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Guinan was an enigmatic bartender who ran Ten Forward , the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise -D . She was well known for her wise counsel, which proved invaluable many times. Guinan was an El-Aurian , a race of "listeners" who were scattered by the Borg . Q , however, once suggested that there was far more to her than could be imagined. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " The Measure Of A Man ", " Galaxy's Child ", " Q Who ", " Deja Q "; Star Trek Generations )

• 1.1 19th century
• 1.2 21st century
• 1.3 22nd century
• 1.4 23rd century
• 2 Aboard the USS Enterprise -D
• 3 After the USS Enterprise -D
• 4 Dealings with Q
• 5.1 Fencing
• 6.2.1 Jean-Luc Picard
• 6.2.2 Beverly Crusher
• 6.2.3 Wesley Crusher
• 6.2.4 Geordi La Forge
• 6.2.6 Ro Laren
• 7 Alternate timelines
• 9 Chronology
• 10.1 Appearances
• 10.2 Background information
• 10.3 Apocrypha
• 10.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Guinan was born on her homeworld sometime before the late 19th century . In her childhood, she had a Tarcassian razor beast as an imaginary friend. When she was troubled, she'd talk to it. She enjoyed imagining that she was curling up on its warm belly. As she grew older, she found that she talked to it less and less, but the idea of the creature always remained with her. ( TNG : " Imaginary Friend ")

As a mature adult, Guinan hid from her father on Earth (prior to the planet 's first official contact with an alien race), posing as a celebrated and obviously wealthy socialite in San Francisco , calling herself " Madame " Guinan. While there, she entertained such luminaries as Samuel Clemens . ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ")

19th century [ ]

Guinan and Data on Earth in 1893

In 1893 , Guinan encountered Data , from the 24th century , who claimed they were friends from the Enterprise . Guinan had no knowledge of this and when she expressed her absence of awareness about the situation, it allowed Data to quickly realize that he was dealing with the Guinan of this era rather than from his own time. She learned about his predicament and agreed to help in any way she could in stopping the Devidians and returning Data to the 24th century. She also met Jean-Luc Picard , William T. Riker , Geordi La Forge , Deanna Troi , and Dr. Beverly Crusher from Data's time. When Data prevented the Devidians from attacking them, he was decapitated but the rest of his body, along with Samuel Clemens and the Enterprise crew (sans Picard), traveled back to the 24th century. Picard stayed behind to make sure Guinan was all right. When Clemens helped Picard return, he saw to Guinan's wounds. ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ", " Time's Arrow, Part II ")

21st century [ ]

During the 21st century , Guinan owned a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in 2024 Los Angeles . She planned on leaving Earth, but met up with Picard, whom believed Guinan to be the Watcher . However, she led Picard to said watcher, Supervisor Tallinn . Guinan later helped Picard by contacting Q. However, to her confusion her technique did not immediately bring Q to her and Picard. She and Picard were then arrested by FBI agent Martin Wells . ( PIC : " Watcher ", " Monsters ")

In the FBI's custody, Guinan denied being an alien and called Agent Wells crazy. Guinan was then called to another room while Wells interrogated Picard personally. Guinan was later interrogated by Q , who complained about her summoning him. Guinan thought she sensed Q's fear about himself dying and that Q was unable to vaporize her by snapping his fingers. She demanded to know what his plans with Picard, but Q evaded her questions. She was then left in the room. Guinan was able to project herself into Picard's mind, telling him what Q said about all Humans being stuck in the past. She then joined Picard and the two of them were let go by Wells. Guinan admitted to Wells that she was not from Earth and floated the idea that Wells was meant to encounter non-Humans in order to eventually be there to help Picard. Guinan then wished Picard good luck and hope to meet him more properly. ( PIC : " Mercy ")

After her encounter with Picard, Guinan became a good friend to Cristóbal Rios , Teresa Ramirez , her son Ricardo , and Renée Picard who frequented her bar every time they were in Los Angeles. ( PIC : " Farewell ")

22nd century [ ]

Guinan had "some dealings" with Q sometime during the 22nd century and also other members of the Q Continuum , some of whom she said " were almost respectable. " Her relationship with Q was evidently hostile. Centuries later, Q described Guinan as an " imp " and stated, " Where she goes, trouble always follows. " Around the 22nd century, Guinan, according to Q, went by another name . ( TNG : " Q Who ")

23rd century [ ]

Guinan assisted by Pavel Chekov in 2293 after being pulled from the Nexus

Following the destruction of her homeworld by the Borg in the 23rd century , Guinan became a refugee aboard the SS Lakul in 2293 . She, along with the rest of her ship, subsequently became caught in the Nexus , an experience she described as "being inside joy." She was rescued, among 46 others, shortly before the destruction of the ship by the USS Enterprise -B and assisted by Pavel Chekov . Along with most of the other El-Aurian refugees, Guinan was traumatized upon being pulled out of the Nexus. In 2371 , Captain Picard conferred with the "echo" of Guinan who remained in the timeless Nexus and, with her help, was eventually able to leave the Nexus. ( Star Trek Generations )

In the novel Engines of Destiny , a confrontation between an alternate Guinan and the Guardian of Forever reveals that the version of Guinan in the Nexus is the source of her constant "feelings", as this version of herself existed outside all time, and could thus reach out to her other selves and provide valuable insight into possible actions that must be taken, although even she was ignorant of what the definitive outcome would be in the end.

Aboard the USS Enterprise -D [ ]

Guinan in 2365

Guinan came aboard the Enterprise -D in 2365 , at Captain Picard's personal request. Guinan and Picard shared a long-time relationship, which, according to Guinan, went "beyond friendship and beyond family." ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") At that time, there were rumors among the Enterprise -D crew that she had met Picard when he was the commanding officer of the USS Stargazer . However, to protect the timeline, she lied by saying she only knew Picard after boarding the Enterprise . ( TNG : " The Child ")

The circumstances of Guinan's first meeting with Picard are detailed in the Star Trek: Stargazer novel Oblivion , which includes the two of them confronting Enabran Tain , father of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character Elim Garak .

In Ten Forward, Guinan kept a selection of alcoholic beverages for special occasions. These drinks included a bottle of Aldebaran whiskey given to her by Captain Picard. ( TNG : " Relics ")

Her quarters aboard the Enterprise -D were located on Deck 8 , Room 3150. She also had an office located on Deck 10, adjacent to Ten Forward. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

As lounge host, Guinan made herself available to anyone in need, especially to the senior staff , as an informal counselor .

In mid- 2366 , Lieutenant Commander Data believed spending time in Ten Forward, observing Human social interaction, would be beneficial for his android "offspring" called Lal . With Guinan's guidance, Lal worked as a waitress for a brief period. ( TNG : " The Offspring ")

Reverted to age twelve

No stranger to the phaser range , Guinan once beat Worf on Level 14, firing left-handed. ( TNG : " Redemption ")

Guinan defuses a tense situation in Ten Forward with the aid of a rifle

When, in 2367 , REM sleep -deprived crewmembers began to draft conspiracy theories about the Enterprise being unable to escape a Tyken's Rift , Guinan was able to defuse the situation, thanks to an energy-beam rifle she had acquired on Magus III . ( TNG : " Night Terrors ")

In early 2369 , Guinan, together with Captain Picard, Ro Laren , and Keiko O'Brien , was affected by an anomaly that caused them to revert to the bodies of twelve-year-olds due to the effects of a molecular reversion field . While Captain Picard temporarily stepped down from command , a group of Ferengi commandeered the Enterprise . Believing Guinan to be a child, they confined her to a classroom aboard the ship. She, Picard, Ro Laren, and Keiko O'Brien, however, with the help of Alexander Rozhenko , were able to devise a plan to retake the Enterprise from the Ferengi. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

Guinan sitting at Picard's desk in his ready room

Guinan in 2371

In 2371 , Guinan cautioned Captain Picard that Dr. Tolian Soran was seeking to return to the Nexus, which Guinan described as a doorway to a paradisiacal place. She also warned Picard that anyone who entered the Nexus would never want to leave it and that, should someone be forcefully taken away from the Nexus, their desire to return to it might make them extremely dangerous. When Picard was trapped in the Nexus shortly thereafter, an "echo" of Guinan that had remained there after the rest of her left the Nexus reminded him to focus on his mission: to prevent Soran from destroying the Veridian sun . With the help of Captain Kirk , Picard succeeded in stopping Soran and was able to escape from the Nexus. Guinan, meanwhile, was among many individuals who survived an emergency crash landing of the Enterprise . ( Star Trek Generations )

As part of charity event Comic Relief , which was co-hosted by Whoopi Goldberg as well as other comedians, in 1994 the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation performed a pre-filmed scene in costume where promotional material from the event was apparently found in an archeological dig on Earth. [1] After describing the charity and its mission, Data made a comment that one of the hosts was a "Whoo-Pi Goldberg" and brought up a picture of her on the viewscreen. When Dr. Crusher commented that this "Whoo-Pi" looked an awful lot like the long-lived Guinan, the crew pondered this for a moment before dismissing it with a collective, " Nah. "

After the USS Enterprise -D [ ]

Guinan at the Riker-Troi wedding in 2379

After the destruction of the Enterprise -D, she attended the wedding ceremony of Deanna Troi and William Riker in 2379 . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

By 2401 , Guinan had returned to running a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in Los Angeles. She had adjusted her physical aging to appear older, as she had observed that Humans " don't like to be reminded of their mortality. " ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

Following Picard's return from 2024 , he visited Guinan who apologized for not telling him sooner about their meeting in the past. Guinan was sure that if she guided him right and set Picard straight, he'd circle around eventually. Guinan also thanked Picard for setting her straight first. Guinan then drew Picard's attention to a picture of Cristóbal Rios behind the bar and revealed that Rios and Teresa Ramirez had started a medical movement together, the Mariposas and led them through hard times to help those in need while Ricardo put together a team of the brightest minds in the world and they found a way to heal the ocean and clean the sky using the alien organism found by Renée Picard on Europa . Having become close friends with Rios and his family, Guinan shared funny stories of his life with Picard before revealing the details of Rios and Teresa's deaths. Guinan then joined in Picard's toast to family alongside Seven of Nine , Raffaela Musiker and Elnor . ( PIC : " Farewell ")

Later that year, Guinan decided to capitalize on the occasion of Frontier Day by selling small models of various starships Enterprise in her bar. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

In 2402 , the former senior staff of the Enterprise -D gathered at 10 Forward Avenue and stayed long past the bar's closing time. Geordi La Forge claimed that Guinan had been giving them " the side-eye for the last half an hour " and Deanna Troi speculated that Guinan was doing so because Beverly Crusher had drank too much of the bar's stock of bloodwine . ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

Dealings with Q [ ]

Guinan's first meeting with Q aboard the Enterprise -D, in 2365

Guinan met Q again aboard the Enterprise in 2365, at which time Q was surprised to see her; he also questioned whether the name given was her current alias, indicating that she had used another name upon a previous encounter. He advised Picard to get Guinan off the ship, and added he would be more than pleased to "expedite her departure." In response, Guinan raised her hands, implying she had a special ability to defend herself from Q's powers. However, Guinan did not take any further action against Q as, before she could do so, he returned his attention to Picard with a dismissive taunt aimed at Guinan: " Enough about this creature; she's diverting us from the purpose of my being here. "

Although Q then remarked that Humanity was not ready for what awaited it, Guinan defended Humans, arguing that they "learn to adapt." As Q continued making his proposals to Picard, Guinan let off a snort of disgust, then protested Q's throwing the Enterprise into the verges of space.

After the encounter, Guinan talked to Picard about how Q had set a series of events in motion. Their contact with the Borg, she claimed, had come long before it should have. When they were ready, it might have been possible to establish a relationship with the Borg, but for then Humanity was only raw material to them. In addition, since the Borg were aware of their existence, they would be coming. Picard responded that Q might have done the right thing for the wrong reasons, as the Federation needed a good kick in its complacency to get it ready for what was ahead. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

A powerless Q meets Guinan; not a moment he had been looking forward to

Guinan's second encounter with Q while on board the Enterprise came a year later, in 2366 . Q was, at the time, stripped of his powers by the Continuum and requested asylum aboard the Enterprise , a request Picard reluctantly granted. When Data informed her that the captain and much of the crew were not yet convinced Q was truly Human, Guinan casually picked up a fork from beside a patron's plate on the bar and stabbed Q's hand. When the latter cried out in agony, Guinan commented, " Seems Human enough to me. " She told Q he was a pitiful excuse for a Human and the only way he was going to survive would be by the charity of others. After he was attacked by the Calamarain and lying on the floor of Ten Forward crying out for help, Guinan observed this dispassionately from a short distance away, remarking " How the mighty have fallen. " Q's powers were later restored by the other members of the Continuum. ( TNG : " Deja Q ")

Personal interests [ ]

Fencing [ ].

Picard and Guinan, shortly after Picard won their fencing match

In late 2368, Guinan was coached by Picard in fencing . In a series of matches later in November of that year, she lost the first match that day, saying she didn't think she liked the sport. Picard replied she liked it well enough two weeks prior, when she scored two touches on him.

They then took a moment to relax and soon found themselves talking about Hugh , the Borg drone Picard had allowed to be taken on board. To Guinan's question whether taking Hugh on board was wise, Picard replied it was an errand of mercy, and that Dr. Crusher decided for humanitarian reasons to care for him.

They rose again for their second match in which they advanced and retreated a few times, parrying. Then Guinan lunged, stumbled and grabbed at her leg – apparently she had pulled a muscle. Picard lowered his foil and started toward her in concern. Suddenly Guinan was upon him, swiftly knocking the foil from his hand and scoring a touch upon his chest. " You felt sorry for me, " she said. " Look what it got you ." She did, however, after speaking with Hugh herself, change her opinion on the matter. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

Personal relationships [ ]

Guinan was born sometime prior to the 19th century, Earth calendar. Her father was seven hundred years old as of the 24th century . ( TNG : " Rascals ") In her life, Guinan married twenty-three times and had "a lot" of children . ( Star Trek Nemesis ; TNG : " Evolution ") She had a good relationship with her maternal uncle Terkim , who she described as " sort of the family misfit. " ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ") However, Guinan once had some relatively unusual (for her species) difficulty with relating to one of her sons, as he wouldn't listen to anyone. After several hundred years, Guinan managed to persuade him to open up to her, convincing him to do so just by listening to him, though she didn't initially realize she was thereby shaping him. ( TNG : " Evolution ")

Friendships [ ]

Riker "pretends" to be flirting with Guinan

Immediately upon coming aboard the Enterprise , Guinan was able to draw the attention of many people because of the mysteries surrounding her age and origin. Except for Captain Picard, none of the Enterprise crewmembers had met her, but she soon developed a friendly relationship with many members of its senior staff. ( TNG : " The Child ", " Time's Arrow ")

In 2365 , Guinan and Riker attempted to counsel Wesley Crusher regarding his relationship with Salia . As Riker pretended to flirt with Guinan, they proved their own advice inadvisable. ( TNG : " The Dauphin ")

Jean-Luc Picard [ ]

Guinan and Jean-Luc Picard shared a long-term relationship, which, according to her, went "beyond friendship and beyond family". ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") Picard also made a similar confession, stating that their relationship was something that went "far beyond friendship". ( TNG : " Time's Arrow, Part II ") She also once said to Geordi La Forge that she was attracted to bald men, because a bald man once took care of her in a time of need. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ") In return, Picard once remarked that Guinan was "very selective about whom she calls a friend". ( TNG : " Ensign Ro ")

Responding to a question as to the nature of Guinan's friendship with Picard, Gene Roddenberry said: " I will say that friendship is a much broader thing than most people understand. " ( Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine issue 79 , p. 5)

Picard and Guinan talk about Data's rights as a sentient being. " ...the past always resonates in the present, and decisions made today reach into the future. "

Guinan often advised Picard in times of dilemma. In 2365, Data's rights as an individual were challenged when cybernetics expert Commander Bruce Maddox wanted to disassemble the android for study. Picard challenged Maddox's assessment before the local Judge Advocate General . As the hearing neared its end, Picard admitted to Guinan he feared he was losing the case. Guinan asked what Maddox would gain if he should be successful in disassembling and reassembling Data. Picard responded that he would possess the ability to build many more androids. He remembered Guinan's words that the decisions we make today have implications for the future, and so Picard reasoned that if it were decided that Data was indeed Starfleet property, all future androids would be also. Guinan noted there was an ancient word for that – slavery . Eventually, Picard won Data's case by pointing out that an entire race of Datas would be used as slaves – strictly against Federation principles. ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")

Guinan also participated in several recreational activities with Picard. In 2367, she featured as cousin Gloria in one of Picard's Dixon Hill holonovels . She, however, was not much impressed with the program. ( TNG : " Clues ")

Besides joining Picard on the holodeck, Guinan occasionally shared a game of chess with him, and Picard also coached her in fencing in 2368, begun when she considered exercise to strengthen her arm. Shortly prior to their match, the Enterprise had taken on board a Borg drone, at that point named Hugh. Although Guinan initially questioned Picard's decision in that matter, she was convinced by La Forge to speak with the former drone. She could not help but acknowledge that this Borg was developing a personality, becoming an individual. Upon her conversation with Hugh, she convinced Picard to speak with him as well. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

Beverly Crusher [ ]

Beverly and Guinan talk about Wesley

In 2366 Beverly Crusher, seeing her son socialize with other teenagers, asked Guinan whether she had any children. Guinan replied she had a lot, and Crusher inquired whether she had ever had trouble with any of them. Guinan said she had with one who went through a phase when "he wouldn't listen to anybody" – something unusual "in a species of listeners." Asked how he had grown out of it, Guinan explained a mother shapes her child in ways she doesn't even realize, sometimes just by listening. ( TNG : " Evolution ")

When Crusher was relieved of duty in 2369 , Guinan visited her in her quarters, claiming she sought treatment for her tennis elbow , which she claimed was caused by an unsuccessful tennis match with Geordi La Forge. As Crusher began to talk about her recent actions, she explained she had illegally performed an autopsy on the Ferengi scientist Reyga , who had appeared to have committed suicide . As Crusher later found out, the Takaran scientist Jo'Bril had in fact murdered Reyga in order to discredit the Ferengi. Upon Guinan's encouragement, Crusher eventually discovered Jo'Bril's plan, prevented him from stealing Reyga's research data, and proved the technology was valid. She was exonerated and returned to duty shortly following the incident. In order to thank Guinan for her encouragement, Crusher presented her with a state-of-the-art tennis racket , upon which Guinan admitted she had never played tennis. ( TNG : " Suspicions ")

Wesley Crusher [ ]

In early 2365, Wesley Crusher was reluctantly preparing to leave the Enterprise and join his mother, who had departed to become head of Starfleet Medical . When he was staring out the windows of Ten Forward, Guinan approached him, asking him whether he wanted anything to drink. As they talked, Guinan asked him three more times during their conversation, and when Wesley pointed that out, she replied it was what she was expected to do, asking if he didn't always do what was expected of him. He tried to reply, because sometimes you have to consider others more than yourself. Guinan responded that the question was to know when to consider yourself more than others and to give yourself permission to be selfish. Their conversation made Wesley decide to stay on board the Enterprise after all. ( TNG : " The Child ")

Geordi La Forge [ ]

La Forge asks Guinan for advice after his date with Christy Henshaw went troubled. " Always room at the bar for another broken heart. "

Guinan would often advise, or rather cheer up, Geordi La Forge after one of his dates went poorly. Thus, in early 2366, La Forge sought her advice after his date, Christy Henshaw , admitted she was not in love with him. When La Forge asked about what Guinan sought in a man, she replied she was attracted to bald men, because long ago one saved her life (Picard had "saved" the 19th century Guinan by remaining with her as she was injured by a time portal, as help came by). La Forge went on explaining that he never knew what to say around women. When Guinan remarked that he did not appear uncomfortable at the time, La Forge replied that he wasn't "trying" when he was speaking with her. Guinan replied: " That's my point ", making him realize he was only uncomfortable when trying to chat up a girl. A few days later, La Forge found himself rather smitten with a holographic recreation of Dr. Leah Brahms . ( TNG : " Booby Trap ") A little over a year later, he got the chance to meet the real Dr. Brahms and found her much less charming than her holographic version. At the time, he again sought Guinan's advice. ( TNG : " Galaxy's Child ")

With ease, Guinan defeats Worf on the phaser range

In mid- 2366 Guinan first approached Worf, introducing him to the Terran beverage of prune juice . Although the drink was generally unpopular among Humans, Worf called it "a warrior's drink". As Guinan sat down at his table, she asked Worf why he always sat alone. Worf looked at her with vague irritation as the conversation was venturing into areas he preferred to avoid. Worf replied he would require a Klingon woman for companionship as Human females were too fragile. Despite Guinan's claim that she knew one or two women on board who might find him a bit tame, Worf laughed and refuted this as "impossible". Guinan teasingly called him a coward for not wanting to meet them, upon which Worf replied he was merely concerned for the safety of his crewmates. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

When the Klingon Civil War erupted in 2367, Worf was torn between remaining in Starfleet service and joining Gowron against the House of Duras . While practicing their skills in the phaser range , Guinan asked Worf how his son, Alexander , was doing. Worf replied he was having difficulties adjusting to life on Earth, to which Guinan responded that the time would come when Alexander would find out what it really meant to be Klingon , just as the time had now come for Worf. Worf would later request a leave of absence, and with the help of Captain Picard would reveal Romulan assistance to the Duras cause in the civil war. ( TNG : " Redemption ")

Ro Laren [ ]

Guinan talks with Ensign Ro Laren

When the Bajoran Ensign Ro Laren came aboard the Enterprise in 2368, she immediately drew everyone's attention. After discussing Ro with La Forge, Guinan sat next to Ensign Ro in Ten Forward. Although Ro initially claimed she did not want any company, Guinan remarked that she would have stayed in her quarters if that were true. As they talked, Ro commented that Guinan was not like any bartender she had ever met, to which Guinan responded that Laren was unlike any Starfleet officer she had ever met and that this might be the start of an interesting relationship. Ro objected mildly to this, saying she never stayed anywhere long enough to make friends. Guinan said that she had just made one.

When Ro was later confined to her quarters, Guinan visited her there. Ro decided to confide in Guinan after her new friend told her that people like themselves, who had lost their homes, sometimes felt like they had no control over their own lives. Ro confessed she was in great trouble. Guinan advised that she herself had been in great trouble once and that she would still have been had she not trusted one man. This conversation was instrumental in Ro's decision to reveal to Captain Picard that Admiral Kennelly had made a pact with the Cardassians in order to eliminate Bajoran "terrorists". ( TNG : " Ensign Ro ")

When Guinan, Ro, Picard, and Keiko O'Brien were transformed into children, Guinan took the opportunity to enjoy her 'second childhood'. Ro, however, found the idea of 'enjoying' their current situation idiotic and pointless, particularly since Ro herself had not had much of a first childhood. Guinan took her feelings as a challenge, and during the time that followed tried to provoke Ro into enjoying their situation, such as jumping on the bed. Later, after they aided in defeating a group of Ferengi who had taken over the ship, La Forge and Data managed to return everyone to their proper age. Ro surprisingly now found herself reluctant to return to adulthood. When she didn't show up for treatment, Guinan went in search of her, finding her in her quarters drawing pictures of her mother with crayons. Guinan reminded Ro that she would need to 'grow up' again, but also said there was no rush, as she joined Ro in drawing. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

Ro remained on board the Enterprise and continued her friendship with Guinan until 2370 , when she decided to join a Maquis faction. ( TNG : " Preemptive Strike ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

Guinan in the alternate timeline

In an alternate version of 2366 that featured the Federation fighting a losing war against the Klingons , Guinan was still working in Ten Forward, though it was altered to befit the military nature of the timeline. She was the only one aboard who noticed the changes, which had followed upon the USS Enterprise -C arriving from the year 2344 . Data speculated that Guinan's species, El-Aurians, could perceive alternate timelines. Guinan advised Captain Picard to send the Enterprise -C back to its own time in order to restore the timeline, an idea Picard tried with success. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ") Guinan remained aware of the now-reverted changes in the restored timeline. ( TNG : " Redemption II ")

Since Guinan's incident with the Nexus, where time has no meaning, she simultaneously exists there as well as in the prime universe although, as her Nexus self said, she can never enter the prime universe as there is already a version of her present there.

Guinan also appears briefly in the crossover comic " Star Trek: The Next Generation - Doctor Who: Assimilation² ", in which she quickly becomes aware of the alterations made to the universe's past by the Cybermen. She also recognizes the Doctor as a Time Lord, reflecting that she now has a feeling that they have known each other for a while, but also acknowledges that they shouldn't know each other.

Hologram [ ]

The hologram of Guinan

As part of Reginald Barclay 's holo-addiction , he created a recreation of the USS Enterprise -D including a holographic duplicate of Guinan. ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ")

Chronology [ ]

Guinan, pictured in the 1893 San Francisco Register on Earth

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Child " (Season 2)
• " The Outrageous Okona "
• " The Measure Of A Man "
• " The Dauphin "
• " Shades of Gray " (Archive footage from "The Dauphin")
• " Evolution " (Season 3)
• " Booby Trap "
• " Yesterday's Enterprise "
• " The Offspring "
• " Hollow Pursuits "
• " The Best of Both Worlds "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II " (Season 4)
• " The Loss "
• " Galaxy's Child "
• " Night Terrors "
• " In Theory "
• " Redemption "
• " Redemption II " (Season 5)
• " Ensign Ro "
• " Imaginary Friend "
• " Time's Arrow "
• " Time's Arrow, Part II " (Season 6)
• " Rascals "
• " Suspicions "
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek Nemesis
• " The Star Gazer "
• " Watcher "
• " Monsters "
• " Farewell "

Background information [ ]

Costume continuity polaroids of Guinan's costumes

A sketch of Guinan by Durinda Rice Wood

Guinan was played by Whoopi Goldberg , who was first introduced in the episode " The Child ".

According to the script for "The Child", Guinan was pronounced "GUY-nun." [2]

Whoopi Goldberg got the role of Guinan after she expressed interest to the producers, being a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series – mostly due to Nichelle Nichols , one of the first black women to be regularly featured in an American television series. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book , Trek: The Unauthorized Behind-The-Scenes Story of The Next Generation ) When Goldberg learned that her friend LeVar Burton had been cast in a role on the new Star Trek series, she asked him to tell Gene Roddenberry that she wanted to be on the show too, but the producers thought she was joking and did not take the request seriously. The following year, Goldberg took it upon herself to contact Roddenberry directly. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book ) According to Roddenberry, Goldberg called him up and said, " I am a Star Trek fan, I was a Star Trek fan long before I was ever Whoopi Goldberg, and I'm wondering if there's some part I can play in your show. " ( The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next ) According to Maurice Hurley , Roddenberry and Hurley thought this was a joke by Goldberg and asked her if she would really work on The Next Generation ; Goldberg replied, " I am successful now and I can do what I like! " ("Mission Overview, Year Three – Whoopi Goldberg", TNG Season 2 DVD special features)

Roddenberry had originally intended the Enterprise 's bartender to be played by "the most beautiful girl in all creation." ( Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special ) When Whoopi Goldberg asked him for a role in his new Star Trek show, he gave it to her and rewrote the character in the process. ( Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations': The Multicultural Evolution of Star Trek , Heidelberg: Winter, 2004)

Guinan was named for Texas Guinan , a famed female saloon owner from Texas during the early 20th century. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia , 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 321; "Mission Overview Year Three – Guinan Returns", TNG Season 3 DVD special features) Goldberg described Guinan as primarily " a cross between Yoda and William F. Buckley , " but admitted that she put a lot of her own personality into the character as well. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book ) She also had a backstory in mind to explain how Guinan knew Picard and how she had come to be aboard the Enterprise . " In my mind, " she explained, " I always believed that Guinan was the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great, couple more greats, grandmother of Picard. And the reason she's on the ship is just to see how he's doing. 'Cause, you know, she can go anywhere at any time. " ( 50 Years of Star Trek )

In the first draft story outline of " The Best of Both Worlds ", only a single reference to Guinan was made, as she was stated to give "a little support" to a research team, consisting of Wesley Crusher , Geordi La Forge , and Data , while they figured out a potential tactical vulnerability in the Borg. [3] However, she doesn't do that in the final edit of the episode, in which she features in only one scene, where she instead has a chat with Picard.

Guinan wasn't mentioned at all in the story outline for " Family " (while that episode had the working title "Crossroads"), despite having one scene in that installment, too. [4]

As evidenced by the first draft script of TNG Season 6 outing " Relics ", Guinan was originally to have been included in that episode. She would have met Montgomery Scott and voiced a doubt about him claiming to have been drinking Scotch before she had been born. She eventually served Scott a green drink, the contents of which she was uncertain about. In the final draft of the script, though, Guinan's role in the episode was rewritten with a waiter and Data instead, the final version of the scene containing only a reference to Guinan. [5]

Regarding Guinan's taste for large hats, the first time she is seen without a hat is on the fencing court in " I Borg "; the first time she is seen without headgear of any kind is in Star Trek Generations . (When in Human costume, or disguise, in " Clues " or " Time's Arrow ", she has always accessorized with an era-appropriate hat.)

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Rivals ", the writers, Jim Trombetta and Michael Piller , intended the character of Martus Mazur to be a son of Guinan. Guinan herself was to appear in the episode, but Whoopi Goldberg was unavailable. All the references to Guinan were removed and only Martus' status as an El-Aurian was retained. Although that episode was the first to name Guinan's species, she herself was not identified as an El-Aurian until Star Trek Generations . Guinan having a wayward son had been an idea floating around since The Next Generation . ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 109) Rumors that Guinan might appears on Deep Space Nine had been circulating as early as the opening of DS9 Season 1 . ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book )

Commenting on Guinan's absence in Star Trek: First Contact , Ronald D. Moore said, " We decided fairly early on that Guinan wouldn't be in the movie because she wasn't part of our storyline and we didn't want to shoehorn the character in. " ( AOL chat , 1997 )

Guinan was temporarily considered for inclusion in VOY Season 5 installments " 11:59 " and " Timeless ". In the latter case, the possibility of her appearing in "Timeless" influenced Brannon Braga to assign LeVar Burton as the episode's director early in the writing of the episode. " I had actually, on behalf of Brannon and the company, approached Whoop to see how she would feel about it, " Burton recalled. " They wanted to sort of take the temperature before they dove head first into the script. Whoopi was tickled at the prospect. " Since the writers found it too difficult to devise a story they felt was good enough to warrant Guinan being in it, the notion of including the character was left by the wayside. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 51)

Apocrypha [ ]

Guinan makes brief contact with three stranded Iramahl in 1892 in Elusive Salvation .

The Star Trek: Stargazer novel Oblivion depicts Picard's first meeting with Guinan from his perspective, with Guinan currently in a deep state of depression after being torn out of the Nexus, tormented by her 'reunion' with her youngest daughter in the Nexus before her daughter was lost to the Borg. In the course of her encounter with Picard, Guinan is reminded that it is still possible to find joy in this universe, particularly when Picard risks his mission to rescue her.

In the novel Vendetta , Guinan is reunited with Delcara, the last survivor of a race decimated by the Borg, who settled with Guinan's people after her own were lost and came to consider Guinan a sister. However, by this point, Delcara has been consumed by her desire for revenge against the Borg, convinced that everything she touches is destroyed, to the point that she retrieves an advanced planet killer to use it against the Borg. Despite Picard and Guinan's efforts to appeal to who Delcara was before she was consumed by her desire for revenge, Delcara eventually traps herself in a time loop trying to push the planet killer to Transwarp to reach Borg space.

In the novel Engines of Destiny , it is revealed that Guinan was indirectly responsible for Montgomery Scott being on the USS Jenolen when it crashed on the Dyson sphere . In the course of the novel, Scott changes history by going back in time to rescue Kirk from the Enterprise -B, but this inadvertently results in a timeline where Earth has been assimilated by the Borg in the events of Star Trek: First Contact , although El-Auria has been spared. When the Enterprise -D goes back in time as well to try and intercept Scott, they encounter Guinan's alternate self, whose memories of the original timeline – including her meeting with Picard in San Francisco – help her recognize that history has been altered, accepting the assistance of the Enterprise in restoring history.

In the novel Greater than the Sum , Guinan returns to the USS Enterprise -E in the wake of a new Borg invasion, officiating at Picard's wedding to Beverly Crusher, but she departs the ship at the conclusion of the novel as she concludes that she can best serve Picard by letting him face his problems without her, rather than relying on each other out of fear.

In the Doctor Who crossover comic Assimilation² , Guinan and the Eleventh Doctor are the only characters able to sense that their two respective universes were forcibly merged. She also assures Picard that the Doctor can be trusted and that they're going to need his help, with Picard saying the Doctor reminds him of Guinan in their similar mysterious natures, which Guinan takes as a complement. Later, Guinan explains to the Doctor Picard's past with the Borg and why he refuses to help them to defeat the Cybermen .

In the novel Indistinguishable from Magic , Guinan joins the crew of the USS Challenger to be there for Geordi La Forge, who is on temporary assignment there from the Enterprise -E. She sensed from her Nexus self that she needed to be there for him, and wound up being instrumental in helping him cope with his opportunity for a relationship with Leah Brahms, and most importantly, solving the mystery behind his mother's disappearance years ago.

In the book The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard , Guinan first meets young Picard when he is at Starfleet Academy and she is a bartender at the 602 Club .

External links [ ]

• Guinan at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Guinan at Wikipedia
• 1 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Daniels (Crewman)

The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Guinan

Star Trek: The Next Generation doesn't boast as many recurring characters as other Star Trek shows , but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.  TNG 's recurring characters are some of the most memorable of the franchise. There's the trickster Q , the cybernetic Borg, and one of the most intriguing characters in the history of  Trek  — Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan.

Introduced early in  TNG 's second season, Goldberg would reprise the role close to 30 more times during the series, as well as in the Star Trek movies Generations and Nemesis . In all that time, few recurring  Trek  characters proved as mysterious as the  Enterprise 's bartender. As much as we know about Guinan, there's so much we don't. Even though her official role on Starfleet's flagship doesn't go beyond serving drinks, time and again she not only proves herself capable of so much more, but it's hinted she knows and can do more than any of us have ever imagined. So let's do our best to chip away at the edges of this enigmatic figure and see how deep we can get into the untold truth of  Star Trek 's Guinan.

Guinan is part bartender, part therapist

As the Enterprise 's bartender, we usually find Guinan in Ten Forward, the bar/lounge where many of the ship's crew members go to relax and where Guinan sees what's troubling them, no matter how hard they try to hide it. After all, Guinan is part of a nomadic species called El-Aurians. Her people are known as listeners, and members of other species often find themselves compelled to unload their problems on any nearby El-Aurians. It's not a trait all El-Aurians value, but Guinan embraces her role and offers her centuries-won wisdom whether it's asked for or not.

Guinan somehow knows exactly what demons are at her patrons' doors, and she always knows what to say and exactly how to say it. When she sees Worf's (Michael Dorn) adoptive parents gazing out the window of Ten Forward in "Family," she knows they need a friendly stranger to tell them just how constant they are in their son's thoughts. In "The Measure of a Man," when Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) fights to protect the rights of his synthetic officer Data (Brent Spiner) , it's Guinan's words about how Data's potential status as Starfleet's property could lead to "whole generations of disposable people" that help Picard realize what's at stake. 

Sometimes, Guinan's silence speaks louder than anything. In "Evolution," when Wesley (Wil Wheaton) confides in Guinan that a high-tech project of his may be wreaking havoc on the Enterprise  and asks her not to tell anyone, it's Guinan's silence that reminds Wesley that he already knows what he should do.

She's a woman of many years and many talents

We don't know how old Guinan is, but we know she's old —  very  old, by human standards. With a few noteworthy exceptions, at any given time she's likely  the  oldest person on the  Enterprise . In the two-part "Time's Arrow," Data finds Guinan in 19th-century America as an acquaintance of the famous author Samuel Clemens, better known as his alias Mark Twain. So she's at least 500 years old, and it's likely you can add at least 100 or so years on that since she's an adult when Data sees her while time-traveling. From her cameo in  Star Trek: Nemesis , we know she's been married 23 times, and while we don't know exactly how many children she has, towards the end of "Evolution," she puts the number roughly at "a lot." 

Guinan's many years have afforded her time to learn a lot of things you wouldn't necessarily expect of her upon first glance. For example, during  TNG , she proves that she's not timid about using firearms under the right circumstances. In "Redemption," when she interrupts Worf's shooting range program to remind him of his responsibilities to himself and his son, she first asks to join him in target practice. When Worf warns her that he practices at level 14, Guinan says, "I guess I could come down to that level for a while." She beats his score easily, before doling out some much-needed wisdom.   

Guinan has a mysterious sixth sense

Guinan has a mysterious sixth sense, and the members of the  Enterprise  crew have learned to trust it. For example, in "Q Who," when Geordi (Levar Burton) notices that Guinan seems preoccupied, he asks her if everything is alright. She says, "I don't know," and even though he's off-duty, that brief answer is all Geordi needs to hurry back to engineering to check on the ship.

Guinan's intuition is more important than ever in one of the very best TNG episodes , "Yesterday's Enterprise," when the arrival of the time-lost Enterprise -C changes the timeline so that, among other things, Starfleet is fighting a losing war against the Klingons and Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) — who was killed in the first season — is still alive. While all of the other characters react as if the events of their time are normal, Guinan is overcome with the sense that something is wrong. In particular, the presence of Tasha disturbs her, as Guinan intuitively senses Yar doesn't belong there. 

Some fans believe her sixth sense is explained by 1994's Star Trek: Generations . Early in the film, Guinan and other El-Aurians are beamed out of a place called the Nexus, in which time has no meaning. When Picard later enters the Nexus, he finds an "echo" of Guinan there. It's the existence of this echo that some people think allows her to sense when there's something wrong with the timeline.

For unknown reasons, she's an enemy of Q

More than any other scene in  TNG , an interaction in season two's "Q Who" hints that there's a lot more to Guinan than we know. When the trickster entity Q (John de Lancie) brings Captain Picard to Ten Forward, Guinan and Q recognize each other, and they're  not  buddies. Q calls Guinan "an imp" whom trouble follows. When he hears Picard use Guinan's name, Q asks if that's what she's calling herself now — suggesting she's used other names in the past. 

But arguably the most intriguing thing about the scene is that Q seems genuinely threatened by Guinan. He offers to remove her from the Enterprise ,   and Guinan raises her hands in response, suggesting she could somehow protect herself from Q. Considering the absolutely godlike things we've seen Q accomplish, the notion that Guinan could defend herself against such unthinkable power is very intriguing.

During her time on the  Enterprise , Guinan doesn't reveal darker feelings for many people, but Q is a definite exception. In the later episode "Deja Q," when Q says he's been de-powered by the Q Continuum, Guinan tests his claim by stabbing him in the hand with a fork. However, we never learn exactly how Q and Guinan first met or under what circumstances, though at the 2016  Star Trek  50th Anniversary Convention, Whoopi Goldberg suggested they may have dated, even joking one of her children could be half Q.

Her ties to Picard go 'beyond friendship, beyond family'

There's been a good deal of speculation about the nature of the relationship between Guinan and Jean-Luc Picard. And as most things go when it comes the enigmatic El-Aurian, we don't have any firm answers. 

A few hints are dropped here and there during  TNG  that Picard and Guinan's relationship might have at one point been romantic. After Picard is assimilated by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds," Guinan tells Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) that her ties to Picard go "beyond friendship, beyond family." Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything intimate going on. Guinan could just mean they have a very close friendship. However, in the earlier episode "Booby Trap," as she's talking to Geordi about his relationship woes, Guinan confesses she's attracted to bald men, and of course,  TNG  does have one pretty well-known bald guy.

But Goldberg has a different insight. The actress said Gene Roddenberry had suggested to her that, because of Guinan's age, she could be the ancestor of other characters on the show. At the 2016  Star Trek  50th Anniversary Convention,  she told the crowd , "I always assumed Picard was one of my great-great-great-great-great grandkids." Though never confirmed in any of the series or movies, it's an interesting idea, and were it to prove accurate, it opens up the question of whether or not Picard knows she's his ancestor.

Whoopi Goldberg was inspired by another Star Trek character

One of the main reasons Goldberg worked so hard to get a role on  TNG  was the inspiration she found in the form on Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura. The communications officer on the first  Star Trek  series was a rarity in 1960s television — a black woman who wasn't only in space, but who was one of the most important members of the crew.

Nichols told NPR in 2011 that she had the chance to meet Goldberg for the first time while the latter was working on  TNG . She said Goldberg told her when the young actress first saw Lt. Uhura on TV, she happily ran through the house yelling that there was a black woman on TV, "and she ain't no maid." Nichols said, "And that did something to my heart, so I knew that I had made the right decision."

By "the right decision," Nichols referred to an encounter she had with Martin Luther King, Jr during which the historic activist insisted she could not — as she was considering — leave the cast of  Star Trek.  King told Nichols that because of her presence on the show, for the first time on television, African-Americans were "being seen the world over as we should be seen." He added because of her,  Star Trek  was the only show he and his wife allowed their children to watch. 

Guinan was one of Gene Roddenberry's last gifts to us

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of both  Star Trek  and  TNG , died in 1991, a little over a month before the release of the final original crew-only  Trek  film,  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .  TNG  continued on for three more years ,  and more regular series and films would be inspired by the utopian narrative Roddenberry forged in 1966. 

And on a 2020 episode of  The View , Goldberg and Patrick Stewart confirmed that the enigmatic alien bartender who gave so much of her wisdom to the  Enterprise  crew was the last recurring character Gene Roddenberry created for  Trek  before his passing. On The View ,   Goldberg said , "I think [Guinan] might have been the last character that Gene created. That he actually created. I think that might be mine." Stewart agreed, saying, "I would say the true lasting character that we saw again and again and again." And it's fitting that a man whose creative expression was so concerned with the future would create, for his final addition to  TNG , a character who would potentially see further into the future than any of his other  Trek  creations.

We almost met one of her sons

If you've watched  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , you almost met one of Guinan's children. In the DS9  second season episode "Rivals," we encounter Martus Mazur (Chris Sarandon), an El-Alurian con artist. Mazur doesn't embrace his species' role as "listeners." For the most part, he uses his "listening" to con strangers out of as much money as he can get, but otherwise, he resents being the object of unwanted conversation. According to  The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , Mazur was originally meant to be Guinan's son. Goldberg was going to reprise her role as Guinan in the 1994 episode, presumably to help clean up after the havoc Mazur wreaks. When scheduling prevented her from appearing, all mention of Guinan was removed from the script. 

It's possible Mazur was at least partly conceived much earlier than his DS9  appearance. In the 1989  TNG  episode "Evolution," when Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) asks Guinan if she had trouble relating to any of her children, Guinan says there was one who "wouldn't listen to anybody." She adds it took "several hundred years" before she "managed to bring him around." Maybe she didn't "bring him around" as well as she thought she did? The fact that Michael Piller is one of the two credited writers on both "Evolution" and "Rivals" adds at least a little fuel to the theory. 

She was named after an old-timey actress

Because of her reputation as a comedic actor, Whoopi Goldberg's early campaigning to join the cast of  TNG  wasn't taken seriously . When Gene Roddenberry realized Goldberg wasn't playing a practical joke on the Trek  crew, he chose a name for Goldberg's character that not only reflected Guinan's profession but had meaning for women in film.

The Enterprise  bartender Guinan is named after the real-life Texas Guinan , a vaudeville actress, film producer, and speakeasy hostess and singer. The real Guinan appeared in over 30 silent films between 1917 and 1921. She also appeared in a pair of sound films, 1933's  Broadway Thru a Keyhole and 1929's  Queen of the Night Clubs. In the 1929 film, she played a fictionalized version of herself. 

It's most likely that Roddenberry was tapping into her "queen of the night clubs" reputation when naming Goldberg's character. Texas Guinan's prohibition-era hostess work included her well-known catch phrase, "Hello, sucker! Come on in and leave your wallet on the bar." Goldberg's Guinan never got to use that line, though considering her different tone — and the fact that money apparently doesn't exist in  TNG 's Federation — it's probably for the best.

Guinan wants to be on Discovery

The 2017 premiere of  Star Trek: Discovery  began a new era for the franchise's television life, and that fact didn't escape Whoopi Goldberg. As early as a year before  Discovery 's release, Goldberg made it clear she wanted to be a part of this new age of  Trek  storytelling. At the 2016  Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention, Golberg told the crowd she was campaigning for a spot on the new series, and that she was starting a new Twitter hashtag —  #BringBackGuinan  — to help her cause. Rod Roddenberry, the  Star Trek  creator's son and a producer on  Discovery , was there and seemed receptive to the idea. 

While Discovery takes place before the events of the original Star Trek series, there's no reason Guinan's appearance on Discovery would hurt continuity or need any kind of time travel to be facilitated. As Goldberg said, "The great thing that Gene did for me was he wrote a character that can appear anytime, anywhere." From  TNG 's two-parter "Time's Arrow," we already know Guinan was alive during Earth's 19th century. If that's the case, then she's  somewhere  in the galaxy during the events of  Discovery . Time will tell if we ever get to see the El-Aurian interact with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) or anyone else on the  Discovery  crew.

Guinan will return in Star Trek: Picard

In January 2020,  Star Trek: Picard premiered on CBS All Access with Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard, now retired from Starfleet but called back to adventure after a mysterious young woman shows up at his home in France. The day before  Picard 's premiere, Stewart appeared on  The View  —  of which Whoopi Goldberg is a co-host —   and he didn't come just to promote but to recruit. 

Shortly after sitting down, Stewart said, "I have something I need to bring up, if that's okay. I'm here with a formal invitation." The invitation was for Goldberg to reprise her role as Guinan on the second season of  Star Trek: Picard . Goldberg's response was immediate and emotional. She shouted, "Yes, yes!" and embraced Stewart. During the rest of the segment, she seemed to be having trouble holding back tears. " Star Trek was one of the great experiences from the beginning to the end," Goldberg told the audience. "I had the best, best, best time. Best time ever."

As of the writing of this article, the first season of  Picard  has yet to conclude. So we'll have to wait and see how much time Guinan gets in season two and whether or not any of the many questions about Guinan will be answered. Considering the mystery surrounding the character is one of her more appealing traits, it's tough to decide whether we want any answers or not.

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• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) residents
• 1.1 Early life
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• 4 External link

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

She was born sometime after the 1600s on the planet El-Auria and lived in the city of Lauresse . During her early one-hundreds, she migrated away from home to travel around the galaxy, paying her way by using her listening skills as a bartender as she lacked the patience to earn psychiatric degrees on all the worlds she visited and was uninterested in sex work. ( TLE novel : The Buried Age )

She visited the planet Earth on several occasions during her youth, including in 1893 , where she met the time-traveling Jean-Luc Picard and Data from 2369 . ( TNG episode : " Time's Arrow "; ST website : StarTrek.com )

Also in 1893, she met three Iramahl who had been hiding out on Earth from the Ptaen Consortium . ( TOS novel : Elusive Salvation )

In 1984 , Guinan told Gary Seven about the top secret research happening at Da Vinci Research Base in Antarctica , leading to Seven and Khan Noonien Singh undertaking a successful mission to stop the research. ( TOS novel : The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1 )

She was also on Earth in the 1990s . ( TOS novel : The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2 ) An adversary of Q since the 22nd century , and has remained such up until the latter half of the 2300s . ( TNG episode : " Q Who ")

She had returned to her home world of El-Auria by the mid- 23rd century , and was among the refugees when the Borg destroyed it, though she wasn't a witness to the attack. Her young daughter was killed, and a despondent Guinan fled the planet aboard the freighter Lakul . The freighter came into contact with the Nexus, and Guinan, along with 46 others (including Yuriel Tyvan and Tolian Soran ), was temporarily transported into that paradise. She was removed by rescuers from the USS Enterprise -B . ( TNG movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Generations , TNG episode : " Q Who ")

In 2294 , Guinan met retired Starfleet Captain Montgomery Scott in a bar in Glasgow , Scotland while she was on Earth; the two shared several rounds of Saurian brandy . She delayed Scott from leaving long enough that he met Matt Franklin , although she did not know the reason at the time. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

She drifted through life in the Alpha Quadrant until 2333 , when, while living on an outpost on Oblivion , she met a young Jean-Luc Picard. He was able to reach out to her, and they developed a strong relationship. Years later, in 2365 , she accepted his offer to live and work on the USS Enterprise -D as hostess of the Ten-Forward lounge. ( STA novel : Oblivion , TNG episode : " The Child ")

In 2366 , new Lt. Reginald Barclay III made such an impression on her (from his superiors, such as Geordi La Forge ) that he reminded her of her uncle, Terkim . A sort of "atypical" family member, whose uncommon sense of humor influenced his niece. In four years' time, she was carried by Barclay himself into sickbay from the unbearable strain put on her special, space -time senses brought on by Trelane . ( TNG episode : " Hollow Pursuits ", TNG novel : Q-Squared )

Guinan's bond-sister, Delcara , chose to place herself in an infinite battle with a doomsday machine from 2367 onward. ( TNG novel : Vendetta )

By 2379 , she had married 23 times and had many children. ( TNG movie : Star Trek Nemesis ; TNG episode : " Evolution ")

Guinan's third husband bought her gifts every single day. He eventually died in a gardening accident. ( TNG novel : Spartacus )

On the Enterprise -D [ ]

In January 2365 , Picard's ship, the USS Enterprise -D , picked up Guinan from Starbase 80 , and she subsequently served as hostess at the Ten-Forward lounge until the ship's destruction in 2371 . She befriended many of the crew, listening and giving advice. ( TNG novel : Fortune's Light , TNG episode : " The Child ")

Guinan in 2366

In 2368 , Guinan began receiving memories of things she felt she should not actually remember. When the Doctor arrived on the Enterprise and experienced the same problem, Picard brought him to Ten Forward to meet Guinan. They had a familiarity with each other that they shouldn't otherwise have. These memories were due to their abilities to sense disturbances in time, and they realised that the Cybermen had somehow altered history in order to bring their respective universes together and forge an alliance with the Borg. ( TNG - Assimilation² comic : " Issue 4 ")

In 2369 , Guinan heard the news that the Enterprise -D had rescued Scott from the USS Jenolen ; she considered again offering him Saurian brandy, but decided against it, figuring he was already disoriented enough. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

In 2370 , the Enterprise rendezvoused with Scott's loaned shuttlecraft , the Goddard ; this time, she brought the Saurian brandy, but Scott evaded the opportunity; instead, he was secretly working on a method to go back in time and save his former commanding officer, Captain James T. Kirk . Guinan shared her misgivings with Picard, but too late they discovered Scott had departed the Enterprise and set course for the Arhennius star, intending to gravity slingshot back in time; the Enterprise was forced to follow and found themselves in an alternate timeline where the Borg had taken over a significant amount of the Alpha Quadrant

Although Picard had trusted her instincts, he became frustrated when she could not immediately offer further assistance; in truth, she was withholding information - Earth was completely assimilated, and humans no longer existed in this universe, but her homeworld of El-Auria was untouched by the Borg. A vessel from the universe approached the Enterprise , and the alternate versions of Romulan Commander Tal and Guinan greeted them. The alternate Guinan beamed aboard and spoke with Picard, sharing her false memories of the "normal" timeline, and her relationship with Tal; the two Guinans then spoke, determining the split of time must have been in Earth's twenty-first century.

The alternate Guinan, having had a relationship with Tal for nearly a decade, and having saved his life at least once with her premonitions, was tolerated aboard the D'Zidran . The alternate convinced Tal to speed ahead to Gateway where Guinan spoke with the Guardian of Forever , learning the source of their power - the echo of Guinan within the Nexus linked her through all of time and across universes, but was not enough to give them knowledge of the future, only mysterious feelings of the present.

Meanwhile, as Picard and Kirk attempted to determine how to return the timeline to its proper flow, they suspected that it was Kirk's death that had made the difference. Kirk offered to kill himself, but Guinan insisted that he could not die, and instead must be returned to the Nexus. As the alternate Guinan spoke with the Guardian, all the others went catatonic, until they learned the same knowledge. Picard's Guinan went and apologized to Scott for affecting his life in a significant manner before the Enterprise was able to return Kirk to the energy ribbon, righting the timeline.

The echo of Guinan in the Nexus was at peace knowing that the Collective's attempt to stifle Earth had failed, and eventually they would fall, although she did not know how; there were many things that she did not or did not want to know, but was thankful, since it would leave her in a tedious Q-like existence, and to know that was all as was it should be was enough. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

In the "Track A" continuity universe aboard the USS Enterprise-D , her counterpart is a hostess by the name of Johnson. ( TNG novel : Q-Squared )

On the Enterprise -E [ ]

Her whereabouts since 2371 have been mostly unknown, though as of 2374 , she was living on Earth, and she attended the wedding of William T. Riker and Deanna Troi in 2379. ( TNG novel : The Q Continuum , TNG movie : Star Trek: Nemesis )

In early 2380, Guinan officiated Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher's wedding. By late 2380, at Picard's request, she briefly served as hostess of the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise -E during the third Borg crisis of the year. Although she admitted to a deep-seated fear of the Borg, Picard convinced her that he needed her. Guinan explained that every time she faced the Borg and was victorious, she did so while on a starship Enterprise . Jasminder Choudhury suggested the Guinan simply wanted support from a friend following the recent Borg attack on Earth, which Guinan mused could be true. At the conclusion of the mission, and motivated by her belief that she could best serve her dear friend by letting him face his problems without her, she disembarked from the Enterprise , but promised to visit when Picard's baby (with new wife Beverly Crusher) was born. ( TNG novel : Greater Than the Sum )

After the Enterprise [ ]

As of 2382 , Guinan had agreed to become the bartender aboard the Starfleet Corps of Engineers vessel USS Challenger as she felt that she had a stake to be aboard the ship during its mission. While on the Challenger , Guinan participated in the mission to restore the derelict Intrepid where she was reintroduced to Berlinghoff Rasmussen . Guinan would remain aboard the Challenger following its transfer to her friend Geordi La Forge . In 2383 Guinan revealed to La Forge that she had flashes of events happening both in the past, present, and future due to her time in the Nexus and she knew that she was instrumental in the investigation of trans-slipstream . Through Guinan, the Challenger crew was able to communicate with the creatures who were capable of trans-slipstream flight. Guinan was also confronted by Sela and helped her to make amends with her origins as the daughter of Tasha Yar . When the Challenger was destroyed, Guinan decided to visit Romulus after being given a visa by Sela and hoped to become bartender for the Romulan Senate . ( TNG novel : Indistinguishable from Magic )

Guinan at 10 Forward Avenue Bar

By 2400 , Guinan had relocated to Los Angeles . There, she returned to her 10 Forward Avenue bar where she met up with Admiral Picard.( PIC episode : " The Star Gazer ")

Alternate versions [ ]

In an alternate reality , Guinan decided not to return to the Enterprise after the death of Captain Picard. ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : The Embrace of Cold Architects )

In an alternate reality in which the Klingons conquered the Federation, Guinan was a resistance member and Picard's lover. ( TNG - Myriad Universes comics : " Do Not Close Your Eyes ", " No Cure For That ", " What Happens Now ", " Inevitability ")

Appearances [ ]

External link [ ].

• Guinan article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Guinan article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki .
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Guinan — The Enterprise's Secret Weapon

She's not just a bartender.

Despite what she might want you to believe, we all know there's more to Guinan than there seems.

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The Legendary Saloonkeeper Who Was the Real-Life Inspiration for Star Trek’s Guinan

Whoopi goldberg’s character was based on texas guinan, a larger-than-life texas girl turned power player in prohibition-era new york.

A 1919 advertisement in  Moving Picture for films with actress Texas Guinan. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .

by Carol Stabile | April 9, 2020

In an emotional scene , earlier this year actor Patrick Stewart stopped by “The View” to ask co-host Whoopi Goldberg to join the cast of “Star Trek: Picard” for its second season, and reprise the role she had played in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” back in the 1980s. Goldberg hadn’t been an original member of that cast either, although she was a longtime fan of “Star Trek.” In fact, she credited the series with sparking her interest in acting , mainly because it was the first time, she had not only seen “a beautiful black woman who was the communication officer” of a ship and not a housekeeper, but “black people in the future.”

If Goldberg was drawn to “Star Trek” because its cast included a powerful black woman of the future, in crafting a character for Goldberg on “TNG,” creator Gene Roddenberry conjured a name from the past. He named the bartender who blended mysticism with shrewd wit “Guinan,” after the once legendary Texas Guinan, a larger-than-life Texas girl turned emcee of some of the most exclusive speakeasies in Prohibition-era New York City.

Although Guinan may be forgotten today, her name was once as familiar as Whoopi Goldberg’s. Born Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan in 1884, Guinan took vaudeville by storm in her 20s, she starred in silent films in her 30s, and in her 40s, she was an influential impresario. An entrepreneur and a business woman, who ran nightclubs considered hubs of political and cultural power in New York City, Guinan alleged she was once thrown out of France for being too hot to handle.

Guinan grew up in Waco, Texas, where her parents ran a grocery before turning their hands to running a horse and cattle ranch. Her childhood consisted of riding horses, roping cattle, and shooting guns, skills that prepared her for a world of entertainment—Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, pageants, and spectaculars—that was already beginning to disappear, just as she mastered it.

Promotional picture of Texas Guinan. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons .

After a brief stint in Colorado, Guinan moved to New York City, where she quickly found work in vaudeville. When a get-rich quick scheme involving a weight-loss scam went sour in 1913, Guinan left for Hollywood, performing in two-reelers, generally of the Roman-riding, gun-toting variety. Buxom, outspoken, already in her 30s, and by the standards of the day, old, it was hard to imagine Guinan as a damsel in distress. Judging from the look on her face and the set of her jaw in films and photos from the era, it was more likely that Guinan would make the outlaws rue the day they’d set eyes on her.

Guinan emceed in L.A. before returning to New York City, where she partnered with bootlegger Larry Fay, conducting business in their speakeasies perched at the center of the room, armed with a clapper and police whistle. While rumrunners sold pricy pints of whisky from back hallways, Guinan’s patrons listened to “her girls” sing and dance. Guinan, meanwhile, greeted customers with her trademark “Hello, suckers” or zippy one-liners like “You may be all the world to your mother, but you’re just a cover charge to me.”

Guinan flaunted Prohibition-era laws. Busted for violating the Volstead Act on more than one occasion, she defiantly wore a necklace made of tiny gold padlocks around her neck, an in-your-face statement against federal investigations and harassment. After she was found not guilty of violating the Volstead Act in 1927, federal agents—who had already condemned her as a “moral pervert”—dogged her footsteps, arresting her again the next year for violating a new curfew law.

Like many professional women, Guinan hungered for financial independence. Ambitious and independent, she refused to play by the rules of her era. And she wasn’t shy in expressing this desire. Of an actor she was involved with in Hollywood, Guinan recalled: “I should have taken him like Grant took Richmond. … I was the one woman who could take [him] and leave him where I found him. I was out to take not be taken. He taught me one thing, though, that the sweetest things in this life are obtained by the work of one’s own hands.”

At the time, men who were creating and curating media legends only saw the boobs and the busts and the bucks. But there was far more to Guinan’s story than that. An animal lover who refused to eat meat, Guinan was a teetotaler who never drank alcohol, preferring coffee. Despite her risqué reputation, she only married once, to newspaper cartoonist John J. Moynahan. When she wasn’t on the road, Guinan lived with her mother, father, brother, and pets in Greenwich Village.

To be sure, Guinan was no saint, but she was no “ blonde bombshell ” either. She was a New Woman, not in a Mary Pickford, girl with the curls kind of way, but with the moxie of a devoted New Yorker. Until Guinan broke into the nightclub business, emceeing was pretty much the exclusive province of men. Guinan opened doors for other women in burlesque and vaudeville, admiring women who also struggled to control their images and make headway as managers and owners. Guinan met Mae West in the teens, when they were struggling performers in New York’s vaudeville stagehouses, and they remained friends for the rest of Guinan’s life. She was frenemies with evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, alternately admiring and antagonizing her, and wanted to play McPherson on the big screen.

At a time when few women stood up to theater owners and producers, Guinan fought for pay equity. In 1928, she won a $26,000 award from Duo Art Productions, when the company was ordered to pay her the difference between the wages promised her for starring in the revue Padlocks of 1927 and the amount they actually paid her. When Guinan joined protests against the Mastick Law in 1930, which eliminated overtime for women working in factories and department stores, she told the crowd “the law was intended to keep women out of jobs in which they competed with men.” At 46, Guinan knew a thing or two about laws intended to exclude women from jobs reserved for men. When Guinan died unexpectedly of dysentery in 1933, 12,000 funeral goers came to the Campbell Funeral Church on Broadway. Women who came from very different walks of life but shared the experience of being paid less than men gathered to comfort each other.

Because of her outsized reputation and early death, there were some halfhearted efforts to turn her life into the stuff of legend. Shortly after she died, Guinan served as the basis for the character Maudie that Mae West played in Night After Night (1932). A film biography of Guinan’s life, starring Betty Hutton and titled Incendiary Blonde (1945), characterized her as a rough and tumble starstruck tomboy, enamored by the prospect of wearing a white gown with a sequined head dress, with two silver pistols at her side. Martha Raye starred in a musical flop based on Guinan’s life— Hello, Sucker! —in 1969. In 1995, Bette Midler said she’d been cast in “a star vehicle directed by Martin Scorsese about the legendary New York saloonkeeper Texas Guinan.” Mostly, these versions made Guinan’s story fit into one Hollywood loved to tell about women caught in its hungry star machine: they loved the sexism of Hollywood, they’d sell their very souls for stardom, they wanted it, they asked for it, even if what they were said to want ended more like Sunset Boulevard than It Happened One Night .

But in the mid-1950s, Guinan’s story had a chance at a different kind of telling when Vera Caspary began shopping a project based on the Texas girl turned emcee of some of the most exclusive speakeasies in Prohibition-era New York City. If Caspary’s name also has you scratching your head, that’s because hers is another that few other than film buffs or historians would recognize today. In the 1940s and 1950s, however, Caspary enjoyed successes of her own, as a bestselling novelist and prolific screenwriter. In fact, one of her trademark novels about independent-minded working girls was made into the Academy Award-winning film Laura .

Caspary was drawn to stories about women who had come before her, whose struggles had in part paved the way for her own successes. That made Guinan a natural choice for a project. Caspary, a fan of live entertainment, had, in fact, been a regular at Guinan’s clubs in the late 1920s, where she watched as Guinan “bawled at patrons to give each little girl a big hand.”

Though Guinan had been dead for nearly 25 years when Caspary started working on her story, she remained a touchstone for women eager to tell stories about women who had opened doors before them. In Caspary’s script, Guinan figures as a boss who refuses to let her “girls” be sexually harassed—“In my club no gentleman pulls a girl’s fringe without a license.” She wants love, but on her own terms. And she’s a “hard-headed business woman” who, when asked why she “can’t be a normal woman,” launches into a tirade:

Normal, huh! Listen, Mister, where I grew up the neighborhood was full of normal women. Good , normal women. Worked like dogs seven days a week. For what? On Saturday night a kick in the teeth from the drunken bums that called themselves normal husbands. No, thank you.

But by 1957, Caspary was forced to give up on the project. All her efforts to get a formal contract for “the Texas Guinan story,” she told producer Hal Stanley, “have been in vain.” At a time when film and television were narrowing the definition of what counted as a normal woman, it would hardly have done to have someone like Caspary—who held unorthodox views of her own—make a film celebrating another woman who had refused to put up with someone else’s definition of normal.

It’s a shame Caspary never had the chance to make her version of Guinan’s story. And while Roddenberry’s shout-out to Guinan in 1987 was a sweet Easter egg of a tribute for those who got the reference, this oblique nod to a hidden figure doesn’t really satisfy those who’d like to see more stories appear on the screen about those who struggled against sexism in the industry and onscreen in the past and who—even if it was for a fleeting moment—enjoyed some measure of success.

So when Guinan appears, perhaps behind the bar of the Ten Forward, on the next season of “Picard,” raise a glass in tribute to Texas Guinan and Vera Caspary and tell the person next to you about them. And while you’re at it, think about why—nearly a century later—we still know so little about Guinan, Caspary, and women like Gertrude Berg , Gypsy Rose Lee , Hazel Scott , Fredi Washington , Lois Weber , and others who worked to transform media industries and, in doing so, change the stories we tell about the past and the future.

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Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Guinan

7 Biggest Changes To Picard's Enterprise In Star Trek: TNG's Time Travel Classic

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, "Yesterday's Enterprise" introduced an alternate universe version of the USS Enterprise-D, which has some distinct differences from its Prime Universe counterpart. "Yesterday's Enterprise" remains one of TNG's finest hours, and is often remembered as the episode that brought back Denise Crosby's Tasha Yar only to kill her off again. In one of TNG's best cold opens, the battle-damaged Enterprise-C emerges from a tear in spacetime, causing everything on the Enterprise-D to shift. Suddenly, the Federation is at war with the Klingons and the Enterprise-D is the first Galaxy-Class warship.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) remains in command of the Enterprise, but he appears exhausted and unusually weary about the Enterprise-C. An away team finds the injured Captain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neil) on the bridge of the Enterprise-C, and she quickly realizes that something is amiss. Picard reveals that Garrett and her ship have traveled twenty-two years into the future, and the Enterprise-C captain eventually agrees to travel back in time to restore the proper timeline. With a fascinating story and compelling guest characters, almost everything about "Yesterday's Enterprise" works, and all the changes in the Enterprise-D truly enrich the story.

Battle Enterprise-D Has Darker Lighting & A Redressed Bridge

The enterprise-d looks more battle-ready than ever.

When the bridge of the Enterprise-D first shifts, the most obvious difference is the change in lighting. The original bridge is well-lit, with bright white lights and an almost homey feel. The new bridge, however, is much darker, with less ambient light and blue overhead lighting rather than white. Everything on the bridge feels more intense with this lighting, successfully conveying the idea that this Enterprise-D is always on high alert. The lighting has been darkened throughout the ship, as well, and everything has a more austere and functional look.

Star Trek: Every Version Of The Starship Enterprise

The Federation flagship, the USS Enterprise, has a long, fabled history, and each version of the classic Star Trek spacecraft has its own unique look.

The ship's bridge configuration has also been altered. Captain Picard now sits higher, with no other chairs around him on the command deck. Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) remains First Officer but now stands at the tactical station rather than sitting next to Picard. There are more consoles on the bridge, as well, suggesting this Enterprise-D has more weapons systems and tactical abilities than the original one. Even Picard's ready room is different — not only is it darker, but all of Picard's mementos and trinkets have been removed.

Battle Enterprise TNG Crew Wears Different Uniforms

Every officer wears weapons belts equipped with phasers at all times.

Captain Picard and the rest of the Enterprise-D crew wear different uniforms that look more militaristic. With a thicker band collar and cuffed sleeves, these uniforms also incorporate weapons belts. These belts hold a type 2 phaser which shows much more prominently than the usual phaser belts worn by Enterprise-D crew members on away missions. The phaser belts are the most obvious and jarring change in the uniforms and help illustrate just how brutal the war with the Klingons has become.

The crew members of the Enterprise-C wear the same Starfleet uniforms seen in the Star Trek: The Original Series films.

The phaser belts worn by every officer aboard the Enterprise-D look very similar to the ones worn by the crew of the ISS Enterprise seen in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 10, "Mirror, Mirror." It makes sense that the alternate universe Enterprise-D in "Yesterday's Enterprise" would resemble the Mirror Universe Enterprise , as both ships were built for battle during times of war. Thankfully, the crewmembers of the alternate Enterprise-D are not unnecessarily cruel (or sex-crazed) like the officers in the Mirror Universe.

Battle Enterprise Uses Different Style Red Alerts

Red & yellow alerts have been replaced by battle alerts.

Rather than the traditional red and yellow alerts, the Warship Enterprise uses battle alerts, in either condition yellow or red. This Captain Picard and his crew are likely on high alert at all times, and the only reason they would declare a ship-wide alert is if the ship was about to head into battle. Soon after the Enterprise-D first hails the Enterprise-C, Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) informs Picard that Klingon battlecruisers have been spotted heading toward them.

Captain Picard then orders a Battle Alert, Condition Yellow, presumably to alert the crew to prepare for a battle with the Klingons soon. Picard never orders a Battle Alert, Condition Red on screen. He is transporting over from the Enterprise-C just as the first attack happens, meaning Commander Riker would have been the one to declare the alert status. It's likely the Enterprise-D remained at Battle Alert throughout the rest of the episode, as they covered the retreat of the Enterprise-C.

The Crew Of The Battle Enterprise Eat Rations

The food replicators use too much power.

The crew of the Warship Enterprise even eats differently than the original crew. Although this Enterprise is still equipped with food replicators, they are on minimum power so every extra ounce of power can be diverted to the weapons and shields. When Lt. Tasha Yar visits Ten Forward, she asks Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) for "a couple of TKLs," saying that she and Lt. Richard Castillo (Christopher McDonald) of the Enterprise-C are "in a hurry."

When Castillo questions what a TKL is, Yar informs him that they are standard rations as she explains about the food replicators. Even in a society as advanced as the 24th century Federation, wartimes still stretch every resource thin and soldiers still have to sacrifice creature comforts. "Yesterday's Enterprise" never reveals what the letters TKL actually stand for, and it's possible they don't mean anything at all.

Battle Enterprise Has Security Officers Everywhere

Security officers stand at nearly every door, battle ready.

Although no one calls particular attention to them throughout "Yesterday's Enterprise," there are security officers in the background of many scenes set aboard the Enterprise-D. Equipped with the standard weapons belt with phasers, they stand at nearly every entrance and door on the ship, even in sickbay. There are clearly more officers aboard the Warship Enterprise than the original, as the whole ship feels overcrowded and constantly busy.

7 Star Trek: TNG "Yesterday's Enterprise" Details You Missed

Star Trek: TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise" is an all-time classic enhanced by the fascinating decisions made to bring the time travel story to life.

The scenes in Ten Forward, and even the shots in hallways, are full of people — officers hurrying back and forth to their stations, officers taking downtime trying to forget about the war, and everywhere, silent security officers standing at attention. Everything sounds louder, too, with more people talking, louder engines, and louder background noise. It's constantly jarring to see the Enterprise not as a home for families and civilizations, but as a busy battleship prepared for war at all times.

Picard Records A Military Log Rather Than A Captain's Log

The alternate enterprise-d is a warship in every way.

Picard records a Captain's Log in numerous episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but "Yesterday's Enterprise" alters that, too. Right after the Enterprise-C emerges from the wormhole, Picard records a Military Log and refers to the Enterprise-D as a battleship. He also refers to the date as a combat date rather than a stardate. In the second Military Log, Picard states that Tasha Yar has transferred to the Enterprise-C and reports that multiple Klingon battlecruisers are headed toward the two Enterprises.

Changing Captain's Logs to Military Logs and stardates to combat dates may seem like small alterations, but they help the war-ravaged alternate universe feel more authentic and lived-in. In a similar vein, Picard refers to Riker as Commander rather than Number One , suggesting the two are on less friendly terms than they are in the Prime Universe. These little changes truly elevate the episode, making the stakes of everything feel higher and showing how much effort the writers put into establishing this alternate universe.

Battle Enterprise Has Tasha Yar But No Worf

Denise crosby returns as tasha yar, taking over worf's position.

The biggest change in the Warship Enterprise, is, of course, the appearance of Tasha Yar back at tactical and the absence of Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn). Part of the idea for "Yesterday's Enterprise" originated as a way to bring Yar back after her lackluster death in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1. With the Federation at war with the Klingons, Worf would never have lived on Earth or joined Starfleet, leaving the perfect hole for Yar to fill.

Worf only appears briefly at the beginning and end of "Yesterday's Enterprise." In the episode's opening scene, Guinan introduces the Klingon to Prune juice for the first time. "A warrior's drink," indeed.

Tasha Yar gets to have a more heroic death in "Yesterday's Enterprise" (which is unfortunately undercut by the later appearance of her half-Romulan daughter, Sela). Yar also gets to star in her own doomed romance, as sparks immediately fly between her and Lt. Castillo. After Guinan tells Yar about her "empty death" in the Prime Universe, Tasha gets to choose to face her death head-on. "Yesterday's Enterprise" will always be one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's most celebrated episodes. The whole story is elevated by the amount of care and detail put into the alternate universe Warship Enterprise-D.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Release Date September 28, 1987

Showrunner Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Screen Rant

Picard’s q just answered the next generation’s oldest guinan mystery.

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Patrick Stewart Walking Off Star Trek: TNG's Set In Season 1 Reveals A Heartwarming Truth About Picard

34 years later, star trek's most disappointing tng character exit still hurts, recasting star trek: the next generation for a movie reboot.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard  season 2, episode 7.

Star Trek: Picard has finally answered the mystery behind Guinan and Q’s hostility toward each other in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Towards the end of the  Picard  season 2 episode “Monsters”, Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard returns to Ten Forward, seeking the assistance of a younger Guinan. He needs her to summon Q so that he can confront his old nemesis in the hope of finally understanding him.

It’s established in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Q Who” that Guinan’s race of El-Aurians has a history with the Q Continuum. Materializing in Ten Forward, Q is immediately on the defensive when he finds Guinan behind the bar. He’s fearful of her, something that has intrigued Star Trek  viewers for years. Picard season 2 is finally shedding light on this decades-old Next Generation mystery.

RELATED: Picard: Why Guinan’s Q Summoning Spell Didn’t Work

In “Monsters”, Guinan explains some of the history between her people and the Q. She tells Picard that there was “ a long cold war ” between the two species but doesn’t elaborate further as to the cause. It’s not a huge stretch to suggest that the conflict is rooted in the El-Aurian’s time sensitivity and the Q’s propensity for meddling with reality. Both species eventually forged a truce “ over a bottle ” and the war was at an end. The bottle forms a key part of the summoning ritual that Picard requires. As Guinan explains further that  "[when] an El-Aurian summons a Q, a Q appears .” Guinan’s ability to summon Q at will appears to be the root of his fear.

Prior to visiting Ten Forward, Picard is told by Tallinn, a Supervisor who can control the bodies of others, that not even she has the power to summon a Q. The El-Aurians are clearly unique in this regard, as Qs tend to appear throughout Star Trek of their own will, at often inopportune moments. The ritual as presented in “Monsters” is a sensory spectacle that sees glasses shatter, lights flicker, and the ground beneath Picard and Guinan shake. Given the ferocity of the summoning ritual, it’s unsurprising that Q fears Guinan when he first meets her in “Q Who”.

Interestingly, the younger Guinan refuses to refer to the Q as gods. She clearly sees them as a tangible species, something to be known. Guinan contrasts  Star Trek  mythology and Picard’s confession that he always thought Q was "unknowable". As a trickster god, Q relies on people feeling powerless against his godlike status as he toys with their lives. With Guinan referring to him as merely a “ denizen ” it’s clear that she doesn’t buy into his elevated status. That could very well be the thing that frightens him most of all.

The cold war between the El-Aurians and the Q is another key factor behind their hostility towards each other. While the nature of the conflict between their two races is still shrouded in mystery, Guinan and Q’s hostility could be rooted in a post-conflict prejudice. This is a theme that Star Trek has tackled before through Kirk and the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Picard and the Borg across the character’s life on TV and in movies. In framing this age-old Q and Guinan mystery from Star Trek: The Next Generation within a similar historical conflict, Star Trek: Picard can further develop these two enigmatic species. It may even aid Picard’s own understanding of his old nemesis.

NEXT: Picard S2 Secretly Sets Up A Classic TNG Episode Sequel 29 Years Later

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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• Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Guinan & El-Aurians, Explained

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Scream 7 Should Take These Cues From Smile

Lotr: it makes more sense for the rings of power's stranger to be saruman, lord of the rings: characters who are stronger than gandalf.

Most Star Trek aliens are created to serve a specific purpose in an episode or story arc and are gradually fleshed out over the years. Some don't get the benefit of future adaptations. The rare exceptions often involve a fan-favorite newcomer from an unnamed species. Guinan was introduced without any suggestion of her species, but the series gradually unveiled the El-Aurians she came from.

Guinan is one of the most beloved supporting characters of the Star Trek franchise. Those who haven't seen much of the series might not know her name, but they've seen Whoopi Goldberg in her collection of hats. She was a considerable draw, regularly bringing in more viewers when she appeared. Her role in the show was small, but her story was revealed slowly.

RELATED: Star Trek: Who Are The Devidians?

Who are the El-Aurians?

Of all the alien species on Star Trek , few look as human as the El-Aurians. There are no visible biological differences between El-Aurians and humans. They easily blend into groups of humans . Long before humans knew about the existence of aliens, El-Aurians visited Earth and mingled. El-Aurians even possess multiple genetic phenotypes with distinct eye, skin, and hair colors. This is somewhat rare among Star Trek aliens, as most share almost identical traits. Though El-Aurians look exactly like humans, they possess unique abilities that set them apart.

El-Aurians are known for their perceptive abilities. El-Aurians can hear and see beyond the bounds of time and space. They can detect fluctuations in the timeline and disruptions in history. El-Aurians are frequently negatively affected by temporal disturbances. They experience "time sickness," the way many feel motion sickness . Their listening skills don't end at the boundaries of time and space. They can find the specific sonic resonance of any action or word. El-Aurians can manipulate reality through sound. They can also experience limited telepathy and project themselves into the minds of others. Their lives tend to be hundreds of years long. A lot of El-Aurians used their power to act as advisers or confidants, while others became con artists.

Who is Guinan?

Guinan is best known as the bartender of Ten Forward, the finest lounge on the USS Enterprise-D. She dispenses sage advice to the crew, often helping people when they need it most. Her identity was unclear in her early appearances, but many argued that she was more complicated than she seemed. Guinan was born sometime around the 1800s. She first met Data, Picard, and their friends in 1893, when the Enterprise crew went back in time. She and Mark Twain helped everyone get back to their correct timeline. In 2024, she opened up a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in Los Angeles, California. She met Picard there again in a snafu with an alien-obsessed FBI agent. Jean-Luc's ancestor Dr. Renée Picard frequented her establishment. Guinan's unique relationship with Jean-Luc Picard defined her time with Starfleet.

Guinan and Picard shared a decades-long relationship that appeared hard to pin down. It was described as more than friendship and beyond the bonds of family. The show occasionally teased a romantic element to their partnership, but it's usually framed as a platonic partnership. Picard recommended Guinan for the Enterprise after years of quiet friendship. She picked up fencing and chess, befriended most of the crew, and gave excellent advice to whoever would listen. She stayed part of the captain's life well into Star Trek: Picard .

What happened to the El-Aurian?

Around 2265, while Guinan lived far from the El-Aurian homeworld, the Borg Collective attacked . Many El-Aurians were assimilated, but many more died fighting. The unknown population of El-Aurians in the universe was reduced to hundreds. Over 400 refugees tried to escape to Earth in 2293. They were exposed to the Nexus, which corrupted most of their minds. The 47 who could be convinced to leave were saved in a mission that almost killed Captain Kirk . The few remaining El-Aurians were scattered across the universe. Though their population was decimated, El-Aurian's long lives allowed them to change that. Guinan, for one, had at least 23 husbands over her long life. She never revealed how many children she had, nor were they depicted in any media, but she admitted to mothering many kids. The El-Aurian suffered much, but long lives allowed them to bounce back more easily than most.

Guinan is an unexpected icon of the Star Trek franchise. Her species offers many unique and interesting elements to the universe. Writers could find many fascinating stories in the lives of El-Aurians. Their powers remain partially unexplored, and any series could use a character like Guinan in a supporting role. Star Trek has an impressive ability to turn characters that could feel one note into beloved icons and expand their stories into something that affects the entire universe. The El-Aurians may have been absent from most of the series, but they had a tremendous impact on the main cast.

MORE: Star Trek: Who Is Mirror Spock?

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Famous Guest Stars We Loved On Star Trek: The Next Generation

Before we dive in, I think readers will note the omission of one famous star everyone knows is in Star Trek: The Next Generation , Whoopi Goldberg. Her Guinan was a recurring character for several seasons, so she's been left off the list. With that out of the way, let's run down the list of the famous guest stars we loved in TNG .

All of these stars were great.

On a list of the best sci-fi shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation remains the gold standard. With 180 episodes, it was inevitable the series would bring in an outside famous face or two, especially with Patrick Stewart leading the ship.

Star Trek: The Next Generation had just as many acclaimed guest stars at it did episodes. Here are the ones we loved the most.

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