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.
History
The Klingons' relationship with Humans and the Federation was rocky at best. Following the disastrous first contact between Klingons and Humans in the Broken Bow Incident, tense rivalries and unavoidable conflicts often developed between the two races.
In 2223, Klingon-Federation relations had degraded to a point where both powers were in a state of constant unremitting hostility. Although encounters with the Federation were very rare since the mid-22nd century, they included a Klingon "terror raid" on Doctari Alpha in 2236, as well as the inconclusive Battle of Donatu V in 2245.
As of 2256, the twenty-four Klingon Great Houses were waging war on each other, the Empire having been in disarray for generations. However, in that year, T'Kuvma, a Klingon of noble heritage but not a member of the High Council, successfully started a Federation-Klingon War by provoking – and being martyred at – the Battle of the Binary Stars. Under the creed "remain Klingon", T'Kuvma, as the first Klingon since Kahless, thereby managed to rally the Empire to a common cause as he had portrayed the Federation as an existential threat, whose space had encroached unacceptably close upon that of the Klingons.
The war concluded in 2257, when Starfleet desperately resorted to a direct assault on Qo'noS after it had lost one-third of its ships and twenty percent of Federation territory was under Klingon control. Without official orders, the commander of the assault planted a hydro bomb within the underground volcano system of Qo'noS.
However, the detonator was eventually handed to L'Rell, an early follower of T'Kuvma, who used it to seize power over the Empire and continue her former mentor's work of uniting the disparate Great Houses. The war was then ended by a peace accord in Paris on Earth, and L'Rell became the High Chancellor.
Despite this minor cooperation, relations between the Federation and the Empire remained tense. In 2267, negotiations broke down and both sides declared war. Again, the Klingons launched an immediate offensive, seizing several planets, including the strategically important planet Organia. Unexpectedly, this new Federation-Klingon War was brought to a sudden conclusion just days after it had begun, when the Organians, noncorporeal beings who had covertly observed both Klingons and Humans more than a hundred years earlier, intervened. By rendering all weapons inoperative, they forced an end to all hostilities and an Organian representative simultaneously appeared before the Klingon as well as the Federation leaders on Qo'noS and Earth, respectively. The Treaty of Organia was then imposed, establishing a neutral zone that separated the two powers and instituting a procedure, to be overseen by the Organians, through which planets along the border could be claimed and settled by both sides.
Despite the Treaty of Organia, a number of confrontations, albeit of limited scope, between the Klingons and the Federation occurred over the next decade.
Although negotiations had proceeded intermittently since the imposition of the Organian Peace Treaty in 2267, no major progress was made in establishing any firm relationship between the Klingons and the Federation. In that same year, a brief but ultimately unsuccessful thawing in relations occurred between the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire, with the founding of a jointly managed colony on Nimbus III. Dubbed the "planet of galactic peace," the colony quickly became an embarrassing failure for all three governments, although regular meetings, including Klingon representative General Korrd, did take place at the colony for at least the next twenty years.
The situation abruptly changed with the explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis in 2293. The disaster caused major problems for the Klingon economy and military, as well as a major ecological crisis on Qo'noS itself. The Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, Gorkon, took the controversial move of proposing a full peace treaty and establishing a process for dismantling the military fortifications and outposts along their mutual border – the military emplacements and warships that the Klingons could no longer afford.
The ensuing Khitomer Conference resulted in the signing of the Khitomer Accords, a treaty which became the foundation for peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. For the Romulans on the other hand, it would become a defining motive of the coming decades to re-shift the balance of power by sabotaging this peace.
In 2346, two years after its attack on Narendra III, but at a time when it was supposed to be "an ally" of the Klingons, the Romulan Star Empire attacked the Klingon planet Khitomer and killed almost all of the 4,000 colonists.
By 2353, the Treaty of Alliance was signed, finally establishing a firm friendship between the two former enemies – just as the Organians had predicted almost eighty years before. Sarek of Vulcan as well as his son Spock were key figures in devising and negotiating the treaty. Despite the alliance, as late as 2362 there were still Klingon raids against Federation targets. As of 2364, certain Klingons such as Korris, were disillusioned with the attitude of peace within the Empire, going as far as to call their leadership traitors and go rogue.
Despite the establishment of a full peace treaty with the Federation, the Empire did not remain at peace for very long. During the reign of K'mpec, the longest-reigning ruler in Klingon history, two rival factions developed in the Klingon High Council. One, led by Duras, who was also secretly allied with Romulan interests who were seeking to split the Federation-Klingon alliance, advocated setting an independent and aggressive policy. After K'mpec died of poisoning in 2367, the two factions were on the verge of starting a new civil war.
The civil war, when it finally broke out, was as bold and bloody as any other conflict in Klingon history. The warriors of the Empire threw themselves into the fight with typical zeal. In the first three engagements, the forces allied with the Duras family decisively defeated Gowron's allies. However, it was not generally realized at the time that the Duras forces were secretly receiving material aid from the Romulan Star Empire, namely from Commander Sela and General Movar. The Romulans hoped that a victorious Duras family would end the Federation-Klingon alliance, creating a new Klingon-Romulan alliance to shift the balance of power in the quadrant. Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-D led a fleet of starships to the Romulan-Klingon border, establishing a blockade and preventing the Romulans from sending the Duras forces further assistance. When the Romulan connection was finally revealed, support quickly fell away from the Duras family, and Gowron successfully reunited the Empire under his leadership.
In 2369, the Bajoran wormhole leading to the Gamma Quadrant was discovered – a find with profound implications for the geopolitical situation in the Alpha Quadrant, including the Klingon Empire. The Klingons showed an early interest in exploring the Gamma Quadrant by dispatching scout ships and freighters.
The Federation-Klingon alliance was sorely tested in the 2370s, in the wake of the Federation's first contact with the Dominion, a major hegemonic power from the Gamma Quadrant. In late 2371, the Dominion captured General Martok, a trusted adviser to Gowron, replacing him with a Changeling impersonator.
The Changeling posing as Martok convinced Gowron that the recent civilian uprising in the Cardassian Union had been engineered and supported by the Dominion, and that the uprising heralded an imminent invasion by the Dominion into the Alpha Quadrant. To prevent this invasion from occurring, Gowron launched a massive assault against the Cardassian Empire in early 2372. Emperor Kahless condemned the invasion, but was eventually overruled by Gowron, whose goal was to conquer all Cardassian territories to ensure that it could not be taken by the Dominion.
When the Federation Council protested Gowron's actions, he took it as a betrayal and withdrew from the Khitomer Accords, ending the Federation-Klingon alliance. Although no declaration of official hostilities was made, a state of near-war developed between the two powers. The Klingons even launched a preemptive attack against the Federation outpost Deep Space 9, in order to capture the remaining free members of the Cardassian Detapa Council. However, Deep Space 9 Captain Benjamin Sisko pointed out to Gowron that a war between the Federation, the Klingons, and the Cardassians was exactly what the Dominion wanted – a divided Alpha Quadrant that would be ripe for conquest in the future. Faced with this reasoning, Gowron called an end to the invasion and halted the attack against DS9. In order as not to endanger his position as chancellor, Gowron simply declared victory and returned home. The Klingons also did not leave several captured Cardassian colonies and began fortifying them.
Throughout 2372, the Klingons continuously followed an aggressive posture, systematically looking for weaknesses in systems along their borders, including attacks on several Romulan outposts. From their newly occupied positions in Cardassian territory, Klingon vessels regularly attacked Cardassian targets. They also supplied the Maquis with cloaking devices to further weaken the Cardassians.
Finally, in late 2372 and at the Martok Changeling's suggestion, Gowron demanded that the Federation relinquish claims to a number of territories along their mutual border, namely the Archanis sector, or face war. When the Federation Council refused the demands, the Empire launched an invasion with battles fought for Archanis IV, Ajilon Prime, and Ganalda IV. The Federation-Klingon War was brutal, but short – only a few weeks after it began, Gowron called an end to the conflict after a Starfleet covert ops team revealed that Martok was actually a shapeshifter and the entire war had been engineered to divide the two former allies. However, some hostilities continued after the ceasefire and were only ended when the Dominion began its invasion of the Alpha Quadrant.
When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union in mid-2373, the Klingons were quickly defeated by the Jem'Hadar and driven from all of their Cardassian conquests. Faced with the prospect of a larger war against a much more powerful enemy, Gowron agreed to re-sign the Khitomer Accords and renew the alliance with the Federation. In addition, a detachment of Klingon soldiers was assigned to Deep Space 9, commanded by the real Martok, who had been rescued from a Dominion internment camp.
The Empire and the Federation ultimately fought side by side in the ensuing Dominion War that broke out in late 2373. Many of the most important engagements of the war were conducted in concert, including the Second Battle of Deep Space 9, the attack on Torros III and Operation Return.
However, ultimate victory eventually came at a very high price. When the Breen Confederacy entered the war in late 2375, the use of the previously-unknown energy-dampening weapon effectively nullified the power of Starfleet and the Romulan forces, wreaking havoc on their combined fleets, e.g., at the Second Battle of Chin'toka. Klingon ships were the only ones which could be adapted immediately, but despite quickly deploying 1500 vessels the Klingons where still outnumbered twenty-to-one. Rather than fight a holding action, Gowron ordered that Martok launch a full-scale offensive against the enemy, claiming that they had the advantage of surprise.
Ultimately, the Empire shared in victory with the Federation and the Romulans, after the final defeat of the Dominion at the Battle of Cardassia in late 2375, during which Chancellor Martok himself led the Klingon forces. Standing amid the ruins of Cardassia, Martok had to drink his bloodwine by himself, however, as Captain Sisko and Admiral Ross lost their thirst in the face of all the destruction and death.
Biology
The Klingon race are humanoids that stand on average at 1.6 to 1.9 meters in height and tend to have a skin tone that ranges from a swarthy olive to brown. Their hair is usually braided or worn loose and is black or dark brown in color, although some Klingons would shave their heads during times of war. Klingon hair would often turn gray or white with age. The most distinctive feature of the Klingon species are their forehead ridges which are typically unique to each individual, although family members may share similar ridge features. While externally somewhat similar to Humans, Klingons are larger and stronger than typical humans but have a much reduced tolerance of cold temperatures.
Internally, Klingon physiology contains many redundancies, when compared to other humanoids. Klingons possess eight-chambered hearts, two livers, multiple stomachs, an astounding twenty-three rib pairs, nictitating eyelid membranes, and three testicles. The duplication of vital anatomy is known as to the Klingons as brak'lul. In the field of battle these redundancies allow warriors to continue to fight even after sustaining significant injuries.
Society & Culture
The Klingon species are highly aggressive and are known to fight for almost any reason but typically do so when honor is at stake. Due to their nature as predators, any form of suspicious behavior from whispering to weakness can set off their warrior instincts. Conflicts such as insults to their honor, injustice, a difference in opinion or a crime can only be resolved through violence. As such, Klingons do not shirk from combat and backing away from such confrontations is seen as a sign of cowardice.
The race's warrior mind means that they prefer matters to be clear-cut with speech as well as manners being blunt - this means that they ignore ambiguous concepts as there should be no misunderstanding. To the Klingon psyche, things are either black or white, good or evil - there is nothing in-between the two. This means that a warrior must declare his intent and say what's on his mind. They do this proudly and look into the eyes of others as not doing so is insulting.
Klingon lifestyle means that all utilities must have a purpose and be worthwhile. Things whose purpose are not immediately apparently are scoffed at and ignored. This has resulted in luxuries or comfort being almost completely ignored by the Klingon people who do not make use of recreation in the form of holo-programs or mattresses. Comfort is not something a warrior takes part in. Even their exercise takes this into account with an element of real danger being present in order to make it worthwhile. This means that rituals must test the strength of a warrior while songs must tell the deeds of great warriors and battles.
Despite all this focus on combat, the teachings of Kahless enforced the concept of honor within Klingon lives which makes it the most important aspect within their society. This means that the total sum of their actions as well as those of their parents are considered. This can be gained through victory and sacrifice or lost through shame and defeat. This means that a Klingon will need to satisfy their honor and avoiding such an action means that they will lose face. (Decipher RPG module: Aliens) Despite this being the case, during war time, the great honor Klingons can achieve is victory which means that they are capable of deceptive actions such as waiting in ambush for their enemies.
Klingon culture was shaped by centuries of tradition. Most of the basics of their society were laid out by Kahless the Unforgettable during the forging of the First Empire.
The Code of Kahless consisted of basic rules to limit combat to a contest between equals. It ensured Klingons remained true to their word, that they would not intentionally target non-combatants, or declared neutral parties, and that they would attack openly, and not hide behind poisons or assassins. It also ensured that Klingon warriors would fight for their families and houses, not just for themselves, providing the foundations for a stable Klingon civilization. While for periods of Klingon history the Code had been distorted, or largely ignored, it had never been entirely forgotten, and ensured at least some semblance of Klingon unity.
According to Klingon belief, the honored dead served Kahless the Unforgettable in Sto-Vo-Kor, where, according to some tradition, they serve in the Black Fleet, battling one another in a constant cycle of glorious battle, interspersed with great feasts and the singing of songs and tales of battle.
The dishonored, however, were banished forever to the fire and icy wastes of Gre'thor, a barren wasteland guarded by the great Fek'lhr beast, the Klingon devil. When a dishonored Klingon died, they would not appear in Gre'thor at once but would have to make the journey to this darker aspect of the afterlife. Once a Klingon arrived in the underworld, they would board the Barge of the Dead, where Kortar, the first Klingon, would set sail for Gre'thor. On the journey there are many dangers, such as the Kos'karii, who attempt to lure warriors into the water with their siren-like voices so that they would be lost forever.
