Klingon Weapons
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Here's another area where we didn't just create a single prop, we created a standard military look for the Klingon forces and
treated each weapon from the disruptors to the
bat'Ieth
as if it were "real." The design and look of the Klingon weapons were the work of three men:
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Matt Jefferies, who designed the disruptors; Phil Norwood, who worked on
Star
Trek
III
and created the knife, the
d'k
tahg; and Dan Curry, who worked primarily on
TNG
as a visual effects producer and created the
bat'Ieth
and many subsequent Klingon weapons.
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A
d'k tahg
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A weapon that Dan Curry had been thinking about for years becomes the KIngon symbol of honor and courage-the
bat'Ieth.
Dan Curry created this klingon weapon, a
mek'leth
at the request of Michael Dorn.
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In the case of the Klingons we developed a look of a weapon that would not just inflict injuries; they had to be weapons that
would force you to get up close to your enemy. They were Asian looking weapons, almost ninth-century in their design, that require you to use a kind of
tai chi
to wield them. They were weapons that spilled blood all over the place and forced the adversaries to wear each other's
blood. That's how the weapons worked to define the idea of a klingon visually and to sell the idea of an alien race to the audience.
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Excerpt from Star Trek Aliens & Artifacts by Michael Westmore, Alan Sims, Bradley M. Look, and William J. Birnes.
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And when Curry says "everything," he means
everything.
"When I got out of college," he explains, "I went into the Peace Corps and built small dams and bridges in Thailand. You would
not think that that relates to
Star
Trek at all, yet it's been a heavy influence."
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The influence Curry refers to is most evident in his interest in serious martial arts. " I had some friends in Thailand who were
genuine thugs and I was impressed with their ability to inflict bodily harm in a formal but creative way, " Curry says dryly. "So, I studied
tae kwon do,
which is Korean martial arts, and had a black belt in that. And I studied, sometimes formally, sometimes informally with Thai
and Chinese instructors, learning things like quick kill, how to use anything at hand to send somebody off to the nonbiological phase of existence. How to
slit throats with paper, stuff that you need in dark alleys."
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In Thailand, Curry had many other experiences that shaped his contributions to
The Next Generation.
"When I got out of the Peace Corps I did documentary films. I directed some Thai-language TV shows and got involved in their
film industry. I also did a lot of live theater. In Thailand, I designed sets for their Bangkok Opera Society. I designed the Ball for the King one
year. I also spent a lot of time in Laos, and a lot of time in the Himalayas."
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Followers of
The Next Generation
can easily recognize the seeds that planted in Curry which grew into the rich cultural heritage of one of
Star Trek's
most popular aliens-the Klingons.
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Curry's first major involvement in adding to Klingon culture began with the fourth-season episode "Reunion," which centered on
the succession ceremony for the new Klingon leader. In the episode, Worf was required to use a b
at'leth
an ancient klingon sword. Curry recalls, "I looked at some of the designs that were proposed and they were wonderful, but there
was a degree of familiarity about them. And I thought to myself 'Well, you know, it's not really my job to get in people's faces about this, but because I
care passionately about martial arts, and I have a strong feeling for the ergonomics of bladed weapons, let's have something that we ve never seen before.'
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until Dan Curry designed the b
at'leth
,
Klingon weapons, such as these knives based on designs from
Star TrekIII: The Search for Spock
,
tended to be modifications of more familiar forms.
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Picture by ROBBIE ROBINSON.
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The distinctive, crescent-shaped weapon that resulted was not an overnight creation, "I had been imagining a weapon for a long
time," Curry says, "that was kind of a staff weapon but had some of the interesting ergonomics of Himalayan blades that curve away. There's also some
influence of Northern Chinese hook weapons. So I sketched it out, went home and made a foamcore mock-up of what I had in mind, and showed it to Rick."
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Curry, who had studied
tai chi
for many years, also made up an instant
kata
a series of standardized moves for using the weapon which he also demonstrated. "I really like the fluidity of
tai-chi
sword, where instead of being a chop-chop-hack-hack action like some of the external martial arts, the conclusion of each
movement is the beginning of another motion. I able to achieve that fluidity but with a heavy blade that was in Michael Dorn's character."
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Rick Berman liked Curry's invention. Prop versions of the
bat'leth
were quickly made up. And Dan Curry began instructing Michael Dorn in the weapon's use.
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A ripple effect then spread out through the series creative team. "The writers started to pick up on the martial
potential," Curry says, "and the klingon's started to have a more Bushido quality about them. Then they came up with Mok'bara, the klingon hand martial
arts, so they' came to me and said Well, Dan, what about that?' So I kind of adapted
ti chi,
but made it a little bit more vicious, and a little bit more theatrical."
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Once again, Michael Dorn became Curry's student, to the extent that in several Next Generation episodes, as Worf goes through
Mok'bara and
bat'leth
exercises on screen, Curry was just off camera, performing the movements to guide the actor
.
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But Curry's influence on things klingon was not limited to the more physical aspects of their culture. "Klingon architecture
became influenced by Thai architecture and Himalayan architecture," Curry says. "I did that matte painting of the klingon lamasery where Worf
encounters Kahless [in the sixth season's 'Rightful Heir'] . I kind of made it up, with just a little bit of Thai. and a little bit of Nepali architecture,
with some Tibetan thrown in."
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Neither was Curry's influence limited to Star Trek. Though created for science-fiction series where would be wielded by aliens,
bat'leth
is the first new bladed weapon in decades to be accepted in certain Korean associations martial arts competitions.
With considerable bemusement, Curry also reveals, "government agencies have contacted me to explore the
bat'leth's
design, you know: " Why did you think about that? Would you send us a tracing?' stuff like that."
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In the world of television production, knives are the design responsibility of the art department, and the scabards-which are
worn-are the responsibility of the costume department. Illustration by Robert Blackman. Courtesy of the artist. The scabard was created
for
Sins of a Father.
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The scabard and knife was used to decorate Worf's quarters in
Parallels
. It is bathed in a red light, hanging on the wall.
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Excerpts from Star Trek : The Next Generation, The Continuing Mission by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
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Index
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