THE BROOD EMPRESS

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (Brood)

Occupation: Empress and absolute ruler of the Brood, worshipped as a goddess by the Firstborn

Group Membership: Brood

Affiliations: Firstborn

Enemies: Hannah Conover, X-Men

Known Relatives: All Brood are her offspring, but the Firstborn are apparently her true biological children.

Aliases:   Mother of all Mothers

Base of Operations: Bio-organic lair on the Brood Nestworld.

First Appearance: X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath#1 (September, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: The Brood Empress has incredible psionic ability, her mind is linked with every individual Brood in the universe. She controls the complete loyalty of all Brood, and is the “Mother Of All Mothers”, the mother of all Brood, above every other being in the Brood Hierarchy. Whether she is the original progenitor of the entire Brood race is unknown. The Firstborn are apparently her own biological offspring however, only the Empress can make and command them. The Firstborn have stated “There is no god but the Empress, The Mother of All Mothers, and the Firstborn are her children!”, Indicating, that these fanatical assassins are her true children, and, as the Firstborn stated that they have no other form (besides their Brood form), it seems they may not be hatched from host bodies as are other Brood, but born of the Empress directly, (or hatched from her eggs). This would raise the possibility if a male Brood Consort, but one is never mentioned or shown. The Empress can produce as many Firstborn as necessary to get the job done.

Physical Description: The Brood Empress is a massive creature, I cannot begin to guess at her size. The Empress has a long, scaly crocodilian muzzle, tiny yellow eyes, and at least six massive, clawed arms. Instead of the usual claw-hammer shaped head of most Brood, the Empress has extremely long, thin, spiraling red horns, an enlarged braincase, and numerous slender tendrils extend from her face and body . Her huge body is wrinkled and scaly, with monstrous, bat-like wings, and what is apparently an elongated abdomen, possibly for egg-laying. It is unknown if the Brood Empress can move from her perch within her lair.

History:
(X-Men/Brood: Day of Wrath#1; 2 - BTS)- The Brood Empress telepathically appeared to the Rogue Brood Queen Hannah Conover in a dream, trying to convince her to return to the Brood and to stop fighting her Brood nature. She gave Hannah a tour of the Brood Nestworld, all the while explaining the motivations of the Brood, “All life hates us, fears us, seeks our EXTERMINATION! Our only hope is to breed, to always extend our grasp on worlds so that , no matter how many of us they kill, some will survive.” Then she got tough, warning Hannah that if she refused to return, the Firstborn would be sent “to slay you and all you have created, all you hold sacred.” She then broke off contact and Hannah woke up screaming.

The Empress later dispatched the Firstborn to earth in an attempt to capture Hannah, but they failed due to the intervention of the X-Men.

Comments: Created by John Ostrander and Bryan Hitch.

The Brood Empress is a fascinating character. She depicted the Brood as I had imagined them, not evil for the sake of evil, but as a race terrified of extinction and dedicated to their survival as a species, only able to see others as cattle and “walking incubators” for their young, they conquer because it is the only way they know to survive, not out of greed or malice, unlike some races <cough<Shi’ar/Kree/Humans>cough>. I would love to learn more about her .

by Darc_Light and Will U

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Brood Empress should not be confused with:

• Devros, the self-proclaimed "Brood King", @ Untold Legend of Captain Marvel #2
• The Great Mother (Imperiatrix), who was transformed into crystal following her battle with the X-Men, later revived  and staged Contest of Champions II@ Uncanny X-Men #162
• The Borg Queen from Star Trek: First Contact, although they do have a lot in common
• The Queen Aliens from the ALIEN film franchise, whom the Brood were patterned after.