“Khaaaaaaaaaannnnnn” Noonien Singh

Posted on by

The title of this post needs no explanation if you have even an ounce of cool in you (like me).  Has a more famous word ever been uttered in a 20th century movie?  I think not.  Here is quick background on the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for you virgins:

Khan, a genetically engineered “superman” prone to megalomaniacal delusions, was exiled years ago to the barren planet Ceti Alpha 5. He blames Admiral Kirk for his hard fate, as well as for his son’s death, and vows revenge. When Commander Chekov mistakenly beams down to Khan’s lair, the villain finally has a means of escape. Using a parasitic creature that allows him to control the minds of his victims, Khan seizes command of the Starship Reliant. From there he hopes to lure Kirk to his death, using equipment stolen from an experimental research project. These devices allow him to trigger something known as the “Genesis Effect” — a means of generating new life from existing matter. Khan plans to use the creation machines as weapons, because the same fire of life that creates new worlds must destroy what existed before. Kirk and crew need all the courage and cunning they can muster in order to save their friend and silence Khan forever. [Link]

For those wanting a more detailed background (and you really should) please read here and here.  One important detail I had not known (or more likely forgotten until Punjabi Boy reminded us this morning) is that the most brilliant villain in science fiction history was a Punjabi Sikh.  You have to delve deep into Star Trek fiction literature to find the background on Khan.  Luckily there happens to be an entire website (I shit you not) about Sikhs in Science Fiction.

The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox

Although Khan Noonien Singh is the title character of this novel, he is not mentioned by name until more than half-way through the book. The last third focuses primarily on Khan, who is explicitly identified as a Sikh character herein. Prior to the Khan scenes, there are scenes in India with Sikh guards. But the Sikh-related material that is most prominent is in a chapter set in 1984, when Khan is just fourteen years old and living in Delhi. The Indian military has brutally attacked Amritsar, at the command of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who has subsequently been assassinated by her Sikh guards. Khan gets caught in the middle of the resulting anti-Sikh violence, as he must flee an angry mob intent on killing him.

Yes, yes.  Those who are immersed in violence at an early age often regrettably turn to violence.  How popular a villain was Khan?  There are poems about him, and you can also take a quiz to see how much you know about him.  Also, for any girls (or boys) who had a crush on Khan (played by actor Ricardo Montalban) in the 80s, here is a fun fact:  his breasts are fake, a prop.  He ain’t really that cut. They ARE real.

I’ve done far worse than kill you. I’ve hurt you. And, I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me–as you left her [Khan’s wife]–marooned, for all eternity, in the center of a dead planet: buried alive…       -Khan [Link]

79 thoughts on ““Khaaaaaaaaaannnnnn” Noonien Singh”

  1. of ALL religions, I wonder why on earth they chose Sikh! My sci-fi nut buddy NEVER let me on to this, and she got me rath of khan for my birthday! Hmm…..

  3. Alas, Abhi, the Eugenics Wars novels are a recent development. For the true background on Khaaaaan, you need to watch his first-ever Trek appearance, on the original series (TOS) episode “Space Seed.”

    And WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Shatner got the Emmy! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  4. For the true background on Khaaaaan, you need to watch his first-ever Trek appearance

    Absolutely. Those episodes are mentioned in my background links. 🙂

  5. “Space Seed” is only one episode.

    And where did you get the info that Montalban’s pecs were fake? Nimoy claims they’re real in “I Am Spock.”

  7. And where did you get the info that Montalban’s pecs were fake? Nimoy claims they’re real in “I Am Spock.”

    Oh no you didn’t girlfriend. You didn’t just go there. Are you calling me out on my Star Trek knowledge? 😉 They were fake.

  12. I’ve flicked through those novels depicting Khan’s early life, it’s actually very interesting reading; he was a turbaned-and-bearded Sikh in his younger days, and the story also includes descriptions of some of the traditional Sikh weapons he uses.

    The specific incident which describes the crucial, split-second, crossroads-type juncture where his life radically begins to change direction (and heads towards villainy) is also very cleverly done; it’s also quite tragic because it shows exactly how close he was to becoming (or continuing as) heroic. I won’t give the details away, for the benefit of SM members who actually want to read the books and find out for themselves 😉

  13. Oh yes, I meant to add: Although Khan obviously descends into full-scale villainy in the movie, I liked how he wasn’t necessarily such a black-and-white character in the original TV series. At one point Kirk is shown as actually secretly admiring him due to his charismatic, all-conquering leader persona and previous activities on Earth.

  15. “He blames Admiral Kirk for his hard fate, as well as for his son’s death, and vows revenge”

    Wasn’t it actually his wife’s death that he blames on Kirk?

  16. Who remembers my post about Lieutenant Singh in TNG?

    That Sikhs in science fiction page is part of a very interesting site I linked to a while back with religious affiliations of many writers as well as sections on Baha’i, Amish and Zoroastrian science fiction! But it’s slightly flawed. They occasionally just assume anyone with the name Singh is Sikh. Yuvraj can tell you that ain’t so bro.

  17. Punjabi Boy,

    But he made the wrong choice with the name – a Singh called Khan?

    True, I thought it was a bit weird too, although in the books it’s explained away by his mother (or the Sikh female scientist that created him, I can’t remember which of these it was) choosing the name because it means “Lord”, ie. due to its aristocratic, power-related connotations.

    I don’t know why Gene Roddenbury chose the name Khan in the original TV series, though.

    Hanuman,

    Wasn’t it actually his wife’s death that he blames on Kirk?

    He sure did, although his son also dies because of Kirk’s attacks on Khan’s stolen starship.

    Bong Breaker (and everyone else),

    Who remembers my post about Lieutenant Singh in TNG?

    On a semi-related note, I remember a South Asian stand-up comic briefly profiled on one of those desi shows on BBC2 here in the UK (it was either “Desi DNA”, or that comedy show presented by Russell Peters), where the comic talks about how the original series was supposed to be really international and progressive in its depiction of the composition of the Enterprise’s bridge crew — eg. Uhura being African, Sulu the Japanese guy, Chekov the Russian etc.

    The comedian then mentioned how Indians/South Asians make up 1/6 of the world’s population, so (big pause)….”WHERE WAS PATEL ?!”

    The way he said it was hilarious, and got a huge cheer from the audience. He did make a good point, of course 😉

    I always thought it would have been good for one of the Star Trek movies or television sequels to have shown an all-out turbaned-and-bearded Sikh Starfleet officer, eg. “Admiral/Captain Singh”, with a kirpan etc. Maybe they didn’t because the humans of that era aren’t meant to be religious in the formal sense. Or, more likely, it was something to do with the core modern-day American audience.

    I have noticed the Sikh/Punjabi references in relation to some aspects of the Klingons though — I may be wrong but I suspect the writer/production member Naren Shankar may have had a hand in all that.

  19. P-Boy,

    If you click on that link of Sikhs in Sci fi there is a book that has a planet called Amritsar in the storyline! Seriously!

    Yes I saw that — I’ve actually flicked through that book a few years ago too (in a bookstore, didn’t buy it), so I do remember that.

    Haven’t you noticed the Sikh/Punjab references in some of the recent Star Trek sequels — The “guru” of the Klingons called Kahless (Khalsa / Khalis [original Persian]), references to him cutting the crops in his father’s fields with his sword, along with references to “alien hordes attacking the Klingon homeworld 1000 years ago and plundering it” (read: Pathan invasions — Mahmud of Ghazni etc).

    I’m not a hardcore Trekkie but you do notice these things.

  21. Are Klingon and Ferengi from desi terms?

    Klingon — Don’t think so.

    Ferengi — Yes, obviously 😉

  22. Well the Ferengi/Phirangi (Farsi – Fer-hanghi = foreign) is one mentioned a lot, but I wonder if we read too much into things.

    I have also pointed out the title of VEDIC in Bajoran culture. But maybe that’s just coincidence? The two most popular sci-fi franchises of the 20th century were TREK and WARS. Both utilised Eastern philosophies. In WARS I’d say even more obviously so, the Jedi have clearly taken inspiration from Hinduism and Buddhism, as Luca$$ has himself admitted.

    Bajorans, Vulcans – both have elements of Hinduism, as Jedis do. But surely these could be explained as just stereotypical ‘spiritual mysticism’ as opposed to directly influenced by the East. Meditation, selflessness, renouncing relationships and in the case of jedis – little tikkias like good Brahmin boys.

  23. Star Trek II is my favorite movie of the group. I can watch this one a million times and not get tired of all the intergalactic jousting.

    The end game duel in the nebula seriously evokes some old school submarine warfare nostalgia. Damnit, Kristie Alley was skinny and hot too. Now she just eats. A lot.

    Of all the villans in Star Trek, Khan is the greatest one. You don’t need to travel to a distant planet to find the enemy, the greatest ones can spring from your very own.

    It may be morning, but I need to crack open a bottle of blood wine and make a pilgrimage to the Star Trek experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

  25. House Bharaputra on Jackson Hole in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series has vaguely desi villains, in much the same way that her Barrayar is vaguely Slavic. They’re pretty evil, and in my geekier hours I’ve contemplated getting a Bharaputra t-shirt.

  28. Yaaay Star Trek! How’s this for another desi connection- Recall that episode of TNG where Picard is marooned on some distant land and forms roots and lives an entire lifetime there until he’s brought back to the Enterprise and realizes all that happened in one instant of “real time” – my memory’s fuzzy but I think some alien race did it to him so he could preserve the memories of their dying civilization.

    Anyway, the whole live-a-lifetime-in-a-moment story is common to Indian mythology. I’d always look at the TNG titles and some desi guy (forget his name) was the story consultant or some such.

    Hmm I think I just outed myself as a major Trekkie. All future attempts at hipster-ness are now miserably doomed

  30. My favorite DS9 ep: Bashir tries to help a planet afflicted with the plague…sets up some Starfleet techno-magic doohickey as usual…appears to cure everybody…then the disease comes back, even worse! Turns out the radiation put out by the doohickey aggravates the disease. So, no cure for the population. However, the children born after Bashir’s intervention are plague-free. A more realistic take on Starfleet problem-solving. It struck me as so distinctive…then it made sense when I saw it was written by Naren Shankar.

    Ok Abhi…this is war. “I am Spock,” Leonard Nimoy, 1995, p. 200: “(An interesting sidebar: As Khan, Montalban wore a costume that showed off his chest, which was so impressively developed that many viewers speculated it might be a false breastplate. I’m here to tell you: It most definitely wasn’t! Those were Montalban’s enviable pecs.)”

    I got Spock backing me up. Who do you got? 😉

  32. I’d always look at the TNG titles and some desi guy (forget his name) was the story consultant or some such.

    Yes there was. I have been meaning to post about him for over 6 months now. Maybe I soon will.

  33. Ok Abhi…this is war.

    Okay, I’ll research this when I have time tonight. I never thought I’d ever spend so much time trying to figure out if a guy’s breasts were real.

  34. I am shamed. I believed the haters all these years. They are REAL. I am going to hit the gym extra hard today.

    Khaaaannnnnnnnn!

  35. Abhi on September 22, 2005 12:45 PM · Direct link Okay, I’ll research this when I have time tonight. I never thought I’d ever spend so much time trying to figure out if a guy’s breasts were real. Abhi on September 22, 2005 12:50 PM · Direct link I am shamed. I believed the haters all these years. They are REAL. I am going to hit the gym extra hard today.

    😀 Yay for having time tonight! Abhi, you are way too freakin’ busy if five minutes was stressing you out.:-)

  37. But he made the wrong choice with the name – a Singh called Khan?

    I have always been amused/confused by the names from Punjab…The first time was when I saw Kaur Singh win a gold medal in the Asian games heavyweight boxing. Till then I thought that Singh was a suffix for males and Kaur was for females….

  39. A very funny interview with Shatner:

    Maxim Magazine interviews Shatner

    Some excerpts:

    You have one of the most recognizable voices of the late 20th century. WhatÂ’s the secret to Shatner diction? Shallow breathing, allergies, and owning a dog that wonÂ’t listen. You play yourself in Showtime. How did you prepare for the role? How did I prepare to play Shatner? I read my biography. I learned I canÂ’t stand the guy. I made it to chapter five and put it down.

  41. Kirk: Khan, you bloodsucker. You’re gonna have to do your own dirty work now, do you hear me? Do you? Khan: Kirk. You’re still alive, old friend. Kirk: Still, “old friend.” You’ve managed to kill everyone else but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target.

    Got to love Shatner!

  42. Umair you could be right, I can’t be bothered to look it up at the mo. But I do know that it exists as a Farsi word. That word may have come from Arabic originally.

    I’m Denny Crane.

  43. Bong Breaker,

    I’m Denny Crane.

    There’s no “I’m”. Just:

    “Denny Crane”. “Donny Crane”. “Denny Crane”. “Donny Crane”. “Denny Crane”.

    And so on. I see you’re a Boston Legal fan too. The last episode of the first series was a cracker wasn’t it. Also interesting how they’ve now got 2 ex-Star Trek guys on it, in major roles — and they’re both in adversarial positions for the start of Season 2. (The characters, not Shatner and Rene Auberjois, obviously).

    Back to Star Trek: Guys, I mentioned Naren Shankar’s possible input all the way back in post #17. As far as I know he works on some other hit show now, although I can’t remember which one.

  44. As far as I know he works on some other hit show now, although I can’t remember which one.

    He has worked on many hit shows. He’s a Caltech guy if I remember right. I promise a post on him in the next couple of weeks.

  47. Sorry, the CSI!! was referring to what Naren Shankar’s current hit hit show, Abhi and DesiDancer got in the way of the reply making sense. How inconsiderate.

    I think I love CSI more than I ever loved TNG…maybe. Nah. On a par. Jai I’m not a mega BL fan, but I do find the episodes I’ve caught good stuff. I especially like Denny Crane and James Spader’s character – I’ve always like characters who are complete and utter cocks.

  48. DesiDancer you foxy married minx (God I’m turning into Punjabi Boy — damn you and your subversive influence, PB !),

    Aha — thanks for that — CSI was the one I was thinking of. I was watching it on TV here a few days ago and remember Naren saab’s name on the end credits somewhere.