Editing Cardassian (section)

===''Star Trek: The Next Generation''===
===="The Wounded": 1991====

[[File:Cardassian logo plain.png|thumb|The emblem of the Cardassian Union, as devised for ''The Next Generation'']]

The Cardassians were invented by the writers of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' for the show's fourth season episode "[[The Wounded (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Wounded]]", written by Stuart Charno, Sara Charno, and Cy Chermak, with teleplay by [[Jeri Taylor]]. It was first screened in January 1991.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=152}} The script related that the Cardassian Union and the [[United Federation of Planets]]—of which Earth was a part—were involved in skirmishes for many years but had signed a peace treaty.

It begins with the revelation that the USS ''Phoenix'', a renegade Federation starship under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell ([[Bob Gunton]]), has begun attacking Cardassian targets, as Maxwell is convinced the Cardassians are rearming for war against the Federation. The [[USS Enterprise-D|USS ''Enterprise''-D]], captained by [[Jean-Luc Picard]] ([[Patrick Stewart]]), is sent to stop the ''Phoenix'', with the Cardassian Gul Macet ([[Marc Alaimo]]) coming aboard the ''Enterprise'' to assist.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=152}}

Alaimo's appearance as Gul Macet in "The Wounded" made him the second actor, after [[Mark Lenard]], to play three separate alien species in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In earlier episodes he portrayed an Antican ("[[Lonely Among Us]]") and a Romulan ("[[The Neutral Zone (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Neutral Zone]]").{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=152}} He later portrayed a human in ''The Next Generation'' episode "[[Time's Arrow (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Time's Arrow]]" before gaining a recurring role as the Cardassian Gul Dukat in ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=152}}

For this episode, several Cardassians were depicted wearing helmets, something never again done in the franchise;{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=153}} Blackman and Westmore's designs also gave Macet facial hair, the only time a Cardassian was shown this way.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=152}}

====Later episodes: 1991–1994====

In the fifth season episode "[[Ensign Ro (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Ensign Ro]]", written by [[Rick Berman]] and [[Michael Piller]] and first screened in October 1991, the [[Bajoran]] species was introduced. It explained that the Cardassians had annexed the Bajoran homeworld, Bajor, 40 years earlier, with many Bajorans fleeing their planet as refugees and often fighting back with militant tactics.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|pp=177–178}} "Ensign Ro" was the first episode where Cardassian warships were introduced as "Galor class" vessels.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=178}} Although it was not intended at the time, the situation between the Cardassians and Bajorans laid the groundwork for the plot of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=178}}

The Cardassians were central to the two-part sixth season episode "[[Chain of Command (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Chain of Command]]", written by [[Frank Abatemarco]] and screened in December 1992. In them, the Federation has gained intelligence that the Cardassians are developing a genetically engineered virus on an uninhabited planet. Picard is sent to infiltrate and destroy the weapon but is apprehended and tortured by the Cardassian Gul Madred ([[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]]).{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|pp=227–229}}
"Chain of Command Part I" included the first mentions that the Cardassians' homeworld was called "Cardassia", and the "Cardassian Union" as the name of their interstellar state (previously mentioned only as the "Cardassian Empire").{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=229}} "Chain of Command Part{{nbsp}}I" also introduced the news that the Cardassians had withdrawn from Bajor, setting the stage for the events of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', which began airing a month later.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=228}} The show's designers introduced the Cardassians' hand weapon in this episode, with Sternbach describing it as like a "copper-colored banana".{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=229}} Part Two of "Chain of Command" provided a brief history of the Cardassians and their military government.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=230}}

The Cardassians also appeared in the sixth season episode "[[The Chase (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Chase]]", written by Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore and screened in April 1993, where it is revealed that humans and Cardassians—as well as the [[Klingon]]s and [[Romulan]]s—are all descended from an ancient species who seeded many planets with life.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=243}} In the seventh season episode "[[Journey's End (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Journey's End]]", written by Ronald D. Moore, it is explained that the treaty between the Federation and the Cardassians left various Federation planets in Cardassian territory, and that many of these Federation colonists refused to leave. Their presence and struggle for independence from Cardassian rule was a recurring theme in both ''Deep Space Nine'' and ''Voyager''.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|pp=289–290}} "Journey's End" was the first time Cardassian communicators were shown, affixed to the actors' wrists.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|p=291}} The conflict between the Cardassians and the rebel colonists, known as the [[Maquis (Star Trek)|Maquis]], was again used as the basis for the series' penultimate episode, "[[Preemptive Strike (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Preemptive Strike]]", written by Naren Shankar and René Echevarria and directed by Stewart.{{sfn|Nemecek|1995|pp=296–297}}