10 Star Trek Characters You Didn't Realise Died Horrible Deaths

After Voyager's chief engineer died in the pilot episode Caretaker, Lieutenant Joe Carey took their place. However, after the Maquis joined the crew, it eventually became clear that B'Elanna Torres was a better choice. Carey was at first quite upset that a literal traitor of the Federation got the position over him, but he soon moved on and accepted her as his superior officer.

Carey appeared in several more episodes after Caretaker, most notably when he was framed for secretly contacting the Kazon, but he mostly became a side character.

Some fans may have forgotten that Carey was actually unceremoniously killed off in the episode Friendship One (mere weeks before the end of Voyager's journey home). After he and the rest of an away team were held hostage by aliens, Janeway offered to send the aliens food and medical supplies in exchange for returning one of her crew. The alien Verin was happy to return Carey, though not before blasting a hole through his chest with an antimatter weapon.