Changes of Worf between S1-S7

[HansentheSwede]

Makeup, attire and attitude... it seems like Worf changes a lot between Season 1 and 7. While I understand there is character development and he probably becomes more comfortable with the Enterprise crew - but it just seems like Season 1 Worf is a whole lot different from Season 7 Worf. He calms down a lot, in the first he almost felt like a spoof of a Klingon.

[Melakon]

I like to think that being around Patrick Stewart helped Michael Dorn improve as an actor. Maybe it had no effect, but his performance style seemed to change.

[HansentheSwede]

That makes a lot of sense. He feels a little brittle in the first season and growls a lot. Then as the series progresses they do a much better job at fleshing out the character - any Picard and Worf scene is usually really good (First Contact movie confrontation?) - and I felt it was always hilarious when they put the uptight Worf in a comedic situation. Worked well on DS9 too.

[Anji]

Well, yeah, in the beginning all characters are stereotypes. They have to be because you have to have a recognizeable starting point for your viewers/readers. It was only after the input of other writers/actors other than Roddenberry that a full-fleshed character evolved.

Almost every time, people see things in your work that you never saw or even intended. Often times that translation is for the better. So it was for Worf. He started as kind of an animalistic character and evolved into a cool, strategic warrior who used his tremendous combat skills only when necessary. Much credit to Dorn for the coolness.

[HansentheSwede]

Animalistic! Yes that's exactly what struck me when I watched the first season again. Compared to his other work on the series it's just so jarringly different.

[Shazam!]

Season 1 Worf is rubbish. I don't think he came into his own until DS9. It just seemed like a perfect fit

[Lance]

There's a LOT of retrospective 'Early Instalment Weirdness' in TNG's first season, maybe more even than in other typical television shows. Worf being more animalistic, Tasha Yar being at tactical and Worf at the back workstations, Data using contractions and showing overt emotional responses, Geordi being on the bridge, Riker without a beard, Troi's and Crusher's hairstyles, etc. It says a lot for how much and how quickly the style and characterisation evolved that season one feels so intrinsically different to what came along only a year and a bit later.

Back when TNG was first on I knew somebody who was something of a casual fan, and had joined it somewhere around the third or fourth season. I showed them some episodes from season one and they could barely even believe they were watching the same show.

[Melakon]

Worf didn't really get much of a chance at development until "Heart of Glory", which was really Vaughn Armstrong's show. There's that scene where Tasha overreacts to a perceived hostage crisis. After the Klingons are escorted off, Yar says to Worf she thought there was going to be a problem. And Worf gets a really pathetic line in reply: "Oh?" I don't think even Stewart could have pulled that one off convincingly. It was an important show for Worf, but the writers still hadn't found his voice.

But Dorn did really well in the final confrontation scene in the engine room.

[Mojochi]

Shazam! wrote:

---

Season 1 Worf is rubbish. I don't think he came into his own until DS9. It just seemed like a perfect fit

Yes, DS9 was a perfect fit, but it wouldn't have been so, had it not been for the extensive development he'd gotten on tNG. The Worf prior to "Sins of The Father" would not have added to the scope of a show like DS9 anywhere near as good as the later Worf, who had a a brother, a son, a human family, & had dated Deanna

This Worf had more universality, & could be plugged into a new paradigm like DS9

[Nero's Shadow]

DROP YOUR WEAPONS !!!! Love when he says that in season 1 !!! And here's another of my favorite Worf quotes from season 2 ONE RIKER ONE BRIDGE !!! some great lines !!!

[JirinPanthosa]

I think the episode where Worf came into his own was Sins of the Father.

"IF YOU DOUBT I AM A KLINGON, A DEMONSTRATION CAN BE ARRANGED!"

Before that his 'warrior'-ness only manifested as animal rage. And it was clear in other season three episodes such as Deja Q that they had finally figured out how to write him. So he has that element of self control and Starfleet duty on top of the animalistic warrior rage.

[R. Star]

Well early Worf had difficulty opening doors. By season seven he had mastered the skill.

[davejames]

I don't think they really got his "look" right until the 7th season either, when he finally got rid of the ridiculous pageboy hair and got the ponytail.

[Worf'sParmach]

I think Worf has probably the best character development over the 7 seasons of anyone. He is definitely different, but I think it's a gradual enough change that it doesn't seem forced. If you see S7 and then immediately watch a S1 ep, then it will be jarring.

I actually think his move to DS9 was a few steps back from where he'd gotten on TNG. To me, TNG S7 Worf and DS9 S4 Worf are veru different. He goes back to being all grumpy and "Klingons do not..." and reminds me more of TNG S3-4 Worf. Maybe it's because he's in a new place and Worf is not one to get comfortable with people easily. He starts to settle in right about the time his wife dies (Worf just cannot catch a break with the ladies, can he?)

davejames wrote:

---

I don't think they really got his "look" right until the 7th season either, when he finally got rid of the ridiculous pageboy hair and got the ponytail.

I agree, though the long hair was about halfway through season 6.

[R. Star]

I'll agree. Worf had a better character arc than anyone else on TNG. Most of the characters didn't change that much at all once they got themselves established by season 2 or so. Worf and his struggle with his discommendation and Klingon heritage and faith was an element for most of the run.

Probably my favorite Worf moment was when he let the Romulan die in the Enemy. Not so much as it's a great moral choice or anything, but that it was a whoa! moment that he did something completely unexpected and surprising. The first time I watched the episode I was fully expecting him to give in, blah blah, hug and kiss the Romulan, the end. Turns out Geordi puckering up was enough hunky dory for one episode.