Locutus of Borg Locutus of Borg was the Borg designation forced upon Starfleet Captain Jean - Luc Picard after his assimilation in late 2366 . History . The Borg intended to use Picard as an intermediary , a spokesman for the Human race in order to facilitate the assimilation of Earth so that the process would be as quick and efficient ( or as perfect , from the perspective of the Borg Collective ) as possible , with the fewest number of casualties on both sides . He may have had some form of individuality , as shown by his use of the pronoun " I . " ( ) The Borg Queen herself had been aboard the Borg cube where Picard had undergone his transformation into Locutus . Interested in overseeing this event , she had intended for Picard to become her equal counterpart . ( ) Picard ' s assimilation allowed the Borg to acquire the whole of his knowledge and experience , as well as his own personal knowledge ( a fact that was made apparent when Locutus addressed Commander Riker as " Number one " ) . Picard ' s detailed information regarding Federation technology and strategy yielded the Borg a significant tactical advantage when Starfleet confronted the Borg cube at Wolf 359 . ( , ) This access proved two - way , however , as the crew of the was able to capture Locutus and use his link to disable and destroy the Borg vessel by sending the Borg cube a command to regenerate , which created a feedback loop that destroyed the cube and severed Picard ' s link to the Collective . ( ) Though his implants were removed and his wounds were allowed to heal , Picard ' s assimilation continued to haunt him . He returned to Earth , and paid a visit to his family in La Barre , France , where he eventually came to terms with the ordeal . ( ) Despite his separation from the Collective , Borg drones that had never encountered Locutus , such as Third of Five , still referred to Picard using this name , due to Locutus ' experiences remaining within the shared Hive mind . ( ) When Benjamin Sisko made contact with the Prophet s in 2369 , one took the form of Locutus as he appeared on the viewscreen of Sisko ' s ship , the , shortly before the Battle of Wolf 359 . ( ) When the Borg attempted a second invasion in 2373 , Picard ' s experience with the Borg not only gave him prior warning of the attack , but also allowed him to pinpoint a weakness in the Borg defenses , which resulted in the fleet destroying the invading vessel . ( ) When Captain Kathryn Janeway was conducting negotiations with the Borg in 2374 during the Borg - Species 8472 War , she requested to speak to an individual , and cited to the Borg : " " You ' ve done it before , when you transformed Jean - Luc Picard into Locutus . " " ( ) Appendices . Background information . Conception . The character of Locutus was created as a result of the writing staff of feeling it necessary for the Borg to have a spokesman , which the writing staffers referred to as a " queen bee . " ( " " ) Another inspiration on the character ' s creation , according to writer Michael Piller , was that the writing staff was requested by Paramount to devise a method of potentially writing Picard actor Patrick Stewart out of the series after the third season . This was because Paramount was having negotiating difficulties regarding closing a deal with Stewart that would see him return for the fourth season . ( ) The concept of using Picard to fill the persona of the Borg ' s central voice was directly preceded by a notion that involved the Borg capturing both him and Data before combining them as a single entity . ( ; " " ) Michael Piller pitched this initial concept to Rick Berman . ( ) However , the idea was dropped when it was realized that the Borg lacked sufficient motive to carry out these actions . ( " " ) Berman felt the suggestion of the assimilated Picard and Data combo was overly complicated . ( ) According to the reference book " " , it was Michael Piller himself who came up with the subsequent idea of filling the spokesman role with an assimilated Picard , alone , and the writer later remembered , " " It all just fell into place . I said , ' I ' ve got it . Picard will be the queen bee . " " Alternatively , according to ( p . 16 ) , Piller cited Rick Berman as having made the suggestion , though admitted , " " I thought that making Picard that voice would be interesting . " " The concept of Locutus was foremost on Michael Piller ' s mind in the lead - up to writing " The Best of Both Worlds " . Thus , after Piller decided he wanted to write the episode , one of the first ideas that he privately disclosed to fellow TNG writing staffer Ira Steven Behr was that of Picard being assimilated by the Borg . ( " " , p . 163 ) As for the name Locutus , Michael Piller termed it as " a name which I got out of the dictionary about language – I think it ' s a Latin word for language . " ( ) " " actually means " having spoken " or " he who has spoken " in Latin , still an appropriate name for one serving as spokesman . The final draft script for " The Best of Both Worlds " stipulates about the assimilated Picard , " " Half his face is gone . . . replaced with machinery . " " A later description from the same script refers to Locutus as " Picard - Borg " and further states , " " He speaks with a single but metallic Borg voice . . . a version of his [ Picard ' s ] own . " " The way in which Locutus was represented in " The Best of Both Worlds " turned out to be very successful with production staff . David Livingston remarked , " " I just remember the moment in dailies of seeing Patrick say , ' You will be assimilated ' [ . . . ] I think that was the turning point for the series , because here you have your captain , who ' s now a Borg , who ' s saying he ' s now gonna take you guys over . That was an " extraordinary " moment . " " Livingston noted that the image of Locutus was an expression of the central concept of the Borg – the risk that humans might lose their individuality and humanity . ( " " , " " ( Blu - ray ) The way in which Michael Piller single - handedly delivered the concept of Locutus in the writing of " The Best of Both Worlds " impressed Ira Steven Behr , who later commented , " " By Borgifying Picard , Michael tapped into Picard ' s humanity . Because at the time , the fans were bitching about Picard [ such as by complaining that he was ' too cold ' or not similar enough to Kirk ] [ . . . ] But by Borgifying Picard – which is something that Michael really related to , because there was a little bit of Borg in " him " – it led the way to ' Family , ' and [ . . . ] it ' s what kept the franchise alive . " " ( " " , p . 163 ) Jonathan Frakes had several suspicions regarding how effective Locutus was with fans . " " I ' m not sure that anybody really believed Patrick was leaving the show , " " admitted Frakes . " " But I believed that the drama [ . . . ] and the vision of him as Locutus , a Borg , was strong enough that you could suspend your disbelief in a way that , ' Oh , my . . . ' And it really did get you through the summer . " " ( " " , " " ( Blu - ray ) ) Following the initial airing of " The Best of Both Worlds " , fans anticipated discovering Picard ' s fate so much that someone devised a hoax script supposedly of the concluding part of the story , in which it turned out that Picard ' s assimilation had actually been a prank by the Q Continuum . ( " The Best of Both Worlds , Part II " text commentary , " " ) For help with wording the process of corrupting the Locutus persona in order to enable Picard ' s inevitable return in , visual effects artists including Rick Sternbach were consulted . " " We sat down with Michael Piller and a couple of the other writers , " " recollected Sternbach , " " and presented some of our notes about Data , and Picard as Locutus and , technically , how to get Picard back when shutting down the Borg collective mind and that sort of thing . " " ( " " , " " ( Blu - ray ) ) Televised depictions . Locutus was a larger role than Patrick Stewart was used to playing on TNG . " " This part gave Patrick the chance to fish - out - of - water character . You know , to not just have that one dimension that he had on the series , " " observed Director Cliff Bole . " " This gave him another chance to be a heavy , which is always great fun for an actor . He enjoyed it , tremendously . " " ( " Regeneration : Engaging the Borg " , " The Best of Both Worlds " ( Blu - ray ) ) Indeed , despite the increased workload , Stewart found that playing Locutus was an interesting experience without being overly taxing . He explained , " " The interesting situation for me was how to create this murderous , autonomous figure while retaining , behind all that , the shadow of Jean - Luc [ . . . ] I think , for me , the Borg episodes were not as dramatic as they were for our audience . I can think of other episodes in which I felt that the character was expanding , developing and learning much more than in that one . It principally for me was a way of trying to find out how technically to make the Borg character work . Of course , a lot of it was left to the makeup department and the special effects department . The makeup made a significant contribution . " " ( , p . 4 ) Concerning the " Best of Both Worlds " two - parter , Marina Sirtis asked , " " Was that the one we got to see Patrick naked ? " " Although nudity was out - of - the - question for a family TV series such as TNG , Locutus had to be made to look differently from Picard . Stated Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore , " " We had to more or less take him through steps of Borgifying him . " " ( " Regeneration : Engaging the Borg " , " The Best of Both Worlds " ( Blu - ray ) ) Depicting the gradual draining of Picard ' s Humanity as he was transformed from Human into Borg , during the two - parter , represented a challenge for TNG ' s makeup team . Initially , this was done by showing the exposed areas of his body paler by a couple of shades . According to Westmore , this demonstrated that " as humanity was drained away so was the color of life . " Even when the full Borg makeup of Locutus was applied , the creative team still wanted to leave enough of the Picard character visibly recognizable so that the contrast between the two personalities was startling . ( " " , p . 85 ) The amount of bare skin involved in portraying Locutus was influenced by the fact that either Westmore or Rick Berman wanted the Borg drones in the two - parter to exhibit more baldness than in . " " So when it came down to Patrick , " " remembered Westmore , " " here ' s a man with a bald head . They didn ' t want to put a helmet on him . " " ( " Regeneration : Engaging the Borg " , " The Best of Both Worlds " ( Blu - ray ) ) In the form it took on television , Locutus ' Borg suit was created as a collaboration between Michael Westmore and Costume Designer Robert Blackman . The suit ' s face plates were crafted by Westmore from life castings of Patrick Stewart . ( " The Best of Both Worlds , Part II " text commentary , " " ) Todd Masters said of the costume , " " It had galoshes and phone cords on the feet , and underwear sprinkled with poly - foam and model parts . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 69 , p . 105 ) The costume also incorporated a mechanical Borg arm prop which was a slightly modified version of those from " Q Who " . ( ) There were actually two main variations of Locutus ' full Borg makeup created for television – one that was used at the end of " The Best of Both Worlds " , and another that was applied for the start of . Whereas the first of these makeup designs incorporated a headpiece that wrapped round from the back of the head to the front of the face where it covered the right cheek , the second version extended the headpiece so that it covered the majority of the face . Similarly , though the first variant of the makeup included only a few black ribbed tubes that seemed to run into his body and merely one identical tube that ran through the headpiece ( a lead which , according to Michael Westmore , was intended " to indicate that it was connected directly through his skull to his brain " ) , the later version had considerably more tubes . ( " " , pp . 85 & 87 ) Locutus ' appearance in pilot episode required Patrick Stewart to once again endure the Borg makeup . ( " The Best of Both Worlds , Part II " text commentary , " " ) Michael Piller was extremely proud of having Locutus appear in the opening moments of " Emissary " , remarking , " " You want to desperately open your show with a bang and what could be a better way to open the show than to have Jean - Luc Picard as Locutus on screen saying , ' You will surrender , resistance is futile . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 23 , No . 6 , p . 34 ) The immediate aftermath of Picard ' s transformation into Locutus was originally planned to be featured in an alternate past timeline experienced by Picard in TNG series finale . " " The idea was when he jumps into that time period he has to convince not only the Borg to help him but Riker to help him , " " explained Ronald D . Moore . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 , No . 6 / Vol . 26 , No . 1 , p . 75 ) Film appearance . There were noticeable differences in the makeup design of Locutus between the TV series and . Among the changes seen were airbrushed " wiring " on the skin ( made to seem as if it is beneath the skin ) , slightly more detailed " Borg implants " and a completely new body suit . The changes enhanced the somewhat sparse original look and corresponded with the " new look " of the Borg for the movie . Although creating this physical redesign for Locutus represented a comparatively special challenge for the makeup and costume designers of " First Contact " , it was not as challenging as it could have been , given that Patrick Stewart was not required to move much or perform stunts while in his Locutus guise . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 28 , No . 6 , p . 24 ) The company Todd Masters Effects , hired by Paramount to build all the Borg suits in the film , were originally given the costume that had last been donned by Stewart for " Emissary " . " " It looked bad , " " said Masters , " " and there was no budget to upgrade it [ . . . ] And we knew that the fans would feel cheated if Patrick was wearing this rag while all the other Borg looked great – so we punched it up at our own expense . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 69 , p . 105 ) A specific Locutus - related nightmare sequence from early in " First Contact " – involving a Borg appliance popping out of Picard ' s cheek – was planned by Industrial Light & Magic artist Alex Jaeger . He not only drew a concept sketch of the appliance on Picard ' s cheek , in its fully spread - out state , but also created a computer - generated demonstration of the facial changes . The latter was done using six copies of a promotional head shot of Patrick Stewart as Picard ( taken during production on the series ) and inserting the slowly evolving " cheek popper " with Photoshop . Jaeger cited an ice - cube holder as inspiration for the dreamt device , " with those fingers that extend and grab . " ( " " , pp . 332 & 333 ) The effect was at first conceived as a physical illusion but was ultimately rendered in CGI by Stephen Braggs at ILM . ( " Cinefex " , No . 69 , p . 105 ) Apocrypha . In the comic story " " , the " Enterprise " crew were attacked by a telepathic weapon called the Chova , which forced its victims to experience dreams and hallucinations focused on their personal failures . However , it was discovered that those with Multiple Personality Disorder could render the Chova inert ( The multiple personas overwhelming the Chova , which could only attack one personality at the time ) , so Picard was deliberately infected with the Chova , as his mind meld with Sarek , the probe that gave him the memories of Kamin and the remnants of Locutus still in his mind gave him the makings of an MPD . The four defeated the Chova , but Locutus then attempted to regain control of Picard ' s body , nearly " killing " Kamin and Sarek before Picard gathered the mental strength to stop Locutus . In the comic story arc " The Worst of Both Worlds ! " , the " Enterprise " crew got pulled through a rift into an alternate universe in which Riker ' s plan to rescue Picard from the Borg failed and the Borg had conquered Earth . The crew team up with their counterparts , whose " Enterprise " was only the stardrive section , as their saucer section had to be abandoned . The two crews managed to capture Locutus and use his link to the Collective to defeat the Borg , much like in the canon universe , except the " sleep " command couldn ' t be used . Picard gambled on the possibility that his alternate self also mind - melded with Sarek , like he did in the episode . Whispering Spock ' s name in Locutus ' ear caused the Vulcan emotions to trigger and allowed his humanity to break through . Using the alternate Picard ' s suggestion of " eat " , Data was successful in immobilizing the Borg and saving both Earth and the alternate Picard . It was later revealed that he was responsible for opening the rift which pulled the " Enterprise " to the alternate reality . In " " , set in 2376 , a new Locutus of Borg was created by the Borg that had captured a Dominion cloning facility . This Locutus led an attack upon the Federation and the Klingon and Romulan empires in an attempt to gain an Omega particle , resulting in the assimilation of Spock ( who was on his way to a Romulan - Klingon peace conference ) and the conquest of Earth . However , aided by the USS " Premonition " , a time - traveling ship from the future under the command of Captain Thaddius Deming , the was able to undo this Borg victory , and the Locutus clone was destroyed after a brief confrontation with the original Picard . In 2380 , " " presented the assimilated Vulcan T ' urell , who considered herself a Borg Queen , referred to Picard as " Locutus " , much in the way the Borg Queen of also addressed Picard . In the novel " Resistance " , set in 2380 , Picard became Locutus once again in an attempt to defeat the Borg Queen and neutralized them . After having defeated the Queen by re - altering her into a normal drone , Dr . Crusher was able to restore the captain to his normal self . During the novel " The Return " by William Shatner , it was revealed that Locutus was not as unique as he had been portrayed ; according to this novel , the Borg commonly assimilate a specific individual from a new species to act as a " speaker " to the new race to try and convince them of the merits of assimilation , thus making the process of assimilating a species easier and less ' wasteful ' . During the events of the novel , the Borg created a Romulan " speaker " known as Vox , who subsequently proposed a Borg / Romulan alliance as a means of effectively conquering the Federation and the Romulan Empire , and secretly intended to assimilate the Romulans the first chance they got . The Borg also attempted to assimilate Spock , thus turning him into their " speaker " to the Vulcan people , but due to Spock ' s past mind meld with " V ' ger " – an aspect of the Borg Collective – the traces of the Collective in Spock ' s mind from the meld resulted in the Borg assuming that Spock had already been assimilated , and thus left him alone . In the novel " Headlong Flight " , the " Enterprise " - E of 2386 encounters a version of the " Enterprise " - D from 2367 , in a world where Data and Shelby attempted to use Locutus to transmit the ' sleep ' command to the Borg while still on the cube , with the result that Locutus was killed before he could be severed from the Collective as the ship self - destructed too quickly for them to get him out .