female klingon star trek discovery

Mary Chieffo

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• Contact info
• 2 wins & 1 nomination

• L'Rell
• 2017–2019 • 13 eps

• Sierra Thompson
• 2022 • 1 ep

• Ensign Iago

• Dr. Elizabeth Diamond

• Alicia Ayoub
• 13 episodes

• Teenage Girl Stranger

• Valedictorian

• executive producer

Personal details

• 6′ (1.83 m)
• November 7 , 1992
• Los Angeles, California, USA
• Parents Michael Chieffo

Self-verified on IMDbPro

Did you know.

• Trivia A 2015 BFA graduate in Group 44 of The Juilliard School's Drama Division, Chieffo is the first legacy in the Division's nearly 50 year history. Her father was in Group 6.
• Trademark Towering height

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What Is Up With the Klingons in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’?

The Klingons have been a staple of the Star Trek universe since the original series. A fierce warrior race that has often been in conflict with the Federation, they will be key antagonists in  Star Trek: Discovery . But, what we’ve seen of the Klingons has us a little confused .

Why Do They Look Different?

The Klingons have been redesigned during the course of the Star Trek franchise. But, the Klingons in  Star Trek: Discovery look radically different than any Klingons we’ve seen before. Their skin color is more purple than brown. Most appear to be bald (even Klingon women) whereas in the previous Trek TV series many had long hair. They also are wearing ornate armor that doesn’t seem to reference any time period in Klingon history that fans are familiar with.

It turns out that’s on purpose. The creators of  Star Trek: Discovery wanted to redesign the Klingons. There had to be a narrative reason to do so. That’s why these new Klingons are utilizing ancient Klingon technology. Their families might even be isolated from regular Klingon life.

That’s where the leaders of this Klingon faction come into play.

The Leaders

This group of Klingons is lead by T’Kuvma. T’Kuvma is a proud but zealous Klingon warrior. He follows an ancient and puritanical way of Klingon life. He believes he is the reincarnation of Kahless , the founder the Klingon Empire . The Klingons view him as a near-deity. It seems that T’Kuvma is leading a radical splinter group that the other Klingon houses are wary of.

T’Kuvma is joined by his second-in-command, Kol. Kol is from the House of Kor . Kor was one of the first Klingons introduced in the original series. It sounds like this will link up to the Klingon race that we’re familiar with.

There is also L’Rell, T’Kuvma’s battle deck commander. Klingon culture is a patriarchal society and L’Rell is an ambitious female Klingon. It’s likely that her assertive personality will clash with T’Kuvma and Kol.

T’Kuvma’s ship is unlike any in the Klingon Empire. It’s 200 years old and is partially constructed out of Klingon sarcophagi. This is an interesting twist because Klingons normally do not preserve their dead. Once a Klingon has died, their body is considered trash.

T’Kuvma’s ship will give us a peek into ancient Klingon ways of life. Along with the bizarre ship, we’ve also seen a new kind of Klingon suit called “torchbearer.” It seems to be a space suit. Exactly how often we’ll see the torchbearer suit is unknown.

Exploring Strange, New Worlds

There is a lot that’s shocking about what we’ve seen of the Klingons in  Star Trek: Discovery . It might seem jarring to fans, but Star Trek is a franchise that has always challenged expectations. Hopefully, this new take on the classic alien race will boldly go where no Star Trek series has gone before.

Star Trek Discovery premieres on CBS and CBS All Access September 24 in the U.S. and on Netflix in the U.K. the following day.

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Hail Mary! Star Trek: Discovery ’s Klingon Prisoner Talks About Her Season 1 Finale Fate

Mary chieffo plays a starfleet captive who finds herself the last hope for peace for a civilization that is not her own..

TAGGED AS: CBS , CBS All Access , Star Trek

Mary Chieffo, who plays Klingon L’Rell in Star Trek: Discovery , talks about her role in the season 1 finale, “ Will You Take My Hand ,” that aired on Sunday night.

SPOILER ALERT: THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS PLOT DETAILS OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY . TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EPISODE “WILL YOU TAKE MY HAND.”

ALEX KURTZMAN | MARY CHIEFFO | JEFF RUSSO

After spending nearly half of the season in a prison cell, Chieffo’s L’Rell was set free in the season 1 finale and given the power to destroy her home planet in order to bring her fractured people to heel. We spoke to Chieffo about that moment and what it been like acting under the Klingon prosthetics and makeup.

Debbie Day for Rotten Tomatoes: L’Rell’s status has just blown up. How long did you know that was going to be in the cards for the character?

Mary Chieffo: It was definitely something that was found over time. It was not something that when I got the role they were like, “Oh, and then you’re going to become the leader of the Klingon empire.” I was like, “Oh, OK.” It’s such a tribute to Aaron [Harberts] and Gretchen [Berg] and the entire writers’ room and team and all of our EPs. Because what really ended up happening was they saw who L’Rell was becoming, particularly in episode 4, and they knew that they wanted her to be the one who came up with the plan for the Voq-Tyler situation. But once they really saw that there was stuff going on, just chemistry-wise and what not, they really ended up developing her arc more and more.

Once I was captured and on the Discovery , we just continued to find things. I wasn’t in the writers’ room as they continued to discuss and develop. It was certainly a humbling experience, for me, once this was the decision that was made. To me, I believe in the arc so much. I’m proud of it because you see a woman who is in this patriarchal society, who has learned how to survive by living in the shadows, working from the sidelines, and a lot of her behavior seems duplicitous or manipulative because that’s just how she knows how to get by, and she’s always been the fuel behind these male Klingons. But as we see, T’Kuvma gets killed, Kol gets killed, and Voq, as a consequence of all this craziness, ends up being lost as well.

I really appreciated that they saw that this is happening and realized that in a certain way she’s been the one who has been the strongest and has been the smartest, even though she doesn’t realize that about herself. She is the Klingon that we do want to invest in. I think what Burnham realizes is she is the last believer of this larger message of unification. L’Rell also comes to realize on her own terms that the way in which T’Kuvma believed that the Klingon should be unified, which was in war against the Federation, is not working. That’s what she really comes to terms with in 14 and 15, is that we’re out of control and they need someone. And Sarek says that without a concrete leader that they’re just scattered all over the place. To me, I’m humbled as an actor to get to have that journey, and then just as an audience member I’m really proud of how much of a nuance sort of feminist story it has become in that way.

RT: Are we seeing L’Rell softening her stance a little bit? Are we seeing the beginnings of cooperation maybe? 

Chieffo: Yeah, I would say that … Jayne Brook talked about this a bit after episode 8: Just a sense of the diplomatic relations that we will eventually see happen in Undiscovered Country . There is potential, the seeds are planted here for true collaboration. I think L’Rell’s journey, she really didn’t have much exposure to humans at all in the same way the Federation hadn’t been interacting with Klingons directly for over 100 years, around 100 years. She, in her journey, particularly in her relationship with Cornwell, and then just having to come to terms with the fact that this plan, that she believed that the Klingon spirit would just inevitably triumph over the human one. The fact that the human spirit was stronger than she believed it would be. The fact that Burnham ends up treating her with respect, and giving her this opportunity to become a leader. She’s a very, very smart woman, and how could she ignore the evidence that is presented to her, that there is something to this Federation, there is something to these humans? That’s been really, really fun to play.

I’m still a Klingon, and I still adhere to our culture and our beliefs, but at the same time, when you get to know more about my history, in four, about how my mother was from House Mo’Kai and my father was House T’Kuvma, that I’ve already spent my entire life learning how to compromise. But that’s something that’s innate in me, in my sensibility. I think, in the same way it takes Burnham the arc of this season to begin to accept the Klingons, whereas she was able to really have empathy for the tardigrade. She’s a xenoanthropologist. She’s able to see, oh, well when the tardigrade’s provoked, then it may became more hostile. But in the same way that she has that journey, she has that in her, but it takes her all 15 episodes to start to have that with the Klingons. For L’Rell, she’s been able to do that within her own world, within her own culture, but it takes the arc of the entire season and her experiences within to really allow her to begin to see that maybe there is room for compromise outside of the Klingon empire.

RT: Can you tell me a little bit about the subtext of when Burnham hands L’Rell the bomb? It’s kind of a “W-T-F” moment.

Chieffo: Yeah, yeah. I’m like, “You’re giving me what now?” Yeah, yeah. Exactly. I do not expect this. I mean my last interaction was Georgiou beating the crap out of me. I’m like, “This is not going well.” But I really think that, as I’ve been saying, L’Rell still may lean towards not wanting to trust humans because that’s been her entire existence, but it’s just another moment where she’s like, “OK, I guess this woman has empathy for me, or she’s smart.”

The big thing with L’Rell, I should actually say, is that — yeah, that’s part of why she ends up befriending, for a lack of a better term, Cornwell — is when she sees another person, whether they’re another Klingon or another human or whatnot, when she sees that they are smart, that they have some sort of larger plan, I think she respects that. I think that as a Klingon, respect is extremely important to L’Rell, and part of why she gives Cornwell the information she does in 14 is because she knows that she’s not going to take that information lightly.

So I think it’s very much a moment for L’Rell to realize that the humans are continuing to surprise her. I basically am agreeing with you, that it is a surprising moment. But I think, also, certainly something that Sonequa and I played with, was energetically. It’s not a big wordy scene. I think it’s fun that we don’t have a classic sort of love triangle sort of duking it out. Like, “Well, you did this, and how dare you.” It’s very much like, no, we have a larger issue at hand, which is hopefully the end of a war. So a lot of is unspoken, and I think that was certainly what Sonequa and I wanted to play with, was that we didn’t have to say, “Oh, you’re the one. You’re the reason that … Oh, OK.” No, it’s like there are larger issues at hand here.

RT: Going back to you getting beaten up, is that all you or is there a stunt Klingon happening there?

Chieffo: We have our great stunt coordinating team. Yeah, we have stunt doubles. But certainly when we filmed it, Jayne, Michelle [Yeoh], and I did all of our takes. They edit it together so well. They’ll always do wide, medium, close with one or two takes with the stunt people as well. But for the most part, particularly for me because of my prosthetics, my double uses a mask, which is not as nuanced, and is like glued on. Mine is multiple parts and all that sort of stuff. So, usually, they end up using most of my stuff because you can see who it is. You can tell if it’s a mask or not.

I love doing all those stunts, and obviously Michelle’s quite good at it herself. That was such an amazing learning experience watching how she, as we learned the choreography. Then on the day when we were filming, she gets camera angles and which kicks looks best for whatever moment, or what will actually be the best to get me against the wall or whatnot. She’s just such an incredible legend in that way. She was laughing at me, because I kept on saying, “Oh, it’s such an honor. It’s such an honor to be beaten up by you.” Yeah, I love stunts. I love getting that adrenaline going. It’s a very specific experience when you’re covered in prosthetics, but I’ll take it.

RT: How is the makeup treating you? And did you get any tips from Doug Jones ?

Chieffo: Yes. Doug Jones. Oh my goodness. Thank God for that man, on so many levels. When I first met him at the table reading for the pilot, I told him it was my first time doing prosthetics. He was like, “Oh, precious.” He’s such a sweet, loving man, but he made it very clear from the get-go that he was available. He easily could have been like, “Well, good luck, kid.” But instead, anytime that we were in the makeup trailer at the same time, he would always check in. Then, down the line as we were getting more settled, we got coffee and just kind of chatted about things and his experience. He’s had so many different experiences and lengths of time when it comes to being in that chair. Everything from … I know Hellboy was like seven hours. He was saying a certain camera test was 11 hours just to get in the makeup before actually even filming anything. He’s just been an incredible support in that way.

Then it was such a thrill to then work with him. In 12, we were so excited, and they were very wordy scenes, so we really got together and drilled beforehand. My instincts about how to navigate the prosthetics very much ended up being what he said his process is, which is: It’s not about just being the creature externally. It’s so much about, as you would with any part, whether you’re covered in any makeup at all, is, what is their heart? What is their soul? What are their motivations? But then you do have this extra layer of, when you do see your face and it’s not yourself, or the back of your head is much larger, then it’s this combination of all this kind of organic actor work.

Mask work was really something that I gravitated towards in college, so it was really fun to be able to use that in movement work. I’ve always really enjoyed that. It’s been a beautiful kind of culmination of so many of the different skills that I developed in school, that I knew I would love to be able to incorporate, and to have the opportunity to do it on such an extreme level has been wonderful. But it’s challenging. Doug’s the first person to acknowledge that you don’t get to goof around on set in the same way that everybody else does. I’m a very joyous person and I like to laugh a lot, and because of my mouth I really shouldn’t be opening my mouth that largely, unless I have to in the scene. James MacKinnon, who’s our prosthetic department head, who’s wonderful — luckily, they are such a great team, it makes those two hours in the morning fly by — but he’s always like, “Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh now.” It’s being in the trenches and powering through. Yeah, huge learning experience, for sure.

RT: Are you glad to be outside of the prison cell now?

Chieffo: It has been really fun to get to just watch and enjoy. Certainly, when I would get the scripts and see all the characters’ continued journeys, I would get so excited. So then to see that next level of it manifesting and all the finished visual effects. Yes, because I love L’Rell so much, it’s fun to see her come alive. Because she’s different from me on a lot of levels, I’m able to kind of view her in a way that’s a little different from just watching yourself on screen. Because she is so alien, I’m able to kind of appreciate her in a way that I’ve never been able to look at a character before. Which I’m still kind of processing exactly what that means or what that is, but definitely been fun, yes, to be on the other side and kind of enjoy it in a different way.

RT: Over the course of the entire season, do you have a favorite moment for performance?

Chieffo: I will say that there have been so many beautiful, delicious moments. I will say, actually, in 15, this speech was particularly moving. Because when they said, even, L’Rell’s going to kind of start to become the leader, they didn’t say, “And then there’s going to be this incredible speech that you have to deliver to the High Council.” So when I got that script, and I got those pages, I was just so moved. It’s Shakespearean. She is saying, “We are proud. We are honorable.” It’s a journey of this woman owning herself. Then on a technical level, Rea Nolan, who is our dialect coach, who’s been there from the beginning, from episode one onward, we developed such a beautiful relationship, and she believes in the character, and we’ve just had so many hours of drilling the Klingon lines, and we developed such an amazing system.

That to then, in this final moment of thinking, “OK, we have this whole year, and here we are with this speech.” We just drilled it, and it was really intense memorization process, but at the end of the day, it was all in service of this larger story. All the nervousness I felt — I’m on like a rotating platform, and in a green screen, there’s so many different factors — I should’ve had a nervous breakdown. But I realize that that was how L’Rell felt, too. It was this kind of amazing moment of my heart and her heart coming together and trying to tell a larger story and really, really just own myself, and L’Rell own herself.

RT: Where are they?

Chieffo: It’s the High Council, which is where the 24 Houses come together … The idea is, that L’Rell had this detonator, and she’s like, “You have to listen to me or I will explode our planet. I have a plan.” So she’s able to get there through the threat of force, which is part of Burnham’s brilliance, is to not to actually explode the planet, but to have the potential of it. So it’s me appealing to the court, essentially. Because there’s no way that I’m going to be able to just suddenly rule everybody or try and be that person unless I get some sort of approval. I love the nuance of they kind of scoff and laugh, and then I’m like, “No, no, no. You have to listen, because I can kill us all.”

RT: I was thinking that it’s going to be hard for her to get out the building.

Chieffo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I say that, and then I’m like, “OK. Thanks, you guys. I’ll see you later. I’m just going to —” [ laughs ]

Star Trek: Discovery season 1 is available to stream on CBS All Access.

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Mary Chieffo

Series: Discovery

Character(s): L’Rell

Mary Elizabeth Chieffo is an American actress known for portraying the Klingon L’Rell on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

Chieffo watched previous series with Klingon episodes and commented: “[The series that] that keeps coming up when we’re talking about serialized Star Trek is Deep Space Nine, because those last three seasons really do start to have a new, serialized quality. Of course, I have a soft spot for Odo. Then, I think about the great female Klingons on the show, and one of my favorites, Grilka, comes in”.

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Interview: Mary Chieffo On L’Rell’s Sensuality, Power, And “Klingon Couture” In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

| January 22, 2019 | By: Laurie Ulster 21 comments so far

Star Trek: Discovery  stars and producers walked the red carpet last Thursday evening in New York to celebrate the premiere of season two. We continue to bring you interviewers from the event.

We got a few minutes with the always effusive and insightful Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), who was sporting what she described as a “celestial goddess” look for the event that included a “ sparkly pink nod ” to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ‘s Jadzia Dax.

You’ve talked about how L’Rell is going to have this new sensuality – what are you bringing to that in season two?

Chieffo: A lot of L’Rell’s journey in the first season was actually coming to terms with that and understanding that she could use that. And you know at the time, she was using it to invoke Voq, bring back the love that they had. In this season it’s certainly more visual, she’s trying to embody a more classically feminine esthetic—we get the cleavage, we get the dresses, beautifully designed by Gersha Phillips, who has just done incredible work. I say it’s “Klingon couture” and it’s designed for my body and size. So that’s been amazing, to have people literally crafting outfits for me.

But beyond that, on a technical level, I found that with that visual, I decided that her journey … she was also trying to find out who she is as a woman and as a leader. So often we say that ‘Oh if you have a certain sensuality, a certain femininity, you can’t also embody this image of strength and power.’ And with L’Rell, there’s something that almost surpasses gender in a certain way, because she’s alien. And it’s something certainly from our human eyes, that can’t quite – we’re like ‘Well, she is a woman … she’s got boobs …’ but she’s doing – and certainly in the first season, being so androgynous in a lot of ways [like] not having hair that we so strongly associate with being feminine. Now she has that, it’s a time of peace, the larger political reason why the hair is there. But for me, visually, it was like, ‘Oh, what does it mean to embody that femininity there, and does that negate some of my power or does it give me more?’ And I think it’s not something she’s discussing with Tyler constantly in the show, but I think it’s there. And there’s a lot of fun stuff you’ve seen in the few little trailers, there’s some fighting going on in the dress, and that was one of the most empowering experiences. Ginger Rogers is like ‘ backwards in heels ‘? Backwards in heels with prosthetics, and a dress, and carrying two large Klingon weapons, so I’m really excited for the fans to see that.

I think I also have always appreciated that she is a strong female character, but she is flawed, and she’s made mistakes, and she admits her failures, which is a very un-Klingon thing to do. And in this season we are getting to lean into that, have those kinds of quieter conversations a little bit, and I’m interested to see what the audience takes from that.

L’Rell fights in style in season two of  Star Trek: Discovery for a reason

Are L’Rell and Tyler a couple, are they together?

Chieffo: (laughs) It’s complicated! It’s very complicated. Yeah, I think I have problems! It’s complicated. There is a real respect that they came to at the end of the first season, which is that there was love between Voq and L’Rell, and there was love between Burnham and Tyler, and now Tyler embodies both of these entities. We get to talk about it.

[Enter James MacKinnon, stage left …]

Cheiffo: He’s my lifeline, my savior. My incredible artistic inspiration who tolerates all my heartbreak pop women music that I play in the trailer.

MacKinnon: I put a little 80s, heavy metal on just to freak it up a little bit.

Chieffo: We go back and forth. It’s a good symbiotic relationship I think.

Mary Chieffo with James MacKinnon, who oversees prosthetic and special effects makeup on Star Trek: Discovery

Are you going to see L’Rell and Tyler really have it out and hash through their relationship?

Chieffo: Yes. I’ll be very interested to see exactly how the audience responds, but conversations are had, that was very very important to me, that you at least get to see them touch on the topic. I can’t say much more than that now, but it’s coming. Don’t worry. We’ll be having full-fledged discussions very soon, I promise you, ’cause it’s a lot to unpack. But that was very important to me. I was very grateful that we were given that opportunity.

So it’s an ongoing thing and not just a quick resolution.

Chieffo: Yes. It’s never quick and easy with the Klingons.

The relationship between L’Rell and Voq/Tyler is complicated

(Asked by another interviewer) So as L’Rell grows into her role as Chancellor, does she experience any of the same kind of pushback women do in leadership roles? Is that something that’s prevalent in the Klingon Empire too?

Chieffo: Yeah, that’s something I was actually really thrilled about, is [that] Starfleet is this ideal where we’ve kind of surpassed that in a lot of ways, and so L’Rell is actually one of our few opportunities within a Star Trek context to really explore things that we’re seeing so clearly in 2019, 2018. I say too, and again we’ll be discussing in full extent soon, but a lot of what began to manifest in the first season—you saw how Kol treated L’Rell, and that’s part of why she says, “But I am no one.” She literally does not see herself as significant because her society has told her so. And so now that she has been given this power, it’s exactly that: how does she maintain it, but also, maybe find compromise. I’m really excited to see – and I will also say, the caveat of that, it is still mythology, it is still very heightened, it is Greek and Shakespearean. So for me, embodying this storyline is about reflecting a mirror to our society, like this is the extreme of where we could go, this is what we have to understand is kind of the extent of the female power. And it’s pretty epic. You’ll know when you see it what I’m alluding to. It’s pretty intense.

Mary Chieffo’s L’Rell is now the Klingon Chancellor

(Asked by another interviewer) Did you have to do as much ADR [Automated Dialog Replacement] work this year as last year?

Chieffo: I did not, actually! Funnily enough, I went in for the session, and I had a handful of things, and I was like, ‘So what about those other scenes?’ and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, the prosthetic, it doesn’t–‘ (indicates it doesn’t interfere with her speech) and I was like, ‘What? What do you mean?’ because I was so used to being able to kind of tweak my performance, and so now I just have to trust that it all worked. But it’s better for everyone that I don’t have to re-dub every single one of my lines.

More from the season 2 premiere

There is more to come from our red carpet coverage of the season 2 premiere in NYC.

Star Trek: Discovery  is available exclusively in the USA on  CBS All Access . It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else. The second season debuted on All Access and Space on Thursday, January 17th, 2019, and on Netflix January 18, 2019.

Keep up with all the  Star Trek: Discovery   news at TrekMovie.

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L’Rell is not a good example of a powerful woman, she is a bad written generic alien that took power by threatening with the destruction of a whole planet.

If you don’t see her layers I feel for ya.

I wholeheartedly disagree. She’s a perfect example of a woman that is oppressed by a patriarchal society. She is very clever, and it shows from the very start, but she is hesitant to reveal herself as a leader of men. When she finally does, she is laughed at. And yet she becomes the leader of the Klingon Empire. It is true that she only got this power because the Federation gave her control of the bomb. But let’s not forget all the scheming that put her in the position of being chosen for this in the first place. She’s the one that broke behind enemy lines, not T’Kuvma, not Kol… she’s the most clever Klingon we’ve seen in a long while. The only one that comes to mind as a fair comparison is General Chang. Let’s face it: Klingons in general follow the “microbrain” prototype. Even Worf is not really brilliant. But L’Rell is really clever, and that is what propels her from anonymity to being the leader of the Empire.

Until someone steals her iPad with the codes. I like her character, I don’t like how they handled her rise to power.

Something tell me that now that she is there, It won’t be easy to get rid of her.

The detonator is coded to her DNA so it won’t be quite that simple.

That’s House Mokai for ya’, Salvador. I wholeheartedly agree with you! General Chang, and a few other Klingons come to mind, when I think of artful scheming.

Worf is not brilliant by Human standards because he doesn’t see things from a human point of view so well. He can be pretty crafty in managing his fellow Klingons, is very ethical within his lights, and got through Starfleet Academy, fitting in with the primary human culture enough to graduate and succeed on the Enterprise.

Plus, any man who can maintain a relationship with Jadzia Dax has something going for him besides brawn and Klingon sex appeal!

Well you clearly watched a whole other show.

She seems just fine; I just wonder at the necessity of having a steady Klingon sub-plot at all on Discovery. If they want to center on Klingons, CBS should just develop a Klingon show.

I agree that it’s not feasible to maintain a steady Klingon subplot but I don’t really think a show centred on Klingons is realistic either. I could see Chieffo getting a franchise contract with the character jumping from show to show.

That might be pretty cool. Then we could see Klingons, and L’Rell’s management of their alien culture, and not have it dominate the subplot of “Discovery.” That said, I’ve enjoyed their presence, including Season 1, so far. It was neat to see that their science is as good as the Federation’s. I just wish there had been more with the war and less with the Mirror universe.

The alienness of the Terrans in the MU was fascinating too, but not so much as the Klingons. [Both were cannibalistic to races outside their own, sealing their sense of superiority. Ugh.]

As written, L’Rell is much more layered and interesting to me than the Emperor. Both are performed well. L’Rell’s inner conflicts and outside challenges are fascinating, while the Emperor appears to have none.

I think a Klingon-centric series would be a spot-on idea. There are a slew of people they could bring aboard that are well skilled in Klingon lore. The writers could explore the culture, politics, etc. of the Klingon people. I would love to see what life aboard a bird-of-prey is like, and how Klingon agriculture works, etc.

It’s too niche. I like Klingons and Worf is one of my favourite characters but it would have very narrow appeal even within the existing fan base and don’t even get me started on trying to sell it to a new audience.

It might be good across “Discovery” and “Section 31” … surely Klingon stability will be important to the balance of power in the galaxy/Alpha Quadrant, so Sec 31 would have an interest in that sphere as well.

@Marja you would certainly think that Section 31 would be keeping their eye on the Klingons and with Tyler potentially joining the organisation then L’Rell might be keeping them too…

Early klingons

“The relationship between L’Rell and Voq/Tyler is complicated” Maybe it would be a good idea to bury this next to Threshold.

Funny, when L’Rell said, “But I am no one,” I took it as a multi-layered statement. The sexism was reinforced by the Klingon males laughing at her, and she dignified herself by her response. But I also thought in her “no one” comment she was alluding to her “hiding in the shadows” and not wanting “the mantle of leadership.”

I was very impressed by the femininity Mary Chieffo brought to L’Rell in S1. “Shall we uncouple” was pretty dang sexy, as was her eye contact and body language with Voq. Klingon women don’t need hair and boobies on display to evince femininity. [Not that I object so much — Mary C. really rocks those new dresses!]

Even though I was VERY mixed on the Klingons in the first season, you can’t deny how passionate Mary Chieffo is about playing this role. She lights up every time she talks about it, which is great to see. She has embraced Klingon culture I don’t think I’ve seen since Michael Dorn.

And I’m curious how her character will be worked in this season. And its the first female chancellor we will see and the challenges with that should be especially interesting.

And they are bringing back women Klingon cleavage again! It’s definitely getting back to traditional Trek and in a GREAT way! ;D

I like my Klingon women bald and beautiful.

I’m quite looking forward to discovering the details of the Klingon wartime hair-removal rituals.

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After more than a decade, Star Trek is returning to the format of serialized television — and it’s been a long wait. Star Trek : Discovery was announced a full two years ago, in late 2015, and has suffered through showrunner splits and multiple delays since.

And as the series heads into its premiere this weekend, it stands to do some things that Star Trek has never done before — even as it tries to win over one of the oldest modern fandoms. So here’s everything you need to know about this Sunday’s piece of television history.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on CBS on Sept. 24 at 8:30pm EST. But watching it isn’t as easy as tuning in for its predecessors. Instead of airing the series on television, CBS is using it to draw viewers to CBS All Access .

CBS All Access is CBS’s subscription-based streaming service . Only the first episode of ST:D will air on broadcast CBS. As far as we know, the rest of the 15-episode series will only be available on All Access. The first two episodes will go live on Sept. 24 to coincide with the premiere.

How to get CBS All Access

CBSAA has two different plans, each of which come in a monthly or yearly subscription. The app, available on a number of devices , offers access to “9000 plus” episodes of television from CBS’ library, live streaming of your local CBS affiliate and access to All Access original programming, like Star Trek: Discovery .

The Limited Commercials plan has “reduced commercial interruptions.” The Commercial Free plan has “no commercial interruptions,” except for when watching live TV ... and also when some shows just have “promotional interruptions.”

Here’s what it costs

Star Trek: Discovery ’s 15 episodes will air in two blocks, with the first eight finishing in November 2017 and the final seven starting up in January 2018. So, if you want to catch the whole series in a legal way, you’re probably going to be paying for at least five months of CBS All Access .

Where is Star Trek: Discovery on the timeline? What is it about?

Alright, let’s get back to space. Star Trek: Discovery will follow the adventures of the crew of the USS Discovery . Set ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series , it will heavily involve the Klingon Empire, as a leader called T’Kuvma seeks to unite the fractious Klingon houses by provoking war with the United Federation of Planets.

Unlike most Star Trek series before it, Discovery eschews the episodic format to tell a single story. “The relationships [between characters] get richer and deeper; there are surprises, there are turns, there are secret agendas and reveals,” Jason Isaacs explained at San Diego Comic-Con .

Ex-showrunner Bryan Fuller’s initial idea for the series was an anthology — successive seasons would have jumped forward in time through the major eras of Star Trek, and told a different story about a different crew each time.

“The original pitch was to do for science fiction what ‘American Horror Story’ had done for horror,” Fuller told Entertainment Weekly .

It seems like ideas for further seasons split the difference — the theme of the season will be very different, but it won’t have an entirely new cast of characters. But whether the show gets a second season at all depends, first, on the success of its first.

Who is the cast of Star Trek: Discovery ?

Our main character is first officer Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green (her character follows a long line of Bryan Fuller protagonists who are women with traditionally male names). Unusually, for a human, she was raised on Vulcan — by none other than Sarek, the father of Spock. At San Diego Comic-Con, executive producer Alex Kurtzman said that this potential discrepancy — Why didn’t Spock ever mention that he had a human foster sister? — will be explained in the series.

Her character is often referred to as “Number One,” in tribute to Majel Barrett’s character of the same name from the pilot of Star Trek: The Original Series . At the start of Discovery , at least, Burnham serves under Michele Yeoh’s captain Philippa Georgiou on the USS Shenzhou , with whom she shares a strong connection of mentorship.

But it’s clear that at some point Michael finds herself aboard the USS Discovery , captained by Gabriel Lorca, who is played by Jason Isaacs. Isaacs describes his character as “probably more fucked up than any [previous Star Trek captain].” Other crewmembers of the Discovery include Lieutenant Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), a Science Officer specializing in fungi and Star Trek’s first openly gay character; Lieutenant Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), a former prisoner of war still recovering from trauma as he resumes his service; and Lieutenant Saru (Doug Jones), the first Kelpien to join Starfleet.

Every Star Trek series worth its salt has a character who struggles with what it means to be fundamentally different from their crewmates, and it seems that Saru may be that character for Discovery . Kelpiens evolved as a prey species, and have an uncanny ability to “ sense the coming of death .” Jones has said producers told him Saru is “the Spock of the series, he’s the Data of the series.”

But let’s talk about the other side of Discovery ’s core conflict: the Klingons. Chris Obi’s T’Kuvma serves as the central antagonist, a Klingon leader whose people deliberately live according to an ancient, more restrictive code than their peers. T’Kuvma calls himself the second coming of Khaless, the first emperor of the Klingon Empire and founder of the codes of honor, law and tradition that bind modern Klingon culture.

T’Kuvma’s second command is Kol, of the house of Kor. At a Star Trek Las Vegas actors panel, Kenneth Mitchell, who plays Kol, told audiences that the Klingon characters of Discovery are at least partially defined by the conflicts — and differences — between the 24 Klingon houses.

“The images that you have seen so far are one house led by T’Kumva,” Mitchell explained . “Today you just saw the first image of [Kol]. So even in the wardrobe it is starting to venture to the more traditional Klingons. More leather and a different set of armor. And the series itself is going to explore 24 different houses and the leaders among them. And you will find different complexities and different ideologies amongst those houses.”

Kol is T’Kuvma’s protege and commanding officer, and his house, Kor, is one that will be familiar to long-time fans. Kor was the first Klingon character ever to appear in Star Trek, in the Original Series episode “Errand of Mercy.” L’Rell, played by Mary Chieffo, is commander of T’Kuvma’s battle deck, and Chieffo has said that she follows in the narrative footsteps of characters like Deep Space 9 ’s Grilka ; a Klingon woman realizing her ambitions in a patriarchal society.

And last, but not least, Star Trek Discovery will feature Harry Mudd, as played by Rainn Wilson, one of Star Trek: The Original Series ’ more infamous recurring characters. An interstellar con artist, the crew of the Enterprise encountered Mudd three times during the original series. Eventually, after he was found selling dubious love potions, he was sentenced to criminal rehabilitation. Wilson has said that this ten-years-younger Mudd is a bit more “dastardly” than we’ve seen, but that he’s being brought to life with “as much drama and comedy as possible.”

What’s up with Star Trek: Discovery ’s Klingons? Why do they look different?

The look of Star Trek: Discovery ’s Klingons is a combination of two factors — one, a longstanding part of Star Trek canon, the other, something original to the series.

“It’s a 200-year-old ship,” executive producer Ted Sullivan says of T’Kuvma’s vessel. “This is a group of Klingons who’ve gone back to a puritan way of life. They look very different: they wear armor that’s 200 years old and they don’t have any hair.”

But Star Trek has a long history of drastically changing the look of the Klingon race — and its own in-universe explanation for the realities of ever-evolving world of stage makeup and facial prosthetics. In the original series, Klingons were relatively similar in appearance to humans. They tended to wear more facial hair and have thicker hair overall, as well as darkened skin — but they were significantly redesigned for their small appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , with distinctive armor, jagged teeth and their now characteristic cranial ridge.

Later films and shows continued this redesign, and even depicted ancient Klingons with forehead ridges as well. So what the heck happened to the Klingons of that Original Series era? “We do not discuss it with outsiders,” was Commander Worf’s infamous explanation in Deep Space 9 ’s time travel episode “Trials and Tribble-ations .”

The answer eventually came in the course of the prequel series, Star Trek: Enterprise . What happened to Klingons in the era of the Original Series was the Klingon Augment virus, product of a genetic arms race between the Klingon Empire and Federation scientists that went horribly wrong. Klingon scientists accidentally created a strain of flu that altered Klingon DNA with human characteristics, smoothing forehead ridges and changing the basics of a victim’s personality before leading to neural death.

Unable to undo the effects of the virus, scientists were merely able to stabilize victims — preventing them from dying — and stabilize the virus — preventing it from becoming contagious. But before their measures could be implemented, millions of Klingons had been infected and altered. And since their very DNA had been changed, those millions of Klingons were capable of passing the smooth-headed trait to their offspring.

Despite facing prejudice related to their genetic and physical disfigurement, smooth-faced Klingons often rose to prominence in the Empire afterward — both their ambition and their philosophical divergence from the rest of the Klingon population was blamed, by some, on their genetic differences. And so, in the era of the Original Series , most Klingons the Enterprise encountered had smooth foreheads.

By the time of the 24th century, the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation , a cure for the effects of the Augment virus had been found, and the smooth-headed trait in Klingon society had been effectively wiped out.

And that’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about Klingons and Star Trek retcons.

How did Star Trek: Discovery get made?

Like all good generational multi-media franchises these days, the story of Star Trek: Discovery begins with a corporate restructuring. In 2005, Viacom made a series of decisions that all but reversed the company’s merger with CBS in 1999, creating two new companies: CBS Corporation, and Viacom. Viacom, as the owner of Paramount Pictures, owns the film licenses to Star Trek, and produces the Pine/Quinto-starring films. CBS Corporation’s CBS Television Studios has the rights to produce Star Trek television.

And, due to an agreement made with Viacom at the time of the split, January 2017 was the earliest that CBS would legally be able to air a new Star Trek television series. Star Trek: Discovery was announced in late 2015, and in January 2016, it was revealed that Bryan Fuller ( Hannibal , American Gods , Pushing Daisies ) was coming aboard to write and run the series.

Fuller cut his teeth as a television writer working on Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Voyager , and this was generally regarded as good news among the fandom. Shortly after, more veterans of Star Trek productions joined the fold, including Nicholas Meyer and Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry. Fuller was publicly committed to pushing Star Trek’s history of groundbreaking achievements in diversity in television forward, confirming early that the show was seeking a female lead, and would include an openly gay character in a major role .

What followed that was delays and friction between Fuller and CBS executives, who were disappointed with the pace of production and the expense of the series and felt that that Fuller was spending too much time on American Gods , another new series he is currently showrunning for Starz. From January 2017, the premiere was pushed to May. Eventually, Fuller stepped away from the show entirely, though it’s difficult to know whether significant changes were made after his departure.

“So much of what’s there,” producer Alex Kurtzman maintains , “in terms of story and certainly in terms of set-up, character, big ideas, the big movement of the season, that’s all stuff that Bryan and I talked about.”

Is Star Trek: Discovery good?

Nobody knows yet. CBS has not released screeners to press. As soon as we know, we’ll be sure to let you know.

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#Trekformations Turns Mary Chieffo into L'Rell

Get a taste of the SFX magic that goes into creating this iconic Klingon look.

SFX Make up artists transform actress Mary Chieffo into Head of the Klingon High Council, L'Rell on Star Trek: Discovery .

Star Trek: Discovery streams exclusively on CBS All Access in the United States and is distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada, airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

• View history

The Klingons ( tlhIngan in Klingonese ) were a humanoid warrior species that originated from the planet Qo'noS (pronounced Kronos ), an M-class planet in the Beta Quadrant . One of the major powers of the galaxy , the Klingons were a proud, tradition-bound people who valued honor and combat. The aggressive Klingon culture had made them an interstellar military power to be respected and feared.

• 1.1 Parallel universes
• 3.1 Origins
• 3.2.1 Anatomy
• 3.2.2 Augment virus
• 3.2.3 Hybridization
• 3.2.4 Physiology
• 4 Religion and tradition
• 5 Science and education
• 6.1 See also
• 8 Klingon space
• 9 Food and beverages
• 10.1 Appearances
• 10.2 Background information
• 10.3 Apocrypha
• 10.4 External links

History and politics [ ]

A clone of Emperor Kahless

Recorded history begins with the story of the creation of Kortar and his mate , who were recognized as the first Klingons. Together they were responsible for destroying the gods who created them. ( VOY : " Barge of the Dead ")

Kahless the Unforgettable founded the Klingon Empire some time in the 9th century through the performance of many heroic feats. He unified the Klingon people when he killed the tyrant Molor . Kahless came to be revered in Klingon society to the point of near-deification, and many aspects of Klingon culture came to revolve around an emulation of Kahless' life. ( TNG : " Rightful Heir ")

The warrior ethos had been an important aspect of Klingon society since the time of Kahless, but the warrior aspects became much more dominant beginning in the early 22nd century . Over time, the warrior caste gained greater prominence to the point where the Klingons widely came to be regarded as a "warrior race." ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Judgment ")

A Klingon's cranial ridges dissolving

The Klingons' relationship with Humans and the Federation was rocky at best. Following the disastrous first contact between the two species during in the Broken Bow Incident , tense rivalries and unavoidable conflicts often developed between the two races. ( ENT : " Broken Bow "; TNG : " First Contact ") In the year 2154 , the Klingons gained access to the genetic material of Human Augments and tried to adapt this genetic engineering to improve themselves. The test subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but then, their neural pathways started to degrade and they died in agony. One of the subjects suffered from the Levodian flu , which was modified by the Augment DNA to become a fatal, airborne, mutagenic plague that spread rampantly through the Empire, from world to world. In the first stage of this plague , Klingons lost the ridges on their foreheads and began to look more Human. With the help of a Klingon scientist named Antaak , Dr. Phlox of the Earth starship Enterprise was able, using the DNA of Captain Archer , to formulate a cure that halted the genetic effects of the virus in the first stage. This retained the changes in appearance, along with some minor neural re-ordering. The neural ordering caused changes in the emotional make-up of the Klingons. For example, the infected started to feel fear. Even though the infected did not develop any stage-two characteristics – such as enhanced strength, speed, or endurance – they did not die from it. This left millions of Klingons changed. These alterations were even passed on to their children. ( ENT : " Affliction ", " Divergence ")

In the 2250s and 2260s , groups of Klingons with and without ridges had been encountered by the Federation. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello "; TOS : " Errand of Mercy ") By the 2270s it had become more commonplace to encounter Klingons with forehead ridges than not. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , et al.) Klingons did not discuss the circumstances of this mutation with outsiders and, by the 24th century , the reason for smooth-forehead Klingons was not widely known outside the Empire. ( ENT : " Affliction ", " Divergence "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

By 2223 , relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire degenerated to a point of relentless hostility, which lasted for several decades. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; TNG : " First Contact ")

T'Kuvma , a Klingon leader in 2256

The lingering tensions between Klingons and Humans continued to rise, eventually leading to the Battle of Donatu V , near Sherman's Planet in 2245 and the Battle of the Binary Stars in 2256 , which was provoked by T'Kuvma in order to unite the squabbling Great Houses against the Federation. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles "; DIS : " Battle at the Binary Stars ") This resulted in the first Federation-Klingon War , where the Klingon Empire successfully invaded and occupied nearly twenty percent of Federation space. ( DIS : " The War Without, The War Within ")

Later, another conflict erupted into the Federation-Klingon War of 2267 . The Organians quickly intervened and ended the war after only four days of fighting. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles ", " Errand of Mercy ") Over the next several decades an uneasy peace developed, broken only by brief but fierce skirmishes and conflicts. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) A true and lasting peace finally came in 2293 , with the signing of the Khitomer Accords , thanks to the efforts of Chancellor Gorkon and the Human Starfleet officer James T. Kirk . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; TNG : " Unification II "; VOY : " Flashback "; DS9 : " You Are Cordially Invited ") Since then, despite several periods of rocky relations (see Federation-Klingon War (2372-73) ), the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been steadfast allies, especially in the face of Dominion aggression in the 2370s . ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ", " By Inferno's Light ")

Qo'noS on fire during the Civil War

The Klingon relationship with the Romulan people was extremely erratic. The Klingons typically regarded the Romulan Star Empire as a "blood enemy" since at least the 23rd century . Sporadic Romulan attacks against Klingon colonies , such as the Khitomer Massacre , and interference in Klingon affairs, including the Klingon Civil War , continued to sour relations between the two peoples. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident "; TNG : " The Neutral Zone ", " The Enemy ", " Sins of The Father ", " Redemption II ")

Parallel universes [ ]

In the mirror universe , the Klingons were one of the races subjugated by the Terran Empire . ( DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ") By the 24th century Klingons and Cardassians founded the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and eventually defeated their Terran occupiers. ( DS9 : " Crossover ")

In the alternate reality , in 2233 , the crew of the USS Kelvin briefly considered whether a particular lightning storm effect, observed by the Kelvin near the edge of Klingon space, might be Klingon in origin. Starfleet discarded this possibility. The phenomenon preceded the arrival of the Romulan mining vessel Narada from the prime universe . The Narada attacked and obliterated an armada of 47 Klingon warbirds in 2258 . ( Star Trek )

Klingon patrol officers

By 2259 in the alternate reality, after Starfleet's first contact with the Empire, the Klingons had conquered and occupied two planets known to the Federation and fired on Starfleet ships half a dozen times. Tensions between the two powers were high and an all-out war was considered inevitable. During that year, before surrendering to the Federation, Khan Noonien Singh destroyed three D4-class patrol ships on the Klingon homeworld, killing the crews of the vessels. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

According to Daniels , the Klingons joined the Federation by the 26th century in one possible timeline. ( ENT : " Azati Prime ")

Society [ ]

Klingon society was extremely complex. Before its decline in the mid-22nd century and again in the late 23rd century, Klingon society was based on a feudal system organized around traditional Great Houses of noble lineage, to which various parts of the population owed fealty. The Great Houses are traditionally represented in the Klingon High Council , which was led by a Chancellor , replacing the heredity leader of Emperor .

The decline of Klingon culture was demonstrated in the acts of the Klingons themselves. They stopped caring about their weapons to the point that they let them rust and even stopped caring for true honor. ( ENT : " Marauders ", " Judgment ") Sometime after the augment virus took hold of the Klingon Empire , a new regime took control, turning the Empire into an authoritarian state that kept tabs on all who served. ( DIS : " Battle at the Binary Stars "; TOS : " Errand of Mercy ") The old ways returned in the latter 23rd and early 24th centuries respectively.

Males traditionally dominated public life in the Empire, assuming the leading roles in politics and the military with only rare exceptions. ( TNG : " Redemption ") There were three notable exceptions to the prohibition of women serving on the High Council. In 2257 L'Rell rose to High Chancellor and Dennas served on the High Council. The third instance occurred in 2293 when Azetbur became Chancellor of the High Council after her father, Gorkon, was assassinated ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ). Women traditionally dominated the household and the management of the family's affairs. ( DS9 : " You Are Cordially Invited ") Klingon women were treated as equals, except in politics and matters of inheritance. Law prohibited them from serving in the High Council and they could not take control of their Houses unless they had the money and no male successors of the lineage. Otherwise, Klingon women were expected to exhibit the same physical prowess and lust for blood and honor as the men.

Klingon society functioned through a system of family reputation and honor. Tradition was an integral part of their lives and breaking from observances was considered a grievous insult to society, an insult not forgotten easily. An offense usually brought shame to the offender's name for several generations. The highest shame was discommendation , an action by the High Council to officially strip a Klingon of his personal or family honor. Bloodlines and relations were also taken very seriously by any "true" Klingon. Lines comprised more than mere family members. ( TNG : " New Ground ")

The military was integral to Klingon society, as it provides opportunities for warriors to die in battle. For the same purpose, the Empire often seeks to expand through conquest. Discipline was strictly enforced, by one's superiors and subordinates both; the latter may assassinate his superior and take his place. This gives Humans the false impression that there are no rules, but in fact, this can be done only under certain conditions, dereliction of duty and cowardice among them, and the challenge can be made only to a direct superior. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor ", " Sins of The Father ")

An integral part of tradition was the various rituals that marked milestones in a Klingon's life or the history of the Empire. Most notable of the rites was the Rite of Succession , which a future leader of the Empire had to complete with a valid Arbiter of Succession ( Captain Jean-Luc Picard , in the case of Gowron ) overseeing the proceedings. Before the Rite could begin, there was another elaborate ceremony needed to confirm the death of the previous leader. This was known as the Sonchi ceremony . ( TNG : " Reunion ") Individual Klingon warriors were expected to go through the Rite of Ascension to be recognized as a full adult. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ") If the house that an individual Klingon belonged to was dissolved or fell into dishonor, he could be adopted into another house through the R'uustai or alternative ceremonies that symbolically marked the joining of kinship and allegiance. ( TNG : " The Bonding "; DS9 : " Sons of Mogh ", " Soldiers of the Empire ", " Sons and Daughters "). The Right of Vengeance , allowed Klingons to seek redress for the deaths of their family members by engaging the one responsible in single combat. The right was so important, that even the discommended could claim it against important political figures, as the discommended Worf was able to challenge Duras (a candidate for the title of Chancellor. ( TNG : " Reunion ")

Klingons were extremely territorial. According to the first known Klingon linguist, there was no such thing as an "insignificant corner of Klingon space". ( ENT : " Bounty ")

Evolution [ ]

Origins [ ].

Worf's transformation into a de-evolved Klingon

Like their Human, Cardassian , Vulcan , and Romulan counterparts, Klingons and many of the Milky Way's species all shared a common ancestry back to the ancient humanoids and the DNA code they produced and seeded across the galaxy. Though each evolved under separate conditions from each other, their shared DNA allowed these species to remain roughly compatible and viable with each other. ( TNG : " The Chase ", " Genesis "; VOY : " Distant Origin ", " Threshold ")

Possessing extreme strength and speed, early Klingons were quite large, weighing up to 200 kilograms . They were armored with an exoskeleton , with spines and bony plates protruding from their sides, upper arms, and back, arms ended with clawed pincers. On their face were venom sacs , filled with bio-acidic compound and spitting glands inside their mouth that were used for defense and to mark territory. Along with these sacs, these early Klingons had two mandibles protruded from their lower jaw. ( TNG : " Genesis ")

These prehistoric males used vocalizations to frighten other predators , mark its territory, and commence its mating process. These early Klingons mating rituals involving biting its intended mate, to induce pheromone production in the sebaceous glands . Once the mate was ready, the pheromones drew the male Klingon back to its location. ( TNG : " Genesis ")

The Modern Warrior [ ]

Modern Klingons developed a varied line of physical attributes, ranging from well pronounced cranial ridges to what was best described with the dysphemism "pointy-headed", as coined by Harry Mudd .

Anatomy [ ]

Like most humanoids, the essence of the Klingon anatomical form consisted of a head , neck , torso , and four limbs .

Internally, the Klingon anatomy was markedly different from that of other humanoids. There was a great deal more multiple redundancies in their organs, a principle they called brak'lul . This allowed Klingons to survive severe injuries in battle. They had twenty-three ribs , two livers , an eight-chambered heart , three lungs , two urinary tracts , and even redundant neural function as well as multiple stomachs . Some geneticists believed that the extra organs, notably the third lung, evolved to give Klingons greater stamina on the battlefield. Klingons had relatively little knowledge of their own biology and their medicine was very poorly developed. This was largely due to their warrior traditions – a Klingon who was wounded was expected to be left to either survive through his own strength, die, or undergo the hegh'bat , a form of ritual suicide. ( TNG : " Ethics "; VOY : " Lineage "; DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ") Conversely, their society having dueled and killed each other for generations taught them what is immediately lethal for their species. ( TNG : " Reunion "; DS9 : " Tacking Into the Wind ")

The most distinctive feature of the modern Klingon was a sagittal crest, beginning on the forehead and often continuing over the skull. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture , et al.) Klingons head shape differed between individuals, with some having skulls that extended backwards into an elongated cone shape. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ", " Choose Your Pain ", " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ") The cranium, itself, was encased in an exoskeleton, which possessed a feature known as the tricipital lobe . ( TNG : " Descent ")

The lower half of the face tended to follow a familiar humanoid appearance, and even the ridges on the back of their heads if any tend to be less pronounced and slight, leaving the general shape as Human skull and covered in more skin than bone (see Chang for example), it was in these regions where hair was most likely seen to grow. Eyebrows tend to grow in a more diagonal direction than other humanoids, but also had noticeably diagonal suborbital ridges where eyebrows otherwise existed.

Klingons ears included both external auricle and pinna and recessed pinna. External auricle structures tended to be rounded, and the recessed pinna tended to come to a point before forming into the back of the head, Klingons of the alternate reality had pointed auricles of a similar size and shape to the recessed pinna, with slight ridges along the top. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Klingon eye

Klingon eyes were generally round in size and shape (consisting of varying shades with white sclera). They may flash more white of their eyes which they use to intimidate a rival or enemy. ( TNG : " Reunion "; DS9 : " Tacking Into the Wind ") Other Klingon eyes had large corneas, pink sclera, and almost gem-like reflective quality to them. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ", et al.) Klingons, especially females, were said to lack tear ducts . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ) However, for males Klingon myth stated that Kahless once filled the ocean with his tears, and at least one Klingon, Kurn , produced tears. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part II "; DS9 : " Sons of Mogh ")

They also had more physically pronounced cheeks, and a vertical ridge that went down their chin into their neck which expanded into ridges on their upper chest and shoulders and between the breasts of at least the females. The neck structure varied from smooth flesh to flesh containing pits and bony structures that led up the side of their head, and down the back of their head and spine.

Klingon nose

Klingon noses tended to vary having between several slight horizontal ridges on the brow of their noses, or a single vertical ridge or crack from the top of the brow to the tip of the nose to being wider and flatter, nearly flush against the forehead. They also had heavier ridges over their nostrils, compared to the two minimally ridged or un-ridged nostrils. The nose tended to lay flatter on the face than in other Klingons as well and wider. ( TNG : " Heart of Glory "; DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ")

Klingon teeth typically consisted of two sharp fangs (incisors) with crooked or sharpened teeth (it was said they sharpen their teeth, often before going into battle). ( VOY : " Unimatrix Zero "; ENT : " Broken Bow "; DS9 : " Apocalypse Rising ") However, not exclusive, others had pronounced thick lips with sharp teeth, with each tooth being considerably larger size. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ", et al.)

Klingons of both sexes usually had hair on their heads while male Klingons often had facial hair as well. ( TOS : " Day of the Dove "; TNG : " Redemption ") Hair was usually long, curly and wavy, described as thick and luxuriant. ( TNG : " Schisms ") Accelerated hair growth was often experienced by Klingons during puberty, or jak'tahla , along with severe mood swings and unusual aggressive tendencies. ( Star Trek: Insurrection ) Klingon hair greyed with age. ( DS9 : " You Are Cordially Invited ") Other Klingons were completely bald , lacking facial hair. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ", et al.) For Klingons with hair, cases of receding hairlines or full or partial baldness existed during 2160s , and later in the 2260s through 2290s ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; Star Trek Into Darkness ; ENT : " Divergence "; TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles ", " Day of the Dove "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ") Klingons as young as those who had reached the Age of Ascension , typically did not wear beards. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part II "; DS9 : " Sons and Daughters ", " You Are Cordially Invited ", " Penumbra ") Klingons of the alternate reality vary from balding and no facial hair, to those with long hair and beards. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Some Klingons also had sharp thick talons on their hands that make up the end of their digits.

The chest of the Klingon males appeared to be largely smooth and slick, while the females had a large chest area with ridges that came down to the top of their breasts across their shoulders. The backs of these Klingons were highly covered with ridges from shoulder to shoulder and across the small of their back radiating from highly defined and thickly ridged spines. The sides of the abdomen of at least the females appeared to be highly defined with rib-like ridges as well. The buttocks region was even heavily ridged. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ", " Battle at the Binary Stars ", " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum ", " Into the Forest I Go ")

Klingons had ridged spines, chests and feet (though these ridges and other armor like structures extend out covering almost the entire back, sides and abdominal region on the 'pointy-headed' Klingons). ( TNG : " Ethics "; DS9 : " Sons of Mogh "; ENT : " Broken Bow ") After birth, some Klingon infants experienced a pronounced curvature to the spine, a form of scoliosis, which was correctable by surgery. This "defect" tended to run in Klingon families, especially among females. Federation medicine, fortunately, advanced beyond that, allowing an additional choice of treatment involving genetic modification of the fetus. ( VOY : " Lineage ")

Augment virus [ ]

The anatomy of a Klingon male afflicted with the Augment virus

Klingons afflicted with the augment virus , propagated by a mutation of the Levodian flu was inadvertently created by Klingon researchers who were attempting to bio-engineer enhanced warriors using DNA from genetically-modified Human embryos left over from Earth 's Eugenics Wars . These Klingons lost their cranial ridge features, and were in essence, remarkably similar in appearance to modern Humans. ( ENT : " Affliction ", et al.)

Though the cure for the virus had been distributed throughout the Empire, the afflicted Klingons' DNA had been altered by the virus, and condition was passed onto the descendants of the infected. Initially there were millions of Klingons who had to live with the disfigurement for well over a century. ( ENT : " Divergence "; TOS : " Errand of Mercy ", et al.)

Though Human in appearance and distinguishable primarily by tricorder readings alone, Tribbles were still able to single out and identify these Klingons. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles ")

Hybridization [ ]

Klingon pregnancies normally ran thirty weeks, but with mixed species, gestation times were shorter. As early as seven weeks (at which point a Human fetus doesn't even have legs) a fetus with a single Klingon grandparent was already able to kick the uterine wall hard enough to be felt externally. ( VOY : " Lineage ") Klingons were said to have a different, not fully compatible number of reproductive organs than Humans. ( DIS : " Choose Your Pain ") However, basic anatomy does actually appear to align between Humans and Klingons. ( DIS : " Into the Forest I Go ") Whenever Klingons interbred with other species they showed characteristics of both species.

The odds against Klingon-Human conceptions were rather high. However, when successful, Klingon and Human metabolisms sometimes clashed, causing biochemical fluctuations in the mother, which may lead to fainting. Klingon traits remained dominant for several generations, even with a single ancestor; therefore, a child even ¼ Klingon still possessed forehead ridges. It is possible to see the eventual phenotype of a hybrid while the fetus is still gestating using a holographic program and projection. If early enough in development, genetic manipulation can be taken to remove Klingon DNA from the developing fetus. ( VOY : " Lineage ")

Hybridization revealed that Klingon DNA tended to be more dominantly expressive in the physical appearance of their offspring .

This was found to be especially true in the case of hair color and appearance of cranial ridges, especially with Humans. ( VOY : " Lineage "; TNG : " Reunion ", et al.) In the case of Romulan -Klingon hybridization, the ears were the only visible telltale indication of their non-Klingon heritage. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part II ")

Physiology [ ]

Skin colors ranged from olive, brown, and black to pearlescent/metallic across the entire spectrum of the rainbow, varying from purple, pink, burgundy red, yellowish tan, dark orange, umber brown, grey, blue, dark green, coal black, and chalky white. Their skin had a shimmery slick metallic semi-reflective sheen to it. Albino Klingons were often considered outcasts in Klingon society. ( DIS : " Battle at the Binary Stars ")

Klingon children matured far more quickly than Human children. At the age of only one Earth year, a Klingon child had the appearance a Human child had at about four. By the age of eight Earth years, a Klingon attained the maturity a Human did not reach until about age sixteen. ( TNG : " Reunion "; DS9 : " Sons and Daughters ") Rop'ngor was a common childhood disease among Klingons. ( TNG : " Up The Long Ladder ") When Klingon children began growing into adults, they went through jak'tahla , a Klingon form of puberty. ( Star Trek: Insurrection ) Like other mammalian species, Klingon females were capable of lactating to breast-feed infants. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor ")

Klingons tended to live for over 150 years. Even into advanced old age, Klingons were usually still strong enough for combat, but were still susceptible to various mental conditions associated with old age. ( DS9 : " Blood Oath ", " Once More Unto the Breach ")

Klingons were notably stronger than most humanoids, at least as strong as Vulcans. They might have even been stronger, as the half-Klingon B'Elanna Torres was able to wrestle with the Vulcan Vorik on equal grounds and eventually defeat him, despite the fact that he was larger than her. However, despite their endurance and general robustness, Klingons had a considerably lower tolerance to the cold than Humans. ( VOY : " Blood Fever ", " Displaced "; DS9 : " Change of Heart ", " Take Me Out to the Holosuite ")

The Klingon sense of smell was notably acute; in fact, it was powerful enough to be used effectively to track down prey during a hunt. Their sense of smell was also suggested to play an integral role in their mating practices. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part II ", " Genesis ")

Doctor Julian Bashir once sarcastically noted that the natural odor produced by Klingons was comparable to an "earthy, peaty aroma with a touch of lilac ." ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ") To Humans and Vulcans alike, Klingon ships smelled bad. ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; ENT : " Sleeping Dogs ") For example, Leonard McCoy once referred to the environment of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, operated until recently by Klingons, as having a "stench." ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Klingons such as Kurn had the instinctive ability to sense the decision to kill by looking into the eyes of their opponents. ( DS9 : " Sons of Mogh ") Worf despite being raised by Humans on Earth, retained this ability when he sensed Martok's warrior spirit returning enough to win their duel without killing Worf. ( DS9 : " Soldiers of the Empire ")

Klingon blood floating in zero gravity

Klingon blood could contain ribosomes that were compatible for transfusion with a Romulan. ( TNG : " The Enemy ") Klingon blood varied in color from dark red to more of a lightish pink. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , DIS : " Point of Light ")

Klingon nutritional requirements were typical of most humanoids, whereas, Dr. Pulaski once noted that, while their food was considered by most to be unpalatable, usually, "what kills us, kills them." ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor ") One exception of this observation was the tea used in the Klingon tea ceremony , which was toxic to the point of being deadly to Humans, and capable of seriously sickening Klingons, as it did. ( TNG : " Up The Long Ladder ")

Religion and tradition [ ]

Klingon death ritual

Ritual was a very important element in Klingon society.

Klingons did not believe in fate; however, they did appear to believe in some form of luck . ( DS9 : " Rules of Engagement ", " Tears of the Prophets ")

A Klingon who was unable to fight, and hence unable to live as a warrior anymore, had the traditional obligation of committing the hegh'bat , which was the Klingon ritual suicide. Tradition dictated that the eldest son or a close personal friend must assist. That person's role was to hand the dying Klingon a knife so that he could plunge it into his heart, remove it, and then wipe the blood on his own sleeve. ( TNG : " Ethics ")

Klingon rituals included the R'uustai , a bonding ceremony which joined two people together in a relationship similar to brotherhood. ( TNG : " The Bonding ") Klingon tradition held that "the son of a Klingon is a man the day he can first hold a blade." ( TNG : " Ethics ")

If a Klingon warrior struck another Klingon with the back of his hand, it was interpreted as a challenge to the death. Klingon warriors spoke proudly to each other; they did not whisper or keep their distance. Standing far away or whispering were considered insults in Klingon society. ( DS9 : " Apocalypse Rising ")

According to Worf, taking hostages was considered by Klingons to be a cowardly act. Although, there was an incident in which a Klingon aimed his disruptor at the Enterprise-D's warp core, thus taking the ship hostage, in effect. ( TNG : " Heart of Glory ")

When choosing a mate, it was traditional for a female Klingon to bite the male's face, allowing her to taste his blood and get his scent. Males were also known to bite the face of the female they were interested in. ( VOY : " Blood Fever ", " Prophecy ", " Infinite Regress ")

A Klingon can divorce their mate by backhanding them across the face and saying “N’Gos tlhogh cha” which means “our marriage is done”. (Star Trek Adventures: “the Klingon Empire Core Rule Book)

Worf once told Wesley Crusher that, per Klingon mating rituals , " Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects. And claw at you. " Of men, Worf said, " He reads love poetry. He ducks a lot. " ( TNG : " The Dauphin ") Klingon daughters traditionally were given a piece of jewelry called a jinaq when they became old enough to select a mate. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part II ")

Long hair was important part of the ancient traditions of Klingons as told in the legend of Kahless ; it was said he took a lock of his long hair thrusting into the caldera of the volcano of Kri'stak, where it began to burn, and then after plunging it into the lake of Lusor, he molded and twisted into his legendary Sword of Kahless , which he used to kill the tyrant Molor, and then gave it the name Bat'leth, the sword of honor. ( TNG : " Rightful Heir ") To grow a beard was an ancient tradition, to Klingons in the 24th century especially it was a symbol of courage, which they were against shaving (though they were okay with a trim). Klingons did not like having too much hair removed either, letting it continue to grow, and only a little bit of trimming. ( TNG : " The Quality of Life ", " Schisms ", " Family ").

Science and education [ ]

As of the 2150s , the warrior caste had a dominant role in Klingon society, causing science and education to be neglected virtues. Nevertheless, Kolos ' father was a teacher and his mother a biologist at a university . Antaak , on the other hand, was disowned by his father when he chose to become a " healer ", i.e., a doctor. In 2149 , he was an expert in metagenic research and attended an Interspecies Medical Exchange conference, albeit in disguise, as the Klingons were not invited. By 2151 , Klingons possessed technology to encrypt intelligence data within an operative 's DNA . ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Judgment ", " Affliction ")

As of 2154 , medical research was not considered "a priority" for the Klingon High Council, which was why the Empire did not possess the medical expertise to confront the Augment virus without assistance . ( ENT : " Affliction ")

By the late 23rd century , the Klingon Empire sent out expeditions, one of which made first contact with the Ventaxians in 2297 . Hired Klingon craftsmen went on to construct homes on Ventax II . ( TNG : " Devil's Due ")

As of 2365 and onward, Klingon vessels had dedicated science stations . ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor "; DS9 : " Soldiers of the Empire ")

In 2369 , Kurak was a warp field specialist from Qo'noS. While she was a brilliant expert in the field of subspace morphology , her efforts went unappreciated by her fellow Klingons. ( TNG : " Suspicions ")

Although the concept of a healer tending a warrior's wounds after a glorious battle was considered sufficiently honorable to be mentioned in songs (e.g., Dr. Bashir and Worf at Internment Camp 371 ), Klingon medical expertise kept having a bad reputation in the 24th century . In 2367 , Lt. Cmdr. Hobson of the USS Sutherland remarked that no one would ever suggest a Klingon to be a good ship's counselor , as he considered them unsuited for such a position. In 2374 , Klingon General Martok preferred to be treated by the Human Dr. Bashir, opining that "Klingons make great warriors, but terrible doctors." In 2376 , when Lewis Zimmerman was faced being treated by an "obsolete" EMH Mark I , he claimed he would be "better off being treated by a Klingon field medic ". In one particularly extreme case, the crew of Kohlar's battle cruiser , a Klingon generational ship, lived with the Nehret , a fatal virus, for over a century, without ever even considering it might be an actual illness, instead believing it was simply " old age " that kills those unlucky enough to not die in combat. ( TNG : " Redemption II "; DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ", " A Time to Stand "; VOY : " Life Line ", " Prophecy ")

In the year 2404 of an alternate timeline that diverged in 2378 , Klingon scientist Korath created the chrono deflector , a time travel device. ( VOY : " Endgame ")

Technology [ ]

According to Quark , Klingons achieved warp drive sometime after 1947 . By the year 2152 , Klingon vessels were capable of warp 6 . ( DS9 : " Little Green Men "; ENT : " Judgment ")

As of the early 2150s , Klingon vessels were comparatively advanced. In contrast to their Earth Starfleet counterparts, Klingon ships were equipped with photon torpedos , deflector shields , tractor beam emitters , and had thicker hulls reinforced with a coherent molecular alloy . However, as of 2151 , Klingons had no knowledge of holodeck technology. ( ENT : " Unexpected ", " Sleeping Dogs ", " Judgment ", " The Augments ")

By 2256 , cloaking screens began to be used on Klingon vessels, such as the Sarcophagus , but Starfleet was quickly able to penetrate them. As of 2268 , the Klingon D7 class battlecruiser design was used by the Romulans. In 2269 , Starfleet assumed at least Cmdr. Kor's IKS Klothos to possess effective cloaking capability against their sensors, a technology thought to be uniquely Romulan the previous year. Kor would later reminisce that, when his ship was equipped with a cloak, it was still a new piece of technology for the Klingons, understood only by a handful of engineers in the Imperial Fleet. By 2285 , at least one more Klingon ship was definitely using a cloaking device. ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello "; TOS : " The Enterprise Incident "; TAS : " The Time Trap "; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; DS9 : " Once More Unto the Breach ")

As of 2367 , Klingon transporter systems had a range of 20,000 kellicams , which was a common Klingon unit of length measurement as early as 2285 . (e.g., Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; TNG : " Redemption ")

See also [ ]

• Klingon starship classes
• Klingon starships
• Klingon blade weapons
• Klingon language
• List of Klingons
• List of unnamed Klingons

Klingon space [ ]

• See : Klingon space

Food and beverages [ ]

• See : Klingon foods and beverages

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

A list of all appearances of Klingons (excluding the regular appearances of Worf and B'Elanna Torres).

• " Errand of Mercy " ( Season 1 )
• " Friday's Child " ( Season 2 )
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " A Private Little War "
• " Elaan of Troyius " ( Season 3 )
• " Day of the Dove "
• " The Savage Curtain " ( Excalbian recreation only)
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles " ( Season 1 )
• " The Time Trap "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact ( Borg drones )
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• " Hide And Q " ( illusion only) ( Season 1 )
• " Heart of Glory "
• " A Matter Of Honor " ( Season 2 )
• " The Icarus Factor " ( holograms only)
• " The Emissary "
• " Shades of Gray " (archive footage only)
• " The Offspring " (hologram only) ( Season 3 )
• " Sins of The Father "
• " Ménage à Troi "
• " Reunion " ( Season 4 )
• " Future Imperfect " (hologram only)
• " The Drumhead "
• " The Mind's Eye "
• " Redemption "
• " Redemption II " ( Season 5 )
• " Unification II "
• " Unification I "
• " New Ground "
• " Cost Of Living "
• " Imaginary Friend "
• " Rascals " ( Season 6 )
• " A Fistful of Datas "
• " Birthright, Part I "
• " Birthright, Part II "
• " The Chase "
• " Suspicions "
• " Rightful Heir "
• " Gambit, Part II " ( Season 7 )
• " Firstborn "
• " Preemptive Strike "
• " Past Prologue " ( Season 1 )
• " Dramatis Personae "
• " Invasive Procedures " ( Season 2 )
• " Playing God "
• " Blood Oath "
• " The Maquis, Part II "
• " Crossover "
• " The House of Quark " ( Season 3 )
• " Visionary "
• " Through the Looking Glass "
• " The Way of the Warrior " ( Season 4 )
• " The Sword of Kahless "
• " Return to Grace "
• " Sons of Mogh "
• " Rules of Engagement "
• " Shattered Mirror "
• " Broken Link "
• " Apocalypse Rising " ( Season 5 )
• " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places "
• " Nor the Battle to the Strong "
• " Trials and Tribble-ations "
• " In Purgatory's Shadow "
• " By Inferno's Light "
• " Soldiers of the Empire "
• " Children of Time "
• " Blaze of Glory "
• " Call to Arms "
• " A Time to Stand " ( Season 6 )
• " Sons and Daughters "
• " Favor the Bold "
• " Sacrifice of Angels "
• " You Are Cordially Invited "
• " In the Pale Moonlight "
• " His Way "
• " The Reckoning "
• " Tears of the Prophets "
• " Image in the Sand " ( Season 7 )
• " Shadows and Symbols "
• " Treachery, Faith and the Great River "
• " Once More Unto the Breach "
• " The Emperor's New Cloak "
• " Chimera "
• " Strange Bedfellows "
• " The Changing Face of Evil "
• " When It Rains... "
• " Tacking Into the Wind "
• " The Dogs of War "
• " What You Leave Behind "
• " Flashback " ( Season 3 )
• " Real Life " (hologram only)
• " Day of Honor " (hologram only) ( Season 4 )
• " The Killing Game " (hologram only)
• " The Killing Game, Part II " (hologram only)
• " Infinite Regress " ( Borg drone) ( Season 5 )
• " Someone to Watch Over Me " ( photo only)
• " Barge of the Dead " ( dream only) ( Season 6 )
• " Unimatrix Zero " (Borg drone)
• " Unimatrix Zero, Part II " (Borg drone) ( Season 7 )
• " Flesh and Blood " (hologram only)
• " Lineage "
• " Prophecy "
• " Endgame "
• " Broken Bow " ( Season 1 )
• " Unexpected "
• " Sleeping Dogs "
• " Marauders " ( Season 2 )
• " Judgment "
• " The Expanse "
• " Borderland " ( Season 4 )
• " The Augments "
• " Affliction "
• " Divergence "
• " The Vulcan Hello " ( Season 1 )
• " Battle at the Binary Stars "
• " Context Is for Kings "
• " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry "
• " Choose Your Pain "
• " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad " (as Ash Tyler)
• " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum "
• " Into the Forest I Go "
• " Despite Yourself "
• " The Wolf Inside "
• " Vaulting Ambition "
• " The War Without, The War Within "
• " Will You Take My Hand? "
• " Point of Light " ( Season 2 )
• " Perpetual Infinity "
• " Through the Valley of Shadows "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "
• ST : " The Escape Artist " ( Season 1 )
• " Envoys " ( Season 1 )
• " Temporal Edict "
• " Kayshon, His Eyes Open " ( Season 2 )
• " We'll Always Have Tom Paris "
• " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers "
• " wej Duj "
• " The Least Dangerous Game " ( Season 3 )
• " Mining The Mind's Mines " ( nightmarish illusions only)
• " Room for Growth "
• " Reflections "
• " Hear All, Trust Nothing "
• " The Stars At Night " ( sculpture only)
• " Twovix " ( Season 4 )
• " The Inner Fight "
• " Kobayashi " (holograms only) ( Season 1 )
• " Crossroads "
• " Preludes "
• " The Broken Circle " ( Season 2 )
• " Under the Cloak of War "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "

Background information [ ]

• See : Depicting Klingons

The Klingons are the only non-Federation species to have appeared in twelve films. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture , they attempt to attack V'ger and are vaporized. They appear in the simulation of the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . They are the primary villains after the Genesis technology in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the primary vessel is a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and the Klingon ambassador appears early on, to have Kirk extradited . In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , a Klingon ambassador is featured again, on Nimbus III , and they also appear as secondary villains, as a young brash Klingon officer chases Kirk for the glory of defeating an infamous enemy of the Empire. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , General Chang is the primary villain as a Klingon and they also appear throughout the film during the peace process of the Khitomer Accords .

In all TNG movies, Worf appears despite his commitments to Deep Space 9 , and the Duras sisters appear in Star Trek Generations . At least three Borg drones seen in Star Trek: First Contact are also of Klingon origin.

Star Trek: Picard is currently the only series in which no Klingons appear (though an image of Klingons from a TNG episode does appear in first episode during a news report). Martok ’s skull appears in season 2; and Worf appears in Season 3.

The Klingon ships once again appear in the Kobayashi Maru scenario in the film Star Trek . Their full appearance was cut from the film, their prevalence up to then leading Damon Lindelof – who worked on the movie as a producer and a writer of the film's screenplay – to remark, " What Trek film would be complete without Klingons? The answer is... ours. " ( deleted scene "Klingons Take Over Narada" audio commentary , Star Trek  (Special Edition and Three disc Blu-ray) ) Klingons were shown on Ketha Province of Qo'noS in Star Trek Into Darkness . Klingons do not appear in Star Trek Beyond however in Star Trek Beyond - The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow , it is revealed a Klingon was intended to appear in the film, but ultimately cut.

Alex Kurtzman has explained that if Worf is ever introduced into Star Trek: Picard , he would look the same as he did in previous shows, and explained that Discovery Klingons differences are regional racial differences like the differences between Romulans is explained in Picard.

Apocrypha [ ]

In the novel Summon the Thunder , part of the Star Trek: Vanguard series, the Klingons who had a Human appearance (descendants of the victims of the Klingon Augment virus) are referred to as " QuchHa ", or "the unhappy ones". They usually served in their own units although they also were known to mix with the rest of the fleet on occasion.

" Against Their Nature ", the first installment of " Star Trek: Klingons - Blood Will Tell ", an IDW Comics series which tells the stories of " Errand of Mercy ", " The Trouble with Tribbles ", " A Private Little War ", and " Day of the Dove " from the Klingon point of view, suggests that, while Phlox and Antaak's cure removed Augment strength and Augment intelligence, those affected retained the superior ambition of Augments, and as such these Klingons were largely responsible for the Empire's expansion in the century between Star Trek: Enterprise and TOS , eventually becoming powerful enough to achieve a majority on the High Council.

In the novel Pawns and Symbols , Klingons are discovered to be color blind in the Human sense, unable to distinguish red from black. It is also discovered that their vision extends into the ultraviolet, to 32,000 Ångströms .

In the novel Ishmael , the Klingons are described as having been economically conquered and uplifted by the Karsid empire. The Klingons then rebelled and overthrew the Karsids, obtaining their high technology. This was given as one reason for why the Klingons were the way they were, and also how they could have developed star-faring technology given their current social structure.

In Star Trek Online , most Klingons are once again enemies with the Federation by 2399, having taken advantage of the Romulans by conquering much of their territory in the wake of the death of Shinzon and then the destruction of Romulus . The Klingons have also conquered the Gorn , the Orions , and the Nausicaans . Evidently, Klingons are seen joining Starfleet, if unlocked. The Federation-based mission "Past Imperfect" gives a possible answer to how the Augment virus' alterations was eventually cured by revealing that the mad Klingon Admiral B'Vat had kidnapped Miral Paris and brought her to the past, where they used her Klingon/Human DNA to manufacture a cure.

In the online game Star Trek Timelines , includes all three types of Klingons appearing from their various respective eras accurately portraying each character's respective and different physiological differences in appearances. Kor , Koloth , Kang appear reflecting the 23rd century TOS era "Human-augment" part of the history, T'Kuvma appears representing the 23rd century era Klingon/Federation war, characters such as Chang, Kruge, Colonel Worf representing the 2270s-90s period, characters such as Gowron , Worf , Martok , Alexander , B'Elanna Torres , and Duras Sisters appear reflecting the 24th century.

The Discovery related event which introduces T'Kuvma and involves Katherine Janeway (including a 24th century Klingon variant Janeway) is described as such " The USS Shenzhou has arrived in the 24th Century, engulfed in a destructive temporal anomaly. Starfleet has yet to make contact with the crew, but the anomaly has brought all manner of things from the Shenzhou's time into the present day... " [4]

External links [ ]

• Klingon at StarTrek.com
• Klingon at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Klingon at Wikipedia
• The Evolution of Klingon Foreheads  at Ex Astris Scientia
• KlingonSearch.com – dedicated Klingon search portal
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek: Discovery’s Mary Wiseman Knows She And Sonequa Martin-Green Looked Miserable In 'Whistlespeak,' But Told Us Why It Was 'Actually So Freaking Fun'

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Discovery episode "Whistlespeak." Be warned if you haven't yet watched with a Paramount+ subscription . 

Searching for the Progenitors' technology is challenging, but who would've thought it'd ever become a literal footrace to get the next clue? Tilly and Michael were tasked with a grueling run while facing excessive thirst in the latest Star Trek: Discovery and all I could wonder was if filming it was as miserable for the actual actors as the characters themselves. Fortunately, Mary Wiseman confirmed to CinemaBlend that it wasn't as bad as it looked, and her answer made me realize how much I'll miss this cast when the show is over. 

I had the pleasure of speaking to Mary Wiseman for Star Trek: Discovery 's "Whistlespeak," and while I didn't attempt to get more answers out of her potentially returning as Tilly for Starfleet Academy , we did get the scoop about how real the experience of running through the forest while dying of thirst was. Fortunately, Wiseman assured me it wasn't as miserable as it looked and broke down what was and wasn't staged:

I mean, we're definitely running, but we stayed hydrated. I don't think any of us are that method that we wouldn’t hydrate ourselves. It would be pretty punishing. But the running is real. Yeah, you [run] just because it's hard to fake the breath of it. Stuff like that helps. Red makeup helps. They really, really crusted over our lips, so we look really messed up and dehydrated. That helps a lot.

Props to the Star Trek: Discovery makeup team, because I was more fooled than I should have been, and thought Sonequa Martin-Green and Mary Wiseman were at least somewhat dehydrated and possibly desperate for water at the end of the shoot. It's obviously comforting to hear they're just good actors instead, and presumably weren't in any danger of fainting or something like that. 

The stakes were high as the Discovery crew needed to find the rest of the clues to that device, but it was all fun for the BTS crew, according to Mary Wiseman. The actress had heavy screentime with Sonequa Martin-Green, and as they often do on the set of the show, they were having a blast and made up their own scenario to help pass the time while filming in a Canadian park: 

Yeah, 100% It was actually so freaking fun. It's funny that you say that because we had this like whole joke thing going on. Like, ‘Ok, if we got stuck here and we had to live here and like, caveman rules.’ I'm a big fan of Alone and so I'm like, ‘Ok, if we were stranded here, how would we survive,’ and we were like picking out places we could live like little caves. We were like, ‘What's our diet?’ We're like, ‘First day, we gotta make tools. Also, figure out how to make a fire.’ That was like our ongoing joke for the entire time. Like, how do we survive in this gorgeous Canadian Park right now? So, yeah, we had a good time.

During production, no one knew Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 would be the final season , so readers can understand the silliness that occurred on set. The cast and crew were informed after production wrapped, and some like Doug Jones were on cruise for fans when it happened. Had they known at the time, who knows if Mary Wiseman and Sonequa Martin-Green would've been coming up with survival ideas in the midst of filming? 

"Whistlespeak" set up some high stakes in which Tilly's life is saved by Michael being her often inspiring self in helping a pre-warp civilization understand ancient advanced tech on their planet. While the adventure did slow the rampant action Star Trek: Discovery has showcased since Season 5's beginning, at least this pre-warp civilization will no longer use unnecessary human sacrifice to get rain. 

Hearing about the fun Mary Wiseman and Sonequa Martin-Green had on set made my day but also bummed me out a bit. Obviously, Star Trek: Discovery is finished, and we have no guarantees that these two will work together again. With that said, there seemed to be a hint in this episode that they could link up in the Starfleet Academy show , which would be a great treat. if not there, hopefully, there's some unannounced upcoming Star Trek show that can reunite these two!

Until that gets announced, enjoy the rest of Star Trek: Discovery , which streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays. I can't wait to see where the rest of the season goes and just how involved the Breen may get as we inch closer to the finale. 

Star Trek: Discovery’s Mary Wiseman Told Us Her Reaction To Reading The Show’s Ending, And Why She Isn't Watching Before It Hits Streaming

The Tilly actress gave her thoughts on the finale.

The latest Star Trek: Discovery episode was certainly bittersweet. While it was certainly cool to see Mary Wiseman and Sonequa Martin-Green's Tilly and Michael get a big episode with "Whistlespeak," we are officially in the back half of the series' final season. The end is near, and pretty soon, we'll see that big finale that was reconfigured post-cancellation . Having already heard several other co-stars' thoughts on it, Wiseman is the latest to share her thoughts with CinemaBlend on the upcoming coda. 

After watching an episode in which she appeared miserable running around dying of thirst (even though she was just peachy in reality), I had the opportunity to speak to Mary Wiseman about the ep, as well as the final season of Star Trek: Discovery overall. Knowing that Doug Jones found closure with the finale , I had to ask how the Tilly portrayer felt about it, and was surprised to learn she chose not to watch. That said, she did tell me what her thoughts were after reading the ending scripts, saying:

I thought it was lovely. I thought it was kind of kismet that our show felt like it was landing at a good place naturally at the end of season five as written. And so it wasn't a big leap to add the coda. It just all felt very natural and I was pleased. I think it’s a sweet and satisfying conclusion to our story and our characters.

"Kismet" is a great word to describe the ending of Star Trek: Discovery , as it could apply to the fact that the cast and crew got to shoot it. As fans are likely aware at this point, the series had no heads-up about cancellation and only learned about it after the series wrapped production. Paramount+ gave the cast and crew the go-ahead and funding to shoot additional footage to slot out an actual ending, but even then, star Sonequa Martin-Green described the process as tenuous . 

Fortunately, the scenes could be shot, and it just so happened that Season 5 worked out in a way in which it feels as though the writers went in knowing these would be the final episodes. Mary Wiseman will be watching them for the first time alongside the fans, and she explained why when I asked why she didn't take the opportunity to watch the finale in advance: 

I think I just like watching stuff in real-time. It's just like a personal preference, you know. I don't know what the function would be of watching it ahead of time, I guess so I could speak elegantly about it. But that was never gonna happen. That was a nonstarter.

Mary Wiseman isn't the only person in the Star Trek: Discovery cast exhibiting such a choice, as Sonequa Martin-Green also stated she'll wait to watch the finale . I give immense credit to both actresses for exercising the restraint not to buzz through all the episodes the ways fans would, but as Wiseman said, she may not have the same logic as others who have early access. Actors want to see how the fans respond, so it probably makes the most sense to watch the same day and then wait for responses to roll in. 

She's not fooling me. 

Once Star Trek: Discovery is over, the questions will undoubtedly begin from fans on whether they'll ever see these actors again in an upcoming Trek series . I've speculated that since Tilly still has her job as an instructor at Starfleet Academy in Season 5, she'll likely return for the spinoff series set in the same era as Discovery . 

As of writing, she hasn't been confirmed to return, but given that we don't have any casting news from the series thus far, I wouldn't rule it out just yet. While the fact that it's a show about Starfleet Academy would imply the cast will skew younger for the most part, I can totally see a couple of Discovery actors popping by the set to reprise their roles in an authoritative capacity. Tilly and David Cronenberg 's Kovich feel like the ones that I most see doing that, but I wouldn't be shocked to see anyone from the Discovery crew as the series continues.  

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 What I would do is continue to tune in for the final episodes of Star Trek: Discovery with a Paramount+ subscription . It's a shame for me to see the series ending now, considering I feel it's the best that it's ever been currently, but hopefully, we'll get some future novels or movies highlighting the adventures of this crew down the road. 

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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Star trek: discovery season 5 episode 6 is a welcome classic tng episode reminder.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Jonathan frakes reveals how roddenberry described riker & how “nervous” he was in tng season 1, q’s son has an awesome new role in the star trek universe.

• "Whistlespeak" in Star Trek: Discovery pays homage to TNG's "Darmok" with a unique language element.
• Despite a promising setup, Discovery's use of whistlespeak was abandoned early in the episode.
• The episode missed an opportunity to use whistlespeak creatively to resolve the story's conflict.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, "Whistlespeak" contains a welcome reminder of a classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Discovery season 5 is a sequel to TNG season 6, episode 20, "The Chase", and so connections to the iconic Star Trek show are expected. Discovery season 5, episode 6, written by Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz, and directed by Chris Byrne, is a reminder of a completely different TNG episode , however. In "Whistlespeak", Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) visit the pre-warp planet of Halem'no, where Burnham's forced to break the Prime Directive.

While the story of a pre-warp society forming a religion around failing technology is a well-worn Star Trek trope now, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6 makes a good stab at bringing something new to the table. One of the most interesting aspects of "Whistlespeak" is the titular language spoken by the Halem'nites. At the start of the episode, Burnham explains to Tilly that the Halem'nites have two languages, a phonetic language for day-to-day interactions, and whistlespeak for communication across distances. This completely alien language is a reminder of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 2, "Darmok" .

As Burnham seeks the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, she'll need help from a host of new and returning characters.

How Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 6 Recalls TNG’s “Darmok”

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 2, "Darmok", Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is stranded on an alien world with a Tamarian captain whose complex language of metaphors is incompatible with the universal translator. It's only through unpicking the alien language of Captain Dathon (Paul Winfield) that Picard can find a way off the planet. "Darmok" is one of Captain Picard's best TNG episodes , and a wonderful Star Trek story about the importance of communication, no matter how alien the other person's language is.

"Darmok" marked Starfleet's official First Contact with the Tamarians, leading to at least one member of the species, Kayshon, becoming a Starfleet officer in Star Trek: Lower Decks .

From the opening, it appeared that Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, "Whistlespeak" was going to tell a similar story. However, Burnham and Tilly's universal translators quickly translate the Halem'nites' second language before they even beam down to the surface . It's odd that understanding and using Halem'nite whistlespeak isn't a key part of the story, especially as Tilly becomes stranded inside the High Summit weather station with Ravah (June Laporte). Despite this great distance, Burnham doesn't deploy any whistlespeak to help Ravah and Tilly with their predicament , instead opting to beam directly into the weather station's control room.

Why Discovery Season 5, Episode 6 Didn’t Do More With Whistlespeak

Star Trek 's Tamarians unique language of metaphors was certainly easier to write in the script for Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Darmok". Lines like " Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra " are more poetic and enigmatic than increasingly complicated whistling. It's likely for this reason that Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6 abandoned whistlespeak almost immediately, barring the coda at the end of the episode. There was perhaps a feeling among Discovery 's writers that having Burnham and Tilly communicate purely by whistling would undermine the life-threatening drama of the situation.

The weather station in which Tilly and Ravah were trapped was designed by Star Trek: Enterprise 's Denobulans, who installed them on Halem'no to help its people cope with the punishing dust storms.

Given that the whistespeak was a unique element of Star Trek: Discovery 's formulaic pre-warp planet, it feels disappointing that the episode didn't do more with it. Burnham could have saved herself from breaking the Prime Directive by using whistlespeak to communicate some means to stop the weather tower from suffocating Ravah and Tilly to death. Instead, "Whistlespeak" opted for an abrupt conclusion that just beamed Burnham into the heart of the action to save the day. However, given that Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Darmok" is an unimpeachable classic, it may have been wise for Star Trek: Discovery to avoid remaking it.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
• Star Trek: Discovery (2017)