Species 8472

A member of Species 8472

"The weak...will perish."

Species 8472 was the Borg designation for a tripedal and apparently highly xenophobic non-humanoid species whose actual name is unknown. 8472 was first encountered by the Federation starship USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant in 2373. The species originates from a dimension called fluidic space, accessible by quantum singularities. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II") They are believed by the Borg to be the ultimate form of biological evolution.

History

Borg-Species 8472 war

See the main article: Borg-Species 8472 War

In their search for further species worthy of assimilation, the Borg first encountered Species 8472 after they found a way to enter fluidic space in 2373. However, Species 8472 turned out to be immune to the Borg's assimilation attempts and the invasion of their realm provoked a war, which quickly evolved into the first real threat the Borg had faced, and according to Seven of Nine, was the first species to offer "true resistance to the Borg". With their superior biological technology, Species 8472 was able to annihilate large numbers of Borg drones, ships and even planets.

It was during this time that the Federation starship Voyager also encountered Species 8472. After a disastrous first encounter and gathering more information, the crew came to believe that Species 8472 intended to destroy not only the Borg, but all life in the galaxy. Captain Janeway decided to form an alliance with the Borg to stop Species 8472 and ensure her ship would get beyond Borg space. Armed with warheads containing modified nanoprobes capable of destroying the ships used by the invaders, Voyager entered fluidic space and destroyed several bioships along with many more after returning to normal space. The encounter frightened Species 8472, and they retreated to fluidic space. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II", "Prey")

When they retreated to fluidic space, one member of Species 8472 was left behind and was relentlessly hunted by a group of Hirogen hunters for several months. This individual was later rescued by the crew of Voyager, and Captain Kathryn Janeway intended to return it to fluidic space. Seven of Nine, however, refused to open a rift to Species 8472's realm. Shortly afterwards, in a struggle with one of the Hirogen hunters aboard Voyager, Seven of Nine took the opportunity, in defiance of Janeway's orders, to transport the individual to the Hirogen starships, which then broke off their attack. (VOY: "Prey")

The "Federation" threat

Concerned about the threat posed by Humanity with its modified nanoprobe-warheads, Species 8472 created a simulation of Starfleet Headquarters on Earth inside a terrasphere in the Delta Quadrant as a training ground for a potential infiltration of the Federation, modifying many of their kind to look like Alpha Quadrant species. Their main goal was to uncover if the Federation was planning an invasion of their realm. However, their simulation contained a few major inconsistencies, such as Ferengi in Starfleet or obsolete uniforms. Some were completely uncomfortable with the fact they were in the form of "inferior" lifeforms, who needed to eat, sleep and were unable to communicate telepathically. The Voyager crew discovered the training ground by tracking the source of its transmissions, which appeared to have a Federation signature. When discovered, Species 8472 captured Commander Chakotay, Voyager's first officer, believing a fleet to be on its way. Voyager managed to convince Species 8472 that the Federation had no hostile intention toward them by giving them their modified nanoprobe warheads in hope that Species 8472 could adapt their vessels in exchange for their techniques on how to look human. Species 8472 identified humans as their primary threat, dismissing the Borg as 'irrelevant'.(VOY: "In the Flesh")

Aftermath

The Borg continued to patrol a border between our galaxy and fluidic space. Axum suggested that he would try to make contact with Species 8472 after he was liberated from "Unimatrix Zero". (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")

Biology

Species 8472 blood cells

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Species 8472 is tripedal, around three meters tall, extremely muscular, and biologically unique. Their DNA is arranged in a triple helix formation, and is the most densely coded DNA ever encountered by Starfleet. They are known to have as many as five sexes. The species' immune system is able to destroy anything which penetrates their body systems: chemical, biological, or technological. They are impervious to normal Borg assimilation methods. Their immune system can even be used as a means of attack. If cornered they attack with their claws rather than with any other type of weapon allowing Species 8472's cells to come into contact with a victim's where they will infect every system and consume it from the inside out. In addition, if threatened, Species 8472 are able to commit suicide by releasing a cellular toxin into their bloodstreams. They emit a biogenic field around their bodies; this field renders them nearly invisible to sensors, making it impossible to pinpoint their exact location. This field also interferes with normal transporters. Exactly how this biogenic field is produced is unknown.

A close-up of the eye of Species 8472

Physiologically, Species 8472 is non-humanoid. They are able to withstand the vacuum of space. It is probable that in fluidic space they are able to swim through the organic matter similar to their ships, which share their unique physiology. Although capable of auditory communication with other species, communication via telepathy is the standard between their species' own members. Kes was able to make contact with Species 8472 while they were in conflict with the Borg; they vowed that 'the weak will perish'. With their dense musculature and increased height, Species 8472 possess great flexibility and can move much faster than either humanoids or Borg. They are able to penetrate force fields and rip through bulkheads with apparent ease.

Two members of Species 8472 courting

They have very little soft tissue, and much of their skeleton is exposed, particularly around their necks. Species 8472 does appear to have nostrils, suggesting a sense of smell; however, they possess no ears or mouth and have distinctive cross-shaped pupils. They appear purple to green depending on the lighting. It is not known if Species 8472 is the only species to have evolved in fluidic space, if they share it with any as-yet unknown species, or if they exterminated any such others as they attempted to do in normal space.

In conjunction with the Borg, The Doctor developed modified nanoprobes (by reconfiguring them to give the same signature as species 8472's cells) which were able to effectively combat Species 8472 and their bioships. The nanoprobes could be modified to either kill the creatures and their ships, but the Borg could not use the nanoprobes to assimilate Species 8472, since they would be immediately destroyed along with their cells as soon as the they began to alter the cellular coding patterns. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II", "In the Flesh", "Someone to Watch Over Me"; Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 5)

Technology

A console on a bioship

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The bioships used by Species 8472 are very advanced and share their unique genetic makeup. They are living organic vessels capable of warp speed, and are very heavily armed and shielded. Inside, the walls and floor appear to be flesh; spider web-like material is used in place of an EPS system. The structural supports are made of bone. The ship's computer is similar to a nervous system and uses neuropeptides. The ships are native to fluidic space and are able to function as well in the organic matter of fluid space as they are in the vacuum of normal space. They are also equipped to detect the pressure wave created when a vessel crosses into fluidic space from normal space.

A bioship carries only one crew member, who acts as the pilot. Its hull is resistant to conventional weaponry, including Borg assimilation, and also reflects sensor scans and tractor beams. The bioships are armed with energy beam weapons. Although the beam appears less coherent than either Starfleet or Borg weapons, it is able to inflict greater damage; Voyager was knocked off course by a beam that just missed it. Nine bioships can combine their firepower using an energy focusing ship, forming a planet killer.

It is unknown whether the ships evolved naturally or if they were engineered to fit their task by Species 8472. (VOY: "Scorpion"; Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 5)

Relationships

• Starfleet - since Voyager had developed nanoprobe enhanced warheads, Species 8472 thought that Starfleet was going to invade their space, so they created biospheres to simulate Starfleet Academy so they can infiltrate the Federation. However, Voyager found out, and after negotiations, Species 8472 returned home. It is unknown if any further kind of relationship was developed with Starfleet and Species 8472.

A member of this species, one who took the form of Commander Valerie Archer, remarked that though Humans are genetically impure, they created beautiful works. (VOY: "In the Flesh")

Culture

All that is known of Species 8472's culture is that the species is highly xenophobic; they consider all other lifeforms to be genetically impure and inherently weak, and any alien entering fluidic space is seen as contaminating the realm. They believed the only way to purge a species of its weakness was to exterminate them, even if that meant eliminating all life on the planet. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II")

They appear to have appreciation for art, as mentioned above. (VOY: "In the Flesh")

Individuals

Named

• Named Species 8472

Unnamed

• Unnamed Species 8472

Appendices

Appearances

• VOY:
  • "Scorpion"
  • "Scorpion, Part II"
  • "Prey"
  • "In the Flesh"
  • "Someone to Watch Over Me" (holophoto)

Background

• According to Jeri Taylor, Species 8472 was originally conceived of by Brannon Braga, who co-wrote "Scorpion". Taylor remarked, "Brannon is one of those incredibly creative people, whose got his synapses firing way out there, on the horizon [....] And so that species was his idea." (Braving the Unknown: Season Three, VOY Season 3 DVD special features)
• Visual effects producer Dan Curry was also influential in the genesis of Species 8472's design. CGI Effects Director Ron Thornton said, "From what I understand [...] Dan Curry, God bless him, managed to convince the producers it would be a really good idea to do a wicked, computer-generated character, something that wasn't a guy in a suit or a guy with chewing gum on his nose." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16, p. 37)
• Another influence on the creation of Species 8472 was the success of previous visual effects in the series, particularly the design of the macrovirus in "Macrocosm". "I think it was the basis of 8472," visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore commented. "And [Jeri Taylor] saw that we could do that and maybe, if we had something with a little more meat on it, literally, that we could try to move forward. So, I look back... 'Macrocosm' had given us the chance to do 8472." (Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, VOY Season 3 DVD special features)
• The process of designing Species 8472 began with the script of "Scorpion", which refers to the species as being at least ten feet tall and wearing an alien breathing apparatus. Dan Curry recollected, "We had a script for a very vicious alien creature that had to be so powerful and so fearsome that it was able to chop up and destroy the Borg." CGI animator John Teska recalled the script discussions: "As there were, you know, script discussions happening at Paramount, we started to get the early word that there may be a new nemesis, a new character that would make even the Borg afraid. And it was very exciting just to know that there's going to be a CG character, that it was going to be a major player for that season." (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features)
• Dan Curry came up with the concept of having the aliens each be three-legged. "When we got the story," he recalled, "I was interested in creatures that had weird locomotive properties. And I guess it goes back to the old fifties' sci-fi book Day of the Triffids, about these tripod plants that come to Earth and cause trouble."

  

  A conceptual progenitor of Species 8472

  Another influence on the tripod design was a similarly three-legged, alien character that had appeared in a science-fiction fantasy play that Dan Curry had written, designed and directed, as one of his thesis projects in grad school. "That was a comedic creature," he noted, "but when this came along, I thought, 'Well, hey, wouldn't it be cool to do a tripod creature?'" (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features)
• The prospect of showing that the aliens were not being played by actors had an impact on the tripedal nature of Species 8472 as well as their overall design. Ron Moore recalled, "I think that what we were trying to do was get something that didn't look like a guy in a suit. If we could design something where you could see its spinal column, and the muscles separate so you would have little openings, that would help us give it other than the look of a guy in a suit. So we tried to get that." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95) Likewise, Ron Thornton commented, "It was tripodal (sic), and we wanted to make sure it had lots of open spaces in it. For example, the neck is actually three very thin muscles, so there couldn't possibly be a guy in a suit. We did the same with arms as well, giving them extra joints and things." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16, p. 37)
• Following the decision that Species 8472 would be tripedal, the design process moved onto a preliminary art stage. Dan Curry explained, "I did some very, very crude sketches. And then, working with John Teska and Steve Burg, we swapped drawings back and forth quite a bit, and finally came up with the Species 8472 that was seen in the show." John Teska began to be included in the design process, much to his delight, after Curry and Burg's involvement had started. "When I started to be brought into the process," Teska remembered, "and I saw some of the sketches that were being done by Steve Burg, you know, I was totally excited because it was a non-humanoid. It didn't look like the usual guys with just facial changes. This one had this very strange kind of neck and very strange body structure, with three legs and everything. So, you know, as an animator, as a character designer or creature person, I was totally jazzed about bringing this guy to life. In this case, Steve Burg had had several meetings with Paramount, so they had several different designs [....] There were many drawings and there were features on each one they liked. So, Paramount and Dan Curry came to me and talked about these different designs, and said, 'Could you put them all together and basically create a creature out of that?' So, I didn't have any singular drawing of, 'This is the final creature.'" (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features)
• With John Teska's involvement, the alien design continued to evolve. "The very first thing I did," Teska recalled, "was, once I had these drawings, was just did a very simple, blocky kind of shape, just to kind of get the proportions and figure out how big the head, how big the body and everything would be, and then gave that back to Paramount. So, it became a back-and-forth thing, going from very blocky, crude... then working up to the finer details. And then, ultimately, the paint maps and the textures were done several weeks later. So, it sort of evolved over the course of his creation." (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features)
• John Teska based the finer details of the design on the few facts that were available about the aliens. "There wasn't a lot of backstory on the character, so I didn't know much about where they came from. But what we knew about them was that they communicated psychically, so I knew there wasn't gonna be a lot of lip-synch or a lot of talking or anything. So, one of the key things was getting kind of an expressive, weird forehead and just a feeling that they were different. But then, also knowing how they attacked people – they're always described as really vicious and just tearing – and that they cause infection just by tearing at you or whatever, so.... Really, I mean, that was what drove the animation, was just trying to find a way to make them feel just really fast and menacing, you know, whereas the Borg always had numbers on their side and always had that sort of zombie, 'we're going to get you, no matter what' thing. But with Species 8472, it was just more of the surprise that they'll just... burst your doorway and start slashing." (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features) Similarly, Ron Thornton stated, "A lot of it was creating a personality for the creature in the first place [....] What we wanted to do here was something [...] like a leopard on attack. It would burst through the wall and completely decimate the Borg." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16, p. 37) Ron Moore concurred that the desire to separate the look of each of the aliens from "a guy in a suit" also influenced how the visual effects team designed the aliens' movement. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95)
• The question of how to execute some of the alien design aspects initially proved somewhat troublesome. John Teska explained, "There were a few things on this character [that were questionable]; he had kind of an open-neck structure, with these tendons that attached [...] so that became a little bit of a question, how to rig that, and then the same thing with the legs. It had three legs, so a tripod kind of structure." Dan Curry noted, "My faith in John Teska as an animator was so great that I just trusted he would be able to come up with a very convincing way to move it about." Teska continued, "Of course, I thought a lot about, 'How would this guy walk?'" Ultimately, however, he needn't have worried so much about designing the way that the alien would move. He remarked, "Ironically, we never actually saw him walk more than one or two steps over the course of his life. He's always leaping into rooms and tearing people apart, but he never actually just walked down a hallway, in any of the shots. Really, I just had to think more about getting these attack motions. How he lunges, and things like that. I never really had to worry about the mundane task of just getting down the hallway to a door." (The Birth of Species 8472, VOY Season 4 DVD special features)
• A similar problem was how to fit such a tall alien into the corridors. Ron Thornton commented, "That it would be something nasty which was supposed to be nine feet tall made it very difficult to do. It was a little tight, squeezing a nine-foot tall character into the corridors, but I think it worked out." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16, p. 37)
• Highly pleased with the general flexibility of Species 8472's final design, Ron Thornton enjoyed the process of animating the alien. "Suddenly, we could do a totally non-anthropomorphic creature, that was nasty, vicious, and has a personality," he related. "The animator now becomes an actor and has to give a performance to this creature, and that's something I love to do." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #16, p. 37)
• The possibly that Species 8472 would make return appearances, after the "Scorpion" two-parter, was on the condition that the aliens proved to be popular. While visual effects coordinator Mitch Suskin was beginning to work on the effects of "Scorpion, Part II", Ron Moore addressed that possibility: "It depends how well it goes over. If people really like the creatures, maybe we'll get to see them a lot." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

File:Lightwavin8472.jpg

Cover of Lightwavin' #4.

• Species 8472 was featured on the cover of Lightwavin' #4.
• At the 2009 New Jersey Star Trek convention, Kate Mulgrew remarked to the audience that Species 8472 was her personal favorite of Star Trek: Voyager's villains. [1]

Apocrypha

Species 8472 is also one of the main races featured in the game Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force. In the game, the player must infiltrate a Borg cube infested with Species 8472 to locate a material called 'isodesium'. They are also the main enemy of the Borg and a playable race in Star Trek: Armada II.

The short story "Places of Exile", in the Myriad Universes omnibus Infinity's Prism, tells the tale of an alternate reality where Voyager is attacked by Species 8472 and crippled. The crew has no choice but to stay in the Delta Quadrant, and find a way to survive. Captain Janeway and the crew form a loose alliance of Delta Quadrant species called the "Delta Coalition". The crew also meets 8472 again but they need help from the Coalition. In this story, Species 8472 get a name – the "Groundskeepers" (in keeping with the incarnation of Boothby seen in VOY: "In the Flesh", who retained much of the personality of the original Boothby and plays a major role in the story).

In the game Star Trek Online, Species 8472 told the Klingons to call them the "Undine". The Klingon/Federation War is partly based on the fact that the Klingons have sworn to eradicate the Undine, who have been taking the form of high-ranking officials in the Federation (in addition to other cultures), leading to a lack of trust on the part of the Klingon Empire.

External link

• Template:NCwiki
• Species 8472 at the Star Trek: Online wiki