Portrayed by LeVar Burton, he served as helmsman of the USS Enterprise-D in the first season of The Next Generation, then occupied the role of the chief engineer for the rest of the series and in the films before appearing as a commodore in Picard.

Gene Roddenberry created the character in honor of George La Forge, a quadriplegic fan of the original Star Trek series, who died in 1975.

[5] Among the other actors considered for the role were Wesley Snipes, Reggie Jackson, Kevin Peter Hall, Clarence Gilyard, and Tim Russ, who would later play Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager.

Throughout the series, Burton was equipped with Geordi La Forge's trademark VISOR, which he found extremely unpleasant to wear:It's pretty much a living hell.

"[11] Following the end of the series, Burton has stated how much he gained from The Next Generation; "When I got married my best man was Brent (Spiner, who portrayed the series character Lieutenant Commander Data) and my groomsmen were Michael (Dorn, Lieutenant Worf) and Jonathan (Frakes, Commander Riker) and Patrick (Stewart, Captain Picard).

A thin, curved device worn over the face like a pair of sunglasses, the VISOR scans the electromagnetic spectrum, creating visual input, and transmits it into the brain of the wearer via the optic nerves.

[15] VISOR is an acronym for "Visual Instrument and Sight Organ Replacement";[16] however, the complete term never appeared in the series, but only in novelizations and other written tie-in products.

[13] Beverly Crusher and Katherine Pulaski, the two high-ranking doctors who served on the ship, were unfamiliar with the device when first meeting La Forge.

Geordi's response made the comparison of a child hearing many different sounds at once and eventually being able to pick out what they needed; it is a learned talent.

[citation needed] There was a short time period in Star Trek: Insurrection where Geordi gained actual eyesight, due to the effects of fictional metaphasic radiation, in the atmosphere of the planet Ba'ku.

New Scientist magazine reported on research as to whether a device similar to a VISOR can actually be created for blind or visually impaired people.

As of 2006[update], 16 blind people worldwide have had sight partially restored in a procedure where electrodes implanted in their brains take impulses from a camera to allow patients to see lights and outlines of objects.

[21] There is a device developed by NASA called a Joint Optical Reflective Display, or JORDY, that is presumably named for Geordi La Forge.

In commentary for Star Trek Generations, film writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga noted Burton also felt the prop limited him as an actor, as it denied him the use of his eyes in conveying emotion.

When the ship travels back in time to the 21st century, he works alongside Dr. Zefram Cochrane and helps him successfully launch Earth's first warp-capable vessel and achieve first contact with the Vulcans.

Doctor Beverly Crusher removes his ocular implants to discover that his optic nerves have regenerated and he has gained normal sight.

In the third season of the sequel series Star Trek: Picard, La Forge is revealed to have fathered two daughters, Alandra and Sidney, who have joined Starfleet by 2401.

However, when his daughters and Jack steal a cloaking device from the Museum and install it on the Titan, La Forge reluctantly goes along with them, whereupon he is reunited with an altered form of Data, fighting with his "evil twin" Lore for control of their common android body.

[32] La Forge is reunited with the rest of the Enterprise crew; he helps Data and Crusher find the true nature of Picard's neurological disorder and loses his daughters to it, forcing La Forge to reveal his secret project: the full reconstruction of the Enterprise-D.[33] Picard uses the Enterprise to infiltrate the antagonists' collaborators' base; La Forge assumes temporary command, letting Crusher destroy the base's power source with the Enterprise's torpedoes, eliminating the collaborators' threat once and for all, and oversees Picard's rescue.

La Forge greets his daughters, who have been returned to normal, on the Titan over video; he is last seen playing poker with his Enterprise crewmates at the Ten Forward bar in Los Angeles, content with his life.

In the alternate timeline of The Next Generation series finale "All Good Things...", La Forge has, by 2395, married "Leah" and had three children (Alandra, Brett, and Sydney) with her.

In the alternate 2390 future in Star Trek: Voyager's "Timeless", La Forge is a captain and the commanding officer of the USS Challenger, doing his best to stop Harry Kim and Chakotay from altering the time line.

In the holographic alternate history depicted in "Future Imperfect", a fictitious La Forge had cloned eye implants and had no need of his VISOR.

At least one scholar, however, states that out of seven principal black characters across the Star Trek series, only La Forge and Tuvok "really qualify as nerds, and neither of them compares with the extraordinary geekiness of the teenaged Wesley Crusher."

[36] In 2018, TheWrap ranked Geordi as the 11th best main cast character of Star Trek shows, noting his ability to come up with technical solutions on short notice and his friendship with Data.

[38] In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked "Relics" as the 62nd greatest of the Star Trek franchise up to that time, noting that LeVar Burton has many great scenes with original cast veteran James Doohan reprising his famous character Scotty.