Star Trek: 11 Incredible New Technologies That Were Immediately ABANDONED

4. Tricobalt Devices

While there has been a certain amount of retconning through the years, Tricobalt Devices were introduced in Star Trek: Voyager's debut episode Caretaker. They were fired like photon and quantum torpedoes, though their yield was significantly higher. They were slower to detonate than normal torpedoes, making them relatively useless in battle.

Tuvok fired two tricobalt devices at the Caretaker's Array, effectively vaporizing it (despite what a paranoid Seven-Of-Nine might claim). It was unusual that Voyager would carry these devices - and they were evidently the only two aboard, as they are never depicted again.

While the technology has been mentioned from time to time in the years since (and chronologically beforehand), Tricobalt Devices were effectively a handy MacGuffin to strand the ship in the Delta Quadrant, covering the bases before disappearing back up those tubes into the dark.