The Borg are one of Star Trek's most iconic villains and have made many appearances in the franchise since their introduction. Although the Borg were created as a second-choice villain for Star Trek: The Next Generation after the Ferengi failed to resonate with audiences, they more than made up for the Ferengi's shortcomings and became one of the most terrifying adversaries in Star Trek history. A cybernetic, hive-mind species whose only goal was to assimilate as many people as possible into perpetual slavery in their collective, the Borg were immediately the stuff of nightmares for the Federation.
The Borg first came into contact with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D after Q (John de Lancie) flung them across the galaxy to teach them a lesson about just what kind of dangers they faced in space. After encountering the Enterprise-D, the Borg made it their mission to assimilate all of Starfleet for the betterment of their collective and demonstrated just how powerful they were in TNG episodes like "The Best of Both Worlds Parts I and II". Luckily, after TNG ended, Star Trek continued to bring the Borg back as antagonists in other shows and movies.
