TREKCORE > DEEP SPACE NINE > CAST > Colonel Kira Nerys

PLAYED BY: Nana Visitor
FULL NAME: Kira Nerys
SPECIES: Bajoran
POSITION: Officer in the Bajoran militia; former resistance fighter; now liaison officer and second-in-command of Deep Space Nine; station commander at series' end
RANK: Major until season 7; Colonel thereafter
BIRTHPLACE: Bajor (Dahkur province); Singha refugee camp
PARENTS: Kira Taban (father; deceased); Kira Meru (mother, deceased)
SILBLINGS: Kira Reon, Kira Pohl (younger brothers, both deceased)
LOVE INTERESTS: Bareil, Shakaar, Odo
SPOUSE: none
HOBBIES: Kira enjoyed raktajino, coffee, and ginger and jumja teas. Her favorite candy was Rigelian chocolates. She was also a player and follower of springball.
DISLIKES: Holosuites; flowers, jumja sticks
OTHER FRIENDS: Shakaar, Lupaza (now deceased), Furel (now deceased), Razka Karn, Galis Blin, Latha (now deceased), Mobara (now deceased), Trentin Fala (deceased), unnamed sculptor in Dahkur Province, friend who owned house in Musilla Province

Kira was born in Dahkur Province on Bajor, and grew up in the Singha refugee camp. She was told by her father that her mother had died of malnutrition in Singha when Nerys was three; however, in 2374, she learned that Kira Meru had actually been taken away as a "comfort woman" and lived as Gul Dukat's lover for seven years.

At age 13, she began hanging around the camp of the Shakaar resistance cell, doing odd chores until she was allowed to participate in an ambush of a Cardassian skimmer. Lupaza made her earring out of metal from the skimmer. (This is according to what Kira told Odo in "The Darkness and the Light". In "Indiscretion", she told Dukat that she was recruited into the cell by Lorit Akrem.) While still a teenager, she was present when the Shakaar liberated Gallitep. At some point, Kira's father was one of the injured rescued by the Shakaar after the Cardassians burned down his village; she went off on a raid rather than watch him die, a decision she later regretted.

Years later, Kira was sent to Terok Nor to find a list of collaborators hidden in the chemist's shop. As she was searching it, the chemist, Vaatrik, walked in, and she was forced to kill him. Afterwards, she met Odo, who was investigating the murder, and eventually admitted to being a rebel, but said she was elsewhere committing sabotage at the time of Vaatrik's death. Odo let her go.

When the Cardassians finally left Bajor, Kira opposed Federation aid, but found herself assigned to the Cardassians' old mining station, now DS9, as liaison officer ("Emissary"). Her loyalties were torn by the arrival of a Bajoran terrorist named Tahna, who wanted her aid in what turned out to be a plot to destroy the wormhole's entrance ("Past Prologue"). Kira was present in the crash which killed Kai Opaka, and was deeply affected emotionally by the Kai's fate ("Battle Lines"). In "Progress", she tried to persuade a stubborn farmer, Mullibok, to evacuate from Jeraddo because his life was in danger; she finally burned down his house to force him out. In "Dramatis Personae", under the influence of the Saltah'nah matrix, Kira plotted against Sisko for control of the station. Then, in "Duet", Kira's attitudes toward Cardassians were changed forever by the sacrifice of Marritza.

Kira rescued Li Nalas, and was afterwards recalled to Bajor, where she experienced an Orb vision including Bareil as her lover. She was later abducted and beaten by the Circle, and after her rescue took evidence to the Chamber of Ministers that broke the Circle ("The Homecoming"/"The Circle"/"The Siege"). In "Necessary Evil", Kira finally admitted to Odo the truth about Vaatrik, a fact which strained their friendship. Kira later befriended Haneek, who turned on her angrily when Kira agreed with the provisional government that Bajor couldn't handle the influx of Skrreean immigrants ("Sanctuary"). Kira became lovers with Vedek Bareil when he visited the station in "Shadowplay". After coming face to face with her double in the mirror universe ("Crossover"), she was forced by Vedek Winn to investigate accusations that Bareil was a traitor; she discovered he was innocent, but not in time to prevent Winn from becoming Kai ("The Collaborator").

In "The Search, Parts I and II", Kira was included in the mission to locate the Founders, and was present when Odo found his people. Soon afterwards, in "Second Skin", she was kidnapped by the Obsidian Order, altered to appear Cardassian, and told that she was Iliana Ghemor, who had been under deep cover with false memories as a Bajoran. She eventually realized it was a trap for Iliana's father, Tekeny Ghemor. Kira helped Ghemor escape, and he became her "honorary" father. She and Odo later foiled a plot by Quark to get a holo-image of her ("Meridian"). Then, Kira was an unwilling passenger when Tom Riker hijacked the Defiant, but eventually talked him into giving up ("Defiant"). It was not long after that when Kira sat by Bareil's bedside as he died ("Life Support").

In "Heart of Stone", something curious happened on the way back from Prophets' Landing with Odo: Kira woke up in a stasis chamber on a moon in the Badlands. Odo told her about the Female Changeling's impersonation of her, but not how he figured it out. Later, Kira tried to resolve the problem between Shakaar and Winn peacefully, but went on the run with her old leader when they were betrayed by Winn ("Shakaar"). She went after evidence of the fate of the Ravinok, on which her friend Lorit had been lost; with Dukat, she rescued several survivors from a Breen mine, including his daughter Ziyal ("Indiscretion").

Kira, still unaware of Odo's feelings toward her, became lovers with Shakaar during his visit to the station ("Crossfire"). Then, in "Return to Grace", she went on an impromptu mission with Dukat, and afterwards brought Ziyal to live on DS9 under her protection. In "Accession", Kira contemplated resigning to follow her d'jarra.

In "Body Parts", Kira was piloting a botanical mission with Keiko O'Brien when Keiko was seriously injured in a runabout accident. Kira allowed Bashir to place Keiko's unborn baby in her uterus; due to Bajoran reproductive physiology, Kira then had to carry the baby to term. She moved in with the O'Briens for the duration of her pregnancy, an arrangement that was not without its complications, such as when she found herself briefly attracted to Miles O'Brien ("Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"). Kira was still pregnant when she tracked down and stopped a Cardassian who was murdering members of the Shakaar cell one by one ("The Darkness and the Light"). Then finally, in "The Begotten", Kira gave birth to the O'Briens' son, Kirayoshi.

When Tekeny Ghemor returned to DS9, dying, Kira took care of him, until she found out that he had been present at a massacre of Bajoran monks; however, recalling her regret at missing the death of her own father, she finally returned to comfort Ghemor ("Ties of Blood and Water"). After breaking up with Shakaar (due to a negative prophecy at the Kenda Shrine), Kira was on a Defiant mission in which the crew discovered their own descendants. She learned then of Odo's love for her from an older version of him; and also learned that she had died in the Gaians' timeline, due to neural damage which Bashir wasn't equipped to treat on the Defiant. Kira was nonetheless prepared to sacrifice herself to preserve the colonists' existence, but the older Odo's tampering prevented this ("Children of Time").

She remained on DS9 when it was evacuated by Starfleet in "Call to Arms", and coped with life under the Dominion and Cardassia ("A Time to Stand"). After Vedek Yassim's public suicide to protest the Dominion occupation, Kira found it impossible to remain neutral, and she and Odo began a New Resistance movement ("Rocks and Shoals"). However, Kira was furious when Odo was too occupied linking with the Female Changeling to aid Rom in accessing the deflector array, resulting in Rom's capture ("Behind the Lines"). She tried to have Rom freed, and later, she was arrested and held for execution, along with Rom, Leeta, and Jake, but they were sprung by Quark and Ziyal, with later timely aid from Odo ("Favor the Bold"/"Sacrifice of Angels"). Kira and Odo talked it out and restored their friendship, at least somewhat, offscreen in "You Are Cordially Invited".

After a brief romance with the mirror-universe Bareil ("Resurrection"), Kira received a message from Dukat on her mother's birthday, telling her that he and her mother had been lovers. She went back in time (using the Orb of Time) to investigate, learned that it was true, and nearly killed both her mother and Dukat, but relented ("Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night").

In "His Way", due to a bit of holographic subterfuge by Vic Fontaine, Kira had a date with Odo, not knowing that he thought it was just a practice dinner with a hologram of her. This gave her a "moment of clarity"; and though the evening ended badly, she confronted Odo the next day, and their kiss in the middle of the Promenade was the beginning of their romantic relationship. Odo later supported Kira when she willingly served as the vessel through which a Prophet battled a pah-wraith, which had possessed Jake ("The Reckoning"). In "Tears of the Prophets", Kira and Odo had their first argument as a couple, but made up. Kira commanded the Defiant after Sisko was incapacitated, and was later left in command of the station.

Kira was promoted to Colonel, and aided Senator Cretak in getting permission to build the Romulan hospital on Derna, but when it became clear that the Romulans were using the facility to store weapons, she informed Cretak that the Romulans were to leave, and led a blockade. She managed to bluff them out long enough for the wormhole to be restored ("Image in the Sand"/"Shadows and Symbols"). In "Covenant", Kira was kidnapped by a Dominion transporter which beamed her to Empok Nor, where Dukat tried to convince her to join his community of pah-wraith worshippers. Kira exposed Dukat as a fraud to his followers, and was rescued by the Defiant.

Kira's love for Odo was put to the test in "Chimera", when he was tempted to go with Laas and seek the other Changeling explorers. Kira helped Laas escape from a holding cell, and directed him to a rendezvous with Odo, who went but then returned to her, having realized the depth of her love. Later, when Kira was given a temporary Starfleet commission (with the rank of Commander) and sent to teach Damar how to rebel against the Dominion, she and Odo learned on the way there that Odo had the Founders' disease ("When It Rains..."). Over a series of guerrilla missions, Kira pretended to be unaware of Odo's rapid decline, in order to help him preserve his dignity; then finally he collapsed after they had successfully hijacked a Jem'Hadar ship to steal a Breen energy dissipator ("Tacking Into the Wind"). She brought Odo back to DS9, and then left again at his insistence, to continue aiding the Cardassian resistance ("Extreme Measures").

In "The Dogs of War", after a meeting with potential allies became a massacre, Kira went into hiding with Damar and Garak on Cardassia Prime. It was her suggestion that Damar use his "legend" to foment a people's uprising. Finally, in "What You Leave Behind", Kira, Damar, and Garak were captured by the Dominion and nearly executed, but rescued by resistance members. They then stormed Dominion headquarters and captured the Female Changeling. When all was over, Kira learned from Odo of his decision to rejoin the Great Link. She took him back to his homeworld, and they parted there. Kira, who became DS9's commander after Sisko's disappearance, was one of five regulars left on the station at the end.

Other facts: Kira had no artistic talent, but knew how to lip-read due to Shakaar's tendency to mumble. Her command code was Kira-1-5-7 alpha.

Nana Visitor

Nana Visitor plays First Officer Major Kira Nerys, a Bajoran female who is a former terrorist. She has been fighting for Bajoran independence most of her life and is skeptical of the Federation's involvement on Deep Space Nine. "Kira embodies the warrior archetype that all women to a lesser or greater degree possess," Nana explains. "Her aggression is not without purpose, but is passionately connected to her love of the culture, spirituality, and history of the people of Bajor. A mentally and physically fearless fighter, she'll do anything for what she believes is for the good of Bajor."

A New York native, Nana was born and raised on the westside, in and around the theater district. The daughter of theatrical parents, Nana's father was a Broadway choreographer, and her mother, a ballet instructor. Nana herself began to study ballet in her mother's studio at age 7, and by the end of high school, was tapping her way to Broadway.

Visitor appeared with Angela Lansbury in the touring production of "Gypsy," and later appeared in "42nd Street." Her other stage credits include "My One and Only," "The Ladies Room" at the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, and "A Musical Jubilee." While still in New York, Nana appeared in the ABC daytime soap operas Ryan's Hope and One Life to Live. Nana made her feature film debut appearing with Ava Gardner in "The Sentinel."

Since arriving in Los Angeles in 1985, Nana has appeared in many television shows such as Empty Nest, Murder, She Wrote, Baby Talk, thirtysomething, Jake and the Fatman, L.A. Law, In the Heat of the Night, and Matlock. In addition, Nana starred in the role of Bryn Newhouse on the NBC sitcom Working Girl.

In a busy 2001, Visitor appeared on Broadway playing Roxie Hart in the Tony Award-winning musical "Chicago" and was also featured on Fox's Dark Angel.

Nana Visitor bio from StarTrek.com