The Mother Brain is the leader of the
Space Pirates in the
Metroid universe. She is basically a giant brain in a tank of liquid and it was her idea to study the possibility of breeding and mutating the
Metroid species for conquest purposes. She first appeared at the end of the original
Metroid NES video game in the
Tourian area of
Zebes where she was basically a sitting duck for heroine
Samus Aran to blast. She returned in
Super Metroid for the
Super NES where she, once again, was pretty much an easy target... until her tank was shattered. That's when the brain rose from the ground, revealing a massively large and powerful
alien creature.
This embodiment of the Mother Brain fired energy orbs and electric shocks from her fingertips as well as the occassional bomb. Her most powerful weapon, however, is a blast of pure energy that spews from her gaping maw. Samus shot missiles at the creature's exposed brain, but eventually it took the power of the Metroid hatchling to defeat the Mother Brain once and for all. Upon her defeat she turned to dust and disintegrated.
Aside from her appearances in the Metroid series, the Mother Brain was also the main villain in the Captain N: Game Master animated cartoon. In her TV incarnation she had a face attached to her brain and was capable of sight and speech. Her two lackeys, Eggplant Wizard (from Kid Icarus) and King Hippo (from Punch Out!) carried out her evil plans, although in the end the three of them were always foiled by Captain N and his video game pals (Kid Icarus, Simon Belmont, Mega Man, Game Boy, and Princess Lana).