Star Trek: Strange New Worlds recently released its fourth episode, "Memento Mori," and with it, used its prequel status to return to an iconic piece of Star Trek lore dating back to 1967. This episode doesn't shy away from saying the infamous species' name, either. However, revisiting the Gorn isn't all that surprising, considering Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) revealed the heartbreaking backstory that found her a victim of the ruthless species, even if that wasn't quite the lore the audience was expecting based on the character's name. But fifty-five years is a long time, so if you don't remember everything about the antagonistic species, nobody would blame you. So, who are the Gorn?

The Gorn are an intelligent, bipedal, and reptilian species that are incredibly hostile and unfortunately warp-capable with technology on par with The Federation's. Thanks to Lower Decks, the assumption can be made that they have at least two genders and that marriage is a part of their reptilian culture. The species are very durable, strong, and have incredible stamina, however, this also makes them slower and less agile creatures. While the eye appearance of the reptiles' eyes varied among the species, they had razor-sharp teeth, holes on the side of their heads for ears, and claws on their hands and feet. The Gorn are carnivores.

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Image via Paramount+

Until Strange New Worlds, it was assumed that the first contact with the Gorn was with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), but we now know of at least two previous interactions. The first occurred in the 2200s when the reptilians captured a human colony ship and transferred the entire complement to a facility where they were used as live food or breeding sacks. According to the Gorn's culture, the last surviving person is jettisoned into space aboard a life raft, allowing for Lt. Noonien-Singh's survival and rescue by Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn). Later, the Gorn attempt to lure The USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) into a trap, but thanks to the previous experience of Lt. Noonien-Singh, the Enterprise is able to evade capture, destroy one of the ships, and escape.

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Image via CBS

The Federation made contact with the species when they attack a colony/outpost on Cestus III, a system in what the Gorn considered their territory, in Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Arena." When USS Enterprise pursues a Gorn vessel, another alien, a Metron, transports both Kirk and the Gorn Captain to a deserted planet where the iconic fight scene takes place. Kirk eventually wins, but instead spares the Gorn. The Metron is surprised but impressed, deciding to spare The Enterprise while still sending them thousands of light-years away from that sector of space.

A Gorn was next seen on The Animated Series episode, "The Time Trap." He was seen on a ruling council of a pocket reality, implying that some of the species became separated from the whole. It's important to note that generally The Animated Series isn't included in the recognized Star Trek canon. The Gorn are also in several Lower Decks episodes. In addition to the huge marriage revelation, the series also gives fans an amazing tidbit of information: A Gorn resides on Starbase 25 and is a chef at 'Mr. Krada Leg'.

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Image via CBS

Finally, a Gorn named Slar is also used in Enterprise's "In A Mirror Darkly, Part 2" to help contextualize the mirror universe and show how brutal and violent the alternate reality is. Slar is a slavemaster for the Tholian Assembly, leading a salvage mission of the USS Defiant (NCC-1764), a ship from the prime universe, stuck in the mirroring one. When Terrans also board the ship, Slar attempts to keep control of the ship but is killed by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) in the process. Star Trek: Discovery also shows that because of the size and might of the species, it isn't unusual for members of The Terran Empire to take their skeletal remains as trophies, as seen on Georgiou's (Michelle Yeoh) ISS Shenzou.

The Gorn may not have a history as complex as the Andorians or Bajorans, but the Gorn rightfully earned their place in Trek lore even just by being the first thing that comes to many people's minds when mentioning Star Trek or Captain Kirk. The inclusion of this species in La'an's backstory gives the opportunity to flesh out this species even more in Strange New Worlds, potentially providing more context for the goofy fight that aired over 5 decades ago.