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	This article contains information regarding Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and thus may contain spoilers.

Jay-Den Kraag was a male Klingon Starfleet cadet in the 32nd century. His name meant "he who crosses oceans of fire".

Early life

Hailing from the triad House of Kraag, Jay-Den was the son of L'vanna and had two fathers, Drekol and Enok.

Due to the Burn bringing the Klingons to the brink of extinction, his family were refugees. Jay-Den's parents would sing Jay-Den and his older brother Thar to sleep with the myths of Kahless the Unforgettable at the refugee camps which gave them comfort.

By the time Jay-Den was nearing adulthood, his family resided on Krios Prime. While trading for a dermal regenerator, Thar was stabbed with a poisoned weapon and died. While Jay-Den's family wanted him to become a true warrior and take his place in their House, Jay-Den dreamed of joining Starfleet Academy, a dream that Thar had encouraged. Jay-Den's father Drekol held only disdain for the Federation and Starfleet and ordered him to kill a Veqlargh toQ to prove that he was a warrior as part of their family's rite of passage. Instead, Jay-Den chose to honor Thar by not killing the bird of prey. Jay-Den's father then shot at the bird and missed, and discarded the Starfleet transmitter with which Jay-Den and Thar had been listening to the broadcast from Starfleet Academy. Jay-Den's family left him to continue searching for a home while Jay-Den pursued his dreams with Starfleet. (SA: "Vox In Excelso")

Starfleet Academy

A sciences major, he met Captain and Academy Chancellor Nahla Ake, along with fellow cadet Caleb Mir on the USS Athena prior to its arrival at San Francisco, Earth. During an attack en route to Earth, he received his first field test of his skills having to perform a medical triage on Cadet Master and First Officer Lura Thok. (SA: "Kids These Days")

A strong association developed between him and Caleb at the start of the fall semester. (SA: "Beta Test")

Jay-Den was later informed that a Klingon refugee ship carrying his two fathers and his mother crashed on the way to Taurus VII and Jay-Den's family were feared to be amongst the casualties. Jay-Den insisted upon taking part in a series of debates overseen by the Doctor on the topic of the Klingon diaspora which led to an extremely heated debate between Jay-Den and Caleb on the subject. Jay-Den admitted to Thok that he felt that he had dishonored both worlds – Klingon and Starfleet – with his actions. However, Thok pointed out that Klingons did not miss out of rage. Instead, Thok believed that Drekol had missed his shot on purpose, thus honoring the hunt and Jay-Den's victory, letting his son go to pursue his dreams. Jay-Den was a Klingon warrior whose passion for death was only surpassed by his passion for life, who fought with words rather than weapons.

With a new outlook, Jay-Den suggested a Klingon solution to the problem: meet the Houses in battle so that the Klingons could take their new homeworld through conquest as Kahless the Unforgettable did with Qo'noS. Starfleet and General Obel Wochak's forces staged a battle, allowing the Klingons to take their new homeworld as the spoils of war. Obel revealed to Jay-Den that his family had all survived and honored Jay-Den as a true Klingon warrior, gifting him with a HurwI', a Klingon bow and arrow. Caleb repaired the transmitter that Thar had gifted Jay-Den who admitted that Caleb reminded him of his brother and the two made amends. (SA: "Vox In Excelso")

Jay-Den helped SAM with her attempt to solve the mystery of Benjamin Sisko. Much to Darem's frustration, Jay-Den remained on good terms with War College cadet Kyle Jokovich despite the rivalry between the schools. Kyle openly flirted with Jay-Den at The Academy bar and the two were shown dancing together. (SA: "Series Acclimation Mil")

Following the events on the USS Miyazaki, Jay-Den and Kyle started dating and planned to spend their All-Worlds Day break together in Ibiza. However, when Darem was taken in a Khionian Marital Abduction, Jay-Den followed him, mistakenly believing his friend to be in danger. The two argued about Darem getting married out of a sense of duty and Jay-Den stormed off, but returned to make a toast. Jay-Den's toast caused Kaira to realize that Darem was only marrying her out of obligation and the two got an annulment. Jay-Den and Darem shared a moment before he reunited with a sunburnt Kyle. (SA: "Ko'Zeine")

On the 300th night at the end of the academic year, Jay-Den invited his friends into the House of Kraag as his chosen family via the R'uustai rite which they accepted, although Caleb refused to drink. Jay-Den and Tarima Sadal later stowed away aboard the Athena to join an unauthorized mission to rescue their friends. Jay-Den defended his actions by telling Ake that Caleb was his chosen brother. Unable to beam them off of the ship, a frustrated Ake made the two wait in her office. (SA: "300th Night")

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

Kraag was played by Karim Diané.

The end credits of SA Season 1's finale "Rubincon" included cast photos alongside tongue-in-cheek yearbook facts and quotes as if by their character, with Kraag's listing:

• "Just because you leave your brain to science doesn't mean science has to take it."
• Most likely to: Eventually retire from Starfleet to become a balladeer.
• Wants to be remembered for: His famously unsurvivable Gormagander and chives omelet.