Mr. Garak-He is not that complicated

[PSGarak]

(I'm hoping you were once a cop, right?)

Yes, that's right. I was.

I do think Garak evolved over the series and became a better person over time. If he were a sociopath or nasty through and through such progress would have been impossible. He was a product of a totalitarian system and a father who shaped him to be the "perfect operative", and yet he still retained compassion and remorse. That speaks of a strong character and will. He did change. He did grow. Dukat, on the other hand, never served anyone but himself and never seemed to feel bad for anyone but himself. Even his love for Ziyal seemed to be an extension of self-love.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

I think either man could have gone either way--there was real good in Dukat and there was real evil in Garak, as there is in all of us.

I tend to be considered a TOS purist (and I sorta consider myself such) but the Cardassians are my favorite alien race in all of Trek precisely because they are the most nakedly human--even their vaguely reptilian appearance suggests us stripped down to our snake brain essence.

 

[PSGarak]

^ Very nice metaphor there. Andrew Robinson said something very similar about playing a Cardassian, that it came very much from the reptilian brain.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Dukat, on the other hand, never served anyone but himself and never seemed to feel bad for anyone but himself. Even his love for Ziyal seemed to be an extension of self-love.

Indeed.

Sometimes, though, I think maybe Dukat saw something in Ziyal--though I doubt he ever allowed himself to consciously recognize it--that resembled the person he could have become if he hadn't starved his own soul to death. In fact...

Spoiler: An AU Dukat

My alternate version of Dukat is actually modeled a bit after Ziyal as well as the better angels of the canon Dukat's nature...if you saw them together, you would definitely say that it was in more than just appearance that Ziyal was truly her father's daughter.

This is also a VERY fanon theory of mine, but I think that the person he could've been may have died as early as his time on the Kornaire. The Dukat who was so haunted by seeing men who had died from explosive decompression that he couldn't sleep for a week may well have been the last gasp of a Dukat capable of feeling for others. By the time he got to Bajor, I think his soul was already lost.

 

[Kegg]

Sometimes, though, I think maybe Dukat saw something in Ziyal--though I doubt he ever allowed himself to consciously recognize it--that resembled the person he could have become if he hadn't starved his own soul to death. In fact...

Well, it's worth noting that only after Ziyal dies do we see a consistent depiction of Dukat as unregenerate evil. If he wasn't exactly a good guy before, his rather genuine love of his daughter was something that was absolutely sympathetic. She really did bring out the very best in him.

Hm. In this sense, it now occurs to me that thoroughly screwed up families are a consistent theme of the Cardassians on DS9.

We have the Cardassian orphan in "Cardassians", Kira's Cardassian 'father', Tekenny Ghemor, the distant relationship Enabran Tain had with his illegitimate son Garak and, of course, Dukat and Ziyal.

We hear quite a bit about functioning families also - hell, the first time Dukat ever gets humanised is in "The Maquis", when he talks about his children, a strain of thought that resurfaces in "Defiant" when he observes coolly that his son will always remember the humans as the ones that made sure his father couldn't be present at his birthday. Or that the war really came home for Damar when his wife and son were executed.

That Dukat hates Garak because he killed Dukat's father is only appropriate. It's all in the family for these guys.

 

[Amaris]

Garak is, without a doubt, one of my favorite characters in all of Star Trek.


J.

 

[Navaros]

The original post confuses me. It claims Garak is not complicated, yet it simultaneously cites examples of how Garak is complicated.

I definitely don't agree that Garak is simple.

Look at the times when he almost killed Quark even though he didn't really want to.

And again in another episode when Quark almosts hires Garak to kill him.

Yes I'm sure Garak wouldn't be traumatized by killing Quark, but I think it would affect him emotionally to some degree.

Even if Garak can be reduced to simple motivations, the most complicated thing about Garak remains IMO. The viewer, and other characters, can rarely discern what Garak himself sees as the best option, and why, therefore Garak as a character is totally unpredictable.

Garak enjoyed torturing, as said by Tain in The Die is Cast. Dukat might be deluded, but Garak knew what he was doing.

I don't think Garak enjoys the act of torturing itself. Rather, Garak enjoys taking pride in his work and ensuring that he always delivers a job well-done. In other words, Garak is simply a professional in all things, including torturing to acquire information.

That IMO is not at all the same as someone who 'enjoys torturing.' Garak is not a psychopath.

 

[scout]

I never felt that Garak 'enjoyed' torture either. His constant self - deprecating manner towards himself was designed to conceal a very real hatred of himself I believe.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

I can't remember the name of the episode and I'm too lazy to look, but look how reluctant he was to torture Odo during the combined Tal Shiar/Obsidian Order invasion of the Dominion. I think that spoke volumes - he didn't have a special friendship with the Constable before the mission took off either, so that can't be cited as a good reason why.