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Klingon Bird Of Prey

Klingon Bird of Prey

"Bird-of-Prey" is a common name for various makes of Romulan and Klingon warship in the Star Trek fictional universe. Ships referred to as birds-of-prey include:
- The Romulan Bird of Prey class starship, a 2260s-era fighter seen in "Balance of Terror", featuring a cloaking device and a powerful plasma-based weapon and easily identifiable by the red and yellow painting of a bird on the bottom of the hull
- The Klingon B'rel class starship, a small scout ship with a form similar to a bird and with movable 'wings'. It carries a crew of a dozen officers and enlisted crew.
- The Klingon K'Vort class starship, a large cruiser similar in appearance to the B'rel, but with a greater crew complement (about forty). The use of the term with respect to Klingon ships was in itself an error by the writers, who changed the enemies in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock from Romulans to Klingons without updating the dialog. However, the term still makes some sense, as the Romulans and Klingons were once allies and frequently shared technology. The Boeing Bird of Prey, which bears a resemblance to the Star Trek spacecraft, also took its name from the fictional series, and was used to test stealth and (potentially) active camouflage technologies.

External links

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- Category:Star Trek ship terms

Romulan

The Romulans, a fictional race in the Star Trek universe, are descended from Vulcans and are characterized as being deceitful, cunning, and treacherous. They are the dominant race of the Romulan Star Empire, one of the larger empires in the Beta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. They made their first appearance in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror". The Romulans were created by Paul Schneider, saying "it was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists [...] an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel."

Biology

As a branch of the Vulcan species, Romulans have pointed ears, upswept eyebrows, and copper based blood. Like Vulcans, their blood is green when oxygenated in the arteries and is copper or rust colored when deoxygenated in the veins. The Romulan heart is gray. In addition, many have a small V-shaped ridge above the bridge of their nose, uncommon to Vulcans. It is important to note that some Romulans do not possess the forehead ridges, as evidenced by Romulans seen in TOS, and as Spock was able to travel across Romulus without raising suspicions regarding his heritage. (TNG: "Unification, Part II") This may be a vestigial or atavistic characteristic from archaic generations of the Vulcan race. They generally have dark hair as well. While Vulcans are much stronger than humans and have natural touch telepathic abilities, thousands of years of divergent speciation (or perhaps the lack of Vulcan mental discipline) seems to have stripped Romulans of these traits. From what can be seen in the various Star Trek series, Romulans are not telepathic and no stronger than normal humans.

Culture

Unification, Part II

Cuisine

Romulan Ale is a popular blue alcoholic drink which was considered illegal due to a Federation trade embargo in the late 23rd century (per Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) through the late 24th century (per Star Trek: Nemesis). During the alliance with the Federation because of the Dominion War of 2373-2375, Romulan Ale was temporarily legalized. Other Romulan drinks include Kali-fal, a blue drink with an aroma that should forcibly open one's sinuses before the first sip. Romulan foods include Ossoul twist, Viinerine and jumbo Romulan mollusk, an expensive delicacy.

Fashion

Romulan fashion of the late 24th century had distinctive squared shoulders. Hair is generally cut straight across the forehead close to the eyebrows, with longer locks framing the face, cut following the cheekbones; this style resembles a helmet. In the original Star Trek, Romulan military uniforms consisted of a gray tunic with varying kinds of decorative sashes. Commanders wore red sashes, senior officers wear blue sashes, and most soldiers wear no sash at all. In subsequent series, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Romulan uniforms are of a different style, with varying kinds of patterns and colors. These don't seem have anything to do with the Romulan's position or rank - many fanon material suggests that such uniforms are patterned according to family or clan affiliation. As of Star Trek: Nemesis, Romulan uniforms are more standardized.

Design

Romulans make generous use of the colors green and gray and often use materials resembling limestone for construction. The emblem of the Romulan Star Empire depicts a large bird of prey clutching the worlds of Romulus and Remus. The avian motif also appears on their Bird of Prey starships, and may have cultural significance. Those who rejected the teachings of Surak were said to be "beneath the raptor's wing". Designer Herman Zimmerman has said regarding interior design, "the Romulans have [...] possessed advanced technology a lot longer than the Federation, so the look was a combination of art deco and medievalism meets high-tech. Most of the designs were inspired by Italian designer Carlo Scarpa." Regarding exterior design of the senate area, designer Syd Dutton said director "Stuart Baird wanted us to think about Albert Speer, the architect who did all the conceptual drawings for Hitler. [Speers] took that national socialist idea to a ridiculous extreme where everything was huge and classical. "The Romulans are a people who live in a marshy area. They had little houses on stilts around [...] mudwork. The mudwork became part of this central core and that was where the old part of the city - the Forum and senate buildings - was located. As the city [...] expanded going away from that, the buildings became bigger and more technological."

Society and government

Hitler The Romulan government is very similar to that of the Roman Republic before it became the Roman Empire. The Romulan government consists of several parts: the Romulan Senate, the main governing and legislative body in a large chamber on Romulus. The Senate is headed by the Praetor, followed by the Proconsul. The Senate does not sit on the third day of the Romulan week. The Romulan Senate also has the Continuing Committee, which is composed of senators and the chairman of the Tal Shiar and confirm the new praetor. It has been implied that Romulans use a caste system. The Romulan contempt for Vulcans, their treatment of other sentient species, and their need for strict conformity, suggests that Romulan society is racist/specist. The Romulan Star Empire was once ruled by an Empress: a member of the Q Continuum informed Kathryn Janeway he had considered having a child with a Romulan Empress ('The Q and the Grey'). However, it is unclear when the Romulans possessed this system of government or how it functioned in relation to the Romulan Senate. The Romulan term for their mythological place of creation is "Vortavor". It is generally accepted canon that Romulan females are equal to males, both having equal ability to rise through the ranks of the military. Notable females include Sela (Tasha Yar's daughter), Donatra (Star Trek: Nemesis), Toreth (TNG: "Face of the Enemy") and the Romulan Commander in the TOS episode "The Enteprise Incident", who is never referred to by name.

Leadership

Praetors
- Neral
- Hiren
- Shinzon (Human clone, Reman-raised)
- Tal'aura Senators
- Kimara Cretak
- Letant
- Pardek
- Tal'Aura
- Valdore
- Vrax
- Vreenak (dead) killed by Garak Proconsuls
- Merrok
- Vice Proconsul M'ret
- Neral

Technology

Romulans are noted for their use of disruptor weapons, and cloaking technology, as well as having ships that are powered by singularities. In the 22nd Century, they displayed advanced holotechnology as well as telepresence technology.

History

Origins

The Romulan subspecies is a splinter group of Vulcans who refused to accept the Vulcan philosopher Surak's teachings of complete suppression of emotions. Around 400 CE, the dissident group split off from Vulcan society and began the long journey to the planet Romulus.

21st Century

The Romulans and Vulcans fought a hundred-year war, which was over at some point prior to 2044. It is unclear whether the two groups knew they were fighting their kinsmen. The war was apparently started by a member of the Q Continuum, although (given this Q's bumbling nature) this may have been accidental.

22nd Century

The goal of the Romulan Star Empire was conquest. When Senator Valdore questioned this policy, he was dismissed from the senate (although he later joined the military, and rose quickly through the ranks, becoming Admiral by the year 2154). In 2152, Humans made first contact with the Romulans when the Enterprise NX-01 encountered a Romulan-laid minefield. Communication was via audio only. The Romulans saw that Humans fostered a spirit of cooperation among the long-belligerent Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. Realizing that this would bring solidarity to the region and an obstacle to conquest, the Senate took steps to turn these species against each other. In 2154, Romulans conspired with V'Las, head of the Vulcan High Command, to invade Andoria. V'Las' Romulan contact had the stated agenda of reunification with the Vulcans. A few months later, the Empire sent prototype holoships that were remote controlled from Romulus to disrupt a peace conference between Andorians and Tellarites. The Romulans piloted the ships using an abducted Aenar, however their scheme was thwarted by the combined efforts of the Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites, led by the Enterprise. This enraged the Romulans, who vowed revenge upon humanity. In about 2156, the Earth-Romulan War began. Starfleet did not have many ships in their fleet. For reasons not explained, Starfleet and the Romulan fleet both used atomic/nuclear weapons during the hostilities. These weapons were still in the Romulan inventory a century later. The Romulan ships during the war were seen with birds of prey painted on them. It has also been noted that no visual communication took place between the Humans and Romulans at that time. The war only ended after both sides had fought to the point of exhaustion and realized that continuing the conflict would only result in the mutual destruction of both sides. It has been implied that the Earth-Romulan War reached Earth, heavily damaging it: two centuries later, it was remarked that Earth had not been subjected to the horrors of total war since the date of the Romulan Wars. Though the war ended in a stalemate, it closed with the Battle of Cheron which proved to be a decisive Earth victory. In 2160 the Romulans and the humans signed a treaty establishing a neutral zone one light-year wide between their territories. In 2161 humans, along with Vulcans and several other species, founded the United Federation of Planets, which continued this wary peace.

23rd Century

Using a cloaked ship, the Romulans broke the treaty of 2161 by attacking several Federation outposts circa stardate 1709.21 in 2266. In response, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 tracked down the cloaked Romulan ship and destroyed it. This was also the first time humans saw what the Romulans looked like physically. In 2267, it is thought that the Romulans entered a treaty with the Klingon Empire: in exchange for cloaking technology, the Romulans received several D7 battlecruisers, which were upgraded into extremely deadly war machines. (The script of the episode "The Enterprise Incident" called for a Romulan ship to appear, but the original Romulan ship model was not available; rather than go to the expense of building a new one, the Klingon D7 model was substituted. The explanation for this has yet to be revealed onscreen.) It was at this time that the Federation discovered the Romulans were kin to the Vulcans. The events of 2154 suggest the Vulcans withheld prior knowledge of this fact from humans. In 2272, Klingon forces led by Kor had a decisive victory over Romulan opponents in the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt. In 2293, the Romulan ambassador to the Federation, Nanclus, took part in a conspiracy to sabotage peace talks between the Klingons and the Federation. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Nanclus was arrested on Khitomer along with several other conspirators. During the Khitomer conference, the Romulans signed a treaty with the Federation and the Klingons. Notably, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan sat with his Romulan cousins during the conference, indicating a dialogue, or at least a display of goodwill between the two planetary nations.

24th Century

Isolation

In 2311, the Romulans attacked the Federation, costing thousands of lives, in an event that would later be termed the Tomed Incident. Following some brief skirmishes the Romulans and the Federation signed a new treaty, the Treaty of Algeron, which reaffirmed the neutral zone and prohibited the Federation from developing cloaking technology. For the next fifty years, the Neutral Zone was quiet. There was no direct contact between the Federation and the Empire, nor were there any further Romulan incursions. In 2344, four of the new D'deridex class warbirds attacked the Klingon outpost at Narendra III. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) responded to the outpost's distress call and engaged the Romulan ships, but was defeated and taken with its survivors (among them Lieutenant Tasha Yar) back to Romulan territory. Rumors circulated in the Federation that the Enterprise's broken hull was displayed on Romulus, to boost the morale of Romulan fleet academy students. The Klingons considered this action dishonorable, which strengthened relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, and also initiated a Romulan-Klingon war around the 2350s. Circa stardate 41986.0 (26 December 2364) the Romulan Star Empire ended its five decades of isolation when the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) intercepted a Romulan warbird. Several Romulan outposts had been destroyed by a then unknown force (later revealed to be the Borg). The Romulans opened communications to see if they could glean the information from the Federation, who had suffered similar losses. The Romulan Commander Tebok then said that the Romulans had decided to concentrate on their own internal affairs for the past fifty years. He then said, "We are back," indicating that Romulans would again be active in galactic affairs.

Attempted Conquests

In 2366 the Romulans attempted to trick the Enterprise-D into crossing the neutral zone, where two Romulan Warbirds were waiting to destroy the Enterprise. Captain Picard, however, was assisted by three K'vort class Klingon Birds of Prey; the Romulans, evenly matched, decided that the price of the Enterprise's destruction was too high and retreated. ("The Defector") In 2367, the Romulans brainwashed Commander Geordi La Forge of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in an attempt to incite a Federation-Klingon war, but the plan was exposed and failed. ("The Mind's Eye") Later in 2367, during the Klingon Civil War, the Romulans secretly backed the House of Duras. Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard, discovering this, convinced pro-Federation leader Gowron to attack Duras' forces in order to draw Romulan reinforcements out of hiding; when the Romulans attempted to enter the fray, they were revealed by a Federation tachyon blockade, and the Duras family, exposed as traitors, lost all support. ("Redemption, Part I") Circa stardate 44995.3 (28 December 2367), the Vulcan Ambassador Spock was discovered on Romulus, working with an underground movement for the reunification of the divided races. The Romulans saw this as a chance to conquer the Vulcans and sent a fleet of ships toward Vulcan, but their intent was discovered and the fleet destroyed. Spock elected to remain underground on Romulus to teach the Vulcan heritage to those who might listen. ("Reunification") Sometime in 2374, a 27 member Tal Shiar team commanded by Commander Rekar hijacked the USS Prometheus (NX-74913), an advanced prototype starship to be analyzed by the Tal Shiar. Two Emergency Medical Holograms, one being from the USS Voyager, overthrew the Tal Shiar crew and the ship returned to Federation hands.

Dominion War

A brief period before the outbreak of the Dominion War, the Federation obtained a Romulan cloaking device (2371), under the condition that it be used exclusively in the Gamma Quadrant against the emerging threat of the Jem'Hadar and the Dominion and in return, Starfleet would forward all information regarding the Dominion immedietly to the Romulans. ("The Search") Several months later the Romulan Tal Shiar intelligence agency and their Cardassian counterparts, the Obsidian Order, launched a preemptive strike against the Dominion; their entire fleet of 20 Warbirds and 20 Keldon class Cardassian vessels, however, was destroyed, and it was revealed that the Tal Shiar officer leading the attack was actually a Dominion agent. ("The Die Is Cast") The Romulan Empire signed a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion, which had gained a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant in Cardassian space shortly before the Dominion War broke loose. Circa stardate 51721.3 (20 September 2374), Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko and Elim Garak tried to trick the Romulans into joining the war against the Dominion by creating fake recordings of a Dominion strategy meeting in which the Dominion revealed their intention to conquer the Romulans along with the Klingons and Federation, and showing them to a high-ranking Romulan senator, Vreenak. In the past, Vreenak negotiated the Romulan non-aggression treaty with the Dominion and was vice-chairman of the Tal Shiar, secretary of the War Plans Council, and one of Proconsul Neral's most trusted advisors. Vreenak discovered the deception and attempted to leave to inform his government, but Garak sabotaged his shuttle and he was killed. When the Romulans examined the wreckage, they discovered the recordings; assuming the incriminating defects to have been caused by the explosion, the Romulan Star Empire entered the war against the Dominion, joining the Klingon-Federation alliance. ("In the Pale Moonlight") In 2375, after Proconsul Neral became praetor, the Romulans established a presence on Deep Space Nine and secretly began stockpiling weapons on a Bajoran moon. However, Bajoran officer Colonel Kira Nerys, with the assistance of Starfleet Admiral William Ross, forced the Romulans to back down and remove their weapons. ("Shadows and Symbols") The rogue Federation agency, Section 31, had an agent in the Tal Shiar to safeguard Federation interests. It felt that, following the Dominion War, the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire would be the only two powers left in the region and would go to war. Later that year, the allied fleet broke through Dominion lines and headed for the Dominion high command on Cardassia Prime. The fight went badly, however, until a Cardassian uprising headed by the former leader Damar turned the Cardassian fleet against the Dominion. After this, the Dominion was defeated and the devastating Dominion War was ended. ("What You Leave Behind")

Reman Coup

Circa stardate 56844.9 (4 November 2379), the Romulan Senate was briefly overthrown in a Reman uprising led by Shinzon. After Praetor Hiren and the senior Romulan leadership were assassinated in the Romulan Senate, Shinzon became Praetor and the Remans took over the Senate; he was, however, dispatched by Captain Picard shortly after his rise to power. Relations between the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets improved somewhat as a result of Picard's assistance (Star Trek: Nemesis). Some fans speculate that a Federation-Romulan peace treaty and the fall of the Neutral Zone will follow.

Romulan Star Empire

Planets known to be under Romulan jurisdiction include Romulus, Remus and Regulus. The empire's exact size has never been declared. However, Star Trek writer/producer Ronald D. Moore has indicated that the Romulan Empire is smaller than both the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

Books

The author Diane Duane has written a series of novels about the genesis and culture of the Romulan people. Duane introduced the name Rihannsu, which her Romulans use for themselves. The Rihannsu series of Star Trek novels include: My Enemy, My Ally, The Romulan Way, Swordhunt, Honor Blade, and The Empty Chair. Duane developed a Romulan language in these novels, but it is not considered canon and has not been used in any of the Star Trek episodes or films.

Romulans in the Alternate Universe

This information below originates from the board game Star Fleet Battles. In the alternate (non-canon) Star Fleet Universe, the Romulans had a long-standing rivalry with the Gorn Confederation, with the old series Romulan ships no match against the advanced Gorn warships. (Indeed, the Romulans would have been subject to a full-scale invasion - and likely conquest - by the Klingon Empire - who had launched devastating raids against Romulan frontier bases and squadrons, leaving no survivors - had the Tholians not arrived in the region of Klingon space where the invasion was being prepared. The Klingons chose to keep these events a secret from the Romulans for quite some time afterwards...) The post-Smarba KR (old Klingon vessels sold to the Romulans and converted to Romulan technology) and new series fleets, along with the extensively refitted older vessels, were of a far more dangerous order of magnitude and soon found ample opportunity for combat when the Romulans joined the Coalition on the Day of the Eagle, 4 January Y173 by invading the already-besieged Federation, after the Klingon Ambassador Thad Vak Kaleen persuaded the Romulans to enter the General War, and sweetened the deal with a C9-series Klingon dreadnought. They were eventually driven back to their own borders despite significant advances into Federation space, and suffered a devastating nuclear winter on the world of Remus. After the General War, the Romulan empire erupted in Civil War, had their border stations destroyed in the course of the ISC War of Pacification and subsequently aided in resisting the Andromedan invasion of the galaxy from Y188 to Y205. Star Fleet Universe Romulans of the early 23rd century were reliant on older series vessels converted to carry primitive warp engines (as opposed to totally lacking warp technology as was mentioned in earlier additions of the games) until the Treaty of Smarba with the Klingon Empire in Y159 supplied the Romulans with advanced warp engines and a number of mothballed Klingon vessels, which were refitted with Romulan weaponry and cloaking devices. This technology allowed the Romulans to develop a new series of vessels which proved to cause significant headaches to the enemies of the Star Empire in the General War. :Note that none of the above is canonical, as the information comes from the novels rather than any official Star Trek film or episode. The Romulans exist in the Mirror Universe as well; it is unknown what their culture is like in that universe (no mirror Romulans have ever appeared onscreen), although they are probably not allied with the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance since the mirror Benjamin Sisko is said to have recruited them to help the Terran rebellion.

Connection to Roman Mythology

Many of the terms used in relation to the Romulans are derived from Roman mythology and government. Romulus and Remus are the two brothers who created the city of Rome. Vulcan is the name of a Roman god. The proconsul and praetor were government officials during the time of the Roman Republic. The Roman Senate was the governing body of the Roman Republic. In the original series episode, "Who Mourns for Adonais?" it is revealed that the classical Greek and Roman gods were actually a race of advanced beings who had visited Earth thousands of years ago. The theory has recently been postulated that these same beings had visited other worlds as well—such as Vulcan, and/or Romulus. While not a canon theory, it did at one time appear on the "Star Trek" web site, and would certainly explain the connection between the Romulans and Roman mythology.

Bibliography

Digital

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- [http://www.neutralzone.de/database/Alien/Beta/Romulan.htm Neutral Zone Starship Database - Romulans]
- [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/aliens/article/70706.html StarTrek.com - Romulans]
- [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/documentaries/article/1479.html StarTrek.com - "Strange Relations: Romulans and Vulcans"]
- [http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies2a.htm Ex Astris Scientia - Warp Drive and Romulan History]
- [http://www.starfleetgames.com Star Fleet Games - Creator of Star Fleet Battles]

Print

- Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages
- Star Trek: The Magazine vol.3, #10 (February 2003)
- Star Trek: The Magazine vol.3, #11 (March 2003)

Klingon

:This page is about the Klingon race, for the language see Klingon language. Klingons (tlhIngan in the Klingon language) are a fictional race of humanoids in the Star Trek universe. They were the main antagonists in Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) and later became the uneasy allies of the United Federation of Planets. They were introduced in the episode Errand of Mercy. Klingons were created by Gene Coon, and named for Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan, who served with Gene Roddenberry in the Los Angeles Police Department.^{Citation requested} In the original series the conflict between the Federation and Klingon Empire was modelled on the Cold War between the Western countries and the Soviet Union. TOS Klingons were not given many cultural traits, either original or Soviet-like, beyond a generic need for domination and tyranny. However, they were typically portrayed with a darkish skin and facial hair suggestive of Asian peoples. With the advent of The Next Generation series and subsequent series the Klingons became an ally, and the portrayal of their culture was revised to resemble that of the Japanese Samurai (or, rather, Western imaginations of them). Klingon starship crews have also been compared to motorcycle gangs. Their cultures are centered on honour and combat. Their societies are formally governed by an emperor who has little actual power, most of which resides in highest aristocracy. They are both grouped into clans that frequently fight each other.

Klingon biology

motorcycle gang Roughly humanoid in appearance, Klingons typically sport long manes of luxuriant hair, and for males, moustaches, and beards. Perhaps their most prominent external feature is their ridged forehead. These intricate, bony patterns vary by family line and are an evolutionary remnant of their prehistoric forms, when Klingons had a more extensive exoskeleton and a decidedly crustacean, not to say crusty, appearance. Most body functions incorporate multiple redundancies, such as redundant stomachs, lungs, livers, an eight-chambered heart, and twenty-three ribs. This characteristic, known as "brak'lul," makes Klingons incredibly resilient. According to visual effects producer Dan Curry, Klingon ribs are arranged in a latticework; the structure might be compared to chainmail. The character Spock once said Klingons lack tear ducts, although Klingon myth states that Kahless once filled the ocean with his tears. The Klingon lifespan is at least 150 years. Klingon females search their own partners, who they deem worthy of copulation. Normally this has to be a male of great strength, valour and at least posess great courage. The mating-process can be a very wild and sometimes violent affair. Klingon pregnancies run 30 weeks. The Process of giving birth can sometimes take days. Interbreeding is possible with humans (and they enjoy it) (B'Elanna Torres, K'Ehleyr), Romulans (Ba'el), and Trill (Yedrin Dax); Klingon traits remain dominant over several generations. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country depicts Klingons having violet blood (based on the metal ion manganese according to some unofficial sources) similar in appearance to Pepto-Bismol, but all other depictions of Klingon blood have been red, like human blood. The difference in color may have resulted from a unique atmospheric gas mix on the Klingon vessel - as suggested by the renegade boarding party's need to wear environmental suits, rather than merely wearing disguises. (The truth behind the issue is, violet blood allowed Star Trek VI to maintain a PG rating rather than something more restrictive. It also facilitates discerning Klingon blood from other species' blood without the aid of a tricorder or similar means; Colonel Worf makes this distinction during the movie's denouement.)

Human-looking Klingons

From the year 2154 until sometime after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series about a century later, Klingons had external features resembling Humans and wore their hair in a more conservative fashion than that seen later (and previously), which in actuality was because of the limited budget Gene Roddenberry had to work with. The physical changes were canonically explained in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Divergence, where it was revealed that Klingons, who had appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise previously with the physical characteristics seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager were changed by a virus accidentally created when a Klingon was genetically altered in an attempt to improve the race. The genetic engineering was done using research by Dr. Arik Soong, a human. Because of this, human physical characteristics emerged before the virus eventually killed the infected Klingon. The fatal effects of the virus were halted by Doctor Phlox, however he was unable to prevent the physical changes, which would be passed on from parent to child. Presumably, by the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the Klingon genes had proven stronger and eliminated the human characteristics, or the condition was cured in some other way, as human-like Klingons were no longer seen after this point. There also appear to be two different "races" of the "original" Klingons, some who were pale with neatly groomed hair and others much darker with thick eyebrows. The two never appeared together. The differences in the two phenotypes may explain, in part, Dr McCoy's immediate lack of knowledge of Klingon anatomy when he tried to save Chancellor Gorkon in 2293.

Fan speculation

Over the decades, several non-canon novels and comic books attempted to suggest reasons for the change, including the suggestion that the human-like Klingons were a different race. The early-1990s DC Comics graphic novel, Debt of Honor suggested that the human-like Klingons were discommoded (a concept introduced in TNG). However, several Klingons who appeared human-like in Star Trek: The Original Series made appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager with full ridges. It has been suggested that the character of General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, whose features are less severe than other Klingons, might be a remnant of the human-like Klingons. The Star Trek Role playing game published by FASA in the 1980s (also non-canon) suggested the Klingons of the original series were actually human/Klingon "fusions" (hybrids) based on the premise that Klingons took 'know thine enemy' to its logical extreme in that incorporating human DNA and presumably human characteristics into Klingons would make them much more effective in combating them. The "movie" Klingons were "Imperial Race" Klingons, i.e. purebred. FASA enlisted the aid of Star Trek novelist John M. Ford to depict their Klingons as being part of a paranoid society of both "human-fusion" and "Imperial" Klingons living together, complete with sophisticated nomenclatures, a Klingon Emperor, "thought admirals" and an afterlife known as the "Black Fleet". In the real world of Gene Roddenberry and other Star Trek story-makers, the change was said to actually be an attempt to make the Klingons more alien, as an ongoing set of characters whose race was nearly identical to humans was considered too unrealistic. This change took place, initially, during the Star Trek movies, when the new Hollywood budget first allowed a much more alien race, but talking about the reasons behind it was treated as a sort of friendly taboo by people associated with the series until it was finally decided to approach the issue during the closing weeks of Enterprise (which is expected to be the final Star Trek TV series for the foreseeable future).

The cause revealed

In February 2005 a two-part storyline on Star Trek: Enterprise, "Affliction" and "Divergence", explained canonically why the Klingons changed their appearance. In an earlier series of episodes, the Augments, humans grown from genetically engineered embryos from the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th century, were defeated by Captain Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise (NX-01) in Klingon space. The Klingon High Council feared that Starfleet was developing armies of Augments and that they would pose a serious threat to the Empire's existence. Even when they were told by the Vulcan High Command that the Augments were created without Starfleet's knowledge or consent, they remained suspicious and so decided to fight fire with fire. The Klingons gained access to the genetic material of the human Augments, and wanted to adapt this genetic engineering to augment their own species. The experiment did not work correctly; at first, subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but their nervous systems could not handle the strain and they died. One of the test subjects had a virulent flu, which—combined with the genetic changes wrought by the experiment—became a deadly, airborne plague that spread rampantly among the Empire, from world to world, causing the physical changes to change them into the human-looking Klingons of Kirk's day. Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise NX-01 formulated a cure for the virus, however not before millions of Klingons were physically altered. And due to the genetic nature of the virus, these alterations were passed to succeeding generations of offspring. The Klingons were apparently so embarrassed by the fallout from this disaster, that they absolutely refused under any circumstances to discuss the incident with outsiders in later years. There is also evidence (illustrated by the ignorance of members of the Deep Space Nine crew who encounter human-like Klingons during time travel into the past in Trials and Tribble-ations) that knowledge of the change might become lost over time to humankind. The Enterprise storyline also indicates that an early form of the Starfleet intelligence service Section 31 was somehow involved in the transformation of the Klingons. Phlox indicated that "someday" the physical alterations could be reversed. The episode "Divergence" revealed that not all Klingons were affected by the virus. No canon explanation has yet been offered to suggest why only the human-like Klingons were seen in The Original Series, save for statements made in "Divergence" that the genetically altered version of the race would be stronger and more intelligent, suggesting they may have been desirable soldiers in later Klingon/Federation conflicts. The Klingons in Star Trek: The Motion Picture were the first Klingon crew that was shown to be dealing with something other than the Federation, so there is no evidence proving these particular Klingons had ever been afflicted. Other possible explanations include the idea that by the time the cure to the virus had been administered to all Klingons, every last one was infected by the virus so that they would have been changed somewhat by the virus anyway. This could also explain the "darker-skinned" Klingon observation stated above. The darker Klingons could have been descendants of Klingons that had only been in the initial stages of alteration when they were cured, so that they retained their more natural pigmentation. However, the ridge-development cure must have been developed prior to 2293, the year of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The Star Trek: Voyager episode "Flashback", which depicts events that took place in 2293, shows the Klingon Kang with ridges, though he had none in the original series episode "Day of the Dove." It can be calculated, therefore, that the human-like appearance of the Klingons lasted for at least 125 years, since Enterprise takes place approximately 110 to 115 years prior to The Original Series, and the reversal mentioned by Phlox could have happened prior to Star Trek: The Motion Picture which takes place in the early 2270s, but definitely happened by 2293. All attempts at retconning aside, the changes in Klingon appearance can best be explained by an inconsistent treatment of pre-existing material by the series' and movies' writers.

Klingon religion

According to legend, Kortar, the first Klingon, along with his mate, destroyed the gods who created them and turned the heavens into ashes. This event is recounted in marriage ceremonies. Klingons value honor above all else. Those who die honorably are said to join the spirit of Kahless (the first Klingon emperor, who has become a messianic figure in Klingon religion) in Sto-Vo-Kor. The honored dead are not mourned, but celebrated, and the body is viewed as an empty shell to be disposed of. Dishonorable deaths hold the destiny of the underworld of Gre'Thor, guarded by Fek'lhr. Gre'thor is reached by passage on the Barge of the Dead, eternally piloted by Kortar, over the River of Blood. There are parallels between Klingon beliefs and Norse Mythology; such as the belief that the afterlife will be a warrior's paradise with daily battles, and nightly feasting, drinking and revelry. FASA now non-canon depiction of the Klingon religion was that of Klingons believing in the "Black Fleet" afterlife and that the naked stars remember acts of courage performed under them. This version of the Klingon religion, widely popular in the 1980s, had fans recite some of the FASA-John M. Ford poetry on their religion: "And though I had slain a thousand foes less one, The thousandth knife found my liver; The thousandth enemy said to me, 'Now you shall die, Now none shall know.' And the fool, looking down, believed this, Not seeing, above his shoulders, the naked stars, Each one remembering."

History of the Klingon Empire

Prehistory

Little is known of the Klingons prior to the establishment of the Empire. Klingons being a prideful race with a closed society, they are averse to sharing their secrets. Being violent, belligerent, and anti-intellectual, it is hard to imagine that the Klingons developed their high level of technology and science (including warp drive) by themselves. Klingon religion also states that the first Klingons destroyed the gods who created them. Klingon physiology with its redundancies and great strength is also ideal for military operations. In the episode The Chase (ST:TNG, Season 6), it was revealed that a race of prehistoric aliens had spread humanoid DNA all across the galaxy (and mixed it with local DNA) and so ensured the development of the major Star Trek races. In other words, Klingons developed partly from the indigenous prehistoric life on Qo'noS and partly from humanoid DNA.

1st Millennium

The Imperial Klingon Empire was founded around 900 AD on the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS by Kahless the Unforgettable. The Empire went through several dynasties of rulers, experiencing a period between the 2nd and 3rd known as the "Dark Time", a 10-year experiment in democracy. Around the 14th century, Qo'noS was invaded by the Hur'q, who pillaged many treasures, including the sword of Kahless. The Klingons eventually expelled the Hur'q, which is the Klingon word for "outsider", from their homeworld. It is likely the Klingons stole the invaders' technology, including their warp drive and weapons systems, and used them to expand their empire into space. If Klingon designs were in fact stolen, and not developed on their own, this might explain why Klingon technology seems to advance so little during the ensuing centuries compared to other planets, such as Earth. It also explains how such a warlike and anti-intellectual civilization was able to develop warp drive, in that they reverse engineered it from the technology of an invading race. By 2069 the High Council was formed, eliminating the position of Emperor until 2369.

22nd century

Around the early part of the 22nd century, the warrior class begins exerting a greater influence throughout Klingon society, corrupting, notably, the justice system. In 2151, a faction in the Temporal Cold War from the 28th century attempted to alter the timeline by using the Suliban Cabal to incite unrest within the Klingon Empire. This resulted in the first contact between Klingons and Humans and sparked the first voyage of the Warp 5 vessel, Enterprise. Concurrent with this mission, Enterprise communications officer Hoshi Sato became the first known human to learn the Klingon language. Although initially positive, the relationship between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire remained on shaky ground during the first few years of contact, with Enterprise being fired upon by a Klingon battle cruiser only a few weeks after the vessel's trip to the Klingon homeworld (as seen in "Unexpected"). By 2152-53, Captain Jonathan Archer had become a fugitive from Klingon justice, and at one point Enterprise destroyed a Klingon vessel carrying the then-head of the House of Duras who was pursuing the fugitive. The long-term fallout from this has yet to be revealed in canon, although the crew of Enterprise redeemed themselves somewhat in 2154 by helping the Empire stop the Augment Virus from becoming fatal.

23rd century

Around 2218, relations between the Empire and the Federation degenerated substantially, with intense hostility lasting until 2293. In 2266, war between the Federation and Klingon Empire is stopped before it can begin by the interference of the Organians. The Organian Peace Treaty forced on both sides holds each to a non-aggression pact and an establishment of a neutral zone in which each side must nonviolently compete for trade agreements with any planets. The Organian influence, frequently mentioned during the original series, completely disappears in the movies, for reasons that have yet to be explained. In 2267 the Klingons and the Romulans forged a military alliance and the Klingons traded several D7 battlecruisers in exchange for cloaking technology. The basis for this alliance, revealed in the episode "The Enterprise Incident", was grounded in real-world economics; the script called for a Romulan ship to appear, but the original Romulan ship model was not available so rather than go to the expense of building a new one, the Klingon D7 model was substituted. In 2293 the atmosphere of Qo'noS was contaminated when Praxis, one of its moons, and its primary mining facility, exploded. This event was a turning point in relations between the Klingons and the United Federation of Planets, as the Klingon Empire could not afford to maintain their excessive military activities and deal with this new problem (parallels with the breakdown of the Cold War, the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl, and the relationship between the United States and the cash-strapped former Soviet Union were obvious). Thus the two entered into an alliance which was maintained for many years until it was suspended for a couple of years after 2372 due to the issue of the Cardassian invasion. The resolution to the Qo'noS atmosphere issue is yet to be explained. Though a planet Qo'noS is shown to still be inhabited and still the Empire's seat of power well into the 24th Century, differences between both appearance and distance from Earth in various incarnations of Star Trek taking place both before and after this event may indicate the capital was moved to a new planet, maintaining the old name. It is, however, unclear whether this was in fact the intended implication, or merely the result of continuity errors.

24th century

In 2342 the Klingons and Romulans began a violent war after the Romulans attacked the Klingon outpost Narendra III. The Enterprise-C cemented friendly relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation by sacrificing itself to protect the outpost from the Romulans. In 2357, Worf (played by Michael Dorn), Son of Mogh, a survivor of the Khitomer massacre, became the first Klingon to enter Starfleet Academy and in 2364 he was assigned to the Enterprise-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 Duras quickly lost all support, ending the war and leaving Gowron as undisputed leader of the empire. In 2369, the position of Emperor was reinstated, when the clone of Kahless inherited the throne with the blessing of the Chancellor and High Council. Titled Kahless II, the emperor became titular ruler of the empire at a time when the empire needed a figurehead. The bulk of power, however, remained in the hands of the High Council. In 2372, relations between the Klingons and the Federation soured over the issue of the Klingon invasion of Cardassia. When the Federation refused to support the Klingon invasion, Chancellor Gowron withdrew from the Khitomer Accords. For the next year, relations between the two powers were hostile. In 2373 fighting broke out between the two powers. However when the Federation and Klingons discovered that they were being manipulated by the Dominion, an uneasy cease-fire was declared. In mid-2373, the Cardassians formally announced they had joined the Dominion, and the Jem 'Hadar rapidly forced the Klingons to retreat from Cardassian space, inflicting heavy damage on them.Captain Sisko was able to convince Gowron to reinstate the Alliance. Again allies, the Klingons and Federation turned their attention to the Dominion and the Cardassians as war against them became inevitable. When the war began, both the Federation and Klingons fought side-by-side against the Dominion, even though the odds were against them. However, once the Romulans joined them the tide eventually turned against the Dominion. In 2375 the Federation-Romulan-Klingon fleet defeated the Dominion with the assistance of the Cardassian fleet during a final assault on Cardassia Prime. Despite the refusal of Sisko and Ross to drink bloodwine with Martok in the Cardassian Central Command, the two powers remained strong allies after the war. Cardassia Prime Shortly before the end of the Dominion War, in 2375, Gowron took direct control of the Klingon fleet (a position held up until that point by the successful General Martok) because he was concerned that Martok was becoming too popular among both the troops and the civilian population from his wartime success. Since new Chancellors can ascend to that position by killing the former Chancellor, Gowron feared that Martok would challenge him for his position. Since Gowron was much more of a politician than a general, the Klingon fleet began to take unnecessary losses that Gowron manipulated to appear to be the fault of Martok. Commander Worf, disgusted with Gowron for using bad tactics in the war simply to hurt Martok's political position, challenged the Chancellor in a meeting to ritual combat and defeated him (killing Gowron in the process). By the traditions of the Empire, Worf had the right to become the next Chancellor if he wished, but instead granted the role to Martok, having no desire for a political position himself, although Martok would shortly thereafter have Worf become the UFP's ambassador to the Klingon Empire. Ironically, Martok never had any designs on Gowron or his position, even accepting the unpopular position in which Gowron had placed him without questioning his orders.

Possible Future

The Klingons do not recover from the losses they suffered during the Dominion War until 2385, according to a 2375 estimate by Section 31. In Daniels' timeline, the Klingons join the Federation by about 2554. One point of curiosity is the fate of the Emperor, or rather the position itself. There had not been an Emperor for centuries until the Kahless clone assumed that role. What will occur after his death is unclear. As the position has no real political power per se, and no series has ever mentioned a Klingon aspiring to that position, it is unclear who would become the next emperor, or if the position would simply cease to exist as it did prior to the events of Rightful Heir.

Alternate Timelines

A few episodes featuring alternate timelines have shown a variety of developments in Klingon history and politics.
- In the future timeline of "All Good Things", relations between the Federation and the Empire have degraded, as Geordi states that current relations are "not too cozy". In this timeline, the Klingons have also taken control of the Romulan empire.
- The Deep Space Nine episode The Visitor gives an alternate history for the events after the beginning of season 4 of that series, where the Klingons occupied Deep Space Nine, and the Federation-Dominion conflict never occurred. The episode takes places over a number of decades, and the political climate of the Empire seems to change several times.
- While not an alternate timeline exactly, the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribbleations features the disgraced Klingon outcast Darvin attempting to change history, and make himself a Klingon hero. His attempts are thwarted, and it seems that almost no changes were made to the timeline as a result of his actions.

Klingon leadership

- Molor
- Kahless the Unforgettable (Founds Empire c. 900)
- Emperor Reclaw (last of the 2nd Dynasty)
- "Dark Time" (10-year democratic period between 2nd & 3rd dynasties)
- Emperor Reclaw [II] (last of the 2nd Dynasty)
- Emperor Sompek
- Chancellor M'Rek (2154)
- Chancellor Gorkon (died 2293)
- Chancellor Azetbur (beginning 2293)
- Chancellor Mow'ga (2nd Empire)
- Chancellor K'mpec (died 2367)
- Chancellor Gowron (2367-2375)
- Emperor Kahless II (ceremonial ruler from 2369 coregent with chancellor)
- LT. Commander Worf (2375, after killing Gowron, gave up leadership to Martok)
- Chancellor Martok (beginning 2375)

Arbiter of Succession

The Arbiter of Succession is a Klingon legal practice designed to ensure a stable succession for the Chancellor. Although it is a Klingon custom, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a human, is the first person within the Star Trek canon known to have this role. To gain leadership of the Klingon Empire, a Klingon must gain control of the Klingon High Council. The council itself is made up of the strongest families of the Empire, a more violent example of the US Senate. Because a candidate must gain support from the other families, leading to factions, it is the Arbiter's job to resolve the possibility of a stalemate to decide matters of honour relating to the Challenge, and to choose a Chancellor of the Klingon Empire.

Klingon Ranks

(around ~2300's)

Klingon hand weapons

To many Klingons, battle is sacred, and treated with much ceremony. Therefore, many advances have been made by Klingons in the field of weaponry.
- Sonic Disruptor This weapon is the hand unit carried by Klingon soldiers in Star Trek: The Original Series. It resembles a futuristic silver flintlock and has a distinct "warble" sound, and was first seen in "Errand of Mercy".
- Disruptor Pistol This is the main weapon all Klingons carry. It has a power cell and fires a bolt of pure energy at a target, vaporizing it. Whether sneaking into enemy territory or going to the market to buy some heart of targ, this is a tried-and-true choice.
- Disruptor Rifle Disruptor rifles are used mainly by Klingon shock troops, but are also favored by weapons merchants and terrorists due to their point-and-shoot simplicity. These deadly weapons are essentially larger versions of the disruptor pistol.
- betleH (bet-LEKH) The betleH, or "sword of honor," symbolizes the Klingon Empire to much of the quadrant. Made of a crescent with four points, the betleH is an imposing two-handed sword. This weapon has been receding from use in open battle, but is still used in "modern" times for ceremonial rites and challenges of power or authority. The first betleH was said to have been made by Kahless from a lock of his own hair which he forged in an ore volcano on Qo'noS.
- meqleH (mek-LEKH) By all accounts, the meqleH is similar to the betleH in many ways, but it is not so much a sword as a large knife. It has a curved blade approximately 30 cm long, and is an imposing sight. Another staple of the average Klingon's weapons closet, this is a formidable blade. Especially suited to close-quarters combat, such as in the corridors of a ship being boarded.
- Daqtagh (dak-TAGH) The Klingon Daqtagh is a small knife by Klingon standards, mainly used in ceremonies, but also employed as an easily concealable weapon. Every Klingon receives their Daqtagh at their Age of Ascension. It has a 20 cm blade length, with two small blades that snap out of the sides at the push of a button. It can also be thrown. power cell
- 'oy'naQ (oi-NAKKH - Eng: Painstick) The Klingon painstick is a rod about 1 meter in length. It has a grip on one end and a port on the other end to discharge energy. It is also mainly used in ceremonies of endurance, but is sometimes used for torture. It does not incapacitate an enemy unless used repeatedly. It must be placed very close to the target (essentially touching) to work.
- chonnaQ (chon-NAKKH - Eng: chon-NAK) Not much is known about the archaic chonnaQ. It is a hunting spear once used in the great Klingon wars; it predates the original Kahless in age.
- jejtaj (jedge-TAHJ) The jejtaj is a weapon wielded like a pair of brass knuckles. However, with enough practice, one can parry bladed attacks with it and use it as a rudimentary throwing star.

Extent of the Klingon Empire

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

Trivia

- Tribbles (a small furry alien animal) shriek in the presence of Klingons, as demonstrated in an original series episode. Conversely, Klingons despise the Tribbles as an "ecological menace". (Odo's statement that Worf was "allergic to Tribbles" was probably just a tactful way of smoothing over the situation.) The Klingons went on to exterminate the popular pet throughout the galaxy and into extinction.
- A fanon name for the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS is 'Klinzhai'.
- The larger, ridged forehead Klingons (of the movie era and after) are sometimes unofficially referred to as Imperial Klingons.
- Klingon (tlhIngan Hol) is also the language spoken by the Klingons, created by Marc Okrand. See Klingon language. Inasmuch as the Universal Translator frequently fails to translate Klingon phrases, it appears that the Klingons regularly utilize two languages. When Commander William T. Riker briefly served on a Klingon vessel, the Klingon captain demanded that the crew "speak their [humans'] language"; since it seems extremely improbable that the entire crew of the ship had gone to the trouble of learning a human language, this implies that the Klingons have designated one language as strictly for offworlders ("theirs"), which the Universal Translator can handle, and another for Klingons alone (implicitly, "ours"), which it cannot (or which it has possibly been programmed to ignore in deference to Klingon demands).
- There is also a programming language based on Klingon called var'aq.
- Klingon and Klingonsmith are also last names. Usually seen in Utah.
- In the language Esperanto, the word "Klingo" means "edge" (like that of a knife). When used in a sentence in Esperanto, Klingo can take the -n at the end and become "Klingon", like in the following example: "I am contemplating the edge because of its beauty", which in Esperanto is "Mi kontemplas la klingon pro ties beleco".

Klingon cuisine

Esperanto Various kinds of fictional food and beverages have been shown as part of Klingon cuisine in the Star Trek TV show. ;Chech'tluth : A strong alcoholic beverage, served in a metal goblet. Although considerably stronger than whisky, chech'tluth is suitable for humans. ;Gagh : Klingon serpent worms. Gagh is best served while as fresh as possible, i.e. while still alive, and it dies only when entering the digestive tract. Klingons say that they don't care for the taste of gagh, but like it for the fight it puts up when eaten. There are actually at least 51 distinct "flavor" varieties of gagh. ;Klingon Blood Wine : An alcoholic beverage renowned for its flavor and potency. It has been mentioned that Blood Wine is stronger than Earth whisky. Few non-Klingons drink Blood Wine because of its potency. Klingons often drink Blood Wine when celebrating after a battle and while trading war stories. Klingons expect their Blood Wine to be served warm. Whether it actually contains blood is unknown to Trekkers. (For example, some Spanish wines have "Sangre" (blood) in their names; it is possible the Blood Wine contains no blood.) ;Klingon Fire Wine : Not much is known about this beverage. Once while on the holodeck (A Fistful of Datas), Worf asked the bartender Annie for some Fire Wine. She replied, "This ain't Kansas City. We don't have none of that fancy European stuff here." ;Klingon skull stew : A dish consisting of an animal skull with various kinds of dressings. ;Klingon tea : Klingon tea is an extremely potent beverage. It is deadly to humans, although they may inject an antidote beforehand if they still wish to drink it, and apparently not exactly safe for Klingons either. Klingon tea is served and drunk during an elaborate tea ceremony. ;Raktajino : Klingon coffee. Particularly popular in Quark's bar on Deep Space 9. The name is most likely a portmanteau of its true Klingon name and "cappuccino". ;Rokeg blood pie : A traditional Klingon dish, consisting of animal meat and blood baked into a pie. Rokeg blood pie is Worf's favourite food, and because of this, his adoptive parents learnt to prepare it. ;Klingon Warnog: This beverage is mentioned in Star Trek TNG: Rightful Heir.

Other meanings of the word

"Klingon" has been used as an unofficial nickname for a microorganism found in Lake Vostok in Antarctica.

External links

- [http://www.kli.org Klingon Language Institute]
- [http://www.klingon.org/ Klingon Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Largest Klingon cultural website with many resources]
- [http://www.klingonimperialweaponsguild.org/ Klingon Imperial Weapons Guild]
- [http://www.klingonlineregistry.org/ Klingon Line Registry]
- [http://www.housekasara.org/ House Kasara - A large and well-respected matriarchal Klingon family line]
- [http://www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon/ Google in Klingon]
- [http://klingon.dw-world.de/klingon/index.php Deutsche Welle] Germany's International broadcaster goes Klingon
- [http://www.quadrantdelta.com/foothold/ Imperial Klingon Outpost Foothold] A Klingon PBEM RPG
- [http://www.godcast.org/categories/klingonWord/ The Klingon Word] Scripture read in Klingon
- [http://www.klingonlegion.com/ Klingon Legion of Assault Warriors Fourth Fleet] Florida-based Klingon Fan Group
- Category:Star_Trek_races category:villain races ja:クリンゴン人

Fictional universe

A fictional universe is a cohesive imaginary world that serves as the setting or backdrop for one or (more commonly) multiple works of fiction. Fictional universes are most common in, but not exclusive to, the science fiction and fantasy genres. Many universes written in one or both of these genres feature physical and metaphysical laws different from our own that allow for magical, psychic and various other types of paranormal phenomena. Although these laws may not be completely internally consistent, they do allow the author to provide some textual explanation for how their imagined world differs from our own. A fictional universe is a type of constructed world unique to serialized, series-based, open-ended or round robin-style fiction. A fictional universe may also be called a fictional realm, imaginary realm, fictional world, imaginary world or imaginary universe. Most fictional universes are based directly or indirectly on our own universe. A fictional universe is usually differentiated from the setting of, and the cosmology established by, ancient or modern legends, myths and religions, although there are countless fictional universes that draw upon such sources for inspiration. It can be argued that every work of fiction generates a world of its own; Robert A. Heinlein coined the neologism ficton to refer to such a world. A fictional universe is then a ficton that has an existence that goes beyond a single story, and becomes the basis either of other stories, or of games or other creations. It generally consists of a time and place that invoke a sense of a distinct world, one which is unique to the content and context of the tales that it is used to tell. Despite the name, a fictional universe does not necessarily concern an entire universe; for example, most of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is set in a single Californian city, and most of the action in the Harry Potter series occurs in and around a single school. On the other hand, a fictional universe may concern itself with more than one interconnected universe through science fiction devices such as "parallel worlds" or universes, and a series of interconnected universes is called a multiverse. Such multiverses have been featured prominently in science fiction since at least the mid-20th century, notably in the classic Star Trek episode, "Mirror, Mirror", which introduced an alternate universe in which the crew of the Starship Enterprise were villains rather than heroes, and in the mid-1980s comic book series, Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which countless parallel universes were destroyed. The trilogy His Dark Materials also takes place in a fictional multiverse. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, when considered as all 5 books together, flits back and forth between different universes, or perhaps it is more accurate to say, flits through different time lines and different dimensions involving different states of existence for the characters and for the earth itself. Fictional universes are sometimes shared by multiple authors, with each author's works in that universe being granted approximately equal canonical status. Other universes are created by one or several authors but are intended to be used non-canonically by others, such as the fictional settings for games, particularly role-playing games and video games. Settings for the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons are called campaign settings; other games have also incorporated this term on occasion. Virtual worlds are fictional worlds in which online computer games, notably MMORPGs and MUDs, take place. A fictional crossover occurs when two or more fictional characters, series or universes cross over with one another, usually in the context of a character created by one author or owned by one company meeting a character created or owned by another. In the case where two fictional universes covering entire actual universes cross over, physical travel from one universe to another may actually occur in the course of the story. Such crossovers are usually, but not always, considered non-canonical by their creators or by those in charge of the properties involved. In most small-scale fictional universes, general properties and timeline events fit into a consistently organized continuity. However, in the case of universes or universes that are rewritten or revised by different writers, editors or producers, this continuity may be violated, by accident or by design. The use of retroactive continuity (retcon) often occurs due to this kind of revision or oversight. Members of fandom often create a kind of fanmade canon (fanon) to patch up such errors; fanon that becomes generally accepted sometimes becomes actual canon. Other fanmade additions to a universe (fan fiction, pastiche, parody) are usually not considered canonical unless they are authorized. See :Category:Fictional universes for a list of fictional universes by name and list of fictional universes for a list of fictional universes by genre.

References

- Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places
- Brian Stableford: The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places
- Diana Wynne Jones: The Tough Guide to Fantasyland explains and parodies the common features of a standard fantasy world
- George Ochoa and Jeffery Osier: Writer's Guide to Creating A Science Fiction Universe (Writer's Digest)

Related concepts

- Imaginary world
- Index of fictional places
- Alternate history
- Fantasy world
- Fictional city
- Fictional country
- Constructed world
- Future history
- Mythical place
- Planets in science fiction
- Virtual reality Category:Continuity (fiction) Category:Fictional universes

Balance of terror

:This article is about the Cold War policy. For the Star Trek episode, see "Balance of Terror". The phrase "balance of terror" is usually used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during Cold War. It describes the tenuous peace that existed between the two countries as a result of both governments being terrified at the prospect of a world-destroying nuclear war. Some political scientists use this phrase as a means of differentiating the world situation that followed World War II from that which preceded it. Previously, the empires had prevented war between each other by maintaining a relative balance of their ability (economic, military, and political) to wage war against each other--the phrase "balance of power" was often used to describe this kind of tentative peace. The atomic bomb created a new political reality, in which two superpower nations had the ability to annihilate all life on earth. The obstacle to war between the communists and capitalists was no longer the fear that the other side was more powerful, but rather the realization that nuclear arsenals were now large enough and deadly enough that winning would still likely result in the destruction of one's country (and the rest of the world as well). In this counterintuitive way, the existence of the most powerful weapons ever created actually supported a kind of peace: while many wars were fought around the world during the Cold War, the superpowers never fought each other directly, nor were atomic bombs ever dropped in combat after Nagasaki. See also mutual assured destruction. Category:Cold War

Plasma

:This article is about plasma in the sense of an ionized gas. For other uses of the term, such as blood plasma, see plasma (disambiguation). plasma (disambiguation) In physics and chemistry, a plasma is an ionized gas, and is usually considered to be a distinct phase of matter. "Ionized" in this case means that at least one electron has been removed from a significant fraction of the molecules. The free electric charges make the plasma electrically conductive so that it couples strongly to electromagnetic fields. This fourth state of matter was first identified by Sir William Crookes in 1879 and dubbed "plasma" by Irving Langmuir in 1928, because it reminded him of a blood plasma [http://www.plasmacoalition.org/what.htm].

Common plasmas

blood plasma Plasmas are the most common phase of matter. The entire visible universe outside the Solar System is plasma, since all we can see are stars. Since the space between the stars is filled with a plasma, although a very sparse one (see interstellar- and intergalactic medium), essentially the entire volume of the universe is plasma. In the Solar System, the planet Jupiter accounts for most of the non-plasma, only about 0.1% of the mass and 10⁻¹⁵ of the volume within the orbit of Pluto. Alfvén also noted that due to their electric charge, very small grains also behave as ions and form part of a plasma (see dusty plasmas). Commonly encountered forms of plasma include:
- Artificially produced
- Inside fluorescent lamps (low energy lighting), neon signs
- Rocket exhaust
- The area in front of a spacecraft's heat shield during reentry into the atmosphere
- Fusion energy research
- The electric arc in an arc lamp or an arc welder
- Plasma ball (sometimes called a plasma sphere or plasma globe)
- Earth plasmas
- Flames (ie. fire)
- Lightning
- The ionosphere
- The polar aurorae
- Space and astrophysical
- The Sun and other stars (which are plasmas heated by nuclear fusion)
- The solar wind
- The Interplanetary medium (the space between the planets)
- The Interstellar medium (the space between star systems)
- The Intergalactic medium (the space between galaxies)
- The Io-Jupiter flux-tube
- Accretion disks
- Interstellar nebulae

Characteristics

The term plasma is generally reserved for a system of charged particles large enough to behave as one. Even a partially ionized gas in which as little as 1% of the particles are ionized can have the characteristics of a plasma (i.e. respond to magnetic fields and be highly electrically conductive). In technical terms, the typical characteristics of a plasma are: # Debye screening lengths that are short compared to the physical size of the plasma. # Large number of particles within a sphere with a radius of the Debye length. # Mean time between collisions usually is long when compared to the period of plasma oscillations.

Plasma scaling

Plasmas and their characteristics exist over a wide range of scales (ie. they are scaleable over many orders of magnitude). The following chart deals only with conventional atomic plasmas and not other exotic phenomena, such as, quark gluon plasmas:

	Typical plasma scaling ranges: orders of magnitude (OOM)
Characteristic	Terrestrial plasmas	Cosmic plasmas
Size in metres (m)	10⁻⁶ m (lab plasmas) to: 10² m (lightning) (~8 OOM)	10⁻⁶ m (spacecraft sheath) to 10²⁵ m (intergalactic nebula) (~31 OOM)
Lifetime in seconds (s)	10⁻¹² s (laser-produced plasma) to: 10⁷ s (fluorescent lights) (~19 OOM)	10¹ s (solar flares) to: 10¹⁷ s (intergalactic plasma) (~17 OOM)
Density in particles per cubic metre	10⁷ to: 10²¹ (inertial confinement plasma)	10³⁰ (stellar core) to: 10⁰ (i.e., 1) (intergalactic medium)
Temperature in kelvins (K)	~0 K (Crystalline non-neutral plasma[http://sdphca.ucsd.edu/]) to: 10⁸ K (magnetic fusion plasma)	10² K (aurora) to: 10⁷ K (Solar core)
Magnetic fields in teslas (T)	10⁻⁴ T (Lab plasma) to: 10³ T (pulsed-power plasma)	10⁻¹² T (intergalactic medium) to: 10⁷ T (Solar core)

Temperatures

plasma scaling characteristic of the gas being excited.]] The defining characteristic of a plasma is ionization. Although ionization can be caused by UV radiation, energetic particles, or strong electric fields, (processes that tend to result in a non-Maxwellian electron distribution function), it is more commonly caused by heating the electrons in such a way that they are close to thermal equilibrium so the electron temperature is relatively well-defined. Because the large mass of the ions relative to the electrons hinders energy transfer, it is possible for the ion temperature to be very different from (usually lower than) the electron temperature. The degree of ionization is determined by the electron temperature relative to the ionization energy (and more weakly by the density) in accordance with the Saha equation. If only a small fraction of the gas molecules are ionized (for example 1%), then the plasma is said to be a cold plasma, even though the electron temperature is typically several thousand degrees. The ion temperature in a cold plasma is often near the ambient temperature. Because the plasmas utilized in plasma technology are typically cold, they are sometimes called technological plasmas. They are often created by using a very high electric field to accelerate electrons, which then ionize the atoms. The electric field is either capacitively or inductively coupled into the gas by means of a plasma source, e.g. microwaves. Common applications of cold plasmas include plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, plasma ion doping, and reactive ion etching. A hot plasma, on the other hand, is nearly fully ionized. This is what would commonly be known as the "fourth-state of matter". The Sun is an example of a hot plasma. The electrons and ions are more likely to have equal temperatures in a hot plasma, but there can still be significant differences.

Densities

Next to the temperature, which is of fundamental importance for the very existence of a plasma, the most important property is the density. The word "plasma density" by itself usually refers to the electron density, that is, the number of free electrons per unit volume. The ion density is related to this by the average charge state

\langle Z\rangle

of the ions through

n_e=\langle Z\rangle n_i

. (See quasineutrality below.) The third important quantity is the density of neutrals

n_0

. In a hot plasma this is small, but may still determine important physics. The degree of ionization is

n_i/(n_0+n_i)

Potentials

reactive ion etching Since plasmas are very good conductors, electric potentials play an important role. The potential as it exists on average in the space between charged particles, independent of the question of how it can be measured, is called the plasma potential or the space potential. If an electrode is inserted into a plasma, its potential will generally lie considerably below the plasma potential due to the development of a Debye sheath. Due to the good electrical conductivity, the electric fields in plasmas tend to be very small, although where double layers are formed, the potential drop can be large enough to accelerate ions to relativistic velocities and produce synchrotron radiation such as x-rays and gamma rays. This results in the important concept of quasineutrality, which says that, on the one hand, it is a very good approximation to assume that the density of negative charges is equal to the density of positive charges (

n_e=\langle Z\rangle n_i

), but that, on the other hand, electric fields can be assumed to exist as needed for the physics at hand. The magnitude of the potentials and electric fields must be determined by means other than simply finding the net charge density. A common example is to assume that the electrons satisfy the Boltzmann relation,

n_e \propto e^

. Differentiating this relation provides a means to calculate the electric field from the density:

\vec = (k_BT_e/e)(\nabla n_e/n_e)

. It is, of course, possible to produce a plasma that is not quasineutral. An electron beam, for example, has only negative charges. The density of a non-neutral plasma must generally be very low, or it must be very small, otherwise it will be dissipated by the repulsive electrostatic force. In astrophysical plasmas, Debye screening prevents electric fields from directly affecting the plasma over large distances (ie. greater than the Debye length). But the existence of charged particles causes the plasma to generate and be affected by magnetic fields. This can and does cause extremely complex behavior, such as the generation of plasma double layers, an object that separates charge over a few tens of Debye lengths. The dynamics of plasmas interacting with external and self-generated magnetic fields are studied in the academic discipline of magnetohydrodynamics.

In contrast to the gas phase

Plasma is often called the fourth state of matter. It is distinct from the three lower-energy phases of matter; solid, liquid, and gas, although it is closely related to the gas phase in that it also has no definite form or volume. There is still some disagreement as to whether a plasma is a distinct state of matter or simply a type of gas. Most physicists consider a plasma to be more than a gas because of a number of distinct properties including the following:

Property	Gas	Plasma
Electrical Conductivity	Very low	Very high For many purposes the electric field in a plasma may be treated as zero, although when current flows the voltage drop, though small, is finite, and density gradients are usually associated with an electric field according to the Boltzmann relation. The possibility of currents couples the plasma strongly to magnetic fields, which are responsible for a large variety of structures such as filaments, sheets, and jets. Collective phenomena are common because the electric and magnetic forces are both long-range and potentially many orders of magnitude stronger than gravitational forces.
Independently acting species	One	Two or three Electrons, ions, and neutrals can be distinguished by the sign of their charge so that they behave independently in many circumstances, having different velocities or even different temperatures, leading to new types of waves and instabilities, among other things
Velocity distribution	Maxwellian	May be non-Maxwellian Whereas collisional interactions always lead to a Maxwellian velocity distribution, electric fields influence the particle velocities differently. The velocity dependence of the Coulomb collision cross section can amplify these differences, resulting in phenomena like two-temperature distributions and run-away electrons.
Interactions	Binary Two-particle collisions are the rule, three-body collisions extremely rare.	Collective Each particle interacts simultaneously with many others. These collective interactions are about ten times more important than binary collisions.

Complex plasma phenomena

Boltzmann relation. Langmuir coined the name plasma because of its similarity to blood plasma, and Hannes Alfvén noted its cellular nature. Note also the filamentary blue outer shell of X-ray emitting high-speed electrons]] Plasma may exhibit complex behaviour. And just as plasma properties scale over many orders of magnitude (see table above), so do these complex features. Many of these features were first studied in the laboratory, and in more recent years, have been applied to, and recognised throughout the universe. Some of these features include:
- Filamentation, the striations or "stringy things" seen in a "plasma ball", the aurora, lightning, electric arcs, and nebulae. They are caused by larger current densities, and are also called magnetic ropes or plasma cables.
- Double layers, localised charge separation regions that have a large potential difference across the layer, and a vanishing electric field on either side. Double layers are found between adjacent plasmas regions with different physical characteristics, and can accelerate ions and produce synchrotron radiation (such as x-rays and gamma rays).
- Birkeland currents, a magnetic-field-aligned electric current, first observed in the Earth's aurora, and also found in plasma filaments.
- Circuits. Birkeland currents imply electric circuits, that follow Kirchhoff's circuit laws. Circuits have a resistance and inductance, and the behaviour of the plasma depends on the entire circuit. Such circuits also store inductive energy, and should the circuit be disrupted, for example, by a plasma instability, the inductive energy will be released in the plasma.
- Cellular structure. Plasma double layers may separate regions with different properties such as magnetization, density, and temperature, resulting in cell-like regions. Examples include the magnetosphere, heliosphere, and heliospheric current sheet.
- Critical ionization velocity in which the relative velocity between an ionized plasma and a neutral gas, may cause further ionization of the gas, resulting in a greater influence of electomagnetic forces.

Ultracold plasmas

It is also possible to create ultracold plasmas, by using lasers to trap and cool neutral atoms to temperatures of 1 mK or lower. Another laser then ionizes the atoms by giving each of the outermost electrons just enough energy to escape the electrical attraction of its parent ion. The key point about ultracold plasmas is that by manipulating the atoms with lasers, the kinetic energy of the liberated electrons can be controlled. Using standard pulsed lasers, the electron energy can be made to correspond to a temperature of as low as 0.1 K a limit set by the frequency bandwidth of the laser pulse. The ions, however, retain the millikelvin temperatures of the neutral atoms. This type of non-equilibrium ultracold plasma evolves rapidly, and many fundamental questions about its behaviour remain unanswered. Experiments conducted so far have revealed surprising dynamics and recombination behaviour that are pushing the limits of our knowledge of plasma physics.

Mathematical descriptions

Plasmas may be usefully described with various levels of detail. However the plasma itself is described, if electric or magnetic fields are present, then Maxwell's equations will be needed to describe them. The coupling of the description of a conductive fluid to electromagnetic fields is known generally as magnetohydrodynamics, or simply MHD.

Fluid

The simplest possibility is to treat the plasma as a single fluid governed by the Navier Stokes Equations. A more general description is the two-fluid picture, where the ions and electrons are considered to be distinct.

Kinetic

For some cases the fluid description is not sufficient. Kinetic models include information on distortions of the velocity distribution functions with respect to a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. This may be important when currents flow, when waves are involved, or when gradients are very steep.

Particle-in-cell

Particle-in-cell (PIC) models include kinetic information by following the trajectories of a large number of individual particles. Charge and current densities are determined by summing the particles in cells which are small compared to the problem at hand but still contain many particles. The electric and magnetic fields are found from the charge and current densities with appropriate boundary conditions. PIC codes for plasma applications were developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1950's. Although often more calculationally intensive than alternative models, they are relatively easy to understand and program and can be very general.

Fundamental plasma parameters

Los Alamos National Laboratory All quantities are in Gaussian cgs units except temperature expressed in eV and ion mass expressed in units of the proton mass

\mu = m_i/m_p

; Z is charge state; k is Boltzmann's constant; K is wavelength; γ is the adiabatic index; ln Λ is the Coulomb logarithm.

Frequencies

- electron gyrofrequency, the angular frequency of the circular motion of an electron in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field: :

\omega_ = eB/m_ec = 1.76 \times 10^7 B \mbox

- ion gyrofrequency, the angular frequency of the circular motion of an ion in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field: :

\omega_ = eB/m_ic = 9.58 \times 10^3 Z \mu^ B \mbox

- electron plasma frequency, the frequency with which electrons oscillate when their charge density is not equal to the ion charge density (plasma oscillation): :

\omega_ = (4\pi n_ee^2/m_e)^ = 5.64 \times 10^4 n_e^ \mbox

- ion plasma frequency: :

\omega_ = (4\pi n_iZ^2e^2/m_i)^ = 1.32 \times 10^3 Z \mu^ n_i^ \mbox

- electron trapping rate :

\nu_ = (eKE/m_e)^ = 7.26 \times 10^8 K^ E^ \mbox^

- ion trapping rate :

\nu_ = (ZeKE/m_i)^ = 1.69 \times 10^7 Z^ K^ E^ \mu^ \mbox^

- electron collision rate :

\nu_e = 2.91 \times 10^ n_e\,\ln\Lambda\,T_e^ \mbox^

- ion collision rate :

\nu_i = 4.80 \times 10^ Z^4 \mu^ n_i\,\ln\Lambda\,T_i^ \mbox^

Lengths

plasma oscillation http://history.nasa.gov/SP-345/ch15.htm#250 Ref]]
- Electron thermal de Broglie wavelength, approximate average de Broglie wavelength of electrons in a plasma: :

\Lambda_e= \sqrt= 6.919\times 10^\,T_e^\,\mbox

- classical distance of closest approach, the closest that two particles with the elementary charge come to each other if they approach head-on and each have a velocity typical of the temperature, ignoring quantum-mechanical effects: :

e^2/kT=1.44\times10^\,T^\,\mbox

- electron gyroradius, the radius of the circular motion of an electron in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field: :

r_e = v_/\omega_ = 2.38\,T_e^B^\,\mbox

- ion gyroradius, the radius of the circular motion of an ion in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field: :

r_i = v_/\omega_ = 1.02\times10^2\,\mu^Z^T_i^B^\,\mbox

- plasma skin depth, the depth in a plasma to which electromagnetic radiation can penetrate: :

c/\omega_ = 5.31\times10^5\,n_e^\,\mbox

- Debye length, the scale over which electric fields are screened out by a redistribution of the electrons: :

\lambda_D = (kT/4\pi ne^2)^ = 7.43\times10^2\,T^n^\,\mbox

Velocities

- electron thermal velocity, typical velocity of an electron in a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution: :

v_ = (kT_e/m_e)^ = 4.19\times10^7\,T_e^\,\mbox

- ion thermal velocity, typical velocity of an ion in a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution: :

v_ = (kT_i/m_i)^ = 9.79\times10^5\,\mu^T_i^\,\mbox

- ion sound velocity, the speed of the longitudinal waves resulting from the mass of the ions and the pressure of the electrons: :

c_s = (\gamma ZkT_e/m_i)^ = 9.79\times10^5\,(\gamma ZT_e/\mu)^\,\mbox

- Alfven velocity, the speed of the waves resulting from the mass of the ions and the restoring force of the magnetic field: :

v_A = B/(4\pi n_im_i)^ = 2.18\times10^\,\mu^n_i^B\,\mbox

Dimensionless

waves meeting the heliopause]]
- square root of electron/proton mass ratio :

(m_e/m_p)^ = 2.33\times10^ = 1/42.9

- number of particles in a Debye sphere :

(4\pi/3)n\lambda_D^3 = 1.72\times10^9\,T^n^

- Alven velocity/speed of light :

v_A/c = 7.28\,\mu^n_i^B

- electron plasma/gyrofrequency ratio :

\omega_/\omega_ = 3.21\times10^\,n_e^B^

- ion plasma/gyrofrequency ratio :

\omega_/\omega_ = 0.137\,\mu^n_i^B^

- thermal/magnetic energy ratio :

\beta = 8\pi nkT/B^2 = 4.03\times10^\,nTB^

- magnetic/ion rest energy ratio :

B^2/8\pi n_im_ic^2 = 26.5\,\mu^n_i^B^2

Miscellaneous

- Bohm diffusion coefficient :

D_B = (ckT/16eB) = 6.25\times10^6\,TB^\,\mbox^2/\mbox

- transverse Spitzer resistivity :

\eta_\perp = 1.15\times10^\,Z\,\ln\Lambda\,T^\,\mbox = 1.03\times10^\,Z\,\ln\Lambda\,T^\,\Omega\,\mbox

Fields of active research

Bohm diffusion is so effective at accelerating ions, that electric fields are used in ion drives]] This is just a partial list of topics. A more complete and organised list can be found on the Web site for Plasma science and technology [http://www.plasmas.com/topics.htm].
- Plasma theory
-