Guinan

Guinan was a supporting character introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Child. She was a member of the El-Aurian race, a long-lived species.
She was portrayed by as an adult in the 1890s and the 23rd through 25th centuries, Isis J. Jones as a de-aged Guinan in the episode Rascals, and Ito Aghayere in the second season of Star Trek: Picard. 
She was born sometime prior to the 1890s on the El-Aurian homeworld. By 1890s she was living on Earth, working as an author and listening to different humans. When she encountered the time displaced Commander Data Guinan assumed at first that he was someone sent by her father to bring her home and asked Data to go back and tell her father that she was not ready to return as she was not done listening to the humans. Data, not realizing that Guinan had visted Earth in the past, at first assumed she also had traveled back in time from the 24th century. The two set each other straight and she began working with Data to help prevent the Devidians from interfering in human history. From her prespective she met Jean-Luc Picard and the other Enterprise-D senior staff for the first time. She was badly injured when a Devidian opened a temporal portal but was saved by Samuel Clemens, who arranged for her to be treated for her injuries. 
Guinan was still on Earth in 2024, and owned a bar in Los Angeles. By then she had become disillusioned with the human race and was preparing to leave Earth. She was in the process of closing her business when she met Picard again. Guinan helped him stop Q from changing human history. Seeing Picard and his 25th century comrades in action, she regained her faith in the human race. During this time she met Q for the first time. When Cristóbal Rios elected to stay in the 21st century instead of going back to the 25th century. She became close to Rios, his new significant other Teresa Ramirez, and her son Ricardo - who would often come to see her when they were in Los Angeles. 
Some time in the 22nd century she had further dealings with Q and some of his fellow Q. While she felt other Q were "almost respectable" she despised Q.
In the late 23rd century she was one of the few survivors of the Borg attack on the El-Aurian homeworld. Arriving back home she found her daughter had been killed by the Borg. She found her adopted sister Delcara screaming over the body of her deceased husband and was forced to drag her away and to safety. Those screams stayed with her the rest of her life. Fleeing with other refugees on the freighter Lakul, she was rescued by the Enterprise-B when the Lakul was trapped in the Nexus. Beamed away from the Lakul before it exploded, part of her consciousness remained within the Nexus.
At a loss, she drifted through the Alpha Quadrant before encountering a young Starfleet officer named Jean-Luc Picard in 2335. From Picard's perspective this was their first meeting. He was able to help her deal with her grief, and the two forged a strong relationship. Feeling that Ten-Forward needed a good hostess to run the place, Picard contacted her in 2365 and invited her to come work and live on the Enterprise-D. 
Over the next several years she forged strong relationships with many of the Enterprise crew. This included William Riker, Worf, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, Wesley Crusher, Beverly Crusher, Ro Laren, and Miles O'Brien and his wife Keiko. 
When the Borg invaded the Federation in 2367 she convinced Riker that to defeat the Borg he had let Picard go after Picard had been kidnapped by the Borg, knowing that Riker could not win as long as he clung to Picard's memory. Riker was able to use her advice to form his own command style, and working with the Enterprise crew defeated the Borg.
She, Keiko, Ro, and Picard were all de-aged to about 12 years of age in 2369 when the shuttle they were on passed through an energy field. Prior to the Enterprise crew figuring out how to reverse the process, Guinan helped retake the ship from a band of rogue Ferengi who had captured the Enterprise. She helped Ro deal with being de-aged caused Ro to relive her traumatic childhood. 
In 2371 Guinan helped Picard deal with the rogue El-Aurian scientist Tolian Soran, who was desperate to get back to the Nexus no matter how many people he killed in the process. After the destruction of the Enterprise-D she returned to Earth and was living there in 2379 when she attended the wedding of Riker and Troi. 
By 2401, she was living in Los Angeles once again. She owned and operated a bar at 10 Forward Avenue. As an El-Aurian, she was able to control her physical appearance. Feeling that some humans resented El-Aurians for not aging at the same rate, she changed her appearance to that of an older woman. After Picard returned from the 21st century, she apologized for not telling him sooner of their 21st century meeting but trusted that Picard would do the right thing. She filled him in on what happened to Rios, Teresa, and Ricardo and how they had helped save humanity.
==Alternate Timelines==
In a timeline where the Federation was at war with the Klingons due to the disappearance of the Enterprise-C, Guinan became aware of the changes in the timeline in 2366. In this timeline she was good friends with Tasha Yar. Guinan was able to convince Picard to send the time displaced Enterprise-C back to 2344 to continue protecting the Klingons. As a result, this timeline was prevented from coming in to existence. 
==Trivia==
* The character of Guinan was inspired by , an actress, businesswoman, and speakeasy operator of the 20th century.
* Original Guinan actress Whoopi Goldberg had been inspired by original Nyota Uhura actress to become an actress. 
* Ito Aghayere was cast to play the 2024 version of Guinan as Goldberg had aged too much to convincingly play a younger Guinan.
* Q implies Guinan had a mischievous history just as bad as his own; the very fact he recoiled in fear and offered to remove her fron Picard's ship meant she was just as capable
==Navigation==
Category:Star Trek Heroes
Category:Businessmen
Category:Wise
Category:Elderly
Category:Virtually Resourceful
Category:Supporters
Category:Charismatic
Category:Selfless
Category:Successful
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Comic Book Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Wealthy