Brood (Marvel)
The Brood are a parasitic race within Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
It was said that in the galactic ecosystem that the Brood had developed to become natural predators for far worse species to inhabit the cosmos. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #40) In 2620 BC, the Brood arrived on Earth during the reign of Pharaoh Khasekhemwy Khasekhemui where they infected him and threatened to spread across Egypt. This was until Imhotep assembled an army that included Apocalypse to challenge the alien invaders thus defeating them. (S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1)
Many years ago, the Brood came to spread into the Absolom Sector with them raiding the shipping lanes of the Shi’ar. Around this time, the Kree dispatched a vessel under Grand Admiral Devros with setting up a military beachhead for an invasion of the region of space. Upon arriving, they were ambushed by a Brood-controlled Acanti vessel where both ships crashed on the surface of an uninhabited world. The Brood came to infect the surviving Kree with Devros forming an alliance with the Queen-Mother with the intention of infecting the rest of his kind as he came to believe a union of their races could bring about an evolutionary superior race. Another Kree ship led by Zen-Pram and holding Captain Mar-Vell had come to find the fate of Devros who turned on them and captured them to be used as hosts. He intended to use their craft as a means of escaping the planet in order to infect the rest of the Kree empire. (Untold Legend of Captain Marvel v1 #2)
At some unknown point, the Hellfire Club managed to acquire the body of a Brood combat drone. The specimen was later donated to the UK-based covert agency Black Air under the Information Exchange Treaty. (Excalibur v1 #90)
Modern age
An alliance was forged by Deathbird with the Brood who intended to use her allies to help her defeat her sister Lilandra Neramani and claim the Shi'ar Empire. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #157)
During the Annihilation War, the Brood homeworld was noted to had been destroyed leaving the species on the brink of extinction with them being desperate to reproduce to replace their lost numbers. Around this time, S.W.O.R.D. had acquired a number of Brood and were performing experiments at their orbital Pandora's Box facility to use experimental equipment to help remove Brood larva from infected hosts. However, the Brood Queen managed to escape where they took over the facility and intended to infect the crew whereupon they would use the equipment to remove the larva after which they would re-infect the host again constantly. Through this means, they wanted to increase their numbers and help avert their possible extinction. Abigail Brand attempted to purge the facility but came to be infected by the Brood with the X-Men arriving to save her. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #38) However, she decided to save the race after learning that they were natural predators for worse species and that the interstellar ecosystem had become destabilised after the Brood losing their homeworld. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #40)
Fu Manchu experimented with the Brood in one of his hidden laboratories that remained after his apparent death. His daughter Zheng Bao Yu resurrected this forgotten experiment and attempted to breed the alien predators when their operation was interrupted by the Fearless Defenders. The Brood No Name had entered the battle to destroy the renegade Brood who she claimed were bred from tainted DNA and she would depart the scene seeking to hunt down those responsible for this experiment. (Fearless Defenders v1 #8)
The Brood Queen on the Galactic Council commented to her comrades that she had birthed many new drones that were ready to assist the depleted allied forces against the Builders. (Avengers v5 #20) A number of Brood came to the Peak in orbit around Earth seemingly peacefully but had in fact brought an infection of Symbiotes that took control over the station's occupants. Some of the Brood themselves were devoured by the brain-hungry Symbiotes whilst others were used as hosts that used a teleportation gateway to invade the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning on Earth. (Spider-Man and the X-Men v1 #5)
During the Builder Crisis, the Brood allied themselves with the united races of the Galactic Council in order to fight this common threat. Thus, they added their rapidly growing living armada among the allied forces. (Avengers v5 #18)
Overview
Brood hides were capable of withstanding energy attacks from Unibeams. (Legend of Captain Marvel v1 #2) Young Brood did not possess wings and it was several years before they began to develop them. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #5) They were highly specialized and designed to reproduce in order to consume all available resources. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #10) Each Brood were chemically bounded to their Queen and sisters. (World War Hulk: Aftermash - Warbound v1 #4) When low in numbers, Brood were biologically capable of adapting leading to soldiers becoming Queens to help produce more young. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #40) When killed, it was noted that the bodies of the Brood disintegrated. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155)
Brood embryos possessed a degree of awareness even whilst gestating in a body allowing them to take steps to ensure the host's survival such as curing them of wounds. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #164) It was said that every once in a while a member of their kind was born that were born who exhibited traits such as kindness. These traits were an anathema to the Brood race and it was this reason they typically killed such offspring. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #40)
Numerous breeds of the species were created that included:
- Infestoids : a newly evolved strain that were small but contained many eggs and sought to burrow into the skulls of large sum of helpless victims who were infected in large numbers to create a population explosion of Brood. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #10)
- Firstborn : large armoured green-skinned six-armed members of the race who were elite Brood that only served the Empress and dispatched on missions to eliminate errant members of their race with them dispatched in organic pods that disintegrated upon arrival leaving no way back as the Firstborn were expected to finish their assignment then they died upon completion. Unlike other Brood, the Firstborn were unable to shift form which meant that they could not infiltrate worlds and instead they killed anyone that discovered them. (X-Men vs Brood v1 #1)
Due to their nature, they always sought out breeders that could be used by their race. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155) The race were noted as parasitic vicious killers who subsist by preying on the weak. (Wolverine and the X-Men v2 #10) A ruthless species who acted more akin to a virus rather than an animal (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #10) Their instincts taught them to kill, conquer and consume. Denying these instincts that taught them to slay other sentients was to reject their own biological urges. These same traits led them to try and breed offspring that could even include hybrids who were born as mindless savage creatures driven only by hunger. Such offspring were considered perfect by the parent with it taking great force of will to reject these instincts. If their immediate hive was slain, a lone Brood was sometimes severed from their species hive mind. (World War Hulk: Aftermash - Warbound v1 #4)
Brood had numerous ranks within their society that included:
- Empress :
- Queens :
- Huntmasters : (Uncanny X-Men v1 #164)
- Clanmasters : senior leading Brood that commanded their kin. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #156)
Brood were capable of allying with others but were stated to back winners. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155) Ultimately, other species were seen as a means to cultivate their eggs and propagate themselves. Beyond that, they were either food or workers but otherwise held no importance to their race. The only purpose they had was to protect and extend their own people with individuality no mattering to them as only the Brood living on mattered to them. To survive, their only hope was to breed as they reasoned that as they extended their grasp to other worlds that no matter how many of their kind were killed that the Brood would always survive. The Brood held that all life hated and feared them which was why they always faced extermination at the hands of other species. (X-Men vs Brood v1 #1)
They had a sense of unity brought together by their hive-mind with individuality not holding a place for their kind. The Brood believed their hive-mind afforded a sense of unity and a sense of purpose greater than an individual whereas other species only had chaos. Thoughts of freedom of self and choice of the individual was an anathema to their race with those members of their kind expressing such views facing destruction. Their civilization had spread across the universe with hundreds of nests spread across numerous planets. Each one contained a Queen though each was subservient to the Empress. (X-Men vs Brood v1 #1)
Among their weaponry included the Psi-Scream that targeted the minds of enemies causing them to experience their most primal fears and hatreds to manifest from their subconscious causing foes to turn against one another. They had a rifle that fired tangle-web designed to wrap around an enemy to incapacitate them. Brood also made use of projectiles that fired shells filled with acid to burn foes. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155)
These gargantuan beasts were thus turning into living spaceships for the Brood who outfitted mechanical sections for habitation and weaponry whilst higher-brain functions were deliberately destroyed making it subservient to its crew. Thus, without any awareness, the sentient beings followed its Brood masters commands and was large enough to swallow other ships. Cloaking devices were outfitted on them to prevent detection of these giant space going organisms. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #156)
Members
- Skur'kll : Warrior-Prime of the Brood who accompanied Deathbird as part of their alliance with her to take over the Shi'ar empire where he targeted the X-Men where despite his skill he was killed by Wolverine. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155)
- Extraterrestrial Biological Entity 7.0 : a combat drone recovered by the Hellfire Club and donated to Black Air for study. (Excalibur v1 #90)
- No-Name : a warrior prime who landed with her kind on Sakaar but her comrades were killed in the gladiatorial pits leading to her being free from the hive mind where she joined the Warbound. (World War Hulk: Aftermash - Warbound v1 #4)
- Broo : a member of the race considered a mutation for he was one of the rare few born with traits such as kindness with them typically killed but he was left alive as the Brood faced extinction so could not afford killing more of their kind. He was rescued from stasis by the X-Men where the young teenage Brood sided with them against his kind. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #40)
- T'crilee : (Uncanny X-Men v1 #164)
- Skür’kll : a warrior with the ability to produce a psi-scream. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #155)
- Haeg’rill : a Brood Captain. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #156)
- Hannah Connover :
Notes
- The rood were created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum where they made their first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #155 (March 1982).
- During the JLA/Avengers Crossover, the supervillain Krona created a cosmic disaster that forced the two universes to collide with one another leading to a number of Brood attacking the warlord Mongul.
Alternate Versions
- In Fantastic Four v3 #16 (1999), the Brood appeared in an alternate world setting that was designated as Earth-99315. In this universe, a great cataclysm affected the cosmos upon its conclusion saw the Kree coming and ruling Earth. During their occupation of Earth, an Acanti managed to crash onto the surface where it disgorged a horde of Brood on the surface where they targeted both the Kree and the native human survivors. Any individual found with superhuman ability were captured with their genetic material added into a hive by the Queen who added these abilities within new offspring.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men: The Animated Series, a race known as the Family appeared in the animated television series episode "Love is Vain" with them being based on the Brood. This parasitic species were green-skinned humanoids with reptilian characteristics and use four cybernetic tentacles as additional limbs. These aliens arrive on Earth onboard an Acanti and infect various humans who slowly transform into a member of the race. They were defeated when the Acanti itself was discovered to be a living sentient being who was freed from the aliens control whereupon its song caused great pain to the Family who relented in abandoning their attempted takeover of Earth.
Video games
- In X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, a Brood Queen appeared as an antagonist boss in the 1990s video game.
- In X-Men 2: Clone Wars, a Brood Queen appeared as a boss level antagonist in the video game with soundtrack played being "The Brood Queen & Her Claws".
- In X-Men Legends II, the Brood did not appear but instead an insectoid creature called Cerci replaced them. These mutated insects were sent to infest Genosha during Apocalypses assault on the island nation. The Cerci consisted of Queens and Drones with them breeding at a fast rate whilst they built hives underground. A number of Cerci were designated as Brood types during the game.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Brood appeared as antagonists in the MMORPG game. During the story mode, a number of them took over a S.H.I.E.L.D. science station in the Savage Land and began turning into mindless offspring where they intended to harvest the indigenous people of the area.
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, the Brood appeared as a playable card in the video game.
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men:
- Fantastic Four v3:
- X-Men vs Brood v1:
- S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1: (2010)
- Excalibur v1 #90:
- Astonishing X-Men v3:
External Link
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