I wonder what the JJ Abrams version of the Borg would look like!

[The Rock]

I had made this thread in the Trek XI forum, but it was closed because the mod had informed me that it would be a better fit for this forum. So, here it goes! My original post said:

If this is a new universe that is a completely new canon, would you mind if JJ Abrams put the Borg in the next Star Trek movie after this one?

I imagine he would do a pretty good job with them. And I can imagine he would make them look even more terrifying than anything we've ever seen before.

I mean if this is a new timeline, who says the Borg and Kirk couldn't meet?

 

[Hermiod]

No Borg please. Voyager killed them. Star Trek has an entire galaxy of more interesting potential villains.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Copying said post from said previous thread:

Assuming the Borg would show up, not that I would want them to:

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome, not bulked up, but actually thinned down. And there would be far more non-humanoid races. Have a creepy sorrowful look and make the Borg communicate minimally, simply the "Resistance sucks, get assimilated" speech and that's it.

The Borg ships would certainly be more active, we'd see the interior constantly shifting, and they'd absorb the wreckage of other ships to bulk up... basically make them back into the unstoppable force of nature they once were, while giving them a menacing new redesign.

To add to the horrific impression we get of them, I'd put in assimilation scenes that make Saw look like a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Hyperbole, yes, but at least more gruesome than FC)

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

 

[The Rock]

Copying said post from said previous thread:

Assuming the Borg would show up, not that I would want them to:

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome, not bulked up, but actually thinned down. And there would be far more non-humanoid races. Have a creepy sorrowful look and make the Borg communicate minimally, simply the "Resistance sucks, get assimilated" speech and that's it.

The Borg ships would certainly be more active, we'd see the interior constantly shifting, and they'd absorb the wreckage of other ships to bulk up... basically make them back into the unstoppable force of nature they once were, while giving them a menacing new redesign.

To add to the horrific impression we get of them, I'd put in assimilation scenes that make Saw look like a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Hyperbole, yes, but at least more gruesome than FC)

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

I love that drawing and your description. Oh man do I love it. I get chills just thinking about your description. Are you a writer? You should be.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Copying said post from said previous thread:

Assuming the Borg would show up, not that I would want them to:

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome, not bulked up, but actually thinned down. And there would be far more non-humanoid races. Have a creepy sorrowful look and make the Borg communicate minimally, simply the "Resistance sucks, get assimilated" speech and that's it.

The Borg ships would certainly be more active, we'd see the interior constantly shifting, and they'd absorb the wreckage of other ships to bulk up... basically make them back into the unstoppable force of nature they once were, while giving them a menacing new redesign.

To add to the horrific impression we get of them, I'd put in assimilation scenes that make Saw look like a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Hyperbole, yes, but at least more gruesome than FC)

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

I love that drawing and your description. Oh man do I love it. I get chills just thinking about your description. Are you a writer? You should be.

Thanks, I'm no writer but I've dabbled on occasion.

The drawing actually is a Borg reimagining sketch, funny enough. Found it on DeviantArt.

 

[Hermiod]

^That kind of looks like the Stalkers from Half-Life 2.

 

[Meredith]

^That kind of looks like the Stalkers from Half-Life 2.

Same thought here, a lot more terrifying than the borg themselves, heck the combine is a lot more creepy than the Borg.

 

[Jim Steele]

I wonder what the JJ Abrams version of the Borg would look like!

Tired.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I prefer something like this:

You will be assimilated!

Resistance is futile!

I think the Borg would be more interesting if they were far more mechanical. If anything it make more sense to just take out the human brain and organs and transplant them into a machine.

How scary would that be? knowing that when you get assimilated you're going to have your brain and organs removed and transplanted.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I prefer something like this:

You will be assimilated!

Resistance is futile!

I think the Borg would be more interesting if they were far more mechanical. If anything it make more sense to just take out the human brain and organs and transplant them into a machine.

How scary would that be? knowing that when you get assimilated you're going to have your brain and organs removed and transplanted.

except that BBC would probably sue Paramount for ripring off the Cybermen.

 

[Broccoli]

^That kind of looks like the Stalkers from Half-Life 2.

Same thought here, a lot more terrifying than the borg themselves, heck the combine is a lot more creepy than the Borg.

Depends on how the Borg tech actually works. Since they are not 100% machines, I wonder if they do need organic brains in order to function.

 

[Python Trek]

I always figured that they completely re-invented themselves, following the Admiral Janeway smackdown from "Endgame". The only way I'd ever want to see the Borg again, Abrams re-boot or otherwise, is if they were TOTALLY re-imagined.

 

[SG-17]

This is what the Borg should look like.



In all seriousness they should keep the Borg similar to the TNG design.
But I do not want to see the Borg again for a good while.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Borg are welcome back, just with one ironclad rule: when they assimilate someone, that's it. No go-backs. The only "cure" is death. No exceptions. EVER!

That will give the Borg a real sense of menace, if we know there are no cheap cop-outs. As a bonus, let them assimilate some important character and have that be the end of that character as we know them, to give the threat emotional credibility.

Also, they should not be easy to defeat militarily. All this means of course they would have to be used sparingly.

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

Yep, that's the other ironclad rule. There must be no aspect of the Borg that implies individuality. The Borg Queen stopped acting Borg-like in any real way when she started getting obsessed over individual characters like Data or Seven. The Borg shouldn't give a flying flip about any individual; if they don't nab one individual, the next one down the line is just as good. Species are useful to them only in the aggregate. And the Borg should not have personalities, foibles or personal goals.

I think the Borg would be more interesting if they were far more mechanical.

Nah, I like the mechanical/organic mix. It's ickier.

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome,

Would be nice for them to look noticeably inhuman, for instance a Borg that is basically humanoid but their midsection is impossibly small, like the way an ant is constructed with a large upper and lower body and a tiny "waist." It would be extremely creepy for the rest of them to seem fairly human except for that one detail, because where the heck did their organs go? Just re-distributed, that's all, or maybe the machinery takes over the roles of some organs.

Or how about a Borg with no actual head? Who says the brain can't be in the abdomen?

 

[The Rock]

The Borg are welcome back, just with one ironclad rule: when they assimilate someone, that's it. No go-backs. The only "cure" is death. No exceptions. EVER!

That will give the Borg a real sense of menace, if we know there are no cheap cop-outs. As a bonus, let them assimilate some important character and have that be the end of that character as we know them, to give the threat emotional credibility.

Also, they should not be easy to defeat militarily. All this means of course they would have to be used sparingly.

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

Yep, that's the other ironclad rule. There must be no aspect of the Borg that implies individuality. The Borg Queen stopped acting Borg-like in any real way when she started getting obsessed over individual characters like Data or Seven. The Borg shouldn't give a flying flip about any individual; if they don't nab one individual, the next one down the line is just as good. Species are useful to them only in the aggregate. And the Borg should not have personalities, foibles or personal goals.

I think the Borg would be more interesting if they were far more mechanical.

Nah, I like the mechanical/organic mix. It's ickier.

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome,

Would be nice for them to look noticeably inhuman, for instance a Borg that is basically humanoid but their midsection is impossibly small, like the way an ant is constructed with a large upper and lower body and a tiny "waist." It would be extremely creepy for the rest of them to seem fairly human except for that one detail, because where the heck did their organs go? Just re-distributed, that's all, or maybe the machinery takes over the roles of some organs.

Or how about a Borg with no actual head? Who says the brain can't be in the abdomen?

A Borg with no head would be awesome. In fact, a Borg that isn't a humanoid biped would be quite a sight.

 

[Samurai8472]

In fact, a Borg that isn't a humanoid biped would be quite a sight.

A dog borg would be sweet.

 

[USS Triumphant]

There must be no aspect of the Borg that implies individuality. The Borg Queen stopped acting Borg-like in any real way when she started getting obsessed over individual characters like Data or Seven.

I've always thought that the Queen was an anomaly - not the true nature of the Borg, which is as you have laid out, but something that happened when they assimilated someone that couldn't quite really be assimilated. Someone with a really high esper rating, or someone from a race that is somewhere between us and the Organians, developmentally.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

There must be no aspect of the Borg that implies individuality. The Borg Queen stopped acting Borg-like in any real way when she started getting obsessed over individual characters like Data or Seven.

I've always thought that the Queen was an anomaly - not the true nature of the Borg, which is as you have laid out, but something that happened when they assimilated someone that couldn't quite really be assimilated. Someone with a really high esper rating, or someone from a race that is somewhere between us and the Organians, developmentally.

That's a good retcon for dispensing with the BQ mistake. Also, if the Borg had "learned their lesson" and won't assimilate more of the BQ's species, that would be an interesting new element. Would Starfleet try to recruit members of that species? What if they don't give a flip about the Federation, or even more interesting, use their unappetizing status with the Borg as leverage to get some kind of special status with the Federation? Who says the BQ race are nice people? Maybe they are total jerks.

 

[trekkerguy]

Copying said post from said previous thread:

Assuming the Borg would show up, not that I would want them to:

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome, not bulked up, but actually thinned down. And there would be far more non-humanoid races. Have a creepy sorrowful look and make the Borg communicate minimally, simply the "Resistance sucks, get assimilated" speech and that's it.

The Borg ships would certainly be more active, we'd see the interior constantly shifting, and they'd absorb the wreckage of other ships to bulk up... basically make them back into the unstoppable force of nature they once were, while giving them a menacing new redesign.

To add to the horrific impression we get of them, I'd put in assimilation scenes that make Saw look like a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Hyperbole, yes, but at least more gruesome than FC)

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

Perfect.

 

[FordSVT]

The Borg are welcome back, just with one ironclad rule: when they assimilate someone, that's it. No go-backs. The only "cure" is death. No exceptions. EVER!

That will give the Borg a real sense of menace, if we know there are no cheap cop-outs. As a bonus, let them assimilate some important character and have that be the end of that character as we know them, to give the threat emotional credibility.

Also, they should not be easy to defeat militarily. All this means of course they would have to be used sparingly.

Oh and get rid of the Queen. She's too much of a "face". The Borg were far more intimidating when they were impersonal.

Yep, that's the other ironclad rule. There must be no aspect of the Borg that implies individuality. The Borg Queen stopped acting Borg-like in any real way when she started getting obsessed over individual characters like Data or Seven. The Borg shouldn't give a flying flip about any individual; if they don't nab one individual, the next one down the line is just as good. Species are useful to them only in the aggregate. And the Borg should not have personalities, foibles or personal goals.

Nah, I like the mechanical/organic mix. It's ickier.

I think the drones would look very emaciated and gruesome,

Would be nice for them to look noticeably inhuman, for instance a Borg that is basically humanoid but their midsection is impossibly small, like the way an ant is constructed with a large upper and lower body and a tiny "waist." It would be extremely creepy for the rest of them to seem fairly human except for that one detail, because where the heck did their organs go? Just re-distributed, that's all, or maybe the machinery takes over the roles of some organs.

Or how about a Borg with no actual head? Who says the brain can't be in the abdomen?

A Borg with no head would be awesome. In fact, a Borg that isn't a humanoid biped would be quite a sight.

Some of the novels describe very creepy non-humanoid Borg types.

Guys like this!

"Mandroid".