Winn Adami was a Bajoran female who became the Kai, or religious leader of the Bajoran people in the 2370s. Winn was much more interested in the gathering power than serving the Prophets who were at the center of Bajoran faith. She eventually turned against the Prophets whom she had dedicated her life to and renounced them in favor of the Pah-Wraiths.
In 2369 Winn was a highly ranked Vedek who disagreed with the Federation presence on Bajor, as well as Starfleet Commander Benjamin Sisko being named the Emissary of the Prophets. She made her concerns known to Kai Opaka, who suggested that she sit in darkness for a day.
After the disappearance of Kai Opaka, Vedek Winn emerged as one of the main candidates as the next Kai. One of the other candidates was fellow Vedek Bareil Antos, who held a much more liberal viewpoint than Winn, and who was friendly towards the Federation. Winn traveled to Deep Space Nine where she stirred up controversy against Keiko O'Brien and her school for teaching about the wormhole. Winn started a chain of events that led to the terrorist bombing of the school by Neela . The bombing caused Bareil to travel to Deep Space Nine, as Winn planned, in order that he could be assassinated. The assassination was stopped thanks to the efforts of the Deep Space Nine crew, and Winn departed the station.
A short time later Winn allied herself with Minister Jaro Essa and his Alliance For Global Unity, which was popularly known as The Circle. The Circle was secretly supported by the Cardassians, who wanted The Circle to overthrow Bajoran government in a coup and expel the Starfleet presence so they could reconquer the Bajoran system. When the DS9 crew exposed the link to the Cardassians the coup collapsed.
As the election of the Kai drew near, Winn learned from collaborator Kubus Oak that Bareil was the traitor responsible for the Kendra Valley Massacre. Winn asked Kira to investigate the rumors. Kira learned that Kai Opaka was the traitor, not Bareil. Bareil, despite being innocent, was determined to protect the memory of Opaka, and withdrew his candidacy so the Bajoran people would not learn that Opaka sacrificed a resistance group that included her own son as a member to prevent the deaths of thousands of Bajorans. With Bareil out of the race Winn easily won the election for Kai.
After the election Bareil assisted the new Kai negotiate a peace treaty with the Cardassians. Despite injuries sustained in an explosion, Bareil insisted on helping the Kai complete the negotiations, even though it cost him his own life in the end.
When the First Minister of Bajor died Winn was appointed First Minister Pro Tem. She nearly started a civil war over several pieces of farm implements. As a result, the former resistance leader Shakaar entered the election for First Minister, and easily won election, keeping Winn from becoming the political leader of Bajor.
When Captain Benjamin Sisko began the reckoning between the Prophets and the Pah-Wraits the Kai was on the station to lead prayers for the Prophets. Unable to tolerate that Sisko had a deeper religious faith than she did, the Kai engaged a radiation field that prevented the reckoning from occuring.
In 2375 at the urging of former Cardassian prefect Dukat the Kai turned against the Prophets in favor of the Pah-Wraiths. She thought that she could gain religious and political power by doing so. In Bajor's Fire Caves she died when she tried to give Sisko the Book of the Kosst Amojan, returning to the faith in the final minutes of her life.