# Bumpy Headed Klingons to be Explained **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876 "2004-12-20T22:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/21 "2004-12-21T14:53:43Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I am sure I read in some Star Trek directory or concordance that the explanation is that the Klingon Empire sent scout teams which were, either naturally or through genetic manipulation, a more humanoid breed. The most widespread fanon (fan canon) rationalization is that smoothies were genetically engineered Klingons to make subterfuge easier and that the turtleheads were always the natural state of their species which synchs up with what you read. It’s fanwankery though, and not the “real” explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/22 "2004-12-21T14:54:20Z")
Oh no… (WAG)It’s going to be something about _The Founders_ and ‘the next stage in Klingon evolution’. I bet it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/23 "2004-12-21T15:00:50Z")
The Founders? Changelings? How could they have anything to do with this when the wormhole won’t even open for another two hundred years? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/24 "2004-12-21T16:55:11Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Perhaps the TOS cameras had special filters on them which adjusted the bumps into smoothness. Close. TV cameras in the 60s were not technically advanced enough to show the bumps. It’s believed to be a resolution issue. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/25 "2004-12-21T18:01:41Z")
I think it’s all tied in with Dr Watson’s war wound. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/26 "2004-12-21T18:17:33Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > The Founders? Changelings? How could they have anything to do with this when the wormhole won’t even open for another two hundred years? They exist outside of time, or some bullshit technobabble 🙂 They had some contact before the official opening, didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/27 "2004-12-21T18:19:03Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > By the time _Next Gen_ rolled around, the Klingons were tanned and rested. 😉 Don’t be silly! There’s no one on Earth more tanned or better-rested than George Hamilton. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/28 "2004-12-21T18:28:27Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > They exist outside of time, or some bullshit technobabble 🙂 They had some contact before the official opening, didn’t they? Perhaps you are confusing them with ENT’s Sphere Builders? They looked very similar. [Real spoilers!](http://www.trektoday.com/news/171204_02.shtml) [It’s a two parter.](http://www.trektoday.com/news/181204_01.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/29 "2004-12-21T18:37:30Z")
[Sphere Builder](http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Image:Guardian2154.jpg) vs. [Founder](http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/upload/0/00/Odo.jpg) Similar but different. The Sphere Builders are more reptilian looking. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/30 "2004-12-21T19:03:37Z")
It’s a plastic surgery fad. Without anesthetic. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/31 "2004-12-21T19:13:04Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > It’s a plastic surgery fad. Without anesthetic. There is no honor in deadening one’s nerves. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/32 "2004-12-21T19:30:25Z")
My IMHO is that during Kirks time there was significant Klingon Romulan interbreeding especially in the highest Klingon families. Leading to the extreme similarity in the two races during Kirks time. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/33 "2004-12-21T19:35:09Z")
Will you people forget this horse puckey and worry about something _important_, like what happened to Kirk’s hair? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/34 "2004-12-21T19:39:47Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > My IMHO is that during Kirks time there was significant Klingon Romulan interbreeding especially in the highest Klingon families. Leading to the extreme similarity in the two races during Kirks time. Er, what? [(Female) Romulan Commander](http://www.sixtiescity.com/startrek/LOST/romcom1.jpg) and [(Male) Romulan Commander](http://mirkwood.ucs.indiana.edu/startrek/images/Episodes/terror.jpg) vs. [Kang](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_kang.jpg), [Kor](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_kor.jpg), and [Koloth](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_koloth.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/35 "2004-12-21T19:50:39Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Er, what? > > [(Female) Romulan Commander](http://www.sixtiescity.com/startrek/LOST/romcom1.jpg) and [(Male) Romulan Commander](http://mirkwood.ucs.indiana.edu/startrek/images/Episodes/terror.jpg) vs. [Kang](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_kang.jpg), [Kor](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_kor.jpg), and [Koloth](http://www.klingon-net.de/bio/pic/kdb_koloth.jpg). OK not quite as similar as I remembered. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/36 "2004-12-21T21:01:20Z")
Actually (some trekkie I turned out to be), when I mentioned the founders above, I was thinking of that long-dead race that was cited as the reason why so many species are humanoid; they were humanoid and foresaw their own extinction, so they coded their DNA into a single-celled lifeform, then spread it all over the galaxy, (implausibly)giving rise to humanoids all over the shop. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/37 "2004-12-21T21:13:43Z")
That would be the [Progenitors](http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorsJ/8743.GIF). Trivia: Salome Jens, the woman in that picture, also played the Female Changeling in DS9. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/38 "2004-12-21T22:19:35Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I would have plumped for just ignoring it, the way we ignore the improving of non-personal special effects, but DS9, however amusingly, aknowledged that the characters saw the change. Unless we can just cut anything with ‘tribble’ in from cannon. I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Of course, if we get rid of the tribbles, then we’ll have to Lucasfy the films and remove the one from Kirk’s head. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/39 "2004-12-21T22:39:41Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > That would be the [Progenitors](http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorsJ/8743.GIF). > > Trivia: Salome Jens, the woman in that picture, also played the Female Changeling in DS9. Linky-Link no work for Baby **Bosda**. Goo. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876/40 "2004-12-27T21:56:50Z")
_Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t find a place to park._ After TMP, I always used a slight mental cheat and thought that the Klingons interbred with conquered species. Then for the out-of-the-way or sesspool worlds they just let the best of the conquered species pretend to be Klingon and practice conquering on their own. Now this is fine for a moments diversion - a thought to fill in the gaps - like a Kit-Kat Bar in the afternoon - but there are problems if you try to make it true. What I hope they **don’t** do is use Phlox’s medical genius to develop some Human-Klingon DNA melding technique and actually explain it away that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumpy-headed-klingons-to-be-explained/280876.md?page=3)