Star Trek: Deep Space Ninefeatured a number of Ferengi characters, some of them better than others. InStar Trek: The Next Generation,the Ferengi were supposed to be newStarfleet alien enemieson par with Romulans and Klingons, butTNG’s Ferengi weren’t particularly formidable, so they were used sparingly. Being set on a space station meantStar Trek: Deep Space Ninecould include series regular Quark (Armin Shimerman) as a Ferengi in the more natural environment of operating a business instead of threatening a starship. Most other Ferengi existed in proximity to Quark, like family members and business associates.
The Ferengi were far more successful onStar Trek: Deep Space Ninethan onStar Trek: The Next Generation.Deep Space Ninedeconstructed the Ferengi by giving them a cultural playbook, theFerengi Rules of Acquisition, and reframing Ferengi greed as self-preservation within a strict hierarchy.OnDS9, Ferengi weren’t inherently villainous; they just had cultural differences from “hew-mons”.The best Ferengi onDeep Space Ninewere surprisingly complex characters who calculated the cost-benefit analysis of whether their capitalist culture really did generate the profit it promised, or if they’d fare better elsewhere.
6Liquidator Brunt (Jeffrey Combs)
Rule of Acquisition #52: “Never ask when you can take.”
Liquidator Brunt (Jeffrey Combs), FCA, may be the finest example of a Ferengi who benefits from operating within the system and works ceaselessly to maintain his position of power within it. Often dripping with lavish accessories to strike fear into the hearts of those beneath him,Brunt is responsible for issuing or revoking business licenses from the Ferengi Commerce Authority.This may be Brunt’s sole power, but it’s one that he uses to his own advantage to manipulate Ferengi entrepreneurs into doing his bidding.
Like Jeffrey Combs' otherDS9character, Weyoun, Liquidator Brunt is middle management at best; while Weyoun aims to be pleasant and deferential, Brunt is all too eager to throw his weight around.
Brunt is a union-busting, female-hating manipulator; in other words, the picture-perfect Ferengi. After Quark concedes to union demands inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 4, episode 15, “Bar Association”, Brunt considers Quark a subversive threat to Ferengi society. In later appearances,Liquidator Brunt takes a perverse delight in targeting Quark specifically.Brunt busts Quark for a broken contract inDS9season 4, episode 24, “Body Parts”; and holds Quark’s revoked business license over his head inDS9season 5, episode 20, “Ferengi Love Songs”, when Brunt feels his power is threatened by Quark’s mother.
5Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn)
Rule of Acquisition #65: “Win or lose, there’s always Hupyrian beetle snuff.”
One might think that being what’s essentially the CEO of the Ferengi Alliance would make Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) the type of Ferengi to do everything in his power to maintain the system that put him there, but Zek is surprisingly keen on doing things his own way. After all,the Grand Nagus' position of power means he can afford to take wild risks, whether that’s opening trade with the then-mysterious Dominion inDS9season 2, or naming Rom as his successor at theend ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.
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Sisko met Star Trek’s anti-Federation, the Dominion in DS9’s season 2 finale, but they were introduced in a comedy episode from earlier in the season.
The appeal of Grand Nagus Zek comes primarily from Wallace Shawn’s comedic performance. Zek rarely takes things very seriously, giving the impression that he’s either secretly brilliant or he’s lost his mind; the short answer is that it’s a little of both. Zek’s forgetfulness does mean he needs help from his lover and advisor, Ishka (Cecily Adams), to keep his ledgers in order.Zek also knows that Ferengi culture needs a shakeup if Ferenginar is going to continue to profit, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to maintain economic growth—even giving Ferengi women more rights.
4Ishka (Moogie) (Andrea Martin, Cecily Adams)
Rule of Acquisition #18: “A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.”
The most significant female Ferengi inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineis Quark and Rom’s mother, Ishka, who was played by Andrea Martin inDS9season 3, episode 23, “Family Business”, and Cecily Adams in later appearances.Ishka—or “Moogie”, as her sons know her—is a trailblazing Ferengi feminist,who stands up for her own intelligence and business savvy by daring to make her own profit and wear clothing. When Grand Nagus Zek takes a romantic interest in Moogie, she’s able to gently influence Ferengi culture to be a little less misogynistic.
DS9season 3, episode 23
DS9season 5, episode 20
DS9season 6, episode 10
DS9season 6, episode 23
“Profit and Lace”
DS9season 7, episode 24
“The Dogs of War”
Moogie is a belovedDS9Ferengi because she embodies so manyStar Trekideals all on her own.Moogie isn’t afraid to be honest about her progressive politics, and she still cares deeply for others, from the Grand Nagus to her own family. Ishka supports Quark’s choice to be more of a Ferengi traditionalist, even if Quark is embarrassed that he has to pay the (literal) price for his mother’s transgressions against Ferengi society. Meanwhile, Rom and Moogie share a close familial bond, since neither conforms to what their culture expects of them but still succeed on their own terms.
3Rom (Max Grodénchik)
Rule of Acquisition #92: “There are many paths to profit.”
Rom (Max Grodénchik), like his mother, eventually found his own voice by standing up against an oppressive system. Rom started as a waiter in Quark’s bar, where he was routinely berated for being “an idiot”, despite being the one who kept Quark’s replicators and holosuites running. The true turning point inRom’s character arc inDeep Space NinewasDS9season 4, episode 15, “Bar Association”, when Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) suggests that Rom forms a union to fight against Quark’s exploitative treatment. With a win against Quark, Rom gains some self-respect, and quits his job.
The idea that Ferengi equate exploitation with love is explained by two Rules of Acquisition: the 110th, “Exploitation begins at home,” and the 111th, “Treat people in your debt like family… exploit them.” In other words: Quark exploits Rombecausehe loves his brother, not in spite of it.
Rom’s entire life takes a strong positive turn after he quits his job at the bar, becomes an engineer with the Bajoran militia, and marries his loving wife, Leeta (Chase Masterson). Before being exposed to Federation ideals, Rom believed that he would never amount to anything because he didn’t have the “lobes for business” that Quark did, butRom was a victim of the culture he was raised in. Once Rom stopped listening to Quark, and found his own path to profit, Rom flourished in the life that he chose for himself—so much so that he became the next Grand Nagus.
2Nog (Aron Eisenberg)
Rule of Acquisition #9: “Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.”
Nog’s legacy as a Starfleet legend is confirmed inStar Trek: Discovery’s 32nd century, with the appearance of the Eisenberg-class USS Nog as a tribute to both Starfleet’s first Ferengi and the actor who brought Nog to life.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Dominion Warpushes Cadet Nog even further, testing his resilience, and cementing Nog as a great character.Being in Starfleet gives Nog the opportunity to shine as he truly is, instead of forcing him to conform to the expectations that would have stifled his true skills, had he followed his original path. Nog’s new destiny is not without challenges—Nog loses his leg and suffers from brutal PTSD after “The Siege of AR-558” inDS9’s 7th season—but Nog’s bravery makes him the hero no one ever could have imagined back inDS9’s first season.
1Quark (Armin Shimerman)
Rule of Acquisition #57: “Good customers are as rare as latinum—treasure them.”
Quark is easily the best Ferengi character inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. Everyone from Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) to Major Kira (Nana Visitor) sees theworst things Quark does inDeep Space Nineas DS9’s bartender and a side-hustling criminal, but Quark sees himself as a good Ferengi—and he’s not wrong. He lies, cheats, and exploits others becauseFerengi morality dictates that the right thing to do is whatever generates the most profit for himself.Goodness is measured only in latinum; at the end of the day, good feelings can’t be quantified in a ledger.
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And yet, Quark is particularly interesting as aStar Trekcharacter because he’s caught between moral philosophies that can’t easily coexist. Quark personally benefits from the hypercapitalist Ferengi culture he grew up in. But when the Federation starts to shape the lives of people Quark knows, like Rom and Nog, Quark starts to understand how the same system that helps him profit—that makes him a good Ferengi—is also potentially harmful.Quark’s own character arc is a fascinating study of cognitive dissonance, as he scrambles to prove he’s still a good Ferengi and not a dirty Federation socialist.
So much of how theFerengi changed inStar Trekis the result of Armin Shimerman’s thoughtful approach to playing Quark as a carefully nuanced character and not just comic relief. Shimerman broke down Ferengi tropes fromTNG, and gave Quark a surprising internal sincerity that also affectedStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s other Ferengi characters. Because of Quark, each of the main Ferengi characters onStar Trek: Deep Space Ninehas a different way to define what profit means to them, from actual latinum to self-preservation to the freedom to live as they choose.
