Are the Borg just robotic Zombies?

[Anwar]

It was TNG itself that changed the Borg, not VOY. TNG couldn't make up its' mind whether the Borg always assimilated people or not. All VOY did was run with what it was given.

 

[R. Star]

Speaking of zombies I'm trying to imagine Picard in an actual zombie outbreak, trying to argue for their rights and being diplomatic about it xD

Good one!

Zombies are people too!

 

[Trekker4747]

I thought TNG already established they previously assimilated other cultures with "We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own"

That came in "BOBW", in "Q Who" they were only interested in technology.

It was TNG itself that changed the Borg, not VOY. TNG couldn't make up its' mind whether the Borg always assimilated people or not. All VOY did was run with what it was given.

Oh I know TNG changed them between meetings but something happened there that COULD explain the change. But Voyager ruined that idea by suggesting the Borg had ALWAYS being doing this which simply only ruined my interpretation of things to compensate for the discrepancy. The meeting with the Enterprise "changed" things apparently as before that moment the Borg were "neither male nor female, only interested in technology" after the Enterprise they were interested in assimilating cultures (which is, on a basic jaded level, is what the Federation does) so "something" changed with the meeting at System J-25. And it'd be a beautiful bit of harmony if "my idea" was the route they went with. (Which may very well have been their intent) But Voyager made it so the Borg ALWAYS assimilated people and cultures so the ship at System J-25 is the odd one in the group that only wanted technology.

 

[JarodRussell]

Zombies or Vampires, in essence. They are a threat, and when they bite you, you become one of them.

 

[Anwar]

I thought TNG already established they previously assimilated other cultures with "We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own"

That came in "BOBW", in "Q Who" they were only interested in technology.

It was TNG itself that changed the Borg, not VOY. TNG couldn't make up its' mind whether the Borg always assimilated people or not. All VOY did was run with what it was given.

Oh I know TNG changed them between meetings but something happened there that COULD explain the change. But Voyager ruined that idea by suggesting the Borg had ALWAYS being doing this which simply only ruined my interpretation of things to compensate for the discrepancy. The meeting with the Enterprise "changed" things apparently as before that moment the Borg were "neither male nor female, only interested in technology" after the Enterprise they were interested in assimilating cultures (which is, on a basic jaded level, is what the Federation does) so "something" changed with the meeting at System J-25. And it'd be a beautiful bit of harmony if "my idea" was the route they went with. (Which may very well have been their intent) But Voyager made it so the Borg ALWAYS assimilated people and cultures so the ship at System J-25 is the odd one in the group that only wanted technology.

The only ones saying anything definitive about what the Borg were doing in Q Who? were Q and Guinan. The Borg themselves never stated whether they were only after their tech or not.

 

[Trekker4747]

The only ones saying anything definitive about what the Borg were doing in Q Who? were Q and Guinan. The Borg themselves never stated whether they were only after their tech or not.

Well... The first Borg drone(s) only analyze the ship's computers and completely ignore the crew (in following encounters the Borg beam aboard and try and to attack/assimilate/capture.) Their only interest seems to be in technology and they only threaten the crew with punishment if they resist an attack. No "biological and technological distinctiveness to our own" statement. The intent of the Borg changed between Q-Who and BOBW, the crew even points this out in BOBW.

 

[R. Star]

Until we witness a Borg eating brainz I say no on the zombie theory. Who knows, if Voyager or Enterprise ran an 8th/5th season respectively, we might have.

 

[Anwar]

The only ones saying anything definitive about what the Borg were doing in Q Who? were Q and Guinan. The Borg themselves never stated whether they were only after their tech or not.

Well... The first Borg drone(s) only analyze the ship's computers and completely ignore the crew (in following encounters the Borg beam aboard and try and to attack/assimilate/capture.) Their only interest seems to be in technology and they only threaten the crew with punishment if they resist an attack. No "biological and technological distinctiveness to our own" statement. The intent of the Borg changed between Q-Who and BOBW, the crew even points this out in BOBW.

The crew were only saying "I thought they didn't do this", it's all based on their own assumptions. They have no proof because they have no real knowledge of the Borg.

Presumably once Picard was de-assimilated he learned the whole story about how they do assimilate people.

 

[Jaro Stun]

shrt answer, Yes
Star War B

 

[jpv2000]

Either way, I think the Borg and Zombies are both very cool enemy types.

 

[TheSubCommander]

Agreed with the OP. I don't think the original intent was exactly zombies, but by First Contact they had been basically turned to this. I've always wondered if they weren't intended to be an extreme take on Communism and the like.

No. Not communism. It was on the decline when they debuted (the Berlin Wall fell less than 6 months afterwards, and the USSR less than 2 years later).

I think the Borg were intended more as a commentary as an example of the over dependence on technology, and the blurring of lines between machine and human.

 

[Blueicus]

As much as some people may wish to forget, in "I Borg" Guinan mentioned that her people were assimilated, which is presumably before the events of BoBW and "Q Who", and Hugh himself mentions that the Borg learn by assimilation (and not stating in a way that implies that they only recently started to assimilate life forms in addition to technology)... so by that point in time they've already re-established that the Borg have always been assimilating cultures in terms of technology and people.