Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Garak
In Star Trek, there are those characters you simply don't trust as far as you can throw them.
Elim Garak is, in this writer's opinion, the single most intriguing character in the Star Trek franchise. He is devious. He is dangerous. He hems a good pant. He's Garak - plain, simple Garak.
Digging up any information on this man has not been without its challenges. There are so many lies compounding lies that it's almost impossible to discover where they end and the truth begins. Old files were corrupted. Witnesses disappeared. Finding those who would talk about Elim was almost as difficult as finding an honest game at Quark's.
But we persevered, and we are mostly sure that everything in this article is true. Or, at least, close to the truth. For you see, what is the truth, really, but a lack of imagination?
10. Peter Allan Fields Put Him In A Tailor's Shop
The genesis of Garak was as simple as it was effective. The producers knew that they needed a character who would be a Cardassian, without necessarily acting like one. Garak was introduced in Past Prologue, with Andrew Robinson donning the grey make up, along with that unsettling smile.
As for Garak's role on this Bajoran station, writer Peter Allan Fields claims that there wasn't quite as much thought put into his current role.
We needed a Cardassian who didn't act like one, so I finally put him in a tailor shop, and nobody hit me, so we kept him there.
There was more to it than this. Fields had been a writer on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which featured a tailor's shop as the secret headquarters for a spy network. This, of course, would inspire much of Garak's future.
Winrich Kolbe would then explain that Garak's wardrobe, while still inspired by the stiffness that was present in most Cardassian fashion styles, was a little more flamboyant. Here was a character who was both a simple tailor, and so much more. Far from the solid style of the Cardassian military, Garak was able to be a little more expressive in his outward appearance.
To top this first appearance off, Andrew Robinson brought a mystery and a charisma to the man - one that even the actor later admitted to being transfixed by.