Okay, we all know that the Borg are out to assimilate all intelligent life and conquer the universe, but in the Voyager episode "Mortal Coil" Seven of Nine mentions that the Borg once encountered a Kazon ship but didn't bother assimilating it or even destroying it. So I wonder, just what are the requirements for Borg candidacy? Superior genetics? Advanced technology? Obviously, but what about specifics? What kind of tech? What kind of biological standards? Also, the Borg all seem to be humanoid in the shows, but that's most likely due to low budgets and lack of decent CGI, or whatever. In all likelihood, the Borg would probably assimilate anything as long as it was intelligent or had some kind of unique genetic ability, having two arms, two legs and one head shouldn't matter much. So my question is this: What species would the Borg target and why? And not just other Star Trek races, but what if they encountered aliens from outside the Star Trek universe? Such as the Taelons from Earth: Final Conflict? The Scarrans from Farscape? Or heck, the Time Lords from Doctor Who? Discuss!
They didn't want the Kazon because they offer nothing to advance the collective. At best they would simply be extra drones, not worth the time and effort. The Kazon were not technologically advanced, intelligent, there was nothing special about them. I presume you must have something to interest the Borg to warrant assimilation, it's likely they have assimilated Kazon in the past and found them to be worthless. Think of it this way, people are driven by money usually, but if you saw a one dollar coin in a very difficult to reach area, you probably would just leave it, if it was a fifty though, you'd be trying to get that. Kazons are 1 cent coins.
The Borg are primarily interested in technology, as stated by Q in Q Who. The reason they rejected the Kazon is because their technology sucked. But then you have the strange oddity that apparentally assimilating Earth the day before Cochrane's warp flight as considered a viable option by the Collective, despite Earth of 2063 having worse technology than the Kazon. But then, First Contact is riddled with plot holes. If you're interested in Borg against aliens from other sci-fi shows, there's IDW's recent TNG/Doctor Who crossover Assimilation-Squared, which features the Borg teaming up with Doctor Who's Cybermen. At one point, a Borg attempts to assimilate the TARDIS.
Yeah, I've read the crossover. I was disappointed with it, too. The Cybermen betrayed the Borg and started whooping their asses. I call bullshit on that! The Borg should have slaughtered the Cybermen!
Assimilation-Squared has its problems, but I had nothing wrong with the Cybermen making the Borg their bitches. Hell, it seemed almost inevitable.
In that case, the Borg probably decided to go proactive and wipe out the Federation before it could ever exist.
But Cyberman tech seems so... low-grade compared to Borg tech. Virtually all Borg machinery is fashioned from nanoprobes and is extremely adaptable, whereas the Cybermen's technology seems primitive by comparison. The Cybers don't function as a hive-mind like the Borg, they don't have a billion possible ideas swimming around in a sea of voices, they're all just programmed to think the same thing. Plus Cybermen can't adapt to energy weapons like the Borg can.
I had thought I heard a line of dialog to this effect when I saw the film (every time I did so). The idea being that if the Borg eliminate Earth from becoming part of the Federation, while simultaneously establishing a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, every encounter from Q Who onward is one the Borg will win, no matter what.
^ Besides, the sphere from ST:FC was the last ditch escape effort from a Borg cube that had already been destroyed. What remained of that collective must have been desperate. The attempt to alter history was the only thing they had left to do (as the sphere itself would have been, and was, quickly destroyed).
There's only one requirement, utility. It is said in Q Who that they only want technology, but they also always say "Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own." They consider useful genetic material to be 'Technology'. For a race to be worthy of assimilation, they just have to provide something new that they haven't found elsewhere.
Well then, the other question to ask is this: What aliens outside of the Star Trek universe would the Borg take an interest in? As I mentioned in the first post, the Time Lords from Doctor Who would undoubtedly have plenty to offer the collective. Their technology is highly advanced and their biology is unique. Their knowledge of other cultures and interstellar phenomena could even rival that of the collective itself, and of course they are masters of time travel. I imagine that the Time Lords wouldn't go down without a fight, of course. Plus with their ability to regenerate (which as yet has no proper scientific explanation for), they might not even be susceptible to standard assimilation methods.
I think a rule of thumb for the Star Wars universe should be: If you've seen one as a Jedi, the Borg would want them. And Jar Jar's race...well, they're definitely not worthy of assimilation, but the Borg might destroy them anyway out of annoyance. Stargate: They might not be interested in the jaffa just because of their chemical dependency, but they definitely would be in gu'ald. Nox, Asgard, even better, though they might have some kind of innate defenses. Ancients definitely have innate defenses. Rayth, probably not for same reason as jaffa. Galactica: Might see cylons as inferior copies of same technology but would definitely want resurrection from them. B5: They'd probably take any of these races, but all the ancient races would also probably be immune.
Okay, but why assimmilate technologically primitive humans? Even with just one sphere, laying waste to the planet should have been an easy enough task. If it wasn't, head to the Delta Quadrant, allow the 21st century Collective to upgrade to 24th century levels, return to Earth with a fleet. Or hell, just laying waste to Cochrane's missle silo and destroying the Phoenix (which they started doing anyway) should have been enough to prevent the Federation from forming. Assimilating a practically pre-warp world which was almost post-apocalyptic makes no real sense at all for people who proritize technology and are known to have rejected a spacefaring civilization as being too primitive.
I'm also curious as to what Mass Effect races the Borg might take an interest in... Turians Advanced technology, hardy biology... Yeah, they'd be a nice addition to the collective. Quarians Most Quarian tech is scavenged from here and there, and the Quarians themselves have piss-poor immune systems. The Borg would regard them in the same way as the Kazon, I reckon. Krogan With their homeworld bombed back to the stone age, the Krogan don't have much technology to offer. However, they are a long-lived race and can heal rather rapidly, so they would probably make excellent drones. Geth I know the Geth are entirely mechanical, but so is Data and the Borg tried to convert him in First Contact. Mind you, Locutus said in Best Of Both Worlds that Data would be obsolete when the Borg conquered Earth, but I see no real reason why the Borg would disregard androids and robotics when they assimilate all other manner of advanced technology. Salarians Not sure. They're very intelligent and have an extremely analytical way of thinking, but their lifespans are shorter than most other species. They do have some great tech, though. Asari Technologically advanced, long-lived, excellent genetics and their entire race is biotic. Oh, the Borg would love these ladies! Hanar I have no idea. I'm not sure how advanced they are or if they're biologically significant enough to arouse the Borg's interest. Elcor They may not be humanoid, but why should the Borg only care about bipeds? They'd make terrific ground troops for future planetary invasions. Reapers The Reapers and the Borg have so much in common. They're both cybernetic, both uber-powerful and commit destruction and murder on an unquantifiable scale! Of course, they'd probably (definitely) try to kill each other... >_> REAPERS VS. BORG! TAKING ALL BETS!!