Resistance is futile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Resistance is futile” is a famous phrase used by the Borg from the Star Trek fictional universe. It has subsequently been assimilated into popular culture as a proverb and has become a cultural meme.
It was first spoken in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds," written by Michael Piller. It was made more popular as the tagline of the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact.
"Resistance is futile" has been used in a 2006 advertising campaign for Leerdammer cheese, and as part of commercials for Arby's.
[edit] Possible origins
The origins of this phrase in Star Trek scripts may be found in the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (by Douglas Adams) and appears early in the book:
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A huge young Vogon guard stepped forward and yanked them out of their straps with his huge blubbery arms. "You can't throw us into space," yelled Ford, "we're trying to write a book." "Resistance is useless!" shouted the Vogon guard back at him. It was the first phrase he'd learnt when he joined the Vogon Guard Corps. |
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Although no reference to this book is noted by Star Trek writers, the similarity, and the strong possibility that those writers would be Hitchhiker's fans, makes this a likely reference.
Douglas Adams, in turn, may have picked up the phrase as part of his association with the BBC series Doctor Who. The Daleks used the phrase "resistance is useless" in the 1964 serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth. In 1966 it was spoken by the cybernetically enhanced Cybermen in The Tenth Planet, and in 1968 by the Master of the Land of Fiction in The Mind Robber. The main Borg article contains more information on the possible influences of the Cybermen on the Borg.
The exact phrase was also used by the First Officer to the Doctor in the Doctor Who episode Enlightenment (1983}: "Resistance is futile, we mean her no harm."
Also in 1966, Lost in Space's episode "The Wreck of the Robot" featured a trio of aliens that abduct the Robot. Just before removing the Robot from Jupiter 2, one of the aliens says "Resisting will be futile," much closer to the wording and intent employed by the Borg.
Use of the exact phrase "Resistance is futile" can be traced back to the late 1970s British science fiction television series Space: 1999. The following dialogue occurs in the 2nd season episode "The Dorcons," which first aired on May 1, 1978:
- Consul Varda: Commander, the Psychon [Maya] will tell you how futile it is to resist us.
- Maya [nodding with obvious discomfort]: Resistance IS futile.
Technically Consul Varda actually used the exact phrase "Resistance Is Futile" when speaking to the Moonbase Commander trying to prevent Cmd. Koenig from entering a fight he could not win. The event occurred just before the short battle between Moonbase Alpha and the Dorcon ship occurred. Fred Freiberger, an executive producer of Star Trek: The Original Series, was also the executive producer of Space: 1999 when "The Dorcons" was filmed.
