Mother Box
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The Forever People #1 (March 1971)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In story information
Type	Computer, Technology
Element of stories featuring	New Gods

Mother Boxes are fictional devices in Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting in the DC Universe.

The Mother Boxes appeared in the feature films Justice League and Zack Snyder's Justice League of the DC Extended Universe.

History

Created by Apokoliptian scientist Himon using the mysterious Element X, they are generally thought to be sentient, miniaturized, portable supercomputers, although their true nature and origins are unknown.^[1] 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, and Mother Boxes have even 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, 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.

Powers and 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, sense danger, sense life, create force fields, rearrange molecular structure of matter, absorb or project powerful shock blasts, create electro-webs, 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 and close boom tubes,^[2] 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 can be seen as a computer that links man to God.
• To the New Gods, they are common appliances (used much like a PDA or smartphone on Earth), insofar 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.
• Mother Boxes can only be manufactured by a being born either on New Genesis or Apokolips, and not all of them can do it (at least one on Apokolips failed). This is accomplished through much training. It is implied in the books that the maker's character influences the successful construction of a Mother Box. This quality applied to all the Fourth World books (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen; Forever People; New Gods; and Mister Miracle) at the time of their original run by Jack Kirby. In later versions of the previously mentioned books, and in other stories where elements from the Fourth World books (such as the Mother Box) were used, other writers altered the crafting and abilities of Mother Boxes to allow for their making and usage by humans and entities from other planets (such as Superman or Batman).

Interpretation

In a 2008 article, John Hodgman observed: "Mister Miracle, a warrior of Apokolips who flees to Earth to become a 'super escape artist', keeps a 'Mother Box' up his sleeve — a small, living computer that can enable its user to do almost anything, so long as it is sufficiently loved. In Kirby's world, all machines are totems: weapons and strange vehicles fuse technology and magic, and the Mother Box in particular uncannily anticipates the gadget fetishism that infects our lives today. The Bluetooth headset may well be a Kirby creation".^[3] Similarly, Mike Cecchini on Den of Geek described the Mother Box as "an alien smartphone that can do anything from heal the injured to teleport you across time and space",^[4] and Christian Holub in Entertainment Weekly called it "basically a smartphone, as designed by gods".^[5] Motherboxes have also been interpreted as a symbol of the "ideal mother" and an example of the role of motherhood in Jack Kirby's Fourth World stories.^[6]

Notable users and usage

• 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 Captain Marvel to access the magic lightning when the wizard Shazam was on New Genesis.
• When tracking Doomsday after his old foe was reborn on Apokolips, Superman was given a Mother Box by Oberon which he acquired from his connections to Mister Miracle. This Mother Box managed to open boom tubes to take Superman to Apokolips,^[2] heal Darkseid (when Superman needed his foe's aid against the Cyborg Superman) after he'd taken a serious beating from Doomsday,^[7] give Superman a power boost to battle Doomsday in the form of various high-tech weapons such as an ultrasonics gun and a laser sword,^[8] used Waverider's gauntlet to send Doomsday to the end of the universe, and healed Superman's injuries (simultaneously restoring his original clothes) at the end of the battle, although this last act drained it of power
• Orion has a Mother Box which controls his rage and bestial appearance, but it has been removed on various occasions. Once it was used by Steel as a means of blocking a telepathic probe on the planet Rann after several of the JLA were captured by the telepathic En'Tarans. When Steel was examining the Box to reprogram it for his current plan, he sensed that it had actually "wanted" to do this before, but Orion had been unable to use the Box in this manner as he was so enraged by his current capture that the Box was expending so much energy simply trying to calm him down. During the Mageddon crisis, Orion gave the Mother Box to Metron so he could confront Mageddon with his full rage and power, Metron passing the Box on to Oracle, who was able to link it to her computers, enhancing her technology so that she could telepathically connect with the minds of every person on the planet, helping to coordinate the counter-offensive against Mageddon's influence.^[9] 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.
• Due to time travel, a Mother Box spent hundreds of years in a Japanese temple, waiting for the Forever People to reclaim it.^[10]
• Iron Man was given a Mother Box by Metron in the JLA/Avengers mini-series. He used it to predict the JLA's moves and had it interface with his own armor.
• 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".
• In Blue Beetle (vol. 4), a story-arc centered around a Mother Box and the New Gods Lonar and Metron. The Mother Box is allegedly mourning its master and teleports the user to the homeworld/trap planet of Devilance the Pursuer.
• In the Starman series, Ted Knight was lent a Mother Box by Orion to be incorporated, along with Kitty Faulkner's energy-detecting technology, into the spaceship his son Jack used to track down a former Starman, Will Payton. This Mother Box was destroyed along with the spaceship by missiles fired from Throneworld. A notable feature of this Mother Box was the fact Ted Knight's consciousness, memories and personality were apparently copied and served as the Box's consciousness, as well as creating a holographic image of Knight to aid Jack. Since this specific box was programmed by Orion, it was prone to violent solutions.
• In the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic, Ares, the God of War, is shown to have a Mother Box in his possession. This box is stolen by Harley Quinn, Hippolyta and Billy Batson while they are trapped in Tartarus. They are shown to be teleported to an unknown place (later revealed to be Apokolips where they are confronted and captured by Darkseid).

Father Box

The Father Box is an Apokoliptian version of a Mother Box, which first appeared in the Orion series by Simonson in 2000. Darkseid's former aide Mortalla presents Orion with an Apokoliptian Father Box.

• In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle storyline, a Father Box is mentioned as one of the "Seven Treasures" the New Gods left to the Earth's first superhero. It came in the form of two dice. It was called "the Foundation Stone of Manhattan" in Manhattan Guardian and "Croatoan" in Klarion. Eventually, it was stolen by Klarion the Witch Boy, who took it to the future.
• In Justice League of America (vol. 2) #1 by Brad Meltzer, a villain named Doctor Impossible uses a Father Box to summon "hush tubes".
• In Supergirl (vol. 5) #15 Power Boy refers to and accesses his Father Box.

In other media

Television

• Mother Boxes frequently appear in the DC Animated Universe:
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, the device is shown in the episodes "Tools of the Trade", "Father's Day", "Apokolips... Now!", "Little Girl Lost", and the series finale "Legacy".
  • A Mother Box appears in the Batman Beyond two-part episode "The Call".
  • A Mother Box appears in the Justice League two-part episode "Twilight".
  • A Mother Box appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Question Authority", under the ownership of Mantis.
• Mother Boxes and Father Boxes appear in Young Justice. Its various uses are shown to include opening Boom Tubes, tracking New Genesis technology, summoning Infinity-Man and healing Sphere. Additionally, Halo was created after a dismantled Mother Box interacted with the corpse of Gabrielle Doau, reviving and taking control of her. In "Another Freak", Victor Stone is converted into a cyborg when his father, Silas Stone, uses a combination of Reach technology and a Father Box to save his life. However, the Box's programming remains inside him, occasionally taking control. Eventually, Halo uses her powers to permanently purge the Father Box from Victor.
• Mother Boxes appear throughout Justice League Action, primarily under the ownership of the New Gods. During the episode "Best Day Ever" Joker obtains one from DeSaad and uses it to break Lex Luthor out of prison.
• A Mother Box appears in the DC Super Hero Girls TV special "Super Hero High".
• A Mother Box appears in the Harley Quinn episode "Inner (Para) Demons". One was shown to be in Mister Miracle's possession before he was severely injured by Harley Quinn, who stole the Mother Box and used it to travel to Apokolips.

Film

DC Extended Universe

• In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a Mother Box appears briefly in footage that Batman obtained from Lex Luthor. The Box is the final component that transforms Victor Stone into Cyborg, thus saving his life in the process. Additionally, Steppenwolf and his Mother Boxes appear in a post-credits scene in the Ultimate Edition of the film.^[11][12]
• In Justice League, Steppenwolf is in search of three Mother Boxes hidden away on Earth. Two are located in Themyscira and Atlantis, while the third is the one that had been seen in Batman v Superman and was used to activate Cyborg.^[13] Previously, Steppenwolf had used the Boxes in his original invasion of Earth, intending to use them to terraform the planet before being driven off by the combined force of the Olympian Gods, Atlanteans, Amazons, humans, and Yalan Gur of the Green Lantern Corps. After the war, the boxes were left on Earth, and the Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans each took custody of one of them. When all three boxes awaken after years of dormancy, Steppenwolf returns seeking to use them to finish what he had started. Eventually, after the Justice League defeat Steppenwolf, the first two boxes are each returned to their respective custodies, while Silas Stone begins researching the third box with his son to explore the extent of its powers.
• Zack Snyder's Justice League depicts the Mother Boxes generally the same as in the theatrical version. After a failed invasion of Earth by Darkseid thousands of years ago, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden away as in the theatrical release. The Amazonian Mother Box "awakens" upon Superman's death at the end of Batman v Superman, and alerts Steppenwolf to its location. He escapes with it after a short battle with the Amazonians and proceeds to search for the other two by capturing and interrogating Atlanteans and S.T.A.R. Labs scientists. Steppenwolf seizes the Atlantean Mother Box after a fight with Aquaman and Mera. The protagonists resurrect Superman with the third Mother Box, and Steppenwolf is able to claim it after an amnesiac Superman attacks the other superheroes. The superheroes are able to locate Steppenwolf's fortress in Russia thanks to Silas Stone's self-sacrifice which allows them to detect the third Mother Box's location. They launch an attack on the fortress so Cyborg can interface with the Boxes and prevent the Unity. After they fail and Earth is destroyed, the Flash travels back in time to enable Cyborg to successfully deactivate the Boxes, preventing the Unity and defeating Steppenwolf, who is subsequently killed through the combined efforts of Aquaman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In the aftermath, DeSaad informs Darkseid that the Mother Boxes are now destroyed, forcing Darkseid to conquer Earth using "the old ways", through military conquest.
• In the Blu-Ray release of Wonder Woman, the epilogue Etta's Mission is included as an additional detailing of the events that transpired after the events of the film's story. Etta Candy's titular mission involves her, Diana Prince, and Steve Trevor retrieving one of the three Mother Boxes.

Animation

• Two Mother Boxes appear in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
• Numerous Mother Boxes appear in Justice League: War, being used to transport Parademons to Earth. When the Mother Boxes were activated, one of them was in Victor Stone's possession and badly wounded him, leading to his transformation into Cyborg. His newfound cybernetics gave him an intimate link to machinery that allowed him to communicate with Mother Boxes. Ultimately, he uses several Boom Tubes to repel the Apokoliptian invasion forces.
• In Reign of the Supermen, Lex Luthor uses the Mother Box to free the Justice League, who were imprisoned in another dimension, and help Steel and Superboy defeat the drones.

Video games

• A Mother Box is central in the plot of Justice League Heroes as it is coveted by Brainiac and used as a way to transform Earth into a "New Apokolips" by Darkseid.
• In Injustice 2, Mother Boxes serve as the game's loot box rewards system, offering differing rewards depending on the rarity. Additionally, Cyborg utilizes them in gameplay to create drones that can target the opponent from multiple directions.
• In Lego DC Super-Villains, a Mother Box is stolen from Wayne Tech and owned by Harley Quinn, who names it "Boxy". It is also revealed that the Mother Box contains the last piece of the Anti-Life Equation, which is then absorbed by the Rookie.