In "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Scorpion, Part I" (May 21, 1997) the USS Voyager knows they are approaching an area of the galaxy that is just lousy with the Borg. The ship is about to fly straight through Borg territory and will constantly be at risk of assimilation. The immediate future looks terrifying. And just as the ship passes into Borg space, giant Borg cubes fly directly toward them. Surprisingly, though, the cubes all fly straight past the Voyager. It seems the Borg were fleeing something
even more terrifying behind them. The Voyager then sees a mysterious spacecraft, seemingly made of biological material, in pursuit. This bioship is easily able to attack and destroy 15 Borg vessels.
The bioship belongs to a species that the Borg refer to as Species 8472 in their database. Species 8472 are powerful, psychic creatures that hail from a parallel dimension completely filled with fluid. It seems that the Borg, in an attempt to expand their strategy of conquering and assimilation, opened up a rift into fluidic space, hoping to invade an alternate universe.
The Borg, however, found they couldn't deal with the power of Species 8472. Their biological makeup was unlike anything they had encountered, and the technology was not something they knew how to assimilate. After being attacked, the aliens counter-invaded, coming into our universe and laying waste to thousands of Borg ships. The aliens were so powerful that the Borg -- in a completely uncharacteristic move -- elected to make a deal with Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). The Voyager would not be assimilated, provided it granted the Borg the means to attack or wound Species 8472.
If the Borg were unable to deal with Species 8472, then what chance would the Voyager have? They were a terrifying new threat.
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Star Trek: Voyager's Species 8472 Were Too Powerful, Even For The Borg
The species only appeared in two "Voyager" episodes after the two-part "Scorpion," but the character remains terrifying. It's worth noting that "Scorpion" ended with the Voyager hosting a disconnected Borg drone named Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who had some issues when joining the series. We have Species 8472 to thank for the addition of the character.
Unlike most of the species on "Star Trek," Species 8472 was visually realized via CGI. The creatures have wide-spread, threatening eyeballs and no immediately noticeable nose or mouth. They have wide, flat heads and spindly, fleshy bodies. CGI allowed the "Star Trek" designers to go a little hog-wild, no longer needing to fit a human actor inside an alien costume. The creatures were designed by Steve Burg and Dan Curry, the latter of whom said he took his inspiration from the tripods from "Day of the Triffids." He talks about the Species at length on the "Star Trek: Voyager" DVDs.
The Species 8472 is said to be incredibly resilient and can resist any virus or infection. Their bodies pulse with bioelectrical energy, making them difficult to scan and impossible to use transporters on. Their bodies naturally repel all energy weapons, and they could walk straight through force fields. What's more, if you did manage to injure Species 8472, they could regenerate. A technological species like the Borg didn't stand a chance. They are the only known species from their home dimension, causing them to be hateful and xenophobic of all other species. They also have a horrid temper, so when the Borg infiltrated, they got very, very pissed. Indeed, they eventually aimed to rid the Milky Way of all its biological life, and they probably could do that if they wanted to.
What Happened To Species 8472 After Star Trek: Voyager?
As mentioned, Species 8472 is psychic, and other psychic species -- the Vulcans, the Ocampa -- were able to receive baffling visions from them. In the episode "In the Flesh" (November 4, 1998), it was revealed that Species 8472 feared that humans would invade their space again and needed to set up special training facilities in our dimension to prepare. The training facilities were elaborate simulation stations, kind of like holodecks, that assembled 3D training spaces populated by familiar Starfleet iconography. Species 8472 is hateful, but they are intelligent. At the end of "In the Flesh," Janeway negotiates a truce with them, giving them vital information on the Borg in exchange for not being killed. If Species 8472 is open-minded, then they aren't so much a threat anymore.
The species ended up appearing in various video games based on "Star Trek: Voyager," including "Star Trek: Voyager - The Arcade Game" and the PC game "Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force." They also turned up in "Star Trek: Armada II" and later, the popular modern adaptation "Star Trek Online." In the latter, Species 8472 explained that they actually do have a name: the Undine. This name was repeated in the 2010 tie-in novel "Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many" by Michael A. Martin. Games and novels are not official "Star Trek" canon, but sometimes they can provide a general fan consensus. In apocryphal sources, the Borg ended up learning how to assimilate Species 8472, while also negotiating a new peace with the Federation.
The Undine, however, have remained more in the realm of "video game villain" than a widely explored "Star Trek" species. Their CGI nature likely made them difficult to recreate, forcing the makers of "Star Trek" to use them as sparingly as possible. It seems unlikely that we'll see a Species 8472 cadet on "Starfleet Academy."
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