Does anyone else feel a connection to Data from Star Trek?

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or any other characters. When Star Trek: The Next Generation originally came on I obsessed over that character. Same thing with Odo from Star Trek: DS9. I am drawn to the outsider, loner characters. Has anyone else experienced that?

I have felt a connection to various characters Spock,Data which is my avatar. You mentioned Odo and you are right he did seem like an outsider. I have more of a connection with Data for he tries to understand social cues.

I immediately identified with Counselor Troi, the empath, although in the beginning, she was kind of silly. Like, they'd get a really pissed off alien on the viewscreen, and when the captain asked for her sense of things, she'd say "I sense a lot of anger." Duh. But once the show got going, she was wonderful.

not at all. Probably heretical to say so, but i LOATHE Star Trek.

lthough not Star Trek, I do feel somewhat connected to River Tam from Firefly/Serenity. Probably because she has a strong itellegence (she's psychic), but is broken to the point of childlike emotion and near insanity, oh, and she is not capable of social interaction on an NT level, and is very limited socially.

Actually, I'm more Reg Barclay...

I think we all feel a connection to Data. He's like a patron figure for Aspies everywhere.

I've definitely always been drawn to loner characters. Batman, the Doctor, I suppose. Man-against-the-world type characters.

One of my personal favorite characters from Star Trek. I'll watch any episode he's in as often as they want to rerun 'em.

But Data, too, has that familiar quality, or rather a familiar situation. They were playing a very old one yesterday and I got more irritated the more I saw. Not just because most of them couldn't act if the ship depended on it (in season 1 anyhow) but because Data was acting like Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve a mystery, a pipe clamped in his teeth. Even when the captain made him put down the pipe, he still kept talking like a cheesy film depiction of Holmes, and the entire crew (who were at the meeting anyhow) kept smirking and tossing glances to one another the whole time. Oh, except the captain, the guy had a little dignity. Anyway, that looked so familiar I wanted to slap 'em all, right down the row, Stooges-style. If they had just smiled, I could cut them some slack, I mean, the dude was talking like Sherlock Holmes. But it's the exchanging of glances while smirking that hits too close to home. I get instant anger anytime I am speaking and I suspect that those listening have, as one, come to regard me as an outsider and therefore somehow blind to their secret signals. I miss a lot socially, but if there's anything I have come to recognize, it's the sight of mockery.

Oddly, I don't mind Riker doing much the same thing later, when Data is practicing small talk at a party. Maybe it's because the conversation is face to face, Data is being danged funny, and he pokes Riker which sets him giggling like the Pillsbury dough boy...

Anyway, I always am drawn to the outsider. I frequently find it embarrassing to watch the way people write about them, the way they are portrayed and the condescending approach that others take to them. I especially enjoy seeing those characters show brilliance, aptitude, something that shows that the condescension is misplaced, perhaps even the reverse of what it should be. I suppose it's people like us that make that version of the classic "Cinderella" story so popular. The idea of the "chosen one" or the "one spoken of in the prophecy" and how that person always seems to be someone who rises from humble and even horrible circumstances. It reflects my old wish to show those who treated me so badly in school that I was as good as they were, and as time went on, that I must be better than someone who enjoyed mocking others. These days, I just wish I could let it go.

I was always drawn to Spock - it always annoyed me that Dr. McCoy and Kirk doggedly complained that he was "not human", in an age where bigotry was supposed to be less prevalent in the human condition, and I never could understand what was so great about being all gushy emotional over everything when there was a job to do anyways.

Actually, I didn't like how eventually the Vulcans became known as hypocritical bigots - if they believe in infinite diversity in infinite combinations, that would extend, logically, to accepting other beings in the universe unconditionally regardless of emotional habit - prejudice should just not exist for them, it being an emotional response. But, then again, the writers never did consult me on the matter...

Reg Barclay I am drawn to as well. He always reminds me of me - a lot of the idiosyncrasies of the character reflect in my own personality. His character's speech patterns are eerily similar to mine. His character impressed me in that star fleet was such an elite group of social people, anyone like Reg must have had to fight like anything to get where he was in the first place. Kind of inspiring in that respect.

I don't really associate myself with Data. There's just no...link. I more often find myself relating to Teal'c, from Stargate SG-1 which is somewhat similar, yet different.

Sherlock Holmes

My favorite quote is in The Study of Scarlet...

definatley feel like Data.
im always asking questions trying to understand things but just not fitting in

Oof those mentioned here, in order:

spock, (barklay(when he kind of took over the enterprise), odo, teal'c), sherlock holmes, data. Frankly though, data HAS gotten a bit silly. At times he acts like a little kid, and other times he aspires to be the EPITOME of human, with all it's faults. NOBODY should want that.

I think troi, and "the doctor" are silly. Batman runs a close 3rd as silly.

Not Data in particular. Never watched much of that version.

But I identified with any character that was outside the norm and thus misunderstood.
Like the robot in "Forbidden Planet".
Even the monster in the original "Frankenstein".

I've never identified with Data at all, nor Spock (though Nimoy seems like a super nice guy).

I always identified with Counsellor Troi, including the bit where people think she's silly. Of course she's silly, she's a girl. Duh.

I also identified with Reg Barclay, but absolutely hated his first episode - far too painful to watch.