Elim Garak is a major character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, A Cardassian exile who lives on the station having previously served in Cardassians' corrupt and ruthless spy agency the Obsidian Order, he is frequently an ally to Captain Sisko and the other heroes but lacks their morality.
He was played by Andrew Robinson who also played Scorpio in Dirty Harry.
Biography[]
Garak was the son of the orders' leader Enabran Tain though this was kept secret from most of the galaxy. Since childhood Tain manipulated Garak to being as cold and cruel as himself and would punish Garak by locking him in enclosed spaces when he displeased him, causing Garak to develop Claustrophobia. During his formative years Tain's housekeeper Mila treated him kindly and she became one of the very few people Garak cared for.
After joining the order Garak was incredibly efficient and took great pleasure in conducting interrogations, to a point it it disturbed Tain and he sometimes had to step in to prevent Garak's cruelty such as when Garak had tried to get a Gul charged with treason simply because he hated the man's voice. At some point Garak also earned the hatred of Dukat after arranging for his father to be arrested, tortured and executed for unknown reasons. Garak felt no remorse over this, being an ardent patriot and claimed that Dukat's father had betrayed Cardassia.
Eventually Garak had a bitter falling-out with Tain who used his power to get him exiled from his homeland with Garak taking refuge at Deep Space Nine and beginning work as a tailor as he knew nobody would suspect a Cardassian to take refuge in a Bajoran controlled space station. While there he denied any rumours about his shady past were true even though everyone knew he'd done bad things. While most of the stations' residents held him in contempt for his past Garak did become friends with Dr. Julian Bashir after helping him stop several schemes, including one of Dukat's to disgrace a political rival though Bashir was puzzled by Garak's motives. Though he found Bashir to be overly optimistic Garak was genuinely fond of Bashir and shared his interests like Cardassian literature with him, even if it wasn't to Bashir'staste.
When Garak was offered a chance to return home by Gul Toran in exchange for killing Natima Lang and her two students, he accepted only to murder Toran and let the Dissidents escape after Toran admitted he had no intention of honouring the deal. It was unclear if he'd actually planned to do this from the start.
After he'd been living on the station for two years Garak began to abuse a chip the order had implanted in him to stimulate the pleasure centres of his brain if he was ever tortured, To him, the very fact he lived on a place where things were so much brighter and colder on Cardassia and where he was surrounded by Bajorans who hated him for his past was that painful. This resulted in Garak bitterly telling Bashir during a withdrawal that he secretly hated him and claiming he regretted showing mercy to some Bajoran children which was the reason he'd been exiled though Bashir discovered this was a lie when he spoke to Tain. Tain helped Bashir by providing what was needed to save his son's life though only in act of cruelty so Garak would be forced to die on the station. Garak did not truly mean his venomous words to Bashir and they soon reconciled after he recovered.
When Garak received a transmission from Mila begging him to help Tain, he promised he would and set off to save him while accompanied by Odo. The shapeshifter correctly deduced Garak was personally invested in Tain as he was acting uncharacteristically unselfish and refused to answe when the tailor asked if there was anyone he cared about, correctly thinking Garak would try to use it as leverage, something the tailor was visibly impressed by.
When they met Tain it transpired he was plotting with the Romulans to launch a preemptive strike on the Dominion which was led by Odo's people The Founders. Even though Tain had been attempting to arrange his death not two days prior Garak agreed to an offer to rejoin his old agency and let him take Odo prisoner. Tain wanted Odo interrogated to discover if he'd been keeping any intel on the founders to himself, something Garak objected to, making Tain wonder if his time on the station had softened him. Ultimately Garak complied and brutally tortured the shapeshifter with Odo admitting he longed to be with his people in the Great Link even despite all their various atrocities. This revelation made Garak feel even more guilty as he realised Odo had stuck to his principles despite tempation whereas he hadn't.
In the chaos of the battle between The Dominion and The Founders Odo and Garak both saved each other's lives and developed a mutual respect after returning to the station, even occasionally socialising and hanging over breakfast despite Odo's inability to eat.
When Garak discoverd Gowron was plotting an invasion on Cardassia he put aside his differences with Dukat and warned him to try to protect his homeland.
When Dukat's daughter Ziyal ended up living on the station Garak formed a genuine friendship with her which Dukat resented.
When Garak accompanied the others on a mission to the Gamma Quadrant his dark side surfaced yet again when he was told by Female Changeling that The Dominion planned to wipe out his entire species in revenge for what Tain did. Believing the ends justified the means Garak risked his life in an attempt to blow up the founders' homeworld even though Sisko, Bashir and Odo were also present there. Worf stopped his attempt at genocide and he was thrown in a holding cell for six months. His actions did not affect his friendships with Bashir and Odo as he continued to interact with them normally after his sentence had been served.
Garak ended up in a Dominion Prison camped after he'd went off to try to find Tain after discovering he'd survived. Bashir was also there as The Founders had imprisoned him and replaced him with a shapeshifter. Bashir learnt the truth about Garak and Tain as he heard Garak comforting his father as he died. It was thanks to Garak, that Bashir, Worf and himself were all able to escape the camp.
While on a mission to find parts to repair the station Garak was exposed to a drug that brought out the xenephobia in him, killing an officer named Amaro before being stopped by Chief Miles O'Brien. Garak was horrified by the senselessness of what he'd done.
When Dukat was put in charge of the station Garak left with Sisko and some others, fearing what would likely happen to him if he was forced to answer to Dukat. He assisted Sisko in destroying a Ketracel-white facility and was pleased to see Sisko had began taking a more pragmatic approach to the war rather than always insisting on being fair. Garak then played a minor role in taking the station back from Dukat and was devastated to see Ziyal had been murdered by his right-hand Damar in the chaos of the battle. In his grief he was comforted by Kira who'd long held him in contempt due to his past and the histories between their peoples.
As the Dominion war waged on Sisko desperately need to turn the tide back in the Federation's favour so he enlisted Garak's help. Together they plotted to fool the Romulans into joining the war by faking a recording of the Dominion planning an attack against their homeworld. This involved a number of other moral compromises such as trading bio mimetic gel which could used to be make weapons of mass destruction and bribing Quark to keep silent about the forger Grathon Tolar's attempt to kill him. These actions tore Sisko up inside but Garak was indifferent. When Senator Vreenak saw through the deception Garak had both him and Tolar killed to frame the Dominion which made the Romulans federation allies.
Sisko angrily confronted Garak for this but Garak tuned it round on him, arguing he knew exactly the type of man he was getting in bed with and that he should feel good about what he'd done as his actions had likely kept the entire Alpha Quadrant from being conquered by the Dominion.
When Damar rebelled against The Dominion, he, Garak and Kira all put aside their differences to work together with Garak and Dmar united in a shared loyalty towards Cardassia and the three of them successfully turning the tides in the war through clever strategies. At one point they were harboured by Mila but she died, protecting them. Ultimately Garak and Kira captured The Female Changeling and Odo was able to appeal to her through their bond to make her spare Cardassia.
Garak is last seen in the finale talking to Bashir, bitterly mourning the loss of so many cardassian lives and of aspects of their culture as well as the fact many would likely see it justice due to his people's long history of brutality. After Bashir apologises for unintentionally offending him, Garak reassures him it's ok and thanks him for being a good friend before implying he doesn't expect to see him again now that he's been allowed to return home.