Under-used, encroaching Trope Decay: Mother Of A Thousand Young

This trope is specifically for creatures that produce endless young that are not the same as them, such as the semi-trope-namer Shub Niggurath — we already have Monster Progenitor for a parent to identical monsters. It's frequently used for "Monster that produces a lot of the same type of monster", or even just "Anyone with lots of children." Was wondering if the trope needs a rewrite to make the specifics more clear — I've been trying to cut Square Peg Round Trope examples where I find them, but I'm not sure it's working.

Also, there seem to be much fewer examples than there ought to be, given the concept's lineage, dating at least back to Tiamat.

If those monsters are the same type as each other but different from the mother, that would still be an example. Like Gaia giving birth to the giants and the titans in Greek mythology

A shorthand to having lots of kids would not count.

Yes, and this is absolutely not reflected or implied in the title at all.

Mother Of A Thousand Species?

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

No, because all the children can be one species. They just won't be identical to the broodmother. She's kind of special in the same way a queen bee is different than a drone.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:57:45 PM by shimaspawn

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

No, those are both bees. That'd be closer to a Monster Progenitor. Mother of a Thousand Young is not the same species as her kids, who may or may not be the same species as each others.

For examples: Echidna who is half woman, half snake, and whose children include the chimera, cerberus, the hydra, etc... Completely different creatures.

edited 13th Oct '11 10:06:47 PM by Ghilz

She doesn't need to be a different species. She just needs to be different. Look at Dragon Age. The broodmothers are still darkspawn, but they don't look a thing like the darkspawn they birth. The broodmothers are huge fat pink fleshy things with tentacles. The other darkspawn are shadowy humanoids. They're still nominally the same species, but they don't look a thing alike.

The important thing is that they're significantly different. Species is never mentioned anywhere in the description.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

Species is specifically mentioned in the description of Monster Progenitor as being what makes one a Monster Progenitor.

Mother Of A Thousand Monsters or Mom Of Cerberus Hydra And Chimera refferencing the Echnida - first solves problem with using it reffering to people with many children, second also points out that monsters are supposed to be different.

Mother of Monsters is a simpler mythological reference to this trope.

Too bad we can't call it Mother Of All Monsters.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

I never said the children have to be different from each other. I was saying that the children have to be different from their mother — which is not reflected in some of the examples I've trimmed, and there are a few I left in that are suspect in that regard.

Mother Of A Thousand Monsters/Mother Of Monsters, change to that cut the current name. Sounds like a plan.

Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack

Support for Mother Of A Thousand Monsters.

We don't cut an old title when a rename goes through, we redirect it to the new title.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

If it is giving people the wrong idea it should be considered.

Mother Of Many Different Monsters would be very hard to misuse I think and is pretty straight forward.

Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack

Mother Of A Different Species?

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

The problem with Mother Of A Different Species sounds like it could be about any instance where even just one child of a different species would qualify. Not that I can think of any examples, but I'm sure someone could.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

That is actually not possible under any "real life" circumstance. If it happens it's this trope whether the offspring is Obviously Monstrous or not.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

I support Mother of a Thousand Monsters. Or, if you like alliteration, Mother of Many Monsters, or Mo MM.

i'm just here for the memes

Mother of a Thousand Monsters sounds fine.

Blue Pacific, signing off...

Make it so, Numbah 1. >;3

I support Mother of a Thousand Monsters, but damn if Mother of Many Monsters isn't tempting just for the acronym.

Does it matter if that doesn't say "the offspring are different than the parent"?

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

It does. A female hydra giving birth to dozen of young hydraes is truly fearsome, but doesn't fit in this trope.

edited 8th Feb '12 6:45:33 AM by Kuruni

I apologize for being late to this thread, but there is now a single proposition rename crowner for this trope here.

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

I've hooked it, but I'm still not sure if renaming is going to help anything. I'm not sure that there's a big enough difference between this Monster Progenitor is really what you think it is. According to that trope, that's just the oldest and strongest of any line of monsters. Not necessarily one monster giving birth to litters of thousands.

The Broodmothers in Dragon Age are certainly not Monster Progenitors. They aren't the oldest and most powerful darkspawn. Those are the Archfiends. But they do give birth to thousands of other monsters, so why aren't they this trope?

If we narrow this trope down so that it is just for monsters that give birth to a different species of monsters, there's no trope for monsters that birth giant broods of monsters. This trope will still be 'misused' because there's no actual trope for the 'misuse' to go to.

edited 8th Feb '12 5:53:13 PM by shimaspawn

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick