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9[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sttas_1227.png]]
10[[caption-width-right:350: ''Star Trek TAS'', complete with the "hunched over, clenched-fist" [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]/Filmation running style we've grown to laugh at. I mean, love.]]
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12''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' is an AnimatedAdaptation and the first SpinOff from [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]], continuing the initial five-year mission.
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14Given the reality that it was produced by Creator/{{Filmation}}, the animation is typically the studio's ultra-cheap style. However, they more than made up for that with the presence of all of the original cast except Walter Koenig (Chekov), and the writers as well. The result is a show that might not have had the best animation, but still boasts spectacular imagery and believably non-human aliens that the original show could never depict, while still reasonably keeping to its artistic spirit. As a result, this series is the best example of the AnimatedAdaptation concept in UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation, and was so good that it won the franchise's first ever Emmy Award.
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16''The Animated Series'' remains the shortest-lived series of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise, with just 22 episodes airing over a 13-month period in 1973-74 on Creator/{{NBC}}. It was also the last ''Trek'' series to air in first-run on network television until ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' debuted in 1995 on Creator/{{UPN}}. The franchise would not return to the medium of animation again until the release of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' in 2020.
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18However, the franchise creator, Creator/GeneRoddenberry, later insisted that the animated show be kept out of continuity since he never anticipated that ''Star Trek'' would later be revived in live action on such a scale as would happen, with the film series and ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]''. Still, many fans insisted that at least the best episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E2Yesteryear Yesteryear]]", be counted, considering that it gives a valuable look into Spock's youth and character as well as the planet Vulcan, as told by the most authoritative voice on the matter, D.C. Fontana. Because of the information about Vulcan presented in the show, as well as the introduction of the Holodeck and Kirk's middle name, and the fact that many of the ''Star Trek'' writers and actors were involved with the production, many fans consider it a part of their personal ''Star Trek'' {{canon}}, depicting the final two years of ''Enterprise's'' five year mission. In addition, the producers of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' used numerous references from this series. The Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse, already having less of a need to adhere to strict canon, even went so far as to revive the series' SixthRanger alien crew members, CatGirl Lt. M'Ress and [[MultiArmedAndDangerous tri-symmetrical Lt. Arex]].
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20Creator/{{CBS}} declared this series full canon around the time they released it on DVD.
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22The title used here and on the DVD release is a {{retronym}}, as the show originally aired as simply ''Star Trek''. It's also known by the more ponderous title of ''The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek''.
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24In 2018, Creator/IDWPublishing used this series for a {{Crossover}} with ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', entitled ''ComicBook/StarTrekVsTransformers''. Read more about tropes pertaining to that particular story on that page.
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26To [[MilestoneCelebration celebrate]] the show's 50th anniversary, a series of ''Short Treks'' produced and animated by the ''Lower Decks'' team were produced. These shorts veer towards AffectionateParody territory as opposed to the original series, with the Enterprise crew being put into more outlandish situations.
27
28----
29!! This series provides examples of:
30* AIIsACrapShoot: The planetary computer in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E9OnceUponAPlanet Once Upon a Planet]]", as a result of the Caretaker's death in the time since the Original Series episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E15ShoreLeave Shore Leave]]". It creates things like the Queen of Hearts and dangerous animals when nobody is thinking about them, and it captures Uhura.
31* AlternateUniverse: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has a world in which practicing magic is the norm and "The Counter-Clock Incident" has a universe in which everything works backwards, including aging.
32* AncientAstronauts: Kukulkan in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth". He visited Earth in the distant past and was the basis for the Mayan god of the same name, the Toltec god Quetzalcoatl, and the Chinese dragons.
33* AnimatedAdaptation: The best example thereof in the 1970s.
34* AnimationBump: A slight example took place in the second season, firstly due to them already having a lot of stock animation from the first season that they were able to re-use, thus letting them give more time and attention to the new animation, and secondly due to first season director Hal Sutherland -- whose color-blindness resulted in him often going with muted purple-pink color schemes for episode he directed -- being replaced by Bill Reed, who gave the show a somewhat more vibrant visual style.
35* ApocalypticLog: "Beyond the Farthest Star". The dead ship's log entry/warning.
36* ArtificialGravity:
37** The Enterprise's computer shuts off the gravity in "The Practical Joker."
38** The fortress in "The Jihad" loses its gravity when the questers try to get at the MacGuffin in its center.
39* AssInAmbassador: The title character in "Bem". He swaps out Kirk's and Spock's communicators and phasers for counterfeits, runs off from the landing party, doesn't even bother separating himself to escape when he is first captured, and leaves Kirk and Spock in their wooden cages when he does manage to escape.
40* AsteroidThicket: In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS2E1ThePiratesOfOrion The Pirates of Orion]]", the ''Enterprise'' pursues the Orion ship into one.
41* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Apparently, Keniclus' master plan won't work without making Spock ''enormous'', the better to force everyone to be peaceful, apparently. (He himself is also a giant.)
42** The episode "Mudd's Passion" features two gigantic rock-like creatures who attack Mudd, Chapel, Kirk, and Spock on a desert world, then begin fighting each other after Kirk uses some of Mudd's love crystals to befriend one of the behemoths. "The Ambergris Element" features a massive tentacled sea serpent creature as the top predator and main threat on the water world Argo.
43* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Lt. M'Ress, who wears a full Starfleet uniform, except for footwear. {{Justified|Trope}} because she has digitigrade paws (meaning she walks on her toes).
44* BathtubMermaid: In "The Ambergris Element" Kirk and Spock fall victim to a sur-snake while exploring the planet Argo, and are rescued by the natives, who convert them to water-breathers to make recuperating easier. Unfortunately, while this saves their lives and restores their health, Kirk and Spock must reside in a room-sized water tank aboard the Enterprise. This doesn't sit well with Captain Kirk:
45-->'''Kirk''': I can't command a ship from inside an aquarium.
46* BeingWatched: Episode "Beyond the Farthest Star". While the Enterprise landing party is on board the alien ship, Dr. [=McCoy=] says being on the ship gives him the creeps and that he feels like something's watching them. He's right: there's an intangible alien being on the ship that's trying to return to the Enterprise with the team.
47* BigDumbObject: "Beyond The Farthest Star" featured an alien podship a mile long and 300 million years old whose pods were exploded from the inside. The ship's insectoid crew left behind only a message warning of an invasive being that forced them to self-destruct rather than bringing it to their homeworld, which the mains take down fairly easily. The same ship (or a very similar one) is a level in the ''VideoGame/StarTrek25thAnniversary'' point-and-click adventure game. Instead of the invader it is occupied only by the trader called Mudd, who has legally established salvage rights. The cause of its destruction is not discovered, but there are plenty of pirates in the area.
48* BigRedButton: "Beyond The Farthest Star". The auxiliary warp drive controls are activated with a red button. Kirk presses it to send the Enterprise on a desperate slingshot maneuver to escape the dead star's gravity and get rid of the alien intruder.
49* {{Bowdlerise}}: By [[UsefulNotes/GermanTVStations German TV station ZDF]].
50* BriarPatching: In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS2E3ThePracticalJoker The Practical Joker]]", passing through an energy field causes the ''Enterprise'' computer to play jokes on the crew. Captain Kirk pretends to be scared of the field and tricks the deranged computer into [[NowDoItAgainBackwards taking the ship through the field again]], which reverses the effect that made the computer go bonkers.
51* BreakingTheFourthWall: The huge wink Kirk gives the camera following Scotty's IncrediblyLamePun at the end of "More Tribbles, More Troubles."
52** Sulu does the same at the end of "The Infinite Vulcan."
53* BroadStrokes: The timeframe this series depicts is an accepted part of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' lore, but the actual details have been rearranged since.
54* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Kukulkan's city in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth" has the Mayan pyramids.
55* CanonDiscontinuity: The series was declared non-canon by Creator/GeneRoddenberry himself, with the sole exception of the episode "Yesteryear". (Until CBS later declared the whole thing canon, anyway.)
56* CanonImmigrant: The Kzinti, never mentioned or referenced again in the series, from Creator/LarryNiven, starting with the CBS re-canonization of the series. They have been major features in ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'', since its license included all elements of the original and animated series.
57** Wasn't for lack of trying, though -- there were multiple attempts to re-include the Kzinti in some fashion, but for one reason or another these plans never got started; ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' got [[ScrewedByTheLawyers stymied by legal reasons]] and had to [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute substitute the Ferasan for the Kzinti]]; it wouldn't be until ''[[WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks Lower Decks]]'' (appropriately enough) that the species made a reappearance.
58* CatFolk: The Caitian Lieutenant M'Ress, as well as the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon". Some of the ExpandedUniverse material around it suggests that the Caitian relationship to the Kzinti is essentially the same as the one between the Vulcans and the Romulans, only with the ones that left (the Caitians) being the "good guys" that ended up part of the Federation and the ones that stayed (the Kzinti) as the militaristic bad guys with historic conflicts with the Federation (and possibly with some ill-advised genetic engineering on the part of the Kzinti).
59* CatSmile: Lieutenant M'Ress has one constantly, due to her cat-like anatomy.
60* CharacterDevelopment: Since this is a SaturdayMorningCartoon directed at children (albeit a very well-written one), Kirk's infamous womanizer tendencies are effectively absent here. In particular, he repeatedly rebuffs advances from an attractive woman in "The Jihad," saying they need to focus on the mission at hand.
61** Episodes like "The Slaver Weapon," "The Infinite Vulcan," and "The Lorelei Signal" give Sulu and Uhura more to do than they usually got on the Original Series.
62* ChekhovsGun: In "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth", Dr. [=McCoy=]'s medical kit provides a hypo to calm the Capellan Power Cat.
63* ChildrenAreCruel: In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E2Yesteryear Yesteryear]]", we get our first glimpse at Spock's childhood... and it's not pretty.
64* CloneAngst: In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E7TheInfiniteVulcan The Infinite Vulcan]]", the giant clone of Spock experiences an existential crisis when he realizes he is quite out of scale with the ''Enterprise'' and everything he is familiar with. [[IChooseToStay He ultimately elects to remain on the planet.]]
65* ComicBookAdaptation: [[Creator/IDWPublishing IDW's]] ''ComicBook/StarTrekVsTransformers'' used the character designs from the Animated Series, to bettter blend in with the animated characters from ''[[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 The Transformers.]]'' It was a good choice, and the characters look surprisingly natural standing next to each other.
66* ContinuityNod: Sulu is quite interested in the plant life of Phylos, harking back to his garden in one episode of the live-action series.
67** As in "Journey To Babel," the Orions are again depicted as pirates in "The Pirates of Orion," though their name is pronounced "OR-ee-on" throughout the episode for some reason. Also, they're depicted as blue-skinned here rather than green. [[note]] In "Journey to Babel," the only male Orion we meet in TOS is disguised as a blue-skinned Andorian. In "The Menagerie" and "Whom Gods Destroy" we only see female Orions. In other appearances since the original series, we see male Orions as well, and they are green.[[/note]]
68* ContrivedCoincidence: "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth". If Ensign Walking Bear hadn't been on the bridge, Kukulkan would have destroyed both the ''Enterprise'' and the entire human race.
69* CreatorInJoke: Captain Robert T. April in "The Counter-Clock Incident". April was the original name for the character that eventually became Kirk.
70* CrossOver: One episode was a nearly 1:1 adaptation of a ''Literature/KnownSpace'' short story, [[FusionFic save for Kirk and the gang as the heroes]]; specifically "The Soft Weapon," called here "The Slaver Weapon." The belligerent, [[CatFolk lynx-like Kzinti]] find a shape-shifting SwissArmyWeapon that looks like a watermellon on a pistol grip, and try to use it to start a fifth man/kzin war.
71* DarkerAndEdgier: Than most other cartoons on television at the time. ''The Animated Series'' tended to work with the same style of cerebral stories that the previous live-action series did, and [[NeverSayDie references to death were not glossed over at all]]. In fact, "Yesteryear" deals with [[spoiler:a child version of Spock losing his beloved pet]], and the "death words" weren't glossed over or replaced with LighterAndSofter equivalents. This has helped the series gain a strong following within the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan community, as well as with the creative staffs involved with the franchise.
72* DetachableLowerHalf: The title character in "Bem" has the ability to separate his body into different parts.
73* DetachmentCombat: The title character in "Bem" was a colony creature who could separate his head, upper torso, and lower torso (at least).
74* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: In "Once Upon a Planet", several characters end up roasting marshmallows with the dragon that was trying to kill them a few minutes earlier.
75* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has ''[[CoolVsAwesome James T. Kirk defeating Satan!]]'' (Or at least a being claiming to be him as part of a SecretTestOfCharacter.) For an added bonus, they [[DefeatMeansFriendship become friends at the end]].
76* DolledUpInstallment: "The Slaver Weapon", from Creator/LarryNiven's "Literature/TheSoftWeapon".
77* DoomedDefeatist: Subverted with M-3-Green in "The Jihad", who despite calling their mission "mad" and saying "We're all going to die", makes to the end alive.
78* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Kirk (and a few others) gain magical abilities in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
79* EnergyBeings: In "Beyond The Farthest Star", a being made out of magnetic energy tried to take over the Enterprise.
80** In "Bem", one of these was protecting a primitive species from outside interference.
81* EnergyRingAttack: One episode has a Klingon warship test out a stasis field ray against the Enterprise. When fired, concentric circles engulf the Enterprise, immobilizing it. The stasis ray is also fired at two supply drones that the Enterprise was escorting.
82* EveryoneIsASuper: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has beings who have the ability to practice magic.
83* ExpressiveEars: The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon" lay their ears back when angry..
84* ExpospeakGag: Between Spock and [=McCoy=].
85-->'''[[TheMcCoy McCoy]]:''' Why couldn't you have just said [x]?\
86'''[[TheSpock Spock]]:''' I believe I just did.
87* ExtremeCloseUp: Used frequently, often with the speaking character's mouth out of frame (presumably to save on animation costs)
88* {{Fainting}}: Kirk does something akin to the exhaustion- or anemia-based variety in "Albatross" when ThePlague kicks in. Luckily, Spock is there to catch him. Also, in "Pirates of Orion", the first sign that something is seriously wrong with Spock happens when he collapses suddenly.
89* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: "The Lorelei Signal". The women of the planet Taurus II are effectively psychic vampires who drain the energy from men to survive, [[InferredHolocaust and have been doing so to the crew of passing ships for at least 150 years]]. They try to do the same to Kirk, Spock, and Dr. [=McCoy=] and are only stopped by threat of force from Uhura... yet they're still presented as sympathetic to both the viewer and the heroes because they "cannot bear children," and the end of the episode has the ''Enterprise'' crew promise them [[KarmaHoudini a ship to be able to leave their planet and thus escape the "curse" of immortality]].
90* FishPeople: "The Ambergris Element" features fish-like aliens who can only breath underwater.
91* FiveYearPlan: The three seasons of ''The Original Series'' and the two seasons of ''The Animated Series'' comprise the "five-year mission to explore strange new worlds" from the famous OpeningNarration (which is present in full in this series).
92* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The inhabitants of Megas-Tu do this for their own bodies and their planet's surface for the benefit of the ''Enterprise'' crew.
93* ForWantOfANail: In "Yesteryear", if Spock hadn't saved his past self, he wouldn't be alive in order to be part of the ''Enterprise'' crew.
94* ForgottenPhlebotinum: "Life-support belts" that allow the crew to survive in vacuum without spacesuits only ever appear in this series.
95* FountainOfYouth: The reverse-entropy universe in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
96* FourFingeredHands: Spock, in a blooper in "Yesteryear".
97* FreudianTrio: Just like the live-action version, we have [[TheKirk Kirk]], [[TheSpock Spock]], and [[TheMcCoy McCoy]].
98* FriendlessBackground: "Yesteryear" lets us see Spock having this. His agemates torment him endlessly for being "a Terran" and Sarek, who expects his son to act like a Vulcan, is disappointed by Spock reacting to their teasing.
99* GiantFlyer: "The Infinite Vulcan" and "The Eye of the Beholder" featured flying plant creatures called Swoopers.
100* GirlsNightOutEpisode: In "The Lorelei Signal", Uhura and Chapel have to lead an all-female rescue team due to the planet's inhabitants' ability to drain men of their LifeEnergy.
101* GodGuise: Keniclius 5 with the Phylosians in "The Infinite Vulcan", and Kukulkan by the ancient Mayans in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth".
102* HauntedTechnology: The ''Enterprise'' computer gains a prankster personality in "The Practical Joker".
103* HealingHands: "The Infinite Vulcan". Spock's clone revives his original with a mind meld. Because of the difference in scale (the clone is a giant), he uses just one fingertip.
104* HighTechHexagons: "Beyond the Farthest Star". The Enterprise crew discovers a highly advanced alien ship in orbit around a dead star. The alien ship's interior structure is made up of interlocking hexagons.
105* HolodeckMalfunction: "The Practical Joker" includes a proto-holodeck in the ''Enterprise's'' rec room long before ''TNG's''. [=McCoy=], Uhura, and Sulu are trapped in it when the ''Enterprise'' computer gains a trickster mentality.
106* HollywoodPsych: "Mudd's Passion" mixes up two types of love: friendship and eros.
107* HumanAliens: Although there are still a fair few, this show takes advantage of the animated format to avert the trope whenever they can and come up with more divergent alien designs.
108* HumanityOnTrial: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu." Humanity is put on trial by the Megans, for the crime of being xenophobic jerks. The trial is actually for "humanity and those who would aid them" in order to account for the nonhuman crew members. Humanity initially has its sentence suspended because it is concluded that they do not pose a threat to the Megans since it is nearly impossible to locate the Megan homeworld. Humanity is found not guilty after Kirk risks his life to protect a Megan who had been sentenced to a FateWorseThanDeath for associating with humanity. When asked why they didn't just use the ''Enterprise's'' records to discover for themselves that humans were capable of things like a HeroicSacrifice, the Megans reply the records could have been faked.
109* ImprobablyHighIQ: The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder". A six-year-old Lactran has an IQ in the thousands.
110* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Life-support belts take this to its logical extreme--the production team doesn't have to draw spacesuits, but can simply use its normal character models with a belt and a glowing outline.
111* IndyHatRoll: In "Once Upon a Planet", Kirk leaps through a sliding rock door in the side of a mountain just before it closes.
112* InsectoidAliens: The episode "Beyond The Farthest Star" has the Enterprise encounter an alien spacecraft orbiting a lifeless planet at the edge of the galaxy. Its organic shape resembles the chambers and tunnels of an ant colony, and its metal hull isn't rolled or cast, it's been drawn into filaments and spun like spider silk. When the landing party attains the ship's command section, they activate an ApocalypticLog which shows the insectoid captain on a viewscreen.
113* InstantAIJustAddWater: The planetary computer in "Once Upon a Planet" develops artificial intelligence on its own.
114* IntelligentGerbil: The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", and the Caitian M'Ress.
115* ItBelongsInAMuseum: Sulu in "The Slaver Weapon". Spock sets him straight.
116* JustBetweenYouAndMe: In "The Jihad", after Charr is revealed as TheMole, he reveals his plan to start a holy war between his people, the Skorr, and the rest of the galaxy.
117* TheKenBurnsEffect: Just as the live action series would often come back from a commercial break to have Kirk deliver his "Captain's Log" to a stock shot of the Enterprise floating above the PlanetOfTheWeek, the animated series would have Kirk deliver the log as we slowly pan across a background painting of an exotic alien landscape.
118* LifeDrinker: "The Lorelei Signal". The women of the planet Taurus II drain the LifeEnergy of men to maintain their youth, causing RapidAging in the men.
119* LimitedAnimation: Creator/{{Filmation}}'s SignatureStyle. Lacking much range in facial expression, the onus was on the voice cast to convey the characters' emotions, which (being made up of mostly ''Original Series'' alumni) they largely succeeded.
120* LosingYourHead: The title character in "Bem" has the ability to separate his body parts.
121* LostColony: Terra Ten in "The Terratin Incident"... only it wasn't really lost—just shrunken to an extremely tiny size.
122* LotusEaterMachine: In "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth", the animals in Kukulkan's zoo believe that they are living in their natural environment, a hallucination generated by Kukulkan's machines.
123* LouisCypher: Lucien claims to have been Satan, in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
124* LovePotion: "Mudd's Passion". Mudd himself thought it was {{Snake Oil|Salesman}}, and is shocked to find out it works.
125* MageSpecies: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" features aliens who are able to practice magic (unusual in a science fiction series).
126* MeaningfulName: Bem, which means "Bug-Eyed Monster" in SF fandom.
127* MegaNeko: The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", as well as Lieutenant M'Ress.
128* MerlinSickness: Inhabitants of the alternate universe in "The Counter-Clock Incident" age backwards.
129* MobileFishbowl: "The Ambergris Element". At the end of the episode, two Aquans (aliens who can only breathe water) are shown on the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' wearing water-filled helmets on their heads.
130* TheMole: Charr in "The Jihad" reveals himself as the person behind the theft of the Soul of the Skorr.
131* MorphWeapon: The titular device in "The Slaver Weapon" can turn into a a telescope, a personal rocket sled, a tiny computer, and an energy-beam weapon of a power never before seen. Among other things.
132* MrExposition: Ensign Walking Bear, a character never seen before or since, just happens to be on duty on the bridge at the proper moment to explain how Kukulkan is important in the history of his people, in "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth". Dawson Walking Bear (Comanche) was originally supposed to be in "The Patient Parasites". Fontana didn't really know what to do with him, but Russell Bates (Kiowa) included him in "How Sharper". He appears in three ''Star Trek: Phase Two'' fan film episodes. He is played by [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3900115/ Wayne W. Johnson]], who says he actually has no Native heritage.
133* MyFutureSelfAndMe: Spock uses the Guardian of Forever to travel back in time and meet himself as a child in "Yesteryear."
134* MysteriousMiddleInitial: It was actually in this show that Kirk's middle name was first revealed to be Tiberius, though it wouldn't officially enter canon until [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the sixth film]].
135* NeglectfulPrecursors: The Slavers' stasis boxes.
136* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: In the end of "The Slaver Weapon", both the Starfleet personnel and the [[Literature/KnownSpace Kzinti]] renegades want to get the titular LostTechnology because of its awesome power: a beam that causes [[EarthShatteringKaboom total conversion of matter into energy]].
137-->'''Sulu:''' It would have looked nice in some museum.\
138'''Spock:''' It never would have reached a museum, Lieutenant. There was too much power in that one setting. If not the Kzinti, the Klingons or some other species would have tried to possess it.
139* NonMaliciousMonster: The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder" put the crew of the Enterprise in a massive PeopleZoo, but Spock quickly catches on they legitimately are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens so intelligent]] they don't realize humans are sentient beings. They let the crew go once Kirk figures out how to communicate with them.
140* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Kirk and Spock in "The Jihad" when the Vulcan gets thrown from a vehicle into the path of a lava flow.
141* {{Novelization}}: All of the animated episodes were novelized by Creator/AlanDeanFoster for a series of books published as the ''Star Trek Log'' series, 10 in total. Initially, Foster adapted three storylines per book in novella format. The last few books, however, saw the writer take some of the 25-minute teleplays and expand them considerably into full-length standalone novels.
142* NowDoItAgainBackwards: How the computer is repaired in "The Practical Joker"--Kirk tricks it into taking the ''Enterprise'' back through the NegativeSpaceWedgie the other way, by pretending to be scared of it.
143* OceanPunk: "The Ambergris Element" took place on the water world Argo.
144* OpeningNarration: An animated version of the one in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
145* PatchworkMap: Justified in "The Eye of the Beholder". On the planet Lactra VII the Enterprise crew finds deserts right next to forests, and Mr. Spock comments on how unnatural it is. It's eventually revealed that the alien Lactrans did it to make their planet a giant zoo.
146* PatchworkWorld: In "The Eye of the Beholder", the planet Lactra VII had a series of different environments right next to each other, such as a desert next to a forest, each with appropriate animal and plant life. The Enterprise crew eventually discovered that they were deliberately created as part of an open air zoo.
147* PeopleZoo: The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder" capture the landing party and put them in their zoo.
148* PlanetEater: "One of Our Planets Is Missing" features a space cloud that eats planets.
149* PleasurePlanet: "Once Upon A Planet" featured the same planet that first appeared in the Star Trek TOS episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E15ShoreLeave Shore Leave]]".
150* PortalToThePast: The Guardian of Forever returns from the ''Original Series'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]" to provide a portal to Vulcan's past in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E2Yesteryear Yesteryear]]".
151* PowerPerversionPotential: In "The Magicks of Megas-Tu," Sulu uses the magic of Megas-Tu's plane of existence to summon a beautiful woman... who transforms into Lucien when he goes to make out with her.
152* PrecisionFStrike: A quite mild example from "The Magicks Of Megas-tu," when Asmodeus describes the Earth from where the Enterprise crew came as "hellish."
153* PreemptiveDeclaration: In "Albatross", when a native from the planet that put [=McCoy=] on trial follows them.
154-->'''Kirk:''' Besides, he'll be sure to take advantage when he sees that we've carelessly left our shuttle bay door open.\
155'''Uhura:''' But we didn't, sir.\
156'''Kirk:''' Oh yes. See to that little oversight, will you, Mr. Sulu?
157* PretendingToBeOnesOwnRelative: In the episode "Yesteryear", Spock goes back in time to his own childhood and pretends to be a cousin named Selek.
158* PsychicStatic: Used to defeat the Kzinti telepath in "The Slaver Weapon".
159* TheQuest: The hunt for the "Soul of Alar" artifact in "The Jihad".
160* RapidAging: What the LifeEnergy draining by the women of Taurus II does to men in "The Lorelei Signal".
161* RealMenWearPink: The Klingons in "The Practical Joker" and the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon", courtesy of a colorblind director.
162* RealityIsOutToLunch: The planet Megas-Tu in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" is in a part of the universe where reality breaks down. One character has their arm break off of their body and drift away.
163* RealityWarper: The inhabitants of the title planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" can bring anything into existence with but a thought. While they were on Earth they were considered to be witches and magicians due to their powers.
164* RecycledSoundtrack: Well, duh, it's Filmation. While yes, this was also done on ''The Original Series'', it definitely wasn't to the same extent.
165* ReplacementGoldfish: Carter Winston (actually a shape shifting alien).
166* RetGone: Spock in "Yesteryear" is temporarily Ret Gone until he creates a StableTimeLoop preventing his death as a child.
167* RippleEffectProofMemory: Only Spock and Kirk remember the original timeline in "Yesteryear".
168* RiteOfPassage: The Vulcan kahs-wan in "Yesteryear", an ordeal in which Vulcan children must survive in the desert for 10 days by themselves with no supplies to prove their courage and strength. For young Spock, it becomes even more when his companion sehlat, I-Chaya, who had followed him against his wishes, was mortally wounded and the attending vet could only give Spock two choices, an extended life in agony or putting him out of his misery; Spock made the mature and logical choice to put him down.
169* RoboSpeak: Any computer voice done by James Doohan.
170* SequelEpisode: "Mudd's Passion" is a sequel to "I, Mudd", "More Tribbles, More Troubles" is a sequel to "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Yesteryear" is a sequel to "The City on the Edge of Forever", and "Once Upon a Planet" is a sequel to "Shore Leave".
171* SdrawkcabName: The retlaw plant in "The Infinite Vulcan" (named after Creator/WalterKoenig, the episode's author), and the [[PlanetTerra planet Arret]] in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
172* SealedEvilInACan:
173** "Beyond The Farthest Star". An evil {{Energy Being|s}} is trapped in a 300 million year old starship orbiting a black hole.
174** Played with by the eponymous weapon in "The Slaver Weapon". Spock and Sulu discuss the potential for such a weapon to destabilize the entire galaxy if it were to fall in to the wrong hands; however, [[AIIsACrapshoot the weapon is self-aware]] to the extent that it can determine that it's not being handled by an authorized user and [[TakingYouWithMe self-destructs when the Kzinti try to activate it]].
175* SecretTest: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The Megans test the ''Enterprise'' crew to verify their good intentions.
176* SelfDestructingSecurity: "The Slaver Weapon". The title device tricks the Kzinti into using a self-destruct setting to destroy it--and them.
177* SelfGuardingPhlebotinum: In the episode "The Jihad", the Soul of the Skorr is protected by a force field.
178* ShockAndAwe: The Capellan Power Cat in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" can generate and launch massive amounts of electricity in lightning bolts so powerful they leave visible damage on the floor and walls and would have roasted Kukulkan to cinders if Kirk hadn't tranquilized it.
179* ShootTheDog: Young Spock is forced to make this choice in "Yesteryear" when his pet sehlat, I-Chaya, takes an attack for him. The local healer tells him that he ''can'' save I-Chaya, but the creature's venom would leave him in constant pain. Spock chooses the MercyKill.
180* SickeninglySweethearts: Spock behaves this way toward Nurse Chapel for a large part of "Mudd's Passion", because he's reacting to a LovePotion.
181* SingleBiomePlanet: A Volcano Planet in "The Jihad", an Ice Planet in "The Slaver Weapon" and a Water Planet in "The Ambergris Element".
182* SnakeOilSalesman:
183** Harry Mudd in "Mudd's Passion", though he is unaware that the LovePotion he's peddling actually works.
184** Cyrano Jones in "More Tribbles, More Troubles" tries to convince the ''Enterprise'' crew that his new breed of tribble is harmless, without the ExplosiveBreeder properties of the original. (Instead, they grow so large, they eventually explode into a pile of tribbles anyway).
185* SpacePirates: "The Pirates of Orion", complete with a pirate spaceship
186* StarfishAliens: Edosians, Vendorians, Phylosians, Lactrans, and M/3/Green. The production team was clearly thrilled to not have to worry about budget constraints when designing the aliens, to the point that they probably went overboard with it. (Also, if the aliens naturally fly, swim, or slither, you don't have to animate them ''walking.'')
187* StealTheSurroundings: In "The Terratin Incident", an entire miniaturized city is beamed aboard the Enterprise in order quickly to save the inhabitants from impending doom.
188* StockSoundEffects: Aside from the time it once used a Godzilla roar, it also replaced the typical red alert with the one from a single episode of the show this spun-off from.
189* SwissArmyWeapon / TalkingWeapon: "The Slaver Weapon" has the titular device. It can function as a communicator, a laser, an energy-absorber, a ballistic weapon, a monosword, and has a total conversion setting. It even tells the K'zinti pirates which setting is its most powerful. (Too bad this was a BatmanGambit.)
190* TieInNovel: Creator/AlanDeanFoster wrote adaptations of the episodes, and many ''Trek'' novels reference it.
191* TemporalParadox: "Yesteryear" revolves around a Reverse Grandfather Paradox in which Spock prevents his own death as a child. He doesn't do it quite right this time around, resulting in a slightly revised timeline when he gets home. [[spoiler:Originally, his pet had lived. This time, he arrives a moment late, and the pet dies.]]
192* TheTimeTravellersDilemma: It's unknown what happens to Thelen the Andorian (who replaced Spock as Science Officer) after the timeline is fixed in "Yesteryear".
193* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: "The Slaver Weapon", a ''hand weapon'' capable of generating a Hiroshima-like detonation complete with shockwave!
194* [[TitleTheAdaptation Title: The Adaptation]]: As noted, however, this is only the case for the re-releases. It originally aired just as "Star Trek," with no subtitle.
195* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: Hints of this in "The Pirates of Orion". [=McCoy=] and Scotty are suspicious when the Orion captain asks Kirk to beam down to an asteroid to get the medicine he and his crew stole. Kirk agrees that it's dangerous, but he also knows that "without it, Spock doesn't have a chance."
196* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Thanks to a blooper involving the mustached Lt Kyle, one shot of Scotty working the transporter momentarily showed him with a mustache, five years before his live action mustache's debut in ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''.
197* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: "The Lorelei Signal". Every 27 years, a starship is lured to a planet where female aliens drain the LifeEnergy of the male crew members. While explaining the situation to Lieutenant Uhura:
198-->'''Head Female Theela:''' To survive we must vitalize each 27 years of your time.
199* VengefulVendingMachine: "The Practical Joker". After the ''Enterprise'' passes through a mysterious energy field, the ship's computer starts playing practical jokes on the crew. When Scotty tries to obtain a sandwich from the food synthesizer, it sprays food all over him, including a custard PieInTheFace.
200* WellDoneSonGuy: In "Yesteryear" Spock wants to prove to his father Sarek that he is a true Vulcan by undergoing the Kahs-wan RiteOfPassage.
201* WhereTheMagicWent: The Episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E8TheMagicksOfMegasTu The Magicks of Megas Tu]]" reveals that the denizens of Megas Tu (an alternate dimension that runs on magic rather than traditional physics) visited Earth long ago, giving rise to all manner of stories about magical beings, before fleeing when the witch trials started up. In particular, the jolly Satyr-like guy named Lucien who befriends the Enterprise crew? That dude was the inspiration for [[SatanIsGood Satan]].
202* WhoWantsToLiveForever: In "The Lorelei Signal", the women of the second planet of the Taurean system neither age nor die. However, any men on the planet die quickly. They must lure humanoid males to their planet once every 27 years and drain them of their LifeEnergy in order to survive. They can't escape their planet and they can't even have children.
203* WingedHumanoid: The Skorr, a race of bird-people who were the focus of the episode "The Jihad".
204* WiseSerpent: "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS2E5HowSharperThanASerpentsTooth How Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth]]" has the Enterprise encounter a starship shaped like a winged serpent. This alien ship is piloted by an actual winged serpent named Kukulkan, [[AncientAstronauts who visited Earth thousands of years earlier]]. Kukulkan guided the early Mayans out of tribalism, and into civilization and academia. He's pleased that his name and legacy are remembered, but still regards humans as childlike: inept and immature, still needing his guidance.
205* WizardDuel: Kirk takes on Asmodeus, the leader of the Megans in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" despite being hopelessly outclasssed.
206* WorldOfChaos: The planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", and the so-called "Mad Planet" in "The Jihad".
207* WronglyAccused: In "Albatross", [=McCoy=] is falsely accused of indirectly killing people of a plague they weren't cured of.
208* YearOutsideHourInside: This occurs in the titular area in "The Time Trap".
209* YouAreInCommandNow: Lt. Uhura in "The Lorelei Signal", something which never happened on the live-action show.
210* YouCanSeeThatRight: Kirk to Spock in "The Time Trap" when the Klingon battlecruiser disappears.
211* YouWontFeelAThing: In the episode "The Pirates of Orion"...
212-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' ''[about to give an injection]'' This won't hurt a bit, Spock.\
213'''Spock:''' An unnecessary assurance, doctor, in addition to being untrue.\
214'''[=McCoy=]:''' That's the last time I waste my bedside manner on a Vulcan.

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