TREKCORE > DEEP SPACE NINE > CAST > Kai Opaka

PLAYED BY: Camille Saviola
NAME: Opaka
SPECIES: Bajoran female
FIRST SEEN: "Emissary"

The revered spiritual leader of the Bajoran people, who in "Emissary" was the first person to greet Sisko as the Emissary when he arrived, and loaned him an Orb to guide him to the Celestial Temple.

Later that year, in "Battle Lines", Opaka went on an impromptu tour of the Gamma Quadrant with Sisko, Bashir, and Kira. Their runabout crashed on a moon that turned out to be a penal colony. Opaka died in the crash but was resurrected by artificial microbes; however, due to their environment-specific nature, she was unable to leave. She accepted this, believing she had been brought there to heal the warring Ennis and Nol-Ennis.

In "The Collaborator", Kira learned that Kai Opaka had ordered Prylar Bek to reveal the location of a rebel camp in the Kendra Valley to the Cardassians. 43 Bajorans were killed as a result; one of them was Opaka's own son. Opaka made this sacrifice because otherwise the Cardassians would have massacred the inhabitants of the entire valley.

Opaka appeared in orb visions to Bareil in "The Collaborator", and in orb shadows to Sisko in "Accession".

Other facts (more of a speculation really):
Opaka seemed to have some type of precognitive ability.