Star Trek is filled with iconic aliens: Vulcans, Klingons, and the Borg, just to name a few. Many of these species have been explored in great detail through various Star Trek series and films. Yet one species is iconic and infamous yet relatively unknown in live-action media: The Gorn. Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series, this reptilian humanoid alien species is best known for the 1967 episode “The Arena.” It is one of the most notable episodes in Star Trek history, mainly due to the slow movement of the creature and the over-the-top combat between it and Captain Kirk that made the scene unintentionally comedic.

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This cemented the species as one of the most famous aliens in the franchise. Yet despite that, the franchise has typically avoided using them. While it makes sense for prequel series to avoid the species, it is strange how so little Star Trek media set after the original like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Prodigy have yet to show the Gorn. It was not until recently with the release of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that the species was not only given an update for the 21st century but explored in more detail. Here is everything to know about the Gorn.

Gorn History in the Star Trek Series

     Paramount Television

The Gorn are first introduced in season one, episode 18 of Star Trek: The Original Series titled “The Arena.” The Gorn are a mysterious species to the Federation, and Captain Kirk is forced to do battle with the Gorn captain in a fight to the death. Kirk believes the Gorn to be a violent and savage race that killed a Starfleet Colony. While Kirk has the chance to kill the Gorn, he spares the creature after he realized the creature’s attack on a Starfleet Outpost was an act of self-defense and that Gorn and humans have more in common than they realize. This marks the official first encounter the United Federation of Planets has with the Gorn.

The Gorn would later appear in an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series as well as on Star Trek: Enterprise, which marked the first time the creature was portrayed with GCI. As to not mess with the continuity of the original series and maintain the first contact with Kirk, The Gorn seen on Star Trek: Enterprise is set in the Mirror Universe, an alternate universe in Star Trek where everyone is evil. The species also appeared recently on Star Trek: Lower Decks, a comedic take on the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Redefines the Gorn

     Paramount+

The Gorn were planned to appear in both Star Trek: Nemesis and 2009’s Star Trek reboot but were scrapped for unknown reasons. Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy makes reference to performing a C-section on a pregnant Gorn, indicating they may have encountered The Federation earlier on in this new timeline.

The next major appearance of the Gorn would be in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds where they are a recurring foe. Set ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Strange New Worlds slightly retcons the original series. Here, the alien species are a large part of the backstory for La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) who is the sole survivor of a Gorn attack when she was a child. This marks an unofficial first encounter with the Gorn in the series.

The Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike first encounters a Gorn ship in the episode “Memento Mori.” The creatures are not seen which seemed to indicate that the aliens would be a recurring unseen foe throughout the series. But they reappear later in the season in the episode “All Those Who Wander” where various members of the Enterprise Crew including Spock comes face to face with the Gorn. Unlike the original series, these Gorn are depicted as smaller more agile as well as more animalistic than the ones shown in the original series.

Design and Characteristics

     Digital Extremes

The Gorn in the original series is a bipedal and large reptilian alien species. They are capable of space travel and seem to have their own civilization. They also appear to be an apprehensive species, as even later in the timeline of Star Trek it is unclear if the Gorn ever joined Starfleet.

The Gorn on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are similar to the variant of the species introduced in the Kelvin timeline set Star Trek video game between the 2009 Star Trek film and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. The Gorn here are smaller, quadrupedal aliens that have a lot in common with the Xenomorphs from the Alien film franchise including the practice of laying parasitic eggs inside a host that burst out of the victim’s chest.

The Gorn have evolved to the ability to evade Starfleet and other electromagnetic medical sensors, possibly indicating why the species has gone so long in the franchise without being seen. The Gorn grow quickly and will kill one another to establish who is the strongest newborn. Star Trek: Strange New World establishes that the Gorn are susceptible to the cold and can die easily. Star Trek: Strange New World has done more to explain the Gorn than any other piece of Star Trek media since the creature first appeared and hopefully additional seasons will explore this species’ culture and variants.