Why do the Klingons in Star Trek: Discovery look so different?

Question

I know that the appearance of Klingons was different between Enterprise and The Original Series due to the mutagenic virus. Having said that I don't understand how the look of the Klingons on last night's pilot fits in chronologically or otherwise.

Why did they have no hair? Why did their skin and ridges look different?

Isn't this set just before The Original Series chronologically? If so, shouldn't they have been affected by the virus like the ones in The Original Series?

NKCampbell · Accepted Answer

They are apparently trying to show more diversity within the Klingon people (do all earthlings look exactly the same, have the same clothing choices, etc...) - in other words, moving away from a planetwide monoculture (or, retconning that we have until now, only seen one or two houses)

Discovery indicated in Ep1/2 that there are 24 Great Houses. These two episodes showed one of the houses which seems to have distinct design and biological diversity from what Klingons have been shown in previous series.

Here is some behind the scenes detail:

Mitchell explained we have only seen some of the Klingons from
  Discovery:
  
  The images that you have seen so far are one house led by T’Kumva.
  Today you just saw the first image of [Kol]. So even in the wardrobe
  it is starting to venture to the more traditional Klingons. More
  leather and a different set of armor. And the series itself is going
  to explore 24 different houses and the leaders among them. And you
  will find different complexities and different ideologies amongst
  those houses. And so what you have seen already in these images is
  mostly just from one house. You are going to start to explore further
  into the Klingons, and each of those houses has a different set of
  physical looks and variations as well as ideologies.

https://trekmovie.com/2017/08/02/stlv17-actors-discuss-different-klingon-houses-in-star-trek-discovery-first-image-of-kol-revealed/

Here are some additional details on the early redesign from Bryan Fuller:

The other Bryan Fuller contribution that remains is his redesign of
  the Klingons. “One of the things he really, really wanted to do was
  shake up the design of the Klingons,” Herberts said. “One of the first
  things that he ever pitched to us when we were deciding whether or not
  to come on the show was his aesthetic for the Klingons and how
  important it was that they be aesthete, that they not be the thugs of
  the universe, that they be sexy and vital and different from what had
  come before.”

http://www.slashfilm.com/bryan-fuller-redesigned-the-star-trek-discovery-klingons/

Dave the Rave · Answer

I think they are "pure blood" Klingons, the original progenitor race from Quo'nos. The Klingons we have seen to date were a product of hybridization with another humanoid race within the Klingon empire, which eventually rose to prominence and became the majority of the Klingon race. The Progenitor race would eventually die out, and the more familiar Looking Klingons would become the staple Klingon.

Answered by Dave the Rave on March 9, 2021

Why do the Klingons in Star Trek: Discovery look so different?

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