When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was launched in 1993, its writers set its events in the vicinity of Bajor in the aftermath of the Cardassian occupation.

The Cardassians grew into major antagonists throughout the series, with several recurring characters developed, including Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo).

[2] Sternbach later noted that "The Galor class started with an Egyptian ankh, given how [the Cardassians] were like the Pharaohs to the Bajoran slaves, but you don't really see the basic shape unless you look straight down on the vessel.

The USS Enterprise-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), is sent to stop the Phoenix, with the Cardassian Gul Macet (Marc Alaimo) coming aboard the Enterprise to assist.

[1] Alaimo's appearance as Gul Macet in "The Wounded" made him the second actor, after Mark Lenard, to play three separate alien species in the Star Trek franchise.

[1] He later portrayed a human in The Next Generation episode "Time's Arrow" before gaining a recurring role as the Cardassian Gul Dukat in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

[1] In the fifth season episode "Ensign Ro", written by Rick Berman and Michael Piller and first screened in October 1991, the Bajoran species was introduced.

[8] "Chain of Command Part I" also introduced the news that the Cardassians had withdrawn from Bajor, setting the stage for the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which began airing a month later.

[10] The Cardassians also appeared in the sixth season episode "The Chase", written by Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore and screened in April 1993, where it is revealed that humans and Cardassians—as well as the Klingons and Romulans—are all descended from an ancient species who seeded many planets with life.

[13] The conflict between the Cardassians and the rebel colonists, known as the Maquis, was again used as the basis for the series' penultimate episode, "Preemptive Strike", written by Naren Shankar and René Echevarria and directed by Stewart.

[14] Launching the new series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, was the pilot episode "Emissary", written by Rick Berman and Michael Piller.

[15] In "Emissary", the station's new Starfleet commander, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is visited by the Cardassian who formerly served as prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat, played by Marc Alaimo.

[16] Alaimo had played a different Cardassian character in The Next Generation, but was brought in to replace the actor formerly cast as Dukat, whose performance had dissatisfied the creative team.

Ira Behr recalled that "It was either Mike Piller or Rick Berman who finally said, 'Let's get Marc Alaimo,' who had done a bunch of TNG episodes for them in the past.

Written by Lisa Rich and Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci as a bottle episode, it featured the arrest of a Cardassian believed to be guilty of war crimes against Bajor, Aamin Marritza (Harris Yulin), and the relationship he developed with the station's Bajoran second-in-command, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor).

[24] In 2328, the Cardassians invaded Bajor, occupying it for forty years, during which time they forced many Bajorans into slave labor, using them in their various mining operations.