Elim Garak (played by Andrew J. Robinson) is a Cardassian living aboard Deep Space Nine (formerly, Terok Nor). As the only portrayed tailor on the station, as well as the only Cardassian to remain on the station after the occupation, Garak was sure to elicit some attention. Dr. Bashir immediately assumed that Garak was a spy, much to the chagrin and amusement of his co-workers. It wasn't until much later that we discovered that Garak really was a former spy for the Obsidian Order (the Cardassian equivalent of a Secret Police) living out his exile from his homeworld of Cardassia on the station.It is important to note that Garak was originally intended to be a one time character, appearing only in the second episode of the first season. However, his character was so impressively and intriguingly portrayed by Andrew J. Robinson (who took the bit part as a way to pay his bills that month), that he was asked to return, becoming a reoccurring, and later, pivotal, character.Elim Garak is typically referred to simply as Garak, just as most Cardassians are typically referred to by their last names.Garak was exiled from Cardassia for reasons unknown. He frequently reiterates that he was exiled due to tax evasion, and even repeats this to people that he knows are aware of his true past. Though he thoroughly denies being a former operative in the Obsidian Order, it is discovered throughout the series that he was indeed a high ranking member, and biological son of the one-time leader of the Order, Enabran Tain (or, Tain ).Garak is definitely a character of mystery and intrigue, and undeniably of many talents. He rarely tries to explain why a plain, simple tailor (as he invariably refers to himself) knows so much about political espionage, booby-traps, poisons, assassinations, intelligence electronics (as well as the intelligence community at large), and gaining access to classified information that is most certainly not meant for him. On occasion, he does offer small tidbits of information about his past, all of them true, especially the lies. Usually, these are simply meant as distractions, sometimes to keep a friends mind occupied, sometimes to divert investigations, but often simply to keep well in practice. He believes that the truth is something to be used only when there isn't a lie handy. He also states that the truth is used only by people who lack imagination.Several possible reasons for Garak's exile are proposed, some of them more likely than others, but ultimately, all unprovable. In the episode The Wire, when Garak is suffering from a malfunctioning endorphin secretion device implanted in his brain, he offers many analogous possible versions of the past to Dr. Bashir. In one, he refers to himself and another Cardassian, Elim , as high ranking Obsidian Order operatives, known as The Sons of Tain. He explains that after a disastrous mistake, he tries to plant evidence pointing to Elim as the one to blame, only to find that Elim has already planted such evidence, leading to Garak's exile. It is later in this episode that we find out for the first time Garak's given name - Elim. In another, he states that his exile is due to having taken mercy on some Bajoran children during an interrogation, and allowing them to escape. This, ultimately, is considered to be the most likely reason for his exile (though it is possible that acceptance of this explanation is due simply to hope on the part of his friends, and viewers).What is known is that Enabran Tain refers to the exile in one episode, stating that it resulted from Garak betraying Tain. Garak's response is that he never betrayed Tain - at least, not in my heart. No further information is offered, but Tain accepts Garak back into the Obsidian order, for a short time, contingent upon his interrogation of Odo, now a long time friend. Garak dutifully complies, and interrogates (read: tortures) Odo, getting no useful information out of him. This interrogation, it would seem, was as psychologically painful to Garak as it was to Odo. When their ship is destroyed, Garak and Odo make their exit in an escape pod, and this effectively ends his reinstatement into the Obsidian Order. Garak later tracks down Enabran Tain, in a Dominion prison, after he was captured in the above referenced space battle. It was in this later episode that we find that Garak is actually a literal son of Tain. In this episode, we also discover another interesting facet of Garak - his acute and severe claustrophobia. The information is, as usual, not offered freely, and Bashir only discovers it after Garak spent exorbitant amounts of time between two wall panels, rigging a transmitter in secrecy to escape the Dominion prison cell which Garak shared with Dr. Bashir, Worf, General Martok, an unnamed Romulan, and an unnamed Breen.Two explanations are offered for Garak's claustrophobia. One is that, as a child, he was disciplined by being locked in a closet. He states, however, that this was not traumatic, because he knew he would be released as soon as he had learned his lesson. However, a very different (if vague) explanation is offered to the viewer in the episode - and in fact at the moment - that we discover his claustrophobia, as he tells himself that he is not, in fact, in a sand trench, and that the walls will not fall down upon him again. This attempt to quell his own panic is marginally successful.In this episode, we see him struggle valiantly against his own fears (according to Worf, the most dangerous enemy ), and eventually triumph, allowing him to finish adjustments of the transmitter, rescuing his surviving cellmates. His claustrophobia is also the subject of a later episode, in which Ezri Dax attempts to help him overcome his fears. Her attempt is not completely successful, but does bring to light his subconscious feelings that he is betraying Cardassia (by decoding Cardassian transmissions for the Federation during the war with the Dominion), which are causing his acute attacks of claustrophobia (a classic case of stress transference). Garak's assistance to the Federation, as well as his being almost single-handedly responsible for the Romulans joining the war against the Dominion and Cardassia (See episode, In the Pale Moonlight, season six), results in the deaths of over 800 million Cardassians.At one other point, Garak also mentions to Lt. Cdr. Worf that he feels somewhat responsible for the Cardassians being involved in the war to begin with; fate had, at one time, given him an opportunity to kill Gul Dukat (who later pulled Cardassia into the war, in favor of the Dominion), while they were fighting off a group of Klingons invading the station. He explains that at one point, Gul Dukat turned his back on Garak, and Garak almost vaporized him on the spot. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that he couldn't kill all these Klingons on my own. No sense of nobility, honor, or courage interfered - in fact, when Worf incredulously asked, You would shoot a man in the back? Garak answered that in the back was usually the safest way. When asked if he regretted the decision not to shoot Gul Dukat, he replied (not a word-for-word quote), I have a feeling that before this war is over, a lot of people will regret that decision. Here, as well as in a few other precious glimpses, we see that Garak, despite having (according to Worf) no honor, would gladly have suffered or died, in hindsight, to prevent others' suffering. In this 20/20 look at the past, he shows his regret over the suffering caused by his selfish decision not to execute a compatriot (Dukat) while standing side-by-side in combat with him. Thus, we see that, though Garak appears to care only for himself (by his own efforts), he still cares deeply for his estranged homeland, which even in exile and bitter regret, he longs for, and would gladly die to defend.It is only after years of exile, as well as Garak's role in liberating Cardassia from the Dominion, that he is finally able to return home. He tells Kira that he sees it as his duty to stay on Cardassia and help rebuild it - only those who know him well could contemplate the overwhelming emotions he must be concealing just beneath his calm exterior, over finally returning home.Garak is a favorite character of many fans of ST: DS9. Andrew J. Robinson, the actor who portrays him, states the following about Garak: The important thing about Garak is that he lives in the subtext. Again, with the iceberg analogy, the substance of Garak is what you don't hear. It's what he doesn't say. Update:Andrew J. Robinson also wrote a book, entitled A Stitch in Time, which explains more of Garak's past, in the form of a letter to Dr. Julian Bashir. Through this book, the following revelations are brought to fans' attention:Mila, Enabran Tain's housekeeper, is actually Garak's mother. The man that Garak called father was, unbeknownst to Garak, his mother's brother. One of Enabran Tain's first orders to Garak was to treat Mila as an unrelated common servant - likely for her own protection, and to keep Mila from being used against Garak.Garak's exile was due to his carrying on an affair with a woman married to a high-ranking Cardassian official. He was not exiled by that official, however, but by his own father and mentor, Enabran Tain. Tain had ordered Garak never to see the woman again, and to quietly assassinate her husband. Garak tried to see her one more time, was caught by her husband's men, and had to kill her husband in a manner that could be misinterpreted by no one as discrete. It is for this failure, and for the events leading up to it, that Garak was exiled.While working for the Obsidian Order, Garak conducted an interrogation on Gul Dukat's father that directly caused his execution. This is the reason for Gul Dukat's unquenchable hatred for Garak. Show less «