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A large black rectangle of 1:4:9 proportions, placed in reference to the Monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Not to be confused with the DC Comics character, a heroic golem.

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Examples

• 2001: A Space Odyssey is the Trope Maker.
  • Via the character of Machine Man, who originated in the 2001 Marvel comic book continuation and lately in Next Wave, this selfsame Monolith exists in the Marvel Universe.
  • The 1:4:9 ration is really only from the book; they didn't stick to it when doing the movie.
• Parodied in Weebl And Bob.
• Featured in Sim Earth as a tool to accelerate a species' development to sapience.
• Similarily, the Monolith is featured as a tool to accelerate the brain and civilizational evolution of more primitive civilizations in the Space stage of Spore. The game itself features another Shout Out 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, parthenogenesis.
• A parody of 2001 (including the Monolith) appears in Monty Pythons Flying Circus episode 38.
• The Electric Company had a series of animations where the monolith rose from the ground, then crumbled to show the phonic of the day.
• Duke Nukem 3 D featured a monolith at one point.
• The Monolith appeared in an episode of Mighty Mouse involving Time Travel.
• Appears in the Charlie And The Chocolate Factory film as part of Willy Wonka's matter transmutation device.
• A very obvious parody of the opening sequence to 2001 appears in Startopia, but with the bone being replaced by a doughnut.
• Appears briefly in an episode of Futurama, with an "Out of Order" sign on it.
  • As well in another episode, The Sting, it is parodied as Fry's coffin. Leela opens it and experiences the same effects as Dave Bowman in the movie.
• An episode of The Simpsons 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.
• When Animaniacs made fun of 2001, the monolith appeared first as a television set, then as a remote.
• In the Belgian comic Le Grand Pouvoir du Chninkel, the creator god U'n appears in the form of a monolith.
• Checkerboard Nightmare featured an verminous infestation of monoliths◊ during 2002:
  Dot: It's a shame they imploded your fridge to create a new star.
  Chex: And they left a note: "All these snacks are yours except the Rice Krispies. Use them together. Use them in peace."
• The video game series Xenosaga also features several Monolith-like objects.
• The cover of The Who's album Who's Next shows the band standing next to a monolith-like concrete slab.
• The artwork for Led Zeppelin'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.
• Don't stand too close, they bear a great evil within...
  • The Monolith! We destroy that and THIS IS OVER!!
• Science of Discworld has a large black object that gives information to apes... but it turns out to be a chalkboard.
• Tripping the Rift 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.
• Killer Bunnies And The Quest For The Magic Carrot has The Minilith, a card able to double one's weapon strength. Comes with a handy on/off switch.
• The blog novel Fartago is about a tribe of cavemen reacting to life since the arrival of The Monolith. Features the recurring Catch Phrase, "Since monolith come, nothing make sense!"
• The last Comedy Central episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, 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".
• The cell phone in Clueless
• EVE Online has a Monolith in the Dead End star system, it is at Planet 5 - Moon 5.
• The Watchers' transport gateways look like this in Earth X. Eventually it begins being Lampshaded.
• One Foot In The Grace parodied the "monkey discovering tools" scene, with a new fridge as the monolith, and the styrofoam packing formers at the bones being smashed by the elderly protagonist.
• Lego Island 2 had a monolith on Ogel Island with monkeys in space suits dancing around it.
• In Neon Genesis Evangelion, SEELE keeps in contact with NERV via monolith-like objects.

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