History Literature / LensMan

* RayGun

** Smith hangs a huge, hilarious lampshade on his own purple writing style in ''Children of the Lens'' -- there's a scene where Kinnison is traveling undercover as a ''writer of pulp space operas'', and the few paragraphs of his latest work that are quoted are so over-the-top they make the narrative in which their embedded sound as spare and laconic as Hemingway.

** The Arisians told the first crew of Lensmen Candidates that there would be, eventually, just one human woman Lensman, which was Clarrissa. Her daughters [[spoiler: are not fully human, therefore the Arisians were not lying.]] This was mostly Virgilia Samms' conjecture, rather than anything said verbatim by the Arisians.

** Any of the protagonists is a OneManArmy who can take on large numbers of mook enemies and win. Even [[IncorruptiblePurePureness gentle Clarrissa]] has done this on occasion. What '''makes''' Nadreck this trope is that he usually doesn't just kill the mooks, he ''drives them mad, Cthulhu-style''.

-->'''[=MacDougall=]:''' I had no idea, Admiral Hynes, that you... that there...
-->'''Haynes:''' That I was so much of a rebuild?

* PsychicBlockDefense: mechanical thought-screens and their psychically generated equivalents. The former are not always unbreakable, but are in widespread use even among natural telepaths, as they offer the advantage of not requiring any effort from the wearer to maintain his, her or its own psychic shields around the clock. Just make sure the new power-pack is connected in parallel before you slip out the used one...

* HarmfulToTouch: Lenses, when not being worn by their proper owners.

* FridgeHorror: "Lensmen pay their debts - even to spiders and worms." After Kimball Kinnison gets help from animals, he rewards them by guiding them to find food. Except that [[spoiler: both the spider and the worm lived on planets that he later annihilated]]. The same thing happened earlier with a dog, except it doesn't even mention him rewarding the dog [[, which probably perished in a drug-induced stupor even before its planet blew up]].

** The standard Galactic Patrol hand-to-hand combat textbook largely follows his advice. The narrative notes that lensmen "do not fight according to the tenets of the square ring," after Kinnison uses neck chops, thrown chairs, and [[GroinAttack a boot to the groin]] to dispose of several attackers.

* EmpathicWeapon: The Lens functions as a psychic enhancer (for humans, at least) and is attuned to its user in such a way that anyone else who tries to use or handle it is killed instantly.

** The Kalonians got the job initially because the only function of their women is the production of men. The Lyranians, on the other hand, are a Matriarchal society to the same degree. Give them a few years and a little bit of help... [[spoiler: Helen of Lyrane and Clarissa Kinnison put a firm stop to that.]]
* 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]]. The Patrol focuses its 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. (Not that using it, even for an undercover job, doesn't make Kinnison feel disgusted...)

* ExactWords: when Mentor tells you that you have ''almost'' caused a disaster, it means the situation is still salvageable.

* ExtremophileLifeforms: The palainians aren't comfortable any closer to Sol than Pluto, their biology extends into the fourth dimension to accommodate this extreme.

** Kinnison once had Worsel give ''him'' false memories in order to sow disinformation among the Eich leadership.

--->"But I wouldn't want to keep on living!" Clio declared, with a flash of spirit. "And I can always die, you know."
--->"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 Roger wills it. I was like you once. I also struggled, and I became what I am now - whatever it is."
** Later Conway remarks that the woman "isn't alive - she's full of the prettiest machinery and communicators that you ever saw!" Which leads to a ''major'' FridgeHorror moment when one stops to wonder just how many other of Roger's robots started out as human.
** All this aside, what the Delgonian Overlords do to their victims. Their favorite type of sustenance is the life force of their torture victims.

* 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. Nadreck, the Palanian Second-Stage Lensman, is regarded as every bit as much a hero by his race's standards as Kinnison is by human standards. The Blue and Orange part comes in because Palanians consider cowardice and guile to be ''virtues''. Nadrek is so thoroughly ashamed of "botching" his ''single-handed'' elimination of a major Boskonian base so badly that three (out of, at the very least, hundreds) of the Boskonians failed to kill each other/themselves and he ''personally'' had to eliminate them using (shudder) physical conflict that he records the details of this operation only under strong protest, and immediately places the recording under "Lensman's Seal", which effectively means "Ain't nobody seeing this never." Kinnison's reaction is pretty similar to the reader's: "Took out an entire base all by himself, something nobody else could have done, heroically risked his own life in personal combat to finish up the job, and he's embarrassed because he thinks it wasn't elegant enough. Palanians are weird."

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Subverted. Mentor of Arisia assists Kimball Kinnison in destroying Prime Miniser Fosteen (Gharlane of Eddore), then convinces him that Fosteen was a renegade Arisian and that Kinnison dispatched him without help.

** The standard Galactic Patrol hand-to-hand combat textbook largely follows his advice.

* CasualInterstellarTravel: After the Bergenholm drive was created.

* CallToAdventure: Dronvire, the first Rigellian Lensman, especially.

* BatmanGambit
* BeamSpam: on a regular basis, escalating throughout the series.

The ''Lensman series'' by Creator/EEDocSmith counts as one the earliest {{Space Opera}}s, and, therefore, the TropeMaker of many of the conventions used by the genre. This makes the series it a must-read for anyone interested in the genesis of ScienceFiction.

The series, assembled from ''Galactic Patrol'', a serial published in ''Astounding Stories'' magazine from 1937 onwards. (Smith rewrote and expanded ''Triplanetary'', serialized in 1934 in ''Amazing Stories'', to serve as a {{prequel}} to the main series.) The series describes the epic battle between [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Good and Evil]] as personified by Civilization (and their sponsors, Arisia) and Boskone (and ''their'' sponsors, Eddore), respectively. Each faction is, in fact, the pawn of a different race of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who each have a [[ScaryDogmaticAliens grand plan]] for the sentient beings of the universe.

The ''Lensman'' series was adapted into a (unlicensed) Japanese Anime movie ("SF New Century Lensman") and series ("Lensman: Galactic Patrol") , which took the [[BroadStrokes basic outline]] and the [[InNameOnly names of most of the major characters]] and turned it all into a ''StarWars'' ripoff. Doc Smith's estate attempted to sue the anime's creators over the series but the lawsuit was thrown out on a technicality. (The litigants had waited too long before acting and thus failed to protect their copyright). The movie and a CompilationMovie of part of the series were dubbed in English by Harmony Gold USA. Later, Creator/StreamlinePictures redubbed the movie with the original soundtrack and no cuts for content.

* 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 [[EnergyWeapon heat ray]], and [[RealityEnsues the multi-kilohorsepower engines required to move it around]].

* ActionGirl: Clarissa Kinnison is surprisingly badass, given the time period. Especially later on, Clarissa is, in fact, quite badass for ''most'' time periods.
** Her daughters, two sets of twins aged eighteen and nineteen, aren't far behind her and later on they turn it {{up to eleven}} - possibly twelve.

* SolarSystemNeigbhors: Martians and Venusians are mentioned, while Pluto was colonized by the exosolar Palainians long before Earth (Tellus) discovered space travel.

* SpaceIsCold: During Virgil Samms's visit to a sub-zero planet, Smith takes pains to explain that vacuum is a very poor conductor. Heat loss to the metallic ground is a much bigger danger, on the other hand.
* SpacePirates: The Boskonian empire was mistaken as being merely these at first. Not a hard mistake to make, when it's the only face the enemy shows you.

* AncientTradition: The Arisians are committed to guarding every intelligent species' right to determine its own way of life, and are both older and more powerful than even the Eddorians.

* ExactWords: when Mentor tells you you have ''almost'' caused a disaster, it means the situation is still retrievable.

** All this aside, what the Delgonian Overlords do to their victims.

* SoLastSeason: The powers of Civilization, Boskone, and the Lensmen keep going up and up and up...

* DarkIsNotEvil: Initially, the [[StarfishAlien frigid-blooded, poison-breathing]], [[AlienGeometries multidimensional]] [[EldritchAbomination Eich]], briefed in a perpetual aura of [[EvilIsDeathlyCold near-absolute zero cold]], are truly scary monsters and the epitome of evil. But later, the Palainians (a closely related species, about as similar to them as we are to HumanAliens) turn out to be honorable and reliable (if [[BlueAndOrangeMorality weird]]) allies of Civilization.

* 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. Nadrek, the Palanian Second-Stage Lensman, is regarded as every bit as much a hero by his race's standards as Kinnison is by human standards. The Blue and Orange part comes in because Palanians consider cowardice and guile to be ''virtues''. Nadrek is so thoroughly ashamed of "botching" his ''single-handed'' elimination of a major Boskonian base so badly that three (out of, at the very least, hundreds) of the Boskonians failed to kill each other/themselves and he ''personally'' had to eliminate them using (shudder) physical conflict that he records the details of this operation only under strong protest, and immediately places the recording under "Lensman's Seal", which effectively means "Ain't nobody seeing this never." Kinnison's reaction is pretty similar to the reader's: "Took out an entire base all by himself, something nobody else could have done, heroically risked his own life in personal combat to finish up the job, and he's embarrassed because he thinks it wasn't elegant enough. Palanians are weird."

** Aversions do occur in later books where circumstances permit - when time constraints are sufficiently relaxed and/or the numbers of Boskonians involved are sufficiently small that it is practical to "rehabilitate" them rather than simply disposing of them. Examples include the crew of the base in the Blakeslee incident, Illona Potter, and indeed Thrale, where vast resources are deployed to rehabilitate the entire planet.

** Kim Kinnison pulls a neat trick when rehabilitating the drug-blasted mind of a young woman who had been hypnotised into being an enemy agent prior to biting an amnesia capsule when captured. He leaves something in her head as protection for her, against the next person who tries that on her.

* TheSpartanWay: Present, though somewhat downplayed. In ''Galactic Patrol'', it's mentioned that out of an initial selection pool of one million, only about one hundred are deemed worthy of receiving a Lens. Given that a typical Lensman is among the most physically, mentally, and morally tough people in the galaxy, it's to be expected that the selection process must be quite demanding.

** As the series goes on, we learn much of Boskone is ObliviouslyEvil and honestly thinks Civilization are the bad guys who'll do horrible things to captured Boskonians. Kinnison occasionally feels really bad about committing what amounts to mass murder of people who present about as much of a threat to him as an ant does do a boot.

* YouHaveFailedMe: Helmuth loves this trope.

** Illona goes around wearing shedloads of credits in jewels, but they're not considered a big deal on her home planet of Lonabar. She's wearing so much jewels, in fact, they let Kinnison set up a cover identity as a shady jewel dealer.

* ReverseMole: One of Kinnison's usual tactics, successful to the point that he eventually ends up running the Evil Empire in time for their (at that stage in the story) climactic battle with Civilization.

* TwinSwitch: First Lensman Samms does a variation on this so he can [[ReverseMole infiltrate a drug cartel]] while under Patrol protection. The reason he can switch with his cousin is carefully explained.

* 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 [[RealityEnsues the multi-kilohorsepower engines required to move it around]].

* BiggerBad: The Eddorians turn out to be directing Boskone from behind the scenes.

** 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. LaVerne Thorndyke is their equivalent in Kim Kinnison's era.

* BoringInvincibleHero: The main characters may appear as this to some readers since they tend to be good at nearly everything in the story.

* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu:
** Virgil Samms feels like this after establishing [[FirstContact maybe second or third contact]] with the Palainians.
** Averted when Mentor of Arisia assists Kimball Kinnison in destroying Prime Miniser Fosteen (Gharlane of Eddore), then convinces him that Fosteen was a renegade Arisian and that Kinnison dispatched him without help.