Painstik

The painstik (or pain stick) was a Klingon electronic baton used to inflict pain for both ritualistic and disciplinary purposes. The maximum voltage a painstik could produce is 30,000 volts, which cannot be withstood by an individual Klingon; it was acknowledged that multiple applications at maximum voltage in a short period of time was lethal. () The potential of their use was once described by Miles O'Brien who once saw a painstik used against a two-ton Rectyne monopod. According to O'Brien, the painstik caused the creature to jump five meters at the slightest touch, before ultimately dying from terminally excessive cephalic pressure buildup; its head exploded. ()
Klingon guards used painstiks on Captain Jonathan Archer when he refused to be silent during his trial on Narendra III in 2152. ()
Painstiks were notably used in the Second Rite of Ascension ceremony, where, in the final part, a young Klingon must walk between two lines of Klingons bearing painstiks, each line consisting of four warriors, which are then utilized as part of a spiritual test of inner strength as endured through physical suffering. ()
In 2365, Wesley Crusher, Data and Geordi La Forge recreated Worf's Second Rite of Ascension ceremony in honor of its tenth anniversary in a holodeck on board the . ()
Painstiks were also used in the Sonchi ceremony to confirm the death of a Klingon chancellor. The chancellor's body was prodded with painstiks by the Arbiter of Succession and the contenders to the new chancellorship, while issuing a verbal challenge; the total lack of reaction to the intense sensations of the painstiks serve as part of the confirmation. ()
In 2370, Deanna Troi joked about having talked William T. Riker out of planning Worf a surprise birthday party on Worf's behalf, citing "I know Klingons like to be alone on their birthday. You probably want to meditate, or hit yourself with a pain stick or something." ()
The Ritual of Twenty Painstiks was a portion of the ceremony of the Day of Honor. ()
After losing to Tom Paris in a game of durotta, B'Elanna Torres stated that she found the game to be far too subtle for her, leading Paris to joke that her idea of subtle is anything that doesn't involve Klingon pain sticks. ()
During the wedding of the Paris and Torres copies created by the "Silver Blood", the ceremony officiant, the copy of Captain Kathryn Janeway, stated that B'Elanna had asked her "to forgo the rigors of Klingon pain sticks in favor of a more traditional ceremony," which allowed the best man, Harry Kim, to chime in with "they're saving the pain sticks for the honeymoon." ()
Painstiks were used in a trial during the Ritual of J'ethurgh; specifically, the Rite of Unending Pain. In 2382, Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, Ma'ah, and Malor were forced to risk being electrocuted by them at increasing levels. The ones at the last interval had their power level set to maximum, prompting Boimler to lead the others into climbing atop Malor and having him carry them to the end. Fortunately for the four participants, being in physical contact with each other minimized the applications of 60,000 volts combined to a more tolerable 15,000 volts per person, and allowed them to survive. ()
==See also==
*Agonizer
*Neural truncheon
de:Klingonischer Schmerzstock
Category:Hand-held weapons