The inspiration for Gort appears to be loosely based on the character Gnut, from "Farewell to the Master", a 1940 Astounding Science Fiction short story written by Harry Bates, used as the basis for Andrew Phillips's screenplay.

He is described in the fourth paragraph of the short story as an 8-foot tall giant man made of greenish metal, including musculature.

Klaatu describes "him" as one of an interstellar police force, holding irrevocable powers to "preserve the peace" by destroying any aggressor.

Gort does not speak, but he can receive and follow verbal commands (including the famous dialog line "Klaatu barada nikto", spoken by actor Patricia Neal's character toward the end of the film), as well as non-verbal commands: at one point, Klaatu communicates with him using reflected signals from a borrowed flashlight.

This is not the end of his capability, though, as Gort is also shown acting entirely on his own, both to protect Klaatu from harm and to free himself from encasement in a block of plastic.

During most of the film, Gort remains motionless in front of his ship, which rests in a baseball park in central Washington, D.C., near the White House.

[1] He was portrayed by seven-foot, seven-inch (231 cm)-tall actor Lock Martin wearing a thick foam-rubber suit designed and built by Addison Hehr.

A fiberglass statue of Gort was also used for the close-ups of the firing of his energy beam weapon or when a scene required him to stand still.

Martin could see forward through the suit's visor area during certain shots, and air holes were provided for him under the robot's wide chin and jaw, and these can be seen in several close-ups of Gort's head.

conceals a laser weapon under a visor-like slit in his "face", which can also be used to hack Unmanned aerial vehicles (such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator drones).

Owen Gleiberman writes that "Gort isn't so lovey-dovey" in the remake; rather, "he's like a super-tall, obsidian Oscar statue wreaking havoc.