John de Lancie Jonathan " John " de Lancie , Jr . is an actor , director , producer , writer , voice artist , and comedian , best known for his portrayal of Q on , , and . He also portrayed the character in " " and " " . In addition , de Lancie co - wrote the novel " I , Q " with Peter David and has narrated audio adaptations of several novels , including " Q - in - Law " ( with Majel Barrett Roddenberry ) and " Dark Mirror " . His Borg costume from his latter video game appearance was sold off on the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay and was also worn by Michael Reilly Burke , Gary Hunter , and Tom Morga . On " My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic " , he voices Discord . For " Qpid " , de Lancie filmed his scenes between Wednesday and Thursday and Tuesday and Friday on Paramount Stage 8 , 9 , and 16 and on the location shooting at the Descanso Gardens . In , de Lancie co - founded Alien Voices with Leonard Nimoy and writer - producer Nat Segaloff . The audio production company / troupe produced several sci - fi audio productions ( including the two " Spock Vs . Q " audios ) , as well as a few televised specials for the Sci - Fi Channel , which co - starred Nimoy , de Lancie , and several other " Star Trek " alumni . De Lancie , along with Robert Picardo , hosts " " , a concert covering the music of all the " Star Trek " eras . Personal information . Born Jonathan de Lancie , Jr . in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on , de Lancie was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and , as such , he did not learn to read until he was 12 . Despite this affliction , he began acting at the age of 14 , performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare ' s " Henry V " . He went on to study acting at Kent State University ( he was in attendance during the Kent State shootings on 4 May 1970 ) and won a scholarship at Julliard . He has performed in numerous stage productions , participating at such engagements as The American Shakespeare Festival and The Mark Taper Forum , as well as establishing a successful career in film and television . de Lancie is married to Marnie Mosiman , who appeared in the " Next Generation " episode . They have two sons : Keegan de Lancie , the oldest , played Q ' s son , Q Jr . , in the " Voyager " episode ; Owen de Lancie , their youngest , played Q ' s son in the exhibit film " Star Trek World Tour " . Coincidentally , John de Lancie is a long - time friend of Kate Mulgrew , who played Kathryn Janeway on " Voyager " . Acting career . 1970s . de Lancie got off to a busy start following his television debut on the 1976 mini - series " Captains and the Kings " , which also featured Cliff DeYoung , Kermit Murdock , Bill Quinn , and Richard Herd . The following year , he was seen in the TV movies " SST : Death Flight " with Barbara Anderson , Brock Peters , Robert Ito , and Richard Derr and " The Man with the Power " with Persis Khambatta , Noel De Souza , James Ingersoll , Tim O ' Connor , Roger Perry , and Jason Wingreen . That same year , he had a role in the mini - series " Testimony of Two Men " with Theodore Bikel , Jeff Corey , Logan Ramsey , and TOS star William Shatner . De Lancie later co - starred with Shatner in two TV movies airing in 1978 : " The Bastard " ( also starring Kim Cattrall , John Colicos , Ike Eisenmann , James Gregory , and Alex Henteloff ) and " Little Women " ( with William Schallert and Logan Ramsey ) . Also in 1978 , de Lancie and Marc Alaimo appeared as divers in the " Six Million Dollar Man " TV special " Sharks " , co - written by Fred Freiberger and produced by Freiberger and Harve Bennett . Besides a number of other TV movies and mini - series , de Lancie also made appearances on various TV shows , including an episode of " Battlestar Galactica " ( with Ken Lynch , Nehemiah Persoff , and Logan Ramsey ) and various episodes of " Emergency " ( with Kevin Tighe ) . This ultimately culminated in his major motion picture debut , appearing as a police lieutenant in the 1979 crime drama " The Onion Field " , co - starring fellow " Star Trek " alumni Phillip Richard Allen , K Callan , Ronny Cox , Richard Herd , Christopher Lloyd , Michael Pataki , and John Savage . 1980s . de Lancie ' s next film appearance occurred the following year , in the comedy " Loving Couples " , starring Stephen Collins and Sally Kellerman . De Lancie also found himself working on the 1980 mini - series " Scruples " , co - starring fellow " Trek " performers Kim Cattrall , Paul Carr , Walker Edmiston , Gary Graham , John Hancock , and Bill Quinn . He starred in a series pilot entitled " Nightside " , but the pilot was not sold ; this project co - starred Larry Cedar and Vincent Schiavelli . De Lancie later took a role in the acclaimed 1983 mini - series " The Thorn Birds " ; his many co - stars on this program included Philip Anglim , Antoinette Bower ( playing a relative of de Lancie ' s character ) , Brett Cullen , Richard Kiley , Christopher Plummer , Jean Simmons , and Meg Wyllie . From 1982 through 1986 , and again in 1989 , de Lancie starred as Eugene Bradford in the NBC soap opera " Days of Our Lives " . For his work on this series , he won two Soap Opera Digest Awards , one in 1984 and another in 1985 , and was nominated for a third in 1986 . Afterward , de Lancie was cast as a regular on a CBS sitcom called " Trial and Error " , but this series was canceled after only three episodes , airing in March of 1988 . Between these projects , he returned to guest - starring on other TV shows , including a 1986 episode of " The Twilight Zone " , in a segment co - starring Jimmie F . Skaggs and Brent Spiner . De Lancie and Spiner would work with each other again on " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , beginning the following year . 1990s . de Lancie continued expanding his resume throughout the 1990s , including roles in several popular films . He and his TNG co - star Gates McFadden appeared together in " Taking Care of Business " . The following year , de Lancie appeared briefly as a television executive near the end of " The Fisher King " . In 1992 , he appeared as a doctor in " The Hand That Rocks the Cradle " ( starring Matt McCoy and Charles Lucia ) , and in 1993 , he appeared in the psychological drama " Fearless " ( also featuring Steven Culp , Stephanie Erb , Eric Menyuk , and John Towey ) . He then starred in the 1995 sci - fi thriller " Evolver " , playing the creator of the title robotic menace . On television , he made guest appearances on shows such as " L . A . Law " ( working with Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake , Diana Muldaur , and Charles Napier ) , " The Young Riders " ( with his TNG / DS9 co - star Jennifer Hetrick and actor Anthony Zerbe ) , and " Matlock " ( in a 1993 episode with Daniel Roebuck ) . He also voiced the character of Eagleton in two episodes of " Batman : The Animated Series " , one which also featured the voices of Loren Lester and Paul Winfield and another with the voice of " L . A . Law " co - star Diana Muldaur . After TNG ended in , de Lancie was cast as a regular on the UPN series " Legend " , created by Michael Piller and Bill Dial and co - starring Richard Dean Anderson of " MacGyver " and " " fame ( de Lancie had previously appeared on an episode of " MacGyver " and went on to appear on " Stargate SG - 1 " ) . Katherine Moffat , Stephanie Beacham , Douglas Rowe , and Terry Jackson also appeared in the pilot episode with de Lancie . The series , however , lasted only twelve episodes , airing from April through August of 1995 . Aside from a supporting role in the 1996 comedy " Multiplicity " ( co - starring Ann Cusack , George D . Wallace , and Harris Yulin ) and an uncredited voice - over role on the Academy Award - winning 1998 war drama " Saving Private Ryan " , the remainder of de Lancie ' s screen acting credits throughout the 1990s were in television . He made guest appearances on " Murder One " ( with Daniel Benzali , Barbara Bosson , Roy Brocksmith , Juliana Donald , John Fleck , and John Carroll Lynch ) , " Picket Fences " ( with Louise Fletcher and Ray Walston ) , " Dave ' s World " ( with Bruce McGill ) , and appeared in two episodes of the Sharon Lawrence / Jonathan Banks series " Fired Up " , which was executive produced by Kelsey Grammer . He also starred in a number of made - for - TV movies , including 1997 ' s " Final Descent " ( with Gwynyth Walsh ) and its 1999 sequel , " Final Run " . Off - screen , de Lancie lent his voice to " Interstate ' 76 " , voicing Antonio Malochio , the main antagonist of the story . 2000s . In the year 2000 , de Lancie starred in an episode of " The Outer Limits " with series regular Kevin Conway , who portrayed the infamous Control Voice , and was further featured in an episode of UPN ' s " Secret Agent Man " with series regular Dina Meyer . In 2001 , he played Colonel Frank Simmons in several episodes of " Stargate SG - 1 " during the show ' s fifth season ; he also appeared in an episode of the show ' s sixth season the following year . He appeared in two episodes of Gene Roddenberry ' s " Andromeda " and later played the part of Odin in several episodes of " Charmed " ( working with Elizabeth Dennehy , Maury Sterling , and Joel Swetow ) . He has also made guest appearances on such shows as " The West Wing " , UPN ' s " Special Unit 2 " , " The Guardian " ( starring Raphael Sbarge , in an episode with Vaughn Armstrong ) , " NYPD Blue " ( starring Gordon Clapp ) , " Without a Trace " ( starring Enrique Murciano , in an episode with Tracy Middendorf ) , and " Shark " ( starring Jeri Ryan , in an episode with Ivar Brogger and Michael Buchman Silver ) . His recent television credits have included recurring roles on " The Unit " ( which starred Abby Brammell and on which de Lancie and Ann Cusack played a married couple ) , the acclaimed AMC Network drama " Breaking Bad " which also guest - starred Mark Margolis ( including an episode with Jonathan Banks ) , and the comic drama " Greek " . On film , de Lancie had supporting roles in two romantic comedies , 2000 ' s " Woman on Top " ( with Anne Ramsay ) and 2001 ' s " Good Advice " . In 2004 , he worked with George Takei and Tucker Smallwood in the thriller " The Eavesdropper " . He was also seen in the 2007 Adam Sandler / Don Cheadle drama , " Reign Over Me " , which also featured Jonathan Banks . In 2008 , de Lancie was seen in such films as the MGM horror thriller " Pathology " ( with Larry Drake and Sam Witwer ) , the science fiction drama " Quality Time " ( with Gail Strickland , Rif Hutton , Mary Elizabeth McGlynn , and Jeanette Miller ) , and an independent film called " You " ( with Jerry Hardin , Amy Pietz , and Brenda Strong ) . In 2009 , he appeared as a sardonic , atypical newscaster in the action sequel " Crank : High Voltage " , which co - starred Clifton Collins , Jr . , Keone Young , Menina Fortunato , Nicole Randall , Jimmy Ortega , Henry Hayashi , and Spice Williams - Crosby . He later had a role in the action film " Gamer " . He also voiced Santa Claus in the animated television movie " Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse " , which also featured the voices of Pamelyn Ferdin and Richard Chaves . He most recently filmed a role in the upcoming science fiction thriller " Recreator " . 2010s . In 2011 , de Lancie appeared in " Torchwood : Miracle Day " , the fourth season of the " Doctor Who " spin - off series , " Torchwood " . Nana Visitor also appeared in the series , and Jane Espenson and John Shiban wrote some of the episodes ; de Lancie appeared in the last three . In 2011 , de Lancie also appeared in the drama - comedy television series " Franklin and Bash " , along with Clayton Landey , Robert Pine , Jason Alexander , Geoffrey Blake , Patrick Fischler , David Gautreaux , J . Patrick McCormack , Mark L . Taylor , Ivar Brogger , Gates McFadden and Malcolm McDowell . He currently plays the Q - like omnipotent trickster Discord , a recurring character in " My Little Pony : Friendship Is Magic " , starting with the character ' s introduction in the two - part Season 2 episode " The Return of Harmony " . He later , comparing the " My Little Pony " fanbase to that of " Star Trek " . de Lancie lent his voice to several video games during this decade . In 2012 , he portrayed Professor Fitz Quadwrangle in . He also provided the voice of Assassin leader William Miles , father of protagonist Desmond Miles - voiced by Nolan North - in the fourth and fifth " Assassin ' s Creed " games , " Assassin ' s Creed : Revelations " , and " Assassin ' s Creed III " ( Roger Aaron Brown and Robin Atkin Downes also appeared in the games , but de Lancie did not share any scenes with them ) . In 2015 , he played a demon in an episode of " The Librarians " ( " And the Infernal Contract " ) directed by Jonathan Frakes . " InAlienable " ( aka " Illegal Alien " ) . In 2003 , de Lancie was attached to star in a science fiction film called " Illegal Alien " , written and executive produced by TOS star Walter Koenig . The film would have co - starred Koenig and Robert Picardo . As time went on , however , de Lancie became unhappy with the changes being made to the film and dropped out . ( Picardo also had to drop out due to another commitment . ) The film was re - named " InAlienable " and was released in 2008 with such " Trek " performers as Marina Sirtis , J . G . Hertzler , Patricia Tallman , Courtney Peldon and Gary Graham . " Weakest Link " . In 2001 , de Lancie participated in the " Star Trek " edition of the game show " Weakest Link " along with LeVar Burton , Denise Crosby , Roxann Dawson , Robert Picardo , William Shatner , Armin Shimerman , and Wil Wheaton . De Lancie was the first contestant eliminated with Anne Robinson saying to him " " John , I am afraid that ' s your Q to leave " " .