Borg Queen

• 2401
• 2377
• 2373

Species:

Borg(formerlySpecies 125)

Affiliation:

Borg Collective

Occupation:

Queen of the Borg Collective

Status:

Deceased(2401)

Born:

Unknown

Died:

2401,Borg cube

Played by:

Alice Krige
Susanna Thompson
Annie Wersching
Garth Kemp (asThe Face)
Jane Edwina Seymour

TheBorg Queen was the name of the entity that existed within and served as the queen of theBorg Collective. An ancient being, the Queen has existed for many hundreds of years. (Star Trek: First Contact;PIC: "Surrender") In the event of her body's destruction, she would appear to be reincarnated with her personality and memories intact. (Star Trek: First Contact;VOY: "Dark Frontier", "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II", "Endgame")

Two decades after suffering catastrophic defeat at the hands ofAdmiral Janeway, the Borg Queen collaborated with a rogue faction ofChangelings to rebuild her collective and take revenge upon theFederation. Her final scheme was thwarted by her old enemy,Jean-Luc Picard, and she was killed once and for all by theUSSEnterprise-D, bringing an end to the threat of the Borg. (PIC: "Võx", "The Last Generation")

Quick Answers

Who are the actresses who portrayed the Borg Queen in Star Trek?

Alice Krige, Susanna Thompson, Annie Wersching, and Alison Pill have all portrayed the Borg Queen in various Star Trek series. Krige played the role in Star Trek: First Contact and several other episodes. Thompson took on the role in Star Trek: Voyager episodes. Wersching played the Borg Queen in Star Trek: Picard season 2, and Pill portrayed the character in Agnes Jurati's body.

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What is the significance of the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact?

In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen is the ancient leader of the Borg Collective, providing direction to the hive mind. She functions similarly to an insect queen, coordinating the drones. Despite her controversial introduction, due to the Borg's lack of a central villain, she became a focal point. If destroyed, she reincarnates with her memories and personality preserved.

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How does the Borg Queen maintain her personality and memories even after her body's destruction?

The Borg Queen, a blend of organic and synthetic components, retains her personality and memories through the Borg's hive mind. After her demise, she is replicated, though the exact process is unknown. Borg drones, capable of creating their own hive mind, can operate without a Queen. The Queen's organic face and torso, combined with a synthetic body, embody her view of perfection.

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How many Borg Queens have been portrayed in the Star Trek series?

In the Star Trek series, the Borg Queen has been represented by various actresses. Susanna Thompson portrayed the character in Star Trek: Voyager, while Annie Wersching and Jane Edwina Seymour took on the role in Star Trek: Picard Season 2 and 3, respectively. Alison Pill also played the Borg Queen, but in the body of Agnes Jurati.

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Is the Borg Queen considered a female Borg?

Indeed, the Borg Queen is recognized as a female Borg. She exhibits a ruthless character and emotional capacity, which distinguishes her from the Borg drones. Her unique role within the Borg Collective is marked by the use of psychological tactics and a sense of self-preservation.

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Role and personality[]

The Queen defined herself as: "I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg." As the queen of the Borg Collective and the lone individual within it, the Borg Queen provided direction and purpose for the hive mind. (Star Trek: First Contact;VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II", "Endgame";PIC: "Watcher", "Hide and Seek")

It was thought by FederationexobiologistErin Hansen that the Borg Queen functioned like the queen of an insect hive, to coordinate the drones. Evidence of this was later seen when the Queen countermanded the Collective's judgment about assimilatingVoyager in2378. While the Collective felt that assimilation was warranted, the Borg Queen countermanded them and justified the decision due to the fact thatVoyager didn't compromise their security. (VOY: "Endgame")

The Queen, while providing coordination for the drones she commanded, also provided other functions such as regulation of the Collective'stranswarp hubs andinterspatial manifolds. She effectively brought "order to chaos" for all things. (VOY: "Endgame")

According toSeven of Nine, "The Borg Queen has a kind of trans-temporal awareness. It bridges into adjacent times, realities. They hear echoes of themselves, of— of each other." (PIC: "Penance")

The death of the Borg Queen, while traumatic to drones in the immediate vicinity, did not seem to permanently affect the Collective or itshive mind as a whole. The Queen was subsequently replicated after each death, although the exact mechanism of her reincarnations remains unclear. Borg drones were capable of functioning without a Queen for any length of time by forming a Hive mind of their own. (Star Trek: First Contact;VOY: "Unity", "Dark Frontier")

In accordance with the Borg pursuit of perfection, a blending of the organic and synthetic, very little of her original humanoid form remained. Her face and upper torso were organic while the rest of her body, including herskull andspinal cord, weresynthetic. Because of her disembodiment she saw herself as the epitome of perfection. The Queen had her own chambers within the BorgUnicomplex from which she could oversee and control the Borg via thecommand interface. Whether she had her own ship or not is unknown, but she used differentBorg vessels to travel, such as aBorg cube,sphere, oroctahedron. When her physical presence was not necessary, her organic head above her chamber while her synthetic torso was stored below it, under the floor. If she desired, the two could be combined, creating a humanoid form for herself.

Where her drones showed noemotions, the Queen herself did. She was ruthless, vindictive, petty, and selfish. She would do anything to expand the Borg Collective, employing psychological tactics like extortion, manipulation, plain intimidation or even seduction to further her goals. The Queen placed her own self-preservation over that of the Collective, cannibalizing the bodies of her last remaining drones to keep herself alive after the collapse of the hive. On a personal level, she consideredSeven of Nine her favorite drone, because the Queen considered her to be unique. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Dark Frontier")

Despite being one with the minds of billions, the Queen felt a sense of profound isolation and loneliness. Her inexorable drive to assimilate was partially motivated by a desire for connection. With millions of species not enough to sate her, she attempted to fill this void by grooming potential counterparts that were more than mere drones.Jean-Luc Picard,Data,Seven of Nine, andAgnes Jurati were all such candidates. (Star Trek: First Contact;VOY: "Dark Frontier";PIC: "Hide and Seek")

Following the decimation of the Borg Collective, the Borg Queen succumbed to desperation andinsanity from the isolation she endured. Nevertheless, she retained her intellect and tactical mind, working with the rogueChangelings from behind the scenes to execute her plans for a Borg resurgence. (PIC: "Võx", "The Last Generation")

History[]

Origin[]

The Borg Queen (or perhaps merely one of her bodies) was assimilated to the Collective fromSpecies 125 around the age of 7-8, along with her parents, and was already active in the Delta Quadrant in2354. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")

Attacks on Earth[]

The existence of the Borg Queen was documented sometime prior to2365 by theexobiologists Erin andMagnus Hansen. However, because the Hansens were assimilated, their discovery never reached theFederation. (VOY: "The Raven")

It was not until2373, that theFederation became aware of her when the FederationstarshipUSSEnterprise-E prevented the assimilation ofEarth. This was the second attempt by the Borg, also known as theBattle of Sector 001. The Borg Queen, along with a contingent of drones, traveled back to Earth's past to preventFirst Contact, and by doing so, hoped to be able to assimilate Earth.

During this conflict, while CaptainJean-Luc Picard was trying to destroy the Borg, the Queen claimed to have been present during theBattle of Wolf 359, and even admitted thatLocutus of Borg – the assimilated Picard – was intended to be a singular intelligence – a counterpart that was intended to ease the burden of loneliness. However, when Picard continued to resist, even when he could not control Locutus' body, she was regretfully forced to turn him into the form in which Starfleet encountered him—a glorified drone. Whether or not she physically took part in the Battle of Wolf 359 was unknown.

Picard andData killed the Borg Queen after she tried to persuade Data to give her the encryption code by which he had locked theEnterprise'scomputer. She ordered Data to destroy thePhoenix spaceship with quantum torpedoes, and taunted Picard that she would rule Earth without Humans or the Federation in it, when the torpedoes missed. Data told her, "Resistance is futile!" and vented thewarp coreplasma coolant, which destroyed her organic parts. Picard then broke her cybernetic spinal cord, which ensured that she could no longer function. (Star Trek: First Contact)

In2399, Picard mentally recalled the image of the Borg Queen and Locutus while aboardThe Artifact. (PIC: "The Impossible Box")

As of2401, the remains of this incarnation of the Queen were stored atDaystrom Station. (PIC: "The Bounty")

Conflicts withVoyager[]

Starfleet's second documented encounter with the Borg Queen was in2375 in theDelta Quadrant. Here, the lost Federation starship USSVoyager, tried to rescue the former Borg Drone, Seven of Nine, who was then part ofVoyager's crew, when the plan to steal atranswarp coil from aBorg sphere did not work out as planned. The Queen also revealed that Seven of Nine was not really freed byVoyager from the Collective, but was allowed to leave by the Borg. During this encounter, the Borg Queen hoped to assimilate Seven of Nine again, who experienced life as an individual for two years, and by doing so, add to her own perfection. However, Seven rejected the Queen and fled with a rescue mission sent byVoyager in theDelta Flyer. The Borg Queen's octahedron was sent by the Queen to intercept theshuttle, but it was destroyed in the attempt. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")

The Borg Queen was one of several real people who was adapted into a character inKelis' play, based on descriptions fromB'Elanna Torres. (VOY: "Muse")

In2376 and2377, the Borg Queen was again encountered byVoyager. This time the Queen wanted to destroyUnimatrix Zero, a virtual world that was populated by regenerating Borg with a genetic mutation. This world was discovered by Seven of Nine and posed a threat to the Borg. DuringVoyager's efforts to rescue this virtual world, the Borg Queen demonstrated her powers by destroying a Borg sphere because she could no longer "hear" only one drone. When ananovirus was released to prevent the detection ofUnimatrix Zero, the Queen destroyed several Borg vessels, and killed 75,000 Borg Drones in the process, in the hope of persuading the captured Captain Janeway to give her the antidote. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")

The last encounter betweenVoyager and the Borg Queen was in2378.Voyager accidentally discovered a Borgtranswarp hub within anebula and were helped byAdmiral Kathryn Janeway, who came from analternate timeline aroundtwenty-six years in the future, to use theBorg transwarp network to get back to theAlpha Quadrant. Because the Borg guarded their transwarp hub closely, Admiral Janeway devised a plan by which she would infect the Borg Queen with aneurolytic pathogen and in doing so make her lose control over theforce fields which protected the interspatial manifolds. When the admiral was captured by the Borg, near theUnicomplex, she was assimilated by the Borg Queen herself. Soon after, the Queen began to lose control over her drones.

The pathogen even made her lose control over her own synthetic parts, as her body literally fell apart. Her death caused the destruction of the Unicomplex and despite her efforts,Voyager reached Earth safely. The Borg sphere that was sent after them by the Queen was destroyed byVoyager'stransphasic torpedoes, which were given to them by Admiral Janeway from the future. (VOY: "Endgame")

Alliance with the Changelings[]

Despite the peace brokered between Jurati's Borg and Starfleet, the original Collective remained hostile, and set in motion a plan to assimilate Starfleet from within. The Collective had slowly dwindled following theneurolytic pathogen infection from Admiral Janeway. The Queen managed to survive by cannibalizing parts of her drones, though without the ability to assimilate new drones into the Collective, the Queen was eventually left alone as her drones died of starvation and old age which apparently drove her insane.

As those voices fell silent, the Queen began to hear a new voice - that ofJack Crusher, the son of Jean-Luc Picard and carrier of a transmitter protein inherited from his father's Borg-altered DNA. She realized that the future of the Borg no longer lay in assimilation, but in evolution, propagation, and the annihilation of all other life forms in the galaxy. Over the years, the Queen communicated with Jack, intending to lure him to her. Jack believed the voice was that of his mother.

In order to enact her plan, the Borg Queen made a deal with rogueChangelings, led byVadic sometime leading up to2401. The Changelings, who were vengeful themselves for what had happened to them in theDominion War, agreed to help by stealing Jean-Luc Picard's body fromDaystrom Station in order to extract his Borg DNA and spread it through Starfleet's transporter system as common biology. They would also hunt Jack Crusher with the intent of bringing him to the Borg Queen. (PIC: "The Last Generation")

She communicated with Vadic via Vadic's severedhand, with which the Borg Queen formed asimulacrum of a face in mid-air.

Vadic reported that theUSSTitan-A, carrying their "asset"Jack Crusher, had fallen into thegravity well at the center of theRyton Nebula, where her ship theShrike could not follow due to itsportal weapon. The Borg Queen ordered Vadic to pursue regardless, stating that everything, including her and her crew, was expendable. (PIC: "No Win Scenario")

After capturing and interrogatingWilliam T. Riker andDeanna Troi but failing to gain any information, Vadic contacted the Borg Queen again to report that they would not break. The Borg Queen demanded that she try harder to break them, and noted that Vadic's physiology was not as special or complex as she believed. She stated that the Changelings' nature was to be malleable, while the enemy's kind were "beholden to a singular flesh." The Borg Queen then reiterated that Starfleet's fallure was near and she needed Jack Crusher, but warned that should Vadic fail, the Changelings' existence would become "meaningless." (PIC: "Dominion")

After Jack became aware of his true nature, he sought out the Borg Queen, with the intention of killing her. Arriving aboard hermakeshift mega-cube in the atmosphere ofJupiter, the Queen welcomed Jack, telling him that she had "thought of so many names" for him – "Regenerati. Peur Dei." Jack rejected these names, and the Borg Queen responded that he was Võx, not Locutus, "the one that speaks". Jack was "the voice itself". Boarding the cube to confront her, Jack raised his phaser but was unable to kill the Borg Queen, who mocked him for his inability. She then assimilated Jack and used him to broadcast a signal to all affected Starfleet personnel, triggering the last stage of their assimilation. (PIC: "Võx")

The crew of theUSSEnterprise-D tracked a Borg signal to Jupiter. Picard,William T. Riker andWorf beamed aboard the Borg vessel to find both Jack and the origin of the signal. Picard separated from Riker and Worf to find Jack, who had already been transformed completely intoVõx.

Picard's confrontation with the Queen escalated until Picard reconnected with Jack and convinced Jack to reject the Borg. TheEnterprise flew in overhead, and was able to beam them to safety as the Cube exploded from theEnterprise's attack, killing the Queen and ending the Collective once and for all.

Following the Borg Queen's death and the destruction of her Cube, the signal to Starfleet was cut ending the Borg control over it.AdmiralBeverly Crusher was subsequently able to find a way to remove the Borg DNA from everyone, ending the Borg Queen's plan permanently. (PIC: "The Last Generation")

Alternate timeline[]

In2401, an atypical version of the Borg Queen beckonedJean-Luc Picard to a region ofspace, where she expressed a desire to join the Federation. After it seemingly appeared to take over the USSStargazer, Picard destroyed the ship, rather than to allow it to be assimilated.

Following the destruction of theStargazer, Picard and other members of theStargazer crew found themselves in analternate timeline, created through the intervention ofQ.Xenophobic Humans dominated parts of the galaxy, and even managed to defeat the Borg; their immobilized Queen was held by theConfederation of Earth. This Borg Queen, who possessed an awareness of the split in the timeline, was set to be executed by Picard. With her species having been wiped out in this timeline, the Borg Queen agreed to help Picard and his crew travel back in time and correct the timeline.

Though killed by a shotgun blast from Jurati, after arriving in2024, this Queen had managed to assimilate Dr.Agnes Jurati and live on through Jurati. (PIC: "The Star Gazer", "Penance", "Mercy", "Farewell")

• See:Agnes Jurati, Borg Queen

Hologram[]

Ahologram of theBorg Queen appeared inStarfleet'sBorg Encounterholographictraining drill, in use by2381. In thesimulation, it was possible for the user to beat the Queen atchess and teach herempathy to improve their score. (LD: "I, Excretus")

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

The Borg Queen wasplayed byAlice Krige inStar Trek: First Contact,VOY: "Endgame",PIC: "Võx", "The Last Generation" (voice only) and (as aholographic duplicate)LD: "I, Excretus". The character was played bySusanna Thompson in theStar Trek: Voyager episodes "Dark Frontier", "Unimatrix Zero", and "Unimatrix Zero, Part II". InStar Trek: Picardseason 2, the Borg Queen was played byAnnie Wersching. The Borg Queen's Changeling simulacrum, identified in end credits as "The Face", was voiced byGarth Kemp. The body of the Queen in season 3 ofPicard was portrayed byJane Edwina Seymour, credited as "Borg QueenBody Double".

In an early design meeting for the Borg Queen, the movieCaptain EO was mentioned, regardingAnjelica Huston's performance as a villainous woman who lived in the ceiling and would descend on cables.[1]

The appearance of the Borg Queen inFirst Contact was a controversial one in theStar Trek universe. Though the Borg provided for a threatening and intriguing alien enemy, their lack of a single villain presented a challenge for the writers. To counter this, and to expand some on the original notion of the Borg as an insect-hive type of race, they created the Borg Queen as a focal point for their story. WriterBrannon Braga has stated in this respect, "I think some people liked the Borg Queen and some didn't, but to us the Borg Queen was the thing that made it all work. We realized very quickly that the Borg aren't that interesting for a feature film for two hours because they don't say anything. They're robot zombies. So, to me, the Borg Queen was the coolest new thing about that movie."[2]

Later inFirst Contact, when asked by Picard how she had survived when the cube that was sent to Earth in2367 was destroyed, the Queen only replied that Picard had become small, and thought in three-dimensional terms.

Alice Krige purposely limited the ways in which she prepared for "Endgame", reviewing neither her own work onFirst Contact nor any of Susanna Thompson's portrayal of the same character. This choice was not motivated out of any sort of disrespect for Thompson, and had nothing at all to do with the actress. (Star Trek Magazine issue 169, p. 52;[3]) Krige speculated, "Whoever had played the role, I would have made the same decision."[4] Explaining why she made the choice, Krige conceded, "I thought to see someone else's performance would throw me off course. It was already going to be fairly different because it was the Borg Queen with two females, as opposed to the Borg Queen with two males [...] I just felt it wouldn't help the process." (Star Trek Magazine issue 169, p. 52) She also related, "I didn't want something in my head, in my imagination. I needed my performance to happen in the moment."[5] Krige did, however, request to receive and read all theVoyager scripts featuring the Borg Queen, including the new teleplay for "Endgame". She indeed read the scripts, despite not watching any of the episodes. (Star Trek Magazine issue 169, p. 52;[6])

In 2002, the Borg Queen was placed second inTV Zone's list of the top twenty science fiction television villains.Dukat was fourth,Weyoun was eighth,Q was eleventh, andSeska was nineteenth.^{(citation needed •edit)}In an early version of the script ofStar Trek: First Contact (a script very different from the movie),Geordi La Forge tells Data that he is sending the Borg Queen's remains to theDaystrom Institute for study.[7]

When asked whether the Queen was a "virtual entity; thepersonification of the collective", Braga's writing partner,Ronald D. Moore, said, "This was not the intention. We saw her as a literal person." (AOL chat,1997)

According toJudith andGarfield Reeves-Stevens, they pitched a story for an episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise where Alice Krige would play a Starfleet medical technician who made contact with the Borg from "Regeneration". The encounter would have been the birth of the Borg Queen.[8]

An undersuit that was worn by Krige inFirst Contact was sold off aslot 9677^(X) in theIt's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.

The Borg Queen,Dimitri Valtane,Lojur,AdmiralHayes,B-4, and thepunk on the bus are the only characters to debut in aStar Trek film before appearing in aStar Trek television series.

Apocrypha[]

According to thePocket VOY novel,The Farther Shore published after the television series concluded, a Borg Queen could be replaced in mere seconds by using the Royal Protocol. Seven of Nine was specifically mentioned in the Royal Protocol and was most likely to become the next Queen.

ThePocket TNG novelResistance showed the creation of another Queen, who was destroyed by the crew of theEnterprise-E. Subsequently, in the Pocket TNG novelBefore Dishonor, Admiral Janeway was assimilated by the Borg and became a Queen who was eventually defeated by Seven of Nine.

In theStar Trek: Destiny trilogy, a newly installed Queen oversaw a massive Borg invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. It was later revealed that the Borg Queen was merely an avatar for the true power behind the Collective. TheDestiny trilogy also mentioned that multiple Queens have been known to exist simultaneously in the Collective, but they all possessed the same agenda.

One theory regarding the creation of a Queen is that "queens" are members of a specific race, one that was chosen because its females exhibited superior higher-order brain processing-speed, and were therefore assimilated and bred for that purpose. (Star Trek: Elite Force II;Star Trek: Legacy)

The extra section of the gameStar Trek: Legacy contained the "Origin of the Borg", which told the story ofV'ger being sucked into a black hole.V'ger was found by a race of living machines which gave it a form suitable to fulfilling its simplistic programming. Unable to determine who its creator could be, the probe declared all carbon-based life an infestation of the creator's universe, leading to assimilation. From this, the Borg were created, as extensions ofV'ger's purpose. Drones were made from those assimilated and merged into a collective consciousness. The Borg Queen was created out of the necessity for a single unifying voice. However, with thoughts and desires of her own, she was no longer bound to serveV'ger. This explanation, however, was not canon.

InStar Trek Online, a new Borg Queen ofRomulan origins had emerged before 2409 and led the Collective in an invasion of the Alpha andBeta Quadrants, her main targets being the Federation and theKlingon Empire.

According to "Shinsei Shinsei", the Borg Queen's name was Danzek.

In the miniseriesThe Q Conflict, as part of a contest between various omnipotent beings organised byQ,Trelane challenges the four competing crews to capture a Borg Queen for his menagerie. After being transported to a unimatrix, the Queen is captured by a team consisting of Captain Picard,Spock,Odo andSeven of Nine.

The Borg Queen appears as a boss inStar Trek: Voyager - The Arcade Game.

Borg Invasion 4D[]

Krige filming herblue screen scenes as the Borg Queen in her disassembled state (l), as ultimately featured in the film

In 2004, the Borg Queen made a re-entry onto the big screen when theBorg Invasion 4D-ride premiered at theStar Trek: The Experience, an interactiveattraction that incorporated live-action stage performance and animation, in which the visitors had a limited part themselves, within a 3D cinema environment. The movie for the attraction was mostly produced by the veteranStar Trek production team on the studio's own premises.

The storyline, set after the events depicted in "Endgame" entailed yet another incursion into Federation space by a Borg cube, attackingCopernicus Station and capturing a shuttle with its occupants (the attraction visitors), who were trying to escape from the overrun space station. While the captured crew was being prepared for assimilation, the Queen made a dramatic entrance and, true to form, begins lecturing about the perfection of the Borg Collective and demanded the surrender of the group's inhibitions and instructed them to join the hive mind. When all seemed lost and much to the dismay of the Queen, Admiral Janeway came to the rescue, by flying USSVoyager straight into the cube, destroying the tractor beam that held the shuttle, enabling it to escape, in the process inflicting critical damage to the cube, which subsequently blew up. Again true to form, the Queen made her escape, but not before exclaiming, "Savor your victory! We will meet again!"

For the film portion of the ride, some of the original, formerVoyager cast reprised their respective roles, including Alice Krige as the Queen. Many of the Borg featured in the film (as opposed to the attraction live crew performing as such), were played by performers who had already done so forFirst Contact (or for the respectiveVoyager television episodes); "It was a most joyful reunion," Krige declared tongue-in-cheek. When presented with the first 3D footage of her close-up scenes, Krige admitted to being flabbergasted by her own, literal in-your-face performance. (VOY Season 7 DVD-special feature, "The Making of Borg Invasion 4D") While an officialStar Trek franchise production, events depicted in the film are, as usual for these kind of productions, not consideredcanon, and treated as apocrypha.

External links[]

• Borg Queen atMemory Beta, the wiki for licensedStar Trek works
• Borg Queen attheStar Trek Online Wiki
• Borg Queen atWikipedia