Mother Box
A Mother Box is a highly advanced computer that features in DC Comics.
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History
Pre-Flashpoint
During the Genesis event, the Godwave threatened to destroy all of creation and bring about the emergence of the Fifth World. As a result, numerous superpowered beings were suffering from fluctuations from their power as the Godwave was doubling back on itself. It was during this crisis that Highfather arrived to the heroes of Earth and explained to them the crisis affecting the universe. He had the artisans of New Genesis craft special Mother Boxes that would maintain a connection to the Source thus allowing their wearer to retain their powers. However, as the interference from the Godwave grew, it would eventually overpower the Mother Box's affect thus making them useless in time. (Genesis v1 #2)
They were reported to had featured heavily in abduction stories with one of these support groups headed by an individual called Dave Lincoln who had met the New Gods of New Genesis. This information would later be available on the internet and became one of the key resource sites on Earth that had detailed knowledge on the New Gods. (Blue Beetle v8 #11)
La Dama was known to had acquired a Mother Box as part of her collection of artifacts with this relic's unknown owner having been killed at some unspecified point. Whilst there, Brenda accidently activated it and was transported to Devilance the Pursuer trap-world and later followed by Blue Beetle Jamie Reyes. Ultimately, they would travel back to Earth with the aid of Lonar and Metron of the New Gods help. During their short time, Reyes was taught the words needed to cause the Mother Box to disintegrate into dust thus leaving the relic in La Dama's collection being lost. (Blue Beetle v8 #14)
New 52
In the New 52 Universe, a Mother Box was present on Earth which was being studied at STAR Labs. In this time, it was being studied by Silas Stone, Anthony Ivo, Sarah Charles, T.O. Morrow, and William Magnus at a time when Darkseid along with his forces began invading the planet. During the experiment, Victor Stone was caught in the lab explosion of the Mother Box which infused his body and left him badly burnt. Thus, Stone was forced to use cybernetics to keep him alive and he developed a connection to the Mother Boxes. Ultimately, the newly assembled Justice League of America were only able to defeat Darkseid with the aid of Cyborg who tapped into his connection with the Mother Boxes and activated them to force all the evil New Gods into Boom Tubes back to Apokolips. (Justice League)
One of the Female Furies named Leilani Lugo was sent to track down Kevin Kho as she sensed a Mother Box in his possession. However, Brother Eye refused to do so and had O.M.A.C. attack her. (O.M.A.C.)
Background
Specially crafted Mother Boxes were able to allow their user to retain their superpowers when affected by the universe affecting Godwave but would eventually themselves become powerless as their signal to the Source was drowned by great levels of interference. (Genesis v1 #2)
Analysis indicated that these artifacts developed a slow charge and were unable to make multiple Boom Tubes with the process only capable of being achieved once every few hours. (Blue Beetle v8 #12)
They were known to hold thought patterns which was an indication of it being a living entity. It was capable of communicating through information but a voice when interfaced with other technological devices such as a Reach Scarab. (Blue Beetle v8 #11) They were in fact classed as being sentient and said to be bonded to one owner who was a member of the New Gods. Their sentience meant that they were capable of feeling grief and mourned trauma or death of their owners. These devices were capable of self-destructing when given the order to do so. If given, they emitted a loud "Ping!" before erupting in a large scale of light whereupon they disintegrated into dust. (Blue Beetle v8 #12)
Other versions that have appeared in various timelines include:
- Ancestor Box : a version created by Darkseid during the Final Crisis and contained the "hyper-adapter". It said that Omega is the death that gives and gives forever with it being tailor-made to create an unbeatable life trap for its intended target. This sent an enemy of Darkseid to fall through time and reshape their history to destroy them by turning real events or individuals into myths or distorted versions of their real selves. Darkseid unleashed this weapon on Batman during the Final Crisis which send him into the past and led the world to think that the Dark Knight was killed by the dark god. (Batman #702)
- Anti-Mother Box : this variant was created by Darkseid that resembled a hexagonal Mother Box darker in color with four spikes in the surface corners. This version was filled with blue destructive energy as it had the power to destroy other Mother Boxes with wearers linked to such artifacts dying as their souls died with the machine itself. Darkseid used this Anti-Mother Box against Kal-El and Orion; killing the latter as he was linked to his Mother Box but the former managed to survive the energy blast. (Elseworlds Superman: The Dark Side)
- Genesis Box : a version created by Orion after he was depowered in a dark alternate future where Darkseid conquered the Earth and became the master of the universe. In this reality, the last remnants of the Justice League battled Darkseid with most being killed but not before they paralysed Darkseid when Atom entered into his brain. This distraction allowed Orion to activate the Genesis Box that created an energy wave that swept across all of space, reducing creation to energy so it could be reborn again but tihs time without the taint of Darkseid. (JLA #14 Rock of Ages, Part 5 Twilight of the Gods)
Users
- Kindred Marx : was given a Mother Box during the Genesis event and attempted to use it as a navigation tool for his teleportation powers but the Godwave had removed the handstamps needed for his ability thus preventing him from using it to send wounded heroes back to Earth for medical treatment. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #14) He retained the Mother Box which he used to restart the rave at the Event Horizon club which allowed him to locate anyone in the universe. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #15)
- Aura : Marx's Mother Box later left his care after he discovered Kindred Sol and passed to Aura where it was believed that the living computer thought she had greater need of it. (Superboy and the Ravers v1 #19)
- La Dama : the El Paso crime lord managed to acquire a Mother Box from an unknown source but did not know its origins, secrets or the power to access it until her niece Brenda accidently activated it causing her to be deposited on a distant world. (Blue Beetle v8 #9-#10) Lonar later instructed Jamie Reyes on causing the Mother Box to disintegrate as it was in pain after being separated from its original owner. (Blue Beetle v8 #11-#12)
- Captain Marvel : a group in Washington managed to retrieve a Mother Box from Intergang but failed to get it operational whereupon it was given temporarily to Captain Marvel who managed to activate the device which opened a Boom Tube to Venus. This allowed Captain Marvel to conduct a rescue mission to retrieve the astronauts on the Freya III and also advised him of danger when he arrived on the planet. (The Power of Shazam! v1 #15)
Notes
- In Ame-Comi v1 #14, Alana Strange and the scientists of Rann use a device callled a Mother Box to engineer a New God by the name of Metra who was created with the purpose of battling Sinestra and her undead army. In Ame-Comi v1 issue #16, its described as being an incubational Mother Box by Alana Strange.
In Other Media
Television
- In Young Justice, a Mother Box makes an appearance in the episode "Disordered" where its in possession of the Forever People. They use it to summon Boom Tubes, track New Genesis technology and summon Infinity Man. By the end of the episode, they use it to heal the New Geneisphere after she had suffered serious damage in the battle against Intergang and Desaad.
Film
- The Superman/Batman: Apocalypse animated film showcased a Mother Box in the possession of Big Barda which was why Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman seek her out in order to rescue the kidnapped Kara Zor-El from Darkseid. Once they meet her, Superman requests the usage of the device to travel to Apokolips through a Boom Tube and later arrive in their coordinates. Following her rescue, Darkseid arrives on Earth to get revenge on Superman for his defeat and seemingly badly wounded Supergirl. However, during the fighting, the Mother Box had fallen and the distraction of the fight with Superman allowed Kara to reprogram the device to create a Boom Tube to send Darkseid not back to Apokolips but somewhere in deep space where he was meant to had been stranded.
Video games
- A Mother Box features heavily in the plotline for Justice League: Heroes video game. Within the game, the Mother Box was described by John Stewart as a mini-computer that was so intelligent that it was alive. The use of a Mother Box with that of a Sensory Matrix Field Generator allowed a user to reshape an entire planet to their will. The Green Lantern expressed some doubt though on whether Brainiac was smart enough to completely reprogram the machine. While it was bound to serve its controller, the Box did have its own agendas and was capable of leaving subtle clues to aid others. This made it capable of tricking its master though in actual affect, the Mother Box possessed its own agenda. The Justice League held a Mother Box in their Watchtower base where it was heavily protected. Brainiac used a number of disasters around the Earth as a distraction in order to enter the Watchtower and steal the Mother Box. Once stolen, it left a trail for the Justice League to follow in order to retrieve the Box once more. This was because it was afraid of what Brainiac wanted to use it for. Brainiac had been guided to steal the Mother Box by a mysterious voice he heared from a meteor fragment. After being defeated by the League, Brainiac seemed to come back to life; reborn. However, a moment later, he disappeared and was replaced by a reconstituted Darkseid who had been manipulating him all along in order to free himself from his extradimensional prison. Using the Mother Box with a Sensory Matrix Field Generator, Darkseid reformed the planet Earth into a New Apokolips. The Justice League were seemingly killed by Darkseids Omega Beams but the Mother Box saved them by transporting them to another dimension with subtle clues on how to get back. Furthermore, the Mother Box had sent them to another dimension in order for the Green Lantern John Stewart to gather ambient energy waves which he distributed to his comrades to protect them from further Omega Beam attacks.
Appearances
- Genesis v1 #2
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #14
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #15
- Superboy and the Ravers v1 #19
- Blue Beetle v8 #9
- Blue Beetle v8 #10
- Blue Beetle v8 #11
- Blue Beetle v8 #12
External Link
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