Children of the Vault is a comic book limited series from Marvel Comics. Written by Deniz Camp.
The series, set in the shared Marvel Universe, is part of the wider X-Men franchise and the Krakoan Age saga running through those books. It follows on from the 2023 Hellfire Gala special, which launched the new Fall of X arc.
After an attack by the anti-mutant extremists of Orchis, Krakoa has fallen. Bishop and Cable are among the survivors, two time-travelling mutants with a bitter, bloody feud in their past. Bishop's fighting a desperate one-man war against Orchis, whereas Cable is now one of their prisoners. Despite their past, Bishop's prepared to rescue his old enemy - Cable's powerful, and Bishop needs his help.
Orchis may no longer be their biggest problem, though. The titular Children of the Vault are superhumans created in a sealed city where time is accelerated. The X-Men defeated them by trapping them in their own dreams, using a Lotus-Eater Machine that convinced they they'd already won. But with Krakoa in ruins, nobody's maintaining that machinery...
The Children have woken. And they think it's time to reshape the world.
Children of the Vault contains examples of the following tropes:
- Antagonist Title: Bishop and Cable are the two heroes, but the series is named after their antagonists, the Children of the Vault.
- Awful Truth: The Society of the Vault suppresses any notion that the Children won't inherit the world, but Diamante has the full scope of their history in his memory and is forced to acknowledge that maybe they were created on an erroneous premise, since they keep losing.
- Call-Back: The titular Children of the Vault rename themselves the Children of Tomorrow, the same name used by an Ultimate Marvel group who also originated in a Year Inside, Hour Outside sealed city and tried to conquer the world. They also present themselves to the world much in the same way Krakoa did, though much less implicitly adversarial, endearing themselves to the global community by providing free shelter, medicine and food.
- Furthering the comparison, in issue 4 the Child Muerte, who blows up himself and Mother Mold with a crystal is a direct parallel to Ultimate Comics The Ulimates #9 where the Child named Death blows up Washington D.C..
- Continuity Nod:
- Analysis of the infection in Bishop's mind reveals similarities to Weapon XVI and Hexus, the Living Corporation, two fairly obscure antagonists from older stories.
- In the second issue it is mentioned that one of the Children, Luz, expressed an opinion of interbreeding with humans instead of wiping them out. Luz had previously escaped from the Vault because she wanted to try a normal life instead of being a conquerer.
- The third issue has the return of The rebuilt Orchis Mother Mold. It hasn't been seen since Inferno #3 in 2022.
- In issue four Serafina tries talking Cable down peacefully but he shoots back that their first meeting had her messing with Cannonball's mind for fun to destroy him mentally before harming him severely.
- Crazy-Prepared: Cable retrieved the techno-virus he's using against the Children from a reality where the Phalanx have apparently conquered the galaxy, and reveals that he deliberately kept his techno-virus when he was resurrected on Krakoa so that he could access the virus in case of a situation like this.
- Dirty Business: The conclusion of this series establishes that Cable and Bishop aren't heroes, they're soldiers who've long learned to do whatever it takes to win a war. Holding the City and the Children's infant clone backups hostage, Bishop's face drops when he admits he really wishes he could say he wouldn't kill children if he ever had to, but he can't. Cable boasts he'd work with the Devil himself to accomplish his goals to justify manipulating Orchis into moving against the Children, as well as working with Bishop and infecting the City with a particularly virulent form of the transmode virus.
- Freak Out: Serafina reacts this way after expanding her mind to see through time and space and seeing Dominion.
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: Cable telepathically convinces a squad of Orchis guards that they're actually undercover mutants infiltrating the anti-mutant extremist organisation. They fight and die trying to defend Cable, Bishop and Krakoa. The one survivor later dies after falling from a roof, having tried to use his nonexistent mutant power of flight.
- Godzilla Threshold:
- In the third issue, Cable unleashes an army of Orchis Sentinels AND Sol hammerstrikes from the Orchis Forge to distract the Children of the Vault, while he and Bishop make their way to the heart of the city.
- In the fourth issue, it's revealed that Cable has infected the city with the techno-organic virus, while Bishop has planted explosives in their creche, after killing Madre. To make matters worse, the virus will send a signal to a Technarch, which will devour not just the City, but the entire planet. If the Children don't surrender and go back to the vault, either Cable's virus will devour each and every one of them or Bishop's bombs will destroy their genetic library and their future.
- Hidden Depths: One of the children is mesmerized by a dance club, memorizing every motion and emotion because he knows once the Children have their way there will be no more dancing. When Cable breaks his mind wide open to learn all his secrets, his innermost self is represented as a ballet dancer.
- Irony: Cable uses the Sentinels to get to the heart of the Children's city so he can kill them. In other words he is using mutant-killers to save mutantkind.
- Memetic Mutation: Played for drama in-universe when Orchis' attempts to combat The Message causes it to mutate and persist. Even people who would be opposed to the concept it proposes are made to rationalize support for it.
- Mind Virus: Cable scans Bishop's mind and discovers that when they revealed themselves to the world, the Children implanted something in the minds of everyone that witnessed them that seems to be influencing them to readily accept the Children as their new heroes. A data page shows it has similarities to many other viral entities, mental and physical. It's called The Message by the Children, and was a decision they reached as a compromise over conquering the world openly.
- Mutually Assured Destruction: How the miniseries ends. If the Children call Bishop and Cable's bluff, they can kill them, but at the same time Cable's virus and Bishop's bombs, combined with the coming Technarch, will mean the eradication of the Children.
- Mythology Gag: One of the components for the Childrens' Message, is a viral narrative known as Hawkspox. Created by one Joseph Nathan Hawksman, it became so intricate it sprung to life, having the adaptability to incorporate existing narratives into itself.
- Pulling the Thread: Bishop realizes the psionic infection is affecting him because he wants to give the Children of the Vault the benefit of the doubt - something he knows he never gives anyone without them earning it first.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Bishop once spent a lot of time trying to kill Cable and his adoptive daughter, and spilled a lot of other people's blood in the attempt. They're working together, but it's not been forgotten.
- The Unfettered: Ultimately Cable and Bishop. This miniseries is a glimpse into how insanely dangerous and resourceful these men can be when pushed to the limit. They have Cable infect the city with the techno-organic virus and Bishop kill Madre while placing explosives in the creche. The virus starts devouring the entire city, while Bishop makes it clear he will blow the creche to kingdom come if Serafina and the Children don't surrender and head back to the vault. Serafina accepts the terms and leaves.
- Would Hurt a Child: For once the heroes are doing this, as Cable and Bishop affirm that they would be willing to blow up the Childrens' nursery facility and basically kill infants to stop them expanding out and conquering Earth, even if both men make it clear that they would regret having to be pushed that far.
