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Klingon

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Klingons, a race of humanoids[?] in the fictional Star Trek universe, were the main antagonists in Star Trek: The Original Series and later became the uneasy allies of the United Federation of Planets. In the original series, Klingons were at first portrayed as looking completely human, of "Mongolian" appearance, but slowly were shown to have increasingly prominent and distinct facial features. This trend continued with each Star Trek movie and culminated with the appearance of Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Here, we see a dark skinned humanoid with a very high hair line which exposes a network of "cranial ridges" which are unique to each family and vary significantly even with individuals within particular families.

History of the Klingon Empire

The Klingon Empire was founded around 500 C.E. by Kahless the Unforgettable[?] on the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS (Kronos), and is still going strong nearly 2,000 Earth years later.

Planets and moons currently considered to be, or to have been, under Klingon jurisdiction include Kronos, Nimbus III (jointly held with the Romulan empire and the Federation), Neural, Praxis, Elas, Troyius, Morska, Narendra III, Rura Penthe and Khitomer[?]. Little is known about much of the Empire's holdings, but it is believed to extend almost as far as that of the Federation.

In 2267 the Klingons and the Romulans forged a military alliance and the Klingons traded several D7 battlecruisers (Birds of Prey) in exchange for some cloaking devices.

In 2293 the atmosphere of Kronos was contaminated when Praxis, one of its moons, exploded. This event was a turning point in relations between the Klingons and the United Federation of Planets, as the Klingon Empire couldn't afford to maintain their excessive military activities and deal with this new problem (parallels with the breakdown of the Cold War and the relationship between the United States and the cash-strapped former Soviet Union were obvious). Thus the two entered into an alliance which lasted about eighty years, ending in 2372 when the Klingons attacked the Cardassians.

In 2342 the Klingons and Romulans began a violent war after the Romulans attacked the Klingon outpost Narendra III[?].

In 2357, Worf, Son of Mogh (played by Michael Dorn[?]) became the first Klingon to enter the Starfleet Academy and in 2364 he was assigned to the NCC-1701-D as relief conn and tactical officer. (Rank: Lieutenant j.g)

In 2367 the Klingon Civil War[?] began after Chancellor K'mpec was murdered. Prior to his murder, K'mpec had named Captain Jean-Luc Picard his Arbiter of Succession[?]. Gowron was selected, but the House of Duras[?] opposed this decision and the war began. It was later revealed that the Romulans were backing Duras and and Duras quickly lost all support, ending the war and putting Gowron as leader of the empire.

Around 2374, the Klingons once again joined in an alliance with the Federation, against the Dominion.

Shortly before the end of the Dominion War, Worf killed Gowron for using bad tactics in the war simply to hurt General Martok's political position. Worf then granted the role of Chancellor to Martok rather than taking it himself.

In 2375 the Federation-Romulan-Klingon fleet defeated the Dominion with the assistance of the Cardassian fleet during a final assault on Cardassia Prime[?].

Leaders of the Klingon Empire include:

Kahless the Unforgettable[?] (Around 500 C.E.)
Chancellor Gorkon[?] (died 2293)
Chancellor Azetbur[?] (beginning 2293)
Chancellor K'mpec[?] (died 2367)
Chancellor Gowron (2367-2375)
Chancellor Martok (beginning 2375)

Trivia

Klingons' blood is pink, a fact consistently overlooked by writers for series after Star Trek: the Next Generation.
Tribbles (a small furry alien animal) shriek in the presence of Klingons, as demonstrated in an original series episode. Conversely, Klingons are also allergic to tribbles. The Klingons went on to exterminate the popular pet throughout the galaxy and into extinction.
The difference between the appearance of original series Klingons and later Klingons has generated a lot of argument. While this issue was addressed in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there was no answer. Some novel writers have suggested that the classic Trek Klingons were actually Klingon-human hybrids, genetically engineered to fight the human-dominated Federation.

Klingon (tlhIngan Hol) is also the language spoken by the Klingons, created by Marc Okrand. See Klingon language.

There is also a programming language based on Klingon called Var'aq.