Editing Data (Star Trek) (section)

{{short description|Fictional character in the fictional Star Trek universe}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2021}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Data (''Star Trek'')}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox character
| name        = Data
| image       = Data ST.jpg
| caption     = Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data
| series      = [[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]
| first       = "[[Encounter at Farpoint]]" (1987)<br>(''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation]]'')
| creator     = [[Gene Roddenberry]]<br>[[D. C. Fontana]]
| species     = Soong-Type [[Synthetic intelligence]] [[Android (robot)|Android]]-lifeform
| gender      = Male
| affiliation = [[United Federation of Planets]]<br>[[Starfleet]]
| title       = Chief Operations Officer<br>Second Officer
| full_name   = Data Soong
| family      = {{ubl|Juliana Soong (mother)|Noonien Soong (creator)|B-4 (older "brother")|Lore (older "brother")|Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (brother)}}
| children    = {{ubl|[[Lal (Star Trek)|Lal]] (creation/"daughter")|Dahj Asha (neural progeny/"daughter")|Soji Asha (neural progeny/"daughter")}}
| portrayer   = [[Brent Spiner]]
| lbl21       = [[Star Trek uniforms|Rank]]
| data21      = [[Starfleet ranks and insignia|Lieutenant Commander]]
| lbl22       = Posting
| data22      = {{plainlist|
* [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|USS Enterprise-E]]
* (''[[Star Trek: First Contact|FCT]]'', ''[[Star Trek Insurrection|INS]]'', ''[[Star Trek Nemesis|NEM]]'')
* [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]]
* (Seasons 1–7, ''[[Star Trek Generations|GEN]]'')}}
| lbl23       = Position
| data23      = {{plainlist|
* Chief Operations Officer<br>(USS Enterprise-D, USS Enterprise-E)
* Second Officer<br>(USS Enterprise-D, USS Enterprise-E)}}
| origin      = Omicron Theta
| franchise   = [[Star Trek]]
}}
'''Data''' is a fictional character in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[Media franchise|franchise]]. He appears in the television series ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (''TNG''), the [[Star Trek: Picard season 1|first]] and [[Star Trek: Picard season 3|third seasons]] of ''[[Star Trek: Picard]]'', and the [[Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5|fifth season]] of ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]''; and the feature films ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'' (1994), ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|First Contact]]'' (1996), ''[[Star Trek: Insurrection|Insurrection]]'' (1998), and ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis|Nemesis]]'' (2002).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Luaine |date=January 9, 2003 |title=A Data with Star Trek again |work=9 January 2003 |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3050422 |access-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-date=May 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523180425/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3050422 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/picard-finale-michael-chabon-data-death-seven-raffi-star-trek|title=Star Trek: Picard Showrunner Michael Chabon Explains the Season Finale's Big Moments - IGN|date=April 2, 2020 |via=www.ign.com|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101044404/https://www.ign.com/articles/picard-finale-michael-chabon-data-death-seven-raffi-star-trek|url-status=live}}</ref> Data is portrayed by actor [[Brent Spiner]].

Data is a [[Self-awareness|self-aware]], [[sapience|sapient]], [[Sentience|sentient]] and anatomically [[Sex organ|fully functional]] male [[Android (robot)|android]] who serves as the [[Second mate|second officer]] and chief operations officer aboard the [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] [[starship]] [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS ''Enterprise''-D]] and later the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|USS ''Enterprise''-E]].

Data is in many ways a successor to the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''{{'}}s [[Spock]], in that the character has superior mental skills and offers an "outsider's" perspective on humanity.<ref name="tngcompanion">{{Cite book |last=Nemecek |first=Larry |title=Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion |publisher=Pocket Books |year=2003 |isbn=0-7434-5798-6}}</ref>