Little is known of the early life
of Martok, save for a brief history sketched by himself in
the Deep
Space Nine episode Once More Unto the Breach. It
is known that he was born into a Klingon
house (The House of Martok) that was not part of the
aristocracy. His family had been reputable soldiers, although
not officers. Young Martok aspired to officer status and
applied to become one. Unfortunatly, his application was
denied because of the elitist views of the famous Kor
about the "great houses". With a rejection on his
record from such a legendary officer, Martok could no longer
even serve as a common soldier. He opted to still serve, and
spent five years as a civilian laborer on General ShiVang's
ship. When, during a battle, Romulans
boarded the vessel, Martok fought valiantly alongside the
crew. His performance and bravery in battle caught the eye of
General ShiVang, who granted him a battlefield commission as
an officer.
We can infer that since that
battlefield commission he has been a capable officer and
leader, at Martok's introduction to the series he has
attained the rank of General.
Around 2372, Martok was abducted
by the Dominion
and replaced with a shapeshifter.
The exact date of this is unclear. The shapeshifter
inadvertently revealed himself to Odo
(who had been misled into believing that Gowron
was the shapeshifter) at a Klingon award ceremony, and was
quickly killed by the Klingons attending the ceremony.
In By Inferno's Light,
Martok escaped and returned to the Alpha
Quadrant with Garak,
Worf,
and Julian
Bashir, and was made commander of the Klingon forces on Deep
Space Nine (some of the Klingons under Martok's command
took to calling him the "one-eyed giant", although
never to his face for obvious reasons). Martok is an
excellent judge of character, caring deeply about those under
his command. Martok took command of a Klingon bird-of-prey,
the Rotarran, and made it his personal flagship.
Initially, the Rotarran's crew were beaten and fatalistic,
but Martok and Worf helped rally their warrior spirit.
Shortly before the end of Dominion
War (When It Rains...), Gowron
came to Deep Space Nine to honor Martok by inducting him into
the Order
of Kahless, and then announced that he would be taking
control of the Klingon forces from Martok because it was time
for him to "take a more active role in the war."
However, it became clear that Gowron was simply worried about
Martok getting too powerful politically, and intended to
lower Martok's standing by sending him into battles that he
could not win. Worf tried to convince Martok to challenge
Gowron but he refused, so Worf killed Gowron himself and,
rather than accept the title of Chancellor, gave it to
Martok. (Tacking Into the Wind)
Chancellor Martok
The Dominion forces suddenly
withdrew into Cardassian territory. The Allies realized that
the Dominion was withdrawing in order to gain time in order
to lick their wounds, so that they could come back stronger a
few years later. Martok said that the Empire voted to attack
right away, and convinced the Federation and Romulans to
attack as well.
Martok, leading the Klingon fleet;
Admiral Ross & Captain Sisko,
leading the Federation
fleet; and the Romulans
attacked and defeated the Dominion.
(What You Leave Behind).
Despite the refusal of Admiral Ross
and Captain Sisko to drink bloodwine with Martok in the halls
of Cardassian Central Command, the Federation and Klingons
remained allies. Martok was happy to receive Lt Commander.
Worf as the Federation Ambassador to Qo'noS. He commented
that he had an Ambassador that he could go targ
hunting with.
J.G. Hertzler — who played Martok
— wrote two books on the future of Martok. While these
books are not canon, they do paint an interesting picture of
Martok's future after he became Chancellor.
