History Literature / Gor

-->"[[MrBNatural He looks like a happy]] [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers pig!]]"

* CatFight: There's one of these about halfway into ''Outlaw of Gor'' between [[ActionGirl Talena]] and two [[HotAmazon Hot Amazons]].

* PurpleProse: Even when it's {{Beige| Prose}}. This continues from the influencing series, ''JohnCarterOfMars''.

** Also Gor appears to be based on {{Plato}}'s ''Republic''.

** Jack Palance in ''Outlaw of Gor''. This was between ''RipleysBelieveItOrNot'' and ''CitySlickers''.

-->'''Servo:''' (singing) [[FuManchu Har-ry Al-len]] ''[[FuManchu Towers!!!]]''

** The gang decides they've had enough and walk away from the book - til Crow exclaims that it has an entire chapter on ''TangoAndCash''.
-->'''Mike (mimicking Palance):''' Saw [[KurtRussell Russell's]] butt today...!

-->"[[ThematicThemeTune My-my-my-my]] {{Mitchell}}!"

-->"[[{{Eegah}} Watch out for snakes!]]"
-->"[[TheDayTheEarthFroze Sa... sa..." "Sampo!]]"

* OldShame: {{Averted|Trope}} for the most part, as Mike doesn't seem ''that'' embarassed about his early acting career. That said, he did seem to wear a '''lot''' of [[CostumeInertia sailor suits]]. Even for ''DeathOfASalesman'', ''WaitingForGodot'', ''{{Hamlet}}'', ''Theatre/RichardIII'', ''[[OverlyLongGag Oh! Calcutta!]]''... Not even '''''Mike''''' realised this until the bots pointed it out to him, leading to some relatively mild horror on Mike's part.

* VehicularTurnabout: Naval fights, being of the WoodenShipsAndIronMen type, often use this. Specifically, in ''Renegades of Gor'' the river town of Ar's Station use this to supplement their navy. Ar is a land superpower but doesn't have much of a navy, so they fill their holds with infantrymen and swarm their enemy's ships when they get boarded, capturing the ship and then using it against the enemy's other vessels.

* OldShame: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the most part, as Mike doesn't seem ''that'' embarassed about his early acting career. That said, he did seem to wear a '''lot''' of [[CostumeInertia sailor suits]]. Even for DeathOfASalesman, WaitingForGodot, {{Hamlet}} RichardIII, [[OverlyLongGag Oh! Calcutta!]] ... Not even '''''Mike''''' realised this until the bots pointed it out to him, leading to some relatively mild horror on Mike's part.

* TranslationByVolume: In ''Savages of Gor'', where a Red Savage (FantasyCounterpartCulture to Native American) of the Dust Leg tribe talks slowly and loudly in his native language to a BeautifulSlaveGirl who only speaks [[CommonTongue Gorean]].
-->He was speaking to her in Dust Leg, slowly and clearly. "Yes, Master," she whimpered, in Gorean. "Yes, Master." It amused me that the youth, like so many individuals to whom only one language is familiar, so familiar that it seems that all humans must, in one way or another, be conversant with it, seemed to think that the girl must surely understand him if only he would speak slowly enough and with sufficient distinctness.

* LongRunningBookSeries

* {{Alien Non-Interference Clause}}: Inverted by the Priest Kings, an alien race worshiped as gods who have artificially cultivated and vigilantly constrain Gorean culture and technology. The clearer this becomes, the more arguments about 'the natural order' and the Masters' role in Gor go out the window, but because none of them know the true nature of the Priest Kings they're never exposed to the FridgeLogic. The Free of Gor are themselves pawns in a [[TheMasquerade secret war]].

* AuthorTract: Maybe, maybe not. It is probably the case that Norman is just indulging his fetishes rather than arguing that "maledom is morally imperative."
** Norman wrote a non-fiction book called "Imaginative Sex" which included both maledom/femsub and femdom/malesub scenarios (albeit more of the latter than the former).

* ContemptibleCover: The cover of the latest edition may be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, but still, [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tarnsman-Gor-John-Norman/dp/0759283834/ look at it.]] [[{{NSFW}} Preferably at home.]]
** If anything, it may be ''less'' suggestive than [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tarnsman_of_gor_vallejo_cover.jpg the original cover.]]
*** Vallejo's cover art does (fancifully) depict a scene from the book. Standing: Tarl Cabot (somewhat less dressed than the story would have had it). Kneeling: Talena (technically Tarl's slave, in practice an honourably-treated captive, pretending to be more thoroughly subjugated to impress). In the howdah: Mintar the Merchant, a slave-trader. Astride, in the background: Kazrak of Port Kar, one of Mintar's caravan guards. The more recent art, though, suggests that female bondage is the major focus of ''Tarnsman'', which is not at all the case.

* ShoutOut: The first book, ''Tarnsman of Gor'', opens up with a scene inspired by the ''{{Barsoom}}'' series.

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Marlenus, the ultra-alpha Ubar of Ar, plays Kaissa superbly well, crushing Tarl Cabot into the dirt every single time they play. But Samos of Port Kar prefers to play his Kaissa with [[ManipulativeBastard real people and real lives]]. [[spoiler: Just as well he really is on the side of the angels.]]

* StrawFeminist: In ''Assassin of Gor'', one of these is brought over and put through slave training. Of course her silly ideas about equality are [[RapeAsComedy played for laughs]], as only a foolish woman could ever believe it. And also of course, she is deliberately put up against an expert in debating who has argued the same points a thousand times before, and the narrator himself opines that the truth lies somewhere in between.
** Nearly every free woman comes across as having aspects of this, especially the ones with power. Until Tarl Cabot comes by and [[SexSlave puts them in their place]], [[HappinessInSlavery much to their pleasure once they submit.]]

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Hunter.

* InformedAbility: The Hunter doesn't appear to be ''as'' talented or bloodthirsty as Lara wishes us to believe.
** He does [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn throw a mean javelin.]] ]]

* SayMyName: CABOT! Repeated endlessly when he arrives in ''Outlaw of Gor'' (the film).
** According to IMDB, the name "Cabot" is said 55 times in the first ten minutes of the film alone.

** GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Practically every word.
* OldShame: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the most part, as Mike doesn't seem ''that'' embarassed about his early acting career. That said, he did seem to wear a '''lot''' of [[CostumeInertia sailor suits]]. Even for DeathOfASalesman, WaitingForGodot, {{Hamlet}} RichardIII, [[OverlyLongGag Oh! Calcutta!]] ...
** Not even '''''Mike''''' realised this until the bots pointed it out to him, leading to some relatively mild horror on Mike's part.
* OverlyLongGag: "Missed call!"

->''"When we are to be raped, and must serve you as slaves," begged the first girl, she who had been in his arms, "[[YouKeepUsingThatWord let me be the first to be raped]], the first to serve you as a slave."\\
"You will not be forgotten, my beautiful little slut," he promised her.\\
"Thank you, Master, " she whispered.''
-->-- '''''Slave Girl of Gor'''''

''The Chronicles of Gor'' is a ScienceFantasy novel series (one of those that blur the lines between the ScienceFiction and {{Fantasy}}), written by John Norman (real name Dr. John Frederick Lange, Jr., a professor of philosophy). The Chronicles of Gor starts out as a PlanetaryRomance before moving on to a [[FetishFuelFuture sex-slave culture]] where [[AuthorAppeal most of the female main characters are legally property]]. The planet Gor is a Counter-Earth, a hypothetical planet in Earth's orbit on the other side of the sun, always blocked from view [[hottip:*:An impossible situation, and thus fantastic, given the gravitational influences observed upon every comet passing into the inner solar system, even before the advent of interplanetary exploration in the 1960s; then again, if the alien species in question is capable of moving entire ''planets'' into orbit around stars, erasing traces of gravitational influence would likely not be such a problem]]. On Gor, some {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s decided to take humans from [[AnachronismStew various eras in human history]] and dump them together and see what happens, after [[FantasyGunControl removing any type of firearm]] and [[BurnTheWitch burning anyone who tries to violate said ban]].

The ''Gor'' series was adapted into a sword & sorcery film series in the late Eighties; for better or worse, the films {{Bowdlerize}}d the sex-slavery aspect. The second film, ''Outlaw of Gor'' (shortened to "Outlaw"), was shown on ''{{Mystery Science Theater 3000}}''. It revolved around Tarl Cabot being brought back to Gor and accidentally bringing a very annoying friend, Watney Smith. Cabot is soon framed for the murder of the ruler of the city-state of Koroba, leaving [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the evil Queen]] and [[EvilChancellor Jack Palance's priest character]] free to seize power. This is by no means the only instance of a movie bearing no resemblance, save a few names, to the book that supposedly inspired it, but it is a particularly egregious example from the word "sorcery" onwards.

!!Setting contains examples of the following tropes:

* AbusivelySexy: Most civilizations on the world of Gor seem to be built with this as one of their basic premises.
* AlternativeNumberSystem: The Kurii use base-12, presumably because they have 12 digits on their "hands."
* AmazonBrigade: Panther girls.
* AnachronismStew: Romans coexist with Native Americans. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the backstory.
* {{Alien Non-Interference Clause}}: Inverted by the Priest Kings, an alien race worshiped as gods who have artificially cultivated and vigilantly constrain Gorean culture and technology. The clearer this becomes, the more arguments about 'the natural order' and the Masters' role in Gor go out the window, but because none of them know the true nature of the Priest Kings they're never exposed to the FridgeLogic. The Free of Gor are themselves pawns in a [[TheMasquerade secret war]].
** The Priest-Kings apparently act as the only barrier between humanity and a particularly brutal alien race called the Kurii, but asking yourself how the world they created in the books helps either their cause or the humans' only makes your head hurt. Still, some of this is gone into in the series: the Priest-Kings, who are hyper-intelligent, have projected that Earth society will collapse catastrophically within a century or two, not least because Man's weaponry has outgrown his rationality and common sense. Therefore, if there is to be hope for the species, some members of it must be preserved off-world with artificial restrictions on their firepower, at least. It is better for mankind, the Priest-Kings reason, if men prevail through their strength, courage and wits, and not through technological advantages, hence the restrictions both on weaponry and on any personal protection bar a shield and helmet. If this results in a society in which a minority of women are slaves (and also many men, though mainly as labourers treated far more harshly than the female pleasure slaves), that is no concern of the Priest-Kings, most of whom are sexless themselves. Then, industrialization and rampant consumerism on Earth has led to massive environmental damage which the Priest-Kings do not want to see repeated in their own backyard - and, as the narrator ponders, has led to a society in which interchangeable sexless labour units exist to service the machine, in a flagrant betrayal of their own origins and biological truths. Finally, it is clearly in the Priest-Kings' own interests that the dangerous and unpredictable humans sharing their planet never be in a position to threaten the Priest-Kings' safety; and, since they are also the protectors of Earth humanity, the occasional death of an ambitious would-be gunsmith seems a small price to pay.
* AsYouKnow: ''Explorers of Gor'' opens with Tarl Cabot and Samos telling each other several pages of stuff they both already know but the reader does not. There are other examples too.
* AuthorAppeal: And how!
* AuthorTract: Maybe, maybe not. It is probably the case that Norman is just indulging his fetishes rather than arguing that "maledom is morally imperative."
** Norman wrote a non-fiction book called "Imaginative Sex" which included both maledom/femsub and femdom/malesub scenarios (albeit more of the latter than the former).
* BoardingParty: The ships of Ar's Station subvert their boarders by boarding back with hundreds of infantrymen hidden in their holds. (Ar is a landlocked city-state, so their not-quite-colony Ar's Station on the Vosk River is not considered a sea power. They use their superior infantry to wage a land war on the river and take their enemies' better ships.)
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Tarl Cabot is an expert fencer, but is teased about his use of the humble peasant's bow. However, whenever Cabot actually uses the weapon he gets the last laugh in no uncertain fashion.
* BurnTheWitch: More of "burn the gunslingers and demolitions experts", but it gets the same effect.
* CaptainColorbeard: ''Marauders of Gor'' has Ivar Forkbeard, who is a Viking outlaw pirate.
* CommediaDellArte: In book 20, ''Players of Gor'', Cabot hooks up with a touring Commedia troupe. The leader Boots Tarsk-Bit appears in book 25, ''Magicians of Gor''. (Gor has no real magicians, but it does have stage illusionists.) Characters in the troupe are named Bina (from Columbina - on Gor, "Bina" means "Slave Beads"), Brigella, Chino, Lecchio (cf Lecchino) and other less obvious correspondences.
* ChariotRace: ''Assassins of Gor'' has Tarn races - basically the same thing, except with giant birds people ride.
* ColorCodedMultiplayer: ''Assassin of Gor'' shows us the tarn racers of Ar, identical in pretty much all respects to the chariot racers of Rome, including the various factions being designated solely by their colours. In the story, the emergence of a new faction called "Steel" is key to the plot.
* ContemptibleCover: The cover of the latest edition may be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, but still, [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tarnsman-Gor-John-Norman/dp/0759283834/ look at it.]] [[{{NSFW}} Preferably at home.]]
** If anything, it may be ''less'' suggestive than [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tarnsman_of_gor_vallejo_cover.jpg the original cover.]]
*** Vallejo's cover art does (fancifully) depict a scene from the book. Standing: Tarl Cabot (somewhat less dressed than the story would have had it). Kneeling: Talena (technically Tarl's slave, in practice an honourably-treated captive, pretending to be more thoroughly subjugated to impress). In the howdah: Mintar the Merchant, a slave-trader. Astride, in the background: Kazrak of Port Kar, one of Mintar's caravan guards. The more recent art, though, suggests that female bondage is the major focus of ''Tarnsman'', which is not at all the case.
* CreepySouvenir: The Red Savages regularly scalp enemies.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Sky Bridges; that is all.
* DeadpanSnarker: Cabot; most of the other major characters also have this tendency.
* DecoyLeader
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Editors apparently refuse to touch these books, because the author repeatedly repeats himself repeatedly. Rumor is that when the books moved to DAW (around book #8), part of the contract was a no-edit clause.
* EndlessDaytime: ''Beasts of Gor'' takes place in the far northern region of the planet, which has long times of sun and no sun respectively.
-->"Come along," I said to Poalu. "It will soon be dark." That was true. [[DeadpanSnarker In a few weeks the Arctic night would descend.]]
* ExtraParentConception: The Kurii have four genders for reproduction.
* FantasticRankSystem: The Kur have one. See the trope page for details.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Semi-[[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as these are the real Earth cultures transported to another planet.
* FantasyGunControl: The Priest-Kings make ''damn'' sure there is no type of explosive weapon on Gor.
* FetishFuelFuture
* FlameBait
* {{Flanderization}}: Chiefly of its own subject matter. Norman clearly packs the fictional universe with a heavy amount of detail. Anthropological detail regarding all the various cultures, etc. etc. But over time, the focus gets progressively more and more concentrated upon the FetishFuel.
* GambitPileup: The plot of ''Assassin of Gor''. Cabot and his female lover infiltrate a slave house that is smuggling in Earth women and guns. The girl allows herself to be captured and trained as a slave in order to receive access to the house. The slave owner, Cernus, sees right through this, but allows her to go through the training (and allows Cabot to stay in his palace) only to reveal his plan right ''after'' she is sold to the most brutal slaver on Gor. '''Then''' it is revealed that the Priest Kings saw right through both plans, and sent the second slaver [[spoiler: who is in fact one of their most trusted agents, his well-deserved reputation notwithstanding]] to buy the girl from Cernus. Meanwhile, the supposed city idiot [[spoiler: the most trusted agent of Marlenus, who is preparing to return to Ar]] has been overseeing Cernus's crushing downfall and everything goes wrong just as Cernus is celebrating his own crowning as Ubar of Ar.
* GeneralBadass: Marlenus, Ubar of Ar, is not only a brilliant war general and inspirational city leader, but personally one of the most dangerous men on all Gor.
* GiantSpider: The Spider People do not hurt other sapients, so apparently they're a lot more civilized than the humans. Even the Priest-Kings consider the Spider People unduly pacifistic.
* GladiatorRevolt
* HappinessInSlavery: One of the central premises of the series, at least for the women; for the most part, no-one cares two hoots whether the male slaves enjoy their lot, which is generally nasty, brutish and short whether in the mines or the galleys.
* {{Heavyworlder}}: Inverted. Gor has less gravity than Earth, but it is the Goreans who are described as much more physically strong mainly because they work physically a lot of the time, having no mechanised industry; much like a modern Englishman could not pull an Agincourt-era longbow. However, Earth-raised Tarl Cabot does reap the benefit of his Earth muscles once he has had some warrior training, and Jason Marshall doesn't do too badly either.
* IconOfRebellion: Tarl and his friend Marcus start a rebellion in Ar by claiming to have heard of the "Delta Brigade" (named after the events in a previous book where the forces of Ar were defeated in a delta) and scratch deltas everywhere. There later becomes an actual Delta Brigade which they have nothing to do with. It's like al-Qaeda - no one group has any interaction with any other group, they just call themselves that and engage in uncivil disobedience.
* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: At the end of ''Marauders of Gor'', Tarl feels the paralysing poison begin to reassert itself. Sarus of Tyros, who was the captain of the other side in the battle where Tarl got poisoned in the first place, turns up with a story and what he says is an antidote. There is not enough of it for Sarus to sample it and prove it harmless, so Tarl quaffs it with a smile on his face and orders to let Sarus go whatever happens.
* KnockoutGas: In ''Fighting Slave of Gor'' Jason Marshall and his date Beverly are taken out by knockout gas in the backseat of a specially-prepared taxi. They were only after her, but he forced his way into the cab when she was trying to end the date.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: ''Outlaw of Gor'' (the book) establishes how John Norman got the manuscript for ''Tarnsman'' and ''Outlaw.'' A short note precedes ''Priest-Kings'' (book 3). Dropped after that, but POV characters in several of the books where Cabot isn't the main character mention having read Gor books.
* LongRunningBookSeries
* MicroMonarchy: Ukungu from ''Explorers of Gor'' ends up as an independent kingdom surrounded by the empire of Bila Huruma.
* MutualKill: Two unnamed men brought the last egg of the Priest-Kings to the Wagon Peoples, then went back to their respective cities. The cities later went to war with each other, and the men slew each other on the field of battle.
* NationalWeapon: Several Gorean cultures have them; see the trope page for details.
* NeverFoundTheBody: After Tarl defeats Pa-Kur the Master Assassin in ''Tarsman'' Pa-Kur leaps off a tall building, but they don't find the body. Tarl assumes the crowds tore it to pieces. A ChekhovsGun which as yet to pay off, although it's been mentioned in several other books.
* OutscareTheEnemy: In ''Marauders of Gor'', the alien Kurii have commandeered the [[BeautifulSlaveGirl Beautiful Slave Girls]] of the Torvalslanders along with other livestock. The slave girls are terrified of the Kurii, but are given orders by their masters, which they obey.
-->We would soon see if such feared sleen and Kurii more, or Gorean males, their masters. If they did not obey, they would be slain. As slaves, they were commanded; as slaves, did they fail to comply, they would be put to death. They had no choice. They would obey.
* PapaBear: Towards the end of ''Priest-Kings of Gor'', Tarl is escaping from the ruined Nest with his girl of the moment, Vika of Treve, and her silly little father, Parp the fake Priest-King. Their way is barred by two fierce larls - lion-like creatures about half the size of an elephant. Parp flames one with his pipe-lighter, using up all its energy in one go, then asks Tarl to confirm that he can kill a larl with his sword if he is given a free shot at it. Tarl agrees that it's possible - and Parp gives him that free shot by ''flinging himself into the monster's jaws''.
* PlanetOfHats: In all the different cultures on Gor, from the equatorial jungles and deserts to the ice-cap itself, worshipers of Priest-Kings or Aesir or animal spirits alike all agree on the enslavement of women. Where exceptions briefly appear, they are blatantly unstable minority views even if not attended by actual barking madness.
* PlanetaryRomance: What it's (technically) supposed to be. For a sufficiently inclusive definition of "romance."
* PleaseKeepYourHatOn: In ''Savages of Gor'', Cabot meets a man who never takes his hat off. In ''Blood Brothers of Gor'', we learn why: He had been scalped as a young adult.
* PublicExecution: In ''Assassin of {{Gor}}'', Tarl is put into a gladiatorial combat situation where everyone is supposed to be blindfolded, but in reality everyone else in the "tournament" can see through their blindfolds. Note that at that time in the series it was still heavily influenced by the {{Barsoom}} series.
* PuppetState: In Tribesmen of Gor most of the desert tribes are vassals of either the Aretai or Kavar tribe. So when outsiders stir up trouble between those two tribes the entire desert is preparing for war with each other.
* PurpleProse: Even when it's {{Beige| Prose}}. This continues from the influencing series, ''JohnCarterOfMars''.
* RapeIsLove: And so is sexual slavery, admittedly for that subset of Earth women who have been expertly psychologically profiled before ever being brought to Gor.
* RatedMForManly: Cabot (and all the other "proper" Gorean men) consciously try to epitomize the principle of pounding things and people into submission with one's [[DoubleEntendre manhood]].
* ReactionaryFantasy
* TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies: In ''Priest Kings of Gor'', Sarm justifies the Priest-King practice of [[FantasyGunControl smiting humans who experiment with firearm technology]] by claiming that Priest-Kings are superior to humans in the same way that humans are superior to the animals they kill for food.
* SchizoTech: Advanced medical technology that includes life extension coexists with medieval weaponry. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the Priest-Kings' constant intervention to keep military technology very limited, but nothing else. Off the battlefield, Gorean tech is at least equal to anything on Earth, if Earth had no large-scale power transmission nor much use of fossil fuels, no motive power bar wind or muscle and no mass communications to name but three differences. Although "energy bulbs" are sometimes used for lighting, most Goreans prefer animal-oil lamps.
* SelfDestructMechanism: A minor instance: Tarl's mysterious message in Book One is destroyed after he has read it (and after he has foolishly ignored the instruction to throw it away, which costs him his camping gear). And two much more major instances: in ''Priest-Kings of Gor'', Sarm destroys the power plant in the Nest which very nearly blows Gor to shreds as a result; in ''Beasts of Gor'', Zarendargar "Half-Ear" blows up the Kur outpost in the high arctic (but, in deference to his responsibility to his underlings, allows them time to escape first, for which Tarl calls him "a good officer").
* SexSlave
* ShoutOut: The first book, ''Tarnsman of Gor'', opens up with a scene inspired by the ''{{Barsoom}}'' series.
** Also Gor appears to be based on {{Plato}}'s ''Republic''.
* SiegeEngines: Battles between city-states of Gor regularly employ siege weapons.
* SlutShaming: Slaves taunt each other with this when they're not taunting each other with frigidity.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Marlenus, the ultra-alpha Ubar of Ar, plays Kaissa superbly well, crushing Tarl Cabot into the dirt every single time they play. But Samos of Port Kar prefers to play his Kaissa with [[ManipulativeBastard real people and real lives]]. [[spoiler: Just as well he really is on the side of the angels.]]
** A genuine chessmaster appears as a supporting character in ''Players of Gor'', making the name of the book a neat pun since a Player, in Gorean, is in fact a chessmaster, not a theatrical performer. (The Star Books cover art is themed on the red and yellow Kaissa board.) He gets a story arc of his own: disgraced by a highly public defeat in an earlier book, he has voluntarily exiled himself and regains his self-respect late in the story when he is challenged to play chess for ownership of the only slave he has ever been interested in. Needless to say, he too curb stomps Tarl in every single game they play.
* SpiritualSequel: to Barsoom, the world of ''JohnCarterOfMars''.
* StayInTheKitchen: And naked and on your knees. Except for the Panther women. And the >97% of Gorean women who are not slaves.
* StrawFeminist: In ''Assassin of Gor'', one of these is brought over and put through slave training. Of course her silly ideas about equality are [[RapeAsComedy played for laughs]], as only a foolish woman could ever believe it. And also of course, she is deliberately put up against an expert in debating who has argued the same points a thousand times before, and the narrator himself opines that the truth lies somewhere in between.
** Nearly every free woman comes across as having aspects of this, especially the ones with power. Until Tarl Cabot comes by and [[SexSlave puts them in their place]], [[HappinessInSlavery much to their pleasure once they submit.]]
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Priest-Kings
* ThankYourPrey: Red Hunters (Inuit) routinely ask a sea sleen's permission to kill it for its much-needed meat and fur.
* ThievesGuild: But only in Port Kar. Elsewhere, thieves get very short shrift indeed.
* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct: In the first book Tarl (on Earth) gets a letter from his father (on Gor), which says that it will burn up a few minutes after he opens it. Tarl puts it in his backpack and sure enough, his pack burst into flames.
* UnstoppableRage: Several instances. One arises in ''Raiders of Gor'' after Tarl was captured and enslaved by the Rence Growers in the Vosk marshes. It seemed as though he had just about tired of slavery and was about to bite the bullet when slavers from Port Kar attacked the Rencers and [[BerserkButton killed a small boy]] who had been kind to him. Tarl spends the next few days trailing the slow-moving slave barge and mercilessly picking off the slavers one by one with his bow. In ''Hunters of Gor'' Tarl, after delivering a speech about how he lost his honour in the marshes, and cannot regain it, nevertheless sometimes recollects it, takes on fifty armed men single-handed. Then in ''Marauders of Gor'' Tarl begins the story crippled by a paralysing poison for which there is no known cure, until the news reaches him that his ''amour du jour'' Telima has been carried off by the Kurii. The ensuing rage sustains him through several months of adventure - at the climax of which, all the fighting men of Torvaldsland unleash an UnstoppableRage of their own.
* WanderingMinstrel
* WaterSourceTampering: In ''Tribesmen of Gor'', an outside party causes unrest by masquerading as one of two opposing tribes and attacking the others' oases. At one point they destroy a well, which tells Tarl's best friend of the book that they aren't really tribesmen because no tribesman, no matter how evil, would destroy a well.
* WhamEpisode: In the first five books, Tarl has faced all manner of certain death. In book six, ''Raiders of Gor'', he falls into the hands of the Rence Growers, who sentence him to death by being thrown to the crocodiles (swamp tharlarion, if you're particular) tied hand and foot, and the only choice they offer is whether to kill him mercifully first. Defying the trend established repeatedly in all the previous volumes, Tarl can find no way out except begging for shameful slavery, and he will never again be the same man as he was before.
* WilliamTelling: The Wagon Peoples had a similar thing as a contest of skill - a Slave Girl would stand in profile holding a piece of fruit in her teeth and a warrior would lance it while galloping by on the local equivalant of a horse.
* WorthyOpponent: Almost more remarkable in the breach than the observance. Often crosses species boundaries; for instance, the Kurii, in the climactic battle at the end of ''Explorers of Gor'', pointedly roar a salute to the brave but outmatched humans (flimsy Zulu-style shields and spears are not very useful against iron weapons too heavy for a man to lift).
----
!! ''Outlaw (of Gor)'' and the Gor movie series contain examples of:

* AdvertisedExtra: While Jack Palance's character is a major villain in ''Outlaw'', in the first film he only had a cameo at the end to set up the sequel. Nevertheless, Palance was [[BillingDisplacement third billed]] on the first movie.
* CaliforniaDoubling: As Crow points out, "Gor" is quite obviously Iowa in some scenes.
* CasanovaWannabe: Watney.
* CatFight: There's one of these about halfway into ''Outlaw of Gor'' between [[ActionGirl Talena]] and two [[HotAmazon Hot Amazons]].
* EightiesHair: Talena has a bad case of it.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Hunter.
** The Elder. Even Xeno awkwardly states, "That old fool The Elder..."
* EvilChancellor: The High Priest Xeno, as played by Jack Palance.
* FanDisservice: We get more up-skirt shots of Tarl Cabot's midget sidekick than we do of the female cast. And a lot of the queen's guards REALLY need to put on a shirt or - failing that - a bra.
* FanService: While there aren't any naked slavegirls, there are a lot of scantily clad serving wenches and muscular men in gladiator armor for everyone to drool over.
-->'''Mike and The Bots''': It's an arealogical, autoerotical, toobular boobular joy!
* GainaxEnding: For some reason, Watney ends up transported to...some city somewhere...in his little Gorean toga. [[HilarityEnsues "Hilarity" ensues]].
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Lara, in ''Outlaw of Gor''.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Watney. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Servo in the [=MST3K=] version.
* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Jack Palance in ''Outlaw of Gor''. This was between ''RipleysBelieveItOrNot'' and ''CitySlickers''.
** Besides Jack Palance, there's the screenplay writer...
-->'''Servo:''' (singing) [[FuManchu Har-ry Al-len]] ''[[FuManchu Towers!!!]]''
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Lara.]]
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: The Hunter wears these, although he's bordering on RummageSaleReject...
* InNameOnly: the characters, setting and plot when compared to the books.
* InformedAbility: The Hunter doesn't appear to be ''as'' talented or bloodthirsty as Lara wishes us to believe.
** He does [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn throw a mean javelin.]] ]]
* PantyShot: [[FanDisservice Oh-so-inverted]]. "[[FullyAutomaticClipShow Buffalo shots]]." "Think about it, won't you?" "Thank you."
* PunchClockVillain: The Hunter.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Xeno gets off a good one.
-->'''Xeno:''' Because you are behaving like a bitch in heat, and not as a proper Queen!
* SayMyName: CABOT! Repeated endlessly when he arrives in ''Outlaw of Gor'' (the film).
** According to IMDB, the name "Cabot" is said 55 times in the first ten minutes of the film alone.
* TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction: The queen actually seduces Watney just to have an alibi for her husband's murder.
-->'''Servo:''' Oh geez, now she's trying to sleep her way to the ''bottom.''
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: "Oh, thank you! I'll just stab myself here."
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Xeno trying to convince Lara to have the captured Cabot killed.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Unfortunately, she doesn't actually ''kill'' Watney, just has him tossed in prison so he can come back and annoy the everloving snot out of everyone later in the movie.

----
!!The MST3K episode featuring ''Outlaw of Gor'' features:

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Jack Palance's diary
-->'''Servo (mimicking Palance):''' "Day 10. Missed call. I think I... ''[normal voice]'' ...I think I ''killed'' a man today, more later"?!
** The gang decides they've had enough and walk away from the book - til Crow exclaims that it has an entire chapter on ''TangoAndCash''.
-->'''Mike (mimicking Palance):''' Saw [[KurtRussell Russell's]] butt today...!
* CallBack: A few:
-->"[[MrBNatural He looks like a happy]] [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers pig!]]"
-->"[[ThematicThemeTune My-my-my-my]] {{Mitchell}}!"
-->"Oh no, they're on the MoonZeroTwo set!"
-->"[[{{Eegah}} Watch out for snakes!]]"
-->"[[TheDayTheEarthFroze Sa... sa..." "Sampo!]]"
-->"Uh-oh. ''WarriorOfTheLostWorld'' set."
* KillHimAlready: Watney Smith
-->'''Mike''': No one would see if you killed him now!
-->'''Crow''': He'd probably get a free drink at the Pullman.
-->'''Mike, Tom, Crow:''' ''(chanting)'' Kill him, kill him, kill him...
* NotableOriginalMusic: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ePusmtf1IQ This]] {{Neologism}}-tastic number.
** GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Practically every word.
* OldShame: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the most part, as Mike doesn't seem ''that'' embarassed about his early acting career. That said, he did seem to wear a '''lot''' of [[CostumeInertia sailor suits]]. Even for DeathOfASalesman, WaitingForGodot, {{Hamlet}} RichardIII, [[OverlyLongGag Oh! Calcutta!]] ...
** Not even '''''Mike''''' realised this until the bots pointed it out to him, leading to some relatively mild horror on Mike's part.
* OverlyLongGag: "Missed call!"
** The USA Network movie titles during the end credits.
* RunningGag: Replying to the frequent questions by the film's cast of "What/Where the hell is _________?" with "It's/You're the hell here!"
* TakeAThirdOption:
--> '''Lara:''' There's a prisoner loose in the desert, and I want him back alive. Bring him to me and you shall receive 50,000 tusks. Dead? ''Nothing!''
--> '''Mike:''' Wounded? We can prorate it, we'll talk about that...
* TakeOurWordForIt: The Mads' time machine.
----

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: ''Outlaw of Gor'' (the book) establishes how John Norman got the manuscript for ''Tarnsman'' and ''Outlaw.'' A shot note precedes ''Priest-Kings'' (book 3). Dropped after that, but POV characters in several of the books where Cabot isn't the main character mention having read Gor books.

* IconOfRebellion: Tarl and his friend Marcus start a rebellion in Ar by claiming to have heard of the "Delta Brigade" (named after the events in a previous book where the forces of Ar were defeated in a delta) and scratch deltas everywhere. There later becomes an actual Delta Brigade which they have nothing to do with It's like al-Qaeda - no one group has any interaction with any other group, they just call themselves that and engage in uncivil disobedience.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Forrester and TV's Frank performing dances together of various eras for no apparent reason.

* CasanovaWannabe: Watney.

* SpiritualSequel: Barsoom, the world of ''JohnCarterOfMars''.

''The Chronicles of Gor'' is a SciFi/Fantasy novel series (one of those that [[ScienceFictionVersusFantasy blur the lines between the two genres]]), written by John Norman (real name Dr. John Frederick Lange, Jr., a professor of philosophy). The Chronicles of Gor starts out as a PlanetaryRomance before moving on to [[AuthorAppeal a sex-slave culture where most of the female main characters are legally property]]. The planet Gor is a Counter-Earth, a hypothetical planet in Earth's orbit on the other side of the sun, always blocked from view [[hottip:*:An impossible situation, and thus fantastic, given the gravitational influences observed upon every comet passing into the inner solar system, even before the advent of interplanetary exploration in the 1960s; then again, if the alien species in question is capable of moving entire ''planets'' into orbit around stars, erasing traces of gravitational influence would likely not be such a problem]]. On Gor, some {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s decided to take humans from [[AnachronismStew various eras in human history]] and dump them together and see what happens, after [[FantasyGunControl removing any type of firearm]] and [[BurnTheWitch burning anyone who tries to violate said ban]].