According to Klingon mythology, the gods created Kortar, the first Klingon male to live in
the paradise of Qui’tu.
Feeling lonely, the gods formed him a female companion, but he grew jealous of this second
being, and they fought, ending with Kortar defeated.
To his surprise, the female did not kill him and instead proposed an alliance as they were
stronger together.
Accepting her proposal, the two united as one and destroyed the gods who created them.
A prominent legend repeated at weddings, the Klingon people actually originated from an
advanced, humanoid, progeniture species living 4.5 billion years in the past, which travelled
across the galaxy seeding worlds with their genetic material, resulting in the eventual
evolution of Klingons, Humans, Romulans, Cardassians, and thousands of others.
Evolving into a large, physically powerful species with exceptional courage and a mind
for battle, leadership of their people was often won in combat, and so by the 9th century,
their homeworld of Qo’noS was ruled by the hated tyrant Molor, considered the greatest
warrior among them.
Inspiring fear in his enemies, the city of Qam chee was left almost entirely undefended
when the garrison fled before 500 warriors sent by their cruel ruler.
However 1 man, the low born warrior Kahless and 1 woman, the brave lady Lukara, refused
to run and took on the entire army alone.
Despite overwhelming odds, they defeated Molor’s forces and began the greatest love story in
klingon history.
Leading a rebellion against their oppressor, Kahless used the first ever batleth to kill
Molor in battle at the river skral, a moment commemorated in a famous klingon drinking
song.
Establishing the Klingon Empire, Kahless went on to defeat the armies of the Fek’lhri,
establish a strict code of Honor, and develop a robust warrior culture that dominated Klingon
society for next 1500 years.
At the end of his reign, legends say Kahless left to take his place in the afterlife of
Stovakor, but pointed to a specific spot in the sky before he departed, claiming it was
where he would one day return.
Pointing to the planet Boreth, it became home to a Klingon monastery devoted to his memory
and final prophecy.
Though most were happy to see an end to Molor’s reign, he was nevertheless remembered as a
great warrior with some even forming the Followers of Molor, remaining loyal to his memory.
Nevertheless his time was over, and so under Emperor Khaless the Unforgettable and the
Imperial dynasties that followed, Qo’nos developed into a feudal society, with power
residing in the noble class, whose families comprised the Great Houses of the Klingon
Empire.
From among this aristocracy, a select few served on the High Council led by a chancellor,
aiding the Emperor in governing his empire.
Although women were greatly valued in Klingon society, viewed as an equals on the battlefield,
only men were traditionally chosen for the High Council, though some exceptions were
made.
Enamoured with their identity as a warrior culture, the need for battle was a constant
source of division for their people, leading great houses to war against each other.
And so Emperors directed their fury outward, allowing the Empire to expand drastically,
conquering and subjugating any who resisted.
Over most of the next 1500 years, the Klingon Empire was ruled by a series of authoritarian
leaders including men like Emperor Sompek, remembered for his conquest of Tong Vey, ordering
the entire population massacred and the city burned, Emperor Mur'Eq who introduced blunted
bat'leths into practice training, so his warriors killed their enemies rather than each other,
and Chancellor Mow'ga in power during the second empire when he sent a fleet of
ship into Breen space which were never heard from again.
In the 14th century, the Empire was attacked and looted by the Hurq species hailing from
the gamma quadrant, stealing many priceless treasures like the original Batleth of Kahless.
Recovering as best they could, it was possible the Klingons reverse engineered Hurq technology
to create their warp drives, however it was believed they did not fully achieve high speed
warp travel until after the mid 20th century.
For a brief time, the Empire suffered a drastic change in government when General K’Trelan
assassinated Emperor Reclaw and put the Imperial Family to death.
The next decade saw the Empire ruled by a council elected by the people, which introduced
several notable reforms.
However "The Dark Time", as it was later called was soon replaced by a return to authoritarian
dictatorship and the rise of the Third Dynasty, which took the names and titles and the last
imperial family to create the illusion of an unbroken royal line.
As the centuries on went the role of their all powerful Emperor diminished, and by the
21st century the position was abandoned all together, leaving the Empire in the hands
of the High Council and Chancellor.
Many believed the decline of their honor bound society began with the end of Imperial rule,
but whatever the cause, as time passed and the Empire expanded, the old traditions set
forth by Khaless were ignored, seeing Klingon leaders more concerned with using politics
and war to satiate their greed, sacrificing the good of the Empire for individual ambitions.
Expanding greatly throughout the 22nd and 23rd centuries, the Empire was considered
both a Beta and Alpha Quadrant power, conquering those near their borders while establishing
relationships, both positive and negative with more distant and substantial powers.
Establishing cordial relations with the Vulcan species by the 21st century, the Klingon Empire
first encountered humans when a courier crashed on earth in 2151 and was shot by a local farmer.
With the Earth’s allies the Vulcans negotiating a deal to prevent war, Captain Archer of the
Enterprise delivered the courier to the Empire where he delivered a message encoded in his
DNA that averting a civil war among the great houses.
Throughout the years that followed, Captain Archer had several more encounters with the
Klingons both positive and negative, but with an ever present hostility between their people.
Matters only worsened after the formation of the United Federation of Planets, making
them a competing, emerging superpower to the Klingon Empire.
Between 2223 and 2256, the two rivals became locked in a tense cold war, sometimes clashing
in skirmishes or minor conflict like the Battle of Donatu V.
By the end of this cold war period, a major conflict with the Federation became unlikely,
because the Twenty four great houses of the Klingon Empire were once again divided and
fighting among themselves.
However in 2256, the noble warrior T’Kuvma successfully gathered all the Houses together
in order to provoke a fight with the Federation, thereby uniting their people to conquer a
common foe.
Though it cost him his life, T’Kuvma accomplished his mission in the Battle of the Binary Stars,
starting a war between the Empire and Federation.
Yet their unity did not last long after his death, and the Great Houses again fractured,
with each faction competing to do the most damage possible to their enemies.
After a year of fighting, the Federation lost a third of their fleet and were On the verge
of losing the war, so Starfleet authorized a secret mission to plant a hydro bomb in
a volcano on Qo’nos to destroy the planet.
Yet when the crew of the USS Discovery learned what was happening they made a deal with the
Klingon L’Rell, a wise disciple of T’Kuvma, giving her the detonator which she used as
leverage against the High Council to be chosen Chancellor and make peace with the federation.
A decade after making peace, war once again loomed when the Klingons demanded the Federation
withdraw from a number of planets near their border.
Yet war was averted by the Organians, powerful non-corporeal beings who negotiated the Treaty
of Organia, establishing a border and neutral zone.
Tension then further relaxed when the Empire gave up their claim to the Archanis sector,
ceding it to the Federation in 2272.
Even so, relations remained poor over the ensuing years making war inevitable, if not
for a terrible tragedy in 2293, when over-mining destroyed the Klingon moon of Praxis.
This catastrophe forced the Empire to divert significant resources to deal with the environmental
aftermath, leaving them little choice but to participate in formal negotiations with
the Federation, resulting in the Khitomer Accords, establishing long term peace between
them.
However, while no longer on the verge of war, relations did not truly improve until an incident
involving another neighbouring superpower.
Though dealings with the Romulan Star Empire were always tumultuous, for a time they were
on good terms until 2344, when the Romulans invaded the Klingon outpost of Narendra III.
Rushing to the defence of the Klingons, the USS Enterprise C was destroyed when they refused
to retreat against 4 Romulan Warbirds.
Witnessing the bravery and honor of this Federation ship, the Empire saw them in a new light,
providing a great step forward towards a closer relationship.
By the mid 24th century, the Klingon Empire and United Federation of planets signed the
Treaty of Alliance, establishing an official state of friendship and cooperation between
them.
This alliance created a fundamental shift in the balance of power for the Alpha and
Beta quadrants.
Meaning other great powers like the Romulan Star Empire and Cardassian Union, would now
have to face both the Federation and Klingons, should they step out of line.
This treaty established many years of peace in the region, however without an outside
enemy to fight, The Klingon houses fell into their old pattern, turning against one another.
Although the treaty with the Federation made the Klingon Empire one of the two greatest
powers in the alpha and beta quadrants, peace did not provide a warrior species with much
opportunity for glory.
And so some were against the Treaty of Alliance, wishing a return to their conquering ways.
Believing that the Romulan Star Empire would make better allies because they both were
an imperialist, expansionary power, the ancient and influential House of Duras made a secret
agreement to undermine their treaty with the Federation.
This relationship between the House of Duras and Romulans began with the traitor Ja’rod
who helped them bomb a Klingon outpost on Khitomer, killing 4000 colonists in 2346.
Years later, when the high council learned the truth about what happened, the House of
Duras were far too politically powerful to punish, and so they agreed to blame the warrior
Mogh, who died in the attack, as his house was no more and was unlikely to have defenders.
Incorrect in this assumption, the Federation Officer Worf, son of Mogh presented evidence
of his father’s innocence, but when he learned to unity of the Empire was at stake, agreed
to accept the discommendation as the last of their House.
The longest serving Chancellor in their history, K’mpec kept the Great Houses at peace and
empire prosperous, but as he grew older new political factions emerged, positioning themselves
to challenge for leadership when he passed.
Representing the Old Houses, and establishment powers was Duras son of Ja’rod, while his
opponent Gowron was an outsider challenging the old corrupt establishment, drawing support
from lesser Houses and portions of the military.
In 2367 K’mpec learned he was dying from poisoning and sent for the famous Federation
diplomat Jean-Luc Picard, asking him to serve as arbiter of succession, overseeing the ceremony
where rival factions sent their champions to fight a duel to the death for leadership
of the empire.
However the real reason picard was called was to investigate the Chancellor’s death,
as the use of poison was considered considerable and thus the man responsible could not become
chancellor.
Throughout the investigation, they learned Duras was secretely working with the Romulans
like his father, but before he could be held responsible, he was killed by Worf in an act
of vengeance for the murder of his romantic partner.
With Duras dead, his sisters Lursa and B’Etor now led their House, possessing more support
than Gowron from within the Empire, in addition to continuing their family’s relationship
with the Romulan Star Empire who supplied them from the outside.
With their power growing, Lursa and B’Etor presented Toral, the illegitimate son of Duras
as a candidate to become chancellor.
However Picard denied the request, as Toral was young and had no victories in battle or
qualifications.
Withdrawing from the council in protest, the House of Duras began a devastating Civil war
they were poised to win.
Though Gowron won the support of Worf’s secret brother Kurn, who brought 4 squadrons
of loyal warriors, they remained badly outnumbered and lost 3 engagements in a row.
Unwilling to get directly involved in the conflict, Picard nevertheless wanted to help
Gowron’s faction in some way and so convinced the federation to blockade the romulan border,
preventing them from sending reinforcements to support the House of Duras.
A trap then expose this secret alliance and the House of Duras quickly lost support, allowing
Gowron’s forces to claim victory.
Emerging as the uncontested Chancellor of the Empire, Gowron reaffirmed their alliance
with the Federation, restoring the balance of power in the region.
In 2369, clerics at the temple on Boreth created a clone of Kahless, given memories from their
histories and legends.
This man, who stood as a living tribute to the original Kahless, was given the ceremonial
position of Emperor, though true power remain with the Chancellor.
In this same year, the Federation discovered the Bajoran Wormhole, providing instant travel
to a location in the gamma quadrant 70 000 light years away.
Though this provided many unique opportunities, they soon encountered the Dominion, a gamma
quadrant superpower ruled by Changeling Founders obsessed with dominating what they called
“Solid species” to avoid the persecution they experienced in the past.
Beginning covert operations in the Alpha Quadrant, the Dominion manipulated the Klingons into
launching an unprovoked attack against the Cardassian Union.
Despite their alliance, the Federation condemned these actions, leading to Gowron to break
off relations, pulling out of the Khitomer Accords.
Hostilities then worsened when the Klingons demanded territorial concessions, leading
to the brief but destructive Federation-Klingon War from 2372-2373.
Eventually the two powers realized the Dominion turned them against each other through a changeling
infiltrator posing as General Martok.
so Chancellor Gowron and Captain Benjamin Sisko of the Federation agreed to reinstate
the Khitmore Accords, and re-establish a defensive alliance between them.
This alliance, later joined by the Romulans, allowed them to mount a proper defense against
what became the Dominion-Cardassian-Breen invasion force.
Playing a key role in the war, for a time the Klingons fought alone, with the entire
defense of the Alpha Quadrant resting on their ships, which were the only ones capable of
resisting Breen energy dampening weapons.
Eventually the rest of their fleet was upgraded as well, but the prominence of the Klingons
was now plain for all to see, giving much attention to the real General Martok, who
escaped from a Dominion prison camp to take command of their forces.
Unfortunately this was a problem for Chancellor Gowron, who felt threatened by his General’s
rising popularity.
Having grown corrupt and paranoid over the years, Gowron put his own selfish interests
above the Empire and war effort, sending Martok on ill fated suicide missions to discredit
his name while also taking direct control of their forces on the front line during a
time of great crisis.
Unwilling to allow this disgrace to continue, Worf son of Mogh challenged and killed Gowron,
before making Martok the new Chancellor.
With a competent leader once again commanding their warriors, Martok worked with Federation
and Romulans to push back the Dominion eventually achieving a final victory at the Battle of
Cardassia in 2375.
Though the Klingons played a large role in saving the Alpha and beta quadrants, their
casualties and losses were enormous, estimating they would need a decade to recover.
Continuing to work and cooperate with their allies, the Klingons eventually join the Federation
by the 26th century.