10 Most Mysterious Ancient Alien Civilisations In Star Trek

About a billion years ago, most life in the galaxy was ruled by an alien empire known as the Slavers. These one-eyed reptilians and their subjects destroyed each other in a massive conflict known as The Slaver War.

Before going extinct, the Slavers preserved their technology in devices known as stasis boxes, and hid them all across the galaxy. As of the 23rd century, a number of these stasis boxes have been discovered by the Federation. One box contained a ‘flying belt’, a levitation device that was reverse engineered to create Starfleet's artificial gravity systems. Others contained dangerous weapons that had the potential to throw the galaxy into chaos.

The Slavers are largely based on the Thrintun, a species created by writer Larry Niven for his Known Space series. In his stories, the Thrintun ruled the galaxy using telepathic mind-control. After a failed revolution by their enslaved subjects, the Thrintun realised that their extinction was inevitable, and decided to take down their subjects with them, broadcasting a telepathic signal all across the galaxy that caused all life to simultaneously commit suicide. The appearance and much of the history of the Slavers matches with Niven's Thrintun very closely, so it's possible the same events happened in the Trek universe a billion years ago, though the Slavers haven't been mentioned since their debut in the Animated Series episode The Slaver Weapon.