Doylist:
Apparently the Klingon BoP was originally supposed to be a Romulan ship, but the script for The Search for Spock changed the villains to Klingons and they kept the ship. The classic green Klingon BoP has the feathers and raptor motif for that reason. Over the years they’ve added several Klingon ships under the same name, making it confusing.
Watsonian:
There’s canonical support for technology exchanges between the Klingons and Romulans. The Enterprise Incident, for example. We know the Romulans used the D7 battlecruisers at some point, and I swear I remember reading that the Klingons bought some Romulan BoP, but I can’t verify it rn.
Are they actually named those things by their builders, or are the names in English just what the federation calls them, sort of like how NATO has it’s own names for a lot of cold war Soviet aircraft that aren’t what the Soviets themselves called them?
The Romulan ship in Balance of Terror literally has a bird painted on it.
ah thats fair, forgot about that. its been since I was a kid that I watched the original tho, was there a reason they looked so much like federation ships then?
Kitbashing probably.
I just assume English is the common language among klingons. It’s the reason they can throw out klingon phrases during conversations that you would expect to already be in their native language.
Great question! We know there are BoP-looking ships called the K’Vort and B’rel, as well as some D# names. They vary greatly in size and crew. Bird of Prey is the overarching group name fans use to describe the look, but all of those classes are called BoP in-universe as well. Still, could be the universal translator acting up!
I mean I know we can’t see the entire universe, but how many crabships must there be?
2 wing flying has evolved uniquely multiple times. in thinking; bugs, birds…
its almost impossible for complex life (multi-celled organisms) to not exist on other planets somewhere considering we know it happened very successfully at least once. it would therefore make sense for 2-winged flight to be plausible in differing, non-contacted geophysical locations somewhere in the universe
Bugs, Birds/Dinosaurs, Reptiles (Pteranodons), Fish, Mammals
Flying fish don’t fly, they glide. But otherwise a good list.
All fish fly. Water is their air.
Good point
Whilst true, that’s all in atmospheric conditions, it makes no sense for space vehicles to have wings. The Borg have this figured out
Iirc, Klingon Birds-of-Prey originate from an earlier alliance with the Romulans prior to relations breaking down.
I’ve just been watching the TOS series over the past few months.
Love the fact that in the first appearance of an enemy ship, it was the Romulans rather than the Klingons that appeared first and the very first appearance of their ship had an actual bird painted on the hull.
Would aquatic species name their ships after fish?
We need more Xindi lore
Romulans I feel actually just classify a ship their “war bird” as it moves through out their ships… “bird of prey” is different but may also be a clarification? Always wanted more romulan story…
