History Main / MotherOfAThousandYoung

** Pictured above is Shub-Niggurath, our TropeNamer, the primordial [[AnthropomorphicPersonification avatar]] of the event or act of creation, in particular the reproduction of biological life.

** Pictured above is Shub-Niggurath, our TropeNamer, the primordial [[AnthropomorphicPersonification avatar of the concept of creation itself.]]

* Twice in the ''Literature/Merkabahrider'' stories. The first example is Lilith and her whore-demons, who birth swarms of demons literally every time they have intercourse. The second example is the TropeNamer Shub-Niggurath her/his/itself.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark" are an ultimately benign example. Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta, left behind to be the mother of the hatchlings. Originally thought to be a vicious monster, Spock determines that the mother Horta was [[MonsterIsAMommy only attacking]] [[MamaBear because her eggs were threatened]]; the Horta are actually a passive race by nature. Once Spock is able to open the lines of communication, the human miners and the Horta are able to form a more symbiotic relationship.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark" are an ultimately benign example. Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta, left behind to be the mother of the hatchlings. Originally thought to be a vicious monster, Spock determines that the Horta are actually a passive race by nature; the mother Horta was [[MonsterIsAMommy only attacking]] [[MamaBear because her eggs were threatened]]. Once Spock is able to open the lines of communication, the human miners and the Horta are able to form a more symbiotic relationship.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark". Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta, left behind to be the mother of the hatchlings. As a group of miners learn the hard way, [[MamaBear the mother Horta takes this responsibility]] ''[[MamaBear very]]'' [[MamaBear seriously]].

** Pictured above is Shub-Niggurath, our trope namer, the primordial [[AnthropomorphicPersonification avatar of the concept of creation itself.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark". Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta to be the mother of the hatchlings. As a group of miners learn the hard way, [[MamaBear the mother Horta takes this responsibility]] ''[[MamaBear very]]'' [[MamaBear seriously]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark". Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta to be the mother of the hatchlings. As a group of miners learn the hard way, [[MamaBear the mother Horts takes this responsibility]] ''[[MamaBear very]]'' [[MamaBear seriously]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark". Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for thousands of eggs and one single adult Horta to be the mother of the hatchlings. As a group of miners learn the hard way, [[MamaBear they take this responsibility]] ''[[MamaBear very]]'' [[MamaBear seriously]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta of "The Devil In The Dark". Every 50,000 years, the entire race dies off save for one single Horta and thousands of eggs. The sole surviving adult Horta becomes the mother of the hatchlings. As a group of miners learn the hard way, [[MamaBear they take this responsibility]] ''[[MamaBear very]]'' [[MamaBear seriously]].

%%* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The Horta. Luckily, they're not so bad once the humans on their planet reach an agreement with them.%%How do they fit this trope?

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has the Mother of All Monsters (the creator of [[MonsterProgenitor The Alphas]]), the BigBad of the second half of season six. Funnily enough she calls herself Eve, rather than [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology) Echidna]], the mythological Mother of All Monsters (perhaps because the audience might confuse her with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna spiny anteater from Australia]]).

** ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'': The Magdalene makes a habit of raping men and, mere hours later, subsequently spawning new members of her innumerable brood, the hideous 'by-blows'. And just so we're clear, the Magdalene (along with the Hag) is one of the BigBad's triplet sisters who she ''killed'' in the womb. Ghost rape.

** Lilith the Second Angel is stated to be the source of all terrestrial life [[note]]according to Jewish belief, Lilith was Adam's first wife and mother to many demons and spirits[[/note]]. She also turns out to be [[spoiler: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).]]

** Another SpearCounterpart is the sea god Poseidon, though he bore human-looking children too, including legendary mortal kings and heroes. His inhuman children include the flying horse {{Pegasus}}, the talking horse Arion (who also has SuperSpeed for good measure), the nautical AntlionMonster Charybdis (of ScyllaAndCharybdis fame), the {{cyclops}} Polyphemus, the giants Otos and Ephialtes, and the divine merman Triton.

** Pictured above is Shub-Niggurath, our trope namer, a primordial avatar of the concept of creation itself.

* FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/QuakeI'' is even called Shub-Niggurath. She is a tentacled abomination, responsible for giving birth to all the other monsters. She is also referred to as the Hell-Mother and the Witch-Goddess.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' has a sorceress named Centeol who is found looking very swollen and pregnant. She explains to you that she had been cursed by her sorcerer lover shortly before [[ChestBurster exploding into a mass of spiders]].

* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'': The Mother is a goddess that fell to Earth aeons ago. Remaining trapped and immobile underground, she gave birth to several generations of children so they could help her to return to the sky where she belongs. Sadly, all the children either misinterpreted what she wanted, were only interested on her powers or just simply ignored her plies and went their own way. Every time this happened, the mother unleashed a cataclysm what wiped out her children to make room for the next batch. As it turns out, her 8th children is humankind and since we've remained unaware of Mother's existence, she is willing to destroy us all and then gave birth to the 9th children.
** Tiamat from Sumerian Mythology appear as the boss of the Dimensional Corridor. She is described as the strongest Guardian whose ability to create life is only seconded to Mother. The Children of Tiamat act like a mini boss rush inside her area and must be killed before facing her. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/LaMulana2'' indicates she was a failed attempt of the Olympians, the 3rd Children, at created a clone of Mother.]]
** ''VideoGame/LaMulana2'': Echidna from Greek Mythology is pretty much and {{Expy}} of Tiamat, with her gimmick being the same i.e her children acting like mini bosses of her area that must be killed before fighting her.[[spoiler:Like it was the case with Tiamat, Echidna was also a failed attempt of the Olympians at replicating Mother and use her power to conquer Eg-Lana.]]

* The [[Literature/TheBible biblical]] Leviathan fits here since God, having originally created two of them, killed the mate so that their offspring, which are implied to be all manner of other sea monsters and otherwise, would become not so numerous that the world could not stand before them. This makes it very much a mirror of Tiamat and Ceto.

* A rare Male example is Leviathan, a Fallen Seraphim from TabletopGame/NewVindicators. While has made normal human Nephilim like his brothers, he has also partaken in a lot of bestiality, and since the Fallen can change their shapes, he is the father of a lot of monsters:Ogopogo, the Jersey Devil, the Tarrasque, and more. His children are as varied as they are monstrous.

* Similar to her mythological counterpart, the [[SnakesAreSexy Echidnas]] in the ''Monstergirl Encyclopedia'' (there's an entire race of these things in that setting) are stated to produce any number other types of monsters and that many races are believed to have originally been children of the Echidnas. A fanfic with the setting has one whose daughters consist of a dark elf, a slime, a harpy, and a minotaur.

* Myth/OceanianMythology:

* UsefulNotes/{{Lilith}} from Jewish belief-- some legends claim she bore hundreds of demonic children every day.

The trope itself is based on the concept of a terrible monster that is mother to many, ''many'' more types of monsters, though she is usually stronger than all of them. Typically, the mother is an EldritchAbomination spewing Biological Mashups one after the other, or a diabolical deceiver of would-be mates, sometimes even having the power of shapeshifting, thus allowing for greater variety of half-breed children (and infinite amounts of ShapeshiftingSquick). The monsters are usually mortal and less incomprehensible in form than the mother.

* frm ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': The Ogdru Jahad are seven eldritch monsters that spawned the 369 Ogdru Hem before being sealed away. The Ogdru Hem in turn make other smaller monsters, usually out of humans.

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' tale "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5136265/1/The-importance-of-index-cards The Importance of Index Cards]]'' pits one determined Watchman against the ordeal of the encounter with [[http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Tshup_Aklathep Tshup Aklathep, Infernal Star Toad with A Million Young]]. Can A.E. Pessimal survive a trip to the Dungeon Dimensions with an unexploded head? He finesses the ordeal in a not-wholly-improbable way and comes back alive...

* In ''FanFic/QueenOfShadows'', the Shadowkhan reproduce by a regular (at least monthly) ritual in which the reigning [[GodEmperor Queen]] merges her chi with that of the [[CoDragons Generals]], causing dozens of members of each tribe to [[BornAsAnAdult instantly be born]]. On top of this, each Queen naturally gives birth to a daughter, who will grow to take their place and continue the cycle.

* ''WesternAnimation/Beowulf2007'': Grendel's Mother is also the mother of the Dragon that Beowulf dies fighting. It's also implied that the other dragon Hrothgar killed in his BackStory was another one of her children.

* ''Manga/TheElderSisterLikeOne'' is two different takes on The Sister of the Woods with a Thousand Young. It originally began as a series of {{hentai}} doujins by Iida Pochi. In this version, Shub-Niggurath is an inhumanly beautiful female who bargains with a young boy for his wish that she become his older sister. Their relationship was so intriguing that it was then made into an all-ages story in a monthly serial. The serial details the beginning of their relationship while the hentai version explores their later sexual relationship. Her moniker is still well deserved; [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen even her drawings can come to life without her intending it.]]

** As said above Shub-Niggurath is the trope namer, a primordial avatar of the concept of creation.

%%** Shub-Niggurath is a prime example, and the TropeNamer to boot.%%But how is she an example?

* ''Manga/TheElderSisterLikeOne'' is two different takes on The Sister of the Woods with a Thousand Young. It originally began as a series of {{hentai}} doujins by Iida Pochi. In this version, Shub-Niggurath is an inhumanly beautiful female who bargains with a young boy for his wish that she become his older sister. Their relationship was so intriguing that it was then made into an all-ages story in a monthly serial. The serial details the beginning of their relationship while the hentai version explores their later sexual relationship.

* Lilith the Second Angel from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fits this trope. It is stated that she is the source of all terrestrial life [[note]]according to Jewish belief, Lilith was Adam's first wife and mother to many demons and spirits[[/note]]. She also turns out to be [[spoiler: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).]]

* It might be a bit unusual example, but in ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel'' [[spoiler: BigBad Mikael is this for Noelle and Silky. Originally, they were one angel soul, which, due to accident, fell to the ground and split into three imperfect souls. It is lampshaded heavily that Mikael was the original source from which other two were created, particularly in episode 13 when Baba was foretelling him his future and her crystal ball showed one string from which other two sprouted out. Mikael even wanted to kind of absorb Noelle and Silky into himself or fuse with them, so it fits with the devouring mother image]].
* The D-Reaper from ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. It's already an EldritchAbomination style being, and the {{Mooks}} it generates come in a variety of forms. The form of the D-Reaper with the Freaky Mask and Jeri's Head is titled the Mother Reaper. Combined with the most powerful D-Reaper in the Digital World, they'll cause the End of the World.
* Piccolo Daimao, the so-called "demon king" from ''Manga/DragonBall''. While all [[PlantAliens Namekians]] reproduce asexually, their offspring are generally homogenous (if not exact clones with [[ImmortalityThroughLegacy a]] [[{{Twinmaker}} one-time-use-per-body]] [[BrainUploading identical spirit]]), and King Piccolo instead birthed matured warrior children of vastly different apparent species and biology.
* ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'': God, who is the Father of all angels. [[spoiler: But not really. Yes, He created the angels, but they're all derived from the flesh of Adam Kadamon, who is a much more straightforward example. Counted as the "mother" of Alexiel and Rosiel, but they only got the lions' share of his/her dismembered body - most other angels were only born from small cellular clusters taken from the leftovers.]]
* From ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', we have Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90, the latter being the father of all Daimons (the monsters encountered in the third season/story arc), and the former being his ''partner''. They get terminated with extreme prejudice (and a bit of sadistic glee) by [[TheGrimReaper Sailor Saturn]], who, herself, [[EpilepticTrees may have]] [[MonsterProgenitor sired]] [[spoiler: Sailors Pluto, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, and Pallas, by way of [[InferredHolocaust planet go boom]]]]. ''She'' gets defeated by [[AlwaysABiggerFish Chaos]], AKA [[spoiler: the [[GodIsEvil Galaxy Cauldron, the font from which all souls spring]], including ''every BigBad that had shown up in the series until then'']], who, in turn, gets taken out by Usagi, from whom spawned [[AmericansHateTingle Chibi-Usa]].

* Mammon, the Demon Lord of Greed from ''Anime/SevenMortalSins''. A widow, she has to provide for her ''500,000'' demonic children on her own. She runs numerous business schemes to amass wealth, and is first encountered running a scam where her human followers are hypnotized into babysitting her children.

* The ComicBook/XMen villain Master Mold, which originally churned out the Sentinel robots. ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' even gave it a female voice.
* In Creator/MarvelComics, the Elder God Chthon is the creator of a race of demons known as the N'Garai, as well as indirectly the creator of vampires which came to be from a spell in the evil magical tome he wrote. The Elder God Set likewise has the Serpent Men, as well as literal offspring in [[EldritchAbomination abominations]] like Sligguth and Damballah; the LegionsOfHell were created from the dark energies of the god-killing entity Atum, which was corrupted after it consumed most of Chthon and Set's evil brethren and became the demonic creature called the Demogorge, though in that case the creation of those demons was unintentional.
* Spider-Man once learnt from Loki that Norse Gods [[ReallyGetsAround really get around]] and can father hundreds of children. (Surprisingly, he's [[PapaWolf very protective of them.]])
* Lilith appears in ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' as Adam's discarded first wife, who [[ReallyGetsAround takes on]] [[DoubleEntendre all comers]] and bears an entire race of HalfHumanHybrids, the Lilim.
* The Brood from ''ComicBook/XMen'' count, being expies if the Aliens mentioned below in the live action movies section.
* Lilith also was this trope in ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'', giving birth to legions of demons and later charging the titular character and daughter to hunt them as part of [[TheAtoner atonement]].
* DC also has the Mother of Champions, a member of the Chinese superteam the Great Ten, who experiences greatly accelerated pregnancies (''three days'') and births short-lived superhumans, ''twenty-five'' at a time.
* Implied with The Merkin, Mother of Spiders, a minor demonic character in ''ComicBook/{{The Sandman}}''.
* The Beast in ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' had spawned countless demons upon the world during the Sumerian times and is capable of converting anybody into demons with her milk.
* The Ogdru Jahad from ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}'' are seven eldritch monsters that spawned the 369 Ogdru Hem before being sealed away. The Ogdru Hem in turn make other smaller monsters out of humans usually.

* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' [[EldritchAbomination Entropy]], the female [[TopGod Draconequi Elder]], has shades of this. Not only is she the mother of the Draconequi along with her mate Havoc, she's shown the ability to create monsters (namely [[spoiler:the Windigos]]) from her blood with little effort and, during the Draconequi/Alicorn War, created a creature called Nightmare Legion from the Shadows inhabiting her realm.

* Queen Chrysalis gets this characterization from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanbase all the time due to the insect similarities. [[http://csimadmax.deviantart.com/art/married-again-325751862 This]] comic by [[http://csimadmax.deviantart.com/ CSIMadmax]] has Chrysalis urging Shining Armor not to commit suicide for the sake of his ''173 newly hatched changelings'', while [[https://www.derpibooru.org/778360 this image]] by [[https://www.derpibooru.org/tags/artist-colon-badumsquish Badumsquish]] has Shining Armor finding his illegitimate child at the door accompanied by a note from Chrysalis telling him her lawyer says he gets to keep ''one'' of them.

* In the 2007 movie adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beowulf|2007}}'', Grendel's Mother is also the mother of the Dragon that Beowulf dies fighting.
** It's also implied that the other dragon Hrothgar killed in his BackStory was another one of her children.

* The Franchise/{{Alien}} Queen creates many alien eggs on the spot, as seen in ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. Notably, their larval forms are all the same once hatched, but after that larva [[FaceFullOfAlienWingwong impregnates a host]], the subsequent ChestBurster and the adult it grows into will be very different from strains hosted on other species, having laterally adapted its physiology to its specific host species.

* The Tao Tie queen from ''Film/TheGreatWall'' births a legion of reptilian monsters to attack the capital of China. However, she produces her young rather slowly, and thus takes 60 years to build up an army before attempting another ZergRush at the wall.

* Error (who is directly based on Echidna) in Spenser's Book I of ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene''.
* Creator/HPLovecraft's Franchise/CthulhuMythos:
** Shub-Niggurath is a prime example, and the TropeNamer to boot.

* Creator/JRRTolkien's Ungoliant, an [[TropeCodifier archetypal]] AnimalisticAbomination who can give even [[SatanicArchetype Morgoth]] problems. Her descendants are the reason for Arda's little [[GiantSpider spider problem]], including [[Literature/TheHobbit the ones in Mirkwood]] and [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Shelob]] (although none of them are ''nearly'' as nasty as Ungoliant was).
* In Creator/CliveBarker's ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'', the Magdalene makes a habit of raping men and, mere hours later, subsequently spawning new members of her innumerable brood, the hideous 'by-blows'. And just so we're clear, the Magdalene (along with the Hag) is one of the BigBad's triplet sisters who she ''killed'' in the womb. Ghost rape.
** Barker's story "The Madonna" also features a MotherOfAThousandYoung: a parthenogenetic mass of flesh and writhing light-ribbons that births MixAndMatchCritter offspring, and is attended by naked young wetnurses who can [[GenderBender convert men into women]] by having sex with them.
* Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith give us Abhoth, a sentient pool of gray mass that bizarre creatures constantly form from. Abhoth just devours most of its children, though some manage to escape.
* Casimira is the "mother" of all the vermin of ''Literature/{{Palimpsest}}''. They see everything and report back to her.
* {{Downplayed}} in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''--[[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens the Ellimist]] at one point came across a species called the Jallians, whose leader, the Life-Giver of the Jain Sea, was a giant slug giving birth to multiple other Jallians even as she talked to him. She was unpleasantly demanding, but not particularly terrifying.
* In ''[[Literature/SpaceMarineBattles Malodrax]]'', part of Brood Mother's curse is that she gives birth to thousands upon thousands of mutated offspring. Of course, they are completely loyal to her (even if she eats many of them), so this turns into CursedWithAwesome.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Nightside}} Paths Not Taken]]'', John and Suzie time-travel to the beginning of the Nightside, and do battle with a vast horde of Lilith's half-demonic children. [[spoiler: ''Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth'' later reveals that, by John's time, only one of Lilith's original brood is still alive, and it's hopelessly insane. She still has thousands of monstrous ''grandchildren'' to fight the Nightside's defenders, though...]]

* A MonsterOfTheWeek in ''Series/{{Reaper}}'' would replace the sperm in a sperm bank with his own, resulting in dozens (possibly hundreds) of children.

* The Horta from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Luckily, they're not so bad once the humans on their planet reach an agreement with them.

** Tiamat from Sumerian Mythology appear as the boss of the Dimensional Corridor. She is described as the strongest Guardian whose ability to create life is only seconded to Mother. The Children of Tiamat act like a mini boss rush inside her area and must be killed before facing her.
** ''VideoGame/LaMulana2'': Echidna from Greek Mythology is pretty much and {{Expy}} of Tiamat, with her gimmick being the same i.e her children acting like mini bosses of her area that must be killed before fighting her.

* The Ogdru Jahad from ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} and ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}'' are seven eldritch monsters that spawned the 369 Ogdru Hem before being sealed away. The Ogdru Hem in turn make other smaller monsters out of humans usually.