rather than straight lines, and groups of three. Depiction in the shows Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Wounded": 1991 The Cardassians were invented by the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation for the show's fourth season episode "The Wounded", written by Stuart Charno, Sara Charno, and Cy Chermak, with teleplay by Jeri Taylor. It was first screened in January 1991. The script related that the Cardassian Union and the United Federation of Planets—of which Earth was a part—were involved in skirmishes for many years but had signed a peace treaty. It begins with the revelation that the USS Phoenix, a renegade Federation starship under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell (Bob Gunton), has begun attacking Cardassian targets, as Maxwell is convinced the Cardassians are rearming for war against the Federation. The USS Enterprise-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), is sent to stop the Phoenix, with the Cardassian Gul Macet (Marc Alaimo) coming aboard the Enterprise to assist. Alaimo's appearance as Gul Macet in "The Wounded" made him the second actor, after Mark Lenard, to play three separate alien species in the Star Trek franchise. In earlier episodes he portrayed an Antican ("Lonely Among Us") and a Romulan ("The Neutral Zone"). He later portrayed a human in The Next Generation episode "Time's Arrow" before gaining a recurring role as the Cardassian Gul Dukat in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. For this episode, several Cardassians were depicted wearing helmets, something never again done in the franchise; Blackman and Westmore's designs also gave Macet facial hair, the only time a Cardassian was shown this way. Later episodes: 1991–1994 In the fifth season episode "Ensign Ro", written by Rick Berman and Michael Piller and first screened in October 1991, the Bajoran species was introduced. It explained that the Cardassians had annexed the Bajoran homeworld, Bajor, 40 years earlier, with many Bajorans fleeing their planet as refugees and often fighting back with militant tactics. "Ensign Ro" was the first episode where Cardassian warships were introduced as "Galor class" vessels. Although it was not intended at the time, the situation between the Cardassians and Bajorans laid the groundwork for the plot of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Cardassians were central to the two-part sixth season episode "Chain of Command", written by Frank Abatemarco and screened in December 1992. In them, the Federation has gained intelligence that the Cardassians are developing a genetically