Brainiac 5
Brainiac 5 is a male extraterrestrial superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents[hide] |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Querl Dox
He was noted for being a distant descendant of the supervillain Brainiac but he opposed his ancestors evil actions. (Action Comics v1 #276)
During the trials, he gifted her his force-shield belt with Supergirl thanking him for his aid. He would ask her to stay in the future with her as he had fallen in love with her but Supergirl stated she could not as she had to return to her time. (Action Comics v1 #276)
Brainiac 5 and the Legion were set to have their annual vote to elect a new leader, and Saturn Girl was the first to arrive at the Clubhouse. A crystal capsule sent from the Trylop Council of Mernl dropped from the sky warning that their computers predicted a Legionnaire would die using their powers during an upcoming invasion of Earth by Zaryan the Conqueror, and Saturn Girl resolved to sacrifice herself to protect her fellow Legionnaires. She used her thought control to nudge the Legion into electing her leader, then used a rainbow bar from their treasury to make medallions with her face printed on them, and demanded every Legionnaire wear one. She demanded the Legionnaires demonstrate effective use of their powers, and was able to temporarily duplicate each member of the Legion’s powers using the medallions they wore, and proceeded to forbid them for using their powers or going on missions during a probation period because she declared they were not using their powers properly. When Zaryan began his invasion of Earth she responded, and warned the other Legionnaires not to follow her because they were on probation. The Legion thought she’d gone mad with power, but Mon-El had observed her actions from the Phantom Zone, and knew her motivations. Sunspots interfered with him communicating with the Legion, but when they lifted he filled in Lightning Lad on the situation, and he flew into space, determined to keep Saturn Girl from sacrificing herself. He blew up Zaryan’s ship with his powers, but was fatally shot with a freeze-ray. The Legion honored him by placing him in a glass coffin with lightning generated over it by a perpetual motion device, and his funeral was attended by Superboy, Supergirl and Lori Lemaris. The Legion placed a statue of Lightning Lad in their Clubhouse as a tribute to the first Legionnaire killed in action. (Adventure Comics v1 #304)
The Legion still mourned Lightning Lad, but had to fill the spot his passing left on the roster, so they held an open audition. Antennae Boy of Grxyor could use his ears as an antennae to tune into any radio station from Earth’s past present or future, but the screeching sound of radio programs blaring over each other drove the Legion nuts, and he admitted he could not control his powers. Dynamo Kid was a reporter hoping to do a story on the Legion, and rigged a device to make it appear as if he had the same powers as Lightning Lad, but the Legion easily saw through his ruse. Marvel Lad demonstrated several of the same powers as Superboy, making the team suspicious. A metal-detector revealed he was not a robot, and he proved he was not Superboy in disguise by handling a piece of Kryptonite kept in the Legion Clubhouse. Cosmic Boy decided to give Marvel Lad a number of initiation tests before letting him on the team. He had Marvel Lad retrieve fluvium, which Brainiac 5 needed for his lead-poisoning antidotes he was developing to cure Mon-El, and Marvel quickly brought some back from a distant galaxy. For his next test fought a feeding Sun-Eater, a being that roamed the galaxy absorbing the heat and energy of suns, and made it flee by blasting it with his heat-vision, which was hotter than a sun. Marvel was told to clear the planet Brogg of space monsters so it would be safe to use as an emergency landing spot for space pilots. The monsters turned out to be illusions created by a 3-D generator. Marvel smashed it and found stolen treasure underneath it, realizing the charade was created by space pirates looking to protect their booty. For his final test Marvel Lad had to create a new element, and by crushing gold, silver and iron into powder and rubbing his hands at superspeed to vibrate the molecules of the three elements he formed a bar of element 152, an anti-gravity metal. Marvel Lad was accepted into the Legion, and pulled off the mask he wore, revealing himself as Mon-El. The day before Brainiac 5 had him test his latest antidote, but told him to wait a day to make sure its’ effects were permanent before revealing himself to the Legion, not wanting to get their hopes up as they had before when Brainiac came up with a cure that turned out to be temporary. Mon-El took one last trip to the Phantom Zone to tell off the Kryptonian criminals who had tormented him for centuries, and reminded them that good always triumphed over evil. Mon-El was overjoyed that Brainiac had finally cured him, but his spirits were dampened by the passing of Lightning Lad, and vowed to find a way to revive him using Daxamite super-science. (Adventure Comics v1 #305)
The Legion held try-outs, and had to reject several well-meaning but unsuited applicants, including Polar Boy, Night Girl, Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad and Stone Boy. The rejects met up and were encouraged by Polar Boy that even though they weren’t Legion material, they could still use their powers to help people. They formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes, vowing to help people and, if need be, the Legion of Super-Heroes in their time of need. They built their own clubhouse in the side of a mountain as well as a spaceship and Science Police monitoring system. They got a warning about giant evolved sea creatures that had escaped from the Ocean Research Laboratory, and were quick to respond, but the LOSH were already on the scene wrangling the beasts. The next Science Police alert came when scientists who’d built a domed city in the Arctic went rogue. They secretly built an atomic power plant under the dome, propelling the city into space, and delivered an ultimatum that they’d use the advanced weaponry they’d built to attack Earth unless they were given tribute. The Substitute Heroes flew into space, but Sun Boy of the Legion streaked through space near the domed city, and fearing they were about to be hit by a meteorite the scientists piloted their city back to Earth where they were apprehended by Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy. Robot-ships attacked Earth and Polar Boy offered the Legion back-up, but Brainiac 5 refused him, saying the mission was too dangerous for untrained civilians. The Substitute Heroes’ anxieties finally got to them, and they decided they were no help as a team after all and prepared to disband. Chlorophyll Kid spotted seeds that had rained down from space, and used his plant growth powers on one. The seed grew into a plant man that attacked him, and the Substitute Heroes defeated it, and Fire-Lad incinerated the rest of the seeds. They learned from their monitor system that the seeds had come from a distant planet that had also sent the robot-ships. The robot-ships were meant to divert the Legion while the planet rocketed more seeds to Earth to conquer the planet. The Substitutes traveled to the planet, found the warehouse storing millions of seeds, and Chlorophyll Kid used his powers to prematurely grow them to plant men. The planet was now burdened with a population explosion, and had to cease its’ plans of invasion. The Substitutes decided to stay together after all, and were pleased to keep their victory a secret amongst themselves, and attended a parade for the Legion celebrating their defeat of the robot-ships. (Adventure Comics v1 #306)
Space pirate Roxxas and his crew wee looking for a valuable target, and during their search they raided the planet Oranz, stealing all their cold light globes. The Legion responded, with Sun Boy heating a mountain to white-hot temperatures to provide light for the natives until they could produce more cold light globes to light their cities. The Oranz shot down one of the pirate’s rocketships, which Brainiac 5 examined, declaring it capable of faster-than-light-travel. He immediately went about replicating the technology so the Legion could pursue Roxxas. With several members on offworld missions the Legion conducted an emergency membership drive. Jan Arrah of Trom, said he had an amazing power, but couldn’t reveal it to all of them. They assumed he had a good reason for his conditional application, and he showed it to Saturn Gir, who promised not to reveal his power, but assured the Legion he’d be a worthy member. Dubbed Mystery Lad, he accompanied the Legion using the faster-than-light rocketships Brainiac 5 duplicated to the waterworld of Vuruna, where Roxxas and his men had looted valuable colored pearls. Roxxas dropped z-bombs on the pontoons of a city in Vuruna, and Cosmic Boy used his magnetic powers to keep the city afloat until repairs could be made, but Roxxas managed to escape. Saturn Girl used her telepathic powers to follow the pirates to a dead world, and Mystery Lad helped them escape an ambush., The captured pirates recognized Mystery Lad, who looked guilty on meeting them, and Invisible Kid suspected he was secretly a space pirate. The Legion continued to pursue Roxxas and his crew, and Mystery Lad got out in front of them, surrendering himself to the pirates. They’d raided his homeworld because the residents were capable of transmuting one element to another, and they planned to force the natives to turn lead into uranium so they could create a doomsday weapon, the threat of which would let them conduct unopposed raids across the universe. The residents of Trom fought back, and were all killed except Jan, who fled, and Roxxas had pursued him ever since, which was was he was hiding the nature of his powers. Jan said he’d rather die than help them, and turned the hull of their mothership into gas. The pirates had oxygen helmets and fled, only to be captured by the Legion. Invisible Kid, still suspicious of Jan being allied with the pirates, had followed him onboard Roxxas’ ship, and gave him an oxygen helmet, saving his life. Cosmic Boy welcomed Jan as a full member of the Legion, dubbed him Element Lad, and promised that the nature of his powers would still be kept a secret to everyone but the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #307)
Reboot
He was the son of Brainiac 4 where she was one of their home planet's most famous scientists. His mother would abandon him on the day of his birth to continue her research, as she considered him a distraction. Brainiac 5 was advanced even for Coluan standards as he was speaking by the time he was an infant and a scientist by a toddler. Brainiac 5's research was against Coluan law so he was sent to do research for R.J. Brande. Brainiac 5 destroyed various laboratories in his time, Brande, one of the richest men in the Galaxy could only tolerate so much, so sent him to work at the Time Institute on Talus.
Threeboot
Brainiac 5 reasoned that the only way the crisis could be stopped was by enlisting the aid of Superman. Thus, he created a time driver in the form of a Brainiac Probe and attuned it to the correct vibrational plane in the modern age. Once there, it restored Superman's memories of the Legion and provided him a Time Sphere to travel to the year 3008 A.D. (Action Comics v1 #858) However, he was arrested by the Justice League of Earth for the planetary government which had turned xenophobic and opposed all contact with aliens. Despite this being the case, he managed to escape the internment camp and went to Colu where he learnt that the United Planets were preparing an assault against Earth as it was known that mankind had intended to launch an interstellar crusade against all aliens. To prevent this, Brainiac 5 instituted himself as an anti-Earth dictator that ruled Colu which was charged with formulating the attack plans. In this position, he was able to delay the launch of hostilities but The Justice League of Earth learnt of his deception and leaked it to the Coluans who turned on him. He was able to reunite with the Legion and Superman where they quickly sought to prevent the universe from plunging into war. (Action Comics v1 #861)
Post-Infinite Crisis
Eager to find Superman, RJ Brande funded his time-travelling research. When the billonaire businessman founded the Legion, Brainiac joined at his behest, and created the Time Bubble which allowed Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy to go back in time and fetch Superboy. (Adventure Comics v1 #516)
Sometimes Brainiac took Superboy back to the past. One of those times, Querl, Rokk, Garth and Imra went back with Kal, and the Boy of Steel showed them around Smallville. Brainiac had several reasons to make that trip. He wanted to meet the Kents personally, and he wanted to destroy a probe sent by his evil ancestor. (Adventure Comics v1 #519)
When a bizarre accident threw Supergirl in the future, most of Legionnaires welcomed her into the team with open arms, but Brainiac was concerned with her presence disrupting the time continuum and had to be talked into it. Regardless that, he couldn't help but falling hard for her. Both teenagers teamed up to erase a timeline where Satan Girl conquered Earth. Kara kissed Querl before returning to her time, and Brainiac said himself he would not let her die alone this time. (Supergirl Annual v5 #2)
A short while later, Garth died -temporarily- while saving Imra from Zaryan's fleet. After the funeral, Brainiac bitterly wondered aloud why his teammates did not ask for his help. (Adventure Comics v1 #520)
Post-Flashpoint
He was among the Legion of Super-Heroes members that appear in the present after Doctor Manhattan undid the experiment that erased the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice Society of America. (Doomsday Clock v1 #12)
Overview
Personality and attributes
According to Lemnos, the name 'Querl' means 'Idealistic' in Coluan. (Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #6) Following his 'upgrade', he came to formally adopt the name of Brainiac 5.1 for himself. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #104) One account claimed that Brainiac was not actually his name but rather an honorable title. (Legion: Secret Origin v1 #2)
As a child, he was told that he was special and that a great many things awaited him in the future. (Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #256)
Powers and abilities
Even as a child, he showed clear markings of being a 12th-level intelligence. (Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes v1 #256)
He was able to ponder twelve lines of thought simultaneously. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #107)
He had created a number of inventions that included the:
- Chronexus : a device whose original form he regarded as a time but had the power to identify and manipulate chronal particles with it also serving as a time viewer. (Action Comics v1 #850)
Among his creations was the force-shield belt that generated a barrier for the user to protect them from harm. Its controls could be calibrated so that they could only operate on the vibrational rate for specific people. (Action Comics v1 #276)
It was known that he had conducted experiments in tapping into the Speed Force though these had been unsuccessful with him stating he had needed more time on them. (Action Comics v1 #858)
Notes
- Brainiac 5 was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney where he made his first appearance in Action Comics v1 #276 (May, 1961).
- The character was based on Brainiac who was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, Brainiac 5 made multiple appearances in the shared continuity series:
- In Superman: The Animated Series, Brainiac 5 made a cameo non-voiced appearance in the animated television series in the episode "New Kids In Town".
- In Justice League Unlimited, Brainiac 5 appeared in the animated television series episode "Far from Home" where he was voiced by actor Matt Czuchry. Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern were transported to the 31st century by Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy in order to rescue the rest of the Legion from the Fatal Five. Despite Stewart and Bouncy soon falling victim to the Five's mind-control device, the surviving heroes were able to win the day. Partially due to her comfort with the Legion's era of advanced technology, and partially due to a mutual attraction between her and Brainiac 5, Supergirl elected to remain in the 31st century as a member of the Legion.
- In the Legion of Super-Heroes, Brainiac 5 appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Adam Wylie. This version is a young, nanotechnology-based cyborg who sports monochromatic pink eyes as well as transformative abilities, which he primarily uses to extend his limbs and assume a large, mecha-like form. Additionally, he was previously part of the Coluan hive mind before breaking off through unknown means and strives to prove himself to the older Legionnaires, especially new recruit Superman. He also wished to hide information from him, so that it would not affect the time stream, like the Kryptonite he hid in his lab, which was stolen by Drax. Though he was glad the kryptonite is gone, since he doesn't have to hide it from Superman anymore, and it has no effect on Drax anyway. Over many of the missions, Brainy did gain Superman's trust as a friend, but didn't know how serious Superman would take it when he put himself in danger, such as the mission on Quavermass 12, where he killed himself in order to free the prisoners. What he didn't tell Superman was that he had a back-up of himself. Another time, Brainiac 5 lost his IQ, and had to be taken to Zuun, in order to save his life. After the experience, Superman asked Brainy if he would help him find out how he lost his powers on the planet, to which Brainy simply replied "It is because your powers don't work under the red sun." When Superman angrily asks why he never told him before, Brainy states that he can't reveal too much about his future and that he would have found out on his own. This, unknown to Brainy, caused Superman to become suspicious. Brainiac 5 was also a vital part in the destruction of the Sun-Eater, as he planned the missile which would destroy it. He felt inner guilt when it did not work, and felt even worse when Ferro Lad gave his life to fix it, though he hid these feelings from everyone else, even after Superman returned to his own time. In the second season, Brainiac 5 grows close to Shrinking Violet, but was unknowingly manipulated by Imperiex into allowing Brainiac to control him until Superman and his clone Superman X help him regain control, in the process becoming fully organic and losing his robotic armor. To cope with this new state of being and his recent actions, Brainiac 5 leaves the Legion, unaware that Brainiac has survived and rebuilt himself using his discarded armor.
- In Smallville, Brainiac 5 appeared in the live-action television series in the episode "Legion" where he was portrayed by actor James Marsters. This version was actually a repurposed and reprogrammed Brainiac who was brought to the future with him being an ally of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
- In Supergirl, Brainiac 5 appeared in the live-action television series third season where he was portrayed by actor Jesse Rath. Mon-El referenced Querl as being responsible for creating a serum that counteracted the lead poisoning that his Daxamite body had experienced in the 21st century on Earth.
- In Young Justice, Brainiac 5 appeared in the setting of the animated television series starting from the episode "Death and Rebirth" where he was voiced by actor Benjamin Diskin. This version sported pink eyes, similar to his incarnation in the 2006 Legion of Super Heroes animated series.
Films
- In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, Brainiac 5 appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor Noel Fisher. This version was bald and has monochromatic purple eyes.
- In the Tomorrowverse, Brainiac 5 made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
- In Legion of Super-Heroes, Brainiac 5 made his first appearance in the 2023 animated film where he was voiced by actor Harry Shum Jr.
- In Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One, Brainiac 5 made a brief appearance in the 2024 animated film where he was voiced again by actor Harry Shum Jr.
Video games
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Brainiac 5 appeared in a cameo role in the fighting video game. He appeared in the ending for Ares where the God of War imprisons him in order to force him to create a time loop creating an endless series of conflict that was used to feed him for eterntiy.
- In Injustice 2, Brainiac 5 appeared in the setting of the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Liam O'Brien.
Appearances
- Action Comics v1: (1961)
- Adventure Comics v1:
- Legion of Super-Heroes v1:
External Links
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