| Transporter | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek franchise element | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Transporter2.jpg) Transporter platform aboard the USS Enterprise-D from The Next Generation | |
| First appearance | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| Created by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Teleportation device |
| Function | Allows for very rapid transport of matter between transporter device and a fixed point |
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters allow for teleportation by converting a person or object into an energy pattern (a process called "dematerialization"), then sending ("beaming") it to a target location or else returning it to the transporter, where it is reconverted into matter ("rematerialization").
Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, the transporter had predecessors in teleportation devices in other science fiction stories, such as the 1939 serial Buck Rogers.[citation needed] The name and similar concepts have made their way to later science fiction scenarios, in literature (such as the Thousand Cultures series), games (SimEarth), etc.
The transporter was originally conceived as a device to convey characters from a starship to the surface of a planet without the need for expensive and time-consuming special effects to depict the starship or another craft physically landing. Malfunctioning transporters are also often used as a plot device to set up a variety of science fiction premises. The transporter has become a hallmark of the Star Trek franchise; the famous catchphrase "Beam me up, Scotty" (a misquote) refers to the use of the transporter on Star Trek: The Original Series, operated by the character Montgomery Scott, presumably at the request of Captain Kirk. Transporter technology has been used in many subsequent Star Trek series.