View source for Ishka

{{short description|Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character}}
{{about|the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' character|the homophonic Iranian village|Ishgah, Lahijan}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox character
| name               = Ishka
| series             = [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]
| first_minor        = [[Family Business (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Family Business]]
| first_date         = May 15, 1995
| last_minor         = [[The Dogs of War (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|The Dogs of War]]
| last_date          = May 26, 1999
| portrayer          = {{unbulleted list|[[Andrea Martin]] (1995)|[[Cecily Adams]] (1997–99)}}
| species            = [[Ferengi]]
| significant_other  = [[Zek (Star Trek)|Zek]]
| children           = [[Quark (Star Trek)|Quark]] and [[Rom (Star Trek)|Rom]]
}}

'''Ishka''' is a fictional character from the [[science fiction on television|science fiction television series]] ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' (''DS9'').  A female [[Ferengi]], she is the mother of [[Quark (Star Trek)|Quark]] ([[Armin Shimerman]]) and [[Rom (Star Trek)|Rom]] ([[Max Grodénchik]]).  Ishka appears in five [[Star Trek canon|canon]] episodes of ''DS9'', and also features in seven licensed-but-non-canon [[list of Star Trek novels|''Star Trek'' novels]].

Conceptualized as a feminist character, Ishka was played by [[Andrea Martin]] once and [[Cecily Adams]] four times.  Both actresses endured a lot of makeup, prostheses, and costuming.  Adams loved the character, and was stunned by the positive [[trekkie|fan]] reaction to Ishka.{{TOC limit|3}}

==Conception==
Ishka was conceived as a Ferengi "[[feminist movement|women's libber]]" that [[Robert Hewitt Wolfe]] described as transcending the stereotypical protester.  Ishka did not want to end the Ferengi [[profit (accounting)|profit]]-making way of life, but wanted Ferengi females to be able to take part in it.<ref name="DS9COMPfamilybusiness" />  Immediately after Ishka's introduction in "[[Family Business (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Family Business]]" the idea of bringing her together with [[Zek (Star Trek)|Grand Nagus Zek]] came about.<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS" />  [[René Auberjonois]] ([[Odo (Star Trek)|Odo]]) even anticipated the pairing in an interview with ''[[Starlog]]'' for their January 1996 issue.<ref name="1996-01 Starlog" />

==Casting==
[[File:AndreaMartinJune08.jpg|thumb|left|Andrea Martin (2008)]]
[[Television director|Director]] [[David Livingston]] recalled that they had a difficult time finding somebody to play Ishka; at one point, he even made the unpopular suggestion that [[Wallace Shawn]] ([[Zek (Star Trek)|Grand Nagus Zek]]) appear in [[drag (clothing)|drag]] as Quark and Rom's mother.<ref name="1996 Captains' Logs Supplemental" />  [[Andrea Martin]] was cast at the suggestion of episode director [[René Auberjonois]] ([[Odo (Star Trek)|Odo]]), who felt the actress could manage the right balance of [[comedy]] and good acting that was missing from the applicants he had seen thus far.  [[Showrunner]] [[Ira Steven Behr]] agreed with Auberjonois on the casting, later saying he loved her on ''[[Second City Television]]''.<ref name="DS9COMPfamilybusiness">{{cite book
|last1=Erdmann
|first1=Terry J.
|last2=Block
|first2=Paula M.
|year=2000
|chapter=Third Season
|title=[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion]]
|location=[[New York City]]
|publisher=[[Pocket Books]]
|pages=239–241
|isbn=0-671-50106-2
}}</ref>  Martin was offered the role without even having to [[audition]].  Ira Behr, [[Robert Hewitt Wolfe]], and David Livingston all had good things to say about the casting of Martin as Ishka.<ref name="1996 Captains' Logs Supplemental" />

[[File:Cecily Adams.jpg|thumb|left|Cecily Adams (undated)]]
When, at the last minute,<ref name="cinefantastique2967">{{cite magazine
| last1                 = Kaplan
| first1                = Anna L.
| date                  = November 1997
| editor1-last          = Clarke
| editor1-first         = Frederick S.
| title                 = Rene Auberjonois, Odo
| magazine              = [[Cinefantastique]]
| location              = [[Forest Park, Illinois]]
| volume                = 29
| issue                 = 6/7
| pages                 = 32–34
| issn                  = 0145-6032
| quote                 = The Mercurial Master of Morphing talks about Love, Sex, and going for a seventh season.
}}</ref> Martin could not return for "[[Ferengi Love Songs]]", the show held auditions for the role and saw "a lot of people".  Prior to auditioning, [[Cecily Adams]] was only peripherally familiar with the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe, having only seen a few ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' episodes.<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine" />  Adams was friends with actress [[Kitty Swink]],<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS" /> and auditioned with the help of Swink's husband Armin Shimerman ([[Quark (Star Trek)|Quark]]); Shimerman loaned her a tape of Martin's episode—"Family Business"—from which she learned "how broad the character was."  Adams attributed her successful audition to the many similarities between her and Martin: not only did Martin's [[costume]]s fit without need for alteration, but so did the [[prosthetic makeup|prosthetic faceplate]].<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine" />  Adams was described as a "natural [[mimicry|mimic]]" by the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion]]''; Behr said that Adams "just ''did'' Moogie."  Even though she had the character down pat, Adams would later admit to having trouble with the ''Star Trek'' vernacular.  Ishka was a radical departure for Adams: she'd never played an [[extraterrestrial life|alien]] before, usually being cast as [[secretary|secretaries]] in shows such as ''[[Simon & Simon]]'' and ''[[Murphy Brown]]''.<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS" />

==Makeup and costuming==
[[File:Ishka in Family Business.png|thumb|alt=A white woman in the heavy orange makeup and prostheses typical of Ferengi looks to the camera's left; she is nude, baring her upper chest and shoulders|Martin in "[[Family Business (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Family Business]]"]]
Before [[Andrea Martin]] accepted the role, director [[René Auberjonois]] ([[Odo (Star Trek)|Odo]]) confided in her that working under the Ferengi [[prosthetic makeup|prosthetics]] would be the hardest acting she'd ever done if she'd never worked under such makeup before.  Auberjonois speculated that she took the role anyway because he'd been so frank with her.<ref name="1996-01 Starlog" />  Martin's makeup for Ishka took three hours every day.  Ishka, being older, required extra development of the makeup prostheses.  Makeup designer [[Michael Westmore]] explained that they "made a thin skin that went over one of [their] stock Ferengi heads.  They [then] made a new face for her, wrinkled, and did the backs of her hands."  The script for "Family Business" also complicated the makeup process because it called for Ishka to be nude in several scenes; therefore, makeup needed to be developed for parts of Ferengi never before seen.  One [[take]] over Ishka's shoulder had to be reshot because the producers felt that Martin's "supple skin" didn't match the character; Westmore and crew "took [[Kleenex]], wrinkled it up and rubberized it, and covered her back and shoulders", a process Martin didn't care for, saying, "Boy, if you hadn't warned me about this, I would be out the door."<ref name="DS9COMPfamilybusiness"/><ref name="1996-01 Starlog"/>

[[File:Ishka in Profit and Lace.png|thumb|alt=A white woman in the heavy orange makeup and prostheses typical of Ferengi looks to the camera's left; she is wearing a garish, skintight outfit and excessive jewelry from her clothes, neck, and lobes|Adams in "[[Profit and Lace]]"]]
Having never before worn prostheses,<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS" /> [[Cecily Adams]] found the Ishka makeup "rather daunting" and described the three to four hour application process before moving on to costuming.  Originally the producers drew lines on Adams' hands to make them appear older, but later decided they did not look old enough and used prosthetic gloves. Once all was said and done, only the palms of Adams' hands and her upper lip were visible.  After begging and pleading with the ''DS9'' staff to see the [[dailies]], Adams realized how much she needed to over-express to have her facial expressions translate through the makeup.  When she came back to ''DS9'' for [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6|season six]]'s "[[The Magnificent Ferengi]]", Adams agreed on the condition she receive her own custom faceplate.  Adams praised the other ''DS9'' actors who suffered through similar makeup ordeals saying, "I think it's astonishing that they were all in good cheer, and to be in the makeup all the time is really something."  Because Ishka is flouting Ferengi law by wearing clothes, it was decided that she would overdo it, and so Adams was encumbered with "baubles and [[bangle]]s and beads" that made so much noise on set that Adams estimated she had to [[dubbing|dub]] half her lines.  For "[[Profit and Lace]]", where Ishka was to leave the [[Ferengi]] homeworld for the first time, Adams was dressed in a "[[Spandex]] suit from [her] wrists to the tip of [her] toes".  Further, because Ishka was old, the staff padded Adams' costume with {{convert|30|or|40|lbs}}, including fake breasts that Adams guessed weighed {{convert|15|lbs}}; after watching the dailies, both Adams and Behr agreed that the breasts needed to be reduced as they were too distracting.<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine" />  Adams would later thank both director René Auberjonois and co-star [[Armin Shimerman]] for helping her realize that [[overacting]] was the name of the game when working under such prostheses.<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS" />

==Character history==
In "[[Family Business (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Family Business]]", Ishka is introduced as a [[Ferengi]] [[widow]] who receives a monthly [[stipend]] from her elder son, [[Quark (Star Trek)|Quark]] ([[Armin Shimerman]]).  Per Ferengi law, she is forbidden from making [[profit (accounting)|profit]] or wearing [[clothing]], yet she has begun doing both and is found out by the Ferengi Commerce Authority (FCA; an agency essentially equivalent to the [[United States]]' [[Internal Revenue Service]]).<ref name="DS9COMPfamilybusiness" />  The FCA charges Quark with his mother's misdeeds, about which she is unrepentant, feeling that [[feminist movement|women should have the same rights and privileges as men]]. After much arguing with Quark, Iskha agrees to sign a [[confession]] and forfeit her earnings for her son's sake, though she confides in [[Rom (Star Trek)|Rom]] ([[Max Grodénchik]]) that she only gave up a third of what she had hidden away.

[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5|Season five]]'s "[[Ferengi Love Songs]]" reveals the [[romance (love)|romantic]] relationship between Ishka and [[Zek (Star Trek)|Grand Nagus Zek]], the leader of the [[Ferengi Alliance]].  When Quark is unable to extract [[nepotism|nepotistic]] assistance from the Grand Nagus, he colludes with [[Liquidator Brunt]] ([[Jeffrey Combs]]) to break up the couple.  Quark soon realizes however that Ishka is the real [[power behind the throne]], giving Zek financial advice and suggestions that keep the Ferengi economy afloat.  Quark confesses his part, and helps reunite Ishka and Zek.

In "[[The Magnificent Ferengi]]" ([[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6|season six]]), Ishka is kidnapped by the [[Dominion (Star Trek)|Dominion]].  While in captivity at the hands of the [[Vorta]] Yelgrun ([[Iggy Pop]]), Ishka offers financial advice and tries to empathize with her captor about family.  In the same season, "[[Profit and Lace]]" finds Ishka leaving the Ferengi homeworld of Ferenginar for the first time to travel to [[Deep Space Nine (fictional space station)|Deep Space Nine]] in the company of Grand Nagus Zek.  She has convinced Zek to amend the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities to allow women to wear clothing, and the result was economic turmoil across the Ferengi Alliance.  When Ishka suffers a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]], Quark undergoes [[sex reassignment surgery]] to take her place at Zek's side and win back the support of an influential Ferengi commissioner.  [[Julian Bashir|Doctor Bashir]] ([[Alexander Siddig]]) is able to successfully perform a [[heart transplantation]] for Ishka, and she is up and about by the end of the episode.

In the penultimate episode of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', "[[The Dogs of War (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|The Dogs of War]]", Quark discovers that Ishka has influenced Grand Nagus Zek to the point where the Ferengi leader has promoted [[labor rights]], enforced [[environmental protection]], and outlawed [[monopoly|monopolies]].

===Non-canon appearances===
Ishka also appears in several officially-licensed, [[Star Trek canon|non-canon]], [[List of Star Trek novels|''Star Trek'' novels]], [[e-book]]s, and [[short story|short stories]]:

====''Star Trek: The Next Generation''====
* [[list of Star Trek novels#Gateways (2001)|''Doors into Chaos'']] by [[Robert Greenberger]] (<!-- Sep -->2001)

====''Star Trek: Terok Nor''====
* [[list of Star Trek novels#The Lost Era (2003–2014)|''Dawn of the Eagles'']] by [[S. D. Perry]] & [[Britta Dennison]] (<!-- Jun -->2008)

====''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''====
* [[list of Star Trek novels#Deep Space Nine (1993–2021)|''Ferenginar: Satisfaction Is Not Guaranteed'']] by [[Keith DeCandido]] (<!-- Nov -->2010)
* [[list of Star Trek novels#Relaunch novels (2001–2017)|''Lust's Latinum Lost (and Found)'']] by [[Terry J. Erdmann]] & [[Paula M. Block]] (2014)
* ''Rules of Accusation'' by Terry J. Erdmann & Paula M. Block (<!-- 4 Jul -->2016)
* ''I, the Constable'' by Terry J. Erdmann & Paula M. Block (<!-- 13 Nov -->2017)

====''Star Trek: Mirror Universe''====
The Ishka of the [[Mirror Universe]] is wealthy, owns [[human|Terran]] [[slavery|slaves]], and provided a safe harbor for the 'mirror-versions' of [[B'Elanna Torres]] and Crell Moset (from the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "[[Nothing Human (Star Trek: Voyager)|Nothing Human]]").  She appeared in the <!-- Jan -->2009 [[Mirror Universe#Star Trek: Mirror Universe|''Star Trek: Mirror Universe'']] story, "Bitter Fruit" by [[Susan Wright (author)|Susan Wright]].

==Portrayal==
Crediting Andrea Martin with her broad and confident initial portrayal of Ishka, Adams commented on how easy it was to play a character so well delineated.  Adams also infused Ishka with some of the stories Shimerman told of his own mother.  In an interview with ''[[Star Trek: The Magazine]]'', Adams said of Ishka: "I love and adore her.  How can you not?  She just doesn't care what anybody thinks; she's so committed to what she thinks is right, and everyone else be damned.  But she has a heart of gold, and she's very strong.  To be a female as strong as she was, in the kind of world she came from, was wonderful, I think."<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine" />  Lauding the character, Adams says that it's Ishka's backbone that helps her grow as an actress and as a person.<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch6" />  Prior to November 2000, Adams appeared at several [[science-fiction convention|''Star Trek'' conventions]] with her "Ferengi family" and relished meeting [[trekkie|fans]] who expressed how much they love the character of Ishka.<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine" />

==References==
{{reflist |refs=

<!-- sorted chronologically -->

<ref name="1996 Captains' Logs Supplemental">{{cite book |last1=Gross |first1=Edward |last2=Altman |first2=Mark A. |author-link2=Mark A. Altman |year=1996 |chapter=''Deep Space Nine'' Season Three Episode Guide |title=Captains' Logs Supplemental |url=https://archive.org/details/captainslogssupp0000gros |url-access=registration |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |page=97 |isbn=0-316-88354-9}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1996-01 Starlog">{{cite magazine |last1=Nazzaro |first1=Joe |date=January 1996 |editor1-last=McConnell |editor1-first=David |title=The New Form |magazine=[[Starlog]] |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=Starlog Group, Inc. |issue=222 |pages=27–32 |issn=0191-4626}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch5 FLS">{{cite book |last1=Erdmann |first1=Terry J. |last2=Block |first2=Paula M. |year=2000 |chapter=Fifth Season |title=[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion]] |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[Pocket Books]] |pages=443–446 |isbn=0-671-50106-2}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2000 DS9companion ch6">{{cite book |last1=Erdmann |first1=Terry J. |last2=Block |first2=Paula M. |year=2000 |chapter=Sixth Season |title=[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion]] |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[Pocket Books]] |pages=515–518 |isbn=0-671-50106-2}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2000-11 Star Trek: The Magazine">{{cite magazine |date=November 2000 |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Ben |title=Cecily Adams |magazine=[[Star Trek: The Magazine]] |location=[[Norwalk, Connecticut]] |publisher=Fabbri Publishing |volume=1 |issue=19 |pages=46–50 |issn=1523-9195}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230606092443/http://www.startrek.com/database_article/ishka Ishka] at [[StarTrek.com]] (Archived by the [[Wayback Machine]])
* {{Memory Alpha|Ishka}}

{{Star Trek: Deep Space Nine}}

[[Category:female characters in television]]
[[Category:Ferengi]]
[[Category:fictional characters from the 24th century]]
[[Category:fictional feminists and women's rights activists]]
[[Category:fictional unemployed people]]
[[Category:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters]]
[[Category:television characters introduced in 1995]]