Cerebro

Cerebro is a fictional device appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the device first appeared in X-Men #7 (September 1964).[1] Cerebro is a device used by the X-Men, primarily by their leader, Professor Charles Xavier, to detect and locate humans, particularly mutants. It was originally created by Professor X and Magneto, and later upgraded by Hank McCoy / Beast.

Concept and creation

Cerebro first appeared in X-Men #7 (September 1964),[2] created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Professor Jeffrey J. Kripal, in his 2011 book Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, calls Cerebro "a piece of psychotronics" and describes it as "a spiderlike, Kirby-esque system of machines and wires that transmitted extrasensory data into Professor Xavier's private desk in another room".[3] Kripal notes that Cerebro made multiple subsequent central appearances, including Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), where Cerebro senses and locates a supermutant across the globe, resulting in the recreation of the X-Men team.[3]

Use and function

Cerebro amplifies the brainwaves of the user. In the case of telepaths, it enables the user to detect traces of others worldwide, also able to distinguish between humans and mutants. Depictions of Cerebro's strength have been inconsistent; at times in the storylines it could detect mutated aliens outside of the planet, when at others it could only scan for mutants' signatures in the United States. It is not clear whether it finds mutants by their power signature or by the presence of the X-gene in their body; both methods have been used throughout the comics.

Using Cerebro can be extremely dangerous, and telepaths without well-trained, disciplined minds put themselves at great risk when attempting to use it. This is due to the psychic feedback that users experience when operating Cerebro. As the device greatly enhances natural psychic ability, users who are unprepared for the increased psychic input can be quickly and easily overwhelmed, resulting in insanity, coma, permanent brain damage, or even death. The one exception has been Magneto, who has been said to have minor or latent telepathic abilities.

The only characters to use Cerebro on a frequent basis are Professor X, Jean Grey, Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos. However, Cable, Rachel Summers, Kitty Pryde, Danielle Moonstar, Psylocke, and Blindfold have also used it. After the device was upgraded to Cerebra, Cassandra Nova used it to swap bodies with Xavier.

History

Originally, Cerebro was a device similar to a computer that was built into a desk in Xavier's office. This early version of Cerebro operated on punched cards and did not require a user to interface with it. Later, the device was upgraded to the larger and more familiar telepathy-based technology with its interface helmet.

When Bastion steals Cerebro from the X-Mansion, Cerebro is hybridized with Bastion's programming via nanotechnology. The resulting entity, a self-aware form of Cerebro, creates two minions, Cerebrites Alpha and Beta, through which it can act without exposing itself. It also uses records of the powers of the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants to create its own team of imposter X-Men, whose members possess the combined powers of specific members of each of the two teams. Cerebro intends to put human beings in stasis so that mutants can inherit Earth; to this end, it hunts down a group of synthetic children called the Mannites who possess vast psychic powers. Cerebro is destroyed by the X-Men with the help of Professor X and the Mannite named Nina.

In later stories, Cerebro is replaced by Cerebra (referred to as Cerebro's older sister), a machine the size of a small room held in the basement of Xavier's School For Higher Learning. Cerebra is later transferred into the body of a Sentinel and given the capability of human emotion. Cerebra accompanies the X-Men on many of their missions to help find mutants and bring them to X-Haven, where they will be safe from the toxic Terrigen Mist. Along with being able to detect mutants. Cerebra can fly and teleport, serving as a bridge between Earth and the X-Men's base in Limbo.[4]

Cerebra is destroyed during a battle between the X-Men and Inhumans over the remaining Terrigen Mist cloud.[5] After discovering her body, the X-Men determine that Cerebra's body is beyond repair and upload her into a new body.[6]

At the start of the Krakoan Age, it is revealed that Forge created a version of Cerebro that not only was capable of merely detecting mutant minds but also creating a copy of each mutants' mind. This version of Cerebro is portable and can be worn as a helmet.[7] Xavier has five working Cerebro Cradles: one main unit, three backup units, and one additional backup unit.

Other versions

In Chris Claremont's X-Men: The End storyline, which takes place some 20 years ahead of standard X-Men continuity, Cerebro has been replaced in turn by the disembodied brain of Martha Johansson.

In the universe of Marvel Zombies, zombified versions of Beast and Mr. Fantastic reprogram Cerebro to help them and the other zombies track down the last remaining humans on Earth. Cerebro locates many in the European nation of Latveria, but all escape. In Marvel Zombies Return, the surviving zombies escape to another world where many of them restart the original infection, this time permanently fusing Professor X's partly zombiefied body with Cerebro so that he can find humans for them.

In the MC2 universe, the X-People carry "mini-cerebros", that can detect mutants just as well as the full-size version.

In other media