Klingon Blood

[Tiberius]

Oh yeah, I'm going here.

In ST6, it's pink. Everywhere else, it's regular red blood.

Of course, it was pink is ST6 so that we'd be able to see that "this is not Klingon blood!" Such a plot device was not required anywhere else.

So, given the importance given to Klingon blood colour, I personally tend to think that it's always "meant" to be that colour.

Thoughts? Anyone agree or disagree?

 

[Maurice]

Oh yeah, I'm going here.

Boldly going to a topic that's been discussed here many times.

It's yet another example of lack of continuity in a franchise chock full of it.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^I vaguely remember hearing that showing red blood would have changed the film's rating when it was released. I'm not sure if that's true, however.

--Sran

 

[T'Girl]

My explanation is that the reason the blood looked like pepto bismol is because the unusual type of phasers (or unusual setting used) used by the assassins killed off large numbers of red blood cells in the area of the wound, leaving behind a higher than normal concentration of white blood cell. The result was "pink blood."

Because a different type of phaser was used, is the reason McCoy was having trouble getting the wounds to close using medical equipment that normally should have worked.

 

[The Old Mixer]

"Set phasers for pastel."

 

[LobsterAfternoon]

Maybe Klingons have different blood types and those blood types can vary in color. The Chancellor may've had type, I dunno, "chopl'lkth" blood that appeared pink, while Worf has type, uh, "gash'blosh" blood, which appears dark red.

 

[Tosk]

...Or it's just another oddity like the dozens of others scattered throughout Trek. It happens.

 

[R. Star]

In the Star Trek Klingon video game they tried using the pink blood. Gowron taking a blood oath with pepto bismol just looked plain silly. So I think they made the right call.

 

[scotpens]

"Why do Klingons have pink blood?"

"It is something we do not discuss with outsiders."

 

[DonIago]

Hell, if we're going to go there we could argue that the Augment virus is responsible for the change in color.

 

[FormerLurker]

I always figured it was pink because of radiation from Praxis.

 

[Kevman7987]

^I vaguely remember hearing that showing red blood would have changed the film's rating when it was released. I'm not sure if that's true, however.

--Sran

In that case I think it might be true because of the amount of blood shown. Instead of Klingon's bleeding from wounds, they were spraying blood out of wounds and there was blood everywhere when gravity was restored. IT WAS A BLOODBATH!

A little bit of red blood lets you keep PG, gallons of red blood takes you to PG-13 or R. Gallons of Pepto Bismol lets you keep the PG.

Makes sense to me.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

In that case I think it might be because of the amount of blood shown. Instead of Klingon's bleeding from wounds, they were spraying blood out of wounds and there was blood everywhere when gravity was restored.

A little bit of red blood lets you keep PG, gallons of red blood takes you to PG-13 or R. Gallons of Pepto Bismol lets you keep the PG.

That makes sense and fits with what I was told before. Thanks!

--Sran

 

[DS9forever]

Isn't there a version of ST VI where the blood is red?

 

[T'Girl]

Probably wouldn't be that hard to alter the color to dark red while changing nothing else in the frame.

.

 

[TheSubCommander]

^I vaguely remember hearing that showing red blood would have changed the film's rating when it was released. I'm not sure if that's true, however.

--Sran

In that case I think it might be true because of the amount of blood shown. Instead of Klingon's bleeding from wounds, they were spraying blood out of wounds and there was blood everywhere when gravity was restored. IT WAS A BLOODBATH!

A little bit of red blood lets you keep PG, gallons of red blood takes you to PG-13 or R. Gallons of Pepto Bismol lets you keep the PG.

Makes sense to me.

I have heard that explanation too. Bright red everywhere=PG-13 or R.

Similarly, I also heard that this reason is similar to why in the movie Taxi Driver, they had to wash out the color red at the ending shoot out scene, because if it were left natural colors, Taxi Driver would have been rated X.

 

[FormerLurker]

Reminds me of the dinosaur entry in the 1964 World Book encyclopedia. In the illustrations showing T-Rex attacking and feeding on other dinosaurs, all the blood is bright pink.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Of course, there was a more viable alternative than red or pink blood...no blood at all. When, before or since, have we ever seen a phaser cause bloody wounds?

 

[FormerLurker]

That may have been the point. After all, which do you think will inspire a Klingon to revenge, a missing man, or a bloody corpse?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Phasers can kill without disintegrating. An energy beam should burn, not slice.