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Shinzon | |
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| Biographical and chronological information | |
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Home universe: |
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Nationality: |
Romulan Imperial |
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Date of birth: |
2348 (1485 N.E.) |
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Date of death: |
2379 (1516 N.E.) |
| Physical and biological description | |
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Species: |
Human Clone |
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Gender: |
Male |
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Hair color: |
Brown (Shaved) |
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Eye color: |
Brown |
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Skin color: |
Fair |
| Societal and political information | |
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Affiliation: |
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Occupation(s): |
Praetor |
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Status: |
Deceased |
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Killed by: |
Killed by Picard |
| [Source] | |
Shinzon was a clone of Human Starfleet captain Jean-Luc Picard, created by the Romulans for the initial purpose of replacing Picard with a Romulan operative following the events of the Great Duyi'zu Conflict in the Duyi'zu Universe. Shinzon achieved one of the most infamous coups d'état in interstellar history with the assassination of all (but one) of the sitting members of the Imperial Senate of the Romulan Star Empire in October of 2379 (1516 NE). Installing himself as the next Praetor, Shinzon sought revenge against the Romulans for their brutal oppression of the Reman people by secretly siding with the Combine to wipe them out and achieve victory of the war, but allowed his obsession with the destruction of his biological progenitor and ancestral homeworld overwhelm him, leading to his death shortly after his ascension to power
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Shinzon was created and cloned by the Romulan Star Empire 2348 (1485 NE) after obtaining the DNA of Jean-Luc Picard after he was taken prisoner, Shinzon was a clone intended to conduct espionage within the United Federation of Planets and possible extending the information of its allies to achieve victory for the Axis of Empires during the War in the Beta Quadrant. Shinzon was initially raised and trained for a mission to replace Picard, one of Starfleet's and the Federation's most decorated, noted starship commanders of his era and most trusted supporter to the Alliance of Nations. As part of this plot, Shinzon's design incorporated temporal RNA sequencing, which could be used to accelerate his physical age to Picard's at any time once he'd reached his early thirties, skipping three decades of his life so as to resemble his progenitor more closely. Early in life, he was diagnosed with a rare Human disease that Picard had also suffered as a child known as Shalaft's Syndrome at an early age. Hypersensitive to any kind of sound, Shinzon suffered until a physician could be found who was capable of treating rare Human illnesses.
By the early 2360s (1500s NE), however, a new faction achieved prominence in the Imperial Senate, within the Romulan Empire shifted and the Romulan Senate abandoned its plan, believing it to be too provocative an act if discovered and decided to terminated the infiltration program. With no use for such a clone, the Empire exiled Shinzon from Romulus, sending him, still a child, to work as a slave laborer in the dilithium mines on Remus.
Reviled by the Romulans working there, Shinzon became the target of abuse. In his time in the mines, he was severely beaten, having his nose and jaw broken by brutal Romulan guards, and also being forced to work for eighteen hours a day, being constantly lashed with Romulan whips. He was found and raised by the Reman known as Vkruk, who renamed him "Shinzon," the Reman word for "twilight," because of the child's fascination with the line that separates the light from the dark. From Vkruk, Shinzon learned of the strength of personality necessary to survive, and grew to hate both the Romulans and the Humans, despite his fascination with his origins. He did not see a sun for ten years.
Imperial Fleet[]
In the final years of the Great Duyi'zu War, the Romulan military drafted Shinzon and Vkruk out of the mines and onto the frontlines to serve the Romulan Imperial Fleet, along with numerous other Remans, as shock troops—little more than cannon fodder. Shinzon's tactical genius soon manifested itself, and became a capable commanding officer of Reman troops. Shinzon ended up leading twelve successful engagements , where he distinguished himself in battle after fighting twelve successful engagements against the Dominion and their Horde allies. Rising to such prominence within the Imperial Fleet that the Tal Shiar charged his Reman troops with the re-capture from the the Coalition and destruction of a Tal Shiar base located within the Neutral Zone. The base had been the site of research into banned thalaron radiation weapons and was in imminent danger of capture by a Federation-Klingon task force; this would have exposed the research, an unacceptable outcome. While the Tal Shiar had intended to kill Shinzon afterwards, Shinzon captured the warbird that would have incinerated himself and his troops before the engagement; winning the base, he discovered the weapon and the long-forgotten B-4, and used this information to gain for himself command of his own warbird.
Rise of Power[]
Following the defeat of the Dominion, Shinzon steadily gained allies within the Imperial Fleet and Romulan government, even to the extension of the Empire of the Combine Race in preparation for his takeover. Shinzon courted leadership in the Imperial Fleet, including Commanders Donatra and Suran, and senators such as Tal'Aura, winning them with promises of a war against the Federation to finally end the century long war to achieve victory. Meanwhile, at a secret base, Shinzon gained a personal starship, the Scimitar, a massive new warbird he and his cohorts constructed with advanced cloaking and disruptor technologies that he had outfitted with a thalaron weapon. His ascension to power had not gone unnoticed; as a now-prominent military leader, he was seen as a leader for the Remans, and talk of civil war loomed; still, few suspected his plans. By October, the pieces were in place.
Operating out of a secret base, Shinzon and his people also developed a weapon, utilizing deadly thalaron radiation. Deploying a small thalaron projector in the Romulan Senate, Shinzon was able to kill all the Senate members.
The Coup[]
During a full session of the Imperial Senate in the Hall of State, Tal'Aura left in the senatorial chambers a small thalaron weapon that activated, killing Praetor Hiren, the Senate, and all other forms of organic life within the chambers. Ki Baratan erupted in riots; moving in with the Imperial Fleet's support, Shinzon declared himself the new praetor. However, he knew that the time of his intended aging was fast approaching; without the advanced aging, which he was unable himself to trigger, Shinzon's only means of survival lay with a complete blood transfusion from Jean-Luc Picard, his "father." To achieve this, Shinzon engaged in an elaborate ploy, luring Picard to Romulus with promises of a new peace with the Federation with the intention of kidnapping Picard to gain tactical information on Starfleet deployments before killing him with the transfusion. From there, Shinzon intended to travel aboard the Scimitar to Duyi'zu Earth, where, consumed by his hatred of Humanity, he would destroy all life on the planet to cause a slow collapse and disability within the Federation, with his ship-based thalaron weapon before betraying the Romulans and doing the same to them.
Learning about alternate universes and tempted to find one from the Nuyi’zu Universe, but found his version was killed in battle and would not have been compatible despite their genetic similarities.
Towards this end, Shinzon concocted an elaborate plot to lure the USS Enterprise-E (and by extension Picard) to Romulus. He planted the pieces of a Soong-type android, B-4, on Kolarus III, where he knew that the Enterprise would find it. As a result, the Enterprise was the closest starship available when Shinzon offered to open peace negotiations between the Federation and the Romulans, so the Enterprise was subsequently ordered to Romulus by Starfleet.
Meeting with Picard[]
Upon meeting Picard n 2379 (1516 NE), Shinzon delayed his plans, having acquired an intense interest in his originator's history and that of the Picard family. He also became smitten with Counselor Deanna Troi, who was the first Human woman (albeit, only half-Human) he had ever seen.
During his first meeting with Picard and members of his crew, Shinzon remained hidden in the shadows (he and his Reman "brothers" were not comfortable in the light) and informed Picard of his intentions to negotiate peace with the Alliance to end the war. After correctly guessing what Picard thought of such a negotiation, Shinzon revealed himself to his doppelgänger. This revelation shocked Picard, who now realized himself to be facing a younger version of himself but a shaven head. Shinzon then cut his own hand with his knife and gave the knife to Lieutenant Commander Data to have Doctor Beverly Crusher examine his blood. Afterward, he invited Picard to dinner in the Romulan Senate, insisting that they had "much to discuss".
During the dinner, Shinzon explained to Picard how and why he was created and his upbringing in the mines of Remus. Shinzon then asked with great curiosity about the history of the Picard family. Despite their obvious similarities, however, Picard was reluctant to forge a friendship with Shinzon and an alliance with his Romulan government until the Praetor had earned his trust while hoping to make a closer step to ending the . When Picard left, Shinzon was informed by his viceroy that they were wasting time and reminded the young clone of their mission.
Afterward, Shinzon and the viceroy returned to the Scimitar. Instead of proceeding with their mission, however, Shinzon had the viceroy form a telepathic link between Shinzon's mind and that of Counselor Troi's so that he could make love with the woman he had become fascinated with. This telepathic form of rape was a violation and traumatic experience for Troi. When further delay became unacceptable because of the accelerating deterioration of his condition, Shinzon ordered B-4 to be beamed aboard the Scimitar, believing the android to have secretly downloaded Starfleet's communication protocols, giving Shinzon the location of all Starfleet vessels. Afterward, Shinzon kidnapped Picard by transporting him from the Enterprise's sickbay to the brig aboard the Scimitar. Shinzon then told him that he would always feel to be just an echo or shadow as long as Picard was alive.
As soon as Shinzon left the brig, Picard managed to escape from the Scimitar with the help of Data, who had taken the place of B-4 and given Shinzon inaccurate data about Starfleet, and left the Romulan system aboard the Enterprise at maximum warp.
During the subsequent trip, Data assured Picard that Shinzon would not have been him even if the two had lived the same lives, because Picard had always aspired to better himself and his understanding of the universe around him, while Shinzon sought nothing but death and destruction – both for those who had oppressed him, those he erroneously believed oppressed him, and those who he might harm for personal gain.
Battle of the Bassan Rift[]
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Main article: Battle in the Bassen Rift |
Desperate, Shinzon ordered the Scimitar to pursue the Enterprise, and launched an attack in the Bassen Rift, a region where subspace communications were unavailable. In the battle that ensued, Picard continued to elude capture with the assistance of Romulan reinforcements – Commander Donatra had betrayed Shinzon, realizing that Shinzon didn't just plan to attack the Federation with the thalaron radiation weapon, but actually planned mass genocide by wiping out Duyi'zu Earth's population to cripple the Federation in his way of ending the war in a Axis victory, and willing to betray the Romulans to the Combine by using their advance bio-weapons to maintain leadership. She subsequently aided Picard in a battle for some time before her starship, the Valdore, was heavily damaged by a disruptor blast from the Scimitar.
For some time, the battle was in Shinzon's favor, due mostly to his ship's ability to fire while cloaked. Things changed, however, when Troi reopened the telepathic link between herself and the viceroy, allowing the Enterprise to pinpoint the Scimitar's exact location. With its cloak disabled, the Scimitar began taking damage – but Shinzon was not defeated yet.
After the Enterprise's shields took extensive damage, Shinzon ordered the viceroy to lead a boarding party to retrieve Picard. But the boarding party that had beamed to the Enterprise was pinned down, and the viceroy himself was killed by William T. Riker in a maintenance shaft.
On the whole, however, the battle was not going well for the Enterprise. Shinzon had nearly crippled the Sovereign-class starship and had even destroyed a section of its bridge, at least one starfleet officer was sent hurtling into his death. Overconfident, Shinzon had the Scimitar turn to face the battle-damaged Enterprise. Picard then turned the tables by ramming the Enterprise into the Scimitar, a move which Shinzon did not expect and which he could not avoid. With both starships heavily damaged, Shinzon ordered a Reman officer to activate the thalaron weapon and to fire at the Enterprise. He then ordered the officer to take the Scimitar into Federation space and complete their mission once every living thing aboard Enterprise was dead.
To stop the thalaron weapon from firing, Picard beamed himself to the Scimitar. On the Scimitar bridge, Picard managed to kill all Reman crewmembers with his phaser rifle. As Shinzon's health worsened, he engaged Picard in a ferocious hand-to-hand combat which moved from the bridge itself to the thalaron radiation generator room. In the end, Shinzon was killed when Picard used a piece of wreckage to impale Shinzon as the clone lunged in for the kill. With his plans collapsing around him, the dying Shinzon used the last of his strength to pull himself down the makeshift spear and grab the captain by the throat. His last words to Picard were: "Our destiny is complete".
As Picard stood in shock, Data arrived and transported the captain back to the Enterprise. Data then fired his phaser at the thalaron generator, destroying himself and the Scimitar and effectively concluding Shinzon's plan for galactic conquest.
Legacy[]
In spite of his short life and the brief duration of his coup—the assassination of the Senate and Shinzon's death occurred within three days of one another—the enormity of Shinzon's impact cannot be overstated. The Romulan Star Empire was left in chaos and the Imperial Fleet was fractured, both in a power vacuum. Tal'Aura later claimed praetorship, but this was opposed by several different factions, including Donatra's faction of the Imperial Fleet. His coup also led to the liberation of the Remans and a state of near-civil war between the Romulans and Remans and between the Romulans themselves for nearly a year afterwards. Eventually, the Remans were relocated to the planet Klorgat VII and Tal'Aura consolidated her praetorship; however, Donatra's faction of the Imperial Fleet remained rogue until December of 2380 when, in orbit of Achernar Prime, Donatra proclaimed the existence of the Imperial Romulan State and her own status as its empress. The Romulan Star Empire was reduced from a galactic power to two states, risking the spread of advanced Romulan technology to politically unstable worlds and utterly destabilizing the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Despite age and mental disturbance, Shinzon surely left a mark on galactic history that will not soon be forgotten.
The wreckage of the Scimitar, from his failed coup d'état, became a spatial anomaly with the unofficial name "Shinzon's Folly"