"You are frightened, young human, yes? You should be. Your strength, your skills, are no better than that of a Klingon boy, but...that will change. Once you have finished this holodeck adventure with me, this test, you will have learned more than how to live as a Klingon...you will learn how to be Klingon!" You will no longer be nov, weak as a Qa'hom; you will be a warrior! Then… it will be an honor to kill you.
— Gowron, in the beginning of the game.
Star Trek: Klingon is an Interactive Movie computer game set in the Star Trek universe, made in 1996 for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. It was created by the same crew and starred some of the same cast as its successor, Star Trek: Borg. It was also released in a novelization which features other characters from the television series.
Plot and Gameplay
The entire game takes place on a holodeck, as Klingon Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly, reprising his role from the series) attempts to educate you on the ways of the Klingon… the hard way. You are forced into the role of Pok, a young Klingon whose father is assassinated the day before he is to become a warrior. As a result, Pok and Gowron swear a Blood Oath to find the killers responsible. But can you even get past the Rite of Ascension?
At certain points, the action will stop and the player will need to choose what course can be taken. Since this is a simulation, wrong choices — even those ending in death — merely result in Gowron sending you back to the point you messed up… but not without adding his own two acta crystals.
The adaptation has Gowron narrating the story of Poq at a meeting with the crew of the USS Enterprise, singling out a lowly deckhand to test his own knowledge of Klingon culture.
The entire game is now playable on YouTube, thanks to the advent of linkable annotations; the first video can be found here
.
Star Trek: Klingon provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The book adds a lot of material that isn't in the game, turning the story of Poq into Gowron's account of the events as he gives them to Starfleet personnel, including Captain Picard and Riker. He singles out a lower-ranking crewmember - who takes on the role of 'player' - and questions him throughout the story as to what his decisions would be.
- Alien Blood: Klingons shed viscous purple blood in this game.
- Badass Crew: The crew of a Klingon vessel is decided strictly by who can fight their way into the best positions. Even meals need to be fought over.
- Batman Gambit: Qua'lon implanted the Romulan assassin probe with Gowron's DNA, knowing that Torghn would sacrifice himself to save Gowron within his own house.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Gowron does this occasionally, though it makes sense in context since you're supposed to be on a holodeck, with only him knowing who you really are.Gowron: But whose eyes are those? Pok's? Or yours, human? We shall see...
- Buffy Speak: The Pakled, just before beaming back to his ship.Pakled: Do you want something? I can get it. I can get you two of something...[Holds up 4 fingers]
- Captain Obvious: "We are Pakled!"
- Coming of Age Story: Well, a Klingon variation thereof.
- Continuity Nod: Numerous, mostly to Next Generation, but a few to other installments as well.
- Cool Old Guy: Lerat, despite his advanced age and inability to fend for himself on the Klingon ship, has a very storied history. Pok comes to respect him, and vice versa.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Averted. Although Torghn dies, it is clear from the outset that both he and his mate K'tar care for Pok. K'tar even threatens Gowron himself that - should Pok come to harm - she will swear a blood oath against him. The Chancellor of the Klingon High Council!
- Duel to the Death: If a weapon is involved in any matter, it becomes a fight to the death; a more ritualized version is seen in the end when Pok faces his uncle Qua'lon in a Vit'Hay.
- Earn Your Title: In order to be considered a warrior, a Klingon must go through the Rites of Ascension; the first one was already overcome by Pok, and the game begins the day before he is due to complete the "River of Pain".
- Even Evil Has Standards: The whole point of this simulation is to demonstrate this trope. Klingons hold true to their oaths and promises (even if that means finding a workaround to suit their needs) and face battle honorably and in person with their enemy... unless of course they are a traitor.
- Face–Heel Turn: Alira shoots T'lak just before he has a chance to kill Gowron, and joins them on the Klingon ship, only to teleport onto Meska's ship when she has the chance.
- Fat Idiot: Pakleds are a race composed of this trope, though it is sometimes subverted by their cunning. That doesn't happen here, though.
- Gargle Blaster: Nektai, a drink so hazardous it can kill humans (and careless Klingons), sears "the stomach and the brains". Pok and Gowron also use it to interrogate Meska.Gowron: It is, it is- [sips the drink carefully, and reacts with a series of exaggerated gasps and groans, his eyes crossed until he normalizes a few seconds later] …an interesting drink.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Klingon, obviously.
- Grumpy Old Man: Lerat, at least until he earns Pok's respect.
- He Knows Too Much: Gowron wonders if he's taught you too much at the conclusion of the simulation… but comes to the conclusion that, "I've learned much about you, too!"
- Heroic Sacrifice: Since Gowron is a guest in his house, Torghn takes the blow of the hunter-killer probe and dies for him.
- Hypocrisy Nod: "My guards take offense at being accused of murder… killers as they are."
- I Gave My Word: While Gowron promises no one will come to harm with a Klingon weapon in Meska's bar, that doesn't mean other things can be used in their stead...
- Insane Troll Logic: Gowron tells the merchant captain to come aboard the Klingon ship to explain why Pakleds don't want to come on Klingon ships. The captain being a Pakled, it works.
- Klingons Love Shakespeare: As demonstrated by Gowron's recitation of a speech from Shakespeare's Henry V... In the Original Klingon.
- There are also numerous references to Klingon opera, and one of them is an important solution for a puzzle.
- Large Ham: Gowron, Qua'lon, and K'tar all apply for this trope
- Martyrdom Culture: Torghn gives up his life for Gowron, and Gowron and his crew are prepared to die when their ship is rigged with a bomb.
- Meaningful Funeral: Torghn is the only Klingon to receive the funerary ritual in the game; the only other Klingons that die are either bad guys or...well, you.
- Media Watchdog: The purple blood of the Klingons - as well as Vaq's conspicuous death behind a metal screen - were attempts to 'censor' the game and tone down its violence. Nowadays it would probably receive a T rating, but upon its initial release it was rated M.
- The Promise: The blood oath requires all those involved in the death of Torghn to face punishment. Gowron leaves his fate to chance when he makes the decision to fire upon Meska and Alira before they have a chance to reveal the code to disarm the bomb on his ship.
- Proud Warrior Race: Do we really need to say it?
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Gowron most definitely, though this pops up in varying degrees amongst the rest of the Klingons as well.
- Rite of Passage: The "Rite of Ascension", also known as the "River of Blood" or "River of Pain", which consists of a Klingon warrior being jabbed repeatedly with shocking painsticks.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Aside from the obvious, a few other species show up at the bar, and the Klingons track down a Pakled vessel.
- Sarcasm Mode: Gowron talking to the Pakleds. "Oh… you are a good negotiator!"
- Too Dumb to Live: One of the possible outcomes of the Pakled encounter ends with them attempting to speed away from the Klingon ship in their own maltreated vessel; this causes them to explode. Then again, this is par for the course for Pakleds in general…
- The Voiceless: Pok, aside from a few breaths and growls, does not speak; considering that you are playing him, that's no surprise.
- Warrior Poet: After Pok writes a Gat'tlhiq for Ler'at, Gowron theorizes that Pok will become one.
- World of Ham: It’s a game centered on KLINGONS, how could this not be the state of affairs?
- You Killed My Father: While Gowron gets to kill everyone else, Pok faces off against Qua'lon and kills him in a Vit'Hay.
- You Owe Me: Subverted; Klingon customary payment for entertainment is to destroy something that belongs to the performer in question and then pay for that item. The second time Alira plays for the Klingons, she insists that they pay her now, "and I promise to break something later of equivalent value."
