|
Leader of Ferengi commerce who served as grand nagus. Zek had enormous ears and carried a cane with a head carved in his likeness made from gold-pressed latinum. Zek convened a major trade conference on Deep Space 9 in 2369 to announce the appointment of his successor as grand nagus. Zek named Quark as his successor, and apparently died shortly thereafter. In fact, Zek's supposed death was a ruse intended to test the suitability of his son, Krax, to one day assume the mantle as nagus. Zek came out of hiding when he realized that his son was not as mercenary as Zek would have liked. Zek therefore decided not to retire at that time. Zek later recruited Quark to act as his negotiator to purchase tulaberry wine from the Dosi in the Gamma Quadrant, but it was a ploy by Zek to learn more about the mysterious Dominion, a powerful force in that region of space. Zek underwent a dramatic temporary personality change in 2371 after obtaining the Bajoran Orb of Wisdom and encountering the Bajoran Prophets. Zek had hoped that meeting the Prophets would help him learn enough about the future to make an inconceivable profit, but instead, the wormhole aliens found Zek's acquisitive nature offensive. They developed Zek's personality to a time before the Ferengi people revered profit above all. While in this noncompetitive state, Zek rewrote all 285 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. Quark eventually convinced the wormhole entities to restore Zek to his former self. Zek was an excellent tongo player, winning the Global Tongo Championships for 27 years in straight, In 2373, Zek met Ishka, and the two fell in love. About that time, Zek had began to suffer from a failing memory. Ishka learned of this and worked behind the scenes to help him in his business dealings. In 2374, Zek let Ishka travel to Vulcan to receive cosmetic ear-lifting surgery to improve her looks, despite Ferengi laws that prohibited females from traveling off planet. When her transport ship was captured by the Dominion, Zek offered a reward of 50 bars of gold-pressed latinum for her safe return. Zek was aware of Ishka's hopes to reform Ferengi society to grant equal rights to females. While Zek was something of traditionalist, he ultimately saw the wisdom of Ishka's position and in 2374 imposed a radical amendment to the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities, granting for the first time to females the right to wear clothing. The reaction to Zek's reforms was swift and dramatic. Financial chaos erupted throughout the alliance as soon as fully clothed females began appearing in public. In the tumult, Zek was temporarily deposed as grand nagus by Brunt, until Zek and Quark were successful in convincing FCA Commisioner Nilva that equal rights for woman would open tremendous ne opportunities for profit. Zek's far-reaching social vision extended to the levying of a progressive income tax on all business, even including bribes. He used the resulting revenues to fund new social programs including wage subsidies for the poor, retirement benefits for the aged, and health care. He even instituted a representative legislature known as the Congress of Economic Advisors that was enpowered to enact or reject the proclamations of the nagus. Grand Nagus Zek retired to Risa in late 2375. He appointed Rom as his successor. Zek was first seen in "The Nagus" (DS9). |
|