Every time the Gorn have appeared in Star Trek (and why they matter)

The Gorn are a seemingly savage yet highly advanced reptilian species capable of warp technology, which has been part of Star Trek canon since the first season of TOS and beyond.  The Gorn's legacy as a formidable adversary of Starfleet has continued in a suspenseful season 2 of Strange New Worlds (SNW). The evolution of the Gorn and their impact on the Federation has varied throughout Star Trek movies, live-action and animated TV series.

With the pending threat of the Gorn in season 2’s finale of SNW, where Captain Pike is left with a decision - to defy the Federation and try to rescue the colonist and the surviving crew of
USS Cayuga or leave them (as ordered) to possibly perish. This gut-wrenching cliffhanger dramatically sets up season 3 with the crew of the USS Enterprise against The Gorn - in a classic Star Trek continuity storytelling, which spans two centuries of canon from the 22nd Century to the 24th Century.

There is a reason why The Gorn in season 2 of SNW looks familiar – it's because you may have seen them before, yet in a different form. Here’s the history of The Gorn species, in chronological order by the Century and canon source in which they were mentioned, depicted, or seen in Star Trek TV series and movies.

22nd Century - Star Trek Enterprise

Enterprise (S4, E19 – “In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II”), which aired in 2005, included a daring Mirror Universe storyline that included The Gorn. In this Mirror Universe, the Vulcans were killed during the historic first contact with Earth's humans – setting up a violate Empire regime. In that regime, there is no Federation; however, there is a violent Terran Empire with an alternative cruel version of members of the ISS Enterprise (not the USS Enterprise). The Terran version of Captain Archer is a Commander, and he staged a coup and forcibly took command of the ISS Enterprise from Captain Forrest.

With the ISS Enterprise destroyed in the previous E18 episode, the Mirror crew is stranded aboard the USS Defiant (from the prime universe’s United Federation of Planets). The Terrans were at war with the Tholians who had enslaved The Gorn. Under likely duress from the Tholians, a Gorn slave hid on the USS Defiant in an attempt to sabotage the starship and to rescue the captured Tholian (by the Terrans) from whom it was enslaved. However, it was during Enterprise (S4, E17 “Bound”) that we first heard of The Gorn as an authoritarian regime called “Gorn Hegemony” (primarily from the Beta Quadrant) where the Orion tradesman Harrad-Sar mentioned dealings with them [The Gorn] prior to the year 2154.

This CGI version of The Gorn was much more agile, nimble, and advanced in appearance than The Gorn had been previously depicted in the TOS episode in the 1960s... more on that later.  The Gorns head seems to be in proportion to its body as its eyes are similar to a snake with a saucer-shaped iris, and its clothing resembles a primitive tunic - similar to the Gorn in the TOS episode. Additionally, the Gorn is bipedal, and it walks on its toes, much like a dinosaur such as Velociraptor.

Given the rise in filming technology spanning from 1967 to 2005, it’s clear that Star Trek creators have seen the need to evolve The Gorn depicted in this 22nd Century Enterprise episode in comparison to the 1960s version of The Gorn, which was much more mobile, streamlined, and aggressive.

23rd Century - Star Trek TOS

The first time The Gorn were depicted on screen was in TOS (S1, E18 “Arena”), which aired in 1967. In this episode, the USS Enterprise was sent an invitation to visit a Federation outpost called Cestus III. However, the colony was destroyed by an alien species called The Gorn. While in pursuit of The Gorn's ship, the Enterprise and The Gorn were stopped by another alien species called the Metrons. The Metrons decided The Gorn, and the humans of the Enterprise were both too violent.

To resolve the conflict the Metron species decided to engage the parties in a trial-by-combat style event in a one-on-one duel to the death, in which the winner's ship would be spared, and the loser would be destroyed. The captains from each ship (Captain Kirk and the Gorn Captain) were transported to a remote asteroid to engage in a duel to the death

During the battle, The Gorn's appearance, given the era (1960s) - when this episode was made, was depicted in a rubber Gorn suit and its movements were quite slow, clumsy, and it reminded me of vintage Godzilla movies. The Gorn eyes are compound - similar to flies, with an oversized reptilian head, and a mouth 2/3 the size of its head, that includes sharp alligator-like teeth.

The Gorn demonstrated warfare tactics and strategies, presenting itself as an intelligent foe against Captain Kirk. Ultimately, Captain Kirk won the battle, and he spared the life of the Gorn. As a result, the Metrons released both ships of the Gorn and the crew of the Enterprise in recognition of Kirk’s empathy for the Gorn - showing the Metrons human’s potential for growth and non-violence.

23rd Century - Star Trek: The Animated Series

In 1973, an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series (S1 E12 "The Time Trap) aired in which the USS Enterprise and a Klingon ship were trapped in what was described as a pocket timeline of the prime timeline. In this pocket timeline, starships from a variety of species were trapped and could not escape. To co-exist in this pocket timeline, various species banded together and formed an Elysia council of order and peace, which had lasted for a thousand years.

When new starship found themselves trapped in this pock timeline, the Elysian council would bring the captains from the trapped ships before the council to encourage them to agree to the terms of their peaceful alliance. If they do not agree, then with their psionic powers (which I suspect evolved over the thousand years of their collective), the Elysian council will immobilize the ship for 100 years. Although it was not addressed, I assume that after 100 years, the ship's inhabitants would be allowed to join the Elysia.

During the Elysian Council, which represented 123 different species, we see a Gorn as a member of the council. This Gorn, understandably, was represented in very much the same depiction in appearance and dress as the Gorn in the TOS episode in the fight to the death with Captain Kirk. In this way, we see that The Gorn are capable of making other decisions that can be cooperative, rather than aggressive and dangerous.

23rd Century - Star Trek Discovery

Airing in 2017, There is some mystery surrounding an episode of Star Trek: Discovery (S1, E3, “Context is for Kings”) in which Captain Gabriel Lorca (from the Mirror Universe - unknown to the crew of Discovery) had on display in a glass case in his quarters the skeletal remains of a Gorn. There are two significant oddities to note about this skeleton: 1) the skeleton was strangely more human-like with a Gorn head, human rib cage, arms, hips and legs 2) why would Lorca have a skeleton of a Gorn anyway? Discovery (2256-2258) took place 10 years prior to the first appearance of the Gorn in TOS (2266-2269), so Lorca would not have come in contact with a Gorn- let alone the skeletal remains of one!

Either this is an unlikely continuity error, or this is a purposeful easter egg for Star Trek canon aficionados to catch the hint that Lorca is not from the prime timeline. However, this is evidence he's from the Mirror Universe, and the skeleton is some kind Gorn/Human species that may have evolved as such in the Mirror Universe.

Either way this is a fascinating easter egg to crack. Yet, the Gorn in the Enterprise episodes were also from the Mirror Universe, and they did not appear to be human-like. I suspect we’ll have to set this one aside as another mystery of the Mirror Universe.

23rd Century - Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Airing in 2022, SNW creators have dramatically reinvented the interpretation of The Gorn with a xenomorph-like (Aliens) body-type and behaviors as well, because it incubates their hatchlings inside a host body. These predatory creatures are highly intelligent and have evolved fast breeding cycles despite harsh climates to gain the tactical advantage, as they mass reproduce in vast numbers. Gorn offspring are just as deadly as the adults and can be just as ferocious. Additionally, these Gorn's movements are more reptilian-like as they navigate on all fours, and their heads are more proportionate to their bodies with large, reptile-like eyes that are no longer compound, similar to flies.

As an offensive strategy The Gorn in SNW have adopted several affective techniques such as; their Hunter ships are agile in space and are capable of rapid-fire attacks with precision flying; they swarm like wasps and are highly aggressive, their Destroyer-class ships are heavily armed for planetary assaults and fleet engagements; ships have cloaking capabilities; hatchlings are used as biological warfare when they burst out of their hosts - killing them; hatchlings adapt to their environment with camouflage and can move skillfully in tight spaces; and they use light-based communication to coordinate without being detected by Starfleet.

From a defensive strategy The Gorn has implemented a coordinated plan to stop Starfleet's advances by ratifying the following: their ships are typically invisible to standard sensors; their light signal communication prevents Starfleet from intercepting and decoding their transmissions; hatchlings are immune to tricorder scans that make them undetectable, until they strike; containing hatchlings for study is difficult because they mature rapidly to adulthood; and the Gorn Hegemony is highly efficient in responding to perceived threats with overwhelming force.

We learned about how deadly this new interpretation of The Gorn is in three episodes. In (S1, E4 "Memento Mori") the crew learned that The Gorn's ships use a light-based communication transmission to evade detection. In (S1, E9 "All Those Who Wander") Gorn hatchlings were shown; and in the season 2 finale (E10 "Hegemony") the crew of the Enterprise is in a full-scale war with The Gorn and are left with a cliffhanger (into the upcoming season 3) as Captain Pike in a dilemma to decide whether he will disobey Starfleet and rescue the survivors of the Gorn attack on Parnassus Beta, and to rescue the surviving crew of the USS Cayuga who also withstood The Gorn incursion, or withdraw and leave them all to a likely certain death.

This new adaptation of The Gorn, is nothing short of brilliant. Albeit quite reminiscent of James Cameron's Aliens, however, their technology and intellect are uniquely menacing and will likely elevate The Gorn to one of Starfleet's deadliest foes.

24th Century - Star Trek: Nemesis

Although this Gorn reference was cut from Captain Picard's dialogue from Nemesis - the script did include a scene in which Captain Picard gave his best man's speech at the wedding of Commander William Riker's and Lieutenant Deanna Troi. Picard's speech would have included a reference to the fact that a Gorn had attended Riker's bachelor party.

It's unclear as to the intent of Nemesis' creators as to why the line was dropped. However, Nemesis was released in 2002, and I suspect it was because The Gorn had not been seen in Star Trek canon since 1973 in a brief segment in TOS Animated Series. And it had been even further back in 1967 when Captain Kirk battled a Gorn in TOS. It's likely the broader fan base of viewers may not know nor remember what a Gorn is to get or understand the reference in his [Captain Picard] speech. Although, this notion, despite not making it into the film, further expresses how The Gorn has continued to shape Star Trek canon over the decades and more to come.

24th Century - Star Trek: Lower Decks

Airing in 2020, the creators of the adult comedy animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks made a specific attempt to include the TOS version of The Gorn. In (S1, E8 "Veritas"), ensigns (Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford) were jailed on the planet K'Tuevon Prime and questioned (for crimes allegedly committed by the USS Cerritos' senior command officers). They were interrogated by a race of humanoids called Primes, while under duress from witnessing senior command being suspended above them and immobile. During the trial, Rutherford recalled a time he was on a clandestine mission (with Lt. Commander Billups and Lt. Shaxs) to steal a Romulan Bird-of-Prey starship.

As part of this mission Rutherford was asked to update his oculus implant with the latest Romulan flight manuals. To do so, Rutherford's implant needed to reboot. Consequently, Rutherford could barely keep up with the events of the mission because his implant kept malfunctioning with several restarts, which caused him to blackout in between each restart. Eventually, Rutherford ending up at a Gorn wedding ceremony. The Gorn at the wedding had the traditional compound eyes, with green reptilian skin, while wearing primitive tunics, and they were also bipedal. The Gorn were quite aggressive as they attacked Rutherford, who screamed from their bits, as he blacked out a few times during his implant restart - only to wake up with The Gorn still biting him. In true Lower Decks comedic form, the ensigns had completely misinterpreted the Prime's trial and by the end of the episode, it was revealed that the trail was really a ceremonial congratulations celebration for the Cerritos' senior command officers.

The Gorn are shaping up to a deadly adversary for Starfleet and across canon, from TOS up to the upcoming season 3 of SNW, I suspect they will continue to evolve and be an influential part of the ethos of Federation villains, wedding party fodder, or possibly even join Starfleet Academy!

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