Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Cardassians

4. The Los Angeles Riots Helped Inspire Deep Space Nine's Scorched Promenade

Star Trek Deep Space Nine Emissary The Promenade
CBS Media Ventures

When Deep Space Nine was greenlit, developing the Cardassians became a top priority for Rick Berman and Michael Piller, with Ira Steven Behr also commenting that creating Cardassian monologues became one of the high points of writing for them.

Berman and Piller were able to work on fleshing these villains out. Piller, when writing the script for Emissary, was inspired by the recent LA Riots. This led to the Cardassians 'having a little fun' as they left the station - destroying much of the merchants' area on the promenade and killing several Bajorans.

Overall, this was part of a plan to make Deep Space Nine as different as possible from The Next Generation. While the inspiration for the show, and the station itself, came about separately from the Cardassians, once they decided to include them, this influenced everything from the tone of the show to the design of the setting.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"