Damar, hero of Cardassia

[Kilana2]

Any thoughts of Corat Damar, hero of Cardassia?

(I think his first name was established in the litverse)

He started as Dukat's subordinate, playing in the background for a while before getting more screen time.
Still Dukat's crony he became more interesting when quarreling with Weyoun over Dominion issues after Cardassia joined. Not later than Damar killed Ziyal I thought of him as a bad guy. I couldn't forgive him.
Damar stopped drinking when he realized that Cardassia had given up its autonomy, finding himself in an occupation situation like the Bajorans so many years before. It was when he changed his mind and started to fight. He died for what he believed in, he died for Cardassia. What a great character. They can't bring back Ziyal, but I'm no longer angry with Damar. Dispite not liking Bajorans much, he was able to work with Kira to fight for freedom.
Great moments in a great show.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Damar was an interesting mixture of qualities that appeared in some of the 1990s most transformative leaders, like Gorbachev, Rabin, and de Klerk, and whom we are sadly lacking in this decade.

 

[Kilana2]

I'm curious what is in store for

Spoiler: MU Damar

MU Damar: I'm still trying to find out how he is different from his PU counterpart.

 

[hux]

Damar, like Dukat, was a very complex individual capable of great moments of malevolence and self-interest but also myriad examples of bravery, intelligence and wit. His marbles weren't quite as loose as Dukat's but they did have a lot in common and a similar ruthless outlook.

I liked both of them but Damar ultimately had a greater sense of honour and righteousness which finally compelled him to reject the Dominion alliance and embrace his rebellious side.

Like so many DS9 characters, he demonstrated virtuous qualities whilst simultaneously having some darkness run through his veins. That's what made DS9 such a compelling show. Grown up, complex characters immersed in grey.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Damar was a Cardassian loyalist, always willing to do whatever he saw was in the best interest of Cardassia. In the case of Ziyal that was executing a traitor. At the end that was working with the Bajorans and rising up against the Dominion.

He certainly was not the worst Cardassian.

 

[K'Toska]

I loved his banter with Weyoun. I thought he was a great character, but yeah I had the same issue with him re: Ziyal. I loved the few episodes Ziyal was in and found her really interesting. I guess mostly it pissed me off that Garak finally had someone to be happy with and Damar took that away.

 

[bbjeg]

I too liked Damar and Weyoun's conversation.

One question though, did Garak and Kira know of Ziyal's killer? I don't remember them ever stating that.

 

[Ithekro]

Garak and Damar at Cardassia.

 

[Kilana2]

I loved to see Garak and Damar fighting for Cardassia. They have never been friends, but both wanted freedom and independence for their people.

No, Damar wasn't the worst Cardassian by far.
It was Crell Moset who was. We only saw im as hologram in one of the Voyager episodes, and he was mentioned in the Terok Nor novels. The MU Moset is even worse.
Damar was the character undergoing the most surprising change.
I also liked Natima Lang and her matters with Quark.

 

[Servo]

Damar's character arc was one of the best on the show. His progression from Dukat's lacky to puppet leader to freedom fighter was really enjoyable to watch, and Casey Biggs played it perfectly.

I'm another one who enjoyed his banter with Weyoun. The whole scenario where Worf killed Weyoun, much to Damar's amusement, was one of the funniest moments on the show.

"They'll just make another one, you know. You should have killed me. There's only one Damar"

 

[Kilana2]

Damar's character arc was one of the best on the show. His progression from Dukat's lacky to puppet leader to freedom fighter was really enjoyable to watch, and Casey Biggs played it perfectly.

I'm another one who enjoyed his banter with Weyoun. The whole scenario where Worf killed Weyoun, much to Damar's amusement, was one of the funniest moments on the show.

"They'll just make another one, you know. You should have killed me. There's only one Damar"

Unbeknownst to Damar there is a MU version of him. You might say that there are myriads of Damars. Some of them could be also dead, who knows? Unlike Damar Kira knows about at least one counterpart.....

 

[Shada Dukal]

I have always viewed Damar as the traditional ordinary Cardassian who has been taught to be loyal to his commanders and to follow orders and never question them. His transformation into a leader was the exasperation of the little, commonplace man who was not very ambitious and quite limited in scope but had to outstretch himself when enough was enough.

Killing Zyial was his idea of loyalty, from his point of view, she was a traitor and an ungrateful daughter.

I liked his dark sense of humor and his brusqueness. His exchanges with Weyoun were very amusing and his gradual evolution from a disgruntled, divested of power dummy to a driven rebel was extremely interesting to watch.

In a way, I am happy that he died because I don’t think that he would like post-Dominion Cardassia, not only because of the devastation and losses. As usual, heroes die and politicians squander everything that the heroes have fought for.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Damar participated in worse atrocities than killing Ziyal. But also seemed to truly repent for those atrocities in Tacking Into The Wind when Kira made that "Yeah Damar. What kind of people would give those orders?" comment.

 

[Shada Dukal]

Damar was a Cardassian soldier and did his best to serve his people. Conflicts cause losses to all sides involved but only poor losers bleat about atrocities for ages. Probably to make their loss and their failure more tolerable.

I am not sure he repented, he was deeply shocked and saddened when he heard that his wife and child were dead, but there is no telling whether Kira’s remark struck home.

 

[Zonker]

I don't know that he necessarily repented but that remark definitely struck home.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Damar was a Cardassian soldier and did his best to serve his people. Conflicts cause losses to all sides involved but only poor losers bleat about atrocities for ages. Probably to make their loss and their failure more tolerable.

I am not sure he repented, he was deeply shocked and saddened when he heard that his wife and child were dead, but there is no telling whether Kira’s remark struck home.

Are you suggesting that people who were massacred and enslaved by a technologically more powerful race should just 'Stop whining and get over it'? Because having more military might makes you superior and thus your life more valuable? Wow. Right, maybe Bajorans should celebrate 'Dukat Day' every October, or else they're sore losers.

It seemed pretty clear to me that Damar realized at that moment that the Cardassian occupation of Bajor was just as evil as the Dominion occupation of Cardassia.

 

[Shada Dukal]

Yes, Gazomg is right. The Bajorans may keep screeching about the Occupation as much as they want but while they are doing that they will fail to analyze this experience. What is more, a nation with a victim mentality and persecution complex does not stand a fair chance of further development.

Bajorans were weak and unprepared for the challenges of the interplanetary affairs. The Klingons deployed a mine-filed in the Bajoran system and the Romulans smuggled 7000 torpedoes to Derna moon. Both crises were solved by the Federation not by the Bajorans themselves. All this suggests that they were an easy prey and the only way to prevent such things from happening again was to join a bigger power and stop dwelling in the past. Oh, their calendar is overloaded with their superstitions – they have so many holidays so a Dukat’s day won’t change anything.

Here is the exchange between Kira, Damar and Garak. I don’t see anything about penitence. In fact, Kira regrets her blunt remark and Garak makes the political assessment. Damar is only hurt and angry.

DAMAR (Cont'd)
What kind of state tolerates the
murder of innocent women and
children? What kind of people
give those orders?

A part of Kira knows she should keep her mouth shut,
but the worry and stress over Odo are fraying her
nerves and she finds herself saying

KIRA
(pointed)
Yeah, Damar, what kind of people
give those orders?

Kira immediately regrets opening her mouth, but too
late -- Damar's eyes blaze with fury and for a
moment, it looks as though he might lunge at her.
He keeps it under control, however, and simply drops
the PADD in disgust and revulsion, then heads for
the cockpit and takes the pilot's seat.

KIRA
(to herself)
That was stupid.

GARAK
Not at all. Damar has a
certain... romanticism about the
past. He can use a dose of cold
water.

KIRA
I could've picked a better time.

GARAK
If Damar is the man to lead a new
Cardassia... if he's the man we
hope him to be... then the pain
of this news made him more
receptive to what you said, not
less.

 

[Kilana2]

The trio Garak, Damar and Kira was entertaining, despite the fact that it was war. Damar grudgingly accepted Kira's help with forming an organized resistance. A Bajoran woman of all people!!!
Mila considered Damar dashing. It's a crying shame that she was killed.

 

[Kilana2]

the trio was somewhat entertaining in that it was the first time kira was not annoying.

Never liked that character, in fact , never liked the majority of bajorans, always depressing, or self righteous. or victim mentality etc.

Nice to hear that. Kira is one of my favorite characters. But definitely not from the beginning. The first several episodes she was quite prickly, but she earned my respect over several seasons and the novels including the relaunch.

I started to appreciate Damar when he stopped drinking and started fighting.
Killing Ziyal was a mistake and normally unforgivable. Damar had an itchy trigger finger and from his point of view she was a traitor.

 

[Shada Dukal]

What I like about Kira is that unlike most Bajorans, she was genuinely trying to understand the world around her, to grasp the big picture, to rise above the cultural and religious limitations typical of her culture. It was not easy for her to stop hating and to adopt a more constructive attitude.

The grudging partnership between Damar and Kira was fun to watch because Damar in his turn had to say goodbye to his quite unfavorable opinion of the Bajorans and had to accept that Cardassia had reached a point of no return and was never going to be the same. Garak did not have any affiliation problems or loyalty issues, so he was better prepared for the forthcoming changes.

Damar never questioned the social and political norms of his culture and now he was forced to reject them for overnight. Everything that defined him as a person and citizen did not exist anymore, the social contract was shaken, the discipline and obedience did not work anymore. He underwent a profound identity crisis because the pillars of his society – family, state, personal and collective strength – were collapsing one by one, destroyed by an enemy that was supposed to be an ally. He painfully realized that hierarchical servitude as an operating model was no longer applicable, which does not come easily to traditional Cardassians who respect order.