History Literature / LensMan

* BizarreAlienBiology - the Palainians' metabolism has to extend into the fourth dimension in order to function in their native environment (Pluto is as far inside Earth's solar system as they feel comfortable living), and there are other races that take this to even greater extremes.

** Due to being LoyalPhlebotinum, and the nature of mind-to-mind contact, it also functions as an impossible-to-counterfeit badge of rank, and a justification for Lensmen being incorruptible and thus above the law.

* FuturisticSuperhighway - In the BigApplesauce of the future, Lensman Virgil Samms drives his gyro-stabilised two-wheeler onto the Wright Skyway, a limited-access superhighway with a maze of feeder ramps running all the way up the skyscraper he's working in, and higher (presumably exits for FlyingCars). The only problem is learning to ignore the bombardment of very noisy advertising.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveANuke: In ''First Lensman'', Roderick Kinnison suggests that the Galactic Patrol simply conquer North America by right of the bigger fleet. First Lensman Samms convinces him to cool his jets and challenge the Morgan political machine through free and fair elections instead, because Virgil Samms believes in the rule of law and seizing power by force would undermine the legitimacy of the Galactic Patrol. (Instead, the Lensmen rewrite the rules so that they are ''legally'' above the law.)

* NoConservationOfEnergy - Averted [[ShownTheirWork hard]]; whether it's ray guns ''[[DisintegratorRay actually]]'' [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath vaporizing people]] or DeflectorShields reradiating energy to their surroundings and setting them on fire, Smith is one rare sci-fi author who understands that not only does energy have to be generated, it also has to ''go somewhere''.

** TwoDSpace: Averted hard. Englobement is a standard tactic, as is the Cone of Battle.

** In fact, the Arisians were largely the inspiration for the Vorlons in ''BabylonFive'', as the Eddorians were for that series' BigBad, the Shadows.

* RuleOfCool - Averted, surprisingly; the basic fictional scientific principles such as the Bergenholm drive, hyperstatial tubes, force fields, rays etc are all handled with consistency and care. Smith finds new ways to apply these principles, rather than whipping out more AppliedPhlebotinum. Even his predilection for the BoardingParty, and, of course the Valerian Space Axe RecycledInSpace, are solidly justified.

* DeflectorShields - Usually referred to as "ether-walls" or "screens." Unlike their ''Star Trek'' successors, for ships these are almost always multi-layered (two or three layers is typical) and there's a final layer ("wall-shield") that's almost integral with the outer skin of the ship. When the wall-shield fails, that's it.

** The SFnal tradition of redheaded heroines may trace back to Heinlein, or it may trace back to Smith.

* AlienLunch: The planet Trenco, where anything has to be willing to eat anything in order to survive, and usually does - to the point where a creature will take pains to finish its lunch even while being lunched upon.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil - Nearly all of Boskone is so evil that virtually no prisoners are ever taken. On ''both'' sides of the war. Several entire Boskonian planets (all of them effectively planet-sized fortresses) are destroyed with no survivors over the course of the series.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: The Arisians and Eddorians do not engage in direct conflict with each other or with the lesser races, and instead work through cutouts and manipulation. This is because the Arisians are strong enough to keep the Eddorians more or less bottled up, but not strong enough to kill the Eddorians' elite councilmembers, and too much Arisian meddling with Civilization will hinder the development of the lesser races.

* AnAxeToGrind - the Valerian [[RecycledInSpace space]] axe. The universe's personal battle armour (and its associated energy shield) deflects most hand-held projectile and energy weapons, and the Valerians are fast enough, thanks to their origin on a high-grav world, to close the distance before the few exceptions can do much good.

* AnimatedAdaptation: Obscure anime adaptation, ''LensmanGalacticPatrol''.

* BadassArmy - the Lensmen may have been SF's first, being equipped with small arms that vaporize a person, personal shields that can survive said small arms, a machine gun equivalent that can boil steel in seconds, 'caterpillars' giant tanks fitted with starship-grade weaponry...

* BatmanGambit:

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Several tyrants throughout Earth history, including Nero, GenghisKhan, and AdolfHitler, were actually guises used by Gharlane of Eddore. Also, an in-universe example with the scientist Bergenholm. In the second book, he comes up with the breakthrough to make the Inertialess Drive safe and efficient. Later, they find out that [[spoiler:he was an Arisian]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Lensmen were referred to as "sublimated boy scouts" by one character, but Klono help you if they catch you engaging in piracy. Not to mention that they use planets as strategic weapons.
* BFG: The Standish, the equivalent of a machine gun, and it replacement, the semi-portable.
* TheBigBoard - TropeMaker, to the extent that the US Navy borrowed the idea.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Yes and no. The Arisians [[DefiedTrope defy]] this on numerous occasions, repeatedly stating that good and evil are ultimately relative, and the Arisians and the races of Civilization recognize that different races will have BlueAndOrangeMorality. However, from the perspective of the races of Civilization, personal liberty is recognized as a pole star to be desired by everyone, the rigid fascism and [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinism]] of Boskone are utterly inimical to this, and the narrator does use "evil" as a shorthand for Boskonian actions.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Recognized among the races of Civilization, to the extent that different races' Lensmen have entirely different codes of honor and conduct. However, BlackAndWhiteMorality still applies between Civilization and Boskone.

** [[spoiler: There are also hints at one point that Christopher Kinnison might harbor a few unfilial feelings for his mother Clarissa...and maybe it's mutual.]]

* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Before the final battle in ''Children of the Lens'', one of the Kinnison girls is trying to chain-smoke, but is so wound up that she only manages one or two puffs before stubbing the cigarette out and lighting a new one.

* EmpathicWeapon - the Lens
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Boskone dosn't really care what planet its mooks come from, as long as they don't screw up. On the other hand, the Eddorians ''are'' looking for the perfect race to be their front; and because of the very nature of the Eddorians, the more sexless, the better.

** The Patrol focuses it's efforts on thionite, which is really nasty stuff (and more importantly, whose dealers are part of the Boskonian food chain). Bentlam weed, on the other hand, seems to be the equivalent of marijuana - the Patrol doesn't even bother mentioning it.

-->"You will find that you cannot die," the passionless creature returned monotonously. "If you do not yield, you will long and pray for death, but you will not die unless Rodger wills it. I was like you once. I also struggled, and I became what I am now - whatever it is."

* TheFederation - a multi-species multi-planet civilization is common these days in science fiction, written and visual (see ''StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', Brin's ''Uplift'' Universe, et cetera) but it had a [[UrExample definite start]], and it was here. Ironically enough, unlike most modern portrayals where the bad guys tend to be a [[PlanetOfHats single species]], both the heroes and the villains were multi-species and multi-planet (the heroes unusually so for the time period and possibly still to this day).

* FlorenceNightingaleEffect - The Chief Surgeon and the Port Admiral try to set this up between Clarissa and Kinnison, only for the two of them to [[BelligerentSexualTension annoy the hell out of each other]] at first. Later, of course, they do fall in love. As [[spoiler: the Arisians had intended them to do all along. They were the penultimates in their breeding program.]]

* Wouldn'tHitAGirl - Kinnison can mow down ''male'' thugs left and right without batting a lash, but he would never harm a woman... which causes him no small headache when he is forced to deal with the genocidally misanthropic matriarchs of Lyrane II.

* EternalProhibition: All illegal drugs are still illegal in the far future, [[StatusQuoIsGod as they should be]]; indeed, much of the Galactic Patrol's work is replicating a galactic DEA ([[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner with Judge Dredd's plenipotentiary powers]]). Drug pushing seems to be regarded as the most serious of crimes; the punishment is either death or [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood corrective psychological therapy]].

* EverybodySmokes: [[DoubleStandard Even the women]]. Tobacco is never once maligned in the series. Fine brand cigarettes are imported to Tellus all the way from Alsakan, all the way across the galaxy.
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: Inverted. The Arisians point out to Helmuth that there is absolutely no way to defeat them, and that if humanity proves incapable of using the Lens to defeat Boskone, then they'll just let him conquer and corrupt this iteration of Civilization while they wait for another one.

* ExplosiveOverclocking: Primary beams.

* FateWorseThanDeath: After the trio has been captured by Gray Roger, Clio has the following conversation with her guide:

* GambitRoulette- not just the Arisian billion year plan ([[CrazyPrepared with redundancies]]!), but many of Kimball Kinnison's infiltration gambits require him to completely assume a new identity, at one point going so far as to systematically (and [[FakeMemories psychically]]) write himself into each and every portion of an enemy soldier's past!

* GreatOffScreenWar: The Jovian Wars. There were at least four of them, they they resulted in the Triplanetary League forming from Venus, Tellus, and Mars.

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Depending on the book. In ''First Lensman'', this is averted, but in chronologically later books, as the Boskonian war heats up, it becomes an axiom of battle that no quarter is ever asked or offered by either side, and belonging to Boskone is grounds for death without trial. Relaxed after [[spoiler: the destruction of Ploor. The Patrol is getting thoroughly sick of the {{Mook}} turkey shoot, and lets the fleeing Boskonians return to their homeworlds.]]

* HumanityIsSuperior - guess who runs Civilization? There were four species the Arisians selectively bred and eugenically improved for millions of years. The four races were the humans, the Velantians, the Rigellians and the Palainians. Humanity was considered the most desirable candidate of the four races because each of the others, despite being [[PunyEarthlings superior to humanity]] in many qualities, had a [[PlanetOfHats significant flaw]]: the Palainians were intrinsically cowardly and very bad at multitasking, the Rigellians too nonaggressive and unambitious, and the Velantians deficient in resistance to mind control and in attention span. Humanity, on the other hand, while having [[PunyEarthlings the fewest special strengths]], had ''[[JackOfAllStats no specific weaknesses]]''.

* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: The Lensmen generally don't bother with trials or due process.

* MadMathematician -- Sir Austin Cardynge. (Not actually insane, just... focused. Or perhaps Heinlein would call him ''un''sane.)

* MentalFusion
* MindRape: Used heavily by the villains. Also [[WhatTheHellHero occasionally by the heroes]]. Particularly [[MagnificentBastard Nadreck of Palain]], although his entire race's moral philosophy differs radically from that of humans.

* NoConservationOfEnergy: Averted [[ShownTheirWork hard]]; whether it's ray guns ''[[DisintegratorRay actually]]'' [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath vaporizing people]] or DeflectorShields reradiating energy to their surroundings and setting them on fire, Smith is one rare sci-fi author who understands that not only does energy have to be generated, it also has to ''go somewhere''.

* NuclearOption: More like CasualNuclearWar, for lack of a better term. Several variants of atomic weapons are used: ''Super-atomic bombs'' which convert their entire rest-mass into energy, and ''duodecaplylatomate'' (or "duodec," for short), a chemical high explosive with a yield otherwise only matched by nukes. And of course, the famous ''negabombs'', [[ScienceMarchesOn "antimatter"]] projectiles that come in every size [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill up to planetary mass]]. All are used increasingly liberally as the war escalates; expect no trace of any NuclearWeaponsTaboo.

* OldSchoolDogfighting: Averted - the closest thing they have would be speedsters, used for scouting and transportation.
* OmniscientMoralityLicense - The Arisians like to jerk the lesser races' chains a lot, but it's for their own good.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Velantians.
* OurNudityIsDifferent: Some physically human societies have either radically different nudity taboos or none at all, and Lensman are expected to adopt local customs unless some pressing reason not to do so is in play. Most of them are so used to it that they do not even think about it, but Clarissa strongly dislikes working in the nude (though she can and will do it if necessary).

* OutsideContextVillain: The Nevians in ''Triplanetary'' - when they first show up wreck both the patrol and the pirate fleets. Once the ''Boise'' gets the proper upgrades, however...

* PoweredArmor: According to many, the UrExample, certainly a very early one (decades before Literature/StarshipTroopers). Includes [[DeflectorShields protective force-fields]], [[InertialDampening inertial dampening tech]], [[JetPack rocket thrusters]], a generous [[FrickinLaserBeams heat ray]], and [[ReallyHeavyArmor the multi-kilohorsepower engines required to move it around]].

* RuleOfCool - averted, surprisingly; the basic fictional scientific principles such as the Bergenholm drive, hyperstatial tubes, force fields, rays etc are all handled with consistency and care. Smith finds new ways to apply these principles, rather than applying AppliedPhlebotinum. Even his predilection for the BoardingParty, and, of course the Valerian Space Axe RecycledInSpace, are solidly justified.

** This is a species that [[spoiler:tortures its victims slowly to death in order to enjoy their agonies and then consume their life-force as they die. Little wonder that the Velantians' allies saw fit to help them destroy it.]]
* ScaryDogmaticAliens - Boskone is TheEmpire pitted against the democratic and free [[TheAlliance Civilization]]. Consider the stories were written in the run-up to, and during, WWII and I think you can see who they stand for.

* ShownTheirWork: For such a dated series, Lensman can be surprisingly hard science-fiction at times.

* SoLastSeason - The powers of Civilization, Boskone, and the Lensmen keep going up and up and up.
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil - The Empire of Boskone.

* SpacePirates

* SubspaceAnsible

** Later, one of the lesser Guardians does the same to a couple of trespassing Eich.

** His race regards cowardice as a ''virtue''. At one point, he's acutely embarrassed by the fact that he personally faced and defeated three enemies in single combat, instead of manipulating them into killing each other.

* TouchedByVorlons - several characters are touched by the Arisians to varying degrees, particularly the second-stage Lensmen in the later books.

* TranslatorMicrobes - the Lens of Civilization.

* TypesOfNavalShips: Played with. Speeders are smallest (room for one or two people) and fastest. Covettes, frigates, and destroyers aren't used at all. Cruisers are generally designed for specialized tasks, such as prevent hostile ships from going "free", scouting, or launching negabombs. Battlecruisers are used for commerce raiding (by the Boskonians), or for fighting commerce raiders (by the Patrol). Battleships and super-dreadnoughts are front-lime combat units although we see far more of the later then former. Finally, the slow maulers and super-maulers were designed for planetary bombardment, although thanks to the strength of theater shields they proved more successful in ship to ship combat.

* TheUnfettered - Gray Lensmen, officially called Unattached Lensmen, are free to pursue whatever avenues they desire in pursuit of their moral duty to protect Civilisation, and answer to no one in the field. Technically they are answerable to the Galactic Council and the Port Admiral of the Galactic Patrol.

* WorthyOpponent: Kinnison and Helmuth ''deeply'' respect each other's capabilities, which is part of why they each try so hard to kill each other.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Helmuth is described as having blue hair, blue eyes, and blue-tinted skin. The anime adaptation, for whatever reason, chose to turn him into a forty-foot monstrosity. Something like Leader Desslok of Gamilon, of ''Space Battleship Yamato'' fame, is probably what was intended.

* AnAxeToGrind - the Valerian [[RecycledInSpace space]] axe. The universe's personal battle armour (and its associated energy shield) deflects most hand-held projectile and energy weapons, and the Valerians are fast enough, thanks to [[spoiler:their origin on a high-grav world]], to close the distance before the few exceptions can do much good.

* AuthorAvatar - In ''Triplanetary'', Roderick Kinnison is reading a ''Lensman''-like sci-fi story when the news about Pearl Harbour comes on the radio. He comes out of retirement, taking a job in a munitions factory where his training in organic chemistry makes him a useful asset. E.E. "Doc" Smith, SF author, had a PhD in organic chemistry (although specifically related to foodstuffs rather than explosives). Would be a CanonSue, except that Kinnison is ultimately defeated: ([[spoiler: shells and mines loaded at the factory are going off prematurely, killing good men; Kinnison walks away from the job rather than accept orders to violate quality control and safety standards - orders which could be implied as being issued under Eddorian influence]]).

* NuclearOption: More like CasualNuclearWar, for lack of a better term. Several variants of atomic weapons are used: ''Super-atomic bombs'' which convert their entire rest-mass into energy, and ''duodecaplylatomate'' (or "duodec," for short), somewhat less energetic but apparently in wider use (perhaps cheaper?). And of course, the famous ''negabombs'', [[ScienceMarchesOn "antimatter"]] projectiles that come in every size [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill up to planetary mass]]. All are used increasingly liberally as the war escalates; expect no trace of any NuclearWeaponsTaboo.
** Other passages suggswt that "duodec" is chemical high explosive with a yield otherwise only matched by nukes.

* SleazyPolitician: In the prequel ''First Lensman'', [[EvilChancellor Senator Morgan]], who mixes shady political dealing and ties with [[EvilInc corrupt corporations]] and [[TheMafia the mob]] with [[ReliableTraitor secret subservience]] to the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens evil alien empire]]. His [[TheDragon chief aide]], Herkimer Herkimer III, is probably the closest thing ''Lensman'' has to an utter CompleteMonster. (Well, [[EldritchAbomination as far as human beings are concerned, at least]].)

* GadgeteerGenius: Practically every inventor or engineer in the series can whip up new devices or radically modify and rebuild existing ones in a matter of minutes, often in the middle of a raging battle. Justified in Fred Rhodebush and Lyman Cleveland's case, since they are the acknowledged world experts in their fields.

* BatmanGambit: Used whenever Xanatos isn't available for personal appearances

* XanatosGambit - not just the Arisian billion year plan ([[CrazyPrepared with redundancies]]!), but many of Kimball Kinnison's infiltration gambits require him to completely assume a new identity, at one point going so far as to systematically (and [[FakeMemories psychically]]) write himself into each and every portion of an enemy soldier's past!
** To say nothing of the identity that required him to become an [[spoiler:alcoholic drug addict, deflecting attention from himself by getting so smashed and high simultaneously that he could barely move a muscle. His mind, on the other hand...]]

EEDocSmith's classic series, one of the very first {{Space Opera}}s. As such, many classic SpaceOpera tropes were [[TropeMaker first seen]] in Smith's books, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the genesis of ScienceFiction.