Hello, Ric here again looking into the monsters and beasts of Star Trek lore, this time looking
at the in-and-out of universe favourite, the humble Targ, as well as other Klingon pets.
This creature has been a staple of Klingon culture for as long as there have been Klingons.
There are ancient tales of Kahless even wrestling large wild targs with his brother, Morath
in their youth. These beasts are not sentient and the closest
Earth comparison is a boar, but the Targ shared some characteristics of a dog. Their fur was
often dark brown, black and occasionally speckled or stripped. It was coarser around the shoulders,
like the mane of a lion and erupted into a more quill-like consistency near the spine.
Piercing this fur collar were horns that ran down its back to its tufted tail. Different
varieties have various arrays of tusks and horns. Its boar-like snout often had at least
two tusks from the mouth, but some Targs could have up to eight extra horns that jutted along
its jawline. Other varieties, such as the pet Targ once
owned by Lieutenant Commander Worf even had a horn from the forehead, but no tusks. The
Targ was a natural omnivore and forager and existed in both domesticated and wild varieties.
Targ were furred, birthed live young and produced milk making them mammals, unless there is
some strange fact of xenobiology that I’ve overlooked.
Wild Targ travelled in herds and could prove to be rather stubborn obstacles, so much so
that Klingon ground-based convoys attached shunts to the fronts of their vehicles to
push aside Targ herds. Individually however, Targ were a lot less stubborn and could even
be timid. They were known to hide in mud and dirt to evade confrontation, but as with all
cornered animals, were unpredictable. For this reason, Targ hunting was a common and
a much-enjoyed sport from the Klingons. Probably not enjoyable for the Targ.
On a successful hunt, the Targ was captured, killed and eaten, often during a feast or
some occasion because Klingons. Every part of a Targ was useful, the meat was cooked
and eaten, preferably rare and bloody. While the fat was used to make candles, even with
the existence of replicatable ones, there was still a market as often Klingon spiritual
ceremonies used them and needed real ones. I couldn’t find exactly what the horns would
be used for, but I’m pretty sure Klingons would use them to fashion goblets and such,
because they are space Vikings. Speaking of ceremonies, some, like traditional marriage
included the sacrifice of a Targ or the consumption of its raw heart. Targ blood was even used
as a dressing for Gagh and the milk they produced was drinkable by humanoids. So farms often
included Targ for the purpose of milking as well as their meat.
Confusing matters somewhat however, is that on top of keeping herds of Targ as cattle,
some were also considered pets. Domesticated Targ were owned by many prominent Klingons
including the aforementioned, Worf and General Martok. Looking at these examples, we can
see that Targ as pets were respected by their owners as the developed great loyalty to their
masters, but would retain a wild edge that called them to the outside. Unsurprisingly,
this is something that the Klingons empathised with, appreciating this mixture of loyalty
but internalised wildness. Matrok’s ran away when his wife “accidentally” left
the door open because she didn’t like it. He wasn’t mad but did miss that beast.
Targ seem to be pretty versatile in terms of their favoured environment living practically
anywhere. Considering the need for Targ-shunts on the roads, it seems that they are not fearful
of civilization. They were known to be prolific in the Hamar mountain range but some subsets
developed thick coats allowing for survival in colder climates and thinner ones for desert
biomes. This is probably where the variation in coat colouration comes from and perhaps
even the varieties in tusks and horns. For this adaptability and the close ties to
Klingon culture that they possessed, the Targ were exported to practically every colony
world that the Klingons had, and turned loose. I can only image that this really upset the
local ecosystems, but hey, Klingons. Klingons often too kept livestock of Targs aboard their
vessels near the galley and the spacefaring sow seemed suitably sedate in the sealed spaceships.
The popularity of the Targ transcends the Klingon Empire however, with cuddly toys and
children’s stories featuring characters such as Toby the Targ which also featured
as a popular plushie toy. I wonder if they told kids that Klingons also ate some Targ.
With all that Targ were used for, there were some things they were not suitable for however.
They made poor guard animals, although instances of Targs goring people were not uncommon,
there were better choices for a Klingon looking to protect or patrol. Other Klingon pets included
the Jadashha, a carnivorous lizard with dog like proportions, one of which was owned by
Kruge in 2285. However, it seems that these reptilian monstrosities were very dangerous
to anyone not considered their master. Another favoured pet was the “Jackal Mastiff”
another dog-like creature, covered entirely in white fur and completely comfortable in
arctic climates such as the prison planet of Rura Penthe. This too possessed some vague
reptilian features, at least facially, but other than their use as patrol dogs, not else
was shown about them. The seemed to resembled the Drakoulias, a large snowy predator located
on Delta Vega in the Vulcan system, so perhaps these were adopted and tamed by Klingons generations
ago. So there we go, a brief analysis of the Targ,
the Klingon’s favourite pet. And sport. Prey. Cattle, food, look the Klingons just
really liked these weird pig-dog creatures. Thanks for watching this episode of my Trek
bestiary and I’ll hopefully see you again for another one sometime soon. I’ve been
Ric, thanks again, so long and goodbye!