Why prune juice is people’s favorite drink? Star TrekWorf (Michael Dorn)? The Klingon is first exposed to the Earth drink in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, when Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) casually suggests that Lt. Worf should try a glass. Surprisingly, Worf likes Guinan’s recommendation and declares that prune juice is “a warrior’s drink“. From that moment on, prune juice remains Worf’s drink of choice throughout the period. Star Trek: The Next Generation and Worf’s arrival in Star Trek: Deep Space Ninesurpassing the most potent staples of Klingon cuisine.
Klingon and human tastes are generally incompatible, although Klingon dishes are often presented as an acquired taste by non-Klingons. Popular earthworm-based dishes like gagh and racht are intentionally served alive, with their movement considered a feature, and DS9Klingon Raktajino is described as much stronger than Earth coffee. On the other hand, Worf likes foods that humans don’t, like ‘Owon eggs in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 13, “Time Squared,” or the dough that Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) says”tastes like liquid polymer” in TNG season 6, episode 16, “Birthright, Part I”.
Why Star Trek’s Worf Loves Prune Juice
After all, prune juice may resemble Klingon food
The simple answer is that Worf likes prune juice because Klingons – or at least Worf – actually like sweet things. Amidst a sea of ​​proteins in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 6, “Melora”, The Klingon zilm’kach is a stone fruit, like the land plums that turn into prunes. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 16, “Change of Heart”, Worf prefers Klingon blood wine which is “very young and very sweet“, and in Star Trek: PicardWorf compares Château Picard’s wine to “sour mead“, which suggests that Worf prefers sweeter flavor profiles. But sweetness alone doesn’t make a warrior’s drink.
On a deeper level, Klingon culture sees everything as a battle, so Klingon cuisine frames diners as warriors. In addition to being sweet, prune juice is thick, acidic, and earthy, so it’s often difficult to drink. Someone who has had to drink prune juice as a natural laxative might say it’s as difficult as Riker choking on a fresh gag. TNG season 2, episode 8, “A Matter of Honor.” Add in prune juice’s benefits of maintaining a complex Klingon digestive system with redundant organs, and Worf could easily compare consuming an extra large plum juice to a warrior’s decisive victory.
Prune juice is an example of why Worf is a very different Klingon
Worf has a presence in Federation and Klingon cultures
Liking prune juice is just one example of why Worf is a very different kind of Klingon. Originally conceived as a secondary character in Star Trek: The Next GenerationWorf went from being just Starfleet’s first Klingon to becoming a complex Star Trek character caught between his Klingon heritage and loyalty to Starfleet. Despite his desire for acceptance from the Klingon Empire, Worf’s decisions often reflect his Federation upbringing.as when Worf accepts the Klingon High Council’s decommission rather than let his brother Kurn (Tony Todd) die in TNG season 3, episode 17, “Sins of the Father.”
Worf’s Federation values ​​come from being raised on Earth by a human family, the Rozhenkos. Worf rejected most human foods as a child and even asked his adoptive mother, Helena (Georgia Brown), to make Rokeg blood pie. This strict adherence to all things Klingon means that one can assume that Worf’s drink of choice would be Klingon blood wine; until DS9Quark (Armin Shimerman) pointed out that this is all the Klingons drink on the station. Worf is more than he seems, and he resists Star Trek stereotype with his love of fighting prune juice: a warrior’s drink, in fact.