Gorn

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Gorn Gorn Hegemony (Government)
The Gorn which Captain Kirk fought in "Arena"
Homeworld	Gorn Homeworld
Affiliation	Gorn Hegemony

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In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Gorn are intelligent reptilian humanoids from the Gorn Hegemony.

The Gorn had contact with the Orion Syndicate as early as 2154. The name of their government was established as the Gorn Hegemony in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Bound".

The Gorn made first contact with the Federation at Cestus III in 2267 when a misunderstanding nearly led to war (original series episode "Arena"). Although the Gorn made territorial claims, the Federation had a settlement there in 2371, indicating tensions later softened.

Because of limitations in make-up technology, it was obvious the Gorn captain in "Arena" was an actor (Bobby Clark) in a lizard suit (see photo). Despite this, the Gorn have become one of the most popular aliens to appear on Star Trek due to the striking design of Wah Chang and the Gorn's memorable personality. A hissing, slow-moving beast, the Gorn captain is quite devious, chuckling wickedly to himself as he sets a trap for Kirk and promising that if the captain gives himself up, the Gorn will make his death "merciful and quick." "Arena" is also considered one of the series' classic episodes and was the template for a similar, critically acclaimed episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Darmok".

For years, "Arena" marked the only live action appearance of the Gorn, although the race was "name dropped" from time to time. In 2005, an episode of Star Trek Enterprise featured a Gorn (albeit in the Mirror Universe) in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II". In that episode, the Gorn (whose name was Slar) was a overseer of a group of slaves belonging to the mirror universe's Tholians in an attempt to steal technology from the USS Defiant (NCC-1764) which had been lured into the mirror universe from ours. Slar hid in the ship's corridors and killed several crewmembers until it was killed by Jonathan Archer. For this appearance, Slar was designed using computer animation (and much to the chagrin of some fans, appeared radically different from the original Gorn). Since "In a Mirror, Darkly" takes place entirely within the Mirror Universe, the contact seen between Starfleet and the creature does not contradict the first contact seen in "Arena".

Slar, a Gorn from the Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II"

[edit] Non-canon appearances

A Gorn appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Time Trap" (TAS is not considered canon by Paramount Pictures).
Gorn burial practices were discussed in an issue of Marvel Comics' Star Trek Unlimited.
Gorn appear in the SNES game Starfleet Academy.
Gorn appear in the 2005 novel STAR TREK - Starfleet Corps of Engineers #44: Where Time Stands Still, a sequel to the animated episode mentioned above.
Gorn appear in the PC game Starfleet Command
Gorn appear in the Nintendo game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary.
Gorn appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation book #32, Requiem
A Gorn, with a name that sounds like "Rrrk", manages a bar in Arcturus (a city, planet and star all with the same name) in the novel "The Lost Years"
According to the manual for the computer game Star Trek: Bridge Commander, during the Dominion War the Gorn were allies of the Cardassians and the Dominion, and fought against the other Alpha Quadrant powers.

[edit] The Gorn in the Star Fleet Universe

Note that in the Star Fleet Universe, there is a distinction between Gorn (singular) and Gorns (plural).

The Gorn race appears in the alternate Star Fleet Universe, represented in the range of games from Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. as well as the first two Star Fleet Command games (and the Orion Pirates stand-alone addon for Starfleet Command II) from Taldren. These are not considered canon with the Star Trek movies or series. In this continuum, the Gorn Confederation is a powerful empire located coreward of the Romulan Star Empire, also bordering the United Federation of Planets and the Interstellar Concordium. It comprises three genetically related races, each from a neighbouring star system, knows as Ghdar I, Ghdar II and Ghdar III, are on the coreward border of the Romulan Star Empire and are portrayed as a more civilized and cultured race than as referenced in the Paramount Star Trek universe.

They ally in Y174 with the Kzinti Hegemony, the Hydran Kingdoms, the Federation and the Tholian Holdfast in the General War. The alliance between the Gorns and the Federation - following a brief conflict over a misunderstanding regarding the Federation colony on Cestus III, a Gorn world - represents one of the few alliances that is based on mutual trust and desire for friendship as opposed to political convenience.

They are mutually antagonistic with the Romulans, with whom they share a border with the Interstellar Concordium, and were among the first races to feel the effects of the ISC War of Pacification.