B-4 (Star Trek)

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For other meanings, see B4.

B-4
B-4's head (right) held by his brother Data
Species:	android
Gender:	male
Eye color:	yellow
Home planet:	Omicron Theta (found on Kolarus III)
Portrayed by:	Brent Spiner

In the science fiction universe of Star Trek, B-4 is the name of a prototype for the android Data (Lore preceded B-4) and was created by Dr. Noonien Soong. As was the case with Data, Lore, and Soong, B-4 was played by the same actor, Brent Spiner.

B-4 is a fictional character in the Star Trek. He was played by Brent Spiner.

[edit] Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

B-4 was first seen in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. He is a Soong-type android (named after Dr. Noonien Soong, their creator). He is one of the five other androids built by Dr. Soong before Lore and Data (hence the name, B-4). The name B-4 ("before") is somewhat suspect, as if he was built before the name makes no sense - there was then nothing for him to be ahead of. It only makes sense if this name is retroactively applied, or it could have been a fake name given to the android that should have alerted the crew of the Enterprise to his suspect origins, especially after the Lore fiasco.

B-4's history is somewhat suspect, because at one point Praetor Shinzon of Remus was able to obtain the disassembled B-4 and placed some special programming into him, so he could infiltrate the USS Enterprise-E to gain tactical information of the Federation from the ship.

Knowing B-4 would be found by the Enterprise-E, Shinzon left him disassembled on Kolarus III. After leaving Earth for Betazed, the Enterprise-E picked up the possible existence of another Soong-type android on Kolarus III. Going down to the surface, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Lieutenant Commander Worf and Lieutenant Commander Data found the disassembled B-4. After gathering up all of B-4's component parts, they managed to escape the Kolarans and get back to the Enterprise-E.

The crew reassembled B-4 and found a "redundant memory port" on the back of his neck. His "self-actualization subroutines" were underdeveloped, and he acted like an inquisitive child, asking such questions as "Why does the tall man have a furry face?". Data transferred all his memories and programs into B-4 in the attempt to make him more "normal", but this appeared to have failed when B-4 failed to recognise Engineering, simply saying "I am in a room... with lights".

A short time later, Shinzon activated B-4's programming. B-4 helped transfer information from the Enterprise to Shinzon, which enabled them to kidnap Picard. However, the crew of the Enterprise crew had found out that B-4 was a spy, and were able to replace him with Data, who had transported to Shinzon's vessel, the Scimitar, to rescue Picard. Once back aboard the Enterprise-E, Data deactivated B-4 so that Shinzon's programming could be removed, but clearly regretted the necessity.

After Data died sacrificing himself to destroy the Scimitar, the crew of the Enterprise-E was able to find and remove all of Shinzon's modifications from B-4's programming. He was later reactivated when he no longer posed a threat.

When Picard told B-4 about his "brother" at the end of Nemesis, B-4 was initially unable to understand the scope of Data's sacrifice, or how his quest to become human could have taught others about being human themselves. As Picard left the room, however, it became evident that the memory transfer may have been at least partially successful, as B-4 began singing the same song by Irving Berlin that Data had sung at the wedding of Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. B-4 may continue to evolve - other Soong-type androids such as Data had a "childhood" of sorts where their systems evolved.

Unlike Lore, who was truly evil, B-4 appears to be only a less advanced version of Data. Some have described B-4 as being "childlike". As Data was also very childlike when he was first created, this leaves open the possibility that B-4 will mature in the future. He has been seen as a possible replacement for Data. However, the fact that Brent Spiner has aged visibly since playing Data may prevent that, unless another actor is hired to play B-4. It also must be noted that in the seventh-season episode of Next Generation, "Inheritance", it was established that Data had an aging program that ages his appearance.