Brother to Quark and father to Nog1, Rom spent his early life as something of a failure. He married his first wife, Prindora, with a five year contract. When he fell in love with her he signed an extension without reading the small print, and her father was able to swindle him of all his money.2 Quark tended to treat him poorly, underpaying him and constantly belittling his intelligence.3When Quark was promoted to Grand Nagus Rom served as his bodyguard. He planned to assassinate Quark, but the plot failed when the previous Nagus Zek proved to still be alive. Quark promoted Rom to assistant manager for policy and clientele as a result of this initiative.4
In 2372 Rom formed a worker's union from the staff at Quark's bar. Although the Ferengi FCA destroyed the union shortly afterwards, Rom was able to force an unofficial deal for better working conditions. Flushed with his success, Rom left the bar and became a diagnostic and repair technician for Deep Space Nine.5 He soon proved to be an excellent engineer who was invaluable in keeping the station running.6
In 2371 when Nog petitioned to join Starfleet, Rom was very supportive of the idea. His son's success became a source of considerable pride for Rom.7
In 2373 Rom established a romantic relationship with Leeta, a dabo girl at Quark's bar2, and the two eventually planned to get married. Rom worried that Leeta might also be after him for his money, and wanted her to sign a 'waiver of property and profit' - a Ferengi prenuptial agreement. Leeta refused, threatening their relationship, but Rom solved the dilemma by donating all of his money to the Bajoran war orphan's fund, so allowing him to be secure in the knowledge that Leeta must be marrying for love.8 The two were eventually married by the Emissary shortly before the station fell to the Dominion.9
Rom was a major contributor to the war effort - he came up with the concept for the cloaked self-replicating minefield which allowed the Federation to prevent the Dominion from bringing reinforcements through the wormhole whilst the station was in Dominion hands.9 Rom stayed on Deep Space Nine during the occupation as a Federation spy.9 He was arrested for attempting to sabotage the deflector array10, but eventually escaped and ultimately was able to disable the weapons array before the allied fleet arrived, allowing the station to be retaken without a fight.11
Rom was very progressive for a Ferengi, and supported Grand Nagus Zek's reforms of Ferengi society. His support led to him being appointed as Grand Nagus when Zek retired, much to Quark's dismay.12
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