TWITrek Character Insight No. 33: Weyoun

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, our subject is Weyoun from Deep Space Nine.
 


Weyoun was a diplomat and leader serving the Dominion during the Dominion War between the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion. Weyoun was a vorta, which was a type of solid race that was cloned by the Dominion to be top-level servants where the Founders did not want to act themselves (such as in leadership of the warrior race the Jem'Hadar).

For example, the first iteration of Weyoun that the crew of Deep Space Nine comes into contact with is Weyoun 4, the fourth clone of the original. Weyoun dies five times during the Deep Space Nine series, although the character was not truly dead until the Cardassians killed the backup clone at the Dominion cloning facility before killing Weyoun 8.

Weyoun was a character created for the actor Jeffrey Combs, who had played a couple of other minor roles in the series before this major role. Weyoun was slated to be a minor character as well, but the writers liked the character so much that they decided to not leave him dead following the first death of Weyoun 4 in the episode To The Death.

Weyoun was a master politician, and he emits an air of confidence and justified in his actions, even when they seemed evil from the Federation side of the story. Weyoun had some depth thanks to the different versions of the clone, including Weyoun 6, who saw the error of his ways and tried to defect to the Federation under Odo's protection.

The best episodes featuring Weyoun are In the Cards and Treachery, Faith and the Great River.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Favor The Bold:
"Weyoun: If aesthetics were truly important, the Founders would have included it in our genetic makeup.
Major Kira: Or... they made a mistake.
Weyoun: Gods don't make mistakes! "
 
Actor: Jeffrey Combs played Weyoun, and he is also known for the Reanimator movies in the 1980s as well as other appearances on Star Trek Enterprise and The 4400.

Until next time, live long and prosper...