Kamala

Kamala was a Kriosian empathic metamorph from Krios Prime, and the first female metamorph born on her planet in over 100 years. She fell in love with Captain Jean-Luc Picard at a time where she was arranged to marry another man for political reasons.

History
Kamala was taken from her mother at the age of four and sequestered in a royal village where she was prepared to fulfill her destiny as a Valtese bride. Since her birth, she was intended to be Valtese Chancellor Alrik's Kriosian peace bride in an effort to reunite the two planets and restore peace and commerce to the two worlds through an arranged marriage. Her entire being and existence was directed at that goal.

After she was taken away, she was attended by servants and tutors and was constantly educated in literature, history, the arts, and sex. She took lessons in every instrument in an orchestra and a few Valtese horns that were said to soothe the nerves of Valtese men. Ambassador Briam of the Kriosian government was assigned to be her guide and counsel throughout her training in the Valtese way. He had been with her since she was a young child and assisted in her becoming a pleasing mate for Alrik.

In 2368, Kamala was being transported to Valt aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). Unknown to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Kamala was kept in a stasis cocoon in the cargo bay due to her empathic and metamorphic abilities and because she was in the finiis'ral, a stage in a metamorph's development where her abilities to attract males is the strongest. She was only meant to be released upon her meeting with Alrik, but when the Ferengi Qol attempted to probe the cocoon, she was accidentally released from stasis. The Ferengi attempted to bribe Ambassador Briam to sell Kamala to them, but Briam refused and as a result was hurt and rendered unconscious. Kamala asked Picard to take over Briam's duties of negotiation and performing the rituals leading up to the wedding between herself and Alrik. During their time together, Kamala found herself especially attracted to the caring ways and gentle nature of Picard, who was equally drawn to her but tried very hard to resist her, both physically and emotionally, as a romantic involvement with her was inappropriate.

Picard was torn in his affections because he was in love with a woman who was promised to someone else and because pursuing her was out of the question as her marriage to chancellor Alrik had long term political implications for peace between two otherwise warring races. More disheartening to him, however, was that Alrik did not seem to care all that much about his new bride but instead was more interested in the terms of the trade agreement that followed the peace treaty.

Before the wedding ceremony, Kamala told Picard that she had imprinted him onto herself and as a result had bonded with him for life, instead of with her assigned mate. Despite Picard's urging to not go through with the ceremony if she felt that way, she still went through with the wedding because by bonding with Picard she had also learned about the importance of duty which allowed her to place her duty of reuniting the two worlds before any personal desires she may have. 

Abilities
As an empathic metamorph, Kamala could sense what a man wanted and desired and as a result she could become exactly that. She changed based on those around her, and it also affected how she felt about herself; her time on the Enterprise was the first time in her life where she was alone and able to explore her own identity. This change of personality occurred during the late stages of the Finiis'raal. During this period, she would be ready to morph for the final time. This imprinting stage would take about two days, as she would reach absolute sexual maturity. During this time, she would also attract the attention of virtually every man she encountered, prompting Picard to assign Data to keep an eye on her as the only member of the crew who would be definitively immune to her influence. 

Background
Kamala was played by actress Famke Janssen.

The pattern used on Kamala, and all Kriosians, was later used on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the makeup model for the Trill species, after Michael Westmore experimented with Terry Farrell's appearance in the makeup room. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Apocrypha
In the DS9 novel Avatar, William T. Riker had a flashback of his encounter with Kamala in 2376 when he accessed the Orb of Time.