A Summary of Klingon Disruptors

The Klingon Empire uses primarily disruptors when it comes to battle in person although they do favour the Bat'leth or Klingon Sword. Let's take a look at their other devices in the Imperial Arsenal from 2151's Enterprise Era to the TNG times of the Dominion War.

Chapters
00:00 Design Choice
01:18 2150s Disruptor
02:01 2250s Mo'Kai Disruptor
02:47 2260s KDF Disruptor
04:25 2280s KDF Adaptable Disruptor
05:49 How it Works

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Star Trek Picard/Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks/Enterprise/Voyager/Deep Space Nine/Discovery and The Next Generation are all owned by Paramount Pictures/CBS and distributed by CBS.
This Video is for critical purposes on a fictional topic with commentary.

[savage]

You got me. I spit out my tea just a little bit when you said Klingot. Love the Enterprise reference.

[Morhek]

It just struck me, the irony that the Klingons, the most aggressive species in Star Trek, have a DEFENCE Force.

Edit: I want to clarify that I'm not saying it's inaccurate, or that I don't like it. Only that it's amusingly ironic.

[LogicalNiko]

So the 2280 Disruptor actually changed directly after Star Trek III on screen at least. The tip of the Disruptor facing forward was a real problem. That tip was a seat from an 1:18 scale model car kit, and each time it hit anything it would catch and break the tip off. This in fact became extremely problematic on The Genesis Planet when Cristopher Lloyd had to pull it from a holster. They eventually gave up and had someone crouching behind him below set act as his holster, holding the disruptor off screen.

In any future showing the prop department learned their lesson and redesigned the front into essentially what became the KDF style rifle.

[danjoy]

I think the pistol aesthetic of disruptors is cool and I'd love to see a klingon gunslinger that spins his disruptor in his hand.

[tba]

I appreciate the Klingons' perspective here. It's a weapon - ergo, it's Serious Business and should _look_ like Serious Business.

The rounded, inoffensive Apple Store aesthetic of TNG-era phasers is... Well, I can understand where they're coming from, but the mindset behind making Starfleet sidearms look like electric razors underscores the peace-in-our-time passivity that led to any number of avoidable disasters by expecting everyone they encounter to be reasonable and willing to negotiate.

[scottwalker]

I like how they pretty much dropped the whole disintegrate thing in Phasers and Disruptors from later Trek.

[jenniferstewarts]

"sonic" and "vibratory" are used interchangeably here. now people will scream, sound doesn't travel in space.... and... they would be wrong. Sound needs a medium to travel through... and the partical beam itself is the medium. These weapons used a partial beam to "vibrate" a target on impact, causing it to rip itself apart with microscopic fractures. Some versions of this used gravaton partials much like a tractor beam effectively shaking a target to death... while others used a particl beam which had all the fun effects of, a partical beam with the added fun of the vibrations...

[kenknerr]

You forgot to talk about the modular disruptor that the Klingons put together in the Enterprise-D's brig. It was able to be disguised as uniform attachments.

[thanqualthehighseer]

one of the Star Trek novels stated a Klingon disruptor did had a stun setting but if the target wasn't medically treated they would eventually die. if that was a particular type, of one era or all designs i don't know.

[JoacinoDaGona]

5:00 Reminds me of the stock attachment for the C96 Mauser "broomhandle" pistol.

[ACsAkimbo]

Enterprise era Klingon disrupters looked a bit like power drills pained rusty brown. The TNG era ones look kind of like old flintlocks from the age of sail with sci-fi addons.

[SKy_the_Thunder]

Aw, I was hoping you'd mention the "concealed" disruptor used by two Klingons in TNG. They had its parts disguised as innocent elements of their clothing to avoid detection, which allowed them to assemble it in captivity and use it to escape.

[be-noble]

I got one of these as a toy from a Star Trek Con in the 90’s and still have it.

[jacara]

All the way up through TOS Klingon houses had support worlds (normally other races that they conquer) they would incorporate tech from those worlds leading to the various houses having different appearing tech. They rarely traded with other houses (even allies), though would trade with other races to get an advantage over the other houses.
By TNG a Unified empire and military began to mass produce a single model for all their troops.
However the bladed weapons remained styled by the House you serve.

[daveh]

When I watched the original series as a kid I assumed the mention of the Klingons' "sonic disruptors" meant a disruptor was a sonic weapon, period. So I was really confused by another episode where the Enterprise was being threatened by "planetary disruptor banks." Even as a snotty 9 year old I knew sound didn't work in space.

A few years later I concluded that just living near a planetary disruptor emplacement was probably lethal, whether it reached orbit or not.

[davidponseigo]

As a long time law enforcement officer and Combat Security Contractor sidearms are practically part of my body and I have had to use them for their intended purpose but I also have a TOS Phaser that even at my age of 50 I still play like I'm Jim Kirk every so often and enjoy every minute.

[robertramos]

Sonic disruptor that was also used in the series, but basically microwaves radio waves are considered sonic so they probably used it as a nomenclature but microwaves were used original explanation was that they used Mazer what we use in microwaves that might be helpful for you I hope.

[walterlyzohub]

Early in the video one of the weapons resembled to me a powered drill or screwdriver. So a DeWalt like device with a removable power pack at the base of the handle seems practical and not add much weight for an average Klingon to handle. Just swap out as needed.

[Sephiroth]

Honestly, I thought the part at the end that was, "Most of the time, if they are fighting, it is to the death, because if it was not, " was gonna go "then why bother?" instead of, "they would not be drawing a disruptor".

[kevinramsey]

I actually love the Discovery-era Klingon disruptors because using your gun to stab your enemy is so on brand for Klingons.