Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Koloth, a Klingon recurring character who spans episodes in The Original Series, TAS, and Deep Space Nine.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp197
Koloth was a legendary warrior and military leader of the Klingon Empire who serves over many decades, which allows him to appear in multiple Star Trek series. His first appearance was as Captain of the battle cruiser IKS Gr'oth in the TOS episode The Trouble with Tribbles. Koloth demands an apology for the brawl that breaks out between his crew and the the Enterprise crew, but all he ends up with in the end is a ship full of Tribbles.
Ironically, this first appearance of a Klingon foil to Captain Kirk and played by William Campbell was supposed to happen much sooner according to the producer of the first two seasons Gene Coon. However, Campbell's work as Trelane in season 1 was so memorable it pushed his debut off until the Tribbles episode. The rest of this plan was dashed when the production staff changed for season three and had different plans.
Koloth also shows up in Trials and Tribble-ations, the DS9 homage to the original tribbles episode. His most notable episodes are those in Deep Space Nine which deal with the blood oath Koloth made with fellow warriors Kor and Kang. A band of depredators left by the Albino are stopped by this trio of warriors, and the Albino escapes while vowing to exact revenge on the three Klingons. The Albino does just that, infecting three children with a genetic virus that kills them.
Along with Curzon Dax, these three warriors make a blood oath to hunt down the Albino and avenge their sons' deaths. Despite having to wait years and needing to work with Jadzia Dax instead of Curzon, these Klingons overcome traps set for them and Kang kills the Albino after a long duel. Although Kang and Koloth die in this effort, at least their deaths are honorable in completing the Blood Oath.
Odo: How did you get in here?
Koloth: I am Koloth.
Odo: That doesn't answer my question.
Koloth: Yes, it does....what are the charges against this man?
Odo: There are no charges, he's today's guest of honor.
Koloth: You must be a brave man to attempt humor...
Although Koloth did not get to return as a regular foil for Captain Kirk after all, he does re-appear in TAS to battle with the Enterprise in another tribble-related episode. William Campbell did not voice the character in this appearance though, as James Doohan once again lent his voices for this project. Campbell's work did make this a great recurring villain, despite not getting to see the vision of 10 or 13 episodes in TOS like the original plan for this character.
Who knows, perhaps this character will return in an Abramsverse movie. That would make for an interesting call back, if they choose to do it. When not playing Koloth, William Campbell had roles in many 50s and 60s movies like Cannonball and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. His final acting days came in 1996 but he did not pass away until a few years ago at age 87 in 2011.
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