Borg - SCIFIPEDIA

Borg

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Borg Queen played by Alice Krige

The Borg are a fictional race in the Star Trek universe. The name is short for cyborg. They are somewhat similar to the Replicators in Stargate SG-1 in their relentless nature. Unlike the replicators however, they are partly biological; humanoid species implanted with cybernetic implants that alter and enhance their physical abilities and make their minds one with all others in the vast collective.

The Borg seek for perfection through the ruthless assimilation of alien technologies and the absorption of the individuals they encounter into their collective. Their motto and introductory speech is simple and intimidating: "We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

The Borg are particularly notable for their ability to quickly adapt. As a result they are feared and their interest in any culture often leads to its complete destruction. Only one species has been able to resist assimilation, Species 8472, an equally intimidating species from fluidic space. As a planet, Earth has also thwarted Borg invasion attempts successfully.

1 History
2 Assimilation
3 Borg Queen
4 Appearance
5 Also See

History

The Borg appear to have originated in the Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. The Federation first came into official contact with them when the Enterprise D was transported to System FGC-J25 in the Alpha Quadrant by the mischievous being, Q in the episode "Q Who".

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Borg cube

In TNG there were several important encounters with the Borg.

The Battle Of Sector 001

The Battle of Wolf 359

Star Trek: Voyager

On their journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, Voyager encountered a portion of space in the Delta Quadrant known as Northwest passage, a corridor within Borg space free of Borg activity. They eventually discovered the passage was the site of an invasion attempt by Species 8472 whom the Borg had attempted and failed to assimilate and who in return threatened life in this Universe aiming to purify it. Voyager negotiated a deal for their safe transit through Borg space in exchange for their help in devising a method to defend against Species 8472 using modified Borg nanoprobes.

A Borg representative, Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 was dispatched to aid Voyager. Seven of Nine became detached from the collective and ultimately joined the crew of Voyager and regained her humanity.

Voyager discovered the existence of a Borg transwarp hub which the Borg use to travel more quickly to the far reaches of the galaxy. Admiral Kathryn Janeway traveled from the future to help Voyager return home through the hub and ultimately destroy it. The Borg assimilated the Janeway from the future and became infected with a neurolytic pathogen she had infected herself with. The pathogen caused the Borg Queen to lose connection with the hive, allowing Voyager to travel through the transwarp hub and destroy it from the opposite end, a severe setback for the Borg.

Star Trek: First Contact

In the film ''Star Trek: First Contact, The Borg open a temporal vortex to Earth shortly before the event of Earth's first warp drive success and first contact with the Vulcans. Their goal was to alter human history and ultimately that of the Alpha Quadrant by preventing Zephram Cochran's seminal warp drive test.

The Enterprise E followed them into the temporal vortex and ensured the events occurred as they did in the original timeline. In the process, the Borg vessel and Queen were killed. This appeared to be the end of the Borg. However, in a later episode of the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise, remnants of Borg cyborgs were discovered in the Arctic and a drone is revived which sends a message to the collective. The message would take two hundred years to reach the collective but ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the Borg's interest in Federation space leading to the events of First Contact.

Assimilation

The Borg inject nanoprobes, microscopic machines, into organisms and technology which begin the assimilation process. They believe the combination of inorganic and organic parts is an improvement and biological life forms are inefficient.