Stephen April was born into servitude, a slave since birth--along with his mother, the property of Cardassian labor camp commandant Gul Edet.  (Edet had April's father executed before Stephen's birth, for becoming romantically involved with Edet's wife.)  In his youth, April was physically and psychologically raped by guards and other slaves, and forced to watch his mother endure the same torture, until eventually he killed her with his own hands, to end her suffering. 

In his teens April met a Klingon criminal, Kortok, sentenced to the labor camp.  A former combatant in the "Blood Games", Klingon arena-style gladiatorial sports, Kortok taught April combat skills as part of an escape plan.  To win favor from the camp overseers, April turned Kortok in to be executed, but adopted the Klingon's plan, making a name for himself in duels which drew the attention of "talent scouts" for the Blood Games, starting his road to freedom. 

In the Games, April became a skilled fighter known as the Hev'betoQ (Blood Warrior), earning interplanetary passage for matches.  Gaining renown in this role, April proved that a Terran could become a powerful political force, posing a danger to the establishment.  Rather than execute April and make him a martyr, the Alliance "allowed" him to buy his freedom; April retired from the Blood Games and became a bounty hunter for the Alliance when he was only 24.  This led him to meet Ilona, a Khalindarian spy appointed to keep tabs on April, who fathered a daughter by her named Neria; after Neria's birth (2363) April learned of Ilona's deception and killed her in a fit of rage.  Neria rebelled against her father when she grew up and became an Alliance agent, like her mother.

In his travels, capturing escaped Terrans and others for the Alliance, April rarely questioned his own place in the scheme of things, until he learned of the slave uprising at Terok Nor in 2370.  Initially charged with apprehending members of the rebellion, April was entrusted to carry out the task, but was gradually influenced by news of the spreading resistance.  When the Alliance stopped giving him assignments related to the uprising, he sought to win back their favor by attempting to capture rebel leaders in 2372.  In turn, the Alliance tried to have April killed, believing he had joined the rebellion--prompting him to actually become a rebel.

Leading rebel forces in the uprising against the Alliance, April found his calling.  When rebel planets finally won independence as the Imperial Union of Planets, April fomented the creation of "Shado", a covert operations/intelligence agency (similar to Cardassia's Obsidian Order) dedicated to guarding the new empire against destabilizing elements which might threaten it as happened in the past, which led to the collapse of the Terran Empire.  Under Shado's direction, Starfleet infiltrated the parallel universe of the "Federation" and obtained designs for slipstream drive, which made the Empire mightier than ever.  Shado gained the power to make or break emperors, rendering the title of "emperor" meaningless in the "new order", yet became corrupt, and April personally dismantled the organization, hunting down any member who refused to renounce it.  The Empire's first slipstream drive warship, the I.S.S. Arcadia (named after the class-progenitor in the other universe), he kept for himself as his personal command.  The balance of power shifted to favor commanders of such ships; with the advantage of slipstream drive, they threatened the new empire's internal stability by overtaking slower, standard-warp vessels and turning on each other, invading each other’s "territory".  Capitalizing on this, April made himself an imperial overlord or "executor", responsible for overseeing the security of the Empire, and limited the construction of such ships to a handful, commanded by captains under his thumb.  To eliminate greater threats, he recruited a mysterious faction known as the "Overlords", who, operating behind the scenes, usurped control of the Empire itself.  With their support, April became, essentially, the de facto ruler of the Empire, believing this status quo would prevent the Empire from ever falling again.  Yet no one knows who the Overlords are--save, perhaps, April--and only time will tell if they live up to the task, and hold the Empire together... or if their own mysterious plans will cause history to repeat itself.

If eyes are windows to the soul, April's eyes have seen much.  Some say, too much... and that it has driven him insane.  This is not far from the truth.  Having spent life under constant threat has made him paranoid, highly alert and "on guard", with instinctively quick reflexes.  Hovering between cold, calculating madness and murderous rage, April is possessed by a deep hatred of life itself, driven to brutal lengths of aggression, trying to fill a hole which can never be filled.  April is an "equal opportunity" hater--he hates all lifeforms, whether Terran or otherwise, but tends to favor Terran "superiority" over alien forms of life.  Capable at once of both tender mercy and iron lack of compassion, he can be wildly unpredictable, causing others to tread lightly.  Violence is an art-form for April; nowhere is this more evident than in his tactics, when he exacts retribution against his enemies.  Adept at methods of torture, he seems to take delight in practice, though usually there is a "point", some goal on his part, except when others have (or he feels they have) crossed him.  He is swift and severe to punishment.

The spilling of blood arouses April, a learned instinct from years of gladiatorial conditioning.  Due to his years in the Klingon arena, April is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and use of bladed weapons, and is a decent marksman.  He works out to stay in shape and is in good physical condition.  He takes special biochemical injections to maintain a youthful vigor.  Although traditionally a womanizer, with women in every port, April has developed a close relationship with Lynnyn, his current "primary" partner aboard the Arcadia.

Bold yet cunning, April is an intelligent tactician, capable of manipulating circumstances, individuals, entire worlds, towards his own ends--goals usually synonymous with the Empire's.  He's generally loyal to those who remain loyal to him--until they give him reason otherwise.  April prizes loyalty above all and demands it unconditionally from those who serve him.  Those who have been disloyal to him are on a "ticking clock" until their time runs out, and he rarely (if ever) forgives.  For this reason, it's best to stay on his "good" side.  It is not too surprising that in a universe of shifting loyalties, he often questions the loyalty of others.  His own--to the Empire and its welfare--is pure, the "bedrock" of his existence.  He would not die for the Empire, but instead make sure he goes on living, to preserve it.

He is properly referred to as "Lord April", and addressed as "milord" in personal conversation.