Odo

Odo is a major character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played by René Auberjonois. A member of the Changeling race originally from the Gamma Quadrant, with the ability to shape-shift, he has Bajoran nationality. He is the Head of Security on Deep Space Nine, and served in the same role when the station was under Cardassian command.
His closest friend in canon is Kira Nerys, for whom he harbours a long-standing unrequited love, finally reciprocated in season 7. Despite this, he also finds time for an intermittent "sleeping with the enemy" relationship with the Female Shapeshifter, who heads up the Dominion forces in the Dominion War, not to mention (briefly) marrying Lwaxana Troi. He has a bickering but close relationship with bar tender cum part-time petty criminal Quark.
==Fan perspectives==
Odo is a popular character with fans. In a 1995 poll including all Trek characters, he was the second highest ranked DS9 character, after Julian Bashir, and one of only three DS9 characters to reach the top ten, coming in at number nine.Brenda S. Antrim 'Netchatter', in Multi-Species Medicine #18
Many fans see a dichotomy between Odo's hard-boiled exterior and his inner softy. OdoGoddess explains:
[A]s I watched "A Man Alone", and heard Odo admitting to Quark that he didn't understand the humanoid need to couple, followed by his dismissive cautionary tale on the compromises people in relationships need to make -- I was caught. / A lot of fans chose to take what he said at face value, that he was this alien who didn't understand humanoid behavior. However... I just *knew* that Odo wasn't grousing -- he was *lonely*. I could relate to that. And with each passing week and episode, I became more and more fond of that blue-eyed, gruff-mannered, but soft-hearted constable.Best of Trek: August 2000 Spotlight (accessed 5 October 2011)
==Fanfiction==
Although the character has a loyal following, fanfiction centred on Odo is rarer than for some other DS9 characters. As in canon, he is often paired with Kira, which can lead to angst potential when his feelings aren't returned. Slash pairings are rarer, with the predominant one perhaps being Odo/Quark. Erotica often imagines how Odo's shapeshifting skills might be put to good use in the bedroom. 
Gen fanfiction also frequently explores the otherness of being a shapeshifter in a world of solids, or describes the Great Link on the Changeling home world. There are also many gen stories in the detective genre, sometimes set pre-series on the Cardassian station. Between his old guilt at his passivity during the Cardassian occupation and his new guilt about being a member of an Evil Race, there's plenty of potential to crank up the angst-meter.
===Notable Works===
====Odo/Kira====
*Hiding, by Your Cruise Director -- early example of this pairing, which explores Odo's alien nature (1994)
*Shaken, by OdoGoddess -- angsty episode coda, by a prolific Odo writer (1995)
*Angle and Plane, by Lori Summers -- widely recommended adventure novel (1998)
*Beneath The Prophets, by J.M. Rolls -- novella focusing on Bajoran politics and anti-Changeling racism (2000)
*Founders' Day, by Cardie-ologist -- episode tag with an older Odo's reflections
*Incarnations, by Mosca -- unusual futurefic (2003)
====Slash====
*Examples required
====Other====
*Eureka!, by Henrietta Wotton -- character study set pre-series 
*Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth, by Cardie-ologist -- detective story set pre-series
*The Long Haul, by Yahtzee -- gen piece, set immediately pre-series (2004)
*The War Report, by Mosca -- gen vignette focusing on Odo's guilt during the Dominion War (2004)
==Other Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
===Meta===
* by leohttbriar with followup by aceofwands -- meta about Odo's character/moral arc and how two fans wish the show had ended things differently. Posted 2024
===Vids===
==Archives and mailing lists==
The archive Odo's PADD is dedicated to Odo and the Odo/Kira pairing. Fanfiction centering on the character can also be found at Archive of Our Own, Bajorarama, fanfiction.net and the Trekiverse archives, and at the Constable-Mine mailing list.
==Fansites==
* Kira and Odo Page -- Odo/Kira shipper site by Nerys
==Fanzines==
*Love and Justice -- Odo/Kira zine series (8 issues)
*Odo-Files -- genzine featuring Odo & Odo/Kira (2 issues; 1998-2000)
==Example Art Gallery==
File:Generationgap8-4.jpg|Art from Generation Gap #8 by Eileen Siders (1995)
File:Loveandjustice3front.jpg|Odo & Kira on the Love and Justice 3 cover by Tracy Hemenover
File:DD9 Odo.png|Human Odo for the Deep Dish Nine trope. Fanart by onetobeamup on tumblr (2014)
==Nonfiction==
*A Career Biography of René Auberjonois -- credits list for actor René Auberjonois who plays Odo (2000s)
*From Witch Boy to Shapeshifter -- another credits list for Auberjonois; also contains poetry & filks (1993)
*Oracle -- quarterly newsletter for Auberjonois' fanclub (1998-present)
==Con Reports Which Feature René Auberjonois==
Some convention reports from 1996-2005 are posted at: Rene Files.
==Meta==
*Intimacy & Sex on Deep Space Nine -- essay by Wendy A.F.G. Stengel that deals with Odo's relationships
==References==
Category:Star Trek DS9 Characters