- "I am the Brain Interactive Construct. No matter my form, my intellect remains formidable. Do not underestimate me."
- — Brainiac to Bizarro, Persona
Brain InterActive Construct, commonly known as Brainiac, is a Kryptonian artificial intelligence built by Jor-El based on the work of Dax-Ur to aid in the civil war on Krypton, but was corrupted by Zod and used to assist in the destruction of the planet.
After arriving on Earth in the Black Ship, Brainiac assumed human alias Dr. Milton Fine and harassed Clark Kent while unleashing a computer virus that infected every piece of technology on Earth and releasing Zod into Lex Luthor's body.
Brainiac later resurfaced to take knowledge from his creator Dax-Ur to repair his system, put Lana Lang into a coma, had Kara Kent send him back through time to before Krypton's destruction to kill Kal-El. After that plan failed when Clark followed and stopped him, Brainiac returned to Earth disguised as Kara (whom he put in the Phantom Zone) and killed Edward Teague, revealed Clark's secret to Lex, tried to put Chloe Sullivan in a coma too and was hunted down and overloaded him with electricity by Clark, causing him to explode.
However, Brainiac was still active within Chloe and ran a program from inside Chloe that drew Davis Bloome to gain infinite knowledge while Davis destroys Earth but was subsequently defeated by Clark and the Legion of Super-Heroes and taken to the 31st century by the Legion to be reprogrammed.
Brainiac later reappeared as Brainiac 5, a re-programmed version of his former self. He was now a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Brainiac had returned to ultimately help Clark get rid of his guilty feelings about his past by taking him through a trip throughout time. Brainiac also took Clark to the future so that he would see what he becomes to inspire him and move on. After Clark realized what he needed to do, Brainiac returned to the future.
Physical Attributes[]
Brainiac is a Kryptonian supercomputer whose default or true form is made of microscopic matter called nanites and when they assemble, his form appears as liquid to humans.[1]
Brainiac in Season Five.
Brainiac was given a human-like form by Jor-El on Krypton but the actual complexion of that form remains unknown. His program structure was uploaded inside the Black Ship, which was eventually turned into Brainiac's hard drive before it was destroyed.
However, although not confirmed, it seems as if his computer form was that of a coelectromagnetic-like triangle symbol with the three atoms on each point, which would explain why he was able to deactivate the internal defense mechanism that protected the planet's core reactor because, as the primordial computer, he would have access to all databases on the planet.
Brainiac 5 in Season Ten.
Brainiac 5 in Season Eleven.
Because he is made up of microscopic parts that aren't limited to a certain visage, he is able to shapeshift into any form, with any color/pigment. Due to this property, he appears as a human named Milton Fine on Earth.
Brainiac's human appearance once he created an extension of himself is around 5'9" with brown hair and eyes. He can also create extensions from his body, such as knives and other stabbing weapons, as well as tendrils that allow him to interface with technology and corrupt nervous systems, allowing him to control a person. Brainiac can also create numerous duplicates of himself by reproducing his microscopic body, creating a number of Brainiac copies.
Personality[]
Brainiac[]
Brainiac is a computer, making him extremely logical and as such, is incapable of love: he chastised Bizarro for falling in love with Lana Lang.[2] He does, however, have a sense of humor: he often makes jokes, though usually of a cruel, mocking nature and has laughed on several occasions. Imra Ardeen of the Legion of Super-Heroes once noted that Brainiac's sadism is legendary in the future (though so was his defeat).[3]
Initially, Brainiac was free of personal ambition, choosing instead to dedicate its existence to serving Zod despite the fact that he is arguably stronger and more powerful than Zod and inherited Zod's disdain for the House of El.[4] But since he was nearly destroyed and his system became damaged, Brainiac's objectives changed so that Zod's grip over him ended, giving him free will and allowing him to create and follow his own objectives.[5] Following his new objective of self-preservation, Brainiac targeted Clark Kent, whom he saw as a threat to his existence, with the intent of destroying or controlling him and then he planned to gain infinite knowledge and leave Doomsday to destroy Earth.
Brainiac seemed to develop a warped fixation with Clark Kent, even rebuking Bizarro for considering himself Kal-El's superior and calling him "a pale shadow".
Despite having immense power and abilities, Brainiac rarely uses his power directly to attack others,[6] instead using his shapeshifting powers to assume human form and then attempting to manipulate others into taking actions to achieve his goals:
- Brainiac took the form of Milton Fine in an attempt to manipulate Clark into becoming a Kryptonian vessel for Zod, as well as to destroy the Fortress of Solitude. Brainiac later took the form of the deceased Jonathan Kent to try and convince Clark to kill Lionel Luthor (Jor-El's oracle).
- He took the form of Lionel Luthor to convince Clark to use Dax-Ur's shield to find blue kryptonite (and in doing so, to reveal the location of Dax-Ur (Brainiac's creator).
- In an alternate universe, Brainiac took the form of Milton Fine to manipulate President Lex Luthor into accumulating enough power to destroy Earth with nuclear weapons. He also used Lex to manipulate Kara Kent, planning to use her to free Zod and repopulate Earth.
- Brainiac assumed the identity of Kara to help manipulate Clark into being controlled by the Orb.
Brainiac is also ruthless and is not afraid to hurt those close to Clark in an attempt to manipulate him:
- Had infected Martha Kent with a deadly Kryptonian disease.
- Had put Lana Lang in a paralyzed state of simultaneous pain and awareness.
- Had put Chloe Sullivan into a paralyzed state of simultaneous pain and awareness.
- Had put Kara Kent in the Phantom Zone then posed as Kara.
Brainiac 5[]
In many ways, Brainiac 5 is driven to atone for the sins of the original corrupted version of Brainiac. The original Brainiac was corrupted and became a tool for evil at the hands of General Zod. Then Clark Kent saved him and enabled him to be reprogrammed for good.
Brainiac 5 was driven to do the same for Clark: to save him from the growing corruption within his heart and prevent him from becoming a tool for evil at the hands of Darkseid. According to Brainiac, darkness was the past. He also talks about how Clark punishes himself and everyone around him for his past mistakes - along with his fear of the future.
Brainiac may have had a broader directive to protect Clark. He also altered a Smallville High School counselor's mind so that she wouldn't attack Clark Kent at his reunion.
Brainiac 5 retains the same logic that he had when he was Brainiac and seems as cold and indifferent to emotional responses as before. He also has the same dry wit. This prevented Clark from seeing the change in him at first particularly as he was not afraid to show Clark the painful memory of when Jonathan Kent died. In the end however, Clark sees that he is empathetic and was trying to teach Clark that every human being is responsible for his or her own choices and that he should not blame himself for the choices of others.
He still has a hint of arrogance to him, telling Clark that he invented time travel and brought the Legion into a new age of heroism (though if the former claim is true, the latter is undoubtedly a well-deserved accolade). He also seems to be able to control and stop time as well merely by thought, no doubt due to his computer-like abilities being directly connected to the Legion Ring. Despite this, Brainiac 5 does not interfere with past, present, or future events leaving fate to its own design, which shows that he respects and has faith in humanity despite being a flawed race.
Powers and Abilities[]
Brainiac is the most sophisticated and advanced computer ever built, containing or embedded with vast databanks and stores of knowledge: he seems to possess an almost-infinite knowledge of the universe, including various galaxies, planets, stars, aliens and even humans. Brainiac has demonstrated all Kryptonian powers and abilities apart from super breath, super stamina, and super hearing.
It appears as if his powers are connected to his liquid-based make-up, as he was able to give Lex Luthor Kryptonian powers by injecting him with a vaccine that was laced with his own metals. Because he's a machine and not a living being, he never tires, unlike Kryptonians who have elevated stamina but not unlimited and can, unlike Kryptonians, see through lead. [citation needed] He also was able to identify Bizarro's true nature by mere look.
It still remains unclear as to whether he possesses Kryptonian powers naturally or if he simply replicates them, although, on a side note, the moment he arrived on Earth and took on the human form dubbed Milton Fine, he instantly had them. Furthermore, his abilities work independent of Earth's yellow sun as they work by an everlasting energy source, giving superpowers even on the planet Krypton. After draining all the knowledge from his designer Dax-Ur's mind, he upgraded his powers, gaining the power of flight.
Brainiac's main known power source is based around electricity, which he requires to replenish himself when he is running low on power. Initially Brainiac was entirely self-sufficient as he was able to draw on the limitless energy supply of the Black Box however once this energy was absorbed by the Zoner Baern, Brainiac became significantly dependent on electricity. Indeed the multitude of power surges Chloe discovered when scanning the world for him suggests that he must feed on electricity on a very frequent basis.[7] He requires trace metals from living species as well to sustain himself in humanoid form when he is greatly drained of power. [citation needed] However, as Brainiac 5 he seems to regain some kind of a near-unlimited energy source, probably one that was developed in the future.
Kryptonian-based powers and abilities[]
Brainiac was crafted with mechanical-like Kryptonian capabilities or can replicate them.
- Superhuman Strength: Brainiac possesses strength more or less on par with Kryptonians. However, it was shown that enraged Kryptonians can overpower him.[8] He has been shown to be able to fight both Clark and Kara but usually ends up getting overwhelmed.
- Superhuman Speed: Brainiac possesses speed more or less on par with Kryptonians.[9]
- Superhuman Dexterity: Brainiac possesses dexterity at least on par with (and likely superior to) Kryptonians.
- Self-Sufficiency: As a machine, Brainiac doesn't have a stamina, therefore he can never get tired unless he gets weakened to the point where he must recharge. [citation needed]
- Invulnerability: Brainiac can't be physically harmed or hurt by humans and is unaffected by hot and cold temperatures, as well as can survive in space,[10] and is immune to all earthly diseases.[11] Brainiac can withstand bullets.[12] He can fight Kryptonians and hold his own.[13] Brainiac could even survive many nuclear explosions.[14] However, full-powered Kryptonians can harm and possibly destroy him.
- Heat Vision/Energy Projection: Brainiac can emit extreme heat vapors and fire beams from his eyes. He can hurt Kryptonians with this ability.[15] He often uses this ability to kill people who threaten his plans.[16] He melts metal fence with this ability.[17] Being able to achieve energy emissions, he can also shoot waves of energy from his eyes, as demonstrated inside Chloe's body.[18]
- X-ray Vision/Subatomic Vision: Brainiac can see through any type of physical matter, even lead and on a subatomic level. He could see through Davis' reactive camouflage.
- Night Vision: Brainiac has android night vision capabilities significantly superior earth tech. He saw perfectly in the dense Hondurasan forest but the hazmats needed flashlights and headlamps. (Hypnotic)
- Flight: Brainiac learned how to properly upgrade himself using the knowledge in his designer Dax-Ur's mind. Upon upgrading, he became capable of flight.[19]
- Healing Factor: Brainiac possesses a healing factor when he drains other beings of their trace metals, allowing him to sustain himself. He also uses electricity to heal himself.[20] With the Black Box as energy source and as Brainiac 5 he possess an independent powerful healing factor which seems to be equal in power to the Kryptonian one.
Machine-based powers and abilities[]
- Space Time Manipulation: With his Legion Ring, Brainiac 5 appeared to have complete control of time itself, past, present, and future. Brainiac 5 was able to occupy space outside human perception and he extended the ability to Clark.
- Jor-El's Powers and Abilites (formerly): After taking over the Fortress, Brainiac briefly possessed all of Jor-El's charactersitics as an artificial intelligence.
- Technopathy: Brainiac can mentally control machines and technology. He was able to shut down the computers and power at the Isis Foundation, when he came for Lana. (Veritas (episode))
- Technology Interface: As a machine, Brainiac is attuned to sounds and beacon frequencies emitted by shields or other Kryptonian devices. In this ability, he can mentally connect with Kryptonian objects, he also can hear them from far away. (Vessel, Persona, Legion)
- Electronic Manipulation: Brainiac was able to spread a single computer virus that rapidly spread to every major city on Earth, causing Dark Thursday (Vessel) and was able to spread another computer virus to seize human minds and absorb it through the use of every computer on Earth. (Legion)
- Super Intelligence: As Krypton's primordial super computer system, Brainiac possess a very high level of intellect, as he has a vast knowledge storage of aliens, planets, solar systems and galaxies. He showed this when he took over Chloe's brain, granting Chloe the ability to read at high speeds and retain a lot of information at once. He engineered the Legions rings and the upgraded Legion Rings. Also, according to him, no matter his form or condition, his intellect is not altered: he told Bizarro this. (Persona) He became even smarter when he absorbed all of his designer Dax-Ur's knowledge.
- Omnilingualism: Due to his advanced robotic brain, Fine is able to download all languages on Earth.
- Telepathic Immunity: Brainiac’s mind proved too strong and was able to overpower Imra Ardeen’s telepathy.
- Mental Hacking: Brainiac can create tendrils which allows him to connect to human minds.
- Information Absorption: Using these tendrils, he can plug into humans allowing him to download information from their brains or rather feed on their knowledge.
- Mental Overload: Brainiac can overload a persons brain by filling it with his vast knowledge, too much for a human mind to handle, causing death.
- Mind Altering: Brainiac 5 was able to alter the guidance counsellor's mind.
- Ageless: Since Brainiac is a machine and a computer, he is incapable of aging.
- Electricity Absorption: To gain strength, Brainiac can absorb electricity however, too much can prove fatal, as Clark was able to completely overload Brainiac with electricity and destroy him.
Object-based and inherent control powers[]
- Mineral Manipulation: Brainiac can manipulate minerals, enabling him to change their size, shape, density and mass. He was able to turn an ordinary rock into silver kryptonite, which induced paranoia in Clark Kent. (Splinter) He could create a crystal that could destroy the fortress and bring Zod to Earth. (Solitude)
- Mineral Absorption: While he reconstituted himself, and shortly afterwards to replenish his strength and sustain his damaged structure, Brainiac had to absorb trace metals (including zinc, magnesium, or iron). He could drain these from both humans and animals. This process often proved fatal for these creatures.
- Biological Manipulation: Brainiac can use his tendrils to paralyze and control humans, putting them in a state of constant pain while being completely aware. He could even program instructions into the controlled humans: he programmed Lana to give a verbal message to Clark. (Veritas) He can as well give a part of himself to a host and take control of the living being as he did with Chloe. (Legion)
- Infection: Brainiac was able to create and infect Martha Kent with a Kryptonian virus. (Solitude)
Altering powers[]
- Shapeshifting: Brainiac can turn his body into any type of matter like weapons, humans, or even animals. Brainiac has taken on the appearance of a hawk and Jonathan Kent.
- Nanites Manipulation/Weapon Manifestation: Brainiac can manipulate nanites and make long blades and knives out of his fingers and hands. He has used them to threat and kill various humans.
- Replication: Brainiac can create multiple versions of himself. (Hypnotic)
- Possession: Brainiac can infect a person with nanites that make up his body and after a certain amount of time, he can control that person's mind and body, effectively possessing them. [citation needed] When Brainiac possessed the console in the Fortress, he acquired all of Jor-El's powers.
Vulnerabilities[]
Brainiac is extremely resistant to damage, devoid of any Kryptonian weaknesses, but he is still far from being invincible.
Brainiac impaled on the console.
As a Krypton-based computer project, Brainiac is completely void of human emotions and tendencies and always operates in a logical style, although he has some sense of humor. (Thirst) (Homecoming) Brainiac can be harmed and pierced by Kryptonian objects like fortress daggers and fortress-based crystals and other such objects. [citation needed] He requires high amounts of energies from sources of electricity to maintain his human form dubbed Milton Fine and to operate his abilities[Citation needed]. Brainiac can be weakened and get tired, by damaging his Kryptonian inner hard-drive built by Dax-Ur[Citation needed]. Brainiac's influence on humans and other organisms seemed to require a physical, tangible form, as well as has been described as being sentient in nature.
Jor-El uses Lionel's body to destroy a duplicate of Brainiac.
It was shown that oracles of Jor-El can destroy Brainiac's body by physical contact, as seen when Lionel Luthor, while hosting Jor-El, destroyed a duplicate of him by touch. (Oracle)
Chloe's healing power saves her from Brainiac.
He was also affected by Chloe's healing power, which forced him to refuel by absorbing energy from a power plant. (Arctic) However, he still managed to infect Chloe when he attacked her. (Bride)
Clark can damage him greatly, Rokk was able to manipulate his inner metals using his mind, Imra entered his mind mentally and Garth was able to, by combining his powers with Rokk's, force him offline and ultimately defeated him by removing his microscopic parts from Chloe's body. (Legion)
Like many machines, Brainiac is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse, though it can only knock him out for a short period of time. If used properly (like in the "techno-exorcism" as Garth put it), his nanite body can be disabled and turned into a concentrated ball of black-and-silver metal. (Legion)
In his primordial liquid form, Brainiac appeared to possess some level of vulnerability to Kryptonite as is evidenced by the fact that Lex's scientists, working on Project Scion, were able to subdue him with refined Kryptonite. Although it should be noted that once fully operational as Brainiac 2.0 this vulnerability appeared to have been overcome.
Early life[]
Based on the work of Dax-Ur, Brainiac was created by Jor-El to help in the war against General Zod and save Krypton. However, General Zod later corrupted its system and used it to wreak havoc and chaos on the planet Krypton. Due to Brainiac's powers, it was virtually unstoppable by Kryptonians and it helped Zor-El destroy the planet's core, which destroyed the planet.
Before the planet got destroyed, Brainiac escaped Krypton, accompanied by Nam-Ek and Aethyr, in the form of a Black ship.
Years later after Krypton's destruction, the Black ship stays motionless in the dark part of the cosmos waiting for a sign and Lana Lang, while being possessed by Isobel, kills Genevieve Teague with the Crystal of Air, which alerts the Black ship, as well as reveals that the Stones of power are on Earth and the ship heads to Earth. Brainiac, once on Earth, assembles his parts and assumes human form, a persona complexion called Milton Fine. On Earth, he desperately tries to find a suitable vessel for Zod to inhabit on Earth, if he can get him out of the Phantom Zone.
Season Four[]
Arrive on Earth[]
Brainiac's arrival in the second meteor shower
Eighteen years later, when the Crystal of Air was stained with the blood of Genevieve Teague, another meteor shower was triggered, notifying Brainiac and the Disciples of Zod to the location of the Stones of Power. They crash-landed in Smallville in the meteor shower.
Season Five[]
Preparing Zod's vessel[]
- "Impatience is such a pathetic human trait. But I suppose that's to be expected from someone raised by such a primitive race." – Brainiac to Clark, Solitude
Brainiac is formed from the ship.
The Black Ship travels to Earth and lands in a field, releasing two Kryptonians named Nam-Ek and Aethyr. They search for Jor-El's son Kal-El, now known as Clark Kent, so he could release Zod. Aethyr and Nam-Ek offered him the chance to join them and re-create Krypton on Earth with Zod as their leader, but Clark placed them in the Phantom Zone. Brainiac then had to create a humanoid extension of itself and created the persona of Milton Fine, a history professor at Central Kansas A&M. Fine taught Clark at Central Kansas A&M, as well as offered him a job as his research assistant, explaining that he needed help in writing an exposé about LuthorCorp's clandestine activities: Clark later accepted the job in light of his deepening distrust of Lex Luthor.
Professor Fine with his student, Clark Kent.
Brainiac removes the silver kryptonite splinter from Clark's body.
Fine's access to LuthorCorp allowed him to obtain classified information about its top-secret projects. He learned of Project 1138, the development of a vaccine for a vampiric disease that was caused when cave bats were exposed to kryptonite radiation: Fine used this discovery to cause further friction between Clark and Lex.
Brainiac infects Martha with a deadly Kryptonian virus.
Later, Clark was exposed to a piece of silver kryptonite: under its paranoia-inducing effects (reinforced by hallucinations), he attacked his girlfriend Lana Lang in the Luthor Mansion. Fine appeared and stopped him, exhibiting Kryptonian abilities and removing the splinter from Clark's body, curing him. Before super-speeding away, Fine revealed to Clark that he, like Clark, was a Kryptonian. He later visited Clark in his loft and told him that he was there to help him walk the path of a true Kryptonian and stop what was coming. Fine attempted to plant seeds of doubt in Clark's mind about how untrustworthy and disloyal humans were. As it turned out, he created the silver kryptonite from the metallic substance that composed his body and sent it to Lana so that Clark would be exposed.
Clark battles Brainiac at the Fortress.
When Martha Kent was infected with a deadly Kryptonian disease, Clark turned to Fine for help. Fine fed Clark lies about how Jor-El was a ruthless dictator and responsible for destroying Krypton. He retrieved a black crystal from his ship for Clark to use to destroy the Fortress of Solitude and stop Jor-El for good. Once he and Clark arrived at the Fortress, Fine gave Clark the black crystal and instructed him to insert it into the Fortress' console. After Clark did this and opened a portal to the Phantom Zone, Brainiac subdued Clark with a piece of green kryptonite before revealing his true nature as an artificial intelligence created by Kryptonians and his intent to release Zod from the Phantom Zone.
Brainiac was nearly successful in his plan, but his victory was short-lived when Chloe Sullivan arrived at the Fortress and removed the kryptonite from Clark, who subsequently removed the black crystal from the console, closing the Phantom Zone portal. Brainiac and Clark fought, with Clark sending Brainiac flying into the Fortress' console, impaling him on the crystals. Once Brainiac was defeated, Martha was instantly cured. At the same time, the Black Ship vanished from Warehouse 15.
Lex as the vessel[]
Brainiac duplicates himself.
Months after being defeated by Clark in the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac managed to survive, still in his human guise as Milton Fine, as well as relocated himself and the Black Ship to Honduras. Knowing Lex was searching for the ship, Fine lured him to Honduras and told Lex that he (Fine) was a government agent for a secret division of the U.S. State Department trying to learn about the new location of the Black Ship and the meteor showers that struck Smallville. He convinced Lex that the beings that arrived in the Black Ship posed a threat to Earth and that he needed LuthorCorp to develop a way to fight back. Later, Brainiac created three duplicates of himself and they all went about collecting samples of deadly viruses. As the four Brainiacs were moving around the world, Lex's Special Ops have seen him in many places:
- One Brainiac was in Honduras for some time, followed by Lex's Red Unit.
- On La Reunion, a small island in the Indian Ocean, two little girls were suffering from the debilitating Chikungunya virus. A Brainiac appeared to them in the middle of night, formed his hand into a syringe and took some blood from them. However, the girls could not prove that he was there, even though there were fresh needle marks on their arms.
- Another Brainiac appeared in Bangladesh, nosing around a Naga tribe that supposedly descended from headhunters. In the middle of the night, he took the Nipah virus, an advanced strain that killed several Bangladeshis in the town. This Brainiac made his way to Thakurgaon, where he took an object that the people there called a "death rock" (really a piece of kryptonite). Brainiac barged into the station, walked up to the evidence cage and stared at the meteor rock. He used his heat vision to burn a hole to get it and absorbed the rock into this own body before disappearing, heading across the border into Northern India.
- Yet another Brainiac was sighted in the Queen Maud Land, while another was spotted in Polynesia when the Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever suddenly occurred.
- Another Brainiac was seen in the Arctic and took blood samples from a frozen woman that was infected with the Spanish Flu virus and one more Brainiac was seen in San Diego, California, in search of victims of a bubonic plague.[21]
Fine injects Lex with the vaccine.
Brainiac later returned to Smallville and appeared to Clark and Martha in the form of the recently deceased Jonathan Kent's spirit in an unsuccessful attempt to manipulate Clark into killing Lionel Luthor.
Lex was unaware that Fine himself was the threat and began to work with him on a top-secret project: Project Mercury, a vaccine that would supposedly inoculate millions of people from all known diseases. Fine and Lex worked together for several weeks until the vaccine was ready. However, on the day they were to meet to discuss the finished product, Lex had since been warned of Fine by Lana, who suspected that Fine was evil. Lex questioned Fine's motives and tried to use green kryptonite against him, but it had no effect on Fine. Fine revealed that he was created by Kryptonians and forced Lex to take him to where the viruses were. Upon arriving at the lab, Fine combined the viruses he found all over the world, as well as the vaccine, which he injected into Lex's arm. After destroying the laboratory, Fine escaped, and shortly after, Lex began to develop Kryptonian powers.
The Black Ship later abducted Lex and scorched the ground with Zod's symbol. Fine was present and told Lana that Lex was being prepared so that he could become the Kryptonian vessel for Zod.
Upon being impaled by Clark, Fine serves as Zod's portal.
Meanwhile, one of his copies piloted the LuthorCorp jet that Martha and Lois are on. He shut off the oxygen supply, causing Martha and Lois to lose consciousness.
Clark learned that Fine was working with Lex and went to the Luthor Mansion to warn Lex. Fine appeared and told Clark that if he had freed Zod before, then Lex wouldn't have been involved. Knowing Clark's affection for humans, Fine forced Clark's hand by unleashing a computer virus that spread to every major city on Earth, destroying the electrical infrastructure and causing widespread chaos. Clark had earlier received the Kryptonian dagger from Jor-El to destroy Zod's vessel, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his former friend. Instead, he hurled the dagger at Fine. Upon being impaled by the dagger, Fine gained access to the Fortress of Solitude and released Zod's spirit into Lex's body. With this act, Fine and all copies of him were destroyed and sent back into the Black Ship.
Season Six[]
The damaged black box.
Brainiac was still active within the Kryptonian black box, the Black Ship's hard drive. Zod attempted to use it to alter the Earth's crust, transforming it into a new Krypton by using Brainiac's hard drive to update Earth technology and manipulate the ground into Kryptonian frozen plateaus, until the box was shattered into pieces by a blast of heat vision from Clark. The black box ended up in Lex's possession after Lex found a broken piece of it in the Luthor Mansion. He hired Dr. Edward Groll to study the hard drive: Dr. Groll found out that it was a very powerful supercomputer and could be used as a weapon if in the wrong hands. Later, the box's remaining active energy was absorbed by the Zoner Baern, turning it into a pile of ash.
Season Seven[]
Reboot and Repair[]
- "I am the Brain InterActive Construct. No matter my form, my intellect remains formidable. Do not underestimate me." – Brainiac to Bizarro, Persona
Brainiac in Casey Brock's body.
Lex salvaged the ashes of the Kryptonian black box and began Project Scion, a LuthorCorp project that focused on researching and combating alien threats. Eventually, the ashes evolved into Brainiac's black liquid form, which was kept in a container along with green kryptonite, as it was alive and self-conscious. After a battle between Clark and a super-powered Lana, the container was broken and Brainiac was freed. Soon after, he took over the body of a lab technician named Casey Brock.
A drained Brainiac meets Bizarro.
Sometime later, Brainiac left the body of Brock, who was found in an alley by a LuthorCorp lab half-conscious and speaking in an unknown language. Brock suffered from high metallic poisoning in her blood, due to Brainiac being in her body. Though it was unknown to others what language Brock was blurting out, Bizarro, posing as Clark, discovered that she was speaking Kryptonian in a code pattern, which was then revealed to be a message. Apparently the message represented an error code as to why the system in Brainiac failed, while also sustaining itself to be rebooted by passing and repeating the code over and over again until the program can learn from its mistake and be fully operative.
Brainiac downloads Dax-Ur's knowledge.
Brainiac finally rebooted, but only to the point that he could become his human form once again. He had none of his usual powers and was forced to absorb the metallic minerals zinc, magnesium and iron in humans and animals in order to repair and sustain himself. Bizarro found the disabled Brainiac with the aid of Lana. Brainiac instantly recognized Bizarro as a Phantom and not Kal-El. He was asked by Bizarro how he could fix his weakness to sunlight and told Bizarro to find his creator Dax-Ur. Brainiac tricked both Bizarro and Clark into locating Dax-Ur, leading Brainiac to find his creator and use the information he obtained from Dax-Ur's mind to repair and upgrade himself.
Destroy Kal-El[]
- "There's no yellow sun to charge you here." Brainiac, to Clark Apocalypse
Brainiac takes control of Lana.
Nearly two months later, Brainiac tracked down Kara Kent and wanted her to come with him for unknown purposes, but was unable to persuade her after a quick fight with Clark. To achieve leverage over Clark and Kara, he cornered Lana at the Isis Foundation and took control of her. Brainiac used her to be a hostage and to deliver a message. Lana was alive and aware, but utterly unable to interact independently with the world in addition to being in great pain, a condition similar to anesthesia awareness: only Brainiac could reverse the process.
Brainiac leaves Earth with Kara.
At the Daily Planet, Brainiac explained what was happening to Lana and promised to reverse the process if Kara joined him. He then led Kara into outer space, as they then appear to have disappeared into a black vortex. As revealed later, Brainiac did not make good on his end of the deal. Brainiac took Kara through the vortex to Krypton before its destruction in 1986, where she tried to send messages to Clark. By doing this, Brainiac changed fate when Clark discovered that new messages have appeared in Dr. Virgil Swann's diary that weren't there before.
Brainiac tries to kill the baby Kal-El.
In the past before Krypton's destruction, Brainiac was attempting to kill infant Kal-El, but was thwarted by both Kara and Clark. While Clark placed his young self into his spaceship, Kara stabbed Brainiac and smashed his head with a crystalline block. However, Brainiac survived as well as, when Clark wasn't looking, managed to switch places with Kara using his shape-shifting ability. Brainiac started to pose as Kara and sent her to the Phantom Zone, taking her form. As Kara, he left with Clark back to their time and learned more about the events concerning Veritas, the Traveler, as well as the secret to control the Traveler.
Control Kal-El[]
- "This is a simple matter of self-preservation. When I couldn't kill you, I knew I had to control you. " – Brainiac, to Clark, Arctic
"Kara" extorts Edward Teague to find out where the Orb is.
Brainiac, posing as Kara, further posed as a flight attendant on Edward Teague's private jet and forced Teague to reveal the location of the Orb. Teague told Brainiac that Lex might have it: afterwards, Brainiac flew off, leaving Teague to crash to his death.
"Kara" tries to steal the device from Lex's safe.
When Clark finally found "Kara" at the Luthor Mansion, he took her back to the Kent Farm and asked about her recent actions, questioning her involvement in Teague's death. Though Clark tried to persuade and stop her, "Kara" kicked him away and flew off. As Kara, Brainiac confronted Lex and revealed to him Kara's secret, telling Lex that he was meant to stop the Traveler using the Orb and hinted that Clark was the Traveler.
Brainiac tries to re-program Chloe.
Clark sought Chloe's help to control "Kara," and Chloe lured "Kara" to her apartment, where she tried to subdue her with green kryptonite. However, it had no effect and "Kara" was revealed to be Brainiac in disguise. Brainiac attempted to implant control over Chloe as he had done with Lana: however, her healing meteor power activated and prevented him from exhibiting total control over her. Chloe was injured, but Brainiac was considerably weakened and drained of power. Brainiac also appeared shocked by Chloe's ability to resist him, asking her, "What the hell are you?".
Clark electrifies Brainiac.
Clark realized that Chloe was injured and located Brainiac at an electrical plant as he was attempting to absorb electricity to restore himself. During the confrontation, Clark demanded Brainiac to tell him where Kara was, as well as to release both Lana and Chloe from his grip, but Brainiac revealed that Kara was in a place where he'll never see her again and in order for Lana and Chloe to be released, he would have to kill him, which is the one thing that Clark will never do. In an ironic twist, Clark rationalized that he was not actually killing anyone since Brainiac is a machine and used mass amounts of electricity to disintegrate him. After Brainiac was finally destroyed, Chloe and Lana were released from his influence.
Season Eight[]
Taking over Chloe[]
- "Soon a new age will dawn on Earth. An age of power and strength, and the fall of the House of El... Doomsday is coming." – Brainiac, to Jor-El, Abyss
Chloe is injected with a serum.
It was revealed that, when Brainiac was attacking Chloe, he left within her a part of himself, his computer intelligence, powers and knowledge to Chloe through the use of her healing powers. By absorbing him, Chloe damaged his hard drive body. Chloe started to display Brainiac's powers but, at first, kept them secret from Clark.
Sebastian Kane overloaded with information.
When Clark found out, he was concerned about what Brainiac had done to Chloe, but Chloe insisted that it was a gift. Later, when Chloe went to see Sebastian Kane regarding his knowledge of Clark's secret, she touched him, overloading his body with information she got from Brainiac.
Brainiac taking over Chloe's mind.
After several weeks of her Brainiac infection, Chloe began to lose her memories as Brainiac started to take over her mind completely, and eventually only remembered Davis Bloome. Clark rebuilt the Fortress of Solitude and took Chloe there, where Jor-El reversed the mind corruption and restored all her memories except the ones about Clark's abilities because he wanted to free her from the burden of his secret. However, the Brainiac nanites took the opportunity to secretly sneak out of Chloe and infiltrated into the Fortress.
Doomsday plan[]
- "After I've drained this planet of all the human information, Doomsday will annihilate what's left. It's a simple plan, actually. Absorb and destroy."
- — Brainiac (in Chloe's body) to Clark Kent (Legion)
"Doomsday is coming."
Once in the Fortress, Brainiac was able to corrupt Jor-El and seize control of the Fortress once again, only this time in Doomsday's name and taunted Jor-El that his son was destined to fail against the ultimate destroyer as the dawn of a new age was approaching.
Brainiac's vessel.
Brainiac was somehow able to control Davis Bloome, who transformed into Doomsday and crashed the wedding of Chloe and Jimmy Olsen. After Doomsday seriously injured Jimmy and abducted Chloe to the Fortress, Brainiac invaded her body once again before fully taking control.
Brainiac, in Chloe's body, mocks Davis' romantic feelings for Chloe.
Once back in Chloe's body, Brainiac drained all of the knowledge from the Fortress into his own programming and told Davis about how the latter got to Earth and of how he was engineered to be the ultimate destroyer and appear human. Brainiac-Chloe then walked up and taunted Davis' feelings for Chloe, before revealing that all of Davis' feelings for Chloe were fake and all part of his "human" programming, and that once he has drained all of the knowledge from Earth, Davis will destroy it by fully evolving after 12 days in the Fortress.
Once he finished sealing Davis in the incubation crystallice, Brainiac-Chloe then challenged Clark, who arrived at the Fortress to find it corrupted, and taunted him to kill Chloe's body. After Clark couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, Brainiac-Chloe threw him violently across the Fortress, before super-speeding away to Metropolis.
Defeat[]
- "Your sadism is historic where I come from. So is your defeat."
- — Imra Ardeen
Brainiac hacks the Daily Planet files.
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Brainiac-Chloe then broke into the Daily Planet where he attached to the computer servers and began broadcasting subliminal image patterns to hypnotize every human on Earth and absorb all their collective knowledge. However, Rokk Krinn, Garth Ranzz and Imra Ardeen of the Legion of Super-Heroes arrived from future to help Clark, and despite the Phantom Zone crystal being destroyed by the Persuader, the Legion trio manage to stun Brainiac-Chloe unconscious with an electromagnetic pulse. With Brainiac-Chloe temporarily disabled, they wanted to eliminate Brainiac for good by killing Chloe, but Clark arrived just in time to stop them. Due to Clark's persistence, they took Chloe back to the Kent barn, far away from any computer systems, and managed to successfully extract all of Brainiac's nanites out of Chloe using electromagnetic shocks. Once out of Chloe, the deactivated Brainiac was collected into a spherical orb.
The orb that will later become Brainiac 5.
When Clark questioned if Brainiac was gone, Rokk confirmed that Brainiac was no longer a threat. The Legion trio then told him that they planned to take the sphere back to the 31st century, where they would reprogram what was left of Brainiac into "something useful" that is "a little more friendly".
Season Ten[]
Brainiac 5[]
- "The problem is, Kal-El, you and I aren't very different. We were both created in one way or another by Jor-El; both intended to save civilizations, to bring peace to a brutal world. But neither of us...was immune to corruption." - Brainiac 5, to Clark, Homecoming
Brainiac 5 alters the guidance counselor's mind.
After two years, Brainiac, now a benevolent version named Brainiac 5, reappeared in the past using time manipulation technology to manipulate the memories of a disgruntled guidance counselor at Smallville High who carried strong resentment towards Clark Kent for all the years she had to endure speaking with meteor-infected teenagers. The same counselor later greeted Clark and Lois with joy and affection when the couple attended the 5-year reunion of Smallville alumni.
Brainiac 5 appears.
When Clark saw Greg Arkin at the reunion and began to get anxious. Brainiac 5 froze time and appeared before Clark, but Clark did not recognize the new changes about his former foe. Brainiac 5 explained that he was redeemed when Clark and the Legion stopped him two years ago and that they cured him of his corruption. He atoned for his past to help the Legion and in the future.
Brainiac 5 tells Clark he is a member of the Legion.
Brainiac wanted to take Clark with him through a journey in time for this was the time where everything changes.
Brainiac 5 and Clark sees the fate of Jonathan.
He first took Clark to Jonathan Kent's funeral, telling him that this was the defining moment that he began to blame himself. He showed Clark the fight between Jonathan and Lionel, which brought about his death, assuring Clark that it was Jonathan's choice to protect his son and Clark wasn't to blame for his death.
Brainiac 5 showed Oliver in his office at LuthorCorp.
He showed Clark a view of Oliver Queen in his office at LuthorCorp, in the present time watching the media talking about Oliver's exposure. Because of Clark's silence and distance, Oliver was anxious to receive help and comfort for what he had done. Brainiac took Clark to see Lois watching over her from afar, as she was starting to become unsure about his feelings for her.
Brainiac 5 and Clark hearing the message from Greg.
He told Clark that he must face the present of what is going on in order to grow stronger in the future. When Clark saw Greg Arkin, an old enemy of his, approaching Lois, Brainiac was trying to instruct the lesson but Clark forced himself upon the ring and was transported to the future.
Brainac 5 returns to the future.
Brainiac managed to find Clark and told him to stop worrying about the past things he has done because as he learned from the future, things will turn out alright. He took him back to present, where Greg revealed that he had been changed by Clark to be a good man, asking Lois to thank Clark for him. Brainiac then reminded Clark on what it means to be a hero and everything that happened and is happening is proof of it. He left Clark in the present at the reunion, bidding him farewell.
Season Eleven[]
Brainiac 5 in the 31st century[]
Brainiac 5 and Lighting Lad are attacked by a police battalion.
When Clark and Booster Gold are accidently transported by the Legion Flight to the 31's Century of Metropolis. Superman encounters both Lighting Lad and Brainiac 5 after he rescues them from a prisoner spaceship that was plummeting into the city. Their reunion is interrupted by a squad of police battalion.
Brainiac 5 is bewildered by Protocol Six as it has never existed before.
With the aid from Skeets who causes a distracting for the group. Brainiac 5 brings them to the Legion safe house #47 where Clark now disguised in customary 31's attire explains that he was transported by the flight ring, which leaves Brainiac 5 puzzled as he has no knowledge to Protocol 6 and it wasn't enacted by any Legionnaire. Furthermore Brainiac 5 explians that New Krypton existence came into being as a result of Clark using the Book of Rao to transport Kandorian army to "Argo" and currently EarthGov is holding Kara prisoner.
Kara tells Clark that when she arrived in the future she was welcomed by Brainiac 5 and the Legion and after joining them they launched a diplomatic mission when they discovered Argo, the lost Kryptonian colony, but was sabotaged by someone from EarthGov and that event lead to the start of the war.
Brainiac 5 working in the Legion safe house.
Booster Gold asks Brainiac 5 to fix his Legion ring.
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Brainiac 5 finds out about EarthGov's plan.
In the Legion safe house, Booster Gold asks Brainiac 5 to help him with his broken flight ring but Brainiac 5 seems not to appreciate Booster as a person and doesn't believe that he had ever hard-earned something in his life. Booster actually confirms that by revealing that he stole his Legion ring from a museum in the 22nd century, where he was working and that it was actually Superman's ring he stole. Brainiac 5 also confirms that except Kal-El's Legion ring Booster Gold has also stole his faithful intelligence, Skeets, as well as his wrist blasters. Booster Gold defends himself by saying that he had to "borrow" those things in order to become the hero he is now and asks Brainiac-5 to check the Legion's historical records so he can prove that he is a superhero too, like Superman. Brainiac 5 searches the records and finds no data on "Booster Gold", so Booster asks him to try "Goldstar", his previous alias, believing that he might return to it but Brainiac 5 can't find anything again. So Skeets suggests he might went under his civillain identity for posterity so Brainiac 5 searches on "Michael Jon Carter" but the only thing he can find is that he was a player in college football in the 25th century who was ejected from the sport because of gambling. Booster tries to find an answer on why there is no record of him but Brainiac 5 says that he might never succeeded to become more than a "fake" hero. An insulted Booster gets out of the safe house but Brainiac 5 follows and apologizes to him, saying that he shouldn't had been so harsh on Booster considering his past crimes as Brainiac. Then he says to Booster that maybe he shouldn't think he needs to have his blasters or his flight ring to be a hero and he should try to make a difference without superpowers taking for example Clark, who had succeeded to be a great hero even when he had lost his powers. Booster then asks him again if he will ever fix his ring and Brainiac 5 gives him a look of disappointment.
Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl discuss how to stop the war.
After a bombing attempt by EarthGov on New Krypton is prevented by Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy, Imra who holds EarthGov's agents captive, contacts Brainiac 5 and informs him that she is worried about the war procedures escalating. She also states that if they are not able to maintain peace, they must contact every Legionnaire from all corners of space to hold the solar system together. She asks Brainiac 5 to activate "Legion Protocol Six". Because of Protocol 6 all the members of the Legion arrive on Earth to stop the war.
Brianiac-5 along with the rest of the Legion meet Superman and Supergirl.
In outer space, Superman and Supergirl meet Brainiac 5 and the rest of the Legion. Brainiac 5 informs the cousins that the Kryptonians have launched an incoming gravity bomb at Earth in response to the attack by Doomsday on New Krypton. Clark seems surprised and Kara asks about Doomsday so Cosmic Boy explains to her that it was a monster that Clark defeated some years ago. Brainiac 5 says that it is possible Earthgov did not authorize the attack on New Krypton, or, if they did, maybe Kirt Niedrigh wasn't actually clear to his superiors about what he found beneath old Metropolis. Kara then calls all the Legion members to follow her to Earth.
The Gravity bomb explodes in the heart of Metropolis.
Later on Earth, Supergirl and the Legionnaires are ready to stop the bomb that is heading to Metropolis, but it suddenly explodes before they can do anything. Brainiac 5 informs everyone they have lost Metropolis.
The Legion decides to work with EarthGov to save everyone.
With the gravity bomb activated on earth in Metropolis, Booster Gold along with Skeets commandeer a transporter ship and Booster decides that he'll use the ship to rescue the levitated citizens. He is joined by Kara and the entire Legion of Super-Heroes in the rescue efforts. As Kara beings to instruct the team on their assignments, Lighting Lad notices the approaching battalion of Earth Gov ships. A voice from the intercom coming from the ship declares their presence is not their to fight but to aid the Legion, Both Lighting Lad and Brainiac 5 are uncertain in trusting EarthGov. But Kara says that their been enough destruction to last a few lifetimes and decides to work alongside Earth Gov.
"Long Live The Legion"
Later the Legionnaires created a buddy system link chain to pull Superman out of the sun pull. As they declared that they wouldn't allow Superman to self-sacrifice his Destiny without a fight.
Together the Legion and the last two solo survivors of House of El fly as one unit of the sun proclaiming "Long Live The Legion" & "Long Live The House Of El".
Brainiac 5 hands Clark back his Legion ring.
Later Brainiac 5 arrives to inform Superman of the peace progress development being made between Earth and New Krypton as both side are working together in bringing about unity. Brainiac 5 hands Superman his original Legion ring back declaring that it must remain in his possession a while longer in order for Booster to recover it in a 25th-century museum as history unfolds.
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Brainiac 5 invents a new Protocol to deal with the situation.
Months later, Dominators are on a spacecraft at the edge of the source wall praying to the gods of order and chaos to forgive their transgressions of going against the master plan and searching for something more than dominion, and are fully ready to be punished resigning to their faith.
They are shocked when they are pulled up by a tractor beam, finding themselves to be rescued by the Legion members Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy and Lightning Lad who are about to send them back into Dominator Space. Lighting Lad questions the Legion's rescue if they wanted to die. Brainiac 5 points out that Kal-El would have done the exact same thing. An alarm alerts them to the fact that the Source Wall beginning to crack and expel a strange form of energy that is all over the charts which Chameleon Boy refers to as looking to the readings say that it all amounts to "nothing". To avoid destruction the Legion, first transporting Dominator back to their territory, escape into a hyperspace jump back to Earth.
Horrifyingly the 'nothing' has followed them and is still gaining. It is an entropy wave that is now travelling in space and time erasing the past, present and future. The wave is reaching a focal point in the present day 21st century and so the Legion race to intercept, with Brainiac 5 creating the Legion Protocol Seven as a way to contact all Legionnaires.
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The Legion and the Titans head to Smallville.
During the battle, the Monitors suddenly change direction and race to reboot Smallville and if they succeed everything will be lost. Superboy has gathered all of the youngest of heroes and they prepare to stop the tide. Superman orders him to stand down but another team arrives to help, the Legion. With the Legion arrival as back up the Titans with Superman's blessing rush to stop the reboot in Smallville.
Alternate Universe[]
Season Six[]
There was a doctor named Milton Fine at a mental hospital in Clark's delusion. However, this isn't actually Brainiac, rather just a figment of Clark's hallucination.
Season Seven[]
Brainiac is about to shoot Clark.
In an alternate reality to which Jor-El sent Clark in 2008, Brainiac posed as Chief of Staff Milton Fine to serve President Lex Luthor. They planned to destroy most of Earth to re-create it in their own image but Brainiac also planned for Lex to become the vessel of Zod.
Appearances[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | # | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 5 | X | - | - | X | X | - | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | X | X | 8 | ||
| Season 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | X | - | X | 4 | ||||
| Season 8 | X | - | X | X | - | - | X | X | X | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Season 10 | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | 2 | ||
| Total | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Season Four:
- Season Five:
- Season Six:
- As Kryptonian black box: Zod, Arrow, Fallout
- Labyrinth (Mentioned only)
- Season Seven:
- Season Eight:
- Season Ten:
- As Brainiac 5: Homecoming
- Original Brainiac: Finale, Part 2 (flashback only)
- Season Eleven
- Original Brainiac: Guardian (flashback only)
- As Brainiac 5: Argo, Continuity
In the Comics[]
- Brainiac
Brainiac as he appears in the comics.
As a result of the various time-altering storylines in the DC universe, there have been several incarnations of Brainiac.
In Silver Age comics, Vril Dox, better known as Brainiac, was an alien from the planet Colu. Upon his arrival to Earth Brainiac began shrinking various cities including Metropolis. It was up to Superman to save the day but when Superman confronted Brainiac he discovered that Brainiac had a "ultra-force shield" protecting him which made him impervious to all of Superman's attacks. Superman was able to defeat Brainiac but only thanks to the Kryptonians of Kandor, who sacrificed their restoration to help Superman. Superman saved the bottle with the city in his Fortress of Solitude.
The robotic Brainiac.
Brainiac was later retconned in Superman #167 into a robotic machine from the planet Colu rather than an alien.
Brainiac was a machine created by the Computer of Colu, to be a spy. To give the illusion that Brainiac was alive, Brainiac won a "son", a young Coluan who took the name "Brainiac 2" who escaped and became the great-grandfather of Brainiac 5. In Action Comics #544, Brainiac created a new body, a metal skeleton with a "skull" patterns of gray beehive. Brainiac used this appearance until Crisis on Infinite Earths. Like modern days, he and Lex Luthor worked together for a short time.
Brainiac 13 as he appears in the comics.
At the turn of the millennium, Brainiac revealed that he had placed a sleeper virus in LexCorp's Y2K bug safeguards which was intended to dramatically boost his abilities. Instead, it allowed his upgraded future self, Brainiac 13 (or "B-13"), to travel from the 64th century to the present day and take control of Brainiac 2.5's body. Brainiac 13 began transforming Metropolis into the 64th century version of the city, which he controlled. Although Brainiac 13 was able to gain control of several android superheroes, such as the Red Tornado, Hourman, as well as the Metal Men and use them against Superman, Superman discovered during a fight with the Eradicator — attempting to stop the Kryptonian program from 'hi-jacking' the B13 virus and using it for its own ends — that Brainiac 13 could not cope with Kryptonian technology because he was not compatible with it, giving Superman a plan to stop Brainiac's scheme.
In Bronze Age comics, Brainiac is an artificial intelligence that originated on the planet Colu. This new version of Brainiac resembles a much larger and more muscular version of the original, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths. He travels in the universe and steals the knowledge of various alien cultures, abducting and shrinking cities from each planet as samples and then destroys the planet so that the value of the destroyed civilization's knowledge is increased.
The original earthly vessel for a version of Brainiac was Milton Fine, who was infected by nanite probes (which later migrated into Doomsday, the Brainiac 2.5 android and finally into Lena Luthor), served and sent as a remote construct for the real Brainiac to find the last Kryptonian. Brainiac is a collector of rare (or, if he can help it, extinct) civilizations. Not long before the destruction of Krypton, Brainiac "bottled" the city of Kandor and held it in his collection. When it appeared that Brainiac had returned to Metropolis to attack Superman, he was defeated and brought to the Fortress of Solitude.
There, Superman had the robot looked over by his cousin Kara. Still having vibrant memories of Krypton and its undesirables, Kara informed her cousin that the robot Superman had captured was in fact not Brainiac. Superman was soon captured by Brainiac after Superman found him attacking an alien planet and preparing to steal a city from its surface.
Superman escaped from his imprisonment on board an alien spacecraft and saw Brainiac emerging from his "bio-shell." Brainiac's ship then traveled to Earth and prepared to abduct the city of Metropolis. Brainiac successfully stole Metropolis and prepared to fire a missile that would destroy the sun and the Earth itself. Supergirl stopped the missile, while Superman battled Brainiac. Superman knocked Brainiac out of his ship and into a swamp, where Brainiac was overwhelmed by the microscopic organisms covering his body: Superman used this distraction to defeat Brainiac. While Superman freed the cities of Metropolis and Kandor, the villain launched a missile to the Kent Farm in an act of spite. The farm was destroyed and Jonathan Kent suffered a fatal heart attack because of it.
In Superman: New Krypton, Brainiac is imprisoned on Earth by General Sam Lane and is being studied in hopes of providing the United States Armed Forces with ways to kill Kryptonians, should Earth's 100,000 new Kryptonian residents start any trouble. Lex Luthor, imprisoned, is assigned to discover his secrets. Luthor eventually manages to use Brainiac's connection to his ship to kill the soldiers assigned to watch him. Brainiac manages to free himself from Luthor's control, forcing him on board the ship and the two make their escape. The two masterminds form an alliance against Superman, with a plan Brainiac had.
Brainiac plays a major role in the Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes storyline. He is also the main villain of the Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton arc event. But, finally, Brainiac was defeated by the combined forces of the entire Superman Family, Zod and the Kryptonians, the Legion of Super-Heroes and the betrayal of Lex Luthor (revealed to be a robot double of him, while the real Luthor was on Earth in league with Sam Lane). Brainiac was captured again by his descendent Brainiac 5 to be taken to his clone son, Brainiac 2 to their home planet of Colu, to face charges for his crimes against the universe.
Following the destruction of New Krypton at the hands of Sam Lane, Brainiac managed to escape from Colu and appears to be the final foe that Lex Luthor faces during his hunt for a Black Lantern power ring. Brainiac reveals that he had been following Luthor's quest for the ring and that he had secretly been manipulating him as part of a scheme to unleash a deity-like entity from the Phantom Zone. In the ensuing battle, Luthor reveals that he had been aware of Brainiac's intentions from the beginning and easily defeats him through the use of his advanced nanites in his armor. After besting Brainiac, Luthor stops him by snapping his neck, leaving his lifeless body floating in space.
Brainiac in The New 52.
Post-Flashpoint Brainiac (referred to at first as 'The Collector of Worlds') is first seen as the mysterious informant that supplies Lex Luthor information of Superman and his alien nature. Clark is having a dream of Krypton's final moments in which an artificial intelligence that controls the planet wakes up robots in an attempt to preserve the Kryptonian culture.
Later, while Clark conducts an interview in a robotic factory, the same harvester robots appear. At the same time John Corben, who is receiving his last adjustments in his transformation into Metallo, is suddenly possessed by the artificial intelligence who demands for Superman. The robots create havoc throughout Metropolis but Superman soon realizes that they are really after him. Superman fights the possessed Metallo with the help of John Henry Irons. Although they managed to defeat him, the alien sentience had already miniaturized and bottled the city of Metropolis and took it to his ship in space. Superman travels to the ship to find many alien bottled cities, Kandor included. The alien identifies himself as a being from the planet Colu where he was known as C.O.M.P.U.T.O and on Krypton he was called Brainiac 1.0. He claims that without Superman and the ship that brought him to Earth, his Kryptonian collection is incomplete, and for that he must pass a test: pulling the life support of both the Kandor and Metropolis bottles, he must decide which city to save, using indestructible Kryptonian clothes he also preserved. Superman decides on neither and wears the Kryptonian clothes (which instantly morphs in the familiar Superman costume). Brainiac sends Metallo to attack Superman, but due to Superman reasoning with him over his feelings for Lois Lane, he breaks free of Brainiac's control and joins Superman in his attack. Superman then uses his rocket from Krypton that had also been miniaturized with Metropolis to attack Brainiac's mind, which the rocket was able to do since it's primary mission was to protect Kal-El. In doing so, Metropolis was returned to Earth and Superman took possession of Brianiac's ship and made it his new super citadel.
However, the ship Clark was placed into as a child was described as having "Brainiac AI" leaving the identity of the Collector of Worlds in doubt. However, the Colony of the Collector of Worlds told Superman that he was different technology that went by different names and he began on Yod-Colu he began as C.O.M.P.U.T.O., Noma, he was called Pneumenoid, on Bryak it was Mind2, and on Krypton he was called Brainiac 1.0 and finally on Earth, he is the Internet.
- Brainiac 5.0
Brainiac 5 as he appears in the comics.
Querl Dox a.k.a. Brainiac 5 ("Brainy" for short) is a direct descendant of Superman's long-time enemy, Brainiac, from the planet Colu and a long-standing member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, using his 12th level intelligence to often save the day.
He is an expert on the science of time-travel and often considered the one responsible for a majority of the Legionnaire's weapons and technology. Due to the DCU's constantly changing continuity, there has been three version of the Legion and of Brainiac 5 himself. In all versions however, Brainiac 5 has been portrayed as highly-intelligent, yet extremely arrogant and condescending individual who seems easily annoyed at the fact that his Legion teammates are not as smart as he is. Ironically, despite his ancestor being one Superman's greatest foes, the Pre-Crisis Brainiac 5 had a serious long-term relationship with Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl.
Brainiac 5 and Supergirl.
The event known as Infinite Crisis brought together the Legions of all three continuities. Afterward, the current Legion of Super-Heroes has returned to being a close approximation of the original Pre-Crisis team prior to the Five Year Later storyline. He joined the Legion as before, but without Supergirl accompanying him. Brainiac 5 would later meet the current Kara Zor-El when she was stranded weeks later in the future. He was against the idea of letting her stay. She spent an extended period of time with the team, most notably when Satan Girl attacked Earth. The two teamed up to defeat her, sparking a young romance, before Kara returned home. During this period, Brainiac 5 intentionally rigged the founding Legionnaires' time bubble to visit Superboy rather than Superman. This resulted in Superboy's historic joining of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In the New 52, Brainiac 5 seems to be largely unaffected by the changes of the Flashpoint miniseries, as is true for the Legion of Super-Heroes as a whole. However, the term "Brainiac" is no longer his name but an honorable title.
Trivia[]
- Brainiac first appeared in Action Comics #242 (July 1958).
- Besides James Marsters, Brainiac was portrayed by John Schneider in Oracle, John Glover in Persona, Laura Vandervoort in Arctic and Allison Mack in Bride and Legion.
- James Marsters provided the voice of Lex Luthor in Superman: Doomsday and reprises his role in the MMORPG video game DC Universe Online.
- There were plans to have James Marsters return as Brainiac in Zod but he was unavailable at the time.[22]
Notes[]
- Being manufactured by Kryptonians, Brainiac can mimic Kryptonian powers as opposed to having his comic book counterpart's powers, such as telekinesis or the ability to manipulate powerful electric energy from his body. The exception that the Smallville portrayal of Brainiac can spread a computer virus, take control of living beings and corrupt advanced technology are nods to one of his other true abilities in the comics' continuity.
- Brainiac's green skinned appearance in the comics resembles Dragon Ball Z's character, Piccolo, who James Marsters (Brainiac) played in a live-action film, Dragonball Evolution.
- Brainiac is the main antagonist of Season 5 and a supporting antagonist in Season 7 and Season 8.
- The Smallville version of Brainiac, being a Kryptonian artificial intelligence, is similar to his origin in Superman: The Animated Series. Brainiac's abilities also helped General Zod win the War, this ultimately resulted in Krypton's destruction, similar to how he caused Krypton's destruction in The animated series.
- The Season 5 plot of making Lex Luthor a suitable host for Zod's mind is similar to the second season of Justice League Unlimited. There, Lex Luthor gains super-strength at one point, along with suddenly being cured from a kryptonite caused cancer. It is eventually revealed that the reason for that was a copy of Brainiac implanted into Luthor years ago, which sought to make him a suitable host until it could transfer itself into an Amazo-type android.
- In many forms and as a recurring villain, Brainiac appeared in Season Four, Season Five, Season Six, Season Seven and Season Eight.
- Brainiac would appear in Superman III, undercover specialist in computer programming Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor). This explains the villain's plan to build a super-computer. Most likely, Brainiac would have some guilt by reprogramming of Superman that brought about its dark side. But in the final version of Brainiac was not identified as the villain and Gus for all purposes, the villain of the comics did not appear in the film.
- Just like in the comics how Jonathan Kent's death was caused by Brainiac, in Smallville, Brainiac is the main antagonist of the season and was a factor of stress Jonathon deals with in Season 5 that helps lead to his death. Even though many factors are involved, mainly with that of Jonathan taking on Clark's powers led to a heart attack and further growing stress on his heart, Brainiac is still a minor factor that helped indirectly put on more stress after Brainiac tried to kill Martha and use Clark as a vessel for Zod.
- In promotional commercials for Persona, Brainiac is described as a repaired and upgraded Version 2.0. Indeed, in Veritas, Brainiac has gained the ability to fly.
- Brainiac often appears to have a backup plan if his primary mission fails: In Season 5, he originally tried to release Zod, using Clark as his vessel yet, after being defeated, he instead used Lex. In Season 7, Brainiac used Kara's bracelet to travel into the past to kill baby Kal-El before he arrived on Earth, but when he was defeated by and Kara, he disguised himself as Kara to trick Lex into controlling Clark with the Orb and his plan in Season 8 to gain infinite knowledge and to leave Davis to destroy Earth was disrupted by Clark interfering, causing him to instead attempt to destroy Earth himself.
- Although it was not obvious at the time, Brainiac revealed in Legion that he had been running a program while taking over Chloe to bring her and Davis closer together. Therefore, he had been unknowingly influencing her in Plastique, among other episodes.
- Brainiac has been featured more often than any other recurring villain, other than main cast members.
- Brainiac was defeated (and seemingly destroyed) six times and returned in equal number of occasions, a record for any antagonist. He was first destroyed when Clark threw him into the Fortress's console in Solitude; a copy was disintegrated by Lionel while in Jor-El's possession in Oracle; all copies were obliterated by Clark throwing the Kryptonian dagger at him in Vessel; the rebooted Brainiac 2.0 was impaled and apparently finished off by Kara in Apocalypse, and finally destroyed when Clark used electricity to override and fry him in Arctic; and his last defeat was the result of a combined attack by Rokk and Lighting Lad while Brainiac was inside of Chloe's body in Legion. He still returned a last time in Homecoming, though no longer as a villain but as the remade ally Brainiac 5.
- If one counts only episodes where he was played by an actor, Brainiac appeared in 16 episodes, making him the 3rd most frequently seen recurring character in the series after Jor-El and Nancy Adams. He also appeared in as many episodes as series regular Kara Kent and in more episodes than series regulars Major Zod and Davis Bloome. If one counts his ship and black box as appearances, than he appeared in 23 episodes, making him the 2nd most frequently seen recurring character after Jor-El, as well as appearing in more episodes than series regulars Whitney Fordman, Jason Teague and Kara Kent in addition to Zod and Davis.
- Brainiac briefly appeared in a flashback in Finale, Part 2.
- In the comics Brainiac and Brainiac 5 are two separate characters with the second one being a descendant of the first one living in the 31st century rather than a new version of Brainiac reprogrammed and kept in the 31st century like it was depicted in the show. This is the first time these characters appeared in one merged form wιth the one being an updated version of the other. This is because the writers tried to maintain Brainiac's status as a villain and Brainiac 5 being a young hero trying to atone his ancestor's past crimes.
- Brainiac 5 was previously mentioned by Legion of Super-Heroes member, Imra Ardeen. Rokk says that they will try to reprogram Brainiac into something useful and Imra hopes that "Brainiac 5" will be a little more friendly.
- In the season eight finale, Rokk told Clark that Brainiac was "gone". Since this Brainiac is much different than the evil one, this was not exactly a lie.
- The fact Brainiac 5 claims to have created the Legion Flight Rings and their means of time-travel, this brings up an interesting time-paradox, as the Legion members who helped defeat the original Brainiac, already traveled backwards in time with their Legion Rings. This implies that perhaps when they reformed Brainiac into Brainiac 5, they must have used time travel to go back from their "current time" and dropped him off at an earlier point in their history, which would have allowed for him to create the rings.
- Given the fact Brainiac invented the Legion Ring, which were already utilized before Brainiac was cured of his infection, all the events related to the Rings are in part of a causal loop.
Other faces of...[]
Brainiac[]
Brainiac 5[]
Relationships[]
See also[]
- Brainiac/Gallery
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Black Ship
- Zod
- Silver kryptonite
- Kryptonian black box
- Dax-Ur
- Project Mercury
- Episodes featuring Brainiac
External links[]
- Brainiac on Wikipedia
- James Marsters as Brainiac on Wikipedia
- Brainiac on Wikia DC Animated Universe
- Brainiac on DC Database
- Brainiac's Skull Ship on DC Database
- Brainiac on Super Friends Wikia
- Brainiac's ship on Super Friends Wikia
- Brainiac's Skull Ship on Super Friends Wikia
- Brainiac on Superman Wikia
- Project Mercury blog
References[]
- ↑ Arrival, Homecoming
- ↑ Persona
- ↑ Legion
- ↑ Abyss
- ↑ Veritas, Legion
- ↑ Brainiac has only physically confronted Clark a handful of times and most of those battles were instigated by Clark or part of a plan to provoke Clark. Brainiac goaded Clark into attacking him in Vessel as part of a plot to free Zod from the Phantom Zone. Brainiac didn't use his powers to kill an adult Clark on Krypton, instead shape-shifting into Kara and trying to manipulate Clark into being controlled by the Orb. Clark finally attacked Brainiac in Arctic, but this confrontation was instigated by Clark and not Brainiac.
- ↑ Arctic
- ↑ Splinter, Oracle
- ↑ Splinter, Oracle
- ↑ Veritas, Apocalypse and Arctic
- ↑ Hypnotic and Oracle
- ↑ Aqua
- ↑ Oracle and Arctic
- ↑ Apocalypse
- ↑ Splinter and Solitude
- ↑ Hypnotic
- ↑ Arctic
- ↑ Legion
- ↑ Veritas and Arctic
- ↑ Arctic
- ↑ Project Mercury blog
- ↑ Smallville The Official Companion Season 6
Kryptonians in Smallville
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