The New Klingons

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

In other words, they're not really Klingons at all? Can't argue with that!

lol, I like the cut of your jib. I mean like, they are pretty much the same species but only separated by a couple thousand years (if even that) with a couple minor cosmetic and cultural differences. Remans are less closely related and can be considered an entirely different species (who probably evolved from whatever original Vulcanoid species gave rise to the Vulcans, Mitakan, and whatever other pointy-eared species that are conjecturally related.

 

[Kor]

I don't think this is that big of a deal.

I mean, we have sensory organs on our face. And some people choose to let their mustaches and beards grow to various lengths (sometimes really big and long), and some don't. The ones that do don't seem to have any problem with using their mouths and noses.

But, alas, many humans don't even have the ability to have hairy faces at all.

Kor

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

lol, I like the cut of your jib. I mean like, they are pretty much the same species but only separated by a couple thousand years (if even that) with a couple minor cosmetic and cultural differences. Remans are less closely related and can be considered an entirely different species (who probably evolved from whatever original Vulcanoid species gave rise to the Vulcans, Mitakan, and whatever other pointy-eared species that are conjecturally related.

You wouldn't call Spock a Romulan though would you?

 

[milo bloom]

I just saw the quote about the "big empire" and not all growing up on Kronos. With the showrunners acknowledging this, my positive feelings just went about a couple dozen points, no joke. I remember this being a "fanon" explanation from decades ago, that the Empire included many races.

I'd still like to see an "other" Klingon shown at least once, but seeing the showrunners understand this issue actually makes me feel a lot better.

 

[137th Gebirg]

You wouldn't call Spock a Romulan though would you?

The inverse may be true. Apparently there are still some smooth-browed Romulans running around out there by the 24th (albeit never seen on-screen), otherwise Spock would have been outed as a Vulcan spy the second he set foot on Romulan soil pre-"Reunification".

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

otherwise Spock would have been outed as a Vulcan spy the second he set foot on Romulan soil pre-"Reunification".

He wasn't, because his dad was a respected Romulan military commander.

 

[JD]

I have to admit, the whole thing with the Klingon ridges being sensory receptors is a bit odd. I don't think there's necessarily anything to disprove it, but it just seems like an unneeded complication.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

You wouldn't call Spock a Romulan though would you?

I guess this really depends on if one feels that Romulans and Vulcans are in fact the same species or not. Personally, I do. But as Spock is not nationally a member of the Romulan Empire, I would not. For that reason I can accept that these weird looking Klingons are also Klingon, but possibly an offshoot from a different planet as is implied by the news. But honestly, it doesn't matter either way for me, since a lot of these explanations sound as if to avoid saying, 'we just wanted them to look different, so they do.' Something I also would have accepted. But since they keep coming up with newer, sillier reasons, its fun to talk about.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Agreed. Anyway, for now that's my headcanon and I'm sticking with it:

Remans => Romulans
DSC Klingons => TNG Klingons

 

[Psion]

You wouldn't call Spock a Romulan though would you?

Lieutenant Stiles practically did.

 

[BillJ]

Agreed. Anyway, for now that's my headcanon and I'm sticking with it:

Remans => Romulans
DSC Klingons => TNG Klingons

My head canon? It's a reboot. And the ridge sensory things are fucking stupid.

 

[PSWallace]

So, "There is a whole reasoning behind it that is adhering to what has always been true in Klingon canon. So I deeply believe we are in line with what has come before but is also adding a new kind of nuance.”

And we have always been at war with Eastasia.

How about we just admit what needs to be admitted? a.) "we wanted a bald guy for a specific reason, and we aren't telling you", and b.) canon, schmanon, some Hollywood guy doesn't want to just do what has been done before, because it doesn't allow him to get a reputation as a creative genius.

 

[Kor]

The other day, didn't someone up-thread post some production sketches of Klingon skulls that showed the sensory doohickeys labelled as such?

Edit: This is what I was thinking of; renderings, not sketches. And sensor pits described in the post.

Skulls

Heads, The pit Areas in the skull and skin are sensor pits like a viper

Kor

 

[Mirror Mirror]

Yeah the designer explianex them with the slide. He took inspiration from a viper, which has such pits

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Part of my apprehension over this is that I can't tell whether the production crew are being extremely stupid, or extremely clever.

For example, there is precident for this:

Yes, that is the "de-evolved" Klingon with reactivated junk DNA from that TNG episode.

It posited the idea that the Klingons evolved from an apex predator with venom sacks.

In the Planet of the Titans and Star Trek: The Motion Picture concepts, which we know they are taking a lot of stuff from, the Klingons were given ridges on the idea that they had once been some form of life that had an endoskeleton and exoskeleton - that ridges were the vestiges of them - they even had the fluted armor in the concept art.

So are the production crew of Discovery being really really clever?

It was Gene Roddenberry's idea that the newly added head ridges were actually an outgrowth of the Klingon spinal cord, proceeding up the back of the neck and over the head. (Star Trek Magazine issue 172, pp. 59-60) Robert Fletcher was of a similar opinion. While considering the Klingons as "a race of reptiles," he also thought their distinctive spines were from a type of crustaceans. (The Making of the Trek Films, UK 3rd ed., p. 52) "In my mind, all the bumps on the forehead and so forth are vestigial remains of a people that evolved like crustaceans, like lobsters, who have their skeleton on the outside of their bodies," Fletcher explained. "And over the millions of years, they've lost that complete outside skeleton, but now retain only vestiges of it."​

Tying in literally every production influence?

Are they going to reveal that the new Klingons are just one of many more aboriginal subgroups that exist within the empire, which has become very diverse through centuries of intermarriage with other subject humanoids?

 

[milo bloom]

Part of my apprehension over this is that I can't tell whether the production crew are being extremely stupid, or extremely clever.

For example, there is precident for this:

Yes, that is the "de-evolved" Klingon with reactivated junk DNA from that TNG episode.

It posited the idea that the Klingons evolved from an apex predator with venom sacks.

In the Planet of the Titans and Star Trek: The Motion Picture concepts, which we know they are taking a lot of stuff from, the Klingons were given ridges on the idea that they had once been some form of life that had an endoskeleton and exoskeleton - that ridges were the vestiges of them - they even had the fluted armor in the concept art.

So are the production crew of Discovery being really really clever?

Are they going to reveal that the new Klingons are just one of many more aboriginal subgroups that exist within the empire, which has become very diverse through centuries of intermarriage with other subject humanoids?

I'd totally forgotten about the proto-Klingon Worf get up, that's a good point.

And like I said above, the idea of multiple races in the Klingon Empire has been around for a long time. Your last point would go fine with that.

 

[Kor]

...
Tying in literally every production influence?

...

The two on the right are more similar than they are different.

Kor

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

Well, we don't know if Klingons evolved from that...thing Worf turned into. I mean, Barclay turned into a spider afterall...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

But, alas, many humans don't even have the ability to have hairy faces at all.

Kor

Buck up son, puberty is right around the corner

 

[Tuskin38]

The two on the right are more similar than they are different.

Kor

I don't see it, other then the lack of hair.