Portrait of a Character – Azar Hamidi

Azar Hamidi does more than just make a point.

Origins

Azar was created as a small statement in The Light. That Star Trek fanfiction story is dominated by Jewish characters, so I wanted there to be a Muslim character as well, who would be friends with them. Azar was to be a quick mentioning but it would be obvious that differences would have ended aside long ago, and replaced with understanding.

Portrayal

Azar is portrayed by Arnold Vosloo.

Arnold Vosloo as Azar Hamidi

This Afrikaans actor has played a number of Middle Eastern characters and so I thought of him immediately to play this Iranian crewman.

While writing Reflections Down a Corridor, he came into even sharper focus.

Personality

Smart and pleasant, Azar is respectful and polite with his peers, and is a lot of people like him. As a Security Crewman, he gets a promotion to the rank of Ensign. In the E² timeline, he starts off in Engineering, but is still gets a promotion to Ensign and ends up in Security at some point.

Relationships

Maryam Haroun

Starting in Reflections, he and Ramih Azar compete for Maryam, who is afraid that she’ll choose the wrong man. Since she is expecting an arranged marriage, she works with Phlox to try to determine who will be the one. She chooses Azar not so much for his looks (although Maryam does think he’s better-looking than Ramih), but for his answer to the question of what he would do if she did not choose him to be her husband. Their marriage is a good one, and they have a son, Ali, in both kicks back in time.

In the prime timeline, in A Hazy Shade, it is implied that they may have wed then, too. I haven’t decided yet.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Azar Hamidi (image of Arnold Vosloo is for educational purposes only)

While I have not specifically written a Mirror Universe version of Azar, there are no impediments to his existence.

I can see him as being less disciplined and kind (like most denizens of the Mirror), and probably not as religious. In Bread, I establish that practicing faith in the Mirror is not something you want to do at all openly. Hence, much like Leah Benson, he might be a secretly religious person.

This could make him vulnerable in many ways, possibly to blackmail or the like.

Quote

“‘I would do nothing. At least, not to start, for it would hurt so much. I cannot predict the future. If marriage were to be a possibility at a later date, I feel I would take it, for I do not wish to be alone forever. But I would not seek it, at least not to start. And I would wish Maryam and her new husband well, for marriage is so difficult, and all I want is for her to be happy.’”

Upshot

For a character who I created to make a point, I like how he ended up, particularly with Maryam.