The Hegh'bat is a Klingon ceremony where the warrior commits ritual suicide. This is done with the help of the eldest son or the closest friend of the warrior. The secondary participant must bring a special knife, which the warrior uses to stab himself in the heart. The helper then removes the blade from the body and wipes its blood on himself, for the ritual to be completed. (TNG episode: "Ethics")
In 2378, B'Elanna Torres assisted her mother Miral Torres in performing the Hegh'bat, as she had been mortally injured by a grikshak. (VOY novel: The Farther Shore)
In 2402, Worf, son of Mogh assisted his son Alexander Rozhenko in performing the Hegh'bat. This was done because Toral had demanded Alexander's suicide, otherwise Toral would unleash a devastating metreon wave on the population of Cygnus III. Alexander, assisted by Worf, committed the Hegh'bat as ordered; due to Alexander's sacrifice, Toral was subsequently found and captured. (TNG short story: "Staying the Course")
Etymology[]
Hegh'bat means "time to die". (ST reference: Celebrations)
The word is spelled Heghbat in romanized tlhIngan Hol. It may be etymologically related to the words Hegh ("death", or "to die") and batlh ("honor", or "honorably"). (Klingon cultural reference: The Klingon Way)
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See also[]
External link[]
- Hegh'bat article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.