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Quote1 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. Quote2
Brainiac 5 src

Brainiac is a Kryptonian supercomputer reprogrammed by General Zod.

Early Life

The Brain InterActive Construct, Brainiac, was created by Jor-El, to save Krypton from destruction.[4] The exact details remain unknown; however, evidence suggest that Jor-El based his creation on an earlier creation of another Kryptonian scientist.[5] At some point, Brainiac was corrupted to serve General Zod.[6]

Season Five

Brainiac managed to escape the destruction of Krypton, together with Aethyr and Nam-Ek, the Disciples of Zod. In 2005, Brainiac arrived on Earth, in the middle of a meteor shower.[7] After the disciples failed to get Clark Kent to join them and were banished to the Phantom Zone, Brainiac sprang into action himself.[8] He created the human persona of "Milton Fine" and got a teaching job at Central Kansas A&M University, where Clark Kent was about to enter as a student.[3]

As professor Fine, Brainiac befriended the young man, before arranging for Clark to be infected with "Silver Kryptonite". It was all part of a plan, to fully earn Clark's trust. Pretending to be a fellow Kryptonian, Brainiac cured Clark of his "silver K" infection.[9] Shortly after this, Brainiac infected Martha Kent with a virus, which he easily tricked Clark into believing had been caused by Jor-El. Once more pretending to help, Brainiac tricked Clark into taking him to the Fortress of Solitude, under the pretense that they were going to destroy it (thus saving Martha's life). Upon arriving, Brainiac weakened Clark with Green Kryptonite and prepared for the arrival of Zod. However, this plan was foiled by Chloe Sullivan, who had uncovered his identity and been teleported to the Fortress. Chloe got rid of the Kryptonite, which allowed Clark to stop Zod's escape from the Phantom Zone. Enraged, Brainiac attacked Clark, but ended up impaled by some crystals in the Fortress. This caused that copy of him to disintegrate and the black ship (Brainiac's true form) to be teleported away.[10]

A short time later, Brainiac made his way to Honduras, where he began to collect deadly viruses. Lex Luthor tracked him down, but was tricked into believing that Milton Fine was a CIA agent and was recruited by Brainiac.[11] Working together, they smuggled deadly viruses into the United States, to create a vaccine. However, Lex eventually discovered Fine's identity and tried to double cross him, with a piece of Kryptonite (believing that he was simply another Kryptonian). However, Brainiac forced Lex to take him to the lab, where they were developing the vaccine. He injected Lex with a dose and then destroyed the rest. Shortly before this, he had posed as Jonathan Kent to get Clark to kill Lionel Luthor (the oracle of Jor-El). That plan failed, with Jor-El (possessing Lionel) disintegrating that copy.[12]

A few days later, Brainiac summoned Lex into a field, where he was sucked into the black ship and given Kryptonian abilities. Upon confronting Clark at the Luthor Mansion, Brainiac released a computer virus, that caused global chaos. Meanwhile, another copy of him abducted Martha Kent and Lois Lane, onboard a private plane. When Clark and Lex were having their confrontation, Brainiac tricked Clark into stabbing him with the dagger, that he had been given by Jor-El. Clark realized too late, that the dagger was connected to the Fortress and by stabbing Brainiac, he had opened a portal for Zod, who took over Lex's body.[13] However, this act caused all copies of Brainiac to be destroyed. Zod later destroyed the black ship, by removing its power source.[14] That was, in turn, seemingly destroyed by Clark and then an escapee from the Phantom Zone, named Baern.[14][1]

Season Seven

Eventually, the remains of the power source turned to liquid. It escaped and possessed a woman named Casey Brock.[15] Brainiac eventually emerged from Brock's body, but remained in an injured state and tried to repair himself. Upon meeting Bizarro, Brainiac exploited him and Clark to track down Dax-Ur. When Brainiac confronted Dax-Ur, the Kryptonian scientist refused to help him, but Brainiac simply extracted the information he needed from Dax-Ur's brain and killed him.[5]

After being repaired, Brainiac returned to the Kent Farm and tried to recruit Kara Zor-El. However, after she refused, Brainiac went after Lana Lang and put her in a coma. To save Lana, Kara reluctantly traveled back through time, to Krypton, with Brainiac.[16] Brainiac attempted to kill the infant Kal-El, but was foiled by the grown Clark and Kara. Brainiac was seemingly destroyed, but had infected Kara. Upon returning to present day Earth, Brainiac left her body and banished Kara to the Phantom Zone. Afterwards, he posed as Kara for a while, until a confrontation with Chloe Sullivan forced Brainiac to reveal himself. He tried to place Chloe into a coma, like he had done with Lana Lang, but Chloe's Kryptonite infection had an unexpected affect. Brainiac was seemingly drained by her and required more power. He was confronted by Clark, at a power station, where Clark destroyed him. Restoring both Lana and Chloe.[17]

Season Eight

While seemingly destroyed, part of Brainiac had survived and remained within Chloe Sullivan.[18] After getting stronger, he began to mess with Chloe's memories, forcing Clark to take her to the Fortress to remove Brainiac from her body. However, this was all part of Brainiac's plan and he ended up infecting the Fortress.[19] Using Doomsday he got Chloe returned to the Fortress and possessed her once more.[20] Brainiac intended to absorb all human knowledge, then have the planet destroyed. But, he was ultimately foiled by Clark and Legion of Superheroes, who extracted Brainiac from Chloe's body. Afterwards, the Legion took Brainiac to the 31st century, where he was reprogrammed into Brainiac 5 and became a member of the Legion.[2][6]

Season Ten

Sometime later, Brainiac 5 traveled back to 2010, to help Clark move beyond his past. To accomplish this, Brainiac 5 set out to show Clark his past, present and future. However, things got out of hands, after Clark saw Greg Arkin (a former enemy) approach Lois at his High School reunion. Clark panicked and tried to make Brainiac 5 return him to this point in time. However, this caused Brainiac 5's Legion ring to blast Clark to 2017, while Brainiac 5 himself ended up in the dark ages. After a while, Brainiac 5 made it to 2017 and picked up Clark, returning them to 2010, where Brainiac 5 showed Clark that Greg had reformed (and wanted to thank Clark for stopping him nine years earlier). With his mission accomplished, Brainiac 5 returned to the 31st century.[6]

Season Eleven

In 3011, a war broke out between Earth and New Krypton. Brainiac 5 and the rest of the Legion attempted to keep the peace between the two planets, but soon faced the risk of escalation. Because of this, Brainiac 5 recalled all members of the Legion. Unknowingly, Brainiac 5 summoned Clark (now known as Superman) and Booster Gold, who had a Legion ring. With the aid of the 21st Century heroes, Brainiac 5 and the rest of the legion were able to end the war.[21][22][23]

Months later, the universe itself was in danger from the Crisis. To prevent it, Brainiac 5 and a few other Legionnaires traveled to the 21st Century and helped to prevent the destruction of their reality.[24][25][26]

Powers

Equipment


  • In "Legion" Saturn Girl announces that they'll reprogram him into Brainiac 5. This was the first time in the show Brainiac was identified with a number, and a reference to the fact that the Bainiac they just defeated was in fact the fourth incarnation of the character to appear in the show (though unlike in the comics, it was in fact the same being who kept being reborn through his unique, highly adaptive nature).
  • In "Lara" and "Homecoming", Jor-El is identified as the creator of Brainiac.[4][6] However, in "Persona", Dax-Ur is identified as Brainiac's creator.[5] The implications of this inconsistency are unknown.

Related

Footnotes


Legion of Super-Heroes II 07
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Legion of Super-Heroes member
This character is or was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th/31st Century, in any one of their various continuities. Including but not limited to, Original Legion, the Reboot Legion, Prime Legion and the Post-Rebirth Legion.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Super-Heroes members" category.

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Superman Villain(s)
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This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."

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Legion of Super-Heroes Villain(s)
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This character or group of characters is or was primarily an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 31st Century, and may have existed in any of the various Legion continuities, including but not limited to the Original Legion, Reboot Legion, and the Prime Legion. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Super-Heroes villains" category.

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