Star Trek: 10 Disastrous USS Voyager First Contacts

10. Deuterium, Hydrogen Sulphate, And Dichromates

That's not your next replicator order, it's the chemical make-up of the 'Silver Blood' compound with 'biomimetic' properties that Voyager — or rather Harry Kim and Tom Paris — first discovered on a 'Demon class' (Y) planet in the Delta Quadrant. Aside from some different choices in breathable atmosphere, the Harry and Tom duplicates it created were indistinguishable from the real thing.

On the silver heels of Voyager's most unlikely yet endearing besties, the rest of the crew was copied using only samples of their DNA. The fact that humans (and other species) possess a genetic memory was brought up more pointedly in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Similitude. Captain Janeway was stuck between a rock and a slowly sinking place when she made the DNA offer, but her decision would have catastrophic consequences down the line.

The 'mimetic aliens' concept had been on the writers' room table for years. According to Joe Menosky in Cinefantastique magazine, vol. 31, no. 11, one such idea would have seen a duplicate Voyager return home, only for the copy of Captain Janeway to snap partner Mark's neck, cue theme tune. They settled on Demon, and it was Bryan Fuller who came up with the tragic conclusion for Course: Oblivion.