Tasha Yar

Natasha Yar

Tasha Yar on the Enterprise-D
Species	Human
Home planet	Turkana IV
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets Starfleet
Posting	Enterprise-D chief of security and chief tactical officer
Rank	Lieutenant
Portrayed by	Denise Crosby

Lieutenant Natasha "Tasha" Yar, played by Denise Crosby, is a character in Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[1] In the fictional series, the character served as chief of security aboard the USS Enterprise-D for the first season.^[1]

Crosby left the series near the end of first season, but reprised the role in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "All Good Things...".^[1]

Development and casting

Inspired by the character of Vasquez in Aliens,^[2] the character was originally to be named 'Macha Hernandez'.^[3][2] The producers considered Jenette Goldstein, who had played Vasquez, for the role,^[4] but Dorothy Fontana pointed out that the actress "is not Latina. She is petite, blue-eyed, freckle-faced",^[5] and Marina Sirtis was cast as Yar.^[4] At that time, Denise Crosby was cast as Deanna Troi,^[6] but she and Sirtis switched roles before production began.^[4][7]

Story overview

The back story for the character states that Natasha (Tasha) Yar (Ukrainian: Наташа "Таша" Яр), of Ukrainian descent, was born on Turkana IV, a colony that fell into chaos and eventually severed ties to the United Federation of Planets.^[1] Tasha learned to defend herself on the streets and avoid rape gangs.^[1] She left Turkana IV at age 15, leaving her younger sister Ishara behind, and later attended Starfleet Academy.^[1]

After watching Yar cross a minefield to save a colonist, Jean-Luc Picard requested that she be assigned to his next command.^[1] She later became chief of security and chief tactical officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D, some time prior to the beginning of the series.^[1]

Armus kills Yar on Vagra II as a demonstration of his power in "Skin of Evil"^[1] while Yar is attempting to rescue Deanna Troi. Worf replaces her as chief tactical and security officer.^[1]

In "Yesterday's Enterprise", the USS Enterprise-C travels into the future in the midst of defending a Klingon colony from Romulan attack, creating an alternate timeline in which the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war, and in which Yar does not die on Vagra II.^[1] Learning from Guinan that she dies a senseless death in the normal timeline, Yar opts to return to the past aboard the Enterprise-C, thus creating another new timeline. She is then taken prisoner along with a few others and ordered to be executed by the Romulan Star Empire. A Romulan General becomes enamored when he sees her, and he strikes a deal in which Tasha would be his consort in exchange for the lives of her fellow survivors. Sela, (pronounced see-la) her daughter, is born a year later. One night, when Sela is 4 years old, Tasha attempts to escape with her, but Sela cries out and Tasha is then caught and executed. The adult Sela appeares in two 2-part episodes of the series (including the Season 4 cliffhanger finale where she is first revealed), and is also played by Denise Crosby.

Yar's final appearance is in scenes that take place in the series's finale, "All Good Things...". Her scenes are mostly what happened in times other than shown in the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint"; the story diverges from the "normal" time-frame as events in the finale occur.^[1]

The audience is made aware of Yar's death on three different occasions. First she is killed by Armus. The second time, Sela informs the crew that Yar was executed after a failed attempt to escape from the Romulans. Then in the series's finale, "All Good Things...", we again see Yar die as the Enterprise is destroyed inside an anomaly.

Tasha and the android Lt. Data have a sexual encounter with each other in the episode "The Naked Now". After this, Data keeps a hologram of Tasha with him, and during the trial regarding his rights in the second season's episode "The Measure of a Man," he publicly admits to the incident with the words "We were intimate."

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Okuda, Mike and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Nemecek, Larry (1992). "Rebirth". In Stern, Dave. The Star Trek The Next Generation Companion. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020: Pocket Books. p. 15. ISBN 0671794604. 
3. ^ 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. "Sirtis auditioned for the role of the chief security officer about the USS Enterprise Lieutenant Macha Hernandez (later changed to Natasha Yar)."
4. ^ ^{a b c} Star Trek: The Next Generation first-season DVD commentary
5. ^ "Star Trek: TNG: An Oral History". Entertainment Weekly. 2007-09-25. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20058192,00.html. Retrieved May 07, 2011. 
6. ^ Adam Schrager, "Marina Sirtis: From Hoi Polloi to Counserlor 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. ^ Adam Schrager, "Regular Players: Denise Crosby" The Finest Crew in the Fleet: The Next Generation's Cast On Screen and Off. New York: Wolf Valley Books (1997): 206. "Denise Crosby was auditioning for the role of Troi, and Marina Sirtis for that of Yar (then Hernandez). Although producers Rick Berman and Bob Justman liked them in those roles, Gene Roddenberry switched them. ... Once Crosby was cast as Hernandez, the character's name was changed to Natasha Yar, and she was given a Ukrainian background to match Crosby's blond hair."

External links

• Natasha Yar at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)