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Published Nov 21, 2010

First Contact's Borg Queen - Alice Krige

Alice Krige made such an indelible impression as the sinewy, sexy and sinister Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact that the character remains one the greatest Trek villains of all time. Krige later reprised the role in the Voyager series finale, “Endgame,” and provided her voice for both the game Star Trek: Armada II and the Borg Invasion 4-D short at the Star Trek: Experience attraction in Las Vegas. The Borg Queen represents just one role in Krige’s long and varied career, but it’s still a favorite to Trek fans and Krige herself. StarTrek.com recently caught up with the South African actress – who’s been living mostly in London since her home in L.A. burned down during the fires there-- for an exclusive two-part interview in which she talked about the Borg Queen and filled us in on her current acting and producing endeavors. Below is part one and be on the lookout tomorrow for the second half of the conversation.

Today, November 22, is the 14th anniversary of Star Trek: First Contact’s release into theaters. How crazy is it that so much time has flown by already?

Krige: Life fast-forwards, I guess. A lot has happened in those 14 years, in my life and probably in everyone’s life. Fourteen years; goodness, it is a long time.

You’ve done so much in your career, acted around the world on stage, in films and on television. That said, you’re extraordinarily popular with a core group of sci-fi and horror fans who appreciate your work in First Contact, Ghost Story, Sleepwalkers, Children of Dune and Silent Hill. Is that disconcerting, perfectly fine with you, or a phenomenon that’s out of your control?

Krige: I suppose that I’ve got two thoughts on it. Very often, the characters that one plays in the genre form, like Silent Hill or First Contact, are huge characters. They’re like Shakespearean women, like Lady M. They’re not just like playing your next-door neighbor and, as such, I think that they’re quite memorable. However, people have seen the other work, too. There’s more of an organized fan base for the genre work, of course. But if someone stops me to say, “Oh, were you the Borg Queen?” or “Were you the ghost?” they will also often say, “And I saw you in this and this and this, and I really enjoyed you in that as well.” So, it’s hard to quantify if (the genre projects) are what people principally recognize me for, especially because they’re part of a very communicative and organized fan base. They’ll come forward and say hello, which I love, actually. I don’t feel it’s an intrusion. I’m delighted to know that someone has seen something that I’ve done and enjoyed it.

When you think back to the actual production of First Contact , what are the first things that come to mind?

Krige: What pops is what a truly joyful experience it was. They were like the best repertory theater, that cast. They hadn’t worked together, the Next Gen group, for about two years, I think, and they were really delighted to see each other and to work with each other again. It was just a ball. It was just flat-out fun from beginning to end for me. Another thing that I found very striking was that everyone was absolutely determined that it should be a good film because they really wanted to support Jonathan Frakes (who was debuting as a feature film director after having directed several TNG episodes). There’s always a sense of focus on a set, but there was a kind of cohesion on First Contact. People stepped in behind him, I felt, to support him in the most loving way. I’m not saying that he needed support. I’m just saying that it was like a truly functional family supporting one of its own. If I look back on it, that was what was most unique about the experience.

You returned to the Star Trek fold for Armada II and The Experience , but you did not play the Borg Queen in her first Voyager appearances. Susanna Thompson assumed the role for those episodes. Did you, when you returned for “Endgame,” check out those Voyager episodes either to see what Thompson had done or to get a feeling for how the writers had developed the character in your absence?

Krige: I chose not to watch Susanna. I generally don’t like watching myself. In retrospect, it’s OK to watch rushes or to watch the replays on the monitor in the flow of making it, but I find it very painful to watch myself afterward. And I decided that I would not watch Susanna. It had absolutely nothing to do with Susanna. Whoever had played the role, I would have made the same decision. But I did ask to receive all the scripts. And I read them. I read all of the Voyager episodes that the Borg Queen was in, but I didn’t watch them. I didn’t want something in my head, in my imagination. I needed my performance to happen in the moment, and I didn’t even watch First Contact again. So not only did I not watch Susanna, I didn’t watch First Contact. I just focused on the stories I’d been sent, that had been filmed, and on the new script for “Endgame.”

Several years had passed between your appearances. So, how different an experience was it for you to play the Borg Queen on Voyager versus First Contact ?

Krige: It was very different in that this time (on Voyager ) I was actually working with two women (Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan). There’s a very different energy to that; delightful and just as interesting and just as challenging, but quite different. What was lovely was there were members of the First Contact crew who were either on the lot, working on other things, or who were on Voyager, and everyone came in to say hello. That was lovely.

Be on the look out tomorrow for part two of our interview with the Borg Queen herself, Alice Krige.

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“It was a very different feel for the character.”

'Lower Decks' finally resolves a huge Star Trek villain mystery [Exclusive]

There is only one Borg Queen. Or are there several? First introduced in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact , the enigmatic leader of the Borg seemed to transcend time and space. She also represents a paradox: A single person speaking for an entire hivemind collective.

Played first by Alice Krige, there are now three Borg Queens in total. Susanna Thompson took on the role in several episodes of Voyager ; and in Picard Season 2 , another Borg Queen will be played by Annie Wersching.

But who is the “real” Borg Queen? In a recent surprising (and hilarious) cameo in Lower Decks , the answer seems to be that the original Borg Queen is still the canonical one — at least during Starfleet training simulations!

To get to the bottom of this classic Star Trek mystery, we spoke to the Borg Queen herself. Here’s what Alice Krige had to say about her surprise return to the Star Trek canon and why she thinks her character is always there, even when you don’t see her.

Alice Krige at the 11th Annual Official Star Trek Convention in 2021.

In Lower Decks, Season 2, Episode 8, “I, Excretus,” Boimler ( Jack Quaid) finds himself in a holographic drill where he has to do everything he can to “resit the Borg.” After obsessively running the drill over and over, Boimler meets a holographic recreation of the Borg Queen. Cue an Easter egg from First Contact.

The Borg Queen blows gently on Boimler’s skin, referencing something similar she did to Data when his android skin was briefly grafted with human skin. It’s a hilarious scene, and all-to-brief, but there’s a degree of Trekkie legitimacy brought to it because it really is the voice of Alice Krige.

The original Borg Queen tells Inverse she never expected to return to Star Trek, especially not like this.

“They just, they just called and asked if I would do it. It was great fun,” Krige says, revealing she recorded most of her dialogue in her husband’s closet. “It has the best sound in the house. It’s so full of clothing, plenty of insulation.”

Boimler (Jack Quaid) prepares to be assimilated by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige).

This isn’t the first time since First Contact that Krige has returned to her famous Star Trek role. When the Borg Queen initially crashed the Voyager party for the episode “Dark Frontier,” she was not played by Krige, but instead by Susanna Thompson (perhaps more famous for her role as Lenara Kahn in the DS9 episode “Rejoined.) But when it was time for Voyager’s big finale, Krige was asked once again to don her Borg leather. This put her in the unique position of being one of the few Star Trek villains (Q is another) who have tangoed with both Captain Picard and Captain Janeway.

Krige says that when she returned for Voyager , she realized she’d based much of her performance on the Borg Queen’s attempts to seduce Next Generation ’s leading men.

“There's sexual energy that she kind of manipulated both Data and Picard,” Krige says. “Well, she didn't manipulate either of them, but she thought she was. So I had to decide how to play that in Voyager because instead of two men this was two women [Janeway and Seven of Nine.]”

This led Krige to a quick phone call with “the producers” of Voyager , in which it was decided the Borg Queen was “Omnisexual,” which meant, yes, she would probably have some kind of flirtation with Janeway or Seven, too, if she wanted to.

“After that, I thought great . I just went and had a great time because they're two wonderful actresses,” Krige tells Inverse . “It was a very different feel for the character because it was a very different sort of energetic exchange.”

A time-traveling Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the Borg Queen (Alice Krige)

It’s been exactly 20 years since Krige last played the Borg Queen in Voyager, and because she perished in that episode and we also saw Picard take her out in First Contact , fans have wondered for years just how many copies of the Borg Queen there are, or if the Queens are actually different characters.

With Annie Wersching’s Borg Queen coming to Picard Season 2 and Alice Krige’s delightful return to Lower Decks , could there ever be a meeting of all these Borg Queens? How does she keep coming back? Alice Krige isn’t sure, but she wouldn’t rule out a live-action return.

“She manifests in many different ways, or maybe she doesn't?” Krige says playfully. “Even if she’s not there, it doesn't mean she's not there . She’s so mysterious and endlessly interesting. Who knows how she shows up?”

Lower Decks is streaming now on Paramount+.

This article was originally published on Oct. 8, 2021

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Annie Wersching, Who Played Borg Queen on ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ Dies at 45

Ms. Wersching was best known for playing the Borg Queen on the Paramount+ “Star Trek” series. She was also on the television series “24,” “Bosch” and “Timeless.”

By Livia Albeck-Ripka

The actress Annie Wersching, best known for her roles in positions of authority on television series like “Star Trek: Picard,” “24,” “Bosch” and “Timeless,” died on Sunday in Los Angeles. She was 45.

The cause was cancer, her publicist, Craig Schneider, said in a statement. He noted that even after Ms. Wersching was diagnosed in 2020, she continued her acting work, playing the Borg Queen on the second season of “Picard,” a “Star Trek” spinoff on Paramount+, as well as the serial killer Rosalind Dyer on the ABC crime series “The Rookie.”

Ms. Wersching was also known for playing Julia Brasher, a police officer on the Amazon series “Bosch,” and Emma Whitmore, an engineer, on the NBC series “Timeless.” On Fox’s “24,” about a counterterrorism team that protects the United States from potential attacks, she played the F.B.I. special agent Renee Walker, which she once called “a dream role.”

“She gets to experience so much action and do so many stunts; she is so cool,” Ms. Werschling told Alive St. Louis magazine in 2009. “Plus, I can relate to her; in real life, I’m not too much of a girly girl.”

Ms. Wersching also provided the voice for the character Tess in The Last of Us , a 2013 video game that has recently been adapted into a television series on HBO, with Anna Torv as Tess.

In an interview on the Paramount+ show “The Ready Room,” Ms. Wersching described playing the Borg Queen as “certainly a little intimidating.” She noted that she had familiarized herself with the role and those who had previously played it before going forward with her own interpretation and performance. “It’s such an iconic role,” she said. “I’m incredibly excited to have everyone see.”

Ms. Wersching was born on March 28, 1977, and raised in St. Louis. Her parents, Sandy and Frank Wersching, were involved in the local arts community. Her father died when she was 12.

Annie spent her youth competing in Irish dance with the St. Louis Celtic Stepdancers. She graduated from Crossroads College Preparatory School in 1995 and received a B.F.A. in musical theater from Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., in 1999. She had intended to make a career in theater but changed her mind after she was on tour with a musical in Los Angeles and went to a live taping of the sitcom “Stark Raving Mad.”

“I thought, ‘This is the best of both worlds — they are performing like it’s theater with the audience interaction, but you are on TV,’” she told Edge magazine. “This is the dream.”

She moved to Los Angeles in 2001.

She is survived by her husband, Stephen Full, whom she married in 2009, and three children, Freddie, Ozzie and Archie Full.

“There is a cavernous hole in the soul of this family today,” Mr. Full said in a statement. “But she left us the tools to fill it. She found wonder in the simplest moment. She didn’t require music to dance. She taught us not to wait for adventure to find you.”

Mr. Full noted that whenever he and his sons left their house, Ms. Wersching would shout “Bye!” until they were out of earshot.

“I can still hear it ringing,” he added.

Amisha Padnani contributed reporting.

Livia Albeck-Ripka is a reporter for The Times based in California. She was previously a reporter in the Australia bureau. More about Livia Albeck-Ripka

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Star Trek: First Contact

The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight ... Read all The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed. The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.

• Jonathan Frakes
• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman
• Brannon Braga
• Patrick Stewart
• Brent Spiner
• 368 User reviews
• 126 Critic reviews
• 70 Metascore
• 8 wins & 21 nominations total

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• Zefram Cochrane

• Lt. Daniels

• Holographic Doctor

• Lt. Barclay

• Defiant Conn Officer

• Admiral Hayes

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• Trivia On account of budgetary restrictions, the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) was never quite satisfied with the Borg sets and costumes as used during the series. However, the significantly bigger budget for this film finally allowed them to design the Borg in a way that was much closer to what they had intended. As a result, the suits and sets were reused extensively on Star Trek: Voyager (1995) .
• Goofs When Geordi is asking Cochrane to look at the intermix chamber blueprints, he is wearing sunglasses, even though his artificial eyes don't require protection from the sun. The sunglasses are probably needed in case a local comes looking around. Only Cochrane and Lily knew about time travelers, and Geordi's futuristic implants could blow their cover. Geordi used dark glasses for the same purpose in Time's Arrow, Part II (1992) as well.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : [Quoting "Moby Dick"] And he piled upon the whale's white hump, the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it.

Lily Sloane : What?

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : "Moby-Dick".

Lily Sloane : Actually, I never read it.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Ahab spent years hunting the white whale that crippled him, a quest for vengeance, but in the end, it destroyed him and his ship.

Lily Sloane : I guess he didn't know when to quit.

• Crazy credits After 'Stunt Players' are listed, the 'Stunt Borg' are listed.
• Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Space Jam/The Mirror Has Two Faces/The English Patient/Breaking the Waves (1996)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith

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• November 22, 1996 (United States)
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• Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
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• $45,000,000 (estimated)
• $92,027,888
• $30,716,131
• Nov 24, 1996
• $146,027,888

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• Runtime 1 hour 51 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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A Complete Timeline of the Borg in Star Trek

Quick links, the creation of the borg through star trek: enterprise, star trek: the next generation is when starfleet engaged the borg, star trek: voyager traveled through borg space and almost destroyed them, the borg returned in star trek: picard for one last battle.

Throughout the six-decade history of Star Trek , there have been many iconic villains, but perhaps none more so than the Borg. Created by Maurice Hurley, the head writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, the Borg began as an organic species looking attain perfection. They achieved this by merging their organic bodies with cybernetic components. Individuality was erased, creating a hivemind culture of beings that sought only to assimilate more species and their technology in the search for perfection. They are led by a queen, a singular consciousness that can occupy multiple bodies.

The Borg are incredibly powerful and are known to travel via transwarp. They are even capable of time travel, though they don't do it very often. Given all that the Borg have going for them, it's no surprise that they were meant to be the ultimate villains Starfleet could never reason with. Over time, these villains became more complex and some even became Federation allies. Yet, the Borg have a long history in the Star Trek timeline, predating the earliest human space travel.

How Did Star Trek: Enterprise Become a TV Series?

The Borg have existed in their modern form since at least the time of the 15th Century on Earth. During the USS Voyager's travels in the Delta Quadrant, they met members of the Vaduwaur species who had been in stasis for more than 900 years. They had "many encounters" with the Borg who, by this time, had assimilated a few star systems in the Delta Quadrant. However, given the Vaduwaur didn't see them as their worst nemesis, they weren't as advanced as the Borg in the 24th Century.

In 2063, a Borg Sphere emerged from a temporal rift to prevent the Humans from making first contact with the Vulcans. The USS Enterprise-E followed them and destroyed the sphere, though a number of drones beamed aboard their vessel. Captain Picard defeated them, and Zefram Cochrane made his first warp flight . Some 90 years later, in Star Trek: Enterprise , remnants of the sphere were found in the North Pole. A handful of drones were revived and escaped in a space vessel. They were pursued and destroyed by the NX-01 Enterprise, but not before sending a message about Earth's location to the collective in the Delta Quadrant.

10 Star Trek Time Travel Stories That Changed Canon

The El-Aurian Guinan was saved by the USS Enterprise-B in 2293, along with fellow survivors of her people. Her planet had been assimilated by the Borg, and this was when Starfleet learned the species' name. Erin and Magnus Hansen, tried to study them in the late 2340s before they and their daughter Annika, Seven of Nine, were assimilated. In The Next Generation Season 2's "Q Who," the omnipotent being sent the USS Enterprise-D thousands of lightyears away from Federation space where it encountered a Borg Cube. They were only concerned about technology at the time, but this meeting led them to Federation space.

One year later, in 2366, the Borg sent a single cube to assimilate Earth. They captured Captain Jean-Luc Picard and assimilated him, giving him the name "Locutus." He was meant to demoralized Starfleet to prevent humans and the rest of the Federation from fighting back. He was freed of their control, but not before the Battle of Wolf 359 which destroyed 39 ships and killed 11,000 people. Among those were the wife of Commander Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the USS Constance of which Captain Liam Shaw was one of ten survivors. Commander Data briefly connected himself to the collective, ordering the Borg drones to enter regeneration and initiating the self-destruct sequence.

In 2368, the USS Enterprise-D encountered the Borg again, discovering a crashed scout ship. The drone Third of Five survived . Picard wanted to use the drone to implant a deadly virus into the collective. However, separated from the collective, the drone became an individual named "Hugh." He was returned unchanged to the collective, though Hugh's individuality caused a meltdown in the collective. A year later, Data's brother Lore found the cube and became their leader. He tried to replace their organic minds with positronic brains like his. The rogue Borg eventually overthrew him with help from the Enterprise. Five years later, another Borg cube was sent to Earth and was eventually destroyed, but not before sending the Sphere holding the Queen back to 2063.

How Did Star Trek: Voyager Become a TV Series?

In 2373, the USS Voyager entered Borg space on their journey home from the Delta Quadrant. At the same time, the Borg tried to assimilate Species 8472, which hailed from a dimension of "fluidic space." The assimilation didn't work and war broke out. Because 8472 was so hostile, Captain Janeway was able to enter into an alliance with the Borg to help defeat them, specifically with the help of the ship's holographic Doctor. The Borg betrayed them, which Janeway anticipated. The drone Seven of Nine was freed from the collective and became a member of the crew. Though she wished to rejoin the collective and tried to do so twice, she eventually chose to stay with Voyager .

In 2375, a transporter accident involving the Doctor's mobile emitter (based on 29th Century technology) and Seven of Nine's Borg nanoprobes. A drone was "grown" in the tank and designated One. The Borg tried to assimilate him and he willingly ended his own life. Later that year, the USS Voyager salvaged a transwarp coil from a destroyed Borg vessel. This led the Borg to enact a trap meant to bring Seven of Nine back into the collective as a replacement for Locutus. Janeway and the crew rescued her. A year later, while trading with the Brunali, Voyager was attacked by Borg vessel. However, they hid a photon torpedo in a captured Brunali vessel that destroyed the Borg ship, allowing Voyager to escape.

In 2377, Seven of Nine was reunited with other Borg in "Unimatrix Zero," a digital plane where drones retained their individuality. Captain Janeway used this opportunity to plan an attack on the collective and start a resistance movement. Captured by the Borg, many of Voyager's crew were assimilated. Thanks to the Doctor, they retained their individuality freeing thousands of drones and starting a Borg civil war. In 2378, a time-traveling Admiral Janeway showed up on Voyager with a plan to get the ship home. The plan succeeded, but the Admiral was assimilated. She carried a virus that decimated the collective to nearly the point of destruction. Five years after the return of the USS Voyager, the rag-tag crew of the USS Protostar found a Borg Cube, but they let sleeping Borg lie .

Physiology [ ]

The physiology of each Borg drone varied according to the species which it was assimilated from. ( Star Trek: First Contact ) Drones were typically humanoid, although the Collective demonstrated a willingness to assimilate non-humanoid lifeforms. ( VOY : " Scorpion ")

A set of Borg implants after removal

Upon assimilation, a drone would cease to grow body hair and would develop a pallid skin coloration, differing from its original skin pigmentation. Cybernetic implants were either surgically attached to the body or grown internally by nanoprobes injected into the bloodstream; in certain cases these implants could cause severe skin irritation. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds "; Star Trek: First Contact ) The nature of these implants varied from drone to drone depending on the drone's intended function, but the basic nodes of interlink for communications with the Collective and a myo-neural cortical array to control movements were implemented in every drone. In most cases, an eye would be replaced with an eyepiece that improved its vision and an arm would be amputated altogether to make room for a functional prosthetic; in tactical drones, a weapon would be included, and some drones had medical tools built in to heal drones who had minor injuries. ( VOY : " The Gift ", " Dark Frontier ") The implants of a fully assimilated drone allowed it to function for extended periods without shelter, food, water, or even air. A drone could even survive in the vacuum of outer space. Lily Sloane , a human observer local to the Earth of the 21st century , characterized Borg drones as "bionic zombies " after hearing a description of them, albeit before observing them directly. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

A drone's only requirement was a supply of energy to maintain the implants that in turn maintained its biological functions. This energy was supplied during regeneration cycles within a Borg alcove . Upon receiving damage, a drone would return to the alcove for assessment of the damage. Severely damaged drones were disassembled and scavenged for reusable parts. ( TNG : " Q Who ", " I Borg ")

Infant Borg

The Borg did not procreate; they would add to the Collective's population only by assimilation. ( VOY : " Drone ") Borg infants were not accepted to the collective until they matured to a certain age. Until reaching this age, assimilated infants and youths were placed inside maturation chambers . ( TNG : " Q Who "; VOY : " Collective ")

Borg drones were equipped with myriad technologies integrated into their bodies which enabled them to perform their duties within the Collective, several of which were universal to all drones. A neural transceiver kept them connected to the hive mind . ( VOY : " Scorpion, Part II ") A personal force field protected each drone from most energy-based attacks. ( TNG : " Q Who ") A drone was able to communicate with their ship by signals across a subspace domain, the basis of their hive mind, which Data likened to a transporter beam . ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") Each drone possessed a pair of assimilation tubules embedded in one hand for the purpose of instantly injecting individuals with Borg nanoprobes. ( Star Trek: First Contact ) A cortical processor allowed a drone to rapidly assimilate visual information. Borg drones were also equipped with a neural processor, which kept a record of every instruction that particular Borg receives from the collective hive mind. Captain Picard used one such processor to discover that the Borg were attempting to use the deflector dish of the USS Enterprise as an interplexing beacon to contact the Borg in 2063. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Drones also contained fail-safe mechanisms designed to deactivate and even vaporize their own bodies, thereby allowing the Collective to eliminate damaged or dead drones without leaving their remains to be exploited by outsiders. ( TNG : " Q Who ") The captured drone Third of Five also made comments indicating that this vaporization may have been a form of resource re-absorption. ( TNG : " I Borg ") One of these fail-safes was also intended to deactivate drones automatically if they experienced strong emotional states, which the Borg interpreted as a sign of disconnection from the hive mind. ( VOY : " Human Error ")

The Borg typically operated in an atmosphere with a constant temperature of 39.1 °C (102.38 °F ), 92% relative humidity, an atmospheric pressure of approximately 102 kPa , and trace amounts of tetryon particles. According to Amina Ramsey , the Borg smelled like old trash bags . ( LD : " Much Ado About Boimler ").

History [ ]

A Borg skeleton on a ruined planet

The precise origins of the Borg were unclear. As of 1484 , they were reported as controlling only a handful of systems in the Delta Quadrant , but by 2373 , they had assimilated thousands of worlds. In addition to this stronghold in the Delta Quadrant, the Borg also dispatched vessels throughout the galaxy via transwarp conduits . ( VOY : " Dragon's Teeth ", " Scorpion ", " Endgame ")

A Borg vessel traveled back in time from 2373 in an unsuccessful attack on Earth in 2063 . ( Star Trek: First Contact ) Drones which survived this defeat were discovered and reactivated by Human scientists in 2153 , and transmitted a subspace message to Borg space before being destroyed by Enterprise NX-01 . ( ENT : " Regeneration ")

The Borg entered the home system of the El-Aurians at some point in their mutual history, swarming through it, scattering its native inhabitants and leaving little to nothing of the El-Aurians in their wake. ( TNG : " Q Who ", " I Borg ") In 2293 , the Federation offered aid to the El-Aurian refugees fleeing the Borg. ( Star Trek Generations ) These refugees included Guinan , who would later provide secondhand knowledge of the Borg invasion of the El-Aurian system to the crew of the USS Enterprise -D during an encounter in the 24th century. ( TNG : " Q Who ", Star Trek Generations ) However, these earlier incidents contributed almost nothing to the Alpha Quadrant 's awareness or understanding of the Borg Collective.

By the 2340s , rumors of an alien race called "The Borg" had reached the Alpha Quadrant, inspiring exobiologists Magnus and Erin Hansen to set out in search of them. Their research took them all the way to the Delta Quadrant, before they and their daughter Annika were assimilated in 2350 . ( VOY : " The Gift ", " The Raven ", " Dark Frontier ") Borg activity in the Alpha Quadrant, including the assimilation of the USS Tombaugh in 2362 and assimilation of outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone in 2364 , were complete mysteries to Starfleet. ( VOY : " Infinite Regress "; TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")

The Collective's true nature was finally revealed to the Federation in 2365 when Q took the USS Enterprise -D to meet a Borg cube near the J-25 system . ( TNG : " Q Who ")

In late 2366 , a Borg cube invaded Federation space and assimilated Jean-Luc Picard , whose tactical information contributed, along with the Borg's own vastly superior power, to Starfleet 's disastrously one-sided engagement with the cube, the Battle of Wolf 359 . A fleet of forty starships assembled to combat the cube. All but one of these Federation ships were destroyed, while the cube itself remained intact, damaged but healing rapidly. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ", " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "; DS9 : " Emissary ") The Enterprise -D recovered Picard and used his connection to the hive-mind to disable the cube before it could attack Earth. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

During the 2370s , the Borg were beset by several major setbacks in the Delta Quadrant, as witnessed by the crew of the USS Voyager .

The Borg-Species 8472 War decimated the Collective from 2373 - 2374 . ( VOY : " Scorpion ", " Scorpion, Part II ") Voyager 's liberation of Seven of Nine allowed Unimatrix Zero to create an active resistance movement in 2377 . ( VOY : " Unimatrix Zero ", " Unimatrix Zero, Part II ")

In 2378 , a crippling blow was delivered to the Borg when Voyager discovered one of their transwarp hubs and destroyed it, killing the Borg Queen (again) and devastating the Unicomplex in the process. During this battle, the Borg were infected with a neurolytic pathogen , which was carried by an alternate future version of Admiral Janeway and designed to disrupt the hive mind, to 'bring chaos to order'. It was this pathogen that killed the Borg Queen and allowed Voyager to destroy the transwarp hub. ( VOY : " Endgame ") The pathogen decimated the Borg Collective, leaving them reduced a handful of drones slowly cannibalized to sustain the Queen's last remaining body by 2401 . ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

In 2384 , a Borg cube rendered dormant by the neurolytic pathogen was encountered by the USS Protostar . The crew proceeded to venture into the cube in order to access the vinculum to gain information on how to remove a weapon called the living construct from their ship. When the Medusan Zero volunteered to be assimilated to get the information, this act caused the cube and the drones aboard to wake up. The crew barely managed to escape as they helped Zero to break free from the Collective, who then managed to put the Borg back to sleep. ( PRO : " Let Sleeping Borg Lie ")

The Borg emerge from Jupiter on Frontier Day, 2401

The Borg Collective was still believed to operate as late as 2399 . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ") On Frontier Day in 2401, this was confirmed after discovery that the main faction of the Borg were working with the rogue Changelings in a plot to assimilate the Federation via a different means than normal. With the Changelings infiltrating the Federation and spreading Picard's Borg-altered DNA through the transporter system, the Borg were able to quickly gain control over 339 starships, and their crews with only those over 25 years old being immune to their takeover. ( PIC : " Võx ") This proved to be the last stand for the original Borg with the Cube, the Queen and all of her remaining drones being destroyed by the rebuilt USS Enterprise -D , presumably bringing an end to the Borg threat. ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

In the far future , extant Borg assimilated into galactic society, with Borg children learning side-by-side with children of other species. ( LD : " Temporal Edict ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

Confederation of earth [ ].

Borg Singularity in 2401

In 2401 , an atypical Borg Queen reached out to Admiral Jean-Luc Picard seeking membership in the Federation. Much to the Federation's confusion, this Borg Queen was vastly different to the Queen that had been encountered before and her Collective wasn't nearly as outwardly hostile. However, once aboard the USS Stargazer , the Queen began assimilating the ship and through it, the Stargazer's fleet. In response, Picard activated the ship's auto-destruct , stopping the assimilation. ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

In that moment, Q had removed Picard, Agnes Jurati, Seven, Raffaela Musiker, Cristóbal Rios, and Elnor from this timeline, and placed them in an alternate 2401. In this timeline, the Borg had been hunted to extinction by the Confederation of Earth , leaving only the Borg Queen . ( PIC : " Penance ")

The Singularity and Federation vessels deflecting the energy burst

After being returned from 2024 to 2401 by Q , Picard deactivates the auto-destruct, having deduced that the strange Borg Queen was actually the Queen from this timeline that had merged with Dr. Agnes Jurati in 2024 and had set out to create a different Collective, one based on mercy and choice. These Borg had sought out the Federation's help to stop an energy wave that threatened countless lives and by combining the shields of the Federation fleet and the Borg ship, the two former mortal enemies were able to stop it. However, the Borg didn't know the source of the energy wave or the massive transwarp conduit that emerged from it, only that it was a threat to everyone. Picard granted the Borg Queen's request to grant the Borg provisional membership in the Federation so that the Borg could be "the Guardian at the Gates" watching out for whatever this new threat was. ( PIC : " Farewell ")

Parallel universes [ ]

Picard's death [ ].

In one alternate quantum reality , Captain Jean-Luc Picard was lost in the Battle of Wolf 359 and William T. Riker succeeded him as the captain of the Enterprise -D with Worf as his first officer . ( TNG : " Parallels ")

Victory over the Federation [ ]

A disheveled Riker of a Borg controlled quantum reality

In another alternate quantum reality, the Borg, after emerging victorious at Wolf 359, successfully conquered the Federation. A battered Enterprise -D, which was likewise under Riker's command, was one of the few remaining Starfleet ships by 2370 . The Riker from that reality was desperate not to return to his universe once all of the Enterprises began spilling into a single universe from a quantum fissure .

After the present reality's Enterprise -D fired lightly upon the other ship to draw the alternate reality crew's attention away from that crew's attempt to prevent the closing of the fissure, the heavily damaged ship was accidentally destroyed when its shields collapsed and their warp core overloaded , due to having a weakened warp containment field , as Riker presumed, from fighting with the Borg. ( TNG : " Parallels ")

Borg-Earth [ ]

Borg-assimilated Earth

In another alternate timeline, the Borg were successful at preventing First Contact in 2063 and had assimilated the Earth. In 2373 , the assimilated Earth had an atmosphere containing high concentrations of methane , carbon monoxide , and fluorine . It had a population of approximately nine billion Borg drones . ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Culture [ ]

A trio of Borg drones, including one of Klingon origin

The Borg Collective was made up of, at the very least, trillions of humanoids referred to as drones. ( VOY : " Dark Frontier ") Through the use of their cybernetic implants, the Borg interacted by sharing one another's thoughts in a hive mind . Upon assimilation, these trillions of "voices" would overwhelm the drone, stifling individual thought and resistance to the Collective's will. ( TNG : " Family ") To some drones these voices could eventually become a source of comfort, and their absence a source of pain. ( TNG : " I Borg "; VOY : " The Gift ")

Borg philosophy was governed by a primary directive to add the biological and technological distinctiveness of other species to that of the Borg. In this manner, the Collective sought to achieve its definition of perfection; all other pursuits were deemed irrelevant including commerce and trade. Accordingly, Borg drones did not engage in any activities except their duties and regeneration . ( TNG : " Q Who ", " The Best of Both Worlds "; VOY : " Scorpion, Part II ") Individual drones have demonstrated puzzlement at other species' unwillingness to be assimilated, the drones believing in the superiority of their way of life.

Having no regard for individuality, Borg drones were identified with designations rather than names. A drone's designation typically described its position within a group, e.g. " Third of Five ." To identify a drone more specifically, its function could be appended to this designation, for example " Seven of Nine , Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 ." In the same manner, the Borg referred to alien species by number rather than by name. ( TNG : " I Borg "; VOY : " Scorpion ")

If a drone was sufficiently injured or otherwise in distress, other drones would offer assistance. ( TNG : " I Borg "; VOY : " Dark Frontier ") However, if a drone was deemed irreparable by the hive-mind, the Borg would deactivate it and redistribute any salvageable components throughout the Collective. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

Borg drones ignored alien species until they demonstrated the potential to be a threat, or to be a suitable candidate for assimilation. This indifference even extended to their attitude to people boarding their vessels; the drones went about their business as long as the intruders did not interfere. When addressing a small number of individuals, drones would simply attempt to assimilate them without comment. Before assimilating a larger population, such as a starship or an entire culture, the Borg would collectively transmit a standard announcement of their purpose and the futility of resistance. ( TNG : " Q Who "; VOY : " Dark Frontier "; Star Trek: First Contact ) Species which the Borg found unremarkable or detrimental would be deemed unworthy of assimilation. As of 2374 , the Borg considered the Kazon beneath their notice, and by 2376 , they only took interest in the Brunali if they detected sufficiently relevant technology. ( VOY : " Mortal Coil ", " Child's Play ")

Even examples of civilizations which had previously been targeted for assimilation could be passed over; while moving to engage the dire threat to the Borg presented by Species 8472 , a group of Borg ships encountered Voyager , but, while one ship did pause momentarily to scan the Federation vessel, the Borg ship and its companion ships quickly moved on without attempting to attack or assimilate the interloper in their space. ( VOY : " Scorpion ")

Representatives of the Collective: Locutus with the Borg Queen

On the rare occasions that the Borg were willing to open any dialogue with individuals, they would choose a single drone to speak for the Collective. Jean-Luc Picard was assimilated and given the name Locutus in the misguided assumption that such a representative would lower the Federation's resistance to assimilation. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ")

Seven of Nine speaks for the Collective

The Omega molecule

When Kathryn Janeway successfully negotiated a truce with the Borg and refused to discuss the terms via a neuro-transceiver , the Collective agreed to communicate via Seven of Nine. ( VOY : " Scorpion, Part II ")

The Borg Queen also spoke for the Collective, acting not as a mere liaison, but as a physical manifestation of the hive mind. The exact nature of her role is unclear. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

The Borg possessed a near-reverence for particle 010 , which they considered to be an expression of perfection. The Collective's fascination with assimilating this molecule has been compared to a religion. ( VOY : " The Omega Directive ")

Tactics [ ]

The Borg had a tendency to "scoop" all machine elements from a planet, leaving great rips in the surface where remaining sections of the road system suggested a city had once been. ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ", " Q Who "; VOY : " Child's Play ")

The Borg were known to retrieve their own damaged technology, including nonfunctional Borg cubes. However, when a cube underwent submatrix collapse , the collective would immediately sever its link to the afflicted population, considering it dead. ( VOY : " Unity "; PIC : " Maps and Legends ")

Technology [ ]

Borg technology was a combination of technologies assimilated from other cultures, and technology developed within the Collective itself, in order to overcome obstacles to its goals. When confronted by a problem it could not solve with its existing resources and/or configuration, the entire Collective would work in concert to consider all possible solutions, and implement the one determined to be the most efficient. By applying the unique skills of each drone to a task, the hive mind could engineer new technologies and solutions at a pace that would astound an individual. ( TNG : " Q Who ", " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

The Borg were usually exceedingly quick to adapt; their shields would often nullify nearly any energy weapon, and their weapons could usually penetrate nearly any shield or defense, within minutes. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Spacecraft [ ]

Borg cubes, arguably their most iconic ship design

Borg vessels were highly decentralized, with no distinct bridge , living quarters, or engineering section. Each ship was collectively operated by its complement of drones, under the general direction of the hive mind. Owing to the Collective's disregard for aesthetic considerations, the architecture of Borg ships took the form of basic shapes such as cubes and spheres and were made from a tritanium alloy. Borg ships were capable of regenerating from damage. ( TNG : " Q Who "; VOY : " Endgame ")

Each Borg spacecraft was equipped with a vinculum to interconnect its crew, which was in turn connected to a central plexus that linked the ship to the Collective. ( VOY : " Infinite Regress ", " Unimatrix Zero ") In addition to warp drive , vessels were fitted with transwarp coils that could achieve even greater speed by opening transwarp conduits . ( TNG : " Descent "; VOY : " Dark Frontier ") When critically damaged or otherwise compromised, a Borg ship would self-destruct to prevent outsiders from studying Borg technology. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") In other situations, only the valuable technology would self-destruct, such as the case of the crew of Voyager's first attempt to steal a transwarp coil. USS Voyager encountered several damaged Borg vessels, notably including the cube carrying Icheb , Mezoti , Azan , and Rebi , and a sphere carrying a transwarp coil, which Voyager stole. ( VOY : " Collective ", " Dark Frontier ")

Infrastructure [ ]

Borg structures were located in deep space, in planetary systems, or on planets themselves. Each planet that the Borg modified showed a typical climate and assimilated infrastructure adapted from the previous inhabitants. ( Star Trek: First Contact ; VOY : " Dark Frontier ", " Dragon's Teeth ")

Their buildings consisted of simple shapes, similar to their geometrical ships, and rather than being single structures they were annexed together and added to when needed. By joining the new structures to existing ones, they would form a uniform complex. These buildings were gargantuan in scale, with structures so big that they could house Borg spheres which would dock inside. ( VOY : " Dark Frontier ")

The Borg also constructed structures that had specific functions, such as the transwarp hub . There were six such known hub locations in the galaxy that allowed Borg vessels to deploy rapidly to almost everywhere within it. These transwarp hubs had many structures for opening portals on them, and inside their corridors were interspatial manifolds which supported the transwarp conduits . Several of these manifolds that led to the Alpha quadrant were destroyed by Voyager via transphasic torpedos and collapse of the conduit itself on the vessel's return to the Alpha Quadrant . ( VOY : " Endgame ")

Appendices [ ]

See also [ ].

• Borg Collective
• Borg language
• Borg philosophy
• Borg spatial designations
• Borg species
• Borg species designations
• Borg starships

Appearances [ ]

A Borg in the database of Voyager

• " The Best of Both Worlds "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "
• " Descent "
• " Descent, Part II "
• DS9 : " Emissary "
• Star Trek: First Contact
• " Blood Fever "
• " Scorpion "
• " Scorpion, Part II "
• " The Raven "
• " The Killing Game "
• " Living Witness "
• " Hope and Fear "
• " Infinite Regress "
• " Dark Frontier "
• " Survival Instinct "
• " Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy "
• " Collective "
• " Child's Play "
• " Unimatrix Zero "
• " Unimatrix Zero, Part II "
• " Imperfection "
• " Flesh and Blood "
• " Shattered "
• " Endgame "
• ENT : " Regeneration "
• " Remembrance "
• " Maps and Legends "
• " The Impossible Box "
• " Broken Pieces "
• " The Star Gazer "
• " Penance "
• " Assimilation "
• " Watcher "
• " Fly Me to the Moon "
• " Hide and Seek "
• " Farewell "
• " The Last Generation "
• " Envoys " (holograms)
• " Temporal Edict "
• " Crisis Point " (hologram)
• " I, Excretus " (holograms)
• " wej Duj "
• PRO : " Let Sleeping Borg Lie "

Background information [ ]

Concept and development [ ].

The conceptual genesis of the Borg, who were intended to replace the Ferengi as Star Trek: The Next Generation ' s main villains in its second season, was as a race of insectoids , an idea that would ultimately require modification due to the series' budgetary constraints. As Maurice Hurley explained in the March 1990 issue of Starlog (#152, p. 33): " What we really wanted to do, but couldn't because of money, was create a race of insects...insect mentality is great because it is relentless. The Borg are a variation of an insect mentality. They don't care. They have no mercy, no feelings toward you. They have their own imperative, their own agenda and that's it. If all of them die getting there, they don't care. We needed a villain who could make you dance, and the Borg could do it! "

Hurley made it a plot point in " The Neutral Zone " that Federation and Romulan starbases along the Romulan Neutral Zone had been mysteriously wiped out, having been "scooped off" the face of the planet in the same way that would later be referenced in " Q Who " and shown in " The Best of Both Worlds ". Intentions to lay more extensive groundwork for the Borg's introduction were frustrated by the Writer's Guild strike of 1988 . By the time of their first appearance in "Q Who", the species had been changed from insects to their more budget-friendly cyborg form. ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , pp. 169 & 180)

The Star Trek Encyclopedia  (3rd ed., p. 52) stated: " Writer Maurice Hurley derived the name Borg from the term cyborg (cybernetic organism), although it seems unlikely that a people living on the other side of the galaxy would know of the term. "

According to Michael and Denise Okuda in their Star Trek Chronology  (2nd ed., p. 290), there had been plans to connect the parasitic beings from " Conspiracy " to the Borg, but these were ultimately abandoned: " At the time the episode was written, this was apparently intended to lead to the introduction of the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation' s second season. The Borg connection was dropped before 'Q Who?' (TNG) was written, and the truth about the parasites remains a mystery. " They also noted that, following production of the latter episode, it was "half jokingly speculated" by Gene Roddenberry that the machine planet encountered by Voyager 6 , leading to its transformation into V'ger , "might have been the Borg homeworld." ( Star Trek Chronology  (2nd ed., p. 23))

A Borg insignia

The Borg insignia, which first appeared in "Q Who", was described on its own Star Trek: The Next Generation - Inaugural Edition trading card (82-A) as " Resembling a great red claw over a background of circuitry, the symbol of the Borg is as mysterious as the race it represents. The Borg symbol may possibly define an amalgam of living tissue with computer circuits... " [2]

Westmore's Borg make-up is reviewed for "Q Who"

Michael Westmore revealed that the Borg actors were glued into their suits, and had to be unglued if they needed to use the bathroom. [3]

The idea for the sound of the Borg's multiple voices speaking in unison was thought up by sound editor Bill Wistrom and co-producer Merri Howard . After experimenting with different techniques, they discovered a way to lay multiple voices over one another and "make it sound like it was 8 million people," explained Wistrom. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 147 , p. 32)

Chronologically, the first known in-universe appearance of the Borg to Humanity was in the 1996 motion picture Star Trek: First Contact , in which the Borg traveled back to the year 2063 to enslave the Human race. The writers of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode " Regeneration ", Michael Sussman and Phyllis Strong , stated, in the audio commentary on the ENT Season 2 DVD release, that it was their explicit intent to have the episode deal with the consequences of events depicted in Star Trek: First Contact , the Borg wreckage encountered in that episode being the debris of the Borg sphere destroyed by the Enterprise -E in that movie.

While it is not explicitly stated in "Q Who", Q implies that the sole focus of the Borg is on the technology of the USS Enterprise -D, and the Borg show no interest, in that episode, in the crew (although the segment of hull that the Borg remove from the ship apparently contained several crew members). By their next appearance, "The Best of Both Worlds", the Borg's objectives had changed to the assimilation of lifeforms, and this change of premise was referenced in dialogue. Subsequent episodes ignored the change in premise entirely.

Director Cliff Bole , who directed the "Best of Both Worlds" two-parter, thought highly of the Borg. He enthused, " The Borg are like Klingons. You can do anything you want with them. They're fun and a real expensive thing to play with. With them, you can do a big production value [...] The Borg allow you to have fun with the camera, the lighting and everything else. They challenge the imagination. " ("Cliff Bole – Of Redemption & Unification", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 17 , p. 31)

Through the course of Star Trek history, further retroactive continuity changes appear to have been made in respect of the Borg. As of "Q Who" and "The Best of Both Worlds", it appeared that Starfleet had never heard of the Borg. Subsequently, Star Trek: Voyager s " Dark Frontier " and Star Trek: Enterprise s " Regeneration " showed that not only was Starfleet previously aware of the existence of the Borg, Federation scientists actually pursued them – even if they were considered mere rumor. Further, although Guinan indicates in "Q Who" that her people were attacked by the Borg, it is implied that Starfleet was not aware of the threat. However, it was later revealed in Star Trek Generations that Starfleet, in fact, rescued the El-Aurian survivors of the Borg attack including Guinan, and it seems unlikely that Starfleet would not inquire as to the cause of their plight.

The existence of the Borg Queen was a controversial change made to the Borg during the writing of Star Trek: First Contact . While the writers had intended to stay true to the original concept of the Borg as a collective hive, they found it difficult to maintain the dramatic impact of villains without having a central face. Thus, they created the Queen. In the film, she claimed to have been present during the events of " The Best of Both Worlds ", which in retrospect would appear to have negated the reason for Picard's assimilation in that episode (it was claimed that the Borg needed a single representative to speak for them). While the Queen appeared to be killed at the climax of First Contact , she apparently survived unaffected by the Borg's next appearance in Voyager 's " Scorpion ". While many fans have attempted to reconcile this, there has never been an official explanation for her survival (save for an enigmatic comment by the Queen), and the appearance of relatively identical Borg Queens in later episodes. Some, though, have theorized that the Borg Collective contained many queens that served as focal points to different branches of their society. Still another explanation is that the Borg were in possession of innumerable copies of their Borg Queen, and that the superficial death of one version simply resulted in the activation of a similar version to take her place, in a similar fashion to the Vorta . The latter theory was corroborated by Rick Berman in an interview in Star Trek: Communicator . ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 121 )

Impact and legacy [ ]

The Borg were considered as an enemy for the Deep Space 9 crew (along with the Klingons , Cardassians , and the Romulans ) when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was in development. Rick Berman later commented, " The Borg are not the kind of bad guys that are practical to use on a regular basis. " Whereas the Cardassians were eventually chosen for the main villain role, the Borg made no further appearances in Deep Space Nine after " Emissary ", although they were mentioned in episodes such as " The Storyteller ", " Playing God ", " The Search, Part I ", " The Way of the Warrior ", " For the Cause ", " Let He Who Is Without Sin... ", and " In Purgatory's Shadow ". ( Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before ) According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe in a tweet dated 28 January 2019, following the premiere of Star Trek: Voyager , a mandate was passed to the writing staffs of both Deep Space Nine and Voyager that the Borg (along with Q, following his single appearance on Deep Space Nine ) were only to be used on Voyager while Deep Space Nine retained creative control over the Alpha , Beta , and Gamma Quadrants , which Wolfe called "a fair trade." [4]

The Borg were considered by some commentators to be the greatest villains of Star Trek: The Next Generation . However, they were featured in only six episodes throughout its seven-year run. The creators have stated that this was due to the fact that the Borg were so powerful, and so it was not easy to come up with solutions for beating them. However, as time passed and future series went into production, the concept of the Borg evolved to include inherent flaws that could be exploited in many different ways – leading them to appearing in nineteen episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (although in only a fraction of these appearances were the Borg the primary villains; many episodes had them in supporting or otherwise non-antagonistic roles). This generous use caused many fans to complain that the Borg were being used too often on Voyager . TNG, DS9, and one-time VOY writer Ronald D. Moore once said of their perceived overuse, the Borg had been defeated so many times, that they had "lost their teeth." ( citation needed • edit )

Following "Regeneration" and the season it was in, ENT Season 2 , Brannon Braga stated, " We have no plans to see the Borg ever again. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 145 , p. 30)

In 2006 , the Borg were honored with their own DVD box set Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg , featuring a number of their more memorable appearances in the Star Trek universe.

In an interview with StarTrek.com published on 1 April 2019, the actor Alan van Sprang , who played Leland in Star Trek: Discovery , echoed fan speculation regarding a potential connection between Control and the origins of the Borg: "I think it's very intriguing. When I first read the script I thought, 'Oh, is this the making of the Borg? Is that how it happens?' We're as much in the dark as anybody else, but as soon as I saw that, I thought, 'This is like The Borg.' The Next Generation' s Borg episode just blew my mind [when I watched it originally], let alone when Picard became Locutus . That's the first thing I thought of, which kind of tickled me to no end. 'Wow, I'm just going to milk this for all it’s worth.'" [5]

In an interview with TrekCore.com published on 19 April 2019, Michelle Paradise , then writer and co-executive producer of Discovery , clarified: "It's interesting — we weren't thinking Borg at all. I mean, we talked about all sorts of different things in the room, but there was never any intent on our part to parallel that in any way. I can certainly understand why people started to think we were going in that direction, but it was never where we intended to go with it." [6]

In an Instagram story dated 12 March 2020, Michael Chabon , then showrunner of Star Trek: Picard , opined of the same theory: "It has the virtue of making sense. But I don't think it's much fun." [7]

Apocrypha [ ]

The absence of the Borg from Deep Space Nine was explained in the novel The Siege , when a Borg cube tries to pass through the Bajoran wormhole and is destroyed by subspace compression; Sisko concludes that this event will cause the entire Collective to believe that the wormhole is unstable and would now avoid it.

In the alternate timeline seen in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine book series Millennium , the Borg forged an alliance with the Federation to defeat Weyoun . The entire Borg Collective was destroyed along with the universe. This entire timeline was later reset thanks to Benjamin Sisko.

In an alternate timeline in the game Star Trek: Armada , the Borg succeed in conquering the Alpha Quadrant. Using a clone of Locutus, the Borg manage to assimilate Spock , kill Worf, and assimilate Earth. The timeline was reset thanks to Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise -E, who travel back in time with the aid of a ship from the future to prevent Spock's capture.

In the game Star Trek: Legacy , an alternate explanation was given to the creation of the Borg which states that the probe V'ger created the Collective to serve as its heralds in its search for knowledge. However, the creation of the Borg Queen resulted in the creation of an entity that abandoned the original intent of V'ger . This is also similar to the Shatnerverse version of events.

In the current volumes of the Next Generation Relaunch series of novels, the Borg have been driven to near extinction as a result of the Starship Voyager 's destruction of the Queen and the transwarp conduit network. However, they begin to reconstruct the Collective by building a massive cube in the Alpha Quadrant, in order to launch a vengeful new offensive against the Federation; their first strike results in the assimilation of Admiral Janeway and the destruction of Pluto before the Enterprise -E manages to destroy the cube with the original Doomsday Machine .

In Star Trek: Destiny a history of the Borg was presented. They were survivors of the Caeliar Gestalt and the crew of the Earth ship Columbia NX-02 thrown back in time and into the Delta Quadrant following an attack on a Caeliar city ship. The Caeliar forced the Humans into a perverted form of their Gestalt (a mental linking of the Caeliar) based upon the will of the last surviving Caeliar and not the whole. They launched a final attack of Federation space with over 7,000 cubes at their disposal; however, they were stopped after the Caeliar were made aware of their responsibility for the Borg's actions. The Collective was dismantled, and the assimilated Borg drones were accepted into the Caeliar's gestalt. Former drones fully regained their individuality (as evidenced by Seven of Nine's remaining implants dematerializing). This was followed up in the novel Full Circle . Q later noted that this timeline's invasion was provoked by Admiral Janeway's trip to the past in " Endgame ", reflecting that, if she had done nothing, the Borg would have eventually launched a massive assault on the Milky Way galaxy centuries in the future that would have completely assimilated all other life. The Voyager relaunch novel Unworthy explores the aftermath of the destruction of the Borg, including some Federation scientists trying to harness remaining Borg technology and Voyager encountering a vast fleet called the "Indign" consisting of species who actually wanted to be assimilated but were considered unworthy of that "honor" by the Borg.

In the Star Trek: The Original Series short story "The Trouble with Borg Tribbles" from the anthology book Strange New Worlds V , a Borg cube encountered a pod full of Tribbles which had traveled through a micro-wormhole from the Alpha Quadrant in early 2268 . This was the Borg's first contact with life from that part of the galaxy. The Borg assimilated the surviving Tribbles, only to find that their instinctive drive to eat and procreate was starting to overwhelm the hive mind, causing a widespread series of malfunctions.

The comic book series Star Trek: Countdown shows that Nero 's ship, the Narada , was enhanced with a mixture of Romulan and Borg technology. The sequel miniseries Star Trek: Nero has the Borg, the Narada and V'ger originating from an unknown civilization on the " machine planet " that was seen inside V'ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

The Star Trek: The Manga story "Side Effects" in Shinsei Shinsei provided a different story to the creation of the Borg, with an experiment gone wrong to save a race through the daughter of one of the 1,000 or so survivors. Cybernetic implants, along with DNA from nine different species designed to keep a disease from spreading caused the girl to go insane and gain a twisted idea of saving her people. However, the intervention of Captain James T. Kirk made the situation even worse, as the laboratory where she was augmented collapsed and was sucked into a black hole . But an escape pod with the girl was launched, and apparently catapulted far into the past by the slingshot effect , where her cybernetic implants and DNA evolved to where she became the very first Borg Queen.

In the game Star Trek Online , the Borg have resurfaced after thirty years and have conquered several Federation sectors, including the Mutara sector . The Borg of 2409 look much more like zombies, with some of their cybernetic implants looking like bones coming out of their bodies.

The Cybermen and the Borg

The comic book crossover series Star Trek: The Next Generation - Doctor Who: Assimilation² involves a plotline in which the Cybermen of the Doctor Who universe alter time and space in order to form an alliance with the Borg. The united cyborg force proves to be a devastating threat to the Federation, but the two races end up turning against each other, with the Cybermen going to war with the Borg and forcing the crew of the Enterprise -D and the Eleventh Doctor and his companions to ally with the Borg to restore the Collective and vanquish the Cybermen. At the end of the series, the Borg start to investigate time travel in order to find a way to assimilate the Doctor.

In The Delta Anomaly , a book set in the alternate reality created by the Romulan Nero 's attack on the USS Kelvin , the serial killer known as The Doctor ( β ) is suggested to be related to the Borg. This therefore establishes an earlier contact with Earth than in the prime reality.

The Borg of the alternate reality

In Star Trek: Boldly Go , a comic series also set in the alternate reality and after the events of Star Trek Beyond , the Borg make an appearance as the villain in the first arc of the series, seeking the Narada due to their awareness of its ties to the Borg. They attempt to assimilate Spock , but the primitive assimilation of this era is unable to cope with his hybrid DNA. The shock of his escape and the retrieval of other near-assimilated officers enables the Federation and the Romulans to destroy the Borg.

External links [ ]

• Borg at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Borg at Wikipedia
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

Screen Rant

Star trek: every female captain (so far).

Although most Star Trek Captains are male, the list of notable female Captains in the franchise is much longer than fans might think.

Although the Star Trek franchise has been largely dominated by male captains, the list of women who have attained the rank is a lot longer than people might expect. The franchise began with Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, depicting a vision of the future where humanity had overcome its problems as become part of a galactic power that was founded on peace and exploration. In keeping with this utopian future, every  Star Trek series has consistently strived for diversity, including showing women in high-ranking positions within Starfleet.

When considering female captains in Star Trek , many fans will immediately jump to Captain Kathryn Janeway , the main character of Star Trek: Voyager and the woman that is widely considered to be the "first" female captain in the franchise. It is true that the character was the first woman to head up a Star Trek series since the role of the main character was previously held by men in every other show. However, contrary to popular belief, Janeway was not technically the first female captain.

Related: Star Trek: Voyager Originally Had A Different Captain Janeway

Prior to Voyager , several important female captains were included in various Star Trek series and movies, and the franchise did not stop depicting them after Voyager  ended . To date, there have been 12 important female captains that have played pivotal roles in the franchise. However, it should be noted that many more have been referenced in writing or in dialogue while not being shown directly on the screen.

Captain Of The USS Saratoga

Although never given a name, the Captain of the USS Saratoga in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  was the franchise's very first female captain. The Voyage Home was the 4th of 6 movies produced about the cast of The Original Series  and is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies in the Star Trek franchise . The Captain of the Saratoga had a brief but memorable role towards the beginning of the film where she and her crew became some of the first victims of the main antagonist, an alien probe heading towards Earth. The Captain was played by actress Madge Sinclair, who would go on to play the role of another female captain that will be discussed later on.

Captain Phillipa Louvois

Star Trek: The Next Generation   kicked off its list of female captains in season 1 with Captain Phillipa Louvois. Played by actress Amanda McBroom, Louvois was featured in the classic TNG episode "The Measure of a Man," where she served as the judge in Lieutenant Commander Data's sentience trial against Bruce Maddox. Louvois was implied to have had a previous romantic relationship with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, although this was never confirmed. Interestingly, Louvois is also one of the very few staff captains depicted in Star Trek , meaning that she was not in active command of a starship, instead serving Starfleet in another capacity as part of the Judge Advocate General's office.

Captain Tryla Scott

Although she was only featured briefly in the TNG  episode "Conspiracy," Captain Tryla Scott, played by Ursaline Bryant, should be remembered as an important part of Star Trek history. "Conspiracy" itself is a memorable episode, involving Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D uncovering a plot by parasitic aliens to infiltrate the highest levels of Starfleet. Captain Scott was part of a group that suspected the conspiracy was taking place, although she ultimately was taken over by one of the creatures herself. Tryla Scott was the first Black female captain shown in the franchise, and the brief backstory she was given in "Conspiracy" also detailed how she was the fastest person in Starfleet history to attain the rank of captain, making her a  Star Trek legend for a variety of reasons.

Related: Star Trek: Every Captain Who Became An Admiral

Captain Rachel Garrett

Played by actress Tricia O'Neil, Captain Rachel Garrett is another often-forgotten captain who played an important role in franchise history. Captain Garrett is the only woman to ever command a version of Star Trek's most famous ship, the USS Enterprise. Garrett was captain of the Enterprise-C and was featured in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise." During the episode, the Enterprise-C's accidental time travel 22 years into the future created an alternate timeline where the Federation was involved in a long and bloody war with the Klingons . When this was discovered, Garrett agreed to pilot her ship back through the temporal rift it had come through to restore the timeline but was unfortunately killed by an attacking Klingon vessel before she could do so. Her helmsman, Richard Castillo, eventually took the ship back through and restored the timeline. Although "Yesterday's Enterprise" is an extremely popular episode among fans, Captain Garrett rarely receives the recognition she deserves as the only female captain of the Enterprise.

Captain Silva La Forge

Silva La Forge's inclusion in The Next Generation is significant for two reasons. Firstly, she was the mother of  Geordi La Forge and provided some interesting context to the character's life in the season 7 episode "Interface." Unfortunately, the episode also involved her disappearance and presumed death while commanding the USS Hera, something that affected Geordi greatly and almost compromised his ability to be objective about the mission he was currently involved in. The second reason Captain La Forge is significant is that she was played by Madge Sinclair, the same actress who played the unnamed Saratoga Captain in Star Trek IV . Sinclair is the only actress to hold the distinction of playing two Black female captains on Star Trek .

Captain Kasidy Yates-Sisko

Kasidy Yates-Sisko was a recurring character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and the only heavily featured female captain who was not also a member of Starfleet. She was first introduced in the season 3 episode "Family Business," and went on to become the girlfriend and later wife of Deep Space Nine's main character, Captain Benjamin Sisko . Sisko and Kasidy's relationship evolved throughout the course of 5 seasons, although it was tragically cut short in the series finale when Sisko was taken to the Celestial Temple to reside with the Bajoran Prophets. Outside of her relationship, Yates-Sisko was involved in commanding a fleet of transport freighters that were initially independent contractors but later worked for the Bajoran Ministry of Commerce. She became a popular character among fans, and her relationship with Sisko is arguably one of Star Trek's greatest romances.

Captain Benteen

Captain Benteen was featured in the  Deep Space Nine  episodes "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost." She was a major player in Starfleet Admiral Leyton's plot to bring about a coup d'etat. Benteen was Admiral Leyton's adjutant at the time until he promoted her to Captain and gave her command of the USS Lakota, ordering her to stop the USS Defiant from reaching Earth. Captain Sisko, in command of the Defiant, had information that Leyton had been manufacturing evidence of a Changling threat in Starfleet in order to take over the organization. Luckily, Benteen listened to Sisko, and after being convinced of Leyton's treachery she helped defeat him and stop the coup from happening. Benteen was played by actress Susan Gibney, who was a recurring Star Trek player, having also portrayed the character of Leah Brahms on Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Related: Star Trek: What Happened To All 4 Starships Named Defiant

Captain Lisa Cusak

Captain Lisa Cusak was the focus of the popular Deep Space Nine episode "The Sound of Her Voice." She was never shown on screen and was only heard through voiceover for the majority of the episode. Cusak's ship, the USS Olympia, crashed on a planet in the Beta Quadrant in 2371, leaving her as the only survivor. Because of the metreon radiation surrounding the planet, Cusak's distress call was unknowingly transmitted 3 years into the future, where it was received by the crew of Deep Space 9 onboard the USS Defiant. The Defiant established two-way communication with Cusak, unknowingly transmitting their messages back in time as they rushed to rescue her. Once they had reached the planet, however, they discovered what had happened, and decided to take Cusak's body back to the station to hold a funeral for her, feeling that she had left a great impression on their lives even a short time. Cusak was voiced by actress Debra Wilson.

Captain Kathryn Janeway

As previously discussed, Captain Janeway, played by actress Kate Mulgrew, was the first female captain to also be the lead on her own show.  Star Trek: Voyager , which ran from 1995 to 2001, helped make Janeway an inspiration to many female Star Trek fans. As captain, Janeway guided her crew through the Delta Quadrant after the ship was stranded there because of a life form called the Caretaker. During Voyager's run, Janeway proved herself to be a tough, smart captain who was fiercely protective over her crew. Fans of Voyager were ecstatic to learn recently that Mulgrew will be reprising her role as Janeway in the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy , which will debut on Paramount+ and be geared towards a younger audience.

Captain Hernandez

Captain Hernandez was a female Starfleet captain featured on Star Trek: Enterprise . She was first introduced in the season 4 episode "Home" as the captain of the Columbia NX-02 and former love interest of Captain Jonathan Archer, the show's lead. Later, the character of Trip Tucker was briefly a part of Hernandez's crew when he requested a transfer off Enterprise. Hernandez and her crew were also involved in the mission to rescue Doctor Phlox from Klingon space during the Augment crisis. Star Trek: Enterprise served as a prequel to the entire franchise up until that point, and Starfleet was a much smaller operation during the show, so having one of the few featured Starfleet captains be a woman was a smart choice by the writers.

Captain Phillipa Georgiou

After a long hiatus, Star Trek: Discovery kicked off a new wave of  Star Trek  shows in 2017. The show also marked several more strides forward in representation for the franchise, including the addition of two new female captains, one of which was Phillipa Georgiou. Georgiou was introduced in the pilot as the captain of the USS Shenzhou and commanding officer of Discovery's main character, Michael Burnham. Captain Georgiou's life was cut short by the start of the Klingon War when she was killed by T'Kuvma during the Battle of the Binary Stars. Fortunately for actress Michelle Yeoh, however, the character was brought back later in the season, this time as Emperor Georgiou, Captain Georgiou's Mirror Universe counterpart. Emperor Georgiou served as a recurring character for the majority of Discovery's 3 seasons and is supposedly set to star in her own show sometime in the near future.

Related: Star Trek Theory: Where & When Emperor Georgiou's Section 31 Spinoff Is Set

Captain Michael Burnham

Star Trek: Discovery's other addition to the list of female captains is Captain Michael Burnham , who only recently attained her rank. Burnham did not start off as captain, much like Star Trek's other Black series lead, Benjamin Sisko. The road to the Captain's chair was a hard one for Burnham, who began the first season of Discovery as Starfleet's first-ever mutineer. The 3rd season's time jump to the 32nd century, however, eventually provided her the opportunity to captain the USS Discovery. With season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery expected sometime later in 2021, fans will soon get to see what kind of captain Burnham turns out to be, including how she commands Star Trek's first all-female bridge crew.

It is interesting to note that many of the women on Star Trek's list of female captains are women of color, showing that the franchise's diversity ideals have been and continue to be an important part of storylines. Additionally, there have been many female characters who have held a higher rank, such as Admiral Nechayev from Star Trek: TNG or Admiral Cornwell from Star Trek: Discovery . Although the franchise has at to have many female captains who are the main characters of their own shows, Star Trek still boasts an impressive list of women who have contributed meaningfully to Starfleet's female leadership.

More: Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Will Have The First-Ever All-Female Bridge