Seven of Nine’s (Jeri Ryan) conception on Star Trek: Voyager was originally inspired by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). Although Voyager seasons 1-3 didn’t include Seven of Nine, the show brought her on as part of Voyager‘s cast of characters in season 4 after Kes (Jennifer Lien) left the series. Seven rose to become one of Voyager‘s most popular characters, but started out under very different circumstances, as a former Borg drone that Voyager‘s crew unwittingly rescued from the Collective.

Throughout her time on Voyager, Seven’s Borg origins and time in the Collective were the central focus of her storyline. Through her, Voyager expanded Borg lore in the Star Trek timeline and explored the true horrors drones experienced after assimilation. Although it was inevitable that Seven would forever be associated with the Borg given her backstory, her first appearance on Voyager actually had two surprising Borg-related inspirations for one specific aspect of her character.

How Picard & The Borg Queen Inspired Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven Of Nine

The Borg Queen and Picard were integral to Seven’s development

In an interview with Cinefantastique about season 4, Voyager writer Joe Menosky explained that the show’s creative team was inspired by the Borg Queen and Captain Picard’s time as Locutus on Star Trek: The Next Generation when creating Seven of Nine. Menosky detailed how the Queen and Locutus were the only two Borg who spoke as individuals while still connected to the Collective, which the writers wanted Seven to do as well. This allowed Seven to begin her time on Voyager in a unique position and set her up as an individual from the start. Read Menosky’s full quote below:

“The original inspiration was a couple of things. One was when Picard became the voice of the Collective as Locutus, so there was an individual speaking for the Collective. Another was when the Borg Queen did the same. Rick Berman was pretty adamant that you get bored with the Collective voice pretty quickly, and someone had better step forward.”

As executive producer Rick Berman stated, the Borg’s collective consciousness, while a terrifying concept in the grand scheme, doesn’t work as well on a small scale when interacting with individual characters. Therefore, it was necessary to include a character like Seven during Voyager‘s alliance with the Borg at the beginning of season 4 to be an individual voice for the group. In “Scorpion, Part II,” the episode where Seven was introduced, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) even referenced Locutus when asking for a single representative to continue negotiations with.

Picard & The Borg Queen Both Became Important To Seven Of Nine

Seven’s later storylines involved both Picard and the Borg Queen

Ironically, both the Borg Queen and Picard became integral to Seven of Nine’s arc in Star Trek: Voyager and beyond. Seven and the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson) had some truly memorable Voyager episodes together, including episodes like “Dark Frontier” which explored Seven’s past in detail and provided a look at how important she still was to the Collective. Throughout Voyager‘s run, the Borg Queen acted as a dark maternal figure to Seven, versus Captain Janeway’s more positive mentoring after she was separated from the hive.

Likewise, Seven’s return in Star Trek: Picard not only brought her back to the franchise for modern audiences but also gave her some incredible new character development. Jeri Ryan played the evolution of Seven’s humanity since Star Trek: Voyager beautifully in Picard, and season 3 brought the biggest update to her character yet with Seven becoming Captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Without Jean-Luc Picard and the Borg Queen, Seven of Nine would have been a much less interesting character.

Source: Cinefantastique, Vol. 30