Shakaar Edon Shakaar Edon was a member of the Bajoran Resistance and leader of the eponymous Shakaar cell during the Cardassian Occupation . After twenty - five years of fighting the Cardassian occupiers , the Occupation ended , and he became a farmer . Later , he became First Minister of Bajor . History . During the Occupation of Bajor , Shakaar led his resistance cell for over 12 years in the Dahkur Province area . In that time , he fought the Cardassians including sabotaging buildings and liberating the Gallitep labor camp . ( ) He knew the terrain extremely well and therefore able to evade Cardassian forces . ( ) Shakaar recruited other Bajorans into the cell , including Kira Nerys , who he sent on her first raid , when she was age thirteen . ( ) After the Occupation ended , Shakaar and some of his cell including Lupaza and Furel , became farmers in Dahkur Province . It was a daunting task considering the effect the Occupation had on the environment , so he asked for soil reclamator s in 2369 from the provisional government . He waited three years to receive them in 2371 , when he was promised the use of the machinery for one year . However , Kai Winn , who had become acting first minister of Bajor , reversed this and demanded them back . Shakaar refused , and so Winn first sent Major Kira , now first officer on Deep Space 9 , to reason with him , but , when that failed , sent the militia to arrest him under the command of Colonel Lenaris Holem . Shakaar and Kira were pursued with the rest of the farmers to the Dahkur Hills . Shakaar and Lenaris agreed that they must prevent civil war , so Lenaris joined Shakaar in refusing Winn ' s objective . Instead , Kira encouraged Shakaar to enter the race to become the new Bajoran First Minister in late 2371 to oppose Kai Winn . With his popularity not only from his past as a resistance leader , but also for his stance against the unjust actions of the government , Kai Winn withdrew from the race ( also after he and Kira threatened to reveal that she was willing to start a civil war over farm equipment if she continued to stand ) . Shakaar quickly gained support from Lenaris and other army groups , and won the election easily . ( ) In 2372 , Shakaar arrived at Deep Space 9 to negotiate Bajor ' s admittance into the Federation . Shakaar had pushed to cut in half the time Bajor had to wait to join the Federation . He was threatened by a Cardassian terrorist movement called the True Way . A True Way operative nearly killed him twice , during the conference , by sabotaging his turbolift car and depressurizing his quarters . He was saved , both times , by the crew of Deep Space 9 . It was at this time that he realized he had fallen in love with Kira and he began a romance with her . ( ) A short time later , he convinced Kira to attend a conference with the Cardassians on Korma by taking her to her favorite restaurant in Jalanda City , filling her with springwine , and massaging her with Kolaish spice oil . ( ) Kira again visited him in the capital in 2373 . He was at Kira ' s bedside when she gave birth to Miles O ' Brien and Keiko O ' Brien ' s baby Kirayoshi O ' Brien , later that year . Kira and Shakaar ended their relationship sometime after , as a visit to the Kenda Shrine on Bajor revealed that they were not meant to walk the same path , although the pair remained friends . ( ) After Bajor signed a nonaggression pact with the Dominion late that year , Shakaar ordered all Bajorans to leave Deep Space 9 . ( ) An hallucination of Damar told Dukat , in 2374 , that if he ' d killed Captain Benjamin Sisko and brought his corpse to Bajor , the Bajorans would have interpreted it as the Prophet s having abandoned them , resulting in the toppling of Shakaar ' s government . ( ) Later that year , Kira spent several days on Bajor briefing Shakaar on the Dominion War . This visit made some on the station think the two would resume their relationship , but that was not the case . ( ) Later that year , Shakaar cooperated with Winn and officially requested Captain Sisko to return an historical artifact from B ' hala . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to the script for " The Assignment " , his family name was pronounced as " sha - KAR " . " " Origins . The character of Shakaar initially took inspiration from the real - life historical figure Emiliano Zapata . " " [ He ] rose up to overthrow the unjust government of Mexico and then put in a government that he rose up to overthrow as well . He kept fighting well after the war was won , " " explained Robert Hewitt Wolfe . " " I think that was the idea here , just to see Kira ' s mentor . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 97 ) The character was also initially envisioned as if it was played by or someone similar . ( " " , p . 243 ) Regarding the character ' s first appearance , Ronald D . Moore remembered the writers thinking , " " Shakaar has done something that was questionable . Yes , he has a legitimate grievance , but you could see Kira ' s point as well . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 98 ) There was also the potential of Shakaar , however , turning into a romantic interest for Kira , so the script incorporated " a couple little subtle beats to play , just to see if we could gain some chemistry between the actors , " stated Moore . ( " " , p . 244 ) " Lots of people , " as worded by Ira Steven Behr , tried out for the role of Shakaar Edon . ( " " , p . 243 ) In need of an actor to play the part , the producers thought of Duncan Regehr . ( " Warrior Without a War " , " " , No . 11 ) The part was eventually given to him . Regehr needed to convey the qualities that would make Shakaar both " a good leader and a good killer ; we had to give him that edge , " stated Jonathan West , who oversaw the portrayal of Shakaar by directing his first appearance in DS9 Season 3 outing . ( " " , p . 243 ) Although Regehr had previously portrayed Ronin in , the actor regarded Shakaar sufficiently different from his previous role . Shakaar was extremely different from the kinds of roles Regehr usually played , and was the first recurring character he had ever portrayed . ( " Warrior Without a War " , " " , No . 11 ) Ultimately , the DS9 producers were pleased with the depiction of Shakaar in the episode sharing his name . René Echevarria commented , " " Duncan Regehr [ . . . ] did a nice job . " " Ira Behr remarked , " " I do [ . . . ] think that Duncan Regehr is a much worthier love interest for Kira than Bareil was . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , pp . 97 & 98 ) Not to say Behr believed Shakaar became any less masculine than originally conceived . " " The first time we saw him , " " said Behr , " " he was Clint Eastwood , the foreigner , the man of few words , the terrorist . " " ( " " , p . 306 ) Ron Moore concurred that Regehr ' s on - screen chemistry with Kira actress Nana Visitor " seemed to work . " ( " " , p . 244 ) Return . Shakaar was used in an effort to fill a void left by the demise of Li Nalas , another heroic figure who may have united and led the Bajorans , in the second season of . " " We were still looking for that character , oddly enough , in the fourth season , " " noted Ira Behr . Thus , the writers decided to find out if Shakaar , having been introduced in the third season , could be used in such a way . ( " " , p . 83 ) The writers were very eager to bring Shakaar back in DS9 Season 4 outing . " " We really needed to get Shakaar going again after last season , " " reflected Ron Moore . " " We wanted to get a relationship between him and Kira , and we wanted to keep that story . " " Another motivation for returning Shakaar to DS9 was that the writers hoped to use him as a method of continuing the development of Bajorans and their homeworld , which the writers hadn ' t done in quite a while . " " So it was important to get him back on the show , " " Moore concluded . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 113 ) During development of " Crossfire " , episode writer René Echevarria envisioned Shakaar , in an unused climax to the episode , becoming endangered by an approaching fireball , which also jeopardized Kira . Though Odo was faced with the decision of whom to save , Shakaar was Odo ' s choice , dictated by Odo ' s job , and was duly enveloped by the shapeshifter until the danger had passed , the fireball nearly killing Kira . ( " " , pp . 304 - 305 ) Nana Visitor was keen to see how the relationship between Shakaar and Kira would develop . " " He has seen Kira at her worst and still finds her attractive , which I find interesting , " " the actress commented . ( ) Duncan Regehr ' s second appearance as Shakaar , in " Crossfire " , disappointed Ira Steven Behr , who complained , " " I think we mishandled his character in the episode , and he never recovered after that [ . . . ] He became way too sensitive here . It just wasn ' t [ the same ] Shakaar . " " ( " " , p . 306 ) According to " " ( p . 306 ) , Behr ' s unhappiness over the depiction of the character didn ' t have anything to do with the actor ' s performance . However , Behr himself considered , " " Maybe it was in the dialogue or the way it was played , but the intent was he was supposed to be a gruffer , much more plain - speaking guy , more of the bull in the china shop . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 113 ) Limit . Following Shakaar ' s return in " Crossfire " , it was inevitable that the writers would begin devising ways to break up his relationship with Kira . ( " " , p . 306 ) Shakaar and this romance were featured in an early version of fourth season installment , though not in that episode ' s final version . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 28 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 60 ) When attempting to come up with a reasonable in - universe explanation for Kira Nerys to become pregnant in penultimate season four episode , the obvious possibility that it be Shakaar ' s offspring was dismissed by Ira Behr and Rick Berman , simply because they didn ' t like the idea . ( " " , pp . 351 - 352 ) However , Shakaar was written into the first draft of the script for " Body Parts " , which described him thus ; " " Although he is a politician , at heart , he is a no - nonsense , cut - to - the - chase kind of guy . " " In the story , Shakaar arrived at DS9 on a transport ship , a day after having been in contact with Kira Nerys ; though he had been busy campaigning in a Bajoran village , he met with Kira in her quarters and reluctantly gave her advice about whether she should continue with the pregnancy of the O ' Briens ' baby , suggesting that she not go through with it because it would result in her being physically unable to have any children of her own . In reply to Kira asking about whether that was because he himself actually wanted children , Shakaar tried to avoid the question and asked her if she wanted offspring of her own . Since Kira was uncertain , he put an arm around her and said he could stay as long as she wanted him to , as he was First Minister of Bajor . Later , in Quark ' s , Shakaar met and socialized with Miles O ' Brien , drinking scotch together when Keiko O ' Brien and Kira arrived . In response to Kira announcing she had decided to have the baby , Shakaar admitted he was pleased she was happy with that decision . However , he also asked her why she had chosen it , to which Kira replied it was feeling the baby kicking and sensing its life within her . Shakaar commented that he understood what she meant but Kira disagreed . Shakaar also reckoned all four of them should get used to socializing with each other , as they would get to know each other fairly well over the following few months . The fact Shakaar made only one fifth season appearance was primarily caused by budgetary considerations and already crowded stories . Specifically , he was written into and , but budget dictated his removal from both . Duncan Regehr was very enthusiastic about the prospect of returning as Shakaar , if the DS9 production office requested him to reprise the character . Shortly after appearing as Shakaar in , Regehr commented , " " It ' s funny . I think every time I come to the " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " sets to play Shakaar that it ' s going to be the last time . But maybe that ' s just the insecure actor in me talking [ . . . ] The character is really " very " different [ than before ] ; I like the transformation he ' s gone through since he was introduced . He ' s gone from rebel leader to a more conservative character . What the writers have done with Shakaar that ' s intriguing to me is that this conservative character still has to hold onto the old aspects of his rebelliousness and his crustiness , if you will . Shakaar is often still back in the Bajoran bush at times , and he doesn ' t go too much for the fineries in life , but I think Shakaar has softened a bit and learned to behave a little bit better in his new surroundings [ . . . ] [ Playing him has ] always been an enjoyable experience . And , if nothing else , it ' s a surprise every time I come in here to see what will be going on and what Shakaar will be doing in a given show [ . . . ] I ' ve heard a few rumours about what ' s going to happen with Shakaar , both good and bad . I don ' t know what to believe . I assume we ' ll know at some point what the reality is . It ' s been a lot of fun . " " ( " Warrior Without a War " , " " , No . 11 ) Duncan Regehr thought Shakaar ' s relationship with Kira was " very natural . " The actor also felt there was more to explore in their romantic connection , even after " The Begotten " was produced , and that the relationship was highly popular with viewers . ( " Warrior Without a War " , " " , No . 11 ) In a story entitled " Patriots " , a scandalous political secret Shakaar was withholding , as it would otherwise cause the Bajoran government to collapse , was investigated by Jake Sisko , in his capacity as a journalist . Noted Ron Moore , " " It ' s Shakaar in the scandal , " " meaning the secret involved something he had done . Since the writers were dissatisfied with the plot , Shakaar was eliminated from the story , which was subsequently rewritten as DS9 Season 6 episode . ( " " , p . 556 ; " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 60 ) Shakaar was eventually written out of the series when , amid the Dominion War , there appeared to be little requirement for a person to unite and lead the Bajorans toward a common goal . ( " " , p . 83 ) Reception . Duncan Regehr received positive reactions Shakaar , stating , " " I ' ve gotten wonderful letters from the " Star Trek " fans . It ' s amazing , just tremendous how supportive they ' ve been of what I ' ve done [ . . . ] People have been so supportive of my work as an actor , of Shakaar as a character , and of the relationship between Shakaar and Nerys . I think people want to see more . " " The popularity of the character was one motivating factor in Regehr wanting to return as Shakaar , following " The Begotten " . ( " Warrior Without a War " , " " , No . 11 ) The costume worn by Duncan Regehr as Shakaar Edon in " The Begotten " was auctioned off in the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction . Apocrypha . The " " novels " Night of the Wolves " and " Dawn of the Eagles " depict his activities during the Occupation . In the novels , Shakaar was assassinated during the ceremony for Bajor ' s entry into the Federation . It was also revealed that he had been taken over by a parasitic being , the creatures from .