Is Worf Russian? Klingon’s Star Trek: TNG Earth Family Explained

Technically, Star Trek: The Next Generationof Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) was the son of Mogh, but was raised on Earth by Russian parents. Worf was one of TNG’s original cast members, and served for several years as Chief of Security on the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Because Worf was raised by human parents and was the only Klingon in Starfleet, he felt disconnected from his Klingon heritage and sought ways to honor his Klingon roots.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 2, “Family”, Worf’s adoptive parents, Sergey (Theodore Bikel) and Helena Rozhenko (Georgia Brown), visited him aboard the Enterprise following his decommissioning from the Klingon Empire. Somewhat ironically, Worf ended up embodying the Klingon ideal of honor better than many Klingons who were created among their own kind. After TNG came to an end, Worf was transferred to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he really stood out as a character. Although almost all of Worf’s works TNG stories focused on his relationship with the Klingon Empire, DS9 revealed more about Worf as an individual.

Worf was raised by Russian parents before Star Trek: TNG

Worf had a strong relationship with his adoptive human parents

Worf was born on the Klingon home planet of Qo’noS, and his father, Mogh, was part of the Great Houses of the Klingon Empire. When Worf was five years old, Mogh moved with his family to the Klingon colony on Khitomer. Thanks to information from the traitorous House of Duras, Romulan forces were able to bypass Khitomer’s defenses and attack the colony. Worf’s Klingon parents were killed in the attack, and Petty Officer Sergey Rozhenko of the USS Intrepid found a young Worf and his nanny buried in the rubble.

Sergey and his wife Helena raised Worf alongside their own son, Nikolai (Paul Sorvino). Worf grew up as the only Klingon in a small farming colony, which led to some conflict between him and the other children. At some point the Rozhenko family moved to Earth probably settling in or near Russia, as Worf mentions camping in the Ural Mountains. When Sergey and Helena visit Worf on the Enterprise, he is initially embarrassed by their concern for him, but comes to appreciate their genuine love and support.

Why Worf’s Son Alexander Has a Russian Last Name (But Worf Doesn’t)

Worf was always Mogh’s son, but Alexander adopted the name Rozhenko

Worf wanted to be as Klingon as possible, so he embraced his Klingon identity as the son of Mogh. Worf’s son Alexander (Brian Bonsall), on the other hand, was more connected to the human way of life. A few years after a visit from his old flame, K’Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson), Worf learned he had a son. Half human and half Klingon, K’Ehleyr did not give Klingon culture the same importance as Worf. When she began raising Alexander, she did not show him the Klingon way of life, which angered Worf.

After K’Ehleyr’s death, Worf took custody of his son, but soon sent him to live on Earth with Sergey and Helena. It was probably at this time that Alexander took the name Rozhenko. After about a year of caring for Alexandre, Helena returned with him to the Enterprise, saying that the boy needed his father. Helena pointed out that she and her husband were very old and not properly equipped to raise a spirited young Klingon. Worf had his fair share of struggles raising Alexander aboard the Enterprise and counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) regularly stepped in to help.

Worf’s brother Kurn was raised by Klingons, not Russians

Kurn was raised on Qo’noS by a Klingon family

In Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 17, ‘Sins of the Father,’ Worf’s Klingon biological brother Kurn (Tony Todd) paid a visit to the starship Enterprise. Kurn was a child when his parents were killed in Khitomer, and he was left on Qo’noS in the care of a family friend named Lorgh. Lorgh then accepted Kurn as his own son, and Kurn did not learn of his true parentage until he reached the Age of Ascension. At the time of TNG’s In the third season, Kurn rose to the rank of commander of the Klingon Defense Forces.

As part of the Starfleet Officer Exchange Program Kurn visited the Enterprise to inform Worf that his father, Mogh, had been accused of betraying the Klingons. in Khitomer. With Captain Picard’s support, Worf traveled to Qo’noS to defend his father’s name and ultimately accepted decommissioning to avoid a Klingon civil war. To avoid facing the same dishonor, Kurn continued posing as Lorgh’s son until honor was restored to the Mogh family. Worf and Kurn did not always agree throughout their Star Trek journey, but both believed in Klingon honor and represented their people well.