Why are Klingons so evil?

[T'Girl]

It's hard to describe Klingons as evil if you don't believe in "evil" as a concept or a something that possesses real existence. As oppose to a interpretation of an isolated act on the part of an individual. If the Klingons are a single people, one culture-nation-mind set, then you can examine the actions of the majority of klingons that we've seen on screen and draw a concussion about the whole. If the Klingons have a total militaristic society, it possible there is no civilian populace. They seem to have achieved 23rd - 24th century levels of technology while remaining a essentially primitive people. They don't just fight, they love to fight, jump at the chance, go looking for it. Early non-canon fiction about the Klingon had them conquering, subjugating planets, enslaving multiple species, a good partion of the crews on their warships were slaves (servator races).

If you don't believe in generally in "right" and "wrong", then sure they're not evil.

but it also resembles other recent and infamous occupations, such as Japan's occupation of China.

There doesn't seem that there was an effort on the part of the Cardassians to colonize Bajor in the sense of moving large numbers of Cardassian there to live, as they did on other worlds. Nor any effort to indoctrinate the Bajorians into the Cardassian culture. Carrdassians were not looking for leberstrasse. The Carrdassians wanted natural resources, JustKate may have nailed it with the example of the Empire of Japan's invasion of north-east China. That would make Bajor as Manchukuo and Kubus Oak in a simular role as Puyi.

I'd describe Cardassian, Romulan, and Klingon societies as being fundamentally sick because of their imperial doctrines; I'd also describe the Klingons as being far less sick than the others because their culture seems to gradually be adopting the Federation's values as they continue to be allied with the UFP.

I never saw the gradual adaptation you spoke of. But if the klingon are capable of culture evolution it raises the question of how long they have really been a warrior people. Kahless sometime sounded more like a wondering poet than a fulltime warrior. The Klingon "way of the warrior" may only go back a very few centuries in time. Given that they are such a fixure in star trek, we know surprising little about the overall klingon culture. Far less than we do about the Cardassian or Bajorian cultures.

 

[Sci]

I'd describe Cardassian, Romulan, and Klingon societies as being fundamentally sick because of their imperial doctrines; I'd also describe the Klingons as being far less sick than the others because their culture seems to gradually be adopting the Federation's values as they continue to be allied with the UFP.

I never saw the gradual adaptation you spoke of.

Just look at the influence of Gorkon and Azetbur on the High Council -- the very concept of compromise and peace and alliance with a major antagonist seems rather obviously the product of Federation influence. The last two Klingon Chancellors, and the Emperor Kahless II, all owe their positions in Klingon society to Federation influence. There's no evidence that the Klingons have been engaging in expansionistic warfare since the Khitomer treaty -- indeed, DS9's "The Way of the Warrior" implies that the Empire had gone so long at peace that it was creating political turmoil not to have someone to conquer.

But if the klingon are capable of culture evolution it raises the question of how long they have really been a warrior people.

The ENT episode "Judgment" makes it pretty clear that while the warrior caste had always been powerful and honored, it was only comparatively recently (as of the 2150s) that they had achieved major political dominance.

But we also know that Kahless the Unforgettable founded the Klingon Empire and reigned as its first emperor in the 9th Century of the Common Era ("Day of Honor" [VOY]), and that an early script for TNG's "Rightful Heir" gave the exact year of Kahless's death as 822 C.E.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I wonder how much Kahless's repution/history has been shaped by those in power? I don't recall if the episodes featuring the Kahless clone ever touched on this.

 

[WorfSucksDax]

Tiny cocks. There really isnt any other possible explanation. They kick ass, everyones frightened of them, they look cool. But tiny, tiny cocks.

I mean that really is the only explanation for any species so insufferably angry and stupid. There is no better argument. I win all the gold.