A reptilian people from Cardassia Prime who occupied Bajor for decades and later allied with the Dominion.
Cardassians are a reptilian humanoid people from Cardassia Prime, recognisable by the ridges at the neck and the spoon-shaped marking on the forehead. Their homeworld is poor in resources, and that hardship helped to push their society toward a rigid, militaristic order that values duty to the state and obedience above almost everything else.
Their government and their feared intelligence service, the Obsidian Order, ran an empire that expanded into neighbouring space, including the occupation of Bajor. Family is central to Cardassian life, and they take pride in their literature, their courtroom proceedings and their talent for building and administering a complex state.
The Federation and the Cardassians fought a long and bitter war before a peace treaty created a contested border region, a conflict that eventually leaves its mark on characters like Captain Picard and Chief O'Brien. In Deep Space Nine, Gul Dukat and Garak give the people a human face, and the Cardassians later join the Dominion before turning against it in the final stages of the war.