The Borg have become one of Star Trek's most well-known and terrifying villains, but the cybernetic drones could have been very different. Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 16, "Q Who," the Borg became an immediate dire threat to the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. When Q (John de Lancie) flung the Starship Enterprise across the galaxy into Borg space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) attempted to reason with the drones that attacked his ship. Not only did the Borg completely ignore Picard, but they also proved incredibly adaptable, thwarting every attack the Enterprise threw at them.
The Borg would go on to appear in over fifty episodes of Star Trek and serve as the primary antagonists in one of the franchise's most successful films, Star Trek: First Contact. Captain Picard faced the Borg on numerous occasions, as did Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) when she encountered them in the unexplored Delta Quadrant. The Borg consisted of a massive collective of drones all operating with one hive mind, overseen by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). This sounds reminiscent of a bee hive, which makes sense considering the Borg were originally conceived as a race of insectoids.
Star Trek's Plan For Insect Borg Would've Made The Villains Much Less Chilling
The Borg Are Terrifying Because They Used To Be Human
Initially, Star Trek: The Next Generation's producers imagined the Borg as insectoids, but this proved too costly for production. The end result of humanoid drones kept some elements of the insect mentality, ultimately making the Borg more frightening. The Borg assimilate everything and everyone in their path, repeating "resistance is futile" when anyone tries to stop them. They cannot be reasoned with, and even if someone does manage to kill one, it will quickly be replaced by another. While all of this would have been scary in insect form, it removes the most terrifying aspect of the Borg.
The Borg are scary because they strip away everything that makes people who they are, turning them into mindless drones with no control over their own actions. Later Star Trek Borg episodes prove that assimilated Borg drones could be rehabilitated, which makes them even more frightening, in a way. Even after being assimilated, the victim remains alive, their mind trapped somewhere inside them. The Borg are a dark reflection of humanity, relentlessly consuming everything they can with no regard for the feelings of others. This element of the Borg would have been lost if they had simply been creepy metal bugs.
Star Trek: The Next Generation's Best Story Couldn't Have Happened With Insect Borg
Picard's Assimilation Story Would Not Have Worked
While insectoid Borg may have still assimilated humans in some way, they presumably would not have turned them into Borg drones. This means one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's best stories, "The Best of Both Worlds," could never have happened. In its third season, TNG finally began to hit its stride, producing some truly iconic and classic episodes. TNG season 3 ended with a bang, as Captain Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg. With Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in command of the USS Enterprise-D, Picard became the mouthpiece of the Borg, Locutus.
About 10 years after Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the Borg, Stargate SG-1 created an insectoid race of highly advanced machines known as Replicators, who consumed all available resources around them to replicate themselves.
Picard's experience as Locutus had a profound effect on him and continues to influence Star Trek stories even today. Not only did Star Trek: First Contact revisit Picard's assimilation, but Star Trek: Picard also forced Jean-Luc to confront his time as Locutus. While fans will never know what kinds of stories insectoid Borg would have produced, several of Star Trek's most memorable stories and characters would have been drastically different. Even 34 years later, Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Best of Both Worlds" remains one of the franchise's finest stories, and it might not have happened if the Borg had been bugs.
