Characters / Star Trek: First Contact

For characters who debuted in Star Trek: The Next Generation, see Characters.Star Trek The Next Generation

The Borg Queen

The Borg Queen

"You imply a disparity where none exists. I am the Collective."

Played By: Alice Krige

Dubbed in French By: Tania Torrens

"I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg."

• Bald of Evil: She's bald and evil.
• Big Bad: From a meta perspective, she was created in order to give the film a traditional main villain.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: All her organic components were burned off, with her screaming the whole time. Her severed robotic head and neck appeared to still be functional afterwards, so Picard snapped the neck to deactivate her.
• Cute Monster Girl: She's pretty, kind of, but a dangerous monster nevertheless.
• Expy: Her design invokes the Cenobites from Hellraiser, something Clive Barker noted (with approval, being a Trek fan himself)
• Galactic Conqueror: The Queen of a Galactic Assimilator race.
• Hive Queen: Though she never claims to be the Queen.
• I Am the Noun: "I am the Borg", and later, "I am the Collective."
• Prim and Proper Bun: It's not actual hair, but the mass of wires on the back of her head are arranged in a circular pattern and she certainly has the personality to match.
• Remember the New Guy?: Captain Picard remembers her when she's first introduced. Could be justified by the fact he was a Borg for a while, but that doesn't explain why he doesn't mention this vital piece of information about a dangerous enemy onscreen, and Data seemingly knows nothing about her despite the fact that he presumably would have read any report Picard made after the incident. They attempt to Handwave this by implying that Picard had forgotten about her until they're reintroduced in the film.
• The Smurfette Principle: So far, she's the only female Star Trek Big Bad in the films.
• Villainesses Want Heroes: Invoked in that Picard implies she wanted more than just another drone from him, given she's implied to have personally overseen his assimilation.
  Picard: It wasn't enough that you assimilate me... I had to give myself freely to the Borg. To you!
  Queen: You flatter yourself! I've overseen the assimilation of countless millions! You were no different!
  Picard: You're lying. You wanted more than just another Borg drone. You wanted a human being with a mind of his own, who could bridge the gulf between humanity and the Borg! You wanted a counterpart!
• We Can Rule Together: Tries this on Data. It fails, though he seriously considered her proposal for 0.68 seconds. It's also implied that this was her aim with Picard when he was Locutus.
• The Woman Behind the Monsters: She is the entity who controls the Borg.
• Xenomorph Xerox: Her design was heavily influenced◊ by the work of H.R. Giger, the artist who designed the xenomorph from the Alien series.

Dr. Zefram Cochrane

Dr. Zefram Cochrane

"You're all astronauts on...some kind of star trek?"

Played By: James Cromwell

Dubbed in French By: Jean Pierre Moulin

• The Alcoholic: He pilots the first warp-capable ship while hungover.
• All There in the Manual: The novelization of First Contact reveals he actually suffers from Bipolar Disorder, and has a cranial implant designed to treat the disease. However, after the near societal collapse following WW3, he no longer has the resources to maintain the implant or get more traditional treatment. His alcoholism thus a desperate attempt at self-medication. At the end of the story, Dr. Crusher provides him with a permanent fix, reasoning that there is nothing in the history books saying Cochrane was mentally ill (other than his reputation as a drinker), and that an unmedicated bipolar diplomat dealing with famously stoic visitors could be disastrous.
• Broken Ace: He's an alcoholic misanthrope, dealing with the trauma of basically seeing his world end, who happens to be one of the best minds on the planet. He's also an Ace Pilot, capable of launching an untested prototype ship that can clear the earth's atmosphere, fly at warp, and then land, all hungover.
• Broken Pedestal: Surprisingly enough, this is mostly averted. While the Enterprise crew does look up to him, they also remember that he was a flawed human living in mankind's darkest period of history. So, while they do get annoyed with his Refused the Call attitude, they don't see him any differently then they did before.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Cochrane is one of the brightest minds of his time. He's also a heavy drinker who thinks first contact is best celebrated with whiskey and dancing. He also basically leads humanity out of the post-war Dark Ages.
• Cassandra Truth: Enterprise would reveal that he attempted to tell people about what really happened during First Contact, but he was ignored and later recanted his claims. The crew of the Enterprise-E took great care to make sure he had no hard evidence of his claims.
• Famed In-Story: He was first introduced in the Original Series as the inventor of warp drive. Now we finally get to see him initiate First Contact with the Vulcans.
• Heroic BSoD: Has a minor breakdown after being confronted with time traveling heroes from the future who claim he's destined to lead the human race into a new era of history and enlightenment. It results in him trying to run away. Manages to get over it with the help of Commander Riker.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: A Deconstructed Trope which occurs In-Universe.
  • It's implied the events of the movie caused him to clean up his act a bit, becoming more like the man history records him as (see You Are Better Than You Think You Are below).
• I Choose to Stay: At the end of "Metamorphosis". Given his negative feelings about being admired in First Contact, Kirk's line that "there's a whole galaxy out there waiting to honor you" is now Hilarious in Hindsight.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He starts off as a morose drunk, but proves he really does have the best intentions, and later becomes a distinguished diplomat. He is later shown to have mellowed out considerably in his later years.
• Ladykiller in Love: If you regard the ending of "Metamorphosis" through the filter of his characterization in First Contact, he's a womanizer finally settling down.
• Large and in Charge: He's humanity's first ambassador to alien life and stands at 6'7, having a few inches even on Riker.
• Oh, Crap!: Several:
  • When he realizes that Commander Riker and the others are telling the truth about being from the future.
  • When he thinks he lost his music during the launch sequence.
• Only in It for the Money: Claims he only invented warp drive for the money that would come from selling it. Key word being claims. It's implied that he really did pour all his efforts into creating warp drive either For Science! or to someday help mankind.
• Refusal of the Call: "I don't want to be a statue!"
• Screw Destiny: Tries to do so after Geordi describes how famous he is in the future. ("You told him about the statue?")
• Took a Level in Badass: Went from being a misanthropic, alcoholic jerkass barely eking out an existence to one of the foremost leaders of the human race during the reconstruction after World War III and the early space exploration days.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: In "Metamorphosis," he's discovered as a 237-year-old man trapped on a planet where he's become a de-aged immortal. He says that "immortality consists largely of boredom."
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He gets increasingly annoyed by the crew constantly praising him for being a visionary that changes the world—finally telling Riker that he was Only in It for the Money. Riker thankfully wasn't disillusioned and gave him a pep-talk, using one of his own future quotes in the process.
  Cochrane: This other guy you keep mentioning, this historical figure? I never met him. I can't imagine I ever will.
  Riker: Someone once said, "Don't try to be a great man; just be a man, and let history make its own judgments."
  Cochrane: That's rhetorical nonsense. Who said that?
  Riker: [grinning] You did, ten years from now.

Lily Sloane

Lily Sloane

Played By: Alfre Woodard

Dubbed in French By: Laurence Crouzet

• The Ace: Downplayed compared to Cochrane, but she is his partner in the Phoenix Project, and was supposed to be the one to copilot the mission.
• Action Survivor: She survives World War III, radiation poisoning, and a Borg invasion.
• Audience Surrogate: For non-Trekkies per Ronald D. Moore in the DVD commentary.
• MacGyvering: She and Cochrane were able to convert a nuclear missile into a fully funcitonal, warp-capable spacecraft, despite living in essentially the post-World War III dark ages. She even mentions having built the cockpit using titanium she scrounged from debris.
• The Not-Love Interest: To Jean-Luc Picard, and to Cochrane apparently.
• Only Sane Man: The rest of the Enterprise crew is either down on Earth with Cochrane, or simply trying not to get killed by Borg, so it's up to her to call Picard out on his bullshit.
• Sassy Black Woman: She deals with the stress of being essentially abducted by aliens and thrust into a war by becoming a Deadpan Snarker.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: She uses the word "bullshit" twice, particularly when calling foul on Picard's "evolved sensibilities" line.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Picard as he starts Jumping Off the Slippery Slope.

Lieutenant Hawk

Lieutenant Hawk

Played By: Neal McDonough

• All There in the Manual: The Expanded Universe gives him a lot more depth and backstory.
• Ascended Extra: There are several novels and short stories in the Expanded Universe that feature him in a starring role.
• Disposable Pilot: The designated helmsman of the Enterprise and is killed halfway into the movie.
• Mauve Shirt: He spends the whole film standing around in the background doing things that even an extra could do, and he’s the only non-main character present during the attempt to release the mag-locks. As is to be expected, he gets assimilated and killed. That said, supplementary materials give him a lot more depth, and he’s a lot tougher than the ordinary Red Shirt.
• Sacrificial Lion: Gets assimilated by the Borg and shot by Worf upon trying to assimilate Picard.
• Straight Gay: The Expanded Universe states that he is gay and he displays no stereotypical traits.

Lieutenant Daniels

Lieutenant Daniels

Played By: Michael Horton

• Mauve Shirt: Survives the fighting in this movie and goes on to the next.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This is his reaction to Picard ordering his security teams to stand their ground against the Borg though their weapons have been rendered useless.

U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)

U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)

Voiced By: Majel Barrett

• Gunship Rescue: Her appearance is when the battle against the Borg turns in the Federation's favor.
• Legacy Vessel Naming: Lampshaded when her Self-Destruct Mechanism is activated.
  Crusher: So much for the Enterprise-E.
  Picard: We barely knew her.
  Crusher: Think they'll build another one?
  Picard: There are plenty of letters left in the alphabet.
• Lightning Bruiser: More so than her predecessor. She's clearly more maneuverable, with Deflector Shields that can No-Sell a Borg cube's attacks, and her new quantum torpedoes hit for massive damage.
• Midseason Upgrade: As if she wasn't already badass enough, source material shows that between this movie and Star Trek: Nemesis, she gets even more phaser arrays and torpedo tubes.
• Near-Death Experience: She is left defenseless against the Scimitar in Nemesis. It's only through Data's Heroic Sacrifice that she gets to live to fight another day. She also narrowly survived her cameo in Star Trek: Prodigy, as it was confirmed she made it past this event into 2386 despite nearly being annihilated by the Living Construct's virus.
• Ramming Always Works: Subverted. Her tactical collision against the Scimitar in Nemesis only takes out its shielding and cloaking device, but the Scimitar's main weapon remains intact and Shinzon intends to vaporize Earth once he destroys the Enterprise. Data saves her, at the cost of his own life.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: It's not mentioned what happened to her when the Enterprise-F was brought online in 2386, only that the E's final mission was marked "Classified" and that's it. The penultimate episode of Picard strongly implies that she was destroyed, or at least messed up even more badly than the Enterprise-D.