Odo's Combadge

[Bry_Sinclair]

Odo's clothing was merely what he had "morphed" himself into, but what about his combage?

In "Invasive Proceedures" we see the raiders remove his combadge, so it is clearly not a part of him (especially when you consider how intricate the circuitry must be and he had trouble with a face). However, on many occassions when he reverted (either completely or partially) to his liquid form his combadge went with him. Now it could be that he kept it hidden within himself, but when he's sliding through cracks there is no place it could go.

Thoughts?

 

[Tosk]

We never saw him use his combadge and "absorb" it and do something that he couldn't do with the combadge inside him. So most of the time it's a real combadge, and occasionally he leaves it behind and just imitates it.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I have always thought that the combadge was always far bulkier than the circuitry. It may only be the jewelry part that he imitates, but he absorbs the circuitry.

 

[bbjeg]

I always assumed he absorbed it or didn't wear it.

 

[Chensams]

I always assumed he absorbed it or didn't wear it.

Same, just absorbed somewhere in whatever he morphed into.

 

[Levi]

I had never thought about it much until now. But I guess I agree with whats been said already. I would assume it is a combination of everything from time to time depending on the situation.
Most times he can probably keep it within him. Others, perhaps he can break it down to become flatter? And Im sure there are times he just ditches it. But also, probably for times he goes through doors and such, Im sure he just opens the door and picks it up after or something.

 

[Paul Weaver]

It gets shifted into subspace, along with his mass when he becomes a seagull.

 

[mendelin]

especially when you consider how intricate the circuitry must be and he had trouble with a face

The essence of Changeling:

"To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." - the Female Changeling to Odo

Odo had trouble with a face because he hadn't full understanding of humans.
In that point of view, combadge (an artificial electronic device) is much easier to imitate.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Good question about Odo. It automatically made me think about the Doctor o Voyager. Isn't there a similar problem with the Doctor's combadge? Is it real circuitry? If so, why does it disappear when his program is off-line?

 

[Pondwater]

^^ Good one.

 

[Levi]

Good question about Odo. It automatically made me think about the Doctor o Voyager. Isn't there a similar problem with the Doctor's combadge? Is it real circuitry? If so, why does it disappear when his program is off-line?

He is a hologram. His voice is tied in with the ships systems. He only mimic's the human motions of using his comm badge, but its irrelevant.
Remember even when his holo-emitter goes offline, he can still speak through the communications systems. I don't remember what episode(s) they are.
At least, it makes sense to me.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

^A common phenomenon of the Trek universe seems to be imitating the behavior of one's colleagues, be it how they communicate, what they do with a coffee cup when they don't need to drink, or what they eat before their engineering shift.

 

[Hober Mallow]

The essence of Changeling:

"To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." - the Female Changeling to Odo

Odo had trouble with a face because he hadn't full understanding of humans.

Every other Changeling had the same problem, apparently.

 

[mendelin]

Every other Changeling had the same problem, apparently.

I guess, no. Only Changeling from "Hundred" had such problems due to lack of selfunderstanding and shared experiences with other Changeling.