What is the most iconic Klingon ship?

snowlili · July 2012

What is the most iconic Klingon ship to you and why?

Thanks.

lianthelia · July 2012

Honestly...I would say the Bird of Prey is. (forgot to add why >.<)

Well its the iron man...its been around forever and keeps on ticking. Probably the most seen Klingon ship around and the first Klingon ship I have ever seen. Plus there was a BoP in enterprise so it would be the oldest ship the Klingon's ever had if you count Enterprise. (I grew up with the movies and TNG...I'm only in the mid 20's)

reallydumbpwe · July 2012

To me, the D7 (or later, K'Tinga). I grew up with TOS... and always thought the Klingons had the better looking ships. There's always an ominous beauty when one of those sails into view.

aloishammer · July 2012

Long, long before anything but TOS, there was the D7.

Long before TNG, there was the D7.

Before the Federation was even aware of V'Ger, it was encountered by some D7s.

Before a "Bird of Prey" was anything but the "standard" Romulan vessel, there was the D7.

Yeah, I'd have to say the D7. The ship that was known for years simply as "The Klingon ship."

bohiap · July 2012

Depends on what era. If you remember TOS, then you have to say D7. But, the Bird of Prey is probably more prolific and is used more often as a "hero" ship, especially in DS9.

sollvax · July 2012

Yes the D7 is the Classic ship
Of course its also the one we all used as children

xantris · July 2012

aloishammer wrote: »

Long, long before anything but TOS, there was the D7.

Long before TNG, there was the D7.

Before the Federation was even aware of V'Ger, it was encountered by some D7s.

Before a "Bird of Prey" was anything but the "standard" Romulan vessel, there was the D7.

Yeah, I'd have to say the D7. The ship that was known for years simply as "The Klingon ship."

I don't believe that's the best basis to argue from. The iconic Starship for the Federation is the Galaxy, not the Constitution. Star trek peaked during TNG.

If you ask someone to describe a Klingon, in all likelyhood they aren't going to describe the ToS version. If you ask someone to describe a Klingon ship, they are likely to describe a Bird of Prey. I'd describe the D7 as classic, not iconic.

sollvax · July 2012

the TNG Galaxy and the TOS constitution are both very special

but the TNG Klingons are a sad lot compared with the TOS version

artan42 · July 2012

B'rel, K'vort, or K'T'inga (in any of it's forms, all D7's are K'T'ingas to me). Or the Vor'Cha or Neg'Var, surprisingly these are more iconic to me than the D-6, D-5, Raptor, and Old BOP, despite the fact I'm only old enough to have followed Enterprise.

podsix · July 2012

K'Tinga.. I remember gasping audibly when Qo'nos One showed up onscreen in Star Trek 6.

I've always loved that ship since the flyover in TMP. Really.. I love looking at every part of TMP. It's hardly the best film, but it's my favourite "vision" of the Star Trek universe/technology.

nynik · July 2012

Great question. The ship I find most iconic for Klingons is the D-7. It has a certain majesty and danger about it. Especially with that fly-over shot in the motion picture (and the music!).

However, the ship I identify most with the Klingons would certainly be the Bird of Prey. I also have a special place in my heart for the Vor'Cha, since it was my first Klingon Star Trek Toy which was gifted to me after a serious accident. It seriously made me feel better.

jjumetley · July 2012

There where two (three?). I can't decide which one would be the most iconic Klingon ship. The D7/K't'inga was the first, the most majestic BUT it's not the most distinctive. As you can see there are two similar models and there's a third one - Vor'cha.

That's why ultimately I would say that Bird of Prey is THE most characteristic Klingon ship. What is more - It looks really menacing. As if it really was a living Bird of Prey

lordmalak1 · July 2012

I guess it depends on what age group one belongs to. Put up a pic of a D7 and everyone knows it's a Klingon ship, even my wife knows that. A pic of a bird-of-prey (LOL, which model ??) would net "a spaceship" from the wife.

Being 'old school' I'd have to say D-7, it's been relatively the same ship since the series first aired almost 50 years ago, and almost as iconic is the Romulan Warbird, you simply can't say the same for Enterprise, it's gone thru at least 7 incarnations thru the years.

...Interestingly is that the 'Bird-of-Prey' is a Romulan ship, tho not exactly cannon is that the Romulans and Klingons shared technology at one time and the 'Bird of prey' likely fell into Klingon hands because of this.

warmaker001b · July 2012

Until the TMP movies, the Klingon D-7 cruisers. Since that's what was only shown.

But ever since The Search For Spock, hands down it became the Bird of Prey, in whatever size it may be (or mistakenly be, as with TNG).

Even in the shows, the various Birds of Prey have been the preferred ship of many prolific Klingon captains. Maybe because the archtype is (still) the longest, continuously built kind of hulls in any navy, and therefore the most numerous.

Hell, even by the time of the Dominion War, a powerful figure such as General Martok, who was in charge of all KDF forces and military efforts based out of DS9, was on a Bird of Prey when he ventured out.

Chancellor Gowron has chosen as a flagship different ships. A Negh'var, Vor'Cha, and he too never shied away from the workhorse of the fleet, the BOP.

podsix · July 2012

lordmalak1 wrote: »

...Interestingly is that the 'Bird-of-Prey' is a Romulan ship, tho not exactly cannon is that the Romulans and Klingons shared technology at one time and the 'Bird of prey' likely fell into Klingon hands because of this.

Even more interesting, is that the first drafts of ST3, had the bad-guys being Romulans. The "Bird of Prey" was apparently commissioned originally as a Romulan ship, hence the "wings painted on the bottom". Later revisions had the ship still of Romulan origin, with Kruge (a rogue Klingon acting outside his authority) stealing the BoP from the Romulans.

onscreen though, it's quite canon that it's a Klingon ship.

tetonica · July 2012

podsix wrote: »

Even more interesting, is that the first drafts of ST3, had the bad-guys being Romulans. The "Bird of Prey" was apparently commissioned originally as a Romulan ship, hence the "wings painted on the bottom". Later revisions had the ship still of Romulan origin, with Kruge (a rogue Klingon acting outside his authority) stealing the BoP from the Romulans.

onscreen though, it's quite canon that it's a Klingon ship.

Just posting to say I really dig your signature :cool: I wish I had photoshop skills lol

lordmalak1 · July 2012

podsix wrote: »

Even more interesting, is that the first drafts of ST3, had the bad-guys being Romulans. The "Bird of Prey" was apparently commissioned originally as a Romulan ship, hence the "wings painted on the bottom". Later revisions had the ship still of Romulan origin, with Kruge (a rogue Klingon acting outside his authority) stealing the BoP from the Romulans.

onscreen though, it's quite canon that it's a Klingon ship.

Aye, Klingon it is- complete with the borrowed name of the class and Romulan paint scheme.

...At least those clowns Berman and Braga managed to fix the ships lineage.
:rolleyes:

trygvar13 · July 2012

By far the D7/K't'inga. I never liked the BoP because it's not Klingon. I never understood why the changed the script in ST:III. Kruge stole a Romulan Ship because it had a cloaking device and he could therefore infiltrate the Federation and investigate the Mutara Sector.

A cloaking device goes against everything the Klingons are. They don't hide from their enemies, they die with their eyes wide open. But because of this slight change it became cannon and is now part of their history. I like them but when I see the wing design it is obviously Romulan to me.

I can't wait for the Fleet Starbases to be available so I can craft my own T5 K't'inga!

dareau · July 2012

To me, the iconic Klingon is the D-7. That hull style (pod, neck, flared out "wingy" main body w' nacelles on ends, and deckhouse) just screams "Klingon" to me, whether it's the classic TOS version, the TMP K'tinga, or the TNG-itized Vor'cha, much as saucer (arrowhead), neck, secondary hull, pylons, nacelles = Enterprise.

However, since the BOP went Klingon in ST III, it's the most reused Klingon ship, and therefore the one the majority of people would most likely recognize as Klingon. Heck, it was a BOP that ended the careers of two Enterprises (Kirk's in ST III, Picards in Generations). Sadly, I'd have to recognize the BOP as the "most iconic" Klingon ship...

quiscustodiet · July 2012

The Vor'Cha.

The D7 just looks silly; not at all menacing ("ball" front end, overall frailty)... which is a crime for a Klingon Ship.

krayuskorianis · July 2012

The B'rel Class Bird-of-Prey tbh. It's been around forever, same as the D7 Class Klingon vessels.

It's also why I have a B'Rel Class Bird-of-Prey on my Klingon, because I love it O_O

auric2000 · July 2012

The B'rel/K'vort class Birds of Prey are pretty much the most Iconic as they are seen the most out of most of the Klingon Classes. The D7/K'tinga are icons as well but their own appearances tend to be rather lackluster unlike the as forementioned 'Hero' Birds of Prey.
The Vorcha on the other hand had the least amount of hero time only having that status (briefly) as the IKS Bortas, all other ships of the line were red shirts so to speak in the dominion war.

snowlili · July 2012

Some great information here, especially about the "Bird-of-Prey" being originally a stolen Romulan ship.

I got inspired by this discussion and spent some time reading about the Klingon ships, including 'behind-the-scenes' reasons for their designs. The info is mostly from hobby modellers who are passionate about the Klingon ships.

I might surprise some of you with what I've found out, considering that I just started getting into Klingons, and haven't really been much into Star Trek. I'd like some 'hardcore' trek fans to either confirm or deny the following, please:

Apparently, the Vor'Cha class ship was originally designed as a symbol of the alliance between the Klingons and Starfleet/Federation. Due to that, its 'nacelles' are Starfleet technology and look very similar in design and color to TNG's Enterprise 'nacelles'. I wasn't able to find what Klingon technology Starfleet/Federation incorporated into their ships in return, at least the visible kind.

According to the information I've found, there were never meant to be any Klingon ships with Starfleet/Federation 'nacelles' beyond the Vor'Cha. The Negh'Var was originally meant to be a completely different design but the designers were told that the schedule for the episode where it first appeared has changed, and that they needed to come up with something quick. As a result, they built the Negh'Var literally on top of Vor'Cha by adding parts to it. That's how the Negh'Var retained the Starfleet/Federation 'nacelles'.

The original Klingon technology had a cyan or blue-green color for their 'nacelles' and a different glow to them.

I have to say that even though I'm too young to be nostalgic about the early D7 K'Tinga ships, I really like their strong appearance. If one thinks about it, they originally had to come up with a Klingon ship that instilled fear into Starfleet, and D7 is what they came up with. I like it!

vetteguy904 · July 2012

xantris wrote: »

I don't believe that's the best basis to argue from. The iconic Starship for the Federation is the Galaxy, not the Constitution. Star trek peaked during TNG.

If you ask someone to describe a Klingon, in all likelyhood they aren't going to describe the ToS version. If you ask someone to describe a Klingon ship, they are likely to describe a Bird of Prey. I'd describe the D7 as classic, not iconic.

only for the children who grew up thinking TNG was the peak of the Star Trek universe. (IMHO DS9 by far outshone TNG)

oh, and by the way, both Voyager and especially DS9 played Homage to TOS, and TNG directly ripped off a TOS Episode..

warmaker001b · July 2012

snowlili wrote: »

Some great information here, especially about the "Bird-of-Prey" being originally a stolen Romulan ship.

I got inspired by this discussion and spent some time reading about the Klingon ships, including 'behind-the-scenes' reasons for their designs. The info is mostly from hobby modellers who are passionate about the Klingon ships.

I might surprise some of you with what I've found out, considering that I just started getting into Klingons, and haven't really been much into Star Trek. I'd like some 'hardcore' trek fans to either confirm or deny the following, please:

Apparently, the Vor'Cha class ship was originally designed as a symbol of the alliance between the Klingons and Starfleet/Federation. Due to that, its 'nacelles' are Starfleet technology and look very similar in design and color to TNG's Enterprise 'nacelles'. I wasn't able to find what Klingon technology Starfleet/Federation incorporated into their ships in return, at least the visible kind.

According to the information I've found, there were never meant to be any Klingon ships with Starfleet/Federation 'nacelles' beyond the Vor'Cha. The Negh'Var was originally meant to be a completely different design but the designers were told that the schedule for the episode where it first appeared has changed, and that they needed to come up with something quick. As a result, they built the Negh'Var literally on top of Vor'Cha by adding parts to it. That's how the Negh'Var retained the Starfleet/Federation 'nacelles'.

The original Klingon technology had a cyan or blue-green color for their 'nacelles' and a different glow to them.

I have to say that even though I'm too young to be nostalgic about the early D7 K'Tinga ships, I really like their strong appearance. If one thinks about it, they originally had to come up with a Klingon ship that instilled fear into Starfleet, and D7 is what they came up with. I like it!

I go by with what's shown in the movies and TV shows. Everything else is optional fluff, IMO. Some good, some bad stuff out there.

That being said, nacelles with Klingon warship designs aren't anything new. The D7 had them in TOS. The remodelled version, the K'Tinga had them. Versions of the cruiser shown in TMP timeframe movies, namely Undiscovered Country, had some "glowies" on the nacelles already such as found on the "Kronos One," before glowing ships became all the rage with TNG.

reginamala78 · July 2012

B'rel BoP. I can respect the K'tinga as the TOS Klingon ship, and it showed up all the other series in some form or another, but TOS was canceled a decade before I was born and by the time I was old enough to watch reruns even then I recognized how dated it was. The B'rel on the other hand had staring roles in 5 movies and was THE Klingon ship for TNG and DS9 (moreso than the Vorcha, IMO), as well as popular with the likes of Ferengi pirates and a certain privateer named Dukat. Its like the AK47 of the Trek verse; even over a century old and with no logistical support it just does everything. I would not be surprised if in that famous future battle with the Sphere Builders and the Enterprise J, there's still B'rels or K'vorts around.

xiphenon · July 2012

The D7 is the very original design of Klingons. However, there was a cooperation between the Romulan and the Klingon empire during which the Romulans passed the cloaking technology to the Klingons and in exchange to the Klingon D7 schematics (I think, the romulan were also limited in their capacity of warp drives up to this time).

I think during this time, the B'rel Bird of Prey might be designed (it clearly shows some Romulan features), becoming one of the most iconic ships of the Klingon empire.

Though the D7 might be more original "Klingon" in its design, the B'rel bird of prey is more iconic ship, because more important Klingon antagonists (like Captain Klaa or General Chang, the Duras sisters) have used it in later mobies and series.

xantris · July 2012

vetteguy904 wrote: »

only for the children who grew up thinking TNG was the peak of the Star Trek universe. (IMHO DS9 by far outshone TNG)

oh, and by the way, both Voyager and especially DS9 played Homage to TOS, and TNG directly ripped off a TOS Episode..

I prefer DS9 as well but tthat doesn't change the fact that TNG is the peak of Star Treks popularity. You can fanboy it up all you want but that's not going to change anything.

Also, those "children" are in there 30s now.

aveldra · July 2012

BoPs, and you know what, I want more of them, doesn't even have to have fancy consoles, different stat layout to the Heavy BoP, just a new skin...:(

bloctoad · July 2012

podsix wrote: »

K'Tinga.. I remember gasping audibly when Qo'nos One showed up onscreen in Star Trek 6.

I've always loved that ship since the flyover in TMP. Really.. I love looking at every part of TMP. It's hardly the best film, but it's my favourite "vision" of the Star Trek universe/technology.

Never been this close.

martokus · July 2012

For a general audience of non die hard trekkies, the B'rel is probably the most recognizable.

But I have a special place in my heart for all of the Klingon ships, to be honest. They have a solid design lineage that just says 'Klingon' when you look at it.

What is the most iconic Klingon ship?

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