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The 25+ Greatest Klingon Characters

Vote up your favorite Klingon characters from the Star Trek franchise.

The galaxy of Star Trek is filled with compelling stories and characters, but few races stand out like the Klingons. The Klingon characters have been a cornerstone of the franchise, with their fierce honor and warrior ethos endearing them to fans. From their first introduction in the original series to their in-depth development in subsequent TV shows and movies, these characters consistently capture our imaginations.

The wealth of Klingon characters in  Star Trek spans from legendary warriors to cunning tacticians, each bringing something unique. Among these characters are some of the best examples of Klingon culture, whether political intrigue, fierce loyalty, or personal redemption. Klingon women, for instance, challenge traditional gender roles within the Klingon society. Each character’s narrative contributes to a greater understanding of what it means to be a Klingon.

Take Worf, for example, perhaps the most renowned Klingon character in  Star Trek history. As a Starfleet officer who grapples with his Klingon heritage, Worf’s journey is one of the most intricate and admired. Chancellor Martok, with his unwavering loyalty and leadership, embodies the political and military might of the Klingon Empire. Then there’s Kor, a character whose warrior spirit and storied past provide a view of the Klingon legacy. These characters exemplify the best of Klingon society, making them indispensable to the  Star Trek universe.

Ultimately, the best Klingon characters are more than just warriors; they’re figures whose stories of honor, conflict, and camaraderie resonate with us. Whether it’s the struggle of a Klingon torn between two worlds or the ancient warrior’s pursuit of glory, their tales continue to inspire us, ensuring their place in the annals of science fiction history. Vote for your favorite Klingon character, and let your choice boldly go where no vote has gone before!

What makes this character great:

• Rank of Lieutenant Commander
• Serious personality
• Appears In : Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Chancellor of the Klingon Empire
• Close friends with Worf
• Appears In : Star Trek

• Skilled warrior
• Respected leader

• Chancellor of the Klingon High Council
• Defeated by Worf
• Reinstated the House of Mogh

• Friends with Kor, Koloth, and Curzon Dax
• Pledged a blood oath

• Member of Klingon High Council
• Became Rodek
• Fought in the Klingon Civil War

K'ehleyr

• Human and Klingon ancestry
• Mother of Alexander Rozhenko

• Commander of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey
• Tried to ambush the The Enterprise
• Battled Kirk
• Appears In : Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Leader of the House of Grilka
• Visited Deep Space 9
• Married Quark

Duras sisters

• Captured Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
• Fought against the Empire
• Members of the The House of Duras

• Loves Shakespeare
• Tried to frame Captain James T. Kirk for the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon
• Appears In : Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• The first Warrior King and Emperor of the Klingon Empire
• United all tribes
• His legacy is passed down from generation to generation

B'Elanna Torres

• Klingon-Human hybrid
• Served on the Federation starship USS Voyager
• Friends with Chakotay
• Appears In : Star Trek: Voyager

• Powerful warrior
• Dahar master
• Honored with a statue in the Hall of Heroes

• Inspired the naming of the USS Gorkon
• Promoted peace

K'mpec

• Longest-serving Klingon Chancellor of the Klingon High Council
• Named Jean-Luc Picard as the Arbiter of Succession
• Great warrior in his younger days

Colonel Worf

• Skilled attorney
• Represented Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy
• Unmasked a disguised Klingon sniper

B'Etor

• Helped to start the Klingon Civil War
• Sold bilitrium to Bajoran Kohn-Ma terrorists
• Loyal to her sister
• Appears In : Star Trek Generations

• Father of Worf and Kurn
• Ally of Huraga's House
• Followed Ja'rod to Khitomer

• Officer in the Klingon Defense Force
• Became friendly with Riker
• Served on the IKS Pagh

Alexander Rozhenko

• A weapons officer
• Member of the House of Mogh and the House of Martok
• Enjoys jazz

• A mercenary
• Hired by Verad
• Distrusted the Federation

Duras, son of Ja'rod

• Leader of the House of Duras
• Was a member of the Klingon High Council
• Desired the chancellorship

Arne Darvin

• An intelligence officer
• Poisoned a shipment of quadrotriticale grain
• Used the Orb of Time

• Captain of I.K.C. Amar

• A Klingon warrior
• Member of the House of Duras
• Attempted to take over the Klingon Empire
• Star Trek Universe
• Fictional Characters

Live long, and prosper.

Screen Rant

Every version of the klingons in star trek.

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No Star Trek alien has undergone as many changes as the Klingons, and here's every variant featured in the franchise. Although they were the main villain in Star Trek: The Original Series , it wasn't until the movies that they adopted the iconic look that continues to define them to this day. The change from flat foreheads to cranial ridges and long hair has inspired various writers over the years to try squaring the inconsistency in canon, which only complicated matters further.

Given that the Federation is an intergalactic melting pot of cultures, it's unsurprising that Klingons mate with partners from outside their species. There have been several interspecies variations of Klingon, most notably Star Trek: Voyager 's Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), who was the daughter of a human father and Klingon mother. Genetic experiments have also created some fascinating variations on Klingon DNA, making them one of the most diverse Star Trek species. Here's every type of Klingon to appear in Star Trek so far.

RELATED: 27 Klingons Worf Killed In Star Trek (& Why)

12 TOS Klingons

The Klingons first appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 26, "Errand of Mercy". Actor John Collicos, who played Kor in the episode, was the first TOS Klingon, and is largely responsible for their look, and the depiction of them as conquerors. Collicos took inspiration from Genghis Khan, which made the Klingons a more universal foe than the communist analogs they were originally intended as. It's clear to see the influence of Khan on Collicos' look, and on future portrayals. The long moustache, and the calculating military mind that was belied by a tendency for savagery is what defined each of the main 3 TOS Klingons .

11 TNG Klingons

The Klingons got a significant upgrade for 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture , which kept the facial hair but gave them longer hair, more identifiable warrior's armor, and the forehead ridges that would become their trademark. Finally, it was Star Trek: The Next Generation that would polish this look and create the iconic version that endures to this day. Rather than the strange bumps and lumps that were seen on the Klingons in Motion Picture there were proper ridges on the TNG Klingons. The fact that Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) was a Klingon allowed Star Trek to explore the internal society of the Klingon Empire in ways it had never done before.

10 Star Trek: Enterprise’s Klingon Augments

"Broken Bow" revealed that the very first mission for the Enterprise NX-01 was to return a wounded TNG -style Klingon warrior to Q'onoS. In Star Trek: Enterprise season 4, the show attempted to explain the forehead disparity between the TOS and TNG Klingons. The answer was a genetic mutation caused by experiments with creating Augments, like the ones created by Dr. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner) . The mutation resulted in more humanoid Klingons, erasing their forehead ridges and changing their personalities to be more in line with the original TOS versions. A cure was found and the smooth headed Klingons continued to serve the Empire into the 23rd century.

9 Star Trek Into Darkness’ Klingons

The Klingons in Star Trek Into Darkness had bald heads, pierced cranial ridges and also wore a different style of armor. The Kelvin Klingons wore helmets, which felt superfluous given how robust Klingon foreheads supposedly were. The other difference was that the Klingons in the Kelvin timeline felt more secretive and mysterious, like the Romulans in the classic TOS episode "Balance of Terror". Their secretive nature meant that war with the Klingons had not yet taken place in the Kelvin Timeline, whereas in the Prime Timeline, the war had taken place years earlier, as depicted in Star Trek: Discovery .

8 Discovery Klingons

The controversial Klingon redesign overshadowed the many positives of Star Trek: Discovery season 1 . Although they retained the cranial ridges and warrior's armor they were shorn of their TOS- style facial hair and TNG -style long hair. These differences could have been explained by Discovery 's villain T'Kuvma (Chris Obi) who wished to return to a more traditionalist way of life. While that explained the more brutal behavior, it didn't explain the substantially different look. The Klingon controversy meant that the classic Star Trek aliens have been largely absent from the live-action shows, until the return of Worf in Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' Klingon episode in season 2.

RELATED: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Is Finally Doing Klingons Right Again

7 Albino Klingons

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 19, "Blood Oath", three TOS Klingon warriors teamed up with Lieutenant Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) for a revenge mission. Jadzia was fulfilling a blood oath between the Dax symbiont's former host Curzon and Kor, Kang, and Koloth to seek vengeance against The Albino (Bill Bolender). Although Klingon in appearance, the pale-skinned villain with white hair was markedly different from other members of his species, which perhaps explained his status as a fugitive from Klingon justice, and his hatred for the species. Interestingly, the script for "Blood Oath" didn't describe The Albino as a Klingon, only describing him as " an all-white humanoid ".

Star Trek: Discovery seemingly confirmed The Albino's Klingon status by introducing two more albino variants in seasons 1 and 2. Voq (Shazad Latif) was ostracized by Klingon society for his albinism, but eventually rose to prominence by proving his worth to T'Kuvma and vowing to defend his legacy. In Discovery season 2, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) encountered Tenavik (Kenneth Mitchell), who was the son of Voq, and was raised on the planet Boreth. Thanks to the time crystals on the planet, Tenavik had swiftly become an adult, and negotiated with Pike for the use of the temporally charged mineral.

6 Bald Klingon

Prior to Star Trek: Discovery 's bald Klingons , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country had already introduced General Chang (Christopher Plummer). However, Chang's baldness was an exception, rather than the rule that was established for Discovery . The reason for Chang's baldness was purely a request by the actor Christopher Plummer, who requested to have as little Klingon make-up as possible. Plummer got his wish - Kang's ridges are less pronounced, his mustache is more neatly trimmed, and the flowing hair of a Klingon warrior is shorn from his head.

5 Klingon/Human Hybrid

As well as Star Trek: Voyager 's B'Elanna Torres, there are other notable Klingon/Human hybrids in Star Trek canon . B'Elanna's daughter Miral Paris is a quarter Klingon, while Worf's son, Alexander Rozhenko was a quarter human. Alexander's mother was K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) the daughter of a human mother and Klingon father, who struggled with coming from two vastly different cultures. It's no surprise, therefore, that she found a soulmate in Worf, a Klingon who was raised by his adoptive human parents Sergey and Helena.

RELATED: Star Trek: Worf's Son Alexander - Age Plot Hole Explained

4 Klingon/Trill Hybrid

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Children of Time", the crew of the USS Defiant discover a planet inhabited by their own descendants. The civilization was a result of a temporal accident which left the Defiant crew marooned 200 years in the past. Among the descendants is Brota, a Klingon/Trill hybrid descended from Worf and Dax, who decided to live life as a Klingon, with the Sons of Mogh. When the Defiant avoided the accident, the timeline was erased, along with the crew's descendants.

3 Klingon/Romulan Hybrid

In "Birthright", Worf discovered an isolated colony on Carray IV, where Klingons and Romulans lived peacefully together. The concept horrified Worf, who was forced to confront his anti-Romulan prejudice when he became attracted to Ba'el (Jennifer Gatti) a half-Klingon, half-Romulan woman who lived at the former prison camp. Ba'el was the daughter of a Romulan father, Tokath (Alan Scarfe) and Klingon mother, Gi'ral (Cristine Rose). Worf's arrival on Carraya IV risked revealing the truth of the colony to the wider Romulan and Klingon Empires, but despite his distaste, he agreed to keep its location a secret, ensuring the safety of Ba'el and her fellow colonists.

2 Klingon/Betazoid/Human Hybrid

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Parallels", Worf found himself shifting through alternate realities. In one of these parallel universes Worf discovered that he was married to Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and had a son and daughter, Eric-Christopher and Shannara. As the children of Worf and Troi, they were essentially hybrids of Klingon, Betazoid, and Human DNA. The timeline was eventually aborted, as was Worf and Troi's TNG romance , meaning that the two children never came to be.

1 DS9's Klingon Infiltration Team

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 1, "Apocalypse Rising", Starfleet sent an infiltration team into the Klingon Empire. This required Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) to be surgically altered to look like Klingons. The process seemed considerably less painful than the opposite process conducted by Voq to assume the identity of the human Lieutenant Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) in Star Trek: Discovery . It's clear from Voq's grueling ordeal that, for the Klingons at least, surgical alterations in Star Trek 's 23rd century were still in their infancy.

Star Trek: Discovery — the Klingons have been cast

The intent remains for Star Trek: Discovery to launch this May, making it fairly significant that CBS has made casting decisions on three additional actors, bringing the total to six. New to the final frontier — c'mon, you knew it would figure in there somewhere — are Shazad Latif, Chris Obi and Mary Chieffo.

Latif is Kol, commanding officer of a Klingon vessel. The actor most recently portrayed Dr. Henry Jekyll in Showtime's highly acclaimed Penny Dreadful . Before that, he starred in the series Ordinary Lies and Toast Of London .

Obi takes on the role of the ruler of the Klingon Empire, T'Kuvma, whose intent is reportedly to unite the various Klingon houses. In the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , that position was held by Chancellor Gorkon ( David Warner ) while in the worlds of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , which take place about a century after the events of Discovery , it was Gowron (Robert O'Reilly). Prior to his Star Trek debut, Obi will be seen as Mr. Jacquel in Starz' upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods .

And Chieffo, rounding out the Klingon hirings, is going to play Battle Deck Commander L'Rell on the vessel that will see her working alongside Kol and T'Kuvma. The actress, who stands at six feet, has appeared in a number of films in supporting roles.

Previously cast on Discovery are Michelle Yeoh as Starfleet captain Georgiou, Doug Jones as Lt. Saru, an alien science officer working for Starfleet; and Anthony Rapp as a fungus expert (no doubt preferring the much loftier-sounding astromycologist) Starfleet science officer, Lt. Stamets.

Little is known about the new show, although the way things are shaping up, it looks like there will be the starship Discovery , on which the still-to-be-cast Number One (and the central character of the series) will be based; a Klingon vessel and Georgiou's ship. More specific premise details should be announced soon.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Errand of Mercy

• Episode aired Mar 23, 1967

With a war with Klingons raging, Kirk and Spock attempt to resist an occupation of a planet with incomprehensibly placid natives. With a war with Klingons raging, Kirk and Spock attempt to resist an occupation of a planet with incomprehensibly placid natives. With a war with Klingons raging, Kirk and Spock attempt to resist an occupation of a planet with incomprehensibly placid natives.

• John Newland
• Gene L. Coon
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• John Abbott
• 30 User reviews
• 12 Critic reviews

Top cast 21

• Captain James T. Kirk

• Klingon Soldier
• Second Soldier

• Klingon Guard
• (uncredited)
• Organian Villager

• Lieutenant Leslie
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia John Colicos intended to reprise the role of Captain Kor in a later episode Day of the Dove (1968) , but scheduling conflicts with Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) prevented this. The role of Captain Kang ( Michael Ansara ) was written to take the place of Kor, and the performances of both actors were so excellent that they became equally legendary.
• Goofs Although Spock observes that Organia is a "a primitive society" which is "totally stagnant" and making no progress toward mechanization, neither Spock nor Kirk appears to notice that the doors to the Organian council chamber open and close by themselves when someone approaches. There is no evidence of any Organian opening or closing the doors.

Mr. Spock : I should say the Organians are as far above us on the evolutionary scale... as we are above the amoeba.

• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
• Connections Edited from This Island Earth (1955)
• Soundtracks Theme From Star Trek Written by and credited to Alexander Courage

User reviews 30

• Feb 15, 2022
• March 23, 1967 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
• Desilu Productions
• Norway Corporation
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 50 minutes

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