House of Duras

The House of Duras is a long-lasting family of treacherous and manipulative Klingons in the fictional Star Trek universe. The name "Duras" refers both to the family as a whole and to individual members.

Several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, including "The Expanse", include a 22nd century character named Duras who pursues a personal grudge against Captain Jonathan Archer.

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Sins of the Father", Duras' descendant Ja'rod assisted in the Romulans' 24th century attack against the Khitomer outpost, dying in the assault along with all but two of the colonists. One of those survivors was Worf, who learns of Ja'rod's betrayal and confronts Ja'rod's son, Klingon High Council member Duras, when Duras accuses Worf's father of being the traitor. Worf accepts discommendation in order to prevent the schism that would arise if Ja'rod's betrayal became public knowledge.

In the episode "Reunion", Duras is one of two nominees to succeed K'mpec as chancellor. Worf kills Duras in revenge for Duras' murder of K'Ehleyr.

Duras' illegitimate son, Toral, continues his father's pursuit of the chancellorship with the aid of his aunts, Lursa and B'Etor, in "Redemption, Parts I and II". The Romulans back Lursa and B'Etor in the ensuing civil war, which is ultimately thwarted in part by Starfleet intervention.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Past Prologue", Lursa and B'Etor work with a Bajoran terrorist. Although Lursa is pregnant in "Firstborn", the child's fate is unknown. In Star Trek Generations, the sisters align with Dr. Tolian Soran and are killed in a battle with the USS Enterprise-D.

Toral later pursues the titular Sword of Kahless in a Deep Space Nine episode in the hopes that it will help him gain prestige in the Empire.

Ja'rod
Ja'rod was the leader of the House of Duras in the early 24th century, and the father of Duras, Lursa, and B'Tor. He was the greatest rival of Mogh, the father of Worf.

In the 2340s, Ja'rod was stationed at Khitomer. He had at some point become involved with the Romulan Empire. Mogh followed Ja'rod to Khitomer, suspecting that he was the traitor working with the Romulans. When the Romulans attacked the outpost, Ja'rod lowered the outpost's shields. Ja'rod died during the attack along with about 4,000 other Klingons. Only a few survived, one of whom was Mogh's son, Worf.

About twenty years after the Romulan attack on Khitomer, the Klingon Empire captured a Romulan ship. They found proof that Ja'rod was guilty of betraying the Klingons at the outpost to the Romulans. The High Council suppressed this evidence, and framed Mogh for the attack. The Council did this because they felt the Duras family was too powerful, and it would split the empire. This injustice was not corrected until Gowron became Chancellor.

Duras sisters
The sisters Lursa (played by Barbara March) and B'Etor (played by Gwynyth Walsh) are collectively known as the Duras sisters, first appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation ' s "Redemption, Part I." Like the other members of the House of Duras, they are villains; throughout their appearances, the characters attempt to destabilize the Klingon High Council and its relations with the United Federation of Planets. The pair are daughters of Ja'rod and sisters of Duras (TNG: "Redemption, Part I"). They are known among "Star Trek" fans for their distinctive costumes, which include holes in their armor to display their cleavage.

TNG 's "Firstborn" establishes that Lursa is older than B'Etor along with the fact that Lursa was pregnant with a son whose fate is unknown. Both sisters are killed during the orbital battle near the end of Star Trek Generations.

Duras, son of Ja'rod
Duras, son of Ja'rod (played by Patrick Massett) was the leader of the House of Duras from his father's death until his own demise in 2367. Before his death, Duras was a politician who served on the Klingon High Council.

Khitomer controversy
For many years, the truth behind the Romulan massacre of the Klingon colony on Khitomer remained a secret. In 2366, the Klingons were able to capture a Romulan vessel which had records of Romulan activities during the surrender. This included revelations that a Klingon had sent the colony's defense codes to the Romulans and destroy the colony; 4,000 Klingons died. Among the casualties were Mogh - father of Worf and leader of the House of Mogh - and his wife. Ja'rod also died during the attack. The council found out that it was Ja'rod who betrayed the colony to the Romulans.

Following this revelation, ordinarily Duras and the rest of his family would have been held responsible for Ja'rod's crimes. But the Duras family was politically powerful. The council feared that if Duras was held to account it would split the council and cause civil war. As a result, Duras and the council conspired to find Mogh guilty of the crimes, and judge Mogh and his family traitors.

Worf's brother Kurn - who had not gone to Khitomer with the rest of the family - came to Worf through an officer exchange program. He revealed to Worf that he had been raised by a friend of Mogh's as this friend's son. He also told Worf of the council's decisions regarding their father. The USS Enterprise-D came to Qo'noS so that Worf could challenge the council's ruling, even though it meant Worf would pay with his life if his challenge failed. Duras then tried to have Kurn - who agreed to stand with Worf as his Cha'DIch, or his second - assassinated. Kurn was seriously injured in the attempt. Worf then asked Captain Picard to be his Cha'DIch. Picard was able to uncover a witness to the massacre when Duras sent assassins to kill Picard. Picard however was able to defend himself.

Picard brought the witness - Worf's nursemaid Kahlest - to the council chambers. Chancellor K'mpec demaded that Worf, Picard, Duras, and Kahlest join him in his office. Despite finding the truth that Mogh was not a traitor, K'mpec was still unwilling to clear Worf's name. Worf decided that he would accept discommendation to prevent a civil war on the condition that Kurn's true bloodlines would remain hidden.

Worf accepted discommendation, but not before striking Duras and telling him that he was the son of a traitor. Once the discommendation was complete, Worf returned to the Enterprise.

Vying for leadership
Soon after Worf had challenged the council's ruling, someone began spiking K'mpec's Bloodwine with small amounts of the poison Veridium Six. Over several months the poison built up in K'mpec's system until reaching toxic levels. It was suspected, but never proven that Duras had poisoned K'mpec. Because K'mpec's killer had not shown his face, but resorted to using poison, the death was considered a dishonorable act. Realizing that he was dying, he set out to meet Captain Picard. He told Picard about the poisoning, and asked him to be the Arbiter of Succession. Picard was initially reluctant to do so, until he learned that one of the two strongest candidates to succeed K'mpec was Duras; a short while later K'mpec was dead.

Duras and Gowron met the Enterprise. During the Sonchi ceremony, in which the candidates, Picard, and K'Ehleyr met to establish legally that K'mpec was dead, Duras set off a bomb in an attempt to assassinate Gowron.

Later K'Ehleyr began to discover the truth about Duras' actions. Duras soon learned that she was attempting to access restricted council information, and set off to confront her. He attacked and fatally wounded her, then returned to his ship. With her dying breath, K'Ehleyr was able to tell Worf that Duras had attacked her.

Worf went abord Duras' ship; he challenged Duras to combat - claiming the Rite of Vengeance as K'Ehleyr was his mate. In the fight that ensued, Worf soon got the better hand and struck a killing blow against Duras with his bat'leth.

Worf maintained that he had acted within Klingon law and custom, as did the Klingon government - who regarded the act as a lawful killing. Picard however issued a formal reprimand against Worf for his actions. Even though Duras died in disgrace, Mogh and his family were still officially held responsible for the Khitomer Massacre. Picard asked Worf why he continued to remain silent, but Worf said it was not the time as the entire council had taken part in the conspiracy against his family.

Aftermath
Even though Duras was dead, his family would continue to be influential over the course of the next year. As the year 2368 approached, Duras' sisters Lursa and B'Etor came forward and announced that Duras had an illegitimate son named Toral, and maintained that Toral had a claim to the Chancellor's office. Picard dismissed the Duras family's claim, and installed Gowron as the new Chancellor. This caused a brief civil war within the Klingon Empire.

At first the Duras family seemed to have the upper hand. It was because Lursa and B'Etor were receiving secret help from the Romulan Empire. Starfleet was able to expose the Duras family's Romulan support. With that the Duras family lost nearly all their support within the Empire.

Toral
Toral was the illegitimate son of Duras, son of Ja'rod, named for his 22nd century ancestor. He was seen in Redemption, parts I and II, as well as the Deep Space Nine episode "The Sword of Kahless".

Toral was played by J.D. Cullum on Star Trek: The Next Generation. During his appearance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Toral was played by Rick Pasqualone.

Klingon Civil War
After Duras died at the hands of Worf in 2367, Toral was left in the care of his aunts Lursa and B'Etor. As Duras had been a candidate for the Chancellor's seat at the time of his death, Toral maintained that he had a claim on the seat as the son of Duras. It was at this time that a genetic scan was done, which confirmed Toral was indeed the son of Duras. His claim for leadership was rejected by Captain Picard in his role as Arbiter of Succession. Picard's rejecting was based on the grounds that there was no precedent in Klingon law that would allow Toral to claim leadership as he had not won any battles or met the other traditional requirements for the office. Picard further stated that when Duras had died that his claim died with him.

Forces loyal to Duras soon began a civil war against the newly installed Chancellor Gowron. At first it appeared that the Duras family had the upper hand. But once the fact that the Duras sisters were working with the Romulans was revealed, support fell away from them. Soon after the family's final defeat, Toral was captured by Worf and Kurn while his aunts both escaped to safety.

Captain Picard then appeared before the High Council to make a report about the Duras-Romulan connection. At the conclusion, Toral was brought before the Klingon High Council, where Gowron judged him guilty of treason. As it was Worf's family who had been wrongly held responsible for the Khitomer massacre, Gowron offered to let Worf kill Toral. Worf found that he was unable to do so. He told the council that Toral had never harmed him, and that he would not kill the boy for the crimes of his family. He also refused to let Kurn kill Toral. Worf asked for permission to return to Starfleet, and Picard granted this permission. As Picard and Worf left, the council surrounded Toral, with the clear implication that it was now his turn to have a proclamation of discommendation issued against him.

The Sword of Kahless
Six years later, in 2372 Toral once again attempted to take control of the Klingon Empire. This time he was doing this on his own, after his aunts had been killed in battle with the Enterprise-D. He had met the legendary Klingon Kor at a bar on Torna IV. Kor, who was quite drunk, told Toral and his party that he had been given the Shroud of the Sword - the shroud that had covered the Sword of Kahless. Toral sent a Lethean to probe Kor's mind on Deep Space 9, and discovered the details of the sword's final resting place.

Toral followed Kor, Jadzia Dax, and Worf to the planet where the sword was being held. He attempted to take the sword, believing that it would enable him to win back control of the Empire. When he first confronted Worf, he asked if Worf regretted letting him live.

Toral ultimately failed to recover the sword. He made no further appearances in Star Trek movies or television series, but in the computer game Star Trek: Armada Toral made another attempt to take over the Empire.

Appearances

 * Enterprise
 * "Judgment" - Duras (Son of Toral)
 * "Bounty" - Duras (Son of Toral)
 * "The Expanse" - Duras (Son of Toral)
 * TNG
 * "Sins of the Father" - Duras (Son of Ja'rod)
 * "Reunion" - Duras (Son of Ja'rod)
 * "Redemption, Parts 1 and 2" - Lursa, B'Etor, and Toral (Son of Duras)
 * "Firstborn" - Lursa and B'Etor
 * Star Trek Generations - Lursa and B'Etor
 * DS9
 * "Past Prologue" - Lursa and B'Etor
 * "The Sword of Kahless" - Toral (Son of Duras)