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{{quote|"''There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, [[Going Down with the Ship|go down with the ship]], and [[The Men First|never abandon a member of your crew]].''"|'''Captain Janeway'''}}
The third 'new generation' [[Star Trek]], it ran for seven seasons, from January 1995 through May 2001. In the first episode, the [[Cool Starship|''USS Voyager'']] was [[The Call Knows Where You Live|pulled across the galaxy by an alien device]]. Janeway destroyed the device during a battle rather than let it be misused, stranding her ship seventy-five years' travel time from home.
For the next seven seasons, the Voyager looked for a shortcut [[The Homeward Journey|back to Earth]] while dodging or defeating the assortment of [[Aliens and Monsters]]. They even crossed paths with a pair of Ferengi that had been zapped to the Delta Quadrant back in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'', at least one Romulan, and even another Starfleet vessel, also kidnapped by the Caretaker and trying to get back to the Federation.
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Early on even the producers found a certain problem with the premise, in that the series had a singular goal of returning home. That meant while there was plenty of "Strange New Worlds" to discover, they were always looking home, and constantly missing [[Just Eat Gilligan|opportunities for shortcuts]]. Another problem was the use of [[Infinite Supplies]]. Early in the series, many fans quickly dubbed Voyager the HMS [[Reset Button]]; the conclusion of almost every episode usually resulted in a return to ''[[Status Quo Is God|status quo ante]]''.
Interestingly, the show suffered from such inconsistent writing that even the ''actors'' complained; Kate Mulgrew mentioned that her character (the ship's captain) was [[Depending on the Writer|never portrayed the same way from episode to episode]] (causing Janeway to switch between upholding the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] ''no matter the cost'' in some episodes, and having no problem with breaking it whenever it proves even a ''minor'' inconvenience in others), and Robert Beltran's notoriously wooden acting has often been attributed to his contempt for the writing of his character and the plots, which he's expressed in several interviews. At least some of this has been ascribed to [[Executive Meddling]] on the part of Paramount, hampering the production team on building a stronger show.
The show was a frustrating mix of genuinely good entertainment and "safe" old [[Star Trek]] stand-bys. Part of this was a predominance with episodes of the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] between Seven-Of-Nine and The Doctor. The lackluster response to ''Voyager'' was actually a serious consideration to hold off on further ''[[Star Trek]]'' series ([[Executive Meddling|which was demanded anyway]]). But it was also the near-magical power of the technology in this series that made them decide upon a less-evolved [[Prequel]] series in ''[[Enterprise]]''.
That said, ''Voyager'' was notable for taking on stories and subjects that even its very daring sister series, ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', didn't
''Voyager'' is known throughout ''Trek'' fandom as a series that featured an episode so ''incredibly'' sub-par that both the fans ''and the producers'' unofficially struck it from canon after it aired (unless you count an offhand comment in a later episode... which ''[[Canon Discontinuity|officially]]'' strikes it from canon).
However, ''Voyager'' is also widely considered to have the most beautiful and evocative [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX9FU8bmxQs theme music] the franchise has ever produced (albeit not the most ''iconic''; that honor goes to TOS and TNG). It has been said that ''Voyager''{{'}}s theme is the music to what the show ''should'' have been.
If you want to read something like an [[Abridged Series]] or [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]] version, try ''[[Five Minute Voyager]]''.
Want reviews of this? No problem, just ask Chuck Sonnenburg at [[SF Debris|SF Debris!]]
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* [[The Bus Came Back]]: "Fury"
* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: "Night", "Year of Hell", "[[Hourglass Plot|Equinox]]", "Endgame".
* [[Con Crew]]: In one episode, in which Neelix and Tom are trying to prove they're still "street", they decide to pull the cup-and-pea trick on the Doctor. To get him interested, they let him see Tom be the Shill by successfully finding the pea.
* [[Data Crystal]]
* [[Death Seeker]] (or [[Driven to Suicide]]): A member of the Q Continuum argues for the right to commit suicide in [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Death Wish"]]. Also B'Elanna Torres in "Extreme Risk" and Neelix in "Mortal Coil". And apparently Janeway, given her frequent threats to [[Self-Destruct Mechanism|blow up]] Voyager or [[Debate and Switch|fly it into binary pulsars]].
* [[Die Hard on an X|Die Hard on a Spaceship]]: "Basics, Part II", "Macrocosm", "The Killing Game".
* [[Do Androids Dream?|Do Holograms Dream]]: "Projections", "Prototype", "The Swarm", [[
* [[Downer Ending]]: "Course: Oblivion", probably one of the few examples of the trope in Star Trek.
* [[Egg
* [[Ensign Newbie]]: "Nightingale"
* [[Epic Race]]: "Drive"
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* [[Relationship Reset Button]]: "Unforgettable".
* [[Rip Van Winkle]]: "Living Witness", "Timeless"
* [[
* [[Space Elevator]]: "Rise"
* [[Subspace Ansible]]: Seeing as Voyager is a ''lot'' further out than other Federation vessels, and has been presumed destroyed, even getting a message home is important to the crew. "Eye of the Needle", "Message in A Bottle", "Hunters", "Pathfinder".
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** "Dark Frontier", {{spoiler|the borg wanted Seven of Nine to be severed earlier to develop a human perspective. If the federation hadn't taken the bait, they lose nothing. In the episode itself, the Borg Queen's plan. If Seven returns them, they leave Voyager alone. If not, they assimilate Voyager during the mission. If Seven warns Voyager, than the borg recover the transwarp coil that Voyager planned on stealing. }} and "Endgame".
* [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]]: "Gravity", "Blink of an Eye".
== Tropes A-G ==
* [[2-D Space]]: Like ''all'' Star Trek, though the large holographic Astrometrics display did avert this somewhat.▼
* [[Agent Scully]]: Played with in "Blink of an Eye", with two scientists trying to discover if there's anyone on board Voyager, which has been in their sky for their civilisation's entire history due to [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]]. The Scully doubts there's anyone on board, but when the Mulder asks why he's on the mission in the first place, he adds that he doubts everything - including his own doubts.
* [[A God Am I]]: Invoked by a group of Ferengi who ended up getting stuck in the Delta Quadrant in a similar fashion that Voyager did. They spent no time tricking and manipulating a planet's native race to start following the Rules of Acquisition and making them believe that the Ferengi were gods and prophets to the gods.
* [[
* [[All the Myriad Ways]], leading to Harry Kim becoming his own [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].
* [[Alternate Universe]]
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* [[Body Horror]]: The phage and Paris's transformation in ''Threshold.''
* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Janeway delivers one in "Year of Hell" just before {{spoiler|[[Ramming Always Works|ramming her severely crippled ship]] into the timeline-altering weapon ship}}: "Time's up."
* [[
* [[The Blank]]: In "The Fight", Chakotay fights a being from a region of chaotic space; the being is wearing a boxing hoodie that hides his face, when the alien is finally revealed, he has no face, only a starfield.
* [[Brick Joke]]: Chakotay's bottle of cider in "Shattered."
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{{quote|'''Janeway:''' "Coffee. Black."
'''Neelix:''' "But Captain, the replicators are-"
'''Janeway:''' "Neelix, [[Must Have Caffeine|listen to me VERY carefully]], because I am only going to say this once: ''Coffee. Black.''"
'''Neelix:''' (serves coffee) "Now that I have your attention..."
'''Janeway:''' "Coffee first." ([[Gigantic Gulp]]) }}
** {{spoiler|Admiral Janeway}} questions why she ever gave it up in the final episode.
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* [[Thoughtcrime]]: There was an episode where they came across a people who were extremely telepathic, so sensitive that any extreme emotions would incite them to act out on those feelings; having violent thoughts was a crime in and of itself. Torres was put under trial for having a brief violent thought when someone bumped into her, and Tuvok's investigation into the planet's culture found a sort of "violent thoughts" Black Market. Of course it examined the nature that when something was so taboo it meant their own people were unable to handle it when confronted with the situation.
* [[Third Person Person]]:
{{quote|'''Dreadnought''': "False information has been entered into ''Dreadnought''{{'}}s navigational sensor array."
'''Paris''': "When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get worried." }}
* [[Tim Taylor Technology]]{{context}}
* [[
* [[Transformation Sequence]]: Overlaps with [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]] in "Tinkor, Tailor, Doctor, Spy". The Doctor's transformation into the ECH is accompanied by a dramatic zoom on the Doctor's lapel as the pips appear one by one.
▲* [[2-D Space]]: Like ''all'' Star Trek, though the large holographic Astrometrics display did avert this somewhat.
* [[Two Roads Before You]]
* [[Understatement]]: In "Scientific Method," Janeway decides to fly ''Voyager'' between two stars, hoping to destroy the ships of some aliens who have been experimenting on the crew in the process, despite Tuvok's warning that the odds of their survival are "one in twenty, at best." Tuvok tells her that it's a far more reckless course of action than he's come to expect from her. After they manage to get away, Janeway comments to Tuvok that she never knew he thought of her as "reckless." Tuvok says that it was a poor choice of words: "It was clearly an understatement."
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* [[UST]]: Plenty of this between Janeway and Chakotay, but more so in early seasons.
** Mostly due to the influence of Jeri Taylor, who wrote the majority of the episodes where this is prevalent. After she took a backseat as a writer, this promptly vanished.
* [[Vision Quest]]: Chakotay [[Magical Native American|consults his spirit guide]] about once a season, or helps someone else do so.
* [[We Are as Mayflies]]: Kes and the other Ocampa have an average lifespan of less than a decade in length.
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** Remember back in the TNG episode "A Measure of a Man" where Picard chewed out Starfleet who were planning to disassemble Data so they could build Androids to serve on Federation vessels, arguing that it was tantamount to them actively perpetuating a Slave-Race? Well apparently Starfleet doesn't, as its revealed in "Lifeline" that they reprogrammed every single EMH Mk I in the Alpha Quadrant to mine Dilithium asteroids.
*** By that logic we need to stop using flashlights to create enslaved beams of light ''immediately''.
* [[Writers Cannot Do Math]]: [http://www.mi6forums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=4713264#4713264 The character biographies]{{Dead link}}, [http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/inconsistencies-voy.htm the shuttlecraft complement, the number of torpedoes, the crewmembers]...
* [[Wrote the Book]]: In the finale, a future Starfleet instructor introduces Admiral Janeway as "the person who, literally, wrote the book on the Borg."
* [[Yellow Brick Road]]: Though when keeping to the path is the only way to progress ''and'' [[Status Quo Is God]]...
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* [[You Look Familiar]]
* [[You Never Did That for Me]]: Janeway, upon learning that her best friend Tuvok used to make tea for [[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|then-Captain Sulu]], complains in a mock-annoyed fashion that he never made ''her'' tea! In the novelization of that episode, he notes, quite reasonably, that she prefers coffee.
* [[
== There are also several shows [[Show Within a Show|Shows Within a Show]]. They contain examples of ==
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'''Paris:''' Well they brought people back to the theaters.
'''Kim:''' Cliffhangers!
'''Paris:''' The lost art of hyperbole.
* [[Damsel in Distress]]: Parodied in the [[Ms. Fanservice|voluptuous form]] of Constance Goodheart, who "tags along on all the missions" for the sole purpose of getting captured by [[Mad Scientist]]s, and whose only dialogue is an [[Screaming Woman|ear-piercing scream]].
** [[Hilarity Ensues]] when Tom tries to put ''Seven of Nine'' in this role. She goes [[Off the Rails]] quickly.
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* [[Dope Slap]]: Paris gives this to Satan's Robot when it scares off the alien they're trying to make [[First Contact]] with. The Robot shambles off muttering sulkily about alien invaders.
* [[Emperor Scientist]] / [[Mad Scientist]] / [[Big Bad]]: [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|Doctor]] Chaotica, [[The Magnificent|Ruler of the Cosmos!]]
* [[Evil Laugh]]: Chaotica, whose other villain tropes include [[Evil Eyebrows]], [[Beard of Evil]], [[Paid Harem]], [[Big No]], [[Pitiful Worms]], [[You Have Failed Me...]], [[You Fool!]], [[Kneel Before Zod|"Kneel before Chaotica!"]], [[Lonely
* [[Femme Fatale]]: Queen Arachnia. Plus the Twin Mistresses of Evil, Demonica and Malicia.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Tom Paris knows something's gone wrong in "Bride of Chaotica!" because Constance Goodheart has been killed, and that [[
* [[Invincible Hero]]
{{quote|'''Chaotica:''' But I saw you fall into the fiery mouth of that volcano!
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{{quote|'''Seven:''' I am Borg. ''(yanks out robot's wiring, disabling it)'' The robot has been neutralized. May I leave now?}}
* [[Robo Speak]]: Satan's Robot with its [[Catch Phrase]]: "SUR-REND-DER!" Also [[Electronic Speech Impediment]] whenever it gets damaged.
* [[Role
* [[
{{quote|"Surprised? You thought I had [[Not Quite Dead|perished in that den of crocodiles]]. I SURVIVED! CLINGING to the thought that I would ONE DAY__''Arrrrgh!''"}}
* [[Sidekick]]: Ensign Harry Kim plays 'Buster', a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Buster Crabbe]] who famously played Flash Gordon in the [[Flash Gordon Serial|1930s film serials]].
* [[Space Does Not Work That Way]]: Parodied in "Thirty Days" where Proton is seen [[Batman Can Breathe in Space|flying through outer space]] protected by a [[Adventurer Outfit|leather jacket and flying goggles]].
* [[Strapped to An Operating Table]]: Janeway in "Shattered".
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* [[You Just Ruined the Shot]]: In "Bride Of Chaotica!" [[Energy Beings|photonic aliens]] mistake the simulation for reality and go to war with Chaotica.
* [[Zeerust]]: It's several centuries old by the time of ''Voyager''.
{{reflist}}
{{Star Trek Franchise}}
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[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Illusion Arts]]
[[Category:American Series]]
▲[[Category:Star Trek: Voyager]]
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[[Category:Star Trek]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1990s]]
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