Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi

Commander Deanna Troi
Species	Half Betazoid (maternal) Half human (paternal)
Home planet	Betazed
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets Starfleet
Posting	USS Enterprise-D Counselor USS Enterprise-E Counselor USS Titan Counselor
Position	Counselor
Rank	Lieutenant Commander, Commander
Portrayed by	Marina Sirtis

Commander Deanna Troi ( /diːˈænə/) is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor on USS Enterprise-D. Throughout most of the series, she holds the rank of lieutenant commander. In the seventh season, however, Troi takes the bridge officer's examination and is promoted to the rank of commander, but continues as counselor. As of Star Trek: Nemesis she is credited as "Deanna Troi-Riker"^[1] because of her marriage to William Riker.

Depiction

Deanna Troi was born on March 29, 2336, near Lake El-Nar, Betazed.^[2] Deanna's parents are Betazoid mother and Ambassador, Lwaxana Troi (portrayed by Majel Barrett), and a human father, deceased Starfleet officer Lt. Ian Andrew Troi (portrayed by Amick Byram). In the character background, an older sister, Kestra, drowned during Deanna's infancy (note: "Dark Page"). Although Deanna Troi has little exposure to planet Earth culture, she attended Starfleet Academy from 2355 to 2359, as well as the University on Betazed, and earned an advanced degree in psychology.

Deanna Troi serves as the ship's Freudian^[3] counselor aboard the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), and later in the films, on board the Enterprise-E under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In Star Trek: Nemesis, Troi leaves the Enterprise with husband William Riker who has just been promoted to captain of the USS Titan.

In depicting a possible phenomenon of galactic travel, the series creates several alien races including the Betazoid race that has telepathic abilities. Due to a half-human heritage, Deanna Troi has partial telepathic abilities and is an extra-sensory empath with clairsentience. As viewed in Star Trek: Nemesis, Troi has the ability to connect to another psychic and follow that empathic bond to its source. In this instance, her ability enables Enterprise-E to target and hit the Reman vessel Scimitar, despite the fact that it was cloaked. She is telepathic with her mother and other telepathic Betazoids. There are several species who are resistant to the telepathy/empathy of Deanna and other Betazoids, such as the Ferengi, the Breen and the Ulians.^[4]

Early in the series, Troi finds herself working with a former lover, the newly assigned First Officer to USS Enterprise, Commander William Riker (portrayed by actor Jonathan Frakes). In later episodes, Troi has romantic involvements with several others, including a brief relationship with Klingon Starfleet officer Lieutenant Worf (portrayed by actor Michael Dorn).

She is called various names, usually depending upon the circumstances. Captain Picard calls her "Counselor", but when he is concerned about her, or in emergencies, he calls her Deanna. Doctor Crusher (one of her most noted female friends) usually calls her "Troi". Data very rarely calls her by first name, usually calling her "Counselor Troi". Depending on the situation, Commander Riker will call her "Deanna" or the more personal "Imzadi" which means "beloved" in the Betazoid language.

On many episodes, Deanna Troi falls victim to aliens. She is usually targeted by aliens that can take control of her mind then talk through her body. In a key episode of Season 4, entitled "Clues", Enterprise’s crew lose a day's memory. As events unfold, Deanna is taken over by an entity in order to communicate with the crew. She temporarily gains "super-human" strength and effortlessly tosses Worf across the bridge breaking his wrist. In the season 5 episode "Violations", Enterprise encounters an alien species who are telepathic and specialize in being able to bring back lost memories. One of the aliens mentally assaults Deanna and also tries to physically assault her in her quarters. She is saved by Worf and one of his security teams. In the film Star Trek Nemesis, she is mentally violated by Shinzon's viceroy who is also telepathic. The first time is in her quarters with her new husband and long time friend Commander Riker and the second time is seen on Star Trek Nemesis bonus deleted scenes where she is mentally violated again in the turbolift.

Troi is also an avid connoisseur of chocolate, a fact that is significant in multiple episodes, including one in which she describes for another member of the crew how to properly enjoy eating it. In the episode in which Dr. Crusher is trapped in a warp bubble and is losing crew members ("Remember Me"), she briefly describes Troi to Captain Picard to jog his memory and mentions that she "loves chocolate". Troi's love of sweets was exceeded in an episode in which she was the host of a normally ascetic alien species who constantly indulged.

Development and casting

Marina Sirtis at first read for the role that would become Tasha Yar in 1986. She had, in total, five readings all with Gene Roddenberry and other executives. It has been noted that Roddenberry took a liking to her almost immediately.^[5] Denise Crosby, who eventually won the role of Tasha, auditioned for the role of Deanna Troi.^[6] It was said that Marina Sirtis had a more "exotic" feel about her.^[7]

She was just about to return home, in debt and jobless, when she received "the phone call" alerting her that she had the role of Deanna Troi. She stated that if it had been an hour later she would have missed that call and been on her way to England. Sirtis' U.S. visa was expiring that day, and if she had stayed any longer, she could have run into legal trouble.

For Sirtis, Star Trek was her first big break. Prior to "Deanna Troi", her acting career was going nowhere: "What they told us about The Next Generation when we first started was that we were guaranteed twenty-six episodes. So that was the longest job I've ever had." She knew little about the Star Trek franchise and at first just thought of it as a good means to pay her bills.^[3]

Initially, Sirtis/Troi was planned as the eye-candy of the show. Gene Roddenberry intended her to have four breasts, before his wife told him this was a poor idea.^[8] Prior to filming, Sirtis was told to "lose five pounds" (5 pounds (2.3 kg; 0.36 st)), but thought herself that she had to drop even more, and was often wearing plunging necklines and form-fitting dresses. After six years, the producers decided to drop the "sexy and brainless" Troi and make her a stronger character:

"I was thrilled when I got my regulation Starfleet uniform... it covered up my cleavage and I got all my brains back, because when you have cleavage you can't have brains in Hollywood... I was allowed to do things that I hadn't been allowed to do for five or six years. I went on away teams, I was in charge of staff, I had my pips back, I had phasers, I had all the equipment again, and it was fabulous. I was absolutely thrilled."^[3]

Commenting on the love triangle between Troi on one hand and Worf and William Riker on the other hand, she thought that Troi and Worf together was a very sexy combination and found Michael to be a very sexy kisser.

Scholarly and fan reception

Phil Farrand, author of The Nitpicker's Guides, criticized the way Troi was costumed and filmed. "Why does Troi get to wear the skin-tight bunny suit? ... Why would Troi want to wear the bunny suit? ... How would you react to a psychologist dressed like this?"^[9] At least one scholarly paper has explored Troi's many "extravagant hairstyles [and] low-cut costumes that emphasize her body...Every season brings another cut and shape to her hair and another neckline, hemline, color, and fabric to her clothes–a remarkable contrast to the occasional change in collar for the rest of the crew."^[10][11]

Guest appearances

Besides being a regular in The Next Generation and its films, the Deanna Troi character later appears in three episodes of Star Trek: Voyager toward the end of its run (together with Reginald Barclay), and also in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise with William Riker. The final episode of Enterprise was also Troi and Riker's final appearance.

References

Notes

1. ^ Star Trek: Nemesis at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ "StarTrek.com: Deanna Troi". http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/character/1112460.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Marina Sirtis - Star Trek: The Next Generation's empathetic Counsellor". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/sirtis/printpage.html. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 
4. ^ The inability of Betazoids to read the Ferengi, the Breen and the Ulians was established in the episodes "Ménage à Troi", "The Loss" and "Violations", respectively.
5. ^ Adam Schrager, "Marina Sirtis: From Hoi Polloi to Counselor Troi" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 147. "She landed a guest role on the series Hunter. Other small television roles followed, but no steady work came her way during her short stay. Just before she was to return home -- broke, credit cards "maxed out," and depressed -- Sirtis auditioned for the role of the chief security officer aboard the USS Enterprise, Lieutenant Macha Hernandez (later changed to Natasha Yar)."
6. ^ Adam Schrager, "Marina Sirtis: From Hoi Polloi to Counselor Troi" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 147. "Meanwhile, Denise Crosby had been auditioning for the role of Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi, the ship's Betazoid counselor."
7. ^ As stated in the DVD extras found on a bonus Star Trek TNG DVD
8. ^ Joel Engel Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek (Hyperion Books, 1994)
9. ^ Phil Farrand, "Trek Silliness: The Top Ten Oddities of Star Trek: The Next Generation" The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers New York: Dell (1993): 241
10. ^ Hastie, Amelie (1996). "A Fabricated Space: Assimilating the Individual on Star Trek: The Next Generation". In Harrison, Taylor. Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek. Westview Press. pp. 115. ISBN 0813328985. 
11. ^ Joyrich, Lynne (Winter 1996). "Feminist Enterprise? "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the Occupation of Femininity". Cinema Journal 35 (2): 61–84. doi:10.2307/1225756. JSTOR 1225756. 

External links

• Deanna Troi at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)