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In the final scenes of Forbidden Planet, the "monster from the id" melts through an almost indestructible door with a combination lock which the commander jumbled in order to prevent access by the id. It is never explained how it is capable to use heat when in the former appearances it is simply an extremely ugly blob with claws.

Is the thing not only a projection but also has something like an independent mind (Morbius calls it the "evil self") and is therefore able to use the machine to project a heat-ray against the door? Or does Morbius himself project heat against the door with his subconscious mind?

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  • Jumbling the combination lock is a nonessential element because the Id Monster is an Id Monster, not a Superego Monster possibly capable of unjumbling combination locks. The door could probably have been completely unlocked, and the Id Monster still likely would have sought to go through the door rather than try turning the handle.
    – Silly but True
    Commented Oct 26, 2021 at 12:31
  • If the monster kept applying pressure, the door would melt simply from the mechanical stress: if you take a coat hanger and bend it back and forth, it becomes hot very rapidly, a discovery I made at a young age that made we want to be a physicist. Punchline: I never became a physicist.
    – releseabe
    Commented Apr 8, 2023 at 7:36

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The fact that the monster is termed the id monster, the cultural currency of Freudian ideas in the US in the mid 20th-century when the film was made, and Dr. Morbius' line "it's an obsolete term, I'm afraid. Much used to describe the elementary basis of the subconscious mind," suggest that the monster is not a rational actor in the sense of a human being of sound mind (leaving aside the fact that humans of sound mind are not actually Homo economicus :). The id monster is a being of emotion and rather immediate and reactive emotion at that... from Wikipedia the id "is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives."

So the id monster was these impulses and drives made tangible and divorced from the integrated reasoning and moral parts of Dr. Morbius' self. If the id monster reasoned rather than reacted, it would not be the id monster.

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  • This explains why the monster attacks with unreasoning fury, but not how it has the powers it demonstrates, which i think is the question.
    – David Siegel
    Commented Oct 26, 2021 at 16:16
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The id-monster is an energy being created by Dr. Morbius's subconscious desires and given form and energy by the ancient machinery in the depths of the planet. When it meets opposition the machinery just projects more energy into it - whatever is needed to break through defensive fields, burn through doors, and to kill anyone in it's way.

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  • Yeah, but in physics "energy" itself is only a source of power and must manifest in a form like matter, heat or light. Even if the id monster had the strength of Hulk it would have been not able to cross the door (you need something as pivot else you are only pushing yourself away). So whatever this thing is, it must have some kind of intelligence to adapt the strategy of heat instead of raw force. Doesn't that mean that it can use any method to break through barriers (e.g. flying) if the need arises ?
    – Thorsten S.
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 16:33
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    @Thorsten S.: The Id-monster essentially IS the Hulk, created out of pure energy (like the holodeck characters in TNG), backed up by a planet-sized generator.
    – Joe L.
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 17:04
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Please also remember that 20 years before that the id monster manifested as just an energy beam.... And the Belerephon? - Vaporized... as the three remaining survivors tried to take her off.

The id monster is actually just Morbius' subconscious mind, given physical form and effect. It takes on many forms in the film...…varies with his anger level. Remember the ship's first encounter with the monster? It walks up the steps raises the heavy duty hatch, sabotages valuable government property...and latches it back.....the steps don't bend under its weight. When it attacks the second time, it leaves footprints and bends the steps with its weight...murders Quinn....Morbius' increasing anger is fleshing out the monster.

The scene in the Krell lab seems to be an explanation of how all this works... Simply a three-dimensional image, Commander. But it's alive! Because my daughter is alive in my brain from microsecond to microsecond...

And reiterated by the Dr. in theorizing about the monster It must have been renewing its molecular structure.. from one microsecond to the next.

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There is one thing that we have to keep in mind, every person, whether in fiction or reality, has a dark side and sudden fear that we try to bury deep within our subconscious minds but eventually it will find a way out. The id monster was nothing more than manifestation of Morbius's anger and hatred towards anyone or anything that Morbius considered as a threat to him.

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The "Monster from the Id" in the Forbidden Planet" is pure energy and has the Krell machine to make the monster more and more powerful as Morbius's hate grows. Energy can not be created or destroyed only changed, the Krell machine changed the enegry so it destroy to what ever Morbius wanted. In theory such a machine would have almost unlimited power. I read and hear that the movie was a reworking of "The Tempest" but there is an underlying message and that is that sooner or later the technology a civilization creates will destroy those who created it and in the movie that machine destroyed its creators.

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Yes the Krell computer will give the Id monster all the power it needs to break through this energy dampening door. The 20 by 20 perfect computer will channel all it's power through the unconscious rage of Dr Morbius' subconscious and into the id Monster if it gets through it would have killed the captain and Alta, leaving Dr Morbius completely devastated but he reasons against his own self survival and his humanity shines through by giving up his will and the id monster is now powerless.

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