Feared throughout the galaxy due to being fearless warriors who thrive on battle and bloodshed, the Klingon’s are one of Star Trek’s most iconic races and yet, with all their history, perhaps the most misunderstood. Starting off in the original series as authoritarian and distrustful antagonist, they were written as a parallel to Russia with the Klingon Empire in a cold war with the Federation following a long conflict.
The Klingons would have a bit of reinvention in the movies thanks to higher budgets giving the producers a chance for a more alien look, while their culture and history would get a little more depth on The Next Generation thanks to the inclusion of Worf, the first Klingon member of Starfleet. But Worf’s views on the Klingon culture weren’t quite spot on. From a noble house, Worf was displaced and raised by humans after his parents were killed, giving him a disconnected and romanticised view of his people. Through the years the idea of Klingons being honourable warriors would slowly peel away the public facade of the Empire.
As Academy lets us see through the eyes of a pacifist healer, we thought it’d time to look back at five of the Klingons that showed us another side of the fabled warrior myth.
THE DURAS FAMILY
One of the more prolific houses up until the late 24th century, the house of Hduras was one of the most important and influential houses within the Empire. Their influence was so strong that, following the death of Chancellor K’mpec, leader of the house, Duras himself, would make a bid for the position. Problem was the House of Duras might have had influence and power, but they werte politicians, not honourable warriors and after playing a political hand that resulted in Duras killing Ambassador K’Ehleyr. Worf killed Duras right back.
Founded by their ancestor in the 22nd, the original Duras, the house would fall into chaos with no legitimate heir but would be ledf unofficially by his daughters Lursa and B’Etor who may not have been able to officially lead the house due to Klingon laws, but carried on the tradition of putting politics and power ahead of honour, including a secret alliance with the Romulans whilst bringing civil war to the Empire.
ANTAAK
In the mid-22nd century (in Earth’s calendars, anyway) there was a notable shift in Klingon society. Traditionally the bulk of Klingon society operated as a caste-like system, but things went a little bit wrong. The influence of the warrior caste became a little too strong and a little too romanticised and by the time Starfleet was up and running,
Antaak, named for the founder of his house, was of the warrior caste. But it wasn’t his path. More interested in science than warfare, Antaak would even go to the lengths of disguising himself as anything but Klingon to be welcomed in cross-species medical conferences and learn more about how to become a better healer. Though he’d serve in the Imperial Fleet, he wouldn’t represent his house. With the way of the warrior caste becoming the dominant force, and their superiority complex over the other segments of Klingon society, Antaak’s father would banish him from their house despite Antaak’s service and great achievements in saving the Klingon race from dying out over a virus the warriors spread throughout the Empire.
ALEXANDER
Having a slightly different start than most, Alexander Rozhenko was the son of Word and K’Ehleyr. K’Ehleyr was a half Klingon and an ambassador who rejected the warrior way of life. Worf, raised by Klingons, embraced the legends of the warrior caste and romanticised them due to being disconnected. In the middle was Alexander, a child with no interest in being a warrior who, after his mother was murdered, was to be raised by his father who’s idea of being Klingon was like someone thinking they were Scottish by watching Brigadoon. There was no one in that family who were a ‘true;’ Klingon in reality, but Worf’s push to become one would leave it’s mark on his son.
An alternate future saw Alexander become a diplomat like his mother and become too weak to prevent Worf’s death in combat. Travelling back in time to try and force Worf’s hand to training Alexander to become a warrior, Worf realised his own conflict was harming his sons view of both of them and opted to let Alexander stay with human foster parents. Though Alexander, still aiming to impress his father, would enlist in the Imperial Fleet regardless.
Feeling ashamed and living with the feeling of being a disappointment to Worf, Alexander only began to feel accepted when his peers on board the ship began to accept his courage and skill in helping his crewmates. Despite being a far cry from the warrior Worf had always hoped for, Alexander found honour and value in being more true to himself than what he saw as the Klingon ideal.
KOLOS
At the turns of the 22nd century, Kolos began working as an advocate in the Klingon legal system, beginning a long career that would see him serve on Narandra III and fifty years later, defend a Starfleet officer – Jonathon Archer – against the Duras family in the name of honour. When Kolos began his career, the Klingon empire was a stable mix of all trades taking each step of their lives with honourable conduct. But slowly he watched the warrior caste’#s influence grow beyond the great houses and felt like his profession was slowly becoming a tool to spread their message and turning honour into something everyone could attain, to something only attained through their view of the world; war and bloodshed.
Inspired by Archer, Kolos would try and restore honour to the system and fight for justice, not just the interests of the warrior caste. Unfortunately he’d be punished for his efforts and sent to the infamous Rura Penthe labour camp. Other advocates and lawyers would try and follow his path, such as Worf – grandfather of another , more famous Worf – who’d unwittingly take part in a conspiracy by doing the opposite of Kolos and manufacturing a case against Captain Kirk…
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GORKON
Not much of known about Gorkon. His background and motivations were intentionally kept vague on screen to give a little bit of mystique to his character. What we do know came from who he was based on; Russian leader Mikhail Gobachev, who was largely known as a charismatic and idealist leader compared to his predecessors (and successors), driven towards peace and reform with his efforts in ending the Cold War and his role in reunifying Germany leading to a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 before the collaspe of the Soviet Union a year later.
Hardly a candidate for basing a warrior on. And that’s what made Gorkon so fascinating compared to the other Klingon leaders we’ve seen on screen. Even with the more politicised Gowron or Duras, there was always ann undercurrent of aggression and need for glorious battle to the point that, as Chancellor, Gowron put himself front and centre of several conflicts to the detriment of his people for political gain. Gorkon, whatever his background, didn’t seem to have the same lust for battle. Instead, despite surrounding himself with soldiers like General Chang, all he was interested in was peace. Taking lead from one of his predecessors, Chancelor L’Rell, Gorkon took the bold step of using a Klingon disaster to forge the peaceful landscape he wanted. No more war, no more conflict.
Eventually the peace process he started would happen. Unfortunately he didn’t live to see what he’d inspire as the need for war and hatred was so strong that his people, including Chang, would conspire together with Starfleet Admirals leading to Gorkon’s assassination in an effort to escalate the conflict and keep the status quo.
The villains of Star Trek were often based around simple concepts that served only to create stereotypes. Throughout the Next Generation into Deep Space Nine we got to see the warrior ethos built and deconstructed through the political gameplay of the Empire at it’s highest levels, and through Worf’s slow realisation that his image of his people wasn’t quite as rosey as it seems.
Being a warrior is something Klingons take pride in. But it’s far from the only path we’ve seen, from civilians living in slums, to keen restaurateurs taking pride in their knifework in the kitchen over the battlefield, to laid back gamers who just like a bit of a drink, to medics and scientists who’s glory is the work. But even Martok, a ‘low born’ from simple farming land was stuck on the idea of being a warrior and a soldier.
Jay-Den joins Academy as an unconventional Klingon in how he see’s himself. In reality, he’s just another oddball in a long line of people who, whether they led the Empire to peace or just liked to serve the bloodwine, found honour and glory in their own purpose.
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