Ro Laren /ˈroʊ ˈlærən/ is a fictional character appearing on a recurring basis in the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of the American science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Portrayed by Michelle Forbes, she is a member of the Bajoran species who joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D over the fervent objection of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who cited her previous court-martial.

After joining the Enterprise crew, she wants to abandon the engineering section of the vessel following a series of power failures in "Disaster".

Alongside Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), she is affected by a Romulan experiment in "The Next Phase", and must help prevent the aliens from destroying the Enterprise.

Ro was also planned to be a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but Forbes turned down the role, so Kira Nerys was created to replace her.

During the course of planning out the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the producers were looking to add a recurring character who could conflict with the regular cast at times, as well as a new conn officer to replace Wesley Crusher.

[2] The episode was designed to show a backstory for the character, who would be at odds with series creator Gene Roddenberry's ideal that Starfleet officers should all work together seamlessly.

The character was the daughter of Timicin, played by David Ogden Stiers, and supported the tradition that her father should commit ritual suicide upon reaching a certain age.

[5] Piller was disappointed with the following Ro episode, "Disaster", as it put her in the position of disbelieving Counselor Deanna Troi without having had the weight of "victories" in the past to convince the viewer of the power of her convictions.

"[8] Later in the season, "The Next Phase" was written with the idea of being a vehicle for Geordi La Forge and Troi, but it was decided to include Ro, instead, as one of the lead characters.

[12] Her agent indicated that Forbes wanted to talk directly to the producers, so she made the phone call, making up a story for the episode as the conversation went on.

[5] She said, "We all just love Michelle Forbes", but the plans to replace Ro would not seek to add someone with the type of fire shown by the character in such episodes as "The Next Phase".

At this stage, the other characters were only described as a wheelchair-using science officer,[n 1] a brash doctor, a civilian law enforcer, a bar owner and the station commander and his son.

[23] The producers of Deep Space Nine decided to create a new character to fit a similar mold, which resulted in the creation of Kira Nerys,[22] who was played by Nana Visitor.

Picard allows the plan to proceed, but the Cardassians destroy an empty ship before revealing that they had staged the attack to enlist aid against the Bajorans.

Defeating a similarly cloaked Romulan operative, Ro and La Forge alert the crew and return to normal, warning Picard and averting disaster.

[29] In the episode "Rascals", Ro, Picard, Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien (Rosalind Chao) are transformed into adolescent versions of themselves while retaining their adult intelligence.

[30] In her final episode, "Preemptive Strike", Ro returns to the Enterprise as a lieutenant after spending a year at Starfleet Advanced Tactical Training.

Her first appearance is in the novel, War Drums, by John Vorholt, published in 1992, which chronicles a mission to a planet called Selva, and Ro plays a major role.

In Avatar, Ro enlists in the Bajoran Militia with the rank of lieutenant, and is assigned to Deep Space Nine as the new security chief under the command of Colonel Kira.

[38] In Twilight by David R. George III, the first part of the Mission: Gamma miniseries, Quark and Ro start to develop romantic feelings for each other.

[34][40] Over time, Ro was promoted to captain and as of the Star Trek: The Fall series of books, is in command of the new Deep Space Nine, following the destruction of the original at the hands of a rogue element of the Typhon Pact.

[42] The Bajorans have been described as analogues for a variety of displaced peoples, with Star Trek novelist Keith DeCandido comparing them to "Palestinians, Jews, Kurds, Haitians; the sad reality is that you can pretty much pick and choose.

[43] He said that the impact on Ro represented the "non-American view of the holocaust" in that she does not fully recover from the trauma and continues to affect in, for example, preventing her from connecting with her religious beliefs in "The Next Phase".

[33] In his review of "Preemptive Strike", he said that the Ro character arc "comes full circle: once again making a decision that puts her on the outs with Starfleet."

He praised Forbes again, saying that she "inhabits the character so completely, from her awkwardness at the reception in her honor to her playing the role of rebel, to her pain at thinking about her father... to her decision to betray Starfleet and the Enterprise."

Club, and described Ro as "terrific" and said that the role represented "one of the rare times that TNG has managed to have a frustrated character who doesn't immediately seem overly hateful or falsely confrontational".

He said that Ro was one of the "richest figures in Trek", and wished to be able to see an alternative timeline where Forbes had accepted the main cast position on Deep Space Nine.

[46] A poll at the Creation Entertainment official Star Trek convention in 2013, conducted by Hoffman, placed Ro Laren as the fifth most popular recurring character among fans, behind Elim Garak, Q, Gul Dukat and General Martok.

[47] On a poll run on the official Star Trek website in 2014 regarding the fans' favourite supporting character, Ro came eighth out of ten.