Neral

Neral was a male Romulan politician and praetor in the 24th century Romulan Star Empire.

Early life and interests 
His immediate family was killed in a Klingon raid in 2350. 

Early in this career, Neral served in the Romulan Guard, where he had attained a rank of at least uhlan. After becoming the proconsul in 2368, he would come to claim that he had never liked titles ever since he had been a "lowly uhlan". ()

By 2375, his personal interests included archaeology and sociology. His favorite food was Delvan pudding, and he owned a pet set'leth named Pensho. ()

Political career 
Neral served as proconsul in the 2360s and 2370s. 

In 2368, he entered into a plot with Commander Sela and Senator Pardek to attack . Through Pardek, he communicated his willingness to meet with Ambassador Spock on the idea of reunification with the Vulcans. The intention was to use Spock's presence on Romulus to provide pretext for a Romulan invasion force.

Spock met Neral in the proconsul's office, with Neral appearing to Spock as a relatively young and idealistic man who was seemingly receptive to the idea of reunification. After the meeting, Neral left it to Sela and Pardek to capture Spock and Starfleet officers Jean-Luc Picard and Data, who were undercover as "Romulans". ()

Sela and Pardek had followed Spock to carry out the Romulans' plan of either capturing Spock alive and him read a fake peace statement, or conjuring a holographic program of Spock reading that same fake peace statement next to Neral. Spock refused to perform the speech, so the holographic Spock was employed. The transmission featuring the holo-Spock, however, was interrupted by the real Spock, who had just enough time to warn Starfleet, subsequent to which the Romulans cut off the communication. After that, Spock, Picard, and Data escaped. ()

From 2369 to 2374, Neral was considered a criminal, whose wanted poster was displayed in Constable Odo's security office aboard Deep Space 9. (, , , , , , , )

During 2374, the proconsul considered Senator Vreenak as one of his most trusted advisors until Vreenak's untimely death that year. ( display graphic) 

By 2375, Neral had ascended to preator, and presided over the Romulan Continuing Committee that tried Senator Kimara Cretak for accessing a secured Tal Shiar database. Despite Cretak's testimony that she thought she was saving Tal Shiar Chairman Koval's life through information gained from Julian Bashir, Koval's testimony from interrogating Luther Sloan prompted Neral to find Cretak guilty. Neral allowed Bashir to go free, and imprisoned Sloan for further questioning. However, Sloan struggled, and was promptly "killed" by Koval. ()

By 2379, Neral had been succeeded as praetor by Hiren. ()

Appendices

Background information 
Neral was played by Norman Large in  and , and by Hal Landon, Jr. in . When asked why Large was not sought to reprise his role, Ronald D. Moore remarked, "We did consider it, but decided to go in another direction."  

The script for "Unification II" describes Neral as "an energetic, handsome man in his late forties, a Romulan ." The script for "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" further describes Neral as "a seasoned politician, a ruthless in-fighter who's survived more than one coup attempt. He's a man who seldom lets anything get in his way."

Apocrypha 
According to the short story "Requital" contained in Tales of the Dominion War, Neral is present aboard Deep Space 9 for the signing of the Treaty of Bajor, during the events of .

External link 
 

de:Neral
fr:Neral
nl:Neral
Romulans
Romulan military personnel
Romulan government officials