker ' s memories , ' Minuet ' was his wife , Min Riker . The fact that a holographic figure he was so enticed with was supposed to be his flesh - and - blood wife alerted Riker that this reality was not real at all . Apparently , Barash mistook Riker ' s strong feelings for Minuet as meaning that she was a real woman and not a holodeck character . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " What ' s your name , and tell me you love jazz . " " " " My name is Minuet , and I love all jazz - except Dixieland . " " " " Why not Dixieland ? " " " " You can ' t dance to it . " " " " My girl . " " " " Au fond c ' est vrai , nous sommes tous parisiens . " " ( " " Deep down , it is true : we are all Parisians " " ) Appendices . Background information . Carolyn McCormick played Minuet . The blonde and redheaded women preceding Minuet in the jazz club were played by unknown actress es . Continuity . Minuet is the first appearance in " Star Trek " canon of a Starfleet - created hologram who is self - aware and described as more capable than a " standard " hologram due to an adaptive nature . Later examples are , the ' s holographic doctor , and Vic Fontaine . Apocrypha . In the short story " Of Cabbages and Kings " ( part of the anthology " Strange New Worlds " ) , the " Enterprise " - which had developed sentience but realized it had to give that sentience up to avoid being dismantled - preserved itself by downloading its new programming into the Minuet program . In the " Star Trek : Titan " novel " Synthesis " , Minuet ' s program was relocated to the holodecks on board . It was the core of the " Avatar " program when the ship ' s computer ascended to become an artificial intelligence with her own agenda .