In the Star Trek saga, Ja'rod was a Klingon male who was the leader of the House of Duras in the early 24th century. Ja'rod was the father of Duras, Lursa, and B'Tor. He was the greatest rival of Mogh, the father of Worf.

In the 2340s, Ja'rod was stationed at Khitomer. He had at some point become involved with the Romulan Empire. Mogh followed Ja'rod to Khitomer, suspecting that he was the traitor working with the Romulans. When the Romulans attacked the outpost, Ja'rod lowered the outpost's shields. Ja'rod died during the attack. About 4,000 other Klingons died. Only a few survived, one of whom was Mogh's son, Worf.

About twenty years after the Romulan attack on Khitomer, the Klingon Empire captured a Romulan ship. They found proof that J'rod was guilty of betraying the Klingons at the outpost to the Romulans. The High Council suppressed this evidence, and framed Mogh for the attack. The Council did this because they felt the Duras family was too powerful, and it would split the empire. This injustice was not corrected until Gowron became Chancellor.