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The term 'bOrg' is satirically employed by ex-Jehovah's Witnesses to refer to the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] organization in a negative way. The usage is derived from "'''b'''ible '''Org'''anization", and is used to imply a large degree of control of members by the organization.{{fact}} Similarly, the term 'morg' is used satirically by [[ex-Mormons]] to refer to [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in much the same way.{{fact}} |
The term 'bOrg' is satirically employed by ex-Jehovah's Witnesses to refer to the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] organization in a negative way. The usage is derived from "'''b'''ible '''Org'''anization", and is used to imply a large degree of control of members by the organization.{{fact}} Similarly, the term 'morg' is used satirically by [[ex-Mormons]] to refer to [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in much the same way.{{fact}} |
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==See also== |
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{{Commons|Borg}} |
{{Commons|Borg}} |
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* [[Star Fox: Assault#Aparoids|Aparoids]], a race of insect-like creatures that were the central antagonist of [[Star Fox: Assault]] that sought evolution through assimilation. This continues the [[Star Fox series]]' tradition of referencing other science fiction works. |
* [[Star Fox: Assault#Aparoids|Aparoids]], a race of insect-like creatures that were the central antagonist of [[Star Fox: Assault]] that sought evolution through assimilation. This continues the [[Star Fox series]]' tradition of referencing other science fiction works. |
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* The [[Conjoiners]], a race of cybernetic humans who share thoughts electronically and are dedicated to improving themselves through increasingly advanced technology. From [[Alastair Reynolds]]'s [[Revelation Space]] series of novels. |
* The [[Conjoiners]], a race of cybernetic humans who share thoughts electronically and are dedicated to improving themselves through increasingly advanced technology. From [[Alastair Reynolds]]'s [[Revelation Space]] series of novels. |
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* The [[Deus Ex: Invisible War characters#The Omar|Omar]] are a race of cyborgs in the computer game [[Deus Ex: Invisible War]]. They are very similar to the Borg. They assimilate humans into the Omar (though this is usually voluntary). The Omar are supposed to have a merged collective consciousness, though many Omar will refer to themselves as "I" instead of "We" like the Borg (For example, one Omar says "I am here for protection." This seems to show that the Omar still retain some individuality.). |
* The [[Deus Ex: Invisible War characters#The Omar|Omar]] are a race of cyborgs in the computer game [[Deus Ex: Invisible War]]. They are very similar to the Borg. They assimilate humans into the Omar (though this is usually voluntary). The Omar are supposed to have a merged collective consciousness, though many Omar will refer to themselves as "I" instead of "We" like the Borg (For example, one Omar says "I am here for protection." This seems to show that the Omar still retain some individuality.). |
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* [[The Culture]] novels by [[Ian Banks]] mention assimilating life forms, also those that are gladly assimilated. |
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== Further reading == |
== Further reading == |
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| Founded: | before the 15th century BC |
| Leader: | Borg Queen |
| Base of operations: | Unimatrix One, Delta Quadrant |
| Official language: | unknown, language independent hive mind (see: universal translator) |
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The Borg are a fictional race of cyborgs in the Star Trek universe. They are known within and beyond Star Trek fandom for their relentless pursuit of what they want to assimilate, their rapid adaptability to almost any defense, and their ability to continue functioning after what may seem a devastating or even fatal blow seemingly unaffected. As such, the Borg have become a powerful symbol in popular culture for any juggernaut against which "resistance is futile".
Overview
The Borg are an amalgam of humanoids of many different species that are enhanced with implanted cybernetics, giving them improved mental and physical abilities; the name Borg is short for cyborg (cybernetic organism). The Borg function as automata; the minds of all Borg drones are connected via implants and networks to a hive mind, the Borg Collective, personified by the Borg Queen and controlled from a central hub, Unimatrix One. According to themselves, the Borg only seek to "improve the quality of life for all species" by integrating organic and synthetic components in their quest for perfection. To this end, they travel the galaxy, increasing their numbers and advancing by "assimilating" other species and their technologies, and subjugating captured individuals by injecting them with nanoprobes and surgically implanting prostheses, quickly changing their biological anatomy and biochemistry to the Borg standard.
Despite being perceived as a conquering juggernaut by all who know of or have encountered them, the Borg harbor no ill will to anyone; they merely fulfill their imperative to assimilate and achieve perfection. As they say, "Resistance is futile — you will be assimilated." They make good on that threat through their ability to quickly adapt to any attack, rendering it harmless. Thus, any successful defense depends on the ingenuity of the opponent to find a method to stop the Borg completely before they can neutralize it.
History
Having gradually developed over thousands of centuries in the galaxy's distant Delta Quadrant, the Borg's first formal contact with Starfleet occurred in 2365 by interference from Q in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Q Who?". Q transported the Enterprise-D to System FGC-J25, in the deep far-flung part of the Alpha Quadrant for just long enough to expose them to the Borg. The Enterprise-D was hopelessly outclassed by the Borg cube encountered, and Q brought them home after their confrontation. Guinan tells Jean-Luc Picard, "Now that they know of your existence ..." and Picard realized that they would never stop until they found Earth. Picard later realized that the Borg cube was already on a course toward Federation space, and in effect Q gave them an advance warning, doing "the right thing for the wrong reason". Before this contact, however, there was evidence that the Borg were already in or near the Alpha Quadrant. The episode "The Neutral Zone" had established that several planets on both sides of the Romulan Neutral Zone had been destroyed in the same manner, and this was later attributed to the Borg.
Prior to Picard's encounters in the late 24th century, there is evidence that Starfleet and the Federation had prior knowledge of the Borg. In 2153, a group of cyborgs (though unknown as Borg at the time) were discovered in Earth's Arctic. These Borg were later speculated to have likely come from the future, as referenced in a speech Zefram Cochrane had given, stating what "really" had happened during first contact with the Vulcans in April 2063. He said that there were "strange cybernetic creatures from the future who wanted to enslave the human race". Cochrane also revealed that there were people who stopped them who were also from the future. Captain Archer and Subcommander T'Pol of the first Starfleet vessel named Enterprise discussed this, but T'Pol dismissed it by saying, "Dr. Cochrane was known to make outrageous statements."
The Borg incident of 2153 was kept secret, due in part to evidence that the Borg had managed to transmit Earth's location to their home space in the Delta Quadrant. Since, however, the message would not reach Borg space for two centuries, Earth and Starfleet authorities were not overly concerned with the Borg. However, in the prophetic words of Captain Archer: "We've only postponed the invasion until what? The 24th century?"
In the late 23rd century, the crew of the newly-commissioned Enterprise-B rescued a ship carrying El-Aurian refugees that was fleeing the Borg's decimation of their planet, although it is unknown if Starfleet was aware of the cause of the El-Aurian plight at the time. (The El-Aurian Guinan mentions the Borg attack to Picard during his first encounter with them.)
In the mid-2350s, as the 200 year time mark of Captain Archer's prophecy approached, Starfleet began a covert operation to learn about the Borg and hired several civilian scientists to perform "unofficial" research and learn about this potential threat to the Federation. The family of Annika Hansen was one such group of scientists (VOY: "The Raven"). Thus, by the time Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg at System J-25, some individuals in Starfleet were already aware of the Borg and the threat they posed.
The Enterprise-D and Captain Jean-Luc Picard
The second official, and first major, contact between the Federation and the Borg occurred in the two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds", widely considered among Star Trek’s best episodes. In 2366-7, Captain Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg to become Locutus of Borg. With his knowledge of Federation technology and strategy, a single Borg cube destroyed a fleet of 39 Starfleet vessels in the Battle of Wolf 359 and proceeded toward Earth, in Sector 001, with the goal of assimilating the entire planet. The Federation regards this battle as one of the worst military defeats in its history. In the process, however, the Enterprise-D used an emergency maneuver to capture Locutus. Data, with the help of Troi and Dr. Crusher, managed to tap into the Borg collective consciousness to which Picard/Locutus was connected. Their last-ditch actions managed to give Picard enough force of will to tell Data to give the command for the Borg to "sleep", that is, to regenerate. This caused the invading cube to go quiescent and, due to the unexpected "sleeping" of all the borg onboard, the ship self-destructed in Earth orbit. The Enterprise crew later managed to remove most of the Borg implants from Picard. Picard was never the same again; in addition to being left traumatized ("Family"), he apparently retained a residual link with the collective and could hear its thoughts when they were near (Star Trek: First Contact).
In the episode "I, Borg" (the title highlights the contradiction of an "individual Borg" and alluding to I, Robot), the Enterprise-D crew captured a single Borg drone in 2368 who appeared to be detached from the collective with its whereabouts unknown. Seeing an opportunity to study their enemy, it was taken aboard the ship. Eventually, due to separation from the Borg collective consciousness, the Borg drone began to develop an individual identity. It was given the name "Hugh", after a misunderstanding about individual identity involving the sentence "I am... you?" Events eventually led to him returning to the collective. Though he seemed to lose his individuality, the introduction of Hugh's experiences into the collective had far-reaching consequences. Some eventually were severed from the collective and broke away as a renegade group. Initially dysfunctional and without purpose, this group later stumbled across and joined with Lore, Data's prototype brother, who helped them express their newfound freedom through hatred ("Descent").
Encounters with the Enterprise-E and Voyager
The Borg make frequent appearances in the Star Trek universe afterwards, being the antagonists in the Star Trek: First Contact movie and even having one of their number become a crew member of the starship Voyager — Seven of Nine. During Voyager’s trek through the Delta Quadrant, in 2373 they stumbled upon the "Northwest Passage", a corridor apparently devoid of Borg activity. Through investigation, it was later revealed that this area of space was where "Species 8472" — a Borg designation for a species from another universe with superior abilities — were emerging and inflicting heavy losses on the Borg in an attempt to invade and purify this universe. The Voyager crew successfully devised a defense (through the adaptation of Borg nanoprobes) against Species 8472. To ensure Voyager’s safe passage, Captain Janeway proposed and negotiated an alliance with the Borg in exchange for this technology. To facilitate this arrangement, Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 was dispatched to Voyager. After Voyager successfully crossed this space, Seven of Nine was severed from the hive mind, became a member of Voyager’s crew (VOY: "Scorpion"), and eventually reasserted her personality.
The Borg suffered their worst setback against the Federation in 2378. Voyager discovered a Borg transwarp hub (one of only six in the entire galaxy), which allowed the Borg to quickly send ships anywhere in the galaxy. A future Admiral Janeway travelled back in time and ordered Voyager to use the hub to return to the Alpha Quadrant, but contemporary Captain Janeway was determined to destroy it. Admiral Janeway entered the Unicomplex and the Borg Queen assimilated her. However, the Admiral had surreptitiously infected herself with a neurolytic pathogen before being assimilated; once assimilated into the collective, the pathogen disabled neural links throughout the hive mind. Consequently, the Borg Queen lost connections with her drones and ships, before being overcome and killed, and the Unicomplex exploded. Simultaneously, an anti-Borg enhanced Voyager (with technology provided by Admiral Janeway) destroyed support beams for the hub while entering a transwarp corridor. The Borg hub then collapsed and Voyager was successfully returned to Earth (VOY: "Endgame").
After these events, the ultimate fate of the Borg is unknown. Given the collective nature of the Borg, it is possible the virus could have infected every drone linked to the hive mind; however, the Borg are also highly decentralized, have relentless adaptability, and have demonstrated the ability to sever dysfunctional units from it.
Borg Queen
The purely collective nature of the Borg was modified in Star Trek: First Contact, which introduced the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen is a locus within the Borg collective consciousness and a unique drone within the collective ("the one who is many"), bringing "order to chaos" and referring to herself as "we" and "I" interchangeably. The function of the Borg Queen within the Borg seems to be that of a coordinator, as in an ant colony, and less so of a leader in the traditional sense. The Queen's unique autonomy allowed her to have an intimate encounter with Data in 2063 (as a result of time travel). However, her utterance "I am the beginning [and] the end" (an apparent Christian allusion - the line ""the one who is many" may also be a reference to Legion from Mark 5:9) implies a possibly crucial function within the collective. It has also been postulated that both the Borg Queen and Locutus functioned merely as spokespeople and tacticians, allowing the Borg to maintain a creative edge while retaining the advantages of a true collective.
A humanoid of Borg species 125, the contemporary Queen's head and upper torso appear mostly biological (externally) with a largely synthetic central nervous system, skull, and upper vertebral column. The head/upper torso is generally lowered and secured into a synthetic lower torso.
Given the high technical sophistication of the Borg and her apparent destruction on numerous occasions, the Borg Queen may be some sort of unique multidimensional creature who can be in many places and times at once and/or is multiply-redundant (see Omnius); this is also consistent with the Borg's highly decentralized nature. In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen was apparently present during Picard's assimilation in 2366-7 (though this was lost on Picard initially) and was destroyed on that cube, an apparent retcon. The Queen was also seemingly destroyed in at least two other instances—during Star Trek: First Contact and the finale of Star Trek: Voyager. Upon the conclusion of Star Trek: Voyager, it is unknown whether the Queen survived; however, the Borg were able to function after her apparent destruction, as evidenced by the sphere's continuing to chase Voyager. The Borg queen re-appears after Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant, in the Borg Invasion 4D, only to be destroyed by Admiral Janeway. Before her Borg cubes destruction, the Queen activates a transporter allowing her to survive.
Assimilation
- Main article: Assimilation (Star Trek)
Initially, the Borg were a mysterious group of marauders that snatched entire starships or took over entire planets and societies in order to collect and assimilate their technology, being less interested in individual lifeforms (TNG: "Q Who?"). In their second appearance, "The Best of Both Worlds", they began to assimilate individuals – namely, Picard – into the collective by surgically altering them. Thereafter, incorporation of different lifeforms into their collective was heightened and their interest in obtaining alien technology became less prominent.
Moreover, the method of assimilating individual lifeforms into the collective has changed over time. Throughout, infant and fetal humanoids have been grown in an accelerated state and surgically receive or develop implants tied directly into the brain, as well as ocular devices, tool-enhanced limbs, armour, and other prosthetics.
Later, in Star Trek: First Contact, the method of assimilation was enhanced with the more efficient injection of nanoprobes into individuals. Borg nanoprobes are injected into the bloodstream of a victim by a number of tubules (usually two) that spring forth from the top of the hand (or some other extremity) of a Borg drone. The nanoprobes, each about the size of a human red blood cell (RBC), travel through the victim's bloodstream to various tissues and locations throughout the body and latch onto individual cells. The nanoprobes rewrite the cellular DNA, altering the victim's biochemistry, and eventually form larger, higher structures and networks within the body such as electrical pathways, processing and data storage nodes, and ultimately prosthetic devices that spring forth from the skin.
Assimilation is the main way for The Borg to gain information about a new species, i.e. a species of which no individuals have been previously assimilated by The Borg. The Borg are less skilled in investigating; gaining information about species before they are assimilated (source: Episodes "Scorpion Part 1 & 2" from ST:VOY). Because assimilation depends on nanoprobes, species with an extremely advanced immune system such as Species 8472 are able to withstand assimilation.
Borg species identification
The Borg have encountered and assimilated thousands of species and (reportedly) trillions of lifeforms throughout the galaxy. The Borg identify species uniquely with a number assigned to them upon first contact.
The following is a list of species and their respective numbers, sorted in ascending order by number. Some species have been identified only by their Borg identification and do not have a "name".
| Species # | Species name | Episode of note |
|---|---|---|
| 116 | Arturis' species | "Hope and Fear" (VOY) |
| 125 | Unknown: Borg Queen's species | "Dark Frontier" |
| 149 | Unknown: mentioned by Seven of Nine on VOY: a species with advanced medical knowledge and nanoprobe technology, which the Borg use to reverse cellular necrosis | "Mortal Coil" |
| 180 | Ferengi | |
| 218 | Talaxians | "The Raven" |
| 259 | Unknown: omnichordial, transdimensional lifeforms from Galactic Cluster 3 | "The Gift" |
| 262 | Unknown: related to the omega molecule; primitive | "The Omega Directive" |
| 263 | Unknown: related to the omega molecule; primitive | "The Omega Directive" |
| 312 | Unknown: species with similar shielding technology that hid the Ventu | "Natural Law" |
| 329 | Kazon: considered unworthy of assimilation | "Mortal Coil" |
| 521 | Shivolians | "Survival Instinct" |
| 571 | Unknown (Wysanti?): species of Four of Nine, the younger male drone | "Survival Instinct" |
| 689 | Norcadians | "Ashes to Ashes" |
| 2461 | Brunali: Icheb's species | "Child's Play" |
| 3259 | Vulcans | "The Raven" |
| 4228 | Hazari | "Think Tank" |
| 5174 | Unknown: speculated as Hirogen | |
| 5618 | Humans | "Dark Frontier, Part 2" |
| 5973 | Unknown: mentioned as being non-corporeal by the Rebi | "The Haunting of Deck Twelve" |
| 6291 | Yridians | "Equinox, Part 1" |
| 6339 | Unknown: species invented anti-Borg virus | "Infinite Regress" |
| 6961 | Ktarians | |
| 8472 | Species 8472, fluidic space dwellers | "Scorpion" |
| 10026 | Unnamed; assimilated by the Borg in 2375 | "Dark Frontier, Part 1" |
Origin of the Borg
Over hundreds of centuries, the Borg have encountered and assimilated thousands of species. However, little information regarding the true origin of the Borg millennia ago has been divulged in Star Trek canon.
In the upcoming video game Star Trek: Legacy, there is a fairly involved history of the Borg that includes V'ger and the repair station from Dead Stop.
"Borg from V'ger" theory
It is speculated that there could be a connection between the Borg and V'ger, the vessel encountered in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (TMP); this is indicated in the Star Trek Encyclopedia and is advanced in William Shatner's novel, The Return. The two entities are similar in concept and philosophy:
- The Borg are born as wholly organic beings and are melded with hardware to become biomechanical hybrids. They somewhat idolize a totally artificial state, which allows the android Lore to conquer a group of them in "Descent" (TNG).
- V'ger is originally a machine – an interplanetary probe that was programmed to learn what it could about the universe – is significantly enhanced, and wants to see and touch its creator (a human) in order to fulfill its mission and evolve to a higher level of existence.
V'ger "melds" with two persons (Willard Decker and Ilia) and, in so doing, evolves. With reasonable conjecture, the Borg, a cybernetic organism – i.e., a fusion of person and machine – is born.
"V'ger from Borg" theory
The V'ger origin story could be reversed into a "V'ger from Borg" origin theory – V'ger could have been aided by Borg. A piece of supporting evidence can be found in the novelisation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture written by Gene Roddenberry. In the novel, the V'ger entity notes that the Ilia probe is resisting the programming given to it because of the residual memories and feelings for Decker. When V'ger becomes aware of this, it is aware that "the resistance was futile, of course", which is almost identical to the Borg phrase, "Resistance is futile".
William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens postulated a different base of operations for the Borg. They had the Borg "homeworld" as a planet totally converted into circuitry over millennia. The Borg Planet itself is the Queen/Hive Mind Center and it is lonely, and looking for another mind similar to itself. They also explain Borg "inconsistencies" as colonies out of direct contact with the Borg Planet, but still answering to the Hive Mind. The Borg home planet is eventually destroyed by Kirk.
Famous maxim
The classic Borg hail is as follows:
- "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
In the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the following hail is heard:
- "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours. Resistance is futile." The actor playing the role of "Voice of the Borg" in this film is Jeff Coopwood.
This saying bears a striking resemblance to the Cybermen expression: "Resistance is useless!" which was said on many occasions by them. Also in Doctor Who, the Cybermen's head leader, the Cybercontroller (equivalent to the Borg Queen) once stated to the Doctor, "To struggle is futile!" In the serial The Tomb of the Cybermen, the Cybercontroller says, "You belong to us. You will be like us." In the new series featuring the tenth Doctor, the Cybermen re-emerged as far more collective and martial, and are heard to state "You will become like us," and "You will be upgraded" (their term for conversion into Cybermen).
A Vogon guard in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also says "Resistance is useless!", but hardly with the same intentions as the Borg or the Cybercontroller.
Additionally, Locutus (assimilated Picard) was known to say (at the Battle of Wolf 359):
- "I am Locutus of Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. You will disarm all your weapons and escort us to Sector Zero-Zero-One. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."
And before the battle:
- "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been is over. From this time forward, you will service us."
The Borg in computer games
- Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
- Star Trek: Armada: The USS Premonition from the future tells the Enterprise that the Borg plan a new invasion and clone Locutus.
- Star Trek: Armada II: The Borg have set up a transwarp link between the Alpha and Delta quadrants and plan another invasion.
- Star Trek: Away Team
- Star Trek: Borg: An interactive movie in which the player, aided by Q, has to fend off the Borg invasion of a starship.
- Star Trek: Borg Assimilator
- Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force
- Star Trek Elite Force II
- Starfleet Command III
The Borg as a cultural allusion
The Borg were a concept born out of necessity for Star Trek to feature a new antagonist and the regular enemy that was lacking during the first season of The Next Generation, now that the Klingons were allies, and the Romulans mostly absent. Originally intended as the new enemy for the United Federation of Planets, the Ferengi failed to assert themselves as a convincing threat because of their comical, unintimidating appearance and devotion to capitalist accumulation or "free enterprise". They were subsequently reassigned the role of annoying but cute comic relief characters. A new military threat was thus needed to replace the Klingons and Romulans. The Borg, with their frightening appearance, immense power, and most importantly a no-nonsense, totally sinister motive became the signature villains for the TNG era of Star Trek. Its strongest definition is most probably the fearful Luddite prophecy – the vision that technology will eventually transform humanity into monsters.
In a literary sense, the Borg are highly similar to depictions of zombies in popular culture. Their pale complexion, slow yet steady advance, anhedonia, and ability to assimilate their enemies at a touch are all traits they have in common with the Hollywood zombie. Similarly, both show a lack of individuality, or any knowledge of their former lives (albeit with some exceptions).
The Borg are one of the more recognizable and popular Star Trek villains, which has made them icons in American popular culture even outside of Star Trek. Referring to a group of people as "borgs" or "borg" (maintaining the proper plural) means that they are completely given to conformity with one another. A single person who is slavishly conformist can also be called a "drone" or "borg".
Borg is also occasionally used as a slang verb, meaning to take over or absorb something.[citation needed] Example: "Steve borged (with a hard G) [or "assimilated"] my CD collection, making copies of almost every disc I own." In the context of roleplaying games, the verb "borg" is used to mean repeatedly going to the same location in the game world with the express purpose of killing monsters to accumulate experience points and/or money, usually even when the monsters/NPCs in question are of no significant threat to the character being played.[citation needed]
The website Slashdot, a popular online community which discusses various newsworthy technological stories, uses an icon depicting Bill Gates as a Borg for all stories relating to Microsoft.
Sometimes, someone is referred to as being 'of Borg', indicating they are aggressive in taking over something, e.g. "Microsoft of Borg." This is in reference to the Borg's famous maxim, "Resistance is futile".
Shortly after the introduction of the Pentium microprocessor, a floating-point arithmetic glitch was found which affected the accuracy of calculations, leading to the joke, "We are Pentium of Borg. Division is futile. You will be approximated."[citation needed]
The term 'bOrg' is satirically employed by ex-Jehovah's Witnesses to refer to the Jehovah's Witnesses organization in a negative way. The usage is derived from "bible Organization", and is used to imply a large degree of control of members by the organization.[citation needed] Similarly, the term 'morg' is used satirically by ex-Mormons to refer to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in much the same way.[citation needed]
See also
- Aparoids, a race of insect-like creatures that were the central antagonist of Star Fox: Assault that sought evolution through assimilation. This continues the Star Fox series' tradition of referencing other science fiction works.
- Berserker fiction written by Fred Saberhagen, beginning 1963; some of the protagonists closely resemble the Borg.
- Cybermen, a robotic race introduced in 1966 in the TV series Doctor Who. Many similarities have been noted between this race and the later Borg, including their incorporation of other species and use of the similar catchphrase "Resistance is useless".
- Perry Rhodan, a prolific literary fictional series originating from Germany in 1961, whose "Posbis" are similar to the Borg.
- Reavers, feral, insane humans gone mad at the edge of space from Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly. They are not cyborgs, but are similar juggernauts: ruthless, relentless, and feared. They also have massive piercings and mutilations that resemble cybernetic enhancements.
- Replicators, a race of self-replicating machines from Stargate SG-1. Like the Borg, they have become one of the most advance races in their universe by assimilating the technology of others.
- The Conjoiners, a race of cybernetic humans who share thoughts electronically and are dedicated to improving themselves through increasingly advanced technology. From Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series of novels.
- The Omar are a race of cyborgs in the computer game Deus Ex: Invisible War. They are very similar to the Borg. They assimilate humans into the Omar (though this is usually voluntary). The Omar are supposed to have a merged collective consciousness, though many Omar will refer to themselves as "I" instead of "We" like the Borg (For example, one Omar says "I am here for protection." This seems to show that the Omar still retain some individuality.).
- The Culture novels by Ian Banks mention assimilating life forms, also those that are gladly assimilated.
Further reading
- Patrick Thaddeus Jackson and Daniel H. Nexon, "Representation is Futile?: American Anti-Collectivism and the Borg" in Jutta Weldes, ed., To Seek Out New Worlds: Science Fiction and World Politics. 2003. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-29557-X. Pp. 143-167.
- Thomas A. Georges. Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values. Boulder: Westview. ISBN 0-8133-4057-8. p. 172. (The Borg as Big Business)
External links
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- Borg at Memory Alpha
- Borg documentary at the Star Trek website
- Borg article at the Star Trek website
- Source for many Borg images on the Ex Astris Scientia website
- Species Borg All Species' Borg numbers