 Gene Roddenberry was keen not to re @-@ use aliens from The Original Series , and so the Ferengi were developed to be the main villains for The Next Generation . After the new aliens ' first few appearances , it was decided that they were too comical to suit such a role , and instead the production team began looking for a new adversary for Starfleet . Writer and co @-@ executive producer Maurice Hurley developed the idea of an insectoid race with a shared hive consciousness . This idea would become the cybernetic Borg due to budget constraints , with the idea of a hive mind remaining . The new race would go on to appear in five further episodes of The Next Generation , as well as the film Star Trek : First Contact . The Borg also appeared in the pilot of Star Trek : Deep Space Nine , the Star Trek : Enterprise episode " Regeneration " and repeatedly in Star Trek : Voyager from the end of season three onwards . 
