Qo'noS
Qo'noS is a planet that features in Star Trek.
Contents |
History
Qo'noS (pronounced like "crow-nos.") was the homeworld of the Klingon Empire. The Klingon High Council was based there, and most of the Klingon population also lives on Qo'noS.
During the reign of Molor, the tyrant had live sacrifices thrown into shrines at the volcanic chimneys. After his defeat by Kahless, the practice was abandoned and the chimney sites were built over. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?)
Around the 14th century, Qo'noS was invaded by the Hur'q.
By the mid-22nd century, the Klingon Empire was on the brink of civil war with faction seemingly attacking one another. The Klingon High Council came to uncover evidence that these attacks were perpetrated by the Suliban Cabal with a courier containing the information but was pursued by assassins seeking to silence him. The Klingon courier came to crash on Earth leading to first contact with humanity in 2151. Starfleet decided to return the Klingon to Qo'noS to help avert a civil war with this being the maiden voyage of NX-01 Enterprise that was captained by Jonathan Archer. Using Vulcan star charts, they arrived on Qo'noS where the courier's information proved that the attacks were staged and thus helped secure the Klingon Empire. (ENT: Broken Bow)
By this point, information on Qo'noS was virtually unknown by those outside the Empire with the Federation only having access to black market maps bought by the Vulcans from traders centuries ago. During the late 2250s, the volcanic system underpinning the planet was again alive, after centuries of inactivity. Despite the Klingons' xenophobic views, the Orions held land on Qo'noS, which they used as an 'embassy outpost'. The outpost had a hefty non-Klingon population, dominated by Orions, and even the presence of Humans was not significantly questioned. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?)
The planet had a moon named Praxis until 2293 - when the moon was destroyed in an explosion. Praxis had been a key energy production facility for the Klingon Empire prior to its destruction. When it exploded, it caused severe ecological damage to Qo'noS. As a result, the Klingons reached out peacefully to the other races of the galaxy to help deal with this crisis - which would eventually result in a formal alliance with the United Federation of Planets. (Movie: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Overview
Qo'noS is depicted as green in color when viewed from orbital space. It includes a lone huge land mass with a vast ocean, a severely tilted axis that causes wild seasonal changes, a turbulent atmosphere and extremes of both warm and frigid weather.
The surface was noted to suffer from chaotic weather systems with thunderstorms being frequent. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?)
Locations on the planet included:
- First City :
- Caves of Kahless :
- Caves of No'Mat :
- Hamar Mountains :
- Kang's Summit :
- Kri'stak volcano :
- Lake of Lusor :
- Skral River :
The planet's surface was composed of a subterranean series of dormant volcanos making it a world of caves. (DIS: The War Without, The War Within) There were seven chimneys that led to a volcano system that was believed to be dormant though in reality these were still somewhat active. Centuries ago, when the caldera was active these vents were used as shrines where live sacrifices were thrown into it to honor Molor. These temples were later largely abandoned and built-over after Kahless had defeated Molor. Certain chimneys were rebuilt such as the one becoming the High Council Chamber whilst others were flooded such as one by the River Skral. The fumes from the chimneys were collected and used in drug dens. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?)
The planet was noted for having a single moon that was called Praxis which was rich in minerals. (TOS: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
It was said that Qo'noS was about four days away from Sol at warp 4.5 (ENT: Broken Bow)
Life forms native to the planet included:
- Glob fly :
- Goat :
- Grint hound :
- Grishnar cat :
- Jackal mastiff :
- Lingta :
- Monster dog :
- Octopus :
- Kolar beast :
- Night-Blooming Throgni :
- Pipius :
- Saber bear :
- Serpent of Xol :
- Serpent worm :
- Sark :
- Targ :
One area of the planet was given to the Orions, who built an embassy outpost there. (DIS: Will You Take My Hand?)
Inhabitants
- K'mpec :
- Duras :
- Gowron :
Notes
- Early Star Trek literature referred to Qo'noS as "Klinzhai", but the TNG episode Heart of Glory called the planet "Kling". It was the film Star Trek VI which officially established the name as Qo'noS.
Alternate Versions
- In Star Trek, Qo'noS appeared in the setting of the altered reality of the Kelvin timeline that was made by the time travel effects caused by Nero being stranded in the past. Praxis had been fragmented by 2259, when Khan Noonien Singh took refuge on Qo'noS after attacking Starfleet Headquarters. The USS Enterprise was ordered to execute him using advanced long-range torpedoes, but Captain James T. Kirk elected to descend to Qo'noS in a K'normian trading ship to apprehend Khan instead. After an altercation with a Klingon patrol, Khan surrendered to Kirk once he surmised that his crew were located within the torpedoes.
- In Star Trek Discovery, it was revealed that within the Mirror Universe that the Terran Empire strike at qo'noS and reduced it to dust in an effort to pacify the Klingons. Qo'noS was turned into a blackened ball of dust after Terran emperor Philippa Georgiou detonated a hydro bomb in the vents of the planet's volcanic system. This triggered a phreatic eruption and rendered the planet uninhabitable within weeks. The attack didn't result in the extinction of the Klingons, although Terran ships did fire on ships trying to escape. As a result, Georgiou came to hold the title Dominus of Qo'noS.
- In Star Trek: Picard, an alternate timeline was shown where the fascist Confederation of Earth existed in place of United Earth and subsequently the United Federation of Planets, General Jean-Luc Picard decimated Qo'noS with a bioengineered virus.
In other media
Video games
- In Star Trek: Klingon Academy, Qo'noS appeared in the setting of the video game.
- In Star Trek Online, Qo'noS featured in the setting of the MMORPG where it was the capital of the Klingon Empire faction. In the mission "Surface Tension". In Qo'noS's orbit was invaded by a surprise Undine force in 2410 intent on damaging the Klingon Empire. The invasion was stopped due to the efforts of a Federation fleet led by Rear Admiral Tuvok, commanding the USS Voyager. The actions of the Federation led to a ceasefire between the two superpowers, both realizing there were more prevalent threats.
Novels
- In Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - The Left Hand of Destiny, Qo'noS featured in the setting of the non-canon novel published by Pocket Books.
RPGs
- In The Klingons: Star Fleet Intelligence Manual, the Klingon homeworld identified as Klinzhai was referenced in the setting of the RPG sourcebook publsihed by FASA.
- In Star Trek: Aliens, Qo'noS was referenced in the setting of the RPG sourcebook published by Decipher.
Appearances
- Star Trek: The Next Generation:
- Star Trek: Deep Space 9:
- Star Trek: Enterprise:
- Star Trek: Discovery:
