How Star Trek Failed The Gorn: The Series' Most Controversial Villains Explained

Since the earliest days of the franchise, "Star Trek" has gone above and beyond to bring audiences to fascinating worlds and introduce them to the fantastical creatures that inhabit them. One such alien species that has gone on to become the stuff of pop culture legend is the Gorn: a species of technologically advanced human-like reptiles who famously make their debut on the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Arena." Unfortunately, in the eyes of some "Star Trek" fans, the franchise has consistently and controversially failed the Gorn as the years have gone on.

TikToker @iammichaelzavala interviewed a "Star Trek" fan who raised a fascinating point about the narrative use of the Gorn over the years. Initially, it seemed the goal was for viewers to empathize with the Gorn, seeing as they're introduced as a misunderstood race of beings that the United Federation of Planets unwittingly encroaches on the territory of. 

@iammichaelzavala

The biggest controversy in Star Trek is the Gorn? #s#startrekstlv #controversy #gorn #villians#villiansktng #s#startrektosstartrekcosplay

♬ original sound – Michael Zavala

The Gorn retaliate, believing they're being invaded, and this violence lazily became their defining feature as other "Star Trek" media came to be. The allegory of colonial entities othering those they don't understand swiftly fell by the wayside, and the Gorn became one-note villains.

Seeing as the Gorn have only popped up in "Star Trek" media a handful of times, it's easy to chart their swift devolution from project to project.

In the wake of their 1967 "Star Trek: The Original Series" arrival, and a brief appearance on "Star Trek: The Animated Series" in 1973's "The Time Trap," the Gorn don't reappear on television until 2005. On "Star Trek: Enterprise" Season 4, Episode 19, "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II," fans meet a fully CGI Gorn named Slar (Vince Deadrick, Jr., David Sobolov). He's a slavemaster and the leader of a salvage team tasked with stripping the USS Defiant who meets his end when he's shot by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). Slar is more or less a brute used as something of a mini-boss for the heroes of the episode — no character development, no nuance.

Following this disappointing return via "Enterprise," the Gorn pop up and don't get much to do on a few episodes of "Star Trek: Lower Decks." Then comes "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," where the Gorn are expanded on greatly in some pretty divisive ways. It's revealed that they use humans as incubators for their eggs, and that in their infant stage, they appear as dinosaur-like quadrupeds. Worse yet, narratively, the Gorn are again treated as one-dimensional villains, terrorizing humans without rhyme or reason. No tangible efforts are made to make the Gorn relatable or teach viewers any lesson other than that they're scary and a danger to the heroes.

As if this continued harm to the image of the Gorn isn't bad enough, "Strange New Worlds" also seems to retcon a key detail of the species' first appearance.

Something integral to the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Arena" is that Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew's encounter with the Gorn is the first time representatives of the United Federation of Planets do so. The fact that this is the first time the two entities have made contact solidifies Kirk and company's journey from fear to acceptance of the Gorn, despite their cultural differences and initial conflict. They realize that they aren't mindless foes, but members of an advanced society that's simply foreign to them. Unfortunately, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" — a prequel to "The Original Series" — undermines this with its use of the Gorn.

The events of "Arena" occur in the year 2267, while the "Strange New Worlds" Gorn episode, "All Those Who Wander," is set in 2259. Thus, technically speaking, it has been retconned that the Federation knew of the Gorn years before Kirk took one on in hand-to-hand combat. While retconning isn't uncommon in "Star Trek," and this earlier meeting between the Federation and the Gorn can be written off as an unofficial one, this whole scenario is a bit frustrating. Rather than putting the spotlight on the Gorn to expand on them in ways that honor their history and the real-world message behind them, the decision was made to turn them into generic science fiction creatures for the heroes to battle.

Now decades removed from their "Star Trek" introduction, the Gorn are in an odd spot. No longer vessels for a relevant social and societal message, they've been reduced to derivative monstrous enemies. Hopefully, "Star Trek" creatives will turn the species around someday and do right by their original message.