Notes : One of the most unusual living beings in the Federation, Data is a product of the late Dr. Noonian Soongs controversial theories on positronic computing. Only three functional positronic brains have ever been known to exist; Data was the first known example, while his 'brother' Lore was the second. Lore quickly developed a aberrant personality, leading him to bring the Crystalline Entity to the Omicron Theta colony where Soong lived. Soong dismantled lore before the creature arrived; when the colony was destroyed he was forced to flee, leaving Data deactivated on the planet.

Data remained dormant on Omicron Theta until 2338, when the crew of the Starship Tripoly discovered him whist investigating the destruction of the colony. Data initially had few social skills and was regarded as little more than an interesting construct. In time, however, he demonstrated an intelligence and independance which impressed his new masters sufficiently that they allowed him to enrol in Starfleet Academy. Data did not fit in well at Starfleet, but he persevered and eventually graduated with honours in exobiology and probability mechanics.

Even after graduation Data continued to struggle for acceptance. It was not until he arrived on the Enterprise-D that he found himself making true friends. This reinforced his own self-image and encouraged him to stop thinking of himself as 'disposable'. Shortly after his arrival the Enterprise-D also visited Omicron Theta, where Lore was discovered in a dissasembled state. Lore was re-assembled, but quickly began to display psychotic behaviour and attempted to destroy the Enterprise crew. Data was forced to beam his brother into space, where he was abandoned.

In 2365 Starfleet Commander Bruce Maddox decided to dismantle Data so he could investigate his function in an attempt to recreate Dr. Soongs work. Data declined the invitation, prompting Maddox to order him to comply. Maddox took the position that Data was the property of Starfleet, a stance disputed by Captain Picard. A landmark legal hearing determined that Data in fact had the right to choose his own destiny and he was allowed to remain on the Enterprise-D.

In 2366 Data attempted to re-create Soongs work himself and created Lal, a positronic android who Data regarded as his daughter. Lal initially functioned well, even surpassing her father in many respects. Her positronic brain eventually became capable of experiencing emotion, but this caused a systemwide cascade failure which resulted in complete shutdown. Data incorporated Lals positronic paths into his own brain in an attempt to preserve something of her personality.

In 2368 Data met Lore again when they were both summoned to meet Dr. Soong by a homing signal. Soong had perfected a chip which would allow Data to experience human emotions, but Lore killed Soong and stole the chip before it could be implanted. Data met Lore once again in 2370, when the android used the emotion chip to override his own ethical programming. Data was eventually forced to incapacitate and dismantle his brother, effectively killing him.

In 2371 Data installed the emotion chip recovered from Lore. He suffered from considerable difficulties initially, but has since been reasonably successful in integrate the emotions into his life. After the loss of the Enterprise-D, Data transferred with the rest of his shipmates to the Enterprise-E where he remains Chief of Operations.