| Brainiac 5 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover toFinal Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1 (2009). Art byGeorge Pérez. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #276 (May 1961) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Jim Mooney (based onBrainiac byOtto Binder andAl Plastino) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Querl Dox |
| Species | Coluan |
| Place of origin | Colu |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Notable aliases | Brainiac 5.1 B-5 Brainy |
| Abilities |
|
Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) is asuperhero appearing in comics published byDC Comics. He is from the planet Colu and is a long-standing member of theLegion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries.[1]
Brainiac 5 has been substantially adapted into other media, primarily in association with the Legion. He is voiced byAdam Wylie inLegion of Super Heroes (2006) and portrayed byJames Marsters andJesse Rath inSmallville and theArrowverse respectively. A gender-swapped alternate universe variant of Brainiac 5 appears in the fifth season ofSupergirl, portrayed by Rath's sisterMeaghan Rath.
Brainiac 5 first appeared inAction Comics #276 (May 1961) and was created byJerry Siegel andJim Mooney.[2] He was originally written as a descendant of Superman's enemyBrainiac. Several years later, when Brainiac was revealed to be a living computer, Brainiac 5 wasretconned to be a descendant of his adopted son.[3]
Brainiac 5 is a teenage Coluan of the planet Colu, who claimed to be descended from the originalBrainiac, one ofSuperman's deadliest enemies, and wished to join the Legion as atonement for his misdeeds.[4] When Brainiac 1 was revealed to be an android created by the Computer Tyrants, Brainiac 5 discovered he was descended from Brainiac 2, the clone of the original Brainiac and leader of the rebellion against the tyrants. Brainiac 5's ingenuity led to the invention of, amongst other things, the Legion flight ring (perfecting an invention of the originalInvisible Kid based on a metal discovered byMon-El), the anti-lead serum that allowed Mon-El to leave thePhantom Zone and the force field belt which became the signature device of the character. Another of Brainiac 5's creations had less beneficial effects: the super computerComputo, which attempted to take over the world, killing one ofTriplicate Girl's three selves in the process. He successfully destroyed his creation with "ananti-matter force". Another experiment, performed in conjunction with honorary Legionnaire Rond Vidar, led to the transformation of fellow scientist Professor Jaxon Rugarth into the psychotic, all-powerfulInfinite Man.
As time went on, Brainiac 5 began to be portrayed as unstable. Long attracted toSupergirl, Brainiac 5 created a robot duplicate of her in his sleep, convincing himself this was the real Supergirl.[5] The Legion encountered Pulsar Stargrave, a villain who convinced Brainiac 5 that he was the Coluan's long-lost father.[6] Brainiac 5 joined Stargrave to battle the sorcererMordru, but the android's influence would haunt him long after that. It was claimed inSuperboy #225 that Stargrave was actually the original Brainiac android, but the truth of this is uncertain.
When Stargrave murdersUltra Boy's ex-girlfriend An Ryd, Brainiac 5 frames Ultra Boy for the murder.Chameleon Boy, who suspected Brainiac 5 from the beginning, finds proof when Brainiac's madness leads him to an attempt to destroy the universe using the Miracle Machine, a device that turns thoughts into reality. He is stopped byMatter-Eater Lad, who eats the machine, and both are committed to a mental institution (the energies of the Machine having driven Matter-Eater Lad insane). Brainiac 5 eventually recovers his sanity and rejoins the group. Shortly afterward, however, he is accused of having murdered Ultra Boy's ex-girlfriend himself. To prove his innocence, he finds Stargrave and defeats him. He later manages to cure Matter-Eater Lad's insanity. Around this time, he corrects another of his mistakes by finding a way of controlling Computo.
Brainiac 5 enters a state of deep melancholy upon the thousand-year anniversary of Supergirl's death at the hands of theAnti-Monitor duringCrisis on Infinite Earths.[7] However, as the Crisis eliminated Supergirl from existence, Brainiac 5 (as well as everyone else) has no recollection of her. Beyond this, however, Brainiac 5's history was relatively unaffected by the Crisis, although it would be some time before he received an origin that reflected the new Brainiac 1. Following the death of the pocket universeSuperboy, Brainiac 5 is one of a number of Legionnaires who swear revenge on theTime Trapper. To this end, he recreated the Infinite Man. The Infinite Man and Time Trapper seemingly destroy each other, but Brainiac 5 quits the Legion after being accused of murdering Professor Rugarth. He rejoins inLegion of Super-Heroes (vol. 3) #63 (August 1989), shortly before the "Five Year Gap".
Five years after the end of the "Magic Wars", things had radically changed for the heroes, most notably the disbanding of the Legion and an ongoing war with theKhund Empire, which had resulted in Earth's government (Earthgov) signing a deal with theDominators. WhenLegion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) began, Brainiac 5 was dedicated to finding a cure to theValidus Plague, a virulent disease that had afflicted an entire planet and crippled the former Lightning Lad,Garth Ranzz. Soon after the start ofLegion (vol. 4) aretcon removed the Superman family of characters almost completely from Legion continuity. Supergirl was replaced byLaurel Gand, a Daxamite descendant ofLar Gand's brother. Unlike Supergirl, she was a native of the 30th century. Brainiac 5 and Laurel did have a relationship, but the couple eventually separated and she became thecommon law wife of Rond Vidar (a Legion ally andGreen Lantern who had been a close friend of Brainiac 5).
Brainiac 5 joins other Legionnaires in searching for the space pirate Roxxas, and is present when the team officially reforms. The reassembled Legion repels a Khund invasion fleet and confrontsDarkseid, but shortly thereafter, is swept into the war against the corrupt Earthgov and the Dominators. Furthermore, a temporal clone of Brainiac 5 from "Batch SW6" is introduced.[8]
Not long after the destruction of Earth, Brainiac 5 discovers the timestream is unstable and that the Legion's history is in a state of constant flux. He is rapidly aged by the sorceress Glorith before being killed when his universe is destroyed.
Following the Zero Hour event and the rebooting of the Legion, the "new" Brainiac 5 was extremely antisocial and disrespectful of his colleagues. He barely interacted with the other Legionnaires, although he was still somewhat attracted to Laurel Gand, now calledAndromeda, who was now also something of an outsider. When Andromeda was believed killed, he was the only person who really missed her, a wrenching experience for someone used to suppressing emotion.[9] It was later revealed that, even amongst Coluans, Querl Dox had been something of a loner, due to his even higher intelligence, interest in practical experiments rather than "pure" thought, and lack of concern about the consequences of his experiments. It was also revealed that his mother,Brainiac 4, had abandoned him at birth, having no emotional attachment whatsoever to her newborn child.[10] As a child, he was cared for by robots and given almost no contact with other living people, developing no social skills. Having created a method of traveling back to the 20th century, leading to the Legion's rescue ofValor, Brainiac 5 was arrested for unauthorized time-travel. He was later pardoned whenR.J. Brande became President of theUnited Planets.
In addition to having a crush on Andromeda, Brainiac 5 had a secret stash of lustful holo-collection featuring Andromeda herself,Dreamer (Nura Nal),Spark (Ayla Ranzz) and another fellow legionary whose alias begins with "In-" (obviouslyInvisible Kid), and probably others.[11] Before that, in a moment of rare emotional outburst, Brainy kisses Lyle's cheek as he finds him again, and right after he feels embarrassed.[12]
Brainiac 5 was one of a number of Legionnaires who were trapped in the 20th century. He spent his efforts trying to find a way back to his own time using 20th century equipment. He finally produced a computer capable of doing this, utilizing a 30th Century Omnicom, aNew GodsMother Box loaned to him byMetron and the responsometer ofVeridium of theMetal Men. Unfortunately, this became the post-Zero Hour C.O.M.P.U.T.O. The Legion had to defeat it and separate it into its component pieces before returning to their own time. While in the 20th century, he also encountered his ancestors, Brainiac andVril Dox II, as well as the post-Crisis Supergirl. Ironically, he was attracted to Supergirl due to her similarity to Andromeda.[10][13]
Upon his return, he was part of a team that investigated a mysterious space anomaly. The anomaly "upgraded" him: he was now more considerate of others, and had vastly improved people skills. He also internalized his force shield apparatus. Following his return from the space anomaly, he befriends teammateGates, who dubs him "Brainiac 5.1".[14]
Shortly after that, the Legion investigated the criminal/terrorist organization called theDark Circle. Querl learned his mother,Brainiac 4, was the leader of the Dark Circle, having found that mass destruction was the only thing capable of making her feel emotions.[15] The shock of this almost caused him to revert to his former, distant self. Although he did not revert, he began to be somewhat sarcastic and impatient again. He also began researching without considering the consequences again, inadvertently transforming the team into a "Bizarro Legion".[16]
Brainiac 5.1 was amongst the Legionnaires who were cast into a distant galaxy when the Stargate network was shut down. They spent a year travelling through the "Lost Galaxy". During this time, he felt a great amount of stress, as his teammates all believed he could devise a way of getting them home in addition to all the other responsibilities forced upon him by the circumstances of their situation. As he eventually confessed toSaturn Girl, he did not have a clue how to get them home - or even where "home" was, relative to their location. In the same conversation, he also complained that he'd "always hated [his] name upgrade," and on the way out, as well as reassuring him, she made a point of redubbing him "BrainiacFive," and he dropped the ".1" from his name thereafter.[17] Eventually, using his teammateShikari's tracking skills and an interdimensional doorway they'd earlier found, but been forced to leave, he did get them home. Upon their return, Brainiac began developing a replacement for the Stargates, based on the "threshold" doorway they had used to return from the Lost Galaxy. Restoring the connection to the planet Xanthu, they learned that it had been at war with Robotica, the "robot homeworld", until they mysteriously disappeared. Robotica's leader was revealed as C.O.M.P.U.T.O. A strike team was launched against it, but Brainiac 5 tricked it into upgrading itself, so it no longer sought vengeance.[18] It was revealed that the Coluans disapproved of artificial intelligence, however, and Brainiac 5 was made a pariah on his homeworld for saving machine-life from destruction.[19]
During the Reboot Legion's heyday, they are tangentially involved in theDC One Million crossover, where the audience is shown the "Justice Legion L" of the 853rd Century. Loosely based on members of the Legion of the 31st Century, the Justice Legion L are tasked with protecting the remains of the United Planets, by that point reduced to a small system of worlds joined together by a powerful magnetic core centered on Braal. Several of the planets involved had actually merged to form new, symbiotic worlds, including Colu-Bgztl. The Justice Legion L includes Brainiac 417, a counterpart to Brainiac 5 who is from this particular combined world. As with all members of his race, he combines super-intelligence with an ephemeral, intangible state; Brainiac 417 appears to be a shimmering green brain inside a transparent humanoid body. His race are purported to have become beings of pure intelligence and thought. Brainiac 417 is not the leader of the Justice Legion L (that duty fell toCosmicbot), but is one of the most valuable members, and is shown to have integrated his technologies to the point where he can jump back a thousand years to recruit an earlier version ofSuperboy for the purposes of saving the day.
In volume 5 of theLegion of Super-Heroes title, Brainiac 5 is portrayed as similar to his ancestorVril Dox II inL.E.G.I.O.N.. He is just as arrogant and unthinking of others as the previous version was initially, but is more politically savvy. He has a tendency to put plans in motion without consulting Legion leaderCosmic Boy, who suspects him of planning a coup. He also has problems withDream Girl as he hates that she is able to predict the future without scientific means. "Brainy" was also unnerved when she told him that they would one day marry. When she was killed during Terror Firma's attack on the Legion HQ on Earth, he became obsessed with "outthinking death." In a botched experiment to restore her to life, he however manages to store her consciousness in his own subconscious mind, enabling the girl to interact with him in his dreams, and keep using her precognition in his behalf. Following Cosmic Boy's disappearance, Brainiac 5 has become the advisor to Legion leaderSupergirl and later to Lightning Lad.
Brainiac 5 eventually proposes to Dream Girl after spending the night together in which Dream Girl inhabited the body of a spiritualist, however, on the same night,Princess Projectra has her own urges and primal, repressed emotion, viciously attack Dream Girl upon her return to Querl's mind, viciously beating her and gouging out her eyes, leaving the girl blind and powerless, thus hoping to strip Brainiac 5 of her constant counseling.[20] He much later manages to turn their dream into reality when, forced to rebuild new bodies for his teammates, mangled to shreds by a race of digitalized aliens while connected to thecyberspace, creates a new body for Dream Girl, imprinting her personality, into the cloned body. Successful in his attempt, that, despite Nura's previsions, even restored her lost sight, Brainiac 5 happily extends to all the legionnaires his invitation to their marriage, holding hands with his resurrected soon-to-be bride[21] Unbeknownst to Brainiac 5, the dark side of his mind, the avatar of his repressed urges and dark feelings, was granted a physical body by Princess Projectra.[20]
The events of theInfinite Crisis miniseries have apparently restored a close analogue of the Pre-Crisis Legion to continuity, as seen in "The Lightning Saga" story arc inJustice League of America andJustice Society of America, and in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc inAction Comics. This incarnation of the Legion shares roughly the same history as the original Legion up to the events ofCrisis on Infinite Earths.[22]
The pre-Crisis Brainiac 5 appears in the Justice League/Justice SocietyLightning Saga crossover. He is revealed as the mastermind behind the Legion's plot to return to the 21st century to retrieve someone connected to theFlash. At the end of the storyline, Brainiac 5 is seen holding one of the lightning rods the Legionnaires used on 21st centuryEarth, and told his teammates that the Legion had gotten what it came for. This Brainiac 5's agenda does not end there, however; in the pages ofCountdown,Una arrives in the present to stopKarate Kid from returning to the 31st century, explaining that Brainiac 5 says the two of them have another mission in the present day.
In this follow-up story to the Lightning Saga (taking place inAction Comics #858-863), Brainiac 5 masquerades as a tyrannical dictator to delay Colu, which is the strategical beachhead of a United Planets attack on Earth. Brainiac still possesses the Lightning Rod, and states that the person inside is crucial to stopping the "Crisis of the 31st century". However, his ruse is discovered, and Brainiac leaves with the Legion, with only four hours until the United Planets go to war.[23] After Superman and the Legion defeatEarthman and his "Justice League of Earth", and convince the armada to stand down, Brainiac 5 tells Superman that the Legion will not forget him this time.
In thisFinal Crisis tie-in, Brainiac 5 is driven to the breaking point after being banished by Colu and facing continued xenophobia. He considers leaving the Legion, but is convinced to remain as a way to prove all his naysayers wrong. WhenSuperboy-Prime attacks Takron-Galtos and frees theLegion of Super-Villains, Brainiac 5 informs his fellow Legionnaires of his plan to recruit their Post-Zero Hour and "Threeboot" selves to help.[24] His plan succeeds, and Brainiac meets his alternate selves from two other realities. The "Threeboot" version of Brainiac refuses to work with his older self, due to his rebellious nature, while the Post-Zero Hour version sees his older counterpart as wiser and more experienced, and tries to mediate between his alternate selves.[25] Despite their differences, all three versions of Brainiac 5 work together to set in motion the final phases of the original Brainiac's master contingency plan against Superboy-Prime. This plan, which involved the resurrections of Superboy-Prime foesBart Allen/Kid Flash (whose essence was in the lightning rod) andSuperboy, was devised long ago when Brainiac 5 was forewarned of Prime's arrival by one of Dream Girl's prophesies.
Brainiac 5 seems to be largely unaffected by the changes of theFlashpoint 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.[26] This adds understanding to the opening arcs ofAction Comics (vol. 2) (2011) by Grant Morrison, where an alien is stealing and bottling cities, an act usually committed by Brainiac, but is here only named "the Collector".
A younger Brainiac 5 appears briefly duringJustice League (vol. 3) (2017) by Bryan Hitch, though unconnected to the Legion. He is also not referred to by his name, only as the "brainy kid" by Cyborg. After analyzing the Timeless technology with specialized contacts, he lends Cyborg his prototype flight bracelet, marked with the Brainiac sigil, so the League member can reach the weapon.
InDoomsday Clock,Doctor Manhattan erases Brainiac 5 and the Legion from existence before eventually restoring them.[27][28]
Brainiac 5 possesses a twelfth-level intelligence, above the eighth-level intelligence of most Coluans.[29] This gives him superhuman calculation skills,enhanced memory, and the ability to operate on several tracks of thought at once.[30][10]
Brainiac 5 is also a skilled inventor who created the Legion's flight rings as well as a force field belt, the supercomputerComputo, and a Time Bubble.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
Martinex 5, a fusion of Brainiac 5 andMarvel Comics characterMartinex, appears in theAmalgam Comics one-shotSpider-Boy Team-Up.[37]
