Mother Box
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Mother Boxes are fictional devices in Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting in the DC Comics universe.
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[edit] Device history
They are generally thought to be sentient, miniaturized, portable supercomputers, although their true nature and origins are unknown.They possess wondrous powers and abilities not understood even by their users, the Gods of New Genesis. These range from teleportation (they can summon Boom Tubes) to energy manipulation. Mother boxes have been seen healing the injured, including Darkseid himself, after he was beaten by Doomsday. Metron stated that each Mother Box shares "a mystical rapport with nature." They provide their owner with unconditional love and self-destruct when their owner dies.
Mother Boxes have sacrificed themselves for causes they have believed in and are greatly respected by the people of New Genesis. In physical appearance they are most often in the shape of a small box worn much like a common day PDA on Earth, but they can also be much larger (as is the one carried by the Forever People), and do not always need to be in the shape of a box at all (Mr. Miracle had Mother Box' circuitry woven into the hood of his costume). They usually communicate with a repetitive "ping!" which can be understood by their users.
[edit] Abilities
Mother Boxes can access the Energy of the Source for various effects; they can change the gravitational constant of an area, transfer energy from one place to another, control the mental state of a host, communicate telepathically with a host or other life form, manipulate the life-force of a host to sustain it past fatal injuries, open or close boom-tubes, take over and control non-sentient machines, evolve non-sentient machines, merge sentient beings into a single more powerful being, sustain a life form in a hostile environment such as space, and do many other things. Mother Boxes have an affinity for the Source and are believed to draw their power from it; in that sense, they can be seen as a computer that links man to God.
To the New Gods, they are common appliances, inasmuch as a sentient device can be called an "appliance". Other DC characters are given access to them at specific times, when they are in need of aid. Notably, Superman was given one when he went in pursuit of Doomsday, which managed to heal Darkseid (When Superman needed his foe's aid against the Cyborg Superman), give Superman a power boost to battle Doomsday, used Waverider's gauntlet to send Doomsday into the future, and healed Superman's injuries at the end of the battle, although this last act drained it of power.
It should be noted that Mother Boxes could only be manufactured by a being born either on New Genesis or Apokolips, and not even all could do it (at least one in Apokolips failed). And that this was accomplished through much training. It was implied in the books that the maker's character influenced the successful construction of a Mother Box. This was all true at least while the Fourth World books' creator Jack Kirby worked on the meta-series. Other writers modified the usage of the Mother Box.
[edit] Notable users
Noted Mother Boxes include those of Mister Miracle and Shilo Norman; the Mother Box of the Forever People, which can summon the Infinity-Man; and the Mother Box used by the Captains Marvel to access the magic lightning when the wizard Shazam was on New Genesis. Orion has a Mother Box which controls his rage (and bestial appearance), but it was removed twice; once when it was used by Steel as a means of blocking telepathy, and once when Orion had it sent to Oracle during the Mageddon crisis. During Walt Simonson's Orion series it seemingly died, and he used a unique Apokaliptian "Father Box" instead. This box communicated by going "ting!" rather than "ping!", and was designed to turn him towards Darkseid.
[edit] Usage in comics
[edit] Seven Soldiers of Victory
In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle storyline, only one Mother Box has survived the destruction of New Genesis. It is owned by Shilo Norman (the third Mister Miracle), who sometimes calls it "Motherboxxx".
A Father Box was also mentioned in Seven Soliders as one of the "Seven Treasures" the New Gods left to the Earth's first superhero. This may have become the "heart-stone of New York" seen in Manhattan Guardian and Klarion.
[edit] Rock of Ages
In the possible future seen in the JLA: Rock of Ages storyline (also by Morrison), Granny Goodness has been transformed into an insane computer called the "Grandmother Box" or more commonly "Granny Box".
[edit] Justice League of America
In Brad Meltzer's Justice League of America #1 a villain named Dr. Impossible uses a "Father Box" to summon "Hush Tubes".
Mother boxes, due to the vaguely-defined nature of their powers, are often invoked among comics fans as a joke explanation for continuity errors. "It was a mother box" is one of the standard responses to a question with no canonical answer.
