Borg Queen
The Borg Queen was the name given to the entity that existed within and served as a central nexus for the Borg Collective. The name was given to this entity by the Federation scientists Magnus and Erin Hansen, who discovered its existence. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")
It is unknown when a Borg Queen first appeared within the Collective, but she was already present in 2354.
A Borg Queen defined herself as, "I am the beginning... the end. The one who is many. I am the Borg." Although this might suggest she would be an individual within the Collective, (while addressing them, she would refer to drones as "My drones") she is not. The purpose of a Borg Queen was to bring order to chaos and act as a taskmaster.
Her appearance was that of a humanoid female of Species 125. In accordance with the Borg pursuit of perfection, a blending of the organic and synthetic, very little of her original humanoid form remained. Her face and upper torso were organic while the rest of her body, including her skull and spinal cord, were synthetic. Because of her disembodiment she saw herself as the epitome of perfection. The Queen had her own chambers within the Borg Unicomplex from which she could oversee the Borg. Whether she had her own ship or not was unknown, but she used different Borg vessels to travel, such as a Borg Cube, Borg Sphere or Borg Diamond. When her physical presence was not necessary her organic part resided above this chamber while her synthetic parts were stored below it, under the floor. If she desired to do so both could be brought together and in doing so create a humanoid form for herself.
In Human terms, a Borg Queen could be characterized as ruthless. She would do anything to protect the Borg Collective. Where drones showed no emotions, the Queen herself did. When necessary she would employ psychological tactics, like extortion or plain intimidation to get what she wanted. The Queen even displayed self-preservation when she was held at gunpoint by Captain Janeway, who threatened to kill her. On a personal level she considered Seven of Nine her favorite drone, because the Queen considered her to be unique. This had to do with Seven's experiences as an individual when she served aboard Voyager. The Queen's goal was to re-assimilate Seven into the Collective to enhance the Borg's, and so her own, perfection. She failed to do so. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Dark Frontier")
The death of a Borg Queen does not seem to affect the Collective or its hive mind. When a Borg Drone died, its memories would still be within the hive mind. There was no evidence that a Borg Queen would be more than a drone. Borg drones were capable of functioning without a Queen for any length of time by forming a Hive Mind of their own. (VOY: "Unity")
It was thought by Federation exobiologist Erin Hansen that the Borg Queen functioned like the queen of an insect hive, to coordinate the drones. Evidence of this was later seen when the Queen countermanded the collective's judgment about assimilating the USS Voyager. While the collective felt that assimilation was warranted, the Borg Queen countermanded them justifying the decision due to the fact that Voyager didn't compromise their security. (VOY: "Endgame") The Queen, while providing coordination for the drones she commands, also provides other functions such as regulation of the Borg's Trans-Warp Hubs and inter-spacial manifolds. She effectively brings "Order to Chaos" for all things. (VOY: "Endgame")
The Borg Queen that was present in 2377 was assimilated when she was a child, together with her parents. Years later she could still hear them. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")
First encounter
The existence of a Borg Queen was first established sometime prior to 2365 by the exobiologists Erin and Magnus Hansen. However, because the Hansens were assimilated their discovery never reached Starfleet. (VOY: "The Raven") It was not until 2373 that the Federation became aware of her when the Federation starship USS Enterprise-E prevented the assimilation of Earth. This was the second attempt by the Borg, also known as the Battle of Sector 001. They traveled back to Earth's past to prevent First Contact, and by doing so hoped to be able to assimilate Earth.
During this conflict, while Captain Picard was trying to destroy the Borg, she claimed to have been present during the Battle of Wolf 359, and even admitted that Locutus of Borg – the assimilated Captain Picard – should have been her counterpart, intended to ease the burden of loneliness, but when Picard continued to resist even when he could not control Locutus' body, she had to turn him into just another drone. Whether or not she physically took part in the Battle of Wolf 359 is unknown.
The Borg Queen was killed by the android Lieutenant Commander Data while she tried to persuade him to give her the encryption key by which he had locked the Enterprise computer. Warp Core plasma coolant released by Data destroyed her organic parts, after which Picard broke her cybernetic spinal cord ensuring she could no longer function. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Subsequent encounters
The second encounter with a Borg Queen was in 2375 in the Delta Quadrant. Here the lost Federation starship USS Voyager tried to rescue the former Borg drone Seven of Nine, who was then part of Voyager's crew, when the plan to steal a transwarp coil from a Borg sphere did not work out as planned. The Queen also revealed that the drone Seven of Nine was not really freed by Voyager from the Collective, but allowed to leave by the Borg. During this encounter the Borg Queen hoped to assimilate Seven of Nine again, who experienced life as an individual for two years, and so add to her own perfection. However, Seven rejected the Queen and fled with a rescue mission sent by the Voyager in the Delta Flyer. A Borg Queen's vessel was sent by the Queen to intercept the shuttle, but it was destroyed in the attempt. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")
The Borg Queen was one of several real people adapted into a character in Kelis' play, based on descriptions from B'Elanna Torres. (VOY: "Muse")
In 2377, a Borg Queen was again encountered by Voyager. This time the Queen wanted to destroy Unimatrix Zero, a virtual world populated by regenerating Borg with a genetic mutation. This world was discovered by Seven of Nine and posed a threat to the Borg. During Voyager's efforts to rescue this virtual world the Borg Queen demonstrated her powers by destroying a Borg Sphere because she could no longer 'hear' only one drone. When a nanovirus was released to prevent the detection of Unimatrix Zero, the Queen destroyed several Borg vessels, killing 75,000 Borg drones in the process, in the hope of persuading the captured Captain Janeway to give her the antidote. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")
The last encounter between a Federation starship and a Borg Queen was in 2378, and again Voyager played a part in it. Voyager accidentally discovered a Borg transwarp hub within a nebula and were helped by Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who came from an alternate timeline, around twenty-three years in the future, to use the Borg transwarp network to get back to the Alpha Quadrant. Because the Borg guarded their transwarp hub closely, Admiral Janeway devised a plan by which she would infect the Borg Queen with a Neurolytic Pathogen and in doing so making her lose control over the force fields which protected the interspatial manifolds. When the Admiral was captured by the Borg, near the Unicomplex, she was assimilated by the Borg Queen herself. Soon after the Queen began to lose control over drones. The pathogen even made her lose control over her own synthetic parts, as her body literally fell apart. Her death caused the destruction of the Unicomplex and despite her efforts Voyager reached Earth safely. The Borg Sphere sent after them by the Queen was destroyed by Voyager's transphasic torpedoes, given to them by the Admiral from the future. (VOY: "Endgame")
- It is unknown if the neurolytic pathogen infected Borg drones who were not in the Unicomplex at the time. The current status of the Borg and whether or not a new Borg Queen is in place, are also unknown.
