Targ - Notes

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Species Name :	Targ [1]
Quadrant :	Beta [1]

A Klingon animal, Targs served many different roles in Klingon society. Many were kept as pets by Klingons - Lieutenant Worf had one as a child. [2] General Martok had a pet Targ which he recalled fondly as a filthy, mangy beast - but one which had the heart of a warrior. His wife Sirella loathed the creature, and it escaped and returned to the wild when she 'accidentally' left the front door open. [3]

Targs were also used as food beasts, kept in the kitchen area of Klingon warships. [4] Wistan Gagh was kept packed with Targ's blood. [5] Food use crossed over into ceremonial purposes - the Day of Honour ceremony involved eating of the heart of a Targ, [6] whilst the preparations for Klingon weddings involved the bride carrying out an elaborate ritual which involved capturing three Targs in the Hamar mountains, making a ritual sacrifice at dawn, boiling their shoulders into tallow, and then moulding them with bare hands into var'Hama candles. Dax, preferred to simply replicate substitutes. [7] A Targ was also ritually sacrificed before the wedding feast. [8]

When Odo trashed his own quarters in 2372, Quark wondered if he might have done so in the form of a Targ. [9] When he was forced to fight an honour duel with a Klingon, Quark suggested that he could throw down his sword, kneel before his opponent, and then dare him to execute him - which he thought might make his opponent 'slink away like a scalded Targ'. Worf informed him that this was not in fact the case. [10]

In the wild, Targs were commonplace in the Hamar mountains. [7] So common were Targs in some areas that they could be something of a nuisance to the Klingons - Klingon assault vehicles were fitted with 'Targ scoops' to clear them out of the way during operations. [11] Klingons would hunt wild Targs for recreation - Martok was delighted with Worf's appointement as Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire as the two would be able to go Targ hunting together. [12]

References to Targs had also become part of popular culture in both the Klingon Empire and the Federation. The character of Toby the Targ was the pen name of the author of a series of children's books published in the Federation by Broht & Forrester. [13] B'Elanna Torres had a stuffed Toby the Targ toy which she always took it with her whenever she was away from home for more than a day, even as an adult. [14] Molly O'Brien also had a toy Targ as a child, which she called 'Piggy'. [15]

The 8472 replica of Boothby used the term 'Targ manure' to refer to a statement he considered to be untrue, [16] whilst B'Elanna Torres informed Ensign Kim that he looked like a speckled Targ when a viral infection left his skin covered with spots in 2373. [17] Voyager's EMH also compared Kim's saxophone playing to the cries of a wounded Targ, though he later apologised for this. [18] Even Q considered assuming the form of a Targ and mating with one in order to produce a child, though in the end he decided to mate with Captain Janeway instead. [19] When Captain Sisko needed to infiltrate the Klingon fortress of Ty'Gokor, he wished that Odo could do so disguised as a Targ - something that was no longer possible as Odo had recently lost his shapeshifting ability. [20]

Colour key

Canon source

Backstage source

Novel source

DITL speculation

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1			Star Trek III : The Search for Spock
2	TNG	1	Where No One Has Gone Before
3	DS9	7	Strange Bedfellows
4	ENT	1	Sleeping Dogs
5	DS9	7	Field of Fire
6	VOY	4	Day of Honor
7	DS9	6	You are Cordially Invited...
8	DS9	6	A Time to Stand
9	DS9	4	Crossfire
10	DS9	5	Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
11	VOY	2	Elogium
12	DS9	7	What You Leave Behind, Part 2
13	VOY	7	Author, Author
14	VOY	6	Tsunkatse
15	DS9	3	Fascination
16	VOY	5	In the Flesh
17	VOY	3	Favorite Son
18	VOY	7	Renaissance Man
19	VOY	3	The Q and the Grey
20	DS9	5	Apocalypse Rising

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Last updated : 9 Jul 2022

Series :	TNG Season 1
Episode :	Where No One Has Gone Before

Series :	DS9 Season 7
Episode :	Strange Bedfellows

Series :	ENT Season 1
Episode :	Sleeping Dogs

Series :	DS9 Season 7
Episode :	Field of Fire

Series :	VOY Season 4
Episode :	Day of Honor

Series :	DS9 Season 5
Episode :	Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places