Star Trek’s Klingons have come a long way since their appearances in The Original Series. Back then, they were basically your average aggressive colonizers, serving as a foil for the Federation. Over time, series like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine expanded the lore (and retconned the foreheads) of the aliens to make them more complex, introducing themes like honor, duty, loyalty, and pride into the mix. However, according to fans, there was one Trek performance that single-handedly elevated the status of the Klingons.
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In the Leonard Nimoy-directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Christopher Lloyd played Commander Kruge, a Klingon scout officer obsessed with the secrets of the Genesis Device. Over 40 years later, fans are still gushing about nearly every scene, in which Lloyd imbues Kruge with a tunnel-visioned ambition. Somewhere between commanding the execution of David Marcus and shouting, “Exhilarating, isn’t it?” to Captain Kirk on the dying planet, Lloyd’s passionate portrayal of Kruge became the template for future Klingons.
How Christopher Lloyd’s Kruge Reinvented The Klingons
Beyond being a warrior, Kruge was a strategist, manipulator, and passionate devotee of Klingon ideals, albeit twisted to fit how own ambitions. However, Harve Bennett’s script for Star Trek 3, which notably premiered one year before Back to the Future, wouldn’t have worked half as well without Lloyd’s full-on commitment. Each line of Kruge’s dialogue is delivered with intensity, with one of the many standouts being, “Because you wish it,” which is an all-time best Star Trek quote. In the epic final confrontation with Captain James T. Kirk, William Shatner and Lloyd play off each other brilliantly, and we’re left with Kirk’s “I… have had… enough of… you!” as he kicks Kruge off the cliff. It’s arguably one of the more satisfying deaths in the franchise, though, ironically, fans never quite got enough of Lloyd’s Kruge.
While Lloyd never returned to the franchise, his performance lived on past ST3. Characters like Gauron Gowron and Chancellor K’mpec are, in part, built using the blueprint Lloyd created for Kruge. The intensity and ritualistic propensity that Kruge coined became hallmarks of what we now think of as “authentic” Klingons. Even the reverence for one’s ship can be traced back to Kruge’s influence. Beyond his influence, fans have also pointed out that the vehicle used for time travel in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was the Bird-of-Prey that was stolen from under Kruge’s command, linking his presence across multiple Trek films.
What’s your favorite Kruge quote? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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