Speaking at a Las Vegas convention, the creature designers for the upcoming CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery have indicated that the new show’s version of the Klingons will boast changes going beyond their new look baldness.
The designers, Neville Page and Glenn Hetrick, have revealed that the series is going to explore the idea of the Klingon forehead ridges serving an important biological purpose – they have extra-sensory receptors. Actor Mary Chieffo explains to TrekMovie:
“Obviously the hair was the biggest thing people noticed, or the lack thereof. And I will attest to the fact there is a reason my ridge goes back the way it does. There are sensors and pheromones…There is a whole reasoning behind it that is adhering to what has always been true in Klingon canon…So I deeply believe we are in line with what has come before but is also adding a new kind of nuance.”
Page says the change was a mandate from original showrunner Bryan Fuller. Fuller was also the one that pushed for the release of the show’s first tie-in novel “Desperate Hours” which is set one year before the events of ‘Discovery’ which explores Lieutenant Michael Burnham’s work on the Shenzou and her growing relationship with Captain Philippa Georgiou.
Star Trek: Discovery premieres on CBS All Access on September 24th.
