Kruge (his role in Klingon affairs)

[Mr Silver]

Its always slightly perplexed me how a renegade Klingon warlord would be able to acquire a military vessel. Now obviously that might sound like I'm answering my own question, but here[[s why not. The Klingons believe in "honor" first and foremost right? Being a renegade would surely count as "dishonorable" in Kruge's case.

IIRC in one of the first drafts of TSFS, Kruge was supposed to be shown stealing a Romulan BOP. If a scene where he was shown stealing a Klingon BOP was filmed, it would have made more sense. Kruge wasn't part of the Klingon military (at least not in TSFS), that much is obvious from the way in which his crew address him as "My Lord" and not as "Captain". What confuses me is in TVH Sarek is heard telling the Klingon ambassador "Your men did kill Kirk's son". To me this statement translates as "Citizens of your homeworld" and not the ambassador's actual men.

Kruge mentions during TSFS that "our emissaries are negotiating for peace", suggesting that he was aware of internal Klingon politics, or maybe this was common knowledge. But if it was common knowledge, a renegade act such as stealing classified information and breaking the netural zone territory with a plan to acquire something believed by Kruge to be a weapon of mass destruction would surely be considered "dishonorable". Although the concept of Klingon honour wasn't really developed this far back, it stands to reason that the Klingon government wouldn't put the chance to create peace (or at least come to a beneficial agreement) in jeopardy.

Does anyone have any theories on what Kruge's affiliations actually were? Although he's clearly a patriotic extremist, he doesn't appear in the movie to be affilitated with any particular organisation. For example, taking a lone ship into enemy territory with no back, buying information from civilians and not having any real tactical experience ("They outgun us 10 to 1, why haven't they destroyed us? Which suggests that he couldn't hope to defeat the Enterprise and didn't really think through his tactics when returning fire).

Thoughts?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kruge was not particularly honorable. Whatever his qualifications as a military commander, he seemed just to be a sadistic jackass who cared little - if anything - for Klingon honor codes.

He's little more than a pirate.

 

[BillJ]

Kruge's mission had to be backed by the Klingon government at some level. The "Genesis" files had to have been highly classified and there had to be a deep spy inside Starfleet to access them.

I don't see anywhere that the Klingons deny or try to distance themselves from Kruge. Going so far as to threaten war if Kirk isn't made to pay for the death of the Klingon crew.

As far as being surprised by the appearance of a "Federation battle-cruiser", the deep cover intelligence probably indicated that there were no real defenses at Genesis. Why would he think he'd have a chance of beating a starship? A "Bird-of-Prey" seems to be nothing more than a scout with a cloaking device manned by only a dozen officers. And it wouldn't have stood a chance if the Enterprise automation system doesn't fail. You also have to remember that he makes his assessment after already absorbing one strike from the Enterprise.

 

[JTK1]

How much honor did Klingons have before Next Gen. ??

 

[BillJ]

Kruge was not particularly honorable. Whatever his qualifications as a military commander, he seemed just to be a sadistic jackass who cared little - if anything - for Klingon honor codes.

He's little more than a pirate.

What does honor have to do with anything? We've seen the vast majority of 24th century Klingons engage in dishonorable practices.

Honor might be a nice knick-knack for a Klingon to put on his mantle, but the fact of the matter was it had very little use in day-to-day life.

 

[inflatabledalek]

I don't think there's really anything to say in the finished film Kruge isn't a fully signed up Klingon Captain despite the unusual form of his officers calling him "My Lord".

One thing that's worth noting is that even though he takes matters into his own hands, there's no indication Kirk or Star Fleet ever find out he was acting on his own. Based on the opening of the fourth film the Klingons seem to be putting some serious spin on it making the whole thing sound like an official mission just so they can claim maximum outrage.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

How much honor did Klingons have before Next Gen. ??

How many Klingons actually have honor... except for Worf and his extended "family" (Martok etc.)?

 

[Timo]

One thing that seems to fit both TOS and TNG Klingon society is that it's not a monobloc empire, but rather a haphazard feudal collection of more or less powerful noble Houses and more or less servile commoners. The seat of the Emperor (no matter whether supporting an Emperor's bottom, or empty) would send out military expeditions and spymasters, but only through the Houses under its indirect control. And Kruge would answer to the master of his House first and to the Empire second.

I see no problem in a "renegade" securing control of a military vessel. After all, most Klingon military vessels are probably owned and operated by independent players whose status can go from "loyal" to "renegade" in a heartbeat (or the termination thereof). And good old Martok might have directly controlled the BoP Rotarran that belonged to his House, but he would have been been given command of an Imperially owned battle cruiser for certain military operations commanded, sanctioned or even purchased by the Empire.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

How much honor did Klingons have before Next Gen. ??

How many Klingons actually have honor... except for Worf and his extended "family" (Martok etc.)?

JTK1 makes a good point actually. It was TNG when they started delving into the whole Klingon honor concept.

And yeah, even after than a lot of Klingons were power hungry SOB's.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

"Honor" is a word with many different meanings. Kruge tells Valkris that she'll be remembered with honor. Kruge definitely had a concept of honor and he lived and died by it, right down to not accepting clemency from an enemy. More than any other 23rd Century Klingon, Kruge set the mold for what we saw in the 24th--at least, once Ron Moore took over as pretty much the Terry Nation of Klingons. In "Reunion," Worf parrots Kruge's "Then that's the way it shall be!"

 

[Therin of Andor]

How many Klingons actually have honor... except for Worf and his extended "family" (Martok etc.)?

Valkris died with honor (ST III), but only after she was found to have been reading her boyfriend's mail.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Kruge tells Valeris that she'll be remembered with honor.

Valkris (see above).

It was TNG when they started delving into the whole Klingon honor concept.

After TOS, it was fan fiction, FASA RPGs and the first two Diane Duane "Rihannsu" (Romulan) novels that developed the "fanon" concepts of Romulan honor. There was also the episode of TAS, where a Romulan commander was about to suicide with his whole ship rather than face his loss of honor when tricked by a "Practical Joker".

The first script treatment of "Star Trek III: Return to Genesis" had Romulans as the main villains, so when the villains were switched to Klingons, many hallmarks of Romulan mythos (birds of prey, cloaking devices, honor, ritual suicide) were attached to Klingons instead. TNG just went with it from there. Suddenly, "Romulans have no honor", according to TNG Klingons.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Kruge tells Valeris that she'll be remembered with honor.

Valkris (see above).

Fixed.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Kruge tells Valeris that she'll be remembered with honor.

Valkris (see above).

It was TNG when they started delving into the whole Klingon honor concept.

After TOS, it was fan fiction, FASA RPGs and the first two Diane Duane "Rihannsu" (Romulan) novels that developed the "fanon" concepts of Romulan honor. There was also the episode of TAS, where a Romulan commander was about to suicide with his whole ship rather than face his loss of honor when tricked by a "Practical Joker".

The first script treatment of "Star Trek III: Return to Genesis" had Romulans as the main villains, so when the villains were switched to Klingons, many hallmarks of Romulan mythos (birds of prey, cloaking devices, honor, ritual suicide) were attached to Klingons instead. TNG just went with it from there. Suddenly, "Romulans have no honor", according to TNG Klingons.

Even though the Romulans were portrayed as deceitful, sneaky, etc., if they were following the Romulan "way", they would still be considered honorable from the Rommie perspective.

There's different ideas of honor, consider that suicide bombers are "honorable" if they complete their task.

 

[danellis]

Like most behavioural theories, "honour" is a moving target: it can mean pretty much whatever the person wants it to mean, and they can use it to justify whatever behaviour they want.

If Kruge were to decide that the Klingon Defence Force (whether or not he was an officer in this) were behaving dishonourably, and the use they made of it were dishonourable, then honour would demand that he commandeer a vessel and use it "more honourably."

Being refered to as "My Lord" does not preclude Kruge from being a Commander, Captain, Admiral or any other rank. Even in English calling someone "my lord" does not mean they are a titled "lord," merely that they are superior in rank to the addressee. It could simply be that "My Lord" is the traditional way to address one's captain in the Klingon Forces, much as "Sir" is in our forces.

In diplomacy, especially when situations are tense, the distinction between the official forces and citizens of a country is often not made. My personal theory is that Kruge was probably a privateer: essentially a pirate in the employ of the Klingon government.

As for Kruge operating alone, I think in most cases Klingon ships are shown as "lone wolves" so we can't necessarily read too much into Kruge's ship being on her own. In a similar vein StarFleet ships are generally shown as in the same solo capacity. There are many cases when the Enterprise could be painted, from a Klingon POV, in much the same way as you're painting Kruge.

dJE
dJE

 

[DarKush]

I thought he was a renegade due to his actions in the movie, after he was already in command of a ship. I think that there was an idea that he would steal a Romulan Bird-of-Prey, but since they didn't go that route and already showed him in command, it seemed to me like he was just an adventurous Klingon commander, seeking power and glory. Similar to Klaa in V. I used to like that idea of these Klingons attempting to earn their bat'leth's by testing themselves against Kirk or the Federation.

Does anyone know why they switched from Romulans to Klingons in Star Trek III? Not having the Romulans as adversaries in at least one of the movies (beyond Nanclus) was a missed opportunity.

 

[Mr Silver]

Does anyone know why they switched from Romulans to Klingons in Star Trek III? Not having the Romulans as adversaries in at least one of the movies (beyond Nanclus) was a missed opportunity.

From a narrative perspective, it was probably because the Klingon's were portrayed as warlike, almost Genghis Khan-era Mongols. The Romulan's meanwhile, in their few TOS appearances were portrayed as calculating, intelligent and far more interested in sitting back and letting their enemies wipe each other out.

For TSFS they needed an active villian, one who would have no problems about invading Federation territory without thinking it through, acquiring information from the black market and actively seeking a fight. This goes against what we've seen from the Romulans, they tend to isolate themselves and use undercover operatives. Its likely that they would have been aware of Project Genesis. Unlike the Klingons though, they knew the Federation wouldn't dare develop a weapon out of it and despite some suspicion, the Romulan's wouldn't give in to their impulses and directly invade Federation territory with the intent of seizing a weapon that may or may not exist.

Maltz seemed like the only Klingon who understood, "Impressive...they can make planets" whilst Kruge saw the opportunity for a weapon, even though he considered Human's weak (and the Romulan's usually get the "backstabbers!" treatment). The Federation knew the project had potential to be a WMD and kept the project on a down low to develop it. It just so happened that the device was prematurely detonated and somehow it spread faster than "warp 10" through the Federation and naturally the major powers of the Alpha Quadrant.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

I seem to recall the motive being more basic: they were afraid casual audiences would be confused if the bad guys had identical racial characteristics as the guy the good guys were searching for, his dad and the high priestess lady. Besides, Kilingons are well known beyond fandom (including casual fans) whereas Romulans not so much, especially back in 1982, when the movie was being developed.

 

[Xerxes1979]

Perhaps there was a House of Kruge. Influential Klingons of nobility did undertake actions on their own authority. This would explain why he was referred to as lord.

The Duras sisters still had great power when they bought the farm in a very non-capital class bird of prey.

Also Kruge had a cape. Reference every other Klingon in similar costume and you might come to the conclusion they he was more than a minor officer in the Imperial navy.

 

[Therin of Andor]

My personal theory is that Kruge was probably a privateer: essentially a pirate in the employ of the Klingon government.

While cleaning up some file boxes in the garage in 2006, I found a batch of my "Star Trek" movie scripts, which I haven't seen since I moved house in 2000. I'd forgotten that I owned three versions of the ST III script, in addition to Harve Bennett's slim premise, ST III: "Return to Genesis".

But in the so-called FIRST DRAFT script of "ST III: The Search for Spock", dated March 23, 1983 - well after the Romulan crew of "Return to Genesis" had officially morphed into a Klingon crew - Bennett has this to say about the controversial makeup change from TOS:

"Present are the 1ST LORD of the Klingons, and his command staff. The variety of Klingons will be fully explored. Elders have been seen in STAR TREK I. Forehead bumps are marks of age and wisdom, not common. What is common is that they are a dark race of large and frightening appearance."

The "elderly" Klingon idea had been nixed by the REV. FINAL DRAFT of September 13, 1983, because Valkris wears a half-veil to hide her bumps, and Kruge is described as a "handsome but frightening presence, and relative youth".

(Since those early days, of course, we've seen Alexander, Worf's son in "The Next Generation" series, as a toddler with a matching bumpy forehead to his Dad's. Then we had Worf's enigmatic comment in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations", and a two-part explanatory episode about the origins of smooth-foreheaded Klingons in "Star Trek: Enterprise".)

The early script also specifies a flotilla of Klingon heavy cruisers, and Kruge's cloakable Romulan Bird of Prey that "Trek buffs will recognize" from its "distinctive bird & wing motif". After they watch the Bird of Prey turn visible, the script goes on:

1ST LORD: What is this? None of you knew?

3RD LORD (hastily): It is his toy, sir. A Romulan prize. He has perfected their Cloaking Device.

1ST LORD: Commander Kruge, I want you here... Now!

INT. BIRD OF PREY BRIDGE - ON KRUGE

KRUGE: Always your servant, my Lord.

(He turns and CAMERA reveals his CREW, the most awesome collection of large, cruel and piratical men since the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Seventies. We will see more of them later.)

KRUGE: Well, my jolly lads, a few more triumphs like this and we'll all be back in prison.

(then turning)

Try to behave yourselves while I'm gone.

I reckon Kruge probably should have had a Klingon parrot on his shoulder, too (but maybe the lizard/dog from the REV. FINAL script ate it?)

A major character difference is the addition of vulcanoid (Romulan?) defector, Galt, who essentially fills the role taken by Maltz the Klingon in the final film. Galt is welcomed back to Vulcan by Sarek at the end of the movie.

Towards the end, instead of the REV. FINAL DRAFT and FINAL SHOOTING script version of Kirk saying to Kruge, "I... have had... enough... of you!" the FIRST DRAFT script has Kruge saying, "The last face you see, Kirk. The last face you ever see."

He then grabs Kirk in a choke hold, they struggle, and Kirk seems doomed - but when the zombie-like Spock grabs Kruge from behind, Kirk is able to break free, retrieve. Kirk is able to reach the Klingon dagger and throw it into Kruge's back. Then he asks Galt to beam them up, abandoning several remaining Klingons to their fate on the doomed Genesis.

Bennett also says "The writer suggests to the producer and director that no acting credit be given for the role of SPOCK until the END CREDITS." (And that's what they actually did. There's a blank space in the opening credits of ST III, where Nimoy's acting screen credit should normally be.)

Cool, eh?