 A Gorn The Gorn are highly intelligent reptilians from the Beta Quadrant in the fictional realm of Star Trek. They made first contact with Starfleet at Cestus III when a misunderstanding nearly led to war. The Gorn made their first appearance in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Arena".
Despite limitations in make-up technology which made it obvious the Gorn Captain in "Arena" was simply an actor in a lizard suit (see picture), the Gorn have nonetheless become one of the most popular aliens to ever appear on Star Trek, even though "Arena" marks the only major (and, possibly, only ever) appearance by the race. "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".
Fanon speculation
As a result of the Gorn's limited exposure in canonical Star Trek, an extensive amount of non-canon, fanon, speculation exists as to Gorn history, biology, etc. What follows is a sampling of the speculations about this race that have been generated over the years.
According to fanon, the Gorn have a long history of war, art, culture, and pride. They have had many global governments on their planet of Gornniska, from the original Empire of Gornniska, to the Gorn Confederacy, to the Gorn Empire (separate entity from the Empire of Gornniska), to the Gorn Republic.
The average Gorn stands 2.7 meters tall and weighs 320 pounds (145 kg). They have compound eyes, cold blood, little sense of smell, bumpy skin, and an extremely high metabolism. They can heal injury at a rate of two pounds (1 kg) of flesh per hour, and knit bones in less than 15 minutes. The only way to kill a Gorn for good is to cut off its head.
They have had Warp Drive for as long as humans, but have been using particle weapons for only about half that time. They still use melee weapons and have a fondness for explosives and projectiles.
Gorn families are generally nuclear, with a mother, father, and children. But that family is a part of a larger extended family, the Clan. The Clan then belongs to an ever greater community, the Crest which is not only a collective of families but a political force behaving like a political party. There are ten active Crests on Gornniska, the most powerful being the Dragon Crest followed by the Phoenix Crest and then Red Crest.
The Gorn language, Gornouf, is a combination of guttural sounds and hissing, and some have no vowels in them at all. A good example is the Gorn Republic's creed:
"FOKHSS IP'KAKAROO OIIAASS'YU"
which means "Fight the weak".
The Gorn's region of space is referred to as the Gorn Hegemony, just rimward of the Klingon Empire, in the Star Trek: Star Charts set of maps.
In the fictional Star Fleet Universe variant (which is once again not considered canon with the Star Trek movies or series), the Gorn Confederation is comprised of 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 United Federation of Planets and the Tholian Holdfast in the General War. The alliance between the Gorn and the Federation represents one of the only alliances that is based on mutual trust and desire for friendship as opposed to political convienence.
They also share a border with the Interstellar Concordium, and were among the first races to feel the effects of the ISC War of Pacification.
Further canonical references In December 2004 it was reported that an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise (as yet untitled) scheduled to air in early 2005 will make reference to the Gorn empire. It is not known, however, if anything new about the Gorn will be revealed as The Original Series established that official first contact between Starfleet and the Gorn is not to occur for another 100 years in the Trek chronology of events. | 
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