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In "Datalore," Lore confronts Worf in the turbolift, essentially challenging him to a fight. After Worf's blow barely registers, Lore easily knocks him out.

My question is why Lore didn't rather kill the Klingon?

Obviously, he could have easily done so, and Lore had plans to feed the entire ship's crew to the Crystalline Entity anyway. Also, Worf could have regained consciousness at some point and helped to subdue Lore. It didn't happen that way, but it certainly could have.

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    Lore was still impersonating Data when that confrontation took place. Killing Worf would have ruined his attempt to pass himself off as Data. This is from memory; it's been years since I watched "Datalore."
    – James Sheridan
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 2:00
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    Wouldn't kicking Worf's behind also ruin that effort?
    – user30592
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 2:11
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    @JamesSheridan This scene was happening as the Crushers were turning the real Data back on. It is quite close to the point where Lore would have turned the ship over to the entity.
    – Tritium21
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 2:23
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    It would be helpful to know what Lore did with Worf after smacking him. Alas, the script (and show) don't give any clues away.
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 11:21
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    @T-1000 - The people outside the turbolift don't know that he kicked worf's behind, they just know that he ordered an emergency close of the elevator doors.
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 11:37

3 Answers 3

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The In-Universe Answer

The Crystalline Entity feeds on life - the energy of life, and its matter. A dead klingon feeds no crystals.

The Real Reason

Michael Dorn is in the opening credits.

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    Obviously, writing the "real reason" is not necessary. But I appreciate your in-universe answer, assuming that it's correct.
    – user30592
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 1:59
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    en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Silicon_Avatar_%28episode%29 would seam to support it (Thank you BBCA, it was just on this afternoon)
    – Tritium21
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 2:00
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    "Michael Dorn is in the opening credits." — So was Denise Crosby.
    – jwodder
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 5:10
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    If my memory serves, she is the ONLY main cast character to be fully killed off. She is only one of three to leave the series before the final season.
    – Tritium21
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 5:12
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    @Tritium21 Gates McFadden left too (and wasn't expected to come back).
    – nmclean
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 18:24
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Both @spicyness and @Tritium21 make excellent points but without joining the dots.

Lore needs privacy to communicate with the crystalline entity in order to tell it his plan. Killing Worf could have put the bridge crew on high alert that something was wrong.

Lore : Good, you understand perfectly so far. Next, I'll signal I'm about to transport something out at which time the deflector shields will turn off for a moment, and if you move in at that time...

Given that his plan is still based on deception (and since we know that Data and by extension, Lore could have killed Worf with a single punch) it follows that Lore must have had a good reason for not doing so. Echoing @spicyness' answer, if he had killed Worf, that would have shown up on the ship's bio-scanners had anyone on the Bridge thought to check them. All they know at this point is that Data(Lore) ordered an "emergency close" of the turbolifts.

He might even be planning to duplicate Worf's voice if anyone actually messages him but there's no way he can easily duplicate his lifesigns. If these aren't found, this would instantly scupper Lore's plan.

Also, shortly after tackling Worf we see Lore preparing to feed the crew to the Crystalline Entity. If Worf was dead, there would be one less meal for his friend.

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Would the ship have detected a death and alerted someone, where as it didn't detect him just being knocked out? I feel like the medical scanners would be capable of this but I can't think of an episode where this happens.

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    This looks like speculation. Do you have any evidence that the scanners would be sensitive to a death but not a knockout?
    – Null ♦
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 5:12
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    No. Picard has to put the Bridge scanner onto continuous readout in TNG : Remember Me.
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 9:32
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    Plenty of people have died on board without the computer alerting anyone.
    – Tritium21
    Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 13:41
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    They don't even know if a person has left the ship without asking the ship if the person is on board,
    – JMFB
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 16:56