Ever since their debut in Star Trek, the fearsome Borg, and their origins, have been one of the biggest mysteries of the franchise. Making their first appearance in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg began as a warning from the omnipotent Q, but they quickly blossomed into full-fledged villains in their own right. Intent on assimilating all life in the galaxy, the Borg have gone to great lengths to assert their dominance in all four quadrants of the Star Trek universe. Even their infamous "resistance is futile" catchphrase has been enough to strike fear in the hearts of Starfleet crews for decades.
First seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 16, "Q Who," the Borg were given a taste of the assimilation fodder in the Alpha Quadrant and spent several years traveling across the galaxy to find it. Every Star Trek: The Next Generation Borg episode portrayed the cybernetic villains as the ultimate evil, and they continued to vex other species into the 25th century in shows like Star Trek: Picard. Despite all their appearances across the franchise, many details of the Borg remain unexplained, and their beginnings are especially mysterious. Aside from their unquenchable thirst for biological diversity, the Borg's vagueness has made them all the more harrowing.
The Exact Origin Of The Borg Are Unknown
While they originated from the Delta Quadrant, the actual history of the species known as the Borg was quite spotty in Star Trek canon. During the events of 1996's Star Trek: First Contact the Borg Queen mentioned that the species started as normal sentient life but had eventually adapted using cybernetic technology. Every time Picard's Enterprise beat the Borg they only learned a little of the species, but Star Trek: Voyager revealed that the Borg had already begun assimilating other life by the Earth year 1400. Thousands of years ahead of human development, the Borg represented the frightening conclusion of a technology-based society.
The First Human Was Assimilated In 2350
Unbeknownst to Starfleet at the time, the first human assimilation by the Borg actually occurred years before Captain Picard made first contact with them in 2365. As shown in Star Trek: Voyager, rogue Federation scientists Erin and Magnus Hansen entered Romulan space in order to study the Borg. Though the Borg were only thought to be a rumor in the late 2340s, the Hansen family staked their professional reputation on finding them. They eventually made contact with a Borg vessel and were transported to the Delta Quadrant of Star Trek's galaxy. They brought along their daughter, Annika, and the entire family would be assimilated with Annika becoming Seven of Nine.
The Borg's timeline was eventually complicated by the Borg's own temporal incursions, which actually deposited them throughout different times in Earth history. Their first and most dangerous incursion came during the events of Star Trek: First Contact when Borg drones were sent back to the year 2063 to assimilate humanity in the distant past. Though they failed in their mission, their exploits left debris in the past that would later be discovered in the year 2153 during Star Trek: Enterprise season 2, episode 23, "Regeneration." Paradoxes notwithstanding, the Borg have proven their origins in Star Trek have always been flexible.