Elim Garak
Origin: Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Cardassian
Hair: --
Eyes:
Occupation: Tailor. Running Garak's Clothiers in Castle 13/1/30
Residence: Castle 13/1/31
Birthday:
Partner: Julian Bashir.
Children (partner's adopted): Molly O'Brien, Kirayoshi O'Brien.
Import Date: Year 11.
Elim Garak was the son of Enabran Tain, a nefarious Cardassian who never grew tired of repeating to his son "I should have killed your mother before you were born. You have always been a weakness I can't afford." (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow")
Garak had a strong, almost crippling, case of claustrophobia. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light") He told Ezri Dax that, in his youth, his father would discipline him by locking him in a closet. (DS9: "Afterimage")
At age four, Garak and his father spent a day in the country together, their "only day" as Garak would later recall. Garak impressed his father by mounting a riding hound despite falling off numerous times. As he limped home, his father held Garak's hand and would later recall that he was very proud of him that day. (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow")
At one point, Garak also spent time on Tzenketh, where he was trapped in a small room with moving walls. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light")
At one time, Garak was a high-ranking member of the Cardassian intelligence agency, the Obsidian Order. He was the protégé of his father, who had become the head of the Order in 2348, though their familial relationship was kept secret throughout Garak's life (and only openly addressed by Tain on his deathbed). During his time as an operative, Garak was instrumental in the arrest, torture and execution of Gul Dukat's father. (DS9: "The Wire", "For the Cause", "In Purgatory's Shadow") That fact contributed to Dukat later regretting not having had Garak executed (though not for lack of trying, according to Garak). (DS9: "Civil Defense") Garak had a vindictive streak and once tried to invent charges of treason against a gul just for being long-winded, but Tain stopped him. (DS9: "The Die is Cast") He also spent time on Romulus, posing as a gardener at the Cardassian embassy. During his time there he may have been involved in the deaths of several important Romulan officials, including Proconsul Merrok and Sub-Commander Ustard and the Romulan ambassador (though this was based on stories Garak told of his own past, which were not reliable). (DS9: "Broken Link", "In Purgatory's Shadow")
As an Obsidian Order operative, Garak had a cranial implant installed in his skull which would help him resist torture. The implant caused his brain to release endorphins when in pain, thus making the experience of torture pleasurable. When Garak was exiled to DS9 he hacked the device so that it remained on continuously, in order to make his exile tolerable. Finally the implant failed and he was brought to sickbay in excruciating pain. While there he confessed to Bashir that life on DS9 was itself torturous. Despite Garak's best efforts, he was unable to acquire a replacement implant and was thus forced to endure life without the pleasure creating endorphins that he had become addicted to. Enabran Tain told Bashir that he wanted Garak to live a long, miserable life, rather than simply executing him. (DS9: "The Wire")
Garak's masterful skills for subterfuge were such that even in the most dire of scenarios he would lie and misdirect any attempt to ascertain the truth or his intentions. Enabran Tain commented that Garak would "Never tell the truth when a lie will do." (DS9: "The Wire") Later, Garak claimed that he considered lying a skill that required constant practice. (DS9: "Broken Link", "In Purgatory's Shadow")
Garak was an expert interrogator and torturer. In one interrogation, Garak eschewed physical torture and extracted a confession simply by staring at his prisoner, a Doctor Parmak, for hours. Garak took a great deal of pride in his ability to force information from people and did not need to be ordered to do so. (DS9: "The Die is Cast")
Garak learned Klingonese at some point during his time at the Obsidian Order, a fact he revealed when he spoke to a group of Klingons confronting Constable Odo. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
In 2368, Garak somehow betrayed Tain, and Tain ordered him killed. Garak escaped, but was exiled from his homeworld of Cardassia Prime.
While suffering from the degradation of his cranial implant, he gave three versions of the reason for his exile to Doctor Julian Bashir:
He first claimed he was a gul in the Cardassian Mechanized Infantry and was exiled for killing several Cardassians, including his first officer, a man named Elim, as well as the daughter of a prominent military official, who were on board a transport going from Bajor to space station Terok Nor, when he destroyed it. Garak thought he was in fact killing members of the Bajoran Resistance who were planning to sabotage Terok Nor.
He then changed his story to say that as he and his assistant Elim were interrogating a group of Bajoran children he felt pity for them and let them go instead of turning them over to be executed. He was exiled when Elim turned him in to the authorities.
Garak also said that he was exiled after being framed by his best friend Elim with evidence that a member of the Obsidian Order was allowing Bajoran prisoners to escape.
Dr. Bashir later discovered from Enabran Tain that "Elim" was actually Garak's first name, indicating that none of these explanations were entirely true. (DS9: "The Wire") Another time, he claimed he was exiled for tax evasion. (DS9: "Improbable Cause") Even this account (and any others), however, are almost certainly fabricated or distorted, as Garak was fond of saying, "The truth is usually just an excuse for lack of imagination." To Garak truth is the lines in between lies; he once claimed that all he says is true – "especially the lies". (DS9: "The Wire")
When Sisko asked Garak if the attempted assassination plot against him in 2371 was somehow related to his exile, he stated that he seriously doubted that the finance ministry would try to kill him for not paying his taxes. (DS9: "Improbable Cause")
After his exile, Garak took up residence aboard Terok Nor, under the command of Gul Dukat. Bitter over Garak's involvement in his father's death, Dukat attempted to have Garak executed. (DS9: "Civil Defense") Garak again escaped death's grip, surviving to see the Cardassian government withdraw from the station in 2369. He set up a tailor's shop, and went into business soon after his fellow Cardassians left the station. (DS9: "Past Prologue")
Garak loved Cardassia and the Cardassian state, which he saw as one and the same, and he loved working for the state. Exile to him was torturous. He longed to return to Cardassia, even at one point agreeing to murder fleeing members of the Cardassian dissident movement in return for a pardon (an agreement that was broken by the gul who made it with him). (DS9: "The Wire", "Profit and Loss")
Those who had exiled Garak from Cardassia said he didn't deserve a quick death. His old Obsidian Order boss Enabran Tain said, "I want him to live a long, miserable life. I want him to grow old on that station, surrounded by people who hate him, knowing that he'll never come home again.". (DS9: "The Wire")
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