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May also show up in the guise of Lost Magic in fantasy settings. Often a consequence of [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]]. Also see [[Sufficiently Advanced]] and [[Pointless Doomsday Device]]. Compare [[Bamboo Technology]]. A subtrope of [[Older Is Better]]. Frequently overlaps with [[Sufficiently Advanced Bamboo Technology]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
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* ''[[Trinity Blood]]''. Not only is it actually called Lost Technology but they even heavily analogize Lost Technology to magic by giving it mystical references.
* The technology of Laputa in ''[[Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]''. Unusually, it did not destroy them; they voluntarily threw it away because it was alienating them from [[Arcadia|the earth]].
* The main theme of ''[[Turn A Gundam
** Also used as the plot for the more kid aimed spin off ''Musha Generation'', alabeit with the mecha now super deformed, more fantasy elements to the cast and the overall theme being the way of the samurai.
* In ''[[Trigun]]'' they literally call the [[Organic Technology|Plants]] ("[[Gratuitous English|Lost Technology]].") The Plants are like power plants, they produce energy that allows humans to survive on the planet Gunsmoke. The Plants were invented on another, now mostly mythical planet (Earth), and with one exception the knowledge of how and why the Plants work is completely forgotten.
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* ''[[Lost Universe]]'' with its Lost Ships and Psi Weapons. Depending on the Fanon accepted the Lost Technology may Gods and Demons in the form of technology.
* In ''[[Break Blade]]'', the hero Rygart's mecha or err ''Golem'' is not made of quartz like everyone else's, oh no his is an ''unholy'' fusion of cheap metal, oil and he is apparently the only one who can use it viceversa goes for the quartz golems. Besides being this trope it is also faster and stronger than anything made from quartz.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', "Lost Magic" is, according to Master Hades {{spoiler|the former master of Fairy Tail}} of Grimoire Heart, the magic closest to the source of all magic in their world {{spoiler|which he believes is connected to Black Mage Zeref}}. The strongest members of his guild, [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Seven Kin of Purgatory]], are armed with Lost Magic and are extremely powerful.
* In ''[[Heat Guy J]]'', humanity has gone several steps back technology wise, after a calamitous war. The most advance technology is being controlled and maintained by an apparently benevolent group known as the Celestials. In fact a number of laws were enacted after the war to prevent humans from regaining some of the more destructive technologies, notability research into android has been outlawed (with some exceptions) and the only android allowed within city limits or populated areas is J.
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* T. E. Bass' ''Half Past Human'' depicts an Earth about 3000 years in our future, where humans have devolved into a four-toed variety (called the Nebish) and technology appears to have declined as well (although it's still higher than ours). There are two instances of Lost Technology in this novel, both owned by (and planted to assist) the few remaining five-toed outcasts; one gets dismantled by Nebish technicians, who fail to recognise it as a Class 6 cybernetic device, since it's small and portable and their understanding of Class 6 cybers is that the brain case alone would weigh over two tons.
* The city of Diaspar in Arthur Clarke's ''The City and the Stars'' (a novel-length re-working of his earlier novella ''Against the Fall of Night'') is composed of technology that no one living understands any longer; but which is all fully automated and self-repairing. Somewhat subverted in that the computer that maintains the city, including the inhabitants—who are cloned reincarnations of the original population with memories of all their incarnations stored in the computer—could conceivably produce new inhabitants with the requisite memories. The technology necessary for space travel, on the other hand, had been deliberately purged both from the city computer's memory, and the records of the telepathic inhabitants of the pastoral city of Lys; and the populations of both cities had developed a phobia of space travel, with a powerful {{spoiler|and completely wrong}} mythology justifying their fear.
* In the ''[[Warhammer
* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Ringworld]]'' and everything on it.
* The technology of the various [[Precursor|Forerunner]] races in [[Andre Norton]]'s science fiction novels.
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* The [[Liaden Universe]] has "OldTech", Clarkian technology from the waning days of the previous universe (as seen in ''Crystal Soldier'' and ''Crystal Dragon'') and the early days of the present universe. Much of it was designed by or derived from tech designed by the Sheriekas, the evolved transhumans responsible for rendering that universe inhospitable to ordinary human life, and it can often carry their malign influence. One of the primary missions of the Scouts is to sequester or destroy any remnants of that technology that still exist, whether harmful or not, as well as research it to try to derive safe versions. This can sometimes bring them into conflict with others—such as Uncle or Clan Korval—who take a more enlightened stance toward using that technology. Likewise, the Department of the Interior recognizes the inherent advantage in having as much OldTech as they can.
* The setting of ''Aestival Tide'' by Elizabeth Hand is a city run entirely on forgotten technology... which is slowly failing.
* Elderglass from the [[Gentleman Bastard Sequence]] series.
* The Deathly Hallows in ''[[Harry Potter]]''. Each of them is a one-of-a-kind artifact with power that laughs in the face of all conventional magic: the Elder Wand when wielded by its rightful owner is powerful enough to repair other wands (which Ollivander believed was impossible) with a simple Repairing Charm, the Resurrection Stone can summon a bonafide shade from the afterlife (even this much shouldn't be possible), and the Invisibilty Cloak's power doesn't vanish with time (all other Cloaks eventually run out of juice). Attempts to recreate the Hallows have all ended in failure. Even the Elder Wand—wandmakers know that it's made out of elder wood and has a thestral hair core, but can't create another wand with its power even with those components available. The Hallows are so powerful and mysterious that one legend claims that ''Death itself'' created them.
* Similar to the ''Shannara'', example, ''The Empire of the East'' and the ''[[Books of Swords]]'' are set in the distant future of earth, after the collapse of technological civilization and the rise of magic. In ''Empire'', however, [[The Magic Comes Back|Technology Comes Back]], or starts to, at any rate. The discovery of some old technological devices, including an atomic-powered battle tank, plays a major role in the story.
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* First Age artifacts, especially warstriders, from ''[[Exalted]]''. Subverted in that the technology isn't quite lost, just rare and only buildable in certain places or by certain people.
* The Brothers' War that underpins nearly all of the early storyline of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' was begun when the two brothers found the Lost Technology of the Thran.
* The golden age of Humanity in ''[[Warhammer
** There is also lots of other 'archeotech' out there from several of the other races, mostly the Slann/Necrontyr and the Old Ones/Eldar. It's heavily implied that three of the main races from the setting are forgotten and lost biological weapons.
** Don't forget the Necrons, walking Lost Technology. They are ancient skeleton machines scattered through the universe.
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*** And then analysis of captured Clan tech led to advances that made even the coveted LosTech of a few decades ago look like toys.
* The Fringepaths created by the Tehrmelern race in ''Fringeworthy''.
* ''[[
* Third Edition [[Dungeons
** Many published D&D settings have complex historical backstories involving long-forgotten civilizations, the better to account for why so much Lost Technology can be found lying around in monster-infested holes in the ground. This even applies to ''[[Eberron]]'', the one setting with tech that is actively advancing, through the ruins of the extinct giant civilization, and Cannith ruins in Cyre (where it was lost within years of its discovery then found again within a decade).
* In later editions of ''[[Cyberpunk (role-playing game)|Cyberpunk]]'', the 2020s DataKrash resulted in much technology being lost behind the Blackwall, still not to be recovered even by 2077.
== Theater ==
* The basic premise behind ''[[We Will Rock You]]'', where music itself is the Lost Technology.
== Video Games ==
* A twist on this is ''[[Fallout]]'', which takes place in a post-apocalyptic USA, beginning 84 years after a massive nuclear exchange that took place in the year 2077. The local [[Big Bad]] has recovered terrifying Lost Technology—in the form of a powerful nuclear weapon from the beforetime!
** Well, it's [[After the End|post-apoc]], so nearly everything in this game is Lost Technology. The best one? The G.E.C.K., of course. The ''Garden of Eden Creation Kit''. That's saying ''[[Phlebotinum]]'' with four letters.
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** Nearly every early ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' game has some elements (6 and 7 as Lost Magic), usually just to give you a chance to dungeon crawl through a high-tech tower of some sort. No one ever thinks to pick up a dropped laser gun or study the tech for the betterment of the world, though.
*** Well they're quite happy to put it all to good use in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''. The Al Bhed ignore the anti-technology taboo that everyone else has, and have built their entire society around salvaging ancient "machina" for reuse. {{spoiler|And the Temple of Yevon (who are responsible for the machina taboo in the first place) have their own secret arsenal of firearms and combat droids.}}
** A major element in ''[[Wild
** ''[[Xenogears]]'' tends to flip-flop on whether Gears are or aren't lost technology. At the very least, Gears are dug up from ancient ruins, but it's painfully obvious that they can be tweaked and created via available tech in the more advanced areas. At the very least, the Omnigears are lost tech.
*** The remains of the Elridge, however, and the Zeboim civilization, very much fit the trope. The Merkaba, the "Treasure of Kislev," the Yggdrasils, and Emeralda herself are primary examples.
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* Discussed in a tavern conversation in ''[[Infinite Space]]''. A character notes that [[Cult Colony|Adis]]' advanced technology is very close to the technology their precursors from <s>Earth</s> Terra used to have, which leads another character to say the idea of their precursors had more advanced technology than the current generation is ridiculous.
* Various artifacts from the Sindar civilization in ''[[Suikoden]]'' series.
* The artifacts of the Xel'Naga in the ''[[
* Retrieving their Lost Technology is one of the major reasons the Dwarves continue to launch expeditions into the Darkspawn infested Deep Roads in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins''. Some of the lost thaigs still hold valuable secrets that could help turn the tide against the Darkspawn. Others have secrets that are better off buried and forgotten.
* Very common in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'', where a few centuries prior to ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', there was a thriving civilization made up mostly of sapient robots (and, probably, a related civilization that made the robots), with antigravity technology, mastery of electricity, and other technology to put modern Earth to shame. The civilization vanished around the time of a war against the [[Bigger Bad]], and ancient ridiculously high-tech relics show up in dungeons and as monsters for the rest of the series, a span covering literally thousands of years.
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* In ''[[Fine Structure]]'', one of the protagonists {{spoiler|sends human civilization back to the stone age every time they get close to re-developing nuclear weapons. Nukes are Lost Technology and she intends to ''keep'' it that way.}}
* [[Land Games]]: {{spoiler|Farseer discovers his people once had weapons like those of the human players.}}
* ''[[SCP Foundation]]''; [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/rounderhouse-gold-proposal SCP-001 (ROUNDERHOUSE's Gold proposal)] is a city founded by the Mekhanites, the ancestors of humans who would found the Church of the Broken God, and is full of this. The city had mass transport, flying machines, motorized war machines (including [[Humongous Mecha]]s) and cold fusion generators at a time where most humans were only in the Bronze Age, though most of it was broken in a terrible war against Daevites, the Sarkites and later [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-874 the Abominate.] Even modern Mekhanites can barely comprehend how they work.
== Western Animation ==
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*** Though even then they were, in many cases, looking at the wrong things at times. The overall technological level of Europe actually increased after the fall of the Greco-Roman civilization, and many important inventions were made or came to the continent only after that civilization fell - stirrups, for instance, were introduced over a century after the fall of Rome, and in any case, not all of the Roman empire fell at once, with the eastern portion of the empire surviving another 600 years. Some things were lost, though, such as the ability to make highly advanced gearing.
** Another possible origin is simply that the balkanization cut down traffic and thus decreased the resources available that could be spent on large technological projects like roads and aqueducts.
* Even as [[The Dung Ages]] unfolded after the fall of the Greco-Roman cultures, people's ingenuity still worked, if their living depended on it. Something like [https://web.archive.org/web/20150502231127/http://etnomon.cimec.ro/pics/medium/9DB22A6A4DE340818DE111FF5BEEB542.jpg this], but stronger and made of metal, you may find in your nearby hydropower plant, or in your car's turbocharger. But these turbines have been known at least since the Late Middle Ages in water mills. The best part of it? The craftsmen who built them were in most cases illiterate and most certainly had never known maths.
* So-called "Damascus" steel has been lost for centuries since the original iron deposits in India ran out (there was a key impurity in those particular iron deposits).
** It was figured out in the late 1990's and there are now companies making bladestock from it. Modern bladesmiths have slowly been using it more and more. To prevent confusion with "Pattern-welded" steel, which was and is commonly referred to as "Damascus" steel, it is known by the original name for the ore: "Wootz".
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*** The fact they were made from wood that grew to maturity during the "little ice age", when cooler temperatures caused narrowing of tree rings, may also have been a factor in their quality.
** The wood is now more than 300 years old. Also, music has been continuously been played on those instruments for 300 years or so. How this affects the resonant properties of wood is not fully understood, but brand new violins tend to open up and improve over time until the wood decays to the point of deterioration, provided there are no structural failures and the instruments are maintained properly.
** Said studies however, are only on the properties of the wood. The famous "Italian sound" of the violins on the other hand, is a completely different story altogether. It is worth noting that Stradivari violins do not perform particularly well in blind tests, which have repeatedly failed to find any significant differences between them and the best modern instruments (an example of which can be read [http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/01/02/144482863/double-blind-violin-test-can-you-pick-the-strad here]). It is very common for the more modern violin in any such test to be identified as the "Stradivari," which is taken to mean the best violin of the ones being tested. This even occurred in a blind test when two violin experts were allowed to play the instruments, and still could not correctly identify the Stradivari. In double blind tests, where neither the players nor those carrying out the test knew which violin was which, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908144722/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/articles/discover/index.htm even experienced violin makers failed to identify the Strad or Guarneri and often end up preferring a modern instrument instead.]
*** [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081558/Out-tune-Concert-violinists-identify-sound-multi-million-pound-Stradivarius.html Speaking of] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908144722/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/articles/discover/index.htm blind tests], audiences and expert violinists and even experienced makers alike have been completely fooled when a modern violin was deliberately introduced as a Strad or Guarneri and the real violins as ordinary instruments, which suggests that psychology has a major impact on the way human beings hear an instrument. Over and above that, while there is agreement on what is a bad sound, but what constitutes a good tone itself is too subjective to draw any conclusive ground.
** Other than some unique properties of the wood, everything else may actually be an '''aversion of this trope'''. '''Every''' Stradivarius and Guarnerius violin being used today has been '''extensively modified''' over the last 300+ years since they were built. The fingerboard has been thickened and lengthened, the nut redesigned, the wood strip connecting the fingerboard to the neck removed and replaced by an all ebony board, the angle of the neck reset (in some cases, the neck itself was replaced) for higher inclination of the strings and the design of the bridge ''completely'' changed to the point where it doesn't resemble anything close to how a bridge looked in Stradivarius's time. The sound post, bass bar and tailpiece have all been changed as well. Then the chin rest and shoulder rest were also thrown in. Any professional violinist would know that changing ''even one of them'' would have a major impact on the sound, response and ease of playing. And that's not all.
** The strings have also gone through considerable improvements since Stradivari's time, all for the sake of improving the sound and response of the instrument. First wound gut strings were developed and then steel, then synthetics and alloy strings came along. Today there are dozens of brands offering different types of strings in different gauges and it is all modern technology. The strings are the single biggest variable in the sound production of any violin.
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*** A soloist in an ensemble playing on a powerful violin that is placed too close to the mike can sound scratchy, harsh and anything ''but'' musical, but when heard in a concert hall from farther away the harsh tones are damped out by the auditorium itself and the tone at the audience end has been described to be incredible, rich and colorful.
** ''And recordings''. The way a violin sounds in a studio recording (especially the older ones where the soloists where miked much closer) can be very different from how it really sounds in a concert hall. This can give the listener a misleading perception of the sound of the violins used by the soloist. A graphic equalizer can modify the instrument's timbre to the point where it sounds nothing like the original. The quality of the audio equipment can make a significant difference too.
** The single biggest variable in the violin sound is '''the player.''' There are numerous occasions where expert violinists have taken the inferior instruments of their students and reproduced the same incredible sound of their own violins. It is also well known that different players sound totally different on the same instrument. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908154952/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/articles/philip_kass/ There are extensive documented cases of great violinists being unable to reproduce their tone when having to play on an unfamiliar instrument.]
** In fact, the Stadivarius and Guarnerius lore might be a major case of YMMV. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908152537/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/ There are many experts] who hold that [http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15642750,00.html there is no such thing] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908144722/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/articles/discover/index.htm as the Stradivarius secret] and the mystique around it [https://web.archive.org/web/20130908144328/http://www.fritz-reuter.com/reports/rin048.htm is just a romanticized brand mythology] for the market to keep raising their prices higher and higher. Old instruments are a valuable investment and some sell for millions of dollars.
* A tool similar in exquisite manufacture, reputation, mystique and expense to a classical-age violin is the classic double rifle from the golden age of African hunting. Contrary to what people may think, their number during [[The Edwardian Era]] was never large (the vast majority of hunters and workers in the African colonies [[Captain Obvious|could not afford something more expensive than a demilitarized rough and tumble bolt-action rifle]]) and insane expenses are needed to achieve in modern times the same performance it did 100 years ago. One may find out the hard way the $120,000 classic rifle once fired by [[Out of Africa|Denys Finch Hatton]] needs a caliber which no factory has built since the 1950s, is regulated to a precise combination of powder (which is no longer manufactured) and bullet weight and aerodynamics that no archive search can find, and finally the modern target shooter lacks the [[Great White Hunter]]'s talent, or is so different in body shape the rifle doesn't fit him or her the slightest bit.
* The so-called [[wikipedia:Baghdad Battery|Baghdad Batteries]] (which are technically fuel cells, not batteries). While significantly less powerful than that 99 cent Duracell you buy at 7-11, and requiring an entire vase (not a cheap item in those days), they were fully functional 1800 years ago. Naturally, this raised the question of why people made them in the first place. While no one actually knows for sure what their intended purpose was; archaeological evidence indicates that they were most likely used for electroplating gold (which would not require a large current).
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* Most of the legendary Atlantean and Vedic technology, such as fire crystals and Vimana. Of course [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether this is genuinely [[Real Life]] or not.
* Techniques of forging relics, especially that of Turin Shroud. We know for certainty that it is a Medieval forgery, but we have absolutely no idea on how it was forged.
* Heron Alexandrinus (10-70 AD) made (supposedly first): [https://web.archive.org/web/20051211215037/http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/HeronAlexandria.htm steam turbine]—ages before the piston steam engine that first got on trains and boats; several self-regulating feedback control systems—precursors of things like the regulator which made possible the steam engine (and again) as we know it; and a slot-machine—drop a coin, get a drink.
* Heron also described earlier (attributed to Archimedes) inventions, including an odometer, both in taximeter and naval log variants.
* According to Aristocles (2nd centrury BC), there was an alarm clock in Plato Academy.
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** This means ''it wouldn't have required anything new'' to have [[More Dakka|full-auto]] turrets centuries before anything similar appeared. Add steam artillery and pumps above for complete [[Schizo-Tech]] imagery in the vein of quadreme battleships -- [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men|Wooden Ships and Bronze Men]], if you want.
* Fully mobile artillery was known at least in the Roman era. The ''Ballista quadrirotis'' was simply a two-horse cart with a ballista on top, but it was enough to make a field artillery with a significant level of maneuverability.
* [[
* The field transistor predates the bipolar transistor by 22 years (Lilienfeld filled the first patent application in 1925), since the idea was much closer to the electron tube. It's unlikely that he really ''built'' it: considering the proposed scale and the quality of early semiconductors, it would not give a measurable amplification. But the principle ''was'' right, even though the theoretical basis was not yet developed.
* Another Chinese example would be the [[wikipedia:South Pointing Chariot|south-pointing chariot]]
* We have had modern lasers for over half a century. For much of that time the technology was described as "an elegant solution lacking a problem".
** Someone might have figured them out much earlier. There was a 18th century scientist called Sir Henry Cavendish who was ahead of his time in a few areas but was unfortunately regarded as a [[Mad Scientist|bit of a crackpot]] and therefore largely ignored. In 1921, someone finally got around to examining his surviving lab equipment and experiments and, among other things found a glass tube full of argon with mirrored electrodes inside which suggests that he was at least on the brink of creating an argon laser.
* In the early 1960s, [[Disney]] invented a revolutionary new technology that rendered [[Chroma Key]] in all its variations utterly obsolete -- the [[w:Sodium vapor process|sodium vapor process]]. Most notably seen during the animated "Jolly Holiday" sequence in ''[[Mary Poppins]]'', the technique utterly eliminated the tell-tale blue or green "fringe" around composited elements, permitted the use of ''any'' color in costuming and props, and allowed the finest details -- like strands of hair or the veil on Mary Poppins' hat -- to appear against matte backgrounds. The system was based around sodium-vapor lamps which emitted light of a very specific frequency and a custom-built camera, at the heart of which was a special prism which would split the sodium-lit background from the white-lit foreground and send the two images to two separate rolls of film. Only one camera was ever built; the prisms were ''so'' expensive that Disney only ever had three made -- and all three were lost by the 1990s. The process was lost for some sixty years, until April 2024, when the studio Corridor Digital [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk came up with a way to reproduce it] using essentially off-the-shelf components.
{{reflist}}
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