Character Insight No. 249: Best of Worf

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we return to the Best Of series for Deep Space Nine with a look at Worf, who joined the series as a strategic operations officer following his days on Picard's Enterprise in TNG.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp249

Unlike almost every other character, Worf is a known quantity when he joins the DS9 crew in season 4.  Commander Sisko brings him in to serve as an expert and liaison on Klingons as the tensions between the Cardassians, the Federation, and the Klingons were maximized at this point.

In his initial episode, The Way of the Warrior, we see Worf struggle with his old ship's destruction and conflicts between his Klingon heritage and his Federation duties.  However, Jadzia Dax immediately takes a liking to him, and the beginnings of romance are already present in this first appearance during a holodeck scene.

QUOTE (from The Way of the Warrior, S4):
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax: [ordering two holo-bat'leths for herself and Worf] I thought you might be tired of fighting holograms.
Lt. Commander Worf: It would not be a fair match.
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax: I'll go easy on you.

The injection of a strong Klingon character led to a series of Klingon-themed episodes featuring Worf and Dax, who also was close with Klingons in a prior life as Curzon.  One example is in the episode The Sword of Kahless, where Worf interacts with the TOS character Kor and then must make tough decisions after finding a long-lost Klingon relic.

QUOTE (from The Sword of Kahless, S4):
Lt. Commander Worf: It is done.
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax: Good. It's for the best.
Kor: I hope you're right. It could be lost for another thousand years.
Lt. Commander Worf: When it is destined to be found... it will be.

Worf plays a critical role in defusing some of the Klingon conflicts and then later counseling the Empire to be a useful ally in the Dominion War.  One climax of his involvement occurs in the episode Tacking Into the Wind, in which he tries to convince Gowron to avoid a costly attack based solely on anger and vengeance, and ends up having to duel him to remove him as Chancellor of the Empire.

QUOTE (from Tacking Into the Wind, S7):
Lt. Commander Worf: We cannot attack Sarpedion.
Gowron: I decide what can and cannot be done!
Lt. Commander Worf: You rule without wisdom and without honor. The warriors that are gathered here will not say this to you, but I will. You are squandering our ships and our lives on a petty act of vengeance!
Gowron: I should have known better than to trust you again. If you were a true Klingon, I would kill you where you stand!


Other big highlights include the unique wedding with Jadzia in the episode You Are Cordially Invited, and the time Worf snaps the neck of one of the Dominion's Weyouns in the episode Strange Bedfellows.  As interesting as Worf's character was in TNG, he elevates to be one of, if not the best, main character on DS9.

Worf was played by Michael Dorn, who continues to act today but has plenty of other interesting passions.  For example, he is a member of the Air Force Aviation Heritage Foundation, and he also owns and operates an old Air Force T-33 trainer jet, his own starship if you will.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!