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97-453: Writer Paul Schneider created the Romulans for the 1966 Star Trek episode " Balance of Terror ". As a basis, he considered what the ancient Roman Empire might have looked like had it developed to the point of spaceflight . Physically, the Romulans were presented as humanoid , but the show's make-up department gave them pointed ears to distinguish them from humans. In the series, which

194-507: A warrior caste relying on slave labor and reminiscent of Ancient Sparta . With a greatly expanded budget for makeup and effects, the Klingons were completely redesigned for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), acquiring ridged foreheads. In subsequent television series and in later films, the militaristic traits of the Klingons were bolstered by an increased sense of honor and a strict warrior code similar to those of bushido , and

291-548: A Klingon language course, which is as of June 2022 in Beta. While the language is widespread, mastery of the language is extremely uncommon. Okrand himself is not fluent, and the actors who speak the language in the Star Trek series are more concerned with its expression than the actual grammar. According to the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records , Klingon is the most spoken fictional language by number of speakers, Klingon

388-490: A Klingon warrior is coming (as shown in " Heart of Glory "). Yet Klingons have no burial rites, and dispose of corpses by the most expedient means available, considering them "empty shells". The Klingons' spiritual leader is Kahless , a messianic historical figure who established early codes of honor and was the first Klingon emperor. His fabled weapon, the Sword of Kahless, is depicted as a unique bat ' leth that serves as

485-594: A consequence of the harsh-sounding language. Todd Bryant (Captain Klaa in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) similarly noted that if an actor was projectile-spitting on others as he spoke Klingon, he was doing a great job. When filming The Undiscovered Country , Christopher Plummer asked director Nicholas Meyer to adapt his character's look, feeling the heavy forehead appliances looked rather fake. Instead, Plummer's character, General Chang,

582-410: A feeling of depth from the appearance. Over time, Westmore and the other makeup artists designed different sizes of prosthetic headpieces which could be quickly applied and modified to save time; the amount of preparation to turn an actor into a Klingon decreased from around three hours to one. While important characters had custom headpieces, background actors used pre-made masks with minor touchup around

679-540: A fictional extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek universe and were devised for the episode " Balance of Terror ". In 2014, the episode was rated the best in the franchise by io9 . They were reused for the second-season episode "The Deadly Years" and the third-season episode "The Enterprise Incident". They are humanoid beings originating from the planet Romulus and are known for their cunning, secrecy, and often adversarial relations with other civilizations, especially

776-622: A form of puberty, which, as Picard puts it in Star Trek: Insurrection "hardly does it justice" and includes sudden bursts of hair growth, extreme mood swings, violent tendencies, and the Klingon equivalent of acne (called 'Gorch' in Klingon). In comparison to The Original Series , Klingon culture is thoroughly examined in later series' episodes, part of a larger movement by Star Trek writers to deepen viewer understanding of

873-534: A joint collaboration between the KLI, Simon & Schuster, and Ultralingua launched the Klingon Language Suite for the iPhone concurrent with the release of the new movie. The popularity of the language meant that in 1996 it was considered the fastest-growing constructed language, ahead of other languages such as Tolkien's Elvish or Esperanto . In 2018, the language learning app Duolingo added

970-633: A name, in this case the Haakona . In the third-season episode " The Enemy ", written by David Kemper and Michael Piller and first screened in November 1989, the Enterprise -D is depicted rescuing a crashed Romulan ship. The episode introduced the Romulan character Tomalak, played by Andreas Katsulas , who would reappear in three further Next Generation episodes. It also further established the idea of

1067-795: A natural resistance to " the Phage ," which plagues the Vidiians of the Delta Quadrant. Like Cardassians , they avoid cold temperatures. Klingons also have a heightened sense of smell as suggested in "Birthright, Part II" in The Next Generation , when Worf and a Klingon boy go hunting and can track an animal by scent. Klingon children are fierce and aggressive by nature; from as soon as they can walk, they are instructed into honing their hunting and combat skills, strengthening their physical prowess and agility. Like humans, they go through

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1164-407: A new spine, as was demonstrated with Worf when his spine was surgically removed and replaced with a transplanted, genetically cloned new one. Their rapid metabolism allows injured Klingons to heal quickly. All of this makes Klingons extremely hardy and difficult to kill, as necessitated by their aggressive nature, and resistant to physical trauma, environmental exposure, and illness. Klingons alone have

1261-537: A secret Klingon research facility and discovers Amar Singh, a descendant of Khan Noonien Singh , has merged Klingon, Augment, and Gorn DNA to create a ferocious, mindless monstrosity the player must destroy. Singh is arrested and imprisoned at Facility 4028. Klingons possess a robust and enduring biology as well as large and muscular statures. Klingons have been seen on multiple occasions possessing physical strength equal to or superior to that of Jem'Hadar and Hirogen , two other races possessing immense strength, and

1358-456: A significant enmity between the Romulans and the Klingons, with the Enterprise' s Klingon officer, Worf ( Michael Dorn ), refusing to donate blood to save the life of an injured Romulan; the scriptwriters had debated whether to include this, with Dorn initially reticent. Three episodes later, in " The Defector ", written by Ronald D. Moore and first screened in January 1990, a Romulan admiral

1455-462: A television writer from the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a novelist of the United States born in the 1920s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Klingons The Klingons ( / ˈ k l ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ɒ n / KLING -(g)on ; Klingon : tlhIngan [ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn] ) are a humanoid species of aliens in

1552-688: A view of the afterlife similar to that of the Ancient Scandinavians . Klingons are recurring antagonists in the 1960s television series Star Trek , and have appeared in all subsequent series, along with ten of the Star Trek feature films . Initially intended to be antagonists for the crew of the USS Enterprise , the Klingons became a close ally of humanity in Star Trek: The Next Generation . In

1649-567: Is one of many language interfaces in the Google search engine, and a Klingon character was included in the Misplaced Pages logo before its May 2010 update, when it was replaced by a Geʿez character. As the Klingons are portrayed as a warrior culture, Klingon starships are usually depicted as warships , heavily armed with a variety of particle beam weaponry and antimatter warheads . Many Klingon ships also make use of cloaking technology to hide

1746-519: Is presented as seeking to defect to the Federation. The episode is the first in the franchise to include images of Romulus itself and introduced the design of a Romulan scout vessel. "The Defector" also includes a reference to the Battle of Cheron, an incident in the 22nd century Earth-Romulan War that was previously mentioned in "Balance of Terror". For " The Search ", the opening two-part episode of

1843-399: Is restored by living relatives. Those who do not die in battle may not enter Sto-Vo-Kor; relatives undertake quests to guarantee their deceased comrades' entry into paradise. Despite believing in an afterlife, the Klingons perform a form of last rite. This consists of spreading the eyes open, humming in anticipation of the final breath and roaring skywards when the warrior dies, warning the dead

1940-563: Is set in the 23rd century, the Romulans were speculated as having split from another alien species, the Vulcans , in the distant past. In contrast to the Vulcans, who were presented as peaceful and logic-oriented philosopher scientists, the Romulans were depicted as militaristic, having founded an interstellar empire. The Romulans were used as antagonists for the series' protagonists, the starship USS Enterprise , her crew, and their government,

2037-489: Is the backstory and central premise of Star Trek: Picard . The series begins with Picard in self-imposed exile at his French vineyard following his resignation in protest to Starfleet's handling of Romulans and androids. Picard has two live-in Romulans at his estate. At least two groups of Romulans survived: one group formed the Romulan Free State, while the other group was evacuated to the planet of Vashti. In

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2134-569: The Star Trek: Discovery episode "Unification III", Ambassador Spock's dream of Vulcan/Romulan reunification has been achieved. The Romulans have returned to their ancestral homeworld (since renamed Ni'Var ) and reunified with their Vulcan cousins. When the Vulcans decided to pull out of the Federation due to the apocalyptic event known as the Burn, it was actually the Romulans who wished to remain, according to Starfleet Admiral Vance. In

2231-634: The Bible have been translated into it. A dictionary, a book of sayings , and a cultural guide to the language have been published. According to the Guinness World Records , Klingon is the world's most popular fictional language as measured by number of speakers. The Klingons were created by screenwriter Gene L. Coon , and first appeared in the Star Trek episode " Errand of Mercy " (1967). They were named after Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan, who served with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in

2328-648: The Deep Space Nine space station as part of their plan to collapse the nearby wormhole and thus prevent a Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant , the region of space where both the Federation and Romulans reside. Three episodes later, the follow-on episodes " Improbable Cause " and " The Die Is Cast " again featured the Romulans, in this case portraying a joint mission by the Romulan Tal Shiar and Cardassian Obsidian Order to fatally cripple

2425-618: The Enterprise crew, in part because the makeup necessary to make another alien race, the Romulans , was too time-consuming and costly. For the first two seasons, no Klingon ships were seen despite being frequently mentioned. This was because of budget constraints; designer Matt Jefferies did not have the money to create a Klingon ship until the third season. When the episodes were remastered beginning in 2006 , Klingon ships were digitally inserted into shots earlier than their original appearances. For Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979),

2522-435: The Enterprise formulated a cure for the virus, but the physical alterations remained in the populace and were inherited by offspring. Phlox indicated that "some day" the physical alterations could be reversed. The head scientist finally mentioned he would go into cranial reconstructive surgery, another nod to "restoration" of the ridges for some Klingons. In the non-canon Star Trek: The Role Playing Game ( FASA , 1982),

2619-408: The Enterprise to destroy the other, foiling the Romulan plot. In retaliation, Romulan Admiral Valdore kills Gareb for his betrayal. After Star Trek: Nemesis proved a financial failure and Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled, the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen began developing a new film entitled Star Trek: The Beginning , which was to be set during

2716-595: The Los Angeles Police Department . In the original television series ( TOS ), Klingons were typically portrayed with bronze skin and facial hair suggestive of Asian people and possessed physical abilities similar to humans (in fact, Coon's only physical description of them in his "Errand of Mercy" script is "oriental" and "hard-faced"). The swarthy look of Klingon males was created with the application of shoe polish and long, thin moustaches; budget constraints limited creativity. The overall look of

2813-666: The Omega Leonis star system) is depicted as green when viewed from space. It includes a lone, huge land mass with a vast ocean , a severely tilted axis that causes wild seasonal changes, a turbulent atmosphere and extremes of both warm and frigid weather. The planet is also home to the Capital City of the Klingon Empire, which features prominently in several episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine . In Star Trek Into Darkness , one province of Qo'noS

2910-533: The United Federation of Planets playing the role of the United States . As a result, the Klingons were generally portrayed as inferior to the crew of the Enterprise . While occasionally capable of honor, this depiction treated the Klingons as close to wild animals. Overall, they were shown without redeeming qualities—brutish, scheming, and murderous. Klingons became the primary antagonists of

3007-544: The United Federation of Planets . In 1987, the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation —set in the 24th century—again used the Romulans as antagonists of the Federation. The show's designers gave the Romulans new costumes and added a V-shaped ridge on the foreheads of most Romulan characters, though with indications that Romulans without the ridges also existed. In the series Star Trek: Enterprise , Romulans without ridges are depicted as passing for Vulcans (who do not have ridges either). The 2009 film Star Trek depicted

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3104-470: The United Federation of Planets . Physiologically, Romulans are similar to Vulcans, another species in the Star Trek universe. In fact, Romulans share a common ancestry with Vulcans and are considered an offshoot of the same species. They have pointed ears and arched eyebrows, and possess great strength, intelligence, and longevity. The Romulans diverged from their Vulcan counterparts centuries ago due to ideological differences. While Vulcans embraced logic and

3201-470: The science fiction franchise Star Trek . Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original Star Trek ( TOS ) series , Klingons were swarthy humanoids characterized by prideful ruthlessness and brutality. Hailing from their homeworld Qo'noS (pronounced approximately as /kho-nosh/, but usually rendered as /kronos/ in English), Klingons practiced feudalism and authoritarianism , with

3298-694: The 1930s. Meyer also felt it was appropriate for Shakespearean actors such as Christopher Plummer and David Warner to speak the lines. The breakdown of the Klingons' empire because of a Chernobyl -like incident results in a new age for the Federation and Klingons, leading to the time of The Next Generation and later series where the two governments are trade partners and occasional allies. Starfleet members are shown to be highly bigoted against Klingons, who in turn feel that their way of life will be obliterated by peace. The Klingons were given new uniforms designed by Dodie Shepard, in part because there were not enough of Fletcher's The Motion Picture costumes to meet

3395-465: The 1990s series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , humans and Klingons join with the Romulans to fight the Dominion . Among the elements created for the revised Klingons was a complete Klingon language , developed by Marc Okrand from gibberish suggested by actor James Doohan . Spoken Klingon has entered popular culture, even to the extent that some of the works of William Shakespeare and parts of

3492-534: The 22nd century Earth–Romulan War. The project never materialised. Instead, the decision was made to reboot the series by creating a film using the characters of the original Star Trek series but played by new actors. Putting together a script for the new film, the director J. J. Abrams stated that he wanted Romulans to be the antagonists because they had featured less than the Klingons in the original Star Trek series. The film's writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman , thought that it would feel backward to demonize

3589-515: The Dominion . A Romulan character, T'Rul ( Martha Hackett ), was included to oversee the device's use aboard the Defiant . The show's writers had initially planned on including T'Rul as a permanent fixture on the show but decided that she did not offer enough potential for new storylines. The Romulans were reused later that season in " Visionary ", where they are presented as attempting to destroy

3686-480: The Dominion by eradicating its leaders, the Founders . For these episodes, new Tal Shiar outfits were designed; Moore related that this was partly his decision, for he "hated, underline hated, the Romulan costumes [introduced in the first season of The Next Generation ]. Big shoulder pads, the quilting, I just loathed it". Costume designer Robert Blackman noted that his team created eight new Romulan uniforms, using

3783-488: The Federation and Romulan governments would co-operate to fight the Borg; ultimately only certain elements of this idea entered "The Neutral Zone", and the Borg would be introduced not in the first season, but in the second-season episode " Q Who ". New costumes were designed for the actors playing Romulans, created by the show's costume designer William Theiss . The newly designed Romulan ship that appeared in "The Neutral Zone"

3880-467: The Federation. The final Star Trek film to feature the entire cast from the original television series, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), served to bridge the original series' Klingons at war with the Federation to the time of The Next Generation and presents a subtly different treatment of the race. At the time of the film's development, the Soviet Union was collapsing, and with

3977-528: The Federation. Fusions of both types were considered inferior to pure strain "Imperial Klingons" and were segregated. In the non-canon video game Star Trek Online , Klingons under the command of Ambassador B'vat once again attempt to fuse the DNA of other races with their own. In a chapter called "The Ultimate Klingon", the player character travels to the planet H'atoria in the Korvat System to infiltrate

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4074-853: The Himalayan kukri , Chinese axes and fighting crescents to create a two-handed, curved weapon that has since been widely used in the franchise. The culture of the Klingons began to resemble revised western stereotypes of civilizations such as the Zulu , the Spartans , the Vikings , and various Native American nations —as a proud, warlike and principled race. Whereas the TOS Klingons served as an allegory to contemporary totalitarian regimes, The Next Generation Klingons held principles more in line with Bushidō ; actor Michael Dorn stated that without

4171-571: The Klingon equivalent of the Holy Grail . In the TNG episode " Rightful Heir ", Kahless appears in the flesh to Worf, who had doubted his Klingon faith. This Kahless is revealed to be a clone, created in an attempt to bring Klingons together, and who is chosen to lead the Klingon people as a figurehead. The Klingons have their own language that was developed for the feature films, often described as "guttural". For The Motion Picture , James Doohan ,

4268-578: The Klingon language's grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. While Okrand expected the book to only sell as a novelty item, eleven years after publication it had sold 250,000 copies. Dedicated Klingon enthusiasts, some but not all of whom were Star Trek fans, created the Klingon Language Institute , which published multiple magazines in the language. While Paramount initially tried to stop the Institute from using its copyrighted language,

4365-420: The Klingon vernacular. From time to time, Okrand has amended the "official" list of Klingon vocabulary due in part to requests from the Institute and other groups. Other Klingon groups run blood drives, bowling teams, and a golf championship. The Klingon language's prevalence is not limited to books; a three-disc video game, Star Trek: Klingon , requires players to learn the language to advance. In May 2009,

4462-400: The Klingons as villains again after they had been presented heroically in later Star Trek series; they also wanted to use Spock as a central character in the film and believed that the Romulan presence would continue Spock's story from his last chronological appearance in " Unification ". In the 2009 Abrams reboot film, titled Star Trek , the planet Romulus is destroyed by a supernova in

4559-410: The Klingons' appearance was radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet

4656-403: The Romulan homeworld, Romulus, being destroyed by a supernova in the year 2387. This film featured Romulans without the head ridges. The impact of Romulus's destruction forms a plot-theme in the series Star Trek: Picard . Romulans in that series have included those with and without ridges, and a line about northern Romulans may have been intended to refer to these two groups. The Romulans are

4753-503: The Romulans became largely overshadowed by the Klingons . After the launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, the show's writers introduced the Romulans in the final episode of the first season, " The Neutral Zone ", which aired in the U.S. in May 1988. The episode was written by Maurice Hurley , who later acknowledged rushing it, putting together a script in a day and a half. In

4850-477: The Romulans have been portrayed as complex adversaries with deep-seated cultural traditions and a sense of superiority over other species. Their interactions with other factions in the Star Trek universe often involve political intrigue, espionage, and attempts to expand their influence in the galaxy. While based on the Roman Empire , they took on the adversarial role of Cold War era Communist China , with

4947-411: The Romulans left Vulcan and established their own society. Duane describes it as sounding somewhat like Latin and Welsh . The second was created for the television series Star Trek: Picard . Its script is distinct from occasional glimpses of Romulan writing in earlier series. As of 2021, little information has been released about the language, though it is developed enough to be used for dialog in

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5044-526: The Romulans played a pivotal role in the episodes " Kir'Shara ", " Babel One ", United ", and " The Aenar ". In "Kir'Shara", it's revealed that Administrator V'Las of the Vulcan High Command is actually conspiring with a Romulan agent to "reunify" their two peoples through force. The agent, Major Talok, chases Captain Archer, T'Pol and T'Pau through the area of Vulcan known as The Forge throughout

5141-568: The Warbird was the 9th best spacecraft in the Star Trek franchise. In 2020, CNET ranked the Romulan Warbird the 16th most powerful spacecraft in Star Trek . Two fictional languages have been constructed for the Romulans and Remans of the Star Trek franchise . The first was created by Diane Duane for her non-canon series of novels called Rihannsu . In this imagining, it was an intentional creation, based on Old High Vulcan when

5238-472: The actor who portrayed Montgomery Scott , devised the initial Klingon-language dialogue heard in the film. For The Search for Spock , Marc Okrand , who created the Vulcan dialogue used in the previous film, developed an actual working Klingon language based on Doohan's original made-up words. Okrand was presented with a difficult task of contriving a language that sounded alien, while still simple enough for

5335-431: The actors to pronounce. While most constructed languages follow basic tenets of natural languages — for example, all languages have an "ah" sound — Okrand deliberately broke them. He chose the rarest form of sentence construction, the object-verb-subject form: the translation of the phrase "I boarded the Enterprise ", would be constructed as "The Enterprise boarded I." Okrand reasoned the language would be indicative of

5432-641: The advent of glasnost , the old allegory of Klingons as Russians was becoming obsolete. The Klingons were redesigned to evoke the Nazis, with the red, white and black Klingon flag deliberately similar to that of the Nazi Party . The Klingons in the film liberally quote Shakespeare, a trait stemming from director Nicholas Meyer 's comparison of the Empire's appropriation of Shakespeare to the Nazis' similar attempt in

5529-439: The air of feudal Japanese design; Fletcher thought it was an important part of the Klingon authoritarian attitude. New Klingon weaponry was designed, including an energy weapon and a special knife known as a d'k tahg . The release of a new television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation , prompted a further revision in the depiction of Klingon culture, though Gene Roddenberry had wanted to avoid re-appearances of races from

5626-439: The alien races of the franchise. The Klingons adhere to a strict code of honor, similar to feudal Mongolian or Japanese customs, although some, such as Gowron, appear to struggle to live up to their ideals. Their society is based on war and combat; ritual suicide is often preferred over living life as a crippled warrior, and may allow a warrior to die with honor. To be captured rather than killed in battle brings dishonor to not only

5723-402: The aliens, played by white actors, suggested orientalism , at a time when memories of Japanese actions during World War II were still fresh. The production crew never came to an agreement on the name "Klingon"; Coon was adamant about keeping the name, and it persisted because no one else offered up a better name. The Klingons took on the role of the Soviet Union with the fictional government

5820-462: The alliance between the Federation and the Klingons, while John Eaves ' designs for Enterprise incorporated more rugged and primitive construction to make the vessels appear consistent with the earlier time period. The Klingon homeworld has been given several names; according to Marc Okrand, the planet would have been referred to in several ways, just as Earth is referred to variously as "the world" or "Terra". Early Star Trek literature referred to

5917-479: The back of his character's head. The film's Romulans lacked the V-shaped ridges on the foreheads, which had been present in all of their depictions outside the original series. Neville Page wanted to honor that by having Nero's crew ritually scar themselves too, forming keloids reminiscent of the "V"-ridges. It was abandoned as they did not pursue the idea enough. Picard’s reaction to the destruction of Romulus

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6014-522: The border too, and the two species agree to share information on the issue in future. In later episodes it is revealed that these colonies were destroyed by a previously unknown species, the Borg , whom the show's writers had devised as a new alien antagonist following dissatisfaction with their previous attempt, the Ferengi . Initial thoughts by the script-writers had proposed a multi-episode storyline in which

6111-488: The captive but his descendants. Death is depicted as a time for celebration, not grief. Klingons are depicted as a spiritual people. According to their legends, Klingons slew their own gods. The equivalents to heaven and hell are called Sto-Vo-Kor and Gre'Thor, respectively; in Sto-Vo-Kor, battle and feasting can be eternally won and shared, while those sent to Gre'Thor are condemned to eternal torture unless their honor

6208-511: The central enemy in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) led to minor alterations. For the third generation of Klingons, the heavy, cragged head ridges of The Motion Picture were redesigned and made less pronounced. While Fletcher was happy with the original film uniforms, more had to be created as the old costumes had been lost, destroyed, or loaned out and altered irreparably. New costumes were fabricated, retaining

6305-493: The change was given in a two-part storyline on Star Trek: Enterprise , in the episodes " Affliction " and " Divergence " that aired in February 2005. Attempting to replicate experiments by humans to create augmented soldiers, Klingon scientists used genetic material from human test subjects on their own people, which resulted in a viral pandemic which caused Klingons to develop human-like physical characteristics. Dr. Phlox of

6402-453: The company eventually relented. The Institute has since published Klingon translations of Hamlet , Much Ado About Nothing , Tao Te Ching , Gilgamesh , and has translations of some books from the Bible on its website. The Bible proved to be difficult to translate, as Christian concepts like atonement—and words like God (until the recent addition of Qun meaning "god")—are not found in

6499-486: The crew. He also wrote the episode " The Terratin Incident " for the animated Star Trek series. Schneider wrote for several other films and television series, including Mr. Magoo , Bonanza , Ironside , The Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century . This article about an American science fiction writer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about

6596-601: The culture - the Klingons' language focuses on actions and verbs, like Mongolian. Adjectives do not strictly exist; there is no word for "greedy", but there is a verb, qur , which means "to be greedy". The language does not contain the verb "to be", which meant Okrand had to create a workaround when director Nicholas Meyer wanted his Klingons to quote Shakespeare and the famous line " to be, or not to be " in The Undiscovered Country . Initially, Okrand came up with "to live or not live", but Plummer did not like

6693-459: The demands of the film. Dorn described playing a Klingon as simple, joking that after hours sitting in a makeup chair, actors were highly motivated to get the dialogue right the first time. Repeat Klingon Robert O'Reilly told all neophyte Klingons that the most important part of speaking was to say the lines with belief and "go all the way". When O'Reilly and Dorn's character had a confrontation, makeup artists wiped spittle off each between takes,

6790-674: The different Klingons were different racial breeds were complicated by the fact that the characters of Kang , Koloth , and Kor appeared with smooth features in The Original Series yet had a ridged appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and that Worf acknowledged the difference in appearances when the crew of Deep Space 9 returned to the 23rd century in the episode " Trials and Tribble-ations " but offered no explanation, saying merely, "We do not discuss it with outsiders." A canonical explanation for

6887-496: The episode "All Is Possible", Ni'Var rejoins the Federation. The Warbird was developed by Andrew Probert with the model built by Greg Jein. In the series it was introduced in the episode "The Neutral Zone" and seen on a recurring basis in the franchise from then on. In the Star Trek universe, it is twice as big as Picard's Enterprise D and is powered by an artificial quantum singularity. It is noted for its size and power in Star Trek by Picard and his crew. In 2017, Space.com said

6984-499: The episode, although his true nature isn't revealed until the end. In addition, in the previous episode " Awakening ", Archer learned from Surak that during the "Time of Awakening", a Vulcan schism of those who "sought a return to savage ways" and "marched beneath the raptor's wings" (later the symbol of the Romulan people) perpetrate a cataclysmic nuclear attack upon Surak and his enlightened society. Soon after Surak's death, these Vulcan recidivists abandoned their homeworld to colonize

7081-615: The episode, which is set in the year 2364, the Starfleet ship USS Enterprise -D —whose crew are the series' main protagonists—responds to the disappearance of Federation colonies along the Neutral Zone, fearing that it reflects growing Romulan activity in the region. Investigating, the Enterprise crew encounter a Romulan spaceship; it is stated that this is the first encounter between the two peoples for 53 years. The Romulans reveal that they have had colonies destroyed on their side of

7178-467: The eyes and mouth. The Next Generation effects artist Dan Curry used his martial arts experience to create a flowing fighting style for the race. When the episode " Reunion " called for a special Klingon blade, Curry drew on Far East influences to develop a weapon known as the bat ' leth . Curry, a collector of weapons, was annoyed by fictional weaponry that was designed to "look cool" but could not be handled practically. Curry combined elements of

7275-643: The fictional government the United Federation of Planets playing the role of the United States , and the Klingons , based on the Mongol Empire , acting the role of the Soviet Union . As a result, the Romulans were generally portrayed as mysterious, but also "highly militaristic, aggressive by nature, and ruthless in warfare". The make-up required for an episode including Romulans in the Original Series became too expensive and time-consuming, so

7372-457: The half-human B'Elanna Torres proves more than a match for a Vulcan . Their anatomy is redundant and supernumerary; every organ has a backup, including an extra set of kidneys, an eight-chambered heart, a third lung, a secondary brain stem, as well as an extensive and hardy skeletal structure. This redundancy is evident even at the cellular level; for example, the Klingons have backup synaptic networks in their nervous systems, allowing them to grow

7469-642: The old series. Set a century later than the original series, the USS Enterprise -D featured a Klingon crewmember, Worf . Makeup artist Michael Westmore needed a consistent reference to base the Klingon look on, as each individual Klingon was to have distinct head ridges. He found what he was looking for in a book of dinosaurs: observing dinosaur vertebrae laid out flat, Westmore cut the designs in half and modified them to suit each Klingon. Westmore designed his Klingons' beards to be Elizabethan , combining prehistoric and aristocratic elements to give audiences

7566-511: The planet as Klinzhai, but The Next Generation episode "Heart of Glory" called the planet Kling. The film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country established the name as Kronos; Okrand later devised the Klingon transliteration "Qo'noS". In Star Trek Into Darkness , the planet's name is both spelled and spoken by Starfleet personnel as Kronos. According to the non-canon "Klingon for the Galactic Traveler", Qo'noS (said to be in

7663-411: The planets Romulus and Remus. In "Babel One", "United", and "The Aenar", the Romulans plot to destabilize their sector of space by using drone ships disguised as vessels from various cultures to turn their enemies against each other. These drone ships are piloted remotely through telepresence by Gareb, a young Aenar kidnapped by the Romulans who had lied to him that he was the last of his people. The plot

7760-404: The previous depictions, but this was retconned in season 2. The lack of hair was said to have been ceremonial during the time of war with the Federation, harking back to the tale of Kahless having cut off a lock of hair to forge the first bat'leth. They also have black and purple skin color variations. According to the official Star Trek web site, the Klingons' varying appearance was "probably

7857-428: The revision in Klingon culture, his character, Worf, would not have been a Starfleet officer. With the first Klingon-centric story in The Next Generation , the first-season episode " Heart of Glory ", the Klingons once again became an important part of the Star Trek universe, and by the advent of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Klingons had become heroes rather than villains, though often at cross purposes to

7954-454: The same fabric as the old ones but "dyed it down slightly, and we made them much sleeker and a little more menacing". The Romulans were the major antagonists in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis , with much of the action set on Romulus. The film also introduced the Remans, inhabitants of the other planet in the Romulan system, who serve as a slave labor caste in Romulan society. In season 4 ,

8051-459: The second-season episode " Contagion ", written by Steve Gerber and Beth Woods and first aired in March 1989. In this episode, the Enterprise -D entered the Neutral Zone to answer a distress call and ends up in conflict with a Romulan vessel, with both spaceships being disabled by an alien computer virus. "Contagion" was the first episode in the Star Trek franchise in which the Romulan ship was given

8148-688: The series, and that's a penetration deep into enemy space. I started to think of how the Klingons lived. Obviously for the Romulans we had Romans , and we've had different cultures modeled on those of ancient Earth, but I tried to think of what the Klingon society would be like. The Japanese came to mind, so basically that's what it was, with the Sacred Emperor , the Warlord and so on." While no Klingon characters were seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , their appearance as

8245-505: The show. In 2017, Den of Geek ranked Romulans the seventh best aliens out of 50 species from the Star Trek franchise, ahead of the Ferengi but behind the Q , and in first and second place respectively were the Vulcans and the Klingons. The Romulans have been the focus of a number of non-canon books and have appeared or been mentioned in other non-canon media. Among their key appearances have been: Paul Schneider (writer) Paul Schneider (August 4, 1923 – October 13, 2008)

8342-405: The single most popular topic of conversation among Star Trek fans". While the reason for the discrepancy between The Original Series Klingons and their feature film and later television series counterparts was a lack of budget, fans took it upon themselves to contrive an acceptable canon reason for the sudden change. Among the fan theories, were that TOS Klingons were: Simple theories that

8439-415: The smooth-headed Klingons seen in The Original Series were called "fusions", in particular, "human fusions", with "Romulan fusions" also existing. They were a deliberate blending of Klingon genes with those of other races in an effort to gain an understanding of, and thus advantage over, the other races. Human fusions were chosen for service on the Federation border due to the high number of humans present in

8536-557: The sound of the line. Okrand went back and revised the phrase to " taH pagh, taHbe' ", roughly meaning "whether to continue, or not to continue [existence]". The Klingon language has a small vocabulary compared to natural languages, containing around 2,000 words after it had been created in the 1990s. After its initial creation, Okrand has frequently created new words, so that the total number of words has grown up to approximately 3,000. Okrand persuaded Pocket Books to publish The Klingon Dictionary in 1985; in it, Okrand elaborated on

8633-457: The teachings of Surak, advocating emotional control and pacifism, the Romulans rejected these principles. They embraced their emotions and maintained a more militaristic and secretive society. Romulans are known for their cunning strategies, espionage, and manipulation in political affairs. They have a powerful and formidable military, with their signature warbird starships being a symbol of their might. Throughout various Star Trek series and films,

8730-491: The third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , a Romulan link was introduced. The episode, which was written by Ira Steven Behr , Robert Hewitt Wolfe , and Ronald D. Moore, featured the introduction of a new Starfleet ship, the USS Defiant ; the scriptwriters included the idea that it had been equipped with a cloaking device by the Romulans in return for intelligence that the Federation gathered on another alien power,

8827-774: The vessel from view. The first Klingon ship design used in The Original Series , the D7-class battlecruiser, was designed by Matt Jefferies to evoke a predator's shape akin to that of a manta ray , providing a threatening and instantly recognizable form for viewers. The configuration of Jefferies' design featured a bulbous forward hull connected by a long boom to a wing-like main hull with the engine nacelles mounted on each wingtip. Later Klingon starships by other designers kept to this same overall configuration, although updated to reflect their respective time periods: Rick Sternbach 's designs for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine drew on elements of Starfleet ships features to reflect

8924-467: The year 2387. A Romulan mining ship, the Narada , survives and travels back in time to the 23rd century; its commander, Nero ( Eric Bana ), is committed to destroying the planet Vulcan to punish Spock for failing to save Romulus. The actors playing Romulans in this film wore three prosthetics applied to their ears and foreheads, while Bana had a fourth prosthetic for the bitemark on his ear that extends to

9021-436: Was an American screenwriter who worked in television and film between the 1950s and the 1980s. Schneider is probably best remembered for two episodes of the original Star Trek series: " Balance of Terror " and " The Squire of Gothos ". The first of these introduced the Romulans – which became one of the main alien races in the Star Trek universe. The second episode introduces a " Q "-like lifeform which terrorizes

9118-432: Was built as a miniature model by Greg Jein . The ship featured a newly designed Romulan crest, featuring a stylised bird of prey clutching two planets, Romulus and Remus, in its claws. Later in the series, this ship type would be explicitly referred to as a "warbird". In 1989, AMT released a plastic kit of the vessel, alongside other kits for a Ferengi ship and a Klingon bird of prey vessel. The Romulans were re-used for

9215-529: Was designed as angular, with sharp edges alluding to the Klingons' militaristic focus. Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor. Certain elements of Klingon culture, resembling Japanese culture with honor at the forefront, were actually first explored with the script for the planned two-part "Kitumba" episode for the unproduced 1978 Star Trek: Phase II series. Writer John Meredyth Lucas said, "I wanted something that we had never seen before on

9312-407: Was exposed by the efforts of the Enterprise crew and instead resulted in the humans, Vulcans , Andorians , and Tellarites uniting to defeat the Romulan threat, bringing them closer together than ever. The Enterprise then enlists the help of Gareb's sister Jhamel who telepathically contacts her brother and informs him of the truth. Gareb turns on the Romulans, destroying one drone ship and allowing

9409-479: Was made bald with subdued ridges and an eyepatch bolted to his skull. Plummer felt that the unique appearance helped "humanize" the character. In contrast to white actors portraying the warriors, more recent Klingon roles have been predominantly played by black actors. For Star Trek: Discovery , the Klingon appearance was once again modified with more extensive facial and teeth prosthetics and elongated craniums. The new Klingons were initially bald, in contrast with

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