Ash Tyler

Lieutenant Ash Tyler was a male Human Starfleet officer who lived during the mid-23rd century. In 2256, he was captured by the Klingon Empire, and his personality was adopted by Voq in order to act as a sleeper agent on the USS Discovery.

Ash Tyler was raised by his mother, a third-grade teacher at Issaquah Elementary, twenty-four kilometers outside of Seattle, Washington. He never knew his father, but his mother told him that he "didn't miss much there." 

While Tyler was attending Starfleet Academy, his mother took her first vacation in twelve years. On her way to the moons of Grazer, she was killed by a rogue comet. 

Tyler owned a lake house near Lake Shasta in California, on Earth. 

Prior to the Battle of the Binary Stars in 2256, Tyler served as a lieutenant on the USS Yeager (NCC-1437) under Steven Maranville. He was captured by the Klingons there and held captive. 

His memories and personality were used in the genetic transformation of Voq as part of a plan by him and L'Rell to infiltrate the USS Discovery. 

Background information
In an interview with IGN actor Shazad Latif explained, "Yeah, I think L'Rell used a captured soldier. She took this guy and then used his body and his brain and his memories, with all the skill she has as a conscious[ness]-transferring scientist. It’s amazing."

"It was an ongoing conversation from very early, because, you know, stuff changes completely in 10 months as you write. The writers end up changing things to each actor, and they're writing scenes for them specifically. And everything changes sort of organically as you're going along. So ideas that were originally there in episode one might have completely changed, I think. So there was always different people's views, or producers -- you know, different people going, maybe this or this. And, everyone wants to understand the science of it anyway. But, yeah, that was the basic essence of it, that it was more like how it's done. But originally the idea was the same, that he was laid over the top of this core Voq body, and slight, certain organs were put in. And then the transfer of consciousness and memory."