The archetypal Borg cube is a variety of immense, cubic starship that functions as part of the Borg Collective. It was first seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Q Who?" upon the Borg's first contact with the Federation Starfleet in 2365. The cube appears to be the principal spacefaring unit of the collective, by far the Borg craft most often seen on-screen and the type of vessel used in both the Battles of Wolf 359 and Sector 001. Cubes are popularly believed to number in the millions or greater; however identification numbers cited on-screen (e.g., 461, 630, and 1184) seem to indicate smaller numbers. These ships' low numbers may just be coincidence or may not be the ships' complete registries.
The design of a Borg cube is determined by the materials at hand and what is currently needed for a ship. The only unifying principles of design are a roughly cubical shape, a decentralized/generalized arrangement, a size of several thousand metres per edge, and a hosting of tens or hundreds of thousands of drones. Erin Hansen, the mother of the future Seven of Nine, one of the first humans to see one, was amazed that it was 29 cubic km in volume. This number sizes the length, width, and height dimension at over 3 km.
Common capabilities of cubes include high warp (transwarp) capabilities, self-regeneration and multiple redundant systems, rapid adaptability to almost every seen assault, and various beam (tractor beams and cutting beams) and missile weapons. Cubes have been known to carry sphere ships in cavities covered by large slide-away hatches in the outermost layers; however, it is unknown if this is common.
Two basic styles of cube have been seen. The first, seen in The Next Generation, had an outer layer composed of a thin, mostly perpendicular framework of greebles, allowing a yellowish glow to emanate from within. The second, seen in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Voyager, has a more solid-looking exterior with perpendicular and diagonal greebling, and less of a noticeable green inner light, possibly indicative of a new assimilated technology or a new tendency to employ more physical armor in protecting cubes. (In actuality, the differences between the two types are due to enhanced detailing and use of computer-generated imagery between series.)
In Star Trek: First Contact, the atmospheric pressure aboard a Borg ship is described as being two kilopascals above what would be normal on a Federation starship, humidity is an average 92%, and its internal temperature is 39.1°C.
In the game series Star Trek: Armada, the Borg cubes are equipped with a "holding beam" power. It basically is used to immobilize an enemy ship while sending Borg drones over to assimilate the ship's crew.
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