Arctus Baran

"These devices were the idea of my predecessor. It's a convenient way of enforcing discipline. What happened to him? He failed to enforce it with me."

- Baran and Riker

Arctus Baran was a secondary antagonist on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Gambit.

He was portrayed by the late Richard Lynch.

Baran was a member of an unidentified species. By 2369 Baran had seized command of a raider from the ship's previous Captain, killing him when that Captain failed to use the neural servo he had implanted in Baran and the other members of his crew against Baran. Baran continued to implant the servos in his crew, using them to enforce discipline and torture members of the ship's crew.

In 2370 Baran was working for the Vulcan Isolationist Movement, attempting to locate the Stone of Gol. He and his crew raided archeological sites throughout the quadrant. When Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard tracked Baran's crew to a bar and confronted them for ransacking one such site, the crew took him prisoner. Picard managed to convince Baran that he was a smuggler named Galen who specialized in identifying archeological objects. Baran made him a part of his crew and implanted a neuro servo in Picard.

Later Baran captured Commander William Riker and had a servo implanted in him as well. Picard and Riker decided to have Riker ingratiate himself with Baran, who began to take a liking to Riker. Baran decided to have Picard killed, and ordered Riker to convince Picard to lead a mutiny so that he could eliminate Picard and his supporters.

After the final stone was retrieved Riker and Picard staged a scene in which an apparently deceased Riker was left on the Enterprise, however he had only been stunned. Going back to the raider, Picard challenged Baran for command of the ship. Baran had enough and tried to kill Picard with the neuro servo. What he did not know was that Picard had already switched the neuro codes on the devices, so that when Baran used his remote to try to kill Picard, he wound up killing himself. Picard destroyed Baran's remote, stating that there would be no more Baran style discipline on the raider.