Lt. Commander Worf served in Starfleet for years on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as the only Klingon in the fleet. In the trailer for Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, the once-proud warrior from a race of warriors claims that he has embraced pacifism.

For over a decade, between two series and four films, Worf, Son of Mogh, was always as much a Klingon warrior as he was a distinguished Starfleet officer. In nearly every dilemma he faced, Worf reacted as a warrior. So why does he now claim to be a pacifist? The answer may not lie so much in the two decades that have passed since the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, but in his well-chronicled adventures aboard the Enterprise and Deep Space Nine.

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Raised by Humans, Worf Was Always Torn Between Two Worlds

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When he was only a little boy, Worf lost both his parents at the Khitomer outpost when the Romulans attacked. Sergey Rozhenko, a chief petty officer from the Federation Starship USS Intrepid, rescued Worf from the devastated planet. Having been told the boy had no living family, Sergey decided to raise Worf as his son, first on the farming colony of Galt, then later on Earth. Growing up among humans wasn't always easy for Worf, and he was acutely aware of his otherness. Instead of trying to ignore the fact that he was different, he coped by embracing his Klingon heritage. He even refused to eat human foods, insisting on a strict Klingon diet.

When he was old enough, Worf enrolled in Starfleet Academy, starting a career that would culminate in his serving under Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Since he was the only Klingon in the fleet and one of only a few non-humans aboard the Enterprise, Worf continued to display a great deal of pride in his heritage, even preferring to wear a Klingon baldric as part of his Starfleet uniform. Whenever Captain Picard would look for recommendations from his senior officers, if combat was an option, Worf would recommend fighting over any other course of action. More often than not, Picard would find another way, providing Worf with a role model who had the courage to choose not to fight.

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One of Worf's Earliest Encounters With Other Klingons Ended In Bloodshed

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Spending so much time away from his own people and learning about Klingon culture from a distance gave Worf an idealistic perspective on who they were. That began to change after the Enterprise rescued Klingon survivors from a battle-damaged civilian freighter. They turned out to be criminals and were taken into custody. Before their arrest, they spent a great deal of time with Worf, and their talk of honor and glory awakened similar dreams in him. After a shootout with security, the lone surviving Klingon criminal, Korris, held the ship hostage from Main Engineering by aiming a disruptor at the warp core. A conflicted Worf was forced to kill his fellow Klingon to protect the Enterprise and his crew mates.

Klingon Politics Forced Worf To Confront Certain Truths About His People

Two years later, Worf met Kurn, the younger brother he didn't know he had. Kurn informed Worf that their late father was being accused of conspiring with the Romulans in their attack on Khitomer. The dishonor would have fallen on Worf's family for generations according to Klingon tradition. Their father's accuser, Duras, a member of the Klingon High Council, lost his own father in the same attack. It turned out that Duras fabricated the whole story to cover his family's dishonor and avoid a scandal. K'mpec, the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, was aware of the lie but went ahead with it to avoid a civil war since Duras' family was highly influential. Worf was forced to accept discommendation to preserve the empire and protect his brother. It was the same as admitting that his father was guilty, and it cost him his family name and honor to do the honorable thing.

The following year, Duras would extract an even greater price from Worf to protect his secret. Worf was reunited with his lover, K'Ehleyr, a half-human, half-Klingon Federation Ambassador to Q'Onos. In aiding Picard, who was the Arbiter of Succession for Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, K'Ehleyr discovered the truth about Duras' father. Duras, who was one of two candidates to become Chancellor, murdered her when she confronted him with her discovery, and Worf lost the woman he loved. It wasn't the last time Worf would suffer that kind of loss.

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Worf Found Love Again Aboard Deep Space Nine, but It Wasn't Meant To Be

After the Enterprise-D was destroyed, Worf was reassigned to the remote Starbase Deep Space Nine. There he fell in love with the Trill science officer Jadzia Dax. Dax brought out a side to Worf that even he wasn't aware he had, and he was happy for a time. Unfortunately, that happiness was short-lived. During the Dominion War, while Worf was away on a mission, Jadzia was attacked and killed by the Cardassian military commander Gul Dukat. For the second time in Worf's life, he lost a lover to violence.

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Worf Played Politics To Regain His Family's Honor, but It Did Not Last

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After Duras killed K'Ehleyr, Worf took his revenge in single combat. It not only satisfied his Right of Vengeance according to Klingon tradition, but it also established Duras' rival, Gowron, as the new Chancellor of the High Council. When Duras' sisters started a civil war within the Klingon Empire, Worf seized the opportunity to regain his family's honor with the help of his brother Kurn, who threw his support behind Gowron both militarily and politically. Worf also temporarily left the Enterprise and resigned his commission to serve in Gowron's forces. When the sons of Mogh proved their mettle, Gowron restored their family's honor. As is the way of politics, things changed later on.

During the Dominion War, The House of Mogh was once again stripped of its honor when he refused to support Gowron's decision to invade Cardassia. Worf regained his position later by joining The House of Martok, seemingly ensuring that he would have a permanent place among his people. Martok was a general of the empire whose popularity rivaled Gowron's, so the Chancellor continually sent him on suicide missions. Worf defeated Gowron in a fight to the death to save his friend. Worf, who was still a Starfleet officer and needed to balance his duties to his people and the Federation, immediately ceded the chancellorship to Martok, feeling that he would restore honor to the empire.

Because he spent most of his life as an outsider, both among humans and Klingons, Worf gained a unique perspective. He suffered tragedy and triumph through violence, learned that there are alternatives to fighting and saw behind the veneer of his people. If the Klingon way is war, it makes sense that after all he's seen and experienced, Worf would inevitably choose another way.

Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard begins Feb. 16, 2023, on Paramount+.