A knife was a sharp-edged hand tool typically used for cutting. A minimal knife is a blade and a handle or some other method of gripping it. On Earth, knives have been used as tools and weapons since the Stone Age.
The first Earth knives were made of stone, chipped or ground to an edge, sometimes with a handle. Advances in technology led to blades made of bronze, iron, steel, and other exotic materials. Many cultures, such as the Klingons, had special knives for significant purposes such as eating, ceremonial practices, and assassinations. (TNG: "Sins of The Father", "Reunion", "Redemption", "Ethics"; DS9: "The Way of the Warrior", "The Sword of Kahless", "Sons and Daughters", "Tacking Into the Wind")
In exemplifying his poor spelling skills, Captain Jean-Luc Picard once specified, in 2364, that he spelled "knife" with an "n". (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")
Vulcan Sub-commander T'Pol used fork and knife for eating her salad, even the celery sticks. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")
In 2152, on a rescue mission to prevent Captain Jonathan Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed from being hanged, Commander Trip Tucker used a knife to cut the nooses from around their necks. (ENT: "The Communicator")
In the final draft script of "The Communicator", this cutting tool was referred to as "a Starfleet knife."
In 2154, Udar had a knife which had a serated blade. He was armed with the knife on the planet Trialas IV when he was found there by an away team from Enterprise NX-01, led by Captain Archer. Udar charged Archer with the knife but Archer twisted Udar's wrist, causing him to drop the knife to the ground.
Shortly thereafter, Malik lied to his "father", Arik Soong, that he had accidentally killed Raakin after he himself and Raakin had fought each other with knives. (ENT: "Cold Station 12")
In a recreation room aboard the USS Enterprise in 2266, a knife was produced by a food synthesizer as part of a meal which lieutenant junior grade Joe Tormolen obtained for himself. Tormolen, crazed by polywater intoxication, picked up the knife moments later, and then used it to threaten Hikaru Sulu and Kevin Riley. In an ensuing struggle, Tormolen eventually stabbed himself, accidentally, with the knife, an injury he subsequently died from. (TOS: "The Naked Time")
In the final draft script of "The Naked Time", this utensil was referred to as a steak knife, though it is only ever identified as a generic knife on-screen.
In 2369, an alien knife was used to murder Ibudan during his holodeck program Lauriento massage holoprogram 101A. (DS9: "A Man Alone")
Joseph Sisko used a Cook's Club knife in the kitchen of his restaurant, Sisko's Creole Kitchen, in 2372. (DS9: "Homefront")
In addition to the kar'takin, many Jem'Hadar also wielded a type of combat knife in battle. (DS9: "To the Death", "Sons and Daughters", "The Siege of AR-558")
Mokra Order soldiers carried knives when on duty. Caylem took one of these knives and stabbed Augris into his chest. (VOY: "Resistance")
Captain Kathryn Janeway retrieved a knife from a weapons locker aboard USS Voyager in 2373. (VOY: "Macrocosm")
The image of an alien knife was one of Lieutenant Commander Tuvok's violent thoughts the Mari Guill extracted from the Vulcan in 2374 on the Mari homeworld. (VOY: "Random Thoughts")
Members of the Cardassian military sometimes wore knifes with their uniforms. One Cardassian used his knife to attack a Jem'Hadar during a fight in Quark's in 2374. (DS9: "Behind the Lines")
See also[]
- Butcher knife
- Carving knife
- Dagger
- Ennis and Nol-Ennis weapons
- Kelpien knife
- Klingon blade weapons
- Reman blade weapons
- Reptilian blade
- Slaughter knife
Appendices[]
Background information[]
A Cardassian knife was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay and was also pictured in Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 7, under the topic "Cardassian Weapons". [1](X)
External links[]
- Knife at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works