[[caption-width-right:350:[-The main cast of ''Deep Space Nine''. Not pictured: [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Jadzia, Ezri, Nog, Rom, Leeta, Garak, Dukat, Winn, Bareil, Keiko, Molly, Damar, Weyoun, Gowron, Martok, Ziyal...]]-] ]]

->''"If [[TheEmpire the Dominion]] comes through the Wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. [[YouShallNotPass And I intend to be ready for them]]."''
-->--'''Commander Benjamin Sisko'''

'''''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''''' is the second of the "next generation" of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' shows, following on from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. This series ran seven seasons, airing concurrently with TNG for its first two years, then with ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' for the remainder of its run. [=DS9=] traded the WagonTrainToTheStars premise of the previous (and future) ''Star Trek'' shows for a "Fort Apache in Space" or "''Series/TheRifleman'' in space" setting.

Picking up off the heels of ''Next Gen'', in which planet Bajor drove out their Cardassian occupiers through a war of attrition and a fair amount of terrorism, Starfleet sends a small platoon to an [[SpaceStation abandoned Cardassian outpost]] (renamed Deep Space 9 by the Federation) to lend the Bajorans a hand. In the first episode, a unique [[SwirlyEnergyThingy stable]] [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormhole]] was discovered leading to the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy--instantly transforming Bajor from an [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere agrarian backwater]] into the most strategically-valuable piece of real estate in the Alpha/Beta Quadrants--and the station was relocated there to claim its use. The fixed base allowed the show to delve deeply into the politics of the ''Star Trek'' universe, but the appearance of the wormhole also caught the attention of the Dominion, a [[FantasyAxisOfEvil less cuddly]] counterpart to the United Federation of Planets.

One of the factors that made ''Deep Space Nine'' unique was that every action had consequences. Part of this is due to the fact that the producers became more and more comfortable altering Creator/GeneRoddenberry's positive, optimistic future: no one on sectarian Bajor particularly got along with each other, and, unlike its ship-based sister series, the crew couldn't just '[[ButNowIMustGo jump to warp]]' and leave the Problem of the Week behind. The writers employed {{Story Arc}}s much more extensively than in other ''Treks'', showing it had now earned the "Space Opera" genre tag that it had been given. Perhaps most importantly, by shifting focus from gallant explorers to garrison troops [[WestCoastTeam toiling above a border planet]], [=DS9=] finally allowed the writers to scrutinize TheFederation for what it truly is: a noble organization that still has problems with bureaucracy and some [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans skeletons in its closet]].

Another key difference for ''Deep Space Nine'' was the unprecedented number - and depth - of the supporting characters. While all ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series have large casts, ''Deep Space Nine'' is the only one that qualifies for LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. It was also the only show to have a number of {{Fake Guest Star}}s, many of whom deserved a slot in the main titles. This was enabled, again, by Deep Space 9 being a fixed location.

As a result of this kind of thing, the show tends to [[BrokenBase divide Trekkies quite a bit]]: most people who like ''Franchise/StarTrek'' for the spacefaring action and [[AnAesop moral commentary]] dislike its focus on soapy melodrama while dispensing with many of the utopian themes. On the other hand, those who ''do'' like [=DS9=] tend to like it a lot more than they like the other Trek series, forming a little subculture of their own in Trek fandom known as "Niners".

In spite of the general divide within fandom itself, ''[=DS9=]'' earned more critical accolades than even ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' due to its intense CharacterDevelopment, high-quality acting and pioneering use of {{Story Arc}}s; it is still regarded by many as the greatest and most underrated show ever to take the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' name.

The show currently runs in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff British and Japanese TV]]. It used to run in Syndication on SpikeTV in the United States, but due to low ratings has not been seen in repeats in the United States for over a year. As of October 2011 the complete series is available on {{Netflix}} streaming in the United States.

Despite the acknowledged limitations of focusing on individual episodes in a ''heavily'' arc-based series, this show has a tool for voting on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Favorite Episodes]]. Also has a [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine recap page]]. Please feel free to contribute to it.

See also the StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch, a series of novels continuing the show's story arcs past the finale.

!!This series provides examples of the following tropes:

* StarTrekDeepSpaceNine/TropesAToD
* StarTrekDeepSpaceNine/TropesEToL
* StarTrekDeepSpaceNine/TropesMToP
* StarTrekDeepSpaceNine/TropesQToZ