Natasha Yar was a major character during the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was portrayed by actress Denise Crosby and the character served as the chief tactical and security officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D until Crosby left the show near the end of season one.
Character history[]
The back story for the character states that Natasha (Tasha) Yar (Ukrainian: Наташа "Таша" Яр), of Ukrainian descent, was born on Turkana IV, a colony that fell into chaos and eventually severed ties to the United Federation of Planets. Tasha learned to defend herself on the streets and avoid rape gangs. She left Turkana IV at age 15, leaving her younger sister Ishara behind, and later attended Starfleet Academy.
After watching Yar cross a minefield to save a colonist, Jean-Luc Picard requested that she be assigned to his next command. She later became chief of security and chief tactical officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D, some time prior to the beginning of the series.
Death[]
Tasha was killed in late 2364 on the planet Vagra II. She was part of an away team sent to rescue Deanna Troi and Ben Prieto, who had crashed there aboard a shuttle. Their rescue was impeded by a lifeform known as Armus. When Yar tried to walk around Armus to get to the shuttle crew, Armus attacked and killed her without warning, simply as a display of his power. Dr. Crusher tried to revive her but she was too badly injured, as the life had been "drained" from her. The officially recorded cause of death was heavy synaptic damage. A service was held for Tasha in the holodeck following the rescue of the crew from the surface, where a holographic message from Tasha was played. Tasha always believed her death would happen quickly and while on duty, and that was the way she wanted it.
Alternate Fate[]
In the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", it is revealed that Tasha Yar is still alive in an alternate timeline. As the result of the USS Enterprise-C disappearing through a temporal anomaly at the moment it should have been destroyed at the Battle of Narendra III, history is altered and the Federation becomes locked into a war with the Klingon Empire. In this timeline, the USS Enterprise-D is a warship and never visited Vagra II, and thus Tasha never had her fateful encounter with Armus.
Thanks to the El-Aurian Guinan's trans-temporal awareness, the Enterprise-D crew are made aware of the alterations to the timeline and work with the Enterprise-C crew to set things right. However, in order to put history back on course, the Enterprise-C must travel back through the temporal rift it arrived through and must be destroyed by the Romulans as history dictates. Though this means the crew's fates are sealed, they accept their destiny readily and prepare to re-enter the rift. Before they do, however, both Enterprises are attacked by Klingons and Captain Garrett is killed.
Tasha requests permission from Captain Picard to transfer to the Enterprise-C and accompany it back through the rift in an attempt to restore the timeline, explaining that she wanted her death to count for something. Captain Picard granted her request. Although Castillo, who had assumed command of the Enterprise-C, was initially reluctant to accept Tasha on an apparent suicide mission, he relented and assigned her to the tactical position. Entering the rift just as three Klingon Birds-of-Prey began attacking both Enterprises, the Enterprise-C successfully returned to its own time, where it played an instrumental role in guaranteeing peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, restoring the flow of history.
One side effect of Tasha's presence in the prime timeline was that she and a number of Enterprise-C crew members were captured by the Romulans and taken for interrogation. A Romulan officer had apparently taken a liking to Tasha and allowed her to live as his consort. A year after her capture, Tasha gave birth to a daughter who would be named Sela. She attempted to flee from Romulus with her child, but was discovered and ultimately executed. Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D crew would learn of Tasha's altered fate from Sela herself when they met her during the Klingon civil war in 2367.