Worf (Colonel)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Colonel Worf (tlhIngan Hol: wo'rIv) was a prominent Klingon advocate and diplomatic figure in the late 23rd century. He represented Captain James Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy at their trial on Qo'noS in 2293. While Worf was powerless to prevent the two being convicted in what was essentially a show trial, he did nonetheless manage to convince the judge that the evidence was not strong enough to support the death penalty, and thus the sentence was commuted to a lifetime's imprisonment on Rura Penthe.

He was later a member of the Klingon delegation that accompanied Chancellor Azetbur to Camp Khitomer. Worf unmasked the disguised Klingon assassin, and discovered that he was, in fact, Colonel West. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

[edit] Background

Colonel Worf was played by Michael Dorn, who also played the 24th century Starfleet officer Worf. Although it was never confirmed on screen, Dorn and other film personnel involved in the making of Star Trek VI (including Leonard Nimoy) indicated that Colonel Worf was intended to be the grandfather of his Next Generation namesake.

This view is supported by novels such as The Art of the Impossible, which portrays a promoted General Worf as the father of Mogh. In the novel The Forgotten War, Worf mentions to one of the reptilian aliens called the Tarn – who are not the same as the Gorn – that he "had a grandsire" who was involved in a protracted battle against the Tarn at a location called Garamora.

There is heavy disagreement about which side won the battle, but unfortunately there are no further references of any kind to give more information on this place. Thus the person who fought the Tarn at Garamora may have been Colonel Worf, or alternatively it may have been Kassin's father, the maternal grandfather of Worf.

The Art of the Impossible also establishes that Worf was not a warrior of any type and that was why he was a defense attorney, saying his battlefield was the courtroom. Worf made sure however, that his son Mogh, was indeed a warrior. The novel also shows that Worf, unlike many other Klingons, did not hold a very high opinion of "The Great Curzon."

The Star Trek VI novelization also establishes that Azetbur noted that Worf performed the distasteful task of defending Kirk and McCoy in their murder trial with honor.

Initially Spock was to make a reference to Colonel Worf being Worf's grandfather in the episode "Unification I"; however, for one reason or another, it never came to be.