The Brood are a fictional race of insectoid, parasitic, extraterrestrial beings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, especially Uncanny X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum, they first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #155 (March 1982). Concept and creation According to Dave Cockrum, the Brood were originally conceived to serve as generic subordinates for the main villain of The Uncanny X-Men #155: "We had Deathbird in this particular story and Chris [Claremont] had written into the plot 'miscellaneous alien henchmen.' So I had drawn Deathbird standing in this building under construction and I just drew the most horrible looking thing I could think of next to her." Biology Physical characteristics The Brood are an alien race of insectoid beings. They are a specialized race, one that has evolved to reproduce and consume any available resources. They are sadistic creatures that enjoy the suffering they intentionally cause others, especially the terror their infection causes their hosts. They have been compared to "demons". Despite their resemblance to insects, the Brood have endoskeletons as well as exoskeletons. Also unlike insects, they have fanged jaws instead of mandibles. Their skulls are triangular and flat, with a birthmark (such as the battle axe which is most common in broodlings but are different for each Brood) between their large eyes. Their two front legs are actually long tentacles they can use to manipulate objects. Due to their natural body armor and teeth, the Brood are very dangerous in combat. In addition, they have stingers that can deliver either paralyzing or killing poison. Reproduction The parasitic Brood reproduce asexually and therefore have no clear divisions of gender. They reproduce by forcibly implanting their eggs into other sentient organism. Each host can only support one egg. Upon hatching, the host dies as the Brood egg releases enzymes into the bloodstream to cause mutation. At the same time, the Broodling begins to psychically attack its host, taking control of its mind, absorbing its genetic material and incorporating all its knowledge and memories into the Brood. They appear to be capable of even infecting demons or someone who is possessed by a demon like Ghost Rider. They use a hive mind to pass memory to their hosts, which also passes an individual's knowledge, given to a broodling, to the hive and back to the queen, meaning newborn brood know what any member of the