Klingon Warriors (why is it that...)

[Stormrage]

This is the biggest weakness in Star Trek. What they do is get a race and hype them. Then proceed to make that race look like a bunch of buffons for the rest of the series.

Example

1: Klingons getting their asses kicked in every single series. Worst example was in ENT. A race that has been fighting and conquering other planets for 1500 years get their asses kicked by humans who have only been in space for 4 years.
2: Jem'Hadar. Superior warriors. Genetically enanched to fight. So why is that when they suprise attack the crew of the Defiant the crew is able to hold their own for a couple of minutes? They should have been taken out in seconds. Also when the Jem'Hadar fight in combat they seem to get their asses kicked very easily. Take the episode where the DS9 crew storm an anciet ruin to stop Jem'Hadars from getting their hands on transporter technology.
3: The Borg. I don't need to say much.



Oh and the example Deimos was using was actually Bajoran security deputies. It was still embarassing. No matter how hard you dress it up. Nothing can explain how a thin woman can kick the asses of hardcore "warriors". Since when are resistance figthers able to magic?

 

[Timo]

Thing is, I don't really see Klingons being hyped up anywhere. They were born buffoons.

It's just a fan misconception that Klingons should be powerful fighters. They like to fight, which is a completely different thing. As presented ever since "Errand of Mercy", Klingons are a collection of the worst vices of humans: arrogant, violent drunkards and schemers who oppress and exploit the weak. Whatever history of conquest they have, the stories they tell about it are taller than the reality by far.

And certainly nothing suggests the Klingons have been conquering other planets for 1,500 years. Kahless lived back then - and the myth of Kahless involves him creating the first sword. Klingons appear to have been a bunch of iron age barbarians at that time, less advanced than humans. They just happened to get conquered by aliens (that Hur'q bunch) and learned that there were battles to be fought among the stars. But how long it took them to get to the stars is unknown. They could be very recent players in ENT, apparently not having even proceeded to attack Earth yet despite its great proximity.

As for the Jem'Hadar, it has to be acknowledged that they boarded with the intent to capture, not kill, in "The Search". And in "To the Death", the fight over the ancient Iconian gateway involved Jem'Hadar against Jem'Hadar, no doubt leaving the easy pickings to our frail human heroes. It's not as if anybody ever managed to beat them without a weapon when they really meant business. In general, they were far from a prime example of wussification.

The Borg were perhaps wussified as a concept, but the fighting skills of an individual Drone were never impressive to begin with. If anything, the Drones grew more credible a threat as time passed, mainly because a movie appearance required an "up-menacing"...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ghel]

It seems that Trek falls for the silly concept that many SF shows find themselves in. . . that is, each "race" is really a metaphor for an aspect of ourselves.

Eg. Klingons=aggressiveness
Vulcans=logic
Romulans=duplicity
Ferengi=greed

Reality is that no "race" would be all one thing.

. . .Incidentally, Enterprise did attempt to change this a little bit by having one Klingon character grouse that things just haven't been as good since the "warior caste" took power. This at least serves to indicate that the Warriors in Klingon society are a vocal group but not necessarily the ONLY group.

The episode that paints the Klingons in the silliest light IMHO is the DS9 episode where Quark claims that a Klingon is cooking the accounting books and none of the other Klingons have the patience or ability to verify Quark's claims. Rather, they just tell him to fight the accused. Somehow, I think a society that had no form of accountancy wouldn't last very long.