Character Arc
Lieutenant Commander Data is a fully sentient android serving as the Enterprise's second officer and chief operations officer. Built by the cyberneticist Dr. Noonien Soong, he possesses superhuman strength, speed, and computational ability, yet his central yearning is to understand and one day attain human qualities such as emotion, humor, and friendship.
Data's quest to become more human anchors many of the series' most thoughtful stories, including 'The Measure of a Man,' a courtroom drama that argues for his rights as a sentient being rather than Starfleet property. His relationships with his creator, his malevolent 'brother' Lore, and his short-lived android 'daughter' Lal repeatedly probe questions of consciousness, identity, and what it means to be a person.
Throughout the show Data grows through experiments with painting, music, pet ownership, and an attempt at romance, while serving as a steadfast and selfless friend to the crew. The installation of an 'emotion chip' becomes a recurring plot thread, and his arc ultimately culminates in the feature films, where his pursuit of humanity reaches its emotional conclusion.