Kor

"shame, Captain. It would have been glorious."

- Kor on the aborted Klingon-Federation war

Kor, son of Rynar was a male antagonist on the original Star Trek television series who later became a protagonist.

Portrayed by John Colicos Kor was one of the first Klingons seen on television when he appeared on the episode Errand of Mercy. In addition to the original series Kor also appeared on the animated series, Deep Space Nine, and in various media.

Kor was a Quch'Ha Klingon - a descendant of Klingons affected by the augment virus in the 22nd century with a more human like appearance. The son of Rynar, Kor was born into the House of Ngoj - which were a descendant branch of the Klingon Imperial Family. Ngoj was killed in combat with the Romulans and his son was apparently put to death by the Lady Moj'ih. That son would survive and become known as the Albino. Kor later seized control of the House and renamed it the House of Kor.

In 2267 Kor was sent as the head of an occupation force to take and hold Organia for the Klingon Empire during the Empire's brief war with the Federation. Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) were there to convince the native Organians to accept Federation protection. Kor attempted to pacify the planet while Kirk and Spock took actions to prevent the Klingons from solidifying their hold on Organia - actions for which Kor had a number of Organians put to death. Or so it appeared. As the fleets of the Federation and the Empire arrived above Organia to duke it out the Organians revealed that they were not the primitive humanoids they seemed to be, but instead an incredibly advanced race. Seeing into the future the Organians realized that the day would come when the Federation and the Klingon Empire would stand together as allies, and forced the two powers to stop fighting and agree to a peace treaty.

Kor would later appear in 2269 as Captain of the IKS Klothos. He was forced to work with his adversaries on the Enterprise to escape a region of space where time stood still. Kor had his officer and wife Kali plant a bomb on the Enterprise, but Kirk and crew were alerted to the existence of the bomb before it could go off. Kor returned to Klingon space, and claimed credit for the Klothos and the Enterprise escaping.

Kor's standing in the Empire fell as Klingons with ridge heads - called the Hem'Quch - were able to wrest power away from the Quch'Ha after a Klingon superweapon was destroyed by extra dimensional beings. Kor allied himself with Captain Kirk and the Romulan T'Cel to defeat the beings.

Sometime prior to 2293 a cure was developed to cure Quch'Ha Klingons. Kor, Kang, and Koloth all received this cure, giving them cranial ridges and other features of Hem'Quch Klingons.

By the 2290s Kor was still in command of the Klothos. He joined his friends Kang and Koloth in meeting with a Federation delegation at the Klingon colony on Korvat. The conference was cut short when the Albino bombed the conference. The Klingons joined forces with Captain Sulu of the Excelsior to bring the Albino to justice. Curzon Dax joined Kor, Kang, and Koloth on the Klothos as they pursued him to Qul Tuq. While they were unsuccessful in capturing the Albino, they did put a serious crimp on his operations.

Unfortunately the Albino had already retaliated by injecting Dax and the three Klingons with a genetic agent. This agent caused the deaths of Kor's son Rynar, Kang's son DaqS, and Koloth's child. Along with Curzon Dax Kor and his Klingon friends swore a blood oath to find and kill the Albino. They invited Captain Sulu to join them, but he refused.

During the years that followed Kor, Kang, Koloth, and Dax attempted to find the Albino, but were unsuccessful. By then a highly revered Dahar Master Kor spent time working on the oversight council for the Klingon Defense Force, reviewing the files of officer candidates. One of the files he reviewed was of a young Klingon named Martok, who he rejected on the grounds of not being of noble blood. With the "mark of Kor" Martok was unable to even enlist as a common soldier, but was able to later earn a battle field commission. While Kor barely remembered Martok's file, Martok spent many years despising Kor and fantasizing about his downfall.

In 2370 Kor, Kang, Koloth, and Curzon's successor Jadzia Dax were able to confront the Albino at his compound on Secarus IV. Kang was able to fulfill the blood oath by killing the Albino before dying of his injuries. Koloth had also died in the fight, leaving Dax and Kor to return to Deep Space Nine.

Prior to the temporary breaking off of relations between the Empire and the Federation Kor served as the Empire's ambassador to Vulcan. The Vulcans found and provided Kor with the Shroud of the Sword of Kahless.

Kor travelled to Deep Space Nine to seek help from Dax. While there he met Worf, Son of Mogh. Despite Worf being a pariah to many Klingons, Kor would have none of that. Worf admitted that he admired Kor for many years, and read of his many adventures - including Kor's earlier confrontation with Kirk on Organia. The two spent a great deal of time drinking together.

With the help of Worf and Jadzia Dax Kor was able to retrieve the Sword. However he and Worf began fighting over the sword before the fighting was broken up by Dax. Realizing the damage it would do the Empire to have the sword return, the three beamed the sword into interstellar space.

By the time of the Dominion War Kor found himself out of favor with Chancellor Gowron and the rest of the High Council. Well over a century old at that point Kor was also starting to have memory issues. He approached his friend Worf to see if Worf could help gain him a command, but to Worf's unpleasant suprise Martok angrily refused. Worf used his own authority to name Kor as third officer on Martok's ship  IKS Ch'Tang during a mission against the Dominion. Martok wasn't too happy about this but accepted the situation. Before they left Kor and Ezri Dax spent a pleasant afternoon together reminiscing about all the time he had spent with Curzon and Jadzia.

Kor quickly became friends with Martok's aide Darok - who was about the same age as him and reminded him of how things were back in the good old days. Kor enthralled the younger warriors on the Ch'Tang with stories of his long career in the Empire. Unfortunately during a key moment in a battle with Worf and Martok disabled Kor's condition caught up with him, and instead of attacking a Dominion outpost Kor thought he was atacking a Federation starbase. Kor's actions during that lapse led to significant damage to the Klingon attack force. The second Martok recovered he ordered Kor off the bridge.

Martok found that he had taken no pleasure in seeing Kor's fall from grace. Worf admitted that he would have been a better friend to Kor to not have put him in the situation he did. Martok and Worf both agreed to speak to Gowron about finding something good for Kor to do when they returned home.

Learning that the only way to prevent the Dominion forces from killing everyone was for one ship to slow down the Jem'HaDar forces in a suicide mission, Worf accepted command of the Ning'tao. Tipped off what Worf was planning Kor stunned Worf with a hypospray. Promising to tell Worf's late wife Jadzia that his heart only beat for her he beamed abord the Ning'tao.

On board the Ning'tao Kor and the small crew of volunteers successfully delayed the Jem'HaDar long enough so that they could not catch the Klingons before they reached reinforcements. On the bridge of Ch'Tang Martok, Darok, Worf, and the others on the bridge drank to Kor as a noble warrior until the end.