Century Babies

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The Century Babies are a group of fictional characters from comic books set in the Wildstorm universe and especially featuring in the comic Planetary by Warren Ellis.

All the Century Babies were born "with the century" - on the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve of 1900. As they grew each displayed certain superhuman abilities and skills. They all appear immortal (not aging beyond their 20's) but can be, and often are, killed. This is invariably because of the extraordinary lives they lead.

It has been theorised that they act as an immune system for the planet, their very existence protecting Earth.

Century Babies include: Elijah Snow, Jenny Sparks, Axel Brass, Bret Leather, Hark, and Kevin Sack (AKA Lord Blackstock), Jenny Quantum and Jenny Fractal (the last two being the only known Century Babies of the 21st century).

The children of the century babies inherit a portion of their extraordinary powers as seen in Lord Blackstock's daughter Jakita Wagner, and Hark's daughter, who claims she will live to see 300.

It is known that Jenny Sparks was reincarnated as the Spirit of the 21st century (see Jenny Quantum) but it is unknown if this is the case for all Century Babies or if she was a special case. Considered the spirit of the 20th century, Jenny Sparks died on the stroke of midnight 31 December 2000 while other century babies have been shown to either live beyond this date or die earlier. An example of these is Elijah Snow, who has been called "The Ghost of the 20th Century", implying that he carries a part of that century forward after the century itself has passed.

Other Wildstorm writers have claimed that the concept of the "century baby" is fatally flawed, as it grants a preference to the Gregorian calendar, and to the definition of "century" as starting in 1900 rather than 1901. (Addie Vochs of the Monarchy was a Century Baby born in 1901, but on the stroke of midnight on April 1st, the symbolical New Year according to certain horoscopes). However, according to a hypothesis put forth by The Doctor, the collective consciousness of humanity and their belief that the century starts during the xx00 year, not the xx01 year is what wills the Century Babies into being.

In the series Authority: Revolution, Jenny Quantum visits a city/dimension where the spirits of previous "Jenny" Century Babies are living. According to an older Jenny Quantum, this city was created by Jenny Quantum's own powers after visiting the Doctor's garden, which houses the spirits of all the previous Doctors. It turns out that not all of Jenny's predecessors lived for an exact century, rather they lived for a certain period of time that they represented. Only relatively recently have the Jenny Century Babies been living for an exact century. Jenny's predecessors included Jenny Steam (the spirit of the 19th century), Jenny Revolution, Jenny Crusade, Jenny Inquisition, Jenny Plague, Jenny Ra, Jenny Fire and Jenny Stone.