Born in 2354, the tragic daughter of Gul Dukat and his late Bajoran mistress, Tora Naprem, was 13 at the time when Dukat saw the end of Bajor's occupation coming and arranged for them to live on Lisseppia.

When their transport, the Ravinok, was downed on Dozaria by Breen pirates, her mother died and she spent six years as a slave miner until her liberation by Kira and her father.

Ironically, Dukat had wanted to kill her rather than lose face amid his family-oriented culture and she survived only after Kira's protests -- a fact Ziyal never knew. She became her father's only comfort during the ensuing scandal and his fall from power, ready to join his crusade as an independent anti-Klingon marauder until Kira again interceded and convinced them to let her live on the safer Deep Space Nine.

Ziyal was dismayed at the ongoing rift between her father and Kira but angered them both when she began an affair with Elim Garak, whom they both mistrusted.

When DS9 was abandoned to the new Cardassian-Dominion alliance, Ziyal went to study art at Bajor's university, but her blind trust in her father made her an unwitting pawn in his misguided romantic pursuit of Kira.

Dukat's aide, Damar, also grew annoyed at the distraction from the war she became for Dukat and finally killed her in frustration in 2374 as his mentor threatened to stay behind for her as DS9 was being recaptured.

Her death led to a nervous breakdown by Dukat, who was captured, and Kira and Garak retrieved her paintings as a final memory.