Which Borg incarnation is freakier? Series or First Contact?

[RAMA]

Definitely the ones from the series. By the time FC came along, the Borg had already been defeated a few times. As far as I'm concerned the first time an unstoppable enemy is stopped, they can never again be taken as a serious threat. Hell, by the time Voyager rolled around, they were basically reduced to the token roll of resident Klingons.

Agreed. Part of the problem with how the Borg were handled, even on TNG, is that they were essentially too powerful after their first appearance. That's why all later attacks consisted mainly of a lone Borg ship the heroes could overwhelm, because Guinan's description of them coming in force (which sounds more plausible) would have meant they'd lose.

I'm also somewhat on the fence about the queen, in that I think the concept makes sense but I agree she was often not used well. I'm inclined to believe there may be multiple queens, or at least several, active to regulate the Collective at any one time since a lone queen is relatively easier to kill.

BOBW may be the best Borg episode, but in my view Q Who is the purest appearance. In that episode they were definitely designed to be this type of indestructable enemy for the sake of the plot...it it worked, the UFP ran.

RAMA

 

[Kirk1980]

I meant 'they' as in the Borg themselves, not the show creators!

Maybe it was something the Borg experimented with, having a Queen.... just saying that would have been a BETTER idea than what we got since it would have allowed for an 'out' if the Queen sucked.

 

[kissthestar]

First Contact Borg freaked me more because they were so "contagious." Series Borg had to perform surgery to achieve the transformation.

 

[WillsBabe]

I think FC Borg have it, but there are pros and cons to both. Series Borg had that relentless facelessness that was really heart-thumping. The mass voice was also disturbing. That they had to do surgery to create Borgness was a bit obvious, while the idea of injecting Borgness into their victims to transform them that way is more disturbing to me.

 

[Tiberius]

I think the Borg had the scariest voice in First Contact. Much scarier than the series voice, even in Voyager.

 

[Praetor]

I voted for both. While the TNG Borg started out creepier due to being a 'force' rather than a body that could be reasoned with, I feel like 'Descent' did something to damage that feeling. Additionally, I know the suits and effects were impressive for the time, but while a little creepy they didn't do much to creep me out, aside from the way drones walked and behaved. I'd say it was overall the depiction in 'Q-Who' and 'Best of Both Worlds' that worked for me.

'First Contact' added the Queen to the mix which somewhat downplayed the idea of them as a force that cannot be reasoned with just a little (although there are very good explanations for her existence bandied about in the thread here that help restore that.) I feel that the introduction of assimilation tubules and the new more 'sick' looking appearance added greatly to the creep factor. To me, they were always cybernetic zombies but now they actually looked like it. Plus, they were able to retain the idea of surgery being a part of it, which is very creepy to me.