![]() The closest approach to them would be the controversial superorganism concept. ![]() Hive minds are not known to exist in reality - hive-dwelling insects, from which the phrase is derived, communicate intentions and commands through scent and body language but possess individual minds. This trope is particularly common among transhumanist works, however, where an advanced level of technology is assumed. It could be justified, however, as it's possible that a truly hive-minded species may literally never encounter another sentient entity until it achieves interstellar travel, and so have a distinct lack of social skills. This may well be due to a perceived metaphorical overlap with Dirty Communists (even when a Hive Queen is present, which would technically make them a caste system), or a residual, primal fear relating to eusocial insects, which are the closest thing to Hive Minds in Real Life. There is a traditional tendency in SF and fantasy shows for Hive Mind species to be xenophobic, aggressive, and evil, even when they aren't a Horde of Alien Locusts. The Virus is often a Hive Mind (e.g., the Borg) and the Evil Matriarch becomes its Hive Queen. ![]() It is not unusual for it to start out as the former and then slip into the latter as a series progresses and the writing staff changes. Expect "individuals" in such hives to be considered very killable by everyone else as well. ![]() It makes sense that usually the first variant is sensitive to losses and avoids overt violence, but in the second, it's only the question of whether lost bodies will be replenished and it's inclined to expand itself. In Sci-Fi or Fantasy series, the connection may actually be a true shared mind, either with each member contributing to the whole, or the separate bodies being puppets which some central mind controls remotely. They finish each other's sentences, never seem to need to talk to communicate, and may even know what is happening to each other from far away. Two or more characters (frequently twins) are in such perfect harmony that they seem almost to be one person with two bodies. ![]()
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