The original Star Trek Borg design was so much worse than the iconic villains we have

The city has become one of Star Treks most famous 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 threat to the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. When Q (John de Lancie) flies the starship Enterprise across the galaxy in Borg space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) tries to deal 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 had against 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 many 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 team of drones all operating with one hive mind, overseen by the Borg Queen (Alice Kriege). This sounds reminiscent of a bee hive, which makes sense considering the Borg were originally conceived as a race of insectoids.

Star Trek’s design for Insect Borg would have made the villains much less chilling

The Borg are terrifying because they used to be human

initially, Star Trek: The Next GenerationIts producers imagined the Borg as insecticides, but this proved too expensive for production. The end result of humanoid drones kept some elements of the insect psychology, ultimately making the castle more terrifying. 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 manages to kill one, it will quickly be replaced by another. While all this would have been scary in insect form, it removes the most terrifying aspect of the castle.

The Borg are scary because they take 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 can be rehabilitated, which makes them even more terrifying, in a way. Even after being assimilated, the victim remains alive, their mind trapped somewhere within them. The castles 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 were simply creepy metal bugs.

Star Trek: The Next Generation’s best story doesn’t happen with Insect Borg

Picard’s assimilation story wouldn’t have worked

While insectoid Borg may still assimilate humans in some way, they presumably would not have turned them into Borg drones. This means one of Star Trek: The Next Generation best stories, “The best of both worlds,” can never happen. In his third season, TNG Finally started 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 Borg’s mouthpiece, Locutus.

Picard’s experience as Locutus had a profound effect on him and continues to affect him Star Trek Stories even today. Not only Star Trek: First Contact Revise Picard’s assimilation, however Star Trek: Picard Also forcing Jean-Luc to confront his time as Locutus. Although fans will never know what kind of stories Insectoid Borg would have produced, some of Star Trek The most memorable stories and characters would have been drastically different. Even 34 years later, Star Trek: The Next Generation “The Best of Both Worlds” remains one of the franchise’s finest stories, and it might not have happened if Borg had been bugged.