By their very nature, the
Borg are not supposed to have individual identities. When drones are assimilated they quickly become integrated into the whole and become part of the Hive Mind. Any remaining sense of self is mostly eliminated by the nanoprobes injected into each victim and the technology fused into their bodies.
But for all their might, Borg methods of assimilation don't always completely work. An essence of "self" seems to remain in drones in spite of the best efforts of the Collective and the Borg Queen. Records indicate there are many instances where the crews of both the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Voyager interacted with Borg drones or former drones who had either retained or re-developed a sense of self. It is these exceptions that give us a glimpse into both the true horror of assimilation, as well as the resiliancy of the human (and humanoid) condition.
Locutus of Borg
Designation given by the Borg to Jean-Luc Picard while he was assimilated in late 2366 through early 2367. The name was unusual, given that most Borg designations are numerical in nature, but Picard was a special case. The Borg Queen wanted Picard to give himself freely to the Borg and be a counterpart to the Queen with a mind of his own, but he resisted and was forced into the Collective. As a drone with the knowledge of Federation technology and strategies, Locutus led the incursion into Sector 001 which caused the destruction of 39 Starfleet ships at Wolf 359. But when Locutus/Picard was re-abducted by his Enterprise-D crewmates, his link to the Collective provided an opportunity to defeat the invading Cube.
The Rogue Borg
This group split off from the Collective as a result of extended contact that one of them, Hugh, had with the crew of the Enterprise-D. Later they encountered and joined the android Lore.
Third of Five ("Hugh")
Third of Five was an adolescent Borg drone rescued by the U.S.S. Enterprise-D from a crashed Borg scoutship in the Argolis Cluster in 2368. He was restored to health and his neural link with the Collective was severed. He began to regain a sense of individuality — using singular pronouns such as "I" and "me" instead of the plural voice the Borg normally speak in — and was given the nickname "Hugh" by the Enterprise crew. In the process of reconstructing Hugh's brain implants, a plan was developed to create an invasive computer program that could be introduced to the Collective through Hugh. The plan was ultimately vetoed by Captain Picard, who decided it would be unethical to use Hugh as a weapon of mass destruction. The Enterprise later returned Hugh to the crash site, where he was recovered by the Borg and reassimilated. However, Hugh by this time had a sense of individuality that almost immediately permeated his local Borg group and caused them to split off from the Collective into a separate, rogue faction. Rather than become individuals, though, they remained a mini-collective but without a sense of purpose, and they wandered aimlessly in space until they encountered the android Lore, who became their leader. Lore promised to make the rogue Borg into perfectly artificial lifeforms who would conquer the Federation — which brought them purpose as well as passion — but the android's bizarre medical experiments on the drones and other questionable actions led Hugh to believe that Lore could not fulfill his promises. Hugh ultimately cooperated with the Enterprise-D crew to defeat Lore. Hugh then became the new leader of the rogue faction, with the hope that in time they can learn to function as individuals as well as work together as a group.
Crosis
In a bizarre scheme to lure Data to Lore's base in 2369, Crosis beamed aboard the Enterprise-D and let himself be captured. While in the brig he conversed with Data and reminded him how much pleasure the android felt when he killed a Borg earlier in an impossible display of emotion. Crosis slowly convinced Data that it was worth anything to feel an emotion again. Data then stole a shuttlecraft from the Enterprise with Crosis in tow, and the two traveled through a subspace distortion toward the rogue Borg's base, where Data was reunited with Lore.
Torsus
Torsus was killed by the Enterprise-D away team, and his death led to another Borg swearing revenge.
Goval
After gaining self-awareness, Goval disconnected himself from the group so he could keep his thoughts to himself. He later reconnected himself at the urging of Lore.
The Nekrit Colony
In or around 2368, an electrokinetic storm in the Delta Quadrant badly damaged a Borg Cube and severed the link of the surviving drones with the Collective. Regaining their original personalities, the survivors colonized a planet in the Nekrit Expanse. Before long a great deal of infighting arose among this random collection of individuals.
Frazier, Riley
Riley Frazier was a human science officer aboard the U.S.S. Roosevelt who was assimilated during the Borg/Federation battle at Wolf 359 in 2367. In 2373, the U.S.S. Voyager encountered the Nekrit colonists, and Frazier asked for the crew's help in reactivating the neural-electric field generator from her damaged Cube. Her plan was to establish a new link among the feuding colonists and restore peace. Captain Janeway refused, fearing the potential repercussions of creating a new "collective." But Dr. Frazier and her people coerced Chakotay, using a neural link on him, to fulfill their request anyway.
Orum
An assimilated Romulan, Orum became the colony's medic and helped the former drones remove their Borg appendages and create new prosthetic limbs using Borg replication equipment. He healed the injuries of Chakotay of the U.S.S. Voyager by initiating a neural field that effectively linked Chakotay in a Borg-like collective among a group of colonists. Later that same neural link was used to coerce Chakotay into defying Captain Janeway and reactivating the neural-electric field generator from the damaged Cube in order to establish a new collective among the colonists so they could bring an end to the infighting.
Seven of Nine
The designation assigned to Annika Hansen when she was assimilated by the Borg as a child. Annika was the daughter of Magus and Erin Hansen, the first humans to directly encounter the Borg and probably the first to be assimilated. About 18 years later, the drone "Seven of Nine" was chosen to interact with the U.S.S. Voyager crew during the joint attempt to develop a biogenic weapon to use against Species 8472. As a representative of the Borg, she had every intention of assimilating Voyager once the effort was successfully concluded, but the crew was prepared for this action and turned the tables on the Borg and severed Seven of Nine's link to the Collective.
Seven of Nine then became a crewmember on the starship as she faced a long, hard struggle to regain her sense of individuality and humanity. She had about 80 percent of her cybernetic implants removed, but because she had grown up as a drone, she was still significantly dependent on Borg technology such as her cortical node and her regeneration alcove. She also preferred her crewmates to call her "Seven of Nine" or "Seven" because she was uncomfortable going back to her childhood name of Annika. Her knowledge and skills as an ex-drone were instrumental in helping Voyager survive the Delta Quadrant, including many scrapes with the Borg, and ultimately return home.
The Mini-Collective of 1865 Alpha
In 2368 a small Borg vessel crashed on Planet 1865-Alpha. Only four of the nine drones survived. When three of the drones began to regain their individuality, the fourth drone, Seven of Nine, created new interlink nodes in their brains to create a mini-collective among the three, to ensure they would not escape the Collective. After they were recovered by the Borg, they found they were a subset among the Collective, and were tormented by the sense of hearing three voices whispering in one ear and a crowd screaming in another. They worked together to escape the Borg and had their implants removed on Inavar Prime, but doctors there could not break the neural link among them. Desperate to regain their individuality, the three ex-drones tracked Seven of Nine to the U.S.S. Voyager. Despite the fact that the Doctor aboard determined that breaking the link would cause them to die after a few weeks, the three decided to break the link and live out that short period of time as free individuals.
Lansor (Two of Nine)
An individual assimilated by the Borg and given the designation Two of Nine, Primary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01. Prior to his assimilation, Lansor worked in mathematics; he calculated equations for another man. He was eating with a group of men when he was abducted. After regaining his full individuality, Lansor opted to stay aboard the Markonian space station in the time he had left, to meet new people and fill his life with life again.
P'chan (Four of Nine)
A member of Species 571, assimilated by the Borg and given the designation of Four of Nine, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01. P'Chan was the son of Dornar and Ansha, who lived in a small building by a river. He was responsible for caring for his parents and preparing food for them until the Borg killed them and he was assimilated. When he regained his individuality P'chan decided to go live out his remaining days on an uninhabited planet in the open air.
Willkarah, Marika (Three of Nine)
A human (Species 5618) woman who was assimilated by the Borg and given the designation Three of Nine, Auxiliary Processor of Unimatrix 01. Prior to her assimilation, Willkarah was married and working in the Engineering section of the starship Excalibur. She was on duty during the night watch when the Borg attacked. Feeling comfortable aboard a starship, Marika opted to stay aboard Voyager during her remaining days.
One
A unique Borg drone that was created in early 2375 from the merger of 24th-century Borg technology with technology from the 29th century. A transporter malfunction fused nanoprobes with the Doctor's mobile emitter, and the combined device, responding to Borg assimilation protocols built into the nanoprobes, sampled DNA from Ensign Mulcahey, a member of the U.S.S. Voyager crew. The Borg device used that DNA to produce a humanoid drone that incorporated 29th-century technology, which made it substantially more sophisticated than contemporary drones. He had reactive body armor, multidimensional adaptability and internal transporter nodes. Not part of the Collective, he was curious about his Borg origins. At the same time, encouraged by Seven of Nine, the drone came to accept the cultural values of the Federation. He even chose the designation "One" for himself to emphasize his individuality.
By the time One accidentally summoned a nearby Borg Sphere, he had accepted the value of individual diversity to the point where he did not wish to be assimilated into the Collective. He transported to the Borg ship and destroyed it to protect Voyager and its crew. In the process One became gravely injured, but subsequently refused medical treatment, allowing himself to die to prevent his 29th-century technology from falling into Borg hands.
The Borg Children
The U.S.S Voyager discovered a disabled Borg Cube manned by a small group of immature drones. All the adult drones on the Cube had been killed by a pathogen and the Borg Collective had declared the neonatal drones irrelevant and damaged, severing their link to the Hive permanently. The crew of Voyager managed to rescue and rehabilitate four of the Borg children. In the Cube's database, Seven of Nine was able to find that their names before they were assimilated were Azan, Rebi, Mezoti and Icheb.
Azan and Rebi
Natives of the Wysanti race, Azan and Rebi are bothers. They lived on Voyager for several months under the tutelage of Seven of Nine, a fellow ex-drone. When the starship located the Wysanti in 2377 the brothers returned home.
Mezoti
A young Norcadian girl, born circa 2368, Mezoti lived on Voyager for several months under the mentorship of Seven of Nine, and rather quickly regained her individuality and re-learned such concepts as "pretty" and "fun." Captain Janeway attempted to contact the Norcadian race to return Mezoti to her people, but was unable to do so. However, the Wysanti — the species of fellow ex-drones Rebi and Azan — agreed to take Mezoti in and give her a home. She left Voyager in 2377.
Icheb (Second)
Brunali adolescent male assimilated by the Borg and then "adopted" by the U.S.S. Voyager after being abandoned by the Collective. Icheb — abducted from a Class-1 transport in Grid 649 — impressed Captain Janeway and Seven with his intelligence and initiative, and hoped to earn a permanent post in Voyager's Astrometrics lab. But his ambitions were cut short when his parents, Leucon and Yifay, were located, and Janeway arranged for him to reunite with them and other Brunali in an agrarian encampment on a Borg-devastated planet. The transition for Icheb was difficult, but he learned to accept his new life. However, once Voyager left the Brunali planet, Icheb's parents sent him off in a ship toward a transwarp conduit, intentionally trying to attract a Borg vessel. It turns out that Icheb had been specially bred with a genome to produce a pathogen to kill Borg — in fact, he was the carrier of the virus that disabled the Cube he and the other children were occupying. Voyager rescued Icheb from re-assimilation, suppressed the pathogen and kept him on board permanently.
The following year, Icheb stayed as the other ex-Borg children left Voyager to make their home with the Wysanti race. Inspired by contact with the Alpha Quadrant through datastream transmissions, Icheb decided to apply for Starfleet Academy. He would take the entrance exam and forward it to Earth in a datastream, and if he passed, he would take the basic classes from Commander Tuvok (a former instructor at the Academy). His plan was put on hold when Seven of Nine's cortical node began to malfunction, threatening her life, and Icheb offered to transplant his own cortical node to her, convinced he could survive without it. More concerned about Seven's life than his own health, Icheb virtually forced Janeway and the Doctor to transfer his node to Seven. After the operation succeeded, Seven promised to help him prepare for his Academy exam.
A very bright young man, Icheb became quite adept at the Vulcan game of Kal-toh, and was once even able to beat Tuvok. In 2378 the Alpha Quadrant became Icheb's new home, as he remained on Voyager when the starship finally returned to Earth, at which time the ex-Borg drone could finally seek admission to Starfleet Academy.
The Drones of Unimatrix Zero
One out of a million drones within the Hive had a recessive genetic mutation that allowed them to experience individuality in a dreamstate called "Unimatrix Zero" while regenerating.
Axum (Five of Twelve)
A drone on a scout ship patrolling the border of fluidic space in a remote sector of the Beta Quadrant with the designation Five of Twelve, Secondary Adjunct of Trimatrix 942, Axum retained his original identity in the dreamstate world of Unimatrix Zero. In that realm he had a six-year romance with Annika, who as a drone was designated Seven of Nine. Three years after Seven was severed from the Collective, Axum found a way to contact her again and solicit her help to save Unimatrix Zero. The occupants of the virtual world designed a nanovirus that would mask the biochemical signature of the mutation, thereby preventing the Borg Queen from isolating the interlink frequency that binds them together. But Axum needed someone in the real world to release it into the Collective. However, at the urging of Captain Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager, Axum agreed to a change of plans that would lead to the elimination of Unimatrix Zero but would allow its occupants to retain their memories and thus their individuality while conscious as drones. This was done to empower those people to begin a resistance movement from within the Collective.
Four of Twelve, Subjunction of Unimatrix 525
The Borg Queen discovered that this drone had the mutation and tried to coerce from him the interlink frequency that bound certain drones in the dreamstate realm. He claimed not to remember, so the Queen had him dismantled so his cortical array could be analyzed. The Queen said to the deactivated head of this drone, "It's a shame you're not alive to experience disembodiment. It's the epitome of perfection."
Korok, General
Klingon who was assimilated but had the recessive gene mutation that allowed him to experience Unimatrix Zero while regenerating. When Axum brought Annika (Seven of Nine) back into Unimatrix Zero, Korok was skeptical about bringing outsiders into their struggle to protect their dreamstate realm from the Borg Queen. However, he eventually joined a plan to destroy the interlink frequency that kept Unimatrix Zero in existence. But before that happened, the U.S.S. Voyager crew saw to it that the realm's occupants would retain their memories and thus their individuality while awake as drones. The effort proved successful as General Korok took over the Borg Sphere he was stationed on and assisted Voyager in its battle against a Tactical Cube. Afterwards Korok was contacted by another Borg vessel in the region under the control of former drones, leading to hopes that their resistance movement will undermine the Collective.
Laura
Human with the same recessive gene who was assimilated during the Borg/Federation battle at Wolf 359. In 2377 she participated in a plan to destroy the dreamstate realm, although not until the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager ensured that all its occupants would retain their memories and individuality while awake as drones. Presumably Laura, in the physical world, was to help form a resistance movement to undermine the Collective from within.
Three of Twelve
Designation given to the Vulcan Tuvok of the U.S.S. Voyager when he was briefly assimilated into the Collective in 2377. His connection with the Hive Mind endangered the Voyager crew's plan to infiltrate the Collective with a virus that would allow the occupants of Unimatrix Zero to retain their individuality while awake as drones. From his mind, the Borg Queen was even able to glean Voyager's command codes that made the ship vulnerable to attack. Tuvok was ultimately rescued and his Borg implants removed, but he required a very lengthy recovery period.
The Borg Queen
The enigmatic Borg Queen is the central locus of the Borg Collective who brings order to the legions of voices within the Hive Mind and provides a common direction — much like the queen of an insect colony. She resides primarily at Unimatrix One in the Delta Quadrant, but will often leave this home base to participate in assimilation efforts of a special nature. The Borg Queen has a unique personality and a sense of individuality that normal Borg drones are not allowed. She is usually the one who "speaks" for the Collective in situations where contact with outsiders is best conducted by an individual. But for the Borg Queen the concepts "I" and "we" are interchangeable. In her own words, she is the "one who is many."
The Queen spends much of her time in her "lair" with her head and spinal column residing in a special alcove. When she emerges, she will "re-assemble" herself into a predominantly artificial body — the arms, legs and torso appearing to be entirely synthetic, while the head and shoulders seeming to be organic, but with substantial cybernetic implants.
Information on this being is still very limited. Apparently the Borg Queen has been destroyed on a number of occasions, but another queen always seems to take her place. (It is not clear whether more than one queen exists simultaneously, or if a new queen is created when the old one dies.) The Borg's collective nature makes it likely that each Borg Queen has all her predecessors' (and/or counterparts') qualities and memories. Therefore when she speaks as "I," she is presumably referring to all previous manifestations of the Queen, going back probably thousands of years.
