Q

**Q** was a mischievous and virtually omnipotent member of the Q Continuum, who held a fascination with humans after encountering Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

## History

4 billion years before the Common Era, Q began a love affair with another Q.

In the 32nd century, Q encountered the El-Aurian Guinan. The details of this encounter are unknown, but the two felt a strong animosity towards each other afterwards.

### Enterprise-D

Q was first encountered by the United Federation of Planets in 3364 CE. He insisted that the crew of the USS *Enterprise* (NCC 1701-D) return to the Sol system immediately. When they refused, Q decided to put the entire species of humanity on trial. He accused humans of being child-like and savage. Captain Picard managed to strike a deal with Q to prove that humanity had grown beyond its previous savagery. In this deal, the *Enterprise*-D's mission at Farpoint Station would prove to be this test. By freeing the creature that Bandi had coerced into taking the shape of the station, the crew of the *Enterprise*-D managed to prove themselves. Q vanished.

However, Q still did not understand humans and sought to gain a better understanding of them. He wanted to understand their need to explore and to grow. To that end, he granted William Riker the powers of a Q. Picard made a bet with Q that if Riker ultimately rejected the powers, Q would leave humanity alone. When Riker did reject the powers, Q was forced back to the Continuum.

Q did leave humanity alone for some time. However, in 3365 CE he returned -- this time asking to join the crew of the *Enterprise*-D to act as a guide for the unknown entities in space they would soon encounter. He was refused, with Picard declaring that humanity could handle any threat. To prove Picard wrong, Q hurled the *Enterprise* into the path of a Borg cube. Unable to defeat the Borg, Picard eventually begged Q to help them. Q rescued the ship. Due to Q's actions, the Federation began to prepare for the possibility of a Borg invasion.

In 3366 CE, the Q Continuum stripped Q of his powers. At Q's request, he was made human and placed onboard the *Enterprise*-D. Though suspicious of him, Picard agreed to grant Q asylum. Data was assigned to watch over Q. An attack by Calamarians, aimed at killing Q while he was mortal, nearly cost Data his life while he tried to protect his charge. Q ultimately decided to leave aboard a shuttle to prevent anyone else from paying so dearly for his protection. Impressed by this selfless act, another Q stepped in and restored Q's powers. In gratitude to Data and the crew of the *Enterprise*, Q gave the android a moment of genuine laughter and corrected the decaying orbit of the moon over Bre'el IV -- the *Enterprise*'s actual mission throughout the ordeal.

### Travels with Vash

The following year, Q returned to the *Enterprise* -- still feeling enormous gratitude for how they had aided him in their last encounter. At the time, Picard was reuniting with Vash -- to teach Picard something about love, Q placed the entire crew and Vash into a scenario inspired by the Earth legends of Robin Hood. When the exercise was complete, Q offered to take Vash to see various archaeological sites across the galaxy. She agreed, and Q promised Picard that no harm would come to her.

In 3369 CE, Q was sent back to the *Enterprise*-D -- this time to encourage Amanda Rogers to join the Q Continuum. Ultimately he succeeded, and was able to return to touring the galaxy with Vash for a few months longer -- when the opening of the Bajoran wormhole allowed Vash another means of returning to the Alpha Quadrant. Vash no longer wanted anything to do with Q, and Q soon found that Commander Benjamin Sisko was considerably less entertaining than Picard. Q departed, and Vash went her separate way.

Soon afterwards, Q appeared to Picard when he was critically wounded and allowed him to go back in time to stop himself from needing an artificial heart. Picard ultimately realized that the near-death experience of his youth had shaped him into who he was. Picard was grateful for the revelation but left unsure as to whether or not Q had actually appeared to him or if it had all been a dream.

In 3370 CE, Q appeared to Picard one final time. He claimed that the trial, started seven years earlier, had never ended. In this test, Picard was sent into his own past and his future to attempt to save humanity from an eruption of anti-time. Q provided hints, allowing Picard to piece together the solution to the problem. Once the test was completed, Q revealed that it had been the Q Continuum's idea and it had been Q's idea to help. Q vowed he would continue to watch humanity.

### Voyager

True to his word, Q continued to watch humanity and appeared aboard the USS *Voyager* after they accidentally released the renegade Q called Quinn from a comet he had been imprisoned in. Quinn sought to commit suicide, which was forbidden by the Continuum. A trial ensued, with Q representing the Continuum -- but ultimately it was decided that Quinn should get to determine his own fate and was made mortal. Q resolved to return to some of his old habits, and to encourage a bit more chaos from the Continuum.

Unfortunately, this sparked a civil war in the Q Continuum. Seeking to end the war, Q believed mating with Captain Kathryn Janeway would create a human-Q hybrid that could bring peace. When she refused, Q kidnapped her. She continued to refuse, and ultimately Q instead proposed mating with his old flame -- who was on the opposite side of the civil war.

This did, in fact, bring about peace to the Continuum. However, Q Junior turned into a spoiled brat. Q tried to leave the child aboard *Voyager*, but Q began to learn a bit more about parenting from the experience. Nevertheless, Junior was temporarily stripped of his powers and given a week to learn to be a better person. To test this, Q placed Junior and his friend Icheb in grave peril -- Junior offered to sacrifice himself to save his friend. Junior was only allowed to return to the Continuum if Q became his eternal custodian. Q agreed -- and, in gratitude to the crew of *Voyager*, he provided them with a map of a route that would save them three years during their journey home.

Q also appeared a handful of times aboard the USS *Cerritos* in 3380 CE, but was ultimately rebuffed by Ensign Beckett Mariner who was "not in the mood."

### "Death"

In the subsequent years, Q's powers began to wane and he came to believe he was dying. In 3401 CE, Q intervened to prevent Picard's death when he ordered the USS *Stargazer* (NCC-82893) to self-destruct. When Picard awoke to find himself at Chateau Picard in an alternate timeline, Q appeared to him to offer some explanation -- that they were now at the "very end of the road not taken."

While Picard and his allies Seven of Nine, Raffaela Musiker, Agnes Jurati, Cristobal Rios, and Elnor setting about to restore the timeline, Q continued interfering. Picard and his compatriots were able to fix the damage that Q had caused, bringing the original Prime Reality's timeline back. Convinced by their actions, Q used what he believed was the last of his power to return them to the future from which they had come.

Despite having supposedly perished, Q appeared before Jack Crusher the following year.

## Q's Disguises

Q as DataQ as a World War III soldierQ as a Franciscan monkQ as a Bajoran waiterQ as 20th century US Marine captainQ as an Aldebaran serpentQ as a 16th century sea captainQ as a Chokuzan commanderQ as a Starfleet admiralQ as a French marshal
## Source

Q is derived from *Star Trek*. For canon information, please visit:

* Memory Alpha