Seven of Nine, known by many simply as “Seven,” is one of the most iconic characters in Star Trek: Voyager.
The former Borg drone who is rehabilitated by the crew of the Voyager has had a long history of struggle. First, she is a part of the evil Borg collective, then she struggled to fit in among the citizens of the Federation. However, the fact remains that Seven is a very impressive character.
She is extremely intelligent, strong, and creative, and though her mannerisms can sometimes come across as a bit robotic, she eventually charms many of the crew of the Voyager and develops lifelong friendships.
Seven of Nine is persistent — when she sets her mind to something she follows through, and she takes the job of learning about human life and interactions very seriously.
Seven has an incredible range of features and skills. Because of her time spent as a Borg drone, Seven of Nine has many unique and interesting abilities.
From super strength to tiny robots that live in her bloodstream to incredible sight that can practically see the invisible, she is truly like no other.
So, without further ado, here are the 20 Weirdest Details About Seven Of Nine’s Body.
20. She Was Part Of The Borg For A Long Time
Star Trek fans may have only seen Seven of Nine after she was de-assimilated from the Borg, but she spent most of her life as a Borg drone.
Seven spent six years in a maturation chamber, as she was still young when she was captured and could not immediately be turned into a full-on drone.
All told, Seven spent six years maturing in stasis and 13 years as a drone, which isn’t a great upbringing.
During her years as a part of the collective Seven was called “Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One,” more of a designation than a name.
When she was removed from the collective, she shortened her name to “Seven of Nine,” or simply “Seven.”
19. She Was Assimilated As A Child
Before her assimilation into the Borg, Seven of Nine was Annika Hansen, the child of two exobiologists studying the Borg. This was dangerous work, as the Borg were a hostile race determined to assimilate all living beings into their collective.
For some reason, the Hansens chose to bring their young child along with them as they performed a dangerous research mission that involved sneaking onto a Borg ship.
While her father was aboard the Borg vessel, the ship that Annika was waiting on was hit with an ion storm that allowed the Borg to track them down.
The rest was history, as Annika was captured and assimilated, spending almost her entire childhood as a member of the Borg.
18. She Holds The Memories Of Beings She Assimilated
While she was a member of the Borg, Seven did their dirty work assimilating other beings into the collective. While it may appear that the memories and experiences of those beings were erased upon their assimilation, that’s not entirely the case.
While aboard the Voyager, Seven begins to exhibit odd behavior similar to what humans would diagnose as multiple personality disorder.
It is discovered that the personalities that Seven is displaying are not random or made up - they belong to the beings she had assimilated.
The crew of the Voyager finds out that the neural patterns of assimilated beings are stored in the Borg hive mind.
An accident had caused Seven to connect to those memories that she associated with those she assimilated.
17. She Had A Son
Seven’s first experience with loss was the demise of her “son,” One.
While One wasn’t born in the traditional sense of the word, he was created after an accident involving a transporter and Seven’s nanoprobes. One was a different kind of Borg. He matured within hours and had many interesting powers.
Seven felt very close to One, who she had inadvertently helped to create, but their mother/son relationship was doomed to end in tragedy.
One inadvertently communicates with a Borg sphere, alerting the Borg to Voyager’s location. While he is able to fight off the Borg ship, he knows that the Borg will not stop hunting him because of his advanced technology.
He sacrifices himself to save Seven and the rest of the crew of the Voyager.
16. She Is A Formidable Fighter
Seven is known for her scientific achievements, but she’s no slouch in combat either.
While Voyager is orbiting Norcadia Prime in order to give the crew a chance for some shore leave, Seven and several other crew members are captured by a sketchy promoter who forces people to fight for the entertainment of others.
Some of these fights are just competitions of strength and agility… while some are fights to the end.
Seven is forced to fight a legendary alien warrior played by Dwayne Johnson. After a brutal fight, she eventually gains the upper hand but hesitates to deliver her knockout blow.
Given this momentary respite, her opponent recovers and knocks her out.
Though she didn’t win the fight, it’s clear that Seven is no pushover.
15. She’s One Of The Sharpest Minds In The Universe
Perhaps Seven’s biggest asset to the Voyager crew is her incredible intelligence. Her experience with Borg technology that is years ahead of Federation tech comes in very handy for the crew.
One of her biggest accomplishments was designing and building Voyager’s astrometrics lab.
Using Borg technology, Seven used the lab to plot a course for the Voyager that was several years shorter than the one they had previously been on. Seven’s knack for astrometrics was such that the lab became home to her during her years on the ship.
Seven discovered a network that helped Voyager regain temporary contact with Alpha Quadrant, and even used nanoprobes to develop technology that could revive someone who had been dead for several hours.
14. She Needed Surgery To Be Able To Feel Strong Emotion
While there are some positives to Seven’s history with the Borg, such as her experience with technology and her superior physical traits, there are also some real downsides that stayed with her even after she left the collective.
One huge problem caused by Seven’s Borg implants is that the Borg program their drones to shut down if they feel strong emotion.
This means that Seven cannot fall in love, feel extreme joy or feel strong negative emotions like sadness or loss.
The Doctor (a hologram in charge of the ship’s medical operations), thinks that he can remove the implants that hide Seven’s emotions from her, but she initially doesn’t want to risk the dangerous procedure.
Later on, she decides to have the surgery.
13. Most Of Her Borg Implants Were Removed
While Seven appears mostly human save for the implants visible around her right eye, she used to be completely covered in Borg implants.
After Seven was stranded aboard the Voyager after a joint mission between the Borg and the ship’s crew, the Doctor managed to remove most of her implants and restore her human appearance.
However, there’s no way to make her completely human again.
Several of Seven’s implants are essential to her survival due to the length of her time with the Borg, so they cannot be safely removed. Others, like her ocular implant, are important in allowing her to carry out a normal life.
Though Seven may never look entirely human, she regained more and more of her humanity each passing day aboard the Voyager. After all, appearances aren’t everything.
12. She Has Super Strength
Seven is extraordinarily strong for a woman of her age.
Her upbringing with the Borg caused Seven to develop super strength, which comes in hand on many occasions for the Voyager crew.
Her heart and repertory system are stronger than a human’s and she can resist radiation and other exposures that would certainly harm any human.
Seven is also a highly trained martial artist — she is the best hand-to-hand combatant on the ship.
However, Seven’s incredible abilities come with a downside — she is still part machine.
This means that occasionally she can malfunction in the same way a broken or hacked machine does. It’s a tough tradeoff, but Seven is always able to make the most of her situation.
11. Her Vision Is Incredible
After Seven’s Borg eyepiece was removed as a part of her de-assimilation, the Doctor fitted her with an ocular implant that was designed to look almost exactly like Seven’s remaining human eye.
However, the implant is far better than a human eye.
Seven’s ocular implant allowed her to see things at great distances and at the same clarity as all her human counterparts, but it also let her see things that were not visible to human eyes.
She could even see irregularities in space-time better than most Federation sensors.
While Seven is always looking to regain her humanity, the ocular implant might be one part of her that she is perfectly happy with.
10. Her Recollection Is Unmatched
In addition to her physical skills and scientific aptitude, Seven of Nine has an incredible memory.
The technical term for Seven’s ability is eidetic memory, or photographic memory. She can recall images from her memory in great detail even after being exposed to them only briefly.
Like some of us might look through a photo album, Seven can view mental pictures of her memories for several minutes at a time.
As a result, Seven never forgets a face, situation, or bit of scientific knowledge.
It makes sense why the Borg wanted her on their side, and with her de-assimilation, the crew of the Voyager found themselves with a valuable ally capable of remembering even the smallest of details.
9. She Is Filled With Nanoprobes
In order to assimilate their victims, the Borg use tiny nanoprobes that infiltrate host systems and replace cell functioning.
Once inside, the nanoprobes can repair their host bodies, attack viruses, and mimic chemical signatures. In fact, nanoprobes can be programmed to do almost anything.
Seven’s body contains 3.6 million nanoprobes, making her extremely valuable. Nanoprobes are highly sought after on the black market due to the many things they are able to be programmed to do.
Because of this, the Ferengi have on several occasions tried to steal Seven’s nanoprobes.
Seven has used her nanoprobes to modify torpedoes, treat radiation poisoning, and carry out other medical and technical tasks. Seven has many unique abilities, but these tiny robots that she carries in her bloodstream might be her most impressive feature.
8. She Can Regenerate Her Body
One of the benefits of being filled with nanoprobes is that Seven is practically immortal.
The nanoprobes in her bloodstream have the convenient ability to repair her cells, so Seven can handle a lot more physical punishment than the typical human.
Be it radiation, cuts and bruises from hand-to-hand combat, or exposure to the vacuum of space, Seven can heal herself without much assistance from the ship’s doctors.
Though for some of her more grievous medical conditions, like those resulting from her Borg implants rejecting her body or her surgery to allow her to feel more human emotions, she required medical assistance, Seven has a great ability to survive on her own and take care of her own injuries.
7. Her Uniform Is Very Constricting
Seven’s skintight catsuit is fairly infamous in the Star Trek universe. Not only did it overtly objectify the character, but it was a very difficult costume for the actress, Jeri Ryan, to wear.
On several occasions, Ryan needed to have nurses on set with oxygen tanks standing by because her costume was so tight.
The producers of the show designed the costume to look like a second skin, and as a result, the garment was so tight and oddly constructed that Ryan was barely able to bend while wearing it.
While Seven of Nine is an iconic character, there are certainly things that could have been done better in regards to her costuming.
6. Her Brain Can Be Overloaded
While Seven’s intellect and recollection are on another level from her human counterparts, having a mind so deeply tied to machines as Seven’s definitely has its downsides.
One of those drawbacks is that just like a computer, Seven can be overloaded if she takes in too much information.
On one occasion, Seven comes to believe that the Voyager was stranded in Delta Quadrant on purpose as a part of a giant conspiracy involving the Federation and many other alien nations.
As she begins to investigate, she becomes increasingly paranoid and starts acting out of character.
As it turns out, Seven had been taking in too much information, making herself sick. While her intelligence is a great strength, Seven has to be careful not to lose control.
5. She Suffered From PTSD
Seven has been through a lot. During her years with the Borg, she committed many atrocities against other alien races, and those acts remain with her.
Along with her guilt about her actions while she was with the Borg, Seven also deals with troubling flashbacks to her assimilation.
Seven cannot escape her connection to the Borg, even as she works to regain her humanity.
She has traumatic flashbacks that aren’t just in her head — once she follows her visions and finds the ruins of her parents’ ship, The Raven.
While viewers might not be reminded of the pain that Seven has experienced in every episode, her experience of finding her parents’ shuttle served as a reminder of everything that Seven has fought to overcome.
4. She’s A Mix Of Human And Machine
Seven will forever be marked by her experience as a Borg drone, both mentally and physically.
Her implants are necessary for her to survive and function in society, and her memories of her time spent as a part of the collective will always impact how she looks at and views society.
However, Seven grows to accept her past as a part of the Borg and look ahead into her future. She learns to socialize with humans, have meaningful relationships, and generally participate in Federation society.
While Seven might still have the occasional crisis of identity, she found a home among the crew of the Voyager.
Seven will forever be a mix of human and machine, but she’s learned to take the good in both and use them for a worthy cause.
3. She Had To Regrow Her Hair After Being Assimilated
When she was a member of the Borg collective, Seven lost the distinctive blonde hair that is associated with her time on the Voyager.
As a part of the removal of her Borg implants, the Doctor also stimulated her hair growth and helped other parts of her body regain their normal human appearance.
When all is said and done, Seven looks almost perfectly human other than the implants remaining above her eye.
However, her appearance isn’t the thing that give her away as being something other than human, instead it’s her mannerisms that tip people off.
Seven has a very clinical way of speaking, and has somewhat awkward social skills. However, her human appearance allows her to participate in Federation society and learn these missing skills.
2. She Might Have Been One Of The First Humans Ever Assimilated
It’s not exactly apparent when the Borg first made contact with the Federation, but it’s possible that Seven’s parents might have been one of the first to ever do so.
The pair of exobiologists were some of the first scientists to ever study the Borg, back when the Borg did not make regular contact with the Federation or humanity in general.
A sad result of their exploration is that their daughter, Annika, would become one of the first humans to ever be assimilated into the Borg collective.
Of course, Annika was too young to be immediately assimilated when she was captured by the Borg, so she was raised in stasis for six years before becoming Seven of Nine.
1. She Was Disconnected From The Borg Hive Mind
Seven spent much of her life as a part of a collective, not having to think for or make decisions for herself.
However, after she came aboard the Voyager, her Borg implants were removed, disconnecting her from the only mind she had known since she was six years old.
Seven did not originally want to be disconnected, but her Borg implants were slowly destroying her so the crew of the Voyager made the decision to go against her wishes.
However, she did not entirely lose her connection to the collective. At various times throughout the show, Seven gets visions or hears voices from the Borg.
Usually, she is able to use these insights to help her new crew on Voyager.
However, she is troubled by her past, and has on occasion left the ship to find answers on her own.
Can you think of any other interesting facts about Seven of Nine’s body in Star Trek? Let us know in the comments!
