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Klingon
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Klingons are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe. They were recurring antagonists in (TOS) and were later featured in all five spin-off series, eventually becoming uneasy allies of the United Federation of Planets.
Created by screenwriter Gene Coon, Klingons were introduced in the episode "Errand of Mercy" (1967). They were named for Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan, who served with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Klingon biology
ExternalRoughly humanoid in appearance, Klingons typically sport long manes of luxuriant hair with moustaches and beards common among males. Perhaps their most prominent external feature is their ridged forehead. These intricate, bony patterns conform to the individual's nose, forehead, and on down the spine. The patterns, also visible on their feet and backs, vary by family line. The patterns are less prominent on individuals of mixed parentage, such as K'Ehleyr or B'Elanna Torres.
Change in appearance
In the original series (TOS), Klingons were typically portrayed with bronze skin and facial hair suggestive of North Asian peoples, such as the Mongols, and possessed physical abilities similar to humans (in fact, Gene Coon's only physical description of them in his Errand of Mercy script is "Oriental, hard-faced" and a memo further specifies they should be 'the Ho Chi Minh type'). For , the Klingons were "reimagined" or retconned and were depicted with ridged foreheads, greater physical strength, new uniforms, and a distinctive language. Precursors to the ridged-forehead look for the Klingons can be found in the Kreeg, a warlike mutant race Roddenberry created for the 1974 pilot "Planet Earth."
There appeared to be four distinct varieties of the "original" Klingons throughout the various Star Trek series. In TOS, there appeared two "races" -- some who were pale with neatly groomed hair and others much darker (an olive-bronze), with thick, bifurcated eyebrows. The two never appeared together.
These races were based on the various makeup forms viewed during the run of TOS, the TOS film series, and the Klingons. In TOS, the Klingons shown lacked ridges on their heads, were olive-bronze (a minority were of a paler complexion; see previous paragraph). The second "race" were the "Mark Lenard" Klingons, shown in . They were tall, thin in build, with both a single crested ridge extending over their partially bald heads and an occipital bun on the rear of their skulls. The third Klingon "race" was represented by General Chang in . This Klingon was only slightly ridged in the center of the forehead, lacking the "normal" side ridges. They were largely hairless except for a small wisp at the back of the skull and (in males) a small goatee. The fourth "race", and most common shown in Star Trek, are the triple-ridged or "Worf"-type. These Klingons have individualized or clan-based ridge patterns, ranging from the slight "webbed" ridge pattern of Colonel Worf of Star Trek VI, to the craggy triple ridges of the Emperor Kahless (clone).
The Worf-type Klingons were first portrayed by Lady Valkris and Lord Kruge in . They became retconned as the main type of Klingon with The Next Generation, and in .
The canonical explanation was revealed in a two-part storyline on ("Affliction" and "Divergence") which aired on February 2005. In an earlier series of episodes, the Augments, humans grown from genetically engineered embryos from the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th century, were defeated by Captain Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise NX-01 in Klingon space. The Klingon High Council feared that Starfleet was developing armies of Augments and that they would pose a serious threat to the Empire's existence. Even when they were told by the Vulcan High Command that the Augments were created without Starfleet's knowledge or consent, they remained suspicious and so decided to fight fire with fire. The Klingons gained access to the genetic material of the human Augments, and wanted to adapt this genetic engineering to augment their own species. The experiment did not work correctly; at first, subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but their nervous systems could not handle the strain and they died. One of the test subjects had a virulent flu, which — combined with the genetic changes wrought by the experiment — became a deadly, airborne plague that spread rampantly across the Empire, from world to world, causing the physical changes to change them into the human-looking Klingons of Kirk's day.
Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise NX-01 formulated a cure for the virus, however not before millions of Klingons were physically altered. And owing to the genetic nature of the virus, these alterations were passed to succeeding generations of offspring.
In addition to the change in appearance that the Klingons underwent, Phlox also mentioned "some minor synaptic re-ordering." This could explain why the TOS Klingons behaved very differently from the rest. TOS Klingons did not possess the guttural brutishness of later Klingons. This is particularly evident in the character Koloth, who cowered away from Kirk at the end of "The Trouble With Tribbles" but was less cowardly in "Blood Oath." In "Divergence" a female Klingon also stated that she "felt fear for the first time since I was a child... we have become weak like them (humans)" which also supports the idea that the virus/cure affected their personalities as well.
The Klingons were apparently so embarrassed by the fallout from this disaster, that they absolutely refused under any circumstances to discuss the incident with outsiders in later years. There is also evidence, illustrated by the ignorance of members of the Deep Space Nine crew who encounter human-like Klingons during time travel into the past that knowledge of the change might have become lost to mankind over time. When Worf was asked about the origin of the human-looking Klingons, he simply replied that it was something that Klingons "do not discuss with outsiders." Bashir and O'Brien ponder possible causes between themselves, genetic engineering and mutated virus, both of which were shown to be the cause. The Enterprise storyline also indicates that an early form of the Starfleet intelligence service Section 31 was somehow involved in the transformation of the Klingons. Phlox indicated that "someday" the physical alterations could be reversed.
The episode "Divergence" revealed that not all Klingons were affected by the virus. No canon explanation has yet been offered to suggest why only the human-like Klingons were seen in The Original Series, save for statements made in "Divergence" that the genetically altered version of the race would be stronger and more intelligent, suggesting they may have been desirable soldiers in later Klingon/Federation conflicts. The Klingons in were the first Klingon crew that was shown to be dealing with something other than the Federation, so there is no evidence proving these particular Klingons had ever been afflicted. Other possible explanations include the idea that by the time the cure to the virus had been administered to all Klingons, every last one was infected by the virus so that they would have been changed somewhat by the virus anyway. This could also explain the "darker-skinned" Klingon observation stated above. The darker Klingons could have been descendants of Klingons that had only been in the initial stages of alteration when they were cured, so that they retained their more natural pigmentation. It is also possible that some Klingons used cosmetic surgery to restore their pre-alteration appearance.
In the novel Summon the Thunder (by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore), the human-like Klingons are called QuchHa', or the unhappy ones. They usually serve in their own units, although sometimes they are known to mix with the rest of the fleet personnel. The novel Forged in Fire (by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin) gives the name of the 'real' Klingons as hemQuch, or the proud forehead.
All attempts at retconning aside, the changes in Klingon appearance can best be explained by an inconsistent treatment of preexisting material by the series' and movies' writers. Fans have followed several variations of both canon and non-canon sources to produce Klingons with varied fusions, mixtures and heritages. These are portrayed in fiction, fan-produced films, and in professional fiction, such as The Final Reflection and How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford and Kahless by Michael Jan Friedman.
The Klingons as seen post-TMP were once frequently referred to as Imperial Klingons, most notably in the early editions of the Star Trek Role Playing Games. The Star Fleet Universe represented by the board game Star Fleet Battles and PC game Star Fleet Command also suggests that the Klingons employ numerous subject races. A once widely accepted theory was that the various types of Klingons seen were the result of Imperials (purebreds), interbreeding with the subject races on the various conquered planets in their Empire. To the ancient Mongolians, this not only established their conquest, but it also served the purpose of breeding more warriors. Also worth noting is that the series' creators visualized the Klingon Empire as analogous to the Soviet Union. Just as the Soviet Union was actually an amalgamation of Eurasian states with Russia at its center, the Klingons may be composed of more than one race.
Blood
depicts Klingons having pink blood, but all other depictions of Klingon blood have been red like human blood. Director Nicholas Meyer explained in the DVD commentary that the reason for the blood being colored pink was because in the original filming it was meant to be colored red but censors argued that doing so made the film too gory and would necessitate an "R" rating. Changing the color of the blood to pink satisfied the censors, as it no longer resembled human blood, and the film was rated "PG." Meyer saw no need to explain the color of the blood since Klingons were not human and there was no reason to assume their blood would be the same color.
Broken Bow seems to indicate that Klingon erythrocytes contain DNA, unlike their human counterparts.
Culture
Home planet
Qo'noS is the Klingon homeworld, pronounced as Kronos. The Klingon High Council, governing body of the Klingon Empire, is situated in the First City on Qo'noS. Early Star Trek literature referred to Qo'noS as "Klinzhai", but the episode Heart of Glory called the planet "Kling". It was the film which officially established the name as Qo'noS. Qo'noS is depicted as green in color when viewed from orbital space. It includes a lone huge land mass with a vast ocean, a severely tilted axis that causes wild seasonal changes, a turbulent atmosphere and extremes of both warm and frigid weather. Around the 14th century, Qo'noS was invaded by the Hur'q. The planet was first visited by Humans in 2151. The planet had a moon named until 2293 - when the moon was destroyed in an explosion (). Praxis had been a key energy production facility for the Klingon Empire prior to its destruction. When it exploded, it caused severe ecological damage to Qo'noS. As a result, the Klingons reached out peacefully to the other races of the galaxy to help deal with this crisis - which would eventually result in a formal alliance with the United Federation of Planets. In TV show Futurama the planet Omicron Persei 8 in the episode When Aliens Attack probably took its design from Qo'noS.
Language The Klingon language (tlhIngan Hol in Klingon), or, in English, Klingon, is the artificial language spoken by Klingons in the fictional Star Trek universe. The latter name was first used by the Klingon soldier Korax in the episode Trouble with Tribbles of .
The core sounds (along with a few words) were first devised by actor and dilectician James Doohan for . That film marked the first time the language had been heard on screen; in all appearances in the original series, Klingons were heard to speak in English. However, given the existence of the Universal Translator, it can be reasonably inferred that the English heard may well have been translated Klingon. Also, Michael and Denise Okuda, co-authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia and text commentaries for various Star Trek series episodes and feature films, speculate that some high-ranking Klingon officers may, in fact, speak English as a way of keeping confidential conversations from being overheard by the lower ranks..
The language was created by linguist Marc Okrand, who based it on the sounds and words of Doohan's.. He wrote a book called The Klingon Dictionary, published by Pocket Books, in which he elaborated its grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Okrand has noted that not all Klingon words heard on the various series have come from the aforementioned book. According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Okrand is quoted as hypothesizing that "different Klingon provinces have different dialects".
Klingon is occasionally used beyond Star Trek-related contexts. For example, Pocket Books published a "translation" of Hamlet into Klingon after the release of (the film's sub-title itself comes from Act III, Scene 1 of the aforementioned play)..
Government
As of 2369, the Klingon people and their interstellar empire became governed by the oligarchic Klingon High Council and a figurehead emperor, although in the past the emperor's role was much more powerful. The Klingon political state is referred to as the Klingon Empire, although the name "Klingon Imperial Empire" was used once.
Legal system
History of the Klingon Empire
Prehistory
Billions of years ago, the first sentient humanoids in the Milky Way seeded their DNA across the galaxy, mixing it with local DNA. Klingons, therefore, developed partly from the indigenous prehistoric life on Qo'noS and partly from alien DNA.
Little is known of the Klingons before the establishment of the Empire. Their religion states that the first Klingons destroyed the gods who created them.
10th-21st century
The Klingon Empire was founded circa 900 AD on the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS by Kahless the Unforgettable when, according to dialog in the Deep Space Nine episode "The Sword of Kahless", he slew the tyrant Molor with the first bat'leth.
The Empire went through several dynasties of rulers, experiencing a period between the 2nd and 3rd known as the "Dark Time", a 10-year experiment in democracy.
Around the 14th century, Qo'noS was invaded by the Hur'q, who pillaged many treasures, including the sword of Kahless. The Klingons eventually expelled the Hur'q, which is the Klingon word for "outsider", from their homeworld.
In the episode Judgment, it appears that the Klingons had begun to become the warlike race we now recognise only sometime during the mid-22nd century, when the warrior caste began to assert itself. This idea fits into a long-running theme that the Klingon race had fallen into a state of decline from what it originally had been.
By 2069 the High Council was formed, eliminating the position of Emperor until 2369.
22nd century
Around the early part of the 22nd century, the warrior class began exerting a greater influence throughout Klingon society, radically altering, notably, the Klingon justice system.
In 2151, a faction in the Temporal Cold War from the 28th century attempted to alter the timeline by using the Suliban Cabal to incite unrest within the Klingon Empire. This resulted in the first contact between Klingons and Humans and sparked the first voyage of the Warp 5 vessel, Enterprise (NX-01). Concurrent with this mission, Enterprise communications officer Hoshi Sato became the first known human to learn the Klingon language. Although initially positive, the relationship between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire remained on shaky ground during the first few years of contact, with Enterprise being fired upon by a Klingon battle cruiser only a few weeks after the vessel's trip to the Klingon homeworld. By 2152-53, Captain Jonathan Archer had become a fugitive from Klingon justice, and at one point Enterprise destroyed a Klingon vessel carrying the then-head of the House of Duras who was pursuing the fugitive. The long-term fallout from this has yet to be revealed in canon, although the crew of Enterprise redeemed themselves somewhat in 2154 by helping the Empire stop the Augment Virus from becoming fatal.
23rd century
Around 2218, relations between the Empire and the United Federation of Planets degenerated substantially, with intense hostility lasting until 2293.
In 2266, war between the Federation and Klingon Empire was stopped before it could begin by the interference of the Organians. The Organian Peace Treaty forced on both sides held each to a non-aggression pact and the establishment of a neutral zone in which each side must nonviolently compete for trade agreements. Tensions, however, still remained quite high.
In 2267 the Klingons and the Romulans began trading: Klingon military vessels were sold to the Romulans in exchange for cloaking devices.
In 2293 the atmosphere of Kronos (Qo'noS) was contaminated when Praxis, one of its moons, and its primary mining facility, exploded. This event was a turning point in relations between the Klingons and the United Federation of Planets, as the Klingon Empire could not afford to maintain their excessive military activities and deal with this new problem (parallels with the breakdown of the Cold War, Chernobyl, and the relationship between the United States and the cash-strapped former Soviet Union were obvious). Thus the two powers entered into an alliance, which was maintained for many years -- until the Cardassian invasion of 2372. The resolution to the Kronos atmosphere issue is yet to be explained. Though a planet Kronos is shown to still be inhabited and still the Empire's seat of power well into the 24th Century, differences between both appearance and distance from Earth in various incarnations of Star Trek taking place both before and after this event may indicate the capital was moved to a new planet, maintaining the old name. It is, however, unclear whether this was in fact the intended implication, or merely the result of continuity errors.
The idea that the capital of the Empire was moved to a new world is supported by dialogue of the Federation President in Star Trek VI. Where bits of his speech are heard in the ensuing events where he mentions the evacuation of the planet within the 50 year timespan, and specifically mentions the term "Phase One, Preparation for Evacuation". This however is often overlooked as viewer attention is more focused on the starship battle overhead, and the assassin who is preparing to kill the President during his speech.
24th century
In 2344 the Klingons and Romulans began a violent war after the Romulans attacked the Klingon outpost Narendra III. The Enterprise-C cemented friendly relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation by sacrificing itself to protect the outpost from the Romulans.
By 2346, the Romulans, with aid from the Duras, carried out a particularly brutal attack on the Khitomer Outpost.
In 2357, Worf (played by Michael Dorn), son of Mogh, and himself one of two survivors of the Khitomer massacre, became the first Klingon to enter Starfleet Academy. In 2363 he was assigned to the Enterprise-D as relief conn and Tactical Officer (Rank: Lieutenant j.g.). He was later reassigned as Chief of Security (Rank: Lieutenant, later Lieutenant Commander).
In 2367 the Klingon Civil War began following Chancellor K'mpec's assassination. Before his murder, K'mpec had named Captain Jean-Luc Picard his Arbiter of Succession. Gowron was selected, but the House of Duras and their supporters opposed this decision, and the war began. It was later revealed that the Romulans were backing the Duras. Support quickly fell from their favor, ending the war and leaving Gowron as undisputed leader of the Empire.
In 2369, the position of Emperor was reinstated, when the clone of Kahless inherited the throne with the blessing of the Chancellor and High Council. Titled Kahless II, the Emperor became titular ruler of the Empire at a time when the Empire needed a figurehead. The bulk of power, however, remained in the hands of the High Council.
In 2371, relations between the Klingons and the Federation soured over the issue of the Klingon invasion of Cardassia. When the Federation refused to support the Klingon invasion, Chancellor Gowron withdrew from the Khitomer Accords. For the next year, relations between the two powers were hostile. In 2372 fighting broke out between the two powers. However when the Federation and Klingons discovered that they were being manipulated by the Dominion, an uneasy cease-fire was declared. In late 2372, the Cardassians formally announced they had joined the Dominion, and the Jem'Hadar rapidly forced the Klingons to retreat from Cardassian space, inflicting heavy damage on them. Captain Sisko was able to convince Gowron to reinstate the Alliance.
Again allies, the Klingons and Federation turned their attention to the Dominion and the Cardassians as war against them became inevitable.
When the war began, both the Federation and Klingons fought side-by-side against the Dominion, even though the odds were against them. However, once the Romulans joined them the tide eventually turned against the Dominion. In 2375 the Federation-Romulan-Klingon fleet defeated the Dominion with the assistance of the Cardassian fleet during a final assault on Cardassia Prime. Despite the refusal of Sisko and Ross to drink blood wine with Martok in the Cardassian Central Command, the two powers remained strong allies after the war.
Shortly before the end of the Dominion War, in 2375, Gowron took direct control of the Klingon fleet (a position held up until that point by the successful General Martok) because he was concerned that Martok was becoming too popular among both the troops and the civilian population from his wartime success. Since new Chancellors can ascend to that position by killing the former Chancellor, Gowron feared that Martok would challenge him for his position. And since Gowron was much more of a politician than a general, the Klingon fleet began to take unnecessary losses which Gowron manipulated to appear to be the fault of Martok. Commander Worf, disgusted with Gowron for using bad tactics in the war simply to hurt Martok's political position, challenged the Chancellor in a meeting to ritual combat and defeated him (actually killing Gowron in the process). By the traditions of the Empire, Worf had the right to become the next Chancellor if he wished, but instead granted the role to Martok, having no desire for a political position himself, although Martok would shortly thereafter have Worf become the UFP's Ambassador to the Klingon Empire. Ironically, Martok never had any designs on Gowron or his position, even accepting the unpopular position in which Gowron had placed him without questioning his orders.
Possible future The Klingons will not recover from the losses they suffered during the Dominion War until 2385, according to a 2375 estimate by Section 31.
In Crewman Daniels' timeline, the Klingons join the Federation by about 2554.
Alternate timelines A few episodes featuring alternate timelines have shown a variety of developments in Klingon history and politics.
- In the future timeline of All Good Things..., TNG, relations between the Federation and the Empire have degraded, as Geordi states that current relations are "not too cozy". In this timeline, the Klingons have also taken control of the Romulan Star Empire.
- The Deep Space Nine episode The Visitor gives an alternate history for the events after the beginning of season 4 of that series, where the Klingons occupied Deep Space Nine, and the Federation-Dominion conflict never occurred. The episode takes places over a number of decades, and the political climate of the Empire seems to change several times.
- As depicted in the TNG episode Yesterday's Enterprise, an alternate timeline was formed when the Enterprise-C entered a temporal anomaly instead of being destroyed by the Romulans at Narendra III. In this alternate timeline, the Federation and the Klingons have been at war for decades, with the Federation close to losing.
- While not an alternate timeline exactly, the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations features the disgraced Klingon outcast Arne Darvin attempting to change history, and make himself a Klingon hero. His attempts are thwarted, and it seems that almost no changes were made to the timeline as a result of his actions - other than that Tribbles were no longer extinct (and even this could be a result of the Defiant crew accidentally bringing some back to the future with them, rather than a change in the timeline).
- In the Mirror Universe, the Klingons formed an alliance with the Cardassians to overthrow the Terran Empire. This Alliance is the major political force in the Alpha Quadrant throughout the Deep Space Nine episodes visiting the Mirror Universe.
Appearances in popular cultureBecause of their central role as the main adversaries of the Federation in The Original Series, Klingons have achieved an iconic status in relation to Star Trek.
Furthermore, several books and CDs published in the mid-to-late 1990s were offered as a guide to learning the Klingon language.
Episodes of The Simpsons which feature the character Comic Book Guy occasionally make reference to his encyclopedic knowledge of Klingon artifacts.
In the film Daddy Day Care, one of the children who attends the daycare is the son of hardcore Trekkies, and is therefore fluent in Klingon.
In the "Weird Al" Yankovic song, White and Nerdy, a song parodying a stereotypical nerd or geek, the Klingon language is mentioned in the line "I'm fluent in Java script as well as Klingon."
On January 10 2007, Democratic Congressman David Wu of Oregon's 1st congressional district made a speech on the House floor referring to the Bush Administration as "Klingons" with regard to the Iraq War. The last known Congressional reference to Klingons prior to Wu's speech was during a February 3 1992 discussion of the United States's role as a world superpower after the Cold War.
See also
External links - —The Official Star Trek website
- —Authority for the Klingon Language
- — Dedicated Klingon Search Engine
- —Largest Klingon General Interest Site
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