First, some explanation: "Legate" is the term Cardassians use to refer to their government leader, much like the United States use "President". However, it doesn't always imply a leader chosen in a general election, nor even by public consensus. Cardassian history had seen many leaders seize the role by force. Damar, however, is different. The title and responsibilities of Legate were thrust upon him following the mental break-down of his predecessor, the infamous Gul Dukat. He also had severely limited powers while in that office because of tight Dominion control over his every action.
Damar is the central character around which this entire site is focused. As a character, he appeared late in the fifth year of Deep Space Nine portrayed as a faithful follower of Gul Dukat. Being a Cardassian military officer, Damar originally was characterized as ruthless and cruel. We saw him contemplate poisoning the Jem'Hadar, his supposed "allies". We saw his ill-temper, his distrust of others. Then, we saw him kill Dukat's daughter Ziyal. Damar began to be rise in importance during the brief occupation of Deep Space Nine, when he devised a method of overcoming the minefield before the wormhole.
Dukat had been responsible for entering the Cardassians into an alliance with the Dominion. Hoping to profit from their connection to a powerful ally, the Cardassian and Dominion forces seized Deep Space Nine, drove back Klingons who occupied Cardassian space, and planned to eventually rule the entire Alpha Quadrant. However, Gul Dukat's own sanity left him when Ziyal died (by Damar), and the Dominion promptly selected Damar as the new leader of the Cardassian Union. In retrospect, the Dominion had thought Damar to be pliable and easily manipulated. We often see the Vorta Weyoun, administrator for the Dominion, constantly snub Damar and remind him who the real master was in their relationship.
It must have surprised Weyoun the most when Damar broke away from an alliance with the Dominion almost two years later. Damar, who had swallowed every insult, every humiliation at the hands of Weyoun for years, declared a resistance movement and called upon all Cardassians to aid his cause. During the years after Cardassia had joined the Dominion, Cardassia itself had become an occupied land. With Vortas and the Founders dictating their lives and sending their men into battle.
Damar was once an unimportant and rather repugnant character. With shady morality and ill-temper to back dull lines, I had taken very little notice of him until the Final Chapter of Deep Space Nine. Since the start of the Rebellion, the Legate had to suffer unimaginable hardships. Losing his safety, his family, his privileges as Legate, and in the end all the military officers who joined his rebellion. Yet he still fought, to the bitter end, in the hope that he can drive away the Dominion which had enslaved Cardassia and her people. The development of Damar into a character as compelling as he has is a highlight of the last episodes of Deep Space Nine. It is also what inspired this site.
> The biography section will tell Damar's story in far greater detail.
> Also visit Cardassian Xenobiology Files to learn more about Cardassians.
