Brainiac 5

Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) is a superhero appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He is from the planet Colu and is a long-standing member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries.

Brainiac 5 has been substantially adapted into other media, primarily in association with the Legion. He is voiced by Adam Wylie in '' Legion of Super Heroes'' (2006) and portrayed by James Marsters and Jesse Rath in ''Smallville'' and the Arrowverse respectively. A gender-swapped alternate universe variant of Brainiac 5 appears in the fifth season of ''Supergirl'', portrayed by Rath's sister Meaghan Rath.

Publication history

Brainiac 5 first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #276 (May 1961) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He was originally written as a descendant of Superman's enemy Brainiac. Several years later, when Brainiac was revealed to be a living computer, Brainiac 5 was retconned to be a descendant of his adopted son.

Fictional character biography

Original continuity (1958–1994)

Brainiac 5 is a teenage Coluan of the planet Colu who is descended from the original Brainiac, one of Superman's deadliest enemies, and joins the Legion as atonement for his misdeeds. Brainiac 5's ingenuity led to the invention of, amongst other things, the Legion flight ring, an anti-lead serum that cured Mon-El of his lead poisoning, and a force field belt. Another of Brainiac 5's creations had less beneficial effects: the super computer Computo, which attempted to take over the world and killed one of Triplicate Girl's three selves before being destroyed.

As time went on, Brainiac 5 began to be portrayed as unstable. Long attracted to Supergirl, Brainiac 5 creates a robot duplicate of her in his sleep, convincing himself that she is the real Supergirl. The Legion encounter Pulsar Stargrave, a villain who convinces Brainiac 5 that he is his long-lost father.

"Five Year Gap"

Five years after the end of the "Magic Wars", things radically change for the heroes, most notably the disbanding of the Legion and an ongoing war with the Khund empire, which results in Earth's government (Earthgov) signing a deal with the Dominators.

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 confronts Darkseid, but shortly thereafter, is swept into the war against Earthgov and the Dominators. Furthermore, a temporal clone of Brainiac 5 from "Batch SW6" is introduced.

Brainiac 5 later discovers that the timestream is unstable and that the Legion's history is in a state of constant flux. During the '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' event, Brainiac 5 and the Legion are killed when Parallax destroys their universe.

''Zero Hour'' reboot continuity (1994–2004)

Following the ''Zero Hour'' event, the Legion's continuity is rebooted and a new version of Brainiac 5 is introduced. This version is antisocial, was outcast by other Coluans due to his amoral nature and heightened intelligence, and was abandoned by his mother, Brainiac 4, at birth.''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (vol. 4) #72 (September 1995)''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (vol. 4) #77 (February 1996)

Brainiac 5 is one of several Legionnaires who are trapped in the 20th century. He attempts to return to the present by building a machine using a Mother Box provided by Metron and a responsometer provided by Veridium. However, the computer becomes a version of Computo. The Legion members defeat and dismantle the computer before returning to their own time.

Upon his return to the 31st century, Brainiac 5 is part of a team that investigates a mysterious space anomaly. The anomaly "upgrades" Brainiac 5, causing him to become kinder and more social. Following his return from the anomaly, he befriends teammate Gates, who dubs him "Brainiac 5.1".''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (vol. 4) #104 (May 1998)

"Threeboot" continuity (2004–2009)

In the fifth volume of ''Legion of Super-Heroes'', Brainiac 5 is portrayed with an arrogant personality similar to his ancestor Vril Dox. He proposes to Dream Girl, but she is attacked and blinded by Princess Projectra and later killed in battle.''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (vol. 5) #47 (December 2008) Brainiac 5 resurrects Dream Girl by transferring her consciousness into a clone body.

Post-''Infinite Crisis'' (2007)

The events of ''Infinite Crisis'' restore a close analogue of the pre-''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' Legion to continuity. This incarnation of the Legion shares roughly the same history as the original Legion up to the events of the Crisis. In the ''Final Crisis'' tie-in '' Legion of 3 Worlds'', the pre-''Zero Hour'' Brainiac 5 meets his post-''Zero Hour'' and Threeboot counterparts, who he works with to resurrect Bart Allen and Superboy and combat Superboy-Prime.

''DC Rebirth''

A young Brainiac 5 appears briefly during ''Justice League'' (vol. 3) (2017) by Bryan Hitch. He is also not referred to by his name, only as the "brainy kid" by Cyborg

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