[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Trek.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCARADb9asE Star Trekkin', across the universe...]][[labelnote:♪]]From left to right: Scotty, Chekov, [=McCoy=], Chapel, Kirk, Uhura, Spock and Sulu.[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:~~DramaticHourLong SpaceOpera~~]]

->''"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship ''Enterprise''. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."''
--> -- '''Captain James T. Kirk''', the legendary OpeningNarration

'''''Star Trek''''' is the first show in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise. After the release of its spinoff series and the movies, it has been retroactively called '''''Star Trek: The Original Series''''' to differentiate it from the franchise as a whole.

The origin of the show came when GeneRoddenberry was looking to write hard-hitting political and moral commentary and could not do so with the regular dramas of the time. He deduced that by creating a science fiction show borrowing heavily from the film ''ForbiddenPlanet'', he could slip in such commentary disguised as metaphors for the various current events. As such he pitched ''Star Trek'' to the networks as a merging of the two most popular genres of the time, science fiction anthologies and Westerns, into the original "WagonTrainToTheStars."

While troublesome to produce, it was a major TropeMaker, especially in ScienceFiction (each of the three main characters has a trope named after them - and that's just for starters!). The cast was a dynamic mix of ethnicities and cultures, and while the focus was nearly always on [[TheKirk Kirk]], [[TheSpock Spock]] and [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] they still had a [[TokenEnemyMinority Russian]], [[YellowPeril an Asian]] and [[HumansAreWhite a black African]] [[TwoferTokenMinority woman]] in positions of responsibility, authority and respect. It has been discussed by the cast members that near ''everyone'' in Hollywood wanted to be a part of ''Star Trek'' because of the steps forward it was making. In particular George Takei said that almost every Asian actor wanted to be Sulu because it was said Sulu would not be required to use an Asian accent or engage in martial arts.[[hottip:*:Well, ''almost''. Sulu is a martial artist, complete with a shirtless martial arts scene, but he practices the European martial art of fencing. They were originally going to give him a Samurai sword, but Takei claimed he could fence and then got a crash course the weekend before filming in order to get to do something different.]] This also resulted in attracting multiple high-profile guest stars and guest writers, including Creator/HarlanEllison, Creator/TheodoreSturgeon and Creator/RichardMatheson.

In some ways the show was [[FairForItsDay way ahead of its time]]; in others, hopelessly mired in TheSixties. [[ValuesDissonance The women wore go-go boots and miniskirts]], and usually [[StayInTheKitchen only appeared in the roles of assistants and secretaries]] (although at least some of that was due to ExecutiveMeddling). And while the visual design was ambitious, the actual production quality has not aged well.

Varied widely in quality from episode to episode and from season to season, depending upon who was writing. An episode chosen at random can be anything from high camp to geopolitical allegory to genuinely intelligent drama, and is likely to be at least two out of those three.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Common plots: ]]

* Kirk leads a landing-party to a PlanetOfHats, a recurring one being a society that perfectly mirrors one from Earth history. Their hosts rudely steal their communicators and phasers, usually because they just can't bear to let them leave. If captured, our heroes may escape by DressingAsTheEnemy. Lots of running around and fistfights ensue. At the end, Kirk gives a KirkSummation to point out what's wrong with the planet's Hat.
** Alternatively, the PlanetOfHats will be a CargoCult worshipping a [[LargeHam very theatrical]] [[PhysicalGod god]] [[MagicFromTechnology who turns out to be a computer]]. [[WhiteMansBurden Kirk will show the natives]] how to [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions outgrow such silly superstitions]] by dropping a LogicBomb on it.
* The ship encounters a NegativeSpaceWedgie, which is defeated through TechnoBabble or DeusExNukina.
* A SufficientlyAdvancedAlien is unkind, possibly putting HumanityOnTrial.
* Our heroes get infected by ThePlague and have to defeat it while being adversely affected.
* A [[AGodAmI godlike being]] will stow away or end up on the ship and wreak havoc with the crew, often manipulating laws of physics/reality or screwing with people's minds (examples: Charlie Evans, Gary Mitchell, the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent salt creature]] from "The Man Trap", the disease from "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]", Id-Kirk, Kirk Android, and that's just in [[strike:season one]] the first seven episodes.)
* A MadScientist has plans for the crew. If alien, the scientist may be attempting to [[HumansAreInteresting understand humans]]. If it's [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe a female alien]], she will ask Kirk WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove. He will [[BoldlyComing show her]].
* Kirk matches wits with a WorthyOpponent.

Some people are unaware of the original ''Trek'' pilot featuring Captain Pike (who would be a character in the [[Film/StarTrek Abrams movie]]) played by Jeffrey Hunter, and Majel Barrett as ''first officer''. The pilot was praised for a good story but was considered "too cerebral" and not as action packed as the network wanted to market it. This resulted in a near entire-cast replacement for a second pilot episode except for Spock. In fact Doctor [=McCoy=] didn't appear until after the second pilot was filmed. However, that first pilot did not go to waste considering Roddenberry used a lot of it for the series' only two parter, "The Menagerie," which proved a Hugo science fiction award winner. The original pilot can be viewed in the DVD release, as well as on Netflix.

The show was originally a commercial flop, barely managing out three seasons before being officially canceled, with a [[UnCanceled close call on the second season]]. Within a few weeks of its cancellation was [[VindicatedByHistory the monumental first Moon Landing]], and as a result the subsequent reruns of Star Trek were more popular than the original run. Television was also changing at the time, starting to account for {{demographics}} along with the ratings and found that Star Trek snagged the most coveted 18-35 male group that nearly every show aimed for. Star Trek conventions were jammed with thousands of dedicated fans and seeing the potential for a revisit led into production for a new TV series. The first version was ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', which may have suffered from {{Filmation}}'s cheapo production values, but it more than compensated by having most of the original writers and cast to produce a great series that earned the franchise's first Emmy Award. Later, in the hope of creating a television network, a new Star Trek series was developed, eventually turning into the first Franchise/StarTrek [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture film]] in 1979 after the monumental success of ''StarWars''. The success of the films led to the successor series in 1987, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and another 18 straight years of Franchise/StarTrek on television.

To be expected, the subtitle of "The Original Series" is used solely for commercial clarification once ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' came out. It has always been referred to as ''Star Trek'' in its own opening sequence.

The 2009 ''Film/StarTrek'' film, directed by JJAbrams, was an attempt to [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] the franchise by [[AlternateContinuity revisiting]] these same characters (of course played by new actors) with a new spin. It updates and modifies the general look and premise of the original series with modern special effects. The film has been a commercial and critical success (becoming the first ''Star Trek'' film to win an Oscar), but amongst the fans it has [[BrokenBase provoked debates]]. A sequel, ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', has been announced for 2013.

[[OfferVoidInNebraska If you're in the US]], you can watch most episodes [[http://www.startrek.com/videos/star-trek-the-original-series here]]. This show also has a tool for gathering and voting on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Favorite Episodes]]. And [[Recap/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries over here]] we have a {{recap}} page.

It also gave birth to the earliest recorded case of {{slash}} fiction - and, by extension, HoYay - when fans began to [[{{Shipping}} ship]] Captain [[TheKirk Kirk]] with his First Officer [[TheSpock Spock]].

!!Character profiles and roles in the script:
* [[TheKirk James Tiberius Kirk]] (Creator/WilliamShatner): TheCaptain, albeit a MilitaryMaverick. An EthicalSlut who [[BoldlyComing sleeps with]] {{Green Skinned Space Babe}}s. Played by LargeHam Creator/WilliamShatner, with multiple ChewingTheScenery moments in almost every episode.
* [[TheSpock Spock]] (Creator/LeonardNimoy): NumberTwo, {{Kuudere}}, TheStoic, the StrawVulcan (at times.) Calling him "cold-blooded" or "unfeeling" will result in InsultBackfire.
* [[TheMedic Leonard "Bones"]] [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] (Creator/DeForestKelley): Chief Medical Officer, TheHeart, TheMedic and TheWatson. Given a PromotionToOpeningTitles in the second season.
* [[TheEngineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott]] (Creator/JamesDoohan): A MrFixit [[TheEngineer Engineer]] from BonnieScotland. [[FakeBrit Played by a Canadian]] (as was Kirk).
* Uhura (Creator/NichelleNichols): TwoferTokenMinority and the original BridgeBunny. Serving as the CommunicationsOfficer, she was essentially a glorified telephone operator and didn't even have a first name until an [[Film/StarTrek alternate timeline]] claimed that it was Nyota. Nonetheless, at the time this was almost unthinkable authority to place in the hands of a woman ''or'' a minority, and when Nichols considered leaving the show she was talked out of it by none other than Martin Luther King Jr.
* Hikaru Sulu (Creator/GeorgeTakei): A regular TokenMinority and a FanOfThePast. Was the ship's [[AcePilot pilot]], again an almost unthinkable position then for a minority.
* Pavel Chekov (Creator/WalterKoenig): [[SixthRanger Added in the second season]], a young ensign with a [[TheMonkees Monkees]]-esque hairstyle and [[{{Lzherusskie}} a bad Russian accent]]. His [[GloriousMotherRussia immensely patriotic attitude towards "Mother Russia"]] was a RunningGag.
* Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett): Ship's [[HospitalHottie nurse]] in MadLove with Spock. Given TheCameo in a couple of the films.
* Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney): MsFanservice with a BeehiveHairdo. Early reviews of the series called her a "Playboy Bunny-type waitress". She and Kirk had UnresolvedSexualTension until she fell victim to ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. Given TheCameo in a few of the films.
* Harcourt Fenton Mudd: {{Trickster}} ConMan... and quite a scoundrel.
* Cyrano Jones: A more affable, less competent {{Trickster}} than Harry.
* Khan Noonien Singh: An AffablyEvil HumanPopsicle and [[DesignerBabies Designer Baby]] {{Ubermensch}} who was once an EvilOverlord. Later became TheUnfettered BigBad of the [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan second movie]].
* Lieutenants Leslie and Kyle: The two most prominent RedShirt characters. The former appeared in the background of most episodes and even managed to come BackFromTheDead, and is [[MemeticMutation known as]] "King of the Redshirts"; the latter was the only RedShirt to have a steady job (transporter chief) and frequent dialogue, making him the closest thing the series had to a MauveShirt. He even [[TheCameo appeared]] in [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan one movie]].

%% The tropes that a work named is trivia and belongs on the Trivia tab.

----
!!This series provides examples of the following tropes:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Trope-based episodes]]
* {{Aesoptinum}} -- "The Apple", "The Cloud Minders", "A Taste of Armageddon", etc.
* AffectionateParody: "A Piece of The Action" was an AffectionateParody of gangster movies.
** The series itself inspired several Affectionate Parodies.
* AIIsACrapshoot -- "The Changeling", "The Ultimate Computer", "The Return of the Archons", "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky", etc.
* AmnesiaDanger -- "The Paradise Syndrome"
* ArchaeologicalArmsRace - The episode "A Private Little War" was an allegory of the Vietnam War, with both factions being armed by humans and Klingons.
* BeardOfEvil -- "Mirror Mirror"
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy - "Wolf in the Fold", "Requiem for Methuselah"
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Eminiar and Vendikar, the two warring planets in "A Taste of Armageddon," have so theorized their war with each other that they no longer send actual missiles--instead they just send computer signals signifying an attack and then have all civilians who happened to be within range of the theoretical attack disintegrate themselves in booths designed for that purpose. The leader of Eminiar considers Kirk a monster because he refuses to allow the same thing to happen to the crew of the ''Enterprise'' when the ship is calculated to have been "hit" by an "attack", even more so when he destroys Eminiar's attack computers, immediately breaking the stalemate between the two planets.
* BreadAndCircuses -- "Bread And Circuses"
* CatchTheConscience -- "The Conscience of the King" plays with this trope; a man suspected of being the murderous tyrant Kodos the Executioner happens to be an actor currently starring in a production of Hamlet.
* CityInABottle -- "For The World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
* ClipShow -- "The Menagerie" (showed us most of the original pilot episode "The Cage")
* CombatByChampion -- "Arena", "Amok Time"
* CourtroomEpisode -- "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E20CourtMartial Court Martial]]", "Wolf In The Fold"
* CowboyEpisode -- "Spectre of the Gun"
* DaddysLittleVillain -- "The Conscience of the King" (a tragic DoubleSubversion)
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster -- "A Piece of the Action". The inhabitants of Sigma Iotia II were so enamored of 1920's Chicago gang culture that they decided to [[PlanetOfHats base their entire civilization on it]].
* DeadlyDecadentCourt -- "Plato's Stepchildren", "The Gamesters of Triskelion", arguably "A Taste of Armageddon" as well.
* DeathWorld -- "The Apple", "The Way to Eden"
* DeathOfTheOldGods -- "Who Mourns For Adonais"
* DeusExNukina -- "The Doomsday Machine," "Obsession," "The Immunity Syndrome"
* DisneyDeath -- "Amok Time", "The Enterprise Incident", "The Tholian Web"
* DownerEnding -- "Charlie X", "The City On The Edge Of Forever", "A Private Little War"
* DramaticChaseOpening -- "The Return of The Archons" starts with Sulu and another crewman running from some pursuers in a city street. They're both caught.
* DyingRace -- The Talosians in "The Menagerie"
* EmpathicHealer -- "The Empath"
* EnforcedColdWar -- "Balance of Terror", "Errand of Mercy", "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Friday's Child", "Elaan of Troyius"
* [[EverybodyLaughsEnding Everybody Laughs Except Spock Ending]] -- "Shore Leave", "The Trouble With Tribbles", "The Galileo Seven", "Spock's Brain". Was an actual plot point in "Day of the Dove", where the laughter drives the EnergyBeing away.
* EvilIsHammy -- "The Enemy Within" (guess which side of Kirk was the ham)
** Both?
* EvilTwin -- "Mirror, Mirror", "The Enemy Within"
* TheFinalTemptation -- "This Side of Paradise"
* ForgotTheCall -- "The Paradise Syndrome"
* GenderBender -- "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder Turnabout Intruder]]" (via GrandTheftMe)
* GladiatorRevolt -- "The Gamesters of Triskelion"
* GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel -- "The City on the Edge of Forever"
* GoneHorriblyWrong -- "Miri", "The Ultimate Computer"
* GrandTheftMe -- "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder Turnabout Intruder]]"
* TheGreatRepair -- "Galileo Seven"
* HatePlague -- "Day of the Dove"
* HollowWorld -- "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky"
* IndustrializedEvil -- "A Taste of Armageddon"
* JekyllAndHyde -- "The Enemy Within"
* LetsYouAndHimFight -- "Day of the Dove"
* LiteralSplitPersonality -- "The Enemy Within"
* LogicBomb -- "The Changeling", "I, Mudd", "Return of the Archons", "The Ultimate Computer", "Wolf In The Fold"
* LotusEaterMachine -- "The Cage"
* LovePotion-- "A Private Little War", "Elan of Troyius"
* LowCultureHighTech
* TheMafia -- "A Piece of the Action"
* MarsNeedsWomen: "Mudd's Women"
* TheMasquerade -- Gary Seven.
* MateOrDie -- "Amok Time".
* MirrorUniverse -- "Mirror, Mirror".
* MonsterIsAMommy -- "The Devil in the Dark"
* NoImmortalInertia -- "Miri"
* NoSocialSkills -- "Charlie X"
* NotSoStoic -- "Amok Time" (especially Spock's reaction at the end)
* OutlawTown -- "A Piece of the Action"
* ParentExMachina -- "Charlie X," "The Squire of Gothos"
* PeoplePuppets -- "Plato's Stepchildren" (A literal example in the ending of the original version of "Catspaw").
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot -- "Assignment: Earth"
* PortalDoor -- "All Our Yesterdays"
* [[TeenageWasteland Pre-teen Wasteland]] -- "Miri"
* PuppeteerParasite -- "Operation: Annihilate!", "Wolf in the Fold", "Catspaw"
* PsychoExGirlfriend -- "Turnabout Intruder"
* PsychopathicManchild -- Trelane from "The Squire of Gothos." Made even better by the fact that while he looks like an adult human, by his species' standards Trelane is a child.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld -- "Miri", "Requiem for Methuselah"
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight -- "Amok Time", "Balance of Terror"
* SendInTheSearchTeam -- "Patterns of Force", "Bread and Circuses", "Return of the Archons"
* SerendipityWritesThePlot: The transporter was created because it would be too expensive to have the crew land on the planets in a shuttle every episode.
* SillyReasonForWar -- "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
* SolarCPR -- "All Our Yesterdays"
* SpotTheImposter -- "Whom Gods Destroy"; "The Man Trap"; "The Enemy Within"
* StealthInSpace -- "Balance of Terror", "The Enterprise Incident"
* StockholmSyndrome -- "Metamorphosis"
* StrangeBedfellows -- "Day of the Dove"
* StrawVulcan -- "The Galileo 7" LIVES on this.
* SuperstitionEpisode: In [[http://alania-ppc.livejournal.com/1251.html this]] {{PPC}} mission, an agent who accidentally gets a red shirt from the disguise generator has bad luck through the entire mission.
* TerminallyDependentSociety
* ThoseWackyNazis -- "Patterns of Force"
* TimeStandsStill -- "Wink of an Eye"
* TimeTravel -- "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", "The City on the Edge of Forever", "Assignment: Earth"
* TimeTravelRomance -- Kirk, in "The City on the Edge of Forever."
* WheresTheFunInThat -- "The Squire of Gothos". Kirk asks his captor, "Where's the sport?" in simply hanging him, as he had planned. Instead, Kirk talks his captor into [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame staging a "royal hunt"]]. This buys Kirk enough time for a {{deus ex machina}} rescue.
* WhoEvenNeedsABrain -- "Spock's Brain"
* YouAreInCommandNow -- "Catspaw"
* YouCantFightFate -- "The City on the Edge of Forever"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes A-G]]
* ActingForTwo - Kirk in two episodes and the 6th movie.
* AggressiveNegotiations
* AirVentPassageway - Used to escape in "Dagger of the Mind".
* [[{{Alien Non-Interference Clause}} Prime Directive.]]
* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals
* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike - Considering the technical and budgetary constraints, ridiculously so. The show {{hand wave}}s it sometimes by making planets specifically based on Earth.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil - [[AIIsACrapshoot Computers]] besides the Enterprise's, androids, and for the most part the alien races called Romulans and Klingons [[spoiler:except in [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier the fifth film]], which had one good Klingon, and [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the sixth film]], which portrayed Klingons as more varied]].
** The series also had several subversions, among them the Horta, who is initially presented and believed to be (as the episode title states) a "Devil in the Dark", but turns out to be a mother protecting her eggs, and the Romulans, who are introduced by launching an unprovoked sneak attack... but in the same episode the two main Romulan characters are examples of MyCountryRightOrWrong and WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife. Even the ''Klingons'' get a minor subversion in "Errand of Mercy", where the Organians predict that [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration at some future time]] the Klingons and the Federation will become fast friends, working together.
** There's also "Day of the Dove", when after learning they are being manipulated by an EnergyBeing into a senseless, endless war with Kirk's crew, the Klingons team up in an EnemyMine.
--> '''Kang:''' Only a fool fights in a burning house!
* AndIMustScream
** The unfortunate fate that Captain Pike is ultimately reduced to. They fix it in ''The Menagerie.''
** The fate of Lazarus and Anti-Lazarus in "The Alternative Factor".
* AndYourLittleDogToo - Villains often find that this trope is what forces Kirk to comply to them. Textbook case in "The Squire of Gothos", with Spock as the collateral.
* AntagonistTitle:
** "Charlie X": Charlie Evans becomes a RealityWarper and goes [[WithGreatpowerComesGreatInsanity mad with power]].
** "The Enemy Within": Kirk is split into a good and an [[EnemyWithout evil version]]. Guess which one is the enemy.
** "The Devil in the Dark": Subverted. The silicon-based Horta was killing the miners to protect its eggs. The Enterprise crew heal it and communicate with it.
** "The Doomsday Machine": It is a planet-eating machine from another Galaxy.
** "The Ultimate Computer": M-5, the computer, is a typical AIIsACrapshoot.
** "The Tholian Web": The energy web is being created by the Tholians to destroy the Enterprise.
* ApocalypticLog: Losira's computer log in "That Which Survives" which explained how her colony died.
* AppliedPhlebotinum
* AscendedExtra: Most of the main crew members (with the exception of Kirk and Spock) were not credited with starring roles in the opening credits, even [=McCoy=] (for the first season.) Many of them didn't appear in certain episodes, and didn't even receive any real focus or characterization until late season 1 and throughout season 2.
** Only the movies credited them with starring roles.
* AsYouKnow: In "Wolf in the Fold" Spock explains to Captain Kirk how [[LogicBomb ordering the computer to compute the value of pi to the last digit will drive the Redjack creature out of it]].
* AssInAmbassador -- How many times has the presence of Federation diplomatic personnel actually ''helped'' matters? More often than not Kirk and company have to smooth over problems created by overbearing Federation officials. Alien ambassadors weren't much of an improvement.
* AutoKitchen - The Enterprise had slots in the wall which could produce any food desired by inserting the correct computer tape. In ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' these were replaced by replicators.
* AxCrazy - Captain, no, ''Lord'' Garth. Also most of his "court" of fellow asylum inmates, notably GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Marta, who is compelled to murder those she "loves."
* {{Badass}} - ''Everyone''. Admittedly, some of the supporting characters don't come into full bloom until the movies, but still.
* BadassCrew - Established a long and proud tradition of these in Starfleet.
* BatmanGambit - Kirk could pull these off in ways that would make {{Batman}} himself proud.
* BattleThemeMusic / OrchestralBombing - The "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCamCYip2t4 Theme From Amok Time]]", which has been appropriated by so many homages and parodies it's practically an UndeadHorseTrope at this point.
** Similarly, the space battle music from the episode "The Doomsday Machine" became a standard used over and over again in later episodes.
* BeamMeUpScotty
* BeepingComputers
* BerserkButton - Don't insult the ''Enterprise'' within '''earshot''' of Scotty, much less to his face. (It ''is'', however, okay to insult ''Kirk'' around him - which considering James "I worked with William Shatner for three decades and I never liked the man" Doohan may have been a case of ActorOnBoard.)
** The Klingons found this out the hard way in "The Trouble With Tribbles". Then again, they were Klingons, so they may have been looking for that fight.
* BigLittleMan: In "The Corbomite Maneuver", the ''Enterprise'' encounters an alien vessel, and is able to get a video feed revealing the bridge, which shows the alien captain, Balok, to be a [[http://www.startrek.com/database_article/corbomite-maneuver-the scowling monster]] that looks to be about 7 feet tall. However, later they manage to get onboard, revealing they had actually been watching an elaborate puppet show, and [[http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20233812_20527844,00.html the real Balok is no larger than a child]].
* BigNo - Lazarus in "The Alternative Factor"
** Charlie Evans does this in "Charlie X"
* BlackAndWhiteMorality
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted in "The Galileo Seven" and "By Any Other Name"; in both cases, the black male character survives to the end of the episode while one or more white characters die.
* BluffTheEavesdropper: In "The Deadly Years", due to having been rapidly aged by mysterious radiation and gone senile Kirk has stepped down from command and his incompetent replacement has led the ship through the Romulan Neutral Zone and the latter are about to destroy them. Suddenly a cure is found, a restored Kirk appears on the bridge and gives an order to relay a message to Starfleet...using a code previously established as having been broken by the Romulans, which briefly causes the crew to wonder if he's still senile. Nevertheless, they open the channels and Kirk sends a message that the ''Enterprise'' will self destruct via the [[CallBack Corbomite Device]] and destroy any ship in a huge radius. The Romulans intercept the message and leave.
* BluntMetaphorsTrauma - Spock.
* BoldlyComing: [[TropeMaker Kirk]]. So much so that in "By Any Other Name", when they need to fight the aliens who have adopted [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith human form]], [[JustifiedTrope due to the Enterprise they have hijacked being suited to human life]], each of the four remaining crew members uses their personal skills to take back the ship; [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] secretly drugs the hijackers, [[TheSpock Spock]] plays TheChessmaster and turns the aliens against each other, [[ScottyTime Scotty]] [[DrinkingContest drinks an alien (and himself) into a complete stupor]], and Kirk... seduces the head alien's girlfriend.
* BottledHeroicResolve
* BrainwashedAndCrazy - Numerous episodes.
* BrandishmentBluff: "The Corbomite Maneuver"
-->'''Kirk''': This is the Captain of the Enterprise. Our respect for other life forms requires that we give you this... warning. One critical item of information that has never been incorporated into the memory banks of any Earth ship. Since the early years of space exploration, Earth vessels have had incorporated into them a substance known as... corbomite. It is a material and a device which prevents attack on us. If any destructive energy touches our vessel, a reverse reaction of equal strength is created, destroying -
-->'''Balok [voice]''': You now have two minutes.
-->'''Kirk''': - destroying the attacker. It may interest you to know that since the initial use of corbomite more than [[TwoOfYourEarthMinutes two of our centuries]] ago, no attacking vessel has survived the attempt. Death has... little meaning to us. If it has none to you then attack us now. We grow annoyed at your foolishness.
* BunnyEarsLawyer - The things Kirk got away with...
* ButtMonkey - Chekov always seems to get the worst of any mysterious affliction that affects the crew. Even on the one occasion where he proves immune in "The Deadly Years," he still gets to spend the whole episode being experimented on by [=McCoy=] in an attempt to find a cure.
-->'''Chekov:''' Blood sample, Chekov! Marrow sample, Chekov! Skin sample, Chekov! If – if I live long enough, I'm going to run out of samples!
-->'''Sulu:''' You'll live.
-->'''Chekov:''' Oh yes, I'll live. But I won't enjoy it!
* CallASmeerpARabbit: In "The Enemy Within", Evil Kirk insists that his subordinates bring him some "Saurian brandy." It's unlikely that whatever world the Saurians come from actually has grapes that can be fermented and distilled into real brandy.
** On Earth brandy [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandy#Fruit_brandy can be made from many different fruits]]; presumably, Saurian brandy is made from a fruit native to that world. Given that ale is specifically a barley-based beverage, however, one wonders what the Romulans are using to make "Romulan ale".
* [[CaptainsLog Captain's Log]]
* CargoCult
* CartwrightCurse - So frequent you could almost take bets on whether the GirlOfTheWeek was going to [[UnusualEuphemism buy the farm]] by the end of the episode (or if she doesn't, pull a HighHeelFaceTurn).
* CatchPhrase: Dr. [=McCoy=]'s "ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder" and "HesDeadJim." Spock's "Fascinating" and "Illogical".
* TheCavalry - Usually in the form of the ''Enterprise'' or a second landing party arriving to save the day.
** Lampshaded in "Friday's Child" when Kirk wonders why [[SpaceWestern "the cavalry doesn't come over the hill in the nick of time anymore".]] [[BigDamnHeroes Then Scotty arrives with a]] RedshirtArmy.
* ChekovsGun - And no, they didn't play [[IncrediblyLamePun Russian Roulette]] with it.
* ChewingTheScenery: A Klingon in "The Trouble With Tribbles" insults the Enterprise ForTheEvulz, underlining the last two words of this speech with a wide-eyed stare: "I didn't mean to say that the Enterprise should be hauling garbage. I meant to say that it should be hauled away ''as garbage''!"
* ClearMyName - Happens once in a while. In "Journey to Babel" Sarek was accused of murdering a Tellarite ambassador. It was an Orion pretending to be a staff member of the Andorian ambassador. In "Court-Martial" Kirk was accused of causing the death of one of his crew members. The crew member had faked his own death and tried to sabotage Kirk's career as he blamed Kirk for ruining his.
** Scotty has to do this in "Wolf in the Fold" after being set up for several murders by none other than Jack the Ripper himself--actually an alien entity who took possession over the centuries of (among others) Jack the Ripper and the city administrator investigating Scotty's alleged murders (conveniently stonewalling the investigation in the process).
** Even Spock gets in on the fun in "The Menagerie", although the crime in Spock's case was mutiny, not murder and was all arranged by an alien entity just like the other incidents, albeit out of compassion rather than any sinister motive.
* ClothingDamage - Kirk must have a pretty steep uniform allowance to cover all of those shirts that get torn up (or completely torn off of him). An unintended case can be seen in "The Savage Curtain" where Kirk's pants split open in the back for a [[IncrediblyLamePun brief moment]].
* CloudCuckoolander - Chekov and his constant references to Mother Russia which appear to only make sense in his mind. To a lesser extent, Sulu and his FleetingPassionateHobbies which the rest of the crew regard as [[FanOfThePast unusual for the time period.]]
* ContinuitySnarl - This series is responsible for a good 90% of the continuity problems in TheVerse. It took quite a few episodes before they settled on what year it was (sometimes as near as 2100s, sometimes as far as ''2700''), what group the Enterprise worked for (In some episodes it's United Earth Space Probe Agency, in some it's Starfleet, etc.), the name of Spock's race (Vulcan is settled on later, but Vulcanian was still being used up till the end of the first season). References to the past that have already happened by the time the later series were being made (Khan's starship leaves in the 1990s, something plainly impossible today.) and so on. Some of these have been {{handwaved}} or attempted to be explained away, but a lot of them still cause big problems that fans prefer to overlook.
* CreditsMontage: Featuring not only stills from the episode in question, but random shots from various other eps as well.
* CreepyChildrenSinging:
-->Hail, hail, fire and snow\\
Call the angel, we will go\\
Far away, for to see\\
Friendly angel come to me.
* {{Cukoloris}}: Shadows from devices like these were often used to suggest structural detail that's off camera (and so doesn't have to actually be built). Look in the "overhead" area of the ship's interiors, particularly where a corridor opens onto a larger junction.
* CustomUniform - Captain Kirk's deep green wraparound fatigue shirt, worn interchangeably with the usual uniform shirt in the first two seasons, is a good example of this trope in action. Kirk is the only person aboard who we see wearing this 'casual' alternative uniform.
* CutenessProximity - Spock was [[SarcasmMode totally unaffected]] by Tribbles. [[PetTheDog He was only petting it]] [[BlatantLies because it was logical]]... What's everybody looking at?
** And cats. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial He has no particular fondness for the creatures]].
** [[PetTheDog And dogs, too. See the space dog in "The Enemy Within".]]
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Scotty, whenever he was left in command of the ''Enterprise.'' There's "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," and the time that he receives an audio message from "Kirk" and the first thing he does is run it through a voice analyzer which proves it wasn't really Kirk. Do not fuck with Scotty.
** "Diplomats. [[GunboatDiplomacy The best diplomat I know is a fully armed phaser bank.]]"
*** [[AssInAmbassador Given the quality of the Federation's diplomatic staff]] Scotty definitely has a point.
* DawsonCasting: Michael J. Pollard (27 years old) and Kim Darby (19) play pre-pubescent children in "Miri".
* DeadManWriting: "That Which Survives". Losira's computer message to her fellow Kalandans about the death of the colony.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The Romulan government at several points is implied to be one. The Platonians in "Plato's Stepchildren" started out with a good idea--create a society based upon Plato's ''Republic''--but ended up as this after centuries of isolation. In "The Gamesters of Triskelion" the three brains running the planet have resorted to pitting random aliens against each other in [[BreadAndCircuses gladiatorial combat]] after losing their purpose in life.
* DeadpanSnarker - The epic snarkfests between [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] and [[TheSpock Spock]] are legendary for a reason.
* DeathRay - Phasers, at their highest setting, become a DisintegratorRay.
* DeusEstMachina - Several episodes, notably "The Apple."
* DeusExMachina - "Charlie X" (the Thasians), "Shore Leave" (the Keeper), "The Squire of Gothos" (Trelane's parents), "Errand of Mercy" (the Organians).
* [[DevilsAdvocate Devil's Advocate]]: Spock would occasionally preform the duty of the Devil's Advocate, typically countering [[TheMcCoy McCoy]]'s or [[TheKirk Kirk]]'s spontaneous, GutFeeling-inspired actions.
* DiscontinuityNod: Various extra-series material (novels, for example), often refer in a disparaging way to the more "out there" episodes from ''The Original Series'', usually in the form of Starfleet Officials claiming Kirk made up a large number of his reports, with his motive being contempt for his superiors. Invariably mentioned is the universally disbelieved incident in which aliens "stole the brain of Kirk's Science Officer", a reference to the episode in which Spock's brain was, indeed, stolen by alien temptresses and which is considered the worst episode of the Original Series, if not of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' as a whole.
** The forward to the novelization of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture" essentially says that the original series is a overwrought dramatization of actual events which should be regarded as unreliable. Fans debate its' canonicity since, while Trek literature is officially considered non-canonical, it's the only novel written by GeneRoddenberry himself.
** [[{{Lampshade}} Lampshaded]] ''within canon'' by Janeway in ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' episode "Scorpion", where she very politely calls bullshit on Kirk's claim (in TOS episode "Requiem for Methuselah") to have met Leonardo da Vinci.
* DisneyDogFight
* DistressCall: 14 different episodes (including both pilots) started with the Enterprise receiving or already responding to a distress signal.
* DramaticDownstageTurn: Several instances, especially during dramatic scenes featuring female cast members. One simple example appears in a conversation between Leila and Spock near the end of the episode "This Side of Paradise".
* DressUpEpisode: a ''lot''. "A Piece of the Action", "Return of the Archons", "Assignment: Earth", "The City on the Edge of Forever", that one where they ended up dressed as [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]]...
** This trope was popular because it allowed them to use standard, pre-existing costumes, props and sets, rather than having to make expensive new ones. There had been very few science fiction shows up to this time, and there were very few props hanging around to be re-used, unlike today where science fiction has been popular for a long time.
* DudeWheresMyRespect - Averted. Among Kirk's various honors and awards: The Medal of Honor, the Starfleet Citation for [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Conspicuous Gallantry]], The Kerrigite Order of Heroism.. The list goes on for so long that it has to be stopped early so that the episode can continue.
* DuelToTheDeath - "Arena", "Amok Time".
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: In "Errand of Mercy", the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Organians]] [[PerfectPacifistPeople refuse to use violence]] to stop the Klingons from taking over their planet, but easily thwart them with their PsychicPowers.
* EatDirtCheap: The Horta.
* EmpireWithADarkSecret - In "The Mark of Gideon", there was a germ-free "paradise" of a planet who was willing to join the Federation. However, the reason why they invited only Kirk to their planet was so they could decrease the planet's overpopulation by using Kirk, who had a rare disease in his blood to do it.
* EnemyMine - The Klingons team up with the Enterprise crew in "Day of the Dove".
* EthicalSlut - Kirk at it again and again, while remaining morally upstanding.
* ExplosiveBreeder - The Tribbles.
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': "The nearest thing I can figure out is they're born pregnant... which seems to be quite a time saver!
* ExplosiveOverclocking: The ship's engines, frequently (probably the source of all the [[BeamMeUpScotty "she cannae hauld no muir!"]] parodies of Scotty). Also, phasers have a setting which allows them to be used as time bombs.
* {{Expositron 9000}}: The ship's computer.
* ExpositionOfImmortality: Several of the alien beings that the TOS crew encountered had vastly expanded lifespans and/or [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse had dabbled in Earth's history in some way]]. A key example to be found in the episode "Requiem for Methuselah". In Flint's home Mr. Spock finds a waltz by Johannes Brahms written in original manuscript in Brahms' own hand, but which is unknown. Likewise Flint has a collection of Leonardo da Vinci masterpieces that have been recently painted on contemporary canvas with contemporary materials. Flint later admits that he was Brahms and da Vinci.
** "Who Mourns for Adonais?" reveals that the Greek gods were actually nearly-immortal aliens who helped inspire and build classial Greek culture in exchange for [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly being worshipped]].
* TheFace:Uhura is both the TokenGirl and the [[TokenMinority token black]] as well as the CommunicationsOfficer.
** Sulu is the [[TokenMinority token Asian]].
* FakeNationality: William Shatner and James Doohan (both Canadians) play an American and an Scotsman, respectively. Walter Koenig is a partial case: his parents were Russian Jews but Koenig himself was an American citizen playing the Russian Chekov. Nichelle Nichols (an American) played Uhura, whose native language is established as Swahili--implying Uhura is from somewhere in eastern Africa. Worst of all--Ricardo Montalban, a Mexican, played ''Khan Noonien Singh!''
* FallenHero - Gary Mitchell, John Gill, Garth of Izar.
* AFateWorseThanDeath - Poor, poor Charlie Evans...
* {{Fanservice}}
** Outfits worn by the hot-girl-of-the-week, and those famous Starfleet miniskirts.
** Many women find that the numerous [[ShirtlessScene Kirk-shirt tears]] of Season 1 would count as this as well.
** Dear god, "Mirror Mirror" shows that Uhura has ''nice'' abs. And then there's "Patterns of Force" with its whips, chains, and shirtlessness.
** Sulu topless in ''The Naked Time''. Kirk topless several times (and naked in one episode).
** "Charlie X" has Kirk shirtless and in tights. It's very distracting.
** Legend has it that when Sherry Jackson walked into the NBC commissary wearing her Andrea costume from "What Little Girls Are Made Of" - bell-bottoms and two straps crossed over her chest - forks stopped halfway between plate and mouth.
** The costume designer for the show was William Ware Theiss, TropeCodifier for the TheissTitillationTheory.`
* FantasticRacism: Everywhere with Bones insulting Spock's "green blood", "computer" mind and other Vulcan traits. Kirk and Spock often comment on the differences between Vulcans and Humans, but in a GentlemanSnarker way without malice.
** Several episodes also revolved around two alien species' hatred of each other for no good reason.
* FascinatingEyebrow - When Spock raises his eyebrow, he says "fascinating" very nearly every time.
* FiveTokenBand - May well be the TropeCodifier.
* FoodAndAnimalAttraction: In "The Cage", during one of the illusions the Talosians create for Captain Pike, a horse starts nuzzling his jacket pocket in search of the sugar therein.
* ForceFieldDoor - The ship's brig.
* ForcedPrizeFight
* ForgetsToEat - Spock, occasionally.
** In "Amok Time", [=McCoy=] uses the fact that Spock hasn't eaten for three days in an attempt to convince Kirk that something is wrong, and Kirk dismisses it as simply being Spock in one of his contemplative phases.
** Another example is "The Paradise Syndrome", where Spock hardly eats for weeks while studying the obelisk.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Everyone who got killed on the show ([[RedshirtArmy and that's a lot]]).
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Trelane ("The Squire of Gothos"), the Organians ("Errand of Mercy"), and the Metrons ("Arena").
* FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow - The PrimeDirective.
* FreudianTrio: Kirk (Ego), Spock (Superego) and [=McCoy=] (Id) form the page image for this trope.
* AFriendInNeed - How the ''Enterprise'' crew stuck by each other, through thick and thin.
** Spock risks his career, and possibly his life, for his former captain (Pike) in "The Menagerie". Kirk does the same for Spock in "Amok Time", and again in the third movie.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom -- Gary Mitchell
* GetBackToTheFuture - "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", "All Our Yesterdays".
* GetItOverWith - Dr. [=McCoy=] has a version of this when he is attacked by Khan in Sickbay in "Space Seed":
-->'''Dr. [=McCoy=]''': Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind!
-->'''Khan''': English... I thought I'd dreamed hearing it. Where am I?
-->'''Dr. [=McCoy=]''': [[CaptainObvious You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.]]
-->'''Khan''': Answer my question.
-->'''Dr. [=McCoy=]''': [[CasualDangerDialogue It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar - Often, a scene of Kirk kissing a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe would [[SexyDiscretionShot cut away]], and following the commercials, either Kirk or the GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe would [[DidYouJustHaveSex have somewhat more disheveled hair]]. This particular instance is especially apparent in the third-season episode "Wink of an Eye", in which, after the requisite FadeToBlack, the next scene shows Kirk sitting on his bed, finishing dressing after an interlude with Deela, the GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe of the week.
** Clever wordplay in "The Naked Time" with Sulu imagining himself a heroic swordsman.
---> '''Sulu''' (grabbing Uhura): "I'll protect you, fair maiden!"
---> '''Uhura''' (pushing him away): "Sorry, neither!"
** Star Trek did show [[http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/07/sttmp-comes-to-tv.html the first televised interracial kiss]] between Uhura and Chapel in the first season, albeit as just a brief congratulatory peck on the cheek between two sisterly colleagues.
** What gets all the historical attention, however, is the first "romantic" interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura in "Plato's Stepchildren" in the third season. This scene wasn't really that romantic as presented, since they were both being coerced, though it did have her confessing to her captain that she found his commanding presence very comforting in scary times such as this one. Also, [[KissingDiscretionShot the kiss was shown at an angle]] from which viewers couldn't see the actors' lips, although Nichols [[WordOfGod insists in her memoirs]] that it was entirely real.
** In ''Mudd's Women'' the title women have an obvious effect on the male crewmembers. During a physical with one of them, a somewhat agitated [=McCoy=] notices an odd reading on the medical scanner as the woman walks past.
-->'''[=McCoy=]''':(Distracted) Would you walk past my panel again?
-->'''Woman''':(Chuckling) Your what?
-->'''[=McCoy=]''':(snapping out of it) Uh...my scanner. Walk past the scanner again.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation
** From "The Alternative Factor", Matter!Lazarus goes stark raving mad upon learning of the existence of his Anti-Matter double and becomes bent on destroying him, even if it means the destruction of both universes.
** "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" revolves around Kollos, an ambassador of the [[EnergyBeings Medusan race]], whose physical appearance is so hideous - or maybe so beautiful - that any humanoid who looks at them directly goes insane. This is a subversion, as Kollos, in contrast with Shoggoths and Eldritch horrors, is clearly a good guy.
* GodGuise - A recurring theme:
** In "The Paradise Syndrome", an amnesiac Kirk is mistaken for a deity by transplanted American Indians on a distant planet.
** "Who Mourns for Adonais" has an actual surviving Greek God who reveals he's just a powerful alien who had become too used to being worshiped by mortals.
** In "The Omega Glory", Spock is mistaken for the devil. (This was actually a real-life objection the producers had to his appearance.)
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: In "The Savage Curtain", Surak, Spock and President Lincoln have a hard time understanding the motives and actions of the opposing "evil" side. Only Kirk seems to have a grasp of their potential for deceptiveness and duplicity.
* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Why the Federation is unlike the Klingons, according to Kirk.
* {{Gorn}}: Doesn't apply to the show, but one of the most famous scenes of the show involved Kirk fighting a lizard whose species was ''called'' the Gorn.
* GotTheWholeWorldInMyHand - The Terran Empire.
* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp - Wait, did Chekov say [[IstanbulNotConstantinople "Leningrad"]] in MyGrandmaCanDoBetterThanYou below?
** Chekov also attributed one of the "Russian inwentions" to somebody in Minsk, which was part of the Soviet Union but is now in modern-day Belarus.
* GrudgingThankYou - In the episode "Bread and Circuses" Bones gives Spock a GrudgingThankYou and receives a ThinkNothingOfIt in return.
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': Spock, er, I know we've, er, had our disagreements. Er, maybe they're jokes, I don't know. As Jim says, we're not often sure ourselves sometimes. But, -->er... what I'm trying to say is...
-->'''Spock''': Doctor, I am seeking a means of escape. Will you please be brief?
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': What I'm trying to say is, you saved my life in the arena.
-->'''Spock''': Yes, that's quite true.
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': [Indignant] I'm trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin!
-->'''Spock''': Oh yes, you humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. "You're welcome", I believe is the correct response.
* GunboatDiplomacy - TheFederation brings peace, justice, and brotherhood... and if you don't like it, Captain Kirk brings a phaser.
** "A Piece of the Action" is the funniest example. Captain Kirk positively revels in giving all the mob chiefs offers they can't refuse.
** The series ''was'' partially inspired by the ''HoratioHornblower'' books.
** Parodied in a line given to Kirk in one of the classic fan songs: "WeComeInPeaceShootToKill."
*** which was in turn inspired by a scene in one episode where Kirk declares, "We come in peace!" while pointing his phaser at the alien.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes H-M]]
* HalloweenEpisode - "Catspaw", which was first broadcast on October 27 1967.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: This trope is why Alexander, the court jester of the Platonians in "Plato's Stepchildren", refuses to take [=McCoy=]'s concoction that will give him psychic powers. As much as he loathes Parmen for his abuse, the idea that he could turn out as cruel and manipulative as his master, along with even greater psychic abilities to boot, sickens him even more.
* HeldGaze - Kirk and Spock do this all. The. Damn. ''Time''. In the episode "Miri," they held each others' gaze for a full twelve seconds, in complete silence, as the camera flicked back and forth between closeups of their faces, after engaging in ''extremely'' flirty dialogue. They're still doing the exact same thing twenty years later in [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]], when Kirk whispers in Spock's ear and then pulls away just far enough to lock gazes with him. (That one was a deep breath away from being a kiss.) This trope contributed ''enormously'' to their HoYay.
** Kirk and [=McCoy=] engage in the purely platonic "meaningful look" variant when they drop the friendly banter and display the fact that they are rock-solid best friends (or at least second best- see above.)
* TheHero: Captain Kirk
* HeroicBSOD - Decker in ''The Doomsday Machine''... that is until [[HeroicSacrifice he faces the planet-killer one-on-one]].
* HeroicSacrifice - Several one-shot characters die nobly, but the undisputed champion (and not just for Franchise/StarTrek) is [[spoiler: Spock sacrificing himself to save the ship and crew, at the end of the second movie.]] "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... or the one."
* HeterosexualLifePartners - Kirk and Spock and their intergalactic b[[HoYay romance]].
* HeyItsThatSound - The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gASm1AMYGHk transporter sound effect]] was based on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hs4KrkFp8#t=0m30s part of the "Tardis taking off" sound effect]] in ''Series/DoctorWho''.
* HighConcept - Many idea and concepts for episodes can be described thus but also the idea of the show itself, WagonTrainToTheStars was HighConcept in its day.
* HighHeelFaceTurn - Frequently with [[BoldlyComing women Kirk seduced.]]
* HollywoodTorches: In "Errand of Mercy" and "Catspaw".
* HolodeckMalfunction - Subverted in the episode "Shore Leave". The planet's safety protocols are working just fine, but the landing party doesn't know that and think they are actually in danger.
* HumanLadder
* HumansAreInteresting: Or [[RunningGag fascinating]], even.
* ICanStillFight - Justified, when Kirk was injured, but he insisted on being on the bridge because Spock was needed at the time to give a vital transplant to his father.
* ICommaNoun - "I, Mudd".
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Kirk and Spock in "This Side of Paradise"; Kirk has to get Spock angry enough so he can overcome the influence of the mind-altering spores.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder - TropeMaker
* ImNotAfraidOfYou
* ImplacableMan: The Gorn in ''Arena'' is very strong and shrugs off injuries that would kill a human, but [[MightyGlacier it isn't very agile.]] Kirk finally manages to stop it using an improvised cannon.
* ImpostorExposingTest: In "The Trouble With Tribbles", the Tribble dislike for Klingons is used to identify the Klingon spy disguised as a human.
* ImprovisedWeapon: The rough-and-tumble fights often involve these. Kirk in particular was a master: ropes, pillows, and that stick thing he used to beat Khan.
* InvoluntaryGroupSplit - Happens to Kirk and Spock in "Devil in the Dark".
* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: [[invoked]] Used by Spock as a LogicBomb in "I, Mudd":
-->'''Spock:''' *To Alice 27* I love you. *To Alice 210* However, I hate you.\\
'''Alice 210:''' But I'm identical in every way with Alice 27.\\
'''Spock:''' Yes, of course. That is exactly why I hate you; because you are identical.\\
* both Alices succumb to the logic bomb*\\
'''Spock:''' Fascinating.
* JerkJock - Though not a jock, Kirk was tormented endlessly by upperclassman Finnegan when he was younger. One of his fantasies is finally getting to punch him out.
* JobStealingRobot: The title device in "The Ultimate Computer".
** In "A Taste of Armageddon" ''entire governments'' have been replaced this way.
* JustTestingYou: Kirk and Scotty set up a challenge/response [[TrustPassword password]] before Kirk beamed down to a planet in order to prevent imposters from getting beamed up. Naturally a shapeshifter takes Kirk's form and tries to get Scotty to beam him up. When he doesn't know the password, he tries to cover it up by saying that he was just testing Scotty. [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Scotty]] [[GenreSavvy catches on immediately]] and concludes that Kirk must be in trouble, since the real [[OutOfCharacterAlert Kirk would never "test" him]] like that.
* KillTheCutie - Edith Keeler in "The City on the Edge of Forever". After all, YouCantFightFate.
* KillThePoor - In the episode "The Cloud Minders," on the planet Ardana, rather then kill the poor, they were enslaved and forced to live out their entire lives underground.
* KnockoutGas: In the episode "Space Seed". After Khan takes over the Enterprise, Kirk orders that all decks be flooded with Neural Gas, which would render everyone aboard unconscious. That attempt fails, but later the attempt succeeds.
* LargeHam (William Shatner's Kirk is legendary... for ''the''... oddly placed... pauses... and ''emphasis''... in his sentences. Although like most things, this was heavily exaggerated by people trying to make fun of him. This style is actually most notable when he is being possessed and/or imitated by another person. For the most part he gave Kirk a subtle, sly, devil-may-care attitude that made the character famous in the first place.)
** [+'''''WEEEEE'''''...THE '''''PEEE'''''-PLE!+]
** '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bZKEhgieoc IIIIII'M CAPTAIN KIIIIIIIRK!]]'''
** And for what it's worth, it only gets really noticable in the third season, where the writing quality also took a serious nosedive.
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** Mr. Spock was first given his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CsNZqeXU_4 distinctive theme music]] in the episode "Amok Time". The wistful, romantic melody is usually provided by a bass guitar - a deliberate choice by composer Gerald Fried, as he felt it would be a terrible match for such a utilitarian instrument, a juxtaposition that suits the [[NotSoStoic dichotomy of Spock's character]].
** Scotty also has his own leitmotif, typically used in lighter moments. It is prominently heard in both "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "By Any Other Name".
* LibertyOverProsperity: In "Space Seed", after Khan's attempt to take over the Enterprise fails, Kirk says that he and his followers can either be punished under Starfleet regulations (which would presumably involve a long prison sentence) or become colonists on an uninhabited planet.
-->'''Khan''': Have you ever read Milton, Captain? [snip]
-->'''Scott''': It's a shame for a good Scotsman to admit it, but I'm not up on Milton.
-->'''Kirk''': The statement Lucifer made when he fell into the pit. "It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven."
* LifeImitatesArt: This show inspired so many things - including, possibly, its ultimate triumph, as NichelleNichols' role on the show was the inspiration for Dr. Mae Jemison, ''America's first female African-American astronaut'', who later did a cameo on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.
** And for the Bluetooth headset.
** The show is often credited as the inspiration for cell phones, but it also accurately predicted the tablet PC.
** The military and many high-level police agencies are experimenting with non-lethal heat and sound beams to disperse riots and disarm attackers without killing them. PhasersOnStun anyone?
* LicensedGame: Arcade cabinet games, text games, Atari games, flight simulators, adventure games; you name it. Let's focus on the more notable ones. ''Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'' is a combination flight simulatior/AdventureGame voiced by the original cast, plus one generic Redshirt who is routinely the first to perish should the player screw up. The game was followed by ''Judgement Rites'', in which Chekhov and Uhura are finally allowed to join away team missions (something they rarely did on the series).
** There was also a ''25th Anniversary'' port for the {{NES}}, though the setting and storyline are different. As exhaustively covered (and suffered) by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, the final level deposits Kirk back on Iotia II, where Bones foolishly bet and lost his communicator in a card game. This causes a calamity in the future, forcing Kirk to complete a massive ChainOfDeals to get the communicator back.
** The {{Gameboy}} version of ''25th Anniversary'' again changes the storyline, this time involving a Doomsday Machine roaming through space. Work on a defensive weapon begins in earnest, but the weaselly Klingons dissemble the device into 12 pieces and scatter them all over space, requiring Kirk to [[GottaCatchTHemAll Catch 'Em All]].
** ''Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'' takes place in Kirk's era, though the ''Enterprise'' does not appear. It is, however, possible to beat the infamous Kobayashi Maru scenario by naming yourself "[[HelloInsertNameHere James T. Kirk]]", unlocking a prototype ship.
* LudicrousPrecision: Spock's figures, constantly. [[ConversedTrope Discussed]] in "Errand of Mercy".
* MachineEmpathy: Scotty could often sense when something was wrong with the Enterprise from subtle changes in her "feel".
** Possibly justified, because machines cause vibrations that engineers familiar with said machine can actually feel when touching it -- such as through the hull of a starship.
** Scotty himself confirms this in the [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration NextGen]] episode "Relics" when he compares the ''Enterprise D'' with 'his' ''Enterprise'' to Picard.
* MadLove - Nurse Chapel and Spock.
* MaleGaze: In "Mudd's Women", the camera rather obviously pans to the women's derrieres as they walk along the corridors of the ''Enterprise'' after leaving the transporter room.
* MechanisticAlienCulture: Various examples
* {{Memetic Hand Gesture}} - The Vulcan salute.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender - Only three female redshirts were killed in the whole series, whereas dozens of male Starfleet personnel were killed.
** In one of the three aversions ("By Any Other Name") the BlackDudeDiesFirst trope is ''also'' averted, as the white female redshirt is killed by the Kelvans (sparing the black male redshirt in the party) when the Kelvan could have killed both of them just as easily. Probably FairForItsDay.
* MildlyMilitary - The crew of the ''Enterprise'' don't seem too keen on protocol and frequently question orders and argue with the captain. As well, [[HollywoodTactics what's the sense in the command staff (and thus the most important people on the ship) beaming down for every mission?]]
** We mostly see this from the senior staff, which is part of their role in helping Kirk make decisions: he needs their expert opinion, and a command staff of yes-men is a recipe for disaster in any organization. Lower-level personnel who question orders get smacked down rather hard by Kirk. Kirk's flouting of orders from Starfleet Command and civilian government officials, though, completely fulfulls the trope.
* MindRape: Used by the Platoians in "Plato's Stepchildren", with the most blatant example being Parmen forcing Spock to laugh and cry.
* MinoredInAssKicking - The reserved, cerebral Spock and his skill at hand-to-hand fighting (Vulcan nerve pinch! Judo chop!).
* MonsterMunch: While RedShirts died in great numbers on this show, they were sometimes killed by the MonsterOfTheWeek, often in the first scene.
** "Obsession". A couple of red shirt security personnel are drained of blood and killed by the vampire cloud in the opening scene.
** "The Devil in the Dark". Two miners and an Enterprise Security man are destroyed by the Horta's acid secretions, one in the first scene.
** ''Wolf in the Fold". Several women are slaughtered by the "Jack the Ripper" entity during the episode. One of them died before the opening credits.
* MoodLighting - Whenever Kirk is putting the moves on a female (of any species), the lighting softens, playing up the female's sexiness.
* MoreHeroThanThou - In "The Empath" when aliens offer Kirk the choice of sacrificing [=McCoy=] or Spock, [=McCoy=] takes out Kirk with drugs. Spock is glad; since this leaves him in command, he can make the sacrifice himself. [=McCoy=] proceeds to drug him as well and sacrifice himself.
* {{Multiboobage}} - The cat creature in Star Trek V.
* MultinationalTeam: Each of the bridge crew represents a part of the world (and an alien).
* MundaneUtility: In multiple episodes, they use their phasers to create a heat source, by shooting a rock.
* {{Mundanization}}
* TheMutiny - In "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder Turnabout Intruder]]", when a crazy ex-lover of Kirk switched bodies with him and the suspicious crew had no valid proof and she began ordering the deaths of anyone who opposed her, Scotty suggested to [=McCoy=] that they mutiny, since they knew that it would throw the captain into a fit and they would be able to stop under regulations.
** Spock's actions in transported Captain Pike to Talos IV constituted a mutiny, for which he was put on trial which was a ruse to buy him more time.
** Kirk considers the crew's actions in "This Side of Paradise" to be a mutiny: they abandon the ship due to being BrainwashedAndCrazy.
* MyGrandmaCanDoBetterThanYou - The exchange where Scotty tells Chekov that Scotch whisky is a man's drink, and Chekov replies that it was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: in the episode "Mudd's Women" the computer tells the all-male hearing board the effect the women are having on them - elevated heart rate, sweating, rapid pulse. All except Spock.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes N-S]]
* NeckSnap - The Vulcan tal-shaya technique performed by the Orion spy in "Journey to Babel".
* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: At the end of "This Side of Paradise", [=MCoy=] notes that this is the second time mankind has been thrown out of paradise. Kirk comments that, no, they left on their own, because maybe it's mankind's fate to only be happy when they have to struggle and fight for everything they get.
* NoNameGiven - Several prominent examples:
** The character played by Majel Barrett in "The Cage" is referred to only as "Number One," the unofficial nickname attached to her position as Captain Pike's first officer.
** Neither the male Romulan Commander played by Mark Lenard in "Balance of Terror" nor the female Commander played by Joanne Linville in "The Enterprise Incident" were ever referred to by name.
* NoPaperFuture - Although paper still exists, characters take notes on what are obviously tablet computers. Most characters find reading e-books off of screens to be more convenient than hauling wood pulp around. And this was over forty years ago.
** The characters are reading what the series called 'microtapes'. Yet another example of {{Zeerust}} in that microfilm was predicted to replace paper books back in the 1960's.
* NoTranshumanismAllowed - [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]]. When Khan is awoken in "Space Seed", he has a discussion with Kirk once they have determined his identity, lamenting the fact that the humans of the 2260s are practically indistinguishable from those of the 1990s. He was hoping to awaken in a world of genetically modified {{Ubermensch}} like himself, at the very least.
* NoSocialSkills: Charlie Evans, due to being raised by {{Energy Being}}s.
* NotLoveInterest - Kirk and Spock, for each other. See the trope page for more details, but... suffice it to say, Kirk and Spock have been the [[HoYay lodestars of each others' lives]] since almost the day they met.
--> "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
* NotRareOverThere: In "Elaan of Troyius", the ship's dilithium crystals crack in the middle of a battle. Unfortunately, there are none left... until they realise that Elaan's necklace has a bunch of them. She surrenders it gladly, bemused that they would want what to her planet are WorthlessYellowRocks.
* NotSoDifferent - In the episode "Balance of Terror", the defeated Romulan Commander says that he and Kirk "are of a kind", just before blowing himself up.
-->'''Romulan Commander''': You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend. We are creatures of duty, captain. I have lived my life by it. [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Just... one more duty... to perform]].
** The Klingon commander in "Errand of Mercy" is all over this, but Kirk [[ShutUpHannibal shouts him down.]]
* NumberedHomeworld - [[TheSimpsons Rigel VII]] ... XII ... how many of those were there, anyway?
* OfThePeople
* OhCrap: In "Amok Time" Kirk is chosen to face Spock in battle. Kirk agrees, reasoning that, if things get bad, he'll quit and Spock will be declared the winner. Then, when the ''lipra'' (the staffs with really big blades) are produced, T'Pau announces, "If both survive the ''lipra'', combat will continue with the ''ahn-woon''." When Kirk asks about what she means, she tells him "This combat is to the death". The look on Kirk's face doubles as a (possibly intentional) CrowningMomentOfFunny.
* OmnicidalManiac: Matter!Lazarus from "The Alternative Factor". In order to kill his enemy, his Anti-Matter double, he has to cross the threshold into the other universe, but bumping into said enemy while in the same universe will destroy both universes. Despite knowing this, he's so far gone that he simply doesn't care.
* OneWingedAngel - Sylvia in "Catspaw" turns into ''a giant cat'' when Kirk refuses to obey her.
* OnceForYesTwiceForNo - if not the TropeMaker, then certainly the TropeCodifier with Captain Pike's portrayal in "The Menagerie".
* TheOtherDarrin: Shatner's predecessor, Jeffery Hunter, played Captain Pike in "The Cage". This footage was later re-used in "The Menagerie", with Pike himself appearing a motionless deformity in an iron lung-type device. This was primarily to disguise the fact that Hunter was now a film star and thus unavailable; this new Pike was played by a lookalike (such as he is) named Sean Kenney.
** What's interesting is that Captain Pike was retconned into ''Kirk's'' predecessor, as well; He was the original Captain of the ''Enterprise'', with Mr. Spock as his first officer. This is still canon in the Abrams film, in which Bruce Greenwood plays Pike.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent - The alien Kirk hunts down in "Obsession" is a shapeless cloud that can travel through space at warp speed without a ship, that subsists off of human blood.
* OutOfCharacterAlert - When his memories were going to be transferred over to a clone, Kirk quickly muttered "Mind your own business, Mr. Spock. I'm sick of your half-breed interference, do you hear?" Later on, when the clone met up with Spock, it said those lines, alerting Spock that this wasn't their captain and prompting him to quickly gather a team to beam down.
** Also occurs in "Day of the Dove," when Chekov is ranting about the Klingons having murdered his brother Piotr. Sulu immediately knows something is wrong because Chekov's an only child.
** The rest of the crew is alerted to Janice Lester's [[GrandTheftMe hijacking of Kirk's body]] by her increasingly irrational and paranoid behavior in "Turnabout Intruder."
* OutOfCharacterMoment - "The Naked Time", "This Side of Paradise" and "Amok Time" were entire episodes about this trope.
* PantyShot - The ridiculously short skirts of the standard female uniform lead to most of the female Starfleet officers doing this at some point.
* PlanetStarship: In "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" a group of aliens have been sequestered inside a large interstellar asteroid for so long that they have forgotten that they are actually inside one.
* PolarityReversal - The TropeMaker.
* ThePowerOfLegacy: In his final log in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Kirk merely notes that Mitchell "gave [his] life in performance of [his] duty", and omits the part where he first gained vast psionic powers and began to think of himself as a god who regarded humans as insects to be crushed.
* PrettyInMink - Lenore Karidian wears a short fur dress. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMcqnRwhW8 Seen here]], at 12:55 - 14:47.
* PrecisionFStrike: There was only one curse in the entire series, occurring at the end of "The City on The Edge of Forever". It's notable for being one of the few curse words on American TV during the 1960s and showing just how hurt Kirk was as a result of the BittersweetEnding.
--> "Let's get the hell out of here."
** Bones does say "Don't give me any damnable logic..." in [[Recap/StarTrekS1E29OperationAnnihilate one episode]], and a gangster from the [[Recap/StarTrekS2E17APieceOfTheAction gangster episode]] does say "hell" in a non-religious context. Neither case is given the emphasis of Kirk's declaration.
* ProudWarriorRace - The Klingons, but also the Romulans and others.
* PsychoExGirlfriend - Janice Lester in "Turnabout Intruder" is an ex-lover of Kirk's. Given the sheer number of Kirk's conquests, the number of these looking for him probably is what drove him into space to begin with.
* PsychoSerum - [=McCoy=]'s adrenaline-like drug in "The City on the Edge of Forever", which causes temporary insanity when injected at overly high doses (which he accidentally does to himself).
* PsychopathicManchild: Charlie Evans from "Charlie X".
** Also Trelane. (Doubly?) subverted in that he's not (strictly speaking) a man, but is DEFINITELY a child.
* PublicSecretMessage: In "Space Seed", Khan Noonien Singh was named for Kim Noonien Singh, one of Roddenberry's buddies from WorldWarII. Roddenberry hoped that the name would attract the attention of the RealLife Singh in hopes that they would reconnect.
* PunishmentBox: The appropriately-named Agony Booth in the episode "Mirror, Mirror."
** The neural neutralizer in "Dagger of the Mind" was not intended as such, but ended up being used this way.
** The Klingon Mind-Sifter in "Errand of Mercy."
* [[PutOnABus Put On Another Starship]]: Yeoman Rand after the first season. [[TheBusCameBack The starship comes back]] for the movies and a time travel episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''.
* RadioSilence - In "Balance of Terror", the Romulan ship heads home under cover of a cloaking device and comm silence. Unfortunately for them, one of the officers violates orders in order to call home base to report the success of their mission, and the transmission is detected.
* RammingAlwaysWorks - How Kirk destroys the titular device in "The Doomsday Machine".
* RayGunGothic - The Original Series was the last of the classic examples. Soon afterwards, ''[[TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' and the RealLife [[{{NASA}} moon landings]] introduced more realism into the genre.
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Said by ''everyone'': Spock, Chekov, Uhura...
* RealityWarpingIsNotAToy
* RecklessGunUsage - Two instances, both involving TimeTravel and the not-gun-shaped Phaser. In "The City On The Edge of Forever", a 1930s bum gets hold of one and [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace vaporizes himself playing with it]]. In "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", Kirk is captured by Air Police in 1969, and cringes (with [[CrowningMomentOfFunny priceless]] facial expressions) as they fiddle with his weapon, toss it around, and several times almost press the trigger, conflicted between justifiable fear and the need to not let them know who he is or what they have.
* RebelliousPrincess
* RedShirt
** RedshirtArmy
* ReligionOfEvil - The cult of Landru in "The Return of the Archons".
* RightHandCat - Isis (to Gary Seven) in "Assignment Earth" and Sylvia (to Korob) in "Catspaw".
* RunningGag - Trying to explain Spock's ears to native people. The cake-taker has to be this gem, from "The City on the Edge of Forever":
--> '''Spock''': "You were saying you'd have no trouble explaining [the ears]."
--> '''Kirk [to Cop]''': "My friend... is obviously Chinese. I see you've noticed the ears... well, they're... actually easy to explain..."
--> '''Spock''': "Perhaps the unfortunate accident I had as a child...?"
--> '''Kirk''': "...the unfortunate accident he had as a child. He caught his head in a mechanical... rice picker... but, fortunately, there was an American, uh, missionary living close by who was a, uh, skilled, uh, plastic surgeon in civilian life who..."
--> '''Cop''': "All right, all right. Drop those bundles and put your hands on the wall."
* RubberForeheadAliens: Infamously, the Klingons (though they didn't even have the budget for ''that'' until the movies). Vulcans are Rubber Ear Aliens.
* SacredScripture:
** In "The Omega Glory", the Yangs have a sacred text which turns out to be identical to the US Constitution.
** In "A Piece of the Action" our heroes discover a planet has been using a book about gangs in 1920's Chicago (left by a previous Federation vessel) as their holy book.
* SadisticChoice - Everyone was forced to make these every so often.
* SailorFuku - In the episode "Court Martial", Jamie Finney wears a futuristic version of this.
* SarcasticDevotee - Both Spock and Bones are devoted to the captain, but are also quite willing to question/make sarcastic comments about his orders when the situation warrants it.
-->'''Spock''': Captain, you are an excellent starship commander, [[DrivesLikeCrazy but as a taxi driver, you leave something to be desired!]]
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight - The motivation behind violating orders 90% of the time (the other 10% being ThePowerOfFriendship). The third and fourth movies were fueled ''entirely'' by this trope.
* [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers Screw The Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!]] - Trelane, the Squire of Gothos... at least until Kirk breaks whatever it is he has behind that mirror. In the episode "Catspaw", it was Sylvia and Korob... until Kirk shatters the power transmuter wand tied to the illusions to themselves and the planet. You may notice a theme.
** Justified/Played with in "Charlie X", because he really [[NoSocialSkills doesn't understand the rules]].
** Gary Mitchell from "Where No Man has Gone Before".
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction - [=McCoy=] doesn't appear in either of the pilots, but does appear in the first proper episode.
* SecretTest - Balok in ''The Corbomite Maneuver", the Ekosian Resistance in "Patterns of Force" and Korob in "Catspaw".
* SelfDestructMechanism - Multiple examples
* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains - The mirror universe.
* SettlingTheFrontier: A couple of examples:
** "This Side of Paradise" has the Enterprise on a rescue mission to settlers on a Federation colony, supposedly endangered by deadly radiation.
** In "The Way to Eden", the crew of the Enterprise meet a group of space hippies who hope to settle a new colony on a planet they call Eden.
** In "The Trouble With Tribbles" the Federation and the Klingons are competing to develop a colony world. The ''Enterprise'' is tasked with delivering a special grain hybrid to kickstart the colony's agriculture. A Klingon agent subsequently poisons the grain.
* SexierAlterEgo - In the episode "Mudd's Women", Mudd has pills that Mudd claims makes a woman more attractive. It was eventually revealed to be a placebo, with the Aesop being that attitude and confidence is what makes a woman attractive. Given that they clearly showed women physically changing as a result of the pill rather than just acting differently, it was something of a BrokenAesop.
** Might be somewhat justified, in that it's a visual representation of the woman gaining confidence (the movie ''Film/ShallowHal'' uses this as well to demonstrate Hal's new ability to see "inner beauty").
** Actually, It wasn't a placebo for most of the episode - the drug was real in the scenes that showed the women physically changing. It was only the final usage, right at the end, when they were switched with a placebo. So no, not a Broken Aesop.
** Mirror Universe Spock (who, complete with goatee, provides the picture on the BeardOfEvil page) is this for many viewers.
* ShapeShifterSwanSong
* ShapeshiftingSeducer. The pilot episode and the season 2 episode "Catspaw" feature women who change shape to find a form that pleases the captain.
* ShoutOut: To the show's precursor ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'', which included the early line, "we'll reach D.C. point at 1701."
* ShortLivedBigImpact: Star Trek: The Original Series originally lasted for just two seasons, being UnCancelled for a third season before dying completely. It's also a cultural icon, spawning [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration four]] [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine follow-up]] [[Series/StarTrekVoyager television]] [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise series]], a dozen movies (so far), countless novels and video games, and having an immense influence on science fiction, and possibly Western culture as a whole. Good luck finding someone who doesn't recognize Captain Kirk and Mister Spock, even if they were born long after the series was first aired.
* SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers: "A Taste of Armageddon", the Eminian leader insists that peace is impossible and that their 500-year-old simulated war with declared casualties [[WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture reporting in to be neatly and cleanly killed]] is the lesser of two evils. [[KirkSummation Kirk insists]] that they can make peace if they just try harder. Kirk helpfully provides them with motivation to do so by shutting down the war computer and [[MortonsFork forcing them to choose]] between real-world messy warfare and swallowing enough pride to find a peaceful solution).
* SmartPeoplePlayChess - Spock, logically. He and Kirk are often seen playing while having a conversation relevant to the plot.
** As well as Kirk, who was stated to be quite [[BadAssBookWorm bookish]] at the academy.
* SpaceMines - In the episode "Balance of Terror", the Romulan ship uses one of its self destruct devices as an impromptu mine in an attempt to destroy the Enterprise. In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', in [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation The Kobayashi Maru]] scenario that starts off the movie, the ship the Enterprise needs to rescue was disabled by a gravitic mine.
* StarfishAlien - despite the franchise's well-earned reputation for RubberForeheadAliens, the original series did introduce some nonhumanoid aliens in some of the series' most highly-regarded episodes: the horta in "Devil in the Dark," the tribbles in "The Trouble With Tribbles"; the true forms of Sylvia and Korob as seen at the end of "Catspaw"; and several [[EnergyBeing non-corporeal aliens]]. Within the limits of the special effects technology available at the time the original series actually did fairly well in this regard. Additionally, the Kelvans are stated to have had a truly ''bizarre'' physiology before taking on [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith human form]] to steal the ''Enterprise''.
** TOS also introduced the Tholians, an extremely xenophobic race that had the general appearance of a virus. Despite only appearing in one episode, they became a fan favorite and the subject of wild speculation. Eventually, throughout the remainder of the franchise, a few canonical facts were given about the species: They have six legs, no evidence of a circulatory system, require temperatures of about 408 Kelvin to survive (lower temperatures would cause their carapace to rupture and eventually explode), have two sexes despite being hermaphroditic, and can emit radiation as a means of communication.
* StealthPun: The name of the librarian in "All Our Yesterdays" is "Atoz". Which is what you get if you take the phrase "A to Z" and compress it.
* StopTrick
* StyrofoamRocks - In "Return of the Archons", a melon-sized "rock" bounces off a stuntman's head and he keeps running. Apparently it wasn't supposed to hit him at all, and was left in under time pressure.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien - "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Squire of Gothos" and more.
* SuperCellReception: Naturally, the communicators came before cell phones, but they look much like them (having arguably inspired their modern look), and were often subject to both ends of this trope.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes T-Z]]
* TakeAThirdOption - Kirk was famous for these.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath - Usually with Kirk delivering a LogicBomb to a [[AIIsACrapshoot psychotic computer.]]
* TallDarkAndSnarky - Spock definitely fits into this trope.
* TapOnTheHead - Spock's Vulcan nerve/neck pinch.
** According to [[WordOfGod Word Of Nimoy]], this was originally going to be a traditional TapOnTheHead, but Nimoy insisted that Vulcans had something more sophisticated and reliable instead.
*** Often played completely straight with the human characters.
* TechnoBabble - Although not as bad as later series, there is still a lot. Remember, this is the show that invented the PolarityReversal.
* TeensAreMonsters: Charlie in "Charlie X." Being a juvenile RealityWarper with boundary issues doesn't help, though he does turn out to have a serious FreudianExcuse.
* TeleporterAccident: Many (usually the transporter being out of order and unable to beam the heroes aboard), but notably in "The Enemy Within", which creates an EvilKnockoff and a wimpy knockoff of Kirk.
** The lack of safety features of the transporter is highlighted in Season 3's ''And the Children Shall Lead'' when Kirk and Spock accidentally transport two crewmen into open space because the transporter system doesn't have any mechanism to warn them that they are not locked on to a habitable location.
* TeleportInterdiction:
** "Dagger of the Mind". The Tantalus penal colony has a security force field that blocks the Enterprise transporter.
** "Whom Gods Destroy". The planet Elba II has a force field that prevents the Enterprise from beaming anyone down.
* TakeThat:
** Chekov was supposedly introduced after an article in the Soviet state newspaper ''Pravda'' allegedly mocked the show for not having a Russian, when the Russians had been the first into space.
*** Chekov was then used as a delivery vessel for a number of minor {{TakeThat}}s to the Russians for the remainder of the series, turning InTheOriginalKlingon into an art form:
--->'''Chekov''': It makes me homesick. It's just like Russia.\\
'''Bones''': More like the Garden of Eden, Ensign.\\
'''Chekov''': Of course, Doctor. The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow--a very nice place, must have made Adam and Eve very sad to leave.
** The insult "Herbert" that the space hippies use in "The Way to Eden" was definitely a Take That at a real life Herbert. However, no-one is exactly sure ''who'' it was supposed to be -- depending on who you ask, it was either HerbertHoover or Herbert Solow, who was the show's production executive for the first two seasons.
** In "Charlie X", Uhura sings seductively to Spock (no, the 2009 movie didn't make up her having the hots for him) and jokingly describes him as being "in Satan's guise" (to which Spock struggles to suppress a smile)--a TakeThat to [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]] who had feared that Spock's "devilish" appearance would offend conservative viewers (and doctored publicity photos to remove Spock's pointed ears and slanted eyebrows).
* ThatsAnOrder: Occurred in [[http://tinyurl.com/4x2juwb 13 different episodes]].
* ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting: In "Court Martial", [=McCoy=] is aghast to find Spock playing chess against the computer while Kirk is losing a court martial for criminal negligence. However, Spock reveals that he has been using the chess games to confirm that the ship's computer's memory banks have been tampered with to frame Kirk.
* ThisWasHisTrueForm: The shapeshifting creature in "The Man Trap"; the two [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens telepathic aliens]] in "Catspaw".
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks - During one of the illusions that Captain Pike was subjected to in the original pilot episode, he wound up using this on a giant warrior threatening the LoveInterest, causing it to fall and get impaled.
* TimeBomb - "Obsession", "The Immunity Syndrome", "The Doomsday Machine".
* TimeTravelersAreSpies - "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Assignment: Earth".
* TimTaylorTechnology
* TitleDrop: Doubling as a WhamLine, from the episode "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky".
-->'''Old Man''': You are... not of Yonada?
-->'''Kirk''': No, we're from... outside your world.
-->'''Elder Yoandan''': Where... ''is'' outside?
-->'''Kirk''' (solemnly): Up there. Outside, upthere, everywhere.
-->'''Elder Yoandan''': So they also... ''(seizes in pain, whispers)'' Many years ago, ''I'' climbed the mountains, even though it is forbidden ''(winces in pain)''.
-->'''Kirk''': Why isit forbidden?
-->'''Elder Yoandan''' ''(winces in pain)'': I am not sure. ''(winces again)'' But ''things'' are ''not'' as they... teach us, for the world... is hollow, and I... ''touched'' the sky! ''(screams in pain, falling over dead)''
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo - In "Balance of Terror", this is Kirk's comment after the nameless Romulan commander dodges one of the ''Enterprise'''s attacks: "He did exactly what I would have done. I won't underestimate him again."
* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: Occurs in multiple episodes.
* TrialByCombat - Kirk must face the Gorn captain in "Arena" in a DuelToTheDeath to determine which was in the wrong by straying into their space.
** Kirk vs. Spock in "Amok Time" is the other classic example. Spock is {{Badass}} enough when he's in his right mind. Spock ''driven beyond the point of insanity'' by his mating instinct is horrifying for Kirk and [=McCoy=]!
* TropesExaminedByTheMythbusters - They took on the homemade cannon from "Arena." [[spoiler:Sadly, they busted it. But it was, nevertheless, ridiculously awesome - particularly the Build Team's glee and Grant's "''Enterprise''. Four to beam up."]]
** Though it came years before ''{{Mythbusters}}'', a ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' Novel involving the Gorn revealed that, over the years, many a Starfleet cadet had tried to duplicate Kirk's cannon, often to extremely mixed results. Injuries were not uncommon.
** In fairness, in the episode it was ''alien'' bamboo.
* TurnsRed - The Companion, when Kirk and crew attack it with something like an EMP; it takes Cochrane to stop it from killing our gallant crew.
* TurnTheOtherFist: The episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" features this kind of punch by good ol' Scotty when a Klingon is insulting the ''Enterprise''.
* UniquePilotTitleSequence: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" didn't have William Shatner's "Space, the final frontier" voiceover. This was "corrected" for the HD remastered version of the episode.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Doctor [=McCoy=] (and Edith Keeler) in "The City on the Edge of Forever".
* ViewerStockPhrases - As any Trekkie ([[InsistentTerminology or Trekker]]) will tell you, this show might cause you to say
** "[[MoralDissonance How is this guy still a captain?]]": The stuff that Kirk got away with.....
** "'''What''' the hell did he just say?": ''Franchise/StarTrek'' damn near invented {{Technobabble}}.
** "There is ''no'' way that's going to work.": The show is one of the biggest users of CrazyEnoughToWork plans.
** "So ''that's'' where they got the idea for flip cell-phones": Trek is recognized for having inspired many a real life invention. See also LifeImitatesArt.
* VillainousBreakdown - Quite a few instances.
** Khan suffered a brief one when no one from the bridge was willing to join him, even with Kirk's life at stake.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder Turnabout Intruder]]", Dr Janice Lester grew increasingly unhinged as the rest of the suspicious crew began to mutiny and rebel against her orders while she was in Kirk's body.
** In "The Conscience of the King", the episode dealt with trying to discover if actor Anton Karidian really was a murderous tyrant named Kodos the Executioner. By the end of the episode, this has happened to two villainous characters. Karidian, who ''is'' Kodos and becomes spooked when he overhears an argument between Riley and Kirk about his past during a performance of ''Hamlet''. Kodos breaks down backstage during the intermission, believing the voices to be ghosts from his past. At the same time, his daughter Lenore reveals she has murdered seven of the nine witnesses who could still identify him, and plans to kill Kirk and Riley, even swearing she would destroy a planet to save him. Kodos breaks down further as he realizes his actions in the past have corrupted his own child as well. In true Shakespearian fashion, this causes a chain reaction that ends in the death of Kodos, who dies trying to stop Lenore from shooting Kirk and instead takes the lethal blast meant for Kirk. Lenore is pronounced completely insane in the epilog, as she believes her father to be alive and well.
** Evil Kirk in "Mirror, Mirror". '''"[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. ORDER. YOU!!!!]]"'''
* TheWallAroundTheWorld - The barrier around the galaxy in "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Appears again in "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", when a jealous (and then insane) engineer gets them lost on the wrong side of it and Spock must mind-meld with Kollos to get them back, and mentioned in "By Any Other Name" as the reason for the Kelvan expedition being stranded in our galaxy.
* WellIntentionedExtremist - The Vians in "The Empath" use a beautiful, mute [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin empath]] in combination with our PowerTrio to determine whether her race is worthy of survival before their sun goes nova. Their methods consist of torture and mutilation, resulting in gross physical and psychological damage. Turns out that the empath's race is worthy of preservation, and the Vians, logical and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality possessed of their own morals and ethics regarding life]], needed only "good old-fashioned human emotion" to help them see that.
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving - Spock in "Amok Time", almost word for word:
--> "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical... but it is often true."
* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife - Kirk is often upset whenever one of his crew members (usually a RedShirt) dies.
** Also when the Romulans decide to [[HonorBeforeReason self-destruct rather than surrender]] in "Balance of Terror".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse - Kirk's brother Sam and sister-in-law Aurelian are killed during the events of "Operation: Annihilate!" but his nephew Peter survives...never to be heard from or referred to by Kirk or anyone else again. Peter is the only living blood relative Kirk is known to have until the movies [[spoiler: when Kirk is finally introduced to his adult illegitimate son David Marcus.]] Even assuming someone else on Deneva took Peter in, you'd think Kirk (imagine how [[CoolUncle cool an uncle he'd be!]]) would check in on the boy from time to time...
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman - The Horta (rock monster) in "The Devil in the Dark".
* {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}/{{Wrong Genre Savvy}} - Edith Keeler in ''The City on the Edge of Forever''.
--> "She had the right idea ... but at the wrong time."
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity - ''Where No Man Has Gone Before'', ''Whom Gods Destroy'' although to a lesser extent.
* WorldOfHam - a ''galaxy'' of ham, in this case. With most of the principal cast being classically-trained stage actors and having earned their early TV credentials in Westerns[[hottip:*:and, in Shatner's case, as a television lawyer in a Canadian Perry Mason copycat]], it comes with the territory.
* WorthyOpponent - Several examples, with the Romulan commander in ''Balance of Terror'' being a particular standout.
* WouldntHitAGirl - Usually it's to show how evil the villains can get, as the main characters would rarely ever do it (unless [[GrandTheftMe their body was taken over]] or if they were under the influence of something). In one episode alone, one minion slapped Uhura and was going to do it on two more occasions if others hadn't stepped in.
** Another instance was with an ex-lover of Kirk's, while in Kirk's body, hit Kirk, who was in her body. This shocked the rest of the crew, who at this point didn't know about the change and grew suspicious, as Kirk would never hit a girl like that.
** Kirk [[TapOnTheHead chinned]] Shahna, his "drill thrall" in "The Gamesters of Triskelion, into unconsciousness, but it didn't get him very far.
** However, Kirk has a weird tendency to lay his hands on female characters as part of 'normal' conversation, including grabbing them by the arms/shoulders and shaking them, even women he hasn't been sleeping with. This tendency towards physical conversation also extended to male crew members.
* WrongNameOutburst - In the infamous backrub scene, Kirk told Spock to [[HoYay push a little harder]], believing Spock was the one giving him the backrub.
* XanatosGambit - "Amok Time". T'pring benefits no matter who wins the duel. Turns out Vulcans love these, since they are, as Spock comments, "Logical. Flawlessly logical." They're always looking to turn some kind of benefit from plans and events.
* YouLookFamiliar: Many actors, but notably Mark Lenard who first appeared as the Romulan commander in "Balance of Terror", then Spock's father Sarek.
** He then showed up as a Klingon in the prologue of the first movie, thus appearing as a member of all three major galactic powers of the era.
* {{Zeerust}} - Absolutely ''infamous'' for it these days. They've got cellphones right, sure... but apparently 23rd-century starships are still controlled by ''analog switchboards'', and don't even have detailed system displays available (something retroactively corrected in later shows which took a jaunt into this time period). The costume design, while [[TheissTitillationTheory provocative at times]], is also unbelievably Sixties in all ways.
** This was so bad that the ''prequel'', ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', looked more high-tech than this show... just due to the production assets available to the cast and crew of ''Enterprise''.
** Another example of how bad it is is the fact they now offer a remastered version of TOS with modern, CGI-based special effects. In contrast to the changes done on ''Film/StarWars'', the remastering is generally (though far from universally) well-received (it helps that versions with the original effects remain widely available). It should also be noted they ''only'' remastered the special effects and didn't take the opportunity to [[HanShotFirst tweak plot points]].
** {{Handwave}}d in the [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine [=DS9=]]] episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" with Dax admiring "the classic 23rd century styling" of the tricorders and instruments.
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