Emperor Kahless

Emperor Kahless was a cloned Klingon male alive in the 24th century introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Rightful Heir. He was portrayed by the late . 
Kahless was a clone of a Klingon who had died some 1500 years before the 24th century. He was cloned by the Klingon clerics on Boreth using genetic samples believed to be of the original Kahless the Unforgettable in 2369. In truth the blood had been that of Morath, a close follower of Kahless, making the man a clone of Morath. The clerics felt the Empire was in such a state that it could not wait any longer for the original Kahless to return as promised. His brain was programmed with all the source material on Kahless that the clerics had access to, including the story of how Kahless made the first bat'leth - which was known only to certain clerics on Boreth as a way to verify anyone claiming to be Kahless was legitimate. The clerics also included knowledge of Worf, son of Mogh's childhood vision of Kahless and how the vision had told Worf that he would do something no Klingon would ever do. Kahless was then woken up and beamed into a cave in front of Worf. 
Many of the Klingons immediately accepted this man as the reincarnation of Kahless but Worf was still skeptical even after Kahless talked about Worf's childhood vision and scanned him with a tricorder. The USS Enterprise-D was summoned to Boreth to return Kahless to the homeworld at the request of the Klingon Empire, who worried that having a Klingon ship escort him home would inflame divisions too much. Chancellor Gowron intercepted the Enterprise and demanded the Enterprise run tests on an ancient knife that was believed to be stained with the blood of the original Kahless. The tests showed the DNA of the newly appeared Kahless was identical to that of the original Kahless, leading Worf to finally believe Kahless had returned.
However, Worf soon became skeptical again when Kahless claimed to have no memory of Sto-vo-kor (Klingon heaven) and couldn't remember what warnog tasted like. His doubts were reinforced when Kahless was easily beaten in a duel with Gowron. Confronting the clerics Worf and Kahless learned that Kahless was a clone programmed with the teachings of the original Kahless.
Going to the holodeck, Worf saw two of Gowron's crew still there, refusing to leave until Kahless returned. Talking with Commander Data he realized that the two men still held on to their faith in Kahless. He told Gowron the truth but that it was already too late, that the promise of the return of Kahless was spreading through the Empire. Worf then proposed that Kahless become a constitutional monarch by being named the Emperor of the Klingon Empire, a title that had not been held in 300 years. After saying that forces loyal to the House of Mogh would fight Gowron if he didn't go along with this and plunge the Empire back in to civil war, Gowron agreed to the proposal. 
Returning to Qo'noS Kahless later was instrumental in defeating a coup against the Klingon government. Kahless told Picard that Gowron was a politician and his gratitude towards Picard was suspect, Kahless was being sincere in his gratitude towards the Starfleet Captain.
Over the next several years, the weakness of Kahless's position became apparent. Many Klingons - including the elderly Kor - considered him to be a toothless figurehead. Even though he was opposed to the Klingon invasion of Cardassia Chancellor Gowron ignored him, and was forced to watch as Worf's brother Kurn was ejected from the council. When Worf found the original Sword of Kahless he initially intended to return it to the Empire in the hopes that it would inspire the people to rise up against Gowron, but changed his mind when he realized that giving the sword to the Emperor would not solve any of the problems faced by the Empire and only make matters worse.
After the honorable Chancellor Martok came to power, Kahless left the Empire, feeling that Martok would return the Empire to honorable ways, and his services were no longer required.
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