I'm hoping for flat foreheads in something akin to the original Klingon uniforms (I got to see one of the TOS Klingon costumes up close at the Intrepid this summer, and it looked very cool), but I'll settle for a mix.
Discovery Klingons: Flat or Bumpy?
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They'll ignore anything that's inconvenient. Fuller has indicated that they're rethinking the look of whole Trek species in significant ways - they're not going to sweat continuity details from over a decade ago that were only part of a series watched by fewer than two million people at the time.
The new Klingons may be as different as the Klingons in the nuTrek movies.
To me the nuTrek Klingons were just undeveloped background characters. I didn't see the design as that different, just a variation on the 1979 TMP look like all the rest.
A agree about visual continuity, but story continuity? That's all Trek has to set it apart from the rest. If the Klingons are going to be center stage and they sidestep an event that has ties to all 3 eras, regardless of Enterprise's lack of popularity, then it seems to me it would be more of a hard reboot. And maybe it will be. It doesn't even sound like they've finalized how far they plan to go yet.
Regardless, I'm am anxious to see how they develop the Klingons and how they use them as a mirror for 21st century humanity. That is what will really separate the new Klingons from the old.
I really like the idea of a mix and one half subjugating the other. And yes, they would dress different. The flatheads would be refined, style-concious half but still rude compared to humans, while the bumpies are having trouble keeping food in their mouths.
I always liked the idea in the Chris Claremont/Adam Hughes graphic novel Debt of Honor that the smooth-headed Klingons were discommoded by the movie era. Perhaps something like that happened to the bumpy-headed Klingons at the time of TOS and STD.
Again, my speculation is based on them throwing out most of the design, but not the stories and EVENTS of the previous series for the most part regardless if they had a widespread effect or not. Why? Because for the most part they've honored continuity in the past, and furthermore the whole premise for the new show is to be set in an event in continuity that was only referenced, but never seen. If that isn't respect for story continuity, I don't know what is.
Could they ignore the flatheads completely? Of course, they can do anything that they want. I haven't heard an argument of why they should want to or why it would be better to have one or the other type of Klingon. Assuming the Klingons will be the initial metaphor for 21st century humanity, it seems that they might need a varied species to accurately mirror our culture now. Once we get more info, all our guessing will be put to rest. For now, let's keep up the speculation because it's all we've got.
We need a Romulus and Remus in DSC thread next. This would be an example of the kind of continuity they might bend, to get cool races like the Remans, Jem'hadar, and Borg into the 23rd down the line even though all originated in the 24th.
Could they ignore the flatheads completely? Of course, they can do anything that they want. I haven't heard an argument of why they should want to or why it would be better to have one or the other type of Klingon. Assuming the Klingons will be the initial metaphor for 21st century humanity, it seems that they might need a varied species to accurately mirror our culture now. Once we get more info, all our guessing will be put to rest. For now, let's keep up the speculation because it's all we've got.
We need a Romulus and Remus in DSC thread next. This would be an example of the kind of continuity they might bend, to get cool races like the Remans, Jem'hadar, and Borg into the 23rd down the line even though all originated in the 24th.
I am hoping for a mix, but it doesn't mattre much to me
I very much doubt they're going to give two shits about the Affliction two-parter anymore than TMP gave a shit to explain itself.
It'll be "this is how it is" and left at that. All I can say is, if you are someone who is big into continuity... Prepare yourselves for that as a conceit of this new show. This is very much going to be an "almost totally new saga." This is the book mark between what came in the last 50 years, and what will be coming in the next 50 years.
It'll be "this is how it is" and left at that. All I can say is, if you are someone who is big into continuity... Prepare yourselves for that as a conceit of this new show. This is very much going to be an "almost totally new saga." This is the book mark between what came in the last 50 years, and what will be coming in the next 50 years.
Because they always ignore what's inconvenient.
Because they ignored the existence of the flatheads for almost every episode and every movie between 1979 and today.
There's no reason to imagine that they will do differently in either of those regards than they have in the past.
"I know, when we introduce our new Klingons, let's have some of them look really different than the others so that we have to stop and explain to new viewers why that is - it'll give us a chance to reference an old TV show that no one watched, which has proven in the past to be the best way to make Star Trek accessible to casual viewers."
Who knows, maybe they'll include exposition for each species that looks different than before.
Ignoring what's inconvenient, yes. For example perhaps reintroducing the Ferengi years earlier because the continuity that states they've never been seen until TNG kind of wrote them into a corner. Their way of honoring said continuity on Enterprise with Archer fighting them and never seeing them was more trouble than it was worth, so something like that can go. The same for other lesser continuity details. If we're staying in the 23rd for the next 2 decades they'll need a way to bring back a lot of the stuff from the 24th that worked well.
But the Klingons are different. The reason they ignored the flatheads before and won't now is simply because between 1979 and 2004 they never went out of their way to write a story explaining it, and a pretty good one at that. But now they did and it was one of the few shining moments of Enterprise. That's all I'm saying.
Also, when we meet Whichever Noonian Soongh ancestor that lived during the 23rd he might reference the one that worked with the Augments, etc. When Augments inevitably encounter Klingons again, they may reference it (You ugly monsters look good with a little Khan in you). In this case, I'm saying ignoring bigger events in continuity could be more of a headache than dealing with them.
Having said all that, does anyone have any thoughts on how they think the Klingons will be handled? Supporting characters instead of outright antagonists like on TNG or back to the animosity of TOS era? Smarter like the movies or more barbaric like TNG?
But the Klingons are different. The reason they ignored the flatheads before and won't now is simply because between 1979 and 2004 they never went out of their way to write a story explaining it, and a pretty good one at that. But now they did and it was one of the few shining moments of Enterprise. That's all I'm saying.
Also, when we meet Whichever Noonian Soongh ancestor that lived during the 23rd he might reference the one that worked with the Augments, etc. When Augments inevitably encounter Klingons again, they may reference it (You ugly monsters look good with a little Khan in you
). In this case, I'm saying ignoring bigger events in continuity could be more of a headache than dealing with them. Having said all that, does anyone have any thoughts on how they think the Klingons will be handled? Supporting characters instead of outright antagonists like on TNG or back to the animosity of TOS era? Smarter like the movies or more barbaric like TNG?
There's no headache. They will change the designs and not even remark on it.
Given we have, apparently, a recurring Klingon character, and given Fuller's track record, they're probably going to be nuanced antagonists.
Has anyone looked at those (probably fake) concept designs for the Klingon ships? Fake or not, they got me thinking in a different direction. I always imagined the Klingons would be out of place following human manufacturing standards. I picture these ships being forged as opposed to cast metal. With thousands of Klingon blacksmiths pounding away like thunder.
Regardless of design, I just want to see more development in any of the species they use. When Gowron was killed I thought good riddance you one-note annoyance, instead of the loss and reflection I should have felt over the death of a character that lasted almost a decade.
Regardless of design, I just want to see more development in any of the species they use. When Gowron was killed I thought good riddance you one-note annoyance, instead of the loss and reflection I should have felt over the death of a character that lasted almost a decade.
i really like this idea. i voted for "flat foreheads," but the more i think about it, the more sense it makes to have a mixture of both. i really, really like the idea the klingons infected with augment virus were considered an undesirable caste (corrupted with human DNA) and were hence segregated from mainstream klingon society, to the extent that they assigned to "augment-only" ships.
Depends how you interpret canon, in my view the events in enterprise never existed and the new show runners would be wise to flush all that rubbish out of the nearest airlock.
Even if the absurd augment disease with its convenient 100 year time limit had really happened, then it would not be believable that Bashir wouldn't have known at least part of the reason they had no ridges, since it would be contained in medical records that he would have studied.
If the new show runners decide to ignore the enterprise revisionism, then they could come up with a much more imaginative (and believable) alternative reason if they do decide to address the question.
That's not really up for interpretation. Enterprise is and always will be canon. Unless someone in a position of power decides that it isn't, which is unlikely. I may hate that Voyager episode where they go warp 10 and turn into newts, but I don't have the power to declare that it isn't canon.
The commercial rights holder is fully entitled to declare what it wants as canon, but I will always consider the decision to slap the Trek logo onto enterprise two seasons into the series as a business decision to recoup the money they wasted funding that failed venture.
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