History YMMV / Lensman

* MagnificentBastard:
** Mentor of Arisia is the king, but honorable mention goes to Nadreck the Palainian, exemplified when he single-handedly wipes out an enemy planet by secretly manipulating the inhabitants into a civil war that killed them all. He's so embarrassed that his planning and execution wasn't perfect,forcing him to deal with the last three survivors personally, that he only reveals the extent of this "failure" when ordered to do so, and refuses to discuss it further.
** It's implied that Nadreck's entire ''species'' is [[PlanetOfHats like this]], except that Nadreck is the most capable of them (and one of the few willing to stick his neck out to perform tasks for the general good- a little). Palainians are among the stranger aliens in the history of science fiction, both physically and mentally, especially if you look at its early days when HumanAliens were the norm.
** Helmuth actually realized what he was up against and tried to take precautions; had Kinnison not already learned his lesson from an ''incredibly'' close brush with death that he was lucky to survive, he'd have been toast. It is a measure of Kinnison's respect for the man that even two novels later, he would look at a sloppy Boskonian defensive emplacement and go 'You know, ''Helmuth'' wouldn't have screwed this one up.'

* LostInImitation: Lensman is the first SpaceOpera with any worldbuilding behind it, setting the example for all to come after it. Yet, it has been eclipsed by ''StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and just about every other space opera that ends up imitating those two more than they do Lensman. The ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'' Corps (the creators of which explicitly reference the Lensman as the primary inspriation) and the Jedi Knights are also derivative of the Order of Lensman and imitators are more likely to mention those two as Ur examples of super powered elite space warriors.

* LostInImitation: Lensman is the first SpaceOpera with any worldbuilding behind it, setting the example for all to come after it. Yet, it has been eclipsed by ''StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and just about every other space opera that ends up imitating those two more than they do Lensman. The ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'' Corps and the Jedi Knights are also derivative of the Order of Lensman and imitators are more likely to mention those two as Ur examples of super powered elite space warriors.

* LostInImitation: Lensman is the first SpaceOpera with any worldbuilding behind it, setting the example for all to come after it. Yet, it has been eclipsed by ''StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and just about every other space opera that ends up imitating those two more than they do Lensman. The ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'' Corps and the Jedi Knights are also derivative of the Order of Lensman and imitators are more likely to mention those two as Ur examples of super powered elite warriors.

* LostInImitation: Lensman is the first SpaceOpera with any worldbuilding behind it, setting the example for all to come after it. Yet, it has been eclipsed by ''StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and just about every other space opera that ends up imitating those two more than they do Lensman. The GreenLantern Corps and the Jedi Knights are also derivative of the Order of Lensman and imitators are more likely to mention those two as Ur examples of super elite warriors.

* SnarkBait: The series is often victim of this due to Smith's PurpleProse and SeinfeldIsUnfunny and ValuesDissonance being in full effect.

** The original stories were themselves published in an era when science fiction was regarded as lowbrow stuff unworthy of being called literature, ensuring any following they had was a cult one, and they're no longer in print today. Nevertheless, in many ways they set the tone for the stories that followed in their wake and continue to attract a modest number of fans to this day.

** Anime:
*** [[EvilOverlord Lord Helmuth]] is the monstrous ruler of Boskone. A genocidal tyrant, Helmuth has entire planets exterminated on a regular basis, killing countless members of the galactic patrol, and approves sadistic plots of his chief agents, such as Neizel's plan to painfully [[TakenForGranite turn a whole planet to stone]] via the mineral Geonium. Helmuth is also a [[BadBoss terrible boss]], frequently painfully killing subordinates for failing. Even in other heroes' backstories, it is revealed Helmuth occupies worlds and subjects inhabitants to genocide if it suits his interest and fancy.
*** [[SociopathicSoldier Neizel of Boskone]] is one of the utter worst of the Boskonian Empire's already-polluted ranks, engaging in the conquest and slaughter of entire planets with the same regularity as the other commanders and going beyond. Neizel harvests a substance called Geonium which kills its victims through slow and agonizing petrification, letting the Geonium break out through a star system with a nightclub full of aliens turned to stone as one of myriad casualties it causes. Neizel happily intends to [[ArmsDealer sell the Geonium as a weapon]] to tyrants with the right price, gloating that there are planets where the rulers would "much rather take care of stone than people".

* AuthorTract: It's taken for granted that libertarianism is the right form of government. At one point, government is loftily mentioned as having been "reduced to its proper sphere and concentrated in the Patrol."

** Come on - what about Helmuth? He at least realised what he was up against and tried to take precautions; had Kinnison not already learned his lesson from an ''incredibly'' close brush with death that he was lucky to survive, he'd have been toast. It is a measure of Kinnison's respect for the man that even two novels later, he would look at a sloppy Boskonian defensive emplacement and go 'You know, ''Helmuth'' wouldn't have screwed this one up.'

* {{Anvilicious}}
** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. Later in the books, this is replaced by mandatory treatment in most cases. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines basically amount to [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]] Though ironically enough there are several scenes of the heroes smoking, as the harmful effects of tobacco weren't yet understood.

* HilariousInHindsight: "Galactic Patrol" implies future-Chicago and future-Paris are highly "Caucasian". Modern Chicago is actually heavily black, and Paris has a signficiant amount of non-whites as well.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Much like ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' is for fantasy, this is essentially the archetype for the SpaceOpera style of science fiction. Of course, with that comes the fact that so many of the concepts that seemed fresh and new when it was first written have either been explored even further or overplayed in the intervening years.

** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. Later in the books, this is replaced by mandatory treatment in most cases. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]] Though ironically enough there are several scenes of the heroes smoking, as the harmful effects of tobacco weren't yet understood.

** The original stories were themselves published in an era when science fiction was regarded as lowbrow stuff unworthy of being called literature, ensuring that any following they had was a cult one, and they're no longer in print today. Nevertheless, in many ways they set the tone for the stories that followed in their wake and continue to attract a modest number of fans to this day.

* HilariousInHindsight: "Galactic Patrol" implies that future-Chicago and future-Paris are highly "Caucasian". Modern Chicago is actually heavily black, and Paris has a signficiant amount of non-whites as well.

** At one point in "Children of the Lens", Kinnison the younger asks his father what he knows about Kalonians. The response is "They're blue." It's even funnier when you realize that it's a dad joke, written more than fifty years before the term "dad joke" was even coined.

* SnarkBait: The series is often victim of this due to Smith's simplistic prose and SeinfeldIsUnfunny an ValuesDissonance being in full effect.

** Come on - what about Helmuth? He at least realised what he was up against and tried to take precautions; had Kinnison not already learned his lesson from an ''incredibly'' close brush with death that he was lucky to survive, he'd have been toast.
** It is a measure of Kinnison's respect for the man that even two novels later, he would look at a sloppy Boskonian defensive emplacement and go 'You know, ''Helmuth'' wouldn't have screwed this one up.'

** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. Later in the books, this is replaced by mandatory treatment in most cases. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]]

* FunnyMoments: The part in "Second-Stage Lensman" where Kinnison casually decides [[spoiler:that he'll have to take over a planet in order to reach his objective.]]

** Also, it's taken for granted that libertarianism is the right form of government. At one point, government is loftily mentioned as having been "reduced to its proper sphere and concentrated in the Patrol."

* HilariousInHindsight: "Galactic Patrol" implies that future-Chicago and future-Paris are highly "Caucasian". Modern Chicago is actually heavily black, and #Paris has a signficiant amount of non-whites as well.

** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]]
** Also, it's taken for granted that libertarianism is the right form of government. At one point, government is loftily mentioned as having been "reduced to its proper sphere and concentrated in the Patrol."

** On another note, pacifistically inclined modern readers may be uncomfortable with the Galactic Patrol's willingness to use [[EarthShatteringKaboom overwhelming force]] against Boskone's fortified planets, or feel that they do so without due regard for [[HumanShield collateral damage]]. Whereas the books were written during and immediately after WorldWarII, when [[KnightInSourArmor the Allies]] were indiscriminately pouring megatons of explosives over German and Japanese cities and few people found anything questionable in this.

** The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommies Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]]

** Mentor of Arisia is the king, but honorable mention goes to Nadreck the Palainian, exemplified when he single-handedly defeated a massively defended enemy fortress by secretly manipulating the inhabitants into a civil war that killed them all. He's so embarrassed that his planning and execution wasn't perfect,forcing him to deal with the last three survivors personally, that he only reveals the extent of this "failure" when ordered to do so, and refuses to discuss it further.
*** It says fortress, but Nadreck actually wipes out [[spoiler:an entire planet]] except for those three commanders.

* CompleteMonster: Many, including both alien horrors such as the [[EmotionEater Delgonian Overlords]] and more mundane villains like [[TheSociopath Herkimer Herkimer III]]. Interestingly, the more overtly monstrous ones tend to be lower-level operatives, while the top tiers are more concerned with [[PragmaticVillainy ruthless efficiency]] than sadism.
** And then there is Kandron of Onlo, the horrible exception to that rule, who is best described as a superintelligent, sadistic SerialKiller with telepathic powers. Also the head of one of Boskonia's secret intelligence services.

* GeniusBonus ''Galactic Patrol'' includes a very amusing technobabble explanation for the unlikely properties of one of Smith's favorite inventions, Duodecpylatimate, AKA Duodec, the ultimate chemical explosive. You have to understand scientific notation to figure out the joke. Smith was reportedly delighted to be called out on this "mistake".
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: [[SerialKiller Kandron of Onlo]] is responsible for the worst of it, in ''Children of the Lens''. When Nadreck investigates him, he compiles a file of roughly a ''thousand'' cases of hitherto respected and admired citizens suddenly committing the most unthinkably savage and sadistic violent crimes (due to Kandron's [[BrainWashed brainwashing]]). The description includes summaries of a few of them, which are probably enough to give sensitive persons nightmares.

*** The brief but haunting description of how the minds of the Overlords' surviving victims work after they have had their way with them in ''Children of the Lens'' makes their ''routine'' procedures at ''least'' as horrifying as anything Kandron ever did.

* MagnificentBastard - Mentor of Arisia is the king, but honorable mention goes to Nadreck the Palainian, exemplified when he single-handedly defeated a massively defended enemy fortress by secretly manipulating the inhabitants into a civil war that killed them all. He's so embarrassed that his planning and execution wasn't perfect,forcing him to deal with the last three survivors personally, that he only reveals the extent of this "failure" when ordered to do so, and refuses to discuss it further.
** It's implied that Nadreck's entire ''species'' is [[PlanetOfHats like this]], except that Nadreck is the most capable of them (and one of the few willing to stick his neck out to perform tasks for the general good- a little). Palainians are among the stranger aliens in the history of science fiction, both physically and mentally, especially if you look at its early days when HumanAliens were the norm.
** Come on - what about Helmuth? He at least realised what he was up against and tried to take precautions; had Kinnison not already learned his lesson from an ''incredibly'' close brush with death that he was lucky to survive, he'd have been toast.
*** It is a measure of Kinnison's respect for the man that even two novels later, he would look at a sloppy Boskonian defensive emplacement and go 'You know, ''Helmuth'' wouldn't have screwed this one up.'
* MainstreamObscurity: Despite being one of the TropeCodifier of modern Space Operas, it isn't a very well known series.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The ''Lensman'' books are quite free of political preaching by the standards of modern sci-fi, but one thing that ''is'' made clear is that the author [[DrugsAreBad doesn't like habit-forming drugs]]. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s may be the {{Big Bad}}s of the plot, but the real monsters are the drug dealers, who suffer unconditional death penalty when captured. In one prequel book, there's also a mild AuthorTract on the evils of drugs, including a couple of lines that are well summed up, though with some loss of nuance, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "Even the]] [[DirtyCommies Soviet Union]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards helped fight the international drug dealers.]] ''[[AnAesop That's]]'' [[AnAesop how bad drugs are."]]

* ValuesDissonance - When the series started, eugenics hadn't been [[GodwinsLaw discredited by association with the Nazis yet]], so aliens "encouraging" Earth's best and brightest to [[GeniusBreedingAct make babies with each other]] was seen as the proper thing for SufficientlyAdvancedAliens to do. Ironically, it doubles as in-universe values dissonance; the aliens see no moral issue with trying to make humanity do this.