The Brood are insectoids beings travelling through space to find hosts to infest with their spawn. It is a specialized race, one that has evolved to reproduce and consume any available resources.[2] They are a race thousands of years old, having been in the Milky Way since at least 2620 BC[3] They originated in another galaxy and are reportedly the universe's first natural predators[4], having established nests on hundreds of worlds across the cosmos. Brood society consists of clans led by queens, with the Empress Brood as the supreme leader.[5]
They aren't just savage, they intentionally enjoy the suffering they cause to others, especially the terror their infection causes to their hosts, and as such they've been compared to Demons.[citation needed]
History
Origin
The Brood arrived in the Milky Way galaxy eons ago, because they were either defeated in a war or due to a cosmic catastrophe. When they arrived they discovered the Acanti and started to enslave the spacebound creatures. They are an evil race who see it as their manifest destiny to conquer the universe.[6] The touch of a Brood Queen or a host carrying a queen embryo can corrupt the holiest of holiest sites.[6] To the Brood, other sentient lifeforms are enemies and/or slaves.[7] The Brood enslave the Acanti via use of the Slaver Virus which destroys the higher reasoning centers of their brains (e.g. the conscious mind and self-awareness), making them compliant. Living faster-than-light ships that also serve as food for the Brood it carries.[6]
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Ancient Egypt
In 2620 B.C., a Brood invasion occurred in Ancient Egypt on Earth. Pharaoh Khasekhemwy Khasekhemui, ruler of upper and lower kingdoms of Egypt was turned into a brood, ending the Second Great Dynasty. The invasion was thwarted by Imhotep, En Sabah Nur, and the Knight of Khonshu.[3]
First encounter with the X-Men
The Brood allied themselves with the renegade Sh'iar Deathbird to help her depose her sister Lilandra as ruler of their empire.[8] Deathbird gave Lilandra, their allies the X-Men, and their human friend Carol Danvers (who had been the superhero Miss Marvel before Rogue stole her powers) and even one of her own allies, Fang of the Imperial Guard, to use as hosts for the queen embryos.[7]
The Brood did indeed make use of them, except for Danvers, apparently since they wanted to perform experiments on her half-human/half-Kree genes. The Brood created an illusion in which the heroes and their friends believed they were guests of the Shi'ar and didn't realize they were being implanted. However, Wolverine's healing power purged him of his embryo, and he helped his friends to escape (except Fang, who changed into a Brood before they left).[9]
The Brood attacking Ms Marvel
The Brood Queen ordered her forces to find them, until she was contacted by the Queen embryo she had implanted on Cyclops of the X-Men; it explained that the X-Men were returning to "Sleazeworld." Resigned to their dooms, the heroes were trying to accomplish one last good act by helping the Acanti race to recover the "Soulforce", an apparently supernatural force that must be passed from one Acanti leader (The "Soulsinger") to the next. The Soulforce was located in a crystalline part of the dead Acanti's brain. The Queen herself went with her minions to that area, and battled the X-Men until they started to change into Broods. The Soulforce was almost infected by the evil of the Brood. Wolverine tried to mercy-kill his friends (and then the Queen) but they were saved when Danvers (now a star-powered being called Binary, a result of the Brood experiments on her) arrived and released the Soulforce. Before it went onto its next host, the soulforce cured the X-Men and Lilandra, and turned the Queen into a crystal statue. It also caused Sleazeworld to explode, but the X-Men and their allies escaped alive. The new Soulsinger then led the Acanti to safety in deep space.[6]
Brood in Texas
Some of those Brood landed in the American Southwest. They made their way to Dallas, where they infected a number of mutants. However, they were ultimately defeated by the X-Men.[10] Another branch of the Brood managed to reach Earth and infected several people, mainly mutants, including many from the Louisiana Thieves' Guild that Gambit belonged to. The X-Men were forced to kill most of the infected people.[11] An exception was a woman named Hannah Connover, wife of reverend William Connover of the Glory Day ministry. She was implanted with a Brood embryo by paramedic Josey Thomas, partner of Queen-host Harry Palmer. Becoming a Brood Queen cured her hands of arthritis and she used this "miracle" to become a faith healer for her husband's ministry. She secretly infected the people who came to her for healing, curing them of their illnesses by converting them into her Broodlings. She eventually managed to overcome the Brood's control, a feat she attributed to her husband's unknowing inspiration, and rebelled against the Brood Empress.[5] The Empress sent several of her unusually powerful "firstborn" Broodlings to assassinate her lest she interfere with the invasion of Earth. The X-Men were unable to stop them in direct combat but they were ultimately defeated when she allowed Iceman to freeze her solid, stopping her brain activity and cutting her off from Brood telepathy. Having lost contact with her the assassins believed her to be dead and their mission over, so lacking a ship to return home they killed themselves.[12] She was later revived and she and her Broodlings left Earth. According to the time-traveling X-Man Bishop there are benign factions of Brood in the future, and he speculated that Hannah may be their originator. However, there are still malevolent Brood in the Marvel Universe.[citation needed]
Contest of Champions
A Brood Queen called the Brood Imperiatrix hired the Badoon to help the Brood eliminate Earth's heroes as a threat by infecting them all with Brood eggs and creating an army of super-powered Brood. They holographically created the Coterie race who setup a "Contest of Champions" to determine Earth's mightiest heroes. Teleporting the heroes to the Acanti above Earth, they used nanites to control the heroes.[13] She discovered that the nanites did not work on Iron Man's armor nor on Shadowcat because of her phasing powers, therefore she unsuccessfully attempted to have Iron Man eliminated and placed Shadowcat in a statis tube.[14] Rogue was then brought to the Imperiatrix who took over her body so she could deal with Shadowcat.[15] Iron Man had during that time freed a number of super heroes from the control of the nanites and they were now fighting to take over the Acanti. The Imperiatrix absorbed the powers of the 8 victorious super heroes (from the bouts) and battled the others, until Shadowcat reversed the teleporter sending most of them back to Earth. Shadowcat, Warbird, and Psylocke remained onboard and defeated the Imperiatrix who having lost control of Rogue escaped to the Badoon ship. Where she consumed their leader and used the rest for restore her clan.[16]
Brood Invasion
A mixed team of X-Men and Fantastic Four was formed to investigate what happened to the NASA space station Simulacra, and discovered it had been taken over by the Brood.[17] They discovered that the Brood Queen and her Brood were a scouting party, leading the way to Earth for the Brood armies. After battling them, they left the station leaving the infected crew members alive despite the desires of Wolverine and Emma Frost due to the interference of the Invisible Woman.[18] Soon a Brood invasion force arrived at New York City, as several Acanti were visible over the skyline of the city.[19] The X-Men and Fantastic Four defended the city from the Brood despite facing overwhelming odds. Using an enhanced Cerebro, Emma Frost projected a telepathic hallucination of the Phoenix and Galactus appearing in New York City, which caused the Brood to panic and recall their forces to the dozens of Acanti ships after which they fled Earth.[20]
Monster Island
While on patrol, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) noticed an alien vessel streaking across the sky. It crashed in the state of Georgia where to her horror she discovered it was a Brood ship. She engaged them and learned that they were fleeing the Brood hunter Cru who earlier was slaughtering them on the Acanti before they destroyed the vessel and they reached Earth via escape pod. Cru was hunting the Brood to near extinction and they planned to use Earth as a trap which would kill Cru, though in the process destroying much of the Earth.[21] Cru then appeared and slaughtered the Brood and afterwards activated the Brood trap, in the process destroying the town of 1000s after which it flew into space pursued by Ms. Marvel who blew up Cru.[22]
It later turned out that there had been two escape pods from the Acanti, and the other one had the Brood Queen. Cru itself was back on Earth, having regenerated and was searching the Brood Queen whom had landed on Monster Isle. Seeing her as a threat, Ms. Marvel fought her again and in the process merged part of their minds temporarily making them unable to use their powers and therefore vulnerable to the Brood. The Brood Queen had established a nest on the island and infected the Moloids with their eggs.[23] Ms. Marvel then discovered that the Brood Queen who ruled over the Brood of Sleazeworld had survived and now had a crystalline form. Upon arriving on the island, Operation: Lightning Storm and Wonder Man battled the Brood. Cur and Ms. Marvel having regained the ability to use their powers fought the Brood Queen. In the process Cur was slain, after which the Brood Queen was taken into space by Ms. Marvel who destroyed her with a nuclear weapon.[24]
Sakarr
Later still it is revealed that seven of the Brood's most elite warriors, the Warriors-Prime, were swallowed by a predator deep within Sleazeworld just before the destruction of the planet, and the explosion crystallized the creature, preserving the Brood. They drifted through space until they were drawn into the portal to the planet Sakarr. There they were freed from their crystal prison and entered into a battle with various other prisoners of the the Red King, where six were slain. The seventh, known as No-Name, survived and was placed on a gladiator team with the six other survivors, one of whom was the Hulk, who had been sent there by the Illuminati.[25] She fought with the Hulk when he overthrew the Red King and became the new ruler.[26][27] She followed him to Earth to enact revenge on the Illuminati, who they believed had destroyed the planet.[28] After the events of World War Hulk, she remained on Earth and stayed with the Warbound to watch over the Hulk.[29]
Broo
S.W.O.R.D. which had been conducting experiments on the space station "Pandora's Box" to find a way to safely remove Brood larvae from hosts, lost control of the station as the Brood escaped their holding cells. When Shadowcat, the Beast, Colossus, Storm, and Lockheed boarded the station to help rescue Abigail Brand and the rest of the crew, they discovered that the Brood's homeworld had been destroyed by the Annihilation War and they were on the brink of extinction. They were attempting to steal the S.W.O.R.D. incubators so they could use them to extract larva from hosts and raise them to maturity externally thereby using hosts multiple times.[30]
Abigail who was now partly Brood convinced the X-Men not to exterminate the Brood. She had learned that they were the natural predators of species worse than the Brood, whom because of the near extinction of the Brood were now breeding out of control thereby throwing the interstellar ecosystem out of balance. Due to evolutionary necessity, the Brood were forced to adapt and evolve with soldiers developing into queens and therefore the station now having two queens. The Brood on the station also matured faster and the adults were both stronger and more fertile. With the assistance of the Brood mutant Broo who was an outcast among his kind because of his kindness and compassion, the Brood were defeated and their queens slain. To prevent the extinction of the Brood, Abigail and the X-Men offered them safe passage to their home star system which the Brood accepted.[31][32]
Roxxon Energy Corporation
In order to catch Weapon H, Dario Agger had his Roxxon scientists infect some wolves with the Brood parasites in order to track him down. To draw out Weapon H, Dario had the Brood-Wolves cause a crisis in Roseburg, Oregon by attacking prisoners on work release picking up garbage on the side of the yard. Clay used his claws to slay them. When an Acanti and Brood Drones attacked, Clay turned into Weapon H to fight them. After slaying the Brood Drones and knocking out the Acanti, Brood-Sky Sharks were unleashed on Weapon H who started slaying them as well. Weapon H then ripped a Brood-Human out of the Acanti as he stated that Roxxon only wanted to hire Weapon H. While stating that people who hired him to protect people actually wanted to kill people, Weapon H had the Brood-Human carry a message to Roxxon: to leave him alone.[33]
Biology
Overview
Despite their resemblance to insects, the Brood have endoskeletons as well as exoskeletons. Also unlike insects, they have fanged jaws instead of mandibles. Their skulls are triangular and flat, with a birthmark (different for each Brood) between their large eyes. Their two front legs are actually long tentacles they can use to manipulate objects.
There are appear to be four types of Brood: the smaller, winged ones, (who were nicknamed "sleazoids" by Wolverine), the larger Brood Queens, the FirstBorn who are the true biological children of the Empress Brood, and the Empress Brood herself (who is much larger than a Brood Queen). The sleazoids have flexible abdomens that they need to coil most of the time, and have transparent wings. The Queens are wingless and have round abdomens.
Due to their natural body armor and teeth, the Brood are very dangerous in combat. In addition, they have stingers that can deliver either paralyzing or killing poison. Sleazoids can fly, while the Queens have the ability to implant Brood embryos in other beings. The Queens can also communicate with their spawn by telepathy, even across interstellar distances.[citation needed]
Infection
The Brood are parasitic and must steal the bodies of others to reproduce, making them one of the most insidious alien menaces in the Marvel universe. Unlike other parasitic creatures, these embryos do not grow their own bodies, but rather take over the host's, changing it into their appropriate form. The embryos are also fully intelligent even before they are "born". Apparently they pass on a racial memory to their descendants, possibly including some from their hosts. It takes some time for the embryo to gain the ability to take over its host; in the meantime, the embryo can gain control of the host occasionally, often without the host noticing (since they remember nothing while they're under the embryo's control). If the host possesses any genetic powers, the resultant Brood will inherit them.[7] What happens to the persona of the host once the Brood is "born" is not clear; it appears that it is extinguished, but in some cases, it survives and coexists with the Brood's. Some Brood have been shown as being able to switch back-and-forth between their host's form and their true one, even changing form only partially if they wish.[34]
The Brood have shown to be able to infect and transform many species, such as the humans (including mutants), Shi'ar, and Kree. The Mutant-Alien Hybrid and S.W.O.R.D. agent, Brand, was longer to be fully infected, Brand stating her half-alien physiology was in cause of this resistance.[31] Brood appear to be capable of even infecting and transforming demons or at minimum someone who is possessed by a demon (e.g. Ghost Rider).[35]
Crossing
The Brood DNA has been shown to be crossable with many beings, first by their infection system, but also by bio-engineering, crossed with numerous beings, such as Krakoa, or human mutates, as Man-Thing and Sauron (described specimens of Krakoa and Sauron giant Brood clones).[36]
Classification
Benign Brood
It was stated by Bishop that in his future (Earth-1191), there was a benign race of Brood. This kind of brood are able to understand emotions such as compassion, friendship or honor, and being able to cooperate with other beings.[31]
In Earth-616, No-Name, and the Mutant Brood Broo, both were intended to be used to replace the Brood hive-mind.[31]
This kind of Brood are supposed to be killed at their birth by the "normal" Brood, as an eugenic system, except in the case their numbers would be already too low.[31] The Brood label compassion as a disease.[32]
Mutant Brood
This ability for compassion from Broo deemed him as a mutant.[31]
In Earth-92131, Brood born beneath the rays of black hole star developed various abilities and were cast out of their people as well.[37]
Alternate Realities
Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)
In this reality, Christopher Summers would be infected with a Brood Queen embryo before escaping to Earth. There he would be captured by the forces of Apocalypse and experimented on by Sinister and the Dark Beast. After six years of torture, he would escape unaware of his infection. His Brood half would begin to assert it's control and infect all the humans it encountered including Joe Robertson and Colleen Wing. Summers would be hunted down by the Elite Mutant Force which included his two adult children Scott and Alex. The EMF would slay all those infected by the Brood, and Scott himself would be forced to kill his own father.[38]
It is interesting to note that in this reality those infected with the Brood (with the exception of Chris Summers) had to physically die before the embryo could hatch. The reason behind this remains unexplained.
2099 A.D. (Earth-928)
During the attack of insanity brought by Psiclone, the androgynous harlot Cash imagined the Brood between the races of extraterrestrials who swarmed the streets of Transverse City.[39]
Crossoververse (Earth-7642)
On Earth-7642, the brood invaded Earth to find the daemonites had also infiltrated the planet. The two groups made an alliance and with the help of a human called Sinister, created Brood-Dameonite Hybrids. Their alliance seemed to come to an end when S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men destroyed Sinister's lab, ending the production of hybrids.[40]
Earth-12041
Some Brood were seen watching "Mojo-Pocalypse."[41]
Earth X (Earth-9997)
While telling to Isaac Christians of the Dire Wraiths exiled by the Spaceknights in Limbo, Kyle Richmond wondered why the attempts of otherworldly invasion were always by shapeshifting races as the Skrulls, the Impossible Men or the Brood.[42]
Earth-92131
They differ from their appearance in the comics as these Brood are human sized with greenish skin and could fire electrical energy blasts from their tails. They also had four mechanical tentacles similar to Doctor Octopus and had an anti-gravity generator that allowed them to fly. People would be infected by spores and would turn into brood. They also had red eyes and appeared similar to the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies.[43]
Later, the cadre of Mutant Brood X-Brood (composed of Hardside, Fastskin, Phader, Sharpwing and Openmind) were tracked down by the Shi'ar,[37] until they were saved by the X-Men.[44]Powers and Abilities
Powers
The Brood are really resistant, due to the fact they possess endoskeletons as well as exoskeletons.
Their tentacles are long enough to be use to manipulate objects on large range.
In combat, they used both teeth and stingers that can deliver either paralysing or killing poison.
The Sleazoids possess wings allowing them to fly, while the Queens have the ability to implant Brood embryos in other beings. The Queens can also communicate with their spawn by telepathy, even across interstellar distances.Habitat
Habitat
Gravity
Atmosphere
Miscellaneous
Type of Government
Level of Technology
Highly advanced.
- Interstellar Warships: In addition to using the Acanti, the Brood also use normal starships (their squadrons/units use a mixture of organic and inorganic ships).[6]
- Directed Energy Weapons[9]
- Psi-Scream Weapon: Hand-held large gun type device that attacks the minds of targets with subconscious fears and hatreds.[8]
- Inhibitor Field: Prevents telepaths from using their abilities.[46]
- Nanotechnology[13]
- Teleportation Systems[13]
- Defensive Energy Shields
Cultural Traits
Representatives
Empress Brood, "Mother-of-us-all" (Imperiatrix), the Galactic Council's Queen of the Brood, No Name.
- List of known Brood
- List of the Brood victims (turned as Brood or not)
- Known "benign" Brood and mutant Brood.
Notes
- The Brood returned to Earth in the second Ms. Marvel series to battle Carol Danvers, who as Binary played a key role in their first defeat.
Trivia
- The Brood also appeared in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
See Also
- 291 appearance(s) of Brood (Race)
- 16 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Brood (Race)
- 58 minor appearance(s) of Brood (Race)
- 85 mention(s) of Brood (Race)
- 9 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Brood (Race)
- 160 image(s) of Brood (Race)
- 4 quotation(s) by or about Brood (Race)
- 77 representative(s) of Brood (Race)
Links and References
Recommended Reading
- Uncanny X-Men #155-156: first appearance.
- Uncanny X-Men #161-167: X-Men infected, destruction of "Sleazeworld," death of the "Mother-of-us-all", the classic Brood storyline (a continuation of 155-156 over-arching storyline).
- Uncanny X-Men #232-234: second Brood storyline, first time X-Men battle a group of super-powered Brood.
- X-Men (Vol. 2) #8-9, Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #26-27: X-Men / Ghost Rider crossover, Brood in New Orleans and in sewer tunnels.
References
- ↑ Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files #1
- ↑ Legendary Star-Lord #10
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
- ↑ History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 X-Men vs Brood #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Uncanny X-Men #166
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Uncanny X-Men #162
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Uncanny X-Men #155
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Uncanny X-Men #163
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #232–234
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #26–27
- ↑ X-Men vs Brood # 2
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Contest of Champions II #1
- ↑ Contest of Champions II #2–3
- ↑ Contest of Champions II #4
- ↑ Contest of Champions II #5
- ↑ X-Men / Fantastic Four #1
- ↑ X-Men / Fantastic Four #2
- ↑ X-Men / Fantastic Four #3
- ↑ X-Men / Fantastic Four #5
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #1–2
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #2–3
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #21–22
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 2) #23–24
- ↑ Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #93–94
- ↑ Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #100
- ↑ Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #102
- ↑ World War Hulk #1
- ↑ World War Hulk Aftersmash: Warbound #1
- ↑ Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #38
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #40
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #42
- ↑ Weapon H #3
- ↑ It must be noted that the Brood have not been written consistently by different writers, which may explain this, and other, features.
- ↑ Ghost Rider #26 27
- ↑ Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #31–35
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 X-Men '92 (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ Tales From the Age of Apocalypse #2
- ↑ Ghost Rider 2099 #23
- ↑ WildC.A.T.s/X-Men #The Silver Age
- ↑ Marvel's Avengers Assemble S1E18
- ↑ Universe X #3
- ↑ X-Men: The Animated Series S4E10
- ↑ X-Men '92 (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files #1 ; Brood's entry
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 Uncanny X-Men #156