Slade Bender is a holographic hoodlum from the Dixon Hill stories who turns up at the detective's office with menace when Picard is looking only for a quiet evening.
Slade Bender appears in Manhunt. Picard starts the Dixon Hill programme hoping for a few peaceful hours out of reach of Lwaxana Troi, but the stories it draws on are full of people who want the detective hurt.
Bender is one of them, a heavy-set tough who walks into Hill's office to settle a score. Picard has no interest in a fight and has to interrupt the simulation, asking the computer more than once to find a scenario with less violence.
The scenes are played for comedy, contrasting the captain's wish for calm with the genre he has chosen. He eventually gets his quiet drink at Rex's Bar, where Lwaxana catches up with him.