What were the Borg before they became the
Borg? How did they become the Borg? I
mean, a whole species of cyborgs with a
hive mind just doesn’t occur naturally
over night.
Has this ever been explained on Star Trek?
It hasn’t been explained explicitly, but I think you can infer it. At one point, some species began augmenting its members’ bodies with cybernetic parts. Eventually a device was installed that connected the minds of that species, turning them into a hive mind. From that point on, they began adding new members to the collective mind by forcibly implanting these cybernetic parts into other species. When you become a member of the Borg, all your memories and technology become available to the whole, which explains their very advanced technological base.
As you know, every species found by the Borg has a number designation. (I think humans are in the 5000’s.)
The lowest number I remember hearing is #125, which was the species of the Borg Queen seen on the “Dark Frontiers” episode of Voyager.
I think the ST people are wont to keep the origins of the Borg shrouded, perhaps to be reveiled in an upcoming movie or any follow-up series.
You must unlearn what you have learned. – Yoda
Rumor has it that the historically the Borg originated on earth, from a certain software company in Redmond, Washington.
“Linux is futile. You will be assimilated. Your operating system distinctiveness will be added to Windows 2000.”
Remember the first movie? The Motionless Picture? V’ger returned from a machine civilization, and eventually merged with Decker.
Now, what if, before they took off to whereever Energy Beings go (the Q continuum?) they swung past the Machine Planet one last time. The Mechanos would see the advantages of a merging of organic and mechanical life.
With typical precision (and a chrono-synclastic infundibula) they started the Borg ten thousand years ago. This, of course, removed the first movie from the time-line of the rest of the series, and caused manny graduate papers on Temporal Flux Loops.
Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
Projector Emeritus, Grand Academy of Lagado
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”
But seriously, folks:
I have a theory about how the Borg got started. Remember the Voyager episode where Chakotay got plugged into a miniature collective by some ex-Borg? His reaction to being directly connected to these other minds was that it was extremely pleasant.
One could even say it was … addictive.
Perhaps the original Borg species got caught up in its addiction to having every mind connected to every other mind. Unfortunately, part of the thrill of this collective mind is experiencing new memories and feelings through someone else’s eyes. If everyone in your species is plugged into the collective, no one gets to experience anything new, and the “drug” wears off. And then, as with addiction to anything else, you’re going to want to go and get more of your “drug”. Somehow. Anyhow. Even if that means plugging fresh, new people into your collective against their will.
The Borg are essentially a roving pack of junkies out to get their fix.
In “First Contact” the female head said to Data, “I am the beginning”…to which Data replies “That is a contradiction in terms, the Borg are a collective there is no indiviuality”…then she says something about being in charge. They were at the Delta sector when human were learning space flight so they had plenty of time to advance in technology before meeting the humans.
<<pretending I know where the Delta sector is>>
“Good, bad, I’m the guy with the gun.”
I like tracer’s idea… when were we going to get those Internet implants again? 
As much as I love Star Trek (and the Borg), I have to say that a lot of the Borg’s potential is wasted. You could get REALLY psychotic Borg just by using a non-humanoid creature as a drone. And I think the Borg would have more than just a couple types of ships out there (the previews for the season finale of Voyager show a sort of sexta-ship, or whatever… and I think I saw REALLY small, triangular ships… fighters, perhaps?).
Is there a caste of upper-class Borg off in the farthest reaches of the galaxy that still have their individuality and use the rest as slaves (anyone read “Brave New World”?).
What I think would make a good plot for a movie would deal with Voyager… Voyager’s return to Earth, prompting the Borg to launch a final, all-out assault on Earth (instead of just a single cube). This would force the Federation to kill all the Borg (there was a ST:TNG episode… the one with Hugh, I think… where Geordi found a way to kill all Borg instantly… but they decided not to implement it since that would be extremely monstrous).
Anyway… my point is, the Borg have a lot of wasted potential. Since next season will be Voyager’s last, maybe that can create a Star Trek: Borg Hunter series? Sounds lame but hey… DS9 and Voyager sounded lame before they went on the air, too.
Okay, I’ve babbled enough… SPOOFE out.
-SPOOFE
What about that space squid that attacked the Borg on TNG?
I never did see that episode. Did the squid kick some Borg booty?
SPOOFE’s idea
sounds an awful lot like the plot of Ender’s Game. SPOOFE, you should read it if you haven’t already.
The space squid were the bioships of species 8742. Voyager encountered 8472 on the perimeter of Borg space and were able to develop Borg nanotechnology to destroy the creatures. Janeway traded that information for safe passage across Borg space. That’s when Voyager picked up Seven.
How’s she cuttin’?
Oops sorry, thought this was Brogue questions.
PeeQueue
According to a recent C&ENews, NASA is working on nanotechnology now. Gee, thanks, guys. As soon as I saw that I thought, well, now we know where the borg will come from.
Also, supposedly the next generation (or the next after that) of robots will be self-replicating, with the ability to “evolve” by deciding how they need to change. That was in another American Chemical Society publication.
Why are the Borg depicted as being really slow and ponderous? Did they assimilate some massive species of snail or slug, adding its distinctive speed of movement to their own?
“It seemed like a good idea at the time…
…but then again, so did the atomic bomb.” -Charles Sismondo
OK, I was never all that comfortable with this being in GQ in the first place, and now it’s moved far enough afield that I’m moving it to MPSIMS.