History Main / MotherOfAThousandYoung

The purpose of the Mother is usually to cause chaos, or destroy an ancient foe by being the procurer of a living DiabolusExMachina, which will cause the inevitable destruction of the civilization in question, unless the hero can prevent it.

* JRRTolkien's Ungoliant, an EldritchAbomination who can give even Morgoth, Middle-earth's equivalent of ''{{Satan}}'', problems. Her descendants are the reason for Arda's [[GiantSpider little spider problem]], including [[TheHobbit the ones in Mirkwood]] and [[LordOfTheRings Shelob]].

* In Clive Barker's Weaveworld the ghostly Madgdalene makes a habit of raping men and, mere hours later, spawning a new member of her hideous brood, the 'by-blows'.

* OwMySanity has Shubby herself as the CoolBigSis character, who looks more than a little pregnant in her humanoid guise. She gives relationship advice to the protagonist, on the theory that given her, erm, ''experience'', she is more than qualified.

* ''Error'' (who is directly based on Echidna) in Spenser's Book I of ''TheFaerieQueene''.

* JRRTolkien's Ungoliant. Who can give even Morgoth, Middle-earth's equivalent of ''{{Satan}}'', problems. And in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' we have "Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' edition 3.5 had a creature named Ragnorra (Elder Evils) that was an extra planar being from the positive energy plane. Her arrival to a world brings about large amounts of life and good health until it grows to the point of cancerous effects, rabid, mutated monsters that she gives birth to, and all sorts of delightful events of chaos.

* In ''FinalFantasyVII'', one can argue that the creature ''JENOVA'' is a member of this trope, as she is a creature from unknown space origins, and attempted to create more creatures like her(?) self.

* Lilith the Second Angel from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fits this trope. It is stated that she is the source of all terrestrial life [[hottip:* :according to Christian mythology, Lilith was Adam's first wife and mother to many demons and spirits]]. She also turns out to be one of the keys to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt; the only reason she hadn't done it yet is because her soul was sealed into [[HalfHumanHybrid Rei]] (and because she needs Adam the First Angel for it).

* The movie adaptation of ''{{Beowulf}}'' has Grendel's Mother, who procured both Grendel, and the Dragon that Beowulf dies fighting.
* In ''9'', the main villain is a robot that makes other robots.

Named after HPLovecraft's Shub-Niggurath, the Mother of a Thousand Young is an old trope that predates the Dark Romantic period of modern literature, going back to Ancient Greece' Echidna as one example.

* In ''{{9}}'', the main villain is a robot that makes other robots.

* ''{{Werewolf: The Forsaken}}'' has Aharnuz, from its "Predators" sourcebook. A ghastly creature that spawns an apparently infinite variety of twisted "children", the only mercy is that none of these creatures can breed - something it/she is struggling to overcome. The two sample possible origins given for this thing is that she is an almost complete Host that has become even more twisted than it was originally, and that she used to be one of Luna's Handmaidens that remained overlong in the world and was stranded there by the Gauntlet. Its name even means "The Mother" when translated from First Tongue.

* Terra, the Titan of the World in ''{{Scion}}'', embodies fertility through its female avatars. Kamikushi in particular defends herself by giving birth to bodyguards (though one-eighth of them ditch her and go to fight for the Gods instead). Gaia and Jord, meanwhile, have divided the labor - Jord conceives the children and Gaia births them. Coatlicue, on the other hand, is a subversion - Mother of a Thousand ''Stillborn'' Young. (She embodies infanticide and the "devouring mother" concept.)

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shub_Niggurath_by_higherdepths_8951.jpg]]

* In ''FinalFantasyVII'', one can argue that the creature ''JENOVA'' is a member of this trope, as she is a creature from unknown space origins, and attempted to create more creatures like her(?) self.

* ''ClassicalMythology'' has two big mommas. First is ''Nyx'', the protogenos of night, who gave birth to beings like Thanatos (Death), Geras (Old age), Moros (Doom), Eris (Strife), Lyssa (Madness) and many more - not all of her children are demonic, though. The other is ''Echidna'', the mother of monsters, including Cerberus, the Chimera, the Sphinx, the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, and Orthrus.
** Don't forget ''Gaia'', Mother of Earth - along with the Gigantes, the Cyclopes, the Hecatonchires, the Titans and Typhon.
* Lilith the Second Angel from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fits this trope. It is stated that she is the source of all terrestrial life [[hottip:* :according to Christian mythology, Lilith was Adam's first wife and mother to many demons and spirits]]. She also turns out to be one of the keys to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt; the only reason she hadn't done it yet is because her soul was sealed into [[HalfHumanHybrid Rei]] (and because she needs Adam the First Angel for it).
** Adam probably also counts, as it's the progenitor of all the Angels.
* Lilith from Jewish Mythology could be considered this, as some legends claimed she bore hundreds of demonic children every day.
* JRRTolkien's Ungoliant. Who can give even Morgoth, Middle-earth's equivalent of ''{{Satan}}'', problems. And in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' we have "Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."
* Angrboða of ''NorseMythology'' is mother - by Loki - to Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr. She dwells in Ironwood, where she gives birth to monstrous wolves.
----

* Angrboða of Norse mythology is mother - by Loki - to Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr. She dwells in Ironwood, where she gives birth to monstrous wolves.

* JRRTolkien's Ungoliant. Who can give Morgoth problems. And in ''TheLordOfTheRings'' we have "Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."
* Angrboða of Norse mythology is mother to Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr. She dwells in Ironwood, where she gives birth to monstrous wolves.

The trope itself is based on the concept of an EldritchAbomination or terrible monster that is mother to many, ''many'' more monsters, though she is usually the stronger when compared (save against the father, though not always the case). Typically, the mother is a foul beast, or a diabolical deceiver of would-be mates, sometimes even having the power of shapeshifting, thus allowing for greater variety of half-breed children.