Gowron, son of M'Rel, is a fictional character who appeared in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Portrayed by Robert O'Reilly, he is the leader of the Klingon Empire, known as the Chancellor. O'Reilly had appeared earlier in The Next Generation as Scarface in the second season episode "Manhunt", and was cast as Gowron due to his comedic ability and his piercing and extremely unsettling gaze, or what O'Reilly himself humorously referred to as "that crazy loon eyeball thing".
Appearing first in "Reunion", where he is named Chancellor, Gowron defends his position against the challenge of the Duras family in the two-part episode "Redemption". Following the advice of Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) in "Rightful Heir", he incorporates the clone of Kahless into the Klingon government without disrupting his own leadership. In Deep Space Nine, he initiates a conflict with the Federation over fears that the Cardassians have been infiltrated by the Founders. After Cardassia sides with the Dominion, he allies with Starfleet throughout the rest of the war. However, he later grows jealous of the success of General Martok (J. G. Hertzler) and undermines the war effort, resulting in Worf killing him in a duel.
O'Reilly also appeared as the character in video games, such as Star Trek: Klingon and Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard. Critics responded positively to the appearances of the character, equating his actions to those of a politician. He ranked 20th in a list of the best characters in the franchise by IGN, while Keith DeCandido called him one of the "more memorable characters".
Concept and development
Prior to his casting as Gowron, Robert O'Reilly appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Manhunt" as a character referred to as Scarface. When casting was underway for the Jonathan Frakes directed episode "Reunion", Frakes was looking for an actor who could portray a Klingon with a sense of humour. O'Reilly later remarked that he was considered because of what he called "that crazy loon eyeball thing". He went directly from a performance of King Lear where he portrayed the character Edmund, and introduced elements of that character into the Klingon. O'Reilly described Gowron's initial appearances as being "the only one with honor, and he was sort of a crazed warrior who did not want to be anywhere near 'hew-mons'". He felt that like Edmund, Gowron was an outsider who became a leader. He said that they were "very, very similar in nature", and said that this set the character apart from the other Klingons who had appeared on the show until that point. Michael Westmore was in charge of designing the prosthetics for O'Reilly's performances as Gowron, describing it as one of his favourites of all the Klingons he's worked on because of the beard that comes down the side of his face.
O'Reilly made his first appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the third season episode "The House of Quark". Writer Ronald D. Moore explained that his work on the episode came about because of his previous work on the Klingon-centric The Next Generation episode "Sins of the Father", and was pleased to bring over elements from his previous series—including Gowron. O'Reilly felt lucky to appear in the episode, as it was the expectation of many actors who played recurring characters in The Next Generation that they wouldn't transition to Deep Space Nine. Outside of Star Trek, O'Reilly appeared in character for an advert for Hallmark Cards to promote a Klingon Bird of Prey starship Christmas ornament.
Later, when he discovered that Michael Dorn would be returning to Star Trek on television in Deep Space Nine, he hoped that it might be an opening for more Klingons on the show, including the return of Gowron. O'Reilly said that "When I got the script for 'The Way of the Warrior', I was thrilled to get the job, to work with Michael again and to see Gowron and Worf together". He praised the relationship between the characters of Worf and Gowron, saying "[Worf is] always reminding Gowron about honor, but we're on two totally different sides when it comes to honor. It makes for great drama." At the time he was confident that this wouldn't be Gowron's last appearance, but hoped that the character wouldn't be overused so that he would continue to have an impact when he did.