OC Profile: Tabok Melor
Name: Ensign Tabok Melor
Species: Cardassian
Age: 23-24
Gender: Cisgender male
Sexuality: Demiromantic demisexual
Appearance: He’s about 5’10 in height and of relatively normal build for a Cardassian male, with broad shoulders and a long neck, if not on the slim side. His hair is black and neck-length, like most Cardassian males, however his is more messy and he usually wears his hair in a half ponytail. He has green eyes.
Backstory: Tabok was born to the Melor family on Cardassia Prime in 2367. His father, Gul Melor, was in the Cardassian military, while his mother, Ikiss, stayed at home with Tabok and his older brother, Naltak. In 2375, when Tabok was eight years old, the Dominion destroyed Cardassia Prime and tried to commit genocide against the Cardassians, leading to the deaths of Ikiss and Naltak and leaving Tabok all alone in the smoldering ruins, an event which I detail in my fic Red Hills and Bones.
Gul Melor is presumed dead for a few years, and Tabok lives in an orphanage. He befriends Molly O’Brien (in some of the post-canon novels the O’Briens live on Cardassia Prime for a while after the war), who introduces him to Federation ways of thinking and Chief O’Brien, who Tabok thinks is the coolest guy ever.
Somehow, Gul Melor returned Eventually, Gul Melor returns when Tabok was a teenager, and Tabok lives with him again. Gul Melor is extremely disappointed in the person Tabok has become and attempts to discipline him and turn him into a more classic Cardassian by giving him a strict physical and mental regime, much to Tabok’s displeasure. However, he maintains contact with Molly and the O’Briens, who try to help Tabok the best they can but Tabok begs them not to confront his father out of fear of strict punishment.
When he’s old enough, Tabok applies to Starfleet Academy in order to escape his father, with Chief O’Brien as his sponsor. He gets in, becoming the first ever Cardassian to join Starfleet. At the Academy, he meets Milrune Marshall and they quickly hit it off. They graduate together in 2389 and are assigned the same ship, the USS Indianapolis, led by Captain Harry Kim.
Personality: Tabok is kind, intelligent, and curious, described as a “sensitive soul” back on Cardassia Prime. He also is rather shy and keeps to himself, especially around people he doesn’t know that well, due to him recognizing others’ feelings towards his species and not wanting to make others feel uncomfortable around him. Once he opens up to you, though, he is a very loyal and caring friend who would do anything for you. He has lots of underlying trauma from his past and fear of getting kicked out of Starfleet and sent back to Cardassia, but he hides it, and he can hide it until it all comes bursting out in the form of a panic attack (and he hides these panic attacks well. Not even Milrune knows about them.)
Hobbies/Interests: Puzzles, board games, science, anything lemon-flavored, especially lemonade
Special abilities: None