Keiko is played by Chinese-American actress Rosalind Chao, Chao also auditioned for the role of
Tasha Yar, the Enterprise security chief from season 1.
The Next Generation The character was introduced in the fourth season episode of
The Next Generation, "
Data's Day", which depicts her imminent wedding to Miles – which she temporarily cancels – as one of several subplots in which the main-cast character
Data is involved. The words in their wedding were based on Captain Kirk's in the
original series 1966 episode "
Balance of Terror", according to writer
Ronald D. Moore. The character appeared prominently the following season in the episode "
Disaster", in which she gives birth to Keiko and Miles' first child
Molly in the crew lounge
Ten-Forward during a shipwide crisis.
Deep Space Nine Chao was offered a full-time role on
Deep Space Nine, which she turned down because the demands on her would be too strenuous. Keiko instead appears irregularly, with a focus on the impact of Miles’s job on the O'Briens' relationship. Finding limited opportunity to use her botanical expertise, and concerned about the educational opportunities on the station for her daughter and others' children, she starts a school, where
Jake Sisko and
Nog are also students. The first season episode "
In the Hands of the Prophets" shows Keiko in conflict with religious leader
Vedek Winn over her teaching of science and a secular perspective on elements of Winn's
Bajoran faith. In the fourth season episode "
Body Parts", Keiko and her unborn child are injured, and to save the fetus it is placed into
Major Kira's uterus to carry to term, as an in-story explanation for actress
Nana Visitor's pregnancy. The couple and Kira form an awkward ad hoc family for the duration of the pregnancy, until their son
Kirayoshi is born, in the fifth season episode "
The Begotten". Meanwhile, Keiko has a central role in the fifth season episode "
The Assignment", when she is possessed by a malevolent entity. During the
Dominion War late in the series, Keiko and the children are evacuated from the war zone. After the war, Keiko and her family relocate to Earth, where Miles will be an instructor at
Starfleet Academy.
Novels Keiko has appeared in over twenty
Star Trek novels. Examples include
The Fall: Revelation and Dust, Warpath, Warped, and
The Tempest.
Toys Keiko was also released as a toy figurine, Playmates no. 65121. ==Reception==