Kahless the Unforgettable Kahless the Unforgettable ( Klingonese : " qeyliS " ) was a legendary mytho - historical Klingon figure . He was the first Warrior King and Emperor of the Klingon Empire , known as the " greatest warrior of them all " . By the 23rd century the Klingons had begun to forget the Unforgettable , the last Klingon to unite the tribes , all under one creed , " remain Klingon . " ( ) History . Some time in the 9th century , Kahless defeated his enemies , including Molor and the Fek ' Ihri , on the field of battle and founded the mighty Klingon Empire , uniting the Klingon people and giving them the laws of honor . Upon his death , Kahless promised he would return one day and lead the Empire again . After his death , it was said that Kahless awaited all Klingons in " Sto - vo - kor " : the life which lies beyond this life . His teachings of honor and tradition formed the basis of modern Klingon philosophy and culture . As of 2374 , Kahless was still revered as a near - divine figure by the Klingons . ( ) Although Kahless was not high - born , those who descended from him and his wife , the Lady Lukara , were said to reside within the Klingon Imperial Court . Those members of the Court , including " dahar " master Kor , were considered " of the blood " , and were considered throughout the Empire to have been born to rule by the divine will of Kahless . ( ) In 2256 , the zealot T ' Kuvma proclaimed that the Great House s of the Klingon Empire would " stand as one under Kahless , reborn in me , T ' Kuvma " . ( ) In 2269 , an image of Kahless was created by the Excalbian s in a plot devised to better understand the concepts of " good " and " evil " . The image was considerably flawed from the original Kahless , with such notable discrepancies as being infected with the Klingon augment virus and wearing a 23rd century Imperial Klingon Fleet uniform . The Excalbian version of Kahless appeared and acted quite differently from the original , since the image had been created from reading the minds of Human s who , at that point in Starfleet history , saw Kahless as a ruthless tyrant , and had had far more contact with Augment Klingons ( or their descendants ) than with standard Klingons . The Excalbian version of Kahless also had a talent for mimicking voices . ( ) Legacy . The stories of Kahless were the stories of the Klingon people . Passed down from generation to generation , these stories reminded the Klingons about who they were and where they come from . Klingons studied these stories for all of their lives ; Worf said he found new truths in them on each reading . ( ) Many of these stories were held within the sacred texts , a few exclusively . Nevertheless , they remained an integral part of Klingon lore . The following stories are portions and excerpts of song and lore surrounding the life of Kahless : From the " drinking song " : The story of the sword was known only by the High Clerics , because it was never written down in the sacred texts . This was so that if Kahless was ever to return , they could be sure it was him . ( ) When the Shroud of the Sword of Kahless was discovered , it was determined that the Sword of Kahless dated back at least 1 , 400 years . ( ) Molor ' s defeat was celebrated annually with the observance of the " Kot ' baval " Festival . ( ) The wielding of " Ma ' Staka " s , used to re - enact Kahless ' s and Lukara ' s battle at Qam - Chee , at the conclusion of a Klingon wedding was a continued tradition in Klingon culture . Another story that mentions Kahless entering the afterlife said that he was there to rescue his brother from the Barge of the Dead and deliver him to " Sto - Vo - Kor " . According to the Eleventh Tome of Klavek , Kahless returned from the dead still bearing a wound from the afterlife . ( ) The Story of the Promise . The story of " The Promise " indicated that Kahless was to reappear in the lava caves on the planet of Boreth . The Followers of Kahless , or s , waited there for his return . To Klingons , there was no more sacred place . For over 1 , 500 years , Klingons came to Boreth to ask questions . According to the Clerics , the only way a Klingon warrior could find the answers they sought was to : " " Open your heart to Kahless , ask him your questions , let him speak to you with your mind unclouded by doubt or hesitation . Only then can you find what you are looking for . " " ( ) The Rightful Heir . See : Kahless ( clone ) Appendices . Background information . The name " Kahless " had been pronounced in various ways throughout " Star Trek " , such as the commonly used " Kay - less " and " Kaw - less " by Worf in . The Okrandian Klingon language spelling of his name was " qeylIS " . ( " The Klingon Dictionary " 2nd ed . , p . 58 ) Among the inspirations for Kahless as portrayed in TNG were King Arthur , Jesus Christ , and Viking lore . The original script for included a number of additional tales about Kahless that were not included in the final episode ( some of these unaired tales were later contradicted by other episodes ) : Kahless ' lifetime . The exact time period in which Kahless lived had repeatedly been described with differing numbers . In " Looking for par ' Mach in All the Wrong Places " , taking place in 2373 , Worf enthusiastically mentioned Kahless ' battle against Molor ' s troops to have happened " a thousand years ago . " This would appear to be somewhat of a contradiction as stated , that the monks on Boreth have been awaiting Kahless ' return for fifteen centuries , i . e . five hundred years longer . Either Worf " rounded " the number of years in his enthusiasm , or Molor and Kahless were at least five hundred years old , which , while the maximum life span for Klingons had never been clearly defined , seemed to be without precedent . Another solution would be that Worf counted in Klingon years , as stated 2373 to correspond to the Year of Kahless 999 . This would also be in accord with the Sword of Kahless being dated to an age of 1 , 400 years in " The Sword of Kahless " . Furthermore , a scene cut from " Rightful Heir " had Data specify Kahless ' death as 1 , 547 years prior , which would place it in 822 AD . Apocrypha . The novel " " showed a different take on the legend . The novel asserted that Kahless was a soldier within Molor ' s army who refused to burn down a village and who was forced to slay Molor ' s eldest son . This turned Kahless and his band into outlaws , but their goal was not to topple Molor but to simply hide . Rumors spread , however , that they planned to overthrow Molor ' s tyrannical empire . After the death of his love , a woman known as Kellein , Kahless despaired and fled the group , but was followed by his loyal friend Morath , who wrestled with Kahless for six days and nights . After this wrestling match , Kahless yielded to Morath and dedicated his life to destroying Molor . The novel also mentioned the " Mok ' bara " ; in the novel , Kahless had never heard of the practice . The book also suggested that the blood used to create the clone of Kahless was not Kahless ' blood but rather Morath ' s . In the DC Comics line , a descendant of Kahless , Kahless IV , served as Emperor during the movie era . This conflicted not only the details of " Rightful Heir , " but also a statement that the Klingons had not had an Emperor in three hundred years . In " Star Trek Online " , the clone of Kahless seen in TNG and DS9 appeared prominently in early missions available to Klingon players , and fought alongside them battling Fek ' Ihri forces intent on conquering the Klingon Empire . He later was killed in single combat against the Iconian named T ' Ket during The Iconian War . In the miniseries " " , a group of con artists fake the public execution of the Kahless clone with the goal of studying him so that they can attempt to fake the return of the " true " Kahless , but Kahless is able to outsmart them and escape captivity , and the plan is brought to a halt when the gang betrays each other before they can put it into practice .