As one of the original cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data (Brent Spiner) quickly became a fan-favorite. The android's capacity for wonder and desire to be human made him a sympathetic and relatable character, despite his positronic nature. While Data never technically achieved his goal of becoming human over the course of TNG, he demonstrated human-like emotions and behavior on multiple occasions. He was already human in all the ways that mattered.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 finally saw Data's ultimate dream realized as he was given a more human-like synthetic body and a more organic way to experience human emotions. While this is a wonderful new chapter in Data's story, he already exemplified the best of humanity before Star Trek: The Next Generation even ended. His compassion and sincerity, his dedication to his job and his crew mates, his love of art and music, his desire for connection, all of these things and so many more made him a shining example of what humanity could be long before his synthetic upgrade in Picard season 3.

Related: Data's 10 Best TNG & Star Trek Picard Episodes

10 Data's Confusion At Losing a Game

Star Trek TNG Peak Performance Data

In the TNG episode "Peak Performance," Data goes up against a man who is an expert at a game called Strategema. Data loses his first match, which confuses him and causes him to question his own abilities. Data knows he made no mistakes in his game, but as Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) points out to him, "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." So Data learns another lesson on his road to becoming more human. By the end of the episode, Data plays not to win, but to end the game in a stalemate. The self-doubt and loss of confidence he experiences in this episode, as well as the reveal of his competitive nature, are all signs of Data's humanity.

9 Data's Times As Captain

Star Trek TNG Gambit Data

There are a handful of times throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation when Data acts as a Captain. In "Redemption: Part 2," Data takes command of a ship as part of a mission to reveal the Romulans' role in the Klingon Civil War. Despite his first officer's disrespect and pushback, Data never loses his composure. As a trained Starfleet officer, it's not surprising Data can keep calm during a crisis. In another episode, "Gambit: Part 2," Data acts as Captain of the Enterprise and must reprimand Worf (Michael Dorn), but he worries about what effect this will have on their friendship. In both of these instances, Data makes a great starship Captain because he has the logic to remain composed and the humanity to care about the people around him.

8 Data's Love of His Cat, Spot

Star Trek TNG Data and Spot

Data may be an incredibly advanced android, but he loves animals just as much as many humans. It's telling that Data is one of the few aboard the Enterprise to have a pet. Data's cat, Spot, makes appearances in multiple episodes over the course of The Next Generation and Data's love for her is always apparent. He even shares his love for Spot by dedicating an entire poem to her. Entitled "Ode to Spot," this poem not only fits perfectly with who Data is as a character but also highlights his humanity. Using poetry to celebrate something or someone is a very human thing to do, and wanting to share that poem with friends even more so.

7 Data's Love of Music and Art

Data plays the violin in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Throughout TNG, one of the ways Data seeks to explore his humanity is by trying out different hobbies. Though he can quickly download the information necessary to perfect a new skill, he continues to practice. His goal is not to be a perfect violin player or painter, but to discover something about what it means to be human. In one episode, Data remarks that while his playing is technically perfect, it doesn't have the passion of the best human violinists. Picard responds to this by pointing out that it was creative (and human) for Data to combine the musical pieces in the way that he did. Data is constantly learning and growing and trying new things, just as humans do.

6 How Data Responds to Death (Tasha Yar, Lal, & Noonian Soong)

Data and his daughter Lal in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Despite the fact that Data is supposedly an unfeeling machine, there are several deaths throughout the series that clearly affect him greatly. In TNG season 1, security chief Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) is killed on a mission, and Data takes time to mourn her. In a season 3 episode titled, "The Offspring," Data attempts to create another being like himself and builds his daughter, Lal (Hallie Todd). However, she soon begins to malfunction and Data fights to save her just as much as any parent would fight to save their own child. In the TNG episode, "Brothers," Data meets the man who created him, Dr. Noonian Soong (Brent Spiner), at the end of Dr. Soong's life. Dr. Soong dies in Data's arms and Data tells him that he will not be able to mourn him, but Soong responds that Data will mourn him in his own way.

Related: Data’s Picard Evolution Fixes Star Trek Generations' Mistake

5 Data's Reactions in TNG's "The Most Toys"

Star Trek TNG The Most Toys Data

"The Most Toys" is a TNG episode that showcases a darker, but still heartbreakingly human side of Data. A twisted collector concocts a plot to steal Data and add him to his collection of unique objects. This man sees Data as a one-of-a-kind "thing" to be possessed and not as a person with his own thoughts and opinions. Later, the Enterprise returns to rescue Data, and as they beam him out of the collector's facility, Data seems to fire a deadly weapon. This would seem to go against Data's protocols but would be a very human thing to do, considering the man not only imprisoned him but also killed an innocent woman in front of him. While it's left ambiguous as to whether Data actually fired the weapon, his reactions in this episode further suggest he's more human than he believes himself to be.

4 Everything in TNG's "Pen Pals"

Star Trek TNG Pen Pals Data

The TNG season 2 episode "Pen Pals" is another example of Data acting more human than many of the humans on the Enterprise. In this episode, Data responds to a signal and strikes up a friendship with a child from another planet. When the little girl's homeworld begins experiencing seismic activity, she pleads with Data for help. Though it technically violates the Prime Directive, Picard and the other crew members cannot help but try to save the girl, especially after hearing her pleas. Data's commitment to helping this little girl and his friendship with her after he brings her onto the ship is so sweet and utterly human. Data goes against Starfleet protocols and breaks several rules over the course of this episode, but these decisions exemplify his very human desires to find connections and to help those in need.

3 Data's Conversations with Spock

Star Trek TNG Unification Data Spock

When Spock visits the USS Enterprise-D in the two-part TNG episode "Unification," he and Data discuss humanity and what it means to be human. Spock has spent much of his life trying to suppress his humanity, while Data wants nothing more than to be more human. Spock states that he admires Captain Picard because "there's an almost Vulcan quality to the man." Data finds this particularly interesting because he has looked to Picard as "a role model in [his] quest to be more human." While Spock and Data would seem to be on opposing sides here, this entire scene suggests that both Spock and Data are more human than they realize (or, in Spock's case, more human than he would like to admit).

2 Data's Friendship with Geordi

Star Trek TNG Data and Geordi LaForge

Over the course of the series, the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise become more than just coworkers. Though Data grows close to many of his crewmates, he has a particularly strong friendship with Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton). They often work closely together on missions, go on holodeck adventures with one another, and discuss Data's longing to be human. At one point, Data defines friendship by saying that: "As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated and even missed when absent." While Data may not express himself in a so-called "normal" way, he demonstrates that he cares about the people around him in many different ways.

1 Everything in TNG's "The Measure of a Man"

Star Trek Measure of a Man

Not only is "The Measure of a Man" an exemplary episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, it is also the episode that confirms Data's status as an individual. Data's crew mates have never viewed him as a machine but as a friend and valuable member of their crew. The Starfleet officer who comes to argue against Data's humanity, Dr. Bruce Maddox (Brian Brophy), refers to Data as an "it" throughout the episode, and it grates not only Data's friends but also on the viewer. Captain Picard eventually presents the winning argument by showing off Data's personal effects and delivering a meaningful speech. Picard's speech includes the lines: "Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well, there it sits. Waiting." This episode, all the way back in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, gave us the truth about Data - he may be different, but that does not make him any less human.