- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Corat Damar (mirror).
Corat Damar was a Cardassian male and a long time friend and subordinate officer of Skrain Dukat. Damar later succeeded Dukat as leader of the Cardassian Union and led the rebellion against the Dominion to free Cardassia.
Biography[]
Early life[]
When Damar was a boy, his father brought him to the Veterans' Bridge in Cardassia City to see the statues of the Legates and other Cardassian heroes of the past. (DS9 short story: "Face Value")
Early career[]
In 2346, Third-Tier Gil Damar was assigned to Bajor, where the newly appointed prefect, Dukat, made the officer his assistant. At this time, Damar was engaged to a journalist for the Cardassian Information Service named Veja Ketan. Dukat felt that Damar was an intelligent soldier, although he was not always aware of the subtleties of Cardassian politics. Damar, in turn, believed he could learn all he needed to be a great officer from Dukat, although he disapproved of his superior's use of Bajoran "comfort women".
In 2348, Damar's fiancée Ketan and her fellow correspondent Natima Lang were caught in a cave-in, along with a Bajoran Resistance fighter, Aro Seefa, who had mistaken them for military personnel. Damar launched a rescue attempt, killing Aro upon finding Ketan unconscious. He refused to leave her bedside until she regained consciousness, disobeying direct orders from Dukat to return to Terok Nor. Because Ketan was now barren, however, he broke the engagement. Upon Damar's return to Terok Nor, Dukat informed him he had been reassigned to the Federation border, partly because Lang's account of the rescue, including the unnecessary death of Aro, had caused embarrassment for the military. (TLE - Terok Nor novel: Night of the Wolves)
Fighting the Klingons[]
In 2372, he was serving with Dukat on the Groumall. He later helped Dukat, Kira Nerys and Tora Ziyal capture a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. (DS9 episode: "Return to Grace")
The following year, Damar joined Dukat on taking Benjamin Sisko, Worf, Odo and Miles O'Brien to Ty'Gokor. Damar expressed his opinion that an orbital bombardment of Klingon High Command headquarters would be better than attempting to infiltrate it. (DS9 episode: "Apocalypse Rising")
The Dominion[]
Damar continued to serve as Dukat's second in command when Cardassia joined the Dominion, with Dukat as its newly appointed leader. (DS9 episodes: "Call to Arms", "A Time to Stand")
After the Dominion and Cardassians took Deep Space 9 and redesignated it Terok Nor, Damar was stationed aboard under Dukat. He achieved personal success when he realized a way to disable the minefield protecting the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole, which would allow Dominion reinforcements to enter the Alpha Quadrant and quickly win the war. (DS9 episodes: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels")
Problematic for Damar was how much Dukat doted on his daughter, Ziyal. Damar realized that she was involved in treasonous activities against her father, but was unable to prove it. When it became clear that the Dominion would have to abandon Terok Nor, he overheard Ziyal admit to her father her treason and in anger murdered her. Dukat, holding the dead body of his daughter, suffered a mental collapse and Damar fled the station with the rest of the occupying force. (DS9 episode: "Sacrifice of Angels")
Damar was promoted to legate, and succeeded Dukat as the leader of the Union. (DS9 episode: "Statistical Probabilities")
Later in 2374, Damar sent several ships to fight at the Romulan front and deployed several hundred orbital weapon platforms to protect the Chin'toka system. Unknown to Damar, the Federation Alliance had selected Chin'toka as the first target in their invasion of Cardassia, and struck moments before the platforms came online. The Allies took heavy losses from the platforms, although they were able to deactivate them and take the system. (DS9 episode: "Tears of the Prophets")
The Rebellion[]
As leader of Cardassia, Damar lacked both Dukat's ability to maintain an even footing with the Dominion leaders as well as Dukat's ability to ignore the obvious disdain the Founders had for Cardassians. Under him, Cardassia's secondary position within the alliance slowly emerged, and Damar became disillusioned with the Cardassian-Dominion Alliance. Already having begun drinking during the occupation of Terok Nor, Damar soon began drinking heavily when he realized that he was no more than a puppet for Weyoun and the Founders. (DS9 episodes: "Penumbra", "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Strange Bedfellows")
In 2375, after the Breen allied themselves with the Dominion and dealt the Federation Alliance forces a crushing defeat, Damar came to feel that without firing a shot the Dominion had conquered the Cardassian people. He, and his closest aide, Gul Sigol Rusot, began to form a rebellion. Damar would use the opportunity to free captured Deep Space Nine personnel, Ezri Dax and Worf, son of Mogh, to reveal to the Federation Alliance his plans to rebel. Damar publically proclaimed his rebellion from the Dominion, and urged the Cardassian people to rise up against them. With several loyal Guls from the Cardassian military, including Rosot, Ocett, Evek and others, Damar formed the Cardassian Liberation Front. (DS9 episodes: "The Changing Face of Evil", "When It Rains...")
The Federation in turn would in turn send his old nemesis, Kira Nerys, as well as shapeshifter Constable Odo and former Obsidian Order spy Elim Garak to Cardassia to aide him. Aided by the three, Damar began attacking several Dominion strongholds and bases. This had a heavy personal price for Damar, as his wife and children were killed by the Dominion in retaliation. (DS9 episode: "Tacking Into the Wind")
Both Kira and Garak, both of whom had been close to Ziyal, came to realise the changes in Damar, and even respect and admire the former crony and sot's desire to redeem Cardassia of its sins. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time, ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)
Damar personally led a mission to turn the Breen's energy-sapping weapon over to Starfleet. The mission was a crisis for Damar, as his trusted ally Rusot attempted to convince Damar to kill the three Federation spies. In a moment when Damar truly turned his back on the old selfish Cardassia, he shot his friend and took the weapon to the Federation, before returning to the Rebellion. Damar's words were "He was my friend. But his Cardassia is dead, and it won't be coming back." (DS9 episode: "Tacking Into the Wind")
Damar's rebellion, however, was compromised at one point by Gul Revok, who leaked the rebels' positions to the Vorta. The betrayal would result in the death of many rebels, cutting Damar, Kira and Garak off from support. Damar's death was proclaimed publicly. The three, trapped without aid on Prime, would hide in the basement of Enabran Tain's house, before launching a small attack on the streets of Cardassia City. There Damar would reveal himself to the people and encourage widespread popular uprising. Sabotage ensured, which led the Female Changeling to order Lakarian City be leveled and its people murdered.
Because of this, the Cardassian military engaged in defense of Cardassia in the final battle of the war turned on the Dominion. Furious at this, the Founders ordered that every Cardassian left alive be put to death. On Cardassia Prime alone, the Jem'Hadar killed over 800 million Cardassians.
The beginning of the genocide coincided with an assault on Dominion Headquarters led by Damar. The doors ironically opened when Damar's Dominion-appointed successor, Legate Broca, and his adjutants were led out to be executed. Seizing the moment, Damar, Kira, Garak and the others stormed the headquarters. Leading from the front, Damar was gunned down by the defending Jem'Hadar. His last orders were to keep going, no matter the cost. (DS9 episodes: "The Dogs of War", "What You Leave Behind")
Legacy[]
In 2376, a memorial service was held for Damar in Cardassia City's Tarlak Sector. Garak attended at the service, which saw the dedication of a marker to Damar's memory. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
Damar would continue to be remembered as one of the most promising leaders Cardassia had, alongside its first democratic leader, the first post-war Castellan of the Cardassian Union, Alon Ghemor. In 2385 positive comparison to Damar and Ghemor would be the highest of praise for Cardassian politicians - and a negative comparison a poisonous wound. The then-Ambassador, Garak, during a live broadcast debate with the conservative politician, Evek Temet, on live broadcast, compared Temet with Damar and Ghemor:
- "Skrain Dukat found fertile soil here for his lies. We let him loose, and now we live with the consequences of the fire he brought down upon us. Corat Damar and then Alon Ghemor tried to bring us back from that. Now Castellan Garan is doing the same. What has Representative Temet done other than encourage fire starters? I knew Corat Damar. I knew Alon Ghemor.” He turned to face his enemy. “You are no Corat Damar. You are no Alon Ghemor."
Privately, Castellan Rakena Garan was also aware how Garak perceived her as inferior to either man:
- “I am not Corat Damar. I am not Alon Ghemor,” the castellan went on, with a slight smile. Of course she would have watched the ’cast too. “And I know that this is a source of great disappointment for you. But I have always tried to do my best for the Cardassian people.” Garak felt ashamed. He didn’t think he’d been so transparent."
When Garak campaigned against Temet to succeed Garan as Castellan, the close associations with both men would aid Garak in winning the election. (ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)
Appendices[]
Connections[]
Terok Nor personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardassian Union Cardassian Guard and Cardassian-allied personnel |
Basso Tromac • Boheeka • Corat Damar • Datar • Skrain Dukat • Dulath • Hadar • Mavek • Narat • Oran • Parek • Sigol Rusot • Gaten Russol • Thrax Sa'kat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bajoran Provisional Government and Bajoran-allied personnel |
Jabara • Kellec Ton • Kira Nerys • Odo • Rom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dominion (2374) | Weyoun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mirror universe Terok Nor personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Klingon-Cardassian Alliance | Elim Garak • Kira Nerys • Odo • Jennifer Sisko • Telok | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Terran Rebellion | Julian Bashir • Sam Bowers • Jadzia • Michael Eddington • Keiko Ishikawa • Leeta • Enrique Muñiz • Nog • Miles O'Brien • Jennifer Sisko • Luther Sloan • Lon Suder • Ezri Tigan • Tiron |
Preceded by: Skrain Dukat |
Leader of the Cardassian Union 2374–2375 |
Succeeded by: Broca |
Dictators of the Pre-Democratic Cardassian Union | ||
---|---|---|
Central Command leaders | Andrak Chamat | |
Post-2371 Coup | Meya Rejal | |
Under Dominion Annexation | Skrain Dukat • Corat Damar • Broca |
Background[]
In some German DS9 episodes, Damar is being called Dumar for some reason but it changed in later German episodes.
Appearances[]
- ST - Terok Nor novel: Night of the Wolves
- ST - Terok Nor novel: Dawn of the Eagles
- DS9 episode: "Return to Grace" (First appearance)
- DS9 episode: "Apocalypse Rising"
- DS9 episode: "Call to Arms"
- DS9 episode: "A Time to Stand"
- DS9 episode: "Sons and Daughters"
- DS9 episode: "Behind the Lines"
- DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Three Sides to Every Story"
- DS9 episode: "Favor the Bold"
- DS9 episode: "Sacrifice of Angels"
- DS9 - The Dominion War novelization: Call to Arms...
- DS9 - The Dominion War novelization: ...Sacrifice of Angels
- DS9 episode: "Statistical Probabilities"
- DS9 episode: "Waltz" (Hallucination)
- DS9 episode: "In the Pale Moonlight" (hologram)
- DS9 episode: "Tears of the Prophets"
- DS9 episode: "Image in the Sand"
- DS9 episode: "Shadows and Symbols"
- DS9 episode: "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River"
- DS9 episode: "Penumbra"
- DS9 episode: "'Til Death Do Us Part"
- DS9 episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
- DS9 episode: "The Changing Face of Evil"
- DS9 short story: "An Errant Breeze"
- DS9 episode: "When It Rains..."
- DS9 episode: "Tacking Into the Wind"
- DS9 episode: "The Dogs of War"
- DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Face Value"
- DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind
- ST video game: Conquest
External links[]
- Corat Damar article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Damar (Star Trek) article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.