Hugh

[UncleRogi]

As I watch theses episodes, I wonder:

What race do the Folk here consider Hugh?

Human? Gangsta Planet (A Piece of the Action)?

Betazoid? Icoanian? Miri's World?

An enquiring mind wonders these things...

I look forward to the theories that MUST abound...
and the abuse trolls might offer

Happy Thanksgiving, Community Mine!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I got the impression that Hugh was a 'native born' Borg (like the baby we saw in "Q Who?"). So Hugh has no species name other than Borg.

 

[UncleRogi]

Now that just makes me wonder harder...
With Assimilation, what is "Borg"?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Not made clear. Either he was born Borg or assimilated very young.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

With Assimilation, what is "Borg"?

Do you mean, with native-born drones (like Hugh, the baby from "Q Who", and the other baby from Voyager), then what race are they, biologically speaking? No idea. The collective could have done any number of things with DNA samples before growing Hugh and others like him.

And yeah, I do think Hugh was not assimilated, but grown. You'll notice that after he's disconnected from the collective, he's essentially a blank slate. He has no personality to revert back to, unlike former assimilated drones (like Seven of Nine, or the ones in "Survival Instinct").

 

[Mojochi]

A lot of good reasoning in this thread for Hugh being Borg produced, but even still, I still don't consider the Borg a race. Even if he is "Native" Borg. That DNA came from drones that most likely were assimilated. By all reckoning, the Borg aren't a race. They are a blight

Has anyone but me ever seen Hugh's name in a less flattering light? I mean the fact that he was named for simply saying "You" is rather ignominious to begin with, as in "Let's just call him "You"... like "Hey you!" but we'll put an H in it so it sounds like a name. Har Har Har"

But even worse, they've essentially named the pigmentless guy HUE, like calling the bald Stooge Curly

 

[JesterFace]

A lot of good reasoning in this thread for Hugh being Borg produced, but even still, I still don't consider the Borg a race. Even if he is "Native" Borg. That DNA came from drones that most likely were assimilated. By all reckoning, the Borg aren't a race. They are a blight

However, from what species did the very first Borg come from.
That species eventually became the Borg, the name of the race might have changed as it "evolved" into Borg.
Maybe the very first Borg was mad scientist from a species called Borg who infected someone and himself with nanoprobes and the collective was born and then expanded.

 

[Mage]

Now, this is interesting.....

In one the Star Trek novels, Greater Than The Sum, the author has a nice way of filling in holes in canon. One is, that we first heard that Borg are basicly 'grown' or incubated. After that, we learn of assimilation. Appereantly, both is done. Especially after big loses amongst the Borg, like the war with Species 8472, drones are quickly replenished by assimilation. Other times, drones are basicly 'grown'. It's more complicated ofcourse, making this easy to read.

This novel indicated that Hugh was indeed one of those incubated, homegrown drones that has neither gender nor previous identity. Unlike for example Seven Of Nine, who was assimilated and after being severed from the Collective, her previous identity emerged again. With Seven having little personal identity though, because she was assimilated at a young age, she basicly goes through childhood and adulescence on Voyager, explaining in a way her rebelious nature at times.

 

[Mojochi]

However, from what species did the very first Borg come from.
That species eventually became the Borg, the name of the race might have changed as it "evolved" into Borg.
Maybe the very first Borg was mad scientist from a species called Borg who infected someone and himself with nanoprobes and the collective was born and then expanded.

I could suppose an origin for the Borg that began with one or 2 individuals that might even have been accidental. Lord knows, using technology to compliment or alter biology is a staple of many species, i.e. Picard's heart, Geordi's visor etc...

So it's very possible someone was experimenting with crossing organic cerebral type brain function and artificial computer type function, & something happened that became sort of like a virus that both absorbs & collects technology, & assimilates compatible lifeforms. The name Borg & everything about them could be millions of generations of design before they became anything like what we see. In the beginning, it could've been as simple as a couple people accidentally messing around with their brains & inadvertently becoming fused with technology that took control

After all, what exactly do you think Dr. Ira Graves was doing? Trying to find a way to house consciousness in a technological matrix. That endeavor could be the very avenue of exploration that led to such a tragic outcome as a collective like the Borg

 

[Herbert]

However, from what species did the very first Borg come from.
That species eventually became the Borg, the name of the race might have changed as it "evolved" into Borg.
Maybe the very first Borg was mad scientist from a species called Borg who infected someone and himself with nanoprobes and the collective was born and then expanded.

Interesting idea. It could even be a case of an experiment getting away from them. Kind of like the beginning of The Stand where the virus escapes from a lab and kills off nearly the entire race. Perhaps in the case of the Borg, it started with one ambitious (and judgmentally impaired) scientist injecting nano probes into himself and essentially becoming patient zero, infecting others until the entire race was Borg.

 

[Mark 2000]

I, Borg was written at a cross road for the show's definition of a Borg. They were conceived as their own race and really continued to be so until First Contact where assimilation became a thing. Before that the Borg were superusers that only cared about tech, not people. Picard was a one off assimilation. It took a lot of effort and multiple steps and it was still reversible. Hugh is a part of the Borg race as it was originally conceived, but there are traces here and there in the dialogue that the Borg will assimilate anyone. The thing is, that makes no sense in the story. If the Borg are just a bunch of assimilated individuals then individuality would not be a new concept to them. Even in Descent an individualized Borg is completely disruptive to them. That wouldn't make sense if they were incorporating individuals all the time. And, of course, the moral question of I, Borg would be moot. You can't kill of a bunch of people you could just surgically individualize back to their original state again. Hugh's salvation is that his species is capable of individual thought at all.

 

[JesterFace]

If the Borg are just a bunch of assimilated individuals then individuality would not be a new concept to them. Even in Descent an individualized Borg is completely disruptive to them. That wouldn't make sense if they were incorporating individuals all the time.

I've always assumed that the Borg knows how to "protect" itself against a new individual that is assimilated into the collective. Hugh however was already a member of the collective and after that he became an individual. When he returned into the collective, perhaps the Borg didn't expect an individual to enter the collective, just a drone found from a crash site. Then individuality had the opportunity to spread into the entire collective, as Picard said would happen.

Picard did know what he was talking about, he had been a Borg.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Either he was born Borg

Björn Borg?

 

[JesterFace]

Björn Borg?

This should have been in the "bad Trek jokes" thread in General Discussion.

 

[Forbin]

Judging by the way he spoke, I'm fairly sure he was from Southern California.

 

[JesterFace]

Judging by the way he spoke, I'm fairly sure he was from Southern California.

You mean the actor who played Hugh?
Jonathan Del Arco is from Uruguay.

 

[Forbin]

I KNEW somebody would jump on that.

 

[JesterFace]

I KNEW somebody would jump on that.

Oh me? You're a teaser!

 

[Borg]

All this talk about the origins of the Borg has really got me thinking. I think it would be fascinating to read (or watch for that matter) the story of how the Borg came to be who they are today.

Does anyone know if there are any Trek novels that cover this topic (canon or otherwise)?