Line #5 Main/TheMonolith


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1335473738040546900
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3	[[quoteright:220:[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monolith_action_figure_1348.jpg]]]]
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5	A large black slab of 1:4:9 proportions,[[note]][[AlienGeometries there are more proportions than that if you are capable of looking at it in more than three spatial dimensions]][[/note]] [[ShoutOut placed in reference]] to the Monoliths from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. (The original monoliths were ancient, mysterious, and bizarrely powerful.) One of the {{Stock Parod\|y}}ies.
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7	Compare StandardSnippet/AlsoSprachZarathustra. See also Main/SinisterGeometry.
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9	Not to be confused with the Creator/DCComics character, a heroic {{golem}}; the Creator/MarvelComics character called The ''Living'' Monolith, who's an ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain; ''{{Videogame/Monolith}}'' the top-down shooter; ''Film/TheMonolithMonsters''; Creator/MonolithSoft; or Creator/MonolithProductions.
10
11	----
12	!!Examples:
13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17	* In ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', there is a monster called 'Monol' with telepathic communication, ancient secrets, a deep voice and a story to tell.
18	* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', SEELE keeps in contact with NERV via monolith-like holograms when the organization's members want to remain concealed...or when they just want to be sinister and unnerving. By the time of ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', in line with their AncientConspiracy atmosphere, the council are adapted into actual living monoliths, [[spoiler:which makes defeating them as simple as turning them off]].
19	* In episode 13 of ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', the girls went to a swimsuit photo shoot, complete with a holodeck to provide proper backgrounds for the shoot - which promptly glitched out and placed them on the Moon, complete with the Monolith and Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra.
20	* The way the Machine Emperor tablets are placed on earth in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' look similar to the monoliths. They also look like the Ka tablets from the original ''Manga/YuGiOh'', which also tended to look like this.
21	* Lebia Maverick of ''Manga/SilentMobius'' owns a supercomputer named Louie that takes this form.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* One issue of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'''s comic-book had him and Arthur versus a town full of hick {{Mad Scientist}}s who'd gained their super-intelligence from a monolith that had fallen in a local cornfield.
26	* Creator/JackKirby briefly produced an ongoing ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' comic book for Marvel, chronicling the Monoliths' interactions with humanity throughout history. The series is best remembered today for introducing the android hero Aaron Stack the Machine Man in its final issues. A Monolith appears to Aaron and helps guide him to stable sentience. Retellings of his origin usually omit the Monolith for licensing reasons, but it does pop up occasionally — most notably, decades later, the final issue of ''X-51'' finally reveals that the Monolith aliens are [[ComicBook/TheEternals the Celestials.]]
27	** In homage to Aaron's origin, the Watchers' transport gateways look like this in ''ComicBook/EarthX''. Eventually it begins being Lampshaded.
28	* In the Belgian comic ''[[ComicBook/TheGreatPowerofChninkel Le Grand Pouvoir du Chninkel]]'', the creator {{god}} U'n appears in the form of a monolith. Or rather, since the end hints this comic was a prequel to ''2001'', U'n ''is'' the monolith.
29	* ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' once published a parody of ''2001'', where the monolith that originally made apes intelligent is rediscovered and a scientist wants to use it to make humankind AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.
30	** Another (non-canon) story narrates about two StarCrossedLovers (actually [[SelfInsert the author]] and his fiance) who meet and get separated throughout history as part of an alien experiment. In the opening scene they are cavemen and find a monolith, which turns out to be a blackboard.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
34	* In one ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip published around New Year's Day 2001, Jason [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this by building a snow monolith and dressing in an ape suit, hoping that one of the bones he throws into the air will turn into a spaceship.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Fan Works]]
38	* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' parody "Farce Contact", Hoshi Sato reaches out to touch the Monolith which promptly topples over onto Captain Archer's foot. In retaliation, his beagle takes a piss on a billion years worth of alien technology.
39	* In ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace'', the mysterious black monolith that was orbiting Jupiter now [[HumansAreMorons serves as the President of Earth's coffee table]].
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
43	* The animated movie of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}'' opens with the Monolith hovering in space [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext over an alien's satellite dish]], before it splits into the two slabs of clay that Gumby and Pokey are made of. They fuse back together [[BookEnds at the end of the movie]].
44	* Possibly referenced in ''Westernanimation/TheLEGOMovie'' with the top of Lord Business' tower when it comes off and flies over Bricksburg.
45	-->'''President Business:''' Don't worry about this big, black Monolith thing that's blocking out the sun.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
49	* ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' is the TropeMaker. It functions as an UpgradeArtifact.
50	** Via the character of ComicBook/MachineMan, who originated in the ''2001'' [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel comic book continuation]] and lately in ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'', this selfsame Monolith exists in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.
51	** The 1:4:9 ratio is really only from the book; they didn't stick to it when doing the movie.
52	*** The book also states that the ratio continues beyond that but humans are only able to perceive its presence in three dimensions.
53	** In ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'', it is capable of reproducing, causing Jupiter [[spoiler:to reach critical mass and turn into a star]].
54	** And by ''3001'', it's revealed they can do a whole lot more. Though interestingly enough, [[RetCon it no longer works as a Star Gate.]]
55	** Even the Monolith in the movie isn't treated with respect. On first seeing a picture, a scientist says casually, "Damned if I know what it is" then [[MustHaveCaffeine asks for coffee]].
56	* Appears in the ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' film as part of Willy Wonka's [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum matter transmutation device]].
57	** Sort of. It appears in its original introduction sequence on a TV before it is replaced by a Wonka Bar, which happens to have similar dimensions to the Monolith.
58	* Main character Cher's cordless phone in ''Film/{{Clueless}}'', complete with Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra.
59	* The monolith from ''2001'' makes a cameo appearance in the Music/FrankZappa movie ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''.
60	* The robots, TARS and CASE, from ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' were inspired by the aesthetic of the monolith, though they are capable of segmenting themselves.
61	* ''Film/{{Lucy}}'' includes a flash drive at the very end of the movie, [[spoiler: just after the titular character gains control of 100% of her brain and offloaded every bit of her accumulated knowledge into it through an [[OrganicTechnology organic supercomputer derived from her own flesh.]] ]] When [[Creator/MorganFreeman Morgan Freeman's]] character turns it in his hand, we can even see what appears to be ''stars inside it''.
62	* Greta Gerwig's ''Film/Barbie2023'' starts with an AffectionateParody of the entire opening sequence of ''2001: A Space Odyssey'': little girls replace the apes, baby dolls represent the bones and primitive tools of the original, and the background music is Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra. The monolith is--what else?--a gigantic version of the original Barbie doll (Creator/MargotRobbie), which the girls stare at with wonder.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* In ''Chorus Skating'', the last Literature/{{Spellsinger}} novel, two huge black rectangular objects appear on the beach when Jon-Tom is about to have his final sing-off battle with the villain. True to this trope, they were indeed sent by a mysterious alien from another level of reality ... [[spoiler: as amplifiers to give Jon-Tom's duar a much-needed and decisive boost]].
67	* ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} The Science of Discworld]]'' has a large black object that gives information to apes... but it turns out to be a chalkboard.
68	* The ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' series has the vault where the Translocator is kept. The preserve where said vault is located is named Obsidian Waste in its honor.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
72	* A parody of ''2001'' (including the Monolith) appears in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode 38.
73	* ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' had a series of animations where the monolith either rose from the ground or floated forward through space toward the front of the screen, then crumbled to show a letter dipthong or small word, subsequently pronounced by a deistic voice.
74	* The last Comedy Central episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', ''Film/{{Laserblast}}'', ended with Dr. Forrester re-enacting the scene where an old David Bowman reaches toward the Monolith before being reborn as a Starchild; Forrester reaches for a monolithic VHS tape labeled "The Worst Movie Ever Made".
75	* ''Series/{{One Foot In The Grave}}'' parodied the "ape discovering tools" scene, with a new fridge as the monolith, and styrofoam packing formers as the bones being smashed by the elderly protagonist.
76	* Shows up in a ''Series/SpittingImage'' [[http://youtu.be/K-PbZFUlgFE?t=1m20s sketch,]] being interviewed by Barry Norman.
77	* ''Series/{{Community}}'' - in ''Biology 101'', Jeff, exiled from the study group, is [[MakesSenseInContext knocked out with monkey gas chasing Chang through the air vents]]. He comes to in the final scene of ''2001'', in a bare, bright white study room. He sees himself [[MakesSenseInContext eating his cel phone with a knife and fork]], then as Pierce, then as Leonard in bed pointing at the Monolith, represented by the [[MakesSenseInContext study desk]] sat up on end.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Music]]
81	* Music/{{BT}}'s ''ESCM'' album cover.
82	* The cover art for the 6th album of the deathgrind band Music/CattleDecapitation aptly named "Monolith of Inumanity" depict a monolith that have an effect quite different, if not opposite to the original.
83	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjjKbrFJoxY promotion video]] for [[Music/{{EXO}} Kai]]'s solo album ''KAI (开)'' features a [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnzeGFuXYAEsFxM?format=jpg&name=large square variant]] of this, as a part to the video's subtle homages to ''2001''.
84	* The artwork for Music/LedZeppelin's album ''Presence'' features photos of various people whose attention is drawn by a small black object. This was apparently inspired by the original monolith.
85	* [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants "The Statue Got Me High"]]... ''[[EpilepticTrees could]]'' be about this. The [[WordOfGod official story]] is even weirder; they claim it perfectly mirrors the ending of ''Theatre/DonGiovanni,'' which ''neither of them knew about...''
86	* The music video for Thompson Twins' ''Lies'' is shot in a room similar to the hotel room from 2001, with the Monolith at the back, accompanied by the band and several other figures fading in and out while three people watch from the foreground in a hospital bed.
87	* Music/TwinTribes: The cover art for "Monolith" is of the titular vertical slab of stone. It appears as the instigator of TheCorruption that comes from outer space in [[https://youtu.be/-XEavwcHU78 the music video]]. The 2nd time the corrupted heroine touches it, she disappears.
88	* The cover of Music/TheWho's album ''Music/WhosNext'' shows the band walking away from a monolithic concrete slab. After having [[UrineTrouble peed on it...]]
89	* ''Shouting at the Ground'' by Music/ZovietFrance, features a half circle one, sitting in the middle of a field of dry grass.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Roleplay]]
93	* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': The Black Monolith is a look-alike of the titular monolith, and can look into one's self to grant their deepest wish. Of course, it has no sense of morality, so people who are really stupid or evil can get to the Monolith... Leading to undesirable results.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
97	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the Pylons on the world of Cadia. They have a clear purpose, stabilizing space around the nearby [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Eye of Terror]] to create the only reliable way in and out of it, but how they do that is a mystery. One of the background materials has a character outline a theory that may as well be the plot of ''2001''. Current canon has them as just a leftover weapon of a war the Necrons, the local AntimagicalFaction, waged ages before the Eye was even there (it's not a total coincidence; the Eye of Terror occupies the space that used to be their enemy's territory until the Eldar blew themselves up).
98	* ''TabletopGame/KillerBunniesAndTheQuestForTheMagicCarrot'' has The Minilith, a card able to double one's weapon strength. Comes with a handy on/off switch.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Video Games]]
102	* The ''VideoGame/ArmyMen {{RTS}}'' features a [[{{Pun}} monolithic]] [=PS2=] in the eighth mission (to them, it's an unlimited power source). It's even introduced with Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra.
103	* In ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', random Monolith-like structures pop in the background of the fight against [[spoiler: [[TrueFinalBoss Chakravartin]]]].
104	* ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' has a monolith you can interact with in Stanton's Liver, although [[GuideDangIt it requires a little bit of looking and maneuverability to get there.]] Running into it leads you to some nice loot chests and a a very [[HellIsThatNoise loud]] JumpScare.
105	* ''VideoGame/TheBureauXComDeclassified'': Titan is a mid-boss that deploys as a floating monolith, then immediately transforms into a saucer that fires death rays.
106	* An EasterEgg room in ''VideoGame/TheColony'' has the Monolith at the foot of a bed.
107	* Hidden among several sculptures in a museum, in ''VideoGame/TheDayTheWorldBroke''.
108	* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' featured a monolith at one point. It contained a teleporter.
109	* They appear in ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor''. Sometimes you get a sidequest to sacrifice an item to it.
110	* The ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series has Cosmic Monoliths, black rectangular prisms covered in TronLines:
111	** They debuted in ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy3'', appearing in [[LethalLavaLand Volcano Peak]] and [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Rift]] as [[BossInMookClothing incredibly dangerous foes]].
112	** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy4'' initially featured it exclusively as a {{summon\|Magic}} which could be found in the Waste Disposal Plant. The Battle Mountain update reintroduced them as a MiniBoss in [[BrutalBonusLevel the titular area]].
113	** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'' reintroduced them as high-level foes in regular gameplay, with a much larger version, the Cosmic Gigalith, serving as the penultimate boss. They end up playing a major role in the plot, acting as the primary tool of the BigBad and a source of powerful technology for Lance's forces.
114	* It shows up in one of the endings of ''VideoGame/PleaseDontTouchAnything 3D''.
115	* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' has a Monolith in the Dead End star system; it is at Planet 5 - Moon 5.
116	* In ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'', solving the first half of a certain optional puzzle causes a monolith to appear and hover in the air. (This one has a square cross-section, rather than the original size ratio.) The second half of this puzzle--making the monolith disappear again--is notorious for being the [[MoonLogicPuzzle most obtuse puzzle in the entire game]].
117	* ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' features a Monolith in a normally-unreachable area of the third level. Getting close via noclip causes a droning track to start playing until you head back to the regular playable parts of the level.
118	* In ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'', monoliths are scattered around the solar system. Black ones are found around the main planet and its two moons, and one single dark green one appears at a randomized spot for each bodies. While they are not perfectly square, they are jet black mysterious objects, and finding the green monolith rewards you with the unlocking of a random technology.
119	* The Black Club weapon in ''Videogame/KidIcarusUprising'' is basically a monolith [[XOnAStick on a stick.]]
120	* In ''VideoGame/TheLabyrinthOfTime'', the Monolith can be seen half-buried on the moon through a window in the Lunar Museum.
121	* ''VideoGame/LegoIsland 2'' had a monolith on Ogel Island with monkeys in space suits dancing around it.
122	* In the Caveman Chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', you can find one in a hidden cave provided you do a specific action. Offering a bone to it will net the player a smaller monolith, the Rock of Rocks which significantly boosts IQ, can scan the HP of (in the original) and also disable a target's limbs (cannot be able to move or attack with physical skills) if used as an item. Did we mention that said item's infinite-use?
123	* ''2001'' is one of ''VideoGame/MetalGear'''s recurring StockShoutOuts, so monoliths appear a couple of times:
124	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', the name of the computer on the Tanker is [[JapaneseRanguage MONORITH]]. The tanker itself is called "Discovery".
125	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', GW, a computer influencing human development, is seen to be a huge, elegantly-illuminated black slab following the 1:4:9 ratio.
126	* Weaponized in the second BossBattle of ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 3'', where you are constantly bombarded with falling monoliths summoned by a mysterious crashed meteorite.
127	* ''VideoGame/MischiefMakers'': [[BigBad The Emperor]] usually appears in the form of a monolith with golden glyphs that vaguely resemble a human form drawn on it, as well as a single red gemstone-like eye. [[spoiler:It's just a disguise. The Emperor is actually human.]]
128	* In ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'', there are monsters called Monols. Guess what they look like.
129	* Featured in ''VideoGame/SimEarth'' as a tool to accelerate a species' development to sapience.
130	* Similarly, The Monolith is featured as a tool to accelerate the brain and social evolution of more primitive civilizations in the Space stage of ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}''. The game itself features another ShoutOut to ''2001''. The cutscene to the entrance of the Tribal stage was partly lifted from the introductory sequence of ''2001'', along with implications in the Creature and Tribal stages of extraterrestrial observation, and in the introduction to the Cell stage, panspermia.
131	* A very obvious parody of the opening sequence to 2001 appears in ''VideoGame/{{Startopia}}'', but with the bone being replaced by a doughnut.
132	* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', one anomaly you might find on a planet is a strange rectangular object that when scanned gives you survey data of a distant system.
133	* ''Videogame/TreadMarks''' "Moon" level has an enormous, pitch black monolith in the center of the map.
134	* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', along with ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', features several Monolith-like objects, dubbed Zohar(s), along with the Anima Relics. [[spoiler:The Zohar later appears in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' as The Conduit, thus being the first instance of a wider connection across the ''Xeno'' meta-series seen in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles''.]]
135	* The titular Ark in ''Videogame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim''. The cutscene where it is raised features Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra-esque music.
136	* ''VideoGame/{{Zombidle}}'': One of Bob the Necromancer's allies is called "Carl the Monolith", and is pretty much based on one of these. A being who's hand-forged in the deepest layers of Hell and MadeOfEvil, he's also a TagalongKid with a goofy grin, kid's cap, and schoolbag, and is also as annoying as one. In-game, [[SupportPartyMember he doesn't fight]], but he boosts the damage of all of Bob's minions by a factor of 3 multiplicatively per level.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Web Animation]]
140	* In the ''[[StonePunk Stone]] [[Franchise/StarTrek Trek]]'' episode "20001 BC: A Space Oddity", the sun rises over the Monolith to Also Sprach Zarathustra until [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone]] has his dinosaur dump it on a rockpile. Later Captain Kirkstone falls into the other Monolith where he meets Creator/WilliamShatner, who tells him his future and advises him to not take this Trek stuff too seriously.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Webcomics]]
144	* ''Webcomic/CrossTimeCafe'' actually has it as a RecurringCharacter, nicknamed Rocky.
145	* ''Webcomic/CheckerboardNightmare'' featured [[http://www.checkerboardnightmare.com/retrocomics/20020705_cracklin.gif an verminous infestation of monoliths]] during 2002:
146	-->'''Dot''': It's a shame they imploded your fridge to create a new star.
147	-->'''Chex''': And they left a note: "All these snacks are yours except the Rice Krispies. Use them together. Use them in peace."
148	* ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'' uses one as a gag for the [[http://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20090801/ 2001st comic]]
149	* [[http://www.thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=364 This]] ''Webcomic/TheNoob'' strip.
150	* Similarly, in Kris Straub's next comic, ''Webcomic/{{Starslip}}'', the members of the Consortium all have their brains transferred into telepathic monoliths.
151	* A reoccurring character/phenomenon in ''WebComic/StationV3''.
152	* ''Stone Trek'' episode "20001 BC: A Space Oddity". After its Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra introduction, the monolith is picked up by a dinosaur-crane piloted by the Flintstones and dumped on a rubble pile.
153	* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': A "floating black slab emitting a low hum" appears at the coffee shop. The bewildered clerks eventually decide that they should make it a latte, and it pays and leaves. Then Faye bumps into it, spilling the latte. She feels bad, buys it another one, and makes it a cup holder. It pays for that too, then zooms off into the sky, leaving everyone confused. It's a bit of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156
157
158	[[folder:Web Original]]
159	* The [[WebSerialNovel blog novel]] ''[[http://fartago.blogspot.com Fartago]]'' is about a tribe of cavemen reacting to life since the arrival of The Monolith. Features the recurring catchphrase, "Since monolith come, nothing make sense!"
160	* [[ReferenceOverdosed Unsurprisingly]], it shows up in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''.
161	* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/{{Weebl and Bob}}''.
162	* The ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' have a much larger version of the monolith in the Tomb of the Unknown PPC Agent; it stretches all the way up to the ceiling, and every victim of the [[SecretPolice DIS]] has their name written on it in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings ithildin]]''. The Tomb itself used to be DIS Central, until it was destroyed and the memorial built out of the remains.
163	* [[Creator/RoosterTeeth Geoff]] [[Creator/AchievementHunter Ramsey's]] extremely tall, windowless, smooth stone house in ''[[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries Let's Play Minecraft]]'' has been referred to as a monolith. It originally went up from the base of Downtown [[HubCity Achievement City]] to the height limit of 128 blocks, but when the height limit was doubled to 256 blocks, the Achievement Hunters worked together so it could reach that new limit. There is a three-part sub-series of ''LetsPlay VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' episodes that covered its height expansion (and the inevitable deaths during said expansion).
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Western Animation]]
167	* When ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' made fun of ''2001'', the monolith appeared first as a television set, then as a remote.
168	* A ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' episode in ''WesternAnimation/RawToonage'' has him flying by a monolith who says "Dave, is that you Dave?". Bonkers replies "No, wrong movie".
169	* An old Creator/CartoonNetwork bumper (that usually played before ''Cartoon Theater'') had a group of monkeys (such as WesternAnimation/MagillaGorilla, [[WesternAnimation/SpaceGhost Blip]] and [[WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel I.R. Baboon]]) gathering around the Cartoon Network logo while the ''2001'' theme plays.
170	* Appears briefly in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', with an "Out of Order" sign on it.
171	** As well in another episode, "The Sting", it is parodied as [[spoiler:Fry's coffin]]. Leela opens it and experiences the same effects as Dave Bowman in [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey the movie]].
172	** Another episode, "Mobius Dick," had it floating among other familiar, wrecked spaceships (USS ''Enterprise'', LEM module, the space ship from the cover of ELO's album [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Blue_(Electric_Light_Orchestra_album) 'Out of the Blue']], etc.) with a bite taken out of it.
173	* The Monolith appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' involving TimeTravel.
174	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E20 The Prehistoric Patrick Star Show]]" begins with a black monolith in the foreground. Some cave fish run up to it and start hitting it. It collapses forward like a cardboard cutout. They run away, then sit on it to watch Patrick's show.
175	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' opens with a parody of the Dawn of Man sequence. While the other apes start developing tools after making contact with the monolith, the Homer Simpson ape simply reclines on it to take a nap.
176	* ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' has a monolith installed on a primitive world. In this case it actually contained an evil empire who used the monolith as a base of operations in order to enslave the unwitting civilization.
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Real Life]]
180	* On New Year's Day of 2001, a welded-steel monolith appeared in Seattle's Magnuson Park, with no indication where it came from or how it got there. It vanished in an equally mysterious manner three days later. It was eventually revealed to be a guerrilla art installation by a group of Seattle artists calling themselves "Some People".
181	* On New Year's Day of 2010, a similar monolith (this one made of wood and fiberboard) [[http://www.examiner.com/x-23103-Denver-Zombie-Examiner~y2010m1d2-2010-Monolith-appears-on-New-Years-Eve appeared behind Denver, Colorado's Museum of Nature and Science]], with a tag reading "All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there." Unlike the Seattle Monolith, though, [[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3248701 the perpetrators documented their efforts]].
182	* The University of Hawaii at Manoa's physics and astronomy building has a sculpture out in front of it, a massive metal slab with the 1:4:9 ratio. For the first year it was in place, it emitted an electronically generated pulsing sound, until people started complaining of headaches.
183	* The Monolith in action figure form. [[http://www.kennercollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/monolith_action_figure.jpg It's full of stars!]]
184	* The Comcast/NBC Universal building in Los Angeles looks like one of these, though its base is a rhomboid instead of a perfect rectangle. Harlan Ellison has remarked on several occasions that the way Universal executives behave toward people actually trying to make movies, this monolith must operate in reverse: when they come in contact with it, it ''lowers'' their intelligence.
185	* In 2020, a mysterious, silvery monolith was discovered in the middle of the desert in Utah. This was then quickly followed by the appearance of similar, equally cryptic monoliths all around the world, prompting numerous jokes about an [[AlienInvasion alien invasion]] to [[FromBadToWorse cap off the terrible year that was 2020]]. The original monolith was removed shortly after by environmentalists concerned the flood of people to see it would damage the area.
186	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_monolith The Phobos Monolith.]] A large rock on the surface of Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, that casts an incredibly prominent shadow compared to any of the other rocks next to it. While it's assumed to be a piece of ejecta, due to it being nearby the massive [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickney_(crater) Stickney crater]] that dominates a substantial portion of Phobos' surface, it has also been subject to plenty of speculations from conspiracy-minded individuals about it being an artificial structure of some kind.
187	[[/folder]]
188

Context Main / TheMonolith