Why didn't Worf shave his head during the Dominion War or the Destiny Trilogy?

[David cgc]

Shaved hair is used to make other products. Should be a boost to Klingon economy, if there is one.

I observed on the DSC forum that it was ironic that the first Trek series to feature a version of the bat'leth that looked like something a guy made out his own hair and some lava also was the first to feature Klingons that were (apparently) hairless, which led to this delightful post.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Look -- obviously it's because the "custom" wasn't invented until now. There's no way Trek continuity is ever going to fit together perfectly, especially where Klingon appearance is concerned.... So-called traditionalists are always very selective at best about what parts of past tradition they actually honor.

Exactly. I remember a similar fuss when the comic tried to explain that Nero and his Romulan miners tattooed their faces and shaved their heads after suffering loss.

 

[Tuskin38]

He didn't shave because that tradition fell out of favour between DSC and DS9.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

So-called traditionalists are always very selective at best about what parts of past tradition they actually honor.

Yes. Once again, we are in complete agreement. (Be afraid. Be very afraid.) And the very few people who are consistently literalist in their beliefs aren't running television broadcasts or web sites; they adhere to a way of life would make the strictest Amish and Shakers seem like technophiles by comparison.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I'm not so sure of that. Such a thing wouldn't be quickly forgotten, neither by the Feds nor by the Klingons. The tradition may be outdated or even obscure in the 24th century, but things like that didn't have stopped Worf before.

People often pick and choose the aspects of their culture that they’re willing to adhere to. Perhaps this was merely a tradition Worf didn’t care for.

 

[Christopher]

My question is, were the Klingons in Into Darkness at war? It's in an alternate timeline, but one that diverged just a quarter-century earlier, and it takes place just a couple of years after DSC season 1, so the customs would have a good chance of being similar. If they were at war, though, it wasn't with the Federation, otherwise Admiral Marcus wouldn't have needed to try to provoke a war with them.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

My question is, were the Klingons in Into Darkness at war? It's in an alternate timeline, but one that diverged just a quarter-century earlier, and it takes place just a couple of years after DSC season 1, so the customs would have a good chance of being similar. If they were at war, though, it wasn't with the Federation, otherwise Admiral Marcus wouldn't have needed to try to provoke a war with them.

Maybe they were fighting with the Romulans. I feel like there’s so much history between those two powers—in any timeline—that’s yet be shared. Why do they hate each other so much?

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Well, based on Diane Duane's works, I would conclude that the Romulans are simply racist.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

We've already seen different Klingon traditions regarding what is to be done with a dead warrior (some consider it an empty shell to be disposed of at will, others carefully guard the body to keep away predators), so this is really no different.

 

[Kor]

With the new official explanation for the baldness of the Discovery Klingons in Season 1 as something the Klingons did in times of war (internal between the Houses and external against other species) at that time, i wonder why Worf, as one of the most tradition abiding Klingons out there, didn't shave his head during the Dominion War or during the Destiny Trilogy?

Other than that i find this explanation to be a good one, particularly if one remembers General Chang in "The Undiscovered Country"...

Maybe he only shaved areas that we don't see.

Kor

 

[Rhodan]

Reminds me the whole "Romulans tatoo themselves when mourning" thing.

 

[Christopher]

Reminds me the whole "Romulans tatoo themselves when mourning" thing.

I presented that in The Struggle Within as a working-class custom, because Nero's crew were miners, not military or government elites like most of the Romulans we've seen before. So many variances in the portrayal of aliens can be easily resolved if you just expect alien cultures to be as diverse as humanity.

 

[Rhodan]

I presented that in The Struggle Within as a working-class custom, because Nero's crew were miners, not military or government elites like most of the Romulans we've seen before. So many variances in the portrayal of aliens can be easily resolved if you just expect alien cultures to be as diverse as humanity.

OK, I consider such things as silly but acceptable...

 

[Kor]

Monolithic alien cultures should not be the norm.

Kor

 

[F. King Daniel]

Reminds me the whole "Romulans tatoo themselves when mourning" thing.

It was paint themselves when mourning. Nero's crew were just hardcore emo about it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Monolithic alien cultures should not be the norm.

Unless it's this kind:

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[SolarisOne]

It was paint themselves when mourning. Nero's crew were just hardcore emo about it.

Well, I mean, they lost their entire homeworld...

 

[Therin of Andor]

OK, I consider such things as silly but acceptable...

Why silly? It's what we do on Earth.

 

[Rhodan]

Why silly? It's what we do on Earth.

But we don´t do such things for production reasons.

 

[14thDoctor]

With the new official explanation for the baldness of the Discovery Klingons in Season 1 as something the Klingons did in times of war (internal between the Houses and external against other species) at that time, i wonder why Worf, as one of the most tradition abiding Klingons out there, didn't shave his head during the Dominion War or during the Destiny Trilogy?

Worf, like all traditionalists, cherry picked which traditions he felt like following. I doubt many truly traditional Klingons would have pursued K'Ehleyr, Troi, or Dax, or joined Starfleet.