Jadzia Dax /dʒædˈziːə ˈdæks/, played by Terry Farrell, is a fictional character from the science-fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Prior to the symbiotic joining, Jadzia earned academic degrees in exobiology, zoology, astrophysics, and exoarchaeology.
Apparently, after she had put on the Odan forehead appliance, Rick Berman looked at Terry Farrell and said to Westmore, "What did you do to her head, she used to be beautiful?"
Instead of changing species, as they had already come to like the idea of an "old man", a person with centuries of experience to guide Sisko, Westmore suggested, "just give her spots like we gave Famke [Janssen]", who played a Kriosian in TNG: "The Perfect Mate".
This make-up was used on all Trill afterwards, comprising lines of dark spots that run from the temples and down both sides of the head, neck, and body.
At first we thought she was going to be ethereal, a Grace Kelly/Audrey Hepburn kind of goddess, and ultimately I think Ira Behr really figured it out, probably not until the second season, when he really made her a smart-talking, wise-cracking tough cookie.
And I think that helped me a lot as an actress to try to assimilate the job, period, and in a lot of ways, made me feel a little lost and uncomfortable as Terry, which got played out as Jadzia, so it was okay that she slowly felt more comfortable, so did I, and by the time they decided to make me a little bit more roguish in the second or third season, I felt much more comfortable about the dialogue and the other actors, and my lack of stage experience.
"[3] Following the confirmation of Farrell's departure and plans to kill the character off, Michael Piller wanted to add a few lines to Star Trek: Insurrection (which was still in development) acknowledging Jadzia's death and the impact it had on Worf.
Rick Berman eventually overruled this, arguing that this would confuse film audience members who did not follow the show regularly.
[citation needed] Early in the run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Michael McGreevey pitched a story to the writers that featured Jadzia and Bashir falling in love.
Prior to Jadzia, the Dax symbiont had been hosted by Lela, Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias, Joran, and Curzon.
Curzon had been a friend and mentor to station Commander Benjamin Sisko, and as Jadzia Dax, they continue this friendship despite the change in circumstances.
Throughout the series, Sisko refers to Jadzia Dax by the affectionate nickname "Old Man," and she in turn frequently addresses him by his first name rather than his rank or "sir."
[4] The episode "Rejoined", in which Jadzia is reunited with the wife of a former host of the Dax symbiont, features one of the first televised kisses between two female characters.
The Ferengi bar owner, Quark, also has a special affection for the Trill scientist, even after the Dax symbiont was transferred to Ezri.
However, her most notable and serious suitors include: In the fourth season, Michael Dorn joined the cast of Deep Space Nine as the Klingon character Worf.
He appears at first to be oblivious to this attention, and in the fifth-season episode "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", he becomes enamored with a female Klingon named Grilka.
This is resolved by the end of the episode, with Quark ironically winning the heart of Grilka, and Worf becoming romantically involved with Dax.
In the beginning, their relationship is very sexual, with the strong implication that their encounters are somewhat rough (the above episode ends with Worf and Dax visiting the infirmary with various bruises and other injuries).
Sisko, devastated by her death along with the severed link to the Prophets, leaves the station in despair and in search of answers.
[12] Writing for Syfy in 2020, Laura Dale called Jadzia “an early sci-fi trans allegory handled with respect”.