Tobias Donovan was a male human in the 24th century. He was a third-generation Starfleet officer, following his grandmother, mother and father. He was a member of Starfleet Intelligence, and was assigned numerous missions during the Cardassian Wars, and later the Dominion War.

As an Ensign in 2355, Donovan took part in a covert mission aboard the civilian freighter Ulrika's Hope, gathering infomation on Cardassian activities as the ship passed near the border between the Federation and Cardassian Union. The ship was boarded by Cardassians, and Donovan was nearly killed by Gul Mogad. (SCE eBook: Home Fires)

Sometime prior to 2370, Lieutenant Donovan first met Ensign Hrevet, during a mission in Cardassian space. Donovan became a mentor to Hrevet, teaching her many practical lessons not covered in training.

In 2375, Commander Donovan had infiltrated a Breen base in the Kavarian system, intending to kidnap the scientist responsible for a new Breen encryption device. Donovan was forced instead to kill the scientist and flee the base with a scout ship equipped with the new device. However, security programs aboard the ship caused him to lose control after leaving Breen space. He managed to reach class M planet Lamenda Prime, but was killed in the landing. (short story: "Field Expediency")