Female Changeling — memory beta

For the mirror universe counterpart, see Female Changeling (mirror).

The Female Changeling was an otherwise nameless individual who led the Dominion as one of the Founders and the primary representative of the Great Link in their dealings with Odo and with the Cardassian leadership during their war with the Federation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

The Female Changeling is called the Founder Leader and the Kira Founder in the Customizable Card Game.

Biography

Formation of the Dominion

Creating the Hur'q

Centuries before their first contact with the United Federation of Planets, members of a metamorphic species others came to know as Changelings roamed space, seeking to add to their knowledge of the universe through interactions with different races. However, though the shapeshifters came in peace, the "solids" who received them often met their arrival with suspicion, violence and fear of their abilities to change forms. In response to such persecution, Changelings came to adhere to a totalitarian philosophy which dictated that, to ensure their own safety, all solids had to be "broken" of their love of freedom and made to exist beneath the control of those who were once hunted. Believing themselves response for bringing order to the chaos around them, a Changeling who assumed a humanoid female shape as their preferred form coalesced with others of her kind on a rogue planet in the Omarion Nebula to intermingle as "the Great Link". From their hideaway, the shapeshifters would begin to establish a vast interstellar empire, the Dominion, with them as its puppet masters, the enigmatic Founders. (DS9 episode: "The Search, Part II")

From the perspective of this specific member of the Great Link, their "dream of Dominion" required devote soldiers who were prepared to follow orders without hesitation or remorse if it was to reach fruition. Without the knowledge of the other Changelings, this Founder set her sights on the denizens of a newly discovered world referred to as the Burrowers but found that this species was a peaceful civilisation which valued free will. Despite their non-violent customs, however, the physical makeup of the Hur'q made them perfect candidates for a warrior race, and the Female Changeling studied their biology in order to determine a means to eliminate the obstacles that their natural behaviour presented. This research unearthed what the Founder thought believed would be an answer to subjugating the Hur'q for her warlike agendas: radiation-resistant fungus on their homeworld that the species was dependant on. In an event known as "The Great Betrayal", she ordered the Dominion to remove this fungus from the Hur'q ecosystem during one of their hibernation periods, intending to use it as a bargaining chip. The event backfired, however, because the Founder had not realised that, by removing such an essential biological component, the Hur'q civilisation would break down into a savage species without focus or coherent thought, which reduced her influence until it became almost non-existent. (STO - Gamma Quadrant mission: "Tenebris Torquent")

Still determined to salvage what she could from this situation, the Founder realised that though the Hur'q were volatile, she could still exert enough control to send them after a specific target through signalling devices which could be deployed as a lure for these creatures. With this technology, the Female Changeling employed the Hur'q as a blunt weapon against planets which the Dominion decided to subjugate. If the worlds-in-question refused to kneel before the Founders, the Hur'q would be unleashed on their populations and left to rampage until nothing remained, which also served as a means to intimidate other targets into submission. At the same time, she redesigned the fungus that the Hur'q were dependant on as the inspiration for another substance: Ketracel-white. With it, the Changeling acquired the soldiers she desired, the Jem'Hadar, a race which had been genetically engineered to have an innate addiction to the isogenic enzyme, in addition to their inherent reverence of the Founders. Amongst their duties, the Jem'Hadar provided defence for planets which buckled to the demands of the Dominion under threat of Hur'q invasion. However, their existence also created dissention inside the Great Link from Changelings who discovered the role which this Founder had in the fall of the Hur'q. Opposed to a Dominion which had been constructed from what equated to slave labour, these individuals tried to depose the Female Changeling and reveal her crimes to the Link, but their attempts ended in failure, and she saw to it that this opposition was soon silenced. In doing so, the Founder also violated the most sacred law of her people: no Changeling shall ever harm another. However, her actions went unknown for centuries. (STO - Gamma Quadrant mission: "Tenebris Torquent")

Meeting Odo

Odo first met the Female Changeling in 2371. She introduced him to the Great Link. Odo learned from her that their people were the Founders, the leaders of the Dominion. (DS9 episodes: "The Search, Part I", "The Search, Part II") Later in 2371, the female Changeling posed as Kira. She did so as she suspected that Kira was an obstacle to her wish that Odo return to his people. (DS9 episode: "Heart of Stone")

In 2372, she and the Great Link judged Odo for killing a Changeling the previous year. Odo's punishment was that he was made a solid, although the Female Changeling thought that perhaps killing Odo would have not have been as cruel. (DS9 episode: "Broken Link")

Dominion War

The Female Changeling was trapped in the Alpha Quadrant when the Bajoran wormhole was mined at the start of the Dominion War. She visited Odo, where she again linked with him. This distracted Odo from his assistance to Kira in their resistance to the Dominion, although Odo reconsidered and aided Kira in a fight against Jem'Hadar soldiers. (DS9 episodes: "Behind the Lines", "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels")

In 2375, the Female Changeling began suffering from a disease. DS9 episodes: "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River", "Penumbra")

Distrusting the Cardassians, she made an alliance with the Breen, which had the result of forcing the Federation out of the captured Cardassian Chin'toka system. (DS9 episodes: "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Strange Bedfellows", "The Changing Face of Evil")

At the conclusion of the Dominion War, the Female Changeling signed a peace treaty, and turned herself over to Federation authorities as a prisoner. (DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind)

Later life

The Founder's sentencing (for "crimes committed against sentient beings") occurred on stardate 56867.84, after which she was permanently returned to Ananke Alpha. (STO website: The Path to 2409)

By 2409, she had been moved to Facility 4028. In that year, the Dominion was able to negotiate her release, in exchange for helping to remove the Jem'Hadar that had taken over Deep Space 9. During her release, there was a Jem'Hadar attack on the facility, which caused the prisoners to be released. The founder helped subdue her fellow prisoners. (STO missions: "Operation Gamma", "Facility 4028")

After Kar'ukan's death during the retaking of Deep Space 9, she returned to the Gamma Quadrant, and Loriss stated she would be rejoining the Great Link. (STO mission: "Boldly They Rode")

Splinter timeline

During the war, the Female Changeling (posing as a Marmosan Objective Witness named Anchet Mariole) visited the mining planet of Bleak Prime, where the administrating Vorta were exhibiting a peculiar degree of free will. She was ultimately forced to kill all the Vorta on the planet, when they attacked her and killed a Vulcan woman, Bicek, who had been aiding the investigation. After returning Bicek's remains to Vulcan (while posing as Bicek herself), the Female Changeling returned to the Link to recommend Bleak Prime be abandoned. (DS9 - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Change of Heart")

She was incarcerated at Ananke Alpha, a maximum security Federation prison. Taran'atar visited her in late 2376. (DS9 - Worlds of DS9 novel: The Dominion: Olympus Descending)

The Female Changeling was almost assassinated by Reese and Ekoor. Benjamin Sisko managed to persuade Reese to not carry out his plan. (DS9 - Tales of the Dominion War short story: "Requital")

The Female Changeling gave Starfleet extensive information on each Dominion facility to enable their decommissioning. (DS9 - Strange New Worlds V short story: "Fear, Itself")

Alternate realities

The Female Changeling representing the Dominion at talks with the Federation

In an alternate reality, Federation and Dominion delegations met on Deep Space 9 to negotiate a treaty in response to the Dominion's peace overtures in 2371. The Female Changeling was a member of the Dominion delegation. However, during the talks, Odo was murdered with a phaser, seemingly in the Habitat ring. Consequently, the negotiations broke down and the Dominion launched an attack on DS9. Although the Federation forces were eventually able to push the Jem'Hadar back through the Bajoran wormhole, Deep Space Nine suffered heavy casualties, including Keiko and Molly O'Brien. However, before retreating through the wormhole, the Dominion were able to capture Commander Benjamin Sisko, Doctor Julian Bashir and Major Kira Nerys. (DS9 comic: "The Looking Glass War")