20 Of The Coolest Female Robots In Science Fiction

Alice Krige as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact (Screenshot image courtesy Paramount Pictures Corporation)

3. The Borg Queen (Star Trek: First Contact)

There are some weird tropes about the Borg Queen. She’s oddly sexual for someone who’s supposed to be part of a neutered collectivist hive mind. In her first appearance in the film Star Trek: First Contact, she tempts Data with the prospect of having human skin with real nerve endings, which is about as icky as it sounds.

She’s also a somewhat individualistic character, with her own chambers and decision-making skills. While the Borg Queen is clearly an attempt to mimic Earth-based insect colonies, which often have a “queen”, it’s almost too convenient.

The Borg Queen was named by the Hansens, the very same research team that was ultimately discovered by the Borg and assimilated (their young daughter became the previously mentioned Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager). The Borg Queen herself was assimilated at a relatively young age. Over the years, she slowly shed her biological components, until the only non-synthetic parts remaining were here face and an upper portion of her torso. Creepy, for sure, but also kind of cool-looking when you first see her in Star Trek: First Contact.

That said, however, she is often a deliciously good villain. Yes, I want women and, by extension, female robots to have access to a wide variety of characters. But, sometimes, all you want is a really intimidating baddie to oppose the heroes. With her ruthlessness and outright strangeness, the Borg Queen fits the bill.