This Klingon weapon was inspired by The Wizard of Oz

The Klingons had a vast array of weapons at their disposal in Star Trek. The most well-known, of course, is the bat’leth. Less common is the gin’tak which is pronounced gin-TAWK (hard G as in get). This weapon showed up a small number of times in Star Trek. The most notable time in The Next Generation episode “Birthright, Part II.” Worf saw a young Klingon, Toq, using the gin’tak to dig in the soil, and he angrily told Toq that the spear was to be used in battle and not for tilling fields.

And while not much is known about how the spear originated in Klingon customs, the weapon used for the series was a collaboration between TNG’s visual effects supervisor, Dan Curry and prop master Alan Sims.  And Curry, according to the book Star Trek The Artistry of Dan Curry, was inspired by both medieval halberds and what the Wicked Witch’s guards carried in The Wizard of Oz.

"“You see them walking around with weird pole weapons with a lot of extension blades on them.”"

You can actually see a perfect view of the spear used in The Wizard of Oz in this clip, and it’s clear how much influence this weapon provided for the gin’tak. Both of them look absolutely lethal, but, of course, The Wizard of Oz never really used the weapons, and while we never saw the gin’tak in action on Star Trek, it definitely belongs in the Klingon arsenal of weapons.

As I’ve previously written, Dan Curry also took inspiration from pom-poms so his ingenuity upon seeing a prop from a 1939 movie shouldn’t be a surprise. Back in the 20th century, there was a lot of making-do for science fiction shows. Curry was one of the best at that.