10 One-Off Star Trek Characters Who Never Left
2. Garak
Plain, simple Garak first appeared in the episode Past Prologue of Deep Space Nine. Played by Andrew Robinson, this Cardassian tailor was only created to effectively play with Dr. Bashir while the young man ate his lunch on the Promenade. Oh, how little they knew back then.
Robinson had as much fun as he could get away with, in the role, playing the man as enigmatic, as sexual, as a predator, and as Bashir's new best friend. His part in the episode is relatively small, though it was incredibly memorable. He was quickly invited back.
As the years went on, the mystery of Garak continued to deepen and deepen. Was he really a tailor? Was he a spy? Was he a soldier? Was he really a gardener, as he claimed to have been on Romulus? The riddle that was this Cardassian was one of his most endearing traits, even when he was going through withdrawals from the drug he had used to keep himself sane on the station.
While all of this was happening, behind-the-scenes, Robinson kept his own bible and backstory as to who Garak really was. Once the show wrapped, he sought and received, permission from Paramount to expand this bible into a novel, A Stitch In Time. Even in 2020, during the pandemic, Robinson joined Alexander Siddig for a virtual reunion of the two characters, with Garak now the head of the Cardassian Union.