After debuting in combat against William Shatner's Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, a very different Gorn appeared in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. As a sequel to Star Trek: Discovery and a prequel to The Original Series, Captain Pike and the Strange New Worlds crew straddles a unique position in Gene Roddenberry's fictional timeline. Taking place less than a decade before the Enterprise's five-year mission under James T. Kirk, Strange New Worlds is afforded plenty of opportunities to foreshadow and elaborate upon aspects of 1960s Star Trek, albeit often with significant updates.
One of the most glaring changes in Strange New Worlds season 1 was the Gorn. Better known as the alien lizard with disco ball eyes that got beaten up by Captain Kirk, the Gorn is actually the name of said lizard's elusive species. First appearing in Star Trek season 1's "Arena," the Gorn became an iconic franchise enemy, despite a lack of screen time, and made its next appearance in an Enterprise Mirror Universe episode. Modern Star Trek had previously restricted the Gorn to Easter eggs and bad TV commercials - until Strange New Worlds made them a whole new breed of villain.
7 Strange New Worlds Made The Gorn Truly Evil
The biggest change Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made to the Gorn was turning the species into a truly evil, villainous, formidable threat to the entire Federation in the Star Trek universe. In "Arena," the Gorn were intimidating from a purely physical standpoint. Enterprise updated the concept slightly through Slar, who was working for the Tholians and had a terrible CGI makeover, but did little to expand Star Trek's Gorn lore - and took place in the Mirror universe regardless. Strange New Worlds reimagined the Gorn as space "boogeymen" who roam around the quadrant snatching, killing, enslaving and traumatizing all they encounter.
Strange New Worlds' strange new Gorn were brought to life through La'an Noonien-Singh, who encountered the species as a child and has lived in fear ever since, despite her reputation throughout Starfleet as a courageous and unflinching personality. The sheer panic La'an showed when the Gorn appeared perfectly conveyed how the species are now much more than just another bunch of Star Trek aliens, or a territorial race that only attacks when provoked. Strange New Worlds made the Gorn evil, elevating them to the status of Klingons and Romulans as overarching Star Trek antagonists.
6 The Federation Encountered The Gorn Much Earlier
Making the Gorn scary was Strange New Worlds' biggest change to the species, but altering their placement in Star Trek's timeline was the biggest outright retcon. When Captain Kirk encountered his Gorn opponent in "Arena," Star Trek left no doubt that the Enterprise crew possessed no prior knowledge of this race, giving them the privilege of making first contact with the reptilians. Strange New Worlds, however, stretched the plausibility of the Enterprise's ignorance.
When the modernized Gorn first emerged in "Memento Mori," only their spacecraft was visible, which avoided the issue of Kirk not recognizing his opponent in "Arena." In "All Those Who Wander," however, the Gorn were far more visible and direct, and it becomes tricky to consider that Captain Pike's crew - which includes the likes of Spock and Uhura - could experience such a close encounter that somehow goes unmentioned during "Arena." Kirk lines such as "a creature apparently called a Gorn" suddenly make very little sense in the context of Strange New Worlds.
5 The Gorn Breeding Planets In Strange New Worlds
Because Star Trek: Strange New Worlds transformed the Gorn from territorial aggressors to despicable hunters of warm-blooded victims, a new motivation for the species was required. In Strange New Worlds season 1's "Memento Mori," La'an's memories revealed a Gorn breeding planet. After assaulting a target, the muscle-bound lizards will capture living humans, transport them to a ready-made breeding planet, and feed the prisoners to their young Gorn hatchlings, giving the Star Trek alien species a far darker modus operandi.
Again, however, this new nugget of information rubs awkwardly against Star Trek: The Original Series. In the final moments of "Arena," Captain Kirk showed mercy upon his beaten opponent, hoping the Federation and the Gorn could reach a peaceful compromise over the disputed section of space. Dr. McCoy even theorized earlier in the episode that the Gorn were merely defending themselves when attacking Cestus III. Kirk and Bones would have likely been less generous had they known the Gorn capture people and feed them to their young.
4 Gorn Infect Human Hosts With Their Eggs
Having developed the concept of breeding planets, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds went further by revealing the birds and bees of Gorn reproduction, taking hefty inspiration from Alien in the process. As Strange New Worlds favorite Lieutenant Hemmer discovered the hard way, Gorn eggs are parasitic - forced into warm-blooded bodies to incubate before hatching and killing the host in gruesome fashion. Even at a young age, Gorn hatchlings can spit the venom that embeds the eggs in a victim's body. Once infected with Gorn juice, the recipient can do little but wait for a slight gurgling sensation in the stomach and a death as messy as it is inevitable.
The concept of baby Gorn bursting from swollen stomachs represented Star Trek: Strange New Worlds moving away from the more reasonable Gorn from The Original Series. Rather than a species Starfleet could negotiate with, this grim practice arguably makes the Gorn as sinister as any villain in the Star Trek franchise. Gene Roddenberry would likely not approve.
3 Gorn Hatchlings In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Only fully-grown adult Gorn had appeared in the Star Trek universe before Strange New Worlds, but "All Those Who Wander" finally revealed what a hatchling looks like - and anyone hoping for Star Trek's answer to Baby Yoda was left sorely disappointed. The new design accentuated animalistic traits over the Gorn's more humanoid aspects, and ditched the glittery eyes for something more realistically reptilian. Although it seems perfectly plausible that the Gorn rugrat from Strange New Worlds could grow into the iconic design from "Arena," its appearance remains a noticeable departure from both the Star Trek: The Original Series rubber suit and the rudimentary Enterprise CGI.
2 Strange New Worlds Reveals More About Gorn Behavior
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds elaborated upon how the Gorn behave, their culture, and the tactics they use against enemies, and while some additions to Star Trek lore tally with Captain Kirk's experience, others do not. During William Shatner's famous duel, the Gorn were presented as a somewhat primitive species. This is deliberate, of course, since the entire point of "Arena" was to highlight humanity's own primitive nature. Strange New Worlds allowed the Gorn to be more cunning and strategic, setting an ingenious trap that the Enterprise fell right into. This suggested the Gorn perhaps aren't a race that would promote a captain who gets caught out by a wooden cannon.
More in keeping with Star Trek's original concept is how the children of the Gorn fight and kill each other to ensure only the strongest of the species reach adulthood. This stage of their development brings back the traditional idea of Gorn as a warrior race with principles not dissimilar to the Klingons. In all cases, Strange New Worlds massively expanded the boundaries of Gorn society and customs.
1 The Gorn Have A Weakness In Strange New Worlds
Many changes and retcons Strange New Worlds made to the Gorn served to present the creatures in a more terrifying light, but one new detail revealed a key weakness. The Enterprise crew deduced that Gorn hate cold temperatures, which seems only logical given their reptilian inspiration. The arid planet in "Arena" obviously never allowed Captain Kirk to exploit this weakness, but knowing the Gorn avoid icy temperatures exposed a biological flaw that can be exploited in future episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.