Not many fictional alien species get namechecked in number one records. So when a stop-motion animated incarnation of Lt Uhura started singing about "Klingons on the starboard bow" in The Firm's 1987 novelty hit "Star Trekkin'" ("scrape them off, Jim!"), it was clear that the residents of Qo'noS (pronounced something like Kronos) had long since attained celebrity status. Besides, you can't learn Wookiee on Duolingo.
The Klingons had made their debut 20 years earlier in Original Series episode "Errand of Mercy", and — although the Romulans debuted before them — it was the honor-obsessed warriors who'd become renowned as arch-enemies of the Federation. (That may owe something to the fact they turned up in another six "TOS" episodes, including a famously furry close encounter in "The Trouble with Tribbles".)
They've remained a mainstay of the franchise ever since, a go-to for writers in every era of "Trek", whether they're Starfleet's enemies, allies, or — most likely — somewhere in between. And now, in the 32nd century of the new "Starfleet Academy" episode "Vox in Excelso", we see how the proudest civilization in the Beta Quadrant has been left battling for its very survival. It's compelling proof that the Klingons are the most enduring of all "Star Trek"'s alien races, and rather more nuanced than their cartoonish, highly spoofable persona can sometimes suggest.
They're certainly more versatile than the Vulcans, whose logical, somewhat know-it-all attitude to life can limit their appeal. Just three years after a rogue Klingon commander instigated the execution of James T Kirk's son in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", Lt Worf was serving on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D in "The Next Generation". With the Federation and the Klingon Empire seemingly at peace — and the likes of the Ferengi, the Borg, and the Cardassians all drafted in to fill the Klingon-shaped antagonist void — the Klingons could have started to feel redundant, little more than angry Vulcans with more interesting foreheads.
That's not what happened, however. With regular writer and future "Battlestar Galactica" creator Ronald D Moore taking the lead (he'd later become known as "the Klingon guy"), "TNG" crafted a complex, layered society whose obsession with honor and settling scores via combat provided a welcome contrast to life on the more touchy-feely Enterprise. Bring out the Gagh and the Bloodwine! Worf acted as the bridge between two cultures, both before and after his transfer to "Deep Space Nine", where the Klingons would play a pivotal role — not always in helpful ways — in the Dominion War.
Wisely, the "Next Generation" era never felt particularly beholden to the Klingons of the Original Series. The OG versions were rather less inclined to lead with their bat'leths, quieter, more cerebral warriors created as an analogue for the Soviet Union in the Cold War — a metaphor that continued into the original Enterprise crew's final mission in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". The "TNG" era shows also benefited from the reinvention the species had undergone for 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (the first, and most significant, of the Klingons' many makeovers), with the now-familiar ridged foreheads replacing the crude Asian stereotypes of the Original Series.
On that front, the "Affliction"/"Divergence" two-parter in the prequel series "Enterprise" was a clunky attempt to acknowledge the Klingons' change of appearance in canon. When Worf had been asked about the inconsistency in "DS9"/"TOS" crossover episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", he played the straightest of straight bats: "We do not discuss it with outsiders".
In the years since, "Star Trek: Discovery", "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and — to a lesser extent — the parallel universe excursion to Qo'noS in "Star Trek into Darkness" have all left their own mark on evolving Klingon lore.
But "Starfleet Academy"'s developments may be the biggest thing to happen to the Klingons since Worf battled to restore his honor all those decades ago. We probably shouldn't be surprised, seeing as the 800-ish years that have passed in Trek continuity are roughly equivalent to the distance between ourselves and the signing of the Magna Carta — there'd be something wrong if something hadn't changed.
Crucially, when "the Burn" hit a century earlier, it caused catastrophic dilithium reactor explosions on Qo'noS that left the Klingons without a home. The eight remaining Houses are now refugees, their diaspora spread across the galaxy looking for a more permanent home — a truly tragic fate. They're still, however, fundamentally Klingon, refusing Starfleet's offers of aid — and possession of Fa'an Alpha, a new, spookily Qo'noS-like planet of their own — in the name of pride, preferring to die than "take Starfleet charity".
"I would have dishonored my people to spare them," admits veteran warlord Obel Wochak (David Keeley). "Now we have nothing left but our traditions."
It would be easy to dismiss this stance as stubbornness — and, indeed, most of Starfleet do. But it takes a cadet who, like Worf before him, has a foot in both the Klingon Empire and the Federation to see that there's another way. Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) had already established himself as one of the standouts in "Starfleet Academy"'s new ensemble, and an intriguing counterpart to our previous experience of his species — that rare Klingon who wants to be a doctor. But this episode also proves that he's as much a warrior as any of his brethren, using his newly discovered debating smarts to come up with a "Klingon solution to a Klingon problem".
Jay-Den's plan to instigate a fake war for Fa'an Alpha is an ingenious piece of diplomacy, giving the Klingons the homeworld they need without them having to lose face in front of the Federation — he knows how to act like a Klingon without having to behave like a Klingon.
The fact that not every Klingon has to adhere to the armored, shouty, bad-mannered stereotype — along with the ability to evolve — is the reason they still feel relevant and essential six decades after they first crossed paths with the Enterprise. Songs will continue to be sung about "Star Trek"'s greatest warriors — and not just novelty ones from the 1980s.
New episodes of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" debut on Paramount+ on Thursdays.
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