6. The Borg In Voyager
The Borg were a terrifying antagonist in The Next Generation. If Star Trek was all about the human spirit and exploring its possibilities to do good, then The Borg represented the polar opposite of that. They came and striped you off your identity and turned you into a drone. You didnt think for yourself anymore, you only worked for the good of the collective. Once a drone, your existence has no purpose other than to ensure the collective continues to grow by absorbing other species that it sees as a threat or having technology that it can add to its own. On top of that, they were hard-as-nails if you were unfortunate enough to face them in combat. One Borg Cube tested the Enterprise crew to the limit in the classic Next Generation episode Best Of Both Worlds and it decimated a fleet of starships in the battle at Wolf 359. With the Borg originating in the Delta Quadrant, it was a forgone conclusion that the USS Voyager was going to run into them at some point. It was an anticipated event that fans were waiting for since Star Trek Voyager was first announced. Since the inclusion of the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg lost some of the menace they had. No longer were they a wall of force you would struggle to negotiate with, but instead they rallied behind a Borg Queen. A Queen that fitted the standard villain mould. In Star Trek: Voyager, The Borg were diluted even further. For starters the Queen was present a lot more and humanised even further. She acted more on her personal emotions and her motivations became mostly one of revenge. No longer were the Borg something to fear, now they were just another species that could be negotiated and bargained with if you had something they needed. The introduction of Seven Of Nine - the Borg drone who rediscovered her humanity - showed that assimilation was not the end of the line as first thought, you had a way back. This was further highlighted by the collection of ex-Borg children that joined the series in the sixth season. The Borg were one of Star Treks most memorable villains, the mere mention of their name made the viewer sit up and pay attention. Star Trek: Voyager should have exploited that and used them sensibly and sparingly. Instead they almost became the weekly villain and anything that was interesting about them was wasted.