Borg
- This article is about the fictional race of aliens. For other uses, see Borg (disambiguation).
| Founded: | around or before the 13th century C.E. |
| "Leader": | Borg Queen |
| Base of operations: | Unicomplex, Delta Quadrant |
| Official language: | unknown, language independent hive mind (see: universal translator) |
The Borg or Borg Collective is a race of cyborgs in the Star Trek fictional universe. They are known both within and beyond Star Trek fandom for their relentless pursuit of what they want to assimilate, their rapid adaptability to almost any defense, and their ability to continue functioning after what may seem a devastating or even fatal blow seemingly unaffected. As such, the Borg have become a powerful symbol in popular culture for any seemingly unstoppable force against which "resistance is futile". Similarily, "assimilated by the Borg" is the name of the mental condition and the loss of psychological identity, of those who have been assimilated. The resulting collective identity is known as a hive mind, in which all indications of individual thought and identity are non-existant.
Overview
The Borg are an amalgam of humanoids of many different races that are enhanced with cybernetic implants, giving them improved mental and physical abilities. This is done to achieve the self expressed goal of "perfection." The Borg function as automata; the minds of all Borg drones are connected via implants and networks to a hive, a collective mind (the Borg Collective), orchestrated by the Borg Queen and controlled from a central hub, Unimatrix One. According to themselves, the Borg only seek to "improve the quality of life for all species" by integrating organic (biological) and synthetic (artificial) components in their quest for perfection. To this end, they travel the galaxy, increasing their numbers and advancing by "assimilating" other species and their technologies, and subjugating captured individuals by injecting them with nanoprobes and surgically implanting prostheses, quickly changing their biological anatomy and biochemistry to the Borg standard.
Despite being perceived as an evil conquering juggernaut by all who know of or have encountered them, the Borg harbor no ill will to anyone; they merely fulfill their imperative to assimilate and achieve perfection. As they say, "Resistance is futile — you will be assimilated." They make good on that threat through their ability to quickly adapt to any attack, rendering it harmless. Thus, any successful defense depends on the ingenuity of the opponent to find a method to stop the Borg completely before they can neutralize it. So far, the only civilizations known to have successfully repulsed Borg attacks have been the United Federation of Planets and the extra-dimensional civilization known only as Species 8472.
Although the cyborg concept has long existed within science-fiction literature, it is probable that the general concept of the Borg — a ruthlessly efficient race of biomechanical beings bent on galactic conquest — was heavily influenced by the Cybermen, which feature in the popular UK television series Doctor Who and who display similar rationales and methods as the Borg, including wanting to assimilate individuals to augment their own race. They also bear significant resemblances to Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series. A very similar race of "positronic-biological" beings, nicknamed "Posbis", also features in the German Perry Rhodan series. Borg starships, in particular, bear a striking resemblance to those of the "Posbis". The Borg's interlink and use of nanotechnology are also similar to that of the Conjoiners from Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series of novels, while their ability to adapt to any attack resembles a faster version of the Inhibitors' ability in the same series. The Borg, according to official Paramount sources, represent 'corporate culture', a noticable habit of which is to espouse the same 'collective mind' under which the Borg operate.
History
Early contacts with the Federation
Having gradually developed over thousands of centuries (see Origin of the Borg) in the galaxy's distant Delta Quadrant, the Borg's first formal contact with Starfleet occurred in 2365 by interference from Q in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Q Who?". Q transported the Enterprise-D to System FGC-J25, in the deep far-flung part of the Delta Quadrant, just long enough to expose them to the Borg. The Enterprise-D was hopelessly outclassed by the Borg cube encountered, and Q brought them home after their confrontation. Guinan tells Captain Picard, "Now that they know of your existence ..." and Picard realized that they would never stop until they found them. Picard later realized that the Borg cube was already on a course towards Federation space, and in effect Q gave them an advance warning, doing "the right thing for the wrong reason". Before this contact, however, there was evidence that the Borg were already in or near the Alpha Quadrant. The episode "The Neutral Zone" had established that several planets on both sides of the Romulan Neutral Zone had been destroyed in the same manner, and this was later attributed to the Borg.
Prior to Picard's encounters in the late 24th century, there is evidence that Starfleet and the Federation had prior knowledge of the Borg. In 2153, a group of cyborgs (though unknown as Borg at the time) were discovered in Earth's Arctic. These Borg were later speculated to have likely come from the future, as referenced in a speech Zefram Cochrane had given, stating what "really" had happened during first contact with the Vulcans in April 2063. He said that there were "strange cybernetic creatures from the future who wanted to enslave the human race". Cochrane also revealed that there were people who stopped them who were also from the future. Captain Archer and Subcommander T'Pol of the first Starfleet vessel named Enterprise discussed this, but T'Pol dismissed it by saying, "Dr. Cochrane was known to make outrageous statements."
The Borg incident of 2153 was kept secret, due in part to evidence that the Borg had managed to transmit Earth's location to their home space in the Delta Quadrant. Since, however, the message would not reach Borg space for two centuries, Earth and Starfleet authorities were not overly concerned with the Borg. However, in the prophetic words of Captain Archer: "We've only postponed the invasion until what? The 24th century?"
In the late 23rd century, the crew of the newly-commissioned Enterprise-B rescued a ship carrying El-Aurian refugees that was fleeing the Borg's decimation of their planet, although it is unknown if Starfleet was aware of the cause of the El-Aurian plight at the time. (The El-Aurian Guinan mentions the Borg attack to Picard during his first encounter with them.)
In the mid-2350s, as the 200 year time mark of Captain Archer's prophecy approached, Starfleet began a covert operation to learn about the Borg and hired several civilian scientists to perform "unofficial" research and learn about this potential threat to the Federation. The family of Annika Hansen was one such group of scientists (VOY: "The Raven"). Thus, by the time Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg at System J-25, some individuals in Starfleet were already aware of the Borg and the threat they posed.
The Enterprise-D and Captain Jean-Luc Picard
The second official, and first major, contact between the Federation and the Borg occurred in the two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds", widely considered among Star Trek’s best episodes. In 2366-7, Captain Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg to become Locutus of Borg. With his knowledge of Federation technology and strategy, a single Borg cube destroyed a flotilla of 39 Starfleet vessels in the Battle of Wolf 359 and proceeded toward Earth, in Sector 001, with the goal of assimilating the entire planet. The Federation regards this battle as one of the worst military defeats in its history. In the process, however, the Enterprise-D used an emergency maneuver to capture Locutus. Data, with the help of Troi and Dr. Crusher, managed to tap into the Borg collective consciousness to which Picard/Locutus was connected. Their last-ditch actions managed to give Picard enough force of will to tell Data to give the command for the Borg to "sleep", that is, to regenerate. This caused the invading cube to go quiescent and created a feedback loop in the cube's power grid, destroying the ship in Earth orbit. The Enterprise crew later managed to remove most of the Borg implants from Picard. Picard was never the same again; in addition to being left traumatised ("Family"), he apparently retained a residual link with the collective and could hear its thoughts when they were near (Star Trek: First Contact).
In the episode "I, Borg" (the title highlights the contradiction of an "individual Borg" and alluding to I, Robot), the Enterprise-D crew captured a single Borg drone in 2368 who appeared to be detached from the collective with its whereabouts unknown. Seeing an opportunity to study their enemy, it was taken aboard the ship. Eventually, due to separation from the Borg collective consciousness, the Borg drone began to develop an individual identity. It was given the name "Hugh", after a misunderstanding about individual identity involving the sentence "I am... you?" Events eventually led to him returning to the collective. Though he seemed to lose his individuality, the introduction of Hugh's experiences into the collective had far-reaching consequences. Some eventually were severed from the collective and broke away as a renegade group. Initially dysfunctional and without purpose, this group later stumbled across and joined with Lore, Data's prototype brother, who helped them express their newfound freedom through hatred ("Descent").
Encounters with the Enterprise-E and Voyager
The Borg make frequent appearances in the Star Trek universe afterwards, being the antagonists in the Star Trek: First Contact movie and even having one of their number become a crew member of the starship Voyager — Seven of Nine. During Voyager’s trek through the Delta Quadrant, in 2373 they stumbled upon the "Northwest Passage", a corridor apparently devoid of Borg activity. Through investigation, it was later revealed that this area of space was where "Species 8472" — a Borg designation for a species from another universe with superior abilities — were emerging and inflicting heavy losses on the Borg in an attempt to invade and purify this universe. The Voyager crew successfully devised a defense (through the adaptation of Borg nanoprobes) against Species 8472. To ensure Voyager’s safe passage, Captain Janeway proposed and negotiated an alliance with the Borg in exchange for this technology. To facilitate this arrangement, Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 was dispatched to Voyager. After Voyager successfully crossed this space, Seven of Nine was severed from the hive mind, became a member of Voyager’s crew (VOY: "Scorpion"), and eventually reasserted her personality.
The Borg suffered their worst setback against the Federation in 2378. Voyager discovered a Borg transwarp hub (one of only six in the entire galaxy), which allowed the Borg to quickly send ships anywhere in the galaxy. A future Admiral Janeway travelled back in time and ordered Voyager to use the hub to return to the Alpha Quadrant, but contemporary Captain Janeway was determined to destroy it. Admiral Janeway entered the Unicomplex and the Borg Queen assimilated her. However, the Admiral had surreptitiously infected herself with a neurolytic pathogen before being assimilated; once assimilated into the collective, the pathogen disabled neural links throughout the hive mind. Consequently, the Borg Queen lost connections with her drones and ships, before being overcome and killed, and the Unicomplex exploded. Simultaneously, an anti-Borg enhanced Voyager (with technology provided by Admiral Janeway) destroyed support beams for the hub while entering a transwarp corridor. The Borg hub then collapsed and Voyager was successfully returned to Earth (VOY: "Endgame").
After these events, the ultimate fate of the Borg is unknown. Given the collective nature of the Borg, it is possible the virus could have infected every drone linked to the hive mind; however, the Borg are also highly decentralized, have relentless adaptability, and have demonstrated the ability to sever dysfunctional units from it.
Borg Queen
The purely collective nature of the Borg was modified in Star Trek: First Contact, which introduced the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen is a locus within the Borg collective consciousness and a unique drone within the collective ("the one who is many"), bringing "order to chaos" and referring to herself as "we" and "I" interchangeably. The function of the Borg Queen within the Borg seems to be that of a coordinator, as in an ant colony, and less so of a leader in the traditional sense. The Queen's unique autonomy allowed her to have an intimate encounter with Data in 2063 (as a result of time travel). However, her utterance "I am the beginning [and] the end" (an apparent Christian allusion) implies a possibly crucial function within the collective. It has also been postulated that both the Borg Queen and Locutus functioned merely as spokespeople and tacticians, allowing the Borg to maintain a creative edge while retaining the advantages of a true collective.
A humanoid of Borg species 125, the contemporary Queen's head and upper torso appear mostly biological (externally) with a largely synthetic central nervous system, skull, and upper spine. The biologic portion is generally lowered and secured into a synthetic lower torso.
As seen in Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen was present during Picard's assimilation in 2366-7 (though this was lost on Picard initially) and was destroyed on that cube. The Queen was also seemingly destroyed in at least three other instances—during Star Trek: First Contact and the finale of Star Trek: Voyager, as well as the two-part Voyager episode "Dark Frontier". Upon the conclusion of Star Trek: Voyager, it is unknown whether the Queen survived; however, the Borg were able to function after her apparent destruction, as evidenced by the sphere continuing to chase Voyager.
Assimilation
- Main article: Assimilation (Star Trek)
Initially, the Borg were a mysterious group of marauders that snatched entire starships or took over entire planets and societies in order to collect and assimilate their technology, being less interested in individual lifeforms (TNG: "Q Who?"). In their second appearance, "The Best of Both Worlds", they began to rather crudely and frighteningly assimilate individuals – namely, Picard – into the collective by surgically altering them. Thereafter, incorporation of different lifeforms into their collective was heightened and their interest in obtaining alien technology became less prominent.
Moreover, the method of assimilating individual lifeforms into the collective has changed over time. Throughout, infant and fetal humanoids have been grown in an accelerated state and surgically receive or develop implants tied directly into the brain, as well as ocular devices, tool-enhanced limbs, armour, and other prosthetics.
Later, in Star Trek: First Contact, the method of assimilation was enhanced with the more efficient injection of nanoprobes into individuals. Borg nanoprobes are injected into the bloodstream of a victim by a number of tubules (usually two) that spring forth from the top of the hand (or some other extremity) of a Borg drone. The nanoprobes, each about the size of a human red blood cell (RBC), travel through the victim's bloodstream to various tissues and locations throughout the body and latch onto individual cells. The nanoprobes rewrite the cellular DNA, altering the victim's biochemistry, and eventually form larger, higher structures and networks within the body such as electrical pathways, processing and data storage nodes, and ultimately prosthetic devices that spring forth from the skin.
Borg species identification
The Borg have encountered and assimilated thousands of species and (reportedly) trillions of lifeforms throughout the Milky Way galaxy. The Borg identify species uniquely with a number assigned to them upon first contact.
The following is a list of species and their respective numbers, sorted in ascending order by number. Some species have been identified only by their Borg identification and do not have a "name".
| Species # | Species name | Episode of note |
|---|---|---|
| 116 | Arturis' species | "Hope and Fear" (VOY) |
| 125 | Unknown: Borg Queen's species | "Dark Frontier" |
| 149 | Unknown: mentioned by Seven of Nine on VOY: a species with advanced medical knowledge and nanoprobe technology, which the Borg use to reverse cellular necrosis | "Mortal Coil" |
| 180 | Ferengi | |
| 218 | Talaxians | "The Raven" |
| 259 | Unknown: omnichordial, transdimensional lifeforms from Galactic Cluster 3 | "The Gift" |
| 262 | Unknown: related to the omega molecule; primitive | "The Omega Directive" |
| 263 | Unknown: related to the omega molecule; primitive | "The Omega Directive" |
| 312 | Unknown: species with similar shielding technology that hid the Ventu | "Natural Law" |
| 329 | Kazon: considered unworthy of assimilation | "Mortal Coil" |
| 521 | Shivolians | "Survival Instinct" |
| 571 | Unknown (Wysanti?): species of Four of Nine, the younger male drone | "Survival Instinct" |
| 689 | Norcadians | "Ashes to Ashes" |
| 2461 | Brunali: Icheb's species | "Child's Play" |
| 3259 | Vulcans | "The Raven" |
| 4228 | Hazari | "Think Tank" |
| 5174 | Unknown: speculated as Hirogen | |
| 5618 | Humans | "Dark Frontier, Part 2" |
| 5973 | Unknown: mentioned as being non-corporeal by the Rebi | "The Haunting of Deck Twelve" |
| 6291 | Yridians | "Equinox, Part 1" |
| 6339 | Unknown: species invented anti-Borg virus | "Infinite Regress" |
| 6961 | Ktarians | |
| 8472 | Species 8472, fluidic space dwellers | "Scorpion" |
| 10026 | Unnamed; assimilated by the Borg in 2375 | "Dark Frontier, Part 1" |
The species numbers seem to be assigned according to the order in which the Borg encountered the species in question. In addition, the assigned numbers generally increase proportionately with distance from the center of Borg space in the Delta Quadrant; the numbers can, therefore, be assumed to be a general chronology of first contact between the Borg and particular species.
As well, there are some inconsistencies with these premises. For example, the Ferengi have a lower designation number than the Talaxians, which would suggest that the Borg encountered the Ferengi first (perhaps somehow encountering the two Ferengi stranded in the Delta Quadrant in "The Price" (TNG) or somehow learning of them when Quark and company time travelled to 1947 Earth in "Little Green Men" (DS9)). However, Talax(ia) is far closer to Borg space than Ferenginar, so it is strange that the Borg could have encountered the Ferengi before the Talaxians.
Origin of the Borg
Over hundreds of centuries, the Borg have encountered and assimilated thousands of species. However, little information regarding the true origin of the Borg millennia ago has been divulged in canon sources.
Given this and the Borg species numbering system, it is probable that the species originally giving rise to the Borg would have been designated as Species 1 (or possibly 0). The Borg Queen is a member of species 125 – meaning she is of an early species assimilated by the Borg. Thus, species 125, or that particular individual, was an ideal choice for Queen or was bioengineered for this purpose. The relatively high index number could mean one of two things: either the Borg did not need a Queen for the early part of its history, or they replaced their previous Queen when a superior one was found or engineered.
"Borg from V'ger" theory
It has also been speculated that there could be a connection between the Borg and V'ger, the vessel encountered in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (TMP); this is indicated in the Star Trek Encyclopedia and is advanced in William Shatner's novel, The Return. The two entities are similar in concept and philosophy:
- The Borg are born as wholly organic beings and are melded with hardware to become biomechanical hybrids. They somewhat idolize a totally artificial state, which allows the android Lore to conquer a group of them in "Descent" (TNG).
- V'ger is originally a machine – an interplanetary probe that was programmed to learn what it could about the universe – is significantly enhanced, and wants to see and touch its creator (a human) in order to fulfill its mission and evolve to a higher level of existence.
V'ger "melds" with two persons (Captain Decker and Ilia) and, in so doing, evolves. With reasonable conjecture, the Borg, a cybernetic organism – i.e., a fusion of person and machine – is born.
Following Star Trek: First Contact, the "Borg from V'ger" origin theory has a few obstacles:
- In 2063, the Borg attempt to use the Enterprise-E's deflector dish as a subspace transmitter to contact the Borg existing at that time. As of 2006, Voyagers 3-6 were not launched. Assuming V'ger (Voyager 6) was launched some time in 2006, by 2063 a spacecraft traveling at high sublight speed would be no more than a short trip from Earth at maximum warp, hardly a distance which would require a subspace transmitter to contact anybody.
- V'ger had not merged with its creator prior to this date, and thus would not yet be part-human.
- Even before the film was released, Guinan mentioned that the Borg had existed for millennia, so they would already have been around long before V'ger was ever created.
- In 2376, the Vaadwaur (VOY) reported encountering the Borg 900 years earlier, placing this contact around the 13th century.
- In First Contact, the Borg queen states that the Borg originated as an organic race with grew to incorporate artificial components.
One possible solution to these problems arises from the fact mentioned in ST:TMP that Voyager 6 disappeared when it fell into a wormhole. One of the known properties of wormholes is that, due to special relativity, they can be holes through space and time. Therefore, the wormhole that Voyager 6 (V'ger) fell into could very well have taken it across the galaxy and backwards in time thousands of years.
"V'ger from Borg" theory
The V'ger origin story could be reversed into a "V'ger from Borg" origin theory – V'ger could have been aided by Borg. V'ger mentions in a visual presentation of its origin that it was once a smaller machine, one of NASA's Voyager space probes. It was then rescued and augmented by a race of machines. The name or nature of this machine planet, however, is never elaborated upon, and could well belong to the Borg. A piece of supporting evidence can be found in the novelisation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture written by Gene Roddenberry. In the novel, the V'ger entity notes that the Ilia probe is resisting the programming given to it because of the residual memories and feelings for Decker. When V'ger becomes aware of this, it is aware that "the resistance was futile, of course", which is almost identical to the Borg phrase, "Resistance is futile". The Star Trek novels aren't considered canonical, but it can be considered as at least circumstantial evidence, especially as the novel was written by Star Trek's creator.
One could go even further and pose the question "Why, if they have been around for thousands of years, have the Borg not succeeded in dominating the galaxy?" There are few examples of effective resistance against the Borg, and the two battles of Sector 001, both of which ended in a Borg defeat (though the second outcome is perhaps not so clear-cut), must surely be the exception. Human beings will not make contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life until 2063, and Species 8472, the other race on the short list of those who have defended territory against the Borg, does not enter space as we know it until about 300 years later. Again, however, the Vaadwaur might provide an answer by stating the species had several encounters with the Borg, and "lived to tell the tale". This would suggest that the Borg were not the overwhelming force of the 24th century for most of their existence. Further, it may also be the case that the Borg simply tried to assimilate species that it found sufficiently interesting and add to their "perfection"; Seven of Nine once stated to Neelix that the Kazon were not worth assimilating because they would not add to the Borg's perfection (this was, also, perhaps an in-joke by the creators of Star Trek: Voyager about the Kazon and generally negative fan reaction to them).
Another explanation may lie in the particulars of the evolution of the Borg. V'ger's mission is "to learn all that is learnable" – perhaps to an intelligent machine all that is learnable is abstraction. Were V'ger to join, perhaps become an emissary for a race (or collective) of computers whose purpose is to collect all of the information in the universe – to dominate the Platonic realm, one could view the Borg as having more machine history than cybernetic and see the mission of the Borg as it is more commonly understood – one of acquisition and integration of all of the life, culture, and technology in the universe – as having been born the day V'ger "joined" with Captain Decker. The purpose of this joining was to enable V'ger to understand "the rest of the picture" – could this terrible menace be machine though sparked by a glimpse of human understanding?
The obstacle to a "V'ger from Borg" theory is the apparently great distance between Earth and the space dominated by Borg. Possible rationalizations to address this include:
- Since the Borg obviously were able to travel back through time in the film, it is conceivable that they travelled back at another point to establish a hive in the 21st century.
- V'Ger mentions in its visual presentation of its origin that it passed through a kind of disturbance, possibly a wormhole, on its trip to the machine world.
Nanobot theory
Though not in the formal continuity, a speculative story in the recent short story anthology Strange New Worlds VI offered a theory of their creation. It stated that the Borg came about on a world suffering from a devastating plague. One of the victims was the granddaughter of the planet's ruler, and she forced the scientists treating the plague to attempt a new treatment upon her. Nanotech was introduced into her body, which eliminated the virus and restored her. However, the nanotech was programmed not to make her as she had been before, but to make her perfect. Since she was naturally imperfect, they changed her body and brain, augmenting them with technology and creating the first Borg Queen. The scientists who changed her were put to death by her grandfather, who tried to kill her with gas. Her body adapted to this, removing the need to breathe and allowing her to introduce her nanobots into the wall of the room holding her, melting it, and allowing her to escape. While fighting her guards, she accidentally put the nanotech into one of them, thereby creating a link and changing him. In this way, the first Borg were born. After assimilating their homeworld, the Borg began to assimilate other planets. As the Borg designation for the race of which the Borg queen is a member is Species 125, this explanation is highly tenuous.
However, in later episodes it is shown that if a Borg queen dies, a new one will take its place. Therefore, species 125 could simply be the species number of the new queen (presumably the old one died because the Borg had not assimilated resurrective techniques)
Famous maxim
The classic Borg hail is as follows:
- "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and power down your weapons. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
In the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the following hail is heard:
- "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." The actor playing the role of "Voice of the Borg" in this film is Jeff Coopwood.
This saying bears a striking resemblance to the Cybermen expression: "Resistance is useless!" which was said on many occasions by them. Also in Doctor Who, the Cybermen's head leader, the Cybercontroller (equivalent to the Borg Queen) once stated to the Doctor, "To struggle is futile!" In the serial The Tomb of the Cybermen, the Cybercontroller says, "You belong to us. You will be like us."
A Vogon guard in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also says "Resistance is useless!", but hardly with the same intentions as the Borg or the Cybercontroller. The link between these two other sci-fi genre sayings, though, is easy to explain. The author Douglas Adams was a screenwriter for Doctor Who before he started to write the Hitchhiker series.
Additionally, Locutus (assimilated Picard) was known to say (at the Battle of Wolf 359):
- "I am Locutus of Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. You will disarm all your weapons and escort us to Sector Zero-Zero-One. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."
And before the battle:
- "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been is over. From this time forward, you will service us."
Pronunciation variations
- Most Borg, including Locutus, pronounce futile as "few-tile" although Seven of Nine says "few-tle".
- Data has also pronounced the word "few-tle".
it would appear after being liberated from the collective one would pronounce <<few-tle>>.
All Borg episodes to date
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 126 | "The Neutral Zone" | No Borg are seen or mentioned, but several destroyed colonies are found which are later identified as the site of Borg attacks |
| 216 | "Q Who?" | Q introduces the crew of the Enterprise to the Borg. |
| 326 401 |
"The Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 and 2" | Picard is kidnapped and assimilated by the Borg, who begin their invasion of Federation space. Locutus/Picard is subsequently recovered from the Borg and used to stop their invasion. The implants are later removed from Picard, restoring him to normal. |
| 523 | "I, Borg" | The Enterprise rescues a Borg survivor, and Picard plans to use him as a weapon against his nemesis. |
| 626 701 |
"Descent, Part 1 of 2" | A group of Borg attack Federation outposts. The crew pursues them through transwarp conduits and discovers Data's brother – Lore – leading them in a war against the Federation and organic life. |
| N/A | Star Trek: First Contact | The Borg attempt to assimilate Earth by time travelling to the 21st century. This includes the first encounter with a Borg Queen. |
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | "Emissary" | Commander Benjamin Sisko has flashbacks to the Battle of Wolf 359. (From The Best of Both Worlds) |
The following does not include the "usual" Seven of Nine or the Borg children episodes.
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 316 | "Blood Fever" | A single drone is shown in the last few seconds |
| 317 | "Unity" | Two groups of Borg are on a planet after being severed from the collective and become mentally independent. |
| 326 401 |
"Scorpion, Parts 1 and 2" | Species 8472 are found to be invading the "Northwest Passage" in an attempt to eliminate the Borg. To combat 8472 and ensure Voyager’s safe passage, Janeway negotiates an alliance with the Borg: Seven of Nine is dispatched to facilitate this arrangement, is later severed from the hive mind, and is 'adopted' by Janeway. |
| 402 | "The Gift" | Kes pushes Voyager well out of Borg territory. |
| 406 | "The Raven" | Seven of Nine experiences Borg flashbacks. |
| 421 | "The Omega Directive" | Seven of Nine gives a brief history of the Borg's discovery and attempts to study the Omega particle. |
| 423 | "Living Witness" | After a backup version of the EMH program is reactivated on an alien world almost 900 years in the future, the doctor is put on trial for the "crimes" that were thought to be committed by his crew. A poor holo recreation of Voyager's crew show a group of Borg serving on the ship, led by a fully Borg Seven of Nine. |
| 425 | "One" | Seven is forced to operate Voyager on her own, and experiences hallucinations of a Borg cube |
| 426 | "Hope and Fear" | An alien attempts to send Voyager into Borg space to be assimilated, in revenge for the defeat of Species 8472, who he believes could have stopped the Borg from assimilating his home planet. |
| 502 | "Drone" | A freak accident merges the EMH's 29th-century portable holographic emitter, Seven's nanoprobes, and Ensign Mulcahy's DNA, creating an advanced Borg drone – named "One" – who later helps Voyager fend off contemporary Borg and sacrifices himself to save Voyager. |
| 507 | "Infinite Regress" | The discovery of a piece of Borg technology infected with a virus causes Seven to experience multiple other personalities present in the Collective |
| 515 516 |
"Dark Frontier" | This is where we learn that the Borg call Humanity "Species 5618" |
| 602 | "Survival Instinct" | Seven faces her past when she encounters other Borg from the group of Nine who were separated from the Collective and left by Seven to die |
| 616 | "Collective" | The crew encounter Borg children who were severed from the collective in an accident. |
| 619 | "Child's Play" | A Borg Sphere emerges from a transwarp conduit after sensing a false warp signature designed to lure the Borg Sphere to attack Icheb's vessel. |
| 626 701 |
"Unimatrix Zero, Part 1 of 2" | A glitch within the Borg allows a small number of drones with a specific mutation to retain their individuality. While they regenerate, they are individually conscious within Unimatrix Zero, a paradisiac simulated reality in which they are free of the Borg but can interact with other Borg that possess the mutation. With the collective getting closer to rectifying the glitch, however, the Borg of Unimatrix Zero ask Seven of Nine and the Voyager crew for help. |
| 702 | "Imperfection" | Captain Janeway boards a damaged Borg Cube to retrieve from a dead drone a cortical node that is needed to help Seven of Nine. |
| 704 | "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" | While daydreaming, the Doctor fantasises about becoming the Emergency Command Hologram and fighting off a Borg attack single-handed when the rest of the senior staff are nearly assimilated |
| 711 | "Shattered" | With Voyager being "fractured" into different timelines, Chakotay (having been hit by a burst of energy when the ship hit an anomaly, and seemingly immune to the timeline changes) encounters the group of Borg drones that inhabited Cargo Bay 9 during the events of "Scorpion Part 2" and "The Gift". |
| 719 | "Q2" | Q's son materializes the Borg to attack Voyager |
| 725 726 |
"Endgame" | The big finale – for the Borg and series. Having travelled back in time, a future Admiral Janeway transmits a neural virus when she is assimilated by the Borg Queen. The virus apparently has deleterious effects and makes the Queen fall to pieces. The virus quickly spreads throughout the collective, has similarly disastrous effects, and causes the Unicomplex to explode, killing billions of Borg. At least one sphere, pursuing an enhanced Voyager as it returns home through a Borg transwarp conduit (whose hub was also destroyed), is apparently spared the effects of the virus but later is destroyed by weapons fire. |
| # | Episode | Appearances |
|---|---|---|
| 223 | "Regeneration" | A team of researchers find Borg debris, which had landed on Earth after the events of Star Trek: First Contact, and become assimilated by drones who survived the crash. The NX-01 is dispatched to respond to a distress call made by the ship, and must battle the growing Borg threat, which could change the future forever. |
The Borg in computer games
- Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
- Star Trek: Armada: The USS Premonition from the future tells the Enterprise that the Borg plan a new invasion and clone Locutus.
- Star Trek: Armada II: The Borg have set up a transwarp link between the Alpha and Delta quadrants and plan another invasion.
- Star Trek: Away Team
- Star Trek: Borg: An interactive movie in which the player, aided by Q, has to fend off the Borg invasion of a starship.
- Star Trek: Borg Assimilator
- Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force
- Star Trek Elite Force II
- Starfleet Command III
- VGA Planets: A play by e-mail game by Tim Wisseman
The Borg as a cultural allusion
The Borg were a concept born out of necessity for Star Trek to feature a new antagonist and the regular enemy that was lacking during the first season of The Next Generation, now that the Klingons were allies, and the Romulans mostly absent. Originally intended as the new enemy for the United Federation of Planets, the Ferengi failed to assert themselves as a convincing threat because of their comical, unintimidating appearance and devotion to capitalist accumulation or "free enterprise". They were subsequently reassigned the role of annoying but cute comic relief characters. A new military threat was thus needed to replace the Klingons and Romulans. The Borg, with their frightening appearance, immense power, and most importantly a no-nonsense, totally sinister motive became the signature villains for the TNG era of Star Trek. Its strongest definition is most probably the fearful Luddite prophecy – the vision that technology will eventually transform humanity into monsters.
In a literary sense, the Borg are highly similar to depictions of zombies in popular culture. Their pale complexion, slow yet steady advance, avolition, and ability to assimilate their enemies at a touch are all traits they have in common with the Hollywood zombie. Similarly, both show a lack of individuality, or any knowledge of their former lives (albeit with some exceptions).
The Borg are one of the more recognizable and popular Star Trek villains, which has made them icons in American popular culture even outside of Star Trek. Referring to a group of people as "borgs" or "borg" (maintaining the proper plural) means that they are completely given to conformity with one another. A single person who is slavishly conformist can also be called a "drone" or "borg".
Borg is also occasionally used as a slang verb, meaning to take over or absorb something. Example: "Steve borged (with a hard G) [or "assimilated"] my CD collection, making copies of almost every disc I own." In the context of roleplaying games, the verb "borg" is used to mean repeatedly going to the same location in the game world with the express purpose of killing monsters to accumulate experience points and/or money, usually even when the monsters/NPCs in question are of no significant threat to the character being played.
The website Slashdot, a popular online community which discusses various newsworthy technological stories, uses an icon depicting Bill Gates as a Borg for all stories relating to Microsoft.
Sometimes, someone is referred to as being 'of Borg', indicating they are aggressive in taking over something, e.g. "Microsoft of Borg." This is in reference to the Borg's famous maxim, "Resistance is futile".
Shortly after the introduction of the Pentium microprocessor, a floating-point arithmetic glitch was found which affected the accuracy of calculations, leading to the joke, "We are Pentium of Borg. Division is futile. You will be approximated."
The name Borg itself is short for Cyborg, which in turn is an abbreviation for Cybernetic Organism - that is, a combination of a biological organism with computer elements.
See also
- Aparoids, a race of insect-like creatures that were the central antagonist of Star Fox: Assault that sought evolution through assimilation. This continues the Star Fox series' tradition of referencing other science fiction works.
- Berserker fiction written by Fred Saberhagen, beginning 1963; some of the protagonists closely resemble the Borg.
- Cybermen, a cyborg race introduced in 1966 in the TV series Doctor Who. Many similarities have been noted between this race and the later Borg, including their incorporation of other species and use of the similar catchphrases ("Resistance is useless" and "You will be Like Us"). However, they lack visible human features (apart from human hands in their first appearance), and are entirely encased in metal.
- Perry Rhodan, a prolific literary fictional series originating from Germany in 1961, whose "Posbis" are similar to the Borg.
- The Conjoiners, a race of cybernetic humans who share thoughts electronically and are dedicated to improving themselves through increasingly advanced technology. From Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series of novels.
- The Omar are a race of cyborgs in the computer game Deus Ex: Invisible War. They are very similar to the Borg. They assimilate humans into the Omar (though this is usually voluntary). The Omar are supposed to have a merged collective consciousness, though many Omar will refer to themselves as "I" instead of "We" like the Borg (For example, one Omar says "I am here for protection." This seems to show that the Omar still retain some individuality.).
- The southeastern amusement park, Paramount's Carowinds, prominently features the Borg in its flagship ride, the Borg Assimilator. As the tallest coaster in the Carolinas, it is known for its extreme riding position (head-first supine) and incredibly long lines.
Further reading
- Patrick Thaddeus Jackson and Daniel H. Nexon, "Representation is Futile?: American Anti-Collectivism and the Borg" in Jutta Weldes, ed., To Seek Out New Worlds: Science Fiction and World Politics. 2003. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 031229557X. Pp. 143-167.
- Thomas A. Georges. Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values. Boulder: Westview. ISBN 0813340578. p. 172. (The Borg as Big Business)
External links
- Borg documentary at the Star Trek website
- Borg article at the official Star Trek website
- Borg at Memory Alpha
- Source for many Borg images on the Ex Astris Scientia website
- We, Borg: Speculations on Hive Minds as a Posthuman State
- The Borg Collective on Yahoo Groups
- Star Trek Fan Collective: Borg top 10 fan-rated Borg episodes on DVD
- The Borg Collective on MSN Groups
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