Star Trek's Data And Tasha Yar Were Inspired By An '80s Sci-Fi Movie

There are so many legendary members of Starfleet who have contributed to the "Star Trek" legacy. Two examples of this are Data (Brent Spiner) and Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), who served under Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Both characters brought something special to the franchise, but what's interesting is that the concepts behind them both originated in another popular franchise at the time.

According to "The Next Generation" season 1 story editor, David Gerrold, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry (who also made "Andromeda," don't ya know?) took inspiration from 1986 action sci-fi blockbuster "Aliens," directed by AI-fearing film legend, James Cameron, which was released a year before the show debuted, specifically with tough-nut colonial marine, Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) and the movie's android character, Bishop (Lance Henriksen).

"After 'Aliens,' Gene would say about Jenette Goldstein, 'That woman created a whole new style of feminine beauty," recalled Gerrold in the book from Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years." "'We should have something like that in Star Trek.' So we started off with a character named Macha Hernandez, who eventually became Tasha Yar." As for Data, while the comparisons between Spiner's character and the android in "Aliens" are apparent, there were also some extra character traits in the android that were taken from some original "Star Trek" series.

Besides taking notes from Cameron's legendary fire-powered film, "Aliens," Data also had the mindset of one of the most logical heroes of "Star Trek" and his best pal. Also, sharing some memories in Gross and Altman's book, "The Next Generation," supervising producer Robert Justman said that Data was built from both Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner).

"I thought we could establish a new series 'regular,'" Justman proposed. "An android programmed by Starfleet Command with all of the familiar abilities and characteristics of Spock, fused with the leadership and humanistic qualities of Captain Kirk." While there are clearly elements of this plan that were present when Data made his first appearance on the show, by that time, the aim of his being programmed with Spock and Kirk's character traits had long since passed.

Spiner, who had beaten a few other potentials for the role of Data (including "Predator" star Kevin Peter Hall), had transformed into something special. He was an android curious about humanity and determined to become human himself. With that said, his charm and off-kilter humor echoed that of Henriksen's performance in "Aliens," and what made Spiner so integral in the "Star Trek" universe. Not bad for a human.