The evil twin concept is one of the most prevalent tropes in popular culture and is often used to stir up drama among the main cast and keep the audience guessing. Such is the case with the android character Lore, the brother of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Manipulative and cunning, Lore appeared in four episodes of The Next Generation and always stirred up trouble for Data and the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise. However, Lore was a deviation from the original concepts of the character, as he was initially supposed to be a female love interest for Data.
Lore debuted in Season 1 Episode 13, “Datalore, and” like his brother, he was created in the image of Dr. Noonian Soong, a famous cyberneticist. He was Soong’s first successful attempt to develop a sophisticated positronic brain, but unlike Data, he programmed Lore with emotions. The android saw himself as superior to humans, and his cruelty and emotional instability frightened the colonists on the Federation planet of Omicron Theta. Lore later betrayed Soong and the colonists to a creature known as the Crystalline Entity, which wiped out all life on the planet. But before the Crystalline Entity’s attack, Soong created Data and deactivated Lore, leaving the android in storage. He was discovered years later by the crew of the Enterprise, who reactivated him and unwittingly kickstarted his quest for vengeance.
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