Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About General Chang
5. Real World Inspirations
One of the stand-out scenes in Star Trek VI is Kirk and McCoy's trial on Qo'noS. Colonel Worf acts on behalf of them as a defense attorney, while General Chang serves as prosecutor on behalf of the State.
As Chang gets more and more animated, he eventually loses his temper and roars at Kirk to answer him immediately, without waiting for the translation. This is directly inspired by US Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, who is marked on the right in the above photo, and Valerian Zorin, who is marked on the left.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Stevenson gave a presentation at the emergency session of the Security Council. He forcefully asked UN Representative Valerian Zorin if his country had installed missiles in Cuba. Zorin seemed reluctant to reply, so Stevenson then demanded that he not wait for the translation and answer him Yes or No.
This inspiration is apt as this Crisis was one of the tensest periods of history, when it looked like the US and the USSR may finally fire nuclear weapons at each other. Star Trek VI details the cessation of hostilities, with the Klingons standing in for the Russians and the Federation standing in for the US.