The Borg were a pseudo-species of cybernetic beings, or cyborgs, from the Delta Quadrant. No single individual truly existed within the Borg Collective (with the possible sole exception of the Borg Queen), as all Borg were linked into a hive mind. Their ultimate goal was the attainment of 'perfection' through the forcible assimilation of diverse sentient species, technologies, and knowledge. As a result, the Borg were among the most powerful and feared entities in the galaxy, without really being a true species at all.
History
By the 2350s, 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 2356.[1][2][3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6]
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 ships were destroyed, while the cube remained intact, damaged but healing rapidly. The Enterprise-D recovered Picard and used his connection to the hive-mind to disable the cube before it could attack Earth.[7][8]
The Borg-Species 8472 War decimated the Collective from 2373-2374. Voyager's liberation of Seven of Nine allowed Unimatrix Zero to create an active resistance movement in 2377.
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 Template:R 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.[9][10][11]
In 2409, after almost thirty years of very little contact with the Alpha Quadrant, they attacked the Federation colony on Vega IX, but their plans were foiled by the crew of the USS Leviathan.[12]
Physiology
As the Borg represented various species from across the galaxy, they came in many shapes and sizes. Most Borg were humanoid, however, as the Borg always craved perfection, they had even attempted to assimilate beings such as the Undine.
The appearance of any given individual changed drastically after the assimilation process. The individual would lose all of their hair, and their skin would turn to a pale-gray color. On top of that, many artificial implants were installed into the individual's body by the Borg.
Culture
The Borg functioned as a Collective, with their thoughts linked and in direct service to the Queen via the hive mind. They were made up of thousands of species and trillions of individuals, referred to as drones.
The Borg showed little concern for anything aside from their goal of assimilating other cultures. They viewed anything contrary to said goal to be irrelevant and futile.
Drones, the workers within the Collective, were not addressed by their original names; rather, they were given designations, such as One of Four or Six of Ten. Even the Queen did not seem to have a name, as she referred to herself as the "One Who Is Many". The Borg used the same designation system for other species as well. For example, the Undine were known to the Borg as Species 8472, and Humans as Species 5618.
The Borg would typically ignore other species unless they were intent on assimilating them, or if the species became a recognizable threat to them.
Technology
As the Borg were made up of many species from across the galaxy, their technology was quite advanced. They could adapt to most weapon fire in a matter of seconds, and were quite deadly in a group.
The central hub of the Borg Collective, the Unicomplex, housed billions of drones, and was the residence of the Borg Queen, where she directly controlled the rest of the Borg.
Spacecraft
Borg vessels were not equipped with a central bridge or engineering; rather, the ships were controlled by the entire collective of drones onboard, under direction from the Collective. At the center of each Borg ship was the vinculum, which kept the minds of all drones onboard linked.
The standard Borg vessels were probes and spheres, with the much larger cubes and tactical cubes usually reserved for invading the territories of other species.
Appendices
Appearances
- Star Trek: Federation Legacy – "Line in the Sand" (First appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ VOY: "The Gift"
- ↑ VOY: "The Raven"
- ↑ VOY: "Dark Frontier"
- ↑ VOY: "Infinite Regress"
- ↑ Star Trek: The New Generation (25th century) – "The Neutral Zone"
- ↑ Star Trek: The New Generation (25th century) – "Q Who"
- ↑ Star Trek: The New Generation (25th century) – "The Best of Both Worlds"
- ↑ Star Trek: The New Generation (25th century) – "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
- ↑ VOY: "Scorpion"
- ↑ VOY: "Unimatrix Zero"
- ↑ VOY: "Endgame"
- ↑ Star Trek: Federation Legacy – "Line in the Sand"
External links
- Borg at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
- Borg at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki
- Borg at the Star Trek Online Wiki