Klingon Empire

First appeared:   Year 2266 / "Day of the Dove" [TOS] - (Year 2151 / "Broken Bow" [ENT]) Type:   Humanoid, with partly exo-skeletal bone structure

The Klingons are a humanoid warrior race, which originally came from the planet Qo'noS. They are a proud and tradition-bound people who value personal and family honor above all else, and the aggressive Klingon culture has made them a military power feared and respected by all. Also Klingon physiology is quite unique, since their bodies incorporates multiple redundancies for almost all vital bodily functions. This characteristic, known as brak'lul, gives the Klingon warriors enormous resiliency in battle.

The whole Klingon civilization is based on the concept of Honor and Family reputation (Much the same as the ancient Japanese feudal system). The crowning achievement of any Klingon's life is to die with honor, and preferably in a honorable and glorious battle.

Klingon Warrior	Klingon Diplomat

The Klingon nation was founded some 1.500 years ago by 'Kahless the Unforgettable', who first united the Klingon people by killing the tyrant, Molor. The first contact between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets took place in 2218, which was a disastrous event that led to nearly a century of hostilities between the two powers.

In 2268 the Klingon Empire entered into a brief alliance with the Romulan Star Empire, which resulted in the sharing of military technology and spacecraft designs, providing the Romulans with Klingon battle cruisers, and the Klingons with cloaking technology.

Then in 2293 a catastrophic explosion occurred on the Klingon moon Praxis, which caused serious environmental damage to their Homeworld and the destruction of their key energy resources. In the economic disarray that followed, the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, leader of the Klingon High Council, found that his empire could no longer afford its massive military forces. Gorkon therefore launched a peace initiative, offering to end some 70 years of hostilities with the Federation.

Council Leader Gowron

During the century that followed, the Klingon High Council was a hotbed of political intrigue. So in 2367 the Empire was nearly plunged into civil war when the Council Leader K'mpec died of poison. This murder, viewed as a killing without honor under Klingon tradition, triggered a bitter struggle to determine K'mpec's successor. K'mpec had taken the unorthodox precaution of appointing a non-Klingon as his Arbiter of Succession, namely the renowned Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Under Captain Picard's mediation, political newcomer Gowron (see picture to the left) emerged as the sole candidate for Council Leader.

Klingon written language

Then in 2368 the Klingon Empire endured a brief but bitter civil war, when forces loyal to the powerful Duras family unsuccessfully attempted to block Gowron. Though their nation is called an empire, an emperor has not ruled it for more than three centuries. This situation changed rather dramatically in 2369, when the clerics of Boreth produced a clone of Kahless the Unforgettable. Although their initial claim that the clone was the actual Kahless was quickly disproved, this clone was regarded as the rightful heir to the throne, and with the support of the High Council Leader Gowron, was initiated as the ceremonial Emperor of the Klingon people.

Two types of Klingons have been seen over the years. One type that can best bee described as swarthy looking humanoids, and the other with a heavily crested exo-skeletal forehead. There is much speculation as to why this has occurred, and theories includes such speculations as mass mutation of the entire race, genetic alteration for First Contact with humans, an evolutionary process that every Klingon goes through, etc. etc., or maybe the Klingon Empire is composed of more that one race.

When Gene Rodenberry himself was asked about the two types of Klingons, he merely replied: "They have always had ridges, but in the 60's, the latex face pieces weren't available."