- This character is a member of the Dukat family.
- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Tora Ziyal (mirror).
Tora Ziyal (2353-2374) was the daughter of Cardassian Gul Skrain Dukat and Bajoran woman Tora Naprem. Ziyal was a painter who tried to close the rift between her two heritage through her art.
Biography[]
Early life[]
In 2366 thirteen year-old Ziyal and her mother were aboard the transport ship Ravinok when it was attacked by the Breen and crash landed on the planet Dozaria. Tora Naprem was killed in the crash, while Ziyal spend the next six years as a Breen prisoner, forced to labor in a dilithium mine along with the other survivors until she was rescued by her father and Kira Nerys in 2372. Dukat originally intended to kill his daughter to preserve his reputation, but decided to take her home with him to Cardassia instead. (DS9 episode: "Indiscretion")
Cardassia[]
Ziyal spent only a brief period of time on Cardassia Prime. Her father's disgrace was widely known and much talked about. Ziyal was not accepted by her grandmother, step-mother or her half-siblings; although she did befriend Rugal Pa'Dar and Penelya Khevet before she and her father were driven off-world. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
Deep Space 9[]
After being disowned by his mother, abandoned by his wife and their seven children and demoted from his position as a military adviser to the Detapa Council, Dukat took Ziyal with him to his new post, commanding the freighter Groumall. Ziyal was determined to learn how to be a good soldier and help her father, but Kira Nerys convinced Dukat that this was no life for his daughter. He agreed to allow Kira to take Ziyal with her to Deep Space 9. (DS9 episode: "Return to Grace")
Ziyal spent the next several months on Deep Space 9, where she befriended and developed romantic feelings for Elim Garak, a long-time enemy of her family. When her father learned of this in 2373, he became enraged and disowned her when she chose to remain on Deep Space 9 instead of accompanying him back to Cardassia. (DS9 episodes: "For the Cause", "In Purgatory's Shadow")
When the Dominion and Cardassia briefly occupied station Deep Space 9 later that year, Ziyal evacuated the station to Bajor, where she spent the next few months studying art at a Bajoran university. (DS9 episode: "Call to Arms")
Ziyal returned to Deep Space 9 three months later at the request of her father, after the two had made amends. She befriended Jake Sisko, son of Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko. Jake started to write an article about Ziyal's life that eventually tuned into a biography. Jake promised Ziyal that he would keep her mother's earring, all she had to remember her by, safe. Jake kept his promise. (DS9 episode: "Sons and Daughters", DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Three Sides to Every Story")
Ziyal was murdered by Gul Corat Damar in 2374, as the Cardassians were evacuating the station. Captain Sisko used his influence as Emissary of the Prophets to get Ziyal buried in Kendra Province. (DS9 episode: "Sacrifice of Angels", Call to Arms... novelization: ...Sacrifice of Angels)
Ziyal's place as Dukat's illegitimate daughter was taken by the new-born baby girl named Cerin (by Cerin Mika) in 2375. She never knew her baby half-sister, since she died before Cerin was born. (DS9 episode: "Covenant"; DS9 - Mission: Gamma novel: Cathedral)
Legacy[]
In 2376, the Cardassian Institute of Art donated Ziyal's paintings to the people of Bajor as a symbol of reconciliation between the two races. The paintings were displayed on Deep Space 9's Promenade, in the space formerly occupied by Elim Garak's tailor shop. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novels: Twilight, This Gray Spirit)
When Garak was elected to the position of head of the new Cardassian government, he mused that he would judge whether or not his actions were the best by thinking about what course of action Ziyal would have approved of and acting accordingly.
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
2372
- DS9 episode: "Indiscretion"
- DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice
- DS9 episode: "Return to Grace"
- DS9 episode: "For the Cause"
- DS9 comic: "The Shadow Group"
2373
- DS9 episode: "In Purgatory's Shadow"
- DS9 episode: "By Inferno's Light"
- DS9 comic: "Requiem in Obsidian"
- DS9 episode: "Call to Arms"
2374
- DS9 episode: "Sons and Daughters"
- DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Three Sides to Every Story"
- DS9 episode: "Favor the Bold"
- DS9 episode: "Sacrifice of Angels"
2377
External link[]
- Tora Ziyal article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.