Corrected entry: Chief O'Brien seems to have undergone a serious demotion from The Next Generation to Deep Space 9. In TNG, he was a lieutenant, and when he started on DS9, he wasn't even an ensign.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)
1 corrected entry in show generally
Body Parts - S4-E25
Visible crew/equipment: During a pan-across of Quark's bar after it has been emptied out, the shadow of the camera is visible for a moment in the bottom right corner of the screen. (00:40:35)
The Way of the Warrior (1) - S4-E1
Julian Bashir: They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle!
Elim Garak: Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.
If Wishes were Horses - S1-E16
Trivia: Buck Bokai, a baseball player from the 21st Century, who becomes "real" in this episode, broke Joe DiMaggio's consecutive hitting streak in 2026. While he's not physically seen or referred to by name, this fact is mentioned in the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' episode "The Big Goodbye."
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Correction: In The Next Generation, O'Brien is seen to be wearing Lieutenant pips, but in an early DS9 episode, it is mentioned that if he left DS9 he would have to "give up (his) promotion", so it appears he didnt get demoted. And in several episodes, ("Armageddon Game" for example) O'Brien notes that he is not an officer in starfleet, merely an enlisted man, or petty officer. Petty officers dont get ranks like lieutenant. When he got transferred to DS9, he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer, hence why everyone calls him Chief. I would guess that the creators of The Next Generation didnt expect him to be such a major character later on, so didnt give much thought into his rank and history when he was created, hence why he was a lieutennant in TNG.
In TNG O'Brien occupied a position usually held by a lieutenant, which for whatever reason, did not have an officer of that rank assigned. Therefore O'Brien with the position of Transporter Chief, was given the technical rank of Lieutenant, but his actual rank was still an NCO rank. Doesn't explain how Worf's dad recognised him as an NCO in "Family" though.