Nog’s 8 Best DS9 Episodes Prove Why He’s Star Trek’s Most Revolutionary Ferengi

Nog's (Aron Eisenberg) 8 best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes prove why he's the most revolutionary Ferengi in Star Trek. Nog only appears in 45 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'

s 176 episodes, but it's impossible to imagine the series without the young Ferengi hero.

While Quark yearned to rise in the Ferengi's capitalistic society, Rom and Nog were outcasts as neither sought profit as their primary motivator. Nog was the first Ferengi to break free of his culture's expectations and chose a different path that led him to excel in Starfleet.

Not only was Nog unique among Ferengi, but he also changed how his people were seen by Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Nog's influence is felt far and wide, even in

 Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century, where the Eisenberg Class USS Nog is named for him.

Every time Nog appears in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he's a scene-stealing delight, but his 8 best episodes truly showcase Nog's importance and impact, creating lasting memories of Starfleet's first Ferengi hero.

“Heart of Stone"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 14

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Heart of Stone" is as impactful upon every rewatch as it was for Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) when he realized Nog was serious about wanting to join Starfleet, and his reasons why.

Understandably, Sisko thought his son Jake's best friend's sudden interest in Starfleet was a prank, and he didn't take Nog seriously — until Nog passionately explained his desire to join Starfleet was so that he wouldn't end up on the lower rung of Ferengi society like his father, Rom.

Nog wanted more from his life, and to prove he could be more. Commander Sisko took a chance on Nog, personally sponsoring the first Ferengi to join Starfleet.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions Sisko made, and Nog in Starfleet was subsequently one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's best creative choices.

“Homefront/Paradise Lost”

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episode 10 & 11

Captain Sisko visiting Earth to investigate the Changelings was also a great excuse for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 

to check up on Nog attending Starfleet Academy. It turns out Nog is thriving as a Starfleet soldier, though he yearns to make friends and join the elite Red Squad.

Rom is only a minor player in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" two-parter, but he is welcome comic relief when the Ferengi cadet drops by Joseph Sisko's (Brock Peters) restaurant to dine on his favorite tube grubs.

Defying expectations, "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" established that Nog took to being a Starfleet Officer like a duck to water, and this is also Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's introduction to Red Squad, which would impact Nog and Jake years later.

"The Ascent"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 9

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 9, "The Ascent" juxtaposes frenemies Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Quark with best friends Jake and Nog, who realize that living together on DS9 wasn't what they thought it would be.

Jake and Nog are an odd couple; the young Sisko is a slovenly, self-centered roommate to the orderly, disciplined soldier, Nog. Both are extremes, and while "The Ascent" casts Jake as a slob, Nog is also revealed to be a severe, orders-barking taskmaster.

Yet Nog is also an ideal soldier, and his Starfleet supervisors like Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) begin to be impressed with the Ferengi's resourcefulness and dedication, which would continue throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

In the end, Captain Sisko personally intervenes to make Nog and Jake's living situation work, but their best friends' differences would provide comic relief for several Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 

episodes to come.

"In The Cards"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 25

"In the Cards" is one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's finest Jake Sisko and Nog episodes, and it's a comedic tour-de-force that's about Jake wanting to bring some joy into his father, Captain Sisko's, life.

Nog, against his better judgment, helps Jake secure a rare Willie Mays baseball card, which sends them afoul of its eccentric owner, and Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) and the Dominion, who suspect Nog and Jake of espionage.

At the heart of "In the Cards," however, is Jake's love for his father, which is matched by Nog's esteem for Captain Sisko and desire to help Jake's cause, even when he thinks his friend is going off the deep end.

"In the Cards" also has an amusing exchange between Jake and Nog, where Jake is unable to explain or defend the Federation's post-scarcity utopian system of not using currency.

"Valiant"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 22

Ensign Nog became embroiled in some of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's darkest episodes throughout the multi-season Dominion War story arc, and "Valiant" pays off the introduction of Red Squad by letting Nog briefly join.

Discovering that Red Squad has been secretly operating behind enemy lines, striking at the Dominion aboard the Defiant Class USS Valiant, Nog is eager to join the ranks of his Starfleet Academy heroes.

Jake Sisko quickly asserts that Red Squad are a group of naive and dangerous fanatics who will get themselves killed, which puts him at odds with true believer, Nog. However, Jake is proven right, and Nog sees for himself that Red Squad is a folly.

"Valiant" forced Nog to question his blind allegiance to Starfleet and following orders, as he realized Red Squad's hubris led to their tragic deaths. Honorably, what Ensign Nog learned was that he still had a lot to learn.

“Treachery, Faith, And The Great River”

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 6

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" reminds us that while Nog may be a Starfleet Officer, he's still a Ferengi, and his own culture can achieve things that sticking to Federation protocol cannot.

To help Chief O'Brien meet Captain Sisko's mandated impossible deadline to repair the USS Defiant, Nog helps the Chief by navigating "the Great Material Continuum" Ferengi-style.

Nog makes an ever-expanding and startling series of trades to secure the parts Chief O'Brien needs, at one point even trading away and replacing Captain Sisko's desk, to Miles' chagrin. Ultimately, "the Great Material Continuum" provided everything for O'Brien, thanks to Nog's ingenuity.

For as much as Nog has proudly celebrated being a member of Starfleet, "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" is a wonderful reminder that Nog is also an excellent Ferengi when he chooses to apply himself to his own people's beliefs.

“The Siege of AR-558”

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 8

Nog came to exemplify the tragic cost of the Dominion War in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

's "The Siege of AR-558." Nog was part of a DS9 team sent to bring supplies to the battered soldiers on a planet where Starfleet captured a Dominion communications relay.

On a scouting mission, Nog lost his leg when the Jem'Hadar attacked. Nog's anguished howl as he is gunned down by Dominion phaser fire is one of the most haunting sounds ever on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Nog faced his injury would admirable courage as Starfleet's forces withstand the Jem'Hadar's attack on their base, with Quark protecting his nephew and killing one of the Jem'Hadar soldiers.

"The Siege of AR-558" permanently changed Nog, who didn't truly understand the horrors of the Dominion War in his naive belief that Starfleet would eventually triumph. Nog's injury would pay off in his single greatest episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

“It’s Only A Paper Moon”

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 10

Nog's greatest Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, which also happens to be Vic Fontaine's (James Darren) best hour, is a poignant study of PTSD and exemplifies the Ferengi's courage and heroism.

The pain Nog is in after losing his leg doesn't compare to the Ferengi Starfleet Officer's deep emotional trauma. To heal, Nog chooses to lose himself as Vic Fontaine's 24/7 "pally."

In Vic's 1960s Las Vegas holodeck fantasy, Nog regains his mojo but the fear of resuming his real life proves too daunting, and Nog attempts to stay in the safety of Vic's until the holographic crooner intervenes with tough love.

When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ends, Rom becomes Grand Nagus and begins instituting a series of progressive changes to Ferengi culture, inspired, in part, by his son Nog, the Starfleet Officer.

Nog exemplified Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's ability to develop an ancillary character and make them as vivid and vital as the show's main cast. In turn, Nog, who was promoted to Lieutenant, rewrote the book on what the Ferengi could be on Star Trek.