B'Elanna Torres

**B'Elanna Torres** was a Klingon-Human hybrid who lived during the mid-24th century. Torres was a former Starfleet Academy dropout-turned-Maquis, who, after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant in 2371, served for seven years as the chief engineer aboard the Federation starship USS *Voyager* under Captain Kathryn Janeway.

## Personal Info

### Other Relative(s):

L'Naan (maternal grandmother)Krelik (maternal great-grandmother)Carl Torres (uncle)Elizabeth Torres (cousin)Dean Torres (cousin)Michael Torres (cousin)Owen Paris (father-in-law)

## History

### Early life

B'Elanna was born in 2349 on the Federation colony Kessik IV to John Torres, a Human father and Miral, a Klingon mother.

She spent much of her early life on Kessik IV, but because relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation were not "too cordial" at that time, B'Elanna and her mother were the only Klingons on the planet. Although none of the other colonists voiced any negative opinions of B'Elanna, she felt that she and her mother were perceived differently; a feeling that made her uneasy and which she found hard to shake. (VOY: "Faces")

B'Elanna's alienation and the roots of her insecurities had their foundations at an early age in her life where she was teased for her appearance as a result of her Klingon heritage. When she attended grammar school she was tormented by a boy named Daniel Byrd, who would point at her cranial ridges and tease her about being half-Klingon, calling her "**Miss Turtlehead**". This insult angered Torres so much until one day during recess she attacked Byrd while he was on the gyro-swing. Torres disengaged the centrifugal governor, which caused Byrd to spin so fast that he almost flew apart. Torres then yanked Byrd off the swing and "*started pounding his little face*" until their teacher, Miss Malvin, separated them.

The alienation continued when her own father began distancing himself from them. At one time, when B'Elanna was on a camping trip with her father, her uncle Carl, and her cousins Elizabeth, Dean, and Michael, she overheard her father complaining about her, likening her moody and angry behavior to that of her mother, Miral, and that he had a hard time living with two Klingons. (VOY: "Lineage")

John Torres finally left the Federation colony and traveled back to Earth in 2354, when B'Elanna was five years old, never to return to his family again. For months after, B'Elanna cried herself to sleep every night, wondering what had made her father leave and if it was her fault. However, she never talked about her feelings of guilt and shame to anyone and eventually decided for herself that her father had left because she looked and acted Klingon. These kinds of setbacks resulted in B'Elanna developing a thin skin, often punching her way through life. She often blamed her Klingon temper having gotten her in trouble all the time. She even attempted to change her appearance to look more Human; an insecurity that remained with her for most of her life, culminating in her trying to genetically alter all of her unborn child's Klingon features when she was pregnant with her daughter in 2377.

After her father left, B'Elanna and her mother lived on Qo'noS, the Klingon homeworld, for some time. Eventually her mother pulled B'Elanna out of the Federation school she was attending and took her to a Klingon monastery in order to teach her honor and discipline.

B'Elanna never spoke to her father again after he had left them in 2354, until he initiated contact with her in 2377, after she had been stranded for nearly seven years in the Delta Quadrant. John tried to make amends and even though it was not easy for B'Elanna she tried to reestablish a relationship with her father

### Starfleet Academy (2366-2368)

Beginning in 2366, Torres attended Starfleet Academy, where she participated on the Academy decathlon team. She later admitted that after quitting "*The track and field coach was furious with me*"

She also had to dodge several punches in the lab, which Chakotay later joked about, saying, "*Only you, B'Elanna, could start a brawl in Astrotheory 101.*"

Interstellar history was, according to Torres, "*the one subject I almost failed at the Academy.*"

Also among her Academy training was EV suit simulations. She thought "*they felt peaceful, like floating in the womb,*" but years later, in actual practice, she said she felt "*a little sick to [her] stomach.*"

During her time at the Academy, B'Elanna dated Maxwell Burke; however, their relationship did not last long.

Ultimately, B'Elanna had a hard time fitting in, often getting into trouble with instructors and faculty. Within two years at the Academy, she was suspended once and had four disciplinary hearings against her. Even though quite a brilliant student and promising engineer, she eventually dropped out of the Academy in 2368, at the age of 19.

One of Torres' teachers at the Academy was Commander Zakarian, who taught Survival Strategies ; another was Professor Chapman. Torres and Chapman argued constantly; she even later admitted that "*I was always questioning his, his methods, his assumptions, and he was always slapping me down like some upstart kid.*" She was later surprised to learn that Chapman thought she was one of the most promising students he had ever taught and was disappointed when she dropped out. He had placed a note in her permanent record saying he would support her if she ever reapplied.

### In the Maquis

fter leaving the Academy, an angry young Torres eventually joined the Maquis in 2370, after former Starfleet officer Chakotay saved her life. From then on she formed a close friendship with Chakotay and she became one of his most trusted friends. At that point in her life, the Maquis became the closest thing to family she had ever had. Fighting Cardassians gave her the outlet she needed in dealing with her violent emotions.

To help deal with her explosive and often violent temper, Chakotay taught her many Native American and spiritual techniques to help calm her emotions; he even trained her to speak to her "animal guide". To his surprise, she was the only person he'd ever known who had tried to kill her animal guide.

### Aboard the USS *Voyager*Edit

####

Since the two crews were stranded together in the Delta Quadrant, they were forced to work together as a single crew. Torres was initially assigned the provisional rank of lieutenant junior grade. Torres had difficulty getting along with the temporary chief engineer, Joe Carey. She was recommended as a replacement chief engineer by Chakotay. However, Kathryn Janeway opposed this decision. After *Voyager* became trapped in a quantum singularity, Torres proved her skills to Janeway and earned her respect. Janeway then gave Torres the provisional rank of full lieutenant (giving her rank parity with Carey) and made her chief engineer over Carey.

### Returning Home

Upon return to the Alpha Quadrant, Torres was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. She then went to the planet Boreth to find her mother, Miral. She eventually found her, and the two began rapprochement, when Miral was mortally wounded by a wild animal. This animal was the mother of a younger animal B'Elanna had hunted for food. The mother had stalked B'Elanna for some time until it eventually attacked the two women. After killing the animal, Miral then asked her daughter to perform the *hegh'bat*. Knowing that the only other outcome was her mother suffering a slow, painful death, a heartbroken B'Elanna carried out her wishes. After reuniting with her husband and daughter, the family moved to Boreth to pursue prophecies about the infant.

Miral was eventually kidnapped by a Klingon religious group that considered her to be the eventual savior of the Klingon people and believed that only they could protect her until it was time to fulfill her destiny. B'Elanna convinced this group that she could protect her daughter

Eventually Tom and B'Elanna would join the Voyager-A Crew so that they could return to the Delta Quadrant as a family and escape the dangerous Klingon Groups.

## Personal relationships

### Family

B'Elanna was an only child of mixed heritage. Her father John Torres was Human, and her mother Miral was a Klingon, which has caused many trials and tribulations in her life.

Her grandmother on her mother's side, L'Naan, died when she was young, so she was taught to say the prayer of remembrance for her, and her great-grandmother (mother of L'Naan) Krelik.

On her father's side was her father's mother, her grandmother, who could always put a smile on her face, even when she was very depressed, by cooking banana pancakes.

Also on her father's side was her father's brother, her Uncle Carl. On a few occasions when she was young, her Uncle Carl took her and her father, and his children (her three cousins: Elizabeth, Dean, and Michael) to go camping and fishing. It was twelve days after the last of these camping trips that her father left her and her mother.

## Personal Timeline

 2354
 2366
 2368
 2370
 2371
 2377
 2378