Borg

The **Borg** were a pseudo-species of cybernetically enhanced humanoids, or cyborgs, originating in the Delta Quadrant. The Borg primarily existed as a hive-mind within the Borg Collective. For most of the existence of the Borg, no individuals -- with the possible exception of the Borg Queens -- existed. The Borg were driven by a desire to attain perfection, which they pursued by assimilating diverse sentient species across the Milky Way galaxy. This assimilation allowed the Borg to collect the technology and knowledge of every species they forced to join them.

## Physiology

Due to the assimilation of a myriad of species, physiologically the Borg could be made up of any number of assimilated species. Typically, Borg were humanoid, though that was not exclusive.

Assimilation caused any Borg to cease growing hair. Their skin would become an ashen gray color. Nanoprobes would be injected into the bloodstream which would construct cybernetic implants, while others might be surgically added. The nature of these implants would vary from drone to drone, depending on the needs of the Collective and the purpose of the drone. A handful of these, however, were universal from drone to drone. These included a neural transceiver to keep them connected to the hive mind, a personal force field, assimilation tubules that allowed them to assimilate any being they came across, a cortical processor that allowed from rapid analyzation of visual information, and a neural processor that recorded every instruction given by the Collective. Drones were also equipped with fail safes intended to deactivate and even destroy defective or damaged drones -- these would activate in instances where a drone might experience strong emotions, or severe physical damage.

Upon assimilation, the only requirement of a Borg drone was to regenerate to restore energy reserves. Borg did not require sleep, food, water, or even air for survival. Borg would enter regeneration cycles within a Borg regeneration alcove, and would also return to their alcoves when damaged for assessment. Those deemed beyond repair would be disassembled and any salvageable parts redistributed amongst the Collective. Even after being freed from the Collective, former Borg still required regeneration.

The Borg did not procreate. They added to their population only via assimilation. When infants were assimilated, they were placed within maturation chambers. There they grew until they reached a certain age where they would become functional for the Collective.

## History

The Borg began developing as a cybernetic race some time around 200,000 BCE. Some believe this began as an effort to escape annihilation at the hands of the Reapers, transferring themselves from being organic beings into partially synthetic ones. Whatever the case, the Borg were primarily peaceful and contained within their own territory for thousands of cycles.

By 2484 CE, the Borg had assimilated members of more aggressive species, seeking to conquer and expand their territory, and grown far more powerful and eager to assimilate other species. They had begun to conquer parts of the Delta Quadrant, but still only controlled a handful of systems -- including the homeworld of the El-Aurians, leaving the survivors a scatter species of refugees. This number would grow rapidly, and by 3373 CE the Borg would have assimilated thousands of worlds and built a galactic network of transwarp conduits.

In 3063 CE, a Borg sphere traveled to Earth from the future (3373 CE) in an effort to prevent the creation of the United Federation of Planets and assimilate humanity. The Borg were defeated by the USS *Enterprise*-E under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Drones surviving this encounter were discovered and reactivated in 3153 CE. Those drones sent a subspace message back to the Collective before being destroyed by the *Enterprise* NX-01. Neither of these encounters provided much information about the mysterious cybernetic species.

However, rumors of the Borg reached the Beta Quadrant by the 3350s. These rumors led exobiologists Magnus and Erin Hansen to go in search of this new species. They eventually reached the Delta Quadrant through a transwarp conduit, before being assimilated -- alongside their daughter Annika -- in 3356 CE. The Borg reached the Alpha Quadrant soon afterwards, assimilating both human and Romulan outposts in the Romulan Neutral Zone and the USS *Tombaugh* in 3362 CE. With no survivors, these attacks were considered mysteries.

The Borg finally, officially, encountered the Federation in 3365 CE when Q brought the USS *Enterprise*-D directly into the path of a Borg cube. The Federation began doing its utmost to prepare for an encounter with the Borg, but when that encounter finally came no amount of preparation could have sufficed. The Borg assimilated Jean-Luc Picard, creating a spokesperson for the Collective in Locutus of Borg. Having absorbed Starfleet's tactical information, the Collective soundly defeated the Federation fleet at the Battle of Wolf 359 and nearly reached the Earth itself before the crew of the USS *Enterprise*-D were able to use Locutus' connection to the hivemind to disable the cube before disconnecting their captain and undoing the assimilation. Jean-Luc Picard became the first individual freed from the Collective after assimilation. These would come to be known as "XBs" (for "ex-Borg") or "Liberated Borg" as the procedure became more common.

As humans continued to periodically battle against the Borg, the Borg Collective began to suffer setbacks. The discovery of individuality by Third of Five ultimately led to his cube being severed from the Collective. The liberation of Seven of Nine caused a similar ripple effect, allowing Unimatrix Zero to form a resistance within the Collective in 3377 CE. In between these two events, the Borg was decimated by the Borg-Species 8472 War from 3373 to 3374 CE. In 3378 CE, the USS *Voyager* dealt the Collective perhaps its most crippling blow -- killing the Borg Queen of Unimatrix 01, disrupting the hivemind, and destroying part of the transwarp network in their return home.

Ultimately, the Borg recovered and were still assimilating in the Beta Quadrant even after this setback -- severing a Borg cube that suffered submatrix collapse in the Romulan Neutral Zone that would come to be known as "the Artifact" as the drones aboard were studied by Federation and Romulan scientists alike.

## Culture

The Borg were made up of trillions of drones, all of whom shared each other's thoughts as part of the hivemind -- although that hivemind was under the direct control of the Borg Queens, who were a specialized Borg unit intended to exert commands over each unimatrix. These thoughts could be heard as trillions of voices, overwhelming any newly assimilated drone and stifling their individual thoughts. Many drones would eventually find these voices to be comforting -- whereas others found them to be a source of constant pain. Drones in the Collective were unable to comprehend why a species would resist assimilation, and were able to express confusion about this point.

Borg were driven by a single purpose: the pursuit of perfection. To that end, drones would ignore any entities -- and even entire species -- that were not deemed valuable or dangerous. They would even ignore individuals who boarded Borg vessels so long as they did not interfere with operations.

Without individuals, Borg were referred to by designations. Most of these included their number within a unit -- such as "Third of Five". Some designations could also include a purpose, such as "Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01."

### Assimilation

When assimilating a small group, the Borg would do so without comment. Before commencing assimilation of a larger group -- such as a starship -- a message would be broadcast announcing the purpose of assimilation and noting that "resistance is futile."

When attempting to assimilate an entire planet's population or an entire species, the Borg would assimilate one member to act as a representative in the hopes that this would lower the resistance offered against the Collective. It was to this end that Locutus of Borg had been created. Borg Queens, similarly, could act as representatives of the hivemind although they were not simply spokespeople but physical manifestations of the hivemind.

Some species were deemed irrelevant, unworthy of assimilation, including the Kazon. Some species, such as the Brunali, were only worthy of assimilation if they had a sufficient level of technology. Borg would also pass over assimilating species they typically sought to acquire if other, more pressing matters were at hand -- the Borg did not attempt to assimilate the USS *Voyager* while combating Species 8472.

When assimilating a planet, the Borg would often simply "scoop" all of the technology they desire from the planet with a tractor beam -- leaving giant holes and rips in the surface.

### Omega Particles

The Borg had a near reverence for Omega Particles, considering a stable particle to be an expression of perfection.

## Source

The Borg are derived from *Star Trek*. For canon information, please visit:

* Memory Alpha
* Official Star Trek Online Wiki